OK.. When we (and I mean my brothers and I) were little, we made the twice yearly trip to the dreaded pediatric dentist. I always dreaded it the most because I ALWAYS had a cavity or some other problem that would be discovered at the visit. My older brother was always complemented for his beautiful and perfect cavity free set of teeth. My younger brother was somewhere between the two of us. Anyways, the visit would start with the hygenist. All 3 of us would pile into a tiny room with one chair and wait our turn at torture. The woman would brush our teeth and then put the disclosing tablet in to show where the plaque was hiding. We would then get a scolding for not brushing well (well at least I would and maybe younger brother) The next part was the worst... flossing.. This is when she would pull out our report cards which had a diagram of all of the teeth. She would mark red lines between all of the teeth the bled during the torture flossing. Mine had red lines between every tooth. Next, we would all head to the big Dentist room that had three dental chairs lined up. The dentist would come out in his plaid golf pants and white coat and hum while he examined each of our mouths with his little pick scraper tool. Sometimes, he would say things like, "If you move, I'll cut you". I am not kidding. Pure torture! At the end of the visit, the lady would walk us back out to our Mom in the waiting room and present our "report cards" to her. The dentist would even assign a grade to us. It was AWFUL!! now... fastforward to 2009.. here is what my kids experienced at their recent dentist appointment:
We walk into a colorul lobby with a huge fishtank. The kids are instantly enamored with all of the "nemos". They call our name and we head into the office. Each kid is led to a table that has just about every cartoon character and animal toothbrush on it. They each get to choose one and then proceed to the dentist chair. Each takes a turn having his/her teeth cleaned. The sweet hygenist asks each to choose each of the following:
1. Choose a flavor of toothpaste (I think there were like 7 flavors)
2. Choose a flavor of floss
3. Choose a flavor of "vitamins" (flouride treatment)
In addition to this, they had to choose:
4. A toothbrush to take home (mentioned above)
5. A balloon color
6. A toothpaste to take home
Finally, when we left, they were each given a goody bag with the items they had chosen to take home and stickers, tattoos, and other little knick knacks. Also, when we checked out...they were each given a token to use in the "prize machine". This was a machine similar to those quarter "bubble" prize stands that you see in grocery stores with plastic rings, stickers, etc.. There were like 8 different types of toys to choose from. When we walked out.. it looked like we were leaving a carnival.. balloons, prizes, goody bags. A bit different than my experience as a child.
and the day after.... at least 3 feet of snow piled high in our back patio.
Andrew and Abbey started Kindergarten! Abbey is a Walrus in classroom #1 and Andrew is a Penguin in classroom #2. They were very excited and Andrew couldn't wait to take the bus home!
We decided to have a swimming party for Allie's 4th Birthday. The Claude Moore Rec Center here has a great leisure pool with a kids playground right in the shallow end for little kids to enjoy. She had a ball and I'm pretty sure she has every Barbie there is now. Allie is such a sweet and happy girl. Happy Birthday baby girl!!
According to what I found on the internet, in about 9 days, we should have a few of these:
to be continued...
Last Saturday, our neighborhood had a huge Easter egg hunt for all of the residents. They basically spread thousands of plastic eggs all over the grass and let the kids have at it. It is sectioned by age group so the little ones have a fighting chance. After the egg hunt, they had a petting zoo, moon bounce, giant slide, and the Easter bunny. The kids had a blast. As a side note, I have yet to get all three kids to look at the camera at the same time! 
Abbey made the cutest bunny ears but they kept slipping down over her eyes.
Andrew wanted to dress up too.. He looked so sweet in his little sweater.
When Abbey was born, she was teeny tiny (4 lbs 12oz) and had the smallest features. Little itty bitty hands and feet, a little mouth, nose, and a scrawny body. But she also had these huge eyes. My friend Suzette visited her in the NICU and said she looked like a little ladybug. Ladybugs don't really have big eyes, but it made sense to me. It stuck and to this day, I call her that. What do you think, is it fitting?
This one kind of evolved over time. For a long time, we just called him brother, then we added bear to it calling him brother bear. Eventually the brother dropped and we ended up with just bear or Andrew bear. He is such a loving and huggable guy just like a teddy bear.
This one makes the least amount of sense but she has always been my Allie bean. I think it is a play on the words jelly bean but I'm really not sure. But for whatever reason, she has always been our little bean.
