Our Summer in Kansas City, or the 3 weeks we spent here...

Our plans for this summer have drastically changed this last week. Our original plan was to spend it all in Kansas City with Big Papa working at an internship with the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. We got here just fine and got started with things: Big Papa with his internship and me with the task of making sure my insurance was in tact so we could be covered and have this baby. I'd spent some time before we left clarifying what I'd need to do to switch from Iowa Medicaid to Missouri, and was given a lot of confidence that it should all work out. I worked with a wonderful woman, Ms. Gilmore, at the Missouri office to make sure that all of the papers/forms that needed to be turned it were done correctly and in order. We spent almost two weeks doing this -- trading phone calls back and forth with me heading to Office Depot to fax all the necessary papers, all the while getting positive feedback that my case would definitely be approved. Then, on Tuesday of this week I got another call.

Ms. Gilmore had found out that there was an option for me to stay on Iowa medicaid since I'd only be in Missouri temporarily. I had called Iowa months before to see if there was something like that, but was told that I should cancel my Iowa coverage and get on Missouri's, so I figured nothing existed. But Ms. Gilmore told me to call anyway and I did, giving them the dates that I'd be in MO. I needed to be in MO less than 90 days to qualify, and we'd only be here 85. At this point, I started to get a sinking feeling, like something was going to go wrong, but I kept on going to see what providers would be available to me in Kansas City. 

A quick search on their website revealed that there was only one OBGYN in the whole city who had Iowa reciprocity for title 9 patients (or something like that). I quickly called his office to see if he would take me, but was told that his office works as a medical team and the chances of me being able to see just him were slim to none. At this point I decided that I needed to continue with my original plan of going on MO medicaid and called Ms. Gilmore to tell her. Normally, my calls with her go well, she's very reassuring and honest, but this one did not. Since I was only going to be in MO for 85 days I would no longer qualify for medicaid here. They needed 90 days. My heart dropped. I told her that we could stay 90 days -- it wouldn't be a problem to stay in the state for an extra week, but she told me that since I had "declared" my original intent, her supervisor would not go for it. She was extremely apologetic and kind, so I just thanked her for her help and hung up, immediately redialing the number for the woman in Iowa I had talked to earlier that day. We worked together to see if there were any other providers in MO who could help me out -- no OBs, no CNMs, no birthing centers. All that was available were a couple of Nurse Practitioners in Kirksville -- 3 hours away. 

Throughout all these phone calls, I'm desperately trying to keep from crying, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. Everyone I had talked to was so sympathetic and kind to me, but none of them knew what I should do. So, I just asked the woman from Iowa to please reopen my Medicaid case there as soon as possible and I would figure out what to do. Big Papa had come home from work at that very moment and recognized that something was seriously wrong. I crumpled. All of that planning and confidence was for nothing. We had moved our family here with the belief that this would work and now, here I was 34 weeks pregnant with no insurance. 

Big Papa (thank goodness) remained calm and focused and we thought out some options:

1. Goobie and I go back to IA while he stays here to do the internship. He'd come home on weekends and then as soon as I got wind of being in labor, he would come.

2. We all go back to IA, leaving the internship.

3. We try and find a birthing center that will give us a discount for paying cash (cash we don't really have)

I didn't want Big Papa to give up his internship for me, but I couldn't bare the thought of not having him with me when the baby was coming so soon. We've been planning on a natural birth, and I needed him there as my coach. Not only that, but the idea of him coming home every night to an empty apartment just sounded awful. So, Big Papa made some calls and told his internship that we'd have to leave.

That night I battled so much guilt and frustration -- how could I not have seen this coming? what was Big Papa going to do this summer now? how would this affect his future jobs? I should have done this, I should have done that... But Big Papa reassured me that we needed to go back, that none of this was my fault, just a really unfortunate thing we couldn't control. 

