36 Months Today

Anna Claire, you are 36 months old today. It's hard to believe that you are officially 2 and 1/2 years old. You have brought so much joy to everyone's life and I truly believe that you keep your Great Granny going everyday bc you love her so much. Here is what you are up to these days.

1. You can say your ABC's
2. You can count to 11 without missing a number
3. You LOVE to sing (and I love to hear you sing the Wonder Pets song)
4. Your favorite songs are ABC's, Twinkle Little Star, and Row Your Boat
5. Your cry when you don't get to hang out with you Great Granny everyday and it thrills her to see you every day.
6. You weigh 31.5 pounds and are over 38 inches tall.
7. You only use the big girl potty when you want too (even though you know what to do).
8. You rarely meet a stranger.
9. You LOVE all animals.
10. You are very polite (most of the time) and people even comment on how polite you are.
11. You wear the words Mommy, Momma, and Mudder out. You find it very entertaining to sit in a different room and holler for me to see how many times I will say "what?" I actually changed my name to Banana yesterday, but you caught on to that quickly, now on top of all the Mom names you also holler Banana.
12. You are very bossy (Your Daddy says you get that honest, but what does he know).
13. You go to gymnastics every Thursday and love it.
14. You started being able to do a flip by yourself last week and have almost given me more than one heart attack bc you keep trying to flip on the hardwood floors.
15. You are FULL of personality

We could not have asked for a better blessing. We feel honored and blessed that God chose us as your parents. We love you more than you could ever imagine.
You picked out this costume on your own to wear for Halloween.

The Weekend.........

Friday I took the morning off to go to the Pumpkin Patch with Anna Claire, MeMe, and some of the other children and parents from Barnyard. We went to the Pumpkin Patch last year, but I will say it was worth it to go with Barnyard this year bc when you go with a class you get to feed and touch the animals, which Anna Claire LOVED!! Saturday Kerry and I had to go to a funeral in Nashville, so we left Anna Claire with her Grammy and Elise. They took her to a Fall Festival, got her sugared up, and then sent her back home. LOL!! She had a great time with them and wasn't quiet ready to leave when we went to pick her up, but she finally gave in. Bless her heart she was a trooper Saturday. We left the house at 8:30am and didn't get back home until almost 10:00pm. She had a 10 minute nap all day and that was in the car leaving Grammy's and going to Kerry's Grandparents house. She fell asleep about the time we got back in to town, but she was PERFECT!! We spent 2 hours at Kerry's Grandparents and no one could believe that she had not had a nap all day. I am a very proud and blessed Momma!!

Here she is trying to figure out how she is going to get in there with the chickens.

Waiting patiently for her turn to feed the calf

She LOVES animals!! These are from the Fall Festival in Nashville that she went to.
Anna Claire and Elise bouncing around.

Her bag of candy on top of cotton candy and cupcakes
Coloring her shirt with Elise And these are the 2 newest additions to our back deck. Papa carved Anna Claire a pumpkin and gave it to her at Church yesterday. {I think Anna Claire is just an excuse for Papa to carve pumpkins again. LOL} Anna Claire conned Hot Dog Diggity Dog aka Mickey Mouse out of Grammy on Saturday. She talked about him all the way home. She kept telling me that Hot Dog Diggity Dog was in the back of the car asleep. You gotta love her!!

Just Because............

This post will be random bc it's been a few weeks since I've posted. I'm still waiting on an answer from Cover Kids about Anna Claire's insurance. They told me I could call and check on it the 9th. (They got my fax on 9/21) I did finally break down yesterday and call the Dr's office. Lynette was able to see Anna Claire and I at the same time, so that was great. Anna Claire has an ear infection and upper respiratory mess and I have a double ear infection. I got a shot, which Anna Claire got very upset about bc she wanted a shot first, and an antibiotic. Anna Claire got an antibiotic and cough syrup. Hopefully we are both on the mend for now. I've got a cute video of Anna Claire saying her ABC's that I will try to post here, but for some reason I have a hard time getting the sound to work on the blog, so it may have to go to facebook.

