Dance class!

Two of my friends and I have been discussing enrolling our girls in a dance class. So last week, I spoke with a lady at a dance studio in Rockwall and she suggested we try the class out before we paid the tuition to see if the girls would participate and how they would like it. So, today Lainey (along with her two friends, Landry & Sloane) tried out the dance class. The class is an hour and 15 minutes long... and I was worried that Lainey's attention span would not last that long. But, she went in the dance room with no problem and seemed to follow the teacher's lead and instruction fairly well (more than I would have thought). We (the moms) had to watch from a small window outside of the room. The hour and 15 minutes seemed to move along fairly quickly (although, I think Miller seemed to get bored waiting on his sister). Lainey did very good, better than I thought she would. She actually paid attention and followed instructions from the dance instructor. Here a few photos I managed to snap through the window with blinds (so, they aren't super clear). ** Remember, we were just trying the class out, so my daughter is the one that sticks out like a sore thumb in her non-leotard, Halloween shirt wearing, no ballet or tap shoes barefoot self! **

Here they are stretching before they begin dancing.... don't want any pulled muscles, aww! (**Lainey is on the left in the orange striped shirt**) I think it is so cute how she is looking at and listening to the instructor.

They made a choo-choo train and all followed in a line! Too CUTE! Landry, Lainey and Sloane are the last three cuties in the back of the choo-choo!
Lainey, Sloane and Landry patiently waiting on their next instruction from the instructor. (The other girls were changing from their ballet shoes into their tap shoes and since this was our girls first (trial) class, they don't have tap shoes).
Lainey getting ready to do a forward roll with help from Ms. Valerie
Lainey is all done, now she is crawling through the tunnel!

Our first trip to the Dentist!!

Well, our first trip to the dentist was not an expected one, but nonetheless, was a memorable one! Here is a rundown of how we ended up in a pediatric dentist office and an oral surgeon's office in the same day: Our little man was running and playing just before bedtime Wednesday night and tripped and fell and landed tooth first on the ceramic tile in the hallway. Immediately he begins screaming and crying (a cry and scream I have never heard from him before). My mom was closest and swooped him up and immediately we saw blood was everywhere. Tony freaked out and was scared to look (so he went and sat down on the sofa with his face in his hands) and I ran and got a wet washcloth... finally we got enough of the blood out of the way to see it was coming from inside his mouth and not his lip, as we originally thought. Then I saw this ugly broken-looking tooth staring at me. I then freaked out and ran out of the room and left my mom standing there holding Miller as he screamed and cried. I then realized, I was the MOM and needed to take care of my baby, no matter how scared and sad I was (Tony I guess also realized he needed to get over being scared and jumped up to help). My mom immediately grabbed her phone and was trying to dial her dentist office number (ironically, they had called her earlier that day to confirm her dentist appointment for the next day). Then realizing it is 9 o'clock at night and no one would answer we decided to call the dentist at his residence. (We have [my family] has gone to this particular dentist for years, so we felt comfortable enough to call him at home.) My mom got Dr. Watson on the phone and explained what happened and he asked us a few questions and asked us to see if the tooth was loose (which it was VERY loose) and said that there was really nothing that could be done right away unless the gum was cut and he needed stitches (which was not the case).... he said to apply ice and give him some Tylenol to keep him comfortable and to have someone (a pediatric dentist) look at him first thing the next morning.

So basically, from what we could all tell, he had probably broken his tooth, and it looked like it was broken at the gum line and it was VERY loose... it was difficult to see much more because of all of the blood. So we put him to bed and checked on him periodically through the night to make sure he wasn't bleeding to death.

The next morning, blood had dried to his tooth, so it was still difficult to see where exactly it was broken. He didn't eat much breakfast that morning. So, as usual, I dropped them off at PDO and explained to his teachers what had happened and that there was a strong possibility I would pick him (well, Lainey, too, of course) early if I could get him into see a dentist. So, I called the pediatric dentist (Dr. Suzanne Allman) in Rockwall that my aunt and my sister-in-law both use for their kids and highly recommend (and now I do, too). I explained what happened the night before and the lady asked us to come in at 12:15 (it was 9:45 or 10:00 am) when I called. I was impressed with how fast they were getting me in on such short notice and especially for being a new patient.

