Mormon Surrogate

The Name Challenge- guest post

2012-01-25T20:09:00.001-07:00

The Name Challenge

(Guest Post)
We all know that choosing the name of our baby is a big decision, and one that shouldn’t be done at the drop of a hat. Some of us instantly know the name we are going to choose for our baby, whilst others take months to decide on the name, maybe not even choosing until after the baby is born! Choosing the name for your child is a challenge for any of us, so what exactly can we do to get to a decision? There are so many things to think about!

Family connections

First of all, perhaps you need to take into consideration your family. Many of us have parents or grandparents that have had a ‘family name’ passed down to them. Some of us might even have family who expect us to continue this trend and pass the name down through the generations. So if you have had crazy Uncle Bob come up to you and say ‘don’t forget that Bob is a family name, I’m expecting great things from the next one’ don’t feel pressured to use it! For others you might be seriously considering a family name to pass on to your child. This can be really special, and as long as you are happy with the name, I know I wouldn’t want to call my baby boy Cuthbert, then go for it! Something that your child can relate to with another family member can grow a really strong bond.

Celebs and Names

Secondly, and this is a major talking point nowadays, the trend of celebrity baby names to infiltrate the general public. You might have come across a baby name that has been chosen by a celebrity recently, and really love it. There is no shame in that! For example, there has definitely been an increase in baby girl names being chosen due to celebrities, Harper is definitely going to be more popular this year! With celebrities choosing stranger names, year on year, then finding a unique name can also be a challenge. There is no doubt that you can pick a unique name if you want to follow that trend, and with the millions of baby names that you can choose from you will be able to pick a name that hasn’t been chosen by someone else. In fact, you could potentially start your own trend!

The challenge of naming your baby is not one you have to take on alone. There will be plenty of people who want to have their say, but remember, the final decision is with you. You get to choose the name, and with all the trends that are around at the moment, you can be sure that you have a huge selection to choose from. Remember though, that your child is stuck with this name for the rest of their life. So perhaps choosing a name such as . (and yes this has been chosen before) is not a great start to their life! Make sure you have fun choosing the name, and enjoy the challenge!

*Just to clarify, she's saying that someone actually named their child ( . ), the period symbol. Not sure how you'd pronounce that.

Papergirl, what a strange turn of events

2012-01-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Remember the video game Paperboy? I loved that game and I was pretty good at it. On one of the games you can even play as a Papergirl!

As Seen on YouTube:

*Random example found, this is not me playing nor is it my video.

John has been turning in applications left and right trying to find a job. It's getting even harder now that he started school last week.

For about 6 months or so I've been curious about trying a paper route. I thought it would be a great home-schooling/responsibility adventure to involve the kids in. I've seen the ads in the paper and kept thinking maybe I should call. But I didn't.... until a few weeks ago.

And then I kind of forgot about it until I got a call back. I was told about the paper route and that the job was available immediately. I was sick at the time.. got the call on a Wednesday, returned the call on Thursday. She wanted me to start Friday. That was my youngest daughter's birthday and Saturday was her party. I asked if I could come in on Monday. She agreed.

I had asked my husband before if he would help me with a paper route. He said no, he'd leave me hanging, or something to that effect. But he's a kidder and said yes of course he'd help me. So I took him in with me last Monday. It was kind of weird, I mean, no intereview process or anything. I wasn't even asked if I had a valid Driver's License on the phone, just if I had insurance. Well that was that... we started last Monday and I was still sick, but I knew that this was not a job where you could call in sick. (without a sub to take your place)

How weird that my husband is capable of a million jobs with no one calling him and here I get a paper route. (But I am the one who called and it goes to show how EASY it is to get one.. so if you or anyone you know needs a job or extra money, I would suggest looking into a route)

I have not had a "job" since my oldest son was 1 and he'll be 15 in March. I was more excited than nervous and it's been really fun. Well until we did our first Sunday delivery. First of all, you have to prepare the papers with inserts and all that. Well on Sunday you have the comics, classifieds, ads, etc. We got those altogether which took awhile since we had about 600 papers to prepare. Then we had to wait for the papers to be delivered so we could put the inserts in the actual newspaper. The truck was late! Then we were told it would be another 45 minutes. We have until 6:00 AM on weekdays to deliver and until 7:00 AM on Sundays. By the time the papers got there and we still had to add the inserts, fold and bag, etc. it was between 6:00-7:00 already. We did not get done until after 10:00 AM. We were exhausted. We had only gotten a few hours of sleep Saturday night, needing to go in super early to prep. I was soooo overwhelmed. I thought "What did we get into?" And we weren't even doing our whole route yet.

Overall though, I really like it. It's perfect for me, really. I'm more of a night owl anyway. I hate people watching over me. We have a good amount of freedom in the route and when we come in as long as the papers are delivered on time. I have a hard time getting up in the morning, but somehow I'm able to get up in the middle of the night and be alert. Yes, I have to go back to bed for awhile after and feel a bit zombified, but I think it's getting better. Another perk is that when you're up that early, you can get your grocery shopping done when the store is CLEAN and the clerks are still smiling and there are NO lines.

It's been really cool to "work" with my husband. We actually worked together in high school at Nickelcade. Fun times! We really make a good team. I read the directions, grab the next paper and he drives. If the house is on his side, he'll throw the paper, if it's on mine, I'll throw. Same with porching the paper. We are getting good at cutting our time down.

