Time Flies

I have already labeled myself the worse blogger ever, so is it really any surprise that I haven't posted anything in several months.? We are so busy, and I feel guilty sitting at the computer updating things when I should be doing something that is actually useful. So, I am shooting for once montly updates.

Andy has had one more episode of epiglottitis requiring a late night trip to the ER. He didn't respond as quickly as we hoped to the epinephrine, so we spent the night in observation. This one was precipitated by strep pharyngitis. It has been about 5 weeks since that last visit, and it appears that we are slowly spreading them out. Instead of once or twice every month, we have gone up to 6 weeks! We saw another specialist, this time a pulmonologist, who basically said the same thing as the otorhinolaryngologist: Andy will grow out of the subglottic stenosis when he is between 2-5 years old. We are hoping for the 2 year old mark.

At Andy's most recent doctor visit, he weighed 27lbs and was 33.5inches tall. He has grown 6 inches since his one year visit! Does it hurt to grow that fast? His feet are ridiculuous; we are on the fourth size since he came home in October. And they are like blocks, very thick. Not all shoes will fit his "tall" feet.

We finalized Andy's adoption on June 1st. Fabulous day.

Coby and I do other things besides gaze in wonder at Andy. Coby was involved in live burn training in late May, where fire departments from all over the country come to train with OKC Fire. It's probably not something you know, but OKC has a reputation for safety and has one of the busiest firehouses in the country (located at SW 59th and May). So other cities send their firefighters here for training. OKC is unique in that they have a wide variety of fires that they regularly fight, from grass fires to small house fires to large building fires. Additionally, they have several oil/gas type of fires every year. And with all the rain recently, his recent dive training was also put to use. I'm a little proud of Coby, but just a little.

I'm busy, busy, busy at work. People often ask me what I think about the changes in health care. The short version: it has the potential to be disasterous, forcing many primary care physicians to quit taking medicare or just quit completely. We have already felt the crunch of the temporary 21% paycut in medicare reimbursement (think of your salary cut by 1/4). Thankfully, Congress repealed the paycut, but only for 6 months. The amount of paperwork required by insurance companies is overwhelming, and I am tired of them telling me how to treat my patients. I have often wondered if I should have gone into another specialty, such as dermatology or radiology. But I would have been BORED. I love the essence of my job; I love that I take care of newborns, their parents and grandparents, too. I am beginning to loathe the red tape. Oh, and there is that pesky threat of litigation always in the back of my head...

Croup, again

We are anxiously awaiting the day that we don't have to go to the ER every time that Andy gets a croup-like illness. He can't grow out of his subglottic stenosis fast enough!

But overall, we are all doing well. Andy is a stacking genius, loves the vacuum, and wants to climb on everything.

I'm the worst blogger ever. I still can't bring myself to write about the everyday stuff.

Walking

It's official, we are walking everywhere now.

Snow

It seems like it has snowed &/or iced a lot this winter in OKC. Coby can pretty much drive anywhere in this stuff, which is nice. It's funny how he will jump at the chance to go get milk or TP when it means he can put the Jeep in 4WD.

Andy was recently hospitalized with RSV. We spent three days in the PICU, then another three days in a regular room. He was bored towards the end, but overall he was so good while hospitalized. He continues to amaze us with his ability to adapt to whatever situation he is in! I think Coby and I were more frustrated with staying in that small room than he was.

We met with our adoption attorney this week, who happens to have two children from S. Korea. We can't finalize the adoption until April, but we met with her to start gathering documents. So when the six month mark comes around, everything will be ready, and she can submit it to the court. Then we get a court date, stand in front of the judge and declare that we intend to support, love, etc... Andy forever amd make him part of our family. The judge OKs everything, and our adoption is done! It is at that time that we can legally change his name and get a birth certificate and certificate of citizenship. While we are calling him Andy, his legal name is still Hyeon Bhin Jeong. One of the quirks of this whole thing is that we already received a social security number and card in his legal name. We never applied for it; it came about one week after his green card arrived. According to everyone we have talked to, this is unusual. Hopefully, it won't cause us issues later on when we need to get another one with his new name.

We purchased a lot to eventually build a house. We picked out the house plans over three years ago; we would like to pay off as much of the lot as possible before we build, so it may be another year before we get started. Our builder is estimating it will take one year to build. So, we will be here for awhile. The lot is beautiful, 1.3 acres with lots of trees.

Anyway, life is good around the Toth house.

OMG!

I think it's funny that most societies have "bad words". What group of people decided that certain words are taboo? I don't go around sounding like a marine-sailor hybrid, but the occasional "bad word" has escaped me. The same people who think it is just so wrong to say these words are the same ones who use words like bootylicious, use FACEBOOK or TWEET as a verb, or use the phrase LOL when they aren't texting (I don't even like it in a text. If I can't tell you are being funny, well, then you're not). That's just poor grammar and lack of creativity on their part. But, I guess you could argue that saying a curse word when you are frustrated is also lack of creativity.

Whatever.

Scout, 2000-2010

We love you, sweet girl.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas, despite the last minute change in plans. We were supposed to go to Bartlesville to spend Christmas with Coby's parents, but the Blizzard of '09 forced us to stay here. So we went to my parent's house and had a leisurely Christmas afternoon. We will likely go to Bartlesville next weekend for a late holiday.

Andy started a new crawl/walk two days ago. We are calling it "The Crab". He is so close to walking, taking three steps today. I am torn about this latest development. He is so cute when he is crawling, and I am not sure how we are going to keep up with him once he walks. But, it seems inevitable that this milestone will soon be passed.