Emma's toothless grin

So....we went to the dentist this morning and he ended up pulling her teeth. Good news is the x-ray showed that there was no damage to her permanent teeth at all, so that was a relief!
He also thought that the permanent teeth would come in sometime when she was 5, as they were already lower than he thought they would've been for her age. So she probably would've lost them earlier anyway. No harm, no foul.

But I bet she won't jump on the bed anymore!

Something funny happened on the way to making dinner.....well, not funny. But something happened anyway.

This was our evening yesterday:
I was fixing dinner and we hear (Ryan and I) a loud scream followed by lots of crying from Emma and the boys panicking voices telling us that Emma was hurt, Emma was bleeding and it was bad! Naturally we assumed it was a case of over-dramatics, since our kids are prone to over-exaggeration with wounds and blood. I have to say, when they brought Emma to me, I was quite surprised and grossed out. I couldn't even handle the clean up and had Ryan assess the damages to Emma. Her mouth was all bloody and she was screaming and panicking.
Ryan thought maybe she'd bit her tongue or something, given all the blood gushing out of her mouth. No, tongue intact. (whew!) He marched her into the bathroom with a cup to swish and spit so we could see what was going on in her mouth. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (but really a couple minutes) we realized that when she had been jumping on the boys' bunk bed (the bottom bunk, of course) and hit her mouth on the wood part of the top bunk, she'd knocked her two front top teeth loose. And I do mean loose! It had me so concerned I called our pediatric dental clinic, but it was after hours and the after-hour number didn't work. (naturally) So then I called our family dentist, Brother Leonard in our ward, and got his answering machine. I was beginning to panic myself. I had visions of a toothless 4-year old and no spacers for her permanent teeth. Smiles are so important. Confidence boosters. I didn't want her to have an ugly smile the rest of her life.
So we called President Coleman, from the Kent stake, who used to be our dentist until he retired. So I'm talking to him when the Leonards beeped into our phone. Pres. Coleman told me that the worst that could happen is her teeth die and turn dark, but that what'll likely happen is her teeth will tighten back up.
So I called Bro. Leonard back and he told me to bring Emma over to his house and he'd take a look at her mouth. I. was. relieved. So I piled Emma in the van, plugged his address into our gps system (I love those things!) and headed over to his house. If you've ever seen Anne of Green Gables, then you know the beauty of the countryside of which the Leonards live. Their neighborhood is one of the most beautiful, woodsy areas I've ever seen. And difficult to repeat the venture without that blessed gps voice directing me to turn right and left. I love that computerized man voice.
Well, Bro. Leonard had Emma rest her head on his lap and he looked and looked. He decided there was a possible fracture to her teeth, given that they are set lower than the rest of her teeth now, and had to even bring one of her teeth forward from the back position it was in. I told you these were loose teeth, right? :)
He said that once the bleeding stops and clotting begins it should tighten up the teeth again. And he told me what Pres. Coleman had said, about the possibility of them turning a darker color and falling out. But he said something interesting. He said that it felt like the permanant teeth had already begun coming in, so she might have lost them early anyway. So it's not the end of the world, really. (another whew!)
So our adventure ended when we got home and I made her a smoothie for dinner since she couldn't eat the chicken meal I'd prepared. No biting down on her front teeth for awhile until those teeth either fall out or tighten up.
Proof she's okay today? Tommy and Emma just came running to me tattling on the other one for hair pulling. Everything's back to normal.

My hero

In Relief Society on Sunday our lesson was on humility and we somehow veered to talking about who our heroes were, the people in our lives who we want to emulate or who we admire for some character trait. When all the sisters were shouting out names, "Abraham Lincoln", "my mom", "my neighbor", etc., there was one person who resonated in my mind. It is my mom. Here is why she is my hero.

She raised me. That should be enough said. But it isn't.

She raised all 4 of us! That in itself should be the end. But it isn't.

My dear, sweet, beautiful mom took excellent care of my dad while he was so ill for so many years. She endured countless hours in the emergency rooms of hospitals, many different well-meaning but arrogant doctors and nurses, and having to worry about if the next meal she would fix dad would send him back to the hospital because he couldn't digest the food from his many health complications.

She would vent to me when she needed to, sometimes angry, more often than not, tearful, about how she could help dad feel better. Slowly the role of wife became that of caregiver. Watching her toil and worry daily for her eternal companion is my legacy of love. My example of long-suffering and endurance. My example of how to treat others with compassion, even in the face of complete and utter frustration in the situation that she found herself in.

Now her example of endurance with resolving the beaurocracy of the Social Security Administration and her pension, and her final victory, albeit very small, was very sweet for her. And for me, too.

Mom, I love you more than words can say. You are my hero. My friend. My mommy still. Thank you for being the level-headed confidant when my world seems to be caving in.