Travel Day #3... We got up this AM & Dustin had gone downstairs for breakfast, but he said it wasn't good at all (AND they didn't have any flavored coffee creamer) so we left & went right to McDonalds!! This put us starting about 15 mins later than yesterday AM, but that's ok...we got our breakfast! :)
The roads, again, were bone dry...for the most part. I bet a good 95% of the time they were perfect. What an answer to prayer! We got to go the speed limit the whole day. Dustin drove as we passed into Minnesota...another state that the girls & I got to add to our list! We stopped in some town that I totally can't remember the name of & got lunch, & then he continued to drive...all the way into Wisconsin...LOL Which was yet ANOTHER state we got to add to our list. Except that this time Dustin got to add it to his list too! Haha, it was a fun few seconds for the Vance Family! ;)
When we got to Madison, WI I took over driving because Dustin's NOT a city driver. We then drove straight through to Linconshire, IL (oh and yes, the girls & I got to add this state to our list too!) Traffic was great, roads were great, girls were great...it was a great day. They were a little antsy, but who wouldn't be if you were stuck in a car for 3 days?! I swear though...those portable DVD players were a life saver! I hooked the 2nd one up to the back of Brooklyn's seat so she could see it as well and believe it or not there was a LOT less crying & fussiness going on!!! She just "watched" the same thing that Cali was watching & it worked out great.
They were pretty happy when we got to the hotel cause they could get out & run/crawl around. Dustin got all the stuff from the car while I unpacked everything. When I go to hotels I NEVER unpack my stuff...I just live out of the suitcase, but this time (cause we'll be here for 16 nights) I unpacked every single bag....and trust me, we had a lot of bags. Food that we brought from home is in the cupboards, clothes are in the dressers, & bathroom stuff is on the counter. And I feel great about it! :o)
After we got here, checked in, & unpacked a little bit we decided it would be best for ME to go out & find food since it's city driving & since I have a good sense of direction. LOL What a little adventure I had! I had NO idea what kind of area this was when I booked the hotel...I just booked this cause it's close to the hospital & the surgeon's office (& I got a great rate). Well wow all I can say is that I'm excited to get up & go exploring tomorrow! I literally could not find a SINGLE fast food place! The area we're in (from what I could tell in the dark) is a bunch of office buildings & very expensive houses. I really wanna go drive around tomorrow to see these houses & to find out where exactly we are!!! :o) So literally after 20 minutes of driving around honestly the ONLY thing I found was a 7-11...so that's where I got dinner! LOL
So what does tomorrow bring.... First off, exploring this hotel; then exploring the area we're in; finding a grocery store & doing some grocery shopping; and possibly going into the city just to drive around & see the sights. We have all day tomorrow & Tuesday to do whatever we want...& then we have pre-op appts, surgery, & recovery. So we need to do all we can do in just 2 days. Tomorrow night we're getting together with our nevus friends too. I'm SO excited about that cause I haven't seen them since the Nevus Outreach conference in the beginning of July. It worked out great that all our kids are having their surgeries with in a week of each other.
Well off to bed...it's midnight & I'm tired!! Plus, my school starts tomorrow so I need to get up & begin my very last semester of school...EVER!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Travel to Chicago Day #2
First off...Happy New Year!! It 100% does NOT feel like New Year's Day to me, for obvious reasons. The girls fell asleep by 10pm last night & Dustin & I literally forced ourselves to stay awake to watch the ball drop. Seriously...3 minutes after the ball dropped we were asleep!! (LOL Makes me think I'm getting old!!)
Today was a long day... We got up & were out of the hotel (in Gillette, WY) & on the road by 9:10am. We started heading East & the roads weren't too great, but Dustin did a great job driving. I'm sure he pretty much wanted to kill me though cause I kept telling him to slow down...but he did give me the benefit of the doubt & go slower for me. I just like to play it safe!! ;) We then passed into South Dakota. Dustin had been here before, but this was a new state that Cali, Brooklyn, & I could add to our list. :) We got to Rapid City & decided that cause I've never seen The Heads (a.k.a. Mt Rushmore) before that we'd stop by there on our way. We didn't know it was so out of the way though! (Well ok, not TOO out of the way, but it did add an hour to our trip today.)
I'd always been told that it was a pretty disappointing place to go... That you are SO far away & all you can do is look up & see them from a very far distance. Well I tell you what...I was SOOOO pleasantly surprised!!! I was a lot closer than I thought we got to be. I got some great pictures too. So all-in-all, I was VERY happy that I finally got to see Mt. Rushmore. Unfortunately though, it was SO darn cold...& VERY windy so we basically got out of the car, went to the bathroom to change diapers, took pics, & went right back to the car. But It's definitely a place I'd love to go back to someday (in the nicer weather). The little town there is so adorable, but everything was closed (& we were kind of in a hurry) so we couldn't see anything. There's also a bear sight-seeing place, an Old MacDonald place, & tons of shops to see. So it's definitely on my list of places I'd love to go back to!
We then grabbed Wendy's & got right back on the road...which I can say...was totally bone dry!!! :o) We were SO happy & relieved that we could go 75mph again. The only stop we made between Rapid City & Sioux Falls was at some tiny gas station about 1/2 way through the state. Pretty much 90% of our drive was great...perfectly dry roads...not much traffic. But once we got close to Sioux Falls the roads started to get bad again.
