Birthday Bash Preview

I started processing the photos from Micah’s big birthday bash (on the 10th) last night. We got some awesome photos and I am having a great time looking through them all.  Here are a few to tide you over until I finish…

Micah is helping my dad play Corn Hole along with his Uncle Mark.

Kyla - half of my neighbor Lindsay's set of twins - running around the yard. She is beautiful!

Marra, my first college roomie, enjoying the gorgeous weather!

You will just have to wait to see more. What a tease I am!

No More Monkeys Jumping Out Of Bed

Micah must have gotten the memo that he is officially a toddler now because today was a day for milestones. First of all, he is cutting two teeth at once – a top right molar and his bottom right lateral incisor. He has been chewing on everything, including my clothes and the furniture. Then this morning I caught him trying to climb out of his crib! I instantly had visions of him toppling out in the middle of the night and crashing to the floor. Right before his nap, I took the rail off his crib and converted it to a toddler bed. Of course he fell out when he woke up. So for bedtime I put our futon mattress on the floor underneath his crib. That way if he falls out tonight, he will only plop down onto another soft surface. Who knows, he may even sleep through it. So far, he has been asleep for 2 1/2 hours and he has not fallen out. Crossing my fingers…

Peacefully napping just moments before waking and crashing into the pillows below.

But, because I am a mother and I naturally worry, Eric’s parents are bringing us a spare twin mattress tomorrow night, which I will put on the floor in place of his crib/toddler bed. He has slept on this particular mattress during his naps at their house, so I already know he likes it, plus I will not worry about him falling and getting scared in the middle of the night. The nice thing about a twin mattress is the fact that he will have a lot more room to toss and turn (which is does quite a bit), and transitioning him to a normal bed will be easy. We’ll simply add a box spring when he’s 2 and a bed frame when he’s 4 — or something along those lines.

Since I was already switching things up in his room, I decided to do a little rearranging to prevent him from climbing onto the window. My arm chair was by his window and so I needed to move that away so he couldn’t use it as a “ladder.” I also had to make room for his new toys!

Notice how he just tipped over his Diaper Genie...

Next we’ll be bolting all the furniture to the wall. He’s a little monkey!

Happy Birthday Micah!

I woke the birthday boy up with a song – he danced in my arms while I sang “Happy Birthday” as best I could at 6:30 in the morning. He seemed to pick up pretty quickly that today was his special day.

He watched me piece together his homemade birthday sign.

Spelling out "Happy 1st Birthday" with leftover scrapbooking paper

After I finished the sign, I blew up a few balloons. Watching Micah’s face as I exhausted all my breath into these things was priceless. I could just tell he was dying to get his teeth sunk into these balloons, which is exactly why I placed them out of reach.

Chocolate brown and powder blue - perfect colors for a baby boy's birthday!

And then it was on to the cupcakes. I decided to go with triple fudge cupcakes and homemade chocolate buttercream frosting since it would show up pretty well in photos (when Micah smeared it all over his face, that is).

3/4 cup butter, tsp of vanilla, 3/4 cup milk, 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cups cocoa... yummy!

I totally licked the spoon when I was done.

Thank you to Robin for lending me this cupcake "tower"

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon until our guests started to arrive. Tonight was just a little party for us and our parents.

Eric's mom and my dad hanging out with the birthday boy

While we were waiting for the pizza to be done, we decided to let Micah open up his presents. The last time he opened gifts at Christmas, he had no idea what to do, but this time he had a little more fun with it.

Just as interested in the wrapping paper!

Watching Daddy open his little people farm

Taking the little farmer for a spin around the living room

After presents we had pizza and cupcakes! Micah was pretty suspicious of the cupcake. Grandpa Mike had to help him out a little bit.

By the time the party was ending, Micah was pretty overwhelmed and exhausted. He passed out in his crib pretty quick, but I think he had a lot of fun. He will probably play with his new toys all day tomorrow!

