Ho Ho Ho

Lots of family. Lots of snow. Lots of food. Lots of games. Lots of movies. Lots of laughs. LOTS of Lightning McQueen. Hope your Christmas was as merry as ours.

PS- No, those aren't Dallas' legs. They're his brother Austin's, and I couldn't resist posting it for family...

It's Official

I'm a college graduate. It may just be an Associates Degree in General Academics from Utah Valley University, but hey, it's something. At least I know going to school for so many years does eventually produce results. Plus, I am graduating with a 4.0 cumulative GPA. (I know I'm bragging, but it's a big accomplishment!) Now only 5 more years and maybe I'll have my Bachelor's Degree :o).

Dallas also completed this semester with excellent grades- including an A- in his Algebra class! I knew I married a smart boy. Now if only he can keep that going through all of his Civil Engineering classes. Good luck sweetie!

Here's to another successful semester in January...

There is Humor All Around

Saturday night we had a very scary experience. I was going to bed and felt "wet" when I realized that I had been bleeding. We rushed to the ER at Davis North Hospital since we were at my Mom's. Everything ended up being fine. I guess that occasionally a pregnant woman will just bleed like that with no explanation (which seems absolutely insane to bleed that much with no explanation, but whatever. I'm just glad our little Drama Baby is okay). The nurses and doctor said they see it every day. It was really stressful at the time, but there were also some funny moments. Here they are for your reading pleasure:

-When Dr. Holley was doing our ultrasound and we were finally able to see the baby moving and the heart beating, Dallas decided that it was time for something else: "While you're down there, can you take a look and tell us what it is?" I laughed. The doctor just ignored us.
-After finding out that the baby was just fine Dallas says "Are you sure it wasn't just ketchup?" My reply, "I don't know. I meant to put it on my fries, but maybe I missed."
-A pregnant woman doesn't typically carry around pads with her "just in case". So, I got to wear a Huggies size 2 instead.
-E.R. nurses get crazy after midnight. Some even start acting like dying birds. It's true. I saw it with my own eyes.
- When changing into a hospital gown, don't change directly in front of the door. If someone opens it, everyone will be able to see in.

All I want for Christmas is 32 teeth...

March 16, 2009

I have been journaling Dallas' full mouth reconstruction over the last few months. I did really well at first and then it sort of dropped off. Oh well! I still wanted to post what I had. It's out of order- starting with March and then going to December and January and skipping his late January and February appointments all together. (I guess we've just been busy and blogging hasn't been a priority). Here's the latest:
Dallas had his last of the major dental appointments last Friday, March 13th. He has spent over 30 hours in the dental chair, and it has been completely worth it! His teeth are still sore today from his last visit, but the bite is already better. He looks so amazing. I really feel like I got a new husband from this whole experience. He is still self conscious about his teeth, but not at all like he used to be. He is still looking forward to the day when his mouth doesn't bother him while eating though. Hopefully it will be soon! I love to see him smile with his mouth open (although now he smiles with his mouth shut just to tease me sometimes). Most of all, I love to see him laugh out loud and not close his mouth quickly to hide his teeth. He can just be Dallas.
When all is said and done, it was worth every penny. In fact, I don't think we have ever invested our money so wisely. We would recommend Dr. P.K. Clark and The White Cap Institute to anyone!

December 22, 2008

Today is a HUGE day in our family. Dallas started his dental work!! Because of many problems (soft enamel, grinding, bad bite, the list goes on) Dallas' teeth have been significantly worn away. We have been getting quotes from dentists and prosthodontists for years hoping that one day we would actually be able to do something about the pain it has been causing him. The day is finally here! Dallas is having a full mouth reconstruction by a specialized dentist named PK Clark that owns the White Cap Institute. He teaches dentistry (and specializes in crowns and implants) and gave us a deal to be able to use Dallas as a model. Dallas is having his entire top mouth ground down today. He will just have temporary teeth for a few weeks until they get the final teeth back from the lab in a few weeks. We took some before pictures so you will be able to see the "transformation". (It seriously feels like he is on Extreme Makeover or something. Except that we are paying for it... and boy are we. Major dentistry isn't cheap).

You can see how his teeth are worn down to the pulp. His molars are even worn down on the outside, if you can believe that.

I stopped in at 12:30 PM to drop off our last payment and to see him. He was completely out of it, thank goodness. He had been there for 4 hours already and he still had a good couple of hours left. I got to see his teeth all ground down and how his gums looked after the gum surgery. His teeth are so small now- about the same size as Will's. They are crowning or capping all of them. His gums look awesome! They are completely symmetrical and beautiful. His mouth was pretty bloody when I saw it. I'm sure he is going to be in quite a bit of pain today.

Dallas doesn't ever smile with his mouth open, so this is the best of the awkward "before" pictures I could get :o). It's bad. He'll kill me when he sees this posted on here.

I picked Dallas up at 3:00 PM. He is hammered! His jaw aches and his gums feel like they've been put through a shredder. On top of that he only ate a small breakfast this morning at 8:00 AM and he lost that because the anesthesia made him nauseated. His temporary teeth are just a plastic insert type thing (it's glued in) and looks different than the final product will. He looks SO DIFFERENT! It is going to take a lot of getting used to because it is such a huge change.

First set of temporary teeth- only the top are completed.

January 2, 2009

On December 30th Dallas was able to meet with the dentist and the guy that will be making his permanent teeth. After having the temporary teeth for awhile we had a few concerns. The teeth seemed pretty bulky and too large for Dallas' mouth, and he also felt that they were too white. He was very self conscious for a few days (who wouldn't be???). After talking with them we feel much better. They are going to scale the teeth down a little bit. Dr. Clark also adjusted the temporary teeth a bit. He shaved off some of the bulk and made them smaller so they look a lot more natural in his mouth. They are still just plastic teeth, but they actually look really good. I am used to how he looks now and I think he looks so handsome! He has another appointment on January 8th to adjust the temporaries a little bit more to make sure they are where we want them so that we can make final adjustments to the permanent teeth.

His gums have pretty much healed from the gingevectomy and are back to a normal pink color. He's glad he doesn't have all of the pain while he's eating or brushing his teeth anymore. I'm sure it has been awful. I watched him brush one time and couldn't believe the amount of blood he spit out.

We also learned that Dallas is getting top of the line crowns made. They will have zirconia centers instead of metal (what most doctors use). It is supposed to be the latest and greatest material for crowns and will keep them from turning grey as they age. The guy that is making his teeth is one of the top in the country. He left the best lab in the country to come to Salt Lake to start up a lab here. He is in such good hands and we feel so blessed to be able to be working with Dr. Clark and the White Cap Institute for this experience. We've been able to see all of the work, time, and experience that is going into his reconstruction and we feel like we are really getting an incredible deal.

Mr. Potato Head, That's Who!

We've been spending some quality time this month with our family and friends. The other night we spent a good couple of hours with our new friend, Mr. Potato Head the Zookeeper. I think Dallas and I love this toy just as much as Will! (Thanks, Jenn!!!)

Will's Creation

Amy's Creation

Dallas' Creation

I know what you're thinking- "That Nicoll family is just flowing with creative juices." Well, you're right.

We have had several other fun moments in the last few days. They include:

McKenzie playing in the snow.

Will crawling around the fluffy white stuff.

Tea Party's: Not just for the female variety. I would suggest the $5 set at WalMart for anyone! It was a hit while James and Alli were visiting. (I bought it for Alli for Christmas, but I don't know who loved it more.)

Silent Laugh

You know those times when you are watching something and you laugh silently, really, really hard? Well, that's what I did during this. (Thanks Nicole). Merry Christmas.

Heart

We heard our new baby's heartbeat today. No matter if you've heard it before, it is still absolutely amazing. I have been so nervous about this pregnancy; we had the weird things that happened earlier in the pregnancy, and then someone very close to me lost their little one at the end of the first trimester. Whenever that happens it really makes you worry a little more. We feel so blessed that everything is progressing normally.

