lovely luau!

Friday night I had planned on going to craft night. But it turns out that my dearest friends and family had been deceiving me for quite some time and surprised me with a birthday luau! As you can see, they really did surprise me!
We had yummy food from On the Border! There were lots of treats and goodies - I wish that I had been able to try them all! And of course as you can see I caught a lot of cards in my net. ;-) So cute!
Thanks so much to everyone who helped make my birthday special! Especially my hubby, and my friends Jess and Leah! Love you guys!

Doctor Doctor

I have had a really difficult time finding doctor for Christine. I was told that First Steps wouldn't come out for her evaluation until I get a doc's referral code. I've been on the phone with about a dozen doc's offices today and none of them are taking HHW patients right now. The office that she is assigned to now I would rather not go to because its on the east side of Indy and I've not had the best experiences with the staff already. I've gotten different answers from different people. I finally got ahold of someone who could set an appointment for us and was harassed by her because we haven't been taking Christine in for "well baby" visits. She went on and on about how she needs to be seen by a doc to be weighed, measured and if she'd been seen they'd have caught the delays earlier and I wouldn't be in this mess now... blah blah blah.
Eventually I ended up calling our HHW provider directly and asked them to let me know what docs in our county ARE accepting new patients at this time. There is one. One doc in our county taking new HHW patients right now. So I had them assign Christine to that doc (who happens to be near us thankfully). They said that it'd take up to 30 days for the transition in the system to be complete but that the doc can call them to verify her status and they should be able to see her before the 30 days are up.
Well when I called the doc's office they said they cannot see Christine because in the system she is still showing assigned to another doc. So I call that doc and they don't have any appointments available until MAY! Their waitlist is 10+ people long and some of those people have been on said waitlist since November. Not helpful.
One highlight in all this is First Steps was able to come out and do the evaluation with an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Therapist sans doctor's note. They did their thing: asked us questions about what Christine does and does not do, they played with her and tested her responses, etc. The OT confirmed that Christine will qualify for physical therapy and occupational therapy. So the FS coordinator will be calling me soon to set a date for the IFSP where we basically set goals and sign a bunch of paperwork. But therapy cannot start until after we get a doc's medical code submitted.
Rather than delay things any more we decided to go ahead and pay out of pocket to take Christine to our old family doc (who does not take HHW at all) just to get things moving.
So I had the IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) meeting with our First Steps Coordinator today. We read over the evaluation and she explained the services that Christine qualifies for and we went through all the necessary paperwork. Apparently there have been a lot of policy and procedural changes happening at First Steps and while we are going to be able to have the same PT that Joe had we will not be able to have the same OT. It will be another two weeks or so before PT will start, and OT is unsure because First Steps is waiting to get the OT's credentials or something. sigh... so much for things getting going quickly. But regardless at least things are in motion.

This has been a terribly stressful time for me. Disappointing phone call after phone call, getting different answers from different people, not understanding the system... I have been mentally, physically and emotionally drained. But I feel like I am on the upswing of what I admit has been a very low time for me. I am not feeling quite as overwhelmed and disgruntled as I was a couple of weeks ago (when half of this post was written). I am trying to turn my focus upward to Him and not allow the devil to poison my thoughts as he has in the past. I have to remind myself as always that God is in control.

my b-day...

“For all the advances in medicine, there is still no cure for the common birthday.” - John Glenn

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist". - George Carlin

"Time and Tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty. " - Robert Frost



Ok, so my birthday has come and gone. I got to go out to dinner with my mom and my sisters which was nice. But otherwise it was pretty uneventful. I guess its just part of life. Now that I am a mom I will forever have more fun celebrating their birthdays than I do my own. So I am already planning an Lego Indiana Jones party for Joe and a cupcake or owl theme for Christine. Lots of cute ideas out there. I will have to narrow it down to my favorite projects soon!

2x4 photo holder

Well... first off I have to get better at taking step by step pix of projects. Sorry, its a work in progress. Anyway, I was inspired by How Does She's 2x4 projects. We did the 2x4 Christmas trees awhile back and then recently I decided to make a modified version of this photo holder and this one. Though now that I'm looking back at those projects again... mine is way more different than I was thinking it was... Isn't it weird how we get our ideas sometimes?



My supplies were:
2x4 blocks (mine were about 5-6in long)
ModPodge or decoupage medium
scrapbook paper
small wood shapes
giant paper clips (I got mine at the dollar store)
sand paper
scissors
paint brush
hot glue gun
*optional embellishments: rub-ons, vinyl letters, etc
We traced our blocks and wood shapes onto the backside of the coordinating scrapbook papers and cut them out. Then we ModPodged the paper onto the wood pieces/blocks and let them dry.Once they were dry I scuffed up the edges a bit with the sand paper for a distressed look. Then I embellished and hot glued the pieces together.The wood shape was mostly to cover the ugly plastic shape that was on the giant paperclips. I tried to cut them off but they were on there pretty good. I really like the dimension that the shapes added though.
There is so much versatility with this project. You could match to almost any decor or style. I was planning on these being used for door prizes at our church's ladies retreat next month... but I might have to keep one for myself! ;-)

** I must amend this post and say that my hot glue did not hold well. I had to go back with super glue later to fix them.

Beloved

Song of Solomon 2:16 - "My beloved is mine, and I am his..."