We have a busy few weeks ahead. Friday Barnyard goes to the Pumpkin Patch, Saturday a birthday party in Smyrna that we may or may not make, Sunday church and Granddaddy's birthday in Nashville. Halloween party on the 24th and Halloween on the 31st. We may or may not make an appearance at the Webb School Arts and Crafts Festival. = )







This is Joey the Snake. Anna Claire named him Joey, don't ask me why bc I have no idea. Big Daddy bought Joey for Anna Claire at at Gulf World while we were in Florida. Out of all the stuffed animals in the store, Anna Claire wanted a "sneek" as she called it. {Yes he is as big as he looks and sometimes he sleeps in the bed with us. Nice!!}

This was my attempt to take a picture of a sleeping 2yr old. You see she was messing with me and was not asleep. After I took her picture she asked, "Mommy you take picture with me?" Which explains the picture below. = )

This is Kerry's reason for getting out of bed in the month of October every year. LOL!! It is only October 7th and I have already bought 7 boxes of Boo Berry's. {Seriously!!}



I tried to put the ABC video of Anna Claire up, but you couldn't hear it. My phone does 3G2 videos and for some reason blogger has issues uploading the sound on them. Sorry!!

I forgot to add that Anna Claire poopied on the potty Saturday. I won't share the picture, but I did take one and sent it to her MeMe, Big Daddy, and Daddy bc they were not at home. LOL!! It hasn't happened since then, but hey a Momma can dream.

My Breaking Point

I reached my breaking point a few minutes ago and broke down in tears. As you know, Kerry lost his job. He is collecting UE. I am doing my best to make ends meet without asking to borrow money from Momma and Cliff, even though I know they would help me. On top of Kerry loosing his job, our health insurance was lost as well. We don't meet the qualifications for TennCare, but we do meet the qualifications for Cover Kids so I can at least try to get Anna Claire health insurance. The Cover Kids process is turning out to be very drawn out. First she was denied coverage bc she has had health insurance the past 3 months, so last Monday I turned in the letter from BCBS showing it was involuntary termination of coverage. This is what Cover Kids requested for her application to be re-submitted. Now I am waiting on an answer from them again. In the mean time Anna Claire has been sick for 2 weeks. I decided this afternoon that I would go ahead and take her to the Dr, just to be safe. I decided I needed to get her a Dr here in town since she is sick so much. This will keep me from being out of work so long with drive to Murfreesboro, plus I was looking to change her anyway bc of MMC's billing office. It would save me money in the long run not driving to Murfreesboro and right now we need to save as much as possible. So..........I called a Dr here in town that I was referred to by more than one person. They told me she was a great Dr and so was her PA. I called her office and was informed that since Anna Claire does not have health insurance they will not see her. My response was "seriously?" The guy that answered the phones response was, " yes, we do not accept straight pay. Sorry, that is just how it is at this time." I said thanks and hung up.


OK, I'm sorry, but how can you deny taking care of a sick 2yr old bc she does not have health insurance? It's not her fault. I am trying to get her an appointment at a Dr's office bc she is not sick enough for the ER. This is why our ER's are over crowded bc Dr's refuse to see new patients with out health insurance!!!!!!!!! I am doing the best I can to get her health insurance, but the government is making it hard on me bc I have a job. What happened to helping people that are trying to help themselves? I don't get it!! I was willing to pay for her Dr's visit upfront. I would have paid cash, if that would have made them happy. It just doesn't make any sense to me and quiet frankly I am MAD about it.