We decided to stop here in Sioux Falls because it's bigger than any of the super small towns that we'll come across when we cross the border into Minnesota. So we found a hotel, made reservations on the way, checked in, ate dinner, grabbed some much needed Icy/Hot at WalMart, & are now sitting in the room watching Tangled on the TV!
Beth, a friend of mine who is a fellow nevus-owner mom, lives in this area & she makes it to Chicago in 9 hrs. So, weather permitting, we should be in Chicago tomorrow!!! :o) That'll give us a whole extra day there, which will be very nice. But...if the weather isn't on our side, that's ok, cause we weren't planning on getting there until Monday anyways. I'm just really glad that we decided to leave a day early because if we had left today, there's no way we would have made it by dinner-time on Monday.
The girls did fantastic again today....until dinner time! LOL They were perfect angels all day! Cali watched DVD's all day & then took a super long nap. Brooklyn played in her seat a lot, but slept mostly. But then we got to dinner & I think that cause it was so crowded, & that neither of them had any idea what we're doing & why we're in a car so much, & that we're not home...the attitudes turned south. But they still weren't horrible. It was nice to get back to the room though so they both could run/crawl around & unwind.
Will keep everyone updated again tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the messages supporting us. It really does mean so much to us to know that everyone is thinking about us & praying for us. We'll be in touch!!!
Today was a long day... We got up & were out of the hotel (in Gillette, WY) & on the road by 9:10am. We started heading East & the roads weren't too great, but Dustin did a great job driving. I'm sure he pretty much wanted to kill me though cause I kept telling him to slow down...but he did give me the benefit of the doubt & go slower for me. I just like to play it safe!! ;) We then passed into South Dakota. Dustin had been here before, but this was a new state that Cali, Brooklyn, & I could add to our list. :) We got to Rapid City & decided that cause I've never seen The Heads (a.k.a. Mt Rushmore) before that we'd stop by there on our way. We didn't know it was so out of the way though! (Well ok, not TOO out of the way, but it did add an hour to our trip today.)
I'd always been told that it was a pretty disappointing place to go... That you are SO far away & all you can do is look up & see them from a very far distance. Well I tell you what...I was SOOOO pleasantly surprised!!! I was a lot closer than I thought we got to be. I got some great pictures too. So all-in-all, I was VERY happy that I finally got to see Mt. Rushmore. Unfortunately though, it was SO darn cold...& VERY windy so we basically got out of the car, went to the bathroom to change diapers, took pics, & went right back to the car. But It's definitely a place I'd love to go back to someday (in the nicer weather). The little town there is so adorable, but everything was closed (& we were kind of in a hurry) so we couldn't see anything. There's also a bear sight-seeing place, an Old MacDonald place, & tons of shops to see. So it's definitely on my list of places I'd love to go back to!
We then grabbed Wendy's & got right back on the road...which I can say...was totally bone dry!!! :o) We were SO happy & relieved that we could go 75mph again. The only stop we made between Rapid City & Sioux Falls was at some tiny gas station about 1/2 way through the state. Pretty much 90% of our drive was great...perfectly dry roads...not much traffic. But once we got close to Sioux Falls the roads started to get bad again.
We decided to stop here in Sioux Falls because it's bigger than any of the super small towns that we'll come across when we cross the border into Minnesota. So we found a hotel, made reservations on the way, checked in, ate dinner, grabbed some much needed Icy/Hot at WalMart, & are now sitting in the room watching Tangled on the TV!
Beth, a friend of mine who is a fellow nevus-owner mom, lives in this area & she makes it to Chicago in 9 hrs. So, weather permitting, we should be in Chicago tomorrow!!! :o) That'll give us a whole extra day there, which will be very nice. But...if the weather isn't on our side, that's ok, cause we weren't planning on getting there until Monday anyways. I'm just really glad that we decided to leave a day early because if we had left today, there's no way we would have made it by dinner-time on Monday.
The girls did fantastic again today....until dinner time! LOL They were perfect angels all day! Cali watched DVD's all day & then took a super long nap. Brooklyn played in her seat a lot, but slept mostly. But then we got to dinner & I think that cause it was so crowded, & that neither of them had any idea what we're doing & why we're in a car so much, & that we're not home...the attitudes turned south. But they still weren't horrible. It was nice to get back to the room though so they both could run/crawl around & unwind.
Will keep everyone updated again tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the messages supporting us. It really does mean so much to us to know that everyone is thinking about us & praying for us. We'll be in touch!!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Travel to Chicago Day #1
Well we got up this AM, took Brooklyn to the doctor, & found out that she's perfectly 100% healthy! :o) There's not a lick of fluid behind either of her ears. Yay!! But we got a script (& filled it) for some antibiotics just incase she starts to get sick between now & surgery. So we were finally all set to jet!!!
While we were at the doctor, Dustin packed up the car. When we got home we were all ready to go so we piled in the car & headed to Billings. We ended up leaving at 10:30am. We stopped there for lunch at 1pm (& my famous frozen yogurt) & then got back on the road towards WY at 3:30pm.
