Me and my 10 week belly

Ha, I was actually bigger 2 months ago when the meds had me all bloated up. I didn't think about it back then but now I realize why I looked so much bigger and it was because of the steroids. I had to take lots of them for 3-4 weeks and it caused me to blimp up. I haven't had to take them since July and now all that puffiness is gone, thank the Lord! I have gained 9 pounds at this point and I am still willing to bet that at least 5 of those pounds was from the meds.

See those dark splotches on my belly? Those are bruises and discolored areas from the blood thinners. I have to inject Lovenox once daily into my tummy area. That will soon be all over though at 12 weeks.

I forgot to mention that yesterday was my last PIO shot and my last E2 shot (both were monster 1 1/2in. shots that I had to do in my rear). Thank God that's over. Yay!!!

BTW, please ignore the horrible hair. I haven't fixed it yet today.

I am now the Mommy of a kindergartner

Hayden couldn't wait to start school today. We walked to school (it is only a block away) with our awesome neighbors, the Leals. It seemed rather weird to actually take Hayden to real school. He has been in pre-K programs since he was 2 but today felt totally different. My first-born is really growing up!

Here's Hayden waiting in line to go in to his classroom. I have no idea who the kid is in front of him but it was obvious that they were going to be cohorts, lol.

See the cutie on the far left (first in her line-curly hair and blue shirt)? Her name is Gracie and she lives just across the street from us. I so wish that she was in Hayden's class but at least they get lunch/recess together.

Hi Guys

Yes, I know I have been a bad blogger lately. Life has been insane though and I just haven't had much to say. This past week consisted of meeting Hayden's kindergarten teacher (which he is already in love with, lol), getting Hayden assessed, my first OB appt., bloodwork and a mad hunt for a particular pair of Skechers that make Emerson over 40 in. tall (so he can ride Soarin', Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, etc. at Disney World next month).

There's lots of changes going on around my home lately. I had ordered lots of window coverings for our home earlier this month and they were all installed this past Friday. Saturday I spent my time working on painting the kitchen. Our landscaper, Fred, came by and we worked out a plan for the backyard. We are going to put in some Aspen trees, purple sage, juniper groundcover, some purple flowering shrubs (can't recall the name) and a walking path from the front yard to the back so Clayton can easily push the mower back there. He will complete this work for us around the beginning of September.

Tomorrow is Hayden's first official day of being a kindergartner and he is so excited. I am happy to see him finally join the ranks of school-age kids. He has been ready for this for a long time now. I find it strange though that tomorrow will be the start of the rest of his life. You know what I mean, up until now nothing has really been expected of him. Now he will be expected to go to school until he is 18 and then he will go to college or directly to the work force. Play time is essentially over for him in a sense. Oh well, I have great faith in this kid and I am sure that he will be the type that loves academics. His future is very promising and I can't wait to see how he decides to steer his life as he grows older.

The surrobabe seems to be doing very well. He/she was measuring ahead at the u/s I had on the 15th so they are thriving. I have been sick with nausea alot lately so my OB gave me Zofran last week. I was terrified to pick it up from the pharmacy though because I had heard that those pills are outrageous and most insurances don't cover it. The nurse even made a comment about it being very expensive. Thank God Clayton has good insurance though because I only had to pay a co-pay for it. Let me just say, that stuff is a God-send. It works fairly quickly and makes me feel completely back to normal after taking it. I have used Phenergran for slight nausea in the past and that stuff always put me to sleep. Zofran doesn't do that at all. I am one happy girl now. :)

Only 26 more days until we see the mouse!!!

Our new dining room and bathroom

This is our formal dining room. We added dover white (Sherwin Williams) wainscoting, chair railing and crown molding to this room. The wall color is a warm red called crash (Kwal). I have several pieces of artwork to hang but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Sorry the pics aren't the greatest but the lighting in there is atrocious and I had to use my flash.

This is our downstairs half bath. We added dover white beadboard and the paint for the wall is called cafe curtain (Kwal). I have yet to buy anything to decorate this room so it is bare bones right now.
I had no access to natural lighting in this room so I had to use my flash in here too.

Ahhhhhhh....

Saturday was my much anticipated spa day. I had booked it last month knowing that the kiddos would be camping in Estes with Clayton and his Dad. Their plans were thwarted though due to rain. It never rains here so it would figure that the one time it did it would be on a day that hubby had special outdoor plans. Oh well, at least I still had fun.

I started the morning off with an eyebrow wax and then a facial. It was pure heaven! I then moved on to an ultimate pedicure and then an ultimate manicure. I found that it was so worth it to do the ultimate treatments as opposed to the regular ones because the bonus paraffin wax and massage was simply divine. After all that, I took a break and had lunch before getting a hair facial. Yea, I know that sounds weird but it was an hour long head massage with wonderful Aveda hair products. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome that was. The one thing that I wish I could have done was a prenatal massage but the salon won't allow you to have one until you are at least out of the first trimester. Since most miscarriages happen in the first trimester, they don't want you to be able to blame them if you had a massage during that fragile time. Oh well, at least I will have something to look forward to when we get back from Disney World. ;)

I promise that I will have photos of the new woodwork and paint in the dining room soon. I haven't felt good most of the weekend so I just haven't gotten around to hanging the artwork up yet. I will also get some bathroom pics up soon but I have yet to buy the towels and rugs for it.

