Three Strikes & You're Out (Our Struggles Pregnancy)

As I write this, I am questioning whether I should or not.  I'm sure I will doubt myself indefinitely as to whether this is just way too much over-sharing, but I feel that too many people don't share their pains and struggles. Yes, it is long, but the only thing I ask is that you read the whole thing.  This isn't the type of post that I can split up into multiple posts.

So, with that being said, here is the shortest version I can come up with for our struggles with infertility and pregnancy.  Let me warn you that this isn't a fairy tail and it doesn't have a happy ending.  If that's what you were looking for, you should probably look elsewhere.

Our journey into becoming parents a second time started over two years ago.  Our lives were finally going in a different direction and things were a bit settled.  Kasey was the perfect age for a sibling and we just knew it was the right time.  Then, after trying for a year, there was nothing.  It was really frustrating for us because we got pregnant so easily with Kasey.  Then, much to our relief, in the beginning of fall last year, we found out that we were finally pregnant.

On October 11, 2011, I woke up and just knew that something wasn't right.  As it turns out, I was right because by the time I got to the doctor, I was in the middle of a full blown miscarriage.  Without getting into gory details, we just went home and cried.  I stayed home from work for a few days and then I tried to get back to my normal life.  I returned to work to find out that the news had traveled like wildfire.  While I never cry at work, that was enough to set me over the edge.  I did manage to make it through the day, but it wasn't easy.

So, Keith and I had already decided that we'd try again since the doctor didn't see any reason why we couldn't.  In early 2012, I went to the doctor's for a normal checkup.  I explained everything that was going on with my charting and other things and she decided to start me on fertility drugs, just to try to get things somewhat normalized.  We were both relieved that we had a possible solution.

In February 2012, we were blessed with another happy surprise.  I was pregnant again and without the fertility drugs! Of course, we were skeptical after all of the issues with the previous pregnancy.  Apparently, this time our skepticism was spot on as we lost this pregnancy on February 23, 2012.  Luckily, we were on vacation, so I could curl up and cry as much as I wanted to without worrying about an audience.

Once Spring finally rolled around, collectively, we decided to get some more testing done and to move to the next step in fertility treatments.  All of our tests came back fine and they diagnosed us with "unexplained infertility".  After all of the poking and prodding, we decided to try IUI.  I will not get into those lovely details because you can Google them if you really want to know.

Our first round of IUI looked promising as I had at least two mature eggs when they triggered me (in which I had to give myself a shot with a huge needle in my thigh).  In early July,  I was told to start taking home pregnancy tests and, much to our surprise, one came back positive!  I quickly called the doctor and they started having my blood drawn every two days to make sure my HCG was doubling appropriately.  Luckily, it was more than doubling!  I went in for a normal ultrasound to check to see that I ovulated and they said I had two eggs, but that was all they could tell at that point if they would take.

I was due to go back the day before my vacation for another ultrasound just to check that the little miracle was growing the way it was supposed to.  This was when the rug was completely pulled out from under us.  I went over to Fletcher Allen all by myself as this was only supposed to be quick and they didn't think they would see much.  So, I went into this in a wonderful mood.  I felt miserable and my HCG was doubling.  I was finally pregnant!

I had two nurses and sonographer and they were chatty as usual and we were talking about my vacation at the beginning of the sonogram.  Then, I heard the question I dreaded hearing, "Do you have any pain?" and the room got quiet.  I couldn't really see the screen, but I heard the sonographer quietly whisper to the nurse.  I guess you can say that I can quickly clear a room.  They all left and told me to stay where I was.  I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what.  In a couple minutes (that felt like hours), they all came back and told me that I wasn't going anywhere and that I had an ectopic pregnancy.  They asked me if I had any questions and I grumpily told them no.  They let me get changed before the doctor came in and I just sat there waiting completely shell-shocked.

So, in walks the doctor and she just dives into what my options are to end this.  I can either have surgery where I may lose my tube (and further complicate my already complicated fertility) or I can have Methotrexate, which is a form of chemotherapy.  I opted for the chemo because they said it was very effective and it would save my tube.  They told me that I had to delay my vacation and I had to get blood work done twice while I was gone.  If I had any of a litany of symptoms, I had to go to the hospital right away because my tube could very well be rupturing.

