up, up and away in my beautiful balloon

::update:: maggie did FABULOUS last night! there was no crying, no demanding, only the pure delight of child who is so very proud of herself! this morning she yelled out "i slept without my paci! i can do it! i said 'bye bye paci!'" sweet girl of mine::

it was time. but oh it is hard to say goodbye. maggie loves her paci. and quite frankly, so do we. on long car rides, long nights, early mornings, man, we love that thing. but it was time to say goodbye to the paci. it has become an unhealthy addiction. she is only allowed to have it in her bed. so recently, she'll say, "i'm tired." and go sit on her bed and suck her paci. i'm telling you, its her bff. but its also her enemy.
the last few weeks she's been waking up in the middle of the night asking for it, i mean, screaming for it. um, no thank you. it has to go. and last night at 4am, husband crawls back in bed and says, tomorrow night, we get the balloons.

we've been talking about the balloons for some time with maggie. and how her paci's are going away on the balloons to help other babies. she was very excited about that idea. but this afternoon when it was time to tie them on the balloons she became very hesitant. thankfully, lots of her friends were outside, so we just went and sat on the steps and her friends gathered round and she became excited. (we're so thankful we have little neighbors!)

it was slightly anti-climactic for the adults since lift off didnt take too well. but we took the paci's off and stuffed them in pockets before the kids realized. then we all waved goodbye and sent them on their merry way. all the kids were shouting "bye bye pacis!!!!!!" it was very encouraging for maggie. and her little friend nathan brought her some play-do as a "congratulations, you entered real toddlerhood." she wouldnt put the playdo down.

so we are either in for a night of hell or a night of bravery for the little one. during dinner she kept saying, "i am going to bed without a paci!" and we would clap. we told her if she wakes up then to hold her teddy tight and fall back asleep. she kept repeating that too during dinner, i think to pump herself up.
and when mojo was putting her to bed she would say, "where's the pacis? they are all gone!" i am assuming we are in for a night of hell, but that little one does surprise us so.


good ol' teddy

proud of herself

she asked us to take one of her pretending to sleep without the paci. so funny.

mojo said, give me a pretty smile...and this is what she gave him

proof

that we do go on dates. that we dress up and go to art openings. that we take walks when the night air is cool and perhaps stop in for dessert at a fancy restaurant. that we can still be spontaneous. that we still really, really enjoy nights out alone. that life goes on outside of books, papers, and exams.

spring is here!

flowers, picnics, walks in the botanicals....spring is here!

groupie

apparently maggie has a thing for musicians just like her momma.

this is sam. his momma and i are great friends. they use to live in the same apartment complex as us but now live where its really, really cold. they came to visit last weekend and him and maggie just started playing together like they see each other every week. sam is obsessed with guitars and made up little diddies about abraham the whole time. hilarious. mojo thinks sam looks like a small british rock star. the beatles shirt is fitting. we love that kid.






we loved your visit kelly! hope to see you soon!

this matches right?

most content place to be

this boy loves to have us carry him. baby-wearing, as the granolas call it, was made for bebes like hammy. he can sit on our hip or our back for hours and be happy. i love it!

easter egg hunts and family goodness

alot of grandkids

sharing in the spoils

she shook each one when she picked it up

daddy helped

by the way...

i totally realize that the header picture is a bad family photo and we are all squinty but i just couldnt look at the wintery photo any longer....so you'll just have to look at the 'too bright' photo of our family until we get another :)

10 months

stellan goes to st. louis

My friend (and neighbor) Missy and I have both been following a blog about a little 5 month old boy, Stellan, who is fighting for his life. We both have been praying for his recovery and have been so touched by his story and of course his family's faith in God during a most difficult trial. One of the ways, other than praying, that people have been showing their support is by taking a picture with his name on it, making it seem as if he's almost there, and really just showing his family that we care! The name gallery on her blog is absolutely amazing. All over the world and in the most creative ways people are holding up his name. So, Missy and I took our kiddos down to the arch saturday morning to hold up his name for a picture to send to him (and have a picnic while we were there). We had such a wonderful time. We all piled in one car which was super fun for Maggie and she even learned some new phrases from Peyton who is a year and a half older such as when taking a picture saying, "cheese pizza!"-maggie thinks thats hilarious. and now when she says something she'll end it with, do you know?
**missy, i basically copied your post.:)