The next major thing would be our snow blower breaking. Chris tried his hardest to fix it on his own, and I was so sure that he would since he's so handy like that, but all his hard work was for naught. So, he broke down and took it in to get fixed. $97 later....we have a working snow blower! As he was wheeling it back into the garage when he got home, I shouted out the window, "Now watch! It won't snow at all the rest of the season since we got that fixed!" lol Well, we got a little snow a week and a half later and Chris got to use it while I was grocery shopping. Upon using it for the first time since we got it back home, it practically knocked me out because the gas fumes came into the breezeway from the garage and I got light headed and started coughing real bad just walking from the garage to the kitchen to bring my groceries in! The breezeway got aired out a.s.a.p!
The next thing was a get-together at Tisha's house with Joy and Derek and all the kids. She made tacos and we all hung out, talked, laughed, watched our babies play together like we did when we were little, and played Guitar Hero...
(Joy's "little drummer boy" as she liked to lovingly call Derek lol)
(Joy had a little drummer boy and I had a handsome Nightingale bwahaha! - j/k He did VERY well, and he was pretty much forced into being the singer because most of the songs no one else knew.)
(Nathan rocking the guitar.)
(I'm singing for this song cuz it's a girl song. :) They had a couple Taylor Swift and No Doubt and Kelly Clarkson. Let me just say that singing Karaoke was a lot more strenuous on my voice than I thought it would be! Whew! I lost my voice after the first 3 songs. I don't think I was singing that loud, but I guess I had to be if I lost my voice!)
We all took turns playing different instruments. There was the drums, guitar, bass, and the singer. The drums was very hard. It was off beat and so it was hard to figure out the timing with the music. I had fun with the drums though. I couldn't get it and I was really off beat with the game so I just did my own thing and didn't get booed off stage cuz they had it set so you couldn't. :)
The kids played really well together. Jonah had a motorcyle that was a replica of my dad's Indian motorcycle and the kids rode that around the house all night! And of course fought over it all night too. So, with the exception of fighting over who got to ride the bike, they played really well together. :)
(There's Kadence's evil smile. :) haha j/k She was really good. Except when she kept climbing up the stairs and laughing at Joy when she would tell her to get down. haha)
(Cute little Karsyn. Her hair is always so cute.)
Sweet lil' Lucas. Look at those rolls! Mmmm! :) I could just squeeze and pinch him all night! lol
(Awwh! Best friends!)
Mason LOVES holding his little cousin, but I think it's beginning to become a little problem....
(Lucas is almost the same size as Mason!!!! lol)
It was a lot of fun. We only had one little mishap - Jonah fell down the basement stairs from the top one! OH MY! Talk about heart stopping, scary, everyone jumping up and running to the stairs, Tisha screaming - yeah - it was THAT bad! Tisha was standing at the stairs (in the kitchen) and Jonah was on the top step trying to open the gate to get into the kitchen. Tisha started to open it to let him in and he thought he needed to step back for her and he lost his footing, stepped back too far and went toppling head over feet all the way down the wooden basement stairs to the concrete floor below! Tisha just started screaming and all we could hear along with her shrills was the sound of a child's body going down the stairs. We all jumped up and ran to the stairs. Tisha went running to Jonah's rescue. Joy and I were right behind her. Upon quickly examining him, there was no blood, no bumps. He was just scared. His ribs did have a little bruise, but for the most part, he was more scared than hurt. THANKFULLY! Tisha immediately ran upstairs with him to his room where she called Nathan (he was borrowing our car to pick up a t.v.). Joy and I followed her again to make sure Jonah was ok. About 5 minutes afterwards, he was calmed down (Tisha still pretty shooken up) and asking for crackers and "goose" (juice). :)
So...like I said...the night went pretty good, except for that.
Thanks again, Tish, for having us over. We had a blast and we need to do it again! We can take turns hosting! :)
The next exciting thing in our life was the boys and their different ailments. (WARNING: Super loooong story!) It was one long week of me not getting any sleep, disciplining boys, and being very frustrated! It started Sunday, the 17th of January. Mason did NOT want to go to bed. He kept screaming his head off. After, I don't know, about a thousand (ok, not really) times of going in his room and disciplining him, it was finally 3 o'clock in the morning before he finally fell asleep. The next night was Cole's turn. He was complaining of his mouth and tooth hurting. I looked but couldn't see anything. I figured it was just some molars coming in and gave him Motrin to help with the pain. Just as soon as Chris and I climbed into bed, I heard someone crying. I went into their room and discovered it was Cole. So, I gave him more Motrin and told him to roll over and to stop sleeping on the side of his mouth that hurt. We did this little ritual two more times during the night - me going into his room, telling him I'm sorry his mouth hurts but there's nothing else I can do, and to stop crying so loud because Cole and Daddy are trying to sleep. The next night was pretty much a repeat of the previous night except this time he was so short on sleep he was talking nonsense and playing games with me. I was getting fed up with it! My whole night consisted of, "Does your mouth hurt?" "No". "Does your throat hurt?" "No." "Then why are you crying?" "I don't know." GRRH!! Wednesday night, as soon as we got to church, Cole started crying and saying that his mouth hurt again. "Here we go again!", I thought. So, we sent him off to class, but he came out to me about 15 minutes into class, tears streaming down his face. I took him into the nursery to see if I could see anything in his mouth. Still nothing. I told him that I think it's just his molars coming in. So, I sat with him in the back pew until the end of class. That night, when we got home, I looked in his mouth with a flashlight and found a hugely, massive canker sore on the inside of his left cheek. No wonder the kid was crying and saying his mouth hurt! I instantly felt bad because I wasn't more sympathetic before hand as I wasn't really sure there was anything I could do for an incoming molar except to put Oragel on it and give him Motrin. So, that night was pretty much another repeat of the previous nights. But this time I knew what the problem was. I kept applying the Oragel (much to Cole's dislike because of the taste) and administering the Motrin as often as I was allowed to. I was so tired and exhausted from a whole week of hit and miss sleep. I heard Chris's alarm go off on Friday morning. Just as he was walking into the bathroom, I also heard the boy's bedroom door open. Their door makes a very loud screechy noise, so it is very hard to miss. I instantly knew who that was! - Mason! As he opened his door and began to walk out, he sneezed. I heard Chris say, "Uh-oh! Let's get a kleenex, buddy." So, he took him into the bathroom, wiped his noise and said, "Go back to bed, it's too early to be up." So off to bed went Mason. Chris took his shower, got dressed and left. Just after Chris closed the door to go out to the breezeway, I heard the boy's door open again. Guess who? Mason! He came walking up to my side of the bed and quietly said, "Mom. I went potty in my race car pajamas." *Big sigh!* So, I pulled the covers back and climbed out of my very warm bed to go change Mason and change his bedding. I called Chris and said, "Guess what? Mason just wet his bed!" Chris's reply: "OHHHH! That's why he came out of his room! *chuckles* I'm sorry! I just thought he was waking up for the day. He didn't say he had to go!" GRHH!!! So, the morning begins and I get Cole up and get him started on breakfast. While he was eating, he started crying and said his mouth hurt really bad again. But this time he pointed to a different spot. It was the left side of his mouth, the same side as the canker sore, but he was pointing to a tooth on the top near the back. So, I grabbed the flashlight and took a peek into his mouth. Instantly I saw it - above the second to the last tooth on the top his gums were swollen and redish purple in color. I instantly knew this was NOT good. Millions of thoughts were running through my head! We don't have dental insurance so immediately I began panicking about the cost, but I knew, more importantly, that my son was in serious pain and it needed to be dealt with right away! So, I made a quick call to Chris to tell him and then began the search for a cheap dentist! My friend Sarah, who's husband is a dentist, was out of town (and his