At this point, I am so overwhelmed and I haven't even had a chance to call Keith yet.  I call him, blubbering uncontrollably into the phone, and he thought I was calling to tell him it was twins.  I managed to get enough out for him to somewhat understand what was going on and that it wasn't the happy ending we were looking for.  Once the nurse came up from the lab with my shots, she donned her hazmat suit and quickly gave me my injections.  They gave me a one page flier and told me to go home and to not go back to work until after vacation.

Once I got in the car, I just sat there and cried until I had a headache and I was running out of tears.  I called Keith to tell him that I was on my way home, but that I needed to stop and get a giant sunhat and new sunglasses.  When I finally walked through the door, we both agreed to get the hell out of the house, so we went out to dinner before we went to the movies (we had already bought our tickets to see Batman).

All throughout vacation, I was pretty numb.  Nobody said anything stupid like, "When are you having more kids?" or "Why aren't you drinking?", which was a relief.  To say I physically felt miserable is a huge understatement.  I kept up with the obligatory texting with my doctor every other day and I made the 30 mile trek to the hospital twice to get my blood work done.  On Friday of that week, my doctor sent me a text that my numbers were finally going down and they were really happy about the number.  So, I didn't have to get blood drawn for a whole week!

Once I got back, I went into work and got on with my life as much as I could.  I went into Fletcher Allen at 7:00 when the lab opened to get my blood drawn and I headed into work.  Around noon, my phone rang and it was my nurse.  She said my number had gone up and I had to come in right away.  So, I hopped in the car and drove to Burlington for the second time that day.  After another ultrasound, I was able to see that it had grown and still looked as perfect as ever.  I was scared they were going to tell me that I needed surgery, but they told me I just needed to do the chemo again.  So, I called work again and told them that I wasn't coming back.  Yet again, I went through the drama and was sent home.  I was firmly told to be very careful because my HCG was so high and they were really worried about me rupturing.  I went out to the car and cried again.  I called Keith to fill him in and rushed home to pick Kasey up from the sitters.

The next Monday morning, I had to get blood work done at 7:00 again.  When my nurse called again, I told her that I had some changes over the weekend and I wasn't sure if I should be worried.  Once she talked to the doctor, I, yet again, had to rush down there for an emergency sonogram.  Luckily, I hadn't ruptured and they were able to see that the medication seemed to be working.  I was sent home and reminded to get my blood work done on Thursday.  I told them that I was going to wait for the results to come back because they kept asking me to come back down and it costs $20 for each trip.

Thursday morning rolled around and I got my blood work done and went up to the clinic to wait.  Of course the lab took a long time to process it this time, but at least it gave me a chance to speak to the nurse about my pain.  Being that I could only take Tylenol and Tums, my pain had finally reached a point where Tylenol just wouldn't cut it.  I ended up seeing the doctor and they took my blood pressure and pulse three times just to verify that it really was high all three times.  I told them how weird that was because I usually have abnormally low blood pressure.  Well, they decided to prescribe me 10 Vicodin to get me through the worst of it.  Unfortunately, I had to get more blood drawn because they wanted to check my white blood cell count, so I dropped off my prescription on my way back downstairs.

Once that was done, I was sent on my way into work. I had left early the day before because of the pain, so when I got there, I told my supervisor what had happened.  I told her that I had gotten pain killers, so I would feel better in about an hour.  So, I took my one measly pill and waited for it to kick in.  Then, about an hour later, I started to get really hot and dizzy.  It was so bad that I laid down on my desk and asked my coworkers to call Keith to have him come get me.  That's about all that I remember other than getting up and being drenched.  You can imagine my frustration when I Googled Vicodin and realized that the number one side affect is that it can cause abnormally low blood pressure.  This was nowhere on the papers the pharmacy gave me and my doctor didn't even mention that when I told her that I already had abnormally low blood pressure.  So, there went the Vicodin (right back to the doctor).

For the next week, I suffered through a lot of pain and agony.  When Thursday morning rolled around, I went in to get my blood drawn and I was very anxious to hear the results.  When they finally called, they told me it had gone down by 90% and that I still needed to go back again in a week.  So, last Thursday I went in and my number went down another 90%.  They are fairly confident that next Thursday will be the last blood draw I will have to do for this whole issue.

I'm looking forward to being able to pick up my kid again, exercise, eat salads, drink and just have a life again.  I think it is fair to say that Keith and I are done for the foreseeable future.  With everything we have gone through in the last year or so added to my increased risk for another ectopic and our unexplained infertility, it is in our best interests to just enjoy the life we have with our amazing son.  Perhaps this is the universe's way of telling us not to mess with perfection.