So, we arrive at the dentist office and they did an x-ray and the results of the x-ray were not good..... his tooth was broken in half at the root and had to come out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What, my baby who will be 2 in 3 weeks has to have his top front tooth pulled and be without a tooth until he is probably 6 or 7?????????? No way, this could not be true... what about his beautiful, big (all teeth) smile???

Dr. Allman explained to me that there should not be any damage to his permanent tooth when it eventually comes in when he is about 7. She also said it would not cause him any speech problems. I also asked what our other options were.... she basically said that the tooth (since it was so loose and broken so bad to the root) that it would eventually fall out and may do so in many pieces, which he could accidentally swallow and then it may be more difficult to remove after that. She explained there was no reason for a spacer, they only put those in with back teeth and that they are just ugly and almost impossible to use in the front.

So, later that afternoon we visited an oral surgeon who told me the same thing Dr. Allman had suggested. So, we scheduled the surgery (yes, he required anesthesia) for the very next morning.

Here is picture of him the night before the tooth was removed. You can see how black it was, which was just dried blood.... the tooth itself was not bruised. Also, see how happy he was.... I think it hurt Tony and I more than it hurt him. This is the last picture of Miller Man with all of his baby teeth! :(

So, Tony, Miller and I arrived at the oral surgeons office at 8:15 Friday morning and we were done about 9:05 am..... the tooth was gone and there was nothing we (as his parents) could do about it now. I won't go into the details of the morning of the surgery when they put him to sleep, etc. But they said he was such a big boy and was very good, they also mentioned how he was trying to fight the anesthesia.... he wasn't ready to "go to sleep" before the surgery. I asked the surgeon to keep the tooth so that we could have it. When they handed it to me in a sterile pouch.... it was in 4 pieces.... my little man really busted his tooth up.

He has two (dissolvable) stitches and we go for a follow-up visit on Wednesday.

Here is a picture of Miller Man and his Pop (my dad) the day the tooth was removed. They are sitting in my dad's 1964 Chevy truck he restored and calls it Miller's truck. He loves to drive his truck with his Pop. His tooth (excuse me, missing tooth) is hard to see in this picture, it just looks like a black space, which is basically what it is, a dark, empty space. :(

But, after all of this.... he has not let that front tooth stop him from eating.... immediately (even before it was removed) he figured out how to eat as to not agitate the tooth or the area. He is a trooper!

Pumpkin Patch at the Arboretum!

Well, today my mom and I took the kids to the Dallas Arboretum for a little photo shoot in hopes to get a cute picture to use for the birthday party invitation... well, almost 200 pictures later (between my and my mom's cameras) we didn't end up with very many "great" ones. I was really hoping for a great photo of the two of them together and all we ended up with was good/ok ones of them individually. They would not cooperate at the same time, if they did, we ended up with their backsides, butts in the air or heads turned. It was so exhausting... all I wanted was a cute (ok, perfect) picture of them for their invitation and all they wanted to do was run around and NOT pose when I asked them to.... typical life of almost 2 year-olds. Miller loved the hay, this is where he was most cooperative. Lainey loved to look at the pumpkins and flowers, but always seemed to have her back to me. We even tried to bribe them with a snack, the conversation went something like this, "If you sit there with the pumpkins and smile real big and say cheese and let Mommy take your picture, then you will get a fruit snack." Miller, "Yea, ok." Set him down right where you want him and he laughs real hard with this big grin and off he goes... what a stinker. I now know, I was asking for WAY too much. At least we tried.... I have something to look forward to next year, they will be older and maybe, just maybe, be more cooperative! Ha! We shall see.

So here is a tiny sampling of the top best pictures:

Fun times with Landry!

On Sunday we went to grab a quick lunch at McDonald's before the Cowboys game started with my dear friend, Amber and her little girl, Landry (who is about 3 months younger than L & M). Here are just a few pics from our fun lunch!

Miller and Landry

Future girlfriend and boyfriend!

Landry, Miller and Lainey

Sweet girls, BFF!

JDRF Walk!

Every year in September we (my mom's side of the family) gather for my cousin's (Ryan, who has juvenile diabetes, 13 years old and a twin) cause and walk to find a cure for juvenile diabetes. Again, this year it was held at Victory Park, Downtown Dallas... and again it was a beautiful fun-filled day.

