Mommy Conference

So a few weeks ago, I went to my annual "mommy conference." If you live in central Illinois and are a mom, you've most likely heard of Hearts at Home. This was my 7th year of going and, again, it didn't disappoint! It is the best weekend ever and I look forward to it every year. My friend, Nicole and I decided to try it out when our kids were 9 months and 6 months old, respectively. We haven't missed unless we had just given birth (Nicole) or were at a wedding (me)! They offer little sessions on parenting, marriage, spiritual growth, etc... You get to pick your top ten and they assign you to 3 or 4. This year, as it turned out, I went to my sessions on Friday with my sister and Nicole did hers on Saturday (since she has to fly in from SC and everything). I also had a prior engagement to attend on Saturday. We still made a great weekend of it.
I ended up attending a class on Sibling Rivalry, Living Life After Loss, Living with Less so your Family has More, and Growing Weeds out of Trees (about raising kids). I loved them all and can say I took a little something from each session. I was super excited that they were offering the Living Life After Loss session, although I went in very anxious and left feeling sad. It was rather depressing, which I suppose it should have been, but I was hoping to feel a little comfort and can't say that I did.
Anywho, it always gives me new ideas and refreshes me for at least a little while. Nicole brought her friend Kathy and we stayed had a great girls weekend. We ate some good food, had some great talks, and slept in beds with no kids! Can't wait until next year!

Woohoo! Yippee!

Zac just called. We've accepted an offer on our Macomb house! Woohoo! It's been on the market for a year and it's finally our turn! How nice will it be to have only one house payment? Ahhh....
There will still be some hoops to jump through, but what's new. Inspections, financing, etc... It sounds like closing won't be until May, but that's right around the corner! We'll keep you posted on this one!

No excuses.

I have absolutely no excuse as to why I've been on vacation from the blogging world. Pure and simple...I've just been plain lazy. I have a ton to blog about, but I'm not going to overwhelm you in one post, thinking that maybe if I say I'm going to break it up into numerous posts, I'll actually do it!
So, today I'm dedicating the post to my employment, or lack there of.
I've been "laid off" from my babysitting gig. The dad worked for a company that is now extinct, so he's staying home with the "twinkies" until he finds another job. If he gets lucky enough to find one soon, I may be back in business. Otherwise, I'm back to enjoying my freedom.
Along the same lines of employment (sort of), we still have our two houses. Without the extra income of babysitting, Zac and I have gone to a semi-strict budget. I've been spending lots of time coupon hunting and going a little crazy on trying to find deals. It's been fun so far, but I don't expect it to last. I had one great grocery shopping trip that saved me a ton of money, but the next one didn't even come close. It's a lot of work, too. But...I'm always up for a bit of a challenge. Anyway, we had a second showing on the house in Macomb yesterday, so we are praying big that something comes of it. Our renters are moving out this week and Zac and I are going to the Macomb house on Friday to clean it up a bit and see what if there is anything that needs any attention. I'm looking forward to spending the day with Zac, but I sure am dreading going back to the house. Last time we were there, things just didn't go well for me (emotionally, I mean). So, I'll continue praying for peace and hope that things will go better this time!

Still kickin'

Yes. We are still alive. Although, after a weekend with the flu, I was beginning to wonder if we were going to make it. Brooklyn came down with it at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Saturday. She is such a tough cookie, though. She trekked right through it. I woke up about 2:30 in the morning on Sunday with it. Jack ended up with it Tuesday night. It was all fairly short lived, but icky, nonetheless. Zac has stayed clear of it. So far. We need to keep it that way, as he doesn't handle those things well!
Watching the "twinkies" everyday has definitely put a damper on my computer time, so I do apologize for being MIA for so long. I do have, however, a new found respect for all parents of multiples. My goodness. It's hard work! Feeding, burping, playing, feeding, changing, burping, playing, changing, napping, changing, feeding...well, you get the picture.
I have been having some mixed emotions lately. Here in a couple of days, it will mark the one year anniversary of Olivia's last day at home with us. She went in for a routine platelet transfusion on Mar. 8 and was admitted for the last time. It's going to be hard to think about those days, but there are so many significant "bad days" that I hope don't overwhelm me. I think keeping so busy with the babies will definitely be a good distraction.
Anyway, another feeding awaits me. Just wanted everyone to know we are still alive and kickin'!