So, many people are quite insensitive and a bit foolish (in my opinion).  So here's some advice for the world:

1. Don't assume that everything always has a happy ending.  On of my phlebotomists told me that, while I hate getting blood drawn, at least it was for a good cause.  I quickly pointed out that I had lost the pregnancy, so it really isn't a good thing.
2. Don't tell everyone you're pregnant the second after you pee on a home pregnancy test.  I know this is a hard concept for people to grasp that have either not been pregnant or have had perfect pregnancies, but bad things can and do happen all the time.  Do you really want to have to go out there and tell everyone that you lost the baby?  Humor me, you don't.
3. Don't ask people when they are having children or another child.  Did it ever occur to you that it might actually break the other person's heart because they realize that they can't have children?  I can tell you first hand, that I have had this asked on multiple occasions and I have actually started to become quite sarcastic in my responses.
4. Don't complain incessantly about your children  Yes, I know kids can drive you crazy, but you really need to realize just what a gift they are.  When they drive you crazy, try to imagine your life without them.  You can't, can you?

With that, my tirade/story is done.  This chapter of my life will hopefully be closed next Thursday and we can move on as the most amazing family of three that I could ever ask for.  Let's hope the saying of, "Bad luck comes in threes" is true and our bad luck is finally over.

The F Word

This post has been mulling in my head for quite some time.  I’ve had a hard time putting my thoughts in a cohesive manner, so I apologize for the delay.    First of all, this is a post where I admit some of my flaws.  This isn’t particularly easy for me, to I have to do it nonetheless.  So, here goes.

During the last week of school, Keith called me at work to tell me that Kasey got off the bus crying.  Apparently, a 12-year-old on the bus taught him the F word and Kasey repeated it.  The bus monitor heard them and made them sit in separate seats.  Once he got in the house, Keith gave him a good talking to and took away his iPod, video games and TV for four days.  Once I got home, I gave him holy hell, too.  I explained to him that the F word was one of the very worst words you can ever say and that I didn’t want to ever hear about him saying it ever again. 

Now, here’s where I admit that I am one of the worst with swearing.  Everyone says that, when Kasey goes to bed, I turn into Trucker Erika.  While I try to not swear in front of Kasey, I still do sometimes.  Luckily, for the most part, he knows what words are really bad and what words aren’t.  If he isn’t sure, he’ll ask me first if it is a bad word.

The next day, while at the sitter’s, one of the kids there told Kasey’s sitter that he said the F word again, but this time in a different context.  Of course she told me and Kasey immediately started crying.  When we got home, I had no choice but to take away his iPod, video games and TV for three more days and he lost toys altogether for four days. 

So, for four days, all he could do is read, write and color.  I think this “punishment” made all the difference.  Not only has he not said the word again, but he actually did things that challenged him for four days.  Here’s to hoping that we nipped it in the bud (though I doubt it).

The Vow

Now, I am not and will not ever be a movie blogger, but I figured these little blogs can fill in much needed gaps in my blogging.

So, a little while ago, I had two hours of time that magically appeared.  I decided to forgo the obligatory cleaning and watch The Vow instead. 

While I utterly abhor happy endings, I am still a sucker for chick flicks.  With that being said, I completely expected the typical happy ending.  Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, but I had little hope that this would actually be a good movie.

The premise is the typical boy meets girl situation, with the exception that Paige (McAdams) loses all memory of her husband Leo (Tatum) as a result of the car accident.  Now, I am not the type to give away anything in the movie, but I was happy that it didn't have your typical happy ending.  I also enjoy the fact that it was based on a true story.

While it was worthy of one watch, I doubt I'll watch it again.  For all of my fellow chick flick fans, you will probably want to see it once, but I wouldn't rush it to the top of your Netflix queues.

Cadyville Field Day

So, while my Saturday was crazy with running errands, getting blood work done, and going to the races to watch my dad and brother, Sunday promised to be much more relaxing and it was!

As has been tradition for almost as many years as I can remember, we went to the Cadyville Field Day at the lovely Dodds residence.  Kasey was excited to get candy at the parade, which he managed to get a lot of!  Then, it was straight to the pool for Kasey!  He was thrilled to make friends with Jackson and the two of them had a blast splashing me.  Once their lips began to quiver and turn blue, they came out to have a snack and they had to sit in the same chair together.  It was adorable.  Once they warmed up a bit, they went back in the pool.  Finally, I had to pull him out and get him dressed in some regular clothes.

