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About Me

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Caledonia, Northern Illinois, United States
I am a Thirty-Something mother of four beautiful girls. My love for them, and the joy I've experienced during this crazy ride called motherhood, has inspired me to help make the dream of a family become a reality for couples through gestational surrogacy. I've proudly helped A&T, as their lives were forever changed when they welcomed a son in April 2010 and K&S were blessed as parents in Sept 2012 when we welcomed their twin boys. I completed my final surrogacy journey Nov 2015 when I helped a wonderful local couple J&W and Big Brother add their family with the birth of twin boys. I am so very fortunate to have wonderful relationships with each one of my surro-families and continue to share in their lives.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Celebrate !!

Yesterday we spent a lovely day visiting my first surrofam celebrating the birthday of sweet boy who is now 3!!!  I can't believe it.  The squishy "little" baby I helped welcome into the arms of his mom and dad is no longer a baby, not even a toddler - he's a preschooler!

It is always such a pleasure to be surrounded by A&T, their friends and family.  We had a great time visiting with everyone and enjoy the French cuisine T had prepared to compliment the "Paris" theme of the party - which was the destination of Mr. G's latest adventures.

He's a busy guy and had a blast playing with our girls.  They all get along so well and I just adore watching them play and laugh together.  He was spoiled of course by plenty of gifts and had a fun opening them all - well all but the clothes that is.  Our gift had a construction zone theme and he seemed to enjoy the wooden cars, puzzle, and book we gave him. 

In our usual fashion we stayed late into the evening hours and had a wonderful time with all.


Visiting with the Munchkins in Mexico!!!

Last week this time I was sipping my coffee overlooking the Pacific Ocean from a beautiful villa in Mexico while listening to my lil surrotwins coo and squeal at each other.  It was surreal.

Jason and I made our way from Chicago O'hare to the very tip of the Baja Peninsula - twelve hours of travel, two planes and a car ride later - we joined K&S, Ryan and Mason and K's parents at the Pueblo Bonita Sunset Resort in Cabo San Lucas Mexico.  Our days were filled with lounging, sipping on margaritas and Mexican beers, great food and lots of baby slobber and the occasional blowout diaper.  It was perfect. LOL

The boys are getting so big and have such adorable personalities.  They are both pretty relaxed and easy going.  Ryan is quick to smile and show off his one tooth (with another not far behind).  Mason sometimes needs a little time to warm up but once he's ready to play he's all giggles and goofy grins too. Considering they were completely out of their usual surroundings both boys, in my opinion, did awesome.  As we know with babies, one thing that can lead to disaster is if they don't sleep well but, R&M slept in their cozy quarters at night and took the occasional nap in the swing with the warm breeze blowing in through the open patio doors with no problems. The two cuties took a couple of dips in the pool, the water was so warm and relaxing.  I missed out on swimming with them but was told Ryan is a little fish and loves sticking his face in the water while Mason liked to float around and chill. It was wonderful getting in almost a full week of snuggles and to share this time with them and as I always say, the best thing about these visits is just watching them as a family and seeing how in love everyone is with these boys.

Ryan
Mason
We also got out a few times, adults only which was a lot of fun.  The first night we had dinner out and had to make an obligatory visit to Cabo Wabo.  K and I had a great time dancing and were filled with energy and emotion when our theme song came on - Bon Jovi's "Livn' on a Prayer".  The last time we sang out this song together was over a year ago just before our third IVF attempt - wow how things have changed since then!!!

We made a second trip into Cabo later in the week.  We took a stroll down Medano Beach where we happened upon some Spring Break style entertainment (aka wet t-shirt contest). LOL  We had an amazing dinner on the beach and then went to a couple other must visit establishments - NoWhere Bar and Squid Roe.  Fun night!

Another highlight for me, visiting the spa.  A one hour Swedish massage - why yes that would be great!  Besides all that we of course enjoyed time hanging by the pools and soaking up the war
m sunshine.  I was in heaven as I'm a sun and sand kinda girl.

I think we were all anxious to get home but knew we'd miss the weather as we headed back to Chicago since Spring has barely sprung despite it being almost May.  We all headed to the airport together where we said our goodbyes and jumped on separate flights home.  The great thing about my relationship with my surrofam is that I know it won't be goodbye for long.  I feel so incredibly lucky that they continue to be a part of our lives and I get to watch these two boys grow.  Love you all and thank you for an amazing week!!!


I've added some more pics of the boys to the PHOTO ALBUM (contact me for password) and there are others posted on Facebook as well.  


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Birthday Wishes!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Giovanni!  It feels like just yesterday that this 10 lb bouncing baby boy entered the room and changed lives forever.

It was so nice to get a message from his momma today, "Thinking about you and eternally greateful for the beautiful gift you gave us three years ago today!  Much love from our family to you, today and everyday."

We will all be celebrating together this weekend.  Can't wait to see how big he has gotten since our visit the end of last year.

Happy Birthday!!!