Flash back to the dreaded orthodontist days...

It just so happens that I was so unluckily endowed with our families worst dental traits, by far (if any of you want to try to argue that- I have dental horror stories that could give you nightmares and can guarantee that they CANNOT be topped). Yes, as a kid, I pretty much went through every dental Hades ever imagined!!! A few of the highlights were: braces twice, permanent hooks attached to teeth, permanent retainers designed to create awkward and horrifying gaps in my teeth where there should never be gaps, a face gear (yes, I said face gear, and no further explanation will ever be rendered) and all this was eventually crowned with one last final retainer that would need to be worn every night for the REST IF MY LIFE...

Originally, I had never wanted this terribly embarrassing portion of my past to be revealed in any way- however, it was forced back into my life these past few months and was just to hilarious an experience to be kept secret. A few years back, early into my marriage my curse of a retainer broke. I thought of this as a blessing, thinking that would be my excuse to have given up retainer wearing all together. However, when I began to notice my teeth shifting ever so slightly over the years...I finally realized that chapter of my life would have to be reopened.

I had my first appointment to get a new retainer last month and it was like walking right back into that awkward stage of life- you know that Jr. High age where nothing seems to be growing proportionally and looking normal just isn't an option? Well, I was reluctantly back there. The orthodontist's office hadn't changed at all- same wall paper, same "Where's Waldo" books in the lobby and to top it off, all the same sweet old ladies worked there. And of coarse they all had to recognize me and do all but pinch my cheeks.

I was sent right back to the private room- I guess I was getting the long time member treatment- where a lady came in to get a mold of my teeth. "I gave you the bubble gum flavor mold." She said gazing down at me smiling delightfully, as my mouth hung open, full of bubble gum mold. I tried to smile. After the mold was complete I was told to rinse my mouth which I did with a tiny snoopy cup. My dignity swiftly floating away with every passing second. Soon, the lady came back with a box of sample retainers. "Which color would you like for your new retainer?" She asked me. The two 12 year old kids occupying the other two chairs stared at me through the window as I was forced to choose between the pink, green, blue or white sparkly retainer. Anxious to get the attention off of me, I picked the pink one. "You want the pink sparkly one?" She asked far louder than seemed necessary. Devastated, I said yes and attempted to shrink from the view of the other parents in the lobby. As I walked up to the front desk, I glanced in a mirror hanging on the wall...Do I look 13? I wondered.

About a month later, I returned to the past to retrieve my retainer. However, this time I brought Jane hoping that I could somehow convince everyone at the Orthodontist's office that I wasn't 13. It seemed to be working until I was again asked to sit in the chair- this time I was in the main room, seated next to a 13 year old boy waiting to be fitted for braces. Dr. Gee came in, not looking a day older than how I remembered him, asking about my grandpa and parents while he fitted my retainer to my mouth. It took quite a bit of molding and working to get the retainer the way he wanted- but eventually it was perfect. He put it in a pretty pink box for me and said goodbye asking me to see him again in three months. I left the office with my pink sparkly retainer, in its pink box surprised I wasn't offered a lolly pop before I left. I guess some things are never supposed to change... At least I'll have straight teeth.

Smushed...

Good ol' crazy Jane is always good for a laugh!! Lately she loves to put things on her head and walk around the house. I was thrilled when I managed to catch on camera, her new favorite thing to do...She has a clear tupperware that she pulls down over her face, as far as it will possibly go, and walks around looking through it...like so...
Its just not fun, unless it is smushing her nose and face... she will have it no other way!!

It is as if she sees the world alot clearer, when she has her magic hat on...
Lets just say, Jane is a very imaginative child...
We love her to pieces...she also loves her new elephant towel!!
P.S. No babies were hurt in the making of this post. All face smushing was 100% self induced- no help from daddy or mommy!!

Our Treacherous Weekend- A super woman is born!!

Several weeks ago, Ryan, Jane and I had the opportunity to stay at an amazing cabin up at Sundance (Thanks to our good family friends, the Jacksons) with all our family- two of my brothers and their wives came into town and all the little kids had the opportunity to hang out and play together!! (We definitely missed Bryan and Wendy- they were the only ones missing) The cabin was absolutely amazing, stalked every luxary you could imagine and ample space for the huge group we had gathered there. However, the trip was not by any means void of adventure, chaos and danger- that seems to be how we like it in our family. Naturally, we had all decided to drive up to the remote section of mountain where this glorious cabin lay, during the largest snow storm I had ever seen. We contemplated putting a nix on the whole operation several times as the white out conditions were sending my mother(in the car ahead of us) into histerics and our four wheel drive car was struggling around the windy roads...but where's the fun in that.

So we continued... Ryan and I eventually got to the most trechurous part of the drive which consisted of steep inclines and declines and narrow windy roads. I watched helplessly as Ryan grew more and more tense with every incline and decline. He seemed to be in physical pain as he grunted and moaned while driving up the hills- as if that would somehow help our car push its way up. We were nearing the end of our journey when we took a brief stop to check our map...our first mistake. We later learned that we were stuck in the snow, in the middle of the deep dark forest, in a raging blizzard.

