Life lately aka eff you insurance

I realized that I never hit 'publish' on my last post.  Oops.  I didn't even go back to proof read it or add more pictures like I had planned on.

Brian's firm changed insurance plans in January.  We had one month of frustrating phone calls and emails about coverage.  Specifically ABA coverage.  It was a mess.  Then Brian changed firms and we had new insurance starting 3/1.  We opted for the HDHP which means we basically pay for everything out of pocket up to our out of pocket max and then everything should be covered.  We also have the option of a HSA account rather than the FSA account.  We are banking on Logan meeting his individual out of pocket max in the next couple of months and then having all of his services paid for for the rest of the year.  We are also banking on the rest of the family not getting hurt.  :)  No more toe/arm accidents.

My feels on the current state of insurance:

Speaking of arm accidents, Brian is getting mobility back in his broken arm and has been doing PT for the past couple of weeks.  He goes back to the ortho next week for x rays and if his fracture looks good he'll be able to add in strength moves.  He is anxious to get back on his bike.  I am not anxious for him to get back on his bike.

Isabel is doing wonderfully in 1st grade.  She is reading chapter books and seems to enjoy school.  Everything is a competition to her still.  We're trying to get her to get out some of that competitiveness in the soccer field.  I'm tired of hearing things like 'oh, well I feel the worst.'  As heard at the doctor's office when went in for strep tests and her test was negative and Logan's was positive.  

She still has her unreserved excitement about life in general and it's awesome!

Logan has been having a tough time in kinder.  He is pretty much over school at this point.  He still has not regained language from his regression last summer.  He is making very very slow progress.  It is frustrating for us and for him.  We are going to have him repeat kinder next year.  I haven't been thrilled with how things have gone this year.  At all.

Logan still does ABA 4 times a week and speech once a week.  He is just DONE at the end of the week and really looks forward to 'stay at home' days and hanging out with Brian.  He loves

going to restaurants and will usually ask if we can go to one on the weekends.

Brian seems to enjoy working at the new firm.  The commute is SO much better.

I am still a gym rat and spend a lot of hours there.  I have dialed back my volunteerism at the kids' school.  I was super burned out after the holidays and honestly,  I decided to do the minimum in my class parent duties for a little while.  Unfortunately May will be crazy.  I have birthdays/teacher appreciation/end of year gifts to think about.  It's very difficult with 5 different teachers/aides.  

I am still doing meels on wheels and love it.  I look forward to driving the route.  I am also on the Autism Speaks 8k committee this year.  I've had to do things that are super out of my comfort zone (asking for sponsors).  So far I have completely been striking out.

Someone put some feelers out for the PTA board, but I put a stop to that real quick.  I know my limits.  Just kidding.  I do not know my limits at all, but I knew this was a bad idea right now.  I am focusing on Logan and Isabel, eating right, and cleaning the house.  It sounds silly, but when homework is done, the house is clean and I have a healthy dinner prepared, life feels sort of alright.  If the coffee maker is all cleaned and set on the timer for the next morning and the kids' lunches are made....well that's winning at life in my book.

Hudson is doing really well!  I thought he may never get out of that peeing on everything phase, but he did!  He doesn't mark in the house at all anymore.  I think he probably (maybe) still will at other peoples' homes, but we see to have turned a corner.  He still 'leaks' a little when a new person pets him.  He does this to my anyone not normally in the house.   Pretty sure this will always happen.  It's submissive peeing and is really hard to get rid of.  Luckily it's just when someone pets him for the first time so it's usually in the kitchen or entryway.  Both areas are easily cleaned.

Aunt Jenn came into town for a conference so we had some fun!

Bye Aunt Jenn!

We said goodbye to Jenn this afternoon. :(. She has been such a big help these past couple of months! I know I'll miss running to the store to get a couple of things while the kids are napping! That was sure nice. She watched the kids, fed them, bathed them, and put them to bed while Brian and I saw 'Zero Dark Thirty.' Excellent movie. It was pretty awesome just walking out the door without giving someone detailed instructions and not having anxiety while I was gone. She keeps better tabs on my kids than I do! They don't go out of her sight! She will be missed.

This morning we had a birthday party for a classmate of Isabel's that was really low key and awesome. It started at 9:30am and we were greeted with the smells of bacon, coffee, sausage, muffins and the sounds of fun music and kids laughing when we walked in the door to this super modern, hip home. After being offered mimosas, coffee, tea, and/or Mexican hot chocolate I wanted to move in! It was supposed to rain, but be fairly warm. It didn't rain, but we had lovely cloud cover and warm temps for the awesome bounce house with gigantic slide in the backyard! I was taking down ideas for Isabel and Logan's birthday parties! Too bad our yard is not nearly flat enough for a bounce house, because that thing was amazing. I also loved this party because it didn't look like Pinterest threw up all over it. I mean, I love Pinterest, but sometimes enough is enough. No cheesy goodie bags and the 'cake' was Shirley's donuts. That was too bad because Isabel can't have donuts from a donut shop due to her nut allergies. She was upset until I promised her that we could go get Oreos after the party. I should have made her a special cupcake and brought it, but I didn't. Next time.

After the party ( we stayed until noon!) I went out for fufu with Jenn and another RPCV. I took the first bite and almost threw up. The fufu was fine, good even, but the "spinach in sauce" was NOT up my alley. I will typically eat anything, but this almost got spit out. It was unlike anything I've ever tasted. There was a very strange fish sauce taste that I couldn't put my finger on but I just didn't like it. At all. There was another plate with rice and spinach that was very tasty. I tried to stick with that. We ate Togo style. With our fingers. It was a good time and I enjoyed hearing some stories and listening to French.