As of last night we were planning on going through WY, NE, & IA. But this AM Dustin's dad called & said that roads were closed in all 3 states. Oh how great. We already knew that ND was horrible, so our only other option was SD. So we went through Sheridan, Buffalo, & then stopped for the night in Gillette, WY. We got here around 7:30pm. The roads were pretty bad so we ended up getting to Gillette a lot later than we would have if the roads had been good. But that's how it goes when you travel in the middle of a huge storm!
The girls travelled quite well. Brooklyn gets a little restless, but as soon as we get her up & out of her seat she's just fine. Cali watched DVD's all day (the same 2 over & over...but hey, she was content!!)
So here we are in WY in a hotel on New Year's Eve! :o) We're planning on getting up at our regular time in the morning & heading out (which is around 7:30am). I see the ball drop every year, but I'm not so sure we'll be staying up tonight!!!
I hope everyone has a great New Year's. To my family: eat some Black Eyed Peas for me! We'll be buying some when we get to the grocery store in Chicago & eating them a few days late. But hopefully the good-luck fairy will understand why we couldn't eat them on New Year's Day! ;o)
While we were at the doctor, Dustin packed up the car. When we got home we were all ready to go so we piled in the car & headed to Billings. We ended up leaving at 10:30am. We stopped there for lunch at 1pm (& my famous frozen yogurt) & then got back on the road towards WY at 3:30pm.
As of last night we were planning on going through WY, NE, & IA. But this AM Dustin's dad called & said that roads were closed in all 3 states. Oh how great. We already knew that ND was horrible, so our only other option was SD. So we went through Sheridan, Buffalo, & then stopped for the night in Gillette, WY. We got here around 7:30pm. The roads were pretty bad so we ended up getting to Gillette a lot later than we would have if the roads had been good. But that's how it goes when you travel in the middle of a huge storm!
The girls travelled quite well. Brooklyn gets a little restless, but as soon as we get her up & out of her seat she's just fine. Cali watched DVD's all day (the same 2 over & over...but hey, she was content!!)
So here we are in WY in a hotel on New Year's Eve! :o) We're planning on getting up at our regular time in the morning & heading out (which is around 7:30am). I see the ball drop every year, but I'm not so sure we'll be staying up tonight!!!
I hope everyone has a great New Year's. To my family: eat some Black Eyed Peas for me! We'll be buying some when we get to the grocery store in Chicago & eating them a few days late. But hopefully the good-luck fairy will understand why we couldn't eat them on New Year's Day! ;o)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
That's Life!!
Originally we were supposed to leave New Year's Day. But because of the weather we've been having we decided to leave New Year's Eve. Now we're wondering what the heck is happening!!! LOL
First off, we have 3 different ways we can go: through North Dakota, through South Dakota, or through Nebraska. For some reason my gut is telling me not to go north...that we'll be safer driving if we go south. We heard of a bad car pile-up in ND. So now we're feeling better (gut-wise) if we go through Nebraska...even though it adds about 4 hours to the trip. (But hey, what's 4 hours when you're driving 20-24 anyways?!) I've been checking road reports but it doesn't predict the future. Right now in Iowa it's totally clear so we're now thinking NE is the way to go. So here's to praying for clear roads!
Second off...when we picked up the girls after I got off work today our babysitter told us that Brooklyn had been pretty crabby today & that she was grabbing at her ears all day! Fan-flipping-tastic!!! So, since our doctor is closed on Friday, I'm going to take her in to the doctor I work for tomorrow first thing in the AM. Here's to praying for a healthy baby!
And last but not least, Noro-Virus has been going around our town like crazy. Well guess what...tonight at about 8:30pm I started with the symptoms. I'm certainly not going to get into details, but I've been pretty queasy & yada yada yada (but thankfully no vomiting...yet). Thankfully though I've been feeling slightly better in the last hour or so....so hopefully we'll be able to leave in the AM. If I do end up with this, we won't be able to leave until like Saturday PM or Sunday AM which surely won't get us there on Monday night like we need to be. So here's to praying for a healthy mom!
And that's that!!! I'll update more as we know more! Thanks so much to everyone who has given me links online to road reports. I really appreciate it. This is the time when I wish I wasn't an adult...and that I could just ride along with whoever was driving! Many prayers are needed right about now...
First off, we have 3 different ways we can go: through North Dakota, through South Dakota, or through Nebraska. For some reason my gut is telling me not to go north...that we'll be safer driving if we go south. We heard of a bad car pile-up in ND. So now we're feeling better (gut-wise) if we go through Nebraska...even though it adds about 4 hours to the trip. (But hey, what's 4 hours when you're driving 20-24 anyways?!) I've been checking road reports but it doesn't predict the future. Right now in Iowa it's totally clear so we're now thinking NE is the way to go. So here's to praying for clear roads!
Second off...when we picked up the girls after I got off work today our babysitter told us that Brooklyn had been pretty crabby today & that she was grabbing at her ears all day! Fan-flipping-tastic!!! So, since our doctor is closed on Friday, I'm going to take her in to the doctor I work for tomorrow first thing in the AM. Here's to praying for a healthy baby!
