Flosstrophobic

You know that person who can eat whatever, brush whenever, floss never, yet every dentist visit yields the same phrase: "no cavities here!"? I've never been that person.

Until today!

About a year ago, I went in with a major toothache that ended up in a root canal. Plus 8 cavities. EIGHT. I was a twice-daily brusher, occasionally more often than that. I flossed seldom, but I was very good with my fingernails. I couldn't believe it - who gets eight cavities between dentist visits?? While the hygienist was scraping away, she asked about my flossing habits. I sheepishly admitted I didn't floss as much as I should. I could tell it was a common tale for her to hear - it didn't even phase her. But to cover her bases, she gave me a line she probably gives everyone who comes in with bleeding gums and missing teeth (no, I'm not at that stage). She said, "The more you do at home, the less we have to do here, and it's cheaper."

Cheaper??!? Well, why didn't you SAY SO??? No one had ever put it into bargain terms for me before, and Frugalese is a language I speak. From that day I decided I was going to floss daily. It's taken me how long to get that conviction? You'd think from all the nasty pictures and real-life ugly mouths I've seen, I'd be scared into the best dental hygiene possible, but it's easy to get lazy.

Today marks the second time that I've gone in for a cleaning and 1) the hygienist had very little to scrape, and 2) the dentist looked at x-rays, poked around in my mouth and said, "no cavities here!" It made me feel like this:

So if you're someone who dreads the dentist because you'll need two hands to count the number of cavities you'll have, come and join me on my bandwagon. I've been playing a different and awesome tune.

Northern Exposure

The Monday after we arrived in Utah for the Christmas holidays, 16 inches of snow plummeted to the ground. It was Dean's first experience with so much white stuff, so I bundled him up and turned him into my kind of snow angel.

He had a gay ol' time, though I worried about his cold tolerance. I shouldn't have - once I got him back inside and undressed, I realized he was sweating up a storm in that thing. I need one in my size.

Best Early Birthday Present EVER

I got a message on my phone weeks ago from someone I didn't know but whose area code was unmistakably from Utah. She said I was to reserve a particular weekend in January to stay in town, prepare our guest room, and don't ask questions. I was perplexed, intrigued. But with planning to leave for Christmas and everything that went with that, it slipped my mind. I figured that with no more notice or clues, it probably wouldn't end up being anything.

I think I mentioned it to Ted during our 3 weeks in Utah, but I'm not sure.

Sleep deprivation does many awful things to one's brain and body.

Then after we were back, I got a letter with no return address, postmarked Salt Lake City. In it was the same instruction, all typed out.

So mysterious!!!

As the day approached (and I told the news to Ted), we tried to figure out just who it could be. It had to be someone who knows I love (LOVE) surprises, but who would also have the gall to just tell me to be ready for, well, any ol' shmo.

But shmoes they were not! At the stroke of midnight Thursday night, there was a knock on my door and I opened it to behold....

THIS TRIO!!

I didn't get a picture of their arrival because I was too busy picking up my jaw off the floor. My bestest college friends all left their husbands and multiple children with babysitters and carpools and pre-made meals so they could hop on a couple of planes and fly all day to see me. I'm still shocked over it all.

Like all bestest college friends, we didn't have to do much to have a grand weekend. We ordered pizza, watched The Notebook, played Speed Scrabble and Mexican Train, made deep-dish cookies and grilled cheese sandwiches. And we laughed and laughed and laughed!

Amid the cacophony, we did manage to get out of the house for a little sightseeing, hence the Duke Chapel in the background and the grand doors below. There was someone practicing a most incredible organ in the Chapel while we were there, and Shannon, a rather fab organist herself, was in heaven. I, however, was in heaven the whole weekend and still haven't been brought down.

Shan, Val, Ker-dog, thank you so much for your many sacrifices to fly across the country to grant me a most fabulous few days. I heart you guys!

Long Overdue

My fabulous friend Ashley, who just made her photography business official, spent the day at our house so she could take photos of Dean, who was 16 days old at the time. She would have come over when he was even younger, except that she was in Europe for 3 weeks and just couldn't get away. Brat.

Anyway, her photos are fantastic. I should have posted these long ago, but dragging eyeballs (and various other body parts) and spotty brain function have hindered me. We would have made one of them our Christmas card this year, except he looks sooooo different now. Lots more fat.

Without further ado, here's our latest masterpiece.

This next one was a result of us trying to get him to smile. Babies that young don't usually smile unless they're gassy, but Dean had smiled in his sleep several times, especially when tickled on his cheek. So we were tickling, tickling, cooing, etc, but only got this:

But eventually he came around:

This next one is one of my favorites. I crocheted a swirly scarf the night before because I had this image in my mind, but on the day of, the scarf didn't look right, Dean wasn't cooperating, and that poor cake stand was mighty chilly on a newborn despite the space heater that was causing me to sweat through everything on my end. But thanks to Ashley's ingenuity and a little help from Photoshop, she pulled this off:

That one was for me, and this was for Ted:

We'll see which parent he'll take after more. Then we can say he always had it in him, and just hide the other picture. :)

And I love this one. She called it "Little details."

Thanks so much, Ashley. I know he was a bit of a stinker for you (at one point, quite literally), but you made magic, once again.

I'm too olde for finals

I'm in the middle of finals, and I'm too old for them. Tests are really something that should be in my rear view mirror, but I'm a glutton for punishment, or I'm addicted to school . . . or whatever. It will make the holidays all the more enjoyable though once they're done. At least law school isn't like my high school where we'd get homework over the break . . . what kind of "holiday" is that? I'm a little anxious to see how the flying-home-for-Christmas is going to be with a 22-month old and a 4-month old. We'll just keep our fingers crossed that Tessa doesn't set anything off in the millimeter wave scanner. This trip just might reveal how old I really am.

Creation: Stitched 'Scream

A friend of mine recently had an adorable baby girl. She requested no gifts at her restaurant baby shower because this was her third baby and second girl, but come on - even third children need a few new things, right? As a 6th child, I understand how annoying hand-me-downs can get (esp when they're from one's brothers), so along with a little outfit (bought, not made - I'm not that good yet) I crocheted a toy ice cream cone. It's got little jingle bells in there for extra fun.

I used the pattern from this book but added the picot stitch around the bottom of the ice cream so it looked more like a scoop.

Welcome to the world, Lucy! You've got a rad family who will take you for real 'scream when you're old enough!

Creation: Hair clips

In preparation for a friend's craft fair, I made these to sell. Y'know, in my spare time. I'm pretty awesome like that.

"But Allison, if you're so awesome, how come you haven't blogged in forever?"

Because, dear friends, I like to spread my awesomeness around. Blogging awesomeness will be forthcoming.

If you're wondering if the goldfish are puffy, the answer is yes. I wanted them as close to the cracker as possible, so I stuffed them. I made the prototype for Tess a while back and let's just say she's tried to eat it on more than one occasion. That's not saying much, but I'm taking it as a win.

And now my awesome boobs have to tend to my awesome baby.