Once we left the party, we went to my in-laws for a family dinner and a little Phase 10.  We caved and let Kasey have ice cream one the way home.  All in all, it was a good weekend.

A Weekend of Celebration

As promised, here is my food coma free update on the events of last weekend.

On Saturday, Keith and I dropped Kasey off at his Nana and Papa's house for a few hours.  On our way to lunch at Koto's, we stopped at Delish to pick up a couple of cupcakes to celebrate my birthday.  It was really tempting to eat them right away, but I held off long enough to eat lunch.  Koto was amazing, as always.  I let Keith humiliate me by having them sing Happy Birthday and take my picture.  In true fashion, my eyes were closed in the picture, but at least I got a free fried ice cream out of it!

Once we finished lunch, we went to pick up Kasey and we went straight to the ferry.  Kasey was irritated that we were going to the mall first and not Toys R Us, but his mood changed when we let him buy a vintage Star Wars figure at the mall.  After a quick jaunt around the mall, we headed to Toys R Us.  Surprisingly, Kasey didn't ask for anything.  I think this was the first time he's ever left the store without a toy in hand.  I, of course, had to go to Christmas Tree Shop.  That's where I always get my stuff for our 4th of July party, so I am happy to have that out of the way.  Our last stop was Chipotle.  I have to admit that I'm totally addicted to those fabulous burritos.  Granted, they're 1,000+ calories, but it is worth it!  Since the restaurant had just opened days before, the line was pretty long.  Of course I got stuck behind a bunch of pain in the ass college kids who were lucky to leave with their lives.  It was well worth the wait.  It was fantastic! 

With overfull bellies, we made our way home.  Before arriving at home, we had to stop at Gino's to get some ice cream (of course).  Then, we were finally able to relax a bit.  Kasey went to bed and Keith and I watched Footloose (the remake).

Sunday was FAR more relaxing.  We all got up when we felt like it (ie: I got up when the cat was meowing to be fed).  I decided I wanted to order Angelo's for lunch, so Keith, of course, obliged.  I have to admit that I was overfull and I crashed on the couch for hours.  Once Keith left for work, Kasey and I headed to do a little grocery shopping.  Other than that, we didn't do anything and it felt great!

Happy Anniversary!

Today, seven years ago, I married my best friend in front of all of our friends and family.  We'd be lying if we didn't admit that it has had it's ups and downs, but that's what make a marriage real.  With hard work, dedication and a lot of love, we've made the best of it.

I love you, Keith.  Thanks for seven amazing years and here's to another 70 or so.

Celebration Day

Many of you may already know this, but my birthday is on 6/1 and our wedding anniversary is on 6/4.  With that being said, we tend to pack all of our celebrations into one weekend.

So, our plan for today is to go to Koto for lunch (my favorite place).  Then, we're heading over to Burlington to have some quality family time and to eat at the newly opened Chipotle (as one of my faves).  Since it looks like the weather is going to be crappy, we probably won't get to have our fire tonight, but I'm sure it's going to be a good day nonetheless.

I'll report back to you tomorrow once my crazy food coma wears off.  Until then, enjoy the weekend!

Starting out my 30's with a bang!

So, after Keith verbally bitch-slapped me for not blogging in over a year, I guess I will give it a shot again.

Let me start with the fact that I am officially starting my 30's and it feels great.  I've decided to make some changes in my life and blogging is just one of them.  I realize that life is way too short, so my primary goal is to just live life to the fullest and enjoy the little things.  While I hope my next 30 years aren't quite so chaotic, I can deal with it if they are!

So, here's my first post of hopefully many.

Sickness attacks the Kanes

So, this past couple of weeks we have all managed to get sick in some way. 

Kasey came down with a cold and fever a couple of weekends ago.  Luckily (I guess), we got well over two feet of snow that night, so Kasey was able to stay home and rest.  He ended up only going to school two days that week, which has helped him bounce back.  The bad news is that we went to his doctor's for another follow-up visit for the fluid in his ears and allergies.  The doctor saw fluid, again.  This makes it six months of fluid in his ears.  In six weeks, if the fluid is still there and his allergies are still out of whack, he has to go to an ENT to potentially get tubes and he has to go to an allergist.  Here's to hoping that we can get this all under control WITHOUT tubes.