Our kids have come along for the ride, and our girls love it! Jessica especially loves to come along and loves to be the one to put the paper on the porch. She actually cried because she couldn't help us on Sunday. It would have been way too much for her, plus there were so many papers in the van, there wouldn't have been room for her. Jeremy gets bored with it. We will pay the kids for helping as soon as we get paid, but that's not even enough incentive for him. Maybe because he wants the money NOW.

Fed up with unemployment, food stamps, etc.

2012-01-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

What a flipping rollercoaster we have been on since John was laid off in October.

We went in right away to apply for Unemployment and ended up applying for Food Stamps and Medical Assistance as well.

Things went smooth for about a week. We got the unemployment, food stamps and medical for our kids. John and I don't get medical. Because John is a Veteran, they say he has "other insurance" and can go to the VA hospital for everything. Not sure why I couldn't get anything.

So we're set up and things are ok and then all of a sudden I get a notice saying that my son is no longer eligible for Medical and will only be covered for the month of November. However, my girls get to stay on. What the hell?

In fact, here's the notice:

We have made a decision about your eligibility for benefits. Below is a summary of the eligibility results.

Childrens Health
Insurance
10-24-2011 December 2011 Change
Children's Health Insurance Program
There has been a change to the Household benefits for this Program. The following individual(s) remain
eligible for this program:
JESSICA
TRISTAN
Please review the following information for details:
• The above individual(s) will be enrolled in the Childrens Health Insurance program. Their
enrollment will continue until the end of your current eligibility period.
Please note that the change to Household Members may show the removal of a member
and at the same time, an addition of a different member.

• The number of eligible persons in your household has changed.

This made no sense to me. It doesn't explain WHY. Nothing had changed, and yet to them the number of eligible persons in our household had changed. After some digging and decoding and hours spent either on the phone, online chat or in the office, we find out that THEY thought our son had other insurance. But rather than calling us and clarifying it, they make a decision and send us a notice that is as clear as mud.

Our food stamps have been messed with as well with UNCLEAR notices. Then we clear them up and all of a sudden there is another problem. And of course, we are sent a very vague notice.

Calling and chatting online is a joke, if not a nightmare. First you get to wait at LEAST 30 minutes for either. Then you end up speaking to someone who doesn't know what's going on and has to decode someone else's notes. The only way we get things figured out is if we make the 30 minute drive to the office. BUT, even then, they are not the ones that send the notices, so they have to do some decoding.

Hubby and I feel like we are jumping through hoops. Not just any hoops though, hoops on FIRE! And every now and then we get burned.

I tried chatting twice last week and waited about an hour each time even thought the wait was only supposed to be 46 minutes. One time they closed the chat on me without even starting the session. The other time, no one ever came on. I've been waiting to chat as we speak since 12:55 PM. It was supposed to be a 26 minute wait. It's been about 43 so far. Makes you feel like a really important person. To top it off, I'm sick right now. Don't have much of a voice or patience for calling in and don't feel good enough to make the drive over. So this sits unresolved for awhile. :(

It is time consuming, stressful and frustrating! All we want is to get back on our feet and have a little bit of help in the meantime. John is even filling in applications for jobs that pay very little just to stay honest. However, NO ONE is calling him back. No job offers... nothing! That's ok though, because he will be starting school next Monday. My baby's going to college. I think I mentioned that if I could figure out how, I'd like to go too.

That hasn't been easy either- figuring out all the school stuff. We thought we had it all figured out, but have had to re-do a few things. We're getting closer though. This will be a cool experience for all of us. Plus he's using his GI Bill, so he's getting PAID to go to school. Can't get any better than that, right?

Oh hey- someone is acknowledging me on chat...49 minutes later. Wish me luck.

Hello (2012) Goodbye (2011) A year in review through pictures

2012-01-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

A photo timeline of 2011

It has taken me longer than I wanted to get this done. But here it is finally...

I apologize for the amount of pictures, believe it or not I had plenty more to share. Sometimes I put a caption at the top of the pic, sometimes at the bottom. Hope you can figure it out.

January:

My sweet precious girl turns 7 on January 6, 2011 and wanted to celebrate at Build A Bear. Meet Sugar Puppy.

February:

We love froggies!

Superman spotted in our basement

March:

Jeremy turned 14 on March 4, 2011

A Pirate Birthday Song

Saint Patrick's Day Breakfast

A few visitors stop by...

Momma and her girls...

April:

Happy Easter 2011

Supercross....

And 2 go down. Best part! (video above)

Loved that tub!

May:

Nice time to pet a bunny. (at my Aunt's house)

Teenage Cousins- The first of Grand-kids on my side of the family. My how they've grown!

My cousin Lindsay LOVES her picture taken!

Cousin Nick and his wife Stevie- they're so cool they got married on our anniversary.

And my girlies- Tristan and Jessica.

Still May- A Field Trip Downtown to Taffy Town

Uncle Jon, Mommy Connie and my sweet little Jessica

June:

The girls do a photo shoot with our dog, Skittles.

Cousins born 8 weeks apart- Jessica and Tatyana.

Tristan- hanging out at Grandma's playing the Wii.

The Reeder Boys. I think this was Father's Day.

Still love him so!

Momma gets a vanity!

Good time for gardening....

Our pregnant Dalmatian Molly Dotty (the white one)

And then.....

July:

Tennis Anyone? With Grandpa Don

Bound and determined.

At the Sandy City Fourth of July Parade...

Some bum who wouldn't stop talking to me. (LOL)

Mommy Connie, Uncle Jon and my son Jeremy

John's sister Toni and Mom Wendy

John's Dad Tom in the background

Me and my Sweetness (looks a lot like that Bum, huh?)

Iron Man stopped by for a visit.

Dotty and some of her babies

The Babies.

