Change is good + A joke

The above photo is not from my own home but I love the way that the walls are done. I am a huge fan of wainscoting, chair railing and crown molding. Unfortunately, our home didn't come with any of those. We didn't build the house (someone else did and his financing fell through-that's how we got it) so we didn't get the say-so on those upgrades. Anyhow, I recently decided to remodel our formal dining room and our downstairs 1/2 bath. The dining room is going to be a gorgeous red with dover white 3ft. high wainscoting, chair railing and 6" crown molding. The bathroom is going to be a pretty purple tone (probably) and have dover white 4ft. high beadboard and chair railing. I am so excited!! They wanted to do the work this weekend but we have too many things going on so I have them scheduled for the following weekend. Once we get those projects completed, I will possibly have them come in and paint the rest of our house. We'll have to see. We can do the work *alot* cheaper ourselves so that makes it hard for us to spend all that money on simple paint.

My friend Sarah sent me a joke the other day and I just have to share:

So, I was talking to this little girl, Catherine, the daughter of some friends, and she said she wanted to be President someday. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats were standing there with us and I asked Catherine, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

Catherine replied, 'I would give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow, what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.' I told her, 'you don't have to wait until you're President. You can start now by coming over to my house and cleaning up all the dog poop in my back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house.'

Catherine (who was about 5) thought that over for a second, while her mom looked at me seething, and Catherine replied, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just pay him the $5 dollars?'

'Ah', I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party'.

Ha ha!!!

I'm Hungry!

I am a little bit bored today so now is a good time for me to list out all the Disney restaurants that we are going to go to this year. I am super duper excited!! Only 52 days to go. Here is this year's list of ADRs (advanced dining reservations):

9/19-Kona Cafe-dinner (Polynesian Resort)
We ate there last year since it is located conveniently in our hotel. The food was wonderful and I can't wait to get the banana cream brulee again. Yum...

9/20-'Ohana-breakfast (Polynesian Resort)
We had dinner here last time and it was just okay. You really have to like meat since that is the main attraction. They skewer everything and cook it over a pit. I didn't really care for the meat but the Maui potatoes side and the bread pudding were to die for.

This year we opted to have breakfast here instead. They serve everything family style and there are characters circulating the room (I know Lilo and Stitch are there for sure). I think that it will be a great first morning meal just before we head out to the Magic Kingdom.

9/20-Cinderella's Royal Table-dinner (Magic Kingdom)
I have heard mixed reviews about this place but I am willing to give it a shot. CRT is actually one of the hardest ressies to get since the meal includes photos with Cinderella and it is located inside the castle. It's every kid's dream to eat inside there (and mine!). Hopefully I won't be too disappointed by the food but at least the atmosphere is priceless.

9/21-Rainforest Cafe-lunch (Animal Kingdom)
I have eaten here a few times in the past. The food is always yummy and the atmosphere is so cool. My kiddos are going to love it!

9/21-The Wave-dinner (Contemporary Resort)
This is a brand new restaurant so I don't know much about it. I have seen pics and it is beautiful inside. The food is supposed to be mostly organic and fresh.

9/22-Teppan Edo-dinner (Epcot-Japan)
I have heard rave reviews about this place. I think that the kids will enjoy watching the chefs do tricks at the hibachi and I love this type of cuisine.

9/23-Kona Cafe-breakfast (Polynesian Resort)
This place has an awesome breakfast menu that includes Tonga toast and macadamia nut pancakes. Can I just say yum?!

9/23-Garden View Tea Room-high tea (Grand Floridian Resort)
I did this one twice during our last trip and it was the highlight of my trip. The food is phenomenal and the teas are so yummy. This is a great place to get away from the kids and have some adult time. Mom and I are going alone this time.

9/23-Whispering Canyon Cafe-dinner (Wildnerness Lodge Resort)
I am mainly doing this one for the kids. Supposedly the wait staff does lots of silly antics and they have pony races during dinner for the kiddos. I am just looking forward to seeing this resort again because the inside is absolutely breathtaking.

