Toothless

The tooth fairy will be visited our home Thursday night for the first time ever. I was really hoping the kids would be older before this happened, but alas it was not meant to be.

Last year the kids got into an altercation and Jordis ended up with a really bruised gum. I don't even remember for sure how it happened, but I think she fell. Her tooth was never loose and she never said it hurt after a few days, so we never took her to the dentist. I kept thinking that her tooth looked a little gray, but Jason said he couldn't see it. However, at her regular appointment last month the dentist noticed right away that something was not right. He found a little cyst on her gum, almost hidden by the skin that attaches the lip to the gums. X-rays confirmed that the tooth was dead and because the cyst indicates infection it had to be extracted so that it didn't damage the adult tooth to come in.

We thought that maybe we should tell her in advance about the appointment so we didn't spring it on her when she woke up, but that didn't go so well. The above picture is a good representation of how she acted from the moment she got up.

Once she got her happy medicine I had trouble keeping her entertained while we waited for it to kick in, so I tried to get her picture taken for a full shot of teeth. At this point her eyes were getting a little heavy.

After that was the really sad part where they had to strap her down and take her tooth out. I could see her trying to look around for me and she started to cry and ask for Mommy, so they let me come stand by her and hold her hand. She was such a brave little girl. And as soon as they let her get up she was trying to rip the blood pressure monitor off of her big toe. Feisty little thing she is and I shudder to imagine the attitude she'll have by the time she's a pre-teen. We're already getting this...

Waiting to leave after the procedure was prety bad, as Jordis refused to sit still. She was pretty convinced she was going to get up and walk right out of there. When I sat her down in front of the treasure chest to pick something out she fell head first right in as she looked for a prize. I forced her to rest when we got home and she was fine the rest of the day. Now she looks like this...

She wouldn't let us take any pictures of her, so we had to sneak one while she was crawling around during Xander's sports adventure class.

I can't remember who gave us the Humpty Dumpty tooth holder, but I'm really glad we have it because I don't think Jordis would have left the tooth alone had we put it under her pillow. Her dentist (who we love if anyone here locally needs a pediatric dentist) gave us this cute little treasure chest for her tooth. Now I just have to hope she doesn't figure out where I've hidden it between now and the time she quits believing in the tooth fairy.


Looking for her loot. She appears happy but after she pulled out the dollar she said, "Where's my toy?" I thought $1 was pretty good, when I was a kid I got loose change.

Show me the money!

Spring day at the park

Yesterday was fairly warm and partly sunny, so when my dad came to visit after lunch we decided to take the kids to the park.

They played on the big climbing equipment and slides....

...swings...

...and bouncy apparatus...

Then my dad took us for ice cream. We don't give Xander milk products so this was a rare treat for him. I had to convince him that a little kids cone shouldn't make him sick, just (as he says) "activated."

The kids had a great time and it capped off a rarity of seeing all 3 sets of grandparents in a 4-day time period. On Sunday, Ba and BaDee came to church with us and then Sunday night we went to MawMaw and PawPaw's for pizza. Saturday night we saw Grandpa and Grammy at our little cousin's first birthday party.

It's been an exciting week!

Xander meets his idol

Xander got to meet his favorite news reporter today!

I watch Fox 28 news in the mornings because it's on until 9 a.m., unlike other stations that switch over to Good Morning America or the Today show. Xander loves to watch Johnny DiLoretto, who travels to a different central Ohio locale every weekday morning to showcase a food, activity, community event, etc. I'm not sure when the obsession started, but since he started talking Xander has had to see Johnny every day. He used to scream "Johnny!" when he got up in the morning and saw the news on. Now he likes to watch him each morning as he eats breakfast. He has to know where he is, what he's doing, who he's talking to, what he's eating, and so on. It took me a long time to get him to understand that Johnny is only on TV Monday through Friday and that he'd have to watch NBC4 on Saturday and Sunday.