The next day, we witnessed so many miracles. Our good friends were going to be leaving their apartment June 1st until mid August, without any plans of finding sub-letters. We called them, just hoping that they might be in to having us pay their rent and utilities for that time so we could stay there -- and they were. We also were able to find a sub-letter for our Kansas City apartment in about an hour (thank you craigslist). Now I would be able to deliver my baby with the CNM's that I'd come to like to so much, in an amazing hospital. Goobie would have so many people who could watch her while we had the baby too, people who I trusted and had known for more than a month.

Even though we felt (and feel) super crazy for moving here and leaving so fast, we know that we are being watched over. It is truly amazing to me that we are being so blessed, even when I know we didn't do everything we could to make sure moving here in the first place was the best decision. Our church congregation back in IA has reached out to us, offering food, places to stay, and moving help for when we get home. 

So, overwhelmed with gratitude, we are coming home. We have learned so much from this experience and are just so grateful for all the blessings that have come from it. Sure, it would have been nice to learn this lesson without going through the stress and expense of moving, but at least we are all healthy, happy, and together.

And now for the updates

So what have we been doing since October when I last posted?

-Making a baby! Our little Goob is going to be a big sister in July! I felt pretty awful all of November with morning sickness and fatigue, but am feeling a lot better now. We're finding out the gender tomorrow morning, so look for more updates!

Having a fun break with Daddy!

-Big Papa's working hard! School, school, school. It's not always fun, but he's doing well! He's enjoying his classes a lot more this semester and always has fun stories to tell about his professors.

-We spent three weeks in Utah for Christmas break! We also decided that next time, we'll be spending just two weeks on vacation. Three is just a little long to be living out of a suitcase and having our 18 month old sleep in a pack n' play. BUT we had so much fun seeing our families and eating cafe rio :) I could do a whole bunch of posts about what we did on our break... we'll see if that happens since it's already February.

-Cheesecake Mama started... and ended a music group! I was really excited to start a community children's singing group in January but just couldn't get the word out enough to get enough participants. In the end though, it's a blessing it didn't work out. I would have had to stay in town until early June to finish up the group's performances, while Big Papa would have already had to leave for his internship. By then I would be almost 8 and a half months pregnant making traveling to be with him a little tricky. Now that the group isn't going to happen yet, I can go be with him the whole summer (major relief!).

Looking a little nervous...

-Getting an internship! Big Papa got a summer internship with the Jackson county prosecutor's office in Kansas City, MO! We are really excited to go explore a new place and Big Papa's excited to be working at their office. Now we just need to find an affordable short-term, preferably furnished, apartment. The nice thing though is the woman who hired him told him all of the places we should not move to (it's handy having the county prosecutor on your side for that stuff).

-Goobie got her first hair cut! I was really sad to do it, but her hair had turned into a legitimate mullet, so off it went. It's still cute! I'm just sad I can't do pig-tails anymore :(

-Learning! Our Goober is starting to talk! Right now she doesn't say a lot that's intelligible, but she says "cheese" and started saying "coat" so we're making progress! She's also starting to throw tantrums... that's fun.

Well, that's enough for now. Life is pretty good and now we just need to keep on moving through it!!!

18 months old!

It has definitely been awhile since we last posted, but here are two cute videos of our very cute 18 month old. We couldn't help celebrate a little with cupcakes on our Goober's half birthday!

Tortes: Our "Eating In" experiment so far

We're almost three months into our year of "Eating In" and we're finally in a good groove. The first month I craved fast food and going to restaurants, but now I don't even think about it. I definitely feel like I need to start preparing some meals to keep frozen for those nights I don't want to cook, but so far I've really enjoyed cooking something different every night and playing with new recipes.

One new thing I've been trying to implement in our dinners is having more vegetarian meals. I always struggled cooking without some sort of meat because I worried that Big Papa wouldn't be satisfied without it. I'd hate to see him still hungry after dinner. But deep down I knew that it would be healthier for both our bodies and our budget if we only had meat 3-4 times a week. The first few weeks into this I struggled to find recipes that looked filling and delicious. Tofu just isn't my favorite and fresh produce can cost so much. But now, and mostly thanks to the wonders of beans, we've got quite a few recipes that we want to become staples in our cooking.

