Surrogacy Update

Hey guys! I am happy to say that everything is going perfectly according to plan. I flew out to San Fran yesterday to have an u/s and my uterine lining was at a 13 (it had to be at least an 8 to proceed). I also had some bloodwork done to test my E2 (estrogen) levels and it came back awesome too. The egg donor was given the green light to do her hcg trigger shot on Sunday so her retrieval will be on Tuesday. She had 26 follicles at her last check. I fly back to San Fran next Saturday for our embryo transfer on Sunday around noon. My IPs and I are both incredibly excited. I can't believe that transfer time is right around the corner!!

On a scary side note, the RE told me that I had an amazing number of follicles in my ovaries. They were both fully loaded with them. He said that I would make an awesome egg donor if I ever decided to do that. No way will I ever but I knew that news would make Clayton cringe. He is terrified of the thought of having more babies. He really wants to get snip snip but I have a hard time okaying that for some reason. I simply don't want him to. Now that we have confirmation that I am quite a bit fertile (this RE wasn't the first to note how many potential eggies I had in there), he is even more concerned with having something permanent done to prevent expanding our brood, lol.

My Latest Gadget & A Surrogacy Update

I just ordered my first BlackBerry device today and I can't wait to get it into my hot little hands. The pink BlackBerry Pearl has been calling my name since I first played with it a few weeks ago. I have done a lot of research and asked tons of questions. I think that this new gadget will be an awesome way for me to communicate. The thought of being able to send emails or surf the web anywhere/anytime is particularly thrilling. This phone is lightweight and you are able to use it one-handed unlike the traditional flap-jack shaped BlackBerrys. Yes, the size is compromised with having 2 letters assigned per key but I think that it will be fine. I have asked several others who already own the phone if that was a huge deal and it seems that the portability is worth not having a separate key for every letter. There are 2 different ways to type using the dual letter keys so I will just have to see which way works best for me when I get it. It will be here tomorrow. Yay! :)

I am gearing up for my San Francisco trip next week. I can't believe that it is so close now! I will fly out Sunday morning (6/29) for an ultrasound and return later that night. My Mom will fly into Colorado on Wednesday (7/2) so that she can watch the kiddos while I am away. I then take off again for CA on Thursday (7/3) and the transfer should be on Friday (7/4). It has to be good luck that the transfer is on July 4th. How cool is that?! I will have my BlackBerry with me so I should be able to update my blog while I am away. Wish my IPs lots of luck! ;)

For the love of Gymboree...

I am such a sucker for Gymboree. Don't my boys look cute in their new madras shorts and polos?? I swear, it is beginning to be an addiction for me. It doesn't help that it is Gymbuck time. I have been buying all my kiddos' clothes there and I noticed that this was a problem recently. They had no play clothes or clothes that I thought were cheap enough to sit in the dirt in. Egad. So what did I do? I ended up going there and spending a small fortune on their play clothes (which are really cheap right now and you can earn Gymbucks at the same time). They had tons of tanks and soft play shorts for really good deals. I picked up several outfits for the boys that I won't mind them getting dirty. Even though I was supposed to only buy play clothes, I couldn't resist the outfits above. They look so cool!

BTW, I would post a pic of my new haircut but that is impossible considering I didn't get it. Aveda screwed up my appt. so I will be getting it done tomorrow night. I can't wait to have short hair again and neither can Clayton (he actually prefers it that way).

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! :)

Updates

I have been super slack on the ole blog lately. For that I apologize. We've been having lots of issues with my wireless router lately and so I haven't jumped on here very much. What has been going on around here in the past 5 days? Well, not much but here is a recap:

Tuesday-I went grocery shopping in the county below me and found out that they do not have sales tax on food there. Guess where I will be going from now on, lol.

Wednesday-I went to have some surrogacy bloodwork done. Everything was perfect so I got cleared to begin even more drugs. Whoo hoo! After my blood draw, we went to a fun bouncehouse place called Jumpin'. My friend Melissa and her kiddos joined us. It was so relaxing. The kids took off and only checked in with us every so often for a much-needed swig of water. They completely wore themselves out, lol. I had to leave around 2pm because I needed to get the kids to Clayton. I had a dentist appt. to get some cracks in my teeth fixed (Lesson learned-DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT eat hard chunks of ice no matter how much you crave it!). When I am pregnant I will grab huge pieces of ice from the freezer and eat it. That is soooo bad for your teeth. Yes, I know I am not preggo (yet!) but this habit continued after my last pregnancy for some reason. I must still be a little bit anemic (craving ice is usually a sign of anemia). Now I am paying the price for my nasty little habit. 3 teeth have been fixed over the past 2 weeks. At both visits for dental repair, I chose to do the laughing gas (nitrous oxide) because I was so anxious. Let me tell you, that stuff is wonderful. I told my dentist that it was great to be high and watching the Best of Will Ferrell from SNL at the same time. I could have sat there forever in my own little happy world, lol

I have nothing much to say about Thursday and today. The kids and I have just been sitting around the house pretty much doing nothing. We don't have any weekend family plans but I can't wait until Sunday. I will be getting my hair chopped off at Aveda. Here's the look I am going for:

Wish me luck!

