Braces: soon it will be two in metal

and we will be so broke!

This week has ben B U S Y. Apart from our regularly full schedule, we had a bunch of additional appointments and Dad had to go out of town for a few days. I signed a contract to have our damaged bathroom fixed and spent a copious amount of time reading reviews on various bathroom accoutrements. I think I've looked at nearly everything in the bathroom sections online and in store at both Lowes and Home Depot. All the kids (except the baby) saw the dentist for the bi-annual dental check up and cleaning. Yes, all in the same day, because our dentist is 1. either crazy    and/or   2. really sweet and understanding. I pick number two.

The following day we had back to back orthodontist appointments for the oldest two children. The eldest is currently in full metal gear, receiving full treatment. While his sister has just finished being evaluated for the necessity of a stage one orthodontic treatment plan. She has quite a few baby teeth in the upper jaw that don't seem to be coming out as quickly as they should. Though the first four permanent teeth are in on the top front, the canines and bicuspids (I think that's it) are so large and crammed in that they aren't descending as they ought, and so they aren't doing a very good job pushing the baby teeth out like they normally would. Meanwhile, one of the front permanent is showing signs of wear from the poor alignment. Everyone is in agreement that we need to start work on her teeth now. So very soon we will have two in braces. The kids have been strongly encouraged to consider becoming orthodontist when they grown up, as it seems to be a very promising and lucrative career.

Our week of the mouth isn't quite over, as Monday the oldest will see the oral surgeon to assess the maloccluded tooth/teeth in the cleft affected region of this gum line. Our dentist couldn't be sure if the x-ray was depicting one giant tooth, or two individual teeth trying to descend into the same spot at the same time.  This appointment will be all the way up in Bethesda and I suppose we should count ourselves lucky we've only waited two months for it.

Go ahead and ask me about bathtubs! Our current, 1966 pink bathtub is cast iron and likely weights a whopping 300-400 lbs. They're going to take a sledge hammer and break it apart before removing it. Many still hold the classic cast iron as the pinnacle of timeless quality, but nobody wants to lug one up a flight of stairs, so we're going with a inexpensive metal cast-iron -want-a-be tub that is hardly half the weight, and I pray equally as nice. My hope is that a white enameled tub will remain undated and timeless. I also picked out the nicest, cheap, porcelain tile I could find at Home Depot, and decided it won't be necessary to tile the entire bathroom wall as it currently stands. We'll save at least $400 by only installing tile floor and bath surround. Pray there aren't any surprises waiting for us behind those walls. The contractor didn't think we had anything to worry about, but you never know. It might take as much as two weeks to complete. I sure hope it goes faster.

It was my husband's turn to bring home the St. Joseph statue from his Covenant Keeper's meeting last week. I wonder if that's a sign for me to drop in a prayerful request to the Holy Family household protector. Sure seems like a good idea, don't it!