kade gets braces

Nan suggested we get Kade an orthodontic consult so we did.

He has a crossbite so my Dr. suggested braces for 6-9 months.

The next week we were in and now we are twins.

Kade was really excited to get braces.

That morning we went and he was such a trooper.

He was a perfect patient.

Of course, he chose red and green bands for December.

He was excited to show Drew that they match.

This is right before we left the office:

You can already see a slight movement a couple hours later:

This is the next day:

They have moved so much already!

After Kade's appointment we went up to Ethan's work so he could see him.  

Then we went to Which Wich for a sandwich and shake.  He ate like a champ.  

We did a little Christmas shopping and picked Addi up from school and hour early.  

By dinner, his mouth was sore.  He had a smoothie for dinner.  

It took a few days for him to eat real food but he is doing great now.  

It was kind of surreal for me to see him with braces.  I feel like I've aged 10 years.

How is my 8 year old wearing braces (and so am I!!?!?)

But soon enough we will both have them off and then it'll be Add's turn :)

the past few days

First of all...

Thank you to everyone for the kind words about my brace face.

I really do appreciate it.  Thanks for helping me feel better.

moving on....

Sunday we had Annalee and fam over for the Super Bowl.

They brought most of the food but we did provide chips and dip and salsa.

Ethan made salsa that was delicious and we all had a good time.

I am awaiting Anna's tornado recipe (hint, hint!!)  

It was the first day I was able to eat solid food and it was so nice.

My teeth were still sore but I ate through the pain!

Us on Sunday:

Yesterday, Kade got off the bus with a very loose tooth.  After some crying (he wanted Michelle to take it out but then was "too scared")  and lots of wiggling he finally got it out himself.  He was surprised to see it in his hand.  After dinner we could not find the tooth.  Whoops.  I think it fell off the counter and one of the dogs ate it.  So he wrote a note to Maxine the tooth fairy and she still dropped off $2.

I have Andra's Valentine's party tomorrow night so I worked on that this afternoon.

Ethan and I stopped for drinks before the kids got home from school. 

I love our gas station b/c they have a rewards card and we get free drinks.  

And they have the cherry syrup on tap so my diet cherry coke is perfect every time.

This afternoon we went bowling b/c the kids both got a free pass to Fat Cats.  Cam and Mich came with us and it was really fun.  I took a ton of instax pics.  Mich won, beating Ethan by one pin. 

This week I received two braces related gifts.  Roxanne (my friend down the street who also has an Addison in Add's class//also my VT partner) gave me some flossers that work with braces.  We had been talking about braces at the bus stop and then she saw them at the store and thought I could use them.  Also, Mich gave me some intense toothpicks to help with keeping my braces free of food.  Thanks ladies!!  

...

I took this pic of Add a few hours before I got braces on Thursday.

I was excited for braces, they were going to fix my chipping/gappy smile.

Little did I know that I would be thrown into a tailspin of feelings.

All of the sudden I was in High School not feeling very pretty anymore.

(lots of emotions and issues that go along with that in my brain)

I was surprised that I felt this way because I feel like I have come very far since I was that insecure girl.

All the sudden I wasn't me anymore or at least I didn't look like me.
On top of that, I can't eat solid food.  My mouth is killing me.

I let myself feel bad all day Thursday.  I cried to Ethan.

I almost didn't go to work on Friday.

I decided I should go because I couldn't really take a whole year off of work so eventually I would need to go.  Friday wasn't bad.  We went to a movie after Ethan was done with work.  I had diet coke and sucked on Jr. Mints until they melted.  So appetizing!  

Saturday was OK.  It is not very fun to not be able to eat real food.

Talking all day at work killed my mouth.  My jaw was sore and the inside of my mouth shredded.

It was not a good night.  But hopefully I have slept off my bad feelings and woke up feeling determined to have a good attitude today.  I'm sick of hearing myself complain (especially about something I chose to do myself) and I'm sure the people around me are tired of the complaining too.

I am lucky to have Ethan to remind me that I'm beautiful with or without braces.

And lots of moral support from friends and family.

Thanks Ash and Anna for the texts.

Thanks Mich for the Diet Coke and milkshake run too.