10 on Tuesday

I'm starting this early since we're heading out Tuesday. So here goes.

1. I've been following this blog recently. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com. They update it all the time. The misspellings alone are hilarious. The funny thing is that the misspellings often times come from bakeries!
2. I asked Sarah what she's looking forward to most about Gammy's house. She told me "You going with me Mommy." How sweet.
3. Any doubt that it is indeed summer in Arizona is gone. We were so spoiled by the upper 90's temps this June but they are gone. Farewell cool mornings, hello heat waves off the black top. Welcome to the oven preheating that is July. The oven isn't completely ready until August. UGH! San Diego here we come!!!!!
4. Tested the DVD player to hang between the front seats and make sure that both earphones reach.... they do. It's a pretty cool system and we'll see how well it entertains the kids. Question is how long will Will watch Barbie????
5. Is anyone else sick of Michael Jackson yet? I don't mean his music just his news. He was a great artist but not worthy of the 24/7 news feed that has happened since his death. Is it just because news is slow right now that they drag it on and on and on. I must admit though that it is a nice change from all the political news for once.
6. I am bringing books and magazines to San Diego in hopes of finally getting caught up. I am the last in my little group to get the borrowed books - for good reason. I am a fast reader and I love to read, it's just a matter of starting the book and taking the time to read it!
7. On the subject of books, my little one is 4 1/2 and I already can't wait for her to read all the books I loved like Little House on the Prairie and Ramona Quimby and Anne of Green Gables. They are all sitting on bookshelves taking up well deserved space waiting for her.

8. My kids have long tongues, Will especially. The picture above doesn't even do him justice. He refused to stick it all the way out. Andy had him stick out his tongue yesterday and was calling him Gene Simmons. Maybe he has a future as a crazy rock star - fantastic.


9. Sarah slept in a little Ikea tent in her room in her sleeping bag last night. It was very cute but she only lasted about 20 minutes and then she was back in her own bed. She got scared and decided her bed was much safer.
10. I felt bad for the guys at the car wash this morning because my car is that dirty, until I realized that they didn't do a very good job vacuuming. Oh well - that's the trade off for having to watch the guy climb on the hood of my car to scrape off the caked on bug guts.

Insurance and 3's

Ok - so my annoyance has moved on from medical records at Dr.'s offices to insurance companies. Seriously!!! I am in the midst of trying to change health insurance companies to save us a bit of money. This is the first time since I was right out of grad school that I have had to fill out such a detailed application and be put under such scrutiny. Normally I'm just on Andy's insurance through work or through my own work. We found out that setting up a separate individual insurance for me and the kids is cheaper than through Andy's job. Now I'm wondering if it's worth it. I am sitting here with a waiver that basically tells me that if I get cervical cancer they won't cover anything related to it. ARGH!!! I'm getting so angry. It's not like I plan to get cancer but I'd like to be covered. Without going into "too much information" detail - I've been perfectly normal since 2005 (and even normal before then) which is the border of the 5 year medical history. I guess I should have been a liar and not put everything down on my form. I figured that since everything turned up normal in the end, it was all good. But no, this insurance company is extremely strict on prior "conditions" (like I even have one!)

I was getting upset with the place I went to right when we moved here and where I spent 5 months of my prenatal care until my Dr retired the week or so BEFORE Sarah was born. They told me they didn't have my records that I had to chase my 2nd Dr down but in reality they did have them. Their wonderful medical records lady just sat on the phone with me for 15-20 minutes going through my records and having me tell her what the insurance company sent me and telling me her experience with them and just answering every question I had. Did I mention that I haven't been a patient at this place since 2005???? It was incredibly helpful.

So now I am debating what to do. My health and the kids health and begin covered is not something I need to be risky about.

Woosh, thanks for letting me vent. In another completely unrelated note - Andy and I are firm believers in the idea that famous people die in groups of 3. Not that they know each other but just that 3 seem to happen within a week or so of each other. I present the most recent example: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and dare I say, Michael Jackson is not doing well as of this blog. Very interesting group and depending on how Michael does, possibly further proof of 3's, may they rest in peace and/or get better.

10 on Tuesday

1. I have noticed in the past few weeks that I whisper on the phone if the other person is whispering. It's not like I need to be quiet in my own home, especially when Will is pounding on something in the background. Still I feel the need to match the tone of the person I'm talking to. I have a feeling that's a pretty common thing.
   
