Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Limited Options

Today is a day that I could classify as one of the most frustrating and disappointing days of my life! Today I realized that the downfalls (or perhaps landslides) of our government are now DIRECTLY affecting my life. Being as I work from home, and Aaron and I aren't married yet (yes, that's right Mom, there's still hope!), I don't have insurance that will cover my pregnancy costs.

Lilly and I are on a short-term plan until the end of July, when again we will have to pay nearly $700 to insure ourselves for another six months. I know the importance of being covered, but our short-term plan covers only major medical, so as of now, it's done nothing to necessarily benefit us, other than giving us the peace of mind that we ARE insured. It doesn't cover the cost of Lilly's $95 wellness checks or anything preventative of mine. This hasn't been an issue though, until I realized that pregnancy could not be covered by nearly ANY insurance company in this glorious country in which we reside. However, every insurance agent that I spoke with, during my four hour online and phone search, suggested that I look into state aid...a.k.a Medicaid.

Now, I have NO problem with people getting on "Hoosier Healthwise" if they TRULY need it. I wouldn't say Aaron and I fall into that catagory at all, but apparently, our only two options are to either pay for the entire pregnancy, delivery, and hospital stay out-of-pocket (totalling over $4000), or to get on Medicaid (completely free). Call it pride, call it snobby, call it what you will, but I was NOT raised to take advantage of government assistance...and I feel that's what we'd be doing especially under the circumstances in which we live.

It just SHOCKED me to learn that we LITERALLY have NO other options than the two mentioned above. It's sad that two people who WANT to do the "right" thing cannot do so while being insured by any other "company" other than the government. It's a sad and frustrating day in our house!!!

Friday, May 25, 2007

To wed or not to wed...There is NO question!

So as many of you know by now, Aaron and I are expecting our second child. And we're very excited, I must add! But of course, the first question out of EVERYONE'S mouth is "Sooo when are you getting married?!" and my response is "HUH? Why would we get married?" The stunned, hurt, shocked, judging glare that stares back at me is priceless, and unanimous across the board! Whatever!

Here's my problem. I've NEVER been the type of girl to think I NEED to get married. I've never had dreams of the white flowing dress and thousands of strategically placed putrid flowers. Sure, I've caught myself having delusional thoughts of my FABULOUS engagement ring, going so far as to even email the exact one I want to Aaron! But the ring aside, I can't really imagine my life changing THAT much by changing my last name and making our relationship "official"....

Official to whom? The church? Do you know that stastics show that Christians have been divorced and REMARRIED more than any other group of faith? The same group who has banned same-sex marriages because it's against God's will...rrrright! Let me take my marriage advice from THOSE people. C'mon! (And I agree with Brad Pitt's stand on same-sex marriage... I'll get married when my brother can marry whomever he wants to!)
Official to my family? Sure, my parents and grandparents are from a different era and therefore have different beliefs. However, statistics also show that my parents' age group has a higher divorce rate than any other age group.

And even though a select group of people are waiting to get married until a later age, they are NOT necessarily waiting to have children. And for good reasons....Who has the energy or the aspiration to chase around two small children when you're in your thirties?

I'm not trying to justify my reasons for having another child, that's not necessary. I'm simply announcing that I have NO intentions of getting married just because we're pregnant again. I like the way things operate at our house now! I like that I still have my individuality and he still has his. I like that I still have the same last name as my mom, brother, sister, and dad. Maybe I'll never let go of that! Bottom line people, stop asking us if we're getting married now or assuming that we NEED to get married now! It's not gonna happen!

****By the way, I got my highly informative statistics from http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm****



Thursday, May 17, 2007

A day of rest....huh?

It was brought to my attention today at 6am that my "JOB" is to be a stay-at-home mom and that therefore, I don't GET days off. The ONE day I asked to sleep in I was told that it's my JOB to wake up EVERYDAY with my daughter. Now, typically I have NO problem getting up early, feeding my little tyke, and continuing on with the day's events, however today was quite an exception. You see, Aaron has today off (along with at least one other day this week) and he got home from work at 8:30 last night. And not only did he go to bed at the same time I did last night, he also took a nap yesterday afternoon before his four hour shift at work. HHHHMMM? Maybe it's not the fact that I couldn't sleep in, because honestly, my idea of sleeping in these days is waking up at 7:30 instead of 6:30! But the issue I had this morning was that I was TOLD that stay-at-home Moms don't GET a day off! A DAY OFF? HUH!? I was asking for an extra HOUR of sleep! Are you kidding me?

I'm not complaining about my "duties" as a stay-at-home mom. I LOVE that I have the option to stay home. I'd probably DIE if I had to leave my little sugar at a daycare all day! I just have a BIG issue with someone telling me that since he works 30 hours a week that I NEVER get to sleep in an extra hour when he's PERFECTLY capable of getting up. It goes back to my year-long complaint that DADS just AREN'T MOMS! GGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRR!!!!!


So my question to you faithful readers is: SHOULD stay-at-home Moms have a day of rest?

Monday, May 14, 2007

Weekly Annoyances (3)

Let's just dive right into the maddness of what these past couple weeks have been...
The following are my recent annoyances:

1) People asking me "when are you gonna write a new blog"...WHEN I'm READY, damn it!

2) Girls lying about being knocked up...just admit it, damn...you think you're the ONLY one?

3) The theme to "Cops" being Aaron's ringtone on his cell...fitting yes, but unnecessary and quite disturbing.

4) The Bachelor not starting until 9:31 because of freakin' Dancing With The Stars...ugh! We've already seen Heather Mills fall due to her fake leg...what more do we need to see? Ew, that was mean!

5) Having only ONE vehicle, due to Aaron's recent crash, and having to tote him around EVERYWHERE!!! (Although I'm VERY grateful he's safe!)

6) Gas prices...$3.19...are you KIDDING me?

7) Lilly CONSTANTLY screaming "DUCK" everytime she sees ANYTHING flying in the sky! As cute as it sounds, imagine waking up at 6:45, not only to twelve geese outside your bedroom window, but to your daughter yelping "DUCK MAMA, DUCK. MAMA MAMA MAMA, DUCK!" through the monitor...and then expecting you to take her outside to feed them the last of your loaf of bread!

8) Black coffee table and end tables that need countless hours of dusting frequently throughout the day.

9) Student Loan payments!

10) Iowa....don't ask!

11) Your soon-to-be-year-old daughter only walking in the EVENINGS right before bed....odd, I agree...but it's "her thing".....