"They Stole My Teeth..."

 "They stole my teeth."  That's what you heard being shouted as they brought my baby into the lobby 3hrs after his scheduled appointment and and hour and a half past the allotted time. The other children in the lobby looked mortified and parents snickered. The nurse looked at me and assured me that they had not, as if I believed they actually had. Meanwhile, Rah is wrapped in a blanket from the waist down because he had peed himself in a fit trying to escape the procedure.

It all began a few weeks earlier when the dentist informed me that Robert would need a cap i.e."tooth hat" on his front tooth to remedy the cavity i.e. "sugar bug" issue (see Robbie Visits the Dentist blog). Well it was determined that since Robert behaved so well at that visit that he would only need gas i.e. "giggle wind" instead of his usual anesthesia i.e. "silly juice" that knocks him out. Now, I foresaw an entire fiasco but decided that maybe, just maybe, the professionals knew something more than I, as this was their field.

Yet, Robert is my field.

So as my intuition only knew...the first nurse came into the lobby and asked could Robbie be "wrapped in a hug". This dentist and their Bippo's Lingo is soooo comical, especially when I can hear Robert screaming in the background. I of course agreed, strap him down because I'm not coming back. This was my second consecutive day off that has been spent in dental offices - I didn't plan on coming back for the same procedure. If they had to put a foot in his chest at that point, I would have agreed.

Next, the nurse came out and asked if he had a change of clothes. Now why would I bring a change of clothes to the dentist? Well, Rah didn't want a "hug" and fought it until he peed himself. Perfect.

The third visit from the nurse told me they got the cap i.e. "tooth hat" on and everyone was elated and drained; but just soon as they released Robert from the "hug", he reached up, grabbed the separator i.e. "tooth chair" - from his mouth, pushed on the still drying cap i.e. "tooth hat"with his tongue, bit down, and cracked it!

At this point the dentist left the room, they let Robert up to give him some time (but I really think that was for the dentist) and asked me if I'd like to COME BACK...Oh my, was all I could think; BUT HECK NO I WASN'T COMING BACK; there was no way I was rescheduling. So after a 30-minute break another dentist agreed to take on the task and completed the procedure, my dentist refused to go on - guess she wasn't expecting such an exciting Monday morning.

Follow up care: I was informed that Robert's front teeth are "now just for pretty". Robert not cannot bite into apples or hard foods with his front teeth, it must be cut into pieces or he risks cracking the cap i.e "tooth hat". He also cannot eat things like pizza, without it being cut into bite size pieces prior, so as I'm being told this information and subsequently cutting items such as chicken nuggets and egg rolls so that he can chew on the side of his mouth, I have concluded if this cap i.e. "tooth hat" cracks/comes off or this tooth comes out prematurely- he's just gonna have to look like an "old Paw paw" until his permanent teeth come in around second grade!

My #1 Veteran

It was soooo cold!!!

My #1 Veteran had to work today, even though those who don't serve, haven't served, and who chose not to serve in the future enjoyed a day of FREEDOM off. So we took him out to dinner - and everyone seemed to be having some sort of promotion to honor our military heroes; so my meal ticket has finally manifested both figuratively and literally this evening (LOL). And we splurged and went and ate at Olive Garden, fancy huh?...mmmnnnn stuffed mushrooms (insert Homer Simpson sound effects).

As we embarked on the 1.5hr drive to Lake Charles Robbie snapped pics of us from the back seat, so when he dozed off we snapped a few of him, and of course I have to show you my ensemble- the theme is "Transferring Seasons: Taking your Summer into Fall".  It's been quite chilly here off/on lately (a cold front is coming through and long sleeves and a jacket is necessary for the evenings, but it's slated to warm back up into the 80's by Sunday). So I'm shivering but fashionable and Darryl's proudly showing off his latest job related injury, agggghhhh - right in time for family pictures too; gotta love it!

Couponing Catastrophy

So I decided to try my hand at couponing recently and I must say it has been pretty rewarding and a bit obsessive. Especially for someone like me with a "touch" of OCD and a bit of ADD, a smidgen of ADHD and a few others I'd rather not mention at the moment. Well anywhoo - I clipped like crazy and registered for so many online coupon sites I had to create another folder in my inbox to contain all of the adverts I've been getting. It definitely takes time and organization - two things I have oodles of, so I figured "what the heck". Boy was I in for a rude awakening...lol

So, "all or nothin' Nicki", has proclaimed that I shall not purchase any groceries on a major grocery trip, in abundance without coupons (do you hear the stipulations)?

Well, that's because we recently ended up with like 4 boxes of scrumptious Eggo waffles but no syrup because I had no coupon!!! Thus, I have concluded that I must modify my couponing declaration until I get a better mastery of this "craft".

My first very "unorganized" shopping trip saved me a whopping $25 and took over 2 hours - sooooo if you live by the mantra "time is money", in your eyes (and mine at that moment) I would have rather paid full price; but I couldn't quit...I was committed! Next time, I shall relinquish my envelope of coupons for the more trendy alphabetized index card box filing system....anyone gotta coupon for that?

Robbie's Trip to the Dentist

Well I guess he wouldn't be my son if he didn't have "sugar bugs" at every dental visit! This time we had a total of 3! Aghhhh! But it's really not my fault (bad mommy) we floss nightly and brush 2x a day and even use the mouthwash that makes his teeth turn blue. It's just that his teeth are so crowded in his mouth it's inevitable (and that's the dentist talking). I had the very same issue that resulted in a total of 7 teeth pulled and braces.

So fast forward to our second pediatric dental visit this calendar year. Both are a hour drive away, but this one is in Alexandria, LA and had a special bonus in it's office.

A mascot...Bippo the Hippo! 

Check out the pictures...(and don't bother asking why my baby was wearing his full rain gear) when it stopped raining before we even left the house) I simply gave up fighting that battle!