Disney Trip-Day 6 (September 24, 2008)

Today's Destination: Hollywood Studios

Breakfast-ABC Commissary (HS-counter service)
Lunch-Capt. Cook's (Polynesian)
Dinner-Sci-Fi Dine-In (HS) 5:15pm

We dilly-dallyed getting out of bed that morning because we were so tired. We got over to Hollywood Studios mid-morning and picked up some fast passes to Toy Story. I couldn't believe how long the lines were just to get the stupid passes. It was crazy. I went ahead and got us regular fast passes but then I also got some immediate ones using magic fast passes that we acquired during the DVC tour. That rocked! The ride was really cool and I think that the boys really enjoyed it.

After Toy Story, we headed over to the ABC Commissary to get a late breakfast. It was okay, not much to write home about though.

The boys headed over to Star Tours while I had to do a little shopping for a new shirt. I had spilled a lot of drink down the front of my shirt while snapping photos in front of the Cars characters. That will teach me to never hold a full drink mug in the same hand that I am holding my camera in, lol. I ended up getting a cute pink Minnie tee.

For lunch we headed back to our resort. There just wasn't enough stuff in HS to keep the kiddos amused and our dinner reservation was a long way away. Capt. Cook's really isn't the best for lunch or dinner foods but at least we didn't go hungry.

We took off for HS again a little while later to meet Sandy and her family. We rode Toy Story again and then did Star Tours while waiting for dinner time. Sci-Fi had tons of people waiting to get in but we only had maybe a 20 minute wait. The kids had a blast sitting in the cars while we ate. The huge movie screen showing crazy old flicks in front of them helped keep them calm. It was fun. This was the first time that we ever got to sit in the front row of cars so that was cool. Sci-Fi's food is just okay but the atmosphere is what we keep going back for.

Disney Trip-Day 7 (September 25, 2008)

Today's Destination: Epcot

Breakfast-snacks from Kona Coffee stand (Polynesian)
Lunch-Garden Grill (Epcot-Future World) 12:30pm
Dinner-Rose & Crown (Epcot-UK-World Showcase) 5:50pm

We were supposed to go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast today but I had to cancel when I realized that we got up 10 min. before we were supposed to be there. Oh well. Clayton ended up going and picking us up some pastries and croissants from the Kona coffee stand.

Since I cancelled our big breakfast, I went ahead and booked Garden Grill for lunch. We loved it last year and this year was just as good. They have characters during the meal and the food is really tasty. I definitely recommend this one. The only bad thing is that they are going to cease serving lunch there and dinner will no longer have the characters beginning in early January. That makes me so sad.

This day at Epcot was simply wonderful. It wasn't too hot and there was a breeze to keep the air circulating. We did lots of rides and didn't feel as though we had been steam rolled by the humidity.

Dinner was magnificent at the Rose & Crown. I cannot believe that I had never been there before. It was soooo good! Clayton got some wonderful fish and chips. His fish was not fishy at all and the fries were the good thick ones. I had a wonderful chicken dish with roasted garlic bread pudding and onion broth topped with onion marmalade. I know, mine sounds too oniony but it was really really good and the chicken was super juicy. The dessert was why I really wanted to go there but it wasn't all that. I got the famous sticky toffee pudding and ended up giving it to Emerson. Regardless of the dessert, this place gets a high approval rating from me.

I must mention this as it was one of my proud parenting moments. While we were eating dinner, an older lady was sitting across the way and she must have been paying attention to us. She came over to me and told me that I have wonderfully behaved little boys. I was thrilled to hear that from someone. It's nice to be validated sometimes. I told her that they wouldn't be there if they couldn't behave. It is my job to make sure that they do and I would never treat them to restaurants if they couldn't. ;)

Disney Trip-Day 8 (September 26, 2008)

Today's Destination: Magic Kingdom

Breakfast-Crystal Palace (MK) 10:15am
Lunch-Capt. Cook's (Polynesian)
Dinner-Liberty Tree Tavern (MK) 5:20pm

Today was the day that we had all been waiting for. We couldn't wait for the Halloween party that night.

We had a fun character breakfast at Crystal Palace in the MK. This place was very pretty and the food was good. The characters were a delight. We saw them all except Tigger. He kept skipping us and my kids wouldn't ever motion him over. Oh well, it was still fun.

After breakfast, we didn't feel like doing rides because we knew that we would have to wait in line for them. At the party there would be no waits so it just wasn't worth it during the daytime. We headed back to the Poly for lunch and I took a nap while the boys went to the pool.

We left the hotel around 4:45pm to make it to our dinner ressies at Liberty Tree Tavern. We made a point to go there for dinner sometime during our trip because this would be the last time that we could see the colonial characters. There are going to quit doing characters in January so that stinks. Also, this night was a special treat to see the characters because they wear costumes over their colonial garb on Halloween party nights. Dinner wasn't very good at all (I highly recommend their lunch menu though) but we still had fun because Sandy and Sage were with us. Poor Emerson slept through the whole meal once again so he missed out on seeing Minnie. He had been trying to find her the whole trip.

