Nearing the end of our dentist debacle

Yesterday we took Suzi to the dentist--the third one we've seen--to get a couple of cavities filled.  It's been a complicated journey.  After going for a second opinion, we'd decided to wait just a little while to get the work done while we tried to stop the decay with natural measures.  While some people have even reported success in reversing decay and have seen teeth heal and harden, the dentist told us, after a panoramic x-ray, that her cavities weren't getting worse but that they would definitely need to be filled.  If she were older we might have put it off indefinitely and just kept an eye on it; however, it will be at least five or six years before she starts losing these molars and we didn't want to end up with an abscess, or a tooth that needed more extensive work than just a filling.

We tried to get them filled earlier in the month at the family dentist, but she started to scream as soon as they brought out the water squirter, and refused the "elephant nose" with the nitrous oxide in it.  They somehow got her numbed without too much fuss, but the noisy drill upset her enough that we had to give up and take her to another dentist, a pediatric one who could offer her a little something extra in the way of relaxation/sedation.  Our first filling appointment was yesterday.  While she wasn't knocked completely out, she did accept the nitrous and allowed them to do the work.  Once she realized it was noisy but not painful, she seemed somewhat comfortable.  Then she picked out a prize from the toy chest and we went home to enjoy movies and milkshakes.  The worst part is the lingering numbness, which she hates.  I don't blame her one bit--I hate it too!

We have three more similar appointments ahead of us that will hopefully go as well as this first one.  We could have gotten it over with months ago at the first dentist we saw, but I'm glad we didn't.  They wanted to jump right into much more extensive work.  Several pulpotomies instead of fillings.  The dentist rushed through our appointment and barely spoke to us, letting a hygienist break the horrible news to us on our way out of the office.  It did not feel right at all, and it wasn't as if we didn't pay a fortune for his consult!  Now, after seeing two more dentists we trust, there is a good chance we will have to do one pulpotomy on the worst spot, but they are going to try for a filling first.  I also appreciated that the dentist we are seeing now sat down with me and Suzi and explained everything in a way that informed her as the person having the work done, but also put her at ease rather than scaring her.  It's a fine line to walk, and it's a line that the first pediatric dentist, despite his fancy, entertaining office, failed to even approach.

I can't wait to have it all over with in a month or two.  However, after this little ordeal, even considering the aggravation and extra money it cost, I can definitely say I believe strongly in a second opinion if the first one doesn't feel right.  Money, time, energy well spent to get what is best for our child.

Thunder-Crush!

After watching Charlotte's Web a few weeks ago, Suzi insisted she needed a stuffed pig. She wanted to name it Wilburt. So we bought one with a little of our coin-rolling money. She enjoyed playing with Wilburt for a while, and then the other day asked me for some sweater scraps. She came back to show me her pig in a superhero mask. Then she cut an orange cape, which I sewed on for her, and named him Thunder-Crush! She does things like this all the time.

Life has been so busy and exhausting lately. It really has. But it is so worth it when I see how much more interesting things are going to get as my children grow. Holding a newborn is amazing, obviously. But when your babies get old enough to have ideas they can act on, and they begin to create, and can talk with you about what they think and why, that is even better. You finally get a sneak peek at the people they will become. It's like a gift from God that you get to open little by little over the years.

So during the difficult days that naturally come along quite frequently while homeschooling with a 17-month-old, 3-year-old, and 5-year-old, I take heart in the knowledge that it will only get easier and more fun from here. It's already happening!

Beauty school dropout

Thank God for weekends. Jordan is home from now until Monday morning!

Things have been hard around here lately. We don't have any serious problems. We are all healthy and happy, but just tired. I won't bore you with the details, but it's basically so many messes. They are made mostly by the three- and one-year-old children, with the two dogs as their sidekicks.

The Mess of the Week Award goes to Ivey, and it happened yesterday. My friend Megan and I were sewing at the dining room table, and Suzi was with us. Robert was happy in the jumperoo. Ivey was playing quietly. Yep. I should've known!

Suzi went in the living room and caught Ivey in the act. I heard her shout the words no mother ever wants to hear: "Mom! Ivey's cutting hair!" Ivey tried to hide (meaning she lay down in the floor and closed her eyes) as Megan and I stared at all the blond hair in the living room floor. She had cut her hair and Robert's. I thought I might faint and sat down for a minute while Megan swept up all the hair and tied up a little curl of each child's hair with ribbon. Jordan came home for lunch because I needed moral support and told Ivey she shouldn't cut hair. She told him "yeah I should, it looks beautiful." Remember how in Sleeping Beauty they rounded up every spinning wheel in the kingdom and destroyed them all? We are basically going to have to do that at our house, but with scissors.

Luckily our awesome hair stylist worked us in that afternoon, so Ivey got a cute pixie cut, and Robert now looks like Caillou. It's a shame I don't like Caillou. Every time I look at my baby boy, all I can think of is that theme song! But the good news is that now I can stop wondering why on earth Caillou is bald. It's probably because he cut his own hair and had to have it buzzed.

I love Ivey's new pixie cut, and more importantly, so does she!

Curls! I miss those beautiful curls! But he's probably more comfortable now.