Finally Insured!

Yeah, finally Alice and I have medical insurance.  After reducing my hours, I was no longer eligible for benefits through my company.  Both Cobra and Dusty's work plan were WAY too expensive so that left us trying to find private insurance.   Hopefully, nobody who reads this will have to purchase private insurance, but in a nutshell overall, you have to pay a lot to get a little. 

We settled on a high deductible plan that pays for well child care and immunizations without meeting the deductible.  If we get sick, we will have to pay for those visits until we meet the deductible, but since the premiums are much less, it works out better in the end. 

It sounded great, and I applied for both Alice and myself.  Two weeks later, I get a letter stating I was denied.  I do not think I am an unhealthy person.  I reviewed the reason for the denial and it is because many years ago, I had Ulcerative Colitis which was cured through surgery that took place 9 years ago.  I had to write an appeal letter, and then wait 30 days to find out if they would insure us.  I found out today, that I was approved, and we will get our ID cards next week. 

Although it is still a high deductible plan, it makes me feel better to know that we are insured in case something horrible happens. 

Going through this process actually made me appreciate for the first time anything that Mr. Obama has done in office.  His health care reform bill doesn't really do much to improve health care; however, it does help sick people get insurance.  I didn't realize how necessary this really is until I experienced first hand first of all, how expensive private insurance is, and secondly, that they will even deny healthy people at a first glance.  I still feel that the system is incredibly broken, but I guess a baby step in the right direction is a start.

3 Months Already

On Monday, it marked 3 months since Baby Alice has been on this earth.  I can't believe how much she grown and how much of a personality she has developed.  She is typically a very content baby.  I think she still has fussy times and cranky days, but everyone around me seems to think as my sister puts it "the easiest baby on the planet." I don't know any different, but we love her and are so happy to have her in our family.

We have had a very busy couple months, and I want to blog about each event, but am not sure it will happen.  So to summarize, in the past two months, here is what we have been up to. 

We have been able to hang out with our cousins more.  My awesome sister has been able to babysit Alice on days when I have to go to work.  She then plays volleyball in Seattle, and I get to watch her boys.  It is really fun to get to spend time with them every week.  It has been working out pretty well.  Owen loves the castle and other toys, Bella loves the boys, and Nigel loves Bella's toys.

We have been to two weddings

Dusty's Cousin in Yakima, WA

Shirlee's Cousin in Draper, UT

A road trip to Utah for the above wedding.  I drove down to Utah with my sister and her two boys.  We missed our working husbands, and it was a long drive, but we had a great time.  We spent time around BYU, as well as enjoying the wedding festivities.

Boys playing in the fountain at BYU

Alice was blessed at church by her father and was able to wear a gown specially designed and made by Grandma Poe.  It was a very special day that we spent with our families who have supported us so much through our long wait for this precious little angel.

 We also attended a funeral for Dusty's sister Felicia.  We will truly miss her.

The passing of Felicia was tragic, but it has a way of bringing the family together.  Alice got to meet more cousins Rylee and Braden who live in CA.

And her newest cousin Benjamin who was born right in the middle of planning the funeral.  Benjamin is moving to Alaska with his family, so we will miss them too.

Other than that, we have been hanging out at home, and spending a little bit of time at Grandma and Grandpa Poe's.  She has already been on the boat twice, and doesn't seem to mind her gigantic life jacket too much. (I will get a picture next time).

Apparently, like father, like daughter

At the age of 3 months,  according to my tape measure and scale, and online charts, Alice is somewhere around 11.5 lbs (25%), about 22 inches tall (5-10%), and her head circumference is about 15 inches (5%).  She is now sleeping pretty well at night and will wake up around 5:00am.  I don't mind it at all. 

3 months - She smiles better than this, but it is hard to catch it on camera

She can hold her head up pretty well, and she tolerates tummy time for about 10-15 minutes

 (2 months)

She loves to smile 

(2 months)

She is talking all time and making lots of noises 

(I have a video that I will post later)

She loves baths and is kicking and splashing in the water

(video for this one too later)

She loves her swing - Weeeee 

(6 weeks)

She tolerates even it when Bella tries to play with her

(7 weeks)

Overall, Alice is doing great, and we love her and love being parents.  Sometimes it is hard to juggle everything (hence the reason for blog neglect), but we are just trying to enjoy every minute of this precious little angel.