Working girl.

Yep. That's me.
Today was my first day of watching the twins. It was more of a trial run, with my "official" start date on Tuesday.
It went surprisingly well! I was a little nervous. I knew I could handle one baby, but two? I had some great helpers! Jack and Brooklyn were here all day celebrating Abe Lincoln's b'day. They were both amazing with the babies, Brooklyn especially. They couldn't get enough. Brooklyn would go play for a while, but would be sure to tell me to holler at her when I needed her help. Both kids would randomly start talking about how cute "they" were, which did throw me off a couple of times. (Brooklyn and I were changing the felt pads on the bottom of the dining room chairs so they would quit scratching up the floors. I thought she was talking about how cute the felt pads were??? After a confused look, she explained that she was talking about the babies! Ahhhh, silly mommy)
The babies were great, which obviously helped, too. Baby V loves to sleep and she seems to be extremely content all the time. Baby C loves to talk, loves to watch Brooklyn dance, and he loves to be held (which is good, because I kind of like to hold babies, too =o) It's so fun to have babies in the house, and to know that I don't have to get up for any midnight feedings! It's also great to finally be able to get Zac to quit nagging me about what I do all day! All in all, a great first day on the job!

So easy to please.

It happened today.

The kids and I were sound asleep in our bed this morning. That seems to be happening a lot lately. Our small queen-sized bed with 4 not so small people in it makes for really bad sleep for everyone, but I wouldn't change a thing. It normally starts out just the two of us, but kids just seem to migrate in at random times throughout the night...

I digress.

So, the kids and I were sound asleep in our bed this morning. All of a sudden we all wake when we hear Zac gasp and tell us to look out the window. There they were. About 9 deer in the field (soon to be houses) behind us. Ever since we moved here, that is all I wanted. I just knew it looked like the perfect place for some deer, but never saw any. My mom *claims* she saw a deer out there one afternoon, but I never saw it, which means it doesn't count, even if it was there, which I really don't think it was. (No offense, mom!) So, I ran down to get my camera just to have solid proof of these beautiful creatures that were practically in my backyard. Now, keep in mind, I rarely drive at night during any time of the year in fear of hitting a deer. I panic when I see them anywhere near a roadway, even during the day. They are pretty much my nemesis, yet this was just amazing to me.

I really wasn't a sheltered child. I grew up in a small farm town. I can honestly say I had never seen a "wild" deer until I met Zac who lived in the middle of nowhere. I mean, we hit that deer in November, and it was the first time I'd been present for such an incident. Who knows why I'm so fascinated by this, but it is kind of nice to know that it really doesn't take too much to excite me! I'd say I'm pretty easy to please.

It was sad, however, at dinner when we said our "highs, lows, and thankfuls" for the day. My high part was seeing the deer. I made the comment that it was a dream of mine that had come true. Jack turned to me and started telling me it was all just a dream, in one of those, you know, hypnotic voices. Good thing I took that picture, even if it didn't turn out too well (I didn't want to scare them off, so I didn't use my flash or open the door =o)

And yes, I know, I'm pathetic.

I am so sorry!

How rude am I? I'm such a slacker.

Anyway, my parents went to the Gulf Shores for the month of January to take full advantage of their retirements. Every time I talked to my mom, she would go on and on and on about how beautiful it was and how much she wished we could have made it down. I finally got sick of being jealous and booked a flight for the kids and I to go down. Zac had class that weekend, so he was stuck here. We left Thursday morning and stayed through Sunday and helped pack up and drove back with them. The kids had a great time. The highlight was probably the Go-Kart place. It was huge, had an enormous arcade, and we had the whole place to ourselves! The weather was a bit warmer than here, and the beach was beautiful.