August:

Went to Salmon Idaho for an adventure...

Natural Hot Springs where Jeremy said "OH nice, it's cold, I mean hot."

September:

My pal at Benihana's. Me and hubby go there for our anniversary. This year we went for my birthday because we get these awesome FREE $30 gift certificates and I only had a week to use it. (Usually we can use them for the whole month of September and our anniversary is also in September)

Peach Day Parade ON my birthday. NOT what I wanted to do on my birthday, but still had fun. I'm the one wearing the hat by hubby in Camouflage.

Celebrating our anniversary in Mesquite, Nevada:

A fat little toad we found while checking out the pool and spa area.

The only thing Johnny wasn't quite able to plank.

Ready for our massages.

Las Vegas Benihanas

Johnny's most impressive plank yet!

October:

Like Mother like Daughter

Handsome and rugged, Indiana Johnny! :)

Ah, the joys of dressing up together!

November:

Showing our Military/Navy Pride on Veterans Day

Another impressive plank.

December:

Christmas Eve

Tristan holding sweet little Bonnie.

He loves babies and kids! A very playful uncle.

Christmas Day:

She'd been asking for this Spin Brush since last Christmas, finally got it!

Me looking somber

Little Jessica got me this AWESOME Coca Cola Bank for all my spare change.

Johnny got spoiled with Fox attire

Come here puppy, time to open your present.

Now she can rock out with us.

Santa Grandpa

Jeremy and his little buddy. Elijah was studying Jeremy's every move and copying him in the cutest way.

Jessica (My youngest daughter who will be 8 in 2 days) takes over my camera... and does a mighty fine job of some snap shooting....

My brother Christian and his nutcracker. Our grandparents give us all nutcrackers every year.

My niece Sierra

Mac and "cheese" ha ha ha.

Shannon and Kathie (my Step Mom)

Johnny playing Uncle as he does best

Up close and personal

Isn't she beautiful? My lovely niece Meijken and my Dad.

Cousins- Maddie and Kennedy

Cousins- Sierra and Tristan born 6 weeks apart

Me and my sister

Mommy Connie enjoying a Christmas card and Jeremy counting his Christmas Cash.

Crap, I realized I can't find pictures of my daughter Tristan's Birthday. It's December 14th and she got her nails done with her cousins.

Christmas Angels and a touch of sadness

2011-12-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

We have truly been blessed this Christmas. I think we did pretty good for not having a job. We somehow were able to get gifts for everyone on our list. (Thank you Plasma Money!)

We were touched more than once by a Christmas Angel. Our church does a Sub For Santa and we were included. THANK YOU!!! Beyond that, we came home one evening to an envelope that was pushed through our door and on the floor. Inside was a one hundred dollar bill and a simple printed note that said Merry Christmas!!! It brought tears to my eyes. We were deeply touched and full of gratitude to this anonymous Angel. Thank You!!! My mom did a Scentsy party for me and got me a $170 order which will bring in some money in January. Mom's rock! Thank You!!! My friend/husband's cousin's wife bought some Scentsy bulbs from me and slipped me a tip. So sweet! Thank you!!! All of this helped to have an awesome Christmas spirit and gave me feelings of hope after feeling some despair.

It didn't really feel like Christmas though, not like it usually does. Maybe it was the complete lack of snow or maybe it was just reality catching up to me. We've been through a lot since October (and it's not over yet), and I wasn't able to look forward to the holidays without knowing what the future would hold. I can only focus one day at a time right now. I'm usually pretty happy and calm and optimistic, and for the most part I still am. But a few times I've been brought to overwhelming tears of sadness. Christmas Eve was awesome, but it still wasn't feeling like Christmas. I forgot it was even Christmas morning when our 14 year old son tried to wake us up at 6:15 AM. We talked him into letting us sleep until about 8:00.

I couldn't quite get into the excitement of opening presents. I was a bit somber. And when I say the excitement of opening presents, I mean for my kids, not for me. I don't ask for much and I got plenty. After presents I made a lovely Christmas breakfast- Honey Wheat Waffles, Fluffy Scrambled Eggs with cheese and Turkey Bacon. It tasted good, but I was still sad.

My husband caught on as I was getting ready for the day and was kind enough to tackle and console me. Things got better from there.

A few years ago I had to tell Santa to tone it down... he was kind of showing us up. I didn't want him to be giving our kids bigger and better presents than we were. I also didn't want him to be the focus of Christmas. So now he just fills the kids stockings with a few things. And now the kids are a little disappointed with Santa. And I'm ok with that.

Join the club ( a bit raw and personal)

2011-11-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's not a club you'd want to join. First we joined the Unemployment Club. I would have thought that we would fall apart. But we're standing strong. In a way, I feel that things have never been better. Not financially of course, but we're spending more time as a family and we're happy. It's kind of weird. Shouldn't we feel depressed or in despair? Well we don't. Sure, it's a bit scary at times, but I guess we know that it won't last. We've all had to step up a little and it feels good.

Here is a chance for new opportunities. John and I had talked about donating plasma before and we just never did. Well now we're going as often as we can. It's nice to bring in a little extra money and spend time together doing something to help others. John is working on going back to school. I think it's awesome. He has wonderful benfefits to use from being in the military. As a homeschooling family I know that this will be great for us. It will teach our kids a lot and leave a big impression. Heck, it might even teach me a thing or two. ;-)

I've mentioned before that money has been tight since John got out of the Navy. We had carefully planned it out, but some things didn't happen like they were supposed to, which meant that we didn't have as much income. About a month or two before he got laid off, we started talking about short selling our home.

