tooth pull

Just Hop Till You Drop

Another Easter for the books, in a year without any snow. I’m guessing this year or next is probably my last hurrah in the magical era where all three girls still believe a giant bunny trespasses into our yard, throws random (but common in our household) candy around like confetti, and casually hides eggs like it’s his part-time job. So I’m milking it for all it’s worth—full commitment to the eggs and customized easter bunny notes, the whole production. If the girls have discovered my secret stash this year, they are either humoring me or they haven’t noticed. Either way, they continue to prove they CAN clean up quickly and without complaint…but only for covertly placed plastic eggs. Shocker.

All dressed up to see the creepy Easter bunny

Our in-and-out mission to see the bunny at Cabela’s took a grand total of five minutes- tops! No line, all three kids hopped onto the bench like seasoned professionals, and they even smiled for the first photo. Honestly, it was suspiciously easy compared to the chaos of previous years. Of course, the magic didn’t last long. They immediately tried to peek under the bunny’s head and declared that’s not a real bunny. So, I guess that particular secret is officially out of the basket (basket- get it?? I crack myself up….eggs crack… I’ll stop now…). We also discussed how the real Easter bunny is in high demand with a busy schedule, meaning no time to sit and pose in a store, so we meet the hired help, kind of like Santa Claus. That excuse seems to be reasonably accepted for now; unsure if it will be by next year!

Harper drew a custom letter for the bunny visit and hung it on her bed, as visible as possible for easy spotting. I enjoy seeing what ideas they write on the love notes, and the cute freehand pictures along with it. Emerie also spent some time on a note, but declared the bunny would find it where ever she left it. That sneaky bunny left one egg by each kiddo’s bedside… but Reagan intercepted Harper’s and stashed it under her own pillow, much to Harper’s dramatic dismay she was left out. Meanwhile, Emerie was the first one up and displeased she didn’t get an egg and Reagan had TWO. The irony? Emerie could have easily slipped on her own egg down her stairs and still didn’t even notice it. Yep.

Once I finally found the empty, plastic eggs in our house (freaked a bit when I couldn’t find them the day before!), I stuffed them with a variety of small candy and then figured some minor torture was in order, and stuffed a few with carrots and a few with raw broccoli. The look on their faces from the lack of candy? Absolutely priceless. Craig egged the backyard after bedtime and Grandma Anne and I finished up the baskets, which included new sunglasses, a couple cute outfits in their colors, a mini Lego set of their favorite princess, a “peep” egg to grow in water, and of course the beloved chocolate bunny. The goal of less sugar and more fun went a little easier this year than some in the past, and everyone built their Lego sets first thing.

The egg hunt itself went pretty quickly and with great excitement like past years. They started out sharing the pink, purple, and blues with the kid specific to that color until realizing they don’t have to share. Very kind on their part, and some of the fancier ones were still traded even after my protests- no complaints here. The few eggs on the bird feeder were met with laughs and once knocked over, landed in Reagan’s hood. Seeing opportunity, Emerie snagged one and ran. Sisters…

We survived the wild, sugar filled children by visiting the zoo for a little exercise. Warmer temps and the occasional sunshine peeking out meant no complaints of being cold, and everyone enjoyed the playground and running from exhibit to exhibit. The howling of the wolves brought other zoo visitors over to observe, with four kiddos howling at the two wolves, who were only a few feet away on the other side of the fence. Pretty funny.

Easter dinner was laid back, everyone munched on their chocolate bunnies, ran around chaotically, read books with Grandma Anne, and stayed up late since Monday was another day off from school. We also (mostly) jokingly tormented Emerie all weekend about her outrageously loose front tooth-not the one she wanted to lose to join her sisters’ gap-toothed club, but the one just to the left of her recently departed front tooth. It hung on defiantly, with no root, no purpose, no business still being there—but it stayed a few days until gravity finally finished the job. The tool fairy also dropped the ball on swapping the tooth out for some moolah (oops!). Emerie pointed this out first thing in the morning, and then retracted her irritation after seeing rain outside, commenting that it’s okay, fairies can’t fly in the rain so she’s running late. What a problem solver…and that late fairy added a dividend to that tooth swap that made for one happy, little girl!

❤

Surgery Update

No excitement for spring break this year, unless you count a plethora of doctor visits. The main event up today? Emerie getting her tonsils and adenoids removed, ear tubes for the third time, and if that wasn’t enough, pulling her top front tooth that met its demise last week against a toy, but isn’t quite committed to removal with her awake.

