the expander

About 9 months ago, while at Brooke's dentist appointment, they recommended that we go see an orthodontist to address the crowding of her teeth.  I made the appointment and really loved the orthodontist. He explained that Brooke has a crossbite, meaning that her upper jaw is narrower than her lower jaw, so her upper jaw wasn't fitting probably over the bottom.  I wasn't shocked because Kevin has the same problem. He recommended that we wait 6 months and see if her natural growth made any difference.  

Fast forward 6 months, and we went back in to visit the doctor. He showed us the 6 month comparison, and concluded that we needed to start with a jaw expander. I appreciated that he tried to let her natural growth pattern help the situation, but since it wasn't enough, we had to take a more aggressive approach. 

He showed Brooke pictures of what the device would look like, and asked how she was feeling. She was pretty quiet, but I think it was a lot to take in. 

Then they showed me the price (nearly $2,000) and I was a bit shell shocked! I decided to get a second quote from the orthodontist I saw for my Invisalign.  The office is right here in Mansfield, so overall it would be more convenient for us, but I was disappointed to find that the two orthodontists had sold the practice to someone else. 

They did a scan of her jaw and gave me very similar information about the cross bite and the need for an expander. The price was better, and so I agreed to get the process started. 

They used another tool to create the 3D image of her teeth to be sent off to the manufacturer of the expander.  Unfortunately the turnaround time was like 6 weeks, but when it arrived, they had us come in for spacers.  They looked like little pieces of rubber that they shoved between her back molars and the teeth next to them to create "space" for the expander to attach to her molars. 

We went the next morning for the expander, and although she was sort of excited at first, she quickly realized that it wasn't any fun at all.  

They glued the expander to her teeth and it looked kind of painful as they shoved it on and then made her bite down to ensure that it was tight.  I loved that she wanted to wear her little sloth critter on her wrist for comfort :)

As soon as the expander was secure, they taught me how to "make the turns" that we would do every night for 28 days.  Each turn would widen the expander, which would then widen her jaw. After the 28 days, they would reassess to determine whether her jaw was big enough, and then she would need to keep it in position for an additional 6 months.  It all seemed easy enough :)

As we walked out and she tried to talk to me, she realized that she sounded way different.  I could hear the emotion in her voice as she expressed concern about how weird she sounded.  Moments later, as we got into the car, she said, "I can't even swallow properly!"  And then the tears came. It literally was breaking my heart to see her confidence tank like that, so after a tearful conversation, we decided to skip school for the day to adjust to the new device.  I had a busy day with a funeral and luncheon I was helping at, so she tagged along and seemed much better by the afternoon.  The major frustration was eating.  Everything seems to get stuck!  So, there will definitely be a major learning curve. 

Update: There was definitely a huge learning curve. She ate a lot of pudding and jello those first few days, but eventually was able to eat a wider variety of foods. About a week in, the expander popped off one of her teeth.  Of course it was on a Thursday night as I was making the turn, so we couldn't get in until early the next week.  The hygienist made a comment about how it shouldn't have come loose, so she went through the whole process of re-gluing it into Brooke's mouth. She also commented on how dirty the top was, and asked how we were cleaning it.  We had been told to brush it, so that's all we were doing. Along with the occasional syringe squirt when food was stuck, haha.  She recommended that we get a water pik, so we bought one that afternoon.  I don't know why they never mentioned that before, because it really helped with cleaning the expander. Brooke also used it quite a bit to get food out during meals. 

Well, a week later, we were dealing with the same issue again.  And it happened on a Thursday again, and since they aren't open Friday-Sunday, they couldn't fit us in until the following Tuesday.  I was pretty irritated because I had only made like 12 turns, and couldn't do anything for days since it was barely staying in place as it was and when I tried to turn in, Brooke was in so much pain.  I knew it was just pushing on her teeth/gums in a weird place, so I decided to do nothing until we could get in to see the doctor. 