And last but not least, Noro-Virus has been going around our town like crazy. Well guess what...tonight at about 8:30pm I started with the symptoms. I'm certainly not going to get into details, but I've been pretty queasy & yada yada yada (but thankfully no vomiting...yet). Thankfully though I've been feeling slightly better in the last hour or so....so hopefully we'll be able to leave in the AM. If I do end up with this, we won't be able to leave until like Saturday PM or Sunday AM which surely won't get us there on Monday night like we need to be. So here's to praying for a healthy mom!
And that's that!!! I'll update more as we know more! Thanks so much to everyone who has given me links online to road reports. I really appreciate it. This is the time when I wish I wasn't an adult...and that I could just ride along with whoever was driving! Many prayers are needed right about now...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A Great Christmas...and Packing!
What a great Christmas!! I think Cali got a bit overwhelmed though! By the end of the day we were literally forcing her to open presents! LOL Brooklyn just watned to open stuff so she could put the paper in her mouth! What a silly monkey. I took more videos than pictures, unfortunately. So I don't have a lot of pictures but here are a few:
(I do need to make a very quick side note...I need everyone to know that we're still living our lives as though Brooklyn didn't have a nevus. This means that we use our OWN money for anything and everything. We are BY NO MEANS using ANY of the donation/Brooklyn's Best money for our own personal use. I have said & I will always say, and mean, that that money is being used for insurance deductibles, anything that insurance doesn't pay, and for our trips to/from Chicago. So when I talk about getting Christmas pictures taken this is just like every other year - meaning that we save up for them & use our OWN money. I just wanted to make that clear, so that I don't have to repeat myself time after time!)
Brooklyn wearing Uncle Curt's hat
Uncle Curt with Cali & Brooklyn
Brooklyn eating Oma's keys
Cali finishing up her popcicle before she opens up her Christmas Eve present
Brookie standing by the cat...she's so proud of herself too!
We had a great Christmas. But Christmas also meant that we leave in a week. UGH! Unfortunately though, we have been having a HUGE snowstorm. I guess we're supposed to get like 6-12 inches in just a day or 2. So we decided to leave a day early. We're not leaving early to beat the storm or to miss it or anything; we're leaving early to give us enough time to get there. We need to be there by the 3rd at dinner time, so by leaving on Friday that'll assure that we're there in enough time. So off to do more packing I go!!
I also wanted to share this paragraph again. I'll be posting it often, becuase I want everyone to see it!! :)
(I do need to make a very quick side note...I need everyone to know that we're still living our lives as though Brooklyn didn't have a nevus. This means that we use our OWN money for anything and everything. We are BY NO MEANS using ANY of the donation/Brooklyn's Best money for our own personal use. I have said & I will always say, and mean, that that money is being used for insurance deductibles, anything that insurance doesn't pay, and for our trips to/from Chicago. So when I talk about getting Christmas pictures taken this is just like every other year - meaning that we save up for them & use our OWN money. I just wanted to make that clear, so that I don't have to repeat myself time after time!)
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Welcome To Holland
This poem was just intruduced to me a few days ago. It immediately brought tears to my eyes. It's perfect. That's all I can say about it...is that it's perfect.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books & make your wonderful plans. The Colisseum. The Michaelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. Its all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags & off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in & says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland & there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, & disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out & buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a a while & you catch your breath, you look around....and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....& Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming & going from Italy...& they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But...if you spend your life mourning the fat that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.
-By Emily Perl Kingsley
This immediately brought tears to my eyes....for the obvious reasons, but also because I was meant to read this. All those close to me know how passionate I am about The Netherlands. I lived there for a year. It's the most fabulous place in the world. If I couldn't live in the US, The Netherlands is where I'd go. This poem hit home, in a great way. I have printed it off & it's now in my purse, going everywhere with me so I can pull it out & read it whenever I need to. I also love the part about meeting a whole new group of people that I'd have never met. This couldn't be more true! I've met a fantastic group of people through this whole thing that I'd have never had the pleasure of knowing if this wouldn't have happened. I am one blessed girl...
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books & make your wonderful plans. The Colisseum. The Michaelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. Its all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags & off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in & says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland & there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, & disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out & buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a a while & you catch your breath, you look around....and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....& Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming & going from Italy...& they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But...if you spend your life mourning the fat that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.
-By Emily Perl Kingsley
This immediately brought tears to my eyes....for the obvious reasons, but also because I was meant to read this. All those close to me know how passionate I am about The Netherlands. I lived there for a year. It's the most fabulous place in the world. If I couldn't live in the US, The Netherlands is where I'd go. This poem hit home, in a great way. I have printed it off & it's now in my purse, going everywhere with me so I can pull it out & read it whenever I need to. I also love the part about meeting a whole new group of people that I'd have never met. This couldn't be more true! I've met a fantastic group of people through this whole thing that I'd have never had the pleasure of knowing if this wouldn't have happened. I am one blessed girl...
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
9 months old?!...2nd round of Christmas pictures...and COOKBOOKS!
Today is the 7th...which means Brooklyn is another month old. Today she's 9 months already! Crazy how fast time goes by. Brooklyn has been standing up for a while now, & just last night she's started walking with a little kid stroller that we have. She got 2 bottom teeth a month or 2 ago but now she has the tips of 2 more (one more on the bottom & one on the top). She's starting to eat like a champ, which is reassuring to me. Hopefully she'll gain more weight soon. She doesn't need to be seen until she's a year by our doctor, but I'm taking her in at the end of the month just to have a check up & make sure she's a-ok for surgery. (She'll have a pre-op appt in Chicago, but I just would feel so much more comfortable if she had one here as well.)