We were unsure if today was to happen, with a minor bug hitting all three kiddos in the past few days after a fun weekend to Seward. Emerie proceeded to puke all over my boots and the bathroom yesterday, but seemed well enough this morning to brave her procedure as planned. With Grandma Sue here to watch the other two and help the next few days, and school out for the week, this really is the perfect time for Emerie to rest up and recover, hopefully in time for all of next week’s birthday festivities.

At her pre-op appointment she told her life story to the receptionist and continued babbling to the nurse. The only tidbit of information she gleaned from the doctor was the fact bad breath will be present for a few days post procedure. She immediately went to her sisters later that morning to tell them she had to stay away after surgery, because her breath will be so bad. Funny what kids pay attention to!

We got up bright and early to head to the doctor’s office, convincing her that only two stuffed animals could join in on the fun. Only one adult is allowed in pre-op at a time and Emerie chose Craig, since she is predominantly on Team Dad when given the option. We will see how that goes, as she usually flips and wants me to snuggle once she wakes up.

The procedure lasted about 45 minutes and everything went smoothly. Craig returned for her wake up and I followed shortly after with a change of clothes. Everything went smoothly on all three accounts, and she came out of anesthesia pretty well after a short, post procedure nap. We are both interested to see if they return like Craig’s did, or if we are one and done with their removal (hopefully!). The doc noted she had fluid in both ears so the tubes would again help with that. With minimal tears and a purple popsicle later, we headed home to chill for the day.

Holier smile!

Harper and Reagan were happy to see sissy and her freshly removed tooth, and after a little Moana 2 on the iPad, Craig was able to convince her a nap would help. The rest of the day proceeded uneventfully, which is a good thing, and overall she is more chipper than we anticipated. She even played a little while with her sisters, and then continued to relax and watch television and suck down pedialite pops and apple sauce.

Thanks for all the prayers; and hopefully keeping up on her pain meds overnight will allow her to have a restful night of sleep as we ease into day two! I have also been advised the tooth fairy is not welcome to visit tonight and her tooth is safely tucked away on the counter 🙂

❤

Reagan Update

Our day started early, getting the girls up before normal rise and shine to bring Reagan in for her front tooth extraction. As I’ve stated before on here, she chipped her front tooth over a year ago and now it requires removal to not damage the root and future, adult tooth.

Reagan was excited to go see Dr. Winkle, who is not doing the tooth pull, but it’s good to know the whole household enjoys seeing him. Reagan put her lip gloss on prior to heading into the office. She did not like the blood pressure cuff but eventually we were able to get a good reading. When given the option to hold my hand or the hygienist, she chose the hygienist! She was also a good sport for the “stickers” on her chest for her health readings and was wiggly until the Versed kicked in and made her loopy.

Kiddos her age typical get Versed as well as laughing gas to calm them down for the procedure, which is very quick, and keep them from wiggling too much. Even quicker in our case since it’s an accessible front tooth. The biggest warning for us was to try and keep her from biting her numb lip or it will be sore later.

Reagan was excited to learn the doctor would give her presents after, such as stickers and a new toothbrush, and they were nice enough to give us three new brushes so sisters feel special as well.

That excitement clearly ended by the time the procedure occurred and we could hear her screaming down the hall from the waiting room. Poor baby!! So heartbreaking to hear as a parent and similar to how Emerie came out of anesthesia a couple of times. Afterwards the doctor said she was fine right up until they went to pull it and had to strap her hands down.

The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes, with Craig and I sitting in the waiting room. By the end of the appointment, when they wheeled her out in the wheelchair, she had a new blue bunny and was commenting that she wanted to stay with Dr. Barnes. I’d say that’s quite the success that she wanted to go again and the staff was laughing.

Overall we left with a number of new toothbrushes, stickers, and a blue squishy bunny. She did not leave with stitches so when she requested a donut in the car, we went in and let her pick one out at Dino’s, one that of course contained sprinkles. She chowed down on the way home and now we are sitting on the couch relaxing while her light sedation wears off and she becomes less wobbly. She was such a trooper today!

  • All done!
  • Donuts!
  • Almost home

Two kiddo procedures in one month is a LOT. Glad it’s almost June and we can de-stress a bit!

❤