Cupcakes by Lauren

These were waiting on Kraig when he got home last night from golf and bowl. :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy 34th Babe!

34 years ago today my wonderful hubby was born a whopping 8 pounds 9 ounces and was 20.5 inches long! He was born at Washington Regional Medical Center at 2:15 pm on Tuesday, August 30th. Little did we know that 3 years later I would be born at the same hospital and 19 years later we would meet for the first time. Look at what a cute baby he was!

And look at what a handsome man he has become!

I can't believe I have known you since you were 19! Each year you get older I just get younger...get used to it! Ha! Happy Birthday babe! You are an amazing husband, father and friend! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I look forward to spending many more birthday's with you!

Colton Talking at 22 months

My baby boy is almost two and talks A LOT now! I finally caught it on camera! Enjoy!

Scarlett's 3rd Birthday

We had the pleasure of attending Scarlett Belle's 3rd birthday party today. Miss Melanie and Mr. Deric did an awesome job! The theme was Strawberry Shortcake. Melanie and her mom made all the girls their own apron so they could 'bake' without getting dirty. Very cute Melanie! Great job! The birthday girl SB with the Strawberry Shortcake bows!

Jen and Addy

Little Miss Riley Farmer

Jason kept the boys busy with candy...thanks Jason!

Lauren and Katie Bug!

Stella, Katie and Lauren decorating their cupcakes

Lauren's cousin Mary Katelyn

Playing in SB's bedroom.

Lauren's 1st Dental Check Up - 4 years and 2 months

So I'm reluctant to write this because I feel guilty, embarrassed and worried. I am however using my blog as a scrapbook for my kids so I want to be as honest as I can. That way when they are older and dealing with issues like this, they know I've been there and hopefully that will comfort them #1 and #2 I hope they learn from my mistakes. The guilt and embarrassment is for me...the worry is for Lauren.

As a follow up to my post on Tuesday...

First let me say there are several reasons we have not taken the kids into the dentist until this year.

1. 
   
   We didn’t start carrying dental insurance on them until this year (2011).


2. 
   
   At Lauren’s 2 year pediatrician check up, the Dr said we could take her to the dentist anytime now (but we didn't have dental insurance on her that year - 2009) and then we had Colton and well time just slipped away.


3. 
   
   We didn’t get dental insurance on them last year (2010) because we switched to Kraig's insurance and it was outrageous to add the kids and I honestly just hoped they would have my teeth genes and not have issues so we just now got appts for them both for their first check up.

The good news is little Colty will be going when he is 2 and not 4 like Lauren. I just honestly didn’t know you are supposed to floss little kids teeth this young!

So on to the details…
I took Lauren to the Dentist yesterday morning thinking everything would be good except for the 1 tooth. I was wrong. It turns out Lauren has 4 cavities! Yes 4! I feel like the worst mom in the world and cried on and off all morning yesterday (including at the dentist and at work). Lauren has 2 cavities on her lower jaw, right side…back 2 teeth (in between then actually not on top which is why it’s on both teeth…not just 1). The other 2 are on her lower jaw, left side back 2 teeth as well. The very back tooth on her left side (baby molar) is the one I knew was bad because you can see a black spot on the top of the tooth. Well that one is potentially going to have a root canal! The Dentist said he is going to try to just fill it but if it has gone down to the nerve then he will have to do a baby root canal and put a crown on it. The other 3 are not bad but are still there and need filled. So my 4 year old baby girl will go back at the end of September to have the left side fixed (1 filling and 1 root canal (or 2 fillings if she doesn’t have to have the root canal). Then because they can’t numb her lower jaw (both sides) at the same time she will be going back in November to have the 2 teeth on the right side filled in.

The 'bad' tooth

The one thing the Dr told me that makes me feel a little better is that he thinks the one that might need a root canal is actually something that was there from birth or something happened to her right after she was born. Like a shock to her system or something that made that tooth start to decay. He said sometimes that just happens…either the calcium didn’t develop right at birth or something medically happened when she was real little that would have been a shock to her system and would have made that tooth not develop right. The only thing I can think of was when she was born she did have to stay in the hospital an extra day (2 vs. 1) because her white blood count was low and they had to give her meds and run test…so maybe that was it…or maybe it has always just been that way and has gotten worse over time.