9/24-Sci-Fi Dine-In-dinner (Hollywood Studios-used to be MGM)
This has always been one of my favorite places to eat and it is now my whole family's favorite too. You sit in a car and a car hop brings you your food. In the meantime, they show cheesy old flicks on the big screen ahead of you. On our last trip this was our most enjoyable meal thanks to the ambience. The food is just okay though.

9/25-Chef Mickey's-breakfast (Contemporary Resort)
This is a character breakfast with Mickey Mouse and the gang. It should be fun but I don't expect the buffet to be all that great (I despise buffets-major ick factor!!). We'll just have to wait and see.

9/25-Rose & Crown-dinner (Epcot-United Kingdom)
I booked this one because the menu looked good and they offer lots of good beer for Clayton. Hopefully it will be as good as I think that it will be!

9/26-Kona Cafe-lunch (Polynesian Resort)
We eat here alot, huh? It is convenient to us since it will be close to our room at the Poly. It's good too so why not?

9/27-Liberty Tree Tavern-dinner (Magic Kingdom)
We ate here for our first lunch on our last trip. It was super yummy and I am thrilled to be going back. This time we are going for dinner so it will be a bit different (it is served family style with limited options). I still think that it will be great though. It is a character dinner and they will be in Halloween costumes this particular evening because it is a Halloween party night. My friend Sandy and her daughter Sage (I met them back in NC and they now live in FL) will be going with us too. How fun!

New cool way to check blog posts

I just discovered on Blogspot/Blogger that you can now add a blog list in a much better form than the regular list option. It is an easy element to add. Can I just tell you how much I love it?! Now it tells you the name of the blog, the title of the most recent post and the time that it was last updated. I even have them arranged in the order of the most recent update. Now I won't have to click on all of my blog links just to find that only 2 people updated in the past few days. I love that!! You can also choose to have an excerpt of each blog's most recent post to be shown on your page. As far as customization goes, you have complete control. You can rename blogs (I like to add in my friend's names), choose to have whatever info. you want displayed, choose what order you want the blogs to be in, etc. Blogger rocks!!

Not Much Going On Around Here

Sorry I haven't had much to write about lately. Life has been a bit monotonous to say the least. I have been busy doing lots of shots, going to the hospital for blood work and napping. Everyday I get super sleepy around 2pm. This happened with the first 3 pregnancies so this one isn't any different. I will gain energy back when I hit the second trimester (which is WONDERFUL timing since we will be in Disney World when I hit that milestone!). I had a couple of days of nauseousness a little while back but I am totally fine now (which may have been a result of the 7 or so pills I had to take in the morning). My body is responding beautifully to the pregnancy and I feel quite good almost all of the time. If I wasn't sleepy, I would feel pretty much normal. :)

We set up the first ultrasound appointment for August 4th. My IPs are going to fly in and go with me. I can't wait to see them! It will be the first time that I get to meet the baby's father. If he is anything like my IM, then I know that we will get along. We plan to get together that Sunday (8/3) for dinner and then the ultrasound will be early Monday morning. Wish us luck!!

I got my new washer and dryer today and they are totally cool. I have never seen such pretty appliances. When you start them up they look like they have a rocketship control panel with all their cool lights and buttons. They also make the cutest noises at the end of a cycle and when I make a selection on the keypad. My first load was towels and they came out so much fluffier than I have ever had before. They looked practically brand new. It was strange to see how different they looked since washing/drying them in the new gizmos. The fibers were actually standing up and were fluffed. From what I have seen so far, LG has majorly impressed me.

We are now 57 days away from visiting sunny Florida again. I can't wait!!! The kids are really excited this year since they now know what to expect. Last year it was a little bit hard trying to psych them up because they had no clue what Disney World was. This trip is going to be so much fun. Emerson will be big enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain and that is a huge deal. Hayden is talking about Space Mountain (we'll have to wait and see on that one!). Hubby is excited about doing Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party this time. Hayden and I went to it last year and we still rave about it. I won't be able to ride the big rides once again but as long as I have a Mickey ice cream bar in one hand and a Dole Whip float in the other, I will be hunky-dory, lol. Yes, I am a glutton. That is one benefit of being preggo. I can eat, eat, eat and then drop the pounds quickly after the birth by pumping milk. ;)

You guys need to check out Pioneer Woman's blog from my sidebar. I made the recently posted zucchini cakes and they were delicious! I really liked the crispy outside and the tender inside. The fresh garlic was a bit much so next time I will cut that down just a little bit or use a small amount of garlic powder instead. Overall, the recipe is a keeper for me.