The parade was awesome and the Hallowishes fireworks were spectacular. I cannot say enough about how wonderful the Halloween party is. The tickets were steep but they are truly worth every dime. Hubby even agrees with me on this. We had an absolute blast and it was the best night of the whole trip. We walked onto every ride there. No waits! If we ever go again during the Fall season, we know that we will be doing this party again. It is soooo worth it. By the way, we have all the party music on CD and we play it all the time in the car. It is pretty catchy, lol.

Disney Trip-Day 9 (September 27, 2008)

This was our last day and we were so ready to return back to the wonderful climate of Colorado. I won't miss how we would start sweating the moment that we would walk outside, that's for sure. We started off with eating breakfast in the room and then we gathered all of our belongings for Magical Express to pick-up. We left everything with concierge and did some last minute shopping in the Boutiki shop on the bottom floor of the Polynesian. Lunchtime was spent at Captain Cook's just before our 2pm pick-up for the airport. After getting our tummies full, we boarded our bus and started the arduous journey home. Our flight left at 5:15pm (Eastern time) and we arrived in CO around 7:10pm (Mountain time). After gathering up our luggage we had to take another bus to pick up our car from the parking lot. It felt so good to finally be back home and riding in the car seemed like such a luxury, lol. My butt was tired of sitting in uncomfortable seats on the monorail, buses and planes. It was nice not having to rent a car in Orlando though.

So that was the end. We had a good time but we aren't planning on going back for a few years. Disney World is such a tiring trip. Our next vacation will be either spent in England with the Barnes family, on a beach somewhere or on a cruise. Whatever we do it will not be as fast-paced as this trip. We want lots of opportunities to just lounge around and relax.

Stay tuned for Disney Photo Pass Pics. I have to order them and then upload the CD once I get it. It will be a couple of weeks or so until I get it.

Disney Trip Report-Coming Soon!

The report is almost complete. I will post it either today or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay but it takes forever to write it all out. I have it arranged by day and all 9 posts will be posted at the same time. I still have to upload the pics from my camera so that will take me a little while to do. Keep on checking though, I should have it all up very soon. ;)

Email Woes

I have been having email problems for a couple of months now. I had no idea until just recently. My incoming emails come through fine (at least I think that I am receiving everyone's messages) but outgoing messages go nowhere apparently when I use my laptop. If I email someone from my Blackberry it goes through though. Weird, huh? I don't get how that is happening. I use the same email address either way. If anyone knows how to possibly fix this, please let me know. I hate not having my regular email!

Ready to go!!

We are only 2 days out from our return trip to Disney World and I am so excited! The kiddos are packed up and I will finish Clayton's bag/my bag today. I have a million things going on right now so I am a bit stressed out. I could be compared to a chicken running around with its head cut off. I am just ready to get the heck out of Dodge. It doesn't help that Clayton is having a bad work week and has had to work late some. Ugh. Just get me on a plane now!!

Check out these cute shirts that I picked up from Gymboree for the Halloween party that we will be attending on the 26th:

The boys are going to be so cute!

Clayton and I have been toying with the idea of joining the DVC (Disney Vacation Club). They just announced that they are going to start selling the new Bay Lake Tower units this Sunday. How perfect is that? Now we will be able to inquire about this location while we are there. Originally, we were only going to be able to talk about Animal Kingdom Villas with the DVC people because they had no info. on BLT yet. BLT is the only location that we are really interested in so that definitely works in our favor. We particularly want that location if we buy in because it is adjacent to the Contemporary Resort and we would be able to walk to the Magic Kingdom from it. All the other DVC sites are kinda far away from the MK and that doesn't appeal to us. We prefer to be on the monorail loop and this would allow us to have this luxury that we are used to getting while staying at the Polynesian (and that is the main reason we choose this resort).

Anyhoo, as of right now we don't see the money being completely worth it but we are going to still talk to the DVC people to make sure that we understand all the fees correctly. I sure hope we are wrong. Clayton has run tons of numbers to try and make the DVC seem worthwhile but it hasn't so far. As it stands, we are able to book the Poly every year at full rack-rate during peak season and it still is a better value. It would take 11 years of being a DVC member to actually start seeing any kind of value in it. The part that gets me is that after you pay the initial hefty fee to join, you still have to pay yearly maintenance fees that could be around the $1200 range (or higher). If we don't use our points, we would still have to pay that dang fee yearly until our membership ran out (year 2050). That is a lot of money and I have a hard time seeing that as a good deal. We are going to make sure that what we know is correct before totally poo-pooing the idea though. I really hope we are wrong because so many people have joined DVC lately but I have a feeling that Clayton has it figured out correctly and it wouldn't be a good deal. We shall see.

A little bit of our new landscaping in the backyard

Fred put in a winding trail from the front to the backyard for Clayton so that he could easily take the mower back there. The stuff he used looked powdery and fine when he initially put it all in. He then watered it and it made it work kinda like cement, only softer. I believe he called the stuff "breeze". We love it!

