Why I Care

In late 2008, I was 29, married, working my government job, and pregnant with my first baby.  I would not have considered myself naïve.  I'm a planner, if you don't know me.  I'm pretty level headed, pretty responsible, not big on the risk-taking scale.  We didn't find out the sex of our baby and that was about as much out of my control-freak comfort zone I had in my life at the time.  We were married 5 years before we were ready to be responsible for a tiny human, and although I suppose you're never really ready for a baby, we were as ready as we could be.


So when our sweet little Sofia was born with a complex, undetected heart condition we were suddenly thrown into a new world.  I had trouble coping (who wouldn't?  post partum hormones, surgery at 4 days old, lengthy hospital stay, and trying to stay on top of all the medical things happening to Sofia, trying to hold it together while I really just wanted to be in a dark room and sob.)  Fun times. 


I'm not sure what her medical expenses ended up being, but at the time I focused on her and not our bills.  Once I came out of the fog, I started to pay attention.  I remember getting bills telling me to send the Clinic $80,000 (ha.)  And I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to sort it all out, making spreadsheets, and keeping notes.  So here's the thing:  as much as I was a planner, I had no idea what our insurance would or wouldn't cover.  It covered my pregnancy and her birth, wouldn't it cover her?  I didn't know what we'd be responsible for.  I didn't know that heartless terms like "lifetime max" even existed.  I didn't know anything about healthcare laws.  I have a master's degree in government and am pretty politically minded, but suddenly I had no clue.  I just had a baby I'd do anything for, but was unsure of what was next.


So I was naïve.  Thankfully, I did have good insurance.  She's had 3 surgeries, 4 heart caths, and a non-heart related surgery in her almost 9 years.  She is amazing and doing very well.  The day the Affordable Care Act was passed I breathed a sigh of relief.  Goodbye penalties for pre-existing conditions, goodbye lifetime maxes, hello well visits for kids (and adults) without copays, free breast pumps for nursing moms, and a host of other good things.  And I know that some people had to pay higher premiums and that at my government job they did away with spouses being covered by our insurance if they had access to their own plans.  But there was a lot of good.  I would have paid more (and did because at some point our premiums took a steeper than usual hike) because of the benefits waaaaay outweighing the negative. 


So yes, I take it personally now when there are threats to those protections.  People with pre-existing conditions are not protected under the most recent Graham - Cassidy bill.  If insurers are able to cut or increase premiums for those people they will.  We need federal mandates that won't allow them to do that. 


"Americans Will Always Do the Right Thing — After Exhausting All the Alternatives."- Winston Churchill.  Will we ever get healthcare right?  Healthcare is a basic human necessity.  It's not a privilege to those who can afford it.  Are we ever going to put people over politics?  I don't want my child to grow up and think she's a liability.  She is a miracle. 

Staircase

I've been busy completing projects, but not so good about updating them.  I finally tackled the staircase, which was an exhausting lesson in stripping, sanding, and staining.  But the impact (I think) was worth it!  I love it.  So much more updated than the light colored stain. 

Before (left)  After (right)



So here are more of the before:

I stripped the stain on all the handrails it by applying Citrustrip on it and letting it sit for a few hours.

It is safe for indoor use and it supposed to be less toxic than some other strippers.  After letting it sit, you are supposed to be able to use a flat edged tool and scrape it off.  It worked ok on the flat pieces, like the top of the handrail, but was awful in the grooves.  I only did the handrails and not the individual ballusters.  Those were going to be painted white.  I spent probably 9 hours stripped and then sanding.  I sanded to get the remaining goo off and to smooth out the surface. 

Looking pretty bare.  Have never stripped anything, so it was hard to tell when I was ready for stain. 

Eventually, I thought it looked good enough.  I applied mineral spirits.  Then went at it with Kona, a Rustoleum stain that I use a lot.   After all the staining was done, I started painting all the spindles.  They took about 3 coats of paint.  I am really pleased with the final result!

Now I'm ready to pull up the carpet and do the stairs.  That's on the to-do list.

Lady Evelyn's Room

Oh, the brown trim!  This was a shot of Evelyn's room before we moved in.  We were excited for her to just have her own room because we sold our old house when she was 3 weeks old and she'd been sharing a bedroom with us in our rental until we bought this house when she was 7 months old.  For our sake and her sake, she needed her own space!  Not a big room, but we have 4 bedrooms, so there are definitely no complaints here.  It has one window and I felt that it should stay a light color.  So I painted the trim (white of course), painted the walls light gray (Universal Gray by Glidden), added a valance.  

