When the Cat's Away, the Mice Will Play

Who are we kidding? Momma cat was still around, just missing one of her mice.  But we still played, right girls?! Here are a few stories from the week to keep you entertained.

Okay, this one's not a story per-say, just a cute pic of Bailey playing in the grass outside the library at Brandon's school when we went on Monday to check out this week's books. Thankfully they still let me check books out under his name even when he's not around!

Tuesday night I got to go to a baby shower for a friend who is leaving Paraguay next week.  Bailey stayed with her older daughter while Boston and I tagged along to the party.  In true Fulbright-girl fashion, I aced the first game!  We had to look at 12 different ultra sound pics and determine which body part was pictured.  And never mind the horrific penmanship; I was nursing Boston as we played and had to fill out the card left handed (and without a second hand to steady the page).

Earlier Tuesday, one of our neighbors stopped by to say that there is a young couple that is frequenting the dark corner under the mango tree along the side of our house in the wee hours of the morning. I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do with that information???  It's funny though,  when I've been nursing Boston during the night I've heard voices outside, but have always attributed it to the restaurant across the street (and yes, Paraguayans do eat that late).  Now that I know it's a teenage couple hiding out in the dark, I'm grateful that I can't understand what they're saying!

Bailey's window is the first one on the right,
bathroom in the middle, Boston's furthest down

We had another visitor on Tuesday that wanted to sell us a bag of oranges.  No gracias, senora!  I called back. Just then Bailey came running out the front door and the lady immediately put on her puppy-dog eyes and asked if I had any clothes that I could spare for her daughter.  Naturally suspicious, I asked how old?  Flashing a glance at Bailey, she answered: three.  Lo siento, pero ella solo tiene DOS anos, I replied (Sorry, she's only two).  Well, she's a SMALL three year old, she threw back . . . right.  At this point it was too late to play the "I don't speak Spanish" card, so I busied myself with watering the grass and waited for her to tire of asking "please, senora, please."  It's not that I don't want to help. It's just that (1) Bailey has a limited supply of 2T clothes; her drawers are full enough, but not overflowing, and we definitely can't go more than a week without doing laundry; (2) I'm planning on using the clothes again for Boston; and (3) if I'm going to give their clothes away, I'm going to give them to families at church, to girls who I KNOW need them and will be appreciative.

Thursday brought our second outing to Brandon's school (strange, we go there more when he's NOT around than when he is...).  This time Bailey's friend Kira was with us and the girls had a blast playing at a nearby park after our time in the library.  Bailey got to try out a tricycle for the first time and boy do we have our work cut out for us!  Not that she has any reason to have these skill sets already, but she's TERRIBLE about using her feet to push the pedals and has no clue about turning the handle bars.  Give it time, Mom, give it time, right?  After some time on the bikes, the girls enjoyed a snack of apples and posed with "silly faces" for this pic (I love that their silly faces are the same!):

Mango-tree-lover-tattle-tale neighbor stopped by again on Friday to "remind" me that we really need to trim the mango tree so that it's not dark along the street.  So I guess that's what I'm supposed to do about it...

We had a great week without Daddy - actually more eventful than a "normal" week - but we are glad to be getting him back later this evening.  It will be nice to tag-team the girls in the evening and have adult conversations again!

Bye-Bye Daddy

Brandon left Sunday morning for Brazil. The middle school teams are at a week long sports camp/tournament and Brandon gets to supervise the whole shin-dig.  And while you usually look "forward" to such events with a bit of dread in the sleep department, Brandon will be Boston-free for the week so he might come home better rested than when he left.  We'll see.  In the mean time, here are some pics of Bailey saying goodbye to her daddy on Sunday morning. 

Cheese!

Silly faces!

Hu?!

Tickle!!!  :)

Insurance...Why Bother?!

Today as I paid the health insurance premium for the two girls and myself (Brandon has different health insurance through his school), I did some quick calculating and decided that we need to have a Trevino family business meeting to discuss whether or not to continue to have insurance.

I know what you're thinking: WHAT?!?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!

Maybe a little, but let me explain a bit about how thins have gone the past few months in terms of insurance and you might end up on my "side" of things.

Note: In an attempt to make things a bit easier to understand, I've done a bit of rounding with some of the figures and the word "mil" is Spanish for thousand. And, if you want to know the U.S. dollar equivalent, you'll get close by taking the amount before the "mil" and dividing by 4. 

Here goes...

When we first arrived in Paraguay, and while I worked at ACA during the first semester of this school year, we had insurance taken out of our paychecks.  Pretty standard.  And when I stopped working in December, we were able to transfer Bailey and I onto an independent plan.  There was a bit of drama there as I tried to navigate the technical language of the health insurance world with limited Spanish, but we survived.

We ended up purchasing the highest plan available.  Not that we're hoity-toity, but it was what made sense to me at the time. After all, the next lower plan still required an 80mil payment for each doctor's visit, and our doctor's standard fee for non-insured clients is 80mil.  Why would I buy insurance only to continue to pay the same fee for an appointment? It didn't make sense.  Plus Boston's entire delivery would be "free" on the high plan.  That I could handle.

