This is why healthcare is broken

T has been running a fever, coughing up a storm and running at the nose since yesterday morning. This morning when he woke up, he had a bright red rash along his groin and under his arms. It wasn't bumpy, looked sort of like a sunburn, and wasn't bothering him. Since it seemed unusual for a cold to have this kind of symptom, I called the "nurse line" for our health insurance. I should have known better.

The woman who answered seemed nice enough. She asked me all the usual questions. She also asked some questions like "Is he turning blue or gasping for air?" Lady, do you think I'd be on the phone with you if he was? Anyhow, we got all done and she said, "You need to take him in to the ER." 'Scuse me? I asked her if I couldn't just call his pediatrician and get an appointment for today. The response? Sigh .... "I suppose if you could get in right away that would be OK, but since I don't know what the rash is, you should really go to the ER."

Dude. Maybe my Mom-o-meter needs serious calibration, because it never once occurred to me to take my child to the ER for a rash that was brand new and not bothering him. If I took T to the emergency room every time he had a rash we'd be bankrupt. And so I didn't. I did call Ry to see if he thought I should (answer: no). Instead, I did what I should've done in the first place and made an appointment with his pediatrician. The verdict? A virus. The rash should go away within a couple of days of his fever breaking.

DC Adventure Ahoy!

Ry is heading to DC next week for an all-week business meeting. Since he gets the government rate for pricey DC area hotels, we were able to get a suite for just a bit over his reimbursement. I'm packing up the boys and hitting DC for the week. Last time we were there, we hit the National Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, and the National Building Museum (super cool playroom). If the weather is nice, we may run around the Mall a bit. I have also heard that Mount Vernon is pretty nifty. Dearest blog-visitors, do you know of any other must-do activities for me and the wrecking crew?

Thanks!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who is supporting the March for Babies. As you can see from my little box doohickey, you have exceeded my $250 goal! If you feel like making a donation for this important cause, there is still time. The walk isn't until April 25.

I'll reuse just about anything

But I feel like a kid ought to have his own underwear. So I'm throwing out T's as he outgrows them.

I'll be very busy

I just received my pre-nursing school packet today. There's a lot to be done before June 14. I feel like it's a lot more than when I went to college the first time, but that's probably because my parents did most of it for me. Here's the list:

• Register for, and take, a CPR class
• Register for, and take my UAP (Unlicensed Assistive Personnel) course
• Buy scrubs
• Buy a stethoscope
• Buy a blood pressure cuff
• Buy a watch with a second hand
• Buy some good shoes
• Get my immunization records from IL
• Have a physical with my PCP
• Have a health screening with the hospital (have titers drawn)
• Research and purchase malpractice insurance
• Register my car with the hospital
• Get an ID badge for the hospital
• Pay tuition

Whew. I'm not usually a list girl, but I think I'll make an exception in this case. The packet included some pretty scary language about how you'll be kicked out if anything is left undone. Here we go!

At the risk of being preachy ...

http://www.drmomma.org/2010/02/dr-dean-edell-statement-on-circumcision.html

Warning: some graphic pictures.

Om Nom Nom

I finally watched the second installment of the Twilight series: New Moon. The books are all teenage angst and obsession. The movies are more of the same. Ry and I laughed through the first movie. While the second was better, I still spent a lot of the movie being distracted by cliches and unnatural postures. Also, every time Edward and Bella kissed, I couldn't help but think "Om Nom Nom Nom." Ry spent the time doing our taxes and asking "Wait, what just happened?" I was pretty impressed with the CG on the wolves and am looking forward to the next angst-fest. Not our most romantic movie evening.

Photo Friday

My sister got me started thinking about the mental images our society has of various professions. A quick google image search of "nurse" got me a lot of "sexy nurse" and mostly white women. None of my classmates have looked like this. As a matter of fact, there have been more than a few men and a large minority have been women of color. Sorry folks, this is not the nurse who will be at your bedside at 3 am ... unless you're dreaming.

Goodbye Ohio

As we crossed the border of each state during our trip home, Ry would prompt T to say goodbye to the state we were leaving and hello to the new one. Usually, it went something like this:

Ry: Goodbye Indiana!

T: Goodbye Indiana!

Ry: Hello Ohio!

T: Hello Ohio!

And then as we left Ohio ...

Ry: Goodbye Ohio!

T: Goodbye Ohio!

Ry: Hello West Virginia!

T: Hello West Vagina!

Ry & J: *snicker*

Baby Boy's Baptism Bash

We traveled back to the Land of Oz this week to visit family and have Little Bit baptized. Ry's childhood pastor, who also married us and baptized T, performed the ceremony. We absolutely love Pastor R and it was lovely being back in the church.

Little Bit, true to form, was in good spirits as long as I was holding him.

And a crying mess whenever anyone else did. Pastor took it well, and told us that the crying meant that "it worked." I'm sure he's baptized hundreds, if not thousands of babies. At least mine only cried when I wasn't holding him.

And here's the whole happy family.

Little Bit gave out lots of smiles and a few giggles. He and his big brother charmed everyone around.

T also got to continue his birthday celebration for the better part of the week. His Neena got him what may be the coolest raincoat and wellies ever invented. Yes, they are dinosaur themed, and yes, those are dino spikes on the arms. He wanted to wear the wellies everywhere. We had to convince him that sneakers were better for the playground.

Little Bit got to meet his Great Mummu, Great Papa and Great Grandma this trip. He's a lucky guy.

He also got to hang with his newest friend, M.J. She's just 8 weeks younger than him, but he still looks like a giant next to her.