2. Geo Trax Jet Plane + long hair= scissors and screaming! Luckily, it was a tiny bit of hair and you can't even tell.
3. I love and hate Red Box. I love paying so little and having it be pretty convenient, until that is, they don't have the movie I want and worst of all, when it's too full for returns. This seems to happen WAY TO OFTEN at our Red Box. There is another one not far but when you have a screaming 2 year old and you're at your wits end, having to hunt for another one and hope that it's not full so you don't have to pay for a 3rd night is torturous. That's when I hate Red Box.
4. I also hate spider bites on the kids. Will got one and it was by his eye and it swelled up. I searched his crib but found nothing. Who's to say that the spider wasn't watching and waiting to take another bite.
5. Sarah has been napping a bit more lately. She still ends up staying up later but it's not as bad as it used to be. Maybe it's the heat but she seems to need it. The other day she slept so soundly that she got upset after nap because she thought Will had breakfast without her. I had to explain that it was just a nap and not bedtime. It took a second for that to click in her still sleepy brain.
6. Had a great time yesterday calling Dr's offices to get medical records since we are trying to change our health insurance. I was hunting down the doctor I saw 1 time who has since moved offices once, maybe twice! For the record, it took 7 calls (including the 1 Andy had to make since he was on fax duty) only to find out that it should have taken 1!!!!!
7. I am very scared to see our next water bill. Andy put the drip on along our back wall to try and grow the vines before he went out of town. He forgot about it and I didn't realize it was on until 6 days later. I think we lost a plant (Not a vine) but we'll see. He would choose the quietest drip to put on!
8. Andy and I watched a couple movies over the weekend - Passengers, a limited release movie starring Anne Hathaway. It was soooooo slow. We finally started to fast forward the movie to find out the twist at the end. It was not so good. AND Meet the Spartans by the people that do the Epic Movies and Scary Movies. It was pretty bad as well but made me chuckle because it knew it was that bad. Dancing Spartans is a funny site!
9. We are prepared for the monsoon now. With the chance of rain a few days ago, I realized that poor Will had no rain gear. So I let him pick out his own umbrella at Target. He picked a black and red Spiderman umbrella. I'm not so worried about a rain coat or poncho or anything but I really think every little kid needs their own umbrella - especially when it starts to pour in the afternoons and I need to run errands.
10. It find it both annoying and charming that my kids think holidays (pretty much all of them) last all year long. Will keeps wanting to read the scary, noisy Halloween book. Sarah loves Dora's Thanksgiving book and Will has pulled out his Triceratops Easter basket and is ready to find eggs.

And 2 photos to end on:

Sarah's 2nd Birthday - playing the dancing game with Daddy

Bitten!

After a week of washing Will's feet and feeding him antibiotics, I awoke to this:

What was a bug bite by his eye yesterday is now a swollen mess. The pictures don't even look as bad as it really looks.  In a panic after last weekend, I called the triage nurse, AGAIN. A different one was on call. She grabbed our Dr. to check with her (so thoughtful) and all is well. It just looks bad. It's not painful just itchy but I can't put anything on it because it's close to his eye. So for now, he looks like someone beat him up and I'm embarrassed to take him out in public today. I'll keep an eye on it but hopefully, it will just fade over the next day or 2.

What craziness! Andy doesn't get back until this evening so he's missing EVERYTHING! Lucky man.

Big Boy

I'm in a bit of shock from the transformation that happened today.  I was working on Part 1 of Father's Day and pulled down our little potty.  We got it out a little while ago but Will hated it, so back up it went.  This time, he is obsessed with it.  The minute I pulled it down and said this is a potty for you to go pee pee and poo poo in, he started carrying it around the garage!  He dragged it out to the driveway and informed me and his grandfather that he was going to poo poo on the potty.  All this from a boy who has never had any interest in getting out of diapers and refuses me every morning that I offer a pull up to him even though it has McQueen on it.  It didn't die down either.  He moved it around the house most of today and keeps sitting on it to go potty, fully clothed of course.  I told him he could wear a Pull Up if he wanted to sit on the potty and right before bedtime he asked for one. We went upstairs and I sat his naked tush on that potty. Nothing came out but he was so excited to sit on it and then to put on a Good Nite Pull Up. It's like a 12 hour change. Sarah was so gradual and then we did the 1 day deal. It's like someone turned a switch on Will and now he's interested. I still want to wait until the end of July, after San Diego but I'm so happy that we can finally start talking it up and he can try it anytime he asks. Hooray!

Good Morning!

