DEREK LOWE!!!!

Well, Steven heard on the radio that Derek Lowe was going to be signing autographs at the new BrandsMart up by the Mall of GA. At first, I hesitated to go thinking that it would be crowded and we would have to wait in line for a really long time and the kids would complain. Well...it was crowded. There was a lot of traffic getting into the store. But, when we got there, no one who worked there could tell us where Derek was signing! Can you believe that? We walked around for about 5-10 minutes and asked a few different people, but no one really knew. Finally, we spotted some baseball fans that were holding balls and cards and stuff. They told us where he was signing. We went in and there was no line! Nothing! We just walked right up to where he was! Everyone got a signed card and he even signed Joshua's baseball! I got to shake his hand. I told him it was nice to see him. He said, "It's nice to be seen." LOL Elijah showed Derek Lowe his own imitation of Derek pitching. It was great!

Then I realized I had brought the camera but didn't get a picture. So we went back a second time. Again, walked right in and up to him. In a heartbeat, he got up and posed for a picture with us. He was super nice! And quite taller than I expected. I am so glad that we decided to go. It was originally for the kids, but I think the person it made the greatest impression on was....me!

Joshua gets braces!

This is what Joshua's teeth look like. They aren't terrible, but the orthodontist says that, with his teeth angled back, it could cause problems with his bottom jaw developing properly. Also, his teeth are a bit crowded, so they wanted to make more room in his mouth. (Yes, believe it or not, Joshua's mouth is NOT big enough for his teeth!)

So, they put this expander in his mouth. For the first week, I had to "turn" it which made it push harder and harder to expand his top jaw. It was quite uncomfortable...for both of us. One time I just couldn't do it and we had to go to the orthodontist's office and have them do it.


He wore that for a few months, and now has these...braces! They are just on his front 4 teeth to straighten them out. Everything else he has are still baby teeth anyway. This is "Phase 1". He may need braces again, depending on how his other permanent teeth come in. We'll cross that bridge if and when we get there. For now, he will be wearing these for about 8 months.

Not bad. He got to pick a color. He chose red. When I had braces, you didn't get to pick colors. And it wasn't cool to have braces either. NOBODY had them when I was a kid. (I had mine in 3rd grade too, just like Joshua.) But now, everyone has them, including adults. So he won't get made fun of the way I did. Thank goodness! I can't wait to see how much more beautiful his smile will be. I didn't think it could get any better, but at least his teeth will be straighter!