There were multiple reasons:

Our income was about $1100 less than when we qualified for the home in 2006
Even though our income shrank, the bills weren't getting any smaller
We were extremely upside down (our home is worth $70,000 less than what we paid for and we've refinanced a few times)
The commute was getting to us (we live a good hour and a half round-trip from anywhere or civilization as I call it)
Because of the commute, we were spending a good amount of money on gas (and putting plenty of miles on our vehicles)
It was all wearing on us, we were getting tired on the drives home
We felt like we were getting nowhere, struggling just to get by
When we first moved out here, part of the reason was because we couldn't afford to stay in the same county as we were before. Now that houses have gone down, we feel that we have a chance to get back to where we came from. (eventually)

Then my husband got laid off in October, so we really had no choice but to join the short sale club. We could barely get by before, how could we get by with even less money coming in? We're surprised that we've been able to stay here this long. Over the last 2-3 years we have watched our neighborhood disintegrate as our neighbors have moved out up and down and all around our street. So here we are next on the list.

Please know that we do LOVE our house, our neighborhood, our neighbors and our community. It's just our time to go. It has been awesome and we'll miss it, but we are ready to move on to our new chapter in life.

Our kids are definitely learning life skills right now.

Coping Skills
Problem Solving
The power of laughter
The importance of a good sense of humor
Working together as a team

Our home is a decent size. Including the partially finished basement, we have about 3200 square feet. Well we have gotten pretty darn comfortable here. Yet, I doubt our next home will be the same size. I'm pretty sure we're going to have to downsize. Besides, I know we have too much stuff. We have all been working our butts off to get this house ready to show to people. And they have been filing in left and right. Our lives are chaotic and crazy right now. We still have plenty of stuff to do, but it seems doable. I'm looking at this as a fresh start. I'm usually pretty positive and easy going, but I'm surprised at just how well I'm handling all this. I've been pleasantly surprised that my husband is reacting in the same way. When we heard that John might got laid off, I thought I'd cry when it actually happened. Then I thought I'd cry if we had to sell the house. Yet I keep getting through it all without a tear. We'll come out of this better than ever.

Happy Veterans Day 2011

2011-11-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here is my shy, but honest little attempt to VLOG on Veterans Day!

Thank you for your service past and present!

And here are some pictures of our family today showing our military fashion and Navy Pride!

And how about a Veteran planking?

And then he remembered to point his toes! :)

My Hero:

My love and my life:

Yes, I do look pretty dang cute in his cruise jacket, thank you!

An ornery sailor, trying to smile and a serious sailor trying not to:

What I had to say about Veterans Day last year:

http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/2010/11/really-my-husbands-not-military-veteran.html

And the year before:

http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/2009/11/thank-you-vets-and-current-military.html

Pregnancy Battle Scars Guest Post

2011-11-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Combating Pregnancy "Battle Scars:" 3 ways to Prevent Stretch Marks

Becoming a surrogate mother is a magical thing. You get the opportunity to grant someone with a gift that they've longer for their whole lives—a child. But bearing children can take a heavy toll on your body and you can end up getting a gift of your own—deep red cracked lines around your belly. We're talking about stretch marks. According to statistics, more than 75 % of all pregnant women get stretch marks. While some cases are not preventable due to genetics, there are some common ways to help prevent or at least reduce the appearance of some stretch marks. To learn how, continue reading below.

1. Keep Weight on Track. While you're going to gain weight during your pregnancy (it's natural) you want to make sure that you don't gain too much—not only will your skin's elasticity be challenged (which causes the stretch marks) but gaining excess pregnancy weight can be detrimental to the unborn baby. If a surrogate eats poorly and does not exercise, she risks developing gestational diabetes. This disease causes the baby to have an abnormally large head which may cause complications during pregnancy and may cause complications in the child's life as he or she grows older. For example, the child may be more susceptible to becoming obese and acquire high blood pressure. So work to maintain a good diet (this includes drinking tons of water) and exercise plan while you're carrying the child. Both your body and the unborn child will be forever grateful.

2. Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate. The act of exfoliation won't help get rid of stretch marks if you already have them, but it can help prevent them from deeply setting into your skin. This is because exfoliation removes the dead, dry skin cells from your body and makes way for fresh skin to grow. Therefore the stretch marks don't get as much as an opportunity to penetrate into your epidermis. While there are tons of exfoliation creams and body scrubs available on the market, it's recommended that your look for one made with natural products such as salt, oatmeal or sugar like our homemade body scrub recipe: (The areas you typically get stretch marks are really sensitive and you don’t want to risk inflammation).

Ingredients:

· ¼ white sugar

· ½ of unscented body lotion

Directions: pour lotion in a large bowl. Using a spoon, slowly stir in sugar until the mixture turns into a thick paste. If the mixture is too runny, add more sugar. Slather mixture onto areas where you do not want to get stretch marks and rub in. Rinse clean for fresh skin.

*extra note: loofa sponges and pumice stones are excellent at exfoliating too

3. Moisturize & Keep Skin Supple. For years beauty experts have vowed that cocoa butter is the key to maintain a stretch mark free body—rubbing it on your stomach two to three times a day throughout pregnancy is suppose to create wonders. While it hasn't been proven that cocoa butter specifically contains a magical ingredient that reduces/prevents the appearance of stretch marks, what is certain however, is that typically those who have moisturized skin will experience less damage than those with extremely dry skin. This is because moisturized skin creates elasticity which helps when your stomach starts expanding. So no matter whether it's cocoa butter, coconut oil, or your regular mill body lotion, keep your stomach moisturized and supple.

