Going, going, gone! Oh, my!

One minute, the other front tooth was hanging by a thread (ew!) and then a few minutes later, she'd worked it loose and out it came! I've always thought kids who had no front teeth looked pretty strange and now I'm the mother of one. Hmmm... wow, the tooth fairy sure has been visiting here an awful lot...

I'm feeling pretty good otherwise, 6 days post-op - the girls went around the neighborhood twice with me again today. Yesterday was really slow (31 min/mile - a minute longer than it took me with my fat knee on the first walk) but today, I got it down to 27 min/mi and then 23 min/mi. Woohoo! I'm trying to build strength so I can shake off the crutches - which means I'll walk slower but hey, more muscle-building. The less activity, the more atrophy. I can't focus on speed, but strength - have to be super careful not to break the new ACL. It's so weird to think I ran 6 miles around the neighborhood a week ago and now I'm reduced to crutching around the neighborhood. Well, I'm 6 days closer to playing soccer again, I guess... gotta take things one day at a time... :)

New smile and a knee update

So now Miss Marika has a new smile - we knew this day would come, but it stilll makes me sad, because the gap makes her look so much older now! I am hoping that the other front one doesn't fall out before the new one comes in, but I don't think I'm going to get my way...

Marika is standing in front of her new cardboard house (she made one from some cardboard boxes and it drove DaddyDude absolutely nuts - so we got her a new one instead). These were great Xmas gifts - on sale at Michaels and it has kept the girls busy for hours each day!

It's like we have our own little neighborhood within the house! And yes, you can fold them for storage!

Apparently, it's even comfortable enough for them to sleep in (that's Mika!), but she almost broke the house when she stretched out! All in all, though, the houses have been a great distraction for the girls while I am recovering from my knee surgery...

I went to see the orthopedist on 12/22. He came in, snapped my leg around and said, "Yup, your ACL is totally gone!" Sure wish I had known that back in early November! That's okay, I don't think I would have scheduled the surgery for any other time than winter break, because I wouldn't be allowed to drive for a week. Now there's some discussion that it may be longer than that, so I may end up walking to school to pick up the girls - although I'm hoping to power through PT to make the driving happen sooner than later.

Good thing we didn't have the surgery last week, since we all had a stomach ailment. As things turned out, I was terribly lucky to have been the first scheduled surgery - the doctor told me he got food poisoning from lunch and had to cancel the rest of his surgeries that day! I was amazed he managed to pull himself together enough for clinic the next day (I doubt I could have done that), but he's a real trooper. He's gone through THREE ACL surgeries so he knows what the recovery process is all about.

So... I ended up having my ACL repaired (allograft from a 19-year old) and he shaved down part of my meniscus ("a very small tear", he said). So, on the bright side, I'll be on the crutches for 4 weeks or less and I am allowed to bear my weight on it (I wouldn't have been able to for 6 weeks, if he had had to suture my meniscus back together). I'm wearing that big brace you see above - it's to keep my leg straight because apparently, it's really hard to get extension back whereas it's easier to get flexion (range of motion). It's already driving me nuts having my leg locked like that but I had my first PT appointment today and flexing my leg hurt like you wouldn't believe! I can't believe I was running around the neighborhood on Tuesday!

DaddyDude has been totally amazing, taking care of the kids and putting food on the table. He's been getting everything I need and I haven't detected a single bit of resentment - yet! I told him to sleep upstairs last night because I felt so bad waking him up - by the second night anyway, I was able to move myself around and get to the bathroom without help. What a great guy! He's a keeper! I love him! *smooch* 

So yes, I camped downstairs on the sofa for the past two nights, but will try to go upstairs today. Every time I stretched on the sofa, the guinea pigs would be startled and dive for shelter, spewing wood shavings and poop. Really, you'd think their memory would be longer than a couple of hours, right?

But yes, I'm doing fine. I felt well enough after PT to go with the family to get something to eat, and then do a little walking around the shopping center. Hey, did you know Slice cartridges are on sale at Michaels for $9.99 on clearance?! What a great time to go! :)

How Was Your Halloween?

The girls had a very busy but fun weekend! Despite the awful weather on Saturday morning, Marika still had a soccer game - she ended up with 2 more goals! Actually, everybody on her team (only 4 girls showed up to play) scored at least 2 goals and they ended up winning 9-0. Mika is beginning to play a little more aggressively so we are happy with that. =)

Marika has been so excited about having her first loose tooth. I was surprised to find this made me very sad - my baby is growing up! I took a bunch of pictures of her baby smile... knowing her smile would never look the same again...

