An Expensive Summer for Andy...

Another Andy post, so soon. 

He had a rather expensive summer.  And I am not trying to complain, just sayin'.

In June we went on a family campout/vacation with Scott's side in Moab.  It is hot in Moab in June.  So we went to their new aquatic center, which is very impressive.  There is a "lazy river" thing, where the current pushes you around.  Andy got in it at just the right--or rather wrong--spot and the current pushed him into the wall.  This was the result:

A chipped front tooth

So we spent just over $200 to get it fixed in Brigham City--the second leg of our vacation. 

About a month later we were camping in Colorado when he was wading in the river and almost sliced the bottom off of his big toe.  (I took a picture but I won't post it since it is pretty gross and not everyone likes to look at stuff like that).  Ten stitches outside and a few disolveable ones on the inside.  The bill--a little more than $60 a stich.  (And yes we have insurance, but we haven't met the deductible yet, which means we have been healthy and mostly accident free this year--unlike last year).  

Though his toe healed nicely with no infection, that $200 tooth job didn't hold up very long as he chipped it off again at school today.  Hmm.  But it isn't a painful thing because it is below the nerve, just cosmetic.  I mean I guess it bothers him a little bit when he bites stuff off.  I got him another dentist appointment in a week so we will see what our options are then.

We have one more camping trip Labor Day weekend and then a quick trip to Utah again for a family photo.  Maybe we should keep Andy in bubble wrap, as my neighbor suggested, just in case...

Uh-oh. Andy is cooking...

He didn't realize you shouldn't put popcorn shrimp on a plastic plate and then put it in the toaster oven.  However, he did figure that out while it was only melting and not yet on fire...by the way, the plate used to be square.

A New School Year

Last year I had kids in 4 diffferent schools, counting Cameron's preschool.  This year, I am down to 2--high school and elementary.  My youngest is in kindergarten and my oldest is a senior.  In some ways it seems a long time coming (having all my kids in school) and in others it has gone by fast.

It was harder than I thought it would be to send Cameron to school.  I was more emotional than I anticipated. I was ready for him to go.  After all I have been a stay at home mom with kids at home for 17 years now.  And he was ready both socially and academically (he is reading).  Yet I still had nagging doubts because he is barely 5 and he still has speech issues, and he is small in size.   But I have to admit it was hardest because of his birthmark.  And he doesn't even care.  But it is like now I am sending him out into the cruel world by himself, where as before he was with me in the 'world' and only at preschool with small people his age, not big kids.  I worry more about the few weeks after the laser treatments than just the everyday.  And I keep thinking we should just stop them for a while, but when will it be easier for him than in kindergarten?

And my first baby a senior in high school.  Hard to believe that the little boy who loved dressing up and playing pretend, and was such a Pokemon fan, turned into a teenager who loves his music and drums (and sleeping) has started his last year of school .

First Day of School Pics 

 

Janessa, 2nd grade    Andy, 4th grade  

Cameron K (actually his 2nd day cuz kinder started a day early)

 

 

 Brennen, first day of high school 9th grade

 and for Dustin, well, he didn't pose for a picture. 

Update on Cameron's port wine stain

Cameron turned 5 last month, which means he is starting kindergarten!  He has had 5 laser treatments for his port wine stain in the last year.  He does fine with the treatments and doesn't seem to mind too much, or at least he doesn't say much about it.  It is harder on mom than him. It was kind of interesting last time because we got to the hospital about 20 minutes early, so I drove over to a pond nearby with turtles and ducks.  I asked if he wanted to go to see the ducks and he said "No. I just want to go to my laser surgery."  Not sure how to take that except maybe that he just wanted to go and get it over with.

These pictures are on his birthday, 2 weeks after his last treatment.  Though it isn't recommended to do a treatment in the summer because he needs to avoid sun exposure before and after, we went ahead and did it anyway for insurance reasons.  He faithfully wore a hat and sunscreen--even while playing soccer!

Which brings me to my next point.  Cameron has been on NM Medicaid the past two years.  I know I complained about government healthcare before, but I have to eat crow and say I have loved Medicaid.  It has paid 100% of everything.   It is a little harder to find a doctor and dentist at first, but it has been good for us.  Cameron was on Mediciad because when my husband started his business three years ago and we had to buy private health insurance, we couldn't find a company that would cover Cameron because of his birthmark. We didn't qualify for Medicaid in Utah, but when we moved to  New Mexico, we did.  But the business is doing well and so we are over income limits and no longer qualify. His coverage ended on July 31.

I was a little panicky because I found out that NM doesn't have a health insurance pool for kids who are uninsurable.  And if you do not have health insurance for 63 days or more, the pre-existing conditions apply.  So I needed to find insurance fast, and from previous experience it isn't a fast process.  However, I found out that the healthcare reform has changed things a little bit for kids in the last three years--apparently now a child cannot be denied on a family plan.  And I also found a company in NM that had a child coverage guarantee.  And it only took a few weeks for it all to go through.  Though we may add him to our family plan later, for now he is covered through the child coverage guarantee with Presbyterian Health.  However, the premiums for him are more than double the base premium, but we are happy to have him insured again.  Of course the question remains whether they will cover his laser...but we will fight so they will.


Here are some pictures a year before he started laser

and today--his first day of school! (gulp! my baby...)