Our little Cali is also doing fantastic. She's sure a firecracker. She's a stubborn little 2 1/2 year old (must take after her daddy???). Her vocabulary is just amazing. She's caught on to a bad word as well...mom & dad need to watch their mouths! :) Our doctor wants her out of day care for the last half of this month, so she'll miss playing with her friends a lot. But it's necessary for Brooke's immune system.
Today was our 2nd round of Christmas pictures. Quite disappointing, to say the least. It wasn't the photographer at all. She was great. It's really frusturating though working with a 2 1/2 year old who won't cooperate. Cali would NOT smile. What was so frusturating for me though was that I'd been talking to Cali about getting pictures done again...in her pretty red dress...ever since our bad Sears experience. She was so excited to get them done. But once we got there, and after about 3 minutes of sitting, she wanted to go home. And then...just like at Sears...Brooklyn wouldn't smile again! At least she didn't do the weird jaw-clenching face she did at Sears. But we didn't get ONE picture of her beautiful smile.
It was quite disappointing. We wanted a family picture for our Christmas cards...which we didn't get. We ended up with an OK picture of Brooklyn, an OK one of Cali, and a cute one of the 2 of them for the cards. So it'll just have to do. The photographer really did try...as well as my mom, Dustin, & me...but we just couldn't get it. So I just need to realize that not all picture sessions will be good anymore! :(
On a better note...COOKBOOKS ARE IN!!!!!! They were delivered yesterday in 21 boxes (19 boxes of books, 2 boxes of tabs). Last night we had a tabbing party. 8 people were here tabbing away...eating enchiladas & drinking adult apple cider! We got 9 boxes tabbed....quite impressive! So tomorrow we'll be re-stocking all the businesses here in town. I've gotten all the orders filled that I couldn't get completed after we ran out of the first batch of books...and all those will be mailed tomorrow. Exciting stuff!!
Surgery #1 is officially less than a month away. It's so real now. I'll be keeping this site updated as often as I can so that people can follow our progress. Well that's it for now! :o)
Our little Cali is also doing fantastic. She's sure a firecracker. She's a stubborn little 2 1/2 year old (must take after her daddy???). Her vocabulary is just amazing. She's caught on to a bad word as well...mom & dad need to watch their mouths! :) Our doctor wants her out of day care for the last half of this month, so she'll miss playing with her friends a lot. But it's necessary for Brooke's immune system.
Today was our 2nd round of Christmas pictures. Quite disappointing, to say the least. It wasn't the photographer at all. She was great. It's really frusturating though working with a 2 1/2 year old who won't cooperate. Cali would NOT smile. What was so frusturating for me though was that I'd been talking to Cali about getting pictures done again...in her pretty red dress...ever since our bad Sears experience. She was so excited to get them done. But once we got there, and after about 3 minutes of sitting, she wanted to go home. And then...just like at Sears...Brooklyn wouldn't smile again! At least she didn't do the weird jaw-clenching face she did at Sears. But we didn't get ONE picture of her beautiful smile.
It was quite disappointing. We wanted a family picture for our Christmas cards...which we didn't get. We ended up with an OK picture of Brooklyn, an OK one of Cali, and a cute one of the 2 of them for the cards. So it'll just have to do. The photographer really did try...as well as my mom, Dustin, & me...but we just couldn't get it. So I just need to realize that not all picture sessions will be good anymore! :(
On a better note...COOKBOOKS ARE IN!!!!!! They were delivered yesterday in 21 boxes (19 boxes of books, 2 boxes of tabs). Last night we had a tabbing party. 8 people were here tabbing away...eating enchiladas & drinking adult apple cider! We got 9 boxes tabbed....quite impressive! So tomorrow we'll be re-stocking all the businesses here in town. I've gotten all the orders filled that I couldn't get completed after we ran out of the first batch of books...and all those will be mailed tomorrow. Exciting stuff!!
Surgery #1 is officially less than a month away. It's so real now. I'll be keeping this site updated as often as I can so that people can follow our progress. Well that's it for now! :o)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Miracles Happen...When You Believe!!!
Well.... less than 24 hrs ago I was writing about my cookbooks & not having them in time for the stroll on Friday. Well imagine my surprise when just about 1/2 hr ago I got my billing sheet from the cookbook company & all they need is payment & then the books will be shipped! UHHHHHHH...I think I'm still in shock!!!!!!!!!
I called them & they said it'd be 3 business days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...so they'd be here Monday! UGH...just 1 business day after the stroll! Fortunately they are able to send a couple boxes that could be here by Friday. Well after lots of thinking in a VERY short amount of time, I decided that Monday is just fine to have the books. First off, they'd not only have to send a couple boxes, but would also have to send the page tabs/dividers too. Also, it'd probably be a couple hundred dollars extra. And third, UPS doesn't deliver to our house until after 5pm...and the stroll starts at 5pm! So that would leave me running around like a crazy person getting tabs in the books & getting them to the stroll...along with all the hot drinks & goodies that I was planning on making. And then to top it all off, I'd MAYBE sell like 6 books, so it just wouldn't be worth all the running around
So as much as I'd LOVE to do the stroll, we're gonna bag it & just take the books on Monday and be happy about it. They're all paid for & will be in the mail tomorrow so will be here Monday!!!!!!!!
