Teeth

We've been having some toothy issues around here as of late. The Boy has 4 loose teeth in his mouth right now. So all he does is play with them. And I can't stand it. I hate it when children have their hands n the faces constantly. (And of course both girls are still thumb/finger suckers, so I'm triply annoyed.) I have tried and tried to get a picture of him with his hands on his mouth (so I can use them later on as tools of embarrassment), but he moves really fast. And he knows I'm gunning for him...so I don't have a picture. But just imagine a large, handsome almost 7 year-old...with his damned hands in his mouth, wiggling teeth, and drooling everywhere. Yay.

The Smallish Girl is having some major teeth issues. Girlfriend was dancing and prancing in the tub last week and fell. Greeeeeeeeaaaaaat. She did some serious damage.

Before. My Small Girl with her gorgeous, toothy grin.

OUCH! She sheared off half of one of her upper incisors, and bruised the hell out of her entire mouth.

And after. She's really not bothered by it at all.

Broken/chipped teeth skeeve me out. I hate them. But...such is life. She's not uncomfortable, and she loves showing people her "toof." Her dentist is fantastic, but he's not very optimistic about the tooth - he's pretty sure it's going to have to come out. And I agree. This weekend it turned gray. Not a good sign. And when/if he does have to yank it...she'll get a falsie!!

And this little girl? Chews on EVERYTHING with her little puppy teeth!! Well, everything except the cat. Kuzco (cat) and Kevin (puppy - yes, she's a girl...and her name is Kevin) don't quite know what to do with the other one yet. But I have a feeling that will change in the next few weeks.

So yippee!! I ♥ teeth right now!

Happy 2011!!

Happy New Year! I sincerely hope that everyone's year has gotten off to a happy and healthy start. Our year has certainly started out happily - but we're not so healthy. Allow me to go on my first rant of 2011...

We spent Christmas in PA just like we do every year. On Christmas Eve we went to Mass with Jon's family. (Yes...I went to church. And I didn't spontaneously combust. Nor did I mock. Much.) One of my SILs and family were not in attendance due to some sort of nasty colds/flu/cooties. After the Mass ended, we went to Nana's house. And lo and behold - the family that was too sick to attend Mass was standing in the kitchen. Dripping green from their swollen, crusty eyes and noses. One of my nieces was very clearly burning up with a fever, and another one had little crusty sores all over her mouth. My SIL looked miserable - her face was beet red, and her eyes were swollen almost completely shut.

My reaction? An immediate flare of the nostrils and a muttered, "Are you fucking kidding me?" Sonofabitch. I was LIVID. Every single time we get together as a family, someone brings their sick-ass kids to the event. (Well, someone other than me. Because apparently, I'm the only mother in the bunch who was raised to know better than to take sick kids ANYWHERE!!! Christmas of 2007? We all got pink eye from the same SIL and her kid.)

I quietly told my children to stay as far away from their cousins and their aunt as humanly possible, and I also notified my SIL/BIL/MIL that in the event that my kids got sick, that they they would be getting a surprise visit from me - and I would be dropping all three of them off. And kicking their sorry asses. Everyone giggled. Because apparently it was really funny.

So Merry fucking Christmas. In addition to all of the glorious loot I received, I also got sick. And what's even better? I passed it on to my mother. Who has a heart condition that 1) has weakened her immune system, and 2) prevents her from taking any kind of cold/flu medication. Awesome. My kids? Are slowly, but surely, coming down with whatever cooties are still in my system. Again...awesome.

As I sat on the couch on New Year's Eve (coughing and trying to keep up with the goo dripping from my nose), I made my first Resolution: I would be a better Mother. While I strive for that goal every day, it saddened me to realize that my SIL just didn't care that her kids needed to be in bed instead of prancing miserably around my MIL's house spreading their cooties. Don't get me wrong - she's actually a good Mom. But she should have known better. The presents would have waited until everyone was healthy.

