Copay.

Most years I have a hard time using up the money in my health savings account. This year we've already used it all up, and it's only March 1.

Three weeks ago, Nate went to the doctor on a Friday afternoon with back pain, was told it was muscular, and was sent home with a mild muscle relaxer. By Saturday night he was in severe pain and unable to get up. We took him to the ER at 5am on Sunday morning where he was diagnosed with a bulging disk and sciatica. He was pumped full of morphine and sent home with muscle relaxers, steroids, and pain pills.

That same weekend, Calvin and I both came down with colds. After a week of dealing with constant snot flow and a very irritable baby, we took Calvin to the doctor. She said he was fine, just teething and crabby from the cold. He seemed to get better, but then this weekend he came down with a cough, and yesterday he woke up with a very high fever and was wheezing. So again, we headed for the ER at 5am on a Sunday morning. He has a sinus infection, which antibiotics have helped greatly in the last 24 hours. And he finally cut that tooth this morning, thank heavens. Poor baby was so sick, but so sweet in his little hospital gown. The nurse said he was her first patient in a 12-hour shift, and she was certain he'd be her cutest patient all day. :)

I've been sick off and on since I had The Swine in October. I get better, I get worse. I got much worse this weekend, and ended up going to urgent care yesterday after Nate convinced me I might have pneumonia. The doctor took one quick listen to my lungs and thought the same. Two chest x-rays later, I was diagnosed with a sinus infection, a respiratory infection, and asthma. (ASTHMA? I'm almost 31! I thought that was a diagnosis most people got in elementary school.) So now I'm on antibiotics and steroids, and have my very first inhaler.

So...yeah. Good times at the Breyer household. Here's hoping that two visits to the emergency room, two visits to the doctor, a trip to urgent care, and seven prescriptions are all it takes for us to be a healthy family again.

Business in the front, McLaughlin in the back.

I have some serious concerns about my child's hair. He was born with straight hair, but now it's beginning to take on some frightening characteristics.

His hair is starting to look...nappy.

But only in the back. The front looks exactly like Nate's — soft, straight, a little poofy. He even has the Breyer hairline. But the back is super textured and kind of kinky.

What if that's what he ends up with? Stick straight Breyer poof in the front, nappy McLaughlin afro in the back?

Poor kid. I figured he'd get one or the other...but not both. Definitely not both. That's just cruel.

Though I'm sure it would make for an outstanding mullet someday, if he decides to go that route.