No party is complete without dinosaurs stuck to the ceiling. Lala took it all in stride and didn't once look like she wanted to toss us in the nut house.

Little Bit and Neena, in one of the rare moments when he let someone else hold him.

It was a wonderful trip and I'm already missing my family. As T would say ... "Boo, hoo, hoo."

So sad ... so true

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Perfectly perfect

Our boys had their well visits this week. T had his 3 year and F had his 4 month. They are both in the 75 percentile for both height and weight and developmentally on track. As of Wednesday, T weighed 34.75 pounds and was 38.5 inches tall. F was 16 pounds, 9 ounces and 26 inches long.

Pick a color

After finally getting back to my natural color, my hair is perilously close to needing to be permanently died. Hooray for gray hair! It's this color.I can't afford to have it professionally colored. Box colors usually end up fading red. Anyone have a brilliant solution or a box you've had good luck with?

Things I learned in preschool today

1. This is T's interpretation of a bunny. One of the things I love about his preschool is that I know the artwork is actually his work. A lot of the stuff that came home from the previous school was quite obviously the teacher's work. Super bonus points for anyone who can tell me why the ears are placed thusly.

2. As it turns out, I'm allergic to bunnies. His school has a pet bunny, Dotty. Usually, she's in her cage in the other room. Today I was helping parent, and since the theme for the week is Bunnies, Dotty got to roam the room. About 30 minutes in, I started sneezing, my eyes started running and my head filled up like a plugged bathtub. Mrs. B whisked Dotty away and within 5 minutes I was once again clear as could be. Lesson: don't buy an animal without spending some time around it.

My Big Boy's Birthday Bash

On Saturday we had T's big 3rd birthday extravaganza at his favorite place in all the world: Bounce U. Everyone had a great time.T wasted no time jumping right in.

And sliding right down.

Even F needed a nap from all the excitement.

His cake was an ice cream cake, and we got to bring about half of it home. Tasty.

Anyone who has ever eaten a meal with T knows it can be difficult to get him to sit still and focus on eating. Apparently, all we had to do was get him a throne. He sat in the Bounce U throne and presided over the party for a good 45 minutes. Not a fidget in site.

I'm afraid most of our family pictures are going to look just like this one. At least two of us are smiling and looking at the camera.

Ry helped T put batteries in his new toys.

He totally wasn't playing with them. He was helping set them up. Yeah.

The 3rd birthday celebration continues tomorrow at T's preschool and then again Saturday on his real birthday in Oz.

Very tired

I know posting has been light. Mostly, I'm exhausted and even the 15 minutes spent posting is too much for me. Why am I so tired, you ask? I spent a good portion of this week tracking down and talking to preschools/daycare centers for the boys for the fall. As it turns out, the center on the base isn't such a great idea because there is not much space available. If an active military person decides to start their child there between now and September, our spot goes out the window. Also, trying to figure out childcare on the days Ry travels was turning into a bit of a goat rodeo.

We ended up choosing a delightful little center that's 5 blocks from our house. It's associated with the Methodist church across the street and the folks there seem to really enjoy the kids. They don't have all the bells and whistles of the newer centers, but they do have low turnover (T's teacher has been there for 6 years and the infant room women have been there for more than 15), a seemingly genuine affection for the kids and a great location. The whole learning bit is a bit secondary for me. If I can find a safe, nurturing environment with people who enjoy my children, I'm sold.

I also started my online developmental psychology class this week. It's not going to be difficult, but it's a fair amount of reading that can really only be done when the boys are sleeping. Speaking of which ...

F is still waking up twice a night. It's not so bad really. He's up at 1 and again at 5. Then it takes him an hour to fall back asleep ... which is when T wakes up. He wants nothing to do with being quiet, staying in his room or going back to sleep. He also hasn't been napping this week, which makes him a bear in the evenings and cuts my daytime sanity time down considerably. While I'm requiring a "rest" time, the most I can get out of him is about 90 minutes.

In the rest of my spare time (heh) I'm still trying to get to the gym a few evenings a week and see my husband once in a while. Oh, and last night I had a meeting for T's current preschool. The meeting was over at 9:30, but I stayed and chatted with a few of the other women until 11. Ok, that one is totally my fault. T's teacher started it though, she walked up to me and said "Did you read about the report that shows that the maternal death rate is going up partially because of the increase in C-Sections?" Any of you who have talked to me in the last 3 years know that's all it took to spark an hour-long conversation.

So anyway, I'm tired. And that's why no posting.

Photo Friday

I've been looking for an excuse to post this darling picture of F doing tummy time. And here it is now.

A New Era Dawns

We moved T into his big-boy bed just after all our Christmas company left. It was a seamless transition. T found the new bed and new room to be something of an adventure, and after the first couple days never asked to sleep in his crib again. He also stayed in his bed in the mornings until one of us came down to get him. This was really nice. I could catch another 15 minutes of sleep or finish feeding F or use the restroom before going in to get him. We always knew when he was ready to get up because he'd start yelling "Mommy, open the door. Daddy, open the door. Mommy, open the door. Daddy, open the door."

And then two days ago he (finally) realized that he didn't have to stay in his bed when he awoke. At 6:45 am he poked his cheerful little face in my room and said "Good morning Mommy!" Thankfully, F was already awake and I was changing his diaper. Unfortunately, I didn't realize T was awake. He can be stealthy when he wants to be. Despite telling him to stay in his room in the mornings, he was in my room again bright and early. Given his propensity for escape (he can un-deadbolt and unlock every room in our house and defeat every baby gate we own), we're considering buying a chime for his door, so at least we know when he's up.