Surrogate Mothers

I was watching a documentary on surrogate mothers earlier today and it really opened my eyes to families that can't have children. I've been so lucky to have my daughter and to have been able to experience all the little (and BIG) things that came with pregnancy.
It's such a beautiful thing to see how caring people are in this world to go through a pregnancy for a mother to be able to experience the joys of being a parent. It really touched me.

With that being said, what are your thoughts on it. Would you ever do it? For a stranger? For a family member? I'd like to hear how others view this.

Optimism

I have been meaning to blog (redundant excuse), but I have literally been so busy lately, that I barely had time to relax.

To start with, me and my daughter's father have been able to have a civil conversation without name calling, etc. The divorce will be finalized May 1st and that will be the last time I have to go to court unless he or myself decides we want to modify anything. It's such a big stress relief to know that its almost over. March went by in what felt like a week, so I'm hoping the same goes for April.

My lease is up in August and I am already looking for a house to rent. I've lived in an apartment before and even then said I wouldn't ever live in another apartment. But things happen and it was the only option. The area I live in has some of the best schools in the state, so I don't plan on renting very far away from here. There are a ton of quiet and beautiful neighborhoods nearby, so once it gets closer to August, I will defiently be doing more physical house hunting versus looking on the internet.
Even with only one kid, a 2 bedroom apartment is just not cutting it. Especially the fact that we don't have a backyard for Lily and our dog to play in. I'm anxious to be able to decorate and have more privacy.

Once again, I'm still not in school. Lily ended up getting a viral rash from a upper respitatory infection and then on top of that, I had to get my car fixed which takes 5 business days. So the second I get my car back, I will be getting a sitter so that I can make my way over to ASU to talk to a counselor and hopefully apply then and there. I'm sure there will be a ton of paperwork since I will be applying for grants and child care, but I am more than ready to get the ball rolling.

I don't even know where to begin with updates on Lily. She is the funniest, most outgoing little girl with an even bigger personality. She is talking non-stop, says "hi" and "bye" to everyone whenever we go out and love to laugh.
She is obsessed with purses, necklaces and shoes. She was never a picky eater, but lately seems to be that way. She still loves her milk, but one of her favorite things is ice, so I will put a bunch of ice in a cup with a little bit of water and she goes crazy.
She has also recently started to repeat alot of things I say. For instance, yesterday I asked my dog if he wanted to go outside and Lily responded, "wanna go side?" It was so cute and I love hearing her put sentences together.
Lily is either going to be a dancer or a softball pitcher. The second she hears music, she goes crazy and can dance for hours. She loves playing fetch with our dog and throws things when she has a temper tantrum. Let me tell you, that girl can throw. She has a good arm on her... it can be painful.

She's still a mommy's girl and seems to be extra clingy lately. Whenever she wants something or just wants my attention, she yells "ma, ma, ma!"

Here are a few recent pictures of my big girl :)

More Updates

Not anything really interesting going on in my life, or anything worth blogging about, but I'm bored so I am anyway ;)

Lily's dad's lawyer finally filed the paperwork needed for me to get child support. I guess 5 months is considered fast for her (how professional, right?). Well I called the court house today for what feels like the 100th time in the last couple of months. I was trying to see if they had an atlas number yet, but the clerk told me to call back Monday and they would have it. After I get the atlas number, I am going to figure out where the money is being sent to see if he has actually been making payments or just telling me he has. I'm hoping that I will get an estimate of when to start expecting money.

I am also going to be going to New Mexico for a few months while a good friend goes to basic training and tech school. I will be watching her two kids rent free and her and her husband will pay me for my time. I'm extremely excited. Although New Mexico is not anywhere near the top of my list for places to visit again, it will be a little vacation for me. I will be done with all this court bullshit and be able to celebrate with two old friends. It will be a reunion to say the least!!

I have been working out alot and started a new diet. So far, so good. I'm trying to get fit and toned for the summer!! I'm not big or anything, but I'm definitely out of shape.

I went blonde a few months ago so that I could dye my hair purple. I don't know how people say blondes have more fun, because I was not lol. It's drying and damaging and very high maintenance. I'm trying to grow my hair out, so I decided to go back brunette. So glad I made that decision because my hair is SO much healthier and shiny. I've been taking vitamins and trying DIY hair masks. I'm in love with one I came across on youtube and will be dedicating my next post strictly to that...so stay tuned and have a wonderful day!!

Xoxo
Trish

Consultation

Although it's Valentine'a day, today has not necessarily been a happy day for me. I wish I had happier things to blog about, but my life is very stressful at the moment. One day soon, I'll have more "good" to vent :)

I've been on the phone all morning trying to find a good lawyer to represent me. I thought I would be able to do this myself, and I could, but with a lawyer, it would get done alot faster. So I have a free consultation Saturday with the best family law lawyer in Maricopa county. I'm excited and it has already taken a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Since I live in Maricopa county and the divorce was filed in Pima county (Tucson), he said that a lawyer from his offices couldn't represent me unless I got our case switched to here. Especially when neither of us live in Tucson to begin with. I was surprised to know you can even do that, but am not complaining one bit! That would be so much easier than having to drive down to Tucson every time we have court.

Other than that, I've been calling to figure out about child support as well as contacting his lawyer about it. She seems to be extremely lazy and a compulsive liar. She has been telling me for months that she did the paperwork and when I call the courts, they tell me she hasn't.

