I sound like my mom...

"My baby is TWO!" I sound like my mom. It's okay. I don't mind. I love my mom. She's a cool mom.

I can't believe that Colby's two. Actually, I can. He is exerting his independence in the way that only a two year old can. However, as if on cue, he became my favorite version of himself tonight at dinner. He was impish - silly, bending over in his seat to look up at Steve in a sort of sideways upside down way and he just giggled. That was after he stuffed his face with a taco (although he did hold his own taco (and successfully I might add) for the first time tonight). He's glad to proclaim that he's TEWWWWWWWW if you ask him although he'll show you five fingers at the same time. Ha! Steve and I had a miscommunication about whether or not he was coming home between work and dog training tonight, so I didn't have our gifts for Colby wrapped. He did get to open gifts from both of my aunts, though, and was THRILLED to receive a bus and two dolls. He's big into "ooooooh!" (I SO wish everyone could hear him) these days and he was quite impressed with his gifts!

We finished out the day with a haircut for him and as he giggled his way through it and scrunched up his neck I was reminded again how much I love him. He doled out birthday hugs to Kailin and I before they went to bed and it was all I could do to let him go. How I love that boy! Kailin, for her part, sweetly called him "birthday boy" all day. "Come here, birthday boy" "Do you want some help, birthday boy?" It was pretty cute.

My boy is a silly, loving, gentle little guy and I love everything about him. He's definitely testing his independence right now and letting me know that although he's gentle and tender he will not be walked upon!! (literally or figuratively) He's changed so much in the past 9 months. I just can't wait to see what kind of changes we'll see in this next year. I took some cute pics of him today, but my camera isn't compatible with Vista (being that it's an archaic five years old (according to Vista)) so the pictures will have to wait til I can transfer them to my flash drive on our desktop and then to this computer.

dubya dubya dubya

You thought this was going to be a political post, didn't you?! I guess it kind of it because "Dubya" is a bit of a curse word in this house... ha ha ha.

Actually this post is about my son crawling up in my lap yesterday and saying something that sounded like "Dubya dubya dubya MommyDaddyBubbeeTobyMommyDaddyBubbeeTobyMommyDaddyBubbeeToby" as fast as he could say it. I'm not sure what the Dubyas were about, but the rest of it is our family of course and it was so stinking cute I had to make a post about it.

I'll snap a picture of the birthday boy later and post it. Hard to believe he's already TWO!

Xin Nian Kuai Le

I'm sure I messed up the spelling somehow. Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year! (a day (or so) late and a dollar short - as always!). We celebrated first at Kailin's Cricket School with some very yummy dumplings, mandarin oranges, almond cookies and a fortune cookie (and the classic Chinese beverage- Capri Sun (ha ha ha)). Then we watched a dragon dance and headed off to the Mitchell Park Domes with our friends the Klopfs. In addition to the Chinese New Year festivities there, the show dome is all set up with trains and the kids went wild! Kailin's teacher, Miss Ping, was there and Kailin informed her that this is the year of the camel. Lovely. There is no camel on the Chinese zodiac, of course, and we've talked about it being the year of the ox more than once. Selective memory, I guess. We finished out the day having the Klopfs over for a play date and dinner.

I made sweet and sour chicken, napa cabbage salad, and steamed veggies with ginger sesame sauce. It was a great dinner and we had Sharon's mandarin orange trifle for dessert. Colby REALLY enjoyed himself with that one! Monday we had sesame ribs and broccoli for dinner to celebrate the actual day. It was a fun Chinese New Year!

Now on to Colby's birthday! I'm dying to cut his hair, so tomorrow can't arrive soon enough. We're going much less Asian for his birthday - he adores tacos so that's what we're having. Stay tuned for pictures of that mess...er...meal.

Is there an echo in here?

Colby is still increasing his vocabulary mostly using the parrot method - repeat back anything anyone says to you. Expect your parents to repeat back anything you say to them. Sometimes it makes me laugh- and sometimes it makes Colby frustrated (mostly when we don't understand what he's saying).

Anyway, the real reason for this post is what happened last Thursday night. I was putting the kids to bed. Both of them are INSANELY ticklish right before bed. I didn't need to tickle Colby, though - he made some noises and I thought I'd parrot them back. He erupted in peals of laughter! PEALS!! More noises - more repeating - more peals. Then he put his hands on my neck. I tried to put my hands on his (uber)ticklish neck. He laughed so hard he snorted! We carried on for quite awhile before I decided we'd better settle down or he'd never go to sleep. I know I haven't done it justice here - words just couldn't, but I wanted to remember this little mommy moment. It was one of those really simple, silly things that shouldn't have been any big deal, but I'll remember it for a long long while to come.

