Saying goodbye to the Pacifier...

The pacifier has been our best friend over the last two years and I have contemplated the best time to send him away. A few months back we took him away cold turkey and then a few days later Levi got sick and all he wanted was his paci. I just could not handle it so I gave it back and did not think about how attached Levi would become over the next few months. Friday night Levi woke up many times during the night asking for his Paci and it was that I night that I decided we were saying goodbye to our friend Mr. Paci.

This time I decided we would take it slow and start by taking the paci away during the day while Levi was playing and slowly move toward naps and night time. Saturday and Sunday went fairly well. He only asked for his paci a few times and didn't completely lose it when we said no. On Sunday after a nap Levi threw a fit because Ryan took his paci away so Ryan had Levi throw one of them away hoping that would help him realize that they were going " bye bye". He did really well the rest of the day.

Sunday night rolled around and Levi had done great all afternoon without his paci and so I decided we would try bedtime without his paci. I put him to bed with his cup of water and when he asked for his Paci I told him that they went bye bye. He fussed for a little while but eventually fell asleep without it. Go figure he wakes up a few hours later with a horrible cough and a mild fever and all he wanted was his paci. I did NOT give in this time. I just cuddled with him and told him the pacis went bye bye. He did not sleep well sunday night but I am unsure if it was because he did not have his paci or because he was not feeling well. All I do know is I am so excited that I will not have to worry about leaving the house without a paci.

We have decided to continue letting Luke keep his paci at nap and bedtime for a little bit longer. Ryan works most nights and so I do the bedtime routine on my own and decided that I would lose my mind if I had to deal with 2 kids in the process of saying good bye to Mr. Paci at the same time.

Levi has remarkably well today without his paci and even took a nap with very little fussing at all. He is such a big boy and it saddens me that he is growing up so fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are a few pictures just because I think they are the most handsome boys around. I love them so much and cannot imagine my life without them. I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with them all day and care for them.

Beautiful July Days...

This week has been absolutely beautiful. The humidity has been low and the days have been perfect. I bought a little inflatable pool for the boys to enjoy during the day. The majority of Monday was spent sitting outside watching the boys play in the water. They had so much fun!



Man he is handsome...

Levi apparently thought the pool floatie was necessary in the little pool also.

He is one cute little 2 year old

After I blew up the pool they decided to eat their breakfast in it in the middle of the living room.

Crazy painting fun and Coco Krispie Treats...

It was a beautiful day today!
We spent the morning outside playing in the water and sand. The kids had a blast. They all got a long great and there was very little screaming...unusual with 4 kids 2 and under playing together. When the crying started and I could nap time was needed we all headed indoors.

While the kids napped I made these...



After nap Levi and Jolie painted.




I have designated one wall in my dining room to hang all of Luke and Levi's paintings up. Luke has not painted quite yet because he thinks paint is a snack. I can't wait until I can hang one of pictures on my wall.

It was a perfect Friday!
When Ryan gets home I think we might take the boys on a bike ride or to the park. We have to take advantage of this wonderful weather.

That's all for now!

It's been a crazy few weeks

It has been a crazy few weeks for our family. Our friends, Daniel and Amber, were in town for the 4th of July weekend. They have a little boy who is 16 months old and we all had a great time. We took the 3 boys to Jump Mania Saturday morning and wore them out. The 3 boys got along great and wore each other out.


Aaron had a great time playing in the toddler play area. There was a fire truck slide that he had a blast going up and down.


Luke had a great time playing with the baby/toddler toys while Levi ran around and jumped in all the bounce houses.

Levi really enjoyed the bounce area for the toddlers and loved hugging the dog. They had so much fun. It was a great weekend with friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zach and Amber arrived very late Sunday night to look for a house. They were here for 3 days and Levi LOVED playing with little Finn. He was such a good friend to Finn. He would sit on the couch and hold Finn for 15-20 min straight. If Finn started crying Levi would grab his pacifier and give it to him. It was very cute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following Zach and Amber's visit we had 2 days to rest and get ready for more company. On Friday, I drove to Kansas City to pick up my dad and Leslie from the airport. They were coming to meet Luke for the first time and to spend time with our family. They were lucky enough to be able to come the same weekend as Levi and Luke's birthday party. We had so much fun. We spent Saturday baking and decorating the boys' birthday cakes and shopping for the party. Then Saturday afternoon the party was on. We had a bounce house and had so much with the boys. We were all exhausted after the party and came home and napped.

Papa, Me, Levi, and Luke in the bounce house at their party. It was a lot of fun!

Luke is not sure what to do with the cake. He was so careful even when we tried to get him to smash it.

Levi enjoyed his Chocolate Handy Manny cake. He ate way way too much.

On Sunday, we relaxed in the morning and then headed to Branson to go to Silver Dollar City. We had a lot of fun taking the boys on the rides and touring the different shops. We had funnel cake and frozen lemonade. Both of which were wonderful. We came home and had delightful Tri-Tip tacos made by my dad.
Papa, Leslie, and Levi on the train ride. We all had fun on the train ride.


Papa and Levi were pretending to nap in Levi's race car bed. Papa and Leslie bought Levi new Handy Manny sheets and pillowcase for his birthday. He loves them.


Levi, Luke, and Me on the frog ride. I was happy that they allowed Luke on the small rides as long as I was with him. It made it much more fun for him.

Monday was a very relaxing day. Luke had his 1 year appointment in the morning. It went great and the doctor was very impressed with how he is growing and learning new things. After the dr. appt we went to Bass Pro shops and the boys had a great time looking at all the fish. We came home for the boys to nap and then dad made Fried Chicken. Yum Yum! I ate way too much.

Tuesday was a sad and tiring day. I had to take Dad and Leslie back to the airport. After driving about 8 hours (to KC and back) I had to go to class. I was very sad to say good bye because I do not know when the next visit will be. I will say that I will not allow it to be over a year and a half like last time!

All in all we have had a great few weeks. I have been so busy I have been unable to blog. Now that company is gone and life is returning to normal I will be able to blog much more.