Here are some of our new favorite vegetarian meals (see Mom, I posted the links for you so you don't need to search for them yourself :) ) -- oh and did you know that chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing? What a concept!

Falafel pitas with cucumber-yogurt dressing
I've never had falafel until this, but we ALL loved it, even Goober. I always am intimidated by recipes that involve making patties and cooking them in some oil, but these were really easy to make.

Corn and potato chowder
Warm and delicious for fall evenings!

Pasta with chickpeas and broccoli rabe
Nice, light pasta dish. We just used regular broccoli florets.

Pasta with eggplant-tomato sauce
The eggplant gives a really yummy texture to it.

Skillet summer vegetable lasagna
So good, but a little pricy with all the veggies and ricotta. Still though, so yummy.

Pasta with chickpeas and garlic sauce
We had this last night. You blend the chickpeas after cooking them and so they make a sauce for your pasta. We had broccoli in it instead of tomatoes because it's what we had on hand. It was delicious!

Tortes: The first post!

Well, I didn't make a torte, but I made a DELICIOUS apple pie. We had Big Papa's Mom visiting us this weekend, and so I thought it would be fun to have a special treat. I used my favorite cookbook (allrecipes.com) and found the top rated recipe for apple pie. Instead of coating each apple with cinnamon sugar, you pour some caramely goodness over the crust and apples. The caramel on the crust added just a little crunch to each bite and really brought out that great, rich flavor. It was ooey-gooey and oh so yummy! I'll definitely make it again!

Grandma and Goober reading books! Thanks for visiting!

What we've been doing!

Lots of playing!

Since the weather's started cooling off, we've been enjoying exploring the local parks. Our little Goob loves the tunnels, slides, and swings. She also likes the eat the sand and the wood chips, so that makes life interesting.

Mommy took my wood chip friend :(

Getting ready!

Crazy post slide face.

Lots of dancing!

Lots of cooking!

Our "Eating In" challenge is going very well. I've been playing with new recipes and baking a lot more bread which, thanks to my beautiful kitchen-aid, is much easier to do (thanks Mom!)





Lots of learning!

Big Papa is busy learning the law while Goobie is busy learning... well... everything! She says "Hi", [da] (for dog), [ba] (for ball), and [An:n] (for food-- yeah, that's a stretch). She isn't super chatty, but we catch her "reading" out loud to herself,  playing with sounds, and starting to sing. She's getting really good at mimicking actions and knows how to pat her head, touch her ear and nose, and rub her tummy when we ask her too. It's pretty incredible to watch how quickly she learns.

Her crib after her "nap"

She's also learning how to be a little trouble maker. One day she seemed to be having a hard time going down for her nap, but she eventually quieted down so I didn't think anything of it. When she woke up I found that she had figured out how to pull her toys from her toy box into her crib. We've since moved the toy box further away so that nap time really is nap time.

She's also climbing. Yikes. I walked into her room to see that she had climbed from her chair on top of the AC vent, pulling pictures off the wall! This girl has no fear!

Looking at the plants and flowers!

Three Tips of the Day

Torte tip:

When your wife makes a delectable cheesecake for her birthday celebration, be sure to have company over, soon, or consequences could be disastrous.

Tort tip:

Don't let your five-year-old move a plastic chair at an outdoor dinner party that may or may not be soon-to-be-sat-upon by an older gentlewoman with a brittle hip. That's potential Battery, baby! Also, don't leave Torts case readings till the third day of a three day weekend...

Toddler tip:

If your toddler is bored, resist the temptation to let her play with an opened bag of fish sticks - no matter how secure the twist tie seems. Your vacuum will smell like sea-food.