Do note that while the tips mentioned above are designed to prevent stretch marks, if you do develop them over time they should fade and reduce their bright color. So don't let their initial appearance consume you.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at onlinecollege about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Halloween Reruns

2011-10-31T07:28:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!

It's been super busy around here since John got laid off. (funny how that works) So busy that I have to resort to posting Halloween leftovers from 2010 and 2009. I will try and post current Halloween pics this week though. K?

Till then, check these out:
http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween

And here's a few Halloweenish videos to watch:

My book up for auction and giveaway ends tomorrow

2011-10-20T13:05:00.000-06:00

Here is a wonderful opportunity to buy my book on Ebay for a heckuva deal! It usually retails at $16.95. Bids start at $9.99 or you can Buy It Now for $14.95. As always, I will sign if desired and send stickers and bookmarks while they last. Auction ends Oct 25, 201109:26:44 PDT.
Don't wait, check it out Now:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190589869771?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_517wt_1270

Also, a quick reminder that if you are an Intended Parent or Surrogate you can enter to WIN a FREE copy of Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers. Just let me know which you are.
Giveaway ENDS tomorrow, Friday October 21, 2011.

Thanks!

~Jill @ Mormon Surrogate

Are you a Surrogate or Intended Parent? GIVEAWAY

2011-10-18T09:42:00.001-06:00

I mentioned in my last post that I am celebrating the 1 year anniversary of my book Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers.

I am having a buy 2 get 1 free sale as part of the celebration until the end of October. It's as simple as you buying 2 and I'll send you the 3rd free. I am offering to sign the books if wanted and I will send bookmarks and stickers while they last.

In addition to the sale, I am offering a FREE copy of the book. This time is for Surrogates and Intended Parents only. So just let me know which you are and why you're interested and I'll enter you. (you can comment on my blog, FB, Twitter or e-mail)

Giveaway ends this Friday October 21, 2011.

Congratulations to @kootenaybcgirl on Twitter for winning the Giveaway!

1 Year anniversary of Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers

2011-10-10T15:06:00.000-06:00

1 Year ago today on 10/10/10, I released my very first book,
Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers.

Read all about it here:http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/search/label/book
and of course visit the book's very own blog site: http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com.

To celebrate, I will be doing a buy 2 get 1 free sale.(Order 2 online and I will send the 3rd free. I will also sign the books if requested and send stickers and bookmarks while supplies last)
The sale will continue through the end of October 2011. These make great gifts for Surrogates, Intended Parents, and the children of both as well as anyone involved in surrogacy.

Thank you for all your continued support and orders.

My 2nd surrogacy book is still in progress.

4 day Birthday Weekend

2011-09-14T22:12:00.000-06:00

Kicked off the Birthday celebrations Thursday night at Benihana. Whole lotta yum!
Every year I get a $30 gift certificate to spend during my birthday month there. We usually end up going for our anniversary which is 10 days after my birthday. This year they changed the certificate to only be used Monday through Thursday. We are going to Mesquite for our anniversary this year, so we went to Benihana on Thursday the 8th. My birthday is
September 10th.

Friday Johnny had the day off, or actually I think he came home early. We ended up taking the kids bowling. That was fun. Haven't bowled for awhile. I actually kicked everyone's butt! Usually hubby's the one doing that.

Saturday morning (my actual birthday) we were in the Peach Days Parade in Brigham City.

(I'm the cute one, in the back of the truck with the Beatles hat and sunglasses)

We had to get up early, and Burger King was nice enough to make me a birthday breakfast. :)
After the parade, we checked out the car show. Then we headed back to our little town, picked up dinner at Arctic Circle, came home and I think we watched a movie. I don't really remember.

Sunday, my Mother In Law was nice enough to let us have a birthday BBQ at her house.

My sweet hubby making me homemade ice cream. He really did his best to make sure I had an awesome birthday this year!

My cousin Lindsay taking picture of the cake.

And of me taking her picture.

And her dad taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him. Yeah, we do that a lot in our family.

Lovely picture of me blowing out candles, yet looking like I'm going to inhale the whole cake.

Holy Furball- Vanilla.

Lovely close up taken by my 7 year old.

Sand art from my girls... HBD stand for Happy Birthday!

Every year I hate knowing that if I don't plan my own party, then my birthday gets passed by. I feel like such a loser planning my own party. This year it wasn't too bad with 4 days in a row of celebrating. I was surrounded by awesome people. Thanks again to everyone who helped me celebrate or wished me a Happy Birthday! Love you all!

Guest Post- Baby Sign Language

2011-08-19T15:12:00.000-06:00

Baby Sign Language across the ages

Just because it is called “baby” sign language doesn’t mean our little ones have to outgrown it when they are giving up the binky and blankie. Many parents have used a handful of basic BSL signs when their children are between six months to about two years of age, in order to get their point across while allowing babies to also express their opinions. However, it can be taught years longer and the vocabulary stretched even further!

An easy way to extend the length of time that baby signs is by allowing the generations to teach one another. Your ‘baby’ is soon a child and teenager, but he or she can still practice their sign language by helping mommy and daddy teach the newest addition to the family. Incorporate games when possible and then teaching becomes bonding activity and one that is far more fun than work. You can include visual queues such as baby signing flashcards or you can simply use the sign contextually

Incorporating BSL into homeschool curriculum is an excellent educational approach because then the language development and vocabulary benefits are extending right into the other academics. If you are not homeschooling your children there are still plenty of teaching opportunities, such as while reviewing homework or signing during evening storytime.