Each month we've been paying 400mil for insurance for Bailey and I.  My assumption (and you know what that makes of you and me) was that it was around 300mil for my plan, then an additional 100mil or so for Bailey. Today that was proven to be entirely myth.

On a side note, Costco would fail miserably in Paraguay (yes, I'll bring this back to health insurance, I promise).  There is no discount for buying in bulk; not that I've found anyway.  Of course you expect to pay by the pound (or rather, by the kilogram) for produce and meats, but nearly all products are "by the pound".  One liter of milk? 4mil.  Want a case of 12 liters of milk? That will be (4 x 12 =) 48mil, please.  One granola bar? 1mil. A box of 8? 8mil.  You get the idea.  You don't save money by buying big quantities.  I have my theories as to why, but that's for another post.

Bringing it back to insurance...

Today I (finally) added Boston to our plan. She cost us 200mil. I realized then and there that there is no standard fee for a family plan.  It wasn't 300mil for my plan, and an additional 100mil for Bailey. We had been paying 200mil each all along.  And adding another child just added another 200mil.

And it gets better.

The shots that Boston needs (and the few remaining ones for Bailey) aren't covered under the insurance, no matter which plan you have.  So tomorrow when I take Boston for her 2 month check-up, I have to shell out an additional 245mil for her shots.  Granted, I don't have to pay the 80mil for the appointment, but it cost me 200mil for the insurance needed not to have to pay 80.

Now I realize that insurance is not just for routine visits.  It's also for emergencies and big things, like giving birth, right? Let me let you in on a little "secret" . . . it would have cost us 2,000mil (i.e. $500) to pay cash for Boston's delivery.  The whole kit and kaboodle.  $500 to bring a baby into the world.

Right now I'm SUPER frustrated about paying a total of 600mil for insurance for us three girls only to save 80mil on the appointment and STILL have to pay 245mil for shots.  It just doesn't seem worth it.  And our experience with the hospital is that health related issues aren't as expensive to "resolve" as they are in the states.

Now don't worry (Mom), we aren't going to go out tomorrow and cancel everything. After all, we're paid up through the end of the month and Brandon's leaving for Brazil on Sunday so we don't have much time to marinate on the issue and make a (calm) informed decision.

But it's not looking good for our insurance company.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Today you turn 2, and there are some things about this age that I never want to forget.





Daily you fill this house with laughter.  You love to dance and have tea parties and listen to music; you ask for "noise" whenever iTunes isn't playing.  William Tell Overture will forever be the "horse song" and I will never tire of singing "Baby Mine" to you when you go to bed and ask, "song?"  It's even better now that you've started to sing along.


Your books are among your favorite toys.  Some days you pull all of them from the shelves just for the fun of it.  You've learned your letters A through J and numbers through nine.  You identify animals by their sounds, not their given names, and can't do a horse's neigh without grabbing your neck.  I'm amazed at how much you learn everyday.


You are quite used to - and comfortable with - playing alone, or with just Mommy and Daddy.  When we play outside, all you want to do is splash in the water, no matter what the temperature is.  And Daddy is determined to make you a tom boy if it's the last thing he does.  You're constantly being thrown in the air or across the bed as he rough-houses with his little girl.


Your favorite foods are bread, cheese and bananas. And you'll eat as much spaghetti and pizza as any grown adult.  When we go on walks, you're always asking for chipa or empanadas or juice as we pass bakeries and restaurants.  You collect rocks on every outing and turn everything into a cell phone. You'll also hold up your hand at every passing bus, trying to get them to stop for us.


Over the past two months you've become an amazing big sister.  You let me know when Sister is crying, help me keep her awake by tickling her belly, and include her in whatever games you're playing.  You cover her with kisses when it's time to go "night-night" and always ask to "see? see?" when I'm holding her. 


You are a creature of habit and enjoy routine.  I hardly need to leave directions for babysitters; you're sure to tell them what needs to be done when, and how.  From putting soap on both hands after going potty, to reading books before bed, to dumping the bath water immediately after you're done bathing.


Anytime I'm in the kitchen for more than two seconds, you ask to "sit? sit?" on the counter.  You love stirring up cookies, using cookie cutters, and sampling batter off of beaters.  Your eyes light up when I pull out the mixer and you immediately ask, "eat?!"


You are my precious baby girl and I love you more and more every day.


Happy birthday, darling!

How Do I Love Thee

Back in January, a mom blogger that I follow posted 10 Ways to Save Your Sanity, filled with suggestion (ten of them to be precise) of how to cope with a child that's driven you to the brink of insanity. In another post this week, she referenced the post again and I found the timing to be perfect as I re-read the post and did some reflecting on our darling - yet frustrating - little Boston.