Here is a picture of Miller last year at the walk with my mom! *Note he is in the Baby Bjorn carrier..... (see photo of this year below).

Here's a picture of Lainey last year at the walk.... she couldn't even walk on her own yet..... wow! What a difference a year makes! At this year's race..... running for Ryan's Rangers!

And, while at the American Airlines Center we heard the Stars were practicing. So we piled into the AAC to cool off and watch some free hockey. Miller loved it.... I explained to him it is like soccer (sort of), except they are on ice instead of grass and they use hockey sticks instead of their feet.... he just thought it was so neat.

Lainey at American Girl Boutique!

I have been needing to blog about this for awhile now, but just now having the time to catch up. Lainey and her American Girl (her Bitty Twin) were invited to my cousin Shelby's 9th birthday party. This was not Lainey's first time to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro, but her first time (and mine) to attend a birthday party there. She loves her "Baby" and anything to do with Baby right now makes her happy. After we ate, I took her down to play with some of the other dolls. We have the Bitty Twins (Lainey has the dark haired girl doll and Miller has the blond boy doll). So, she got to play with the Bitty Twins kitchen, stroller and tea set. She would not leave the kitchen alone. She sat there for maybe 10-15 minutes playing "tea" with the kitchen, as happy as can be with her doll. I guess we know what to get Lainey for her birthday.... a fun day was had by all.

"See", Lainey says as she points to Baby!

Here is Lainey playing tea party with the Bitty Twins kitchen.

They even have a doll "hook" in the restrooms so your doll doesn't have to sit on the dirty floor while you go potty! Genius!

Aunt Niki loves her twins!

Last week, Tony's sister who lives in California (with her wonderful fancy chef of a boyfriend, Alex) came to visit for two weeks. Niki moved to California before I got pregnant and has only been back "home" once since '05.... so her trip was long over due. The last time she was here was almost two years ago and L & M were only 3 1/2 weeks old.

Here is a picture of Niki and Alex the last time they were in Dallas in November '06, when the twins were only 3 1/2 weeks old. (Man, how the babies have grown and how time flies!)

We talk about Aunt Niki a lot and the kids can recognize her in a picture..... but this was the first time they would actually meet her and get to know her (since they were so tiny on the first brief meeting). I just knew the kids would love and adore her and of course, the feeling was mutual with their Aunt Niki. They were so excited to greet her at the airport and Aunt Niki came bearing gifts for her sweet niece and nephew.... here are a few pics of them opening their presents from her.

Niki is helping Lainey with her new baby doll stroller! Lainey was so excited to have something to push her babies around in now!

Miller is looking at the baby stroller, too. But he got a fun Thomas the Train whistle.... so now he can make his own train noises. There were a couple of fights over the stroller the next day.... Miller wanted to put his "Buddy" in the stroller and Lainey was not having it. (Wish I would have gotten pictures of that battle!)

Also, while Niki was here we got to celebrate her 30th birthday! More than anything, she wanted her family together and for all of the kids to have a fun time, so we rented a bouncy house. What a fun way to celebrate being 30!

Here are a few pics from the bouncy house 30th birthday party:

Here are just a few other pictures from the two-week visit:

Uncle Alex playing blocks and building towers with Lainey & Miller. Alex and Lainey kept builing the towers really tall and Miller kept knocking them down (such a boy!)

Aunt Niki pushing and pulling L & M in plastic toy tubs... they thought this was so much fun and so cool that their "Ekke" (Niki) was on the floor playing with them.

Such a sweet picture of Alex and Lainey. She grabbed her paci, pillow, blanket and baby Elmo and crawled up in his lap. He really stole Lainey's heart while he was here. He made her lots of yummy things to eat and she was so excited one morning when he surprised us all with homemade banana pancakes!

It was really a great visit... the two weeks they were here went by so fast and we are excited for their next visit. Thanks to our Uncle Alex for spoiling us with his wonderful cooking and sweet treats and also for sharing some of your secret recipes with me. I am excited to try them out on my family. Niki, we miss you already!

It's About Time

Ok, I have been enjoying several of my friends' blogs for some time now, that I have finally decided to start my own. I will promise to update it as often as I possibly can and try to include lots of pictures, b/c I love it when you all include pictures in your blogs. I have been reading your blogs for about two years now, so I should have some good examples to follow.