Merry Christmas, Baby!!

What a wonderful Christmas we had! I have always loved this time of the year, but I never knew how absolutely magical it could be until this year. Reeves was an angel. He was so fascinated bythe lights and the music and the wrapping paper. He gave us an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve morning - he can now sit up, unassisted, indefinitely. Grandmother had said he would be sitting by Christmas, but I wasn't so sure. Turns out she was right. I suppose they really do know best.

Just to run down the schedule of events over the long weekend:

Friday night - Dinner at the Humphreys with the Smiths, the Phillipps, and the Bearsches. This was great. It was too much fun watching the little ones play. We took lots of pics, but trying to get the three of them (Reeves, Leeze, and Henry) together was like trying to wrangle cats. But no matter, there are hundreds of adorable pictures of them anyway. You know how first time mamas are!
Bryant, Reeves, and I spent the night with David and Jenny and had a wonderful morning watching the boys play together the next morning. I cannot wait to watch these two grow up together. What a blessing to have family so close.
Then it was off for a couple of last minute errands, finish up wrapping, and head to church. St. Philip's is always magical on Christmas Eve. I have never really appreciated the children's service as much as I did this year. Nancy, I think Reeves answered Dubose when he screamed. It was too funny. All he cared about was looking all around and trying to pull Leeze's hair and dress. And all she cared about was walking back and forth along the kneeling bench and playing with the teenage girls in front of us. After church we went to Mom and Dad's for a little visit. It was very nice, and we got to see Mimi, which is always special. From there, we stopped by the Bryce's. Madelle and Stephen have been in town for over 6 months, and we have probably seen them 3 times. It is amazing how much we can take the special people in our lives for granted. Needless to say, what was going to be an early Christmas Eve ran much later, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.
Then it was the morning of the big day. How lucky we were that we didn't have to wrap Reeves' presents this year! He was just happy to see all the colors and lights. He got some fun toys, but his biggest enjoyment was helping us open our presents.
It was so exhausting that he fell asleep as soon as I put him in his seat - before we even walked out the door!
We had a great time at home on Reeves' first Christmas morning, then it was off to the Phillipps' for breakfast and opening. Leeze and Reeves were in their matching outfits. Leeze was too precious helping everyone unwrap and playing with the ribbons and her new ride along toy. Reeves finished up the nap he had started earlier. Breakfast was delicious, and we all got way more than we deserved from everyone.
Then we headed over to Grandmother and Poppa's. I love that the whole family still does this. I can't remember a Christmas without it, and I wish it could go on forever. I am so glad Leeze and Reeves have been able to be a part of it. They, of course, stole the show. There is nothing like a couple of babies to make everyone go silly. At times it was difficult to decide whether to open presents or watch them play. And they looked so cute in their little outfits.
Leeze has certainly turned into quite the little girl. She is really into carrying around purses. She picked up a bag Carolyn had given me and put it over her shoulder. I can only imagine, based on his actions thus far, that Reeves would have picked it up and started beating it against the floor!
Grandmother and Poppa gave Reeves a book with a mirror on the last page. He loves it!! (or he loves himself - hard to tell!)
We had a lovely dinner and ate entirely too much. Grandmother always cooks an enormous roast, and I think it gets better and better each year. It is so amazing to see how are family has grown - particularly in the last two years!
And for the last leg of our Christmas day, we went out to the country to see the Bairs.
More presents and more family. It was too much fun. Reeves got all kinds of toys and 2 keepsake ornaments for his first Christmas. We had gotten Preston a play backhoe, and he was set for the rest of the night. That was all he wanted to play with. I am sure he has figured out exactly how to make the bucket work by now.

More details later, when I have more time!!

Finally!

Well, score one for the little man. After months of fighting with the insurance company over coverage of Reeves' surgery, the insurance company has finally conceded. They are paying all the hospital charges!! What a wonderful early Christmas present! And what timing, after a few of us had, just Saturday night, been bemoaning the insurance companies.
It is just ridiculous that we had to go through all of this to have this resolved. As it turned out, MUSC did notify them within the required time period. Apparently, an email from them, coupled with a strongly worded letter from an attorney friend, was enough for the insurance company to concede. Oh, wait a minute, did I say "concede", what I meant to say, was accept their responsibility!! Which begs the question, "Is this truly standard practice for the insurance companies?" What happens to the people who don't have the ability or persistance to follow up like this? And those who don't have a friend who is a lawyer who can put some pressure on them? There must be hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by insureds unnecessarily. This almost borders on criminal. We were just about to set up a payment plan with MUSC because in a couple of weeks this would be going to collections, which would affect our credit. But what were we to do?
There must be a better way. It's not like this surgery was an option. We weren't having a mole removed! We were saving our son's life. I'm not begging for compassion from them. It would just be nice not to have them add insult to injury. I know for our family, I will be looking into a medical savings account or something similar. I'm tired of feeling like Oliver Twist. "Please, sir, can you pay my claim?"