They are in for a huge surprise when they find out I have a lawyer...

Military

So after the recents events that have occurred in my personal life, I've made the decision to join the military. Sometime this week, I will be talking to a couple of recruiters again.

I've been thinking about joining for the past six months and have finally made up my mind. It's not a matter of "if" anymore, but "when". I'm hoping to be out of here this summer.

I have someone to watch Lily while I'm away at boot camp and then once I'm in tech school, she'll come to where I am so I can see her when I'm not in class.

I have a lot to do to prepare myself before going, but I know it's what I have to do. I'll update more after I talk to the recruiters.

Trish xoxo

Tax Season

I'm the worst blogger in the world! I've been busy (as usual) and am trying to cope with my overwhelming life. Things are getting better and I'm thinking 2013 will be a good year for me and Lily.

To start off, I was suppose to be starting to school last month, but financial aide didn't get done in time so I will be starting in April. I decided to change my major. I will be going to school to be an ultrasound technician, but before I can even apply to that program, I have to complete 5 classes. Mainly sciences and and a couple of math ones. I'm going to go full time and hopefully get done with those fast enough to be accepted into the program by fall. That is my goal right as of now and I know it's going to be hard, but I'm going to work my butt off and it'll all be worth the stress in the end.

As for court/custody is coming along-- I FINALLY got the letter in the mail I've been waiting for. Although it wasn't quote the news I was looking for. I was expecting the trial date, but instead got the PRE trial date that happens to be in the month I start school. I'm a little irritated over that, but am taking one step at a time and hopefully everything will go over smoothly. The paper also said that me and my daughter's father are to take a parenting class. It's mandatory for anyone going through a custody battle. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to pay for the class, but anything that will help, I'm all for. We have to go to mediation before the pre trial as well. That's the most frustrating part of it all due to the fact that he lives all the way in Virginia. I don't even know how we would go about that. But he has a lawyer, so they can figure that out since I've been picking up the rest of the slack.
I still have not received any child support from my ex. The judge ordered his lawyer to do the paperwork for it back in November. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting it and finally talked to a clerk who informed me that the lawyer had not done the papers. I emailed her twice before she replied and she told me she did it and would send me a copy. Two weeks after she told me she did the paperwork, I called to confirm and they told me she still hasn't. I won't even go into detail about how that makes me feel, but his lawyer and the judge will find that out in court.

Thankfully it's tax season-- my favorite time of the year :) I'm going to use to the money to buy clothes for me as well as Lily and then put the rest in my savings. I plan on moving when I'm done with school, so I've been saving up for that. I was hoping to move this summer, but we will see. As of right now, it doesn't look that way.

Lily will be 20 months this month. I can't believe she will be 2 in June. Me and my neighbor have already started planning her birthday party. She's moving in with her boyfriend who has a pool so we are going to have it at his house. The theme will be Hello Kitty of course ;) and I'm really excited about it because last year, we didn't do anything due to everything going on at the time. I'm going to go all out this year and I can't wait.
Lily has been gaining weight lately. The last time she was weighed, she was 21 lbs. She's a little chunky monkey now, but still small for her age. We are working on potty training and so far it's going great. She's not fully potty trained, but I'm hoping she will be by 2 1/2 or sooner.
I also decided to take her off her pacifier. THAT is not going too well. She won't take her nap during the day now and is going to bed later. She's restless without it and it breaks my heart. I've almost gone to the store 4 separate times to get her a new one. I hate seeing her cry because she misses it.
She's a little chatter box. Her favorite word is still "yeah" and she has yet to say the word no. For some reason, she doesn't want that word in her vocabulary... Which is completely fine with me. If I grab my car keys or walk to the door, she waves and says "bye bye". She loves giving people hugs and is extremely outgoing. She is still a huge animal lover and I'm planning a zoo trip in the near future. I think she would absolutely love it and I'm excited to see her reaction to all the animals.
She has all her teeth but two. One has popped through, but the other hasn't. She eats anything and everything. For some reason, she will not eat mashed potatoes. It must be the consistency because hell eat French fries and potatoes in any other form. I have to watch her closely whole she eats, because she has a bad habit of swallowing food without chewing it first. A mouth full of teeth and she won't use them.
Some of her favorite things to eat are waffles, yogurt, dry cereal, and toast. She refuses to drink anything but milk. She's a little milk monster. She can easily go through 3 gallons of milk a week! Insane!

That's all for now

Trish xoxo

Christmas

I've finally gotten my sleep schedule on track, so I was up and awake at 6:30 am. I did some dishes, cleaned the bathroom, vaccumed and am now doing a little bit of laundry. All before Lily even woke up. She should be waking up pretty soon, so I'm going to make this short and sweet.

I didn't have plans for Christmas this year like I said before. We were going to take it easy this Christmas and do something big next year, but my neighbor invited us all over her house for the day. My neighbors entire Italian family was there and they were so much fun. Lily opened her presents, we ate, danced, played games and drank Italian espresso. Usually Lily naps during the day, but because there was so much to do and so many people to play with, she skipped her nap. She ended up passing out around 7:30 and slept like a rock.

Once everyone left, I helped my neighbor clean up and then I watched a movie with her two boys. Overall, it turned out to be one of my most memorable Christmases and I am so thankful to have met so many wonderful people here. It was nice to be with old friends and meet new ones :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas!