Brynlee's First Cavity

I was going to write about this in the June update but I forgot. At the beginning of June I took Brynlee in for a dental check-up. I first took her a year ago the week before she turned 2. I wasn't sure if I should take her that early or not but I know that some dentists want to see kids six months after their first tooth comes in. That seemed silly to me since Brynlee only had two teeth at that point. I figured I should take her in before she turned two so I took her into the dentist that I went to years ago when I lived in Kuna. They were one of the only close places that would take her insurance but I was not happy with them at all.

I had several questions I wanted to ask the dentist and I never got a chance to ask them. They sat Brynlee in the big dental chair and had her brush the teeth on this stuffed frog that they had. Brynlee really got into that. Then the dental hygenist asked Brynlee if she would open her mouth so that she could count her teeth. Brynlee told her no. So the lady said all right and went and got the dentist. I told Brynlee if she wanted a prize, she had to open her mouth and that really motivated her to open up wide. The dentist looked in her mouth really briefly, told me the molars in the back were still working on coming up, and then he left. I couldn't believe that was all that they did. I felt like they should have at least brushed her teeth or talked to her about how to brush or something.

This time I decided to take Brynlee to the dentist that took my wisdom teeth our. Since I went there, they would take Brynlee's insurance. Before our trip I told Brynlee all about the dentist and what to expect and she seemed really excited about this new adventure. I ended up having to take Annalyn with me but she was good while we were there. The girls did get into a small fight over a toy that they found in the waiting room. Brynlee shrieked really loudly and tried to hit her sister when Annalyn took the toy, but other than that, she was great. This time the dental hygienist and the dentist both started working on Brynlee together. The dentist looked at Brynlee teeth and right away, she found a cavity in Brynlee's tooth. It was back in her bottom left back molar. That tooth hasn't even been in there for a year! Apparently she has really deep grooves that are hard to clean and that will be prone to cavities. We will have to get her sealants as soon as her permanent teeth come in.

Luckily it was just a small cavity so the dentist recommended having a silver filling put in it. And she was able to put it in right then. Everyone was amazed at how good Brynlee was while they filled that cavity. The dentist told Brynlee that she found some bugs in her mouth and that she was going to take all the bugs out and put in a silver star. (As she was taking them out she found out that the bugs were pink.) Brynlee was really intrigued about the whole thing. She looked at the "silver star dust" and seemed to like the idea of having that in her mouth. The dentist told her what would happen and then asked her what she thought. Brynlee responded by saying "yeah but, I don't know about those bugs." The dentist assured her she would get the bugs out so Brynlee just sat back in the chair and opened her mouth. They had a TV set up with a movie running and Brynlee told them that she really liked their movie. She seemed to just sit there and watch the show. I was so impressed with my little girl. Once the cavity was filled, the dental hygienist cleaned her teeth, and then had to put on some fluoride. The fluoride was the worst part of the whole thing. Brynlee didn't like that stuff at all. As soon as it was done Brynlee got a new tooth brush and she spent forever choosing a prize from the prize bucket. Eventually she picked out a sticky hand. Overall I was really proud of my little girl and how well she handled everything. Now I just have to make sure I help her brush better. She likes to brush her teeth by herself and it is far to tempting to let her do it on her own.

And in case you were wondering, the dentist I went to recommended taking kids in for their first check-up at two. Although she said every dentist has a different preference I will be taking Annalyn in sometime after her second birthday and Brynlee will be going back in December.

A Princess Tea Party

The other day the girls and I had a tea party in our beautiful pink castle that Joel made. We all dressed up like princesses and Brynlee was our lovely hostess. Brynlee even made me dress up with a feather boa and a fancy skirt. Brynlee was a lady bug princess. She sent Annalyn and me off to play while she fixed our food. Once everything was ready, and after we said a prayer, we feasted on fruit snacks and water from Brynlee's kitchen stuff. It was a lot of fun. I really love spending these moments with my girls. They make life so much fun.

After our tea party was over, we collected some squash from our garden, went on a wagon ride, played on the slide and chased the chickens. Brynlee has been obsessed with packing those chickens around everytime we go outside. We also found a lady bug outside and Annalyn was so entranced with watching it crawl on her fingers. I love days like these. They really make me enjoy being a mom.

The 4th of July

Joel and I were both looking forward to the fourth of July. Joel couldn't wait for a day off of work. It has been hot here in Boise and Joel has not enjoyed working out in the heat. Joel got so hot at work the day before that he had to lay down and he fell asleep in the middle of the shop while he was laying on the creeper. I think he might of had heat stroke because he felt miserable. Joel loves all of the fourth of July activities and he really needed a day to relax and have fun.

On the fourth we all woke up super excited for the parade. Except for Joel. He was sick. He had another really bad headache. He spent the whole morning laying on the bathroom floor. He was still determined that he would go to the parade with us. I didn't see how that would happen but I got everything ready and then went to ask Joel if he was coming. He insisted that he was going to go but in the end, he couldn't even get up off the floor. I know he was disappointed that he couldn't go and I felt bad for leaving him home but I didn't want the girls to miss out on the festivities so I took the girls by myself.

When we got to the parade I ended up sitting with my dad and Alesha and Joel's brothers and their families, plus Joel's sister Janeen. The rest of my family sat somewhere else. They wanted to sit closer to the beginning so they could get more candy. We sat over by the park so my kids could play before the parade started. It worked out really great for us because my dad bought a huge plate of french fries and he shared them with us. Annalyn got ketchup all over her hands right away. My sister Alesha, who was holding her, begged for a wipe; but I wasn't fast enough. Annalyn got ketchup all over Alesha's pants. Alesha was not happy that she had to walk around with ketchup on her white pants.

Once the parade started, the candy started to be thrown. Annalyn got really into getting all that candy. She was so funny. She kept trying to eat whatever she found while the wrapper was still on it. Eventually I would take the wrapper off and she would try to stick the whole thing in her mouth. She would have a mouth full of candy and both hands would be full but that would not stop her from going after more candy. I tell you, that girl really likes candy. She got a lot more candy than Brynlee did. Brynlee had fun watching the parade with her cousins Madison and Celeste and she collected lots of candy too.

After the parade we had planned on going over to Joel's brother Jake's house for a barbecue. Luckily Joel felt better and he was determined to go. I went home and picked him up. Joel's brother had made a huge slip n' slide out of black plastic and the kids had a blast playing in the water. The food was great and we had a fun time. I wish I would have taken some pictures while we were there.

After that we went to visit my family and see what they were doing. We really wanted to go see the firework display in Melba but Joel still wasn't feeling that great so we decided to skip it. Luckily my dad bought a whole lot of fireworks so we just lit them off at grandma's house instead. Both of my girls really enjoyed the night's festivities  Annalyn started clapping as soon as the first firework went off and she clapped pretty much the whole night. They had a blast. Although, I think Brynlee got kind of bored with it because when the show was almost over, she started to watch a show on grandma's ipad. She is still talking about the fireworks and has asked to do it again so I know she had fun. The best part about doing fireworks at home was that we didn't have to worry about fighting traffic and we got home before Melba's fireworks even started. It was a great night. I am glad Joel felt well enough to come and participate. And I am glad we got to celebrate our country with our families.

Our Crazy Month of June

June started out with some really nice weather and we enjoyed playing outside. We got a little kiddie pool from a garage sale and the girls had a lot of fun playing in it. Although, Annalyn would much rather watch Brynlee play in the water than actually get in. Joel bought us a trampoline and the girls really love jumping on it. We just need to get a net on it because Annalyn keeps trying to climb down on her own and it makes me really nervous. We also had the little four wheeler train over here for the last month and both of the girls love riding in it. No ride is ever long enough for them. It has been fun to take family rides together. Brynlee always sits in the pink barrel. Brynlee will be really sad when we have to return the train to grandpa's house.

We celebrated Brynlee's third birthday this month and we celebrated Father's day. The day before father's day; Joel went and played golf with his dad and his brother and we went to see IronMan 3 at the theater with my dad and most of my sibling. We brought Joel breakfast in bed on Sunday morning, some leftover birthday cake, and we gave him a movie and a card.

We went to a few garage sales this month. Joel watched the girls one day so I could go with my mom and grandma and another day we both went together. It is the best way to get clothes for the girls. My mom and my grandma go to garage sales and buy things for the girls all the time. When Joel and I went we found a bike trailer for $20. We took it on a bike ride to grandma's house. It is so fun!

Grandma and grandpa Hirtle had a whole bunch of tadpoles in their little pond outside and all of the grandkids had a lot of fun catching them. Including both of my girls. Brynlee kept calling them "frog pools" and she loved them. One day while we were over there grandma Hirtle caught us a whole bunch of tadpoles and we took them home to watch grow. Most of them already had front legs so it didn't take them very long to change into frogs. Annalyn loved those frogs. I had a hard time keeping her away from them. She has no fear around animals and holding them was a lot of fun for her. We brought home 11 frogs and gave 4 to my cousins. In the end we only had four frogs that successfully turned into frogs and hopped away. Although there is one that is still a tadpole. Hopefully that one makes it. Most of the ones that didn't make it were eaten by our chickens. I didn't know they would eat frogs, but I guess they do.