We had another due date discussion with the doctor and he is still keeping it at July 9th. Today makes me only 10 weeks along. It usually a little early at 10 weeks to hear the heartbeat with the doppler ultrasound device, but we did it! He said I am probably a little further along than 10 weeks, but we are just going to play it by ear towards the end. It's such a mental thing! You just like to have that date to look forward to when you are pregnant. Maybe sometime soon it will stop annoying me. I'm just so glad we could hear it's little heart- 160 BPM this time. Dr. Tayler said that once you can hear the heartbeat with the doppler you are pretty much out of miscarriage territory- 95% of miscarriages happen before you are able to hear it.

Morning sickness is starting to subside a little bit (it depends on the day). Hopefully by Christmas I will be feeling more myself. I lost a pound since my last appointment- that's new because with Will I just seemed to keep gaining and gaining.

I have taken some cute pictures of Will that I wanted to share with everyone. He's such a monkey! (Oh, and he said "blog" the other day. Sheesh. I'm in trouble). He loves Christmas and even is understanding that baby Jesus is the reason why we celebrate it. Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas so far!

On Acting (Mostly)

First off, Will learned a new word. He learns new words all of the time, so usually this wouldn't be blog worthy. However, the new word made me think about my own life. What is it? Wal-Mart. I think I've been going there too much lately.

Secondly, we went to Salt Lake to visit Temple Square with Dallas' family last night. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas lights as well as the next person, but why do we torture ourselves with cold to walk around the grounds when we could sit in a warm car and drive through Thanksgiving Point? I only say this because it seems like every year the goal is to see how quickly we can make it through the grounds and back to the car. We did have some good laughs (mostly thanks to the warm parking garage at the Olive Garden).

Lastly, I performed a monologue for my Shakespeare class yesterday. This normally wouldn't be a big event if it weren't for the fact that I hadn't acted in 5 years. I can't believe it's been that long. I performed a monologue from King Henry VI part 3 that a sweet student Maddie at DHS competed with this year. I have wanted to do it for a long time, so when the option was open to do it for my final project I took it. It was awesome. I even loved the fact that I forgot a line and was able to keep going without it totally throwing my focus. It was fun to discover a totally different way to do it than Maddie did. I think I've grown a lot as an actor (and I use that term loosely my friends) in the last five years just by watching and having more life experiences. (It has also helped to take a Shakespeare class and actually understand what I'm saying in my pieces more clearly). Performing reminded me of why I love being on stage so much. It's a feeling you can't get anywhere else. You're so nervous and frightened, then you perform and you can't wait to do it all over again. Maybe I will audition for some of the Timpanogos Valley Theater Company productions coming up... I just want to feel that again. Some of you know what I'm talking about.

iPod Idol

What is so great about the holidays? Family. What is so great about my family? We're not afraid to make fools of ourselves.

Thanksgiving was fabulous- filled with lots of turkey, candied yams, stuffing, potatoes and pie. (I was even able to get a little dinner down!) The highlight, however, was the Wilson Pie Party. We got together with my Scott Wilson family cousins for pie and a little entertainment. They introduced us to a game called "iPod Idol". Here's how it works: You pick a song from your iPod, crank it up so you can't even hear yourself talk, and you sing along. It's hysterical because everyone sounds tone deaf like I normally do! This game was invented by my cousins Blake and Chris on a long drive home, and it's gold. Gold, Jerry! Songs were performed by new and improved Bon Jovi, Leona Lewis, Christina Aguilera, Creed, Sara Bareilles, Kenny Chesney and let us not leave out a moving performance of Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" as sung by Tyler McCallister (he was my Idol). I think my sister-in-law Kaydee was the only one that sounded good, and she put us all to shame. (Scott thinks James should quit his job and get Kaydee singing).

Here's a taste. Laura, you know I love you. Elaine, you are the greatest. I simply couldn't resist. If someone had recorded me, I would have put myself on here.