A Sad Story about Baby Teeth

You see those cute top two pearly white teeth smiling happily at you there?

Yeah, those teeth aren't there anymore.

Oh, you want me to tell you the whole story?

If you insist...

Or if not, skim down to the pictures below to see the gruesome sight. 

It was day of the Pediatric Residency/Faculty annual picnic. I spent the morning baking cookies instead of cleaning the house and then we took a pleasant drive south to Pratt's Falls. 

We joined the other picnic patrons and began chatting with friends. 

The girls went to pick flowers.

Three minutes later, Darcy came running to us to show us what she had picked.

And then she tripped. 

We watched it happen. 

She went face first into a picnic table bench, hitting her lip so hard it made her head bounce backward. Not a pretty sight. 

Her lip was gushing blood and Josh tilted her back to see if she had hit her teeth. 

Yup. 

She had. 

The top 2 were pushed backward quite a ways, and also bleeding. A third tooth was also hit just to the right.

Let me just say, if you child is going to get injured at a picnic, I guess your best bet is to have it happen at a Pediatric picnic. There were probably 15 doctors huddled around her. They got us ice and paper towels and water in 10 seconds flat. 

It was pretty clear that we had to go to the emergency department though. 

So, five minutes after we arrived, we left, bloody lip in tow.

What a champ, that Darcy. She just held the ice and paper towel on her lip and didn't even cry on the long car ride to the hospital.

Fortunately for us, it wasn't a busy day at the ED, so we didn't even have to wait to get into a room. 

(we still had to pay to park though, how lame is that? my husband works there for goodness sake!)

Now, let me tell you a minute how awesome Darcy is. 

She never cried. Like, 10 different doctors and nurses were coming in and out, lifting up here gashed lip, poking and prodding at her teeth and she didn't cry or complain once. She would take off her gauze, let them look, and then put it back on. She didn't even cry when the ENT gave her lidocaine (with a big old needle) and stitched up her lip. Amazing. She was probably one of the best patients they've ever seen.

Anyway, they gave her one stitch in her lip, but nothing could or would be done about her teeth. They told me to make an appointment with her Dr. in 2-3 days and an appointment with the Dentist in 2 weeks. 

Well, I'm still a mom, and can't wait that long... so I called the dentist the following Monday. And good thing I did. After x-rays, it was apparent her 2 front teeth were cracked up in the root and would need to come out. Plus one was really wiggly, and they worry about aspiration (the 3rd tooth she hit will be fine... though it may still turn gray). 

So, we set up an appointment to get her teeth out two and a half weeks out.

She was lisping pretty bad and couldn't eat much beyond applesauce and yogurt and really small pieces of everything else. Quite painful.

Four days later her mouth really started to stink, and when I looked in there it was so nasty. Her gums were all swollen (caused by an abscess) and making the teeth shift around. I called the dentist and they had me bring her in the very next day and out they came!!! Again, what a fabulous patient she was! 

Hello, she had a double root canal and came out smiling!

She was SO HAPPY because that meant the tooth fairy would come! 

Well, her lip has healed up beautifully, and her extraction holes are in the process. 

She is toothless at 3 (almost 4) years old, and will be for a long time. She'll be singing "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front Teeth" for like 3 or 4 Christmases. However, I am super grateful her teeth are out. I was super concerned about the affect it was having on her speech to have those bent teeth in there. Already, 5 days after they came out, her speech is back to normal (she already had a slight lisp, and it just sounds the same). She loves to poke her tongue through her teeth when she smiles. 

But I realize now, how much her teeth (now gap) DON'T show naturally. Her top lip comes down pretty far even when she smiles. I think people won't even notice. But even if they do, it's actually kind of cute. Another plus to taking them out as opposed to keeping them in. 

It was just not cute to have slanted teeth. 

Okay, that was long. You asleep yet?

Here's some pics of our little Toothless Darcy:

 In the Emergency Department

(amazingly I got all that dried blood out of her shirt!)

 Stitched up lip

 Lip and pushed teeth.

 Here's when they started to get all wonky from the abscess.

 And gone.

 The dentist stitched a loose piece of her gum right there in the middle. I hope it heals normally. 

 Sticking her tongue through the gap. And scraggly hair. Whoa. 

What are your thoughts on kids with pixie cuts? Her hair is so sad and I don't know what to do with it.

Six

She's Cute.

She bought that hat with her own birthday money.

Because she turned 6.

Brinkley, we adore you. 

You are kind and good and all things lovely.

You have an amazing imagination, the grand ability to play and entertain yourself and your sister, and the fun personality to keep all those around you happy.

You are so good at choosing the right. You know that you need to be nice to people, to not litter, to tell the truth, and to clean up the playroom.

You are a magnificent artist, and that's what you want to be when you grow up. I really hope you are, you certainly practice enough. And that's good.

You are great at reading! You are reading your own verse of scripture every night at family scripture study... and you always ask for the longest verse! We are always amazed that you can read words like nevertheless, commencement, and descendents without help. In fact, you need very little help reading. I often hear you upstairs reading library books out loud to yourself. What a sweet sound. Now, if only we can get you to read kid books without pictures!!! Though, it's not surprising that you prefer those given your love of art. The librarians probably think we are crazy. We check out about 30+ books each week. But we fly through them, sometimes reading them 2 or 3 times before they are returned. We may have to start going to a different library, we've picked through our small selection and keep happening upon the same books.  Your favorite author/artist at the moment is Mo Willems (the Pidgeon book guy!)

You have lost 4 bottom teeth. Only 2 have grown back so far.

You love to leave little notes for all of us around the house. We'll often find "I love you notes" or short stories you've written on our pillows. What a pleasant surprise at bedtime!

You are just about to finish Kindergarten and are already looking forward to 1st Grade.

You love friends, you want to play with them everyday. 

You advanced in swimming lessons. You are now a level 2 (they call it Pike), you are getting more and more confident in your abilities and jump into the deep end without hesitation! 

You respond to praise and kind words, I can always count on a big hug when I tell you how great I think you are. 

I hope you know how much we love you. Beautiful girl. 

Easter

Happy Easter!

We did all the celebrating yesterday because Josh was off work. Yay! We love when daddy is home!

Unfortunately for him he is on 24 hour call today. That means he went in this morning around 6 or 7a.m. (I'm not sure, I'm sound asleep!) and won't get home again until tomorrow about 11a.m. 

If you did the math you'll realize that is actually longer than 24 hours. 

What a champ for hanging in there for this residency stuff! Love you hon!

Anyway, the day started with the finding of the baskets. The girls got lots of candy and these little Mooshka dolls that they LOVE. So much. Brinkley named hers Zooey and Darcy named hers Zooey. And then Rosalina. And then Ashley.

We painted eggs and dressed them up all dapper in their Easter Best. 

All ready to be made into deviled eggs. :/

I quickly sewed a festive Easter tablecloth that I quite adore.

After making a huge mess in the kitchen we ate our Easter feast of roast, potatoes, roasted asparagus, deviled eggs, rolls and strawberry lemonade (on the new tablecloth, of course). And fruit pizza for dessert. All so divine.

And if you were wondering, yes, our pee smelled like asparagus later. 

You're welcome for that.

After stuffing ourselves full we went out and hunted for Easter Eggs. 

It was nice celebrating on Saturday. I felt like that allowed me to really enjoy the true meaning of Easter today. Church was wonderful, especially sharing time. We had some special 'guests' come visit. People who had seen the resurrected Lord (Mary Magdalene, doubting Thomas, a Nephite, and Joseph Smith).

Our actors were spectacular and I really felt the spirit. So did the kids. They haven't been that reverent in a while. It was very special.

After church I popped in the Testaments and the girls and I enjoyed watching that together.

Later, we ate another giant dinner with good friends (oops, no pictures!) 

It was calm and peaceful and allowed me time to be really grateful for Christ's resurrection.

I know that He was resurrected. I know that He lives. I know that He loves us. 

I hope your Easter was special too.

And if you haven't already, give this video a watch. It's beautiful:

Here's some photos of our Easter. Maybe too many.

 Zooey

 Zooey/Rosalina/Ashley

 Why must things always end in tears?

 Sneaky little hand got in there.

Art Show

Brinks brought home a flyer about the School District's annual Art Festival. 

They display student art grades 1-12... but Brinkley's kindergarten art was also chosen to be displayed! There was a special note attached to the flyer letting my know her art was specially chosen.

I was so so, so, so proud.

I told everyone how talented my daughter was.

Yeah, don't do that.

I didn't realize how un-special it would be.

;)

Looks like ALL the kindergarteners got to display art. And 1st graders and 2nd graders and 3rd graders and 4th graders... you get the point.

Everyone and their dog had their art displayed.
And everyone and their dog came to see the art.

Oh well. I'm still proud of my daughter and really do think she is a fabulous artist. 

Like, really, really good.

So, the big event went like this: (it's going to sound a bit negative, hang in there)

We waited in long lines of cars to get a parking spot.

We walked slowly on the sidewalk on our way into the school while anxious people got annoyed behind us and huffily passed us by. (Darcy was wearing flippy flops, as she calls them, for the first time this season... that's why we were slow).

The High School was PACKED. We couldn't get through the halls. Or breathe.

I could feel my heart starting to race. I was a bit of a confused daze.

It was seriously that crowded. I thought "Are they allowed to have this many people in the building? Isn't this a fire hazard or something?" I almost had a panic attack. So did my kids. We searched for her name in the insane hallways for an hour. It was hot. And crazy. I get claustrophobic thinking about it.

And then we saw her picture. 

Yay!!!

Fortunately, that area cleared up for two minutes so we could snap a few pictures. She was so excited. 

A very kind man stopped to tell us he noticed her picture and thought it was one of the best ones. I thought that was so sweet. I also wanted to tell him that she can do even better with pencil. She doesn't get as much detail with crayons... and that's what they use at school. 

But I didn't. :)

And then we booked it the he...ck out of there. 

We took a back door because Brinkley was like "do we have to go through the crowds again?"

No, dear. We do not. Or mommy might start crying and lashing at people to move out of her way.

Anyway, we played outside for a bit to calm all ourselves down! 

Wowsers. 

We ran into a really nice lady cop who asked about Brinkley's art. So nice.

Believe it or not, we faced the crowds again to go see some dancing in the auditorium. My girls thought that it was awesome that the Winter Guard danced with swords and guns. Ha ha ha. We didn't have that at my High School. It was new to me as well! 

They also thought sitting on the bleachers was fun. 

And scary.

Darcy didn't want her flippy flops to fall under the bleachers so she put them in my purse. 

Brinkley thought she would fall through the gap. I assured her that she wouldn't. At least it kept them sitting! Fear is an excellent motivator.

I know it sounds like I had an awful time, but I didn't. 

I really am so proud of my daughter and think that she is a wonderful artist. I'll have to do a whole post about some of the clever things she's drawn as a 5 year old. I think you'll be impressed.

Oh yeah, I wasn't going to brag anymore. 

I'm done.

Coming soon: Brinkley's Magnificent Artwork!!!!

Ha.

Maple Festival

Year 2 of our annual Critz Farms Maple Festival family outing. 

Just as delectable as we remembered.

We ate our weight in pancakes, ham, hashbrowns, and eggs.

Followed by a tractor ride out to the sugar bush. 

A winner every year. 

Check it off the List

Josh and I have a huge, long bucket list for our lives. 

Go to New York City, go bob sledding at Lake Placid, actually get passports and go up north to Green Gables in Nova Scotia (don't laugh)...  I think White Way Delight sounds just as magical as Anne does.

Etcetera. 

 

A part of me thinks that we'll never get through our long, unrealistic list because we rarely do anything cool. BUT, every once in a while we do actually go somewhere as a family and do something fun!!

And that, my friends, is when I blog. 

Yay for that!!

And today you are in luck because we escaped the addictive clutches of our electric blankets, braved the polar vortex (it's a real thing!), put on our snow gear and did something we've been meaning to do for like 8 years. 

We snow shoed. 

Granted, it's no Green Gables, but it was so much fun! We are no respecter of family activities, so, if we do it, we are completely happy. This one day outside getting fresh air should tide us over for another year or two when we decide to do something else. 

I'm kidding.

Anyway, a few things I learned from our experience:

First off, can I just say that kids in snow shoes is like the cutest thing ever. I can't believe they make them so tiny. Stinking adorable. 

Second, snow shoeing is totally doable for kids. They caught on so fast. Amazing. They were tromping in the snow like it was second nature - all while Josh and I were getting ours on! 

Third, even though kids catch on quickly does not mean they will enjoy it for more than a half an hour. 

And they will not walk fast enough, ever.

Fourth, the trails were all nicely groomed. When we were done, we took off the snow shoes and walked along the trail for a bit in our normal shoes.... Aaaand it was like 10 times easier. So, umm, I'm thinking snow shoes are designed to be used on the road less traveled, and not on trails that have been packed down all winter. Oh well. It's all for the experience, right? I do think I would like to try it again, and actually go in un-walked on snow. 

Fifth, I am one tough mama (and Josh is a tough daddy too). We reached a point where both kids were crying, one had to pee, of course they were starving and thought we'd never eat again, plus we had no idea which trail we were on. But we had to get back somehow. So, we told the kids to buck up and march on. Well, that didn't go over too well. And honestly, seeing your kid sob as they walk and walk and walk and walk aaaannnndd walk is actually pretty heartbreaking (and frustrating too, when all you're trying to do is HAVE A LITTLE FAMILY FUN DANGIT!). So, unsurprisingly, we ended up carrying Darcy all the way back. Josh did half, and I did half. My arms felt like they would break off, but I did it. And I counted it as my exercise for the day (even though the rest of the time we were walking at a snails pace)

But, really, it was super fun. I get all snarky, but I truly love spending time with my family. Especially when we are out in nature remembering that Heavenly Father created all these beautiful things for us to enjoy.  

And enjoy it, I do. 

Even when I am lugging along a 30 pound child in my arms. ;)

Weeks later, my car still has pine cones all over the floor that were later found in coat pockets. Ah, to be a kid. Remember when pine cones were the coolest thing in nature? You wouldn't believe how happy I am to have little bits of torn apart pine cones in my car. It means my kids enjoyed it too. 

Go snow shoeing. I recommend it.

Soup Recipe (for my exercise group on FB!!!)

Corn and Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small red chile, seeded and finely chopped (I usually use half of 1 serrano chile because they're easier to find. They're also very spicy. I have also used jarred jalapeno, it works fine)

7 1/2 cups vegetable stock (Chicken broth works great too)

2 tsp cumin

1 medium sweet potato, diced (I always double the amount of sweet potato to make the soup thicker.)

1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 lb corn kernels (I use frozen corn.)

salt & black pepper

lime wedges, to serve

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a heavy pan and fry onion for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chili and fry for an additional 2 minutes.

2. Add 3 cups of the vegetable stock and; simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the cumin and diced potato to the stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Season and stir again.

4. Add the pepper, corn, and remaining stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Process half of the soup until smooth and stir into the chunky soup. Season and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over (the lime is a MUST! It makes the soup that much more delectable)

(You can also sprinkle broken-up tortilla chips, chopped avocado and cilantro on top of the soup.)