More ramblings!

I finally fit into a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans! Granted, they were my 'transitional' jeans after P&L were born and not a great size, but they fit and that's not something I could say a month ago.

Monday while out at Ciera's lesson I walked a mile around the track and last night before her game I walked 25 minutes around the park. Every step counts.

Over the weekend I stopped waking myself up by 3:30 to pump and allowed myself to just wake when I became 'uncomfortable'. I have some sleep issues though and I was awake almost all night thinking 'it might be time'. I also found myself dreaming that I was pumping while lying down-oh how nice that would be! My supply didn't drop too bad and really I can't say if it was from cutting out the 1-4am pump or cutting out a session all together(I'm down to about 6 sessions a day). I'd been getting about 85 oz a day last week and I went all weekend without recording how much I pumped. When I started back up on Monday I was down to 75 oz and yesterday was back up to 80 oz. I go back and forth between not obsessing over how much I pump each day to needing to know down to the quarter ounce. We are 9 weeks PP though and it's almost time to stop obsessing and just pump what I can, when I can. We have another milk donor that just delivered and she is producing tons of milk, so I know that I could cut back and the babies would still have plenty of milk.

In just a few short hours I get to board a plane and go visit STE and family! I have been eagerly awaiting this trip since the babes were born and am so glad that I went ahead and booked the flight back in January. Knowing I get to visit has made it much easier to get through the last 9 weeks.

Most days I'm doing just fine, but I find myself quite irritable on a regular basis and I'm not sure what is responsible, hormones or lack of sleep. I'm guessing it's a bit of each. This 'limbo' time is tough. It's too soon PP to really think about what to do next, but the mind is racing and really wants to know where we're going from here.

The kids only have 20.5 more days of school, but they have a TON of work to do between now and then. Our STAR testing is now over, but the workload increased this week. Logan has 1 more book report that is due by the 18th and he has to do an oral presentation in addition to the written report. He also has to do a research report and it's due on the 11th. It must include an oral presentation in addition to a written report as well. Plus he has several writing assignments due this week in addition to all of his regular work for the week. He seems to have it under control, but as his mother I'm freaking out a bit over the work load. Ciera came home yesterday with a lot of homework as well. It appears that her teachers' have doubled up on lessons to get through everything by the end of the year. For some reason her work load doesn't cause me the same anxiety.

The kids did get to have a bit of fun during PE today. They got to have Skate Day. Ciera of course did not participate, but she got to hang out with her friends and goof around for about an hour. Logan got to take his Ripstick to school and ride around for 30 minutes. It was a great day for it, not too hot and not to breezy cool. It's been nice to have the weather back in the mid to low 70's.

While I'm gone, not much will be happening (this was not an accident, it took careful planning to find a few days where I wouldn't miss anything by being gone). Thursday Ciera has practice but that's it. Brian is taking the couple of days off work to get the kids to and from school and the kids claim they will stay on top of their assignments while I'm gone.

Our weekend is pretty light. Logan has basketball pictures and a game. We have dinner with my nephew for his 10th birthday and Ciera has softball practice on Sunday. I may drive to Vacaville on Sunday to have lunch with some fellow surrogates, but I just can't decide if I should or not. I've decided to wait and see how scheduled I feel by then.

I'm thinking that April may have been the fastest month this year. I can hardly believe that the month is almost over!

Really?

Have I honestly not written since Tuesday? That can't be right!

Wednesday Ciera had pancakes and Logan chose bacon, but only ate 2 bites. At least I tried to provide them with breakfast and I can live with that. Brian and Logan finished putting the trampoline together Tuesday night, so Logan and his friends got to jump after school. It was still far too hot, so we hosed them down a bit. I think he had a pretty good time with the boys.

Ciera had a lesson in the evening and Logan had basketball. After the lesson Ciera and I did a bit of shopping at the mall. She went to every store looking for a swim suit with a print that she liked and a fit that she was comfortable with. She finally ended up where she started, JC Penney.

Thursday Ciera did not have testing, so she was on her own for breakfast-what a nice mom I am. Logan had a bagel with cream cheese, not too difficult. This was the final minimum day as well. While the kids were at school I ran to Costco for a few last minute items for our trip to Fresno. I of course ended up with way more than I planned to buy and didn't get to baking the cookie dough that I went for.

