My Chaotic World

Boom Boom Pow, lol

2009-07-11T15:13:00.003-06:00

After Sugery

Well, I am now on day 8 after my surgery and things are going well. My scars will take forever to heal but that's okay because no one should be able to see them (other than Clayton and myself, lol). It will take some time for the implants to drop but they already look better than they did a few days ago. I ended up getting 450cc high profile silicone implants. They were placed behind the muscle (called submuscular). I wanted to have the incisions in my armpit but my surgeon recommended under the breast. The scars are just far up enough that you can't see them under my top if I stretched upward. He did a great job and I am extremely happy. When asked if I had any problems, I told him that I just wish that they were bigger, lol. He laughed because about 90% of patients say the same thing. It didn't help that he told his assistant that he knew he should have went up to 550cc when I was in surgery. I really wish he had! Oh well, at least I now look a woman rather than a child. That's what really matters. If any of you are interested in cosmetic surgery, you can go to my surgeon's website at: http://www.drgonyon.com/. Doctor Gonyon was fabulous and I highly recommend him. BTW-I am also getting laser treatments to permanently remove hair from my underarms and bikini line. He gave me that for free. :)

Before Surgery-34A

A Fun Day at Coors Field-Rockies vs. Mariners (from 6/14)

2009-07-06T14:23:00.001-06:00

Hayden and me sitting in the stands

My gal pal Melissa and her son Braeden (who refused to partake in the picture taking, lol)

The boys got to walk around the baseball field before the game started. It was a special day for little league teams. I believe that the boys enjoyed seeing the field from that perspective. Hayden is #6 and Braeden is #13.

The As team with their coaches

This was Hayden's first professional sporting event and he seemed to enjoy it somewhat. He didn't really care to keep up with the game but he loved getting junk food in the stands. Who can go to a baseball game and not get a hot dog? We ended up leaving halfway through the game and boy was it a good thing that we did. After our long walk back to the car it started to rain. Once we hit 25 to go home we we got pounded by a hail storm. Melissa's husband called and told us there was a tornado running along 25. Ugh!! We detoured and parked under an awning at Sonic. It was insane. We couldn't see hardly at all. Thank the Lord that the storm passed and we were able to make it home safely. The tornado supposedly was near the baseball stadium. Everyone there had to cram into the stairwells for safety. Boy am I glad that we didn't have to go through that.

Today is the Day

2009-07-03T05:03:00.002-06:00

Well, it is 5am here and I am ready to go. I have to be at the doctor's office by 6am and the surgery is scheduled for 7am. I am totally excited and quite nervous also. It's so weird to finally be doing this procedure. I have wanted it since I was 10, lol. All my friends seemed to have Ds by the time we hit middle school so I have always been self-conscious of my small chest. My body has always been skinny though so I can't totally complain. Now that I will finally have a womanly figure, I can't wait to buy new clothes and bras. I took some photos for you guys yesterday for my "before" pics. I decided to wear 2 different bikini tops and boy is it sad how I didn't fill either one out. Hopefully that is all about to change. ;-)

I will be home recovering over the weekend and I will update as soon as I feel up to it. I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

New Swim Suits for the Girls, lol

2009-06-23T20:54:00.003-06:00

One thing that totally excites me lately is bathing suit shopping. I am so excited to finally be able to look feminine in one. My new girls (aka-the boobies) will make such a difference. Check out this awesome suit I snagged from Victoria's Secret on sale:And yes, in case you are wondering, I do expect my boobies to be that spectacular, lol.

I also snagged an awesome bikini from Athleta (they are owned by Gap) on clearance. They have bathing suits specifically made for gals with big boobs. I love the styles and patterns that they offer. If you are in the market for a new suit, be sure to check them out. Just go to gap.com and you will see a tab for Athleta.

Tomorrow is my breast augmentation consultation and pre-op appt. Both appointments got rolled into one since my surgery is already scheduled for next week. I am really excited but nervous also. I hope the surgery goes well and that I am not dying in pain afterwards. Someone mentioned to me that a pain pump isn't a bad idea but I am not so sure if that is really necessary. It is an option offered by my surgeon so I will be sure to ask him about it tomorrow. Anyone out there have advice?