Father's Day

Getting a picture of Clayton and the kids is an extremely difficult task. It seems that all 3 have made a pact to never cooperate with the camera at the same the time. I took about 20 pics of them sitting on Hayden's bed during storytime and all of them had at least one person doing something goofy. This one and the one at the bottom of this post were the only 2 good ones (even though E wouldn't look at the camera). In case you are wondering what they are reading, it is "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

I ordered Clayton this awesone ice cream cake from Coldstone Creamery. It is a Cookie Dough Delirium cake and it was insanely good! We have had other kinds of ice cream cakes before but this one was the best. It had yellow cake, cookie dough ice cream, icing (which tastes like really sweet Cool Whip) and cookie dough chunks. The big chocolate thing in the center says "Happy Father's Day".

The kiddos gave their Daddy a mug and a mousepad for work. I got them made through Snapfish. The mousepad came out perfect but I don't recommend their mugs. The photos on it were quite a bit blurry from the bad printing. I know that those photos should have been crystal clear considering that I just got the same prints from them and they were awesome. Oh well, I tried.

Happy Father's Day Clayton!!

Thank God...

We finally got another car! Clayton was beginning to go nutso from looking at so many. He originally was set on buying a new Honda Civic but we ended up buying a '09 Toyota Corolla instead. What happened was yesterday we drove out to Honda and made an offer. They wouldn't lower the price more the $300 from the sticker. Clayton told them to forget it and so we went over to Toyota and bought the Corolla. It was a fairly easy sale and hubby did good in the negotiations. It took forever to complete though. I swear, signing all the crap to buy the house went alot faster than the car paperwork. Sheesh! Anyway, the car is silver and is really cute. It also gets great gas mileage (which is precisely why we bought it). I told Clayton that the car's name is going to be along the lines of Bert (if I decide it is a he) or Bertie (if I think it is a she). He just rolled his eyes at me, lol.

Today the kiddos are going to their Aunt Stephanie's house in Cheyenne for the weekend. They can't wait and we can't either. It will be the first time that we have been kidless together in a year. We plan to go out on a dinner date tonight and a movie tomorrow. I am thinking of maybe The Melting Pot or a Mediterranean restaurant in Fort Collins. I know for sure that we will be seeing the new M. Night Shyamalan flick "The Happening". We are huge fans of his work so we can't wait to see his latest one.

Things are going well

I started the injectible meds this past Sunday and all is going well so far. It has been really easy. Our transfer will likely be July 4th or July 6th. I have to fly out to San Fran for a one day venture just to get an ultrasound at the end of this month (why, oh why will they not let me get it done here locally?). I will leave early in the morning and come back that evening. A few days after that I will fly there and stay for a few days for the transfer. I can't wait to meet my awesome IM there!! She is so fun to chat with and I just know that we are going to be two peas in a pod. July can't get here fast enough. Just think, a baby for my IPs could be brewing in my womb in less than a month! Crazy, huh? It seems like I just gave birth to my first surrobabe the other day. He is now a cute bubbly little guy and he will be 6 months old on the 27th. Wow, time sure does fly.

The timing sucks for us to be buying a new car since we are refinancing our home this month but it is necessary since we cannot possibly be a one car family. Clayton is looking at both Toyotas and Hondas (we are HUGE fans of Toyotas for their reliability). I really want him to buy another Toyota since we have a 1996 4-Runner that has never been in the shop. She (her name is Suzy) has been the most reliable vehicle ever. If she died tomorrow we feel like we got our money's worth out of her. That vehicle has went above and beyond the call of duty. I have serious attachment issues to her since she has been with us through everything-our move from Atlanta back to NC, the purchase and move into all 3 homes that we have bought, the move to Colorado, the trip home from the hospital with both of my kiddos, etc. She even has nose prints from our dog Bailey on the inside of the cargo area windows. I can't bear to clean them off as they are a reminder of him. Needless to say, I am soooo glad that Clayton didn't drive her to work the day of the tornado. I would be distraught. Thank God she was safe at home in our garage. Sorry about the tangent but I do love our SUV. Anyway, Clayton test drove a few cars and thinks that he likes the Honda Civic best. When compared to the cars we saw at Toyota, I can see why. The Honda did look cooler. He will likely buy an '09 Civic but we will always stick to Toyota for SUVs (the Sequoia is next on our list). This will be our first brand new car as we have always bought used. I just can't wait to not be holed up in our house everyday while the kids drive me absolutely crazy. :P

Ahhhh, the joys of being a surrogate....

I got a ton of meds delivered to me yesterday so that we can finally get this surro journey started. This supply will be used for about 4 weeks (leading up to transfer) and then we will need to order more for the first 10 weeks after transfer providing that I get pregnant. I am a bit dismayed at having 4 different types of injectibles this time but I will just have to deal. 2 are subcutenous and will be injected by a tiny diabetic needle into my stomach and the other 2 are intramuscular. The 2 intramuscular ones will go into huge syringes with 22G needles. I have to inject those into my rear. The needle is 1.5" long and it has to be completely inserted to work correctly. Sounds fun, huh? Actually, I prefer the big needles over the little ones because they don't seem to hurt at all. They glide right into the skin easily and almost effortlessly. Sometimes the little ones don't seem to be sharp enough and I really have to jab them. Anyone interested in becoming a surro now?