It was an interesting trip home. It was about 14 hours of driving time, and we had about 8 stops before we even made it to the interstate. We weren't quite on the same potty schedule, but once we got that under control, it was a pretty smooth ride. The kids aren't normally the best travellers (like we pull out of the driveway, and they wonder how long it will take to get to Walmart...which is about 4 miles away) but they did awesome! It was a great time and we can't wait to go again next year!

Okay - in order to just get this post up, I'm putting the pictures in no particular order. I'm sure there is an easy way to do it, but I've never figured it out. You'll just have to imagine what order they all go in!

Game face...

Grandpa time...

Cartwheels...

Seashells...

Sandcastles...

So close to the beach...about 50 steps off the elevator!

Amazing sunsets...

We did miss daddy...

Big waves...

Grandma time...

Road Trip!

The kids and I decided to take a little vacation over the weekend. So, if you thought we were MIA, you were so right! I'm *hoping* to get pictures up later today, but you know how that goes...but here is a little teaser just to get you through:

The dentist

Poor Brooklyn. She has the worst teeth. According to the dentist, it's genetic. I beg to differ, unless it skips a generation. I'm going more with the theory of all the sugar she eats.

I took her in to have a cavity filled on Wednesday morning, and after a quick exam, there was only one little tooth that isn't going to need some sort of attention. Poor thing. They gave her the laughing gas, numbed her up, yanked a tooth, and put a "princess crown" on another. We've said she is going to be the most decorated, shiny princess around here before too long. It was very traumatic for both of us because we didn't know exactly what she was having done, and the outcome wasn't even in the ballpark. She went back today for her third "princess crown."
She opted to try today's visit with no laughing gas. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. We set up two more appointments and hopefully that takes care of things for now.

The good points:

-No more pain (at least for now)

-She got some lip gloss for being so brave (She was really, really brave)

-The Tooth Fairy came (although he was a male and kind of skimped on the prize money...in my personal opinion. I mean, this was a molar and it did have to be yanked out of there)

-We actually have dental insurance these days (The first "princess crown" was on us)

State of IL update

It seems as though I got a few people riled up on my behalf concerning my All Kids issues. You'll been somewhat happy to know that I got some things taken care of. Sort of.
I never did hear back from a caseworker, so I tried one more time to call on Wednesday. I actually got through to an actual honest to goodness caseworker. I talked to her about the problems I was having and she said "in regards to the premium: it takes at least 4-6 months to get that to go through. Just ignore the statements and don't worry. We won't send you to collections." Alright. I'll just ignore it for 2 more months and it should be all taken care of. Hmmm... we'll see.
In regards to the other bill we received...I just need to call the doctor's office and have them re-bill it. Again. I explained that they had billed twice and even appealed it twice. So, she gave me the number to someone who might be able to help me because the date of service is over a year ago (12-8-08)...barely.
Anyway, I haven't had a chance to call him, yet. We'll see how that one goes.
Then, I nicely asked to speak to a supervisor regarding some issues I have with the operators (namely, Veronica). She said she would have to send an email to their supervisor and she would call me about it.
She actually did call me within about a half an hour. Shocking! I explained the issue I had and she was very apologetic. Apparently she had just called Veronica in the day before to talk to her about some other things, but assured me she would call her back in about this. She also assured me that if I would have told her "our story" she would have been more prompt at getting me through to someone. Hmmm... don't think I should have to do that, but I'll keep it in mind for the next time I call.
Anywho...thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Hopefully this all gets resolved. If not, I guess I now know what to do?!?