A New Me, The Rockies, Bad Teeth

2009-06-15T11:29:00.005-06:00

I have been going crazy with anticipation over the past month. I have elected to do the breast augmentation surgery in early July. Yay!! I have been thin my whole life so that area of my body has never been all that impressive. It really sucks that I was a nice D last month and this month I am back down to an A. How unfair is mother nature?! I really thought that I would be able to keep some of the boobage I gained while pumping milk for my second surrobaby but that didn't happen. My whole life has been spent trying to find bras and bathing suits that flattered being small up top. I am so sick of that! I can't wait to be able to buy cute bathing suits and bras that have little or no padding. The decision to have this surgery has been a long time coming. If I could have done it at 12, I would have, lol. My nickname as "the wall" in middle school really affected me and it didn't help that 2 of my closest friends were D cups by the 5th grade. Everything is about to change for me and I will feel more confident in my clothes. I can't wait!! The consult is going to be next Wednesday and the surgery is now set for July 3rd (I moved it from the 10th this morning).

Yesterday, Hayden and I went to the Rockies game with Melissa and Braeden. We had a lot of fun. The boys got to walk around the whole field in a parade with their tball team. I got some pics but haven't uploaded them yet. I will post those soon. We ended up leaving the game early and it was a good thing we did. It started to rain as we got into the car. On our way up 25, it began to hail horribly. It was insane how bad it was coming down. I thought that it was going to bust the windshield out. Ugh. What is with our weather lately? Last week was full of tornadoes and hail storms. I am so tired of it all. Hopefully this week will be better.

Poor Hayden got 3 teeth filled last week. We were so worried about how he was going to do but he was a superstar. He was lucky in that they didn't have to use a local anesthetic at all. We chose to have him gassed with nitrous though as that made it all that much easier on him. I now know why they call it laughing gas. Hayden was so funny! He talked about feeling like he was turning and some of the things he said were simply hilarious. It definitely help relax him during the procedure. Now we have a problem because he thinks that getting cavities filled is "fun". Ugh.

Playing Catcher

2009-06-07T17:57:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, Hayden got to play the position of catcher. He didn't really like the position but he sure looked cute in all the catcher garb. Look closely in the first pic and you can see him smiling as we were cheering him on, lol.

Setting the ball on the tee (Why won't he tuck his shirt in???)

Mrs. H & Hayden (5/22)

2009-05-29T13:11:00.002-06:00

What is it that makes a kindergarten teacher so special? I still remember mine from back in the day and I will never forget her. She was absolutely awesome and I loved being in her class. Hayden's teacher made me think of her so much. Both were pretty with blonde hair, had fun personalities and the ability to make a kid feel special. I hope Hayden always remembers this woman because she helped start his school career off with a bang. Thanks to her, he is well prepared for the education that lies in front of him. Thanks Mrs. H for all that you have done for Hayden and thanks Mrs. Davis for all that you did for me. :)

Field Day (from 5/22)

2009-05-29T12:31:00.002-06:00

I am a little bit behind on my photos. These were taken last Friday at Hayden's field day and it was the last day of school for him. I can't believe that I now have a first grader on my hands. Wow! Time sure does fly.

H cheesing it up for the camera

Emerson spent the morning playing with his preschool buddy, Riley, while Hayden participated in the events. Unfortunately the weather stunk that morning so they were both cold. They had to run around just to keep warm, lol. Both of my kiddos were in swim trunks because the field day theme was "Beach Bash". What a joke! They froze their patooties off but had fun regardless.

New Stuff

2009-05-28T10:52:00.005-06:00

Ok, I am not much of a girly girl when it comes to clothes and accessories but I have been rather naughty lately. I just bought the shoes shown above from shoebuy.com. They are so adorable. Because they are made by Born (style-Lucie), they are also somewhat comfortable. I had them in brown also but ultimately decided to send them back to purchase the black Soho Coach bag/wallet below (I got the brown bag and wallet for Mother's Day):

Now I am broke but at least I have a few new goodies. :)

If it ain't one thing it's another, I have strep throat. Any lactation experts out there?

2009-05-20T10:04:00.005-06:00

Dang it. I have had a sore throat for the past 3 days accomodated by a mild fever. I finally decided to go to a doctor yesterday and learned that I have strep throat. Why in the world am I the only one in this household that gets sick all the dang time? It's so weird. I have kissed everyone around here and shared food/drink over the past week and still no one else has caught it. Isn't strep supposed to be highly contagious? Don't get me wrong, I am glad that no one else has it but it is so strange how I seem to be the only target. So now I have had a uterine infection, mastitis, numerous colds and strep throat over the past 9 weeks. What's next-swine flu? I am now at a breaking point and I cannot take it any more. I need to get healthy again. Could lactating keep my immune system down just like during pregnancy? It sure seems that I have been on tons of antibiotics since having baby girl. My milk has taken a hit each time that I have to take meds so I am really frustrated at this point. Yesterday's pumping sessions ended with a noticeable drop in production. I am beginning to think that I need to wean but I hate to do that to baby girl. It's just getting too hard to keep up an acceptable amount of milk when I keep getting sick. Is there anything I should be doing to keep my immune system up or will I just have to stop lactating to build my immunity back up? Any advice??

