A Sad, Sad, Toothless Day.

What a beautiful afternoon it was.  I thought I would be "the best mom EVER" again and take the kids to the park to ride bikes after Carli got off the bus.  We weren't going to stay long.  Reese was at home just down for her nap.
I visited with my friend Jennifer for a few minutes, and then we started rounding up the kids to head home.  Nate went one way, and Carli started off the other.  Before I could ask her to stop and come the same way as Nate, she was down.  She took the corner so fast and so sharp.  (Almost like a speed skater in the Olympics)  I saw it happen, and I knew it wasn't going to be good.
As I ran over and saw the amount of blood, I knew I needed help.  I yelled at Jennifer, and the neighbor across the street said she could help.  So she ran over and Jennifer went to find Nate (oblivious, and still heading home).  We somehow managed to get Carli across the street and into the bathroom to wash up.  I had no idea where she had hit and where all the blood was coming from.  It was her mouth.  We didn't need stitches, and I wasn't sure what all had happened in her mouth but knew we would need to at least head out to my moms for her expert nursing opinion. (and Dr. Couch is 3 minutes from her house)
And yes...Chad was out of town.
Jennifer helped me round up the kids and get all our stuff back home.  Brave Carli had calmed down quite a bit  (she even wanted Ava to come in to see her room!)  I loaded up PJs, bottles, silkies, drinks and headed out the door.  Chad was calling the dentist, so they knew we were on our way.
Carli was terrified of what was about to come.  She didn't want them to touch, poke or hardly look her way.  She heard me tell my mom we would have to see the dentist and she said, "nope.  Im not going.  No, no no no No!  It was such a Carli thing to say, I couldn't help but smile.  I had mom bring Mr. Mark for back up, in case we needed to drag her in the door kicking and screaming.

It was a long afternoon at the dentist.  The first challenge was getting an X-ray, the next challenge, getting a bigger X-ray.  And the most dramatic one...letting the dentist feel inside her mouth to make sure there wasn't anything else going on, broken or chipped.
Her tooth was definitely gone.  For now there was nothing to do but wait and let it heal.  The next concern was her teeth next to it.  They had been shoved back up her gums, and there was no way of telling if they would come back down or even be viable once they did.

Who knew, that if I had the tooth with me, there was a chance they could reinsert it back into her mouth.  But only if I had rinsed it, kept it in milk and been there within 2hrs.  Crazy.  It wasn't even on my radar to look and find a tooth.  I wasn't even sure what had happened, and because I was worried about the closing time of the dental office, I didn't drive back by the park on my way there.  **Ohh but on the way home we did...and I found it.  Sitting right by the drops of blood.  It was huge.  Root and All.  I was shocked.  Chad suggested I let Carli put it back under her pillow for the tooth fairy to come again.  Thinking that was a great idea, I told Carli when I got back in the car.  Her face dropped.  It hit her.  Her tooth was gone, and it wasn't going to grow back.  She knows you only have 2 teeth, and this was her 2nd set.  She was so sad.  I felt awful.  And we had been in such good spirits until this point.  My poor baby was as she said, "broken".

I tried to talk Carli into staying home from School.  Just to have a day at home, relax, read books, watch movies, eat ice cream, anything.  But she would not do it.  She wanted to go to school.  It was going to be Friday and she was going to buy a smensil (Yup, a smelly pencil).  I tried everything I could to convince
 her to let her friend buy it, to buy one next week, to go in late, to come home at lunch.  But she was fine, and she was going.  So I said peace out!  :)  When I went up to lunch to check on her, she had already told her class all about it and was not happy I didn't bring her tooth to show everyone.  What a crazy girl.

We've take a few pictures to document.  Its so sad though.  So brace yourself if you dare look at the pictures.

Waiting to see the Dentist

A picture when we got home, 5 hrs after the crash

The tooth.  Yuck. 

After 24hrs.  She thinks it it feels all better.  

Sold

After 5 years of fun, fourlers, camping, guns, Papa Pablanos, and Hillbilly New Years, we have sold the cabin.  

This was our last trip with just our little family.  We all had such a blast.  We didn't really tell the kids that that would be the last time to be there, they would have been devastated.  We soaked up every minute of fun we could, and then shed a tear when we pulled away for the last time.  

At least for now, we still have Grandma & Grandpas cabin to use.  New Years just won't be the same.  :(

Our Family Pictures. 

aren't we just a beautiful bunch? 

 

Halloween

Not sure what it is about Halloween, but I usually don't want to spend any money on costumes.  I haven't been able to figure that out about myself.  My kids LOVE dressing up, and have the best imaginations.  They would love every costume in the book.  But come on.  Some of them are just ridiculously expensive.  So once again, we went the cheap route.  I figured I could splurge and buy some poster board and duct tape.  :)

A paper doll and operation!  So clever I thought.  We had tons of fun at the Empey's party.

My pretty little ghost.  She throughly enjoyed eating her skirt.

This was the best.  :) The boys had jet packs.  Its a total costume copout I know.  Nate and Kyle spent hours playing with them and had them pretty well destroyed at least twice before halloween.  Carli and I were twiners.  Naturally, hers is blue...its her favorite color (for now).

Canning

Ms. Janette(my good friend and kids preschool teacher) has me hooked on canning.  There is just something about a pantry full of food that I just love.  It has been great to spend a girls nights together at the excuse of doing something so productive.  I have learned a ton.  Its been well worth the late hours, messy house, and crazy kids.  

So far we have made (in no particular order)...

Pineapple, salsa, peaches, mango salsa, tomatoes, orange marmalade, apple pie filling, roasted bell peppers, marinara sauce, roasted tomatillo salsa, pears, BBQ sauce, and probably a few others that Im forgetting about.  