Brian took Logan on a special mission to get a solder sucker(?) to try and fix the tv in our bedroom. And 'maybe get a milkshake.' I'm embarrassed to admit how much I miss the tv in our bedroom.

I also decided today that I really want to tackle refinishing the cabinets in the kitchen. It's a huge multi weekend project, but I know the end result will be worth it. I'm so thrilled with our bathroom kitchen cabinets! I think we'll start with the island and see how we like the color for awhile before doing the rest. Anyone want to come volunteer to work on our crew?! Watch the kids?!

Here's a picture of fufu and aunt Jenn after we did DIY avocado masks.

3 month follow up for Logan. And we are still sick.

Logan had his 3 month follow up with the developmental pediatrician yesterday. It was pretty overwhelming. There were lots of acronyms thrown out and lots of suggestions. There is a game plan and I feel like we are headed in the right direction and that his doctor is really looking out for him and knows her stuff. She's fairly young and has some seriously impressive credentials. Her bed side manner is not exactly warm and fuzzy, but that's ok with me. Sometimes I actually prefer it that way.

Basically she recommended that Logan start OT twice a week (we had previously been scheduled for once) and that he add speech therapy twice a week as well. That's 4 hours of therapy total per week. His expressive speech is not a problem and his vocabulary seems to be average to above average, but his communicative/ pragmatic speech is the area of concern. For example he will rarely answer yes/no questions. I think the phrase that most grabbed at my heart was that she described him as being 'difficult to play with.' Not in a mean way, obviously, but very matter of fact. Yes, he is difficult to play with. Typical play is hard for him. We aren't sure if Logan is on the autism spectrum or not. The doctor said she is seeing behaviors that are concerning to her, but she's not ready to diagnose that yet. When he goes back in 6 months he will undergo testing. At that time he will be 3 and eligible for the elementary schools program if he is indeed on the spectrum.

So, all in all, an overwhelming day. On top of that the cardiologist called to tell me the results of my genetic testing came in and that he wanted to schedule an appointment for this week. Wtf? This week? I was like 'uh, next week is better,' but she was like 'how about this Thursday?' I asked her if she could tell me the results and she said everything was negative, so I'm hoping he just needs to meet his weekly quota of patients or something!

In other news we are all still sick. I think I'm going to go to the doctor tomorrow if there is not some awesome healing powers that clear out my sinuses magically overnight. Poor Logan's eyes have started watering too. I think he might be fighting a sinus infection. The doctor looked in his ears yesterday and they were not infected, but one was 'dull.' I'll keep an eye out for him pulling at the left one.

In some fun news I bought tickets to see 'Zero Dark Thirty' on Friday night with Brian! Jenn is going to watch the kiddos. I think she's the only person, besides maybe a grandparent, who has ever put them to bed without one of us.

Here is a picture of Logan and I splashing around in the rain while sister was at dance class and aunt Jenn nursing one of her injuries from her 4 days of working out. And sleeping on the guest bed after one of the slats fell through instead of getting us to help her fix it. Silly aunt Jenn. Or considerate aunt

Oh, and Logan had to give blood yesterday and he didn't even cry!!! So proud of my brave boy!

Aunt Jenn is back!

We picked Aunt Jenn up from the airport Monday evening after her 2 year stay with the Peace Corps in Africa.  I'm not sure she was ready for the loud, rowdy 2 and 3 year old she'll be staying with, but too late now!!  Haha.  She's been a big help already and I appreciate it!

Today we have Logan's school Halloween party.  It's at 10am until after lunch.  10am?  Really?  I usually don't drop him off until 9:30am.  I volunteered to help out, so I'll be there from 10am until at least noon.  I'm debating on bringing him home for a nap afterwards or going back to pick him up at 1:30pm.  We have the nursing home parade this afternoon and it's right in the middle of nap time.  I don't have a problem waking Izzy up for it, but Logan can go either way.  A complete sleepy disaster or a happy little one.  We went last year and it was fun, but a LOT of work running after a 1.5 and 2.5 year old.  I had to tell them to 'put down the oxygen tube' a couple of times.  Anyway, we'll see how Logan is today.

Speaking of Logan, I received his full OT report and had a conference with the therapist yesterday.  The report was very detailed and thorough.  She recommended therapy 2 times a week for 9-12 months.  There is some question about if our new insurance will make us meet the out of pocket maximum (like 3k or something) before they even start paying the 80%?  I can't imagine that's correct, but we must check first.  In any case I think our schedule and budget will only allow 1x/week.  If I thought he really needed it twice a week we would obviously do it, but the therapist said he had a mild delay.  She expects it to be fully  corrected in 9-12 months, so that was great news to hear!  She also gave us tons of ideas and exercises to do at home.

I showed Isabel the Toys R Us flyer (it was about 20-25 pages or so) and gave her a pen and told her to circle things that she really wanted.  I didn't know that this was going to be such serious business and that she would spend about 45 minutes pouring over it carefully making her choices.  She also went back and circled things she thought Logan would want.  When she came to the Spiderman DVD she asked me "is this something I should circle?"  So funny.  I can't wait to see how long it takes her to pour over the BIG Toys R Us Christmas book!  I should save that for when I'm desperate for an hour or two to get something done!  She's been feeling pretty good.  She has what seemed to be the start of a cold (running nose mainly) last week along with Logan.  I started her back on maintenance Singular and Flovent.  She still has a little runny nose, so I'm going to stick with it for a few more days to make sure we don't run into breathing problems.  She's been getting little tiny random hives occasionally like she used to get before we knew about her peanut allergy.  I used to eat peanut butter toast in the morning (but not the kids) and she would get random hives sometimes.  I'm trying to figure out what could be causing it, but I'm stumped.  Sometimes she'll wake up with one or two tiny hives.  I haven't changed detergents or anything, so I'm stumped.