Hee hee, I have the tv on in the background and it is that episode of Friends where Phoebe goes for her ultrasound and finds that she is carrying triplets for her brother and his wife. I love the fact that her character is a gestational surrogate for them. Being a GS is awesome!

Check these out...

Clayton and I have grown sick of our old washer. It has been getting oil spots on all of our clothes lately so we decided to replace it and our dryer that we have had for 10 years. After reading up on LG products, C knew that they were our best option. We headed out to Home Depot last night and bought this pretty pair. Don't ya just love that color? It is called Bahama Blue. Love it!!! They will get here on Thursday and we will finally be able to have clean clothes once again. Yay for not having to wash the same load of clothes more than once, lol.

It's for real...

I went in today for my first beta test (hcg) and it was positive! The number was 210.9 which is a really good strong number. I go in again on Friday for another beta test to make sure that my levels are rising appropriately. After that we will have to wait 2-3 weeks to get the first ultrasound. That's when we will know if one or both babies stuck around. I can't wait!! Due date is March 24th, 2009. :)

Can you guys please comment on this post and let me know if the 2 tickers at the top of my blog are side-by-side or are they one on top of the other? I have a wide screen laptop so they are next to each other on my screen. I really want them to be that way rather than the other but I have no idea what you guys are seeing. Thanks for your help!

BTW-It may sound weird that I am already 4 weeks along when we just transferred 10 days ago. There is a good explanation for that. Basically, in a normal cycle you don't ovulate until around day 14 (2 weeks after you start day 1 of your period) and that is when conception occurs. By the time that you know that you are pregnant, you most likely just missed day 1 of your next cycle (about 2 weeks after conception). Due to never knowing exactly when conception occured because everyone's period lengths are different, the due date is always calculated from the 1st day of your last period. With IVF, we know exactly when conception occured but it still has to be calculated with the addition of 14 days before the egg donor's retrieval (ours was 7/1 and that was the day of fertilization). It's weird but I could claim to be 2 weeks pregnant before the embryos were ever created, lol.

I hope all this made sense.

Beautiful Colorado-Part 1 (from last weekend)

Poor E. This was how he looked last Friday morning. He woke up with a tummy ache and a fever. I originally needed Clayton to meet me around lunchtime at the spa so I could have a mini treatment but this caused me to cancel. While I was leaving CJ a voicemail not to meet me there, E puked on my bed and I started freaking out. I am sure that was one funny message to listen to, lol. Anyhoo, he took some medicine and felt better that afternoon. Thank the Lord he didn't remain sick through the next day because that was when we went on a family picnic in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.

Here are my boys enjoying a cool area that we found for our picnic (yes I am aware that they just wore these outifts not too long ago, lol).

Mom and Me (you can barely see my new 'do but it floops up on the bottom)

Check the awesome scenery! Isn't it gorgeous?

Beautiful Colorado-Part 2

More tests for your viewing pleasure...

Let me just say that I think that the First Response brand sucks. You can barely see the line on it (the top test). It has gotten a bit darker since I took the picture but still. Ugh. I recommend the EPT regular and digital tests. I got my positives a day earlier on the EPTs.

Whoo hooooooo!!!!

Yee Haw Ya'll!!!!

I just got this lovely test tonight at 6 days past 5 day transfer (that would equal 11 days past ovulation in a natural cycle so it is still early). Yayyyyyy for my wonderful IPs!

I will be back soon, I promise...