I called them & they said it'd be 3 business days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...so they'd be here Monday! UGH...just 1 business day after the stroll! Fortunately they are able to send a couple boxes that could be here by Friday. Well after lots of thinking in a VERY short amount of time, I decided that Monday is just fine to have the books. First off, they'd not only have to send a couple boxes, but would also have to send the page tabs/dividers too. Also, it'd probably be a couple hundred dollars extra. And third, UPS doesn't deliver to our house until after 5pm...and the stroll starts at 5pm! So that would leave me running around like a crazy person getting tabs in the books & getting them to the stroll...along with all the hot drinks & goodies that I was planning on making. And then to top it all off, I'd MAYBE sell like 6 books, so it just wouldn't be worth all the running around
So as much as I'd LOVE to do the stroll, we're gonna bag it & just take the books on Monday and be happy about it. They're all paid for & will be in the mail tomorrow so will be here Monday!!!!!!!!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Cancelled Pictures.....and SCENTSY!!!...oh and a cookbook update!
Well today was supposed to be our 2nd try at Christmas pictures, just this time they're here in town. Unfortunately our picture lady came down with the flu. :( So now we need to reschedule. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on how they turn out! Last night I got out a bunch of "props" to take with us for the pics so at least I have that stuff ready.
On another note...another extremely generous friend of mine has offered to do a Scentsy Fundraiser for us. For those of you that don't know what Scentsy is (cause I was one of those people about 2 months ago)...its wickless candles. The stuff that smells so good melts in a jar & makes the room smell so great. This is a catalog/online party that ends this Saturday. There is also an open house for those of you who live in Lewistown & would like to come to my house for some smellin-good-times!
The Open House is Sat, Dec 4th from 2pm - 6pm. Stop by whenever is most convenient for you! If you need directions just let me know.
The online party is available by clicking on the "Brooklyn's Best" link at: www.scentsy.com/rachelandersen
Thanks in advance for all the support. It means a lot!!
Now for the cookbook update: I called the company today & for the very first time I spoke with someone not so nice. Dustin then called & we now have a "contact person" who we can talk to each time we call so that we're not always talking to a different person. I was going to have a booth at the Christmas Stroll on Friday night...selling cookbooks, hot drinks, & goodies. Unfortunately, since I'm out of books I can't do that. :( Last Monday I was told that they may be here by then, and to call back today. Then today they said there's no way! They can probably be printed by Friday but they can't be here by then. Oh well I guess, what can you do?! So best case scenario: I'll have the books in a week....which, in the long run, I'm happy with. If I couldn't do the Christmas Stroll at least I'll have the books in PLENTY of time for Christmas!
On another note...another extremely generous friend of mine has offered to do a Scentsy Fundraiser for us. For those of you that don't know what Scentsy is (cause I was one of those people about 2 months ago)...its wickless candles. The stuff that smells so good melts in a jar & makes the room smell so great. This is a catalog/online party that ends this Saturday. There is also an open house for those of you who live in Lewistown & would like to come to my house for some smellin-good-times!
The Open House is Sat, Dec 4th from 2pm - 6pm. Stop by whenever is most convenient for you! If you need directions just let me know.
The online party is available by clicking on the "Brooklyn's Best" link at: www.scentsy.com/rachelandersen
Thanks in advance for all the support. It means a lot!!
Now for the cookbook update: I called the company today & for the very first time I spoke with someone not so nice. Dustin then called & we now have a "contact person" who we can talk to each time we call so that we're not always talking to a different person. I was going to have a booth at the Christmas Stroll on Friday night...selling cookbooks, hot drinks, & goodies. Unfortunately, since I'm out of books I can't do that. :( Last Monday I was told that they may be here by then, and to call back today. Then today they said there's no way! They can probably be printed by Friday but they can't be here by then. Oh well I guess, what can you do?! So best case scenario: I'll have the books in a week....which, in the long run, I'm happy with. If I couldn't do the Christmas Stroll at least I'll have the books in PLENTY of time for Christmas!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Bad, bad pictures :_(
It's November which means it's Christmas picture time!! I enjoyed getting Cali's Christmas pictures taken so much the last 2 years so I was even more excited this year now that we have TWO daughters! For those of you that don't know...we live in a small town so every time we get pictures taken we go to Sears in Billings or Great Falls. I made an appt for Tues the 16th at 1pm. I wanted to get there early so I could buy the girls their Christmas dresses.
(I do need to make a very quick side note...I need everyone to know that we're still living our lives as though Brooklyn didn't have a nevus. This means that we use our OWN money for anything and everything. We are BY NO MEANS using any of the donation/Brooklyn's Best money for our own personal use. I have said & I will always say, and mean, that that money is being used for insurance deductibles, anything that insurance doesn't pay, and for our trips to/from Chicago. So when I talk about getting Christmas pictures taken this is just like EVERY OTHER YEAR meaning that we save up for them & use our OWN money. I just wanted to make that clear, so that I don't have to repeat myself time after time!)