Peanuts Are Evil

Considering how much I love peanut butter, it’s going to be really hard for me to accept that it is something that can hurt my little boy. Today he tried his very first peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and everything was going well until, ten minutes later…

He started itching his eyes and ears quite a bit, and then he broke out in hives. It seemed to clear up a little bit after washing him up, but it was far from over. The worst came when it really got into his system…

Hives spread all over this body. His skin, especially under his arms and around his diaper area, turned bright red and bumps appeared everywhere. He was scratching his belly and crying. I gave him a cool bath and called the pediatrician. Unfortunately all I can do is give him Benadryl and wait it out. I’m so glad he has not experienced any respiratory symptoms, otherwise we’d be headed to the doctor or the ER.

It’s just so hard to see him suffer like this. Tomorrow is his birthday – I hope he is feeling better by then! At least his doctor’s appointment is already scheduled for Friday. I hope to have him tested to make sure it really is a peanut allergy, and also to see if there is anything else I should avoid. I really hope he outgrows this allergy, though!

Basement Makeover

My basement has been driving me nuts for a long time. It was really messy and full of junk to begin with, and then the whole mess with the flood made it ten times worse. We can’t afford to finish it just yet, but this past week we did some things that dramatically improved its looks. The entire project cost about $100, too, so that’s not too bad!

Taken after the "flood": What a disaster!

When we first moved in, we threw everything in the basement, and then every time we cleaned and unpacked a room upstairs, the excess went in the basement, too. Eric’s “man cave” was starting to look like an episode of Hoarders.

So this week I started off the project by throwing away or giving away a lot of the junk that was cluttering the floor. I put an ad up for the 5 artificial trees in the free section of Craig’s List. I got about twelve responses within the first day, and by the next day, a nice couple hauled them away in their truck. Most of the stuff went to the curb, however. Much of it was stuff that had gotten wet and wasn’t worth replacing.

The next major step in our renovation involved Eric building these awesome shelves from 2x4s and boards. His dad came over to help. I was super impressed with the end result. I didn’t know I was married to such a skilled carpenter! (He is always full of surprises!) After I had cleared out all the junk, I was able to organize what was left on these shelves, which got everything off the floor.

I then bought some white sealer/primer and started painting the concrete walls. I did the first ten feet or so, and then my mom came over to help me finish. (Meaning, she finished it for me! She is wonderful!)

Wonderful Shelves!

It took quite a while to go through everything and organize it. Once that was done, we still had to put things back like rugs and furniture, since it had all been moved around during the restoration and clean up. We divided the basement into different sections: office, exercise equipment, storage, living area, etc.

The "office"

Gaming area (and exercise equipment in the background)

The "Living Room"

The final step, which even my mom has not seen yet, was the result of an impulse decision to paint a mural on one of the walls. I decided the corner behind the TV could use some sprucing up.

See how bare it is?

Ah, much better!

I used plain old acrylics to paint a branch and a red swallow motif. It took me about 2 hours and I had a lot of fun doing it! Here is a better view:

I love it!

Early Bird

For the first time in my life, I’m living up to the name I no longer go by. My maiden name is Early. Let me clarify, I may not always be on time, but I love waking up before the birds… and my baby.

Babies wake up early. Not in the way that old people wake up early, chatting at the breakfast table over dark black coffee and oatmeal; no, more like children on Christmas morning when they know there is an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle under the tree. (You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.) Once Micah is awake, everything gets set aside until nap time because he is a tornado with dimples, a swirly widows peak and a double tooth. He requires 152% of my undivided attention and I might be able to wash a few dishes while he sits in his high chair using both hands to shove massive numbers of Cheerios into his cheeks.

Engrossed with the TV remote.

Because I like to eat Raisin Bran in silence (go fiber!), read my Bible without tiny hands threatening to rip out the pages, and get showered and dressed before noon, I have been determined to turn myself into an early riser over the past month or so. Oddly enough, I have discovered that I like waking up before the sun comes up. It’s peaceful, and when Micah does wake up, I am ready for him in every sense of the word. My whole day falls into place.