On Tuesday, my dear husband called me at work to tell me that he was sick to his stomach.  I came home for lunch and Keith was acting like death had come upon him.  He managed to leave the house long enough to get Kasey.  Shortly after I walked through the door after work, he was in bed to sleep it off.  Luckily, the was all better the next morning, with the exception of a headache.

As for myself, my sickness has been brewing since Friday.  I have a bit of a cold, which has stuck around a lot longer than I wanted.  My complete lack of sleep for nearly three nights hasn't improved it any.  Hopefully I will catch up on sleep soon, so I can get on the mend.

Hope everyone else is in good health!

Erika

Still Alive (for now)

My husband gives me constant flack for not blogging enough, so I just wanted to let everyone that we are all still alive and well.

Kasey is loving school and Keith is still unemployed.  Other than that, not much has changed.  Kasey is now addicted to Star Wars, which is driving me nuts.

We are surprising Kasey with a trip to Disney World in June (we are telling him just before we get on the plane).  What he won't know is that we are going for Star Wars Weekend.  This may add fuel to the fire, but it will be worth it to see his eyes light up when he sees Vader.

I'll try to keep everyone more updated, but that is what I say every time.  :)

Erika

10 Year Reunion

About a month ago we had our Beekmantown Class of 2000 10 year reunion.  Planning what a nightmare, but it was worth it.  Not only did we learn a lot about how to plan the next one, but we ended up having a blast.

Saturday, 8/21, about 30 of us met at the Naked Turtle to have dinner, dessert, and some crazy amounts of alcohol.  All of the food was good, until the bill came.  When I went to pay for our dinner with my debit card, the employees admitted that tey didn't know how to adjust tips, amounts, etc., and they charged my card three times!  Needless to say, I wasn't happy as it killed my available balance.  We still had a ton of fun.  Glass Onion was playing, so we stayed for a little while before heading over to Krazy Horse.  Surprisingly, I was one of the ones that made it to closing time.

Sunday, 8/22, we had a family picnic planned for the city beach.  This was where all hell broke loose! We woke up and it was pouring.  Dee & Mark realized that the beach wasn't even going to open in the crappy weather we were having, so we had to make a last minute change to Point Au Roche.  We got lucky in that the pavilions were open and we quickly nabbed one.  Not many people made it due to the weather and location change, but it was still nice to see all of those who made it.

Fantasy Football

Every year, I play fantasy football with the Kane family.  I never do very well, but I try like crazy!  After this years draft, I felt okay about my team.  That was, until week one rolled around.  Come to find out, I have the worlds worst quarterbacks.  GRR!!!

I am still really happy to be playing and I am going to try to get my team in order.  Hopefully, with a little bit of luck, I will at least make it to the playoffs.

Wish me luck!

Kasey Starts School

Well, Kasey has now been in school for a week, so I figured that I would post a little update. We had orientation the Thursday before school. It was very quick, but at least he was able to find his cubby, check out the bathroom and we could get a little information.

The first day, I was a wreck. Kasey, on the other hand, was perfect. Keith and I dropped him off at 9:00 and he didn’t even want to say goodbye. I ran out to the car to get a potty seat for him and, when I returned, he was sitting on the floor and a little boy (Jacob) was hugging him. I went out to the car and cried for five minutes before attempting to drive home. I cried for a bit more and then I settled in a home.

After getting some work done and watching a movie, 3:00 rolled around and I picked up Kasey. His teacher pulled me aside and told me that Kasey had peed in his pants and he fell off the merry-go-round, which resulted in a trip to the nurse’s office. He cried because he didn’t want me to bring him home, which made me feel awful. I bribed him with a trip to Target and off we went.


We managed to run a few errands and headed to Denny & Linda’s for dinner. Kasey was so tired that we did an early bath and he fell asleep in the car.


Thursday was his first whole day, which meant that he went to school at 7:45 and was picked up at 5:00. He was super excited to go, which made it easier for me. The only problem he had was that he was afraid of the big kids eating him at aftercare and he cried. Luckily the lady in charge of aftercare talked to Kasey and the big kids and he settled down pretty quickly.


