Dana Daily

Well, today was the day - Sarah got her braces! I think she looks cute. I think she feels a little self-conscious. She's usually laid back and takes things in stride so I'm sure she'll forget she even has them within a day or two. Her appointment took approximately two hours, and I'm sure she was bored out of her mind. I, however, used that time to read a good book ( Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive .) She has to brush her teeth carefully, and the ortho recommended using an electric toothbrush, which I ordered on Amazon. Flossing is now a requirement, and she needs to rinse with a "total" mouthwash. He had coupons for ACT in his office to I took one. If she takes care of her braces and her teeth, she could be done with these anywhere from 12-18 months. Her dad and I decided to pay for the braces upfront, which got us a 10% discount, making my half of the cost "only" $872. It's expensive, but not the thousands o...

Happy fourth birthday to our little guy! Seth is so smart, so funny, and just so loved. We received a mid-year report from school, and he's exactly where he needs to be academically. He knows all the letters of the alphabet, capital and lowercase, and their sounds. He knows which are consonants and which are vowels. He can do basic addition, 1+1=2, 1+2=3. We're working on hopping on one foot, and standing on tiptoes. He also needs to be dressing himself. He's can put pants on no problem, but long sleeve shirts can be challenging. Seth's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so of course that's when we scheduled his party. He wanted a "Marshall" (from Paw Patrol) party so I had in mind a black and white dalmatian theme, but then he saw blue dog bowls at Dollar Tree. I made it a bright and colorful dog party. I ordered his cake from a friend of mine in Dormont, and kept the menu simple - salad from Olive Garden, pulled pork (which my mom made and br...

My cousin, his girlfriend, and their son are visiting from Germany so we met up with them today. We had a delicious lunch, and didn't leave until 6pm. We had a good time. Sidenote: The groundhog didn't see his shadow so Spring is right around the corner.

We started thinking about  replacing our roof back in 2016. We aren't sure of the exact age, and we knew we were running short on time with it. We had several contractors come out, and today I called our favorite of the bunch back for an updated quote. I'm hoping by scheduling this during the off season, we'll save a little bit of money. Our neighbor also suggested a roofer that they had used, and that they know personally. I'd like to see a quote from him as well. A roof is not where I want to see our money go, but it's kind of important. I'm hoping to be able to use our Venture card to earn travel points since this is an expensive project. Between the HVAC which we replaced last year, and a new roof this year, our big home maintenance must-dos should be complete. I say that with my fingers crossed. Here's my original post with the contractors we had spoken to included.

I had just texted Sal to see what he wanted for dinner, and not even 10 minutes later I received a text from my aunt inviting us to dinner to celebrate my uncle's birthday. Despite living in close proximity, we had never heard of Rico's . We had a great time. My cousin, his girlfriend, and their son are visiting from Germany. We're going to get together with them again next month, but it was nice to see them.

What a day. We got it all covered. 9:00am - Orthodontist with Sarah and Emmy 11:30am - Pediatrician for Emmy's ear pain 1:30pm - Picked up Seth's new eyeglasses 4:00 - Dentist appointments for Sarah and Emmy (which their dad took them to) We've known for some time that the girls would need braces. Sarah has some minor issues requiring correction; Emmy's will be mostly aesthetic. At this time, their dad and I agreed to move forward with Sarah's, and wait a year or two before having Emmy's done. Her teeth may move a bit on their own, and she doesn't have the issues that could lead to bigger issues down the road like Sarah does. The next step is to have impressions made of Sarah's mouth, which should be a quick procedure. Then, in a separate appointment, she'll have the braces up on. She'll have to wear them for 18-24 months. If she follows the rules, she will done on the shorter side of that time frame. Fortunately, both Kevin and I...

These are the days that make me crazy. Seth had a two hour delay, Emmy has been fighting a sore throat since Sunday, and fortunately, Sarah was feeling fine so she went to school on the bus. I waited for Sarah to catch the bus, and ran Emmy, along with Seth, to the doctor for a throat culture. The in-office culture came back negative, and given that it's been a few days, I don't expect the culture they send out will come back positive. Emmy wanted to go to school, so we stopped at Walgreens for some cold medicine, and I dropped her off. Then Seth and I ran home, I got ready for work, and I dropped him off on-time for his day. Tonight Sal has a doctor appointment at 4:30 so that puts dinner and starting homework on me. Yay. They are forecasting a snowstorm tomorrow into Friday so we'll have to see what that brings. This too shall pass.