Nausea is my middle name, lol

I have never had any issues with morning sickness during my previous 3 pregnancies but this time it is driving me insane. I was struggling rather badly yesterday evening (forget morning sickness, I have any-time-of-day-will-do sickness, lol) and so I decided to buy some meds from the pharmacy that my OB recommends, vitamin B6 combined with 1/2 a pill of Unisom (a sleeping medication). Can you guess the side effect from that lovely concoction? I ended up in bed at 8pm and slept clear through til 9am this morning. Ummm, it doesn't exactly count as an effective remedy if I am dead asleep. I can't possibly be like this when my kiddies get back home from Grandma's house. Part of my job as a SAHM is to be awake and alert. Unisom doesn't seem to help me in that arena. Next week I go to my OB clinic for my first appt. and I am going to ask for Zofran if I am still sick. Phenegran makes me really sleepy so I hope that Zofran will be an option.

Oh, and my dining room and bathroom are now completed. I will post pics of them this evening after hubby puts all the furniture back in place. The wainscoting and beadboard look so good in those rooms!

August Layouts for The ScrapRoom

In case you can't read the journaling, I was ranting about how my 2 kiddos never smile at the same time when I take pics. :P

My Aunt Judy

20 weeks preggo with my first surrobabe-8/21/07

This is sadly going to be my last month on the TSR design team. I have been a designer there for 2 years and it has been wonderful. It is now time for me to spend more time scrapping for myself rather than completing assignments. I look forward to that and I love the idea that I am done with deadlines.

Tammy is the best kit club owner on the web. I am going to remain a loyal customer there for life because no other club can touch this one. I have been with TSR since the very first kit back in December 2004 and began designing there back in 2006. The kits are always marvelous and packed with cool new products every month, the message boards are full of awesome gals to chat with and the monthly coffee packets that come with the kits are yummy. Thanks so much Tammy for offering such a wonderful way to scrapbook!

Baby News!

On Sunday night, we headed up to Fort Collins to meet the IPs for dinner at Bisetti's. It was so obvious that we are a great match. I gotta say, my IPs are awesome!!! They couldn't be any better if they tried, lol. The kiddos fell in love with them. I am so lucky! Anyhoo, enough gushing, lol. Dinner was fabulous and dessert was even better.

I had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn yesterday to get ready for our early ultrasound appt. The kids weren't too happy about getting up so early but they got over real fast when they found out that they were going to see the IPs again. When we all arrived, one of the nurses looks at us and makes some comment about me having lots of spectators. That's when I explained that my IPs are the bio parents and I am the carrier. My kiddos had to be there too because they aren't in school yet. I know it appears strange to have an entourage at the fertility clinic but at least there is a good reason for it, lol. She led us all back to the ultrasound room and that's where we met the doctor. He was awesome! He explained everything as he was scanning and also answered lots of questions for us. When he started the scan, I saw 2 different sacs appear on the screen and I groaned. My IPs and I were all hoping for 1 baby. The doctor told us that one of the sacs was a baby and you could even see the heartbeat. The length of the baby is only about 1/3in. right now. The other sac is just a fluid filled pocket. It's nothing to worry about and is fairly common. That's when we were all able to sigh a breath of relief. Thank the Lord!!

Happy Birthday to Meeeee

Today I entered my 30's and I feel pretty good about it. We had dinner at the Melting Pot and the girl in the both behind us was celebrating her birthday also. She was turning 18. I told hubby that I wouldn't trade places with her in a million years. I like where I am now in life. For starters, that gal has no clue what real life is like just yet. She hasn't even moved out of her parent's home I bet. I would also be willing to bet that she hasn't found the love of her life. Most 18 year old's haven't. There is the issue of where she wants to go in life and what she expects to do in the future. Does she have any clue? I sure didn't at her age. Then there is the money issue. At 18 I simply had none, lol. That part sucked but I learned to deal with it as a college kid. I do envy her that she is about to embark on the coolest adventure of her life and that is college (I heard them mention it). College was fabulous and I would never trade my experiences at NC State because that is where I met my soulmate and made some lifelong friends. It was an awesome time in my life. I must say though that I prefer my day-long activites of making grilled cheese for the kids and enjoying homelife as opposed to hustling to classes everyday. Oh yea, studying sucked too and I don't miss that a bit.

Anyhoo, what I am trying to say here is that 30 is good and life seems to only be getting better at this point. Clayton and I are just as in love as we were in college and now we have 2 sweet boys to raise. I love the fact that we actually have spare money to buy things that we really want and a trip to McDonald's doesn't break the bank like it did when we were in school, lol.

The flowers and balloon shown above were sent from my parents and the Coldstone Creamery peanut butter cup cake below was from Clayton. C also got me some yummy candies, a cute card and some spending money to go shopping for myself. Whoo hoo!!