Baby sign language isn’t just for the classroom and home. BSL it is best taught in context so getting out into the world while teaching and practicing signs is important. It can be as simple as a trip to the grocery store’s produce section to review your vegetable and fruit signs. Or consider planning a trip to the zoo after you’ve taught the animal signs so your child can practice and apply the signs in that environment.

There are plenty of ways to keep the signs growing in number and complexity beyond those essential few, and plenty of opportunities to use signs long after the pre-verbal baby stage is through.

Visit www.babysignlanguage.com to learn more about sign language for babies

Who wants to be a surrogate?

2011-08-10T22:17:00.000-06:00

No seriously... anyone?

Because there are Intended Parents out there who need to find that special someone. You could be the key to their dreams coming true. Ever notice that storks and angels both have wings?

I went to my appointment today for my medical screening for my latest surrogacy.

Turns out the Dr. at the clinic is the reason behind Utah legalizing surrogacy. I think he deserves a big Hallefreakinlujah! I felt like I was meting the president when he told me that. Wow!

He suggested I become an advocate for surrogacy and I'm starting to think I kind of already am. I told him about all I do within the surrogacy community; design t-shirts and other merchandise, wrote a children's book, etc. He seemed to be impressed and we chatted for a good amount of time. I left him with a copy of my book and some stickers and bookmarks.

Everyone was wonderful there.

He told me that they have a list of Intended Parents looking for surrogates. So let's make some matches, let's help create families. I know there are some great ladies out there who are looking to be matched or who are contemplating being a surrogate.

If you're serious about wanting to be a surrogate and would like to learn more, I suggest you check this page out: http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/p/learn-more-about-surrogacy.html

You can contact me for more info or head over to Utah Fertility Center. Tell them I sent you. I hope you have room for all the blessings that come with being a surrogate.

Jill/Mormon Surrogate

When You Least Expect It

2011-08-10T08:41:00.000-06:00

Knock Knock

Who's There?

Ima

Ima who?

Ima gonna be a surrogate again.

I was getting frustrated. I wasn't getting matched. I was being patient and waiting, but it seemed like I was waiting forever. I knew there were IPs out there for me, but how to find them? I was with 2 wonderful agencies, but I wasn't even coming close to finding a match. I decided to branch out and apply to different agencies, broaden my horizons. I even put up a personal ad within the surrogacy community.

About a month ago I made up my mind that I was done having periods. Why suffer? Well, they weren't all bad, but when they were it sucked. Why did I need to go through that? Hubby had a vasectomy 7 years ago, we weren't having anymore kids. So I decided to do something about it. I got on birth control. I'm not one to take birth control, even before the big V. I've always let nature take it's course plus I hate taking medication unless I'm practially dying.

So the other day I get an e-mail from an IM (Intended Mother) that knew me through my blog. She was looking for a surrogate. Long story short, I'm going to be her surrogate. This all happened in the last 2 days. Things are moving fast and it's very exciting. However, it's also a lot to take in at once and gives me a flutter of butterflies.

Everything is lining up so nicely though. I can't help feel that it was meant to happen. The fact that I'm already on birth control pills makes me one step ahead. I would need to start taking injections next week to get ready for a September transfer and I am physically and emotionally prepared to do that. I don't have anything going on in my life right now that would hold me back. I was supposed to go in for a medical screening this morning, but there was a mix up and I'm actually on hold now waiting for an appointment time for tomorrow. Nope make that today at 2:45. Yay!

This will be the first time I will go through a local fertility clinic. I am excited about that. It's actually pretty close to me. (another sign I think) I will actually miss going out of town for this and the embryo transfer, staying in a hotel and all that... BUT I will not miss the hassle of going through the airport. Plus there would be now way I could just drop everything and hop on a flight today. Well, ok, there's a way, but that would be crazy chaotic.

I get to work with an LDS (Mormon) IM/IF this time. (not that religion matters) It does help that we have the same values, because then we know we match on issues that are important to match on.

It's just kind of funny that very recently I've opened up new doors to finding IPs (Intended Parents) and someone ends up finding me. I've also been thinking well maybe it's not meant to be right now. If it is meant to be it will happen, I will find someone. And then I did.

Wish me luck. We still have a few things to sort out and not much time to do it.

This will be the first journey that you all get to come along for the ride, not just hear about the memories.

Are you ready?

Looking for Elise who won a copy of Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers

2011-08-07T20:53:00.000-06:00

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for my sweet little surro-babe (girl) who turned 5 on August 1st. I was pleasantly overwhelmed by all the interest in my book and have randomly chosen a winner. Congratulations to Elise! Please e-mail me at pepperbird@gmail.com (subject giveaway winner) so I can send you your book. If I don't hear from you in the next few days I'll have to pick another winner.

Thanks!

5 years ago today, I earned my wings

2011-08-01T16:57:00.004-06:00

August 1, 2006 is a date I will always proudly remember. It will always make me smile and warm my heart and bring the sweetest tears to my eyes. On that day, my 1st surrogacy adventure came to an end as little S______ was born. That day I earned my wings as one of God's angels on earth. Happy Birthday S______!

Much Love,

Jill

If you are longing to hear more, you can read my post from last year about her birth: http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-100th-post-4-years-ago-today-august.html

Or you could check out the book I wrote that is all about my first experience: http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com which can be ordered at http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com/p/book-orders.html

Ok,ok, to celebrate, I'll offer a FREE signed copy of my book today only! Just post a comment (about the book, or wishing my surrobaby a Happy Birthday) here on this blog post, here or here or here or here ...if it's easier tweet to @surropepperbird or @surrogacybooks.

I will allow one entry per comment and choose a winner soon.