It was finally cool enough to go to the park with the boys after school. While there I ran into a mom from Ciera's kindergarten class. It was nice to catch up with her and I may even check out her 'book club'. I'm not really into discussing what I read, but I may give it a try and see what all the fuss is about-if I can remember to pick up the book.

Ciera and Brian headed out for team batting practice before the big tournament weekend. Logan and I were home alone for most of the evening, so we picked up Logan's favorite for dinner, Panda Express. Ciera's friend, KK, from softball stayed the night so that Ciera would have companionship on Friday while I was having lunch with my friend Millie.

Friday I dropped Logan off to school at 10am and the girls and I headed off to Yuba City to meet Millie for lunch. Her son, Christopher (born through surrogacy), is just the most adorable little guy. He's almost 4 months old and was such a good baby. I can not believe how active the little guy is! He was moving the whole time, wiggling and kicking! It was so great to see Millie with him (I loved when he snuggled into her shoulder and fell asleep) and to hear about the transition of having a new little baby in the house. I'm so bummed that she's moving so far away, but am also thrilled that I had the chance to meet her and her little guy. Hopefully if she comes back to visit her family someday, she'll give me a call and I can see her again!

Of course I lost track of time and lunch went past the allotted 2 hours. We were officially starting out late for our drive to Fresno, plus I needed to pump. That morning I finally worked on getting a hands free system and it worked great! I was able to get all hooked up and on the road. We did stop while I finished up and the girls had some Coldstone. The drive wasn't too bad (about 3 1/2 hours) and we got into Fresno around 6.

The girls immediately took off to find other teammates and I headed to the room to pump and unpack. I had made arrangements to meet an online surrogacy friend for dinner. We had a great time and again ran out of time. The girls had an 8am game on Saturday, which meant being in the car at 6:30am. So we had to end the evening, but I'm pretty sure we could've chatted for another couple of hours-and I'm not really much of a people person!

Ciera went to dinner with her teammates and hung out with them in various rooms throughout the hotel. She never really knew where she was, but she had a lot of fun. Saturday morning came way too early, but we made it up and out the door with enough time to pick up some french toast sticks.

The girls played 3 games on Saturday. They lost their first game, tied the second but lost in overtime and won their 3rd game. Ciera had some great hits though. Her hard work in the off season is finally paying off. Brian and Logan made it into Fresno at the end of game 3. We got to go back to the hotel as a family and enjoyed a nice pizza dinner in the room. The kids and I got trapped watching a Lifetime Premiere movie, Unstable. After dinner Ciera took off with her teammates again to run around the hotel for 2 hours and Logan got to play with one of the brothers. Nothing is more fun than hide and seek in a hotel! They also had a bit of fun with the luggage carts.

Brian and Logan had stayed home Friday for Logan's basketball game on Saturday. They had a nice time home alone, jumping on the trampoline. The game on Saturday wasn't quite so easy as last week. They lost 7-20something. Logan scored 4 of the 7 points though, so he was pleased by that.

Sunday was another 8am game, but fortunately for me Brian was there and could take her at 6:30. That gave me an extra hour to sleep, get ready, pump and have everything packed and loaded. We were all checked out before we left for the first game. Unfortunately, I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck. It's still quite painful today. From now on I'm taking my feather bed with me to the hotel (if I have the space I really will)!

The girls won the first game, so we got to play again. Again, Ciera had some good hits, but the girls just weren't able to win the game. We had a quick lunch at Chili's and then were on the road to come home. Ciera and I stopped by Ikea on our way and had some fun checking out all the new rooms. Once we were home it was time to unpack and get laundry done. I was exhausted when I finally went to bed at 11.

I was still able to pump fairly regularly this weekend, but I didn't keep track of how much I was getting. I hope to see where I'm at today and that the numbers haven't dropped too badly.

Today I intend to finish the laundry and get a nap in. Ciera has a lesson this evening and I believe we are having enchiladas for dinner.

Tuesday Ciera has a 6pm game and I have to get things tied up at the house before I hop on a plane Wednesday morning to visit STE and the babies. I'm so excited to get to spend 3 days taking in the changes and hopefully helping STE out a bit.

Brian will be on his own with the kids for basketball on Wednesday and softball on Thursday. I return home Friday night and then we have basketball and a birthday dinner for my nephew Jackson, on Saturday.

One day at a time!

Insert witty title here.

Last night I was up until 10:40, which is late for me now that I'm up in the middle of the night to pump. Needless to say, I was dragging this morning. Ciera chose sausage and Logan got an Egg McMuffin to power up their brains for testing today.

