FINISHED!!

I am so done with getting the kids' pictures taken at Target!! Today was the last time! I was so frustrated by the time I left there, I was about to kill the chic taking Caleb's pictures. UUUUUGH!

Yesterday I called them to confirm the appointment, and I got bombarded with 50 questions. I got all the usual questions -- what will he be wearing, do I have prop preferences, etc.... but then they started asking me weird questions -- what's his middle name, when is his birthday (I already told them it was his 19 month pics), how much does he weigh... WHAT? Since when is his middle name and weight important in picture taking??? This conversation goes on for 10 minutes and finally I tried to end the conversation by saying, "Great, well, I'll see you at 10 tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it!". We finally get off the phone, and I was already irritated with them...

So today when I get there, a new girl is going to be taking Caleb's pictures. She has me fill out this sheet with my name and address and then starts asking me all the same questions I got the day before. WHAT?? Did you not take notes yesterday, and REALLY is his weight and birthday important??? Come on!! So needless to say, Caleb is about ready to jump out of the cart and I'm starting to get annoyed.

When we finally go into the picture room and prepare to get the pics taken, she barely looks at Caleb. I am doing everything -- trying to get him to smile, placing him in the correct location, making sure the lighting is right -- everything!! I might as well have grabbed the camera and shot it myself. Soooo frustrating! She then decides it'd be a great idea to hand him a soccer ball and a golf club. Now -- for any of you moms with little toddler boys -- I'm sure you can guess what I'm going to say..... This was perhaps the worst idea in the universe. Let's just say that as soon as Caleb was handed a golf club, he went nuts. ABSOLUTELY NUTS!! He went after the soccer ball with all the gusto he had -- swinging that golf club with all of his might. Let's see ... he hit the photographer, knocking the camera out of her hands, tripped over the back drop, and gave himself a fat lip all in about 20 seconds. It was just wonderful. SOOOOO many great photo-opts there! Ay-yi-yi....

After about 25 minutes of complete chaos, I tell her that I think he's done. He was at his limit and was ready to get the heck out of there. And, I don't blame him!! I was done too! LOL. She tells me that I can't leave yet, she needs to get more pictures and starts rattling off certain poses that she needs to shoot. HUH??? I'm the paying customer, my 19 month old has had it, he's doing everything BUT standing still for pictures, and you want to keep shooting??? It ended with her taking some pictures of me putting coins back into my billfold. *I think I'll get a 16X20 of that and hang it on the wall......

On the way out I called Holly. She used to manage the Target and took the kids pictures for 3+ years. She now runs a private studio in Ankeny. I don't care about the drive. I just want good pictures!! So next month, we're going to Holly's!! And poor Katherine, she was just distraught because she wasn't getting her pictures taken this month.

Goin' to the chapel...

... and she's gonna get maaaarried....

My baby sister got married on Sunday!! I am so happy for her -- and them. She married her long time love, Clyde. They both have little girls born less than a year apart, so it's one big happy family. Katherine is thrilled to have a new cousin and uncle. Morgan is thrilled to have a new sister. And Clyde??? Well he's just a lucky man!! HA-HA.

Here is a picture of Laurie and Morgan right before the ceremony.

The happy new family!! Hannah is Clyde's daughter and about 8 months older than Morgan.

Here's the happy couple!!

The day was absolutely beautiful and the ceremony was gorgeous. I am so happy for them. I know they have a long and happy life ahead of them. Cheers!!

Since the ceremony was outside, Caleb could run free in the park. He looked adorable in his little khakis and light blue shirt. And yes, of course, he was wearing the squeaky shoes. Laurie had a big decision to make -- hear Caleb fussing to get down during the ceremony so that he could run free or listen to the constant squeaking. She chose the later! Smart girl! And thank goodness that my sister is not a bridezilla!!

After the ceremony we all had dinner close to Laurie and Clyde's place. The food was yummy, and Katherine was in heaven -- she got to eat cake two days in a row. Caleb was once again the life of the party. He kept running around with his kids' cup in hand and yelling "CHHHEEEEEERRRS" to anyone holding a glass. It was starting to get out of hand when he and Morgan found each other. They where clinking their glasses together so hard, that I was sure they'd break!!

This morning the poor kids were so exhausted that they both slept until 9!! Wow! I couldn't believe it. At 9:15 this morning Andrea brought Max and Isaac over and I watched them for her while she took Collin to the doctor for his one year shots. When she got back, Katherine and Caleb went over to her house to play outside with the boys while I ran a couple of errands. When I got home, Carolyn, Andrea and Tiffany were all outside in the backyard with the kids. There were 9 kids and 4 moms. Such fun! We sat out in the sun while the kids played on the swing set and dug in the sand box.

Which reminds me....