This is the berm located in our back right corner of the yard. We got 2 "clumps" of aspen trees and a tall grass for it. The grass looks rather drab right now but that is because it has been cold lately and all of the tall tails on it got broke during transport. That's okay though. It will look good next spring.

This is the small berm located near the center of the back fence. It divides the area that the kiddos' play in from the grass. We have an aspen clump here, 2 junipers and 2 tall grasses (the tops of the tall tails got broken off on these also).

I can't remember the name of these shrubs but they sure are pretty. We have 3 planted to the left side of the kiddos' play area. They attract lots of honeybees much to my delight. Honeybees are so fun to watch and they tend to be docile. Hopefully they won't mess with H & E. The plants are small but tend to grow rather large over time. I can't wait until they sprout out and upward next year.

This is purple sage and it grows really well in CO. We have 3 against our back fence. They are pretty small right now but they get to be huge after a couple of years.

I would have taken a pic of everything together but I had the wrong lens on my camera at the time. I apologize for the quality of these photos because it was so sunny outside that I couldn't see the LCD screen at all to tell if the pics were worth a darn. Oh well!

Mmmmmm...

Yesterday I got the urge to make the pumpkin apple muffins that I saw on Tanya B.'s blog, Sunday Baker. They have chunks of apple and lots of pumpkin pie spices. My kitchen smelled wonderful while they were baking. She describes them as tasting like Fall and I will agree with that. What could be more Fall-ish than apples, cinnamon and pumpkin? The streusal topping is superb. My family gave this recipe a thumbs up (well, Hayden had to pull out all the apple chunks before he would eat it, lol). If you want to give this recipe a whirl, visit Tanya's blog post: Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Baby Update

I went in on Monday for my 12 week OB appt. and the nuchal translucency screen. Baby looked great and so much larger than the scan a few weeks ago! The heartbeat was around 150. So far so good. We will know the results of the NT around Monday so please pray that everything goes well for my IPs and their little one.

BTW-I will post some pics of my backyard soon. Our awesome landscaper put in several plants/trees for us yesterday. He is making us a winding walking trail from the front to the backyard today so that Clayton can easily take the lawnmower back there from the garage.

All Alone...

and LOVING IT!! No offense to my family but it was so nice having a quiet home this weekend. I brought up all the Halloween/Fall decorations from the basement and started prepping my house for the upcoming ghoulish holiday. Yes, I know it's a tad bit early but we leave for Disney in 12 days and when we get back it will almost be October. I figured that it would be good to come home from Disney and the house already be decorated. Our last day at the World will be spent at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party so it will be great to come home to our Halloween inspired home after that.

I also brought up the Christmas wrap so that I can get all of our gifts wrapped up. Since the boys are gone, it is much easier to get this done because I don't have to worry about them seeing anything. ;) I also got my Christmas cards ready to go a few days ago. If I didn't stay on top of these things early I would surely go nutso in December.

Bad news/prayer request...
I got a phone call on Thursday about my Father. He unexpectedly got laid off from his job and now he is terribly upset. Please say a prayer for him that he will find another one soon. My Mom is a housewife so he is the breadwinner. I feel so bad because he actually liked his job and took pride in his work. Life can be so unfair sometimes. :(

Big E's 1st Day at Pre-K

Emerson has been totally psyched to go back to Pre-K. He got to go when he was 1 back in NC but no one here offers programs for kids younger than 3. Since his birthday is after the cut-off, he missed going to the 3's class last year even though he turned 3 shortly after the school year began. Ugh. Now he is almost 4 but is in the 3's class. Oh well, at least he'll have the advantage of being a little older than the other kiddos. He'll also be one of the first in his class to get his driver's license. :P

So sick of being sick

Well, I'll be danged (yes, I am from the South). I can't seem to get a break lately. I thought that Zofran was going to miraculously make my life better since it took away all of my nausea but then the side effects decided to take over this past week. Last Thursday was the worst day EVER and I am not even going to go into specifics as to why. Just trust me on this one. Anyhoo, since I had to stop taking the Zofran for a while I have had to deal with the yucky nausea again. Ugh. It is miserable. If my previous 3 pregnancies had of been like this I wouldn't be sitting here with a 4th. You can bet your booty on that one. I have always breezed through the first 2 trimesters and could eat whatever the heck I wanted. This time I have to force myself to eat even though I don't want anything. That sucks and totally takes the enjoyment of not worrying about my calorie intake away (I have the mentality that I am going to get fat anyway so who cares if I eat a box of Twinkies, lol).

I will say that the past few days have been a little bit better. The bouts of nausea have spaced further out and seem to begin in the early evening. Hopefully I will be able to get out of the nausea phase before our Disney World trip. We are leaving in 16 days and I am a little bit concerned about me not being able to eat while there. I will be so angry if I can't take full advantage of the dining plan. Ugh.

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!!

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?