Ta Da!

Here it is everyone... at long last.

What do you think?

The Utica Zoo...

isn't exactly Honolulu or San Diego Zoo, but is pretty good for a small town zoo. As you can see by the pictures, Abi enjoyed it though.

In case you are curious, Abi is studying intently the snowy owls. The Utica Zoo has 2 of them.

What is new with everyone?

A short story...

I asked Abi yesterday if she wanted to go to the zoo. She said "please" which is her way of saying 'yes'. I asked her what she thought we might see at the zoo... expecting her to say 'bears' or 'tigers' or some other animal... but instead she said "Gordie". After a moment, I said "Abi, I asked if you wanted to go to the ZOO, not to Sue's" (For the readers that do not know, Greg has an aunt and uncle named Sue and Gordie... ) I'm sure she wasn't trying to imply that Uncle Gordie is an animal in anyway! :)

Want to help a good cause?

Hi everyone,

Many of you have heard of the raffle in our area going on to benefit the ALS Utica Chapter. (ALS is otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.) "ALS is a fatal disease that attacks the nerve cells (motor neurons) in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement and muscle power, eventually leaving the patient completely paralyzed. As the muscles waste away, a person with ALS loses their ability to walk, speak, swallow, and eventually breathe. Yet in most patients their mind remains unaffected. An ALS diagnosis proves fatal in an average of three to five years." The above information is from the ALSutica.org website.

The raffle is a great bargain! 1 ticket can be purchased for $15 or 3 tickets for $30. The winner will receive 16 tickets (yep, really! 16!) to the Mets vs Yankees game at Yankee Stadium in June. Did I mention the tickets are for the Hall of Fame Suite??

Please check out:

www.alsutica.org

for all the details. The total package is worth $6000.

Remember, even if you cannot make the game, the cause is still worth it!

Thanks for considering it,
Angie

Sticker Shock

This must be some kind of record for me... three separate posts in one day! I certainly didn't intend to write this one, but after getting the mail this afternoon... I just needed to share.

As you can imagine, I have been receiving several EOB (Explanation of Benefits, a statement saying what was billed to my insurance, how much was allowed, how much was applied to deductible, etc...) and have most recently started to receive the actual bills from my surgery for the miscarriage. Let me say that _not_ having a baby is super expensive! I would have to double check my old paperwork, but I'm fairly certain the miscarriage has cost more than Abi's birth... or at least very comparable... especially when you consider the fact that eventually there were 2 of us to care for _and_ I was in the hospital for more than 7 hours! Heck! I was in labor for more than that!

Ironically, though, I have to say that the oral meds I took (metoclopramide and famotidine) were not expensive... and the drug world gets a bad rap for prices! Those two meds were less than 50cents (which is less than 0.012% of the total bill). Craziness I tell you!

Here's another weird twist of it... the hospital bill shows me being charged for a urine culture and urinalysis, but I don't remember giving one! Being as that alone amounted to $130, I think I might call on that one. I figure they should have lab results to prove their case on that one... what do you think?

Okay, so I'm sure none of you wanted to hear or really care, but I am in such sticker shock, I had to share! Please feel free to share any stories you might have with me. :)

Love,
Angie :)

A Great Papa!

While Greg and I (mostly Greg) worked on Grandpa's driveway, Abi and Great Papa were hanging out. Here are a couple of pictures that I was able to snap.

Thought it was Spring...

Let me just say to Tami... Unfortunately, NOT only in the Midwest. :)

Upstate Central New York is back into winter mode... we had to SNOWBLOW the driveway today. We woke up with 6 inches of very, very wet snow in our driveway. We still have a winter storm watch in effect until 8pm tonight, I think. All that we have had today is rain, rain, and more rain. The poor robins are confused as to what is going on... I suppose they are thinking the same thing as we are.





Of the pictures I'm going to post...one is from a few days ago. Be sure to look out the window that Abi is in order to compare it to the others of today.





Here are a couple of pictures looking up and down Tibbitts Road (the street we live on).

Check out the clothesline... It was, at one point, relatively straight across.

Well, anyone want to come visit?

Favorite Book...

I thought I'd show the excitement of a 2-year old...



Abi loves the book called "There's a Witch Under the Stairs" by Maggie Smith. I found the book at a library sale last summer and she LOVES the book. If the reader is willing, she will listen to the book read 4 or 5 times in a row.



