Nathan & Fiona, Kaisa & Everett – Family Blog

Here is what we paid after insurance for each of our children.

Kaisa:

Hospital Co-pay #1 (I got sent home): $100

Hospital Co-pay #2: $100

Midwife Services: $0

Pediatrician: $0

Grand Total: $200

Everett:

Fiona’s Deductible: $1000

Everett’s Deductible: $308.15

Hospital Bills: $645.77

Midwife Services: $1088.49

Grand Total: $3042.41

It’s official: our insurance SUCKS!!!  (Luckily we chose to use Aflac for this pregnancy and were paid $3100…we just about broke even).

I had a wakeup call today that made me think about how truly blessed I am.

Last night our power went out at about 2am.  It was out until almost 10 this morning.  Every time I got up to feed Everett and the power was still out, I got more and more angry.  What could be taking them so long to fix the problem?  I repeatedly called the power outage hotline and they kept moving the “estimated time of repair” back.  My house was getting cold and I couldn’t change my baby’s diaper because I had no light.  I was dreading facing the morning without TV or computer to entertain Kaisa while I showered and did chores.  I could see across the street that they had power…why was this happening to me?

As I was walking out to my car in the parking lot of Sunflower Market this morning, I passed a man sleeping in his car.  He was surrounded by boxes of meager belongings, newspapers, and food wrappers.  I thought, “wow, that man is living in his car…that stinks!  Must be the economy.”  And I just kept walking.

A few minutes later, the irony of these two events hit me.  Here I was, so upset over not having power in my nice home–a home stocked with warm clothes and blankets, food & water, and many other comforts of life.  Yet this man had nothing but his car and what would fit inside.  I felt ashamed.  How dare I get so angry over a temporary loss of power in my home, when others don’t even have a home to enjoy?

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I just want to use my blog today to publicly thank my Father in Heaven for the many blessings He has given me.  Times have been a little rough for us lately, and too often I focus on what I don’t have or what I can’t do.  But honestly, I have everything!  I have a family who loves me–a loving husband and two beautiful children.  I have a home, a car, enough to eat, a job, clean running water, health, and so much more.  Most importantly, I have a testimony of the Gospel and of the Savior.  As we struggle through this “bump” in the road of life, let’s all remember what is truly important and try to show our gratitude to Him who has given us everything.

Today, Nathan and I have been married for 4 wonderful years!  I am so grateful for my sweetheart…he makes me so much better!  Thanks, Nathan, for loving me these past four years and putting up with all of my imperfections.  I am truly lucky & blessed to have found you!

2005, Our Wedding Day

2006, Skiing for our 1 year anniversary

2007, Kaisa's Birth Day

2008, Vacation to Hawaii

2009, with newborn Everett

We all went to the dentist this week…finally!  Nathan hadn’t been since 2005, and I hadn’t been since 2007.  Kaisa had never been!  Here’s the verdict:

Fiona- 5 cavities (thanks to my last pregnancy), need a gum graft on one of my bottom teeth (they said I brush too hard)

Nathan- 7 cavities, needs a deep cleaning for pockets in his gums

Kaisa- chipped tooth needs to be filled in (it penetrated the 2nd layer that is prone to decay), no cavities that he could see

All in all we’ll be spending over $500 on dental work in the next few weeks.  Yuck!

When I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for my sinus infection, they weighed me and it wasn’t pretty.  I hung onto about 5 pounds after Kaisa, and now after Everett I am hanging on to an additional 12!!!!  So…when a friend of mine offered to run a 6 week “boot camp” of exercise and smart eating starting in April, I said YES!  So, starting April 1st, I’m going to be running/speed walking at 6am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll head over to Gold’s for some toning/weight lifting.  I am going to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, limit my intake of sugars and fats, and completely give up carbonated beverages.  I know I can do this when I have other people there cheering me on, but I’m a little nervous about the early mornings (not a morning person).  I think if I stick with it, I can drop those 17 pounds…my goal is to drop at least 10 in the 6 weeks.  Wish me luck!

I also have to post a funny thing my husband said last night.  I was telling him all about the boot camp, and I said “I’d like to get back to where I was before I had Kaisa.  I really liked how my body looked before I got pregnant with her.”  Nathan replied, “So did I.  That’s why you got pregnant with her!”  I didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended, so I laughed.  :)