On Saturday, the girls went to a Halloween party. They had a great time - the hosts had planned a lot of games and had great snacks for the kids. It was held outside, though, so I was very grateful that the girls wanted to leave an hour before it was over (I was freezing!).

After my Sunday soccer game, we went out for donuts. About one minute later, Marika said, "Hey, my tooth fell out!" Here's her new smile! She's been smiling at everybody since then. You'll be happy to know that the Tooth Fairy was finally on the ball and did not forget to come and visit. =)

It was nice that Daylight Savings was scheduled after Halloween - it made for better pictures! Here are the girls, all gussied up for Halloween. We stayed at home and handed out candy for awhile before heading off ourselves. It was funny to notice that we can now travel around the neighborhood much faster than when the girls were smaller. =) It no longer takes forever!

And here's their haul - a decent amount, but not an obscene amount. Hopefully it will be gone before Christmas (when they'll inevitably get more candy!). There seemed to be fewer trick-or-treaters out this year, probably because it was on a Sunday. We are enjoying the excess M&Ms and Snickers... =)

I'd like to sing kudos for Daddy Dude, who changed out his first faucet this past Sunday. Our previous faucet had been a Moen, which came with a lifetime guarantee - but they'll only send you the parts that you need - if you don't know what the problem is (and what part you need), you are out of luck. After years of having leaks beneath the sink, I finally told Daddy Dude he could get a new faucet (he felt better after I told him the next-door neighbors had replaced theirs a few years earlier already). I'm happy report that he did a wonderful job and the new sink looks great - and doesn't leak! Woohoo!

A Special Visit From the Tooth Fairy

Poor Mika. Regrettably, she inherited my teeth genes... she's destined for braces... her teeth are too crowded and things are coming in crooked.

We'd already been sent to the orthodontist for a consultation and everybody had decided that Mika had to have 2 teeth extracted. One of her permanent teeth (I call it her "shark tooth") is well behind the others, simply because there was nowhere else for it to come in (if you click on the picture above, you'll see one tooth sitting behind). By removing some teeth, it was hoped that the shark tooth would start to line up with the others. Mika's probably looking to have some pseudo-braces within another year (so we better start saving $$$!).

We thought Mika could go through the procedure without the nitrous oxide (laughing gas) - a strong preference because when she was 12 months old and had tubes put into her ears, she had to have the gas and ended up screaming bloody murder for about 20-30 minutes afterwards. Luckily, the dentist also had a 7-year old at home and was very understanding and sensitive towards Mika - and he numbed her up really well. Mika said later that although the injections really hurt, she didn't want to scream (I said "thank goodness, you would have scared the poor dentist!"). However, she said the actual tooth extraction didn't hurt a bit - this was a huge relief to me, because I couldn't even WATCH. I had had my teeth extracted when I was her age and I swear, he only yanked a couple of times before my teeth came out. With Mika.. there was A LOT of twisting, yanking, pulling, etc. I felt so bad for her! Seriously, I kept waiting for her to scream. I don't know how people used to undergo dental procedures before painkillers!!!

However, Mika perservered with a smile. We were very proud of her acting so grown-up. Now, keep in mind that this is a girl who DOES scream bloody murder when it's time for any shots in the doctor's office! Too bad they can't numb her there... =P

So here's Miss Mika, with her furry entourage and fancy tooth box. The tooth fairy just took the teeth, since Mika wanted to use the tooth box again and again. The tooth fairy liked this idea, because it's so much easier to find teeth in a container! However, yet once again, the tooth fairy almost forgot to come.

Last night, Mika asked if the tooth fairy was a real person. I said, "Honey, it's whatever you want to believe!" Marika remarked with full confidence, "but we are sure it is NOT you or Daddy!"

And here are Mika's teeth. I was flabberghasted at how LONG the roots were - no wonder it took so long to get them out!

Here's Mika's smile afterward. Poor kid... she has to eat soft foods for the next couple of days and can't use a straw for awhile (suction = BAD). Last night she got a Slurpee and some mashed potatoes out of a box. YUP, that's right - we had promised the girls treats at the Dollar Tree and I was struggling with what Mika could eat for dinner. I'd never eaten potatoes out of a box before so I was pretty apprehensive... but Miss Mika liked them. I thought they were rather... chewy. For lunch today, she took more mashed potatoes (with gravy), some pudding, and Gatorade. I feel like a bad mom!

We'll all be eating jook (rice porridge) today, so Mika doesn't feel left out - as long as the recipe works in the slow cooker! I'll let you know...

