Hellobee

When the Trikester was born last Thanksgiving, we weren’t thinking about how much his delivery cost – I was too focused on the back labor to consider ANYTHING other than survival. Now, six months later, I’ve had time to look at the hospital bills and our insurance reimbursement.

Getting to know each other in the hospital

I’ve already blogged about our hospital experience – it wasn’t plush or luxurious, but it was plenty adequate. We delivered at the only hospital north of NYC with a level 3 NICU, so there was plenty of great care available, should we need it.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that struggles to figure out medical billing – stuff is crazy complicated! There were multiple bills – a “facilities” bill from the hospital, and then separate bills from each doctor we saw during our stay. I had a vaginal delivery, with an epidural and no complications. We spent 1 night in the hospital following the Trikester’s birth. After some research, here’s the breakdown of our costs (the best I can figure):

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Little M turned 17 months old last week, which means that waaaaay back in December we celebrated his first birthday. We called him our baby bee when I was pregnant and for his first year, so it was only fitting that we throw him a bee themed party.

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This past December we moved into a new home.  It was a big change going from a 2 bedroom condo to a 4 bedroom home, and many of the rooms are empty still as we don’t have enough furniture to fill the place. But the nice thing is Drake now has his own room and won’t have to share with Chocolate Baby when they arrive.

Since Drake was a surprise baby, we decorated his nursery in the condo in a light yellow color with some white trim and filled the room with giraffes, as I adore them.  It was very simple as we knew we would be moving eventually, and wanted the room to be neutral and not scream nursery when we tried to sell. Now that we are in what will most likely be our forever home though, I am excited about  the prospect of decorating Drake’s (and Chocolate Baby’s ) rooms and not have to worry about resale factor.  I have a lot of ideas I have been working on for both Drake’s toddler room and Chocolate Baby’s nursery, which I hope to be sharing soon, but this post is dedicated to a feature wall idea I had after seeing this image on Pinterest.

Photo via Project Nursery

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We have a fantastic giveaway for you today from Freshly Picked! We’re giving away a pair of their gorgeous hand-made moccasins to 3 lucky winners!

These shoes can be dressed up or dressed down and go with everything. It’s no wonder that everyone from your favorite style bloggers to celebrities are obsessed with them. They’re made of leather or suede, and come in a wide variety of beautiful colors that make it hard to choose just one. Olive has a pair of the platinum ones, but the pink ones are calling her name!

To enter to win, go here to sign up for our newsletter. After you subscribe to our newsletter, you will get emailed a link that you can post on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Your blog, etc. Every time someone enters off that referral link, you get 10 more entries — that greatly increases your chances of winning! If you are already subscribed to our newsletter, you can still enter your email to receive a referral link.

For extra entries:

1) comment on this post and let us know which color you’d choose!
2) follow Freshly Picked on Facebook and Twitter and let us know in the comments section by leaving 2 additional comments.
3) follow Hellobee on Facebook and Twitter and let us know in the comments section by leaving 2 additional comments.

This contest ends midnight EST May 29th when we’ll select one winner. Good luck!

In this edition of the Swarm, the Bees share their weekly meal plans!

N O E L L E  -  2 Y E A R S , 4 M O N T H S
J A R E N —  3  M O N T H S

I mainly plan our dinners because our breakfasts and lunches are more or less the same and very simple. I pack DH’s lunch at the same time I pack DD’s lunch each morning.

Breakfasts – I usually make a spinach/kale quiche twice a week, which makes for very quick, reheatable breakfasts.

Lunches – I’ll make tuna, chicken, or egg salads on Sunday nights so I can use them for packed work lunches (as sandwiches or scooped on top of salads) throughout the week. Toss in a couple pieces of fruit and we’re golden.

This is our dinner meal plan for this week (I start from Sunday to Saturday since Saturdays are our grocery shopping days) -

Sunday – Dakgalbi (marinated Korean chicken dish)
Monday – Date night (eat out)
Tuesday – Roasted chicken
Wednesday – Chicken soft tacos
Thursday – Asian-style sloppy joes
Friday – Chicken curry
Saturday – Leftovers

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Living in Southern California, the beach is a favorite summer hangout, especially for those of us who live more inland where it gets really hot. We have already taken Liam to the beach several times, and I know we will go at least once a week this summer because he loves it so much. Here are the things we can’t live without for beach trips:

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Here I am with my next monthly update and I just can’t believe it. For a change, there is quite a bit to report on both kids! We have been going through a lot of changes lately and thankfully, most of them are good changes.

Lil Miss Wagon

The biggest change of all this month is that LMW started getting into a sitting position… by herself!! She has also started pulling up to stand on her own, and she’s crawling on hands and knees with her belly off the floor, but both are not very consistent. But all the new gross motor skills are very exciting for all. It is so cute to watch her on the video monitor in her crib and see just the top of her head as she’s just sitting up in her crib, looking around. She also gets up on her knees into a kneeling position and grabs the crib bars like a little prisoner trying to get free.

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