I started my morning with a "I'm glad to see you too Mommy" from Will as I picked him up out of his crib. Isn't that just adorably sweet, especially considering usually I'm greeted with screaming and yelling from him in the morning and after nap.
This morning he yelled a bit right before 6 and I told him to read a book. He said OK and then all was quiet. I woke up and went in his room and that's when He told me he was glad to see me too before I could even say anything. I have no idea where he picked that up but I like it!

10 on Tues

1. Andy called yesterday evening and was watching the local Phillie news and said they had the Ultimate Doppler.  Any TV weather people talking about their fancy Doppler system makes us giggle because it reminds us of our favorite commercial.  Believe it or not, it's a local DC commercial from many years ago.  Let's see if this translates to the blog or if I can even make this as funny as it was.  A commercial came on the local station about how they had the new Super Doppler 5,000 (which immediately had us rolling our eyes) and then they said something about coming up at 10 they had a weather report - cut to Jack from Will & Grace putting his hands in the air and shouting "It's raining men!"  I'm sure it was more funny when we saw it but man that still cracks us up.  We're such dorks.
2. I like noise - well background noise.  When I'm alone and reading, I don't mine the silence but sitting in silence with the kids bugs me.  I have to have music or something on in the background.  No idea why!
3. I love sour candy so I indulged myself with a treat this evening while Andy's gone - not that he cares. Yum!
4. I have a fear of white.  I love the look of white shirts but it scares me.  It's just screaming SPILL, STAIN, TOUCH ME WITH PIZZA HANDS WILL.  I love beautiful white summer sundresses but I don't think I will own one until either my kids are like 18 or I stop being a klutz.
5. This article - Poor dads but I'm glad that he acknolwedges that working or stay at home Moms are still "ON" 24 x 7 and have to do almost all of the "dirty" work - the meals, the every request, the dressing, the potty, and the list could go on and on and on.  So now I need to figure out what I am giving Andy for Father's Day but as my dad used to say when I got into high school and beyond - technically, she's not my mother.  For now though, I'm thinking useless toy has a nice ring to it.
6. Sale on plantain chips at Trader Joe's this week or well, maybe not sale but they were listed in the monthly flyer which reminded me I need some. I love plantain chips!
7. Will's foot - ugh.  Washing it in the sink twice a day and changing the band-aid and watching my man walk around in socks all the time even though it's 98 out.  It just reminds me that I will be washing (and losing) tons of little white socks over the next 2 weeks.
8. Got a call from the vet about PJ's allergy medication.  She's due for a blood test to check her liver function.  The call was from the vet that I really don't like.  Hmmm.... ummm.... I just took PJ in last Wednesday and they couldn't have remembered to do it then! ARGH!  I don't want to have to go back in.  Also, I really think they took blood more recently than last year.  Maybe the yucky vet I don't like should actually talk to the vet I like and choose to see.  And, yes they share an office.
9. With Andy gone, I thought I'd be hurting for things to do or rather things to wear the kids out so bed time isn't so horrible for either the kids or for me.  Now that I've planned lots, I feel like I barely have time to get done the basic stuff.  It's kind of crazy.
10. And with the last number, just a thank you to my dear friend Colleen for listening to all my venting.  It means more than you know!

Until next time, some cold pictures to end on - Snow at our townhouse in Arlington Virginia and digging out my brother's car. 

Foot Update - Infection!

The good side and the bad side of Will's foot. 

Well the good news is that it's just an infection so no cast or anything AND the red doesn't even seem to reach up to the top black line now.  The bad news - not much of that.  It's kind of yucky (see picture above) but he's on antibiotics and pain meds so we'll see how it goes.  The burst blister is new and bandaged.  He was TERRIBLE at the NextCare (big fan!), screaming just because he was in the room.  It took 3 of us to get an X-Ray of his little foot just to make sure nothing else was going on.  The only part Will liked was that the Dr. took a sharpie to the redness and outlined it.  He offered his other foot for coloring too.  The outline is so that we can see if the infection spreads and how much.  We head back to the Dr. tomorrow for a re-check.  So today will be a movie and rest day.  Wish us luck.

I asked how he got it and the Dr. said it could have been a tiny, tiny cute from shoes or something else and it just got infected.  I'm scared to put his little flip flops on him now since I think that's what he was wearing.  Poor little guy.

Also, I must gush about our triage nurse - Tanya.  Wonderful!!  She made me feel so good about calling the pediatrician's office this morning.   I really hate having to call triage because I have no clue whether we wait for Monday or head to the ER.  She found me the NextCare and suggested we do that over having to sit in an ER.  She called back a few minutes ago (took me a few seconds to realize who was on the phone) to check on Will and see if I took him in and what they said.  How sweet is that! 

