Terrible Side Effects

I'm getting ready to pay for Mary Claire's thumb sucking. Literally. Currently to the tune of $2200. Cough, cough

I took all three kids (yeah, seriously!) to the dentist yesterday. The first 10 or 15 minutes was just dandy: they all brushed their teeth at the sink, then Mary Claire got a full head xray (can't remember the "correct" xray name), and the boys played a car video game (well, the best they could, it was Nintendo) until their names were called. I held Ethan and he watched Mary Claire and Clay get their teeth cleaned.

It went smoothly until it was his turn to lay down. Um, yeah. He DiDn'T lay down. No way-he could see (sense?) what was coming! He would have none of that fancy personal tv and plastic-coated headphones stuff. He was staying upright to avoid his oral crevice being examined, or worse yet-cleaned! They brushed his teeth very gently, and told him he could have a toy when he was done. Well, in his head, toy meant "train", but in reality it meant a soccer-printed bouncy ball (SO not the same thing). So, he cried about the toy, told them, "No want the soccer ball" and gave it back. Then when the dentist wanted to examine his teeth, Ethan freaked out, cried (which he does during teeth brushing every night), and we carried on. It was expected and not the end of the world, but then, more.

They wanted to schedule me for Mary Claire an FPE (can't find it online to show you), a small device anchored to her molars to spread out her top teeth (which became too highly arched during thumb-sucking) since now her she has a cross bite (her top teeth are inside of her bottom teeth. Yes, truly caused by the thumb-sucking and tongue thrusting.

Anyway, our dental insurance doesn't appear to cover orthodontics, and we don't think our medical does either. So..where's the orthodontic insurance? Where's our back-up? Umm, please step forward. This does not excite me. I could buy lots of clothes and purses for $2200. This is so going to crush my weekend in Branson on Labor Day. Poo.

Some of you know I dabble in dressing my kids alike (well, most times). It's just fun, and really easy actually. Once you have purchased the matching clothes, you let one kid choose what to wear, all the others fall into place, and Easy-Peasy, Lemon-Squeezey. And you thought it was for show. Ha. Anyway, Clay was so frustrated this morning because Ethan's shirt didn't match his exactly. Ethan had a large appliqued plane on his t-shirt, and Clay had a polo shirt with a tiny plane as it's insignia. He was so mad that they didn't match exactly! He didn't care that their plaid shorts were absolutely identical, he was shirt-focused. This is a terrible side effect. How could I have seen this coming? That Clay LoVeS to dress like Ethan? So, clothing manufacturers...Make Clothes that Really Match! No Coordinating for my boys, only identical CLoTheS!

Oh, and we found a tortoise/turtle in our yard!! With very long claws-a good 3/4 to one inch out away from the foot! Ches freaked out (my words) and kinda slung him, Clay cried since I wouldn't let him carry the box with the tortle, and Ethan wanted to play with him. Everyone was covered in wet grass, and wanted to stomp through the house. Why-oh-why did I tell them there was a tortle outside? Note to self: if you can imagine bad side effects/aftershocks, don't do it!

I'm so doggone tired. I stayed up late looking for extended family on Facebook last night, then got up early (shower, clean up house, make bed) since we were to have company early, then they didn't come. Ethan spent all morning pulling up all my blinds, finding bugs (thankfully dead ones) (pretending to be a kitty cat in the windowsill), and wrecking his "airplane" and therefore spilling out the people. I desperately need a nap, Ches is at work, and Ethan is still partying in his bed. Please go to sleep, little monkey! I'm so tired. : (