Well, today Johnny was in Delaware at Garth's Auction House. When I turned on the news I knew that this was the day I was going to try and get Xander to meet him in person. He was a little resistive at first since it meant an interruption in his routine and he wouldn't get to ride the bus to school, but once we talked about it he was really excited. Poor Jordis was woken up, quickly dressed and whisked to the car with a baggy of cereal so we could make it in time and still get to school.

Johnny was so nice. After his live shot he came over to meet Xander and talked to him as much as he could, since Xander was not willing to stand there for a conversation and kept roaming around. Johnny even posed for a picture with him and I was shocked that Xander came within a foot of him and stopped to say "cheese."

I wanted to stay so the kids could see him do an on-air segment, but it was pretty quiet in there and I wasn't sure if that would go over so well. Xander loved just meeting him though and then when we went outside we took his picture by the news van.

We had some time to kill before school so I took the kids to McDonald's and let them play outside on the playground while I got some coffee.

When we got to school Xander had to tell everyone that he met Johnny. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but I'm so glad I took him.

In other news

Xander got a haircut. We were trying to grow it out so he could get the layered rock star look that's popular with boys today, but it wasn't working so well. When we took him for his last haircut she said it would need to grow some more in parts in order for us to get it long enough to layer. But it was too the point where he couldn't see and we could barely find his ears. So, I had my mom cut it up a little. We cut his bangs and the hair by his ears and shaped up the back. It looks better, so now we just need to decide if we're going to cut it shorter or see how it grows.

Here's a cute picture of Jordis that Jason took on Monday. I was in a store with Xander so he let her get of her carseat and sit up front. She thought it would be cool to stand on the console and stick her head out of the moonroof.

She also helped me a little with some laundry, although her interest in such chores is waning. She's definitely acting like a 3-year-old already. Screaming, pointing, crossing her arms and blatantly refusing to do things are now standard fare throughout the day. Luckily for her we think she's pretty cute.

I also found the BEST license plate when I was out with Xander one day. It would be perfect for me and pretty much sums up my existence. I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. I was probably too busy worrying about something else.

To top it off I got some great bargains on kids clothes this week. The kids are set for Easter, Jordis has a yellow dress for her Miss Spider birthday party, we have some more new fall/winter clothes and Jordis has her next winter coat. It's even pink if you can believe it. A great bargain always makes my day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

What beautiful weather we had yesterday for St. Patrick's Day! I tried to get a photo with Jordis in our green shirts, but she wasn't very interested. The only decent picture I was able to get of her facing forward is blurry because she kept trying to escape.

After Xander got home from school I made the kids a green lunch...green scrambled eggs with (normal) toast, kiwi and green milk. On green plates and glasses that have some green. They were pretty excited until they saw the kiwi and Xander shouted "I hate pickles!" I made them each try a bite. Xander said it was gross, Jordis said it was good, but neither of them would eat any more of it.

Afterward we went outside to play. Jordis has decided to try and ride Xander's big bike, and she can reach the pedals on it better than she can on our big wheel or tricycle.

Then we painted the driveway and played bubbles, then took a walk after dinner.

It was a great day!

Maple Syrup Festival

Yesterday my mom and I took the kids to the Maple Syrup Festival at Camp Lazarus, which is a local Boy Scouts camp.
First things first we went on a hayride pulled by horses. Jordis and my mom got to sit up front with the driver. Xander sat with me.



Then we went to throw a tomahawk.

Next we ate some fry bread that was cooked outside in black kettles.

We were covered in sugar and cinnamon.


After our snack we did some stamping of leather.

Then off to some Indian dancing where Xander unwillingly became part of a skit. The Boy Scouts were nice and came and apologized to him afterward since he was upset about it. They also gave him a feather as a peace offering. I have some pictures but they're kind of blurry since there was movement in all of them. After that Xander helped make some rope.

Playing on the obstacle course.

Our final stop, the Sugar Shack, where they convert sap to syrup.