The first picture is of Abi with Greg reading the copy I bought last summer... as you can maybe tell, it is a well-loved book. Once upon a time, the book had 20 some pages or so... now it's down to 5 I think.





This second pictures is of Abi opening her mail after we bought her a replacement copy. As you can see, she was excited!

Easter

Did everyone have a Happy Easter? Was the Easter Bunny good to you?

Abi really enjoyed her Easter week as she got to help color eggs for the first time. Although she wasn't completely sold on the idea at first, she quickly learned it was pretty cool. We had the fancy glittery egg-dye kit. She was pretty helpful in shaking the glitter bag with the egg in it... sometimes the egg hit the table, but amazingly enough only one cracked.

After enjoying Sunrise Service at church on Sunday, Abi, Sasha, and Greg went over to my in-laws for a brunch. They got to have brunch with Kevin, Amanda, Stacy, Jimmy, and of course, Greg's parents. :)

Then is was to Burnt Hills for the traditional feast and, of course, the Egg Hunt! Abi has figured out what it means to find Easter Eggs and thinks it is great fun!

And to think that I was fortunate enough to be at CVS on Easter Sunday! :/ I shouldn't really complain too loudly, because CVS paid me to be there... and I didn't do very much work!

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Remember, Think Spring! (even as we have a winter snow storm warning coming up... )

"Another Plane"

Hi!



It's been awhile since I've posted... and I'm sorry. Things here have been busy in the past month. As most of you know, Greg and I had a miscarriage a couple of weeks ago. I strongly debated as to whether or not I'd share this news with all who read the blog, but I feel as though it's something we should talk about. While we were only about 8 to 10 weeks along when we found out, it was still very difficult. For those that have kids, I'm sure you'll agree... bonding and love doesn't happen at birth, but rather at the moment you find out you are pregnant.

Greg and I had known for a little over a month that we were pregnant and found out at our first prenatal appointment that there seemed to be a problem. On Thursday, March 15, I had two ultrasounds... one by Dr. Beattie (my OB) in the morning where he suspected a possible ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. Since the machine he used wasn't sensitive enough, I had another ultrasound with an ultrasound tech that afternoon. They confirmed it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy which we were happy about being as that meant I didn't have to have surgery on Thursday. The news was mixed though. Even though we were determined not to have an ectopic pregnancy, we still had a seemingly empty fetal sac. That could have meant a couple of different things, but most likely it wasn't a positive outcome.



After a repeat HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) level (considered the 'pregnancy' hormone) on Saturday and hours of waiting, Dr. Beattie got ahold of me at work on Sunday to tell me that my HCG level had fallen since Thursday which meant I was in a miscarriage. He suggested that I have a D&C. After a whirlwind of events it seemed, I found out on Monday afternoon that I'd be having surgery on Tuesday morning. Although the reason for the procedure wasn't a happy one, I was very pleased at the care I received from everyone at the hospital and especially from Dr. Beattie. He is a compassionate and competent doctor. He also may end up being our neighbor one day as he bought land across from our house (sort of). :) His oldest is 12 years old now and will be available for babysitting in the not-so-distant future.

Even though our miscarriage was a very difficult process, one we are still coping with, it has been a lesson in many ways. In all the ways a pregnancy can have problems, it's amazing it can work out right. Although Abi doesn't realize it, she has been an amazing support. Seeing her cheesy smile and hearing her infectious giggle helps us to realize that all of the pain is worth the happiness. We have received tons of support from family, friends, and co-workers. It reminds us how lucky we are.



Top flowers from CVS Clinton and bottom from CVS Waterville

Moving on to happier events, we just got back from Seattle where we visited with Chad, Heidi, and Brian. :) We had a great time out there... the only problem was that the trip was too short! :) Aren't all vacations? :)

We spent time hanging out, checking out the Market, going thru the Underground Tour, taking a ferryboat ride, spending time with Jane and Bill, and even got to go up into Heidi's tower. (She's an air traffic controller in Seattle.) I have a ton of pictures to post, so I hope you enjoy them.

For those that are curious about why this blog entry is entitled "Another Plane"... it's because Abi said that phrase a zillion times while in Seattle... and in the airports to and from. Being as Heidi works at the airport, it makes sense that they live near the aiport... so we were seeing planes every few minutes.... and yep, Abi noticed nearly EVERYone of them. :)

Thanks again Chad, Heidi, and Brian!

Hope all are doing great!