Tangled Teeth

Yesterday I went to the dentist and had my routine 6 month cleaning. Ahhhhh, my teeth feel so clean. Usually, I don't mind getting my teeth cleaned but the hygienist yesterday was not as gentle as all the others I've had in the past. So it wasn't as enjoyable. My favorite part is when she squirts the high pressure little stream of water in my mouth- I wish that part would last longer.

Speaking of teeth, I was talking to my sister Camile last week about my reoccurring nightmares I have about my teeth. I get them about every 3 months and never go longer than 6 months without getting one. They are all different but they all have something to do with something bad happening to my teeth. I just had one last week and in it I had one giant buck tooth in the front of my mouth. It was like my two front teeth combined and doubled in size. Sometimes my teeth will all fall out in them and other times they will just be crazy crooked and discolored. My teeth are one thing about me that I have liked ever since I got my braces off in 10th grade. No matter what my weight is or how my hair looks; I like my teeth. So I think I have a fear of losing the one thing that I can count on to enjoy when I look in the mirror. I am grateful for my parents forking out the money to fix my teeth when I was younger. I'm glad I have a permanent retainer so that hopefully my teeth will stay straight and my nightmares will never come true. Kali started her Orthondonic treatments a couple months ago. She has a lot of crowding in her mouth and some cross bite issues. She has a bridge-type thing in her mouth that goes over the top of her mouth and I put a little key in it every night and click it forward. It's widening her teeth and then she'll get braces on her front teeth for a few months to straighten them. Then when she's a teenager she'll get the full set of braces. We were so excited when we found out that my orthodontist's son lives here in Utah and is an orthodontist too. (Dr. Tim Elison) So we didn't even have to shop around to make a decision about who to take our kids to. Dr. Elison puts on the permanent retainers so teeth stay in place and it's nice to have a familiar friendly face taking care of Kali.

Splish Splash- Sophie didn't get many baths!

Sophie loves to take baths. She even likes to wash her hair now. A couple months ago she would cry the whole time I washed her hair but now she reminds me "wash hair" whenever she's getting close to being done with her baths. She says she's Marlin, Nemo or Dory from Finding Nemo as she floats on her back to get her hair wet.

This got me thinking of how different bath time was for Conner (1st born) and Sophie (3rd born) when they were infants. The first bath we gave Conner was orchestrated by Jimmy, my mom & I. My mom taught us to heat the oven to warm & we'd set Conner's towel, jammies, onesie, & diaper all on on the open oven door to warm while Conner got his bath. Needless to say it didn't take Conner long to enjoy his bath time and snugly warm towel as he was getting out. I contrast that with Sophie's first bath. I know they bathe babies at the hospital to get them all clean but after that first bath- I don't think we bathed Sophie for a month. I would clean her off with wipes and do sponge baths with a washcloth to get all her baby fat rolls clean. She always smelled good so I didn't feel like I was neglecting her. I felt like baths were a two person job when the baby is so small, slippery and frantically crying. Since Jimmy was at work all day, and the kids had homework and reading, and there was always dinner and church meetings- our nights were full. Plus when we finally did give her a bath she hated it. So I think the for the first nine months Sophie got less than 9 baths. I know that must sound awful but in my defence, back in Pioneer days or in Medieval times baths just didn't happen very often. Once Sophie started enjoying baths, when she could sit up in the tub by herself, she loved them and takes them all the time. (daily usually) Kali liked (and still likes) getting in with her sometimes.

So although Sophie didn't get the bath time that Conner enjoyed when he was an infant, she does enjoy other things that Conner and Kali didn't get. She gets two twenty minute reading times a day with mom. (once at nap time & at bedtime) She gets to go on a stroll in the stroller daily and then usually a stop at the park. Beside not getting many baths and not having a scrapbook of her own, she is definitely not over looked in our family. Conner and Kali both adore her and she has her daddy wrapped around her finger. One example of that would be just the other morning, I was getting ready to take Sophie for our morning walk/jog and Jimmy was working from home. I asked him if he wanted to come and he said he needed to get some stuff done. While I was getting my water ready Sophie went in his office and in her small, high voice she said to Jimmy, "go walk with me, daddy." The next thing I knew Jimmy was dressed in his shorts & running shoes and ready to workout with me. He has the hardest time saying no to her and she loves spending time with him. I always tell Jimmy that she knows how bad her daddy wanted her here on Earth- he even signed a golf & basketball contract in desperation. (that's a another whole post though)

