A little Christmas Karaoke

A belated Christmas wish...
I tried so hard to get this posted on Christmas Eve, and I had issues uploading. So a day late isn't too bad, right?

Hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas and I wish you the best for the New Year!

This is just me and my girls having fun. Not my best singing.

:)

The Christ in Christmas

So touching and true, just take a moment and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas:

What accident?

I'm at Walmart the other day with my husband and he takes off to go look at something. I get a phone call on my cell. It looks like a California number and I answer it, hoping maybe it's good news from the agency.

It was Geico. They were calling in regards to the accident on December 17th. They wanted to get a statement. I was stumped. Were they talking about 2 years ago when John hit the deer? I think that was around December. I didn't get it. Why would they call about an old accident? So I say, I'm not sure which accident you mean. They explain, the accident on Dec. 17 that involved our F1-50. Well my husband had told me that the headlight had fallen out the other day while he was driving. Weird. Just out of nowhere it fell out. I thought well maybe he put a claim into Geico since we had been talking about if they would cover that or not. So I ask, is this about the headlight? Well I don't know about a headlight, but I guess the other car got rear-ended, a Mazda, etc. I laugh and say, I hadn't heard anything. They ask if they can speak to my husband and I say, yeah let me find him. I can't find him, so I give the guy his cell number.

Hubby won't answer the phone if he doesn't know who's calling him. They called him and he didn't answer. So then he's looking for me and calls me on my cell phone. He says where are you? I say, the question is...... Where were you December 17th? I was teasing, but wondering if maybe he knew something but didn't think it was a big deal. Or maybe he'd called and told them about the headlight? He doesn't know what I'm talking about. He asks if I'm joking. I say no, Geico just called...  Then he remembers that his coworker had borrowed the truck on Friday- December 17th. I was so flipping pissed. This guy borrows the truck to go get doughnuts and we're not clear what happened, but he apparently hit someone. Then he didn't even say anything to my husband.. but he must have exchanged information with the lady. Hello! Did he not think we would notice or that the insurance company wouldn't call? He didn't even say anything when my husband had told him that the headlight mysteriously fell off that night!

John (hubby) wasn't very happy that I was accusing him of not telling me something. I just didn't know why Geico would be calling and he had told me the light fell out. I had no clue anyone had borrowed the car. I told him to let the guy know that he caused a nice little fight between us.

This is our family truck. It's the nicest vehicle we have. We've had it less than a year. We can't afford to pay the deductible to get it fixed. Hubby has since talked to the guy and let him know that he needs to pay to get it fixed. UGH! What a nightmare. I hate not being able to trust people and what hubby hates the most is being LIED to!

What's so special about December 14th?

It was a cold, Wintery day. I was scheduled to be induced. Actually I had tried to set up the induction for December 13th, my twin uncles' birthday(s). However, I called in the morning of the 13th and they weren't able to set it up for the same day, so I was going to have a baby on December 14, 1999.

I was excited and scared when I found out we were going to have another baby. We were living in Mayport, Florida and John had just gotten to his first command, the USS John Hancock.(February 1999) Jeremy was 2 years old. I was 21.

I was almost scared to tell my family I was pregnant again. However, when I called and shared the news, they were very excited and supportive. I guess it's different when you're married. LOL. (Jeremy was 6 months old when we got married)

One of the reasons I was scared was because I was a million miles from "home". I was out in the middle of nowhere with my husband and our son. I didn't know anybody else.  I would be seeing a new doctor. It was a lot to take in. Those first few months I was pretty sick and miserable. We were excited to be looking forward to a new baby though. We soon found out that John would be going out on his first deployment in September. I wasn't too thrilled about that.  It took awhile before we realized he wouldn't be there when the baby was born.

Being a new Navy wife, I was getting stronger, but I had no desire to stay in an unfamiliar area miles away from family with a toddler and give birth to another baby. That just seemed nuts to me. Why put myself through that if I didn't have to? So it was decided. I was going to move back to Utah for awhile. We were happy to say good riddance to our apartment. Goodbye mold/mildew. Goodbye painted over cobwebs.