So, needless to say I will call Dr. B and make the drive to Murfreesboro bc she will accept my straight pay. I guess on the bright side, if I pay upfront, I don't have to deal with the billing office. :

Florida 2009

We left for PCB Florida on September 11th and came back on September 19th. Anna Claire did great on the ride down there and back. I was very proud of her. It rained a lot while we were there, but Anna Claire didn't care. We went swimming rain or shine, although I must admit I enjoyed it more when the sun was shinning. : ) We went to Gulf World, which was excellent, and made numerous trips to Pier Park. Big Daddy and Daddy refused to go to Pier Park after their 2nd trip there, so we went without them. MeMe, Anna Claire, and I ate at Margaritaville 3 times while we were there and Marble Slab was almost a nightly trip we had to make. (both in Pier Park) The train and the carousel (Merry Go Round as Anna Claire calls it) were also located in Pier Park. AC and I rode on the train two times, Daddy rode once, and then we each got a turn riding on the carousel with Anna Claire. Good times!!

First time at the beach this year

I told him not to go out that far with her!!
This is why!!
After that, she wanted no part of the ocean the rest of the week. This is where she preferred to be, if we were not at the pool. Her first glimpse of the Balloon Pirate on stilts at Margaritaville Her mouse and dog balloons
Anna Claire's balloon hat and balloon rabbit
Gulf World
Don't you love the enthusiasm in this picture. LOL!! Shaking the Dolphin's Fin (which she LOVED) Kisses from Otto the Sea Lion
Chasing Daddy around a Palm tree. This was Daddy's idea. Riding on the Train and Carousel

I have to ask myself, why? HOOTER'S of course. Vacation would not be complete without it. LOL!! Golf anyone? Pool Pictures

Marble Slab!!!!!!

Looking for a New Pediatrician

I know some of you already know that I am looking for a new Pediatrician for Anna Claire, but probably are wondering why. I want to first state that we LOVE Dr. B at MMC. She is awesome and so helpful even over the phone. The billing office at the front of MMC is lacking, in my opinion, in personality and competency. I have had issues with the billing office before and have let them go, but yesterday the lady set me on fire!!

As most of you already know, Kerry lost his job a few weeks ago. Kerry was and has always been our main source of income, now it's just me and his unemployment which is half of what I make every week. It takes me 2 paychecks to bring home what he did in a week, so you see my problem, right? It is a very stressful time for me right now and I don't need the attitude from others to add to it.

A few days ago I got our bill from MMC for when Anna Claire was so sick. The insurance that we had was ok, but it didn't cover a lot, so we have a bill from MMC. I called them yesterday to set up a payment plan to get it paid. I called before the bill was due, so don't think the lady was hateful bc the bill is past due bc it's not. : ) I explained to the lady that I needed to set up payments. She told me my balance, which was about $100 more than my bill showed, but I didn't argue with her.

She told me I could pay $50 per month. I told her that I could not afford $50 per month right now bc my husband lost his job.
~Her response, in a VERY hateful tone, was "WELL, DO YOU HAVE A JOB?"
~My response, "why yes I do have a job, a house payment, an electric bill, gas bill, grocery bill, etc.... just like you do except I'm doing it without 75% of our usual income. Now again, I cannot afford $50 per month right now."
~Her response "well $50 a month is all I can come up with."
~My response "well last time I was able to pay $20 per month."
~Her response "I can't do $20, how about $35"
~My response "ok fine"

Then she proceeds to tell me that there is still $700 outstanding on my account that insurance has not paid for May of 2007. That's right May 2007!! (Anna Claire was born in April 2007) She told me that if insurance continues not to pay then I will be responsible for it. WRONG!! I tried to take care of this last year. The $700 was for AC's first set of shots. MMC's billing office apparently misplaced the bill from the Dr's office and filed it sometime in 2008. When they filed it, they filed it under the wrong Cigna insurance. They told me Cigna had denied the bill last August 2008. I called Cigna and the guy told me that they filed it under the wrong Cigna. He gave me the correct Cigna information and told me to tell them that they only had 3 weeks until the deadline was up to file that bill. I turned right around and called MMC and gave them the correct information. They are just now trying to file the bill again and it's too late. Cigna will not cover it bc it's past the filing deadline and Cigna informed me that I do not have to pay the bill bc Anna Claire had credible health care coverage at the time of the visit to cover the bill, but MMC billing still says I have to pay the $700.'

