Seventeen Again

ok ya'll. cat's out of the bag. i got braces. again. for the third time.
and please don't give me that "oh she should have worn her retainers" look! ya'll I DID wear my retainers!!! all three times i've had to get braces have been from situations beyond my control. first time, i got them too young and my jaw grew after i got them off so i had to get them again. only 2% of people's jaws grow after they turn 12 and i'm one of the lucky winners. and the second time, she put a PERMANENT retainer on my bottom teeth, and it separated somehow and so my teeth got very pushed forward because my tongue pushes against my teeth at night while i sleep because my tongue is too big for my tiny mouth.

so now, we're on round three and i'm hoping third time's a charm. it's been a really humbling experience for me to swallow my pride and get braces that are kind of ridiculous looking as an adult but it had to be done. my teeth didn't touch down in the front so i couldn't eat sandwiches or noodles or anything that requires your front teeth biting down on something. it's become really embarrassing for me to eat anything really in a public setting. braces are the answer. now that most of the pain (physical and emotional) has mostly subsided i have the courage to write about it and even post some pictures to just throw it all out there and own the braces.
someone told me  "well at least you're not an awkward teen this time!" but the sad truth is, my PPD meds give me horrible skin issues, so my skin is breaking out, i have braces (with a REALLY attractive rubber band across the top and bottom!!!), and the post partum hormones have made my hair uncontrollably frizzy. so basically, i'm reliving my teenage years. hoorah.

so hot right now. bradley is so lucky.

but i'm trying to remain positive. so here are a few good things about the braces:
1. i will finally be able to eat a burger in public without looking like a complete idiot. (picture me taking a bite and everything just sliding right back out and me having to rip the lettuce and tomato out of my mouth to get it out of the burger. it's awful you guys, really).
2. our amazing insurance covered almost the entire thing i only paid 300 dollars out of pocket from a 5300 bill. #blessed
3. my dad jump started a company several years back that invented an orthodontic technology that halfs the time braces need to be worn by sending sonic waves through your teeth to make them move faster and to alleviate pain. it costs 900 dollars but i was able to get it for free from the CEO of the company. instead of having to wear the braces for 18 months, i only have to wear them for 10.
4. at least i'm getting them while my kids are young and not when i'm 40 and at PTA meetings.
5. it actually feels really good to do something for myself. they hurt SO bad and bea and oliver always find a way to kick me in the face when they hurt the most but even when i put the humiliating elastic across my teeth, it feels good to know that i'm doing something to take care of myself.
so things are gonna be a-ok, guys.

oh in other news, i ate it really hard on the ski slopes in friday night, night-skiing and like almost died. i shot like 20 feet (no exaggeration) into the air and landed on my back and rolled about 100 yards. i seriously tumbled down the mountain thinking "welp. this is how i die." my dad was terrified and peter was a bit shocked, but i somehow made it out alive and finished the run on adrenaline but pretty much had PTSD by the next run so i sat out the rest of the night. it was pretty scary. so i sat by the fire and listened to "hamilton" for a while and now i'm going to be that friend that tries to make everyone listen to hamilton because it's pretty amazing.

this is on my back. there's another one about 6 inches above it. they are both about the size of my hand. #pain

also, my kids are pretty awesome right now. bea says the funniest things these days and i try to get the best ones written down on facebook but it's really hard to keep track of them all because she spits em out so quickly and so frequently that i forget the last one the second she cracks a new one. she loves to tell us that we are cracking her up and whenever she wants to get serious with us she calls us by our first names. she has 2 imaginary friends named wall-e and eve and talks to them all the time, sets them places at the table, pretends they're in the car with us, etc etc. she used to do it like every five seconds but not she only mentions them once or twice a day. it's cute. i would be worried if she didn't have imaginary friends. the other day something confused her and instead of saying "what the heck?!" she said "what is that heck?!" with the same articulation so it was extra funny. her new favorite place is the indoor pool at our rec center and i am seriously considering buying a membership there because she asks to go to the pool every day now. i'm shocked because she used to be terrified of swimming but she just set off the other day into the water (with her puddle jumper on) and had a great time. she is also a lot more interested in oliver these days and asks to hold him sometimes. it's very sweet.

look at him staring at her! my heart!

"oliver is awake mom! can i hold him now?!"

oliver is seriously SO happy now. which is such a relief. he was such an uncomfortable newborn that i thought we were in for a cranky one but he has done a 180 and is mr jolly right now, which makes sense, you know, because he's fat. fat people are all jolly. {except michael moore. he missed the memo}. oliver is 8 months now and he's going to be a year soon and I CANNOT HANDLE IT! luckily he still can't crawl so i feel like i still have my baby even though he is over 2 feet tall and 22 pounds. it's really hard to pick him up and hold him close (not like he ever wants to be held close anyway, the little stinker. i wasn't blessed with snugglers :( ) but it's ok because he is so cute and giggly. he is a squealer and a shrieker and it's very rare that we hear his actual voice but when we do hear it its very sweet and breathy and light which is music to my ears. he really only cries when he's hungry. which by the way, he only eats formula. he will. not. eat. food. any kind of food. only the bottle for this guy. i'm trying not to stress about it. he'll eat when he's ready. he also gets fussy when he's getting a tooth. today was the worst, he's getting a top tooth and he cried like all day and only slept for about 40 minutes total. i think he is dropping his last nap which is ok because it makes our days a little more flexible. he has to wear a helmet for a while because his torticollis really messed up his head, face and ears. again, our amazing insurance covered the whole thing. we really are so blessed. i don't know how long he'll have to wear it for but it doesn't seem to bug him so it's whatever. bradley is still his favorite person in the whole wide world, followed closely by bea, and then me. oh well. at least bea loves me. but now every time i tell her no she has a tantrum and cries for daddy. so maybe dad is the crowd favorite around here. oh well. c'est la vie.

see how much he loves food?

the wonderful days when they both fit in the cart. i hope this period lasts for a long time!

that about sums up life right now. we are lucky people around here.