Christmas...

Today is Christmas eve - the nicest day of the year for all little good boys and girls!!! Keeping with Danish tradition, we celebrate Christmas at our house today. Accordingly, Santa came overnight to fill the stockings so I have 3 very happy children running around right now!

As it happens I also got a present in the mail today..my "hands free" pump arrived ... so I am promptly testing it out. It is different - but once I get used to it, I am sure it will be great .. for sure it will be nice not being tied to the couch whenever I am pumping.

Baby V is 8 weeks old today and she has begun to smile. M sent a cute picture for me the other day and we will be heading up for a visit on Saturday to drop of milk and to see the cuties. I am excited to see them - babies just change so quickly when they are this little. I cannot wait to see her smile :-)

Merry Christmas to all!

My baby feet...

I love my mail lady these days...I have been getting lots of Christmas cards, Saturday I got Christmas goodies from my mom and the wonderful birth announcement from M&M..... then today I got something else very special - woo hoo my "baby feet" necklace is here!!

I wanted to have a something special to remember this amazing journey by and I found the perfect thing. A good friend from St. Louis was having a jewelery party from Avaeli Couture and since I could not go to the party, I went online to check out the jewelery - and Jenifer has lots of cute pieces! She did not have exactly what I wanted on her site, but she made a custom order for me by combining two different pieces to make a perfect necklace for me.

The necklace is a Tiffany toggle with name plates for all the wonderful baby feet I have carried under my heart along with a little pearl and a charm with foot prints on it....it is beautiful.

Birth announcement...

This weekend I got something very special in the mail - M&M's birth announcement. It is so adorable and so cleverly made - just perfect for them. Lots of thoughts and care went into making these...and I feel so honored to be mentioned in the announcement (along with their other surro, egg donor ...and more) ... it truly was a treat to get in the mail and it really touched my heart.

6 week check-up...

On Thursday I had my 6-week check-up with Dr. E and I am happy to say that I am fully released from my OB and do not have to come back until my regular annual check-up. My tear has healed up very nicely and now that the stitches are all gone, I am feeling mostly back to normal. My weight has dropped to just 1lb over my initial weigh-in at the clinic...this is very exciting and I know that pumping milk for Baby V (and nursing her occasionally) has definitely contributed to my weight loss. I have also continued to eat a really healthy diet with lots of organics...good habits.

I feel really great emotionally as well. Now that the pregnancy hormones are mostly out of my system, I do not feel quite so emotional anymore. M&M and Baby V still occupy a great deal of my thoughts and it makes my day when I hear news from them...this whole experience just makes me very happy.

I have now completed what I set out to do a couple of years ago - I helped create a family.

Those who say "don't cry over spilled milk" - never pumped exclusively...

grrrrr....I knocked over a bottle just as I was about to pour milk into bags to be frozen.....how frustrating to see milk pouring out over the counter and dripping onto the floor!!! That just made me cringe and very unhappy!

Visit...

Today M&M brought the twins out for a visit - it was so nice to see them. The babies are so sweet. They are thriving with the love of their parents and look very healthy with wonderful chubby cheeks. M&M also brought some delicious bundt cakes....after eating a few of these, my cheeks will look pretty healthy too :-)

I got to hold and cuddle a bunch with little V .. she looked adorable in her little leopard outfit. I nursed her too while they were here - it is amazing that little babies just know what to do. She ate really well ... and I am sure this will have a great impact on my milk supply for the next few pumping sessions. Baby K was also dressed very handsomely - he is a cute little chunk. I got to hold him briefly too but he was a sleepy one today.

I sent a good batch of milk home with M&M, so they should be stocked for a bit...but only for a bit as with two hungry babies I am sure that it will be gone pretty quickly.

M&M Thank you for a wonderful afternoon - you hold a very special place in my heart!

Excited...

On Tuesday I went back to work and it has been a bit hectic adjusting back to a full time schedule. My kiddos have been a little extra cranky as their schedules have been changing as well. Hopefully we will all adjust back quickly. Since Christmas is approaching this is making life a little extra hectic as well. We are all excited about Christmas and I spent the afternoon decorating inside the house. The lights went up outside last weekend....I love this time of year.

I am so excited about tomorrow ... M&M and the twins will be coming out for a visit. It will be wonderful to spent time with them and to see the sweet babes. Today baby K is 6 weeks old..and Baby V will be six weeks in just 5 days! My six week OB follow-up is coming up this week too - it is hard to believe how quickly time passes by...