Finished!

 It was a long process, but we have officially completed the staining of the house.  Can you hear our big sigh of relief?

Marina Gets Braces

Getting braces is like having a broken arm in a cast.  Excruciatingly painful and yet so amazingly cool to everyone in school!  "Isn't Marina lucky?"  I heard someone say.  "Yea, right!" think the parents, "How many thousand dollars later?" 

Why does Marina get braces and these other kids do not?  Well, Marina was born with a tiny mouth (apparently, although this is not proven by the anecdotal record.)  Her teeth do not fit into this tiny mouth.  Everything is being squished together and as the months go by we are seeing more and more crooked twisted teeth. 

Everything went great...the application of the appliance was smooth.  The discomfort minimal.  Everything was great until I heard the nurse tell me, "28 turns twice a day." 

That next morning I turned the seperator 14 times before Vince stopped the screaming and crying as he was sure there was a mistake. 

Yep!  Sure enough we were only supposed to turn the device 28 times total doing one in the morning and one at bed time. 

I felt (and still feel) terrible about putting my beloved daughter through a medieval torture process.

Fortunately, she is forgiving. and the one click a day we have to do is like nothing, she barely feels it. 

Willie thinks she looks more beautiful than ever with her braces.  She thinks it is fun to pretend she has super hero abilities by showing her gaskets and aiming at offending objects. 

Braces...my baby is growing up.