I am so sorry that I just blogged and ran off after my journey back home from San Fran. It hasn't been my intentions. My Mom is here taking care of me and I have just been taking it super easy. My days have consisted of lots of naps and chit-chat. I just haven't wanted to jump on the computer lately. Mom will be leaving on Monday and I will then return to blogging regularly, I pinky swear. I will give a surrogacy update and share some pics then too. We are going to Estes Park tomorrow to show Mom around and Sunday will likely be something fun too.

Have a wonderful weekend!! :)

Cool

You guys won't believe who I just had the pleasure of meeting in the San Fran airport. I was sitting in a restaurant eating some dinner when an interesting man walked in wearing a backwards hat, a pair of earrings, had a couple tattoos and a pair of sunglasses. I could not help but stare at him while was eating because he sure did look like a certain famous chef. I sat there googling him for pics in the hopes that I could positively identify him. I even watched clips of this person on you tube just to see if I could get a glimpse of his tattoos so that I could match him up. Sure enough, it was who I suspected-Guy Fieri! You know, the cool guy that won the first season of Food Network Star. Awesome, huh?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Surrogacy Updates

Hey everyone! I am sitting here in the San Francisco airport waiting for my delayed flight. As of right now I have an extra 2 hours to sit around incubating, lol. We transferred 2 flawless embryos yesterday around 1pm. We know that 1 is a boy and the other is a girl. How cool is that?! Anyway I am going to keep this short since I am on my BlackBerry. I will jump back on here as soon as I can get on my laptop. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for my IPs and their perfect little embryos. :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Pirate Play & Updates

The kiddos have been having fun with pirate stuff lately. On Monday I had them take homemade pirate hooks and see how many pretzels that they could scoop up with them. That was a huge hit at snacktime. See how into it they were? lol

Yesterday was the egg donor's retrieval. The RE was able to retrieve 20 eggies for our upcoming transfer. Yay!

My Mom is flying in today to take care of the kiddos while I go to San Francisco this weekend. She should be here around 6pm and we can't wait to pick her up. I hope that she has me some chicken biscuits from Biscuitville stuffed in her suitcase. I miss having breakfast biscuits so much! Colorado really needs to think about getting either a Biscuitville or a Bojangles so that I can get my biscuit fix. McDonald's is the only place here that has them and they are not worth talking about. Blech.

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.

While I have a moment...

Here is an awesome recipe for meatloaf.

Instead of pineapple preserves, I pureed fresh pineapple. It was so yummy!

Internet Issues

Sorry I have gone missing lately but I am having trouble with my cable internet. Considering that I never have had problems before, I am not sure what it is going to take to fix it. I can only get on here for a few minutes and the speed is ridiculously slow. Most of the time I can't even get a connection at all. Just thought that I would let everyone know. Hopefully we will get this fixed and I will be blogging regularly again.

We are okay...

***UPDATE***
Clayton got home safe and sound at 4:30pm. Thank the Lord! His car has substantial damage though-3 windows got blown out, the driver side mirror got busted, the gas cover is missing, there are tons of dents from hail damage and the right tail light is completely gone. Hopefully the insurance company will count it is a total loss.
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Just thought that I would jump on here and let you all know that we are doing okay despite having 6 local tornados today. I had no idea what was going on until I tried to take Hayden to school at 11:45am. We had just pulled into the McDonald's drive-thru for happy meals when they lost all of their power. They gave us our meals for free and I began to drive away. When I got out onto the main road, I heard someone yelling my name. I realized that Hayden's teacher was over in the McDonald's parking lot along with several other people. They were all standing outside looking towards where the school is. I pulled back in and asked what was going on. That's when I was told that there was a large tornado near the school. I took off for home (only about a mile up the street) but pulled over for a brief moment to see if I could see anything. My fear became realized when I noticed alot of ugly dark clouds looming over the direction where Clayton works. It was close to lunch time so I was praying that he didn't go out to eat. I tried to call him but the lines were tied and I got his voicemail when I did get through. I continued on my way home but got caught in a long line of cars at the railroad crossing. Apparently the storm messed up the guard rails and they were down for no reason. Once I finally got around the rails, it only took me another minute to get home. Once I turned on the tv I realized that this particular tornado that just went through was no joke. It was about 3/4 mile wide and they are still working to determine the strength (possibly EF2 or EF3). Judging from the footage I saw, it was a monster storm. I am soooo glad that it skipped my neighborhood. I would have completely freaked out.

