Oh sweetie . . .

"Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it." ~Author Unknown

What an Andrew Jackson Can Get You

Here's an email from my mom.  Background: Bryce & Nathanael are my brothers. Nathanael (6)  shares a room and bed with David (8). Nathanael has been scheming ways to marry Josie since he was 3.

April 26, 2009

The funniest thing happened tonight.  Bryce and Josie came over and we did the Easter candy hunt with them (yes, 2 weeks late).   At bedtime, Nathanael said that he would sleep with Josie and Bryce could sleep with David.  Bryce said, "well it cost me $1800 for a wedding ring for Josie so I could sleep with her, so do you have $1800. . . (and then just to be nice). . . or do you have 1800 cents?"  Well, Nathanael ran to his room, grabbed his $20 bill (birthday money) and ran back out to Bryce and said "You owe me 2 dollars"    So, as I write this, Nathanael is sleeping INBETWEEN Bryce and Josie in Rachel's bed, with his tooth under his pillow.  Bryce will learn not to mess with Nathanael when it comes to numbers.

So Bryce, I hope you kept the money. Maybe you could buy Josie a bit of therapy, so she'll want to keep hanging out with our family.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Not really.  The only thing missing from this picture is the cool stripey witch socks.  

India dragged Maya into her secret play space while I was out of the room for 20 seconds.  I'm thinking of the  fun {read: damage} they'll have when Maya's legs start working.

Last week after lunch outside on the porch, I said:

"India, go put your plate in the garbage."

India: "No, you go put the plate in the garbage."

Me: "No, you go put the plate in the garbage. I am not your maid."

India: "You is my mommy maid."

Me:  "No, I'm not.  You've got legs.  Put your plate in the garbage.

India: "I NOT YOUR MAID!"

Me: "YES YOU ARE. GO PUT YOUR PLATE IN THE GARBAGE NOW."

Point for Them

You win PEHP.

Thanks Mom for listening to me unload my frustrations and giving me a great pep talk and advice even though you have tons of homework to finish for finals.  

Thanks Dad for being a human before a doctor and writing off many a patient bill because of his/her circumstances.  

Thank you Diane in billing for changing Maya's bill today after I balled beside your cubicle in front of my children and 13 other strangers because PEHP doesn't cover all immunizations.  

 And finally, thank you to John Schmidt's inspirational music (that I found on Kenna's blog).  After so much crying, it has been the perfect "pick-me-up."

Beautiful Baby

Just a cute picture

India wanted "Cinderella braids" today.  Wait, she's old enough to make requests?  She looked at herself in the mirror the other day and frustratedly exclaimed, "I want straight hair - not curly!"

De-Mulleting the Baby

Beautiful & Spunky: Aunt Livia-O

Before: (shudder)

After: It actually looks a ton better.  Thanks to Hannah for your honesty and to Livia-O for Maya's first haircut!

She Told Me She'd Like a Pink One

I've Learned to Upload Videos!

Maya has recently starting "talking" to us. India was not as social at this age.



These girls adore each other.

Point for Me

I loathe insurance companies.  Even more so than Walmart, bad drivers, potty soup, ranch dressing, and the obnoxious cartoon Sid the Science Kid.   We pay mega-bucks for a 100% insurance coverage, but surprise bills and more deductibles keep popping up.

But you know what?  This post-pregnancy I've actually got some time and a killer cell phone plan to battle it out.  Me vs PEHP. And they cannot hang up on me.

The Battle: Infant Audio Screening Test $84. Insurance denies the claim because the doctor is out of PEHP's network.  I go ballistic, not necessarily because of the money, but because I'm confused as to why the hell an out-of-network doctor is working at my already-insurance-approved hospital.  (No wonder people have their babies at home.  That almost might be worth giving up the epidural and going natural).

Many phone calls later, PEHP pays for part of the claim AND I get the bill down to $50.25 for Maya's deductible.   BOOYAH!  I saved $30 bucks, and I won a moral battle.  I have now saved our family over $200 as of January because I would not give up.

Oh yeah, and it turns out the doctor is in the PEHP network.  NEVER trust your insurance. Apparently, PEHP only hires old women for customer service to make you feel bad for swearing at them, but it's still a ruse.  (And for the record, swearing only happens when x amount exceeds three digits).