Oh Christmas Tree

Today was the day. I could wait no more (and also the pick-up is tomorrow). Our Christmas tree - the giant, full, fill the room beauty is now a dried up shell of it's former self. It does, however, have about a million times more needles on it than our tree last year which yielded about 3" of needles on our carpet in less time than this one's been up. This year's tree also remained on the roof of the car and remained standing - a feat we've not seen since we moved into this house. I'm hoping it's the sign of a new era in Gannaway family Christmas trees. Only time will tell. I do know that this year's tree served us well - it lit up our room and gave us joy. (it also gave us frustration as the kids and dogs tried their best to strip it of it's ornaments daily) It was a gorgeous tree and it looked beautiful - but it looked good naked, too. It made me a little sad today to take everything off - both because it signals the true end of our Christmas Season, but also because it was such an event to put the decorations and lights on and it was such a non-event to take them off. I took a little time to think about our Christmas and about where all of our ornaments came from and that seemed like a fitting tribute to the tree. Yes, perhaps I've waxed a little saptastic here (no pun intended), but the Christmas tree really is a huge part of Christmas for me and I'm always sad to see it go. I can't wait to see what our tree will look like next year!!

Breaker breaker...

We noticed a puddle at the street end of our cul de sac this morning on our way to church. Not a good sign during a cold Wisconsin winter. The puddle was bigger when we got home and there was a front end loader tooling around. Not good signs. We monitored the goings on and sure enough at 11:40 the doorbell rang and it was a public works guy coming to tell us that they were going to turn off the water at noon to fix a water main break. I asked about how long the water might be off. He estimated most of the day. We hurried around and filled some containers with water - some for drinking, and some in case we needed to flush the toilets more than once. It was no crisis by any means (although the dishwasher left us in a bit of a quandary as we'd just started it before the man came to the door and we weren't sure how many cycles of water it would need....in the end we waited for it to drain and then stopped it, but that caused a litany of beeps to emerge from it - one every 4 seconds or so - for the duration. ), but it did give me cause to think about how much we take running water for granted. Clean running water. What a simple thing, but what a difference it makes in our daily lives! Thankfully our run in with drought lasted less than 2 hours and I was able to restart the dishwasher. Now to find something to do with the water sitting on the counter so it's not wasted....

Baby it's cooooooold outside!!

I know it's really cold today. Not because the weather man told me that all the schools are closed and that the temperature (at 6am) was -11 and the windchill was -30. I know it's really cold today because I watched our (usually) beloved foxhound mix attempt to poop on TWO legs. TWO. He first managed on three and then thought he'd try to lift that last back leg up. It didn't work out so well for him in the end, but he did get the job done and sprint to the door. I wish I'd had my camera out there for the show - but a. who thinks to take a camera out with them when they take the dogs out to go and b. it's so cold it probably would've frozen anyway.

And the winner is....pink eye!!

Colby's eye was swollen on Friday, but not draining or bothering him. Swollen a little more on Saturday, but it was the weekend and he could move the eyeball just fine (which is what our dr. told me to check for when Kailin has had a swollen eyelid) and it wasn't draining or anything, so I let it go one more day to see. Well, Sunday dawned and it was clear that something needed to be done. It was draining and now he was saying "Eye. Owwww." very pathetically and very often. I called the on call Dr. who was a little concerned that it might be an abscess, so while Steve took Kailin to Sunday school, I took Colby to urgent care. The Dr. took one look and said that it was pink eye. Thankfully (we've never had it before so I didn't know) it's easily treated - and in fact, one drop later and there was remarkable improvement. Sadly, our plans for the day were canceled, but I was very thankful that it wasn't something less contagious but more serious!!!

In other daily news, he weighs 33lbs now and is 34" tall. He's loving his Christmas "choo choo!!!!"s and is struggling with screeching every time someone does something he doesn't like (and sometimes when HE does something he doesn't like). He sometimes sasses me just so he can immediate say "saw-ye" and give me a hug and a smile. I know there were a couple other phrases I wanted to highlight, but they are escaping me. He turns 2 in a little less than 3 weeks and I can only begin to imagine what the next months will bring for us!!

You are the best lover!

Thought this was going to be a risque post, didn't you?! Ha ha ha. No, it's innocent as can be, but it did make me giggle. Kailin is in the habit of saying, "Mom, you are the BEST maker!" at meals (or occasionally "This is the best you bought!" if the meal comes from a box). The other day she plopped down next to me on the couch and said, "Mom, I love you." I replied that I loved her too - very much. And she said, "You are the BEST lover!" You have to love childhood innocence - and I had to immortalize it.