I had been feeling like I needed to stop napping during the day. I figured 'regular' people don't just nap every day. As a result I was having a hard time maintaining my patience by bedtime, and that just doesn't seem fair to anyone. So I gave myself permission to nap during the day and hopefully it will help me to be a nicer person at 8:30 at night.

After dropping the kids off I came home to eat my daily oatmeal (supposed to help with my milk supply) and then I was back in bed. I had a 2 hour window and enjoyed every minute of that nap. I had 4 phone calls during that time and I still was able to go back to sleep after each one.

Since the kids were home at 12:30, I broke down and turned on the AC. We're looking at a high of 94 degrees today. Fortunately it cooled off nicely over night. The house was even cool this morning. The temperature should start dropping tomorrow though and we're even expecting a little bit of rain this weekend.

Some bragging to do

You may recall that Friday started out really early, 3:45. I did manage to go back to bed from 6-7 before getting Logan up and pumping one last time before the field trip. We had about an hour drive to get to the 'wetland preserve' in Yolo County. Ciera hates all field trips, so she was less than impressed. I on the other hand had no idea we even had a wetland preserve and was surprised to learn that most of the Sacramento valley was once seasonal wetlands until the river was diverted.

I was able to pump during our lunch break and then we were off to drive through the wetlands and view the birds. I'm not much of a nature gal, so I was about done by then. It was neat to see and to know that it was around (in case anyone I know ever wants to see that sort of thing).

We got back to school a few minutes before dismissal. I was feeling a little tired, but not too bad considering I was up so early.

Logan had a basketball game that night and it was a great game! They won 37-11, but most importantly the team progressed so much since their first game. They'd only gotten to have 1 more hour of practice, but the boys really seemed to get the defense and offense Brian was trying to teach them. There were a lot of great assists, rebounds and shots from virtually every player. Logan really did a great job of being aggressive and not being hesitant with the ball. He got to play point guard some and his favorite, the 4 position. He made almost every basket he shot and scored double digits! He made some great assists as well. We were really proud of how well he did and how confidently and aggressively he played. He did everything we had asked of him!

After a quick hug goodbye, he was off to his Grandma and Papa's house with his cousin so that he wouldn't have to spend Saturday at the ball field. We stopped by the park for Brian and Ciera to pitch and I took a wee nap in the car. We stopped by In-N-Out for a quick burger on the way home. I headed to bed (remember I was up early) and Brian and Ciera went back out to hit at the batting cages.

Saturday we were up by 6 and at the field by 7:45. It got VERY hot this weekend-90+degrees! The girls played great and won all 3 of their games. Ciera had some great hits. It was really nice to see her hard work pay off! After the final game we headed to Grandma and Papa's so Ciera could jump in the pool. The boys had spent some time in the pool earlier in the day and said that the 68degree water felt great!

Logan ended up staying with his cousin another night, so Brian, Ciera and I headed home again. We stopped by Sam's Club to pick up a few necessities and a trampoline. Brian is working hard to get it put together by Tuesday for them (in all of his free time).

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday, but fortunately we had no sunburns at our house this weekend. The girls had another long, hard day. They won their first 2 games and ended up with 3rd place. The team as a whole really came together and showed great promise, we just gave up a bit during the last game. Ciera worked hard, ran hard and aggressively ran the bases (which she's really been working on).

After another quick jump in the pool, we headed home with Logan. It was a long and tiring weekend, but it was great to see both kids do so well. Plus I got to work on my tan and my pumping didn't suffer, in fact I got more milk than average on Saturday and Sunday.

Today was another VERY hot day-92 I believe! I took Brian's car in for an oil change and had lunch with a friend while I waited. I also picked up a couple pairs of shorts so I don't melt in the heat. Ciera and I plan to pick up some snacks in preparation for our big weekend to Fresno.

The kids have STAR testing this week, so minimum days on Tues, Wed and Thurs. Logan has his 3 friends coming over on those days (while the moms are at work) and Ciera is 'maybe' going to make plans. Tuesday she gets to go see 17 Again with her Grandma (Logan declined the invitation-he claims he doesn't like movies at the theater anymore) and then a game that night. Wednesday she may get together with a friend, but she always seems to forget to make the plans, so we'll see. She has a pitching lesson that night and Logan has basketball practice with Brian. Thursday currently has no plans or commitments. Friday we are back to a full day at school and Ciera gets to leave early. STAR testing also means that the kids get a hot breakfast all week.