We have ended up having so many join our little canning group, we have had to can mass amounts.  180 to be exact on the apple pie filling.  But who wouldn't want 50 jars of that in their closet?  :)

1st Sunday with Reese

This was a big deal.  We got up, got ready, and even had time to take some family pictures.  Im sure this is not going to be the case in the future.

Ice Skating

For the summer, we put Carli in ice skating lessons at the mall!  I thought it was something that I could somehow manage with 3 other kids in tow.  We did it!  Not for very long, but we did.  The kids loved watching her and she thought she was a pro by the end of the summer.  She even moved up to a bigger class because she was doing so well.  

Go Carli!

Reesie Girl!

Our sweet baby girl arrived today!!  We went in at 7am to be induced and only had the slight complication that she turned sunny side up.  Not a nice way for either of us to deliver.  The worst part was the suction had to be used to help get her out.  Im not sure any of us have seen such a sad little cone head.  The nurses quickly put a darling "bow hat" on her, and it made everything all better.  :)

We are so lucky to live by family.  We quickly had everyone at the hospital to give her hugs and squeezes.  

Introducing 

Reese Allene Combs

May 4th 2011

6lbs 6oz

19 1/2 inches

Just as beautiful as they come.  We just cant get enough of her.  

The beautiful Bow Hat!

Carli was beside herself.

Proud Daddy.  

Nana.  Couldn't wait to get her hands on her.

Not sure what to think about this tiny baby!

Grandpa. 

Angie of course got her all comfy and settled in for a little snooze.  

Grandma.  Loving every minute of this tiny girl.  Says she looks just like Me!  

Nates special time at the hospital with Reese!  What a sweet big brother.  

Carli just had to wear the dress that they have mating of. She cant wait for her to get big enough so they can be twinners!  :)

Uncle Ffej!

Brooklyn & Ella

Exhausted after lots of visitors.  

Swimming in the Cold!

Ohh to be a kid again.  The water was so cold, but the kids just couldn't wait another day.  It was time to hop in the cold pool.  They only lasted a few minutes, got out, had popsicles and were done.  And loved every minute of it.  

Thank You ISR

For the kids birthdays we post pictures of them all over the fridge. They love talking about all of them and seeing when they were babies. Kyle didn't really "get it". He thought most of the pictures were of Nate.

We had a picture at the bottom of the fridge of Kyle floating last year in his ISR class. Getting ready to go back for his refresher course he loved to talk about him floating. As the weather has been getting nicer, the kids have been playing outside much more. I keep the door open and an eye and ear on them, but admit I don't sit out there 100% of the time. They know not to touch the water and for the most part do a good job of following that rule.

Well this day, Carli got in trouble for one reason or another, so I brought her in for a time out. As we were waiting for the timer to beep (5 minutes) I heard water splashing. Of course I ran outside to find Kyle "trying" to float in the deep end. Without thinking, I jumped in and got him out of the water. Nate was sitting on the waterfall just watching. He told me he was floating, and didn't seem to be at all concerned for his safety.

Immediately after getting out of the water I was so grateful for the ISR lessons he had taken the previous year, but as the night when on my mind stayed in the worst place. I couldn't keep it together. The thought of him struggling in the water made me sick, the idea of Nate not being at all concerned bothered me a ton. Why wasn't he worried for his brother? How could I really let my kids play outside without me? I had to have Chad give me a blessing to ease my mind.

I had already set up for Kyle to start his refresher course a week later, but that night called to get him started on Monday. So after 4 weeks of M-F, 10 minute lessons, I have the best floater in the world!!! Im positive he could float for 5+ minutes at a time. He did so great in his lessons. I can now say I am much more relaxed and ready to start our summer of swimming.

These pics are only after 9 lessons.

Head flip into the water backward.

Coming up getting ready to float.

Floating! :)

Thank you! Thank you ISR. We will see you next year with baby Reese.

Happy Bday Kyle Dude!

I can't believe this dude is 2 already! I think he is the craziest kid yet, and he knows it. We had a fun time celebrating and riding his new tricycle at the park.

Sick & Freezing

What a crazy month is has been! Sick kids, freezing cold weather and a lot of missed preschool. We are ready for March.

Poor Carli got the worst of it. She was sick twice with the flu. Despite sleeping on the couch almost every night for a week straight she milked every minute of the attention.

We all loved looking at the snow, but were too sick to enjoy much of it. It didn't help that underneath all that snow was a thick sheet of ice. We were home bound for a week. Thankfully Chad was home to run to the store if needed and take us out for "donuts" in the mall parking lot! Nate was in heaven!!

Christmas 2010

It's A Girl!

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting a baby girl the beginning of May!

I couldn't be more excited, but I think Carli may have us all beat! She was beyond ecstatic when the ultrasound tech told us it was a girl. "I was right! I was right! I just knew it! I'm so excited!" Chad and I had little tears of joy already knowing that we would be having a girl.

Baby Reese!

The Pledge of Allegiance

Kyle of course, thinks he is just as big as the rest of them! So cute.

Thanks Ms. Janette! Carli and Nate LOVE preschool!!

Really?

I'm not sure where we got this girl!!

We're Off to See the Wizard!!

Carli and Nate have been on a huge Wizard of Oz kick! They have watched the movie a million times, know all the words to all the songs and sing them all day long. So...it was only fitting we made them costumes for Halloween.

My mom helped make Carlis Dorthy costume, and I found Nate and Kyle a Tin Man and Lion costumes on craigslist. Im not sure why, but Kyle was terrified of his Lion costume and wouldnt have ANYTHING to do with it. Carli and Nate; lived in theirs for the whole week! :)

We had a great week celebrating and dressing up. (The best part (for mom) was, "selling" our candy to the dentist and getting to spend their dollars at the dollar store!!)