As much as I love Dr. B, I cannot continue to deal with their billing office at MMC. The job question did me in. I was trying to set up a payment, not walk away from the bill like some people do. I was doing the right thing. I did not deserve her attitude.

My dream is that Dr. B will move back to Shelbyville and open a practice here since most of her family is here. A girl can dream, right?

So there you have it.

2009 Celebration Dog Show

We decided to let Anna Claire show Daisy in the dog show this year at the Celebration. We knew it would be interesting to say the least. MeMe had t-shirts made that said Anna Claire and "Daisy" on the front and Puppy Class Celebration 2009 on the back of the shirts. A little over the top, but it was fun. The shirts matched AC's out fit perfectly and I found some pink and white polka dot ribbon to match as well. I gave MeMe the ribbon and said "here, do something with this." LOL!! MeMe added bows to AC's number, which turned out very cute!!

When we got to the arena after Church I was expecting AC to be in the puppy class only. I should have known better!! MeMe entered her in the puppy class, the 8 and under class, and the World Grand Champion Class {I thought I was going to fall out!! LOL}. Anna Claire was in class 2, 5, and 13!! Yes class 13, but it gets better!! We were in an indoor arena in the middle of the day with no air-conditioning, a fur ball of a puppy, a 2 yr old, and Momma {that would be me} had on blue jeans!! Anna Claire and Daisy did not place in the puppy class and Daddy was heated {and not just bc it was hot in there ~ LOL}. I told him it was ok and that she couldn't win everything. {even though deep down I was heated as well bc I don't loose well, but one of us had to be an adult about it, right? ~ LOL} The 8 and Under class was so big that they had to split it in to 2 class {there were about 30 children under 8 years old for this class}, so that turned class 13 in to class 14, another class was split so class 14 then turned to class 15!! Oh My!!

{This is how I felt about it too!!}

Anna Claire and Daisy won first place in the 8 and under class 5b. Anna Claire got her "tinker medal", as she calls it, and was ready to go. Little did she know we still had to wait for 9 more classes before it was our turn again. Class number 15 is called in and I see a light at the end of the tunnel. By this time I had chased Anna Claire across the show ring floor 3 times {remember blue jeans and no air-conditioning}, my body temperature was at least 110 degrees, Daisy was panting, Anna Claire got her butt popped by her Daddy, and that was the end of it. The butt popping broke her down!! We head to the show ring and she cried all the way around the ring. They line us up and call the ones they want to stay to the center of the ring. Number 328 step in!! I was so happy for her and Daisy, but they could have cared less. It's now time to make our way around the ring some more, yeah right. Half way around Anna Claire gave up on me. I had to pick her up and carry her. I think Daisy really wanted me to carry her as well, but I was out of room. Finally it was time to go home!!

Look at the concentration on her face!! Her Daddy does that with his lips when he is concentrating too.

Daddy never missed a beat with the camera. Daisy and Anna Claire decided to swap sides on me.

I'm pretty sure Daisy and Anna Claire were checking out some dog poop. {seriously}

Loving on Mommy while we waited, after checking out the dog poop of course.

A "tinker medal" and a blue ribbon too!?!?

Checking out the "tinker medal"

Big Daddy why are you letting her chew on her "tinker medal"?

Anna Claire and Daddy in deep conversation about her and Daisy's win. {well Daddy was having a conversation, but it looks like Anna Claire was just eating ice focusing on someone else.}

And this "little" fella giving Anna Claire a kiss was the 2008 Dog Show World Grand Champion!! {now do you see why I about fell out when I found out MeMe had entered little Daisy and Anna Claire in that class}