I'm 2! - And a stroller ride

Hannah turned two a few months ago, but she has just learned within the past few weeks how to do "2" with her fingers like a big girl!

(excuse her food on her face!)

Pretty often when we're driving I'll hear her from the back seat say "I did it!" and she's holding up her 2 little fingers. So sweet, and such a big girl! Who knew that would be such a big accomplishment!

Another big accomplishment within the past few weeks is that now Ethan is able to sit up straight in the double stroller. Doesn't he look so big!?

(once again, don't mind Hannah's blue mouth)

My little, bald old man is getting too big, too fast! 

Fair time

Monday our family headed to our local fair. We love fair food and Hannah was old enough this year to be excited about the rides.

The Hayes family came, too and it was alot of fun.  I was thankful that London and Carter let Hannah tag a long with them on some of the "bigger" rides.

All the little kid rides basically do the same thing.  They all spin in circles 50 times and you either sit in a car, truck, train or airplane.  Hannah didn't seem to care through, and wanted to ride them all.

It was fun for us to watch Hannah get really excited about all the fair festivities and see how happy she was to be there.

Until next year...

Dedication Day

Sunday was a special day for our family.  We dedicated Ethan at church. At our church, this is a commitment as parents that we will raise Ethan in a Christian home and teach him about Jesus.  Our prayer is that Ethan will come to know Jesus at a young age and follow Him forever.  I pray daily that Ethan would be a leader among his friends as he gets older and for his wife one day...but we still have 40 years until that, and we are open to arranged marriages if anyone has a sweet girl out there....ha!

I sent these little invitations to our family.  We took some pictures of Ethan for our church bulletin and I just had to use them for something else because they were so cute. 

And a huge mom fail is that I didn't take ANY pictures the day of the dedication.  We just had so much going on that day. I thought about it 100 times, but it just never happened. 

I sure love my Ethan and pray he knows how much we will always love him, but that there is a Father that could love him beyond any earthly love we could ever offer. 

Round 1 - FAIL

Thank you so much for all of your encouraging words over the past week while we were taking Hannah's pacifier away. It was fun to read your comments and check the poll every few hours to see who was pulling for me!  However, after 3:30 a.m. on Friday, your votes no longer mattered....we caved.

Wes came home sick Friday from work and got in bed early and needed some extra sleep.  Hannah came in our room at 3:30 and thought it was morning. When I put her back in bed she went nuts. I put her in my bed, which we never do, and sleep just wasn't happening.  Wes, out of sleep deprivation and sickness, told me to just give it to her. 

The funny thing is, when I gave it to her, she didn't want it. She refused it.  Finally I calmed her down, told her it was OK and that she was still such a big girl and she snatched it as fast as she could and slept like a baby the rest of the night....and nap....and night again.... ha!

For us, right now, we decided to just give it back to her completely and try again in January.  I know alot of you are thinking that the hard part was behind me, (although it never really got any better) and that she's getting too big to have it, etc., but we made the best decision for us for right now.  I had a little guilt at first and felt some defeat, but I feel 100% confident that we made the right choice, for now.  My friend Ashley said there's no way she'd be walking down the aisle with it one day on her wedding day - ha! I promise, folks, the right time will come.

From sleep training to sippy cup training, toddler bed training to potty training, this has BY FAR been the most challenging thing as a parent.  Everything else has happened fairly naturally, so when the time is right, I know this will, too....

An updated post (after some time and much more prayer) will be about success! 

Paci or no Paci?

So I'm sure most of you read the few posts below where Hannah was such a big girl and gave up  her pacifier. I've been so proud of her. She hasn't asked for it, but she's having a really tough time falling asleep at night and for naps.  My usual 3-4 hour napper (without a peep) has shortened her naps to 1.5-2 hours.  Her normal 12 hours at night has condensed to about 8 hours.  So that leaves for a VERY tired little girl (and momma who is still waking up once with Ethan).  And we all know that a tired little girl leads to more meltdowns and fussiness.  I'm about ready to cave and give it back, for the sake of all of us and our much needed sleep. 

What do you think? Give in or stay strong?
(Vote on the right side of my blog)

If you vote to stay strong, I may just consider sending Hannah to live at your house until she's back to her normal sleeping habits without her paci - so vote carefully - ha! 

Glasses

My mom gave me some cute little pink sunglasses for Hannah when I was in the hospital delivering her, along with a cute little swimsuit.  I was so happy when my sweet friend, Kathryn, gave Ethan the same exact ones, but blue of course (also with a swimsuit!)

By the way - I don't think this picture of Hannah looks ANYTHING like her!

Arent' they just too cool?

So long, friend!

This week we said goodbye to our best friend....our pacifier. I'm pretty sure I'm as much or more devastated than Hannah. It's been an emotional week for both of us. Thanks to our great pediatrician, we have the whole thing on video.

We weren't sure how exactly we were going to get rid of it. Well, Monday we had Ethan's well check with Dr. B and I remembered that he has a bucket of paci's that he collects.  So that morning I just asked Hannah if she wanted to give her pacifier to Dr. Barret and she got really excited and said yes.  So, we did. Mistake? Possibly. 

Since Hannah turned a year old we've limited the pacifier to naptime and bedtime...with the occasional stretch of the rules if she was sick, traveling, etc.  Now I'm a little worried about how we are going to handle certain situations without our best friend. 

Hannah's pacifier is truly her best friend. Even though she hasn't been able to have it outside of her bed for over a year, she talks about it all the time. It's been a rough couple of days, and it might get harder before it gets easier, but I think we're committed.  I say "I think" because I've wanted to give in so bad, but Wes is making us stay strong. However, he's not here during the day so he won't be here to stop me - ha!

Despite the rough patches we've had this week, it's been extremely worth it to me that she's taken a pacifier for the past couple of years. It's saved us from some terrible times! 

I end this post with a little tear...first the big girl bed, then potty training and now no pacifier. My baby girl is growing up and it makes me sad. But I sure am proud of her!