Chubbs

Chubichino, Papachino, Chubbs...these are some of the random and weird names that the kids call Macie. Macie is at such a fun age where you can literally watch her little mind working and learning. She likes to copy us when we do "so big" or when we try and teach her a new sign. The other day she grabbed the applesauce cap and tried to put it back on. She looks at me before she puts a lego in her mouth to see what I will do. She hides under the table when she finds something good to eat on the floor. She has also been throwing small tantrums as she is learning what she likes and doesn't like. She will throw herself forward and bury her head in the carpet or arch her back and kick her legs. Its pretty cute for now.... Macie has been such a joy and such a sweet part of our lives. I don't know if its because she is our 4th and we know how fast they grow up and can savor the moment or if she is just super cute!

Plays in the toilet any chance she can get...

Helping me make bread

Playing at the museum

Already playing on the iPad

This is how she sleeps

She loves to play peek-a-boo like this...

Helping with the dishes

Loving the sucker she found

Change

I got Matt's loft bed for free off of Craigslist and he has been using it for several years. He decided he wanted a "small" bed so we took it down and put it in our new play room. Last time Brian went out of town I took down his desk and moved all the toys downstairs. When Brian worked from home he needed an office and now that he has a job he doesn't really need it. I loves Matt's new room and I love having a play room!

BEFORE

AFTER

This is our downstairs room that used to be Brian's office before we put the loft bed/fort down there.

Its a mess and I don't even care!!

Nothing better than seeing this on a Saturday morning...

Highlight of my day...

After a long uneventful day of watching kids (except the one minor event where I banned all sling shots, play guns, swords, and lightsabers) and cleaning up my filthy kitchen that has not been clean in a week, my friend came to get her son. While doing that her oldest boy accidentally locked her other son, who just happens to be 9 months old, in the car with the keys in the ignition.

She called her insurance company who then called the police who then sent a firetruck to unlock the car door. It was awesome! A huge firetruck pulls up and 4 fireman get out to try and unlock the doors. All 9 kids who can walk are out front with all the previously banned weapons running around like crazy people. So there are a bunch of kids running around and another one locked in the car. Again, it was totally awesome.

Then to top it off, while this was all happening my other friend came to get her kids and drives up to see a firetruck in front of my house. I am not sure I even want to know what went through her head...

Wonder what the neighbors thought?

They were fast and it looked a little too easy to do....

Some of the kids...notice the black very real looking TOY gun in the 2 year olds hands...I made them take that one inside.

I couldn't stop laughing. I am glad the baby was happy and had no idea he was even locked in the car and I am glad I have such awesome friends! The only bummer part was that none of the firemen (2 were women) were hot. j/k I love you Brian...you are way hotter than any fireman I have ever seen. :)

Paw Pride Breakfast

At the kids school each month one kid from each class is chosen who shows one of the following citizenship traits: cooperative, caring, responsible, engaged learner, problem solver. In January Matthew was chosen for being CARING. This is what his teacher had to say about him:

He will choose classmates for activities when he knows they don't get picked often. He has a very kind heart and thinks of others feeling. 

 The school has a Paw Pride Breakfast that they do before school starts to honor all of the students. Matthew was sooooo excited and told me about it everyday. Once the day finally came we got to get everybody out of bed to make a 7 am breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and bananas.

Macie LOVED the pancakes

Matt 6 Addison 3

Brinley 7

Mom, Macie, Matt and Addi loving the pancakes

Dad came and then went to work

After breakfast the principal read what the teacher wrote and the kids got a medal and a folder full of coupons. Matthew was so excited and we were so proud of him. He really is such a kind and tenderhearted kid. He loves school and is doing really well.

*Side Note: While attempting to post the next set of pics my SD card became corrupt and I lost all of my pictures. After a little research I used a program called TestDisk and got all my pics back!! whew!

Getting his medal from the assistant principal

Proud of this boy!

My boys

Congratulations Matt! We are so proud of you and all your accomplishments. I don't know what I would do without my sweet little boy!

Little Gymnast

Addison has been taking gymnastics with her friend Kenzie. She is super cute to watch...that is when she is actually out there doing stuff and not attached to my hip. She has been having a hard time and freaking out when I try to leave. Each week is getting better so I am hopeful. Thankfully my friend Annette is there to hold Macie for me!

Addi and Kenzie

This was her first time. She looked so cute!

Scavenger

Macie is everywhere these days. She especially likes going under the table where she finds all sorts of yummy things to eat!

I am drained....

Addison is driving me crazy!! Lately the bathroom has been her lab of destruction. I found this (a knife, a can of chicken breast and the toilet brush) at 8 am this morning. I turned around, shut the door and pretended like I never saw it.

Why on earth she thought to put the can in the toilet and mix it up I'll never know...

I can relate...

Teeth injuries are not my thing....It has been so nice to talk to my brother who is almost done with dental school. I am so excited to have a dentist in the family! I call him to get advice and his thoughts on any teeth issues we may have which at the moment is a lot.