I’m not sure…the other obvious factor is Daddy Kraig has not had the best luck with his teeth since he was little either…so it could just be genetics. I better start saving for the orthodontist now! :-)

The other good thing is these are her baby teeth and they will fall out. So hopefully if it’s not just genetics and it can be helped by brushing and flossing on a regular basis…if we develop those healthy habits now when her adult teeth come in (between the time she is 5-12) then we won’t have any issues with her adult teeth. Hopeful thinking!!!!

They said the best case scenario is that every child brush their teeth in the morning and brush & floss their teeth at night. So it looks like we will definitely do better with Colton and hope he has better results!

Lauren will be going back on 9/22 at 8 am for the first set of fillings (or 1 filing and 1 root canal). Then she will be going back on 11/21 at 8 am for the second set of fillings.

So we will have gone to the dentist one time a month from August to November.
August = Lauren check up
September = Lauren’s fix
October = Colton’s check up
November = Lauren’s fix

I feel guilty because if I had brushed her teeth 2 times a day everyday and not let her go to bed with a sippy cup of milk until she was 3 and we still had these issues then I would know 100% it's genetics. However I didn't do that. We only brushed her teeth every once in a while (never flossed) and she went to bed with a cup of milk every night for 3 years...so I feel that 'what if' I could have prevented it feeling. That's why I was crying yesterday...not for the fear that Lauren will not be ok (because she will...the dental office we are going to does this all the time...or so they say)...but for the guilt I feel for not trying hard enough and partly failing my daughter in the tooth department. I feel like I didn't do my part to protect her. I slacked in the dental department because I have never had issues with my teeth and it was never a priority of mine since I never had issues. We all have things that we care about more than others because it's important to us for one reason or another...but like I said I never had issues so I just hoped my kids wouldn't either.

Lesson learned...take the extra steps needed just in case it's not genetics so you don't feel guilty and brush my kids teeth 2 times and floss once each day!

I know there will be other issues in the future that we have to deal with...so this is just the first stepping stone God is giving me...but man it's a hard one. I don't like feeling like I could have done better...especially with my kids! I just love them so much that I hope I never have to see them hurt (which I know is not reality but I can wish)!

Lauren I apologize for not doing my part to prevent this...but hopefully we can end the cycle now and we never have this issue once your adult teeth come in! We love you wiggies!

Thanks for reading my babbling...I feel better now.

Lauren's First Dental Check Up Pics

Pediatric Dental Associates of Fayetteville was amazing! They have a brand new building that is 100% kid friendly! They have a fish tank, a movie theater, games for kids to play, etc. Lauren loved it!

Getting X-Rays for the first time!

They write the kids name on the wall next to the dental chair!
When they came out in the lobby and called her name they even called "Lolo Williams" instead of Lauren since I put her nickname was Lolo on all the paperwork. I thought that was a nice touch.

Cool Sunglasses and headphones for the movie they are watching in the ceiling!
Outside they have a lot of statues...and of course that meant picture time for us!

Go Colty...#2 that is!

YAY! We were lucky so it probably won't be this easy going forward...but Colton went Poo Poo on the potty! We were giving baths and almost had a 'code brown' in the bathtub. We got him out and sat him on the potty...nothing. So we put a diaper on him and 10 minutes later he ran to the potty (the little one we had just sat out that night...not the regular one) crying "potty...potty" so I lifted the lid, sat him down and he went! YAY!!! Go Colton!!! I hope potty training will be this easy going forward! I do think it helps that he is in the older class room at daycare because they take all the kids to the potty now...so that's where he is picking this up...I have yet to start training him. :-)

Pee Pee on the Potty! (22 months)

GO COLTON!!!
Last Tuesday I got this report from school.
Notice the 'potty' times at 9:50 and 11 am!
I also like how the teacher said "He was so excited and pleased with himself when I cheered him on! He just smiled and laughed!" I can totally see him doing that. He is becoming Mr. Independent! My baby is growing up!


And yesterday I got another 'good potty' report!
He went 4 times yesterday!!!

Looks like it's almost potty training time for Colton!!!! YAY!

Uh Oh Cavity-O!