office is in Bay City), so that wasn't an option. The Mott Dental School was out of the question because they only do cleanings. They gave me a number for another children's clinic, but that was for low income families. So, I did the next best thing. I started calling my parents and Chris's to find out who they went to. Finding doctors and dentists by word of mouth is usually the best, so I took a shot at it. My parents' dentist was closed on Fridays, so I was left with Joe and Paulette's dentist office. Well, in my hurry to find his name in the phone book and locate the number, I couldn't find it. But I found the name of another dentist in the same office and called that. Luckily he was open and they said that it wouldn't cost more than $91 for a check up and x-ray and $148 at the most for a cleaning, exam and x-ray. Well, it had to be done. So I made his appointment and started getting ready. Thankfully, Joe was able to come watch Mason so I could borrow his car and take Cole in. I took his backpack and lunch with us incase I was able to drop him off at school afterwards. We got there, filled out the paperwork, and instantly I knew I loved this dentist office. All the women were so nice! They didn't treat me any differently because I didn't have insurance. They were so helpful and friendly to Cole too. So, as we waited for the dentist, the dental assistant came back in and asked me if I knew that the dentist I was scheduled to see wasn't the dentist my inlaws saw. I told her I knew that but I couldn't find his name in the phone book. She told me that she recommended I switch because their dentist was used to working with kids. So, instantly I said, "Ok, yes, I want him." I am SO glad I did because he was so friendly and good with Cole. Instantly he told me that Cole had a cavity and there was a bad infection in the gum. He was kind of talking fast and I was trying so hard to hang on his every word and understand what he was saying and I thought I was hearing him and, Ok, Cole has an infection, some medicine, good brushing and the baby tooth falling out soon will fix it - then I heard him say, ..."so we'll just get it out today and he'll be good to go." Wait a minute! Back up! Did he just say what I thought he did?! He has to pull my 7 year old's tooth out?! His baby tooth?! So, I asked him again to make sure I heard correctly. Yup. I did. I was so nervous. Not only for Cole, but for myself and my checkbook. Instantly I was trying to figure out in my head how I was going to afford this. My mom had just told me the week before that it cost her $200 just to have to cavities filled, so the cost of pulling a tooth was probably a lot more! I asked the doctor if we could just leave the tooth and let it fall out on its' own. He said that he was afraid of the adult tooth getting infected and that would be even worse. Well, let me just say that watching your 7 year old child get a tooth pulled is even worse than you could imagine! They gave him two shots to numb the area, then came the bad part. He pulled out his little tool, told Cole to open wide so he could get his "big fingers" in his mouth, and yanked really hard on his tooth. Cole instantly screamed and his hole body went stiff as a board and he started lifting his hands up to grab the dentist's hands out of his mouth. I had to hold Cole's hands down and try to talk calmly to him while the dentist pretty much put his head into a football hold and had to pry the tooth from his mouth! It was awful!!!! Huge crocodile tears were streaming down Cole's cheeks. I was close to letting mine fall too but I kept it together for Cole's sake. I had to be the strong one. I'm the mother. I'm not supposed to lose it! I kept saying "I love you" and "I'm sorry" over and over again, as if that would magically take away the pain he was feeling. The dentist also apologized over and over and explained to Cole that his tooth was very sick and had to come out, and then he told me that the x-ray was deceiving and the roots didn't look that deep. Well, let me tell you - they were! I was SHOCKED when I saw the tooth! The roots were massive! So, the dentist leaves, promises he won't hurt Cole the next time he sees him and apologizes again. The dental assistant is stuffing gauze in Cole's mouth to soak up the blood. He was a gusher! As she was giving me all the instructions of what to do and not to do, I couldn't help but notice blood seeping out of the gauze and down his chin. Save the shirt, I think! I do the only thing I could do and put my hands under his chin to catch the blood! LOL The dental assistant noticed and changed his gauze and gave me some extra to take home. So, Cole was given a little silicone chest to keep his tooth in and we were led to the check out desk.
