Santa's Gifts

Thanks again for all the great suggestions for our gift giving this year. One of my readers offered to be Santa's helper and make my wish for bean bags for our girls come true. I had never met Leanne before, which makes her all the more incredible for offering her talent to help make this a reality. You really are awesome Leanne!

We collaborated through email and phone calls and trips to the fabric store. I am so pleased with the fabulous bean bags she made for the girls. They fit our loft perfectly and give the girls a great place to read or watch while others play the Wii. 

Best of all the girls LOVE them! They have made all sorts of new games up on them. They jump from one to another or just love to dive onto them. Finally a bit of furniture they can throw around and jump onto!

Each bag has a girl's name on it and they are all super soft and cozy. They are all the same basic green color but have different fabric patters and feels. The covers are removable and washable. 

Leanne thank you again for all your hard work to make these happen. We need to do sushi together as soon as I have this baby.

DRAMA!

Screams of terror filled the air. Drops of blood spattered on the tile shaken violently from their otherwise peaceful host. An air of emergency tore threw the home. 

Primary on the mother's mind, amidst all the chaos and terror, was one silly thing. "WHERE IS THE TOOTH?"

Annie's new smile

My little Ann Marie is by far the most dramatic person in our little family. When she is sick, it is torture for everyone. She wants everyone around her to join in her feelings, be they pain, fear, joy, or excitement. 

Last night when her tooth became so loose she couldn't eat comfortably with it, I decided it was time to pull it out. I did this with her last tooth and it came out so easily I was shocked. This tooth had not been loose as long but it was still very wiggly. So I wrapped dental floss around it and tried to calm Annie down. She was terrified at the thought of her tooth coming out and flinching in anticipated pain at my every slight movement.

The dental floss slipped up around the root and there was no getting the floss out without the tooth coming with it. I told her I would count to 10 and pull and then she really started to freak out. I realized quicker was better here so I counted "One, Two ...." and then yanked. There was no resistance from the tooth. 

The next thing I knew Ann Marie was screaming and throwing her head about scattering little blood drops everywhere she jumped. I probably should have been prepared with a paper towel for her. In any case, we got a paper towel for her to bite down on and the bleeding quickly stopped. She finally settled down as I held her and told her she was fine and that all teeth bleed when the come out. 

As I held her I finally saw her little tooth on the tile floor. I picked it up and held it safe for her to see when she calmed down. 

Next we went to the bathroom to clean up her hands and polish up her little tooth. There she saw her toothless grin for the first time. I think that was the real turning point. Suddenly her smile was back and she was a little excited about losing her tooth. Her dad's enthusiastic approval of her new smile only heightened this new excitement.

Last night the tooth fairy visited Ann Marie with a larger than normal reward for such a dramatically won tooth. A nice treasure for my little treasure of a girl.