Braces

 

Nope, not for any of the kids (yet...), for ME!

This Thursday I go in to get braces put on. For as long as I can remember I've had pain on my left side of my mouth. I assumed I had a cavity (or multiple cavities) but when I went to the dentist I did not. I haven't had a single cavity in almost 20 years. (I'm oddly and obnoxiously proud of this fact. LOL!) The pain is actually my jaw. Very very recently I found out I have TMJ, the pain got worse and I finally spoke up, and I learned my jaw is off, big time. If you look at a picture of me it'll look like I have a double chin on my left side as well. This happens now and it happened when I was 30 lbs lighter. I just thought it was just my face. Nope! My jaw is not aligned correctly. My back teeth don't sit correctly and it's caused a major overbite. My molars all sit in weird different ways, one almost sits sideways. The older I get, it gets worse and worse. Unfortunately the pain get worse and worse as time goes on too. I got two opinions and both agreed the best course of action...BRACES! Yippee for me! Yup, full on, 13 year old, metal braces. No ivisalign for this girl. 

This picture is a great example of what my jaw is doing.  This was taken a few months ago on Lexi's birthday. My left side (your right) is just bigger, it sticks out on the bottom creating a double chin almost. I could've posted 500 pictures of myself and they would all look this way. Until I asked about the pain and really looked at pictures of myself I didn't notice it as much. But now it's all I see. If I looked at you and clenched my jaw you would see drastically how much the left side of my face sticks out more than the right. My face just isn't even. I don't know that it'll ever be perfect, obviously, but I'm told this will help. Both the dentist and orthodontist I saw told me if I don't get this taken care of now, it'll just cause me more problems, more pain and my jaw alignment will just get worse. I've learned a lot about the mouth, teeth and jaw in these past few months. Taking care of your mouth and teeth is so damn important!!

They say I should have them on for about 12-15 months. I have mixed feelings about it. I'm not thrilled about having braces BUT I am excited to not be in pain anymore and I'm looking forward to getting my teeth straightened out. I've been self conscious about my smile for a long long time. The older I get the more crowded and crooked my teeth get, so I'm very thankful to be getting this taken care of. But most of all I am just relieved to avoid a major problem with my jaw. Straight teeth is just a bonus!

So if you see me sometime in the next year or so and I have a mouth full of metal...you know why!

Wish me luck!!

Thankful

 

While this years Thanksgiving might've looked different than years past... I am still so incredibly thankful for these 6 people. 

Don't know what I'd do without them.

Happy 1st Birthday Smith Joseph!

 

1 day old, all dressed up and ready to head home from the hospital,

 

....6 months old, cooler than all of us,

....to his first birthday!

Happy Birthday Smith! 

We love you too much!! 

Slow Cooker Mini Chicken Pot Pie's

 

This is a family favorite in the Sass house and its so so easy!! 

It takes no time to prep, cooks all day in the slow cooker and at dinner time all that's left to do is bake the biscuits! You all know I'm a big BIG fan of my slow cooker!!

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery 
• 1 bag frozen mixed veggies
• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 large can cream of chicken soup 
• 2 cans Pillsbury Grands flaky biscuits 

DIRECTIONS: 

• Place your chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker
• Pour frozen veggies, chopped onion and celery over chicken
• Pour can of cream of chicken soup over all ingredients (sometimes I have a small can on hand in case I think it needs a little more)
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours (the longer the better)
• With 1 hour to go, shred chicken in slow cooker, mix all together and cook for remaining hour
• Cook biscuits
• Cut cooked biscuits in half and spoon over pot pie mixture

Enjoy!

This is the perfect cold night dinner! As I sit here in my sweater and puffy vest I wish we were having this for dinner tonight. It would definitely be a perfect night for it!!

It warms you right up and is absolutely delicious! Seriously, my kids gobble. it. up.

I'll have more of these easy family friendly meals coming to the blog soon!! I really want to make this more of a habit.

I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving! We are keeping it small this year and while it won't look like other years, I'm concentrating on the fact that I have so much to be thankful for! My amazing hardworking husband, my 5 beautiful happy healthy children and the health and happiness of our family and friends. :) After all that is what matters most. This years Thanksgiving will also be extra special because our Smith Joseph turns ONE!! 

Cheers to you and yours, we'll see you back here soon! Please know how thankful I am for you to come to my little corner of the internet. While I am not consistent and it's been awhile since I've sat here and typed these keys, it really means the world to me that you took a few minutes out of your day to visit here. Thank you, thank you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy 6th Birthday Kensington!

Still very much the celebrity of the family. All the kids argue over who gets to play with Kensington. Her dad and I are constantly taken aback by just how sweet she really is. She's sensitive, she love love loves kindergarten and is doing so great!! There are a lot of things I dislike about hybrid learning but one thing I absolutely love is doing schoolwork with Kensington. Week after week she blows me away! I cannot believe how quickly she has grasped so much...especially in these strange times and weird school schedule. She's doing fabulous!!

Happy happy happy birthday Kensington Bree!!

We love you so much!!