Friday and Monday seemed to go okay, per Kasey, but I noticed that he didn’t eat much for lunch on Friday and he didn’t eat anything on Monday. Kasey’s teacher told me that he ran out of lunch crying on Monday. I talked to him a bit and he he had one good day and apparently yesterday didn't go well because he ended up eating lunch with the 3 year old classroom.


The only thing I am worried about this year is sickness.  I guess that is what we can expect for not having him around too many kids. I guess I will just have to hope that he will be okay until January.  His allergies are already kicking up, but he will be fine.

KeyBank

We recently decided to open a second checking account at a bank that is located closer to us. The only banks in Champlain that are also in Plattsburgh were KeyBank and Community Bank. Both of them had lovely bankers hours (without Saturday hours), so I decided we would go with KeyBank because we could sign up online.

To be honest, I was really skeptical about going with them. I’ve heard some bad things, but I really hate Community Banks predecessors, so I bit the bullet. I have to admit that it was really easy to open an account through them. They did send out a letter that was a bit misleading, but when I called Customer Service about it, they quickly resolved the issue.

On top of that, a real person from our local office call me to make sure that my transition was going well. Are you kidding me? A real live person! AWESOME! Last winter, when I called HSBC’s local number, someone in India answered and he ended up having to call our local branch to find out our holiday hours. I was less than thrilled.

So far, I am completely thrilled with them. We are really good with our checking account, so I am not worried about the fees. Besides, if we screw up our account, we deserve to pay the fees. Luckily, I only had one payment almost go through our old account (I forgot to switch it to our new one). Luckily, I caught it in time and I made sure there was enough cash to cover it.


Also, I paid for the dinner for our 10 year reunion with my debit card.  The guy at the Naked Turtle informed me that they authorized my card 3 times.  You know what that means, right?  My available balance was over $900 in the negative.  While KeyBank doesn't have 24 hour customer service, they were able to reverse 2 of the charges this morning.  Thank goodness!
Other than that, life is peachy in our banking world (except that I would like more money in the account).

Running Shoes

Let me start this off with a disclaimer. I am not a runner. I would say I am a jogger (a walker when my asthma gets too crazy). Regardless, I want to share some running shoe love.
Way back in 2001, I worked at an athletic shoe store. I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but it was really neat learning all of the technical data about various types of shoes.
I quickly grew to love Saucony and Asics for running. Back then, I did still occasionally go to the gym. There is just something about how they feel that makes them leaps and bounds better than Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc.
Now don’t get me wrong, I would wear just about anything for looks, but when you need to really get moving, I have to be picky.
So, today, I send a little love to my favorite running shoes. Thanks for nine years of pure bliss!

LeBron/Favre

I had a big huge tirade about LeBron, but I just don’t think he is worth my time.
Is anyone else as sick of endlessly hearing about LeBron and Favre? I mean is there really nothing else going on in sports? I would rather watch shuffleboard on ESPN than hear one more word about either of them.
Enough is enough!

AT&T Rant

I should have known what I was getting myself into with AT&T, but they were worse than even I could have expected. I knew that we weren’t going to have reception at our house, so when AT&T announced their Microcell, I was THRILLED! We caved and spent the $150 to buy it and it worked perfectly.
Then, I moved the desk four feet. Yes, you read it correctly. Four feet! Now, it does not work. After hours on the phone with idiot after idiot, they determined my Microcell was broken. So, I had to get a new one shipped to me. Well, it quickly arrived and I took it out of the box. Guess what? STILL DOESN’T WORK!

Hours later and AT&T tells me that they can’t fix it and I have to call the maker of my router, my ISP, and, if that fails, another division of AT&T. The guy also told me that there is usually a charge of $50 to call these people, but that there wouldn’t be any problem in reimbursing the cost.
I called back AT&T and they told me that they wouldn’t waive the fee. Are you kidding me? Luckily, I yelled (literally) loud enough that they reimbursed the fee. Come to find out, after spending $50, this other division has no idea either.
Now I am stuck with a $150 paperweight. Anyone want to buy it??

