Caution: Gripe

I didn't want to post this rant on Facebook and start any sort of facebook war or discussion, but since most of you who read my blog are my close friends or family, I'll say it here:

I am FED UP with get charged high bills for pre-existing conditions. WHY oh WHY!?! Why do I have to pay hundreds of dollars to receive treatment for being sick? I am supposedly "fully insured." But then I get a $172 bill from Doctor's Care where I went to get a REFILL on two prescriptions.

No worries, though. I'll just pay the bill off quick with all the big money I'm making at my social work job that's on furlough because of the economy/lack of funding for abused and neglected children.

Also of note, my client's sister is dying of lung cancer. Stage 4 right now. But medicaid will only pay a certain amount of money per month for her care, so even though she's in terrible pain and unstable, the hospital sends her home to her four kids, age 5 to 10, without enough pain medicine to subsist in a perpetual state of semi-consciousness.

At least her situation makes me feel a little less sorry for myself...

I hear her story, and one word was all I could come up with: Inhumane.

I personally just hate that we have a health system that functions as a for-profit structure. Ugh.

Ok, I'm done! I promise. At least for now! haha.

The End.

Welcome Home

Robby's coming home tonight. The pic above is the sign I taped to our front hall mirror.

He'll only be here for about four weeks... and this is probably the last time we'll really be able to say, "Welcome Home," because after this, he'll head off to be wed in Arizona... and this will never be his "home" in quite the same way.

We're all super excited for him and for his wedding and Amanda; however, I know we'll all be savoring this last bit of time we have him here with us.

Welcome home, little bro.

A great date!

Eliza refused to smile in these pictures, at least with her eyes open, but we caught some cute ones anyways!

I love these pictures. We took them in a photo booth at the mall. Eliza is my BEST little buddy when it comes to running errands, going on trips, shopping, walks, game playing, etc! She's a great date to say the least, and she's always up for some type of fun adventure! I love it!

She, of course, had her times where she tried to run off and hide in the clothing racks or demands a treat, but she has gotten so great these days. She's (usually) really good about staying where she can see me, and we work out a deal where she can choose one treat (usually under a dollar).

Plus, she's so wonderful about holding my hand.

It's pretty sweet to have such a cutie to hold hands with wherever I go! I'm lucky enough to also get lots and lots of hugs and cuddles too! Occasionally, I let her sleep in bed with me or lie down with her while I tell her a pretend story (ugh!), and she'll sweetly put her arm around my neck and giggle sweetly in my face as she gives me an eskimo kiss.

She's a good 35 lbs, but she still really loves to be carried or get a piggy back ride, but she gets heavy fast these days when she demands to be carried or falls and needs some extra love.

The other night I was watching the new Karate Kid with Jayden Smith (which I ended up really liking, btw). But something random that I thought of while watching it was how the little 13 yr old never wants to talk to his mom, is always mad at her and always shuts his door on her. It made me think, at what point do your kids change from wanting you to hold them, hug them, and play with them ALL the TIME --to-- shutting you almost completely out of their lives?

I posed this question out loud, and my mom quickly responded, "About 12 years old." She appeared pretty familiar with the concept. (Twinge of guilt there)

So there's just one more thing to dread in the teenage years! In the mean time, I'll try to savor Eliza's cuddles, kisses, and "Mom, I think you're the greatest mom in the whole world; I love you with ALL MY HEART!" (direct Eliza quote).

I love you with ALL MY HEART too, Eliza Mae.

Look who we found!

We stumbled into a shelter on Pine Island at the Easter Festival yesterday, and look what we found!

Eliza's with Steve for Easter next week, so it was fun to be able to take Eliza to this little festival... I still wanna hide some eggs for her at some point, but I'm not sure what to do since I won't have her until the day after. But the next week is birthday time! Woo-hoo!

Oh, and she loved the Easter bunny. She wanted to give (him/her/it) all of the prizes she had won at the festival... She sure is cute this Easter! I was pretty excited that the picture turned out, especially because of the craziness of school pictures (story for another post!).

Happy Easter everybody!

ABBY'S 18th BDAY & CONFERENCE RENDEZVOUS

We decided to meet Katy & Aaron and company halfway-ish in between Maryland (where they are) and SC (where we are) on conference weekend, which is April 2nd and 3rd. Abby turned 18 on April 2nd! We spent most of the time in a hotel. Originally we thought of camping, but then decided it was too cold and some people didn't want to camp with the youngin's (::cough::dad::). I think a good time was had by all! We sure miss seeing Katy, Aaron, Reuben, and Miriam!!!!

Abby's Bday Dinner

(Our conference broadcast! Fancy!)

Meldau Rendezvous: Park Edition

Oma with two of her three grandkids!

We spent a beautiful Sunday morning at the park together before we all departed!

Yay Family! We were even able to play a cheerful game of Little Brown Bear before we left! A Meldau tradition (besides the cheerful part- when we were little, it often ended in tears- jk, sorta)! It was a great time for all!

We just wish Robby & Amanda could have been there!

Show Me Your Pearly Whites!

The look of SUCCESS:Yesterday Eliza persevered through her first "real" dentist appointment!
(We visited a dentist last July, but Eliza refused to really even open her mouth for more than a minute and so they definitely weren't able to do a cleaning to say the least.)

She was adorable and a VERY good sport! I did lots of prepping her- read books about Dora going to the dentist, showing her the dentist's website (which is really cute), and talking with her about what would happen when she went. I chose a pediatric only dentist since Eliza struggled last time, and I'm really glad I did. All of the workers were so sweet to her and actually talked TO and WITH Eliza, and they weren't busy at all!

And she had NO cavities! Hooray! I was having nightmares about her needing caps or something, I don't know. I feel like I've heard about or read about SEVERAL different kids whether through friends or work whose child's teeth are rotted or needing oral surgery, and I was thinking- what if we go in and all of Eliza's teeth are rotten!!! But thankfully my ban on sugary drinks, no drinks at bedtime, no bottle after age one, and daily teeth brushing has helped! Yay!

At one point, when the dental hygienist was leaning over Eliza, Eliza quietly said, "You're beautiful." The hygienist told Eliza that she had just made her day and told her that she could have TWO toys from the treasure box for that one! haha. I am glad to have a sweet girl, though!

And of course, Eliza was sure to invite everyone in the office to her birthday party!!