Brace Face

I am 2 months late on posting this, but Taylor got braces!  Back in October, her dentist told us that she'd need an orthodontic consultation, because her adult teeth that hadn't come in yet were too crammed together (and angled weird) and wouldn't come down until there was more space.  We went to the orthodontist, who took x-rays and told us the same thing.  About a month later, her braces were on!  She's been the biggest champ- she hasn't complained once.  She went for her first follow up appointment today (hence me remembering to blog about it) and they tightened them, but so far, so good.  It's amazing how much her teeth already look better!  She's only looking at about 10 months of having them, and they're only on her top, so it's not so bad.

Here are some pics:

School pic, 2018- you can see that her teeth are crooked, esp. the tooth next to her front teeth that sits up more.

Right before she got them on:

Right after:

She got red and green for Christmas

Random shots in the last 2 months:

See the tooth to the left that's sticking out?

You can see it here, too.

It is already sooo much better!

Today, she got a new color- red, for Valentine's Day.  She wouldn't get red and pink together because she stated that she doesn't "like pink". ;)

Brownies event

The Brownie troop that Taylor is in is a self-proclaimed "laid back" troop... one of Taylor's friend's moms convinced us to join that way.  Luckily, it has held true!  Each mom takes a month and plans an event to earn a badge, and January was my month.

I hosted the "Home Scientist Badge" and came up with several science experiments to do.  In hindsight, I should've planned this badge for a warmer month (hello, outside!) but we still had fun. (though I was mopping for days afterwards ;P)

The calm before the storm...

Lego bridge building

Dancing gummy worms

Penny cleaning- which solution cleans pennies the best?

Setting up for making ice cream

Here we go...

Using baking soda and vinegar to blow up this balloon

Matty B & The Haschak Sisters

I went to my first teeny-bopper (or should I say, pre-teeny bopper?) concert with the girls.  My kiddos have been all about watching some You Tube lately- people making slime, people trying to escape the "You Tube Hacker", etc.  But they have really enjoyed watching Matty B and The Haschak Sisters' music videos.  (I hate to admit it, but some of the tunes are really catchy).  I noticed they were performing in Atlanta, so I surprised the girls with tickets!

We headed down to Atlanta Symphony Hall for the 5:00 show (he definitely knows his audience!).  It was fun- Matty B put on a good show, The Haschak Sisters were great, and they had a dancing group perform with them that was cool.  Matty B has a little sister with Down's syndrome and he sang a song to her, and she got to come out and do some ballet moves.  I noticed there were some special needs' groups at the concert, too.  I think he's an advocate for people with special needs.  Very cool!

It's kind of crazy how You Tube made these people "famous".  I was looking up how much money some of these people are worth- many of them are in the millions!! (?!?!)  Hmmm... what kind of talents of mine could I start filming??

Dinner beforehand

The group took a pic with the crowd in the background

Post-Christmas Fun

Nothing like completing a "draft" blog a few weeks after the post was first begun.  Thinking back to what feels like many moons ago (seriously, does January have 100 days??)... We had a really good Christmas break- we were able to sleep in (!!) and the kids are at a great age where they can hang at the house, hang outside the house, stay up a little later if they need to, etc.  Part of me was ready to get back into a routine, but part of me enjoyed the "don't have anywhere to be" kind of break.

Here's what we were up to after Christmas!

My brother and his family spent a couple of days with us, before heading back to Nashville:

Seeing friends:

Lunch with Ashley, Erica and the kids-

The big boys

All the boys

We tried

Liam and Charlie (and their mom and dad) came over to watch the GT bowl game:

Parker, Mason, Ansley (and their mom!) came to visit us!

**It was funny- at one point, all the kids (minus Ansley, who's 1) were playing outside, along with one of our neighbors named Parker.  There were 6 kids and 3 of them were named Parker. ;)

Noon Year's Eve at Peter and Jamie's house:

We got to see Izzy and her beautiful new house in Acworth!

New Year's Eve:

My awesome parents came to spend the night and babysat!  We ventured downtown in our little town and ate a yummy dinner.  Then, we went to a neighbor's house for a party.

Meanwhile, back at the house...

Around the house:

Taylor got a kid's "cell phone" that can text through an app.  This was the first text I got. :)

I think Taylor might be my little interior decorator.

One of her favorite Christmas gifts!

I'm trying to get organized!

Family game night.

Stars & Strikes with the fam:

Stephen, Parker & Sydney went to a GT basketball game:

They got to meet the new football coach.

Meanwhile, us Georgia fans... we hung out at IKEA for the afternoon:

Finishing off the shopping trip with some Swedish candy.

It was such a fun break!!