Changing plans

I am a planner. I like to have an idea of what is going to happen with things so I plan. And I plan. And I plan. Sometimes I plan so much that I don't get to the actual task that needs to be accomplished. It is a bad thing. Most of my planning though helps me. Like my menu plans. They give me a good guideline of what to do. It is so much easier for me to have an idea in place than to try to figure out something at the last minute. This weekend though my menu plans didn't come to fruition. It is turning out okay though. Here is what our menu plan for the weekend was supposed to be:
Saturday
Brunch: Oatmeal pancakes with fruit
Dinner: Pork Roast, barley pilaf and zucchini
Sunday
Brunch: Baked french toast
Dinner: Egg foo young and veggie rice

What we actually did was:
Saturday Brunch: Out. We tried a new restaurant that just opened up about 5 miles from here. We live in the country so a new restaurant out here is a BIG deal. It was okay. Sad to say nothing special.
Dinner: LuLu has been wanting salmon so I bought some today at our big shopping trip. Joe doesn't like salmon (he says he ate too much of it growing up). So dinner was;
Salmon for the girls and me. Shrimp for Joe
Mashed potatoes
Edamame

Sunday Brunch: I made scones. I only make this one a month or so. We consider them a treat. I'll post the recipe below it is super easy.
Dinner: Will be the pork roast, barley pilaf and green salad.

Another plan that we have had in place has been working on our house. Originally, we were going to fix it up to live here forever. But the weather and my husband don't mix very well. So now we are finishing it up to sell. Today we are working in the bathroom. We had already done almost all of it (new tub surround, new sink, new light fixtures, paint, new floor) today we are putting the trim up. Right now Joe is measuring it and then I will paint it. I can already tell that this is not going to be a fun job. He has had to cut the same board 3 times now. Do I hear cut number 4 gearing up? Yikes.
If we get the bathroom done today then we will work on our bedroom. Our bedroom will also be the nursery while we live here. I'm very excited to set it up. I have a plan, of course, for how cute it will look.

Oatmeal Whatever Scones

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together above ingredients

1/4 cup softened margarine
Cut in margarine

1/2 cup whatever.
Here is where I put in whatever I have on hand. Craisins, raisins, grated cheddar cheese, frozen strawberries that I have cut in quarters, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, blueberries, blackberries cut up, etc. Almost anything will work. Mix in.

3/4 cup buttermilk (or regular milk with 2 tsp vinegar added to it).
Add the milk a little at a time and stir it in just until moistened. Divide the dough in half. Flour hands and pat dough into two circles on a greased cookie sheet about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into quarters. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat one egg. After the 10 minutes cooking time brush egg on the scones and then bake until golden brown about 3-4 minutes longer.

I sometimes make a glaze for these out of lemon or orange juice (or just milk) and powered sugar. Or just serve with honey, butter or jam.

I found this basic recipe in the Tightwad Gazette. It is so easy to make and we love the variations. Usually, I make a double batch and then divide that in half and add one whatever addition to part and something else to the other part. This morning I did half with craisins and put a lemon glaze on them when done baking. The other half was cheddar cheese with no glaze just plain. The were delicious and very most.

BeeBeeGa is getting out!

We just found out that Joe's grandma BeeBeeGa gets to go home. In a few weeks she will have surgery to remove the cancer but she is totally stable now. She told Joe she is sure glad she's going home because she was about ready to bust out of there. What a feisty lady!

Thinking

Yesterday I found an online journal written by a boy who was conceived via traditional surrogacy. His story was very hard to read. It basically was a handbook of what not to do in my opinion. He said that he didn't know about his history until he was 13 and then was told not to tell anyone which left him feeling 'like a dirty little secret'.

We (Joe, myself and our surrogate J) have talked lots about how we will be honest about surrogacy. Our baby will grow up knowing that he has another sister in California in addition to my children. He will know about J as much as is age appropriate as time goes on. I know that some people do not believe that this is how traditional surrogacy should be. But for us this is the way we think it should be. Is it the right way to do traditional surrogacy? I don't know. I think that the families involved need to do what is best for them. That is why it is so important to go into this with the right person. Joe and I knew what we wanted. We wanted a 100% open relationship. No secrets, no surprises. We were very fortunate to find J who wanted the same thing.

Our hope and prayer is that by having this open relationship we can avoid some of the heartache that the boy in the online journal has experienced. I believe that surrogacy (both gestational and traditional) and egg donation is a wonderful thing. It should never be some dirty little secret that needs to be swept under the rug. We should be able to celebrate it and shout it from the roof tops.

A beautiful belly

Isn't this about the most beautiful belly you have ever seen? To think that our little baby is in their kicking around is such a great thought.

Inducing lactation and BeeBeeGa update

BeeBeeGa is doing pretty good today. They are still doing tests on her. We should have some better answers in the next few days.

I am inducing lactation. For those unfamiliar with this term it means that I intend to breast feed our baby. In order to do this it will take some prep. I am currently on a medication that builds breast tissue and actually has a side effect of lactation. I'll continue on this probably for the entire time that I breast feed. In October I will add an herb or two and start pumping. I think that I will rent a hospital grade pump until the baby comes. The plan is for me to pump every 3 hours and once during the night. Then when the baby arrives hopefully I will have enough milk that I can breastfeed exclusively. But just in case I plan on having a supplemental nursing system on hand. Something like this. http://www.selfexpressions.com/supnursys.html

So far I have been on the lactation producing med for about 5 weeks. My breasts have went from a B cup to a D cup and I have started having some leakage (drops) and they hurt something awful. Ideally, I should be taking birth control pills too as part of this prep time but I have a difficult time with those so I am doing it without and hoping that I get good results. My husband is pretty excited about my results so far from his manly point of view. Men.

Baby News!

Our surro called. Well she actually left me a message since I didn't hear my phone ring. The message was one of the best messages I have ever received. She called to tell us that she can now feel the baby moving! WhooHoo!!

Menu for the week

With going out of town for Joe's BeeBeeGa I got a little bit off on my menus. Happily I already had this weeks menu plan in place. It is not very exciting (simple food is my motto- think Little House on the Prairie simple) but it will be good to eat at home again. All of our meals for two days were eaten in restaurants. I love eating in restaurants but my tummy and my weight suffer from it. So here is the menu for the rest of the week.

Tuesday
Dinner: Lentils and rice with green salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: rice cereal, eggs and fruit
Lunch: Egg salad sandwiches, carrots and fruit
Dinner: lentil patties, green salad and pickled cucumbers

Thursday
Breakfast: oatmeal, eggs and fruit
Lunch: PB sandwiches, carrots and fruit
Dinner: Lentil loaf (think meatloaf with no meat), mashed potatoes and glazed carrots

Friday
Breakfast: Eggs, toast and fruit
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Homemade pizza and salad

Saturday
Brunch: Oatmeal pancakes with fruit
Dinner: Pork Roast, barley pilaf and zucchini

Sunday
Brunch: Baked french toast
Dinner: Egg foo young and veggie rice

Other additions to the meals will be some kind of bread, muffin or roll. I never quite know what until that day. It just depends on what I made the day before and what is leftover. And we always have fresh fruit and veggies available for snacking on.