Shortly after arriving home, Clayton called me to make sure that we were okay. He was stuck inside a tornado shelter area in his office building and couldn't see anything outside because there were no windows. Some of his co-workers got to walk around and check on things. He said that it didn't sound very good. Their building made it through the storm with minimal damage but there were several structures outside that were destroyed. He was told that if you have a car outside in the parking lot then you could count on it being damaged. Oh well, at least hubby is okay. That's what really matters.

Clayton called me again a little while ago and he still hadn't been released from the tornado shelter. Their building was without power and I don't think that it will be restored anytime soon. The town of Windsor took the brunt of the storm (which is where he works). I am just wondering how he is going to get home. We are still under a tornado watch until 8pm as the conditions are right for more storms. I hate not being with him. :(

I will keep my blog updated as long as I have internet access.

A Sentimental Day (Warning-Mushy Post Ahead)

I woke up this morning in a cruddy mood and decided to just lay around in the bed until the kids demanded that I get up. They were playing so good in the play room that I laid there for a long time pondering how lucky I am to be in the position that I am (even if I am in a bad mood). I decided to make a list of the things that I am thankful for in my life:

My Choice To Go To College

I never wanted a career. My goal in life in high school was to get my MRS (ha, that would be my Mrs. title). I have always wanted to be a housewife and thank God that I went to college anyway just to find my wonderful husband. When I found Mr. Perfect (and he is indeed, PERFECT), I just knew it. I let him know from the get-go that I wanted nothing to do with a career. I am so glad that he is the breadwinner and allows me to stay home just like I have always dreamed of. As soon as we moved to Atlanta after getting married in 1999, I began my life as a housewife and have never looked back. I thank God that Clayton has a great career and can allow me to do this.

My Extended Family

They help me get through the tough times by lending an ear and helping us with the kiddos whenever possible. I don't know what I would do without their love and support. If I ever need anything, I always have them to back me up.

My Children

I am the most high strung person I know so my kiddos do tend to drive me a bit batty, BUT I will say that I am lucky to have 2 good ones. I am also blessed that we got the two boys that we dreamed of. We always hoped that if we had kids (we weren't planning for any, lol) that we would have boys and I am so glad that we got them. Yes, girls are okay but they just aren't for me. I love my boys and I love being the Queen of my castle, lol. People out in public tend to offend me by asking if we are going to try for a little girl (like it is a perfect stranger's business to know if we plan to procreate again). It makes me sooo mad. What is wrong with just wanting boys? Sheesh. My response is, "If I had 10 more kids, I would pray for all of them to be boys". That usually shuts them up.

Relationships Gone Bad
Thank God for relationships that have gone bad. Both Clayton and I were engaged to others before we met. My previous fiance was a raging and jealous guy. Yes, I encouraged it so it wasn't totally his fault. I thrived on conflict and it always brought out the worst in him. Our relationship was explosive and would never have worked in the long run. I thank God everyday that I ran into Clayton while working at Abercrombie during college. If I hadn't of, I may not have had the courage to leave my relationship. No, I did not cheat with Clayton while still being engaged. We started going out after the break-up.

As for hubby, he was a week out before his marriage date when he got the news that she was postponing everything. He was heartbroken. He later found out that she was cheating with a married man (who also had children). Clayton felt horrible and ended up not dating anyone for over a year while in college. This gal had steamrolled him and he didn't trust any girls at that point. When he met me, he wouldn't open doors, hold my hand or even look me in the eye. It was so weird. I think that it took him a year or so to finally trust me and see that I wasn't going to do the same crap to him. I hate what happened to him and his ability to trust but I thank God everyday that she left him (otherwise I wouldn't have been able to scoop him up, lol).

My Remarkable Husband

And this is who I am most thankful for. I would do anything for him and vice versa. He does laundry, bathes the kids, cleans toilets and washes dishes without any griping. He does his part in the household and I realize that makes him a gem. Several of my friends have hubbies that don't do their part to help out. That would completely blow to have the whole household for me to contend with alone.