The hygienist seemed annoyed right off the bat and made some comment about how I shouldn't be using any force when I made the nightly turns.  I told her that I wasn't, and then expressed concern that it had popped off 3 days after it was glued in.  I said it in a nice way, but then she followed up with, "If it was due to a bonding issue, it would come off within 24 hours.  If not, it's not a bonding issue."  So she was placing the blame on me.  I was super irritated.  As the orthodontist walked past, I called him over and explained the situation and asked why this was happening.  He was super condescending to his hygienist and said, "It definitely shouldn't be coming off.  We just need to get better at our jobs." I couldn't believe how rude he was, and I could tell that his hygienist was irked as well. I didn't care for the way he was handling the situation, but just said that she would re-secure it in Brooke' mouth. I wanted him to do it since he just totally threw her under the bus, but I wasn't sure how to handle that.

So, she re-glued it in, tugged on it, and it popped right back out.  I felt completely validated and she made a comment about how that shouldn't have happened.  She took it to the back, and when she returned she explained that it was acting like a teeter-totter.  Once she had one side attached, she would push it up on the other side, and the first side would pop down.  It was a faulty device, so it was nobody's fault.  Again, I flagged down the doctor and he explained the same thing.  Just a faulty device, and when I questioned why it fit fine at first, he just brushed it of and said they needed to order a new one.  And we'd have to wait another 6 weeks to get it.  

Basically, we would be starting over.  I felt so bad for Brooke because we had already been dealing with this for nearly 3 weeks, but it is what it is.  So, we'll start this whole process again in February.

As we left the office, Brooke made a comment about kind of missing her expander, so I guess there's that, haha. She had gained her confidence back, so at least she will be prepared for when we start again. In the mean time, she can chew gum and eat all the sticky stuff she wants :)

christmas day

Kevin and I woke up early on Christmas morning to get roasts in the crockpot for our family dinner.  Before the kids were awake, I also took pictures of their gifts from Santa.  Brooke had asked for a weighted hula hoop, and Colby asked for "something to help him with baseball."  I was excited to see both of their reactions to what he brought. 

The tree was looking extra twinkly that morning :)

I could hardly wait for them to wake up! We heard Colby around 7 AM asking if he could come downstairs, so we quickly finished up the roasts, made the kids brush their teeth (which they weren't happy about), and headed downstairs. 

Love these sweet Christmas morning faces!!

The kids were thrilled with their gifts and started playing right away...

They checked out their stockings...

Colby was most excited about his Hotel Transylvania DVDs.

The kids were then eager to move on to the gifts under the tree, but I had to get one more quick picture of them!

Our neighbors, the Weavers, gave Brooke this cute blanket.  She wore that thing for hours and told me how extremely cozy it was. 

Brooke was SO excited to get rollerblades, especially after watching Colby use his since his birthday.  She loved the purple color, which was a relief :)

I tried to buy things that they actually needed as well, so both kids received new fuzzy pajamas and Colby got a new pair of rain boots. 

Opening gifts with Daddy...

Kevin thought it was a good idea to try out Colby's new pitching machine in the house.  I mean, the balls are foam (but hard), and fly out super fast, so I was pretty worried about all my decorations. Luckily, nothing was broken.  But it kind of felt like a zoo over here with this thing going and Brooke skating all over the place.  

Then they settled down to work on their new Harry Potter Lego sets from Nay Nay and Papa. Building Legos on Christmas morning with Jeffrey was always a favorite memory for me, so it was fun to see my kids doing the same thing. 

I took a quick picture of all their gifts because I knew things were going to get scattered once cousins came over.  My mom always took pictures of our gifts so we could remember what we received that year, so I have carried on that tradition as well.  It's always a struggle trying to make sure we don't overspend, but then wondering if we've done "enough".  But they always seem spoiled to me!