The assistant reminded Cole to put his tooth under his pillow for the "tooth fairy" so he could get a dollar. Cole kind of looked at me with a puzzled look on his face because he didn't know what she was talking about. I had to smile because we hadn't talked to Cole about the tooth fairy yet. We had the "santa claus isn't real" and "the easter bunny isn't real" talk, but not the tooth fairy one. So, I just dropped it for the moment and decided Chris and I would talk to him about it later. We made it to the front desk and the nice lady told Cole he could pick TWO toys out of the toy bin because he was such a brave boy. So, tears still streaming down his cheeks, and blood beginning to seep from his gauze, Cole quickly picked out his toys. Several assistants walked by and had some comment or look of sympathy for Cole. All I could do was smile sheepishly. What kind of mother lets her 7 year old's teeth get that bad! There was another lady in an office off to the side that couldn't help but notice us and so she grabbed my file and brought me into her office so I didn't have to keep waiting. I was so grateful for that! I was then given something even more wonderful to be grateful about - she knocked my bill down tremendously! I was so happy. I couldn't help saying "thank you" over and over again. She also informed me about a free dental day that their office participates in once a year. Children between 3-18 can come in and get whatever work they need done for free! I was so excited! So, I immediately signed the boys up for that! Thankful that a bad day ended up turning into something good for us, I left a little happier than when I came in. As soon as we got in the car, I said to Cole, "So, you ready to go to school for the rest of the day?" (Obviously I was joking.) He didn't think I was and started crying even worse! Ok. Not a good time to joke. So, I drove home with a screaming child, all the while trying to talk to my mother in law on the phone about our experience and whether or not Cole would be able to go with us to the Piston's game later that night.
Well, that brings me to our next big event. The Pistons game at the Palace. Cole felt fine later after resting all day and getting doped up on Motrin. Matt and Rachel were kind enough to tell us about the cheap tickets through his work, so we met them there and had a lot of fun. It was $1 hotdog night, which worked out great for Cole since he could only eat soft foods! lol That night, when we got home, Cole - so tired from being out late and from being doped up on Motrin, remembered to put his tooth under his pillow. :) It was so sweet. On the way home he reminded me to remind him to put it there. We couldn't tell him there wasn't a tooth fairy. He was expecting a dollar to magically appear under his pillow in place of his tooth. So, we gave in and endulged his fantacy for the moment. Chris set his alarm for 2:00 a.m. and woke up and replaced his tooth with a one dollar bill. In the morning when Cole woke up, he had a big smile on his face and a dollar bill in his hand! :) Chris said, "Come here. I wanna show you something." He went to his night stand and pulled Cole's chest with his tooth out and showed it to Cole. Cole had a puzzled look but big grin on his face. He said, "Hey! How did you get that?!" I smiled and said, "Now do you know who the tooth fairy is?" He laughed and pointed to his dad. :)
Ok. I know. This is dragging on and you're probably bored. The next week was pretty calm. Chris had a training class in Southfield, and I had a scrapbooking/card making day at Paulette's. I am a scrapbooker, but I decided to take a break this time and make cards. That is what I originally started out doing and I don't want to see all my stamps go to waste, so I made cards for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries. It was a nice change. While I was gone all day, this is what Chris and the boys did...
(his face in that picture cracks me up!)
There was also time for Mason to beg Daddy to build him a train track and play trains with him....
There was also time for us to have a nice, "quiet" night at home playing the Wii together. It was mom and dad vs. the boys. :) I know. Not very fair, but that's how they wanted it. We beat them at bowling, well, technically I beat EVERYONE (including Chris) at bowling. :) haha And we beat them in baseball a few times, much to the credit of Chris. I am terrible at baseball, so he's the real reason we won. :) And we beat them at tennis. Cole was NOT happy. So he suggested he play boxing. I think he wanted to let out a little frustration. lol So, he took Chris on...and lost! Then he wanted a rematch. He lost again. Then he wanted to box me. Guess he thought since I was a girl I would be an easy win. Think again! I beat him at boxing too! So, he decided he would box against his little brother. Guess who kept winning?
