It's funny...but it's not

My main focus right now at work is life insurance and educating people on the importance of it.  It's hard to convey to younger people that it's cheaper now than when you are older and although it might be crude, everyone dies.  It's responsible, especially if you have children, to get something in place so they are left with the funds for their future or to at least pay for your funeral.

So a girl at work took out a life insurance policy on her daughter when she was born.  At the time, she really only took it out to help us get our application count.  But when she was a few years old she started having seizures and is now on an anti seizure medication that she will probably have to take for the rest of her life.  Thank goodness she took out that policy on her daughter when she was born because now her daughter is ineligible for any sort of life insurance policy because of her seizure condition.

When I was home for Thanksgiving I had a conversation with my dad about that situation because I was considering getting policies for my neices as part of their Christmas presents.  My dad had mentioned that it's pretty rare that kids become uninsurable...especially from a seizure.  I actually agreed with him because it's not too common that I know of. Therefore, I'm pretty sure he jinxed the fact that as soon as we got home Sanai had a seizure.

I literally had the application for her life insurance in my computer bag, I've just been waititng for her social security number to be issued.  NEVER did I think she would have a seizure.  That's the whole point though...you never know when something will happen to you or someone you love and it's better to be prepared!!

Luckily, her seizure was caused by a fever and it isn't something that requires medication.  But her life insurace will now be higher because of the seizure and will be considered for a lower rate two years from the date it's issued if she doesn't have anymore seizures.

It's funny that only a few days ago my dad had mentioned how it was pretty uncommon for kids to have uninsurable conditions...but it's not really that funny.

I survived Thanksgiving...barely...and not without a large hit to our bank account!  Each year for T-giving and Christmas we alternate who's family we visit.  This year we were headed to Iowa to celebrate so on Tuesday before we left we took my vehicle in for a tire rotation and oil change.  Unfortunately, one of my tires needed to be replaced adding a hefty tag to my bill.  It's ok, rather safe than sorry.

We were about 6 hours into our 10.5 hour trip and my car decides it's over heated and I have to pull over.  We waited an hour and a half for a tow, the guy was super nice.  He took our vehicle to his shop then loaded our bags, car seats, presents and other useless travel items into his truck and drove us 20 minutes to the nearest rental car place.  We loaded up into the rental and finished out our trip.

In the tow truck

My dad ended up driving us 4 hours back to the repair place and we picked up our vehicle.  Apparently the water pump broke which was not cheap.  Another lovely bill.  We made the 6 hour trek back to our home in Tennessee.  Between the coughing, crying and crabiness I tried to keep my sanity.  We got home around midnight.

This morning I got up and got the kids ready for daycare, but when I woke Sanai up I noticed she was very hot.  She's been teething and her nose has been running so I didn't think too much about it. I gave her some tylenol, got her dressed and took her out to the car.  I buckled her in and was looking for something in the car when I heard her sneeze.  This normally means that there is a rocket of snot smeared on her face but when I peeked to check on her, she was staring blankly at the sky.  I rustled her and said her name but she didn't move.  I quickly unbuckled her and she was limp!  I strapped her back up and ran into the house to grab my three year old.

My poor pumpkin

Luckily, we live very close to the hospital and I'm sure I made it there in record time. I could hear her convulsing while we were driving and I was so scared. I have never experience a seizure and wasn't even sure that is what was going on. I parked and ran with her in my arms into the ER.  The nurse promptly came and took her and we undressed her.  I fumbled my phone and called my husband and my boss.

My friend Dawn, an incredible nurse, who came to help

In about 5 minutes she started becoming more alert.  They took her vitals, xrays, blood work and gave her a few shots.  Her temp was 102.9 and apparently she had a febril seizure which is caused when an infant/toddler's body temp is very high.  She also has an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection.  She received a breathing treatment and was dischared about 2.5 hours after we arrived.

She's been prescribed an antiobiotic and a steroid and has been sleeping most of the day.  This evening she's been back to her normal self. I'm sure we'll take turns checking on her every hour tonight!

Slept on mommy most of the day

I saw this video posted on a friends facebook page and I die laughing every time I watch it!!

I've heard quite a few of these comments and I know most of the time they don't mean to be rude, it's to be expected I think because a lot of people aren't educated about adoption.

ENJOY...

Boy...life gets in the way of my blogging!!

If you didn't know, November is National Adoption Month!!  Whether it be domestic or foreign adoption or foster care, we are all called to care for the fatherless.  I hope you will take some time this Holiday season to go out of your way to do something for a child in need whether it be in your own town or half way acrossed the world.  I plan to write another post about giving with a purpose, but that will be another day :)

On Sunday, November 3rd it was "Orphan Sunday".  Orphan Sunday was designed to get your church involved in discussions about adoption and caring for the fatherless.  I was a little behind the ball and didn't have a chance to discuss this with our Pastor but it was neat to hear about other families who had big discussions with their whole church about their experiences with adoption and how they answered questions from people who might be considering adoption or foster care.  So as a way to celebrate Orphan Sunday we decided to meet friends of ours in Nashville to see their sweet boy Eli Thomas who came home about a month after Sanai did.

When we went to Ethiopia to meet Sanai in July our friends, Ashley and Dwayne, had already been there to meet Eli and took some photos of Sanai for us.  We made sure we gave Eli some love while we were there.  We haven't had a chance to see him since he came home in September so we were super excited to meet him!!

They weren't real sure about each other, there was a lot of looking and grabbing. ha ha  Look at Eli's bottom lip, soooo cute!!

I couldn't believe how much bigger Eli was than Sanai...and he's a month younger than her!  I didn't realize how petite our little girl was until I held Eli. ha ha

I'm so glad that we have met another family who has gone through this journey with us.  Another family to bounce ideas off of and share our concerns and obstacles as we move forward.  We haven't started planning their wedding yet but we both wouldn't mind little Ethiopian grand babies running around in the future :)