For those that are curious, here is my med list:

Heparin-subcutaneous injection twice daily (blood thinner)

Lupron-subcutaneous injection daily (puts me in menopause-stops ovaries from production)

Estradiol Valerate (Estrogen)-intramuscular injection twice weekly (builds uterine lining)

Progesterone in Oil (Ethyl Oleate)-intramuscular injection daily (this hormone keeps pregnancy viable-you can't carry a baby without this and since I won't be naturally pregnant my body won't make this on its own initially)

CitraNatal DHA (prenatal vitamins)-1 gel and 1 tab daily (promotes health)

Doxycycline-twice daily for 10 days (Clayton and I both have to take these so that I hopefully don't get sick during the cycle-they make us both throw up though, lol)

Cipro-twice daily for 5 days around transfer (to keep me from getting sick)

Prednisone (steroid)-twice daily (suppresss my immune system-keeps my body from attacking the embryo after transfer)

Aspirin-daily (keeps blood thin)

Folgard-once daily (adds extra folic acid for baby's growth & development)

Calcium + Vitamin D-once daily (helps with my bone strenth)

birth control pills-once daily (gets my cycle in line with the egg donor's cycle-we must be in sync for everything to work correctly)

Crash Hot Potatoes from the Pioneer Woman

Let me just say that the Pioneer Woman has some of the yummiest recipes. The latest entry on her blog for crash hot potatoes was a definite keeper for me. Take a looksie here: Crash Hot Potatoes

I promise you won't be disappointed!

June Design Team Layouts for The ScrapRoom

You can't see it very well, but the epoxy sticker in the bottom right corner says "Boys Rule".

More June '08 TSR Stuff-2 Cards & A CD Holder

The Stamp used on the CD Holder is from the June Stamp Add-On Club.

Emerson's New Ride + Lots of Updates

Clayton bought Emerson his first bike yesterday. As soon as he got good at pedaling his Big Wheel, C knew it was time. We went to several stores looking for just the right one. At first Emerson wanted this really cheap Huffy so we had to sway him so that he would choose a better, sturdier one. He finally settled on this cool one that is the same as his brother's (just different colors). Doesn't he look cute? I can't believe that my baby boy is getting so big!

Look how serious he is here, lol.

It was time to get Hayden a new helmet so we let him pick one out He chose a cool Hot Wheels one that has a dragon on the side.

Since I haven't been blogging much lately, I will go ahead and update you all on what has been going on in the Logan household:

Clayton's Vehicle
We got it appraised last week and they declared it a total loss. Yay! Why is that good you ask? Well, they gave us more than we owe on it. We have been dying to get rid of his car anyway so this was an easy out. It had started having lots of problems before the tornado even hit it (engine wouldn't start on occasion, it needed new brakes, the air conditioner had issues-just to name a few, lol).

The Surrogacy
We just finished up and signed the contracts last week. Contracts is always the worst part so I am so happy to be done! I will begin injectibles on June 8th for our early July embryo transfer in San Francisco. I can't believe that we are getting so close to baby time. Whoo hoo!!

A New 'Do For Me
I have an appt. for Aveda on June 14th to get my locks chopped off. Hubby prefers short hair so I am going to do the deed. I have been losing alot of hair lately anyway due to hormone level drops from the last pregnancy. It has been insane. I can actually pull clumps out right now and it is really beginning to bother me. At least it won't be so bad when it is short. Any suggestions? I am thinking of going really short this time.

Painting
Clayton and I are about done with our huge paint job. It has taken us about 9 months to complete it (hey, we could have created a baby in that time, lol) but it really is a large job. Our entry way and living room are over 22 feet high so that has been a major pain in the rear. Since our house is so open, this job encompassed the entry, the living room, the play area, the upstairs hallway, the downstairs hallway and the stair area. It has been insane and I will be so glad to finish it up possibly next weekend! Then we can move on to the master suite, my scrap room, the laundry room, the kitchen, the formal dining room, the boy's room, the boy's bathroom, the guest room, the downstairs bathroom, etc. Egad, did I really just say all that??? Sheesh...

Build-A-Bear
The kids and I went to our local BAB recently and they created their own animals. E chose a bunny and H chose a cat. They turned out so cute! Both boys chose swim trunks and surf shirts for them. If I get a chance, I will post pics of them later.

Dan In Real Life
Clayton and I watched this movie a few weeks ago and it was really good. If you don't think that Steve Carell can pull off such a serious character, you should definitely check it out. He did a fabulous job.

I Am Legend
This is yet another good movie from Will Smith. I hated the ending but I can see why it was necessary. I didn't really care for the weird nocturnal bad guys in it but it really does make you wonder what would happen if something started to wipe humans out of existence. It's very thought-provoking.