Be Careful What You Wish For

K has been chomping at the bit (so to speak) to get braces. I did not want to start orthodontic treatment knowing that we might move. It looks like we will be in Atlanta for at least another 18 months so I decided to go ahead and get with the treatment. K was so excited, thinking that she would soon be sporting colorful new braces.  Things did not quite work out as she anticipated.  For the next year she has to wear an appliance called a herbst.  It is kind of like the modern day equivalent of head gear.  It looks horribly uncomfortable to me.  The goal is to move her lower jaw forward (she has a slight over bite.)  She will then wear braces for a year.  She has really been a good sport once she got over the initial shock that she would be wearing something in her mouth that is similar to a horse bit for the next year.

Leaky Gut and Gluten Intolerance

I am a member of numerous online adoption groups.  In a couple of the groups parents discuss leaky gut and how curing their children's leaky gut has helped with their behavior problems.  I am lucky that K really doesn't have any behavior problems so I have haven't investigated leaky gut but the concept seems odd to me.  There is also a lot of discussion about gluten intolerance in these groups.  Again another subject that I do not know anything about but I do find it curious that so many people as of late are gluten intolerant.  

I have a friend who was having terrible stomach aches.  She went to a GI doctor who she decided she did not like (that could be a subject for another post but is probably better left unsaid for now).  A friend then convinced her to go to a holistic doctor who started treating her for leaky gut and gluten intolerance.  She spend thousands of dollars on dietary supplements but the stomach aches got worse and worse.  She finally decided to go to another GI doctor.  I think there was also a trip to an acupuncturist someone during the six months.  The GI doctor did not know what was wrong but recommended a colonoscopy.  This friend is in her 40's.  I agreed to take her to the colonscopy.  After the procedure we were asked to meet with the doctor. This friend is very high energy and wanted to know if the doctor could just call because she was ready to get out of there.  The nurse said that she would tell the doctor we were in a hurry.  We were escorted to a small room and the doctor came in.  She asked if it was all right if I was there?  My friend said sure.  The two of us had no idea what was about to transpire.  The doctor said they had found something.  I thought maybe a polyp?  The doctor gently told us that it was a mass or a tumor.  I think she said mass to ease us into the whole thing.  She stopped calling it a mass during the conversation and switched to tumor.  My friend wanted to know if she would loose her hair and if she could go to Mardi Gras and then tuned out.  I was desperately trying to organize my thoughts not even knowing what I should be asking.  I have started a blog with updates on her treatment. 

www.updatesonmignon.blogspot.com

Snow Mountain

We spent the afternoon at Snow Mountain with Jenna.  I love how you can see the snow that is being made in the photos.  The girls played in the snow and did a lot of tubing.  No tubing photos because I did not take my telephoto lens.

Gloomy Days

We had a gloomy, rainy weekend. My photography assignment was to do a silhouette so when the sun finally popped its head from behind the clouds for a moment Saturday afternoon I grabbed K and ran outside so that I could do my assignment.  

Homework

I am taking a photography class and K was very helpful this afternoon with my homework assignment. She wasn't feeling so great because she got spacers yesterday in preparation for braces. More on that in another post.

The assignment for this photo was color

The assignment for this photo was old.  Although this looks like it could have been fed up.

More Holiday Fun

We wrapped up our holidays with dinner with good friends Gil and Linda. K and Linda are "two peas in a pod". They are both so artistic and creative. K thought that Linda's idea of having a Christmas goose instead of a tree was the best idea in the world.

 Cousin Harry was in town for a reunion with friends he has made over the years at Duke TIP camp.  We stole him for an evening and went out for dinner.  K had a friend with her who kept quizzing Harry about how someone could be nerdy and popular.  She was not buying the story at all.  Really!  He is!!  K loves Harry and doesn't care if he is nerdy or popular.  She just adores him.  

The Christmas goose in lieu of a tree

K, Linda and Gil

Harry and K

Christmas 2011

Christmas was a blur this year. Maybe because we were in France for Thanksgiving or maybe because K did not get out of school until the 22nd.  We went to see a Christmas Carol and out for dinner with friends on the 23rd.  Spent out usual 3 hours at mass on Christmas eve and then off to Sheila and Elliot's Christmas Eve party.  Christmas we had dinner with our good friends and on the 26th we went to a boxing day party.  Dinner with friends tonight.  I hate that did not take many pictures.  K is in gymnastics camp this week and goes back to school next Tuesday.  Not a lot of relaxing going on around here.

K and the cats just before we left for mass on Christmas Eve.  

I love this picture of Bert underneath the tree.