All Plugged Up...

Quinn has been complaining for quite some time that her contacts don't feel good and that she would love to claw them out of her eyes at any given time.  After an extensive trial and error with several different contact brands, she still wasn't finding any success.  She could get a few hours out of them, but that's about it.  

After a more extensive dive into the problem and several tests later, Quinn was diagnosed with Chronic Dry Eye.  In essence, her eyes don't produce enough tears which is uncommon for someone of her age.  That said, the solution to Chronic Dry Eye is two fold - first is to use a heated eye mask daily to help your eyes produce more oils. 

The second solution is to insert plugs into the tear ducts themselves to help the eye retain the tears and moisture in the eyes, rather than draining them.  Today was the day that the plugs were inserted. 

The little white dot right above Q's finger (that looks like a sty) is the plug that was inserted.  So Quinn is officially all plugged up.  Fingers crossed that this is a game changer for her and that moving forward she has more comfort when it comes to her eyes!

A Little Bit Fancy...

 So we did a little something a while back and shopped for a prom dress.  Here are the samplings of some of the dresses that Quinn tried on. 

They all looked incredible on Quinn and it was incredibly hard for her to choose which dress she wanted to choose as 'the one."  The dress she chose may or may not be in the mix of pictures here.  Stay tuned in mid-April to see the big reveal and what dress she ultimately picked!

Miss Teen California...

 Sullivan went to her best friend's birthday this past weekend.  

Judging by the pictures, can you figure out the theme?!?  The girls took place in a Miss Teen USA murder mystery.  Sullivan chose her state in advance without knowing the role she would play.  As Miss Candy California, she was assigned to play the role of a teen who recently underwent cosmetic surgery (ahem...breast augmentation) which is taboo in the pageant arena.  She had to lie and deceive her fellow contestants into thinking she underwent a much needed medical procedure, not cosmetic surgery.  

In the end, Sullivan was not the killer, nor the one to be killed.  She was just a teen pageant contestant trying to survive the cruel world of pageant life.  

Sullivan had a great time celebrating her good friend's birthday and enjoying some laughs with all her friends.  

Just a Girl...

Just a girl with a good book on a beautiful day....

Who can argue with that?!?

Call Me Crazy...

 Call me crazy but I think Tessa might be looking for someone to play with her.  

It's the 54 toys she has surrounded herself with that gave it away.  

Poor thing is deprived.  

Officially Official...

Quinn is officially a full licensed driver. 

She has no provisions and no limited hours she can drive in the state of NC.  She no longer needs any supervision or logged hours with an adult either.  If Quinn wants to drive at 2am with a load full of people in her car, the state of North Carolina has given her the green light to do so.  Her parents have not, but that's a different story for a different day!

The state of North Carolina, thanks in large part to Covid, also never required our sweet child to take a driver's test.  Each step of the way, her driving test was waived.  And in spite of these waivers, Quinn has proven to be a reliable, safe, and trustworthy driver.  We count our lucky stars for that!

Cheering for the Purple...

Quinn's high school basketball team made history this weekend.  They made their way all the way to the final four in the state basketball tournament.  The furthest the Golden Hawks had ever gotten was the Sweet Sixteen, so the Final Four accomplishment was extra sweet.  It goes without saying that Quinn was going to be there to cheer them on.

Tickets went live on Thursday and were sold out within 3 minutes.  Quinn was lucky enough to score tickets for her and her friend.  On Saturday Quinn donned her brightest purple shirt and got in line early for the game.  

Sadly not everyone got into the game that purchased a ticket.  Quinn and Krystal were some of the lucky ones.  The game was a close one the entire time.  We watched it on TV and saw someone extra special in the crowds...

Can you spy Quinn?

The scores see-sawed back and forth but in the end, the Golden Hawks came up short.  It ended their hopes of making it to the state championship, but what a wild ride this season was for them.  So proud of HS Basketball for an amazing season.  Here's to 2024 being their year!

The Beginning of a New Era...

Sullivan has ventured into a new era... roughly 30 months from now this smile is going to look totally different...

X-rays have been taken and recommendations given...

Sullivan has earned the start of a two-part orthodontic journey.  Phase 1 began on Monday with an expander placed on her upper palate.  Every other day, we get to crank the expander one space which slowly expands her jaw.

Phase 2 will be braces, although that will be several months down the line once the expander has done its job.  

Stay tuned for BIG changes in Sulla's smile over the next couple of years!

As Ryan said, we hope this time goes SLOW.  Not for Sullivan's sake, but for ours.  When Sullivan gets her braces off, she will likely be nearing the end of her sophomore year and we will only have a couple more year with her at home.  Move fast teeth, but slow down time!