 

 

Before we bought it:

 

 

 

 

After we bought it: 

 

 

 

 

 

During:

Getting ready for painting trim and walls.  Had to do these stages quickly because the thought of Evelyn camping out in our room in a pack n play took me back to those rough nights in our apartment when we shared a room!

Making the valance.  Can't be too difficult, right?  I can't sew, but I can staple the heck out of anything!

 

 

After!

 

 Love it!

 



So Long Summer

Sofia just started back to school and Labor Day is approaching, so summer feels like it's in the rear view mirror.  Especially on a rainy and colder day like today.  Ok by me though- I'm ready for the routine that fall brings and I love the season of sweatshirt and jean weather, pumpkins, and football.

Sofia just started 1st grade at a new school, as we're now settled into our new school district.  She has a very sweet teacher and she seems to be enjoying it.  We have a meet the teacher night this week to hear more about her class and the curriculum.  I'm interested to find out what she'll be learning and doing this year.  Adelaide will begin 3 day per week preschool after Labor Day.  She really wishes she was starting Kindergarten and got to ride the bus with Sofia, but there is no rush.  She has 1 more year.  Sofia was gone for maybe an hour when Adelaide asked when she'd be home.  For as much as they fight, they sure do miss each other when they're aparat.  

Sofia had a her annual gastroenterology appointment in July.  Her gallstones are unchanged and she had an ultrasound and blood work to check on things.  She complains of stomach aches, but not really sure what is causing them.  We'll just keep watching.

She also had her annual neurology appointment.  She is doing well in all areas of her development.  She no longer will have to complete a phycial therapy assessment because she's not having any issues.  At this appointment, the doctor noticed that she may have minor scoliosis of her spine.  We will keep on top of that.  He wasn't sure if it was just the way she was standing or if it is a curve developing, but her medical chart indicates a new diagnosis.  Poor girl.  No more new diagnoses please.  Of course, scoliosis is more common in CHD patients and from what I've read, especially with cyanotic defects like Sofia's. 

We see her cardiologist in November.

Evelyn continues to keep us busy.  She is now 16 months and a little busy body.  She is becoming more verbal - saying uh-oh, up, da-da, hot, arf, and sings two words of twinkle twinkle little star (the "up above" the world so high part).  She is still a little peanut and has no baby chub on her.  She has very red hair (maybe even more so than Adelaide's at this age?) and has sweet Hazel eyes.  We'll go for her 15 month appt (late- oops. third child!) on Monday.  At this age she is still very much a mama's girl.  She is a good sleeper.  Some of her favorite foods - bananas, rice, peaches, waffles.  She really likes anything that is a tomato, rice, and meat combination, like Oliver's stuffed peppers.  She has a squeal like no other (read: screech), but she's so sweet and loving too.  She is just fun to watch at this age - very inquisitive.

We've gotten much done in and around the house. That has really been keeping me busy - the painting especially. We have now painted the kitchen, family room, entryway, master bedroom, Evelyn's room, Sofia & Adelaide's room, and all the trim in those rooms and the upstairs hall.  Plus now we've done the shutters and front door. We are getting it done and this makes me happy. In November it'll be a year since we've bough the house and although we haven't done real renovation work, mostly just cosmetic updates, we've definitely given things a face lift.  We've definitely settled in and we love it. 

We had a nice family reunion in August and got to catch up with lots of family.  We also celebrated our 12 year anniversary.  It was a nice summer.  Bring on fall.

 

Evie and me at the beach

cousins

from 6 months to 6 years!

"triple" sandwich - avocado, egg, and tomato

Shut the Front Door

We spent the last couple days updating some things on the exterior of the house.  It just looked tired and needed some better curb appeal.  Most of the houses on our street have nice landscaping and the homeowners are out in their yards a lot.  I don't have time to spend hours working on the landscaping, but I'll throw in a few hours to update paint and hope for the best! 

The house right after we bought it and the sold sign was up.  Last October-ish


And here is the before and after: 

 

 

The update included a little navy paint (actually Starless Sky by Behr) and some white exterior paint, and new front door hardware.  We needed new locks after our deadbolt broke and caused a locking out fiasco.

 

Our front door had seen better days.  It had some vinyl/plastic trim pieces that got warped over time from the sun. The door and shuters used to apparently be a green and the current blue was faded and I'm not a fan of the baby blue. 

 

 

 The sidelites needed attention too.  They were dirty, yellowed, and needed a paint makeover.  I put my little helpers to work.  Oliver had taken down the shutters and the girls helped clean.

 

She was such a good helper!  She loved to clean

 

 

 

 

He's not afraid of heights.  I couldn't do it!

It's still August, but I'm ready for my favorite season... I can see a few pumpkins right in front

It looks so much brighter to me and I love it!  A little paint can go a long way