In one of my parenting magazines this month there's a cartoon on the last page. It's a funny comparing moms from 20 years ago and today. I can't remember them all but the comparisons are: Cars (station wagon vs huge SUV); drinks (cup of coffee vs latte with whipped cream aka Starbucks); clothes (a huge preggo shirt vs a tummy bearing crop shirt).

The final one was how moms connect. 20 years ago it showed two moms talking at the back fence. Today it showed a mom surfing the net. So glad I have a neighborhood that's sooooo 20 years ago. I can't imagine life any other way. I am truly blessed.

Birthday party...

Saturday afternoon we went to Emma's birthday party at The Playground for Kids. We had such fun!! The place is amazing!! It's a little kid wonderland, full of inflatables that you jump in, air hockey, a big tree house and slides galore. Caleb went nuts shooting balls into different hoops and running around after the big kids. He doesn't realize he's only 19 months, and refuses to be left out!! Thank goodness Katherine is such a good sport! She loves showing off her little brother, and always keeps a watchful eye on him.

I've got to tell ya -- I was so proud of Katherine. Emma goes to daycare and she invited all the kids from her class. Katherine was the only non-daycare kid there, and I wondered how she'd fit in (and if they'd leave her out)... especially since all of the other kids knew each other and played together every day. She was amazing!! She jumped right in and made tons of new friends. Both kids played so hard that they crashed in the car on the way home.

Here's a picture of Katherine waiting for her piece of cake. You can't tell from the picture, but she's sitting by some newly made friends and was giggling away. Birthday cake happens to be her all time favorite food, so she was in heaven!!



Here's Caleb in the toddler area. He lasted here all of 30 seconds before he decided to join the big kids.



Caleb in the ball pit shooting hoops. Matt had to lift him up, but holy cow did he have a blast!! What is it about little boys and shooting balls anyway?

This is the big slide that comes down out of the tree house. It's pretty big -- even Matt had fun!!

Here's Katherine at the base of the tree house. She's on her way up!!

In the past I've always had the kid's birthday parties at our house, but I'm thinking that next year we'll probably have a destination party. It'll be so much easier and cheaper. And most importantly, the kids had a blast!!!!

HOLY TRAP....

AHHH yes, out of the mouth of babes... My babe that is! As dreadful as it is, Katherine repeats everything that she hears...

Yesterday I was re-telling the pharmacy story for probably the 100th time, and "holy crap" slipped out of my mouth in front of her. I couldn't believe it, and I didn't think she heard, but ol' eagle ears definitely did.... I didn't say anything about it, I just pretended that it didn't happen.... NOT a good move!

Today after our Friday morning neighborhood playgroup, Katherine and Caleb were upstairs playing while I finished picking up the lunch dishes. All of a sudden, both kids started screaming and crying and Katherine yells, "HOLY TRAP, Mommy come quick". (At least she used it in context)! She tried to shut Caleb's bedroom door, but his little hand was in the door jam (between the door hinges and wall) and it got absolutely crushed. He was screaming out of pain, and she was screaming because she hurt her little brother. His poor little hand had a deep red line on the top. She got him pretty good. Needless to say, we now have a strict "no shutting bedroom door rule". I couldn't believe she said "Holy trap". UUUUUUGH. No more swearing or slang for me. Never again!!

OH , I have an update on the pharmacy debacle.... I called the woman who manages all of the Dahl's pharmacies. Needless to say, she was appalled at the scenario and is going to dig pretty deep. She even hinted that if what I told her was true, Mike would lose his job. Evidently this is not the first time something like this has happened... OK -- I don't want him to lose his job. I really don't.... I just want him to fill my prescription correctly and not treat me like a fool! That shouldn't be too much to ask, right???? She is going to have them fax her the original prescription, and do some digging and then call me back later tonight. I got thinking.... if he's shorting me on pills, what is he doing to some 80 year old Medicare patient??? It's just not ethical.

Tonight after Matt gets home from work, we're off for a little shopping. We have a birthday party to go to tomorrow for Jim and Tina's little girl. Matt and Jim have worked together at two different places (Principal and IMG) and we just found out that Jim got an offer from Aviva to work (yet again) with Matt. Katherine and Emma were born one month apart and have known each other most of their young lives. The party is at The Playground for Kids. It's in Ankeny and Jim and Tina rented the whole place out from 3-5. Should be a blast! They have a super cool tree house thing that is 3 stories high (a-la Swiss Family Robinson, with ropes, slides tunnels etc...) and tons of inflatable jumping things. I hope the kids can stay awake long enough to enjoy it, since it's right during nap time.

And then, the real event of the weekend..... My baby sister is getting married on Sunday. The wedding is at 4:30 and *hopefully* it warms up for them. I'll post pics of the happy couple!!

Fun times!!

Finally -- we're back on track and life has returned to normal!! Thank goodness!!

The kids have now been on antibiotics for three days and are on the mend. They've returned to the happy, fun loving, well behaved and wonderful kids we know, and I couldn't be happier about it.... especially after the fiasco this weekend.

