Hoppy Easter

Easter prep was just as much fun as the holiday.

A friend hosted an egg hunt in her back yard. That was a ton of fun! My girls had never been to an egg hunt before ( I know, I'm a slacker like that). Gracie ran so fast and she was scooping up eggs as if they were made of gold. The girl was on fire!  Libby did pretty well too and Charlie enjoyed all the activity.

That was sure good practice before the city-wide egg hunt. There was more competition for the treasure filled eggs. Gracie got two eggs, but they were good ones. She got two coupons for a free kids' meal, one at Chik-Fil-A and one at Farmer Bros. Nice!

We also went to visit the Easter Bunny. I wasn't very happy with the way they force you to buy photos, and they totally rip you off.  I've been emailing the company for a refund but not getting anywhere.  You can buy a portrait package or a USB with three images.  The problem is that the images are really tiny, only 300KB! Of course, they don't tell a person that the images are super tiny. Arg.  Good thing they're cute!

After we saw this bunny, we were at the city recreation office buying a really cool cup that says "Parks Make Life Better", when Gracie turned around and saw right through the open door of an office and got the shock of her little life.  She gasped and started in with "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" I turned around to see what she was freaking out about and she just pointed, "Look!"  There it was, the Easter bunny costume.  There was a big giant rabbit head sitting on the desk and the flat body folded over a chair.  On the floor were several large clear trash bags filled with colorful plastic eggs.  This little girl's eyes were nearly popping out of her face and I could just see the wheels turning in her brain. Then she looked at me and said, "Mom! The Easter Bunny is just a person who does a makeover!"

Later that same week, we went to see that rabbit.  She sure gave him a lookover before she sat with him.  Oddly enough, she didn't say a word about the traumatic sight in the rec office. I knew she knew.

We had some things to do at home to prepare for the holiday too.  We boiled and colored eggs.  I have never done this with the girls. Mainly, because it is such a mess and nobody eats the eggs (and because I'm a slacker).  But, Gracie and Libby seemed to be excited enough about Easter that they'll enjoy dying eggs.  Sandy will eat them if nobody else will. Out of our 18 eggs, ten survived to the end of the decorating process. That's more than half!  I expected far fewer to make it to the end.

The Easter bunny hopped by and dropped some things.  Yay!  He didn't drop very much candy, but he did pretty well on everything else.

They got beach towels, sand toys, back packs, music cds, cars, stuffed toys, flower pots, inflatable pool toys and more. They were pretty excited!

I didn't make a nice Easter dinner.  Again, I'm slacking. But we did go to a friend's house. She was having a pot-luck Easter party all day long thing.  I cut up some oranges to contribute and off we went. The kids would be able to play and run off some of their sugar high.  It was fun, the kids really did enjoy the Easter Sunday playdate and because they did, we did. Lexie and I relaxed and didn't take many pictures during the playdate, but the kids did anything but relax. They played good and hard! It was great!

Here I am with my little Easter bunnies.  I'm so excited because next Easter there will be one more!  My newest grandson, Henry should be arriving in just a few weeks.

A Visit from the Toothfairy

The toothfairy left me two crisp new ten dollar bills.  Cha-ching! I was hoping for a Benjamin, but a couple portraits of Alexander Hamilton will do just fine. Gracie was impressed.

I spent the week in nervous anxiety.  I tried to just stay busy so that I wouldn't have to think about it much.  It was a good way to dodge thoughts of the orthodontic hell that I am putting myself through.

The dentist and orthodontist both said, "this will be easy, a piece of cake, you'll be fine" and other lies like that. I saw right through them though and didn't believe.  Good thing too.  I asked my friends to babysit for me and had the whole day covered between two sitters.  That turned out to be another good thing, having two, because one didn't show up so the other one babysat all day.

Friday Doomsday came and I drug myself to the dentist's office. I had to sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes. Let the anxiety build, gee thanks. I grabbed a book from my purse and flipped through it.  I had with me today, "14,000 things to be happy about. The Happy Book by Barbara Ann Kipfer".  It's a thick paperback and it is literally a list of 14,000 happy things and happy thoughts. It is the perfect book for when you are in the dentist's lobby wondering why you don't just bolt outa there.

I finally was called back and I had this surge of relief that the waiting was over, and a wave of panic because it was time for my torture. Only the waiting wasn't over. I waited another 30 minutes back in the chair, facing the wall, no movie playing on the ceiling. 