Does the facial expression in the above picture tell you who was winning? lol
Mason is doing his "happy dance". lol
And a smile from the "gracious" loser. haha
The most recent event was the boy's going back to the dentist for their free exams. I had scheduled one at 9:00 and the other at 9:30 so I could be with them for their appointments. I didn't want one in one room and the other in another room. That whole morning Cole was nervous. I don't think Mason quite understood that he was seeing the dentist too. Cole kept asking me if it was going to hurt. I kept reassuring him that cleanings don't hurt. They clean his teeth, get all the icky food off them, shine them up and that's it! So, get there, sign in, sit down, and about 5 minutes later, we hear Cole's name called. Right away I asked the assistant if Mason could go first because I figured he would take it better if he didn't know what to expect. She explained that she only had Cole's file. So, I said, "Nevermind" and Cole hopped up in the chair. The x-ray was first, so Mason and I stepped out into the hall real quick.
Right after we got back into the room and I lifted Mason onto the stool, another assistant walked in with a file in her hand. She looked at Mason right away and said, "Hi, Mason. Are you ready to get your teeth cleaned?" Wait a minute. This isn't right, I thought. He is supposed to be after Cole. Well, I didn't want to cause any trouble since they were doing ME the favor, so I just politely asked, "Will I be in the next room?" She pointed down the hall to where we were going - it was two rooms away. Oh well. All he was getting was his teeth cleaned and I could hear him if he called for me, so I grabbed Mason and all our belongings and headed down the hall. I lifted Mason into his chair and immediately he grabbed me and started whining, "I don't want to! I don't want to!" I'm thinking, "You have GOT to be kidding me! This is NOT happening right now!" He wouldn't stop. He kept getting louder and louder and panicking even more. "What do I do?" I thought. I didn't want to hall off and spank him infront of the two assistants. So, they decided to try to help me calm him down. "Do you like squirt guns? Do you want to see my special tools I use?" and on and on it went. He wasn't interested in anything! Finally the one assistant asked him if he would let her count his teeth if he sat on my lap. He agreed to that. FINALLY! We were getting somewhere! So, I sat down in the dentists' chair and placed Mason on my lap. He was still nervous and holding onto me real tight, but he let her do everything she needed to. She was really good with him. She explained everything first to him and used little words that he would understand. She let him hold things and touch the tools so he wouldn't be afraid. When it came time to brush his teeth, he wouldn't stop laughing because it tickled his teeth. It was the cutest thing! We couldn't stop laughing because he was so cute! The dentist came in, checked him over, told me Cole had two cavities and they needed filled. We got the good news that Mason's teeth were perfect and I hadn't messed him up, but I was still nervous about Cole and embarrassed! I was just waiting for a lecture from the dentist about being a better mommy and making sure my kids were brushing better, more often, not eating so much sugar...and on and on it could go! But, no lecture. So, we went next door to see Cole. Just as we got in there, the dentist was numbing Cole for his fillings. Then began the bad part. I didn't think the fillings were going to hurt. I had a couple fillings when I was little and I don't remember it hurting. But let me tell you, Cole carried on like they were pulling out another tooth! It was awful to watch and hear! Mason was supposed to be watching Dora on the t.v, but of course, he had his eyes fixed on his screaming brother and the blood in his mouth! lol After the longest 5 minutes of both of our lives, they were done. I felt so bad for Cole. I had told him that it wasn't going to hurt today and then he had to end up having THAT done! So, I took the boys to the toy store and let them pick out some Hot Wheels cars. :) And then they got to go home and play video games all day. :)
Well, that catches you up! Sorry about the very long, drawn out stories, but I am very thorough in my story telling and don't like to leave anything out. :)
2 comments:
ok long and NOT boring!
:)
would have preferred more pictures.
lol lucas is almost the size of mason! haha i wonder how long it will take for lucas to catch up to mason shoot he's so big he might surpass jonah.
Poor Cole, glad that is all taken care of, hopefully he won't have to go through that all again!
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