One of the perks of being up early is the way it opens doors to have more fun during the day. It’s amazing how much you miss out on when it’s 11am and you’re still in your pajamas. If a friend calls and asks you to do something, you have to say, yeah, but give me an hour to get ready. There goes an hour of fun! And if that friend is inviting you to a time-sensitive activity, like a matinee, there goes all your fun! Why not be ready to do anything at a moment’s notice? Staying up late? You end up looking for something to do when everyone else is going to bed. Unless you’re living in a college town, there’s nothing to do after nine except to check Facebook or watch everything in your DVR. What’s the fun in that? (Disclaimer: no fault in Facebook and TV, that might actually be the perfect night for someone else, but not me.) When you wake up early, you can do things like go grocery shopping before all the good deals get snatched up, go out for breakfast with your friends, finish up your tasks before lunch and relax the rest of the day guilt free, and catch the good sales at the mall, just to name a few. Early bird gets the worm, right?

6:39: my baby just woke up. I’m dressed and my tummy is full of raisin bran. And I got to talk to you guys. This day is off to a good start.

Photoblog: Playtime

The whole house is his playground…

He leaves a wake of discarded toys behind him as he moves from one thing to the next.

Uh oh!

Walking from the front door to the couch, happily waving both hands all the way.

His wobbly stumble has evolved into a playful teeter

New trick: climbing up onto the gate… only to get stuck and call for help.

Love those cheeks!

Looks like he found Abigail’s binky and he doesn’t want me to take it back.

Love the top of his head!

Engrossed with the TV remote.

He’s thrilled that I let him have it (removed the batteries.)

so happy!

“How do I open this sliding door?”

Taking a break for a moment…

Taking Our Time

My Mom said something this weekend that really stuck with me. She said that this season of life, parenting young children, goes by too fast, and it can go by even faster if we are too busy and too distracted to take in every moment. TV, activities, housework, errands and all the other urgent things of life can take our focus away from the things we’ll miss the most: their cute habits, their curiosity, their words, their play… everything that makes up who they are and everything that defines childhood in all its slow-paced, joyful wonder.

Leisurely eater...

What a cute little mess on the window!

Micah definitely doesn’t have any problem living in the moment. In fact, tonight I remarked to Eric that Micah is always bound to the present moment and all its emotions, good or bad. Whether that means being overcome by the anxiety of hunger or the pain of a bump on the head or the hilarity of his mom blowing raspberries on his belly, Micah only lives in the present. He only knows what he feels right now and he feels it and knows it to the fullest. It’s easy to upset him terribly, then again, it’s always easy to distract him from his misery with something new and exciting. He can shift from sobs to laughter and back to sobs in seconds.

Death of a tuna sandwich.

(Tangent: As adults, I think we should continue to focus on the moment as we did when we were children, but with an anchor dropped firmly in the presence of God. Though we should take everything in with full appreciation, absorbing all the details, we should also resist the urge to let our emotions be ruled by our present circumstances. We have an awareness of what is beyond the here and now, and even more than that, we have the knowledge that our loving Father is in control and has our best interests at heart. Hunger shouldn’t terrorize us when we know of God’s promise to provide. Pain shouldn’t cripple us when we look up to see God’s open arms reaching out to comfort our souls. Fear shouldn’t keep us from living when we stand before a God that is much bigger than even our biggest enemy.)

So today I crawled with him on the floor and looked at everything he looked at. I watched his expressions closely and wondered what was going on behind those deep blue eyes with the endless eyelashes. I left the TV off and listened to him babble all day. I noticed that his chatter is beginning to sound a lot like our conversations – as though he was narrating everything he was doing. After his nap, I took him for a walk along the river and watched his reactions to everything. I tried to take note of what caught his interest the most. (People, ducks.)

Love those little ears!

I began to realize that this cute little baby I’ve come to love so much over the past year is so much more than a pair of dimples, tiny feet, a fuzzy round head and high pitched-squeals. He is a man. Maybe not now… but he will be. He is a full fledged person that God created, with his own life ahead of him. He was a part of  me once, he is so close to me now, but he is separate from me, with his own personality, quirks, hangups, talents, passions and tendencies. That realization has driven me to really get to know him in his own right. I want to resist the urge to project my own experiences, expectations and emotions on him, and instead help him to discover his own identity. We can learn about who he is, what he likes and doesn’t like, what he wants to do… together.