Thank you for all the responses. Please make sure I have a way to find you if I need to contact you as the winner. pepperbird@gmail.com

* Update: 8/7/11- Giveaway has ended! Thank you for all the birthday wishes for my sweet little surro-babe (girl) who turned 5 on August 1st. I was pleasantly overwhelmed by all the interest in my book and have randomly chosen a winner. Congratulations to Elise! Please e-mail me at pepperbird@gmail.com subject giveaway winner so I can send you your book. If I don't hear from you in the next few days I'll have to pick another winner.

Pills and Insurance

2011-07-21T17:30:00.001-06:00

Have I ever told you how much I ~~*love*~~ our insurance?

I went to pick up my 14 year old son's medication. Well one of 3. He had to recently see the Dr. to get the prescriptions re-written. He wasn't out of the 3rd one yet, so we didn't fill it. Then he tells me he's been out for a few days. Not only that, but he's lost the empty bottle. Oh, but I have a written prescription, yay!!!

14 year old son stays home while I go to the store. He's having a bit of a breakdown over cleaning his room. It's a bit out of whack, but oh yeah, he's not quite balanced without all his pills.

I drop off the prescription, do a little shopping while I wait. Go to pick it up. I am told I can't, because son's insurance was terminated, he's not an insured patient, etc. Um, what? I ask "Did you run it through Tricare?" (We haven't been with Tricare since 2008, but everyone seems to think we still are for some reason.) She checks... she says something again about not being covered. I ask again if she billed Tricare. It sounds like she did. So I let her know again we are NOT with Tricare, I guess she thought I said we were. Either way I tell her who we are with and she gets the same message. Not covered, coverage terminated 6/30/11.

Really? How's that? I just refilled the rest of his pills about 2 weeks ago and filled one for myself just last week. There's nothing she can do to help me, except offer to sell me the pills I need for my son at $200. No thanks. She tells me he'll have to call the insurance. I say "Yeah, he's not going to call." She means my husband not my son. Yeah, he won't be calling either, but ok, thanks.

So I pull over, call hubby, can't reach him. So I call the lovely number on the back of my insurance card. They confirm that my son's coverage was terminated on 6/30/11. I ask "WHY"? They don't know, it doesn't show a reason. Ah, lovely! So I ask if it's just him or the whole family. She looks us up one by one and looks like we were all terminated. What the heck? She gives me another number to call. ~~This is getting fun.~~

Next number I call says we are all covered. We're not showing as being terminated. They don't know what's going on. Oh yay, so I'm stuck in limbo with one person saying we're covered, another saying we're not. And yet the pharmacy is going off of the one saying we're not. I'm waiting to hear back what's going on so I can hopefully pick up his prescription before 9:00 PM tonight. The lady was super nice and tried to reach someone who could help me. She understood that this wasn't a pill you should just stop taking and go without. In the meantime I'm sick to my stomach. Luckily I found an extra pill for him to take to try and calm down and balance him a bit. After all that, I could use a pill.

:(

A little change will do me good

2011-07-13T17:32:00.000-06:00

I like change here and there. It's something new, something to look forward to. So what's new in my life?

(just a little note, I've been working on this blog post for a month or so...)

Well, for the past 5 weeks or so I'm really getting into couponing. It's fun and exciting to track down the deals and see how much you can save.

I tried my hand at gardening. I've planted flowers before.. with little success on the side of our house. I'm fine to put them in pots, but I suck at putting things in the ground. I decided it would be oh so fun and cool to plant fruits and vegetables, so we got grapes and raspberries and blueberries and strawberries and tomatoes and this and that. Some were already plants, some were seeds.. well the seeds still are seeds, haven't planted those yet. Nothing seems to grow out here. I don't know if it's the harsh wind or what. I know we don't have the best soil,(clay) but John dug it all out last year and put down nice topsoil. I guess I'll give it all time, but so far so NOT good.

*Update: I've been giving the garden a little more TLC, and it's doing better. I have lost the cucumber seeds, but planted the carrots and got cute little tomato starters for the kids. (Elmo, even...) My other tomatoes shriveled up and died before I planted them...oops. We'll catch up on our garden in a future post.

I read in a magazine article last month about creating a vanity. I thought how flipping cool is that? A space to call my own in my room to sit down and get all prettied up. So we've been on the lookout. I was pretty much looking for a cheap desk or something like that to convert. Nothing fancy or expensive. Well when I mentioned my idea to my daughter, all of a sudden she had a vanity for herself within a few hours. No fair! Just kidding, it was fine and fun to help her with ideas.

And now I've got my very own vanity! I found a cute little desk at a great price, it even matches our bed. I hunted down just the right mirror and lamp. I have so enjoyed sitting at my vanity to put on my makeup and at night to take it off. Plus, I'm enjoying my new room layout. It's got a little more flow to it and about 1/2 the clutter. Plus our sleeping quarters are more separate from the rest of the room.

Here are the before and after pictures:

(There's a couch in there somewhere...)

(Please not that most of the clutter is hubby's, thanks)

And what does it look like now?

(Whistling along to a song..)

Why not another blog? It's for a good cause...

2011-06-29T17:42:00.000-06:00

After ranting yesterday, mainly on Facebook, I decided to create a new blog. What was I ranting about? Go to my new blog to find out... http://mailboxtoybox.blogspot.com/

May 24? 2011 Field Trip to Taffy Town and Temple Square

2011-06-13T16:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry I've been slacking. Trying to catch up.