Catching Up-Zoo, Kidlet Updates, Boobies, etc.

2009-05-19T10:49:00.000-06:00

Back in April, we headed to the Denver Zoo with Johnna and her kiddos. We had a good time picnicing on one of the lawns. There seemed to be a ton of Canadian geese nesting and that was pretty cool. See Emerson above? He is looking at the goose from afar because he was afraid of being pecked to death if he got too close, lol.

Here's Talan trying to make Emerson smile for the camera. He was being a pain and just scowled at me until Talan stepped in to help.

A family of geese that we saw near a water fountain

My Mom flew in on April 25th to keep me company while Clayton went away on business. He was gone to Cinncinati for 2 weeks to take some kind of classes for work. I could never be alone at night that long because I get too scared so that is why Mom came to the rescue. It definitely helped having her here. We went out to eat a million times and had fun shopping. I introduced her to the legendary Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish and now she is hooked. The funny thing is that she doesn't even like shrimp all that much but loved these. Hubby was the same way too until he had them. They are totally addictive.

Emerson finished school last week. His school sponsored a fun picnic and then had a program later that evening. My last post on here has a pic of him in his cute outfit. Little boys look so adorable in ties (he calls it his ribbon, lol).

Hayden took his first field trip with his school to the zoo last week. He was so excited to ride the bus and eat a sack lunch. This Thursday is his official last day as a kindergartner and he will have a field day/beach bash party on Friday morning. He has been playing t-ball and played his first game last night. He did great! I love watching his team and he seems to really enjoy playing the sport. Thank God he has some interest in athletics. Last year he lolligagged on the fields as everyone else played soccer. He was so not interested, lol. Now he actually wants to play soccer again so we will register him for fall soccer soon. It just took him another year to want to play sports. Yay!! I love being a sports mama.

Both kiddos should be getting their passports soon. We applied for them last week. Once they arrive we will officially have all of our documents for the upcoming Disney cruise in September. Now we just need to get them swimming. Both boys are signed up for swim lessons starting in early June.

Now on to me. Check out the blurry photo below. Do you see that large mound that seems to be growing out of Hayden's cheek? That would be my new boobies, lol. Right now I am in a 34D bra which is just insane. I have lost all of my pregnancy weight but my boobies don't seem to be going anywhere. I am still pumping 3-4 times a day for the baby so that is why they haven't disappeared as of yet. I would love to be able to keep them but I know that they will shrivel after I wean. If I could just keep them I wouldn't need that surgery in July. Sheesh. That would save me a ton of money. Ahhh, but Mother Nature is so stinkin' cruel. She makes me blossom and then takes it all back later. Sigh....

My Sweet Boy

2009-05-17T00:11:00.002-06:00

Emerson (4)

Here's a recent pic of big E in the front yard before his pre-k program for the end of the year. Isn't he adorable?

I'm back!!

2009-05-16T17:25:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful visit with my Mom for the past few weeks and I have been really busy lately so my blog has been neglected. I am glad to say that life has returned to normal and I should be posting regularly again next week. It has been difficult just trying to do all the things that need to be done. Since it is the end of the school year and Hayden has been playing t-ball, life has been racing by. With all that being said, I will hopefully edit some photos tonight and get them posted so I can catch my blog back up to present day.

I will also try to post a pic of baby girl from the birth. Everyone keeps asking me about her and asking why I never posted a pic. I will see if I can. I need her Mommy's permission first so I can't guarantee it.

I'll Be Back.... (said in the Terminator voice)

2009-04-30T10:47:00.002-06:00

I haven't been able to spend alot of time updating my blog lately because my Mom is in town. She came in last Saturday and will be with us until the 12th. Clayton is in Cinncinnati almost that whole time (thus the reason I had her flown in). Anyhoo, just thought I would let you all know why I have temporarily disappeared.

Fun in the Sun

2009-04-22T13:55:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful outside so the boys took advantage of it. Hayden finally rides his bike without training wheels and Emerson can now maneuver the Jeep really well. I am so proud of them. They had a blast. I just hope that the warm weather is here to stay. Please, no more blizzards!!