Today we went to Backyard Adventures with a friend of Katherine's from preschool, and they had a blast. Backyard Adventures has set up several new swing sets and the kids had the best time exploring all the new play things! As always, Caleb headed straight for the basketball court and I lifted him up so that he could shoot baskets. He was in heaven!

Oh -- Caleb is soooo much like his Daddy. When we got home today, Caleb found a dime on the table. He started cheering -- lifting it in his little hand high above his head --- and RUNNING for the stairs. He couldn't get to his bank fast enough! Some parents worry that their little ones will swallow coins. Not me! Caleb loves putting money in the bank -- almost as much as his daddy! LOL!

My heart is breaking...

Background.....

My Grandma had cancer removed from the inside of her mouth and tongue several years ago. Sunday night Isaac (my brother who is in dental school) took a look in her mouth and suspected her cancer was back. He took pictures and emailed them to his professor, who happens to be the head of oral oncology at the University of Iowa. His professor confirmed Isaac's fear, and suggested that a biopsy be done ASAP.

Update....

My Grandma went in for the biopsy yesterday and the doctor removed a chunk of her tongue larger than a nickel. He finally had to stop because the cancer was so wide spread. At her last dentist appointment 6 months ago, no cancer existed. Now, 6 months later, it has "spread like wildfire" and has gone all over the inside of her mouth and into her jaw bone. The doctor here in town is at a loss.... My Grandma weighs less than 100 pounds and if he decided to operate, he'd have to remove most of her tongue, jaw bone and possibly start removing cells in her throat. He won't do that extensive of a surgery because he doesn't think that my Grandma would make it through.... She's just not strong enough.... The other option is radiation and chemo. Again, she is too weak to go through that... So, he said that there's nothing he can really do for her.

My mom and I are going to take her to Iowa City next week. Evidently there is a great ENT doctor, and we're going to see what he has to say...

It just breaks my heart. She is my last living grandparent and Katherine and Caleb's only living great-grandparent.

So last night after the biopsy, we all took her to the Cracker Barrel for pancakes. She had to eat immediately after the biopsy because her mouth would still be numb and he wanted her to eat something really soft so that she wouldn't disrupt the stitches...

The ironic thing in all this.... About 2 or 3 weeks ago Katherine started asking about death and why people have to die and go to Heaven. She wonders why people have to get old and is asking a million questions. She wonders if I'm going to die.... UUUGH. I'm sure all these questions are due to Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus. I wish I could shield her from all of this... I wish she could remain innocent forever. I wish life was fair. I wish cancer didn't exist. I wish our hearts didn't have to break.....

Incompetence

Dahl's pharmacy has to be about the most incompetent bunch of highly educated people I've met in a long LONG time...

I was talking to my friend Kelly (from Principal) today and giving her the play-by-play of yesterday's events. She told me that I should contact the manager and let him/her know how dissatisfied I was, what a hassle they made it to fill an easy prescription, etc... Great idea! I call around and finally figure out who I need to contact, but they are out of the office until later this afternoon.

So I go back to Dahl's today to get the remainder of the prescription that the pharmacy manager didn't want to fill yesterday as he didn't make enough money on my sick baby... Classy, huh??? When I arrive, good ol' Mike is out to lunch, and Erin (super nice) is there. I explain who I am, and she has the Xopenex sitting on the counter for me. We discuss what happened yesterday and I asked her how she would have filled the prescription. She also would have given me the full 30 days right away... OK -- who wouldn't???

Poor Erin. She could tell I was pretty ticked off about the amount of hassle I had to go though to get the prescription, but she started shaking like a leaf when I told her I'd be calling Mike's boss and telling her how unhappy I was. Her hands were literally trembling - I felt awful, but I'm not that scary -- all 5'3'' of me! UUUUUGH! And really -- it's NOT about the hassle. It's NOT about an innocent mistake. It's being intentionally lied to and cheated out of what my sick baby needs. It's about trying to charge me and the insurance company for drugs I didn't get. It's about being disingenuous to make an extra dime. They clearly crossed the line!

Anyway, she's explaining to me how she has to split a box because I'm only supposed to have 90 vials not 96, and that she's going to have to throw away the remainder. Fine... Yadda... yadda... yadda... Caleb is crying, and all I want to do is get out of there and get my sick kids home... She bags it up for me and I once again sign for it...

I get home and the prescription is WRONG... YES WRONG again. Holy cow! How can this be?? Now they've given me 5 full boxes -- 24 vials in each (minus the 6 vials she removed) instead of 4 boxes. I called and left a message on the voice mail -- if they want to come to my house and get the extra box, they are more than welcome to it, but there is NO WAY I'm hauling two sick kids back there for the THIRD time for the same prescription. I've yet to get a call back from them.

How hard can it be???