Attempting to remain positive, I tried pushing the car while Ryan drove- a ridiculous notion- nothing happened. Frustrated, Ryan demanded that I get in the car with Jane. And I, of coarse, protested the very connotation that I, a woman, was not capable of getting us out of this mess as well as he could, as I dusted snow out from the front of the tires. After my lengthy speech on women's rights, I looked up to see that Ryan was no where to be seen... I yelled for him and searched desperately for him... but he had disappeared. I was devastated and shocked, "Me, a widow this young? Maybe a pack of wolves got him?" Genuinly frightened, I got into the car and put the peddle to the metal- I wasn't going to die like that- alone int he wilderness! To my astonishment, my efforts prevailed- I had freed us from our snowy grave.

Several minutes later, I saw Ryan drving towards me on a four wheeler. Initially, I was glad to see that he wasn't dead and then fury set in when I realized that he had abandoned Jane and I. He had every intention of being the hero and rescuing us by walked the rest of the way to the cabin and coming back to pull us out, however I beat him to the punch- and saved us with my Zena, the warrior princess, like strength and agility!!! I am a super woman!!!

The rest of the trip was delightful- here are a few fun pics:All the Cousins together- and one on the way!!!Jane with Aunt Courtney and Cousin Charlotte!!

Life amidst the tantrums

Being a stay at home mom definitely has its challenges...especially since Jane has discovered the glorious art of throwing a tantrum, which she uses far too liberally! She gets frustrated, to the point of a total meltdown, over the tiniest things- such as a cup not stacking just so- they may be stacked but not PERFECTLY... so a tantrum ensues. This happens over many, many things. (If any one has any tips or pointers on how to deal with a child who tantrums all the time, who is not even old enough to know what a tantrum is- please enlighten me!!!)

However, the good moments far outshine the few minor glitches that must inevitably come up in parenthood!! Jane is a very curious child and LOVES to try and explore new things. We always get a kick out of seeing the crazy faces she pulls when we do something new. Here's a good one...Jane and I went swimming today (Wednesday) and she was thrilled with the little fountains of water spraying out everywhere.
She was also pretty excited about the ginormous bath tub she got to play in...The other day we whipped out the bubbles, and Jane was simply enthralled with them. They kept her occupied for a good...10 minutes...amazing. Check out this unlikely shot...what are the odds?


She loves when they hit her in the face!! Ah bubbles, fun for her...mess for me...
It's little moments and smiles like these that make all the not so pleasant moments worth it. I really love our little Janer!!In an effort to maintain my sanity I try to do things for me every now and then. I played in yet, another volleyball tournament the other day- they never get old- and we won the whole thing...it was a blast. I also got to play with my good friend from high school which was a lot of fun!!

Overall, life amidst the tantrums is great...however, I still hope she grows out of it...

An apple a day keeps the doctor away...

Jane is growing up so fast- and she is some sort of genius child as well!! She has been whipping out new words right and left and constantly surprising mommy and daddy with all the new things she is saying and doing without any prompting whatsoever.

For instance, the other day Jane went to the fridge and said apple..Ryan and I were stunned (we had never even attempted to teach her that!) and figured we couldn't possibly deprive her of an apple after she had just barely so politely asked for one...
So we suited up and got ready to go...Jane included...and we went shopping for apples...although Jane did most of the work, We sort a just tagged along... When we got home, Jane wasted no time and dug right into her apple...or bapple as Jane would call it!Eating her apple required intense concentration...And an occasional break to see what everyone else was doing...

but it wouldn't be long before she dug right back into her apple...
it was after all, very messy, hard work.
Before long, Jane felt bad for hogging the apple all to herself and decided she could share with momma...how thoughtful!! I'm pretty sure Jane would share with you too... If you wanted some have eaten, slobber covered apple as well :)A genius and generous... I am a proud momma!!

Hip Hip Hooray for Ryan!!

We just found out that Ryan got the Air Force scholarship he has applied for!!! We have been so stressed about it, because we have put so much time and money into the application (especially Ryan). It is an incredibly competitive scholarship and Ryan has been totally put through the ringer (that's a whole other story :))!! But we found out today that he got it!! This is going to help us out financially and we already have a concrete job and plan for our future-yae!! I am so proud of my wonderful husband!!!

Yes...you got me...I posed for this picture in honor of this special occasion!!! Hooray for Ryan!!

Family Fun!!

KANGAROO ZOO
Lately we have noticed that Jane gets totally bored at home, so we decided we need to take her on more adventures where she can release some of that energy- which she seems to have an abundance of!! Kangaroo zoo sounded like a perfect solution. Jane absolutely loved it there and had a blast!!! I was also pretty amazed at how brave she was. She flung herself down those slides (that were 12 times as tall as she was) without any inhibitions whatsoever. It may have given me a heart attack but she couldn't have been happier!!! That's my little adventurer...she gets that from her daddy!!

We loved it there and have been back several times since...

SPARK

Ryan and I also tried out that new restaraunt and lounge on University Avenue called Spark a few weeks ago. It was fun to finally have a little date night...a rare treat!! We should probably do that more often- it was borderline awkward due to the fact that our main topic of discussion was at home asleep...

We sat in the lounge, which we had all to ourselves that night, and tried some very delicious food and very creative drinks (no worries, all non alcoholic)! It was quite an experience and we had a great time together!!

I love spending time with my family- I am pretty sure no one can beat the Dicks when it comes to excitement and adventure!!!