A few weeks ago we went on a field trip with my mom and uncle. I drove the van and pretended it was a school bus. Hee hee hee.We decided to check out Taffy Town. We watched a little video about how they make taffy and the company's history. If I remember correctly, honey was their first taffy flavor and their most popular. They used to be a candy company named Glade. Now they just make taffy. They do however sell a few other candies and I scored me some Dr. Pepper Jelly Bellys. YUM!!! We went home with all kinds of fun taffy flavors: honey, maple, strawberry cheesecake, cherry cola, rootbeer float and many more. We also got to sample some fudge.

After Taffy Town we decided to go to the Beehive House. I knew I'd heard of it, but I wasn't sure what exactly it was. Well, it was Brigham Young's home. Silly me. I didn't take any pictures there, sorry. But you can check it out here. What's cool though is that on our family vacation in 2010, we stopped in St. George and saw his Winter Quarters.

It was really pretty walking through Temple Square and seeing the changes of Spring. There were flowers everywhere. Some I hadn't ever seen before.

Tristan was so excited to see a butterfly. She said she'd never seen one before. (I'm sure she's just forgotten)

On our way to the Beehive House, we were stopped and asked if we'd like to participate in something for the church. (yes THE church, lol) We were to write down things about hope on a little piece of paper. Then we had our picture taken with what we had written. We *might* end up in a little video on the internet. I'll let you know if we do. If not, maybe I can at least hunt the guy down and get the picture he took.

We ended our field trip eating pizza at Papa John's. I hadn't had Papa John's pizza in a long time. When we lived in Florida we used to order it weekly.

I had a long drive home, so I had a yummy Rockstar. (one of the fruity guava ones)

I shared it with my mom and she really liked it!

I told her how they perk me up with all the B Vitamins.. and then I started talking a lot.

Fun Day! :)

Shop online and save money (guest post)

2011-06-03T00:18:00.000-06:00

Save Money Shopping Online

One of the biggest pitfalls of successful budgeting involves splurge spending during shopping outings. We've all done it. Going to a store to pick up a few necessary items can lead to buying the latest trends in fashion or the much desired household items you've been eyeing. While this can be a lot of fun, it can also do major damage to our bank accounts and spending plans. If kicking the splurge spending habit just isn't a reasonable option, shopping online can really cut back on the costs of some of those highly desired items. These three tips will help you make the best of your online shopping experience.

Make a List

While this may sound silly for shopping online, having a list of the things you plan to get online can really help you shop more quickly and without distraction. Write down the things that you would like to find online and stick to getting only those items. At the bottom of the list write down what your budget is so that you won't overspend if you find something that is particularly grabbing. Keeping a shopping list helps you stay organized and keep track of the deals on various websites.

Shop Around

One of the biggest benefits of online shopping is the ability to shop around without having to leave your chair, couch, or bed. Go to several different websites and hunt for the best deal. There are numerous shopping websites out there. Some, however, have much better prices and offers than others. If you find an item that you like, bookmark the site and then search that specific product on other sites. Try to find the best deal. However, be wary of cheap initial prices on sites that hike up the shipping costs. They can be very sneaky. Don't spend too much time looking, but do look around a bit for a deal.

Utilizes Special Promotions

Perhaps the biggest perks of online shopping are the special promotions and deals that are offered. Even some of the most expensive and lavish stores offer web exclusive sales to individuals on their emailing list. If there are a few stores that you shop at regularly, sign up on their emailing list and receive promotional deals and coupons regularly. Of course, this can be an easy area to slip up in. Don't make the mistake of using every coupon that you are offered just because it is a deal. Use only the coupons and sales that are useful for you. Don't waste your money on something you don't need just because it is cheaper than it should be. Using online promotions is a great way to save some money and still pamper yourself just a little.

Online shopping is often looked down upon by the traditional budgeter. Find ways to make online shopping work for you. Save time and save money.

By-line:
Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online degrees. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.

Lucky Me- A Prize in my Pasta

2011-05-27T10:19:00.001-06:00

So, I was making dinner the other day. I was cooking some of the free pasta I'd scored. (now that I'm such a good little couponer)

I started the water boiling and added the pasta. These were fun cork-screw-like pasta and I noticed there was a larger than pasta sized, flatter shape in the water.

It looked like this:

Here is the box it came from:

And the back of the "prize"

Hubby thinks it's a piece that broke off of the equipment. Who knows.. I'm not going to throw a fit, but I might mention it to the company. By the way, it did blend in pretty good, but you'd think someone would catch that upon inspection.

UPDATE: May 31, 2011

I contacted the company to let them know. They were very friendly and called to make sure I was ok. They will be sending me a coupon for a replacement box of pasta and will be evaluating my "prize". Once they find out what it is they will contact me and let me know their findings.

Addicted to coupons

2011-05-06T14:45:00.001-06:00

I've always had a pretty good eye for a deal. For awhile I thought coupons were a waste of time, because I could usually get the store brand for less money without a coupon.

However, I used coupons here and there to get name brand stuff.

Over the last year or so I've used coupons more and more and every now and then scored a really good deal or even a few things for free.

Then I saw the Extreme Couponing show on TLC. I acquired a binder and I did a little more research. I am branching out to other stores because I am finding out about great deals. Before I'd just check the deals at Smiths or Walmart. Well I rarely go to Walmart anymore, at least not for groceries. I'm hitting up Smiths and Walgreens now, sometimes twice a week each. I'm not spending much more than I was before, but I'm getting more. It's kind of addicting.

Pretty soon, I'll be a pro!

I'm not going nuts with it though, I'm only getting things we'll use.

I'd like to share my favorite links for finding great deals with your coupons.

Do you use coupons? What tips/links do you have to share?