"Well" wishes for E

2009-04-21T11:29:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday was spent running to the ER. Poor Emerson was blowing bubbles with Hayden in the backyard when he fell head-first into one of our window wells. Hayden saw it happen and then ran frantically into the kitchen to get me. I panicked and yelled for Clayton to go get him. I just couldn't do it. I was so afraid that E was really hurt and I couldn't stand the thought of it. I wouldn't make a good trauma nurse, huh? Anyhoo, Clayton pulled him up out of it and brought him inside. He wasn't bleeding but he did have a large bump on the back of his head. He was lucky to have not broken anything since the well is about 5 foot deep and has rocks all in the bottom of it. We got into the car and rushed to the hospital to get him checked out (I worry so much now about head injuries thanks to Natasha Richardson. It scares me that someone can seem fine after a fall and then suddenly die from a brain bleed). The doctor at the hospital said that Emerson looked fine but to keep a close watch on him for a few days. He slept with us that night and we had to wake him up every 2 hours to make sure that he could still answer simple questions. I didn't get much sleep that night due to worrying about the little guy so much. He woke up feeling okay. He has a few scratches and scrapes but he seems to be doing fine. It really could have been so much worse. He could have had bleeding, broken bones or a concussion. Thank God for watching over him.

***Please note that we do have well covers on our back 2 wells because they are level with the patio. We decided not to cover the 3 side ones because there is nothing near them and the ground is completely covered with rocks. The kids KNOW that they shouldn't be near them. Sigh...well now they know why.

Now on to me. I am a complete klutz and I admit it. Monday was such a pretty day that I decided to pull Emerson in the wagon to pick up Hayden at school. Clayton had it hanging so high in the garage that I couldn't get it down. I pulled a 5 gallon paint bucket over to it and used it to stand. The stupid thing tipped over just as I was about to get the wagon off the bracket. I landed on my butt. I have a big bruise on my right hip and a scratch on my arm. I am really thankful that I didn't hit my head. What is with all these falls lately?

Emerson's New Glasses

2009-04-16T11:23:00.000-06:00

E was watching tv when Clayton took this pic. The background was distracting so I changed it over to black and white. In case you are wondering, his frames are blue.

Egg Huntin'

2009-04-15T16:07:00.000-06:00

Hayden (6) & Emerson (4) hunting Easter eggs in the back yard

Gee, I can't wait until the weather warms up and we can turn the sprinkler system back on. That brown grass is driving me batty!! I need some green around here.

I am a total slacker, Easter and Emerson's new glasses

2009-04-15T14:52:00.004-06:00

Is anyone even still checking in on my blog any more? My lack of updates surely doesn't help, lol. Sorry for that but I am like this after each birth of a baby. My mind doesn't like to focus on much, especially the computer. I am a terrible emailer and blogger right now. For this I am sorry. I just have to take time for myself during the post-partum period. It's my time to rejuvenate and get back to normal. I am doing well at this point both mentally and physically so I should be back to my old self soon.

What did you all do for Easter? We had the Long family over and had a lovely dinner. Johnna made the yummiest ham and I went all out with the sides. For dessert, I got us some toppings and ice cream to make sundaes. The kiddos had a wonderful time playing together. The adults played some Guitar Hero and chatted. It was a relaxing and fun day.

Emerson came home last week with a sheet from a free eye check at school indicating that he may be farsighted and have astigmatism. I immediately made him an appt. with my eye doctor for Saturday. He was a little bit nervous but did all the tests perfectly. I was amazed at how well he took instruction from the doctor. After everything was done, the doctor told us that E is very farsighted in his left eye. Most kids are a bit farsighted at his age but his condition wasn't anywhere near normal. He also has slight astigmatism which wasn't a shock considering almost everyone in my family does. It just means that our eyes aren't perfectly round. Anyhow, we ended up ordering him a pair of glasses and he looks so cute in them! I will be sure to get a pic of him this week for the blog.

MAJOR Grocery Savings, weight loss and other stuff

2009-04-06T20:29:00.001-06:00

[I apologize for the lack of photos. I have been experiencing technical difficulties.]

I went to the grocery store last week and bought $344.00 worth of groceries for only $124. That is a savings of over $220 thanks to the Grocery Game!! Everything was name brand and I didn't buy anything that we didn't need. You naysayers have no idea what you could be saving. It is insane to pay full price for food when you don't have to. If you are interested in learning more, do a search on my blog (at the top of the page) for "grocery game" and you will find several posts from me on the topic.

