2 cents

Ever since the hype of Y2K (that turned out to be nothing) - I've been sceptical about anything too hyped up by the media. My tune has officially changed. We've spent the last week with the swine flu, and it is just as bad as they make it out to be.

I'll spare you the details of our PITIFUL and continual suffering. I wanted to do this post for anyone who may be currently well. It is worth it to do what you have to do to avoid this! Go stand in line for the vaccine, stay home from the family party where cousin bill "isn't feeling well" because it will be worth it!

We got Zach in early enough that they prescribed him the Tamiflu medicine - but so far I don't see that it is making his any easier than Mike or Mylee's. Maybe it will be shorter, we'll see. I so far have been well enough to take care of the rest of the family. That has been a huge blessing.

Good health to you all....

OKTOBERFEST

We finally made it up to Oktoberfest, and had a blast! We went with Mike's parents and brother and sister in law.
Zach got his first taste of the BEST German Chocolate cake ever. EVER.
( Just kidding, we wouldn't have given up a bite)Mylee could dance all day!

This is a couples "egg dance." Mike was a great sport and we had fun.

Mummy

Mylee was so excited to show me her project from pre-school (shown below). She kept saying "I made you mommy, it's you!" It took me a minute to figure out that the idea of a mummy is pretty abstract for a three year old.
Mike played in the next round of the drum solo competition at Guitar Center, and WON AGAIN! He had to play a tie breaker with a guy who went to Berkley studying drums! He got hundreds of dollars worth of prizes so he's pretty excited. They'll fly him to Denver in a couple of weeks to play in the regional competition. I'm so proud. SO PROUD!

"everyone will think..."

This morning while doing the song and dance of getting Mylee dressed for preschool I was giving her her various choices of what to wear. I held up an outfit (it was cute, it MATCHED, it was warm... what was I thinking?) and she responded by saying "I can't wear that, everyone will think I don't get my own clothes."

Good News Times Two!

We had our appointment with Primary Children's yesterday, and it is more good news! The tumor has decreased in size from 2.2 x 1.0 x 4 cm to 0.5 x 0.6 x 1.17 cm!!!! We are so thrilled! AND we don't have to go back until December 23rd!!!

During the ultrasound I was SO worried. The tumor looked much larger and much brighter than it had been in the past - so I thought for sure it was really bad news. But after about 10 minutes of panic the tech mentioned that it was a new ultrasound machine. The clarity and magnification were because the machine was better, not because the tumor was growing. (Thanks for the heart attack!) The other good news is that last week I got the last "insurance fight" resolved. The stack of papers in the picture below is all of the bills, insurance info, and medical records. It represents HOURS of phone calls and brain cramps as well as a great deal of frustration. But, now I can move it to the filing cabinent because the battle has been won - at least for this year :)

P.S. IHC has been fabulous to work worth, they assigned me a personal advocate to help me navigate it all (I can't imagine how stressful it would have been without her.) I'll also put in a plug for hospital indemnity insurance. We did AFLAC to help with my maternity expenses, but we were able to add Zach to the account when he was born and they covered his hospital expenses. It was a blessing beyond measure!