When I was in third grade I chipped my two front teeth. I was rollerblading around the block with my dog. My dentist brother, Cory, rode past me on his bike and my dog started chasing him. I was afraid of my dog getting run over (like the last one did) so I did not let go of the leash. I started going really fast and on the right side of the sidewalk I saw a light pole that I thought I could grab onto. I held my hands out to try and stop myself but the pull of the dog and me on roller-blades was too much and my face smacked right into the pole. I cried and cried and cried some more. I was devastated. The worst part was that school pictures were the next day!

A few years later I was eating a sugar daddy and pulled the sucker out of my mouth to find both my fillings stuck in it.

Right before I got married (2002) I had a root canal done in both teeth. The dentist had found some infection in my roots. At the same time I got my front teeth fillings redone and my teeth whitened. That lasted for a couple of years. I look back on 2005 when I had Brinley and my teeth were soooo dark. I am so embarrassed for myself when I look at old pictures.

For our 5 year anniversary (2007) Brian gave me some internal teeth whitening for my front teeth. I was super excited and that helped for awhile. However, in April of 2009 I was flying over to Utah and my upper lip/nose area started hurting really bad. My aunt who works for a dentist took an x-ray and found my root tips were infected still or again, I am not sure.

So I went back to Denver and had our good friend do a root canal on both teeth again. I am so glad we went to him because he cleaned out all the bacteria and darkness in my teeth and internal bleached them again. They looked awesome and I really liked his conservative do it right approach to dentistry. This time of life was crazy...I was pregnant, double root canals, found out my in-laws were divorcing, and my grandpa died all within a 2-3 week period.

Fast forward to 2011 and my teeth still were not healing like they should so I had two apicoectomies done. That is where they go in and cut off the root tips and clean out the infection. The surgery was not too painful but I swelled and bruised really bad. My Mom came and helped out with the kids which was very nice even though it wasn't too painful.

My fat lip

The bruising

Fast forward to the fall of 2012. I was feeling some zingy feelings in my right tooth so I got another x-ray and found out my left tooth was healing but my right one was not so I had another apicoectomy done. During the surgery the endodontist found a crack in the tooth. Peter (our endodontist/Brian's bff) shaved down my tooth to try and get rid of the crack but most cracked teeth will need to be pulled. So now we will just wait and see what happens. Most likely I will need an implant but I am hoping for a miracle. That was definitely the worst part of that surgery...the crack. It didn't bruise like last time and it wasn't too painful but I am NOT excited about an implant.

So yeah...a lot of details but that is why I don't do teeth...especially front ones. 

On to Addison...

She looks like a "who" from Dr. Suess' The Grinch

 

Addi seems to be doing well. She acts like nothing happened even though her upper lip is huge and underneath is all purple and bruised. She will occasionally say her tooth hurts but not too often. She has even started sucking her thumb again. :(
 

Looking at the pictures the one on the left is the one that got pushed back even though the one on the right looks like it got pushed forward but that is just from sucking her thumb. The one that got injured actually looks more "in place".

I just love (the nurse side) or don't love (the mom side) to see how far the left one is pushed back. There is also a chip on the right one but I can't get a good picture.

The bruising under her lip

Glad the tooth fairy is NOT coming tonight...

Do you ever get that feeling that something bad is going to happen? I had that thought for a moment today and pushed it aside.

This is before she hit her teeth

About 5 pm I was rocking Macie and the kids were playing in Brinley's room. Matt and Addison were wrestling as usual when I heard a loud hard thud. I ran in to find Addison crying but not crying just standing there with her mouth open and her lips turning blue. The kids said she had fallen and I told her to breathe. She took a breath and screamed at the top of her lungs. I immediately looked at her mouth and there was no blood spilling out. I thought "whew! no blood." But then the kids said she hit her teeth and my heart sank. I looked in her mouth and noticed that her front teeth were no longer even...one was pushed forward (or so I thought).

I called her dentist but it was after hours and I couldn't reach her. My next call was to our good frined Peter who is an endodontist. He said he would come over on his way home and look at her teeth. I can do blood and mucus and shots but for some reason the thought of touching her teeth to see if they were loose made me want to pass out. Maybe its from my own problems with my front teeth...I don't know.

Anyways her Dr called back and she said she could meet us and take an x-ray. Addison was so brave and even wanted to "see my doctor." She sat really still for an x-ray and even let the doctor look and touch her mouth and teeth. Which is amazing because when we were there for a cleaning last month she flipped! Addi was so brave and we were so proud of her. The Dr said she didn't want to try and move it and that she would just check up on her to make sure it wouldn't have to be pulled which is a real possibility given the displacement. The gums were really swollen and Addi said that it hurts but she is just as happy as can be right now playing food and dolls instead of going to sleep. I just hope and pray it heals so she wont loose her tooth.

The kids looking in the x-ray machine

You can see how the tooth on the left is shorter and there is the black between the baby tooth and permanent tooth.

Looking at the swelling

I hate thumb sucking! However tonight I have never been so excited that she sucks her thumb. Because she does she created a nice over bite so even though the tooth got pushed back it does not affect her bite. At first I thought that her tooth got pushed forward but actually her tooth got pushed backwards. She had pushed her teeth so far forward from sucking that when the one got knocked back it actually looked like its where its supposed to be. I didn't realize how far forward her teeth were until I saw that.

Its really hard to get a good picture of it because they are in the front and when I look at them for too long I feel like I am going to pass out!