My deals of the Week

Here's all the free stuff I got this week. The Fieldwork $100 Visa gift card is from a market research study I participated in on Monday night. I got a free pair of silver hoop earrings from 1dealaday.com. The coupon for the free box of Minute Made juice boxes is from mycokerewards.com. I don't buy a lot of cokes, but when I find a free code for mycokerewards, I jump on it! The can of Progresso Recipe Starters, the coupons for it, as well as the coupons for UNReal candy bars all came from Bzzagent.com. Not pictured is the super cute personalized photo card I designed and got from cardstore.com. It arrived quickly and it looks great! I will definitely order from them in the future! I hope my husband likes the anniversary card I made him! :)

Kindergarten Rocks!

Leading up to Monday, I have been reading the book Kindergarten Rocks to Abby to get her excited about school. We are 4 days in, and I think I can safely say that indeed, kindergarten does rock.

Any fears that I may have had that Abby would have a hard time adjusting were completely washed away when she headed down the hall with her new classmates on the first day, without so much as a glance back in my direction. It was simultaneously a huge source of pride to see my girl so confident and independent, and also a huge blow to my mom ego that perhaps she isn't as dependent on me as I am on her.

Ethan starts preschool next Tuesday. Meet the teacher was this morning and went perfect....until another 3 year old boy "borrowed" the bus my son happened to want to play with. Poor kid was the lucky recipient of Ethan's wrath. This year should be a blast for his teachers! And then it will just be me and Reese 2 days a week. This is the point at which my ovaries quiver, and I start to imagine what life would be like with 4 kids. Heaven help my poor husband. :)

I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

Whew!  Has it really been almost 2 years since my last post?  That's bananas!  So, what have I been up to you ask??  I'll give it to you in bullet points:

• Celebrated Ethan's 2nd Birthday Feb 2011
• Took a family trip to San Antonio in April 2011
• Celebrated Abby's 4th Birthday May 2011
• Abby started Preschool September 2011
• I decided to become a Surrogate!!  Met a wonderful couple, and we transferred 1 frozen embryo September 2011
• Celebrated Reese's 1st Birthday September 2011
• Celebrated Ethan's 3rd Birthday February 2012
• Celebrated Abby's 5th Birthday May 2012
• Delivered a healthy baby boy for an amazing, deserving couple May 22, 2012
• Went to Las Vegas with my hubby and had a blast July 2012

And that just about brings us up to date.  I will try to go back periodically and tell stories and fill in the gaps from the past couple years, but right now?  Oh my gosh!  There is so much going on in the RIGHT NOW!  Abby is about to start KINDERGARTEN!  Whoa!  I am a big ball of crazy right now about the whole thing.  And my little man is about to start preschool!  PRESCHOOL!  The last time I posted he was 1, and now he's starting preschool!  That just blows my mind!  And I'm just having fun and loving life.  And trying out new recipes and crafts from Pinterest!  Like the one I'm trying tonight!  Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan and oven roasted broccoli and cauliflower.  I will definitely let you know if it is a success or not!

Gotta run, kids are destroying my house playing quietly in the other room, and it's time to get dinner on the table!

Reese Ann McGee

She's here!!! I can't believe she's finally here!!! Reese made her entrance into the world on Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 2:22 pm. She weighed 8 lbs. 0.6 oz. and was 19 in. long. She has a ton of hair!!! My heart hurts with love for this little girl. She is so sweet!! We went in today for her first dr. appt. and she has dropped down to 7 lbs. so we've got our work cut out for us to try to fatten her up. Now that my milk has finally come in that should do the trick. We go back on Thursday for a quick weigh-in to make sure that she's headed in the right direction.

Abby and Ethan has been the sweetest big sister and big brother. Reese is a very lucky girl. Abby loves to hold her baby sister, and Ethan can hardly wait to share his juice and trains with her. Life is already crazy with 3 kids, but I wouldn't change a thing. I love it!!

Pictures!!!

To make up for my lack of pictures in my last post, I thought I would post these few taken last weekend!! Here is my cutie-patootie 18-month old handsome little man, and a few shots of me 36 weeks pregnant headed to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Kobes--yum!!

37 Weeks!!!

Holy cow!! Has it really been THAT long since I posted to my blog?? What a total slacker I am!

Anyway, I am 37 weeks pregnant today! I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by! On one hand I want time to slow down so that I can enjoy every moment, but at the same time I am so anxious to meet my little girl!!! I can't believe that in about 3 weeks I will be holding her in my arms!!!

At my 36 week appt. last Thurs. I was 75% effaced and 1-2 cm dilated. I have my 37 week checkup tomorrow and I am anxious to see if I have made any further progress. I have certainly felt like there has been a lot of progress in the past couple weeks by way of tons of uncomfortable contractions. I guess it's just my body practicing for the marathon ahead!!

Greg bought me an awesome camera for my birthday (Nikon D3000), so as soon as I figure out how to use it I will be posting more pictures!! And I have decided to make my blog public for now, to make it easier for everyone to access!! I may have to change this if I get any unwanted visitors, but for now, we're going public!!!! :)

Sorry no pictures today, but more updates soon!!

18 Weeks!!!

I am 18 weeks pregnant today! It seems like this pregnancy is flying by. I almost forgot to record the info from my appt. last week:

4/22: HB-161 bpm; +5 lbs!!!

Met with our new ob, and she seems really nice. I hope that this is a good fit and that everything goes smoothly with our labor and delivery.

I have an appt. in one week with the peri, and hopefully we will get to find out the gender of our "mystery baby" then!! Can't wait!!!

In the meantime I've been keeping myself busy with planning Abby's 3rd birthday party! Gosh, when did she decide to grow up!? She is turning into this little lady who uses manners and correct grammar (sometimes) and she cracks me up daily with the things she says! She is still pretty adament that this new baby is a boy, so we'll see next week!

And I am enjoying Ethan's babyhood, while it lasts. I am trying to treasure every moment and not rush him to get too big too fast, because these moments are fleeting.

Gosh. Mom.of.three....in 5 months....or less! Yikes!