I am blessed to have been married to a wonderful man for eight years now. Our life together has certainly had its up and downs. We are both flawed people and those flaws present their own unique challenges at times but we continue to love and support one another the best we can. We do not always make a big deal of Valentine's day - it often gets lumped together with my birthday which is next week. But never the less I thought I should have a Valentine post. Here are a few random thoughts and links regarding love and marriage.

Jill Savage has Marriage Monday series on her blog. She and her husband Mark are very candid about the ups and downs of their relationship over the years and share some things that have helped them to keep the love alive.

A blog called:A Holy Experience posted 5 Secrets to Make a Marriage Last that blew me away. Definitely food for thought there.

Making Marriage Sizzle! CWIVES stands for Christian Wives Initiating, Valuing and Enjoying Sex. Ladies, we don't have to wait for the guy to make a move. They love it when we are the ones to get things started! ;-)

There are a lot of scriptures on the topic of marriage. I find myself seeking them out during hard times as reminders of of what I should be doing and how blessed I am.

If you want to make a statement about your marriage through your clothes Union 28 is a resource for really great pro-marriage t-shirts and other apparel. I really like the Two Shall Become One shirts.

One of my favorite quotes on marriage: A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.
~Ruth Bell Graham - So true! In every marriage forgiveness is one of the keys to success.

And on the fun side of things is this video from Tim Hawkins. He's hilarious! ;-)



Quote: "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally - I remember that feeling. We had a fairly short courtship. We really got to know each other in June, were engaged in August and married in January. We could hardly wait to start our life together. I wish I could have bottled that feeling! ;-)
Isaac, I love you! Happy Valentine's Day!

Pinktastic Swap Packages

With all the crazy icey and snowy weather we've had I almost didn't get my Pinktastic package out in time but we just barely made it! Here is a picture of the package I put together for my partner Amy @ Nine-Ninety-One.

I hope that the level of "pink-ness" meets Mamarazzi's expectations! ;-) I included in my package the following: Orbit White gum, a small cardmaking kit, a Bath & Body Works wallflower, the Country Strong soundtrack cd, mani-pedi kit w/ pink nail polish, pink cupcake socks, Mommy Diaries book, all enclosed in the tote bag that I made. I also added mother/daughter headbands after I took this pix.
I received my package from Amy. Its seriously Pinktastic! Below is a pix of all the goodies she sent me! Nate had such a fun time opening it with me. He kept saying "happy birthday mommy". He assumed that it was a birthday present. :-)
So, Amy sent me this super cute black, white and pink damask reusable tote, a cozy pink scarf, pink argyle socks, adorable black & pink hatbox, yummy smelling pink candle, pink flower ornament, pink beaded necklace, a silver picture frame lined in pink pearls, lip gloss and a set of pink stationary/cards. I can't wait to use all these lovely pink items!
We must have a lot in common because both Amy and I included a bag, pink socks, cards, lip gloss and something smelly (the wallflower & candle). Great minds think alike. ;-)
Thanks to Amy for the great package and to Mamarazzi for hosting another great swap!

2 Layouts

Here are two pages that I was able to complete at a recent craft night at church. This one is of this past Easter. Aren't my boys cute? ;-)

And this is of our ladies retreat last March. I actually was 7mos pregnant at this event and ended up missing part of it because I was sick in bed. Bummer. But it was still nice. :-) Always trying to be a glass half full person... even though it doesn't always come naturally to me!

freezer paper stencil: take 2

So, I feel like I learned from my first attempt at the freezer paper stencil. I gave it another go and was much happier with the results the second time around.

I'm now anxiously awaiting the next church craft night so I can use my friends' Cricut again to make some more stencils. I really like this last one and will probably try to do a bunch of onesies like it for gifts. Or maybe just for my cutie pie! ;-)

SNOWDAYS!

In case you have not been around the past few days there has been a LOT of snow/ice in the midwest. For all the hype that there was before the big storms hit, I did not think it really was not all that bad. They made it sound like the end of the world or something.
But things have definitely been on the slow side this week. Joe's school has had three snow days in a row. All of our activities and outings (the library, a homeschool fieldtrip, etc) have been canceled this week. The kids and I have not left the house in four days. Here is the rundown of what we have done:
- baked choc chip muffins
- watched Wizard of Oz (Nate's first time - he loved it.
- He goes around singing "If I were King of the Forest")
- burned a batch of banana bread because I forgot to change the temp of the oven after the choc chip muffins :-(
- stayed in our PJs all day
- I made about a a dozen phone calls about doctor/insurance stuff (I am so OVER IT!!)
- made french toast
- cleaned up puke cause Nate was sick one day (YUCK!)
- got caught up on laundry
- watched about a dozen food/cooking shows
- I preplanned a few blog posts
- put together a few puzzles
- made pork chops and mashed potatoes
- talked spring break road trip details with Jess - its still in the works but we're kind of getting excited!
- sit as a family and listen to Isaac play guitar a couple times
- read books with Nate
- Isaac did our taxes (thankful we're getting a decent return!)
- watched Change of Plans
- got a few crafts done that had been sitting idle for awhile
- made hot chocolate for Nate every time he decided to brave the cold and ice to play outside (alone because I'm a pansy)
- spent way too much time on facebook and blog hopping
hhhmmm... I guess that sums it up pretty well.

*I borrowed the cool ice pix from my friend Rita. I kind of stole it off of her facebook. I haven't ventured out to take pix of the icy wonderland. I told you, I'm a pansy! ;-)