Sparkly Smile and a Flashback

This past summer Emma sat in the orthodontist office all prepped and ready to get braces.  She'd been wearing spacers for a week and she was very excited to get the teeth straightening process started before middle school began.  As the last minute prep was being done, I innocently mentioned to the finance person that we were changing  insurance companies  in a month, not thinking that it would matter to them as both companies had  partial orthodontic coverage.   Alas, I was naive in my belief and they literally stopped everything in its tracks and refused to put the braces on.  While I was relieved that they saved us from potentially having neither insurance company being willing to pay for part of her braces, we both left there a little disappointed.  

Fast forward six months later with our new insurance fully in gear, we decided it was time to get the  tinsel ball rolling again.  (Our flex spending account needing to be used up by the end of the year helped the inertia factor pretty significantly!)   Now I'm happy to report that her Crain-inherited crooked teeth are on their way to noncrowded bliss.

Now her gums hurt, her lips hurt, and she can barely eat...

but she can take heart in the fact that at least she is waaaaaaaaaaay cuter than I was back in the day! 

Lara--7th grade