A Public Service Announcement

... because I take my job here very seriously.

New Mommies, do not... I repeat... Do. Not. Neglect your annual dental cleanings and exams.

"Bor-ing", you say! "More examples of your mommy fails, Chels, more pictures of Laila, more merriment, more gingerbread lattes!"

I know, I know. I'm sorry to disappoint. This is not a fun topic, my friends, but neither was THIS:

What? You can't SEE the Hulk-like swelling on the left side of my face?! That is so strange because I certainly FEEL it. That's what 3 shots of Novocaine (or something like it!) will do for you!

No, this is not a fun blog topic, dear reader, but neither is one side of my face being numb from my chin to my eyebrows, trying to figure out how to blow my nose with only one functional nostril or dribbling iced tea (or better yet, drool) down my chin at any given moment. Neither is THAT.

So, with your best interest at heart, I'm writing this post to remind you that, even though it seems trivial, even though you THINK you're really good at brushing, flossing, etc., I'm here to tell you that missing those (at least) yearly dental exams will cost. In emotional distress, cold hard cash and pain and anguish.

Ok, well, thanks to modern analgesics, there wasn't TOO much pain and anguish but still. The emotional trauma of being told that I have 2 large cavities and 4 trouble spots was enough to make me want to go back in time, call a babysitter and GET TO THE DENTIST!!

Yes, I walked into that Dentist office two weeks ago feeling all suave, all cool, all I-havent-been-to-the-dentist-in-two-years-but-its-ok-cause-I-am-serious-about-dental-hygiene and got a major punch to the gut.

I'll repeat it just to further my point: Two (LARGE) cavities and Four Trouble Spots.

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU, ladies!! Don't let it happen to you.

Turns out that pregnancy weakens your teeth, softens your bones and generally FEEDS cavities. Or something like that. Ya'll, I'm not a doctor. I just know this is true. I mean, I read articles from Baby Center. And stuff.

And then that BABY comes. That BABY makes it hard to find time to brush, floss and rinse with flouride twice a day. That BABY requires a babysitter! That BABY's naptime is the one break in your day and that delicious chocolate, those sugar cookies and yummy sweet tarts simply CRY out to you! Because you deserve the break! You have a BABY, for goodness sake! Can I get a witness?!

But, let's be honest, she's pretty cute so we won't hold all this against her. See?

Then:

 

Now:

Alright, do you get the picture? Go get those check-ups!
Laila and I will be happy to babysit.
After I clean the drool off my chin, of course.

Prewitt Family Dentistry, girls. Get there. And tell 'em I sent you!
1112 North Floyd Road
Richardson, TX 75080
(972).907.8157

(I met Dr. Prewitt at the park with our babies. She's precious AND she'll sing to you while you get your fillings. Bonus.)

Sorry for the un-fun post but, hey... at least I didn't talk about the election.
:) 

Monday Musings

There is something that I realized this morning I've never told you about. It's about Laila Grace (surprise surprise)...  Have I become one of those moms who only talks about her baby? Maybe so, my friends, but you can just smile and nod and think to yourself "bless her heart".

Laila LOVES music. I mean, she loves it. She especially likes if she can see the band playing. She loves being in church on Sunday morning and worshiping with our awesome praise band and she loves watching music videos that show the musicians rocking out. She loves to shimmy and wiggle and shake her little boo-tay. It's truly adorable.

She also loves playing music. She sings (into her princess microphone, pictured below), she drums, she plays the piano... and she writes her own lyrics.

(The pic is blurry because she just can't stop for a picture when the rhythm has a hold of her!) 

She writes songs about Jesus, about Trevor and I, about pasta (yes, despite all my praying, apparently, she inherited my love for carbs) and, yesterday, she wrote a song about how she wants a little house with a backyard, a garden and a little doggie... and then she added that she'd need another garden for her other doggie.  

When she sang that part, Trev looked a little downcast and my sweet sweet baby (have I ever led you to believe that she's anything but perfect??) said to him, "Daddy, what you sad about?" 