She has a tournament in Fresno this weekend, about 3 1/2 hours from home, so we plan to leave early so we don't have to drive in too much Friday traffic. Plus the game on Saturday is at 8, which means leaving the hotel at 6:30AM! I'd like to get some rest before getting up so early. Friday will be a busy day though. I'm going to have an early lunch with an online friend (A Potpourri of my Life). She had a son through surrogacy and he's probably close to 4 months old already and I still haven't met him. They are a couple of hours away, but are getting ready to move much further away, so we had to squeeze in a visit. We'll leave from lunch to head to Fresno. I can't think of a better way to start a trip than a delicious lunch at Red Robin and hearing all about the last few months with her new little guy!

When we get to Fresno I also get to meet another online friend through surrogacy(So I married a Republican). I'm always a little nervous to meet new people, but I try to remember that if I hadn't been brave enough to get together with local surrogates 4 years ago that my surrogacy experience would've been entirely different. Sometimes I just have to 'get over myself' and try new things.

The good news is that the temperature should be heading back down to normal 70 degree weather by Wednesday. We just have to get through tomorrow!

Finally catching up!

Tuesday I didn't even try to pretend that I wasn't going back to bed after taking the kids to school. I threw a sweater over my PJ's and off we went. I very happily climbed back into bed for a morning nap. I awoke with the intention of going to the library to pick up the 4th book in the Percy Jackson series. I was seriously bummed when I got there and found that they had cut back the library hours. They were now closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays! So I went by Safeway for a few items instead.

Tuesday night Ciera had a softball game, so the afternoon was filled with the usual hurry up and get something in our bellies before heading out. I believe we had spinach ravioli that night and Ciera had a chicken salad sandwich-spinach in the braces is a nightmare to clean! Logan also did a great job of finishing up his book report. I had hoped he'd edit it on Wednesday, but he felt like waiting to edit in until Thursday was just fine. Honestly, he didn't think it even needed to be edited.

Tuesday had been fairly breezy all day, but it was downright COLD that evening. While the girls were warming up, Brian and I walked the trails at the park. My legs were still a bit sore, but I thought walking might actually help them to feel better. I had now officially 'walked' on purpose twice since becoming pregnant!

Ciera had the 7:30 game, which means we don't get back home until at least 9:30 and by then everyone is hungry again. So after a quick snack we were all able to go to bed much later than we should.

Wednesday mornings are the WORST!! It is so hard to get up on Wednesday's after going to bed so late Tuesday nights. I contemplated letting the kids sleep in, but then remembered that STAR testing is next week and they'd be missing out on the practice tests. So, up and ready, except for me. I'm getting pretty good at taking the kids to school in my PJ's-which I swore I would never do.

Wednesday I did NOT go back to bed! I can't honestly recall what I did with my day, but it did not involve enjoying the softness and warmth of my bed. I did make it to the library though.

Ciera had a pitching lesson at 5:15 and Logan had basketball practice at 6:30. I hear that the practice went really well and Logan did a great job bringing back his aggressiveness. Hopefully we'll see it again at his game Friday night.

Ciera and I stopped by Target to try on a few 'feminine' items. Ciera had expressed an interest in something other than a sports bra and I finally had a few minutes to let her try on some other options. $37 later we were headed home. Since Wednesday was such a busy day, there was no home cooked meal. We all had to get by with Panda Express for the boys and Carl's Jr. for Ciera and I. I don't think anyone complained though.

Thursday! What can I say about Thursday! I started the day with copies at school and a walk around the park with the dog. If you're counting, this is my 3rd walk!! My legs feel great today and the walk was even enjoyable. I guess I'll have to start walking faster.

A friend from when the kids were in preschool found me on Facebook and inspired me to try to figure out how to put up some pictures. I actually found where we keep them on the computer and blew my day messing around with that.

For lunch I cooked up some artichokes. They had sounded really good and were quite enjoyable while eating them. However, they left me incredibly gassy for the entire afternoon/evening, stomach aching gassy!

Ciera had a scrimmage at 5:30, so we had very little time after school to do anything before heading out. She got to pitch some and Logan rode his rip stick around. They played until almost 7:30 though, so it was a long day. The family stopped by Subway for dinner while I ran home to pump.