I am about to reveal a very sensitive thing about myself-my weight. I normally would never do this, especially here on my blog, but I am totally amazed. Today marks 1 month since giving birth to my surrobabe and I am at...............124 pounds!!! It is incredible to have my body bounce back so quickly and I am eternally grateful to my genes for that. After having my 1st baby it took me about 8 months to get back to my normal weight, it took about 3 months after the second, 1 month after the third and 3 weeks after the fourth. How can it have gotten easier after each baby? I thought that it would be harder with each child. If I wasn't wired this way then I seriously wouldn't have considered being a surrogate.

Speaking of surrogacy, baby girl is doing fabulously. She is getting big and her parents are so in love. Ahhhh, isn't that sweet? It makes me feel so good to know that I played a part in helping create their family. What an honor that was! I just shipped out another cooler full of milk for her today. I love being able to continue helping them even after she was born.

Spring break is finally over, thank the Lord! My kiddos drove me nutso all week long as they were continually consumed with sheer boredom. It didn't help that we got hit with 2 different snow storms either.

Are you in the mood for a delicious treat? If so, you must try this recipe-Bliss Layer Bars. They are sinfully delicious. We found them to be best straight out of the fridge. If you let them warm up, the chocolate seems to overwhelm the peanut butter goodness on the bottom. I got this recipe from the Sunday Baker. Her yummy blog is listed on my right sidebar.

Here's another personal topic for ya-boob jobs. Have any of you gals ever considered plastic surgery? Right now I love that I am a 36C but I know that will change as soon as I stop lactating. Ugh. Why can't I just keep the ones I have now? They are perfectly shaped and full. To keep that appearance I will have to undergo surgery. Fullness is just something that I don't possess when they aren't full of milk. Have any of you undergone an augmentation or know someone who has? I would love opinions. I already have a surgery scheduled for July 10th but I don't know if I will actually go through with it. I may chicken out, lol.

I will update tonight, I promise!

2009-04-06T11:37:00.000-06:00

I have already got a lengthy post in draft form right now. I just don't have time to add photos to it at the moment. I will post everything later tonight. ;-)

***Yes Amber, I am making sure to post since you demanded that I update my blog, lol.***

Hungry?

2009-03-29T20:23:00.000-06:00

Emerson

One would think that we must starve our children since they felt the need to resort to eating snow. I assure you that we do feed our kiddos, lol.

Hayden

My Silly Boys

2009-03-28T09:26:00.000-06:00

I have alot of catching up to do on the old blog. It seems that since I took such a long blogging hiatus during the pregnancy that I have a bunch of photos to sort through. Here are a few that I thought were particularly cute. The photo above is of the boys wearing their Valentine's shirts (Gymboree). Aren't those shirts just the coolest? The photos below are of Clayton with each of the boys. He took the pics himself so they were a little too close to the camera for good quality. I transposed them into funky colors for a fun scrapbook layout that I have in mind. There are more pics in that series but Clayton would probably kill me if I posted them on here for the world to see. They are quite ridiculous, lol.

Moo!!

2009-03-27T10:17:00.000-06:00

No, that bottle didn't just come from my milk man. That's all me. Just call me a walking dairy. Baby girl seems to really like my milk. She didn't do as well on formula. She had to be supplemented with formula while I built up enough milk reserves to ship a cooler-full to her in NY. I sent 360 ounces of frozen liquid gold this past Monday via FedEx overnight. I hope to send her another cooler next week. Right now I am averaging 40 ounces a day. I think that it should be a little bit higher by now but the doctor told me that the antibiotics that I took last week can hinder milk supply. I won't complain though because I am making more than enough to feed her daily. She is currently drinking 20 ounces a day. Grow baby girl, grow!

The filled cooler ready for shipping

You would think that I had a new baby at home just by looking at my countertop, huh? It's insane how many bottles and pump items I have to clean on a daily basis. It's all worth it though. ;-)

The Blizzard of 2009

2009-03-26T11:33:00.001-06:00

I knew that they were calling for snow today but this is wayyyy worse than I expected. I hate it when it snows here because life continues on regardless of how much snow we get. Well, not today. School was actually called out for the first time since we have lived here. Yay! I have now learned that it really does take a blizzard for my boys to be kept out of school, lol. Wouldn't you know that we tied the record high of 79 degrees just this past Sunday? Sheesh...

The pics are a bit dark but I chose to leave them that way. It is really gray outside and I felt that photoshopping them to make them lighter took away from the way it really looks out there.

I want to thank everyone who has sent me well wishes over the past few weeks. It has been crazy around here. I am finally on the mend and my family is doing well also. Thanks for keeping us all in your thoughts and prayers. Speaking of which, please keep my cousin Renae's family in your prayers as they just found out that her husband lost his job. The company he worked for just up and left without any warning. I hope that Ryan can find another job soon and that everything will work out for the better.