 

Anyways, it should be a fun day of watching Will's foot, sitting around, doling out Tylenol and Midol and making sure Will doesn't get any worse.  Woohoo!

Daddy's gone so things will go wrong

Andy left this morning super early for his week long conference in Philadelphia, so, of course, Murphy's Law says that something must happen to make this an even LONGER week than it would have been without any problems.  Will went to bed complaining of some pain on his foot.  Not noticing anything on his foot, I humored him with a band aid.  He had a very restless night and finally around 3am, Andy brought him into our bed where we looked at his foot.  His ankle was huge.  We gave him pain medication and got him back to sleep.  When he woke up this morning, not only was his ankle still swollen but now he has blisters on the back of his ankle from his shoes yesterday.  We still have no clue what happened, only that it probably happened late Friday because he said something to me Friday night about his foot hurting.  Way to go Mom!  He played a lot yesterday and must have a high pain threshold.  We were thinking at first that maybe it was a bee sting or bug bite or something and are still not completely ruling that out.

My next step was to call his pediatrician to see if I can PLEASE avoid the emergency room.  I would rather spend the whole day with him on the couch and see the Dr. tomorrow than face the emergency room.  I want to do the usual R.I.C.E. (Rest Ice Compression Elevation to help is ankle but ummm.... he's 2 which means Rest is as close as I can get to do doing all 4.  I tried ice and elevation but NO WAY was he going for either of those.  So I'm waiting for a call back from the triage nurse or pediatrician on call with images of Will in a cast going through my head and wondering how long it would be on and how that would affect our trip to San Diego.

**Update - Triage Nurse is sending us to Urgent Care (Not ER, bless her) because if it's fractured, it needs to be seen now.  I will keep the updates coming.

Oh and did I mention that Andy's out of town all week.......

The Big City

My father-in-law and I took Will downtown today because we had to take care of some tax stuff at the City offices.  Will was very excited because he heard us talking about the "city".  We were using it in the context of the people we had to talk to.  He heard it as we're heading into the "city", like we live way out in the middle of nowhere.  As soon as we got close to downtown and he saw the buildings, Will started shouting City! City!  It's amazing what excites a 2 year old.  We parked in a garage next to the city offices and rode an elevator down and then up and then down and up again to get back.  Will LOVES elevators and I think that was the highlight of his day.  We had him in a stroller with books and he was a very, very good boy.

I've decided that it takes a special type of person to work in the tax office.  Someone with very little sense of humor, a tough attitude and someone with no time for fun.  The lady who was helping me was all business and then some.  Not friendly at all, even though I tried to be very pleasant and nice.  I brought Will the Charmer with me and even he couldn't crack her icy exterior.  I really hope she goes home and saves all her good humor for there because it isn't at work.  But then again, my father in law lucks out and has the nicest guy helping him. Oh well!!

To top off our trip to the big city, Will announced as soon as we were leaving the parking garage, "I had fun at the city!"  I have a feeling that that is the first and last time that statement has been made after leaving a city office.

10 on Tuesday

1. Our backyard umbrella flew out of our yard on Saturday night.  We thought at first that someone stole it but then wondered why they left everything else.  Come to find out that it ended up WAY into the neighbor's yard.  They thought it was a different neighbor's and so put it over their back wall.  To top it off, it was broken in half pretty much.  The good news is that the wood had already started to splinter before this, so no big loss.  The sort of bad news, I feel a bit bad that these people one street over have to dispose of our umbrella for us.
2. My son may be the messiest member of the family but he is the one most into cleaning and also the politest as anyone who has heard him say Excuse Me can attest to.  I love it!
3. Has anyone else seen commercials for what is basically prescription strength mascara???  Seriously???  I guess if they can put out stuff to try and re-grow hair on top of your head, why not the eyelashes.
4. I hate being "in-between" sick.  Either knock me out for a day or 2 in bed or let me get done what I need to get done.  None of this do some stuff and rest, and then feel horrible by 4pm.  No more! 
5. I'm gearing up for a full week by myself.  I've also been trying to fill my afternoons next week with activities so I don't go nuts.  Andy is going to a school conference in Phillie.  It actually sounds like it will be pretty interesting unlike most of his tax conferences. Snore.
6. I'm getting the dogs caught up on shots and grooming this week.  They've got to be so hot in their shaggy coats when it's 100 out.  Thanks goodness it's cooled down this week.  I can't imagine how people keep show quality shih tzu's with the super long hair.  It must explain why those people usually only have the dogs and no kids.  Ours always have short hair and then people wonder what kind of dogs they are.
7. I love that Sarah is trying to turn the tables on her jokester Daddy.  He was watching a show and she handed me the remote and whispered - can you pause it to tease Daddy. Cracks me up!  She's on to you Andy, watch out!
8. We're expanding our Magic Treehouse library with a new book about Hawaii and big bad waves (tidal waves), research guides about twisters and dinos (Sarah picked both!) and 7 books on CD read by the author for our trip to San Diego.  I can't wait for Sarah to eventually read them on her own but I must admit, I enjoy reading the chapters with her more than reading Barbie Diamond Castle for the millionth time!
9. I'm feeling guilty this week because I have not been feeling good and so the kids have not been very active.  It shows in their sleep habits and it stinks.  Maybe today I will sit outside and just let them run around.
10. Sarah has mastered the TiVo remote.  Part of me is very excited about this and the other part of me is not so sure about it.  Luckily she has not just randomly picked it up and put a show on without asking.  I'm sure that's not far off though!