Once home, Logan still needed to edit his report and Ciera had some homework to finish up as well. I was in rare form, as the artichoke gas was still really hurting me, plus it was getting late and I was TIRED! After a couple go-rounds, Logan finally got his paper edited and printed out. I could finally go to bed.

Ciera's class has an all day field trip today (Friday) that I am driving on. I was a little overwhelmed Thursday night with the technicalities of how to get us all to school on time with me showered and ready for the day. How early was I going to have to get up to be dressed, fed, pumped and with a packed lunch? I was tired just thinking about it!

The answer is 3:45! At 3:45 I got up to pump, folded the load of laundry that Ciera needed clean (at 9:30 she asked me to cut off a pair of jeans into shorts since it would be so warm on the field trip) and was in the shower at 5:00. Hot water in the mornings is carefully allocated. There was not a 'time' for me, but I figured if I showered with Brian at 5am I shouldn't throw off the schedule. So that left me some time now to get caught up. I have every intention of going back to bed for 45 more minutes as soon as I wake Ciera up.

Tonight is Logan's second basketball game. He then gets to sleep over at his Grandma and Papa's so he doesn't have to wake up so early on Saturday. Ciera has a tournament this weekend and both days we'll have to be up early. We have to leave by 7 on Saturday and Sunday could be even earlier. Thankfully our last game on Saturday is at 2, so we should be able to get to bed early on Saturday night.

I will try to update on Monday if napping doesn't win out. It's possible that Brian will get a chance to upload the Easter pics this weekend, but I can't make any guarantees. I know I said they'd be up Wednesday night, I won't make anymore promises.

Monday-our easy day

Aside from everyone having to get up and get somewhere on time, Monday was supposed to be our 'easy' day on the calendar. We had no lessons, practice, games or anything. Within an hour of taking the kids to school my mom calls to see if the kids are available. My mom decided to take my niece, Dorothy, to get her picture taken and found out that my other niece, Melody, didn't have school. So she thought she might be able to get a picture taken with all of the local grand kids. I decided that I could realistically get the kids to the portrait studio after school without too much effort. The kids weren't thrilled, but at 10 & 12 they can be bought with 4 quarters and an ice cream at Dairy Queen. The pictures actually turned out quite nice despite Logan's sweat P.E. hair. It was also nice to see Dorothy and Melody for a bit. I hadn't seen them since Christmas.

While at the mall Ciera checked out a few stores and Logan and I picked up a birthday present for my nephew-a whole 2 weeks early! Ciera didn't understand why I didn't wait until the Friday before his birthday, but I feel so much better knowing that it's been bought and we're prepared.

Of course everything takes longer than I expected so, Brian got dinner started for us. We ate quickly and Brian and Ciera were off to pitch and hit. Logan also got some basketball time with his dad while I was pumping.

Logan has hopefully his last book report of the year due on Friday. He began writing it on Monday evening. I helped him with how to include quotes, but the rest of it he has done on his own. He finished 3 paragraphs on Monday and felt he had plenty of time in the week to finish it up.

Monday I had planned to get caught up on the blog, but my keyboard was acting up again. I'm not sure what it is, as it's now working just fine, but that's my excuse for not blogging Monday. It had nothing to do with the wee nap I took to make up for having to get up so early to get the kids off to school. I really have no idea how working people do everything!

Pre-Easter Pictures

Brian was beat last night, so we have no new uploaded photos. I'll have to give in and let him teach me how to do it. Here are a few pictures to hold you until I learn or Brian has time.

Here's Ciera with her new checkered pants, I believe I mentioned them previously. And of course no picture is complete without a crotch shot of Scamp! And if I'm taking pictures, we may as well take one of each kiddo. Here's Logan making his 'Uncle Jon' face!

Easter Sunday

I awoke on Sunday feeling refreshed, until I went to stand up. The backs of my thighs were killing me from the weeding the day before. Every step was painful and honestly lasted for 3 days-I'm just now feeling almost better.

Ciera and Logan had plans to go see the Hannah Montana movie with their Aunt Betsey and Grandma, so everyone was up early. When Logan woke up, the kids headed out to find their baskets. Logan was pretty disappointed to find that the Easter Bunny did not hide their baskets this year. "He just left them in plain site?" Apparently the Easter Bunny forgot that he/she usually hides the baskets for the kids to find.