The dentist finally came over and gave me a bunch of shots in my mouth.  OW!  Plus I am really needlephobic, so getting eight shots in my mouth was really hard for my frazzled nerves.  I think he could tell by the uncontrollable shaking that I was doing. I also kept my eyes shut tight!  He said he'd be back in ten minutes.

I was good and numb, and really I know that I'd rather have all the shots in my gums than feel any of the pain that would surely go along with extracting teeth that are too big and not in the mood to move. He came back and I told him that I have a strange request, but I want my teeth. He laughed and said, um, Ok.  I told him I have a 5 yr old and she wants the toothfairy to come for me, so yeah.. then he seemed to understand.  He said to open wide and immediately began yanking them out. 

The sensation was weird.  And, I could hear it.  It was sort of a suction sound followed by a pop.  Suuuuck Pop!  Suuuuuuck Pop!  Suuuuuuck Pop!  Suck Pop! 

Then the dentist shoved my new holes full of guaze and told me no smoking and no drinking with a straw. See you in two weeks.

With big eyes, the dental assistant asked me if I was ok.  I shook my head no.  I'm sure I was pale and looked like I'd just been through hell, maybe because I had been?  But I sure wasn't ready to get up and walk yet.  I was lightheaded and dizzy and I wanted to puke.  I was afraid if I stood up I would pass out. She handed me a packet of gauze and an envelope of teeth.

So, I stayed in the chair for a few minutes and then I swung my feet over the side and gathered up my purse.  The dentist came over and asked if I was ok.  I nodded yes.  He said "What do you want for pain? Tylenol with Codine? Vicodin?" I motioned yes, Vicodin.  I'm not even sure what Vicodin is but Tylenol with Codine makes me puke and I sure don't want to do that!  He gave me a prescription and an appointment card for a follow up check. 

I managed to get out to my van and then I just sat for a bit.  I changed my gauze and it was so nasty! I had a headache like no other, but my mouth didn't hurt.  Yet.

I drove to Rite Aid and dropped off my prescription.  I just dropped it off and left because, my numb mouth was full of gauze and blood. No idea if they would fill it without hearing me answer all of the insurance questions.

Then I went home.  I walked in the door and and straight up the stairs to my room and shut the door.  Gracie saw me come in but she didn't say much.  Libby was distracted, thank goodness!  She was doing a puzzle with the babysitter.  Whew!  I changed the guaze again and laid down.  I must have slept pretty hard because I didn't wake up until three hours later and I was a mess.  The numbness wore off too.  That wasn't good.  I couldn't figure out how to swallow any ibuprophen so I just tried not to move, maybe I could get back to sleep. And I did sleep more. 

Keith came home a little after 5:00 and woke me up to tell me that he's home and he relieved the babysitter.  Really, I think I could have heard this big news later. Oh well. Since I was pretty well rested, I grabbed my book off of the nightstand and read for a while.  I managed to take a drink of water and since I could do that, I swallowed some ibuprophen. Hopefully that will help because I was in a lot of pain!

I told him to go get my prescription. He said "What's it for?"  I said "Vicodin"  He replied, "I have a big bottle of that in the cupboard!".  Really?  What on earth?  And then he reminded me that I've never had it before and it might make me really loopy.  That's why he had it, because he only took one and didn't want any more of that stuff.  And, he said I wouldn't be able to feed Libby.  Ah, forgot about that.  Why isn't she weaned yet, ugh. I decided against the Vicodin.  

After a close inspection, Gracie helped me put my envelope of teeth on the nightstand next to my bed. She decided that the tooth fairy wouldn't want to dig around under my pillow while I'm sleeping on it. I agree, that is awkward.  She said she would sleep on the floor next to me in her camping spot to see if she could see the fairy. She wants to know if she glows in the dark.  She slept too soundly to find out though.  In the morning she hopped up and checked the table; sure enough there was some cash!  "Mom! Mom! The tooth fairy brought you TWO dollars!"  Her eyes were huge!

I spent the weekend very slowly milling around the house, napping, reading and swallowing ibuprophen. I didn't eat much, too hard to do that. But I had  plenty of water and lived on my fat reserves.  I knew I grew some lovely curves for a reason!  The girls had a Daddy weekend and they seemed to really enjoy it.  He read them lots of stories, he let them use him as a horse, he fed them (they always love anyone who feeds them), and he let them play in the dirt and take bubble baths. They would check in with me from time to time, but for the most part they left me alone to heal.  That was really nice.  I am more rested now than I have been in  years! 

It's been a week now and I'm still in pain.  I can't speak clearly, I can't eat anything but mush or pudding, and I am just in pain.  It's been a tough week but I can see that I'm healing.  And I have the tooth fairy cash to brighten my world.  Yay!

