Binkie bye bye update

It has been a long week. For the second week in a row I taught 13 classes. So it would have been rough even if we weren't dealing with binkie withdrawal. She actually had the hardest time in the afternoons when she wanted a nap. The most helpful thing at night was telling her a story. She loves the Murphy stories that my mom made up for us when we were kids. Last night she was out long before Murphy even realized that it isn't nice to leave a mess for the green fairy every day. She hasn't forgotten about the binkies but she is going to make it through. And so are we. But, we partly did this for the rash on her cheek, and the rash is back, even without the binkie. Bummer!

Big Girls have Barbies

Then: Now:

Saturday was Libby's actual birthday. We have been talking about how 3 year old big girls don't have binkies. This was motived by the fact that her binkies have been causing "binkie funk" to grow on her cheek, that she has been wanting them more and more often, and our dentist and doctor have been urging me to make the break for awhile. My mother-in-law also told me of the miraculous Maren who was totally convinced that 3 year olds should not have binkies and gave hers up with no trouble.

So on Friday we went to Toys R Us and Libby picked a Barbie. When we got home we had a talk about how Big Girls have Barbies and Babies have Binkies. She really wanted to play with that Barbie, so I said ok--go get your binkies. She actually helped me hold the scissors and cut the binkies. Then she put them in the garbage can and helped me take out the garbage. No problem...until bed time.

It was, I am not going to lie here, ugly. She begged to give up her Barbie and have her binkies back, she cried, she moaned, she was pretty miserable. I was a rock of parental strength. I hugged her, kissed her and left her to figure out how to go to sleep without a binkie. Then I came back and comforted, told stories, and left her again, and again. Finally about 12:30 am I fell asleep. Eventually she did too. I am proud for her. It was the first time outside of a car that she has fallen alseep without a binkie (and I could count those times in a car on one hand). Last night was better. I hope tonight will be even better. (She is still asking for them occasionally.) I think naps are done for sure now though. Tough stuff!

Future Bikers

Libby and Sarah have been loving climbing on the bikes in the garage. Then our good friend Jen came over with her bike, helmet and gloves! They were so into it! Derek even walked Libby on a short ride. Guess we should have gotten her a bike for her birthday.

Guess who likes Libby's Present Best?

Sarah's Prayer

I am going to try to film Sarah's prayer tonight. It is so amazingly cute. Here is what she says:

"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day,
Help us to have a good night's rest,
Say these things,
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen."

Seriously. She says it with such cute inflection. She speaks so well for being only 21 months.

Trip to the Zoo

Libby walks like Great Grandpa Randall.

Libby and Sarah enjoy a break from running all over the zoo.

All the cousins enjoy the hippo statue.

Great-Grandpa Don Visits

Amidst the chaos of a triple birthday party on Sunday (Sam, Kaj and Libby all have July birthdays) Great-Grandpa Don found some quiet time to read a few stories to Sarah. It was adorable.

 

More Fun with Cousins

 

 

 

 

Welcome!

Derek's sister is visiting from Virginia right now with her 3 kids. We are so lucky to have such fun cousins to play with! (And aunts and uncles to make things even more fun.) For Sam's birthday we did a tinfoil dinner cookout in our backyard fire place. It was delicious! Do you know the secret to keep your tinfoil dinners from burning?

Fun in the Sun

We have had several amazing days. The girls have been really enjoying them, and so have I!

Libbyisms

It has finally turned into summer. Libby saw her first convertible with the top down the other day. "Mommy," she said, "Look, that car is broken!"

BodyStep 80

I was amazed and totally in love with the outfits that turned up at our BodyStep 80s party (and the people wearing them :)

Remembering Adam

Yesterday started out very emotional, but ended up being a wonderful day of remembrance for a fun friend. In the evening one of his friends planned a bonfire at Golden Gardens, one of Adam's (and all of Seattle's) favorite places. On the way we went to dinner at Dick's. So did all the other bonfire friends (we all knew what Adam would have wanted to eat on the way to a bonfire.) Heather was there, Adam's widow. She came over to say hi. Libby was very excited to see her. But Libby has a great memory for people and the other people they go with.
Here is how the conversation went.
Libby: "Hi Heather. Where is your guy?"
Mom, Heather, Derek, Clark--exchange glances...hoping she will just let it go.
Libby: "Heather, where is your guy?"
Mommy: "He isn't here tonight."
Libby: "Well where is he?"
Mommy(tearing up): "He went home to Heavenly Father."
Libby: "Why?"
Mommy: "We don't know."
Libby: "Mommy, why are you crying?"

Heather kept her cool during the exchange, but it made her loss very real for me. If even Libby put the two of them together after being with them only once that she remembers--it is going to be difficult for her to get used to being alone. But I am glad I knew the answers to most of her questions. And I know that eventually I will know the WHY? part too. Adam had another work to do.

 

Tribute to a Friend

Tomorrow we have a funeral that seems about 50 years (at least) too early. One of Derek's best friends Adam Hansen died last week. My first date with Derek was actually with Derek and Adam. He called me the ICE Queen. I broke up their perfect existence of going to the gym, eating at Subway and going to movies. He was one of the Best Men at our wedding. He got married two years ago to an amazing girl. They ate dinner at our house just a couple of weeks ago. He read stories to our girls. And now he is gone. Unbelievable. We haven't heard the offical cause of death yet, probably a heart attack. They know it happened fast. How quickly our lives and our perspectives can change. We are not invincible. Hug the ones you love. Tell them you love them.

Happy 4th of July

We celebrated Aunt Maren's birthday on Sunday morning with a waffle breakfast. It was fast Sunday, but we gave in to the chance to spend some time with two of our favorite Aunts at the same time. I made festive flag waffles. Yummy!

 

Here is a video of our fireworks party. It was just me with the girls, since Derek got called in to work. Two things I love about this video. You get to see Libby being sort of obedient (not leaving the blanket) and you can see Sarah's talking skills (and snap throwing skills).

Happy Early Birthday Libby

We had an impromtu early birthday party for Libby with my parents and Rachel. Cupcakes and presents, that is all a kid really needs, right? She got a princess outfit--complete with shoes (which she refuses to wear because they have the thing between the toes), earrings (which she was a little spooked out by), a crown and dress that she LOVES. The dress is a little big, but that never bothers Libby.
(P.S. I sent my mom and Dave to the store to come up with something to be the flame on my fake candles on the cupcakes. Dave's genius idea--fruit snacks.)

 

 

 

Old New Pool

This pool is old--seriously--we got it for Easter--and in kid time, that's like forever ago. Anyway, it was FINALLY warm enough to fill it! (Sort of--my mom's rule was 85 degrees and I don't think it was quite that, but I gave in.) They LOVED it. They refused to get out. Libby finally got out because she was shaking so hard she could no longer play. Sarah has more body fat, so she lasted a bit longer. She got out and ate, then got back in. I finally dragged out pans of hot water from the house to warm it up a bit so they wouldn't be shaking so badly. It is going to be a fun summer!

 

 

 

Auntie Ray Ray Teaches Style

My sister Rachel came to visit the day before my parents left. It was so fun. We went shopping, ate delicious frozen yogurt, stiffed a jerky MAC salesman, and played with the girls. I think she read more stories to Sarah over the weekend than I have in a month. Sarah also LOVED having Rachel do "1 for the money" and throw her onto the air mattress. She would say "I wanna do Money!" about 10 times a day at least. Today walking by the living room, Sarah asked, "Where is Ray Ray?" It was so cute! Anyway, Rachel is teaching them some great style skills.