Ebates

You all know that I am a very frugal person. Okay, I admit it, I am cheap. So with that being said, I was super happy when I was reading a fellow bloggers post about Ebates.
Ebates is this site that gives you cash back for online shopping. Just for signing up, you get $5 (once you make a purchase). I already used mine for an order from Target, my Disney Movie Club order, and a couple of items from eBay. All you do is go to their site and click on the store you want to shop at. The store and Ebates correspond and a few days later, you have cash in your account!
Also, a quick tip: Search for any store you are going to shop at online. There are a ton of options!
The only catch is that they only issue checks once per quarter, which doesn’t really bother me as it is kind of like found money.
For those of you who are members of Disney Movie Club, if you make a purchase using Ebates link, you get $11 back! Also, the Disney Store has 5% cash back right now.
I already have over $17 in my account and that is just from this Monday.
It really is free and there are a ton of stores to choose from. So before you shop online, go to: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=Jqx1e0M7T3K7ru4BA1GkXg%3D%3D

Great Escape

Keith and I decided to surprise Kasey with a trip to Great Escape on 8/14. We also invited Shannon and Cyle to come along. We had tickets from Spring Spin to come back for $13, so we couldn’t beat the price.


So, we loaded up the trunk with a cooler and some food and off we went! Kasey kept trying to guess the whole way down, but he never guessed correctly. It was a little cramped in the car, but we made due.

When we pulled in the parking lot, we told Kasey that we were there. He started to look around to figure it out and, as soon as he saw the Screaming Demon, he gasped and yelled, “THE GREAT ESCAPE.” It was really cute.

Being that food is way too expensive; we had a picnic in the parking lot. Kasey actually thought it was really cool. Once we got in, we realized that it was hot and crowed. I dashed to a locker to put our swim stuff in and the rest of the crew waited for me.

After a quick trip on the carousel, Kasey and I headed to the Condor. I didn’t know if he was going to like it, but I figured we’d try it anyway since Shannon, Cyle and Keith were going on the Screaming Demon. Much to my surprise, he LOVED it. He actually had Cyle bring him again as soon as we got off.
We went on a bunch of other rides and then we headed to the water park. That was pretty much a bust. Everything had a line a mile long and Kasey couldn’t go on the bigger rides. The wave pool and the bucket brigade were both closed for over a half an hour, so we didn’t do that. The lazy river had a super long line for tubes, so I opted to walk the river. Kasey loved getting wet, so that was really all that mattered.
After realizing there wasn’t much for Kasey, we let him go in the Noah’s Spray Yard. He had fun going down the big slides and finally, I bribed him with a ride on the Ferris wheel to get him out.
We went on one last ride and then we headed back to the parking lot for another picnic in the parking lot.
All in all, Kasey left with a basketball that his Uncle Cyle won, a Puss in Boots Shannon and I won and a Pikachu Keith won. I would say it was a great day!

4th of July

Every year since we bought our house, we have hosted a big, crazy 4th of July party. We usually invite about 30-40 people and we usually end up with about 30 that show up. This year was no exception!

Keith and I were smart this year and we started preparing the week before the party. This meant that Sunday was spent doing just a few small last minute things. The weather cooperated with us again this year.  This is a constant fear of mine because we don't have room for everyone to fit inside.  As you can see from the picture above that's a lot of people to fit in our tiny house.

Four of my little cousins, Keegan, Dylan, Ben and Josh were all at the house.  Add in Jack and Kasey and you get one hell of a water fight, which is exactly what happened.  Dee and Mark brought water balloons, which I let the boys have a blast with.  Cyle had to one-up it by going to buy a bunch of water guns.  By the end of the day, all of my flower misters and every water gun were in use.  The boys even stole my garbage can lids and storage bin lids to use as shields.  They had a ton of fun and I was happy to see them all playing so well together.

The parade was pretty good (as far as parades go).  We are towards the beginning, so the boys all scored massive piles of candy and goodies.  As is par for the course, almost everyone left right after the parade.  There were a few brave souls left (Craig, Oscar, Dee, Mark, Jack, Aimee, Jaramy, Kate, Shannon, Cyle, Holden, Jim, and us).  We quickly started playing Just Dance which is this crazy dancing game Oscar brought.  It was a ton of fun and Dee busted out her cheerleading past and kicked everyone's butt.

At some point in the day, I decided to bust out my birthday gift from my friend, Matt.  Now this gem is a life sized replica of Gonzo.  I have to admit that everyone was a little creeped out in the beginning.  After all, he comes in a satin lined box that kind of resembles a coffin.  He quickly became a hit though.

Once it got dark, we headed over to the fireworks.  Now this is the most boring part of our celebration, but we do it anyway.  After a lackluster display, we headed back to the house to play a little Mario Cart.

All in all, it was another great year.  I can't wait for next year!