Pondering

I'm pondering the following today....

Why when you get into a shower that is too hot do you shiver? Isn't shivering the body's natural way to INCREASE heat? I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this and I should just google it sometime, but for now it remains one of the mysteries of my world.

Secondly, I'm amused that if I inflict minor acute pain to my nose (not jamming my glasses into the bridge of it pain, but pinching a little bit of my nostril pain), I sneeze. Every time. Is this some kind of defense mechanism whereby I will sneeze off the offending entity and be rid of the aggravation or is it a retaliation - "Inflict pain on me and I will shower you in a spray of infection!!"? The world may never know.

Insurance...

**Warning - this is an all out rant - proceed at your own risk!**

I'm fighting a battle with our insurance right now. I saw the eye Dr. in March. I tried to get them to submit for the materials portion of my benefits, but they said that they couldn't since no one else has the materials portion administered through their health insurance directly. My appointment was right before we went to Taiwan and it slipped past me to submit the claim, so I submitted it in August when I remembered. I heard nothing.

In NOVEMBER when I called because they were continually sending me emails about new EOBs when there were none, I happened to inquire as to whether or not they got my claim. "Oh, yes, it says right here that we are waiting for further information." Well were you going to inform me of that? It's been THREE MONTHS! "Well you should've gotten an EOB." I didn't. What information do you need? They needed the taxpayer ID of the doctor and the diagnosis code, etc. How would I get that information? "It should have been on the claim that your doctor provided you." My doctor didn't provide me a claim. I filled it out via a form I got from my husband's HR department. "Well it should've been on there." It wasn't. "It should have been right on the form your doctor gave you." My doctor DIDN'T give me a form. I only had a receipt from my visit. "Well why wasn't it on the receipt?" I don't know, but it wasn't, and nothing on the form I filled out indicated that I would need that information. How can I get it? "It should have been on the form your Doctor gave you." SERIOUSLY?! Okay, if I can obtain this information, how would I submit it. "Hold on and I'll get you the address." click. And I was calm that entire time. I wasn't even verbally incredulous at this ridiculousness (although surely I was thinking it). And she disconnected me.

Anyway, I called the eye Dr. and got what is called a "super bill" that has all that info on it. I resubmitted. I was rejected. Why? Length of time for the claim exceeded the allowable submission timeframe. So I call. I talk to a customer service rep who says that subscribers have a year to submit their claims and that it must've been processed as though it were submitted by a provider - and they only have 90 days to submit. She assures me that a resolution specialist will have this cleared up for me in a jiffy. I'm skeptical but hopeful. The resolution expert has me explain the entire situation over again (of course) at which time he tells me that he sees that my vision provider does have a contract with them, so therefore I would need to have submitted my claim pursuant to their contract. WHAT??? That makes NO sense. NONE.

He suggests that I file a formal appeal and politely tells me where to find the form. He says I should definitely explain that we were travelling and that's why I couldn't file my claim on time. NO, what I should explain is how asinine a policy it is that a consumer should abide by the terms of the contract with the PROVIDER of which said consumer would have no details!! I find the form and go to fill it out. The first line asks whom is filling out the form. I fill in my name. Three lines down it asks your relationship to the patient. The choices are "subscriber/member" (Steve), Parent/Guardian, and "other". I check "other" and then notice that it goes on to say that if you've checked "other" you should be sure to have the patient fill out the authorization of release of information form. WHAT? I have to authorize MYSELF to have access to MY information? Trying to cover my bases and somewhat in disbelief, I call to find out whether or not I really need this form. The phone tree asks for the subscriber ID. I enter it. Then it always asks for the birth date. I always enter Steve's as he is the subscriber and I have been informed on many occasions that I am NOT the subscriber. But then when I finally talk to someone they always think I will be Steve. I vowed to resolve this issue as well. The customer service rep immediately determined that I was an idiot for asking the question about whether or not I needed the form. "Of course you don't need that form - you're filling out the form for yourself." I agree - it should be obvious that you wouldn't need to authorize yourself, but then again it should be obvious that I shouldn't be bound by the terms of my vision provider's contract, right? They should just put a "self" box on the stinking form and then it would be easy!! So I ask her about the birthdate thing and she is again a little astounded at my utter stupidity. "Well you'd enter your birthdate of course since you're calling about you." Well yes, that would be logical if the phone prompt indicated that you should enter the PATIENT'S date of birth. But it doesn't. So now I've written a well thought out and only slightly terse letter of appeal all to get my mangy $100 that I'm now after on basis of principle. I'm certain that since the check will be issued (IF it's issued) this calendar year, they will count it against my benefits for THIS year and I won't be eligible for glasses for another TWO years.