Anyways, we got to Sears just after noon, found 2 matching adorable red dresses with velvet darker red polka dots on them with a red velvet belt...soooo cute! I'd brought white tights & then my mom bought them cute black shoes. We got to the portrait studio at 12:45pm & was told that it'd still be about 15 mins. We got the girls dressed & waited. Then we waited some more...and more...and waited more. It was 1:15pm & we were still waiting. Cali was running around & dancing around, playing with their toys. Thankfully she was being a very good girl.
The lady that was there taking pictures was finishing up with the people there before us. She had to "fix" their pictures & then show them their pictures. Right as it was our time to go in, another lady came in with her picture CD & asked to go through her pictures on their computer. So the lady taking the pictures helped her first! By now it was 1:30pm & we'd waited 45 mins. Then the lady said that she had to help the people before us actually place their order so she had the girl there that was training start our pictures.
VERY long story short, we had to show the girl how to place the girls on the table thing with the background b/c she didn't know. Sears takes 9 pictures for you to choose from. Well this girl started by just practicing & she took a horrible picture of Brooklyn.
Finally the original lady came in (who I found out later was the supervisor of the place) & she started our pictures. By now it was like 1:50pm. She did get out some cute backgrounds and she got Cali to smile beautifully.
Unfortunately though, my Little Miss Smily Brooklyn would NOT smile. She just had this fixed-jaw look like she was mad or confused! And to top it all off, she wouldn't take her hand out of her mouth. The lady wouldn't try to get her to laugh, smile, or take her hand out of her mouth. She'd just take a picture & tell us how "cute" it was, when we obviously could see that it was a bad picture. Then she'd tell us "oh it's ok we take 9 pictures...we still have a few to go".
But by then she'd already taken the 9...and there were only 2 cute ones...unfortunately they were just the 2 individual ones of Cali. I don't at all want to say that the pictures of my girls were horrible, but believe me, they were not good! There was no way I could have picked out the pictures to share with everyone. I could NOT get excited about them & want to show them off.
It's 2:30pm now. So she "fixed" our pictures by adding borders & collages and then came & showed them to me...and then she said, get this...."ok well it's my break time now so I'll be back in 1/2 hr". And then she left!!! Another worker had come in at 2pm, but was busy taking pictures of another family. She said that if I got done picking out what pictures I want that the other girl would help me. I asked about pricing because last time we got a pretty good deal & this time I had a 40% off coupon. She basically only allowed me a $199.98 package or a $189.98 package. She said that the CD, even with the 40% off, would be $150. All I could do was laugh in disgust because their prices seem to change every single time I go in that place!
So she went on her much needed break...HA...and I just picked 1 of each picture (took me about 5 mins) and then stood up so the other worker could see I was done. I stood there for 20 minutes!! Finally she says to me "Did you need something"...uh hello?!!! "YES!! I just want to go!" I said. She came over about 5 mins later (at about 2:55pm) and started putting my order in the computer. Unfortunately for both of us I snapped at her a few times. I did apologize though cause she didn't have anything to do with it. Talk about being frusturated & sooooooo upset! I was trying SO hard to not let them see my beet-red face & tears in my eyes. THANK THE LORD my mom was there to walk around the store with the girls cause they were all antsy & just wanting to leave.
3pm rolls around & my original picture-taker comes back from her break & finishes up helping me. I paid & walked out (at 3:15pm - 2 1/2 hrs after getting there) without saying anything. I know what you're probably thinking..."WHY GET ANYTHING?!!!" I'll tell you...because these were my much-anticipated Christmas pictures! If I were to have left without getting anything then we'd be Christmas picture-less and I couldn't do that. The biggest reason, however, was because this is the last time that Brooklyn will have her pictures taken professionally in a very long time. The next time will probably be when Cali turns 3. I just wanted these to be special & I was so sad that they weren't good.
I had a day or 2 to "ponder" our experience. I was so mad that they didn't even apologize for waiting for so long & they didn't even offer me a price break or even a free 8x10!!! Naturally, I was pretty upset for the rest of that day, and then to top it all off we got stuck in Billings cause both roads into Lewistown were closed due to snow storms. So we had to go to WalMart & get toothbrushes, PJ's for the girls, etc. That certainly didn't make me happy! Anyways, I decided that I needed to either get my money back or have the Sears in Great Falls re-do my pictures. I couldn't live with these cause I couldn't pick a "good enough" one to send in our Christmas cards. I called the Sears portraits customer service number & the lady I spoke with was very nice. She apologized profusely & then looked at the pictures. She agreed that they were not good pictures. I told her bits & pieces of my story & she just couldn't believe it. I couldn't get away with getting all my money back because I had the CD, so I got 2/3 of my money back. I'm happy with that. Even though the quality of the CD is bad, at least I got 2/3 of my money back.
So now what...we still need Christmas pictures of the girls!!!!!!! I made an appt at a place here in town so hopefully they'll be good. I actually am fairly confident that they'll turn out cute. She just doesn't have the cutesy, cheesy Christmas backgrounds that Sears does. Why have I never gone to her before? Because even though I have the CD's, Sears keeps all the pictures on their computers. So we've just gone there every time. Our 2nd try at Christmas pictures is Monday the 29th. All good luck wishes will be appreciated!!!