And here's my chubby-cheeked daughter reading. Every day, we're supposed to read a book (sent home from school) to her, but Marika never realized that. So, every day, she's been reading the book to us. Ha! I love watching her when she reads... her finger trailing the page while her little lips move to form the words. So cute! They really do grow up so fast...

Changing the subject here... as most of you know, we shop frequently at Barnes and Noble and so, get their emails. I was absolutely stunned and delighted to learn that Jean M. Auel (author of Clan of the Cave Bear) has completed her sixth and final Earth Children book! You can read about it here - it won't be available until next March, though. And don't forget to download your free Barnes and Noble ebooks here!

And last but not least... I stopped by Big Lots and Tuesday Morning yesterday. BL still has Prima 12x12 paper packs for $5 - as well as their 5x7 sheet packs (with 48 sheets) for $2. TM had several KI Memories paper pads (Friendship, Party, Babycakes, etc. I think for $2.99 each) and several different sets of clear alpha stamps. I did leave both stores empty-handed. =)

It's all about Mika!

I love handmade gifts... this is what Mika gave me on Friday for Mother's Day, as she got out of school - cookie flowers! They were skewered and held in place with gumdrops. Wasn't that clever? She told me later, that she didn't like the gumdrops (I had to ask if she had licked my gumdrops - but she hadn't! Whew!). On Sunday, she said one of the flower cookies was for Daddy! But, Daddy said I didn't have to share... and I did offer him one!Hope everybody had a Happy Mother's Day!

I got to play soccer in the morning (though we lost miserably - hard not to, when it's 7 versus 11 (and they had 4 subs!)), so that was nice... even though I had to run off the field in the middle of the game because Marika got whacked in the nose by another child's knee and got a bloody nose...

Last week was HOT! The girls went to their best friends' house to play in their new pool. They had a great time, as always. On the way home, we passed a fire that had started brewing in the nearby regional park. I guess it must have looked worse than it was, although 80 acres or so were said to have burned. Whenever we see smoke plumes, it's always chilling.

Some big news! *Somebody* lost one of their two front teeth! This was the first time Mika had lost a tooth and NOT had the new one coming in, so the gap is very noticeable and somehow, makes her look much older. There was a little episode with the tooth fairy, though... she couldn't find the tooth so she had to write a note asking Mika to put it somewhere else. I'm sure Mika thinks the tooth fairy is pretty dense... but she did seem delighted with the correspondence (she wrote an apology note to the tooth fairy, saying next time, she would leave her tooth on the dresser). Doh!

And can you believe... Mika got her first pair of casual shoes with laces! Ah, what a world we live in now, where kids didn't have to learn how to tie shoelaces because velcro was such a fabulous invention! She's caught on pretty quickly on how to tie them... although it does take her some time to carefully do it... she seems to enjoy wearing these without socks. Or, is that the new fad???

And finally... (drumroll)... the synapses have made their connections and Mika, after a long hiatus of not riding her bike, hopped back onto it this week and within 3 days, had mastered riding the two-wheeler. Day 1, she was still falling down. Day 2, she was able to start herself but slammed into the house a few times (not a good noise from the inside!). By Day 3, she was speeding along, turning smoothly, and picking her bike up and climbing on. Yay! You go, girl!!! I can't wait to go on long bike rides with her!

8 years and 2 kids later...

I'm a bit sore today, but the real test will be tomorrow! Yup, after 8 years of not playing soccer, I miraculously found somebody recruiting for a 30-and over women's soccer league. I was especially thrilled, because in all honesty - I thought I'd never play soccer ever again (especially with Sonny playing baseball (his great love) on Sundays).

But what great luck - during my first game today, we were pelted by ice-cold rain. Brrrr! I'd played in snow before but this was truly miserable! To make matters worse, my team had JUST enough players to play without forfeiting (n = 7) (and no goalie!) while the other team seemed to have the full complement. So, as you might have guessed, we were doomed from the start. The teams called it quits after one-half. So that amounted to 40 minutes of running around, willing my body to run faster, turn faster, kick the ball harder... to little avail. The kids had fun playing in a tent with their new friends but our EZ-up canopy did break (second one down!).

Man, I need to get more exercise! I originally told the team captain that I expected it would take me 3 weeks to get back into top form. Now, I'm a little worried! I'm about 10 pounds heavier than when I last played and 8 years older - can the human body bounce back? Or am I being delusional???

Only time will tell...

And in other exciting news... Miss Mika has lost her 3rd tooth! Where is the gap, you ask? It WAS where you see that spacing on the left side of her mouth. Apparently, the new tooth was already coming in or something. That has happened with her other teeth too, so we say she is like a shark... heh heh...

Wonder what the tooth fairy will bring for her...