First Dentist Visits

Part I - Gracie's Visit

Gracie's dentist appointment, her very first because I'm freakishly nervous like that, went GREAT! Really!  The child is 5 years old now and has had teeth since she was 4.5 months old.  I remember the day her first teeth popped through very vididly.  We were packing up and heading out for our 3800 mile family roadtrip with a little chunky baby! And she picked that day to bust out her first two teeth. 

I felt she was as prepared as a kid could be for her first dental torture.  A dentist visited her preschool and they put on a little play about brushing teeth. She got to dress up like a tooth and "sugar-bugs" stuck to her.  Another day, I took her with me when I went to the orthodontist. She got to see the office and the chair and tools, and she watched me lay there and open my mouth for the dentist. 

Gracie loved her dentist visit! She was happy and laughing and loving all the attention they were paying to her. They cleaned her teeth, counted them, poked them, did xrays, and a flouride treatment. No cavities!

The entire time she was in the chair, she was staring at a movie on a tv that hung from the ceiling. All three of the kids were loving the movie on the ceiling. Libby and Charlie were cranking their necks so that they could see too.


The dentist was awesome. Very good with kids! I'll bet if he wasn't a dentist, he would be one of the Wiggles.  He must have a whole bunch of kids because he really understood how to talk to the kids and make the appointment wonderful.

The place was pretty cool! The kids loved it. Colorful paint on every wall, tv on the ceiling, toys and video games in the waiting room, children's books everywhere, and yet it wasn't over-stimulating. The kids were enchanted but not overwhelmed. Gracie got a little mermaid spinning toothbrush and each kid got a balloon. Libby was jealous that Gracie got a princess toothbrush and got to have her teeth tickled and she didn't! So, I made her an appt for tomorrow!

They loved it so much we're going back! I am beyond flabbergasted in such a good way!

Part II - Libby's Turn

Today was Libby's turn and she wanted to go and get a princess toothbrush like Gracie did. She was in a great mood, right up until she did a faceplant in the driveway and skinned up both of her knees and bumped her chin.

That was at 9am and the appointment was at 11am. Two solid hours of crying over skinned knees! I was pretty sure the dentist appointment was doomed. She snapped out of her bad mood as soon as we got there. Whew! Just in time to go to the dentist's and play in the waiting area. We had to wait a long time today, didn't get called back till 11:35. Then she remembered that she was crabby and started to cling and cry.

I only had Libby and Charlie this time because Gracie was at school.

So, she just had a quick eksam (oh great, now my letter eks won't work on my keyboard! just sound it out.) No eks-rays and no cleaning or fluoride treatment. Mainly because of her angziety (ok, who knew I used that letter so often). The dentist and I faced each other, knees together and we held Libby on our laps. Her head went in his lap and I held her hands and her body was in my lap. She cried, but he said this was the best hold for two year olds, it has the feeling of being safe and mom is holding her. True. She opened enough and he poked all of her teeth and flossed them. He said no cavities and he didn't think she needed a cleaning or fluoride at this time due to her behavior. He would rather she just have a quick and relatively easy appointment and we can do those things when she is ready. Sounded good to me.

He said her baby teeth are crowded. He sees orthodontic work in her future. She will need an ortho evaluation as soon as her permanent teeth start popping through at age 7 or 8. He said the earlier the better, before they set into the jaw bone (oh, like mine?)

She got to sit up and get a hug and she said "that was fun". She's two and already understands the fine art of sarcasm! I'm so proud!

We went back to reception and they had a Cinderella spinning toothbrush for her. She was so eksited!

Charlie, the Amazing Baby

My 7 month old grandson, Charlie is absolutely amazing!  He's pretty darn cute too!  Lately he has been growing by leaps and bounds. Every time I see him he looks bigger and can do more things.

We had to put up our baby gate on the stairs.  Seems early, but using a temporary laundry basket baracade wasn't doing the job.  And we had to babyproof the TV electronics.  He already found the joys of pushing buttons.

Charlie is 20 pounds now. He crawls too.  He was getting around just fine with scooting and wriggling and rolling, but he recently learned to do a real hands and knees crawl.  Or, I should say a hands and knees sprint. The kid is fast!  He crawls to things and pulls himself up to standing too.  Yup. Standing.  And if he is excited enough he will let go, stand for just a second or two on his own and then tip over.  I am shocked that he can do this since he seems pretty top heavy; he seems to defy the laws of physics. 

As his grandma, I just have to show you lots of pictures!  Here they are: