A (Long) Tooth Story

Shortly after we moved into our current house, Scott slipped on our wood flooring and hit his front teeth.  They turned a bit dark over time, but this has disappeared as he's grown.  When Natalie was 2, she followed in her brother's footsteps, fell on the hard floor, and hit her front teeth.  Hers turned a bit darker, but seemed okay up until last week.  

On Friday night, I took the kids to get their picture taken.  (See pic above.)  Once I put the kids to bed, I was looking online at the images from the photo session.  Natalie's smile looked off to me.  I zoomed in on the picture and saw that her lip was puffy.  I'm not sure how I missed this while she was awake.  Sure enough, the next morning she woke in quite a bit of pain from an abscess above one of her dead front teeth.  Saturday was the day of the predicted major snow storm, and we called the dentist just as the snow started to fall.  He called in an antibiotic and told us he would see us when his office reopened...whenever that would be.  Thankfully, we were able to get it filled and get her started on the medicine before the storm.  It helped us make it until Wednesday, when they finally opened again for business.

At our dentist, the kids are usually given 1 or 2 tokens after their cleanings as a reward.  It's not a good sign when they give your child 4 tokens before they even begin doing any work.  Natalie was uncharacteristically nervous and quiet.  We couldn't really prepare her well since we didn't know what to expect.  All I knew was that I've had some dental work that was comparable in pain to natural childbirth, and I prayed that Natalie would not have to go through that.  

After an x-ray, we were told that the infection was large, and that her best bet would be a pulpotomy- which is basically a root canal on a baby tooth.  They would give her a shot in the gums to numb the area, drill a hole in the back of the tooth, remove the pulp and affected nerves, fill it with medicine, and then seal it back up.  (The dentist had reasons for doing this over just pulling the tooth prematurely.)  So, three year old Natalie sat there with wide eyes while they worked away.  She was so brave, and the staff (and her parents) were amazed!  She looked sort of traumatized afterwards but was happy to spend her well earned tokens in the junk machine.  

We made it to the van, and then the big tears came.  She cried most of the way home.  :(  It is TERRIBLE to see your child in pain.  TERRIBLE.  She took her last dose of medicine today and seems to have made a good recovery.  Her tooth will most likely turn an even darker shade now, but thankfully it will come out in a few years.

Yes, this is a long post about a dental procedure, but it was a big deal for us recently.  We praise God for Natalie's ability to get through this.  She may never willfully walk back into that dentist office again, but we are glad that at least this is behind us. 

Now I cringe every time Kate slips on the hard floor.  Currently, Kate is the only family member whose front teeth have not been damaged by a fall/injury.  Her odds are not good, but we're hoping for the best!:) 

A Picture That Makes Me Smile:)

December Recap Part 2

Thanks to Jon's mom, visiting a couple of special train exhibits in town has become a yearly tradition.  Scott looks forward to this each year and always comes home inspired to set up a more elaborate train layout across the living room. 

Thanks, Grammy, for a good time!

 

A sweet friend sent us a fun package with these cute snowman cookies inside!  Kate was even thrilled with the box in which they arrived. 

 

This was our first year to do stockings.  I had fun with it!  Wrap up some Dora underwear or a new kid toothbrush, throw it in a stocking, and a child is thrilled!  

 

 

Above is a picture of my parents with all of their grandchildren.  :)  The picture below makes me smile every time.  I love Brody's expression.  He is so fun!!

A picture with Grammy and Grandpa on Christmas Day

Play house fun in Grammy's basement

 

Scott received Geotrax for Christmas and has been enjoying them!  He also got a new spin-toothbrush which is why his sweatshirt looks the way it does in the shot above.  He brushed his teeth so many times that day, that I finally had to put a limit on the number of times he brushes.  Never thought I'd hear those words come out of my mouth!

Okay...so as I proofread this blog post, I noticed that the word "fun" was overused.  However, that seems like one of the best words to describe our December and celebration of Christ's birth.  We enjoyed many fun times as a family and had a blessed month.  

December Recap Part 1

We had a busy, yet fun, month of December.  Can't believe it's coming to a close here in a couple of days!

Christmas outfits/cute red sweaters= lots of pictures!

First time to play in the snow this year...

Snow angels

 

Scott had his school Christmas program.  

Before church battle- "No, Natalie, you cannot wear the headband like that!" (but let me take a picture first)

After the first snow, Jon said that we were need of a sled.  After a trip to Meijer, the kids happily tried it out during the second snow of the year.  THEY hope to get more use out of it in the coming months.  I, on the other hand, am ready to put the sled in the shed and pull out the trikes again.  :) 

Kate and I stayed inside during the snow playtime, and I pulled her around in a wagon in the warm living room instead.  That counts, right?

Part 2 coming soon...

The Christmas jammies live on...

Scott

Natalie

Kate

A Picture or Two or Twelve

Kate's finally getting some hair.  The other day when she woke from her nap, her hair was standing up everywhere.  Natalie walked in her room and declared that she looked like a porcupine!  :)

The kids really wanted to crack some nuts with the nutcracker.  We settled for Cheerios instead.  Lo and behold, the nutcracker can make some fine Cheerio dust. 

Scott took his turn with the flu bug last week.  He was miserable, but was a sweet little patient.  He greeted me in the middle of the night with, "Mommy, I feel sick."  He then proved he wasn't joking right beside our bed.  Lovely. 

Thankfully, when I took my turn with the flu a few days later, no one had a camera out snapping photos of me sprawled out on the couch.  Sorry about that Scott.  It was pretty awful! 

Everyday as of late...yes, EVERYDAY...Natalie changes into some odd clothing combination.  It always involves (Dora) pajama shorts and whatever else she chooses to "match" them.  This has been going on for at least a month. 

Kate loves her singing dinosaur and will often growl at it.  Thanks Uncle Derek and Aunt Maggie!

 The Crew at 5, 3, and 1

The church hallway is becoming much too fun for Kate. 

Kate's starting to make some pretty funny faces!  Sometimes when I tell her to smile, I get this.  We'll need to work on that!