So Far.......

M was excited when she came home from school =) She got alot of compliments about how cute she looked with braces! *Whew*
I have to agree....she does look cute!
I feel bad for her right now...her lips (inside) are all torn up and she has alot of sores right now. Her speech is affected by having the braces, it will be interesting to see if it lasts once she gets used to having all that metal in her mouth.
She feels like her lips are sticking way out, and before she got all those compliments, she was worried that everyone was staring at her.
(ya know how it is, when YOU know something is different about you....you figure that everyone else knows and notices too)
She is still needing to take some Tylenol, and is using the mouth rinse the orthodontist gave her for the sores.
T is doing great! His braces dont seem to bother him *YEAH* and I love his "brace face smile" He loves to eat icecream and says it helps with the pain of braces.
(for the life of us....we couldnt get him to eat any icecream when he was crying from the pain of the spacers)
His lips are not torn up at all! Lucky kid! He is a pro at putting on the wax!

**Parent Note**
The kids have been told by the orthodontist that they can't chew ice! Forgive me while I jump up and down!!! I HATE hearing ice being chewed...its one of my pet peeves! Why OH Why didn't we do this sooner? lol

*Brace Face*

Doesn't M look SoOoOo cute in her braces?!?! She just got them today (May 13th)I may be a little bit biased, but I totally think she looks cute as ever!
Her appointment took about 1 1/2 hours....and she was lucky enough to have her good friend L come with her for "moral support". She chose 3 colors *pink*teal*green* for her rubber bands and she will be able to choose new colors each time she goes to the orthodontist!(she has had colors for her braces picked out forever! teen girls MUST be fashionable at all times you know)
She does have braces on her top and bottom teeth....and right now she is feeling like her lips stick wayyyyyyy out. Most of her friends have braces right now, so M was super excited to get braces (silly girl-but it does help to have a good attitude!) We will see how she feels tonight......
Her monthly payment is $177.00


T "officially" looks like a teenager to me now! And of course, I think he looks awesome! He got his braces on a week ago (May 6th) and he wasn't very excited about it. Totally understandable! T also has top and bottom braces and also chose colors for his rubber bands. He went with *black*blue* this time =) He was a little bummed that the *blue* wasn't darker. Oh well! He was a good sport afterwards and didnt even complain about them hurting too much. So far, the spacers were the worst part! (he had 8 spacers and cried from the pain...poor kid) He recently turned 16, so we have been teasing him about becoming "lip locked" with a girl while kissing. lol we are so mean! His appt was also about 1 1/2 hours.
His monthly payment is $277.00....so if you dont get a birthday present from us, you know why ;) lol

**Parent Note**
I think the hardest part about about having kids in braces (besides the financial part) is getting the kids to understand how important it is to keep those teeth and braces CLEAN!!! Why...OH..WHY do kids get permanent teeth before the age of 20?
I wish as a kid I would have understood the importance of good oral hygeine. (sp?)
The kids were told to brush for 4 whole minutes and that the whole process (morning and night) would take no less than 10 minutes!!!