This man always makes me laugh. He knows how to get me to smile even when I am totally down. He is there for me through thick and thin. Love him to death!!

Don't laugh but I am thankful for the way he smells. His skin smells so good to me. His scent has a weird effect on me. Maybe it is pheromones?? lol

I love the fact that he lets me buy pretty much anything without giving me grief. He likes for me to have things and actually encourages it. If I need something and refuse to buy it, he will end up surprising me with it later. How awesome is that?!

I LOVE how into holidays my hubby is. He likes to be the first to put out seasonal decor on our street. Every holiday/anniversary/birthday is a big deal around here. He is such a kid at heart when it comes to those things. Who wouldn't love that?

My hubby stands behind me in all of my crazy schemes and ideas. I have had several bad ideas but he was always there in my corner. The biggest thing that he stands behind is surrogacy and I am extremely thankful for that. I will never forget the time that I went to meet my first potential couple in Atlanta. He kept telling me beforehand that he hasn't agreed to anything and he would see how he felt after meeting the couple (for me to be a surrogate, all fertility clinics require spouses to consent to the deal by doing blood tests and signing the contract). Without his support, I couldn't be a surro. Well, after meeting my couple he told me that he hoped that it all would work out and that we got pregnant on the first try. He finally understood that I wanted to help people in a big way and this was a great way for me to do it. From that moment on, he was behind me all the way.

Ok, I can say a million more gushy things but I will spare you all. I have alot to be thankful for in my life and I need to start appreciating these things a bit more. It is so easy for me to write my feelings out but talking tends to be hard for me. Anyhoo, be thinking about what you are thankful for and if you post it to your blog, email me a link. I would love to read. :)

Sneak Peek for The ScrapRoom

After taking a few months off from designing for TSR, I am so glad to be back! I missed completing design team projects for them but I really needed the break. Now I am ready to rock out my June assignments and this layout was the first one I did today. I just love the Pink Paislee papers (Spring Fling line).

The pic was taken 4/2/07 at Fletcher Park in NC. From left to right-Harper & Cole Bolick, Emerson & Hayden. I so miss the Bolick family! Hopefully I will make my way out to Asheville soon so that I pay them a visit (and Joanna can make me some of her awesome cookies that I don't seem to have the ability to duplicate, lol).

Our surrogacy journey is about to officially move forward...

I am so excited! I got an email yesterday from the fertility clinic and we are set to begin injectibles on 6/8 with our embryo transfer being somewhere in the first week of July. Yay!! My IPs rock and I can't wait to make them parents. How cool is that?! Being a surro is soooo rewarding. While I am in San Francisco, my Mom will be flown in to watch the kiddos while I am gone. She is really looking forward to that since she hasn't seen them since December. Wish us luck! I will keep you all updated. ;)

Happy Mother's Day to me!

The boys woke me up Sunday morning with cards that they had gotten for me. They were the new Hallmark ones that play back a recorded message for the sender and then they play music. Emerson's said, "I love your kisses Mama" (which he says all the time, lol) and Hayden's said, "Happy Mother's Day-I love you Mama". How sweet are they?! Both boys also gave me some yummy organic chocolate bars.

Clayton made me and the boys breakfast-chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter syrup (he makes the BEST pancakes!). He also gave me a present and I was thrilled to see what it was. He bought me a new set of Kitchenaid Cookware that I have really been wanting. My cookware has seen better days and so I started hinting to him a little while back that I wanted to replace my old ones. He actually ruined one of my old pans with non-stick spray making his famous pancakes, lol.

We took off around lunch to Estes Park. It was so gorgeous up there! We went to the local brewery for lunch. When we were leaving, I noticed some big animals near a fence in the lot next to us. I decided to get closer and then realized that it was elk. It looked like they were fenced in but they were free-roaming. I couldn't believe how they just walked about like they owned the place, lol. Clayton then remembered hearing something about the elk walking all over the town. It was really cool.

The local wildlife