Which brings me to another thing I don't think I've told you about, dear readers. Its about (big sigh) our house. Our house. Which has been on the market since the end of January. The END OF JANUARY. Today is November 5. This means that we are weary. Weary, I tell you!! Weary of showings that require a TON of work, weary of waking Laila Grace up from naps, weary of spending long amounts of time away from the house (usually at Starbucks... ok, that part I don't mind so much) and weary of a little habit I've come to refer to as "stashing".

Which reminds me, if you've invited us to something and we didn't show up OR we showed up without RSVPing OR we showed up without a covered dish, its probably because, at some point, I stashed the invite before a showing and forgot to find it again. I mean, I've become really good at stashing but its the remembering to find stuff again that I have yet to master. I've stashed a lot of mail, my friends, but the lights are still on so, apparently, Trevor has sniffed out and paid all the bills. What would I do without him? He is definitely a keeper.

 
And he's cute too, no?

So, yes, Laila is singing about wanting a backyard and a garden and a doggie. None of which we can have in this house but that we really want to have in our next house... (Minus the doggie for Trev. She's going to really have to pull out the puppy face on that one.) 

(Sigh.)

BUT! (Ever the optimist...)

We had a showing yesterday and I'm waiting for feedback, checking my email every, oh, three minutes or so.

In the meantime, we will keep singing. And praying. And working on Trevor about the dog issue, planning our garden and counting our blessings.

Happy Monday, dear friends!

Holiday Confusion, the Weather and a Confession.

Today is November 1st.
It is 82 degrees outside and I am wearing a tank top.
AND there is a gigantic Christmas tree inside Kroger.

So many, many things are wrong with this picture. Before I get to the topic of the Christmas season starting before Halloween even comes and goes (yes, the Christmas tree was up yesterday... alongside the witches, jack-o-lantern and goblin decor), let's talk about the weather. Do you Texans remember the Thanksgiving that it iced and snowed?! I will never forget "ice skating" with my cousins on my grandparent's cul-de-sac that year. That concrete was frozen solid and my boo-tay certainly felt it a time or two! So fun, so wintry (wintery?), so... holiday!

And, my friends, I have been a Texan long enough to know that, even though the temperature is 82 degrees on November 1st, it could certainly still ice over on Thanksgiving. So I won't give up all my aspirations of busting it on the cul-de-sac quite yet... In the meantime, I'll enjoy getting a little more use out of my summer wardrobe and basking in the sun like an iguana. Which is, if you don't know, one of my favorite pastimes. Basking like an iguana. Not busting it in front of my entire family.

NOW... Kroger, I have a bone to pick with you. It's November 1st!! A Christmas tree, really? If we're all tired of Christmas by the time that it arrives, I fear it takes some of the happiness and joy out of it, don't you? If I've already heard every single pop artist's rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" before I even have to don a jacket, don't you think we've moved a little fast?

By the way, don't ya'll think its funny that EVERYbody records that song? People's Christmas albums always make me laugh. In a good and appreciative way, of course. Check out some of this holiday cheer:

Sarah Young Frank, this one's for you. ;)

Elizabeth Seymour, this one's for you. ;)

And, this... This is for everybody. Nobody should miss out on this.

Priceless, eh?

So, anyway, I've been kind of snooty about this starting Christmas too soon thing, before the witches are taken down, before Thanksgiving has gotten it's proper due, while I'm still WEARING A TANK TOP, for gosh sake. I mean, this is NOT California, people.

BUT... alas, I must admit... I am a hypocrite.
Okay? Okay. Alright. I'll just 'fess up now before you find incriminating photos of me on facebook or something...

Yesterday, I enjoyed the HECK out of a gingerbread latte from Starbucks. 

Oh yeah, baby. As far as I'm concerned, Starbucks can start Christmas in JULY if they'll only sell me that incredible concoction known as a Gingerbread Latte; that creamy, delectable, Christmas morning tasting beverage that lights up my tastebuds with all kinds of comfort and joy. All kinds of good tidings. All KINDS of happiness and cheer.
Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.

There. Fine. I said it. I'm a hypocrite.


SO. In short, I'm hanging up my attitude, turning down all my self righteousness and heading out this afternoon to enjoy the sunshine, the latte and, perhaps, a Christmas carol or two.
After all, it is November 1st.

'Tis the Season, ya'll!