I was entering another chapter in my life. I was dealing with our first deployment and our 2nd baby. Even though I would be surrounded by friends and family. I was doing it alone. Before I moved back home, (with my parents) I had found out that my sister was pregnant as well. This was her first child. How exciting to be pregnant together.

I don't remember much about John leaving. I just remember driving him to the airport and coming home and sleeping.

I was pregnant, so that wasn't unheard of, but I think also I was a little bit depressed. But life went on.  Little Jeremy kept me busy and laughing.  It was good to be home and not alone.

I woke up on December 14, 1999 and I was a mix of emotions. I was excited to know that my little girl was going to be born, but I did not want to go to the hospital without John. Maybe I shouldn't have scheduled an induction. Maybe I should have procrastinated. But today was the day and I had to be strong. (the memories are opening the floodgates)

It was a birthing party. I invited just about everybody to be there. And because I have the most awesome Dr. and nurses, I was allowed to do that. My 2 best friends were there, Stephanie and Terrill. I believe Stephanie was my camera woman. (video) My pregnant sister was there, only 6 weeks away from having her own baby. My mom and dad were there, John's parents, and  John's sisters and little Jeremy.

(I swear I'm missing some pictures)

For good luck I wore my USS John Hancock ball cap. I think we got to the hospital around 8:00 AM. It made my day when the phone rang. It was for me. It was my husband. He got to call me from the ship's phone. (if I remember correctly) He called twice. Right before she was born and right after. That was pretty freaking cool!

Nothing fancy or complicated about the labor and delivery. Tristan was born at 3:48 PM.

I couldn't wait for John to meet her. Luckily we had a digital camera and my dad was able to e-mail pictures to John on the ship. At least he got to see her the day she was born. 

It was so fun to have a baby born 11 days before Christmas!

Dang it, where's that cute picture of her in her carseat under the tree?    :(


She was 3 months old when John finally got to meet her and hold her, the day he got back from Deployment.

Tristan came into our lives in a very memorable way. Happy Birthday sweetie!

Awesome Curious George Giveaway

I wanted to share this giveaway with you from 2 Boys + 1 Girl = One Crazy Mom.

All the details HERE.

Surrogates gone wild

There are surrogates out there that give us a bad name. They have bad attitudes. They think they know it all about surrogacy and life in general. I feel bad for their IP's. It's like they live for drama. Can't get enough.  All they seem to want to do is cause trouble and pick fights.(I've witnessed it many times in the online surrogacy communities) They love to name call and put other surrogates down, just for having a different opinion.. It's ridiculous how the trouble makers band together and egg each other on. It's like a contest to see who can be the biggest bully.

No wonder we get a bad rap.When you see something on tv or in the news about surrogates and it's not very pretty, these are the ladies that model that behavior. Maybe it's not all bad media, maybe they're just talking to the wrong surrogates?

Makes me wonder if they were matched through an agency. If so, does the agency regret matching them? Do they make themselves sound sweet and wonderful and know that it's far from the truth? Or do they really think they are all knowing and all powerful? Do they think that they're decent people?

Call me old fashioned, but I believe in the Golden Rule." Do unto others as you would have done unto you." It makes sense to me. I don't want people treating me like crap, I don't want someone ganging up on me because I don't agree with them. So why do that sort of behavior? What do you have to gain from that? If anything it takes so much away from everyone involved. Yeah I know you think you're tough and you don't care what anyone else thinks.

Sure we all have our own opinions and yes you can express them, but do it in a respectable way. I believe in Karma, and these girls really have it coming to them.

Now, let me tell you about the rest of the surrogacy community....

