Retainer Layout

Kaila's braces days are over. She had them on for about a year when she was nine. I almost forgot to tell that story until I found these pictures of us breaking her retainer now that she's eleven. The orthodontist told us that her teeth were larger than her mouth so the pre-brace stage would help widen her mouth to make room so that the permanent teeth could come in straighter. It worked! But an unexpected bonus was the discipline it taught her to take care of her teeth ... and the awkwardness of braces at a younger age when kids were not as image conscious made it an easier experience overall.

After the braces came off, she continued with retainers for a couple more months. Then the orthodontist said no more to the retainer too. Yay! We celebrated with a hammer in hand. In this layout I scrapbooked those fun pictures we took as we did this ... playing with macro settings and getting messy with the misting ... I am NOT a "messy" scrapper, but it still worked out. I even got to make a banner ... I really love banners.