In the afternoon, family came over to spend the rest of the day with us.  Uncle Tom was visiting this year as well, so we made sure to get a picture of him and the kids.  He doesn't have any grandkids, so our kids have become like honorary grandkids for him.  We helped him create an Instagram account so he can follow the comings and goings of these five. 

The kids helped us set the table before they arrived and everything was looking very festive.  The practical part of me wanted to use cute paper plates, but when I have Christmas dishes (which I love), it seemed a shame not to use them.  Gotta love a festive tablescape, right?

We served pot roast, potatoes (roasted and mashed), carrots, a spinach salad, garlic knots, and fruit. 

We loved having our table full of people we love!  And the food was quite delicious, if we do say so ourselves :)

As if the kids didn't have enough sugar, Auntie Mel Mel brought over gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate.  A lot of that candy ended up in their mouths, but they sure had a fun time doing the decorating as well. 

The finished product, which we later consumed on New Year's Eve. 

And yes, Brooke wore that spa headband (which she got in her stocking) nearly the whole day!  It was cute to see her excitement about it :)  Looking back, I'm sure she'll ask why I let her do that, but it was Christmas!  

What a fun, magical day with this gang!  Holidays are the best, especially when you get to spend them with family. I was dead tired that night, but it was all worth it. 

christmas eve

On Christmas Eve EVE, we made the sugar cookies we planned to decorate the next day.  My sweet littles were so excited about the whole process and were eager to get started. They hardly needed my help, which was kind of a strange feeling.  They are growing so independent, and while that is super helpful and wonderful, it's also just different. As I watched them work, I felt grateful for traditions and that I get to do these special things with them.  They knew exactly what to do in each step, so I guess that means I have taught them well :)

My main job was to keep them (especially Brooke) from sampling too much of the dough, haha!

I just love the pure joy in her face :)

Their cookies were perfect, and then I went and ruined them all!  The kids went upstairs to watch a movie with Kevin and I stayed downstairs to make the frosting.  I checked them at 6 minutes, set the timer for one more minute, went back to making the frosting, and completely forgot about them until a burning smell began many minutes later.  Not sure what happened with the timer, but I've never done that and I felt pretty frustrated with myself.  Brooke's two full trays were totally crispy and ruined.  We still had the tray of Colby's cookies, but I knew that wouldn't be enough.  So we were back to square one!

I told Kevin that I would just start over while they watched the movie, but they all came down to help make the dough and then we put it in the fridge to chill for an hour.  I rolled out all the cookies once the kids were in bed, but it actually went quicker than I thought it would.  I call that a Christmas miracle :)

The next morning, we slept in and headed up to the Peacock's house for a day of celebration.  They have never hosted, so the kids were especially excited.  We started with gifts and Emery stole the show with her smiles about the Blippi doll we gave her.  

Colby loved the wakeboarding gloves he received from the Peacocks and immediately had to try them on.

The three "big" girls were all giving the same caboodle, but since they didn't know they were also receiving one, the reactions were priceless.  

Grandma and Papa spoiled us all, as usual :)

After gifts, we had a delicious brisket dinner, set up Colby's pitch back, then decorated cookies.  

The cookies weren't lacking in frosting or sprinkles, haha. 

We couldn't let the evening end without playing the chimes, but then we were eager to rush home so Santa wouldn't skip our house.  The kids thought they saw his sleigh in the sky a few times, so they were freaking out that he would beat us home! 

Once we arrived home, they quickly changed into their Christmas jammies so they could open their gifts to each other.  Colby bought Brooke a tiny pet set she wanted from the Dollar Store and Brooke made him Pokemon coloring sheets, but decided last minute that she also wanted to buy him a gift.  This is the first year I've had them use their own money, so she was frantically doing chores to earn the rest of the $8 for the turtle pet set she asked me to buy for him.  They were super into giving gifts this year and I loved their excitement about the whole thing. 

Most of the wrapping was already done earlier in the season so I could enjoy those beautiful papers and bows, but I did wrap a few last minute items. 

Everything was ready for Christmas morning!