Illinois

I really don't care for a select few of the State of Illinois workers. If you remember this post, you'll have some of the background to it. I had called and gotten everything taken care of. Or so I thought. The All Kids program (which I feel very fortunate to have had for Olivia) has continued to send a overdue statement for $80. I realize that's not a huge amount, but it's for the June and July premiums. Olivia was not here, so I don't feel as if we should have to pay that. Anyway, I tried to call on Thursday and after about 10 minutes of automated operators, I was connected to a real, honest to goodness person. However, no case workers were available to take my call. Someone would have to call me back.

I didn't hear from anyone, so Friday afternoon, I called again. Same stuff, only this time, the operator wasn't so nice. She said no one was available. Someone would return my call. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Me: Ma'am, someone was supposed to call me back yesterday and I haven't heard from anyone.

Not so nice lady: Our case workers have 48 hours to return phone calls. Besides it would show up as a private caller, blocked call, or unknown caller.

Me: Okay. Well I did happen to check my caller ID and there were only numbers I recognized, so still, no one called me back. I wasn't aware of the 48 hour time frame, but could I please hold.

Not so nice lady (in a very snooty voice): What about the other 30 people waiting to have their calls returned? Can I have your number and have someone call you back.

Me: Um. Okay.

I proceeded to give her my info, completely in shock that she spoke to me that way. I actually started crying, however there's no way I gave her the satisfaction of knowing that.

Me: I'd really like to get this matter taken care of. Are you sure there is no way I can hold?

Her: This is a switchboard. It's not possible. Thank you.

Click.

So, I still haven't talked to anyone, which is fine. I'm sure they'll call tomorrow. It just gripes me to no end that I was treated this way. This woman had no idea of our circumstances, and even so, I had no expectation to be treated any differently than any other person that called in to their office. I really would like to think that this lady was just having a bad day and I caught her at a bad moment, but I can't help but think that I was treated this way because of the stigma of those using the All Kids program. Most are probably lower income families, but regardless of any of the circumstances, there is no reason someone should talk to another person that way.

So, upon the suggestion of others, I am hoping to get up the nerve to call our state rep tomorrow and file a complaint against operator Veronica.

Oh, and we're also getting bills that All Kids denied from last year saying Olivia wasn't eligible...so it sounds like my battle is just beginning. Ugh.

Snippets.

Okay. Let's just get the Christmas posts done and over with. I've got much more recent things to be blogging about...

Let's see...where did I leave off? Oh yes, we should now be to Christmas Eve.

We started the morning off by opening gifts to/from each other. Zac got his infamous "kid" tie that has all the kids' pictures on it. Jack was happy with another new Lego set, while Brooklyn was super excited about her Candy Jewelry kit. I was overjoyed with my brand new paper shredder. I'm so easily entertained. Then we were able to go to church. We always love Christmas Eve services, but for the last few years it hasn't been able to fit into our schedule. The church we've been attending had a 4:00 Family Service/Birthday Party for Jesus. It was so neat. The kids really enjoyed it since it targeted that age group. Then off to Zac's parent's house to celebrate Christmas with the extended Chatterton's...always a good time.

We were able to make it home before Santa arrived so we could get his cookies out. Christmas morning, we were so excited that he found us! The kids got lots of cool stuff, which all went by the wayside when it was time to leave for Jesus' Birthday Breakfast. Every year we go to my aunt and uncle's house for a huge breakfast. Uncle Dave makes the best pancakes...just ask any of the kids! We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and get our bellies filled up just enough to need a little nap. After we take a little break, we head to my parent's house. Another little gift exchange - gift of the year happened to be Snuggies. There were 3 under the tree! It just so happened that "The 3 Wisemen" ended up with those gifts. Lucky them. Every Christmas night we play lots of games and make our own pizzas. It gets a little crazy with everyone trying to get their pizzas perfect, but it's an awesome tradition!

Well, I think that sums it up in a nutshell! Whew. Christmas can finally be over. Can't wait until next year!