Once he got past his initial frustration he dug into the basket. It was the exact basket he had seen at Costco a few months earlier and Brian and I had told him it would be a waste of his money to buy. He loved the little yellow duck though! Ciera was delighted by her basket, as it had everything she had picked out. (I dropped her at Walmart one day and asked her to pick out a basket and the stuff she wanted inside of it, with a dollar limit. Sometimes I wonder if she'd like a bit of a surprise, but she assures me she likes it just the way it is).

Around 9am my mom stopped by to drop of Easter baskets for the kids as well. They were certainly going to have enough candy for the movie. So I dropped them at the theater and I headed back home to finish the yard, sweep the floor-again, clean the kitchen and get dinner started.

We got everything done, food started, showered and I was getting in my last pump before everyone arrived. Then they all arrived, Brian's parents and his sister's family. There's just 10 of us, so it's not a ton to cook for, but cooking is such a big deal to me I tend to stress a bit when cooking for others. Fortunately, Easter dinner isn't too hard (which is probably why I volunteer to do it most of the time). After taking a mid week vote, it was decided we'd have ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked beans, asparagus, corn and rolls-easy enough.

I will pause to give a huge thank you to Brian's Aunt MaryLou! When Ciera was first born she came for a visit, along with his Gram, and they each taught me a few recipes. MaryLou showed me how to make ham and we all love it. It's just pineapple juice, brown sugar and cloves, but it's so much better than the horrible glazes I recall from childhood hams. She also taught me how to cook asparagus at the same time. Every time we make ham, we always think of you and your visit!

After we ate, the kids decided it was time for the egg hunt. Honestly, how can you really hide eggs for 10 & 12 year olds? You can't really, it's the exact same as when they were 4! We randomly toss them around the yard and they sprint to see who can find the most, the fastest. After they were all collected, they emptied the eggs of candy and then rehid the eggs for each other! Next year I'm not going to bother stuffing the eggs. We will toss out the empty plastic and let them 'hunt' and then we'll have a bowl of candy on the table!

It was a lovely day with beautiful weather. We all sat around the table chatting while the kids continued hunting for what felt like hours-they were very careful about where they scattered the eggs.

Then it was time for dessert. Brian's mom had brought apple pie, vanilla ice cream and brownies. It was all delicious and the leftovers were great later on in the week.

We were one of the unlucky families that had to go back to school on Monday, so we tried to get to bed at a decent time. Brian and I did take an extra few minutes to fluff the feather bed though, and it was an amazing night of sleep!

I've found that I'm starting to sleep through my middle of the night alarm. It may be my bodies way of saying it's tired of getting up at 3am every night. Next week I'm going to try cutting it out and see if I drop in supply much. I had planned to not drop it until 12 weeks, but it may be time.

I will edit this tonight to add in pictures, so check back to see how big the kids are getting and their self picked Easter outfits.

Saturday-what was I thinking?!!

We woke up Saturday to a beautiful sunny spring day. We had blue skies and 70 degrees as a high, who could complain about that?

I had volunteered to host Easter with Brian's family, assuming that the kids were too old for an egg hunt and the state of our backyard would not matter. Well, my 10 & 12 year old kids absolutely thought they were young enough for an egg hunt, so Brian decided to tackle the yard. It was truly overgrown and just the thought of doing anything to it always wore us out. But, if Brian was really going to get up and do it than I may as well get out there and help. Brian's plan was just to weed-eat it all down to an acceptable height. I on the other hand, feeling energetic 7 weeks pp decided to actually pull the weeds. I figured it had rained all week, the ground would be damp enough that they would pull up easily. And they did, but there was a lot of them! I lasted about 1 1/2 hours before I started feeling dizzy and tired. I gave Brian the go ahead to just weed-eat the rest of them.

But we weren't done yet. If we were going to finally do stuff in the yard, we ought to take down the broken trampoline and move the basketball hoop. And if you're going to do all of that, you really need to sweep up all of the patio areas.

After spending the whole morning and most of the afternoon outside working, we then headed to the ball fields to watch Ciera's friend play softball. We only stayed for about an hour before heading back home so Ciera could go pitch with her dad and Logan could play some basketball on the new 'court'.

My memory has still not quite recovered from the pregnancy, but I 'think' we had asparagus raviolis for dinner that night. I'm working very hard to make meals at home that will use up all of our frozen items.

I'm pretty sure we all fell into bed rather exhausted. We all had an early day coming up.

It's all the feather bed's fault!