Taking our time - a walk along the Rock River

I’ve been living milestone to milestone, but as his first birthday approaches, I want to continually remind myself to enjoy every moment with him. I know that in the blink of an eye, I’ll be passing on my mom’s advice when he discovers himself holding his own child. Take it slow, it goes by fast. Stay home, turn off the TV. Enjoy each other.

Where Did Those Blue Eyes Come From?

He has his Grandma's beautiful blues!

My Frustrations With Health Care

This is one of those topics that is really difficult for me to write about, simply because I feel so uninformed. Health insurance and all things related are way over my head. I do my best to read and understand the fine print, but the important big picture question, “what should I do?” is the one that stumps me. I just don’t know. I read about all the controversy about this health care reform bill and I wonder, “how will this affect my situation? Will it even help me? Will it be too late?”

Four years ago, I had great coverage. I worked for Walgreens and my insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) covered everything with a very small copay. My decision to leave that company was complicated, and because ties haven’t been cut altogether, I really shouldn’t delve into it, but as a result, I lost that incredible coverage. My next job was at a small company that could not afford to provide group insurance. (Moving to a job without group insurance was probably my first mistake.) My husband worked at the same company and was still a student. At that time, we decided to look into private insurance. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend on insurance, so we chose a plan with a large deductible through Assurant Health. The premium was still $175 or so each month with a $5,000 deductible. We tacked on maternity coverage since we planned on starting a family.

A few months later, my husband got a new job which provided group insurance. I chose not to apply for his policy at that time because we were told I would have to pay my own premium – that his employer did not cover the whole family’s premium, only his. The coverage was considerably better than our policy at Assurant, so naturally we assumed it would be too expensive.  My premium at Assurant went down to $120 a month. Midway through my pregnancy with Micah, we reconsidered (I can’t remember why – I think we planned on reorganizing our budget) and I tried to enroll with his insurance. I was denied because I was coming from a private insurance policy. Apparently I could have been added if I had applied in the first 30 days of his employment, but that was my only chance under current circumstances. I wasn’t about to get fired just to get insurance. I immediately regretted my decision to go with private insurance. Would I have been better off uninsured at that point? It’s possible but I’ll never know, I suppose. The next blow came when we added Micah to Eric’s policy and realized his paycheck stayed the same. So… we weren’t being charged extra for additional family members? Were we misinformed or did we misunderstand? I still don’t know. The third blow came when we got the bills from the hospital. Everything was charged on separate accounts, meaning the $5,000 deductible was barely met and Micah’s treatment costs were applied to a separate deductible. Some pregnancy/delivery related treatments were billed as non-maternity. Essentially, our “insurance” covered next to nothing. We racked up nearly ten grand in medical bills. I looked back on the thousands of dollars in premiums I had paid and wondered, ‘what was the point of all that?’ Nearly a year later, we still haven’t paid Micah off (though I’m hardly worried he’ll be repossessed, hehe).

Last month, my policy with Assurant was due to expire and I had the option of renewing, but at a 68% increase in premiums. Given our current financial situation, I had no choice but to not renew. Considering how much that insurance helped me, I did not mind dropping it. Especially because this past time around, I would have been better off as a self pay because I would have gotten those discounts. As it stands, I am currently uninsured. I’m not necessarily worried because I’m healthy, but we want to have more kids and can’t afford to take on any more medical bills at this point. Even if we could come up with 8-10K, if I ended up needing an emergency c-section, the bills would devastate us. I’m not sure how long it would take to recover from that. We would probably not be able to afford a third child then, and that would break my heart.

At this point, my only shot at getting insurance is through Eric either getting a new job, or his employer buying a brand new group policy with a different company (and even that is not a sure thing, I suppose). There is no way we can afford private insurance. Any plan that we can afford will end up costing us more than not having any insurance at all.

Why must affordable health insurance (that is worth anything) be tied to a job (at a larger company) and why is it so hard to get? Why are there so many exclusions? What are people like me supposed to do?