milestones

today was a milestone in Rachel's life. she finally had her 2nd pair of braces removed. we have roughly spent about $10,000 to have Rachel's mouth made straight & pretty. It wasnt just to make her mouth straight & pretty.....which is a huge bonus....but her mouth is so small she had no room for growth. she had permanent teeth growing in sideways. she has had to have 4 permanent teeth removed & her wisdom teeth removed so that the remaining teeth she has in her mouth fit nicely and wont cause her problems down the road. her new retainers are plastic that pop onto her teeth like a fitted glove. very fascinating to me. and before Rachel left her orthodontist office she found out that each of the retainers (there are 2 - 1 for the bottom & 1 for the top row of teeth) cost $150 each to replace as we told her if she lost them, broke them, or didnt keep them safe from being broken..she would be responsible for their replacement.

here is her before:

here is her after:

i think it immediately aged her but not bad. she's a beautiful girl. the receptionist, Mrs. Kitty, who is seeminly fascinated with our family & is always very nice and fun to talk to, told me after Rachel walked back to start having her braces removed, "she is drop out gorgeous." i must say i agree completley with Mrs. Kitty.

between 2 different appoinments today with getting the braces off & going back to pick up the retainers i decided to cut the grass. spring has sprung & the grass (well weeds really) are out of control. so my OCD got the best of me & i decided to get out the riding lawn mower & cut the front yard & the back yard (not the back lot). needless to say, i may have erred in my judgement. i love cutting grass. i love the uninterrupted time of listening to music or being alone with my thoughts. i love being out in the sun, outside - just being outside....it is the best. but i think i sneezed 250 times today if not more. my allergies are already out of control with the pregnancy but the weeds blowing in my face made it 1,000,000 times worse. and i didnt think to put on a face mask until the last 20 minutes. it did help tho, for the last few runs. so tonight i got my clothes in off the clothes line, set the table, gave instructions to Rachel & Elizabeth concerning supper & abdicated the throne for the evening. i have been laying down since about 6:15. i am crampy. i'm wheezy, sneezy & hacky all rolled together. (on not to mention itchy) i have used my inhaler & my afrin nose spray. both have helped. i'm alternating between drinking hot tea & diet mt. dew. but i learned my lesson. no more grass cutting for me this pregnancy. i'm done. i dont think this old girl & her already big belly can take it - as the crampy belly is indicating. but then again it could be from all of the sneezing. but why take the chance? in Clay's defense in why he hasnt cut the grass, he has been diligently building my chicken tractor. when it is finished (he promised by Saturday), i will post a picture of his handiwork with my silky chickens in it. i'm so excited about this chicken tractor & didnt want him to stop building it. next he is going to build my bee hives & till up the garden plot....woohoo!!! thank God for his goodness of spring & summer! i can not wait for fresh watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew melons, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, grapes, strawberries, muscadines, blackberries, apples, peaches, figs, .......i can not wait!!
here i am on the lawn tractor: