A Trip to the Dentist

Yesterday, Paul and I went to the dentist.

I don't dislike going to the dentist. But I don't love it either. I had no {zip, zero, nada} cavities for 21 years of my life. I miss two 6 month checkups between graduating college and getting married...and I have seven cavities. Yes, you read it right...zero to seven in 1.5 years!

My old dentist did a really bad job putting in one of those seven fillings, so after much pain and annoyance, our new dentist put a crown on to finally fix the problem. Only to have me get an absess and need a root canal when i was a mere 8 weeks pregnant with Addie. Hmmmm, you see why I don't just love the dentist.

Needless to say, all those fluoride treatments, sealant paintings, and brushing as a child did do a lot of good. I just should have laid off the Dr. Pepper drinking in college a little.

We've already started brushing Addie's teeth and hope that she too will have zero cavities {for as long as her Daddy had/still has them, not her Mommy!) Since we know dentist visits will be a necessity for Addie also, we figured we'd let her come back, sit in the chair, and get her very own toothbrush from the dentist.

She was quite excited and proud. She watched a little TV on the flat screen, leaned back to get a massage, and had an all around good time. She loved sitting in the massage dentist's chair, holding the protective glasses you get to wear now, and chewing on her toothbrush. Right up until the dental hygienist tried to be sweet and put the glasses on her. You see that last picture there? Yup, she melted into a big pile of tears!

Make sure to check out Paul's blog post on our visit to the dentist. Much more humorous...but ya can't beat the pictures here! :)

Oh, and I'm happy to report zero cavities for both of us!

"Not Me!" Monday

What a week! Having a sick, teething baby will bring you to your wits end after a while. Addie is usually a pretty happy, fun-loving baby girl. She has her moments; we all do. But teething and fever and 3-4 yucky diapers a day resulting in a red bottom no matter how fast you change them and a stuffy nose with drainage and throwing up will do anyone in...fast!

So, another "Not Me!" Monday is in order!

Make sure to check out MckMama's blog. Although there are many complex aspects to his treatment and recovery, Baby Stellan is doing much better! To God be the Glory great things He has done!

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I did not take my sick child {with a mild fever} to Publix Monday morning to get a few things. It did not take longer than expected, and I did not spend more than planned. I did not come armed with sippy cup, paci, lovey, doll, books, and toys for distraction. Oh, and keys. She did not think it was the best game ever to throw anything and everything out of the cart at the most inopportune times. Because it was fun. She did not throw mild fits when I wouldn't give them back to her after she threw them out. I did not get to the checkout and frantically start throwing things myself onto the checkout belt in an effort to get out of the store! I did not forget to give them our green bags and have to make the bag boy unbag some of our groceries to use them. {Eye rolling moment #1} I did not wait until the lady got our grand total to hand her the coupons I'd so carefully collected. {Eye rolling moment #2} She did not forget to enter the five dollars off coupon thus requiring me to question her scanning ability {Eye rolling moment #3} But seriously people, $5 is a lot! I did not then realize as I was moving things around to make room for our full green bags that I had forgotten to pull the bread out of the buggy! {Eye rolling moment #4}. I did not forget to push the yes/enter/green button once I put my debit card pin in because I was still moving things around in the buggy trying to make sure I didn't forget anything else and make sure that my daughter didn't throw anything, including herself, out of the buggy! {Eye rolling moment #5} I did not want to yell at the Publix lady who is supposed to be nice because all people that work at Publix are supposed to be nice because she'd rolled her eyes at me not once, not twice but five times! I am always calm, collected, and organized on my grocery visits. I have had an entire year to get good at this, and I am good at this. I mean, I'm not!

I did not go flying through a cut-through street to pick Paul up on Wednesday because I was late. I am not fully aware that this specific street is a prime place for police to use as a speed trap. I mean, I have not seen countless people get pulled over on this very street. I did not look up from shoving food into my child's mouth and digging her sippy cup out of the backseat to find two motorcycle cops pulling off of a side street to get me and the person in front of me. I was not going 41 in a 25 {side note: I really don't think I was going that fast. It could have only been 35!}. The speed limit is clearly too slow for this street full of businesses! I did not calmly tell the officer I had a dog in the backseat in order not to get my dog shot. I did not hand him my car registration instead of my car insurance. I did not have to fish out my other driver's license from my wallet because the one I use to get on base has our old address on it. I did not text Paul and my mom that I was getting a {blank} speeding ticket and ask when all of this was going to end. I did not start to tear up. I never {and I mean really never} cry when I get a ticket {side note again: i really haven't gotten that many tickets. maybe 2?}. I know I have a lead foot and aspire to be a race car driver in my second life. So I always gracefully accept the consequence and go on my way. Not today. The police officer did come not back to my car faster than normal with only a WARNING. I did not at that very point burst into blubbering, sobbing tears! I did not, through tears, explain to him that I was always careful on this street because it was easy to speed on and that we had just paid out thousands of dollars fixing our house and thank you thank you thank you! He did not tell me he understood because he too had just replaced two air conditioning units. He did not ask me if I was going to be ok to drive! I did not call Paul crying tears of utter joy because we weren't going to have to pay out over $100 to our municipal system! I will never speed again. I mean, I will try extra hard {not} to speed again!

I did not find the head and tail of a very dead squirrel on our front porch, left there by our cat as a gift for us. I did not, without thinking, let the cat in before I left. After ewwing and gagging, I did not take a picture and text it to my husband. As to the rest of the story, make sure to read his blog post here.

{no, i cannot believe i'm posting this on my blog!}

Days later after disposing of the above said squirrel, we did not all venture out to blow bubbles on the front porch. We did not let Addie roam freely because said dead squirrel remnants were long gone. While blowing bubbles, my husband did not stop abruptly to look at what was in Addie hand only to discover that the above said squirrel had not in fact been completely disposed of. We did not find a squirrel paw in our daughter's hand! We'd never let her handle such disgusting things! Rodents carry nasty diseases! We'd never not be paying enough attention to not be able to distinguish between a stick and a squirrel paw. I did not promptly grab her up and take her inside and scrub her hands {and arms} down with warm water and soap. I mean...ewwww!

As noted in this other post: on Thursday, our baby did not wake up crying at 10pm. Her Daddy did not go to put her paci back in only to find that she had bazooka barfed all over her bed and herself and was not sobbing heaving tears. I did not scoop her up, strip her down, and give her a bath {all without gagging} while her Daddy cleaned up her bed, throwing everything into the washing machine. He did not struggle to get the sheets back on the bed because it can be likened to putting a sweater on a flopping, slippery fish! It did not take a good hour to get her back to sleep only to have her wake up again at midnight and 4am. She did not throw up again after eating at 4am either.

I am not thankful that this week and weekend are over. I am not absolutely thrilled that we are going to the beach to stay with my dad this next weekend. {In all actuality, I am so excited I can hardly wait!} I am not praying that my child will continue to sleep through the night, uninterrupted and go ahead and let this tooth break through so all this craziness will stop, for the time being at least!

And I did not feel the urge to post at least one picture of our baby girl amongst all this craziness!



So what did you not do this past week? Do make sure to share!

Happy Monday!!!

You Know Your Baby's Teething When...

...you have to change her clothes several times a day because there's a constant wet ring at the top of every shirt, dress, and outfit she wears. Bibs don't even come close to preventing or helping it.

{get these things out of my mouth!}

...she's drooling so much that it comes out the front of her paci.

...she's drooling so much that she develops eczema on her face, unbeknown to you though, causing you rush to the doctor {last week} for fear it's another strange disease!

{notice the rash starting on her face}

...everything goes in her mouth!

...you've had to replace all 4 sippy top spouts because she's chewed through them but refuses to chew on teething rings or cold washcloths.

{check out that eyebrow-wrinkled glare}

...she gags several times each meal because she's swallowing her food whole in an effort not to have to chew it no matter how tiny you cut it up.

...you're fearful of the amount of snot your child might be consuming because 1.) you can't get her nose wiped fast enough and 2.) she hates having her nose wiped or booger bulbed more than anything and you don't want to make her cry anymore than she already is/has!

...your baby snores more than your husband anyone you know!

...you end up holding your baby on your shoulder while she naps in an attempt to make the nap last longer than 15 minutes; oh, and so she can breath!

...you hear your baby crying at 10pm only to find that she's bazooka barfed in her sleep, all over her bed, due to the large amount of drainage caused by the stuffy nose she has as a result of the overproduction of saliva from teething! One word: "ewwww!"

...you miss Bible study, Mother's Morning Out, and a play date because of fever, which may or may not be due to teeth or a fever virus.

...you've completely switched from almost solely cloth diapering to almost solely using disposables because you can't stomach washing out 4-5 diapers a day when you usually only wash out maybe 1 a week. (the flushable rice paper usually catches it, which means you just flip it and flush it...no rinsing)

...you've gone through an entire bottle of Children's Motrin and half a bottle of Children's Tylenol and you're not even giving it every 4-6 hours.

All four top teeth and all four bottom teeth are in. This 1 molar has been worse than all 8 of those put together!!! Happy Teething!

Flashback Friday

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y.

...Paul wrote another blog post. Do check it out! It will explain our afternoon/night!

Wordless Wednesday

Please Pray

This sweet baby boy is having heart surgery today, made even more risky due to his age and size. People from all over the world are wearing orange in honor of Stellan and praying for him throughout the day. Close to 500 pictures (and still uploading) have been sent in and added to their blog! As I write this, he is still in surgery. It was supposed to last at least 3 hours, but they are up to 5 hours and still going as far as we know right now. Please join us in praying for the doctors, his family, and his safety. These next hours and days are critical for his recovery. You can click the button above for updates.

We also have several family friends in need of prayer. I'm not sure if they'd want their names or blogs/caringbridge sites mentioned here, so they'll remain nameless, but please lift them up as well baby Stellan:
-a high school/college friend who's fighting uterine cancer
-a college friend who's husband is fighting testicular cancer that's moved to two lymph nodes
-a teacher from my school who just found out she has a possibly malignant mass between her pancreas and stomach
-a high school friend's mother who's very ill with lymphedema
-we also just got word that two college students were killed this morning that attend the university where my mom teaches, one of which is the boyfriend of one of the volleyball managers who did so much to help my mom with her Komen Walk

We know that God is good, and our prayer is that He alone will be glorified through the faith of these men and women. For He alone is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us! {Eph 3:20}

Fun in the Sun: Part 1

The weather has really been beautiful here recently. We've enjoyed being outside more and more everyday. Sitting in the yard on a blanket with toys. Crawling around on the front porch or driveway. Swinging, taking walks, or going to the park or zoo.

But I'm afraid Addie has taken after me with allergies. Watery eyes. Runny nose. Sneezing.


This doesn't stop her from having fun in the sun when the weather's beautiful though, pollen or no pollen! Her newest {now old} thing is putting objects inside other objects. You can see the leaf inside the blocks here. She's very serious about it!

And sometimes she's content just sitting there smiling so I can take a few pictures...for all of 4.5 seconds!

...and then it's off to find something else!

Addie has this amazing ability to grab anything and everything and put it immediately in her mouth. Well before she understood "no" or "spit it out", we would stick our tongue out in an attempt to get her to open her mouth so we could get out whatever was in it. Now when she realizes it doesn't taste good (or shouldn't be in her mouth in the 1st place), she sticks out her tongue and gracefully spits it, among other things, out.

She loves to swing. Her Daddy was standing off to the side here trying to get her to smile for me. Success, every time! She truly adores her Daddy!

More pictures {and videos} to come!

"Not Me!" Monday

Alrighty. I was not planning to do a "Not Me!" Monday until I read that Kelly had actually been brought to tears of laughter by previous posts and inspired to do her own!

Kelly's are far funnier than anything I did not do this week, but hey, here they are!

We did not receive an email from Paul's mom who'd received an email from Amazon.com that the coffee maker she'd given Paul a few years back had been recalled. This recall was not due to the possibility of the boiler exploding. We have never (really, we havent) had anything we owned be recalled! I did not just laugh and shake my head only wishing that our AC/furnace, refrigerator, kitchen faucet, bedroom TV, and main sewer line could have only been recalled instead of just plain flat out broken so we would not {really} have had to fund their replacements!

Oh...and did I mention that Paul did not have to replace the inside of our guest bathroom toilet because it was {really} not sealing thus causing the water to constantly run. We did not go from using 2-4 thousand gallons of water a month to 10-11 thousand gallons of water a month because of this. I mean, we hope it is because of this, because if it isn't, we're in trouble somewhere else in our house!!!

I was not totally baffled as to why Addie's hair was sticking to her head Sunday morning after she'd had a bath. I did not try to unstick it by ruffling it with my hand only to have it turn into a bunch of frizz (I mean, I should know by now what curly hair does, right?). As I was feeding her, I did not realize that, although with good intentions, I had put shampoo in Addie's hair to wash it (and get out any reminiscent of food from the night before), but had not, however, remembered to rinse it out. I'd never forget do a thing like that!

Addie's shoes did not promptly break, flower and button falling off, the very 1st time she'd ever worn them!

I am not doing an obedience class with Abbey, again, because I felt sorry for her after we lost Molly. Every other dog in the class has not {has i mean} already taken this class, failed it, and is retaking it again. She has not {really she has} been a complete angel, well behaved and totally obedient the whole time, acting like she didnt even need this class...until tonight! Until everyone was praising their very well behaved dog as they sat obediently beside them. Until my dog started freaking out, got up, raced across the room at full speed, slipping and sliding all over the concrete, totally not embarrassing me as everyone looked on {in horror}. Ok, not in horror, but it sure felt like it. And I did not have to refrain from laughing the entire rest of the class because she looked so silly running 90 miles an hour and only going 10! ...guess you had to be there! ;)

And saving the best for last...I did not ask Paul to change Addie's diaper before church. I always do that, you know. I did however actually dress her:

dress? check.

diaper? already put on by Daddy. check.

diaper cover? too small

diaper cover #2? will do

socks? check...but oh I wish I knew where that other one with the ruffles was that was lying on her changing table earlier.

shoes? check

bow? will do without

bib for the car so that everything she's consumed since 5am doesn't end up on her dress? check

Ready for church. Ha! Right?

Well, I was certainly not called back to the nursery when church was over to be told what I had done (as all 3 nursery worker in the front snickered under their breath...really!). I was not totally embarrassed and running over in my head: did I forget something? does she have on 2 different socks? she was dressed, right?

Only to be told that when they changed her diaper, they did not find this in it:

WHAT is that, you ask? Oh, that's not the sock that I was looking for early. But it is! There's no way that would end up in her diaper. Right? Hmmmm....I guess I'd better make sure I change the diaper right before we head out to Sunday School next week so nothing else manages to make it's way into it!

Now...what have you not done this week?!?!?

Thanks for the inspiration Kelly! Happy {at the very end of the day} Monday!!!

Some Older {in a relative sense} Pics and a Flashback Friday of Sorts

The dogwoods and the azaleas were in full bloom, and it was beautiful weather on Addie's birthday...almost a month ago! And then I went on a blogging hiatus right after that and never got these posted.

We went to a park in Wetumpka that day; and on the way home, we stopped at the beautiful Cafco gardens behind Southern Homes and Gardens. I wanted to get a few pictures of the flowers; so baby in tow, we trekked walked the short way to the tree. It's rather challenging to hold a baby and take a still photograph without shaking and creating too much blur though, especially when she's grabbing the camera strap!

So I plopped her down and took some pictures of her too. And wow do I have a lot to learn about light!

The azaleas were beautiful; but right as I started taking these, I realized that bees find these flowers to be even more beautiful than we do. So I snatched picked my baby up before one could realize that she, in fact, was far more beautiful than any flower, and whisked her home for a nap!

I accidentally caught her hand in this photo, but I thought it put it in such perspective! She was so curious, but so gentle!

Of course my favorite pictures are always of my baby girl; but I'm a sucker for flowers. In addition to wisteria (and azaleas and hydrangeas), one of my grandmother's favorite flowers were found on the beautiful dogwood tree.

Although I'm fairly sure the Legend of the Dogwood is in fact just that, a legend; I love the story. And what a perfect time to post these, right after Easter, as we remember what our Savior did for us!

In Jesus' time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.

'Twas strong and firm it's branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.

Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:

"Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so.

Slender and twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.

As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom's center wears a thorny crown.

All who see it will remember Me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.

Cherished and protected, this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony."

I have a feeling that this would have been my grandmother's favorite dogwood picture though:

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So after mentioning my grandmother {Maw Maw} above, I remembered that I had scanned this picture a few weeks ago. Isn't she just beautiful! I remember her being even more beautiful as she got older.

And not to be left out, I found this picture that Paul's mom had sent me a few weeks ago. Paul was about a year old here. Think Addie still looks like her Daddy? I agree, expressions and all!

Happy Friday!

Woot Woot

We're just slightly excited and just a tad bit proud!

We know our baby girl is beautiful, and we know we have a very talented photographer who captures her perfectly; but it's way cool when somebody else acknowledges that as well!

I'm gonna make you work to figure out what this one's about! :)

Click here!

Now can I hear a "Woot Woot!" from anyone?

Easter

I ♥ Faces

This week, I ♥ Faces has an amateur category...which is perfect for this amateur! The theme is Easter/spring. So, I thought I'd enter one of Addie's Easter pictures in her dress my mom and I made for her, accompanied by the stylish bunny ears of course!

I love her curled toes here and the egg in her mouth, where everything goes these days! I'm afraid the lighting isn't exactly the best, but I loved the color!

Make sure to check out all the other beautiful faces on the I ♥ Faces blog.

"Not Me!" Monday

Although there is no official "Not Me!" Monday blog carnival (yet) today, it is way past due for this blogger!

Here is what we have not done in the past few weeks:

I did not make a quick run to Walgreens this morning with Addie in her pajamas. She did not scream/screech for at least 75% of the time we were in there. But she most certainly did not grab the fingernail polish out of my hand and chunk it to the floor. It did not break the top off, splattering blue glitter all over the floor...and my pants. She did not promptly burst into tears again at that very moment! And I was certainly not buying blue fingernail polish!

The checkout woman did not look at me and say, "So, do you just stay home with her all day? Oh, that must be interesting." Um...yeah, I did not want to respond with: I just stay home all day with her, sitting on our couch eating bonbons and watching the Today Show while she sleeps. Just stay home with her...? OMG people...

My daughter did not grab my fajita by the edge and dump it's contents on the new living room carpet. I did not clean up as much as I could and then let the dog eat/lick the rest of it up!

After carefully changing Addie's poopy diaper in the car, I folded up the cloth diaper with all its contents and laid it on the floorboard of the car. I went on with my shopping, planning to take care of it when I got home. As I was unloading the car, I looked down only to find a smear of dirt on the seat. Confused as to what it was, I did not realize it was in fact really not dirt. Therefore, I did not walk around Michael's and Walmart with poopy on the back of my child's pants!

Our geriatric cat did not bazooka barf immediately after she ate canned cat food. I did not jump to move the cookbooks out of the way, only to get in her line of fire resulting in my jeans not turning into a magnet for her vomit. I mean...yuck!

I have not sung the Itsy Bitsy Spider, the Wheels on the Bus, and If Your Happy and You Know It so many times that I wake up in the morning singing them still. Our CD player does not contain not one, not three, but SIX kiddy CDs!

Our teething baby has not attempted to survive on yogurt, apple sauce, cows milk, and juice for the past week. Is that possible?

It is not raining here again, and we certainly couldn't get a pretty penny by advertising our house as having a sizable pond in the backyard, I mean, if we were putting it on the market (which we really are not)!

However, we did consider moving due to the fact that yet another appliance/electronic did not go out...the TV in our bedroom has not died. I did not find Paul sitting on the bed last night listening to the TV with no picture! Seriously people!?!?!

So...what have you NOT done over these past few weeks! Do make sure to share!

Make sure to check out MckMama's blog to see how well Stellan is doing! Praise God for this precious blessing!

Saturday Stumper...Solved!

I'm sure you weren't too seriously stumped by our Saturday safari, but we had a splendid time seeing so many spectacular animals during Addie's first stroll through the ZOO!

You know, seeing:

sizable elephants stirring up the sand

silly monkeys swinging through the trees

sleepy kangaroos taking a siesta in the sun

stoic leopards sitting in the shade

slothful warthogs slumbering in the soil

statuesque giraffes sauntering through their sanctuary

and a ginormous black bear almost shrouded by his shelter.

But in case you were suspicious of the single type of animal that would strike Addie's fancy...it would certainly be the super-sized cats!

However, it was this stunning jaguar's stare as he stalked his spectators that startled us the most but made Addie squeal with surprise!

And then there was the sassy peacock who showed off his beautiful, sleek feathers!

Mommy and Daddy savored the sweet time with their special baby girl!

...and we're fairly sure that Addie had a superb stroll as well!

What a swanky way to spend a spring Saturday!