A long, exhausting, birthday weekend!

I'm just finally getting caught up after Logan's birthday weekend (if you recall I tend to stretch out the birthday's longer than necessary).

Thursday night an IM friend was in town and I hadn't seen her since this summer, so of course I had to meet up with her for a quick visit before she left town. I was pretty tired that day, but not hooking up was out of the question. I left our visit around 9:30 and successfully pumped in the van on the drive home. This allowed me to go to bed as soon as I walked in the door-30 more minutes of sleep!

Friday was a minimum day for the kids (as was Thursday). Ciera went to a friends house for the afternoon and Logan had 3 friends come home with him. We went out for lunch at Taco Bell and then the boys played Guitar Hero World Tour, made videos with the new camcorder and dug a hole for their 'time capsule'. In the afternoon we headed out for miniature golf and some laser tag. I am not a mini golf fan, but it was fun to watch the boys. Brian had taken the day off to help out in case I wasn't physically up for it (we didn't know how I'd be feeling when we planned it-plus pumping with 4 10 year old boys isn't the easiest thing to do). We've never done laser tag before, so it was a very odd feeling to turn 4 boys over and not go in the room with them. It just seemed like they needed some parental supervision, but the gal assured me they would be fine and that's how it's done. So Brian waited for them and I went to the van to pump. When we got home they finished up their time capsule and buried it while I made dinner-taco meat, nacho cheese, refried beans, tortillas, chips and lettuce for "Make whatever you want". They watched a movie, had cookie pie and ice cream before going to bed (or whispering in bed for hours).

On Saturday the boys all left early due to prior Saturday commitments. I got up early to make pancakes and scrambled eggs. When the last boy left at 9 I headed back to bed, I was exhausted. Ciera had a pitching lesson and Logan and I just hung out. We all watched Twilight before heading to my 12 year old nephew's rainy baseball game, where I of course pumped in the van again. After the game the cousins came home with us to sleepover for Logan's birthday. We picked up Little Caesar's Pizza and had more ice cream. The 3 boys did a lot of 'movie making' and Guitar Hero World Tour. There was even some 'shirtless' World Tour going on at one point!

Sunday Ciera had softball practice, but I got to sleep until about 9, at which point I had promised the boys breakfast. They continued playing World Tour most of the morning and afternoon. Around 3 the rest of the family showed up for Logan's family dinner. Logan chose to have breaded pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn (I forgot he wanted corn, so I chose asparagus). Grandma volunteered to make the pork chops for us and I was SO grateful. We all love breaded pork chops, but I really don't care to make them so we have them rarely. He chose Chocolate silk pie for dessert, as well as ice cream. Then it was present time. He ended up with everything he wanted, including a sock monkey! The day passed quickly and it was already Sunday night. I think we all went to bed exhausted but happy that night.

Monday I happily went back to bed after taking the kids to school. I was still able to get a good nap, but it felt more 'normal' than all of my napping the previous 4 weeks (or months). I felt really good the rest of the day. Logan and I discovered that the horrible smell in his room was coming from his bed. At some point over the weekend, the boys must've gotten too rowdy on the bed-the waterbed. One of the tubes (thank goodness it's tubes and not one giant bladder) had no water in it and the rest of the bed material had soaked it all up and was stinking! Lucky Logan got to sleep on our floor that night. Monday night Ciera and I headed out to try to find some 'transitional' pieces for my wardrobe. I found a couple of things that should help and Ciera got to look at all of the Twilight stuff at Walmart while I picked up some groceries.

Tuesday I spent the morning doing loads of laundry. I also finally went through my boxes of clothing to see what I had to wear now, soon and next year. I packed up some of the maternity stuff that I'm definitely not wearing anymore and labeled the other boxes so I know when they may fit again. I then did some typing at the school. Ciera had a 7:30 game that night, so we headed out for a long night. Ciera's finger is still bothering her (she hit it again, so it's recently sore) so we weren't sure how she'd do playing. Hitting seemed to cause the most pain, so they had her bunt. Her first time up she struck out bunting and looked scared to death. The second and third time she layed down 2 beautiful bunts and made it to 1st (she's been working on her speed-she had none). We were all in bed by 10:45, but that is really late for a school night! Logan's bed was still not put back together, so he got another night on our bedroom floor. This is actually a treat for him. He would choose to sleep on our floor every night if given the option.

Wednesday we all woke up tired, but we made it to school on time! I did some copying and finished up the typing. We are out of wheat bread and turkey and we have an out of town tournament this weekend, so I stopped by to pick up some groceries. I'm working on finishing up the laundry (5 loads and I'm still not done) and putting Logan's bed back together. I may even sneak in a little cat nap today. Ciera had a lesson tonight and Logan has some essays he's working on editing tonight.

Thursday and Friday are minimum days again, so I won't get much done. Ciera has practice Thursday night, Brian and I have eye dr. appointments and conferences Friday afternoon. Friday is Brian's moms birthday, so we will be having dinner with his family that night-roast beef.

This weekend we are in Stockton for a tournament and then the week starts all over again with a ton of laundry to do.

My rental pump has to go back tomorrow, so today is my last day with my magic Symphony. From the posts I've read on the Exclusively Pumping website, I probably won't notice much difference in my supply when I switch over tomorrow. I'm hoping not! I'm producing between 68 and 85 oz a day now, with most days hovering in the mid 70's. This is so much better than last time I pumped. I can not express how thrilled I am about that!

I'm feeling pretty normal this week. My incision finally feels, well, it doesn't feel-and that's what I've been waiting for-to no longer notice it. I can actually sleep on my side without feeling like the incision is going to tear open, except I can't sleep on my side because of my giant milk filled breasts. They are still extremely sensitive and acting as if it is very cold outside-all the time. Aside from that and a painful let down every 2-3 hours, they are doing well also. Fortunately I'm not a leaker and haven't had to worry about pads to protect my shirts. Oh the joys of lactating! The chocolate NEED is going down, now it's just a habit to break. My swelling is still going down, but walking down the stairs is getting less painful. The scale is moving slowly, but it's still moving. I plan to start out slow, but I think it will actually feel good to get my body moving again. I figured I'd start by walking the dog daily and then move up to the Wii Fit. Eventually I'll get back to the gym, but it will probably bring a decrease in milk production, so I'll wait a bit for that. I'm really fighting the desire to cut off my hair. I'm pretty sure my hairdresser will be against it, so I probably won't, but I feel like it would be a great change!

I'm now rambling, so that usually means I should quit typing. I've got to try and get Logan's bed put back together anyhow. Hopefully I can get the week in pictures up soon.