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June 13, 2004
Here we are – another week went by and what did I accomplish? Actually, I can’t believe it has been a week already! Since I started my diary, I thought I would want to post a couple entries each week and while there are plenty of things to say, I find myself surprised each Sunday when I sit down to post an entry here – how could it already be a week since my last entry? Hmmm… Time keeps slipping by.
Well, if you keep up with my diary, you know I had a long, crazy list of things I wanted to get done while my cousin was here. I have to admit, that I only got about half the list done: clean out the girls’ closet, clean out the linen closet. I have left messages for a domestic abuse shelter to make arrangements to deliver what I have to donate, but they haven’t called back. I still have to get the window treatments up in the girls room and do some things in there to make the room more cozy. I still have to go through the toys in the playroom and organize what’s left into manageable bins for easy clean-up. I still have fabric and pillow stuffing to make some cute pillows for the girls’ room. I still have fabric and patterns to make them some new dresses. But, in addition to my list, I also got some shopping done (Veronica is in need for fall/winter clothes in the next size up and I refuse to pay full price for clothes – I found a Children’s Place Outlet store!!!), I got 14 rolls of film developed (critical since I am going to an all day crop next Satruday and I had nothing to work with), Adam and I had a date, the next night we were able to go to a meeting that we miss most months for lack of a babysitter, and I got my dresser cleaned off (it still had things on it that were haphazardly tossed upon my return from Europe in the midst of the medical nightmare that was our loss of Gabriella).
Speaking of Gabriella, I am disgusted with the reality of some of the medical community. First of all, can you believe that the hospital charged $5,000+ for the day (less than 24 hours) we were there?! Then, my midwife’s office charged $2,000+ for the Ob/Gyn services of “D&C Abortion” Can you believe that crap?!??!?! That I would get a bill detailing ABORTION?!?!? (Okay, I realize that people have different opinions on this subject, but having lost 4 babies, one at 18 weeks, I can’t imagine how someone can make that choice!? I think they must be uneducated about the development of a baby in utero. A beating heart is a beating heart – period.) I digress. Can you believe they would label what happened with us an abortion?! I mean, have some tact. And to top it off, we owe almost $750 toward deductible and our percentage since our insurance only covers 90%. This totally blows my mind. I know we did not even receive care that would amount to what our percentage is and now I am going to have to fight about some of the charges. Ridiculous.
Now, about our week… We’d invited my cousin, B, to stay the week. She’s stayed with us in the past, and she has succeeded in totally getting on our nerves and frustrating us with her lack of responsibility and her assumption that since she is a guest, she doesn’t have to clean up after herself. At 14 years old, I understand part of this is typical behavior for a teenager, however, I feel that age is no excuse to be a poor houseguest. Adam was leery when I offered to let B come for the week (why would you put yourself in the position of having to care for a teenager who is not respectful?). But, I figure, hey, she is growing up and deserves a chance to redeem herself. She had a rough school year and will be repeating a grade and I figure the girl needs someone to say they believe in her. I want to be that person for her.
Well, with some trepidation, we prepared for her arrival by cleaning the playroom so there is space to pull out the sofa-bed. She came on Monday and by Tuesday morning, I was thrilled to have her here. She immediately was helping without being asked and reading books to the girls and chasing them around whilst they squealed, “come get me, cousin B!” It was so nice to be able to get some things done each day. She even offered to help when I was cleaning the girls’ closet. She folded and hung clothes and grabbed bags as I needed. We got some movies from the library to keep her entertained during her down-time and she appreciated being able to stay home when the girls and I went to church for our mom’s group meeting/playgroup. She surprised everyone by making herself useful and we can’t wait to have her come back for another week later in the summer. The girls have been asking already when B is coming back and she has only been gone one day. We did have one moment at the mall, where she acted like a teenager and didn’t want to walk with us and looked totally ticked off, but other than that, we loved having her here.
About the girls… Ana is such a poor little thing. She has had an ear infection for going on 3.5 months. She had 3 rounds of traditional antibiotics (all stronger than amoxicillin) to no avail. This past week she went in for a follow-up check and since there is still a “ton of fluid in her ears”, we moved on to the next phase: a shot each day for three days. Well, nobody told me beforehand that the dose is so big it had to be divided into two shots each day. So, the precious little girl got stuck with needles each day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in each leg. She cried each time I had to hold down her upper body in preparation for the shots and screamed bloody murder as the needle was poked into her leg. The first day, she cried for almost a full 10 minutes afterwards. The next day, I got her calmed down almost immediately afterward and the third day she begged me to protect her from the nurse, cried the whole time of the shots, saying “almost done, almost done”, but calmed down immediately after with her sister telling her how brave she was and how well she did and how proud she (Veronica) was of her (Ana). Veronica stayed with B in the waiting room the first day and then at home the 2nd day, so I was worried when I had to take Veronica with us on day 3. But, it was so sweet to see Veronica being so caring toward her little sister and weird that Veronica stood right there with her face inches away as Ana was poked in each leg with a needle. (Who knows, maybe Veronica will want to be a doctor when she grows up?)
We also had a lunch date on Friday with a new friend from the church mom’s group. I am excited to be building some wonderful friendships with a few of these women. The date was with a sweet woman with a 6 month old baby boy. And even though the girls can’t really play much with a baby that age, they were tickled to have him here and he just gazed at them as they all sat on a blanket on the floor. He kept reaching and touching their faces, making them screech and squeal and he made some excited noises as well. It was very cute and reminded Veronica how much she wants a baby brother. (I don’t think I mentioned before that she told me “Mommy, I know you are sad that Gabralella died, but I’m happy she died - because next time we can have a boy baby.”
Kids say the darndest things.
Next time: where will we live in 4 weeks? The craziness of dh’s current career situation.
Have a great week filled with many blessings,
Holly
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