(I do need to make a very quick side note...I need everyone to know that we're still living our lives as though Brooklyn didn't have a nevus. This means that we use our OWN money for anything and everything. We are BY NO MEANS using any of the donation/Brooklyn's Best money for our own personal use. I have said & I will always say, and mean, that that money is being used for insurance deductibles, anything that insurance doesn't pay, and for our trips to/from Chicago. So when I talk about getting Christmas pictures taken this is just like EVERY OTHER YEAR meaning that we save up for them & use our OWN money. I just wanted to make that clear, so that I don't have to repeat myself time after time!)
Anyways, we got to Sears just after noon, found 2 matching adorable red dresses with velvet darker red polka dots on them with a red velvet belt...soooo cute! I'd brought white tights & then my mom bought them cute black shoes. We got to the portrait studio at 12:45pm & was told that it'd still be about 15 mins. We got the girls dressed & waited. Then we waited some more...and more...and waited more. It was 1:15pm & we were still waiting. Cali was running around & dancing around, playing with their toys. Thankfully she was being a very good girl.
The lady that was there taking pictures was finishing up with the people there before us. She had to "fix" their pictures & then show them their pictures. Right as it was our time to go in, another lady came in with her picture CD & asked to go through her pictures on their computer. So the lady taking the pictures helped her first! By now it was 1:30pm & we'd waited 45 mins. Then the lady said that she had to help the people before us actually place their order so she had the girl there that was training start our pictures.
VERY long story short, we had to show the girl how to place the girls on the table thing with the background b/c she didn't know. Sears takes 9 pictures for you to choose from. Well this girl started by just practicing & she took a horrible picture of Brooklyn.
Finally the original lady came in (who I found out later was the supervisor of the place) & she started our pictures. By now it was like 1:50pm. She did get out some cute backgrounds and she got Cali to smile beautifully.
Unfortunately though, my Little Miss Smily Brooklyn would NOT smile. She just had this fixed-jaw look like she was mad or confused! And to top it all off, she wouldn't take her hand out of her mouth. The lady wouldn't try to get her to laugh, smile, or take her hand out of her mouth. She'd just take a picture & tell us how "cute" it was, when we obviously could see that it was a bad picture. Then she'd tell us "oh it's ok we take 9 pictures...we still have a few to go".
 |
| cute of Cali but not as much so of Brooklyn |
 |
| again...cute of Cali but Brookie isn't even looking at the camera! |
 |
| kinda looks like she's falling...or flying! |
 |
| this one's actually adorable of Brooklyn...but Cali isn't looking |
It's 2:30pm now. So she "fixed" our pictures by adding borders & collages and then came & showed them to me...and then she said, get this...."ok well it's my break time now so I'll be back in 1/2 hr". And then she left!!! Another worker had come in at 2pm, but was busy taking pictures of another family. She said that if I got done picking out what pictures I want that the other girl would help me. I asked about pricing because last time we got a pretty good deal & this time I had a 40% off coupon. She basically only allowed me a $199.98 package or a $189.98 package. She said that the CD, even with the 40% off, would be $150. All I could do was laugh in disgust because their prices seem to change every single time I go in that place!
 |
| this is the fixed-jaw look that she was into that day! |
3pm rolls around & my original picture-taker comes back from her break & finishes up helping me. I paid & walked out (at 3:15pm - 2 1/2 hrs after getting there) without saying anything. I know what you're probably thinking..."WHY GET ANYTHING?!!!" I'll tell you...because these were my much-anticipated Christmas pictures! If I were to have left without getting anything then we'd be Christmas picture-less and I couldn't do that. The biggest reason, however, was because this is the last time that Brooklyn will have her pictures taken professionally in a very long time. The next time will probably be when Cali turns 3. I just wanted these to be special & I was so sad that they weren't good.
I had a day or 2 to "ponder" our experience. I was so mad that they didn't even apologize for waiting for so long & they didn't even offer me a price break or even a free 8x10!!! Naturally, I was pretty upset for the rest of that day, and then to top it all off we got stuck in Billings cause both roads into Lewistown were closed due to snow storms. So we had to go to WalMart & get toothbrushes, PJ's for the girls, etc. That certainly didn't make me happy! Anyways, I decided that I needed to either get my money back or have the Sears in Great Falls re-do my pictures. I couldn't live with these cause I couldn't pick a "good enough" one to send in our Christmas cards. I called the Sears portraits customer service number & the lady I spoke with was very nice. She apologized profusely & then looked at the pictures. She agreed that they were not good pictures. I told her bits & pieces of my story & she just couldn't believe it. I couldn't get away with getting all my money back because I had the CD, so I got 2/3 of my money back. I'm happy with that. Even though the quality of the CD is bad, at least I got 2/3 of my money back.
So now what...we still need Christmas pictures of the girls!!!!!!! I made an appt at a place here in town so hopefully they'll be good. I actually am fairly confident that they'll turn out cute. She just doesn't have the cutesy, cheesy Christmas backgrounds that Sears does. Why have I never gone to her before? Because even though I have the CD's, Sears keeps all the pictures on their computers. So we've just gone there every time. Our 2nd try at Christmas pictures is Monday the 29th. All good luck wishes will be appreciated!!!
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