Her WOMAN tooth is in!!

About a week ago Hailey was complaining that her tooth hurt. I looked at it and saw that the gums behind her front bottom teeth were swollen. We had a talk about brushing better, and I got some floss to make sure there wasn't anything stuck in there. When I went to floss her around her tooth I discovered the real problem, her tooth was lose. Why didn't I think of that before?! Well, because she is my little girl and she isn't supposed to be old enough to have a lose tooth.

Over the next week she kept wiggling it, but we didn't worry about it too much. There is no rushing these things, especially when Mom doesn't want it to happen. On Tuesday of this week she asked me to wiggle her tooth for her and see how lose it was. When I went to wiggle it I saw that her WOMAN tooth, that is what our hygienist calls them, had already come in behind her baby teeth. Well that wouldn't do. I told her to wiggle her tooth all day and that it was going to have to come out that night.

That evening we all gathered around to get Hailey's tooth out. I pulled out the pliers and went to work. (I pulled out Riley's first tooth this way too. I think we are going to have to make it a tradition.) She cried more about opening her mouth to let me put the pliers in then she did when I actually pulled the tooth. She didn't even realize it was out. Sydney and Carley, trying to be supportive little sisters, kept opening their mouths trying to convice me they had teeth that needed pulling too. I told Carley that she needed to grow some teeth before I could pull any out.

Hailey was really excited the next morning when she woke me up bright and early, well not so bright, it was too early to be bright, to show me the money the tooth fairy had left for her. My little girl is growing up.

My Sunbeam and Her First Talk

December 28, 2008 Last day of nursery for Sydney.

OOH!!

Last Sunday was Sydney's first day in Primary as a Sunbeam!! Sydney was sad all week. She kept telling me she was going to nursery not primary. She did not want to move up from nursery. She was perfectly happy in there with the treats and the toys. I was a little surprised that she wasn't more excited. I never anticipated that this would be such a hard move for her. She is my tough girl who can do anything. She even cried and clung to me when I dropped her off last week. For any of you who know my children very well this is very unusual behavior for our family. Usually they barely wave at me as they run off to play with or sit by their friends. By the end of church she was completely happy and didn't want to leave primary. Our primary leaders are so smart. They give the sunbeams a little beanie baby to hold and keep quiet to help them sit still and be quiet themselves. For Sydney this is the stuff of genius!! She loves babies and stuffed animals. She cried at the end of primary last week because she had to leave her baby lamb there. What a tough day!! It was wonderful this week though. She couldn't wait to get there so she could hold her baby lamb again. Back to my tough girl who can handle anything....

January 4, 2009 First day of Sunbeams for Sydney.

....speaking of handling anything, today Hailey was supposed to give a talk in primary. Admittedly I did not prepare her as much as I usually do. I usually work on it with them so it is in their own words and have them practice it a few times so they are comfortable with it. Well this week I dropped the ball and Ryan did the talk this morning with a little help from Hailey. She didn't get to go over it and was a little nervous about it. I thought it would be fine. This is where mistake number two comes in. I was thinking it would be fine because it wouldn't have phased Riley. Well, Hailey isn't Riley. My first clue that everything may not go as planned was when she refused to sit up front. Instead she wanted me to hold her. When it came time for her to give the talk she clung to me and Ryan had to pull her off and push her up the isle. When they got to the front she planted her feet a few feet away from the podium, folded her arms, and wouldn't move. Ryan tried bribing, coxing, anything he could think of, she wouldn't move. At this point I got a brilliant idea. I walked up to the font and asked her if she wanted Sydney to help her. She said she would do it if Sydney helped. Sydney was happy to help. Good, things seemed to be looking up. Well then Hailey refused to do the talking, she only wanted to hold up the pictures. Sydney my new little sunbeam who cried the week before because she didn't want to go to primary was supposed to give a talk the second week she was there, YEAH RIGHT!! At this point I was willing to try anything so I held Sydney up, she is about 6 inches too short for the podium even with the little step stool, and started whispering in her ear. She did beautifully!! She held onto the mike with one little hand and her beanie baby with the other. Hailey held up the pictures and Sydney gave the talk. What team work, and what a nice little sister to be willing to help her big sister. Who knew Sydney would be giving a talk her second week in primary. I guess it goes to show she really is my girl who can handle anything, as long as she has a beanie baby to hold!!

Sweet Sisters!!

Ryan Goes to Kindergarten

Each week Hailey's teacher, Miss Hale, has a "secret reader" come in and read the kids a story. They also get to tell the kids a little about what they do for a living. All week Miss. Hale gives the kids clues to let them see if they can guess who is coming. Well today Ryan got to be the "Secret Reader" for Hailey's class. We kept it a secret from Hailey so she could be surprised and she was. I took the kids to school, Ryan usually takes them, telling them that Ryan had a meeting he had to go to. That way Ryan could get there and set up and I could have an excuse for getting the little girls ready. It was a lot of fun to hear Ryan telling the kids what he does for a living. They were so into it and excited. They would point at the games that he has worked on and say "Hey I have that, or I play that!" It was really cute. He read them a story called Don't Give up Stanely that he wrote and illustrated in high school. Then he had them do a little mad lips thing. He told them that he was going to draw Miss. Hale's class room monster and they had to tell him what it looked like. He would say, "Miss. Hale's class room monster has __ hands." Then he would call on one of the kids to fill in the blank. They couldn't wait to see what the monster was going to look like. They went to computer lab, and when they came back Miss. Hale's class room monster was waiting for them. I was talking to the teachers in the back of the room and they said they were going to have a hard time topping Ryan. I guess the kids are not usually as engaged and excited as they were for Ryan. I think our kids will always win when it is bring your parent to school day. They all had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch. Way to be a great dad Ryan!!

What an awesome Daddy!!

This morning Hailey asked Ryan if he would do her hair. Ryan asked her if she was sure. She said "Yes, I want you to do it." So off they went to get the comb, and the hair products. I thought it was great that he would do that for her. Really, how many dads wade into the world of girls hair? Way to be a great dad Ryan!! I could just hear the french voice in his head, "Yes, a little more over here, and scrunch it there. Magnific!! I am the master!!" If you know Ryan very well you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, well get to know him. Sorry I didn't get an after photo, but she looked great.

First Day Of School

The first day of school is finally here and the kids are so excited!! They had their clothes laid out last night and were ready to go. We woke up a little later than we had planned, (Rough night with noisy neighbors. Maybe more on that later.) so it was a little more rushed than I would have liked.

Check out Hailey's backpack. It wasn't enough to have just a plain purple bag, I had to glam it up. Riley told Hailey that she will have the cutest backpack of all the girls at school. What a good brother!

We got Hailey to school just in time to jump into the end of the line and walk into her classroom. I'm kind of glad it turned out that way. I always get a little sad with them leaving for their first school experience. (The girl behind Hailey was having a hard time, or was it her parents, so it made it impossible to get a picture of Hailey without the whole family.)

Riley had a little more time to hang out and play before his class started. Kindergarten starts 30 min. before the rest of the school does. He was really excited to find out that he had the same teacher he had last year, she moved up to third grade this year, and that one of the boys from his soccer team is in his class.

I think they are both going to have a great year and a lot of fun. Sydney and I have been having a lot of fun so far today. We read a few stories, watched a cartoon, and now she is playing with blocks and animals while I do this. Carley is down for her nap. Although it is tough for me to say good by to the older kids and let them go, I must admit this is pretty nice.