The Problem with Pacifiers

For the majority of the girls' life, I thought that pacifiers were the greatest gift to moms ever. These days, they are the bain of my existence. Around the time the girls turned one, they gradually started to want them less and less during the day (still a much needed staple at night). I quietly congratulated myself as a mom for whatever I had done to cause this easy transition to get rid of them completely. I never gave them a "nickname" because, in my mind, they would be something completely eliminated by the time the girls could even talk. 

Enter, Sophie and Campbell at 18 months and referring to their beloved "paci" 238,876 times a day.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the pacifier became Sophie and Campbell's BFF. All of a sudden they were running around yelling for their "paci" and throwing huge fits when they couldn't find it, ripping it out of each other's mouth, and making it impossible to leave the house without one. What the what?? I suddenly began envisioning that creepy 5 year old on toddlers and tiaras that screams obscenities at her mom until she caves in and gives her her pacifier (that she has some weird name for). What will I be doing next? Taking them to get spray tanned? 

So around 15 months, I told Kyle that we absolutely need to make the paci a nap and bedtime only toy. He agreed. Until 15 minutes later when Campbell was throwing a royal fit and I look over to see her sitting quietly, pacifier in mouth. 

That, my friends, is successful parenting teamwork at its finest. 

So here we are, 6 months shy of being two year olds, and finally making some headway in operation adios pacifier. For the most part, the girls now only get their pacis at nap, bed time, and occasionally in the car. Or...

...Sophie gets creative and decides to re-purpose one of her puzzle pieces. She walked around with this in her mouth for a good 15 minutes before she plucked it out, gave me a huge, ornery grin, and exclaimed "paci!" Can I ever win?

So it appears the only solution to this dilemma is that weakling daddy Kyle and I prepare for a few days of tantrums and tears until the pacifier is a distant memory...or until baby brother and his wee pacifier enter the picture in a few months and we re-visit the trauma. 

Will it ever end? 

xoxo

A Book for my Favorite Moms

Dear mom friends, I can't recommend this book highly enough to you. I stumbled upon this book through another mom friend, and all I can say is WOW. This mom isn't like the other cheezy, well-intended moms who seek out to write a series of devotionals to motivate and encourage you. Not that I'm saying all other "mom devotionals" are bad, I've just started and not finished a few due to the fact that I felt absolutely no connection to what the author was saying. This one however, hits the nail on the head. As someone who is constantly seeking out other inspirational moms to pull strength from, I can wholeheartedly say that her words always seem to be exactly what I'm needing to hear. She is hilarious, candid, and abruptly honest about our struggles and joys as moms. And of course weaving in scripture and how God wants to be a part of this chaos of motherhood while gently guiding us through it. It is not "preachy." It is not unrelatable. It is not long and drawn out. In short, it's a bit of pure delight each day. Literally every passage I read I want to photocopy and share with every mom I know to motivate and encourage them. As a bonus, I found it on Amazon for a whopping $2.00! No excuses, ladies. 

For now, I'll share with you a particularly great excerpt from the one I read this morning:

"When I became a mom, 'servanthood' took on a whole new meaning. In our family, we decided I would be the one to change my daily life and stay at home with the babies. But when I took that as my identity, I developed a sense of entitlement and did a lot of waiting around for credit. I held the emotional position that I was doing everyone a favor. This top-down perspective tainted everything, because if I wasn't perfectly appreciated, adequately recognized, or verbally praised (and what mom is?), then I became the wounded martyr who was always disgruntled.

Jesus transformed my idea of "being the greatest." It's not about receiving credit or being popular. It has nothing to do with position or power or getting our just due. Greatness does not come from recognition or the praises of others. True greatness comes to us through the back door of servanthood."

Ouch. The word "disgruntled" unfortunately describes my attitude a lot of days.  

And one more to leave you with:

"Motherhood is like a pitcher with a hole in the bottom: a constant drain on our energy, patience, and tolerance. Every mom who is telling the truth would attest to that. Add something like a child with autism, single motherhood, a financial crisis, or a crumbling marriage, and it's a wonder we have anything left to give." 

If that isn't truthful, I don't know what is. She goes on to talk about how important it is for moms (and really everyone in general) to have a well of strength and goodness to draw from throughout our days. And when our well is dry, our actions reflect it (screaming at our children, losing patience at the drop of a hat...you know, those experiences I have on a near daily basis?)

So please, please get your hands on this if you're needing to hear her wonderful words as much as me. 

xoxo

Easter 2012

Easter was quite a different experience than last year. Although the girls looked equally as cute in their Easter get ups, it was a lot of fun watching them enjoy all the festivities this year. By the end of the weekend, they had successfully figured out that eggs contain any number of goodies and would violently shake any egg they found in hopes it would explode with some type of treat (and did I mention, scream in anguish when an egg did not contain a treat?). I think by the time it was all said and done, the girls attended a grand total of 4 Easter egg hunts. Whew! Overall, we had a wonderful weekend filled with family and celebrating the love of our savior. 

Campbell at the school Easter egg hunt.

Shocker...Sophie has already consumed whatever treat was in the egg.

Sophie playing with one of her Easter basket goodies.

Saturday afternoon we ventured to Taloga. The girls got their first experience seeing cows live and in person. They love pointing out cows in their books and saying "Moooo", so it was really funny watching them observe them in person. Like with the ducks at Hafer, Sophie couldn't get enough, and Campbell was luke warm about them. 

Papa and Campbell

Daddy and Campbell hanging out at the fishing pond.

Sophie riding the tractor at Nana and Papa's

Sophie and I hunting eggs

Easter Sunday with our handsome cousins at Bubba and Gigi's new house

Yay for Easter!

Sophie taking a break mid-hunt for a chocolate snack.

Working hard on getting it open.

Hope all of you had a happy and blessed Easter!

xoxo

Hug It Out

Boy oh boy do these girls love to hug it out.

Please excuse my goofy/annoying giggling in the background. :)

xoxo

The Stork Reality

If you remember the guest post I did for my friend, Malena's, blog a few weeks back, I thought I'd let you all know that her newest (re-released) book, The Stork Reality, is only $2.99 in Kindle store through Mother's Day (link HERE). I bought the paper back since I'm not cool and don't have a Kindle and am about 3/4 of the way through it. Seriously, if you are looking for a funny, completely relatable book about being a mom/pregnant, this would be a great, fun summery read.

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Lately Kyle has been calling Sophie, "little Roo" (For those of you who weren't friends with me in elementary school, "Roo" is a nickname my close friends and family call me). I can't deny when looking back at my baby pics that it's a pretty fitting description of her. Although she definitely got her daddy's dimple chin, red hair, and undeniable orneriness, she is her mama's girl. :)

Aden and Anais New Product

So I still have no idea how to properly pronounce this wonderful baby product brand, but nonetheless, they have now come out with A & A fitted crib sheets. If my girls could articulate a full sentence, they would demand I order these for them right away. Since they have made their swaddle blankets their "blankies", this would probably be a step away from heaven for them. I'm toying with getting one for baby boy's crib. This one is my fave...

Bonus: They are made from that awesome cotton muslin the blankets are made out of. Maybe they'll decide to make them in adult king bed size? Aaahhhh....

xoxo