Easter

Easter was pretty low key for us this year. It was exactly what we needed, with it being our last major holiday in our home. I did a little bit of picture overload because I just want to remember every last moment before we move next week. We started the morning with Easter baskets and some candy before breakfast. Paul made a yummy breakfast which included pancakes shaped as tombs. We talked about the Savior and the real meaning of Easter while we ate breakfast and Paul showed the girls pictures from His atonement, crucifixion and then finally his resurrection. I'm always so amazed at how well my girls understand these complex things. Zara even caught on this year and now understands that Easter is more than just eggs and candy. We then had an egg hunt in our backyard with just the four of us. The girls were thrilled to finally be able to wear their beautiful Easter dresses. Zara kept playing dress up in hers and I eventually had to hide it from her. They both picked out their own dresses this year, so they were extra excited about them. We even did a quick 5 min family photo session as a little farewell to our amazing backyard that has served us so amazingly well over the past 8 years. It definitely is one of the things I will miss most.

We went to afternoon church and enjoyed both of my parents talks in Sacrament meeting and then headed over to Paul's parents house for an egg hunt with real eggs and a ham dinner. It was such a peaceful day and filled with a perfect amount of fun and religion ;)

Shark Teeth

Kitana has been so anxious to loose her first tooth. All of her friends and cousins were losing theirs and hers just wouldn't budge. Around summer time she said that her bottom teeth were starting to get a little loose and that didn't change much for the next several months. At the end of December, I was checking out her teeth and noticed that she had two adult teeth growing in behind the baby ones. I did some research and found out that it is actually pretty common and sometimes is referred to as "shark teeth" After piecing all of my research together, I decided to wait a month to see if the baby teeth would get more loose and fall out on their own. They did actually loosen a bit more and Kitana was so diligent with wiggling them all the time, but they still were no where even close to falling out. 

 

(She had just eaten breakfast and still had food in her teeth. 

I didn't want to forget to take a picture!)

I made a appointment for her on January 29th for the dentist to just take a look to see what needed to be done. I was pretty sure they were going to end up pulling them that day, but I tried to play it off to Kitana that they were just going to look at them and then we would decide what to do from there. She knew that getting them pulled was a possibility. I didn't even tell her about the appointment until the morning of, I didn't want her to get all worried and over-stress about it. She hates the sight of blood and has almost passed out several times because of it. 

 

It was super cool to see her x-ray with all of the adult teeth waiting to come in.

The dentist said they needed to be pulled and that there was no possibility of them falling out on their own. We decided to just take care of it right then and there. She was seriously so brave, I couldn't have been more proud of her. She was definitely nervous, but she handled it very maturely. No crying, no freak-outs, and best of all no passing out (not yet anyways!) I held her hand the whole time and she only squeezed a couple of times when she flinched a bit. She actually said afterwards that it didn't even hurt at all. She was completely done and the dentist even injected something to make the bleeding clot and stop instantly. She had no blood on her and saw no blood what-so-ever. I thought we were in the clear! She moved over to a different chair and Zara sat in the dentist chair for her first dentist appointment. I took one glance at Kitana and she looked out of it, I got in front of her and asked her if she was okay. She was drooling a bit b/c her mouth was numb. They handed me a paper towel to wipe it and then she fell out of the chair and completely passed out right into my arms. It freaked me out!! But then again, I knew it was a very real possibility with her. I'm pretty sure she thought the drool was blood and lost it. She said she remembers "hearing" Zara getting her teeth counted, but doesn't remember moving to the chair or anything else. She has come close so many times, but this was the first time that she full on actually passed out. She was very tired and lethargic for about 30 minutes or so afterwards. Once the numbness wore off, she was back to normal! She was beyond excited to put two teeth under her pillow and for her first tooth fairy visit. We even went out for ice cream to celebrate loosing her first teeth and how brave she was. Also, I didn't get any pictures of Zara in the actual dentist chair because I was sitting on the floor holding an unconscious Kitana :(

 Kitana was really weirded out about touching her actual teeth. And the dentist even gave her a little tooth necklace to hold her teeth in. We had found the perfect little container for putting her teeth in when we were going through some of my old stuff about a year ago. She was thrilled that she finally got to use it. The tooth fairy left her a special "little" note and some sparkly money. Such a fun first experience for her and our family.

Oh, and quick update. This is how her mouth looked on March 6th, it's amazing how quickly they moved into their correct position. They look better all the time and Kitana has been working really hard on pushing them forward with her tongue when she thinks about it. She is now anxiously waiting to loose her next teeth or tooth.

More Big Bear fun!!

We are all becoming huge fans of Big Bear. It is our first vacation destination of choice. We love how close it is and how it feels like an instant vacation. The snow in winter and cooler summers are just amazing. We go up there whenever we get the chance. We had an opportunity to go up and stay a few days over new years and we had an amazing time! The place we stayed at was literally next door to a great sledding hill. We just walked a few feet, it was heaven to just sled all day without having to worry about bathroom breaks or getting too cold. Kitana became an instant little snow creature. I caught her wandering around on all fours like an animal from the wild. She was eating the snow and just being her cute little self! She also took the opportunity to make the perfect snow angel. Zara had a blast too and loved going on the sled with her sis the best. 

The place we stayed at didn't have cable or internet. Paul and I spent the evenings doing puzzles and we played lots of board games with the girls. We found another great place to eat in Big Bear and enjoyed our favorite gelato place. We seriously have thought about moving up here on several different occasions. It was just overall an amazing time.

We came up a few days after a snowfall. We were just grateful to have snow to play in, but Paul decided to make it extra fun for the girls and made it snow just on them. They loved it. We seriously played in the snow pretty much three days straight!

I got a selfie stick for Christmas. This trip was my first time playing around with it. 

This is how daddy improvises when Z can't reach the sink. I am used to our stool at home and kept having to lift her up. Leave it to Paul to find a solution!

Zara is obsessed with Candyland and will play it over and over again.