I would LOVE to update about our weekend, but we fluffed the feather bed Sunday night and I just can't seem to get out of it! Once I finally drag myself out of bed for the second time each day, I have just enough time to make myself presentable for the portion of the day that requires me to run all over with the kids. Then when we return home, the bed is whimpering my name and I just hate to hear it sound so sad. Perhaps tonight I'll borrow Ciera's laptop and can really blog about the Easter preparations that have made me so tired, perhaps!

Happy Easter!

We had a great weekend, but I'm exhausted! I'll update tomorrow. I hope you all are as tired and full as I am!

Another sporadically rainy day

It rained off and on all day Wednesday and it looks like today will be more of the same. It's not a heavy rain, just enough to keep the sidewalks damp.

Wednesday morning we got a surprise phone call from Logan's friend Matthew. Logan's day was saved from STAR practice work and he got to spend several hours with his friend shooting baskets with water balloons-in the rain.

I spent the time FINALLY getting the house cleaned up some. I hadn't actually swept or mopped under furniture since the cleaning gals did it during my 2nd week of recovery. I hadn't even swept the 'visible' areas since Logan's birthday in mid-March. If you do the math that's far more time than should've ever passed, but we don't eat off the floors so it's OK if they are covered in dust, dirt and dog hair.

Logan had a rock crystal growing kit on my kitchen counter since the beginning of March and I finally decided that it needed a new home. Of course that meant I needed to reorganize and purge some things from his bedroom. And if you're going to reorganize you should wipe the dust off the shelves at the same time.

Yesterday afternoon I was feeling a little overwhelmed with so many 1/2 started projects, but today I am thankful to have finished up so much. Logan's room feels done enough for me, the bathrooms and the shower are feeling pretty clean, the floors feel wonderful to walk on barefoot, the spots have been scrubbed out of the area rug, all of the counters but one are squeaky clean and I still have all of today ahead of me to get the table cleared, newspapers recycled, my room picked up, a smelly load of laundry done and Ciera's room to 'organize' (once I make the bed it will feel almost done enough).

I managed to take a lasagna and garlic bread out of the freezer for dinner last night. I loved it and thought it tasted even better than when I first made it, but Brian and Logan still didn't care for the spinach in it. I have learned my lesson about sticking vegetables in foods that they don't belong in. I am now left to eat lasagna for lunch for many days. I'm tempted to stick some of it back in the freezer, but the point was to make room for milk.

I also spent last night reorganizing the freezers and moving all of the food inside and all of the milk to the garage freezer. The plan had been to take all of the milk with me when I go to visit at the end of the month, but I think I'm going to have to send out a 3rd shipment since the airlines are actually restricting how much baggage I can bring. It does feel good to see how much milk I've made though. Perhaps we won't have to find other milk donors in 6 months and STE, our donor Kari and I will make enough to sustain V&B for the entire year ourselves. I went ahead and ordered a set of Pumpin' Pals yesterday and I'm anxious to give them a try. They are a set of flanges for my pump that are tilted so you can sit back comfortably and the milk won't back up into the tubing or spill out on me. Some people love them and find they produce more milk, while others find that they don't get as much milk from them. I'm hoping to love them. I also ordered a 'nursing cover' to use while I pump in the van and when others are around so I don't have to go off by myself for 40 minutes. There was a great deal at Udder Covers and I only had to pay shipping. I'm very happy to report that the PISA is doing just fine maintaining my supply.

Ciera is supposed to have a scrimmage game tonight, that may or may not get rained out. Logan and I are going to get going on his STAR language practice questions and we may bake cupcakes too.

Friday Logan gets to spend the day with his friend Garrett and I'm going in to see if my haircut can be fixed. I was just never really happy with the bottom layer-we'll see. Friday evening Ciera gets to sleep over at Rachael's house, so we get another quiet evening with Logan. Logan has taken to sleeping on our bedroom floor, 'since it's Spring Break'. Last night we all watched Marley and Me and tonight we get to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua-should be fun-ish.

Spring Break in Sacramento

Spring here always brings unexpected weather. For Logan's birthday and Easter I never quite know whether to buy capri's or pants, long sleeve, short sleeve or a tank top! The unpredictable weather is part of what makes it difficult for me to find 'post pregnancy transition' clothes.

Monday was a beautiful day, almost too warm. It was 80 degrees, sunny, blue skies and a slight breeze, really just a perfect day. Sadly the kids and I slept away most of Monday!

We wake up Tuesday to strong winds and an overcast sky. By 3:00 it was raining hard, but by 5:00 it's turned into a nice evening. The winds have died down and it's a pleasant 50 degrees outside.