The other 95% of surrogates are compassionate, respectable, intelligent. It's not a very good combo to be selfish and go into a relationship that requires selflessness. I've asked others to tell me what they think of when they think of surrogates and came up with this:


Selfless
Understanding
Respectful
Ready for anything
Oh so loving
Great friend
Affectionate
Trustworthy
Encouraging


As well as... warm, dedicated, concerned, funny and supportive. If you are lucky enough to know one of these surrogates, give them a hug and /or tell them you are proud of them!

In Memory of John Lennon

Today marks 30 years since the death of John Lennon. So today I am wearing one of my Beatles shirts. If I had more time today I would have played some Beatles Rock Band... but instead I listened to John Lennon songs and I am going to share this video of me singing karaoke (about 2 years ago) to Whatever Gets You Through the Night:

And the winner is....

Time to announce the winner of my giveaway.

Traci (tjwool) is the winner of Once Upon a Surrogate:The Stork's Helpers.

Congratulations!

Latest review for Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers by Surrogacy Lawyer Theresa Erickson

I am always pleasantly surprised when I see that someone has purchased my book. I was pretty excited when Surrogacy Lawyer Theresa Erickson bought 2. Not only that but she mentioned she'd like to do a book review for her blog.

I got a sneak peek last week and it was very touching.  I was a little self conscious about what someone so powerful and knowledgeable about surrogacy would think about my book. Well what she had to say brought tears to my eyes. She liked it!  Wanna see what she had to say? Head over to her site: Surrogacy & Egg Donation Issues


Things have been going pretty good for my book and they just keep getting better.      :)

Just a reminder that through Christmas, my book is on sale at 25% off. No code needed, it's already discounted.

And if you'd like a shot at a free copy, this month's giveaway ends TONIGHT!  

REMINDER- Book giveaway ends TOMORROW December 6, 2010

My surrogacy book giveaway ends tomorrow.

Details:
http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/giveaway-and-sale.html

Tis the season to get sick

I hate all the crap that's going around. You've got the flu, croup, the common cold, some sort of stomach virus, etc. I hate how it can recirculate. I've avoided church for the past few weeks for this reason.
I had a cough, it sounded nasty, I believe it was croup. I would wake up in the middle of the night choking; gasping for air. It was scary as hell.  I hoped and prayed that my husband and children wouldn't get it. Luckily they didn't. Even after the cough went away, I'd still wake up choking for about a week or 2. (not every night, but maybe once or twice a week)

Right now a few of us have the sniffles. Not too bad in comparison! I'm still cautious to be around too many people. I hate to be in a vulnerable stage and catch something. We did go to church today, but Jessie and I came home after sacrament.

I was saddened to learn that a family in the ward/neighborhood lost their little boy (3 yrs old) to croup this weekend. I don't know all the circumstances, only that he had Croup and stopped breathing. There were not many dry eyes at church today, but the love for this family could be felt. John (my husband) was holding Jessica's (our 6 year old) hand and I know what he was thinking/feeling. How easy it can be to take our little ones for granted when we get caught up in the chaos of everyday life. How precious they are to us. I can't imagine losing a child.

:(

Book sale AND giveaway

To kick off my book sale for December,

I am offering a free copy of Once Upon a Surrogate, The Stork's Helpers.

So what do you have to do for a chance to win? Choose 2 or more below. Each will earn you 1 entry.

• Become a follower of my personal blog- http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/

• Become a follower of my bookstore blog where you can buy the book and learn more- http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com/

• Follow me at Twitter- @surropepperbird

• Follow my bookstore- @surrogacybooks

• Become a facebook fan of Mormon Surrogate http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mormon-Surrogate/129139433785474

• Become a facebook fan of Surrogacy Books http://www.blogger.com/goog_594337550

After you have chosen 2 or more of the above, please leave me a comment at each place AND e-mail me that you've done so at pepperbird@gmail.com (subject surrogacy book giveaway)

Giveaway will end Monday December 6, 2010, so don't wait to long. Winner will be picked at random.

Want to learn more about my chilren's surrogacy book? Read what others have to say: http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com/p/blog-mentions-and-reviews.html