Toilet Paper Pumpkin Trio

A few years ago, my mom got 3 cute little pumpkins from one of her students. I thought they were so cute and my mom told me they were just fabric around toilet paper rolls and a paper towel roll. In case anyone is interested in making an inexpensive fall decoration, I'll tell you how I did it. I set off to find some cute orange fabric- I choose some with a bit of a pattern but not anything too busy. I got 1/3 a yard each for the two toilet paper rolls & a 1/2 yard for the tall one. Then I just gathered & rolled stuffing the middle as I went. I used my hot glue in the middle of the tubes to keep the fabric in place as I went. Then I rolled up a brown lunch sack (rolling it uneven so it made somewhat of a cone spiral shape) and stuck it in the middle with a couple fall leaves. And wa-la 3 cute fall pumpkins ready to display! I already had the rolls of toilet paper and paper towel so this project cost me $6.35. (two of the fabric rolls were $7 & $8 a yard so this could be done for less if you could get less expensive fabric. Make sure you really like the fabric though because that really makes it cute, in my opinion) I am keeping mine but it would be an easy gift to give for a fall birthday, teacher gift, or Visiting Teaching gift.

UFO (unidentified floating object)

Last night, Jimmy was pouring a glass of milk to eat with his pumpkin bar. The gallon of milk was getting close to being gone and that's when he spotted it. A paper towel had been stuffed inside the milk carton. This isn't Sophie first offence of putting something inside the milk. I don't know how she does it with out anyone seeing her. Last week, as I was pouring the last of the milk a little sticker came out. So now I am off to the store to get some more milk- but that didn't stop me from giving the kids some napkin milk with their cereal this morning.

Going on a "Train"-chugga, chugga, choo, choo!

Yesterday Jimmy had a gold tournament so instead of sitting around all day we decided to have an adventure. After Conner's soccer game we went to Sandy to catch Trax. Before we could go though we stopped by Target and got some food for a picnic. Bananas (that was Sophie's pick), raspberries (my pick), Chicken salad and some pita's to stuff it in, and some Oreos (Conner & Kali's pick). After unloading at the station, I realized I needed cash (no debit cards- what??) so we had to pile back in the car and head to the nearest ATM machine. After getting our tickets- we were off. At each stop, Sophie would say, "more, more!" She wanted to "train" to keep going. We got off at temple square and walked to the temple grounds. We found a nice big shade tree with a beautiful view of the temple to stop and have our picnic under. After we ate we went to the visitors center that has the big Christas. The kids thought that was so neat. Sophie went right up to it and just stood there looking up at it. By the time, I found my phone to take a picture- the moment was gone. It was so sweet though while it lasted.

Then we went to a presentation of the Proclamation to the Family. It was great for kids because we moved from room to room so the kids attention was kept at each station. Sophie had a hard time in the nursery room though because she saw toys she wanted to play with. They have a glass barrier so you can't touch anything and Sophie was frustrated about that.

From there we went to the church history museum. We walked around and learned about the early members of the church. Conner and Kali both liked the bunk beds from the ships. The kids climbed in and they said it wasn't very comfy. The pillows were flat and on the top bunks one of the ladies pointed out the rats that were common on the ships. There was also a hand cart that the kids each tried to pull. It was such a neat place. If Sophie wasn't with us- we could have spent a long time looking at more of the displays. They have a whole children's area with the theme "I Am a Child of God". They had a great time going from station to station. We'll have to do something like that again soon. When we first got to Temple Square Conner said "This is such a fun day- it feels like it's some one's birthday or something."

It took us a little longer to get home than it should have. We got on the University line to go home instead of the Sandy one. So after a couple stops we got off and waited for 20 minutes for another train, and then we had to get off downtown and wait for another Sandy one. It added about 45 minutes on to our trip home. Sophie was ready to throw herself on to the tracks by the time we were done waiting. She missed her nap so she wasn't in the best of mood anyway. All in all though, we made some great memories and learned some new things about church history.

Taking Care of Daddy

Yesterday Jimmy was working in his office and Sophie came in for a quick visit. She looked down at his feet and saw a two toe size hole in his black sock. She pointed at it and said "Luuke, luuke" (look, look!) Then she disappeared and came back about ten minutes later with a clean black replacement sock.

Jimmy told me this story a few hours after it happened and the pieces suddenly came together. Earlier in the day, I walked into the front room and the contents of the laundry basket I had sitting there was spread all over the room. Usually Sophie doesn't touch the laundry baskets but she had a mission and she worked hard to find her daddy a sock that matched and didn't have a hole.

She is at such a fun age right now. The end of last week I started potty training her and she looks so adorable in her little panties. She has Dora and My Little Pony ones. You other mom's know what I'm talking about when I say how cute our little ones bums look when they first start wearing underwear. She's only had one "bad" accident and those panties got tossed and she quickly got a bath. Other than that she seems to be getting the hang of it. She has a little sticker chart and she loves to put the stickers on once she goes.

We've been going on walks every morning and she is doing so well at being content while we go. She used last about 10 minutes before she wanted out but now she's letting me get in a good workout without any complaints. Now that the weather is cooling off we are stopping at the park after and playing for awhile. (anyone in the neighborhood who wants to come- we get to the park about 10:30, the one across from the school)