Kayda is back in "braces"

We went in last summer and were told that we needed to get Kayda into braces again as quickly as possible to take advantage of her growth.  We froze, kind of shocked hearing it, we weren't seeing the same orthodontist so we immediately scheduled a consult with her to try to figure out why the rush.  She apparently was going to take a different approach that wouldn't be as urgent.  We scheduled to meet with her again in six months to figure out when to start again.  We contact Daddy's cousin, who is an orthodontist to see if he thought it was necessary for her to do the braces again.  After seeing the x-rays and such he confirmed that she definitely needed to do them again.  Well, six months came and that orthodontist had to retire due to some medical issues.  So we're back with the one in a hurry to get her started.  

She had to have her last baby tooth taken out first (she doesn't have a permanent tooth to replace it).  We went in, and did that, she was incredibly nervous and in tears about having to get it taken out.  Fortunately, they gave her laughing gas and numbed the lower half of her jaw.  She hated being numb but deeply appreciated the laughing gas! She now has this weird hole in her mouth, she got pieces of food stuck in there a few times that I had to pick out with a tooth pick.  It was really odd.  Now that it's healed it's not as much of a problem.  

Two weeks later it was time to get the braces. The day before we go in, we got an announcement that they had hired a new orthodontist for the office.  The man we had been arranging everything with was temporary.  We go to our scheduled appointment and he put in the appliance.  However, it took him much longer than it would have because apparently it's not an appliance he normally uses.  So we missed getting his preferred stuff by about a month.  After seeing her and reviewing her information, he decided that she didn't (and might not) need braces again.  The focus is jaw growth, not maneuvering teeth and they were lined up beautifully with the first round of braces.  

I didn't get a picture of it once it'd been put in because she can't open her mouth really wide.  It looks like the picture below. 

The idea is that it constantly puts pressure on the jaw, anytime she closes her mouth it forces her jaw forward to make the front teeth meet.  The pressure will force the bone to grow.  She has to wear it for about a year, it could be more, could be less.  We're hoping she doesn't need to do the actual braces again, but won't know for a while. 

As is expected, she absolutely hates it.  It makes it hard to eat because it prevents her molars from meeting and she can't open her jaw all the way without making the "arms" fall apart.  The bar across the roof of her mouth sits pretty low so she has a hard time speaking as smoothly now.  It's all getting better as time goes on. 

We'll keep our fingers crossed each month when we go in that this "Phase" will be over sooner than expected, unlike the last one. 

Our first kid's black eye!

Carson has found some good friends in the neighborhood.  His best friend, Kailey is in his class, and her older sister Kirsten is in Dillon's class.  They've all been playing together and having nerf wars at the neighborhood park.  Carson and Kailey play more days than not, usually running between houses.  Well, one day they were playing at the park and Carson whacked his head against the slide.  He developed a beautiful black eye.  It looked like he was wearing eye shadow when his eyes were open.  He was pretty self-conscious about it at first.  He is our first kiddo to get a black eye.  Quite the accomplishment!

Dillon's basketball season

Dillon decided to play basketball again.  It started within two weeks of soccer ending so there wasn't much breathing room.  Daddy was able to coach him again.  The age group was 5th and 6th graders.  They played two "leagues" the black and the blue.  Blue was meant to be more rec level and black was more competitive.  Since it's only Dillon's second time playing, and there were some coaches already determined to coach the black levels, Dillon ended up playing in blue league.  His team won second place!  They lost to one team, played them in the championships and lost to them again.   He played great!  I don't know much about basketball, I watch and cheer Dillon on, I'm slowly picking up bits as I watch... so I rely on Daddy's perspective. Daddy has told me repeatedly that Dillon is always where he should be, when he should be.  There were a couple kids on the team that were challenging and a few that wanted to control the game completely but Dillon still had a good time.  We're running out of time to be in charge of Dillon's teams, soon he'll be playing for school. 

I realized, too late, that we never took a team picture.  Stinks since they did so well!

Dillon's Capitol Field Trip

Daddy Post:

Once again daddy got to go on a field trip to the state capital, this time with Dillon.  This time, the legislature was in session so they got to actually see a bill get passed by the House.  Unfortunately, it went through with only 1 no vote so no real argument.

Also in session was the Washington Supreme Court.  Unfortunately, that meant they did not get to go into the courtroom.  However, they still got to have a mock trial.  Dillon was chosen to be the Chief Justice. So, he led the trial, gathered the votes of the other justices, and read the ruling.  Although this court did not agree with his vote, it was split 5-4, Dillon's vote was actually the same as the real Supreme Court's ruling that this mock trial was based on. 

With all the activity going on, there was lots of activity from different groups coming and going throughout the day.  It was fun to see congress in action and to just get to hang out and walk around the State Capital together. 

Snowmageddon!

This February we got a ton of snow!  It snowed and, just as that started melting, it snowed some more!  At our house we ended up with a total of 15.75 inches of snow.  I don't remember ever having that much snow in this area.  School ended up cancelled four days and two 2-hr delays in two weeks.  Of course, this landed right as I was starting my coverage for maternity leave.  It was incredibly frustrating because I really just wanted to work!  However, we had an AMAZING time!  Sledding with friends, snow ball fights, sled ramps, starting an igloo, Daddy being home for the day etc.  It was fantastic and we were definitely sad when the snow disappeared. 

 This crazy kid thought it'd be fun to go out barefoot!

 We went to a local hill, we really don't have many, to sled.  We had to work really hard to compress it to be able to sled otherwise it was too powdery.

The basketball hoop filled with snow!

   We also so chain link fences with each little square filled with snow!

 Carson and his friend Ty.

 Carson, Carter, Ty and Dillon.  There were a couple of giant snow balls already there that the kids hauled around and turned into a giant snowman!

 Taryn, Adrienne, Ghianna, Kayda, Carter, Dillon, Ethan, Carson and Ty.  The parents all ended up hanging out with hot cocoa while the kids played.

 Kayda, Ghianna, Taryn and Adrienne.

It was a fantastic couple of days off!  School will push farther into the summer now, fortunately we already have our trip all planned out so we'll be done the same day as before.

Another Cave!

Daddy and the kiddos spent the evening in Seattle with the extended family.  I'll let him write about it!

Uncle Pat saw that tickets were available to walk through the new tunnel before it opened to traffic.  So, we all accepted the invite and headed to Seattle (mom wasn't feeling well so she ended up not coming).  The total distance walked was about 2 miles right under downtown.  We started about the Space Needle and ended right by the stadiums.  We then rode a bus back up to the starting point, going through the other deck of the tunnel.  Although a little long it was fun to see and the kids had a great time with their cousins, as usual!

   

The picture is a life size photo of Bertha, the drill used to create the tunnel.  If I recall correctly, it was 57 feet across.

As we approached the end, Papa Mike proudly proclaimed, "I see the light at the end of the tunnel!"  

After, Grandma Peggy and Papa Mike treated everyone to pizza.  It was a great time and glad to go on the adventure.

Kayda's mini choir concert

Kayda signed up for a rotating schedule this year.  They have two choices for 6th grade, a full year of band or a different class each quarter.  So second quarter Kayda got choir.  She loves choir.  She was able to do a solo for a song called "Irish Dance" and she did a duet with her friend Miracle for "Can't help falling in love".  She was feeling really nervous about her solos but she did great.  One of the other parents told her she should stick with choir.  She's considering doing full year choir next year.  There were some motions she was supposed to do and she hated it, she said she felt silly, like they were too old for it. 

Unfortunately, since it was during the school day, I wasn't able to be there, but Daddy and Grandma H were able to be there.