I also learned that chickens really like to eat flour and water mixed up with some food coloring. I made paint with it and set the girls up with a big piece of blue paper to paint outside but we couldn't keep the chickens away from our paint. The girls kept spilling it and the chickens would pounce on it and devour it. We can't have food outside at all anymore because they will try to take it from us. It was a fun project but I wouldn't recommend it if you have chickens.

Towards the end of the month I took the girls to JCPenneys and got their pictures taken. My sister Alesha came with me and I met her at my sister Heather's house. Heather fixed Brynlee's hair all cute and she cut her bangs just a little so that they weren't covering her eyes anymore. Both of my girls were fairly cooperative while getting their picture taken, which surprised me.

The next day I got another surprise when Brynlee tried out her hair cutting skills on Annalyn. I was in the kitchen making dinner while the girls were both happily playing in the other room. Right before Joel got home Annalyn walked in the kitchen and started crying at my feet. When Joel walked in the door he took her back in the other room for me and he asked me "what happened to Annalyn's hair."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean, It looks like someone took a razor to the top of her head," he replied.
I just looked at Annalyn's head and gasped. Then I yelled at Brynlee to get in here and I asked her what had happened to Annalyn's hair.
"I cut it with my little blue scissors" she told me.
It is a good thing Joel was home to discipline Brynlee because I was so mad at her. I just held Annalyn and cried. Joel couldn't believe I was so upset about hair. And in hindsight it really isn't that bad. Most people haven't even noticed. Still, Annalyn had such a nice little long section of hair in the back that is totally gone. I was so happy that she had as much hair as she did. Her little hair cut still makes me sad. Oh well. There is nothing we can do about it now. I am just going to keep the scissors up really high so that we don't have this happen again.

I sure have enjoyed having my family around and I have taken advantage of it. My mom watched the girls several times while I went to Zumba. Brynlee would much rather be at grandma's house than at home any old day. She is constantly begging to go over there. I try to make our house fun but it doesn't compare with the company at grandma's house. My sister Alesha has come over many times and played with us. It has been so hot the last few days that we have spent lots of time playing in the water. One day we turned the sprinklers on and we jumped on the trampoline. Alesha also took Brynlee to the pool to go swimming. My sister Heather and her boy Jakobee were there with them and it sounded like they had tons of fun.

I have been trying to spend more time doing crafts with Brynlee which has been lots of fun. Our biggest project for the month was our pinata. It sure was a messy project and in the end we never could get the paper mache to work. After having two balloons pop I was done with that idea. Brynlee and I tried to do it when Annalyn was asleep but it took a long time to do. As soon as Annalyn was awake, she was right up on the table and into my paper mache. She was a mess.

We went to the library for the summer reading program they have and Brynlee threw the biggest temper tantrum ever in the middle of the library during a presentation they were doing about animals. Brynlee kept moving and talking so I told her she needed to be good or we would have to go home. She didn't want to go home. She wanted to go to grandma's house. That's when she threw her pencil and almost hit someone in the head. So I told her we were leaving and she threw herself down on the ground and started screaming. I didn't expect that kind of a reaction from her. Luckily someone who works at the library helped me by carrying Annalyn to the car. Brynlee screamed the whole way home about wanting to go to grandma's house. There was no reasoning with her. She was so worked up by the time we got home that I put her in bed and made her take a nap. It was super embarrassing. We are not going back to the library unless I have someone to help me. The day Brynlee turned three my mom warned me that all of her kids were much more difficult to handle when they turned three. It is looking like she is right, three is going to be a lot harder than two. And Brynlee has only been three for a few months.

June really was a fun month for our family. Joel put the pink castle into a playhouse for the girls and they have had a lot of fun playing in it. They still love dress-up and making big messes. Brynlee is still into all kinds of her usual mischief. Things like spilling bubbles all over the carpet and spraying my basket of clean clothes with a water bottle are things that have happened this month. Right before I had to take Annalyn to the doctor for her check-up Brynlee knocked the red finger paint off of the fridge and Annalyn got it all over the place. Annalyn thought she was pretty funny. After I got her changed and went to brush my teeth and get ready for the day. Brynlee stood up on the toilet to look in the mirror and the toilet lid broke and my poor little girl fell right in the toilet. I couldn't help but laugh as she ran off crying that her dress was wet. She was changed right away. Brynlee also wrote all over Annalyn's shot record. It was still readable but I had to hand the nurse a shot record that had Brynlee's scribbles all over it. Brynlee used grandma Verna's bathroom one day while we were there and I went in to find her playing in grandma's sink. I made her get out and I didn't think anything of it until later when grandma realized that someone opened up a bottle of Tums and ate several of them. She must have thought she found candy. I don't think they hurt her because she acted fine. Annalyn is still a little climber and she is starting to follow in Brynlee's footsteps and be just like her. Good thing I love these girls because they sure are busy.