Boop, inooo, and belax!

It's been awhile since I chronicled any of the kids verbal efforts.

Colby's speech truly is booming now. He's definitely trying to say everything we do and acknowledging his efforts with a simple "mmmhmmmm" just won't do. He wants you to repeat back to him what he said so that he can be sure that you are truly in the know. My favorites at the moment (although phee (fan) is still hanging on and making me giggle) are "boop" (boot) and his version of "I don't know" which comes out jammed together and missing the "don't" portion. "INOOOOOO!!!"

Kailin came up to me the other day and said, "Mom, just be lax." Be lax? Like bend the rules? Or maybe be spontaneous instead of doing work? No. "Belax. Take a deep breff and just belax." Ha ha ha. I've been told to "belax" more times than I can count now. If only she could say it when I really needed to do that!!

This has nothing to do with anything, but I was in Target the other day with a gingerbread house in my cart. They were 75% off and we do one every year - but we don't eat it, so why not get it now for next year? (although this year (model pictured here) Colby figured "five for me, one on the house" was a great approach- but a little stale candy never hurt anyone, right?!) Anyway, I was driving around and an older couple passed me in the aisle and the man turned back and leaned over and said to me (in a grandfatherly sort of way) "You will regret that purchase." I explained that I was sure I would not. And he said, "Oh, you will...." I smiled and said, "We do one every year. The kids love it. We have a lot of fun." His wife smiled back and said, "Don't listen to him. I never regretted it when we did it." I said, "Oh, we'll have candy all over the floor and they'll be a sticky mess - I know, but that's what we have dogs and washcloths for." She said, "Exactly." and they both smiled and walked away.

In that single chance encounter, three things occurred to me. One - I'm not always the mom who doesn't care so much about a mess. I'm not a huge fan of playdoh, for instance, and don't get me started on sand. But I am glad that I can be the mom who doesn't care about the sticky mess at least once a year and who will have many fond memories of beautiful gingerbread creations. Two - I hope that someday Steve and I are the old couple joking with a young mom in the store. They were such a cute couple and you could see that they still had a spark for one another, a history together, and fun memories to look back upon. And lastly - they reminded me to enjoy the here and now - the messes, the funny words, my children's desire to have me play with them....for all too soon we will indeed be that couple and we will have many memories, but I'm guessing that we'll be wondering where the time all went and talking about how fast our kids grew up. So I'm busy dreaming up the next fun mess making opportunity for the kids...maybe some snowman cookies I saw in a magazine...or maybe it'll be a playdoh sort of day. Definitely not sand, though. That one's off the table.

A brand new year!

I had every intention of blogging on Dec 31 and writing something wonderful and sappy about the year coming to a close and a new one beginning...but the reality is that I was excitedly learning the nuances of my new computer (my old one rather suddenly bit the dust and my computer is my...well...lifelink during the day and 18 mos with no interest makes it awfully tempting to buy a new one when you can pay a little at a time with no penalty, but I digress...) when the clock hit....sadly....eight thirty (can you believe it?!) I was done. Toast. I settled back to watch part of the Elf marathon and it was lights out for me.

So to sum it all up, last year was a good one. It truly was. We faced some hard times, but saw many good ones as well. No matter how you look at it, we are blessed. We have each other, have a roof over our heads, food on our table, and warm clothes to wear. I get bogged down sometimes and forget that every single day, whether it's a good one or a challenge, is a gift. That's my goal for this coming year - to remember more often than not that my days here are blessings - and to treat them as such. I really hope it's a goal I can keep.

I saw someone talking about doing a "project 365" this year and I wish I'd taken the time to learn more about it before the year began. You take a single picture every day and then put them in an album - to get a real picture of your everyday life instead of only having the highlights. I think it's interesting and I'm planning to do it next year. I think especially when the kids are little, it'll be interesting to take note of our everyday life - for surely it will change vastly in each of the next few years.

So far this year, we've been busy getting life back to normal after the holidays. The kids are settling into the idea that Christmas won't come again for another year, and that there won't be any new gifts under our tree. The adults are trying to formulate a plan for where to put all the new toys and in true new year form, we rang in January 1 with a half day worth of organization. I'm sad to say that the toys have won for now, but we did get some projects done that have needed doing for quite some time now. It is a good start - may there be much momentum in our house this winter leading us into a more free feeling rest of the year.