Although it's unpredictable I wouldn't trade our springs for any other, although Spring in El Paso wasn't too bad either.

Monday we had all sorts of afternoon plans that didn't work out. Unfortunately we didn't replace them with much else. The kids and Brian went to watch a friend of Ciera's play softball and I had dinner with some 'surro' friends. I made it through all of Monday with no chocolate, cookies or candy-Woo Hoo! I did sleep for a 6 hour stretch in the early morning without waking to pump. The 'girls' felt just fine, but it hurt my output for the day.

Tuesday I woke at 1 & 3:45 to pump to try and make up for Monday. We all slept in again and headed to a pitching lesson for Ciera at 1. The lesson got rained out and they cancelled her game for the evening as well. This gave me time to get a 47.5 lb box of frozen milk to FedEx by 5:00, so it all worked out. Ciera has spent the evening finishing up some math that I wasn't aware she had and Logan is spending the evening playing with water balloons that he bought with his birthday giftcard (thanks STE-there is water everywhere!).

I do believe we will sleep in again on Wednesday, but up a little earlier. Ciera gets to spend the day and night at a friends' for her birthday. I believe they get to shop at the mall as well. I'm not sure what Logan and I will do, but we'll be having lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. I'm trying very hard to get the freezer emptied out so we have room to store BM, but every time I use something up I seem to buy something else that needs to be frozen!

Spring Break begins!

Friday was our final day before Spring Break! Logan's class went on a field trip to the Eco Station. The Eco Station is a really great non-profit organization that takes in unwanted 'exotic' pets and cares for them, as well as educates kids that they are not 'neat' pets. They are basically the SPCA for lizards, birds and fish.

I thought that I had been there previously with Ciera, but when we started the tour I realized I had been there with Logan when he was in 1st Grade. As a 6 year old he was unwilling to touch the lizards and snakes, but this time he loved it! The tour guide is a very funny guy full of useful scientific information. He even carries around in his pocket the state science standards for the different grades so he makes sure he's touching on the 'important for each grade' information.

We then went to a nearby park for lunch and to play. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time. Logan even got out his basketball and used the basketball courts with a few kids.

Friday night was Logan's first basketball game of the Spring season. Brian is coaching and they only got 1 hour of practice, so we weren't expecting too much. Also, they only had 6 boys with an additional boy added at the game. They ended up losing, but we can only go up from here! It gave us a good opportunity to see what Logan can really be working on and hopefully he will bring his confidence back onto the court with him in 2 weeks.

Saturday was a blank day on the calendar and we took advantage of it by sleeping in and only leaving the house to rent movies. Actually, Brian and Ciera still went out to pitch, but Logan and I declined to get out of our PJ's.

Sunday Ciera and Brian had to wake up to get to softball practice, but Logan and I got to sleep until 8:30. We had a quiet morning. I started to clean up the kitchen and got sidetracked into reorganizing it instead. But I finally got the counters wiped down before heading to bed. I got Ciera to clean up her room with the promise of a trip to Target when it was clean. Logan has a few gift cards burning a hole in his pocket, so he came as well. Since the three of us were going, Brian joined us as well, although I know he regretted the decision 10 minutes into the trip.

Logan got his orthodontic appliance on Thursday, but really just started wearing it Friday night. It's basically a retainer to expand his jaw and do something to keep his bottom teeth from hitting the inside of his top teeth. There was a lot of playing around with it in his mouth over the weekend, but I think he now understands the importance of leaving it alone, hopefully.

Today is our first day of Spring Break. Logan and I slept until about 9:15 and Ciera is about to be woken up. She has a lesson at 3 and then will be seeing a movie with my mom. Logan opted out of the movie, there just wasn't anything out right now that interested him. We are hoping to set up Savings Accounts today, but that may wait until tomorrow-somehow it's almost 11 already!

A new home?

Today is Sunday! Ciera is off at softball practice, Logan is enjoying the Sunday cartoons and I've decided it's time to start a new home. I tried to find a new page template that I liked better than the cherries, so that this place had it's own look, but I chose the cherries because I loved them, not because they represented surrogacy or babies. So, the template comes with me with a few font color changes and a new title. Really I will still write about the same things, as monotonous as they are, but the title now fits a little better and I'm not mucking up the twins' page. I hope to still see some of the same faces, but understand that my day to day life is just not as exciting as growing a baby or two :)