She's not a bad kid; for goodness sake, she's just a few days shy of two months.  She does what every baby does: sleeps, eats, poops and cries.  Trouble is, though, that her big sister did those things in a predictable pattern at this stage of the game.  By two months of age Bailey would eat, spend some time awake, then nap in a regular three hour cycle.  Even if we threw in "field trips" to visit relatives, friends, go shopping, etc. she would keep pace and sleep through whatever it was, fall asleep on cue, and eat full meals when it came time to nurse. She was the "perfect" babywise baby.  At least it seems that way in hindsight.

Poor Boston is anything but.  She's a lazy nurser, which leaves her hungry half an hour later.  She's unpredictable in her wake-times; some days she's up for an hour after eating, some days she wants to go immediately back to sleep.  She's resistant to napping anywhere but her bed (Tuesday she was awake for three hours straight because she wouldn't sleep in the stroller as we went to the fruit market at a local mall).

Yesterday afternoon I hit a wall, so to speak, when she quit nursing after only a few minutes on one side; it was nothing new, but it was the last straw after a(nother) exhausting day.  I screamed in her face.  Well, not really screamed. More like a jaw-clenched "arrggghhhhhh!!!" from my throat with my nose pinned against hers, but it was accompanied with a stronger-than-a-love-pat swat across her leg in order to "encourage" her to eat some more. Who am I kidding. I was angry and I acted without thinking.  We both had a good cry - a good, long sob fest - and I resolved to make my list.  My list of the things I love about our precious baby girl.

(1) You're patient with Nala.  Unlike your sister, you, dear Boston, could care less if Nala sneaks up on you to sniff your face or lick your toes.  I find your apathy endearing.

(2) You love bath time.  I don't know what it is about the water, but you love it.  You'll lie there forever as I dump cups of water over your tummy and legs, and don't even squirm when I play with the suds in your hair.  You get more baths than you really need because I enjoy watching you enjoy them.

(3) You love to cuddle.  If we would do it, you would let us hold you all day, every day.  Up on a shoulder, lying in someone's arms, or even across a lap, you just want to be skin to skin.  And while some days I think "I don't have time for this!" I remember that you'll be our last baby (according to our plan, anyway), so I better enjoy it while I can.

(4) You make the greatest faces.  Okay, usually they're blank stares of a sleepy-head, but they still make me laugh.

 

(5) Your smile melt my heart every time! When I'm on the brink of a breakdown, that goofy, toothless grin reels me back in.  And your timing is usually perfect.

(6) You're a regular Houdini.  More than once, you've woken up from a nap with limbs hanging out of your swaddle. Usually when Dad wraps you up, not that I'm keeping track...

(7) You put up with your sister's crazy antics.  Whether it's playing "I Spy" with a used paper towel roll, or having a tea party with a wiffle ball at your feet, you let her be the big sis and show you how it's done.  And you usually don't cry about it (you leave that for me as I watch my two girls "play nice" together, already).

(8) You keep me warm!  It will have to get really cold for me to put on a jacket while carrying you up against my chest.  Carrying you around is like having my own personal heater.

(9) You've started to coo, and those timid little ooo's and aaah's are a welcome addition to the soundtrack in our house. I'll work on getting a video of it; you're just a bit camera shy right now.

(10) And that hair! Much as you could spend all day wrapped up in someone's arms, I could spend all day playing with the puffy, curly locks that sit atop your head.I'm so glad the doctor was wrong about it all falling out (and that you haven't yet developed a bald spot in back).

Lord, help me to remember these things about my baby girl as she cries and fusses and does things "off schedule".  Help me to see her as YOU see her; a precious gift from heaven that you've entrusted to us. Help me to do right by her, and by you.

The Mile Run

Two P.E. students wrote this account of the mile run. Enjoy!

It was a really hot day, and of course we had to run the mile. Not surprisingly, our quirky and peculiar P.E. teacher (Mr. Bishop) printed the wrong papers so our other vain, conceited, and way too over confident P.E. teacher (Mr. T) had us separate into groups: the turtles, middle and fast. We  decided to put ourselves into the middle group, but this other girl, who shall remain nameless, practically shoved us into the fast group. Being the modest people that we are, we didn't think we were adequate for the fast group, but graciously accepted. Mr. T then announced and I quote: "I don't want to hurt my athletes, so all of you in the fast group, take a seat and get an A." So we, shocked but also very amused and smug, kept our poker faces as our peers were sweating their way through the mile. We told Mr. T about that fateful incident, but begged him not to make a big deal out of it. But him, being Mr. T just had to (he couldn't help himself). As the girl (who is still nameless) ran by, panting and sweating he called out: "Nolan and Julie say thank you!" As he gave them a dirty look we smirked to ourselves, very satisfied.

Coin Letters

Rather than get mad when Bailey dumped our bus change on the floor this morning, we made a game of it: Guess the Letter/Number. She's now pretty good at A through I and 1 through 8 (not advanced, but proficient)

 

She even took a stab at creating her own.  A million points to whoever can correctly guess what she was making.  I have no idea . . .