And Mom of the Year Award goes to...me...NOT!

I noticed last week what I thought was food in Lauren’s tooth. I brushed it out…I thought. Well tonight I noticed it again…this time I got a tooth pick out and was trying to pick out the dark spot but it would not move. Well bad mom of the year award goes to…ME! I think it’s a cavity. :-( What 4 year old gets a cavity? The one that went to bed with a sippy cup of milk until she was 3…the one that her parents didn’t brush her teeth every night, etc. (not to mention she doesn’t have genetics on her side…Kraig has had issues since he was a kid...yes honey I'm blaming the genetics part on you...the not brushing every night...that's my fault!). So we have an appointment Thursday morning at 8:30 in Fayetteville for her first ever check up. It was scheduled for October 4th and I was going to take both kids at the same time…but when I saw the dark spot on her tooth yesterday I decided we needed to take her in ASAP. So I just called the dentist (NW Pediatric Dental Associates in Fayetteville) and they are getting us in Thursday at 8:30 a.m.. I guess Lauren won't be on their Cavity Free Club. Geez! Lesson learned...brush her teeth twice a day everyday! The good news is she doesn't take milk to bed anymore and hasn't for a year...so hopefully this is the only damage we have done so far.

Wackie Wednesday!

Just Imagine...
A woman wearing a nice work dress shirt with pajama pants and flip flips and a little girl in her pajama's and a little boy in his pajama's neither wearing shoes riding in a Wal-Mart shopping cart. Well THAT WAS ME Wednesday night! LOL

We had to take the kids to the Dr. Wednesday night because #1 Lauren fell on a box at school and was complaining it hurt when she went potty and #2 Colton started running a slight fever (101.5) at school. So while I was going to take Lauren in I thought I would take Colton too even thought I just knew his was teething.

The Dr. looked at Lauren's bottom and found a bruise on her leg and two cuts on her bottom. Basically she fell on this box at school straddling it and cutting her bottom in two places. :-( Poor girl...every time she went potty the pee would burn the cuts so for the first 24 hours she was just screaming when she would go pee. We would of course squat down to her level and hug her while she was going to the bathroom in hopes that it made her feel better. She did ask that today I ask her teachers to hug her while she goes potty at school. :-) I of course told her teachers that and they said "of course!" which made me feel better.

The Dr. was asking about Colton's symptoms and I said "he started running a fever at school today but he is a late teether so I'm sure it's just teething". He asked if he had a runny nose or cough lately and I said "yes he has had a runny nose for a week now but I'm pretty sure it's because of the rain we have received lately as he has bad allergies". The Dr. checked him out...ears, nose, throat, etc and said "his ears look good but his throat is a little red...can we do a strep test?" and I thought 'I'm already here...sure'. So they ran the test and about 15 minutes later came back and the Dr. said "well I'm shocked but the test was positive!". I was like WHAT? He has no symptoms! So I think we caught it early which is good!

So the Dr. gave us a cream for Lauren's bottom and a prescription for Colton's antibiotics. They were to be ready at the WM Neighborhood Market in Springdale. Kraig went to pick them up and it was apparently a very busy night for them...he said there were around 20 people in line! It was finally his turn and they only had Colton's medicine! They said they were out of Lauren's and they were too busy to call other stores to see if any other WM pharmacies carried it that we would have to call around if we needed it tonight. :-( So Kraig brought home Colton's medicine and I started calling around. The WM at Pleasant Grove had the same story...they were out. I called the WM Springdale and luckily they had it. After three calls back and forth between pharmacies the prescription was finally transferred! About 20 minutes later they called saying it was ready. Kraig had dinner plans with Mr. Bruton so I loaded up the kids (7:30 pm by now) and thought 'I'll just drive through the pharmacy drive through and be home soon'. Well I didn't know that Springdale was the ONLY WM without a pharmacy drive through! So the kids and I went into WM in our pj's and picked up the prescription. I'm sure we are not the worst dressed family that store has ever seen...but it was pretty comical to me!

Luckily both kids are feeling better today and are both at school. I just had to share my WM story with everyone...sometimes a mom just has to go with the flow (more often than not) and laugh about it later!

Happy Friday everyone!