Another resolution I came up with was that we are going to start spending Christmases at home. I hate the idea of not seeing my Mommy on Christmas morning, but the entire trip to PA was a hassle. It's just easier to stay home, and then go down to see people over New Year's.

Resolution 3? Cut back on the loot!! Trying to cram all of the kids' stuff in the car was a nightmare! We thought we had cut back this year...but after seeing all of it jammed into the van we realized we still went overboard.

I made some other resolutions, but my nose is in need of a tissue, so I will stop here. Happy New Year!!

Toothless!!

Gabriel noticed that he had his first loose tooth at the beginning of October. We thought it was pretty cool!! I took this picture when we noticed that the adult tooth was growing behind the baby one.


He wiggled and wiggled the tooth for weeks. He was starting to get impatient, too (gee...wonder where he gets his lack of patience). About 2 weeks ago, he said it was starting to bother him. It was really wiggly, and he was having a hard time biting. We offered to pull it for him. He freaked out and said he would deal with it.

On Monday night, Jon asked Gabe if he could see the wiggling. Gabe let him put his hand in his mouth, and then there was a look of shock. Daddy had pulled his tooth!! It took maybe 2 seconds, and at first he didn't even realize it was out. Once he did, he started screaming and jumping up and down - he was so excited! We had to call Gram, Gramps, Nana...everyone we could at 7:45pm.

Isn't his tiny little tooth cute?

My Big Boy. And his HUGE tooth! How in the heck did he get so big so fast? It doesn't seem possible to me that I have a kiddo old enough to lose teeth!

Thankful

It's the last day of November...and I have no idea how that happened. How can December already be here??!!

I keep reading all of these posts on Facebook about what people are thankful for. I kept wanting to post my list, too, but I kept forgetting. Or rather, I got sidetracked by my ridiculous obsession with FrontierVille.

So...here's my list. 30 things that I am thankful for - in no particular order.

1. An understanding husband
2. Gabriel
3. Elliott
4. Janna
5. My Mommy
6. Friends - near and far, old and new
7. Coffee
8. The rest of my family
9. A sense of humor
10. The Internet
11. The American Girl Doll Company
12. Fabric softener
13. Chocolate
14. My purse collection
15. MOMS Club
16. Pandora Radio
17. Books
18. Crayola
19. eBay
20. Vampires
21. Werewolves
22. Yarn
23. Sneakers
24. What little patience I have
25. Netflix
26. Nap time
27. OB Ultra tampons
28. The kids' teachers
29. Spell-checking
30. Chap stick

There are many, many other things that I'm thankful for - but those are my top 30 right at this moment. Some of them may be stupid and trivial, but they keep me sane (ish).

The Best Thing About Halloween...

I dislike Halloween with a passion. I'm just not a fan. I loved it when I was little, but now it just doesn't appeal to me. Carving pumpkins is a chore, making treat bags for school is a nuisance, and listening to the kids argue about costumes is a nightmare. But I survived Halloween 2010, and my kids had a blast.


The only things I like about Halloween are "The Great Pumpkin" and the fact that once it's over it's November! Not only is it time to start getting ready for Christmas (yep - I start decorating and getting all festive early), but the leftover Halloween junk? Is 90% off!! While I could care less about the candy and the random clutter for houses, I am all about getting cheap costumes. I usually don't bother, but this year I stocked up! See?

There are 14 different costumes piled there (there's only 1 repeat - I got both girls an Ironette costume to match Gabe's Ironman suit). I spent $28 and change. Each costume originally sold for $19. How freaking awesome is my haul? My kids LOVE to play dress-up, so I thought these were a good investment. Some will be Christmas presents (Gabriel is getting Hiccup and Toothless to go with his "How To Train Your Dragon" movie; Elliott is getting Astrid and SpiderGirl, and Janna is getting Pink SpiderGirl and Wonder Woman), some will be birthday presents, and the rest will be stored in a closet to be brought out as needed (like on snowy or rainy days when it's too cold/wet to go outside). So....hooray for Halloween!!