A picture to end on:

1 of the other babies for a change - PJ the ball chaser

10 on Tuesday

This week I will try to keep it to just things happening in our lives.

1. Sarah has separation anxiety - at 4 1/2. It drives me mad. I get that she wants Mommy and I'm touched but I really just want to shove her in the door of summer school and run. She has a fantastic time after she calms down. The summer program is at her preschool, just a different room and teachers. The topic is DISNEYLAND. She has good buddies in the class with her. I don't want to bribe her but I might just try the opposite and take money out of her bank. We'll see. I'll let you know how the rest of the week goes.

2. Will just got over being sick. It went from Saturday middle of the night to sometime midday yesterday. He bounced back in all of about 2 hours. Wouldn't it be nice to get back to 100% that fast for an adult? We can dream.

3. I am so thankful that some stuffed animals are safe for the washing machine. After Saturday night, 2 out of 3 favorites went in the wash and came out like new! The 3rd washed up well in the sink but is now nowhere near as soft as he was. Oh well, 2 out of 3 isn't too bad.

4. I learned how to fix a tail light this past week. My turn signal was out for most of the week, which turned out to be a bigger pain than I thought it would be. Merging on a freeway is not fun when you know people are getting mad at you for not signaling. Anyways, it's now fixed. I managed to get one of the entire rear light fixtures off and ready for replacement. My father-in-law showed up and took over the rest. Even though I know I could have finished it myself, it was nice to have help. I felt so empowered just by figuring it out, buying bulbs and getting it started.

5. It seems like divorce is everywhere now. I was wondering when it would truly hit people I know and it has. It's sad and I wish all those people the best.

6. Our yard is awesome. The grass is back full force and it's completely usable after a 5 minute poop pick up. It's hot out but in the afternoon, in the shade, sitting in comfy chairs, watching the kids play - it's great.

7. A fly laid eggs (or so we think) in our house somewhere. Andy and I went on a fly killing spree over the weekend. I have never seen so many flies concentrated inside. Sarah was even hunting them down. As weird as it seems, it was actually a silly and fun weekend activity.

8. I don't usually post about Andy's mom but I figured prayers are always good to have. She and Andy's dad met with the TGen people yesterday to see about doing DNA mapping of the cancer and then devise a VERY specific treatment for it. Before they can do that, we need to get her in a bit better health - mostly just get LOTS more food in her. Wish us luck and keep praying for her.

9. Sarah now really likes the Pink song So What? for 2 reasons: the Na, na, na, na, na, na part and her name is PINK. Nuff said.

10. Our living room... Before, During and After (and we've kept it clean)  

The Before Shot - We dumped everything pulled out of drawers, kids rooms, office, hallway, etc that didn't have a spot or just needed us to go through (like papers) in the living room.

We sorted papers and put stuff to sell or give away in bags and gathered trash.

And... Ta-Dah!  Clean at last - unless you count the dirt devil we hadn't put away yet. :)

Talk about transparency and full disclosure.  This should make everyone feel better about messy houses.  Andy and I have really been working on the house.  It's been slow going but we're making progress and it feels really good.  I've been in the guest room a little every day to clean it out (think living room dirty) and we've been so much better about picking up after ourselves in the most used rooms of the house.  Hooray!!!