Already, 1/2 way through second grade, she’s only lost 3 baby teeth.  They took forever to come out too.  She lost the 1st 2 within a couple of minutes of each other.  And in that space we only got 2 adult teeth.  Her top 2 center baby teeth have been wiggly since September.  And I’d guess at this time they are only 1/2 way to coming out.

Our dentist told us at our checkups in Jan that we should probably have an orthodontist look at her teeth.  He was worried about crowding.  She has NO space between any of her baby teeth.

Side note – Aidan, resident thumb sucker, has no teeth problems.  Five years of sucking his thumb and his bite is perfectly lined up.  Figures.

I took her in and we found the massive problem brewing underneath her gums.  The next adult teeth on the bottom (incisors?) are turned back under her gums and over her 1st adult canines.  And the other adult canines/molars are bunching up as well.  The top ones are straight for now but probably headed the same direction.  Her top 2 that have been loose for so long – well, they have no root left.  Essentially they are just wedged into her very crowded teeth.

She has gone in to have a mouth mold done.  We are going to have 9 baby teeth pulled – the 4 front ones on top, and on the bottom – 3 on one side and 2 on the other (remember, she lost 3, so that will even her up).  I think on the bottom she’ll only have molars left.  The are making an appliance for the bottom that will keep her molars from sliding forward once the teeth are removed.

Then we wait – wait for the adult teeth to come in and see how bad the damage is.  Most likely she will need braces on the bottom to correct the problem that is already there.  I’m praying God works a miracle and her teeth straighten up as they come in.  They will just continue monitoring, pulling teeth as required.

Most likely she will need adult teeth pulled as well.  He said he can use some things to give her some better spacing, but not enough to make room for all her adult teeth.  Then probably another round of braces when she’s about 12.

So next week we begin pulling teeth.  We’ll go in 2-3 session, depending on how she does.  Nitrous will be involved most likely since some still have roots.  That could provide some good entertainment.  We’ll post pics of her after the teeth are pulled.  I’m wondering what she’s going to eat.  Hmm…..

And we’ll keep praying that Aidan quits sucking his thumb and his teeth stay straight.

Colorado Vacation Summer 2010

Summer 2010

Branson 2010

Halloween/Christmas 2010

I was actually pretty excited – loving that he chose me over playing with the neighborhood girls, which actually shocked me.  So we hit Kid-to-Kid, where he played on a bike and helped me chose clothes.  We got Daddy’s things he needed at Lowe’s, where Aidan said his only request was to be able to go look at the water fountains in the garden area.  He loves those things!

Then we hit Walmart for “badge glue”, aka fabric glue to put his badges on his vest for Rainbows.  He loved seeing the fish there and was just in a really good mood.  Then he said he wanted a haircut so we headed to the mall.

He got his haircut and was rewarded with a strawberry julius.  Kirkland’s was having a sale and I asked if he minded if I looked around.  “No Mommy, go ahead.  And I’ll go to, and I won’t even touch anything.”  And he didn’t.  He got plenty of smiles from people when in the middle of the store he said “Mommy, I love you.  I need a kiss.”

Then we hit Children’s Place and he was great – til he tripped and hit his face on the bottom of a clothing rack.  Instant bruise.  So we headed home.

And no day is complete without some random question from him.

A: Mommy, why do you and Emma’s boobies look different?

M: What do you mean?

A: You know – hers are small.

M: Well, you don’t get boobies til you’re bigger.

A: Oh, ok.  I can’t wait til I’m bigger and get mine then.

Ah, only something he could come up with.

And it was followed up by grilled cheeses for dinner, swimming, and snuggling to go to sleep.  I pray for many more days like this when my little boy loves nothing more than being with mommy, even if just to shop.

Spring Pics

Let me know if the link doesn’t work.  First time I’ve tried setting a link back to Facebook.

Me: “Well, on your birthday it just happens.  You turned 4.”

A: “I knew it! That settles it – my heart is just magic.  It knew to turn me 4.”

They wondered if the tornado was going to take our house away.  I told them it wasn’t going to hit us and we’d be fine.  But of course Emma had to do her what ifs – but what if it does?  What if our house is gone?  Where will we live?  What will happen to our toys?  I was trying to say yes Emma, you’re right, tornados can do that, but the chances are slim and Jesus will protect us so don’t worry.

About two miles from home, Aidan got into a panic listening to Emma and said “Mommy, I don’t want the tornado to take away my toys.”  He was near tears.  He can be a bit hard to calm down sometimes.  So when we got home, I checked the weather.  Sure enough, everything was heading right for us.  So I told the kids to pack some of their toys in a backpack to take down with us to the basement if we needed to go, but just to grab their most important toys – not everything.

They ran off upstairs to pack – and were pretty excited about it.  Who knew packing for tornadoes could be so much fun.  Aidan came down with a handful of action figures and put them in my purse, because according to him, “Mommy, I put them in there because you have to take your purse with you.  It has your phone in there.”  So he was set.

And then, my dear Emma, kicked her pack-rat instincts into high gear.  For those of you who know Emma, this is no surprise.  She grabbed a small suitcase and managed to stuff it full of a complete random collection of crap, as only she can do.  But, as she pointed out, she also put in a stuffed animal for Caleigh.

By this time, Brian got home and was saying, “We may really end up in the basement.”  The sky went from light to almost complete black.  Pretty scary but pretty cool.  Emma was glad to have Daddy home because her suitcase was too heavy to bring downstairs and she instructed him that if we ran to the basement, he was in charge of getting her suitcase.

Emma then said “hey Mommy, you didn’t pack your suitcase or toys.”  I told her that I didn’t need to.  If we had to go, the only thing I’d probably grab on the way down was the computer base since it has most of the kids’ pictures on it.   Aidan obviously overheard us.  Because two minutes later he comes running into the kitchen saying “Mommy, I’ve got your stuff for you!”  and there he was, carrying the computer keyboard.  It was so cute to see him being so helpful.

Needless to say, the storm passed and we never went to the basement.  But it’s great to know that my little kiddos are prepared for a tornado – action figures, suitcases, keyboard and all.

Emma – has now lost 3 teeth.  She pulled the last one herself.  I think she’s in for braces.  She just doesn’t have room for her adult teeth.  Lost 2 baby’s – only one adult fits, which pushed out another baby, which doesn’t fit the new adult ones coming in….do we detect a pattern here?  Otherwise, she’s doing great and ready for the end of her 1st grade year.  She has only 7.5 school days left.

Aidan – what a character.  That’s all I can say.  I think he’s growing out of his troublemaker stage.  At least I hope so.  He can make you completely upset and turn around and do the sweetest thing – all in a 30 second period.

Caleigh – she’s got a wondeful, sweet personality starting to come through.  She is still struggling with talking.  She’s gonna start speech therapy.  The think after 6 months she’s probably be talking up a storm.  We took her for a hearing test too.  Hearing passed but she has fluid in her ears – with no signs to us of ear infections.  We go tomorrow to talk that.  I’m bracing myself for talks of tubes in the ears.

Brian – doing good and getting into the swing of spring/summer and the landscaping business.  He’s lost about 30 lbs this year so far.  (grr….. I hate how guys just lose it so quickly.)

Me – still busy w/ work.  I’m not traveling quite so much.  And ready for the fate of this program to be decided.

Random thought of the weekend: when I grow up, I want to be the person who paints the logos/designs on the grass for events.  How fun would that be?

Opening The Blinds