Mom fail #496

You know how you are supposed to go to the dentist every six months?  Yeah.  #MOMFAIL  I realized on vacation that I hadn't taken Levi to the dentist in a while.  I was trying to calculate when it was that he went last... a year?  No, try two and a half!  I took him when he was FIVE and for some reason, we didn't make our six month checkup appointment and low and behold, it's been two and a half years.  REALLY, TRACEY??!!  Luckily, he is a good brusher and his teeth looked great -- no cavities!    

This was Maggie's first appointment.  They start seeing kids there around three years old.  Needless to say, she wasn't quite so easy going as Levi was!  YOU GUYS, it was hilarious!  First of all, we go to a small practice where Eric's mom used to work.  Everyone is like family.  When I walked in with the kids, all the workers flocked around, remarking at how big Levi had gotten.  {Two and a half years will do wonders for a growth spurt! Ha!}  Many of them had never seen Maggie before, and they were quite smitten with her.  

 So, when I got Maggie on my lap in the dentist chair and she started crying, everyone flocked around again, you know...to console her.  They brought her toys, little trinkets and were trying to use their "sing song" voices to convince her not to be scared.  I think all the strangers only made it worse.  She was a mess!  It was getting pretty comical.  We finally got her to open her mouth and all they did was count her teeth.  Goodness gracious, that child is a mess!  Thank goodness Mamaw was there to help out.

After all was said and done, she told the dentist, "You can clean my teeth next time, I promise."  Yeah, right! ;-)

Oh, and check out my little jailbirds!  We did a little trick or treating at the rehab facility where my grandparents are staying.  Hoping that the forecast changes for Thursday...right now they are predicting rain.  Boo!!

Cutest little criminals I've ever seen!

The jam that keeps on giving

The other day, we were getting ready to leave for the happiest place on Earth (no, not Disney!) ...Chuck E. Cheese.  Gag.  I got Maggie dressed, fixed her hair and told her she had a few minutes to watch TV before we left.  As I was heading downstairs to tell Levi for the umpteenth time to get dressed, I glanced over at Maggie and had a panic attack!    

Her face was blotchy and beet red!!  (The pictures don't really do it justice.)  I felt her and she was cool to my touch.  In a matter of seconds, I went through what she had eaten that morning...a granola bar.  She'd had chocolate milk.  Was my detergent new?  No.  She had worn this shirt before, too.  New bath soap?  No, same ol' stuff since she was a year old.  WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON?

The spots were going down her arm, on her neck, but not on her torso or back.  AND THEN IT HIT ME.  This had happened almost two years ago.  TWO YEARS!  We were on the way home from vacation.  Levi said, "Mommy, Maggie looks weird."  I turned around to see my baby, then a little over a year old, broken out in some sort of rash.  Beet red, blotchy, but totally content.  I noticed that a spot on the left side of her head that was normally the size of a pea was now the size of a quarter.  I gave her some Benedryl and literally within two minutes, she returned to normal.  SO WEIRD.

We took her to the dermatologist and they immediately knew what the spot was.  They gave it some big long name, which was very different from the way my dad referred to her "spot".  He said it was where one of her horns broke off.  ;-)  Basically, the bump held extra histamines and if it was bothered, the histamines were released into her body, causing a rash.  It is harmless and will go away before she turns 9.

Fast forward to the day at hand.  Within about 15 seconds of seeing her rash, I had figured out what happened.  Mags had eaten peanut butter and jam at her Mamaw's the night before.  She got jam in her hair.  As we were getting ready for CEC, her hair was tangled from the jam.  I brushed her head too hard (bad mom) and must have hit her little bump, which set off the histamines.  Crazy!  It hasn't happened since then and I completely forgot about it.    

I am happy to report that within two or three minutes, she was completely back to normal!  Leave it to my kids to keep things exciting around here! :-)
 

Walt Disney World - The Miller Invasion

What do you get when you put this, 

with this,

and this,

plus this?

 You get one big family that had a pretty magical week at Walt Disney World!

We rode rides. {Lots of them!}

We met Minnie, Mickey and lots of their friends.

 We ate.

We saw magical shows.

We got our faces painted.

We slept.

We got drenched.

{some of us more than others...stupid water rapids ride...}

We relaxed.

But, mostly, we just loved.

Loved being together.  Loved each other.  Loved making memories.

Loved each other.

Loved making memories.

In my humble opinion (and I'm pretty sure 11 other people would agree with me) these two people are pretty wonderful...

Without them, this trip wouldn't have happened.  Without them, six little cousins wouldn't have experienced so many wonderful things together.  Without them, six adults wouldn't have gotten to see their children and nieces and nephews walk around in complete awe.  But, I'm pretty sure that my parents felt just as blessed!  Mom and Dad -- THANK YOU.  Thank you for pouring into the lives of your children and grandchildren.  What a magical week!!  We love you.