Feeling so torn

All three of my boys have used pacifiers for sleeping. Bub had his until he turned 2 and then we used them to buy a new favorite toy at Target. It worked great, and he only cried for it for two nights and we were "pafa" free.

At our last dentist appointment, we were strongly urged to ditch the pacifiers with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Our pediatric dentist is actually fairly laid back about pacifiers...until they start causing issues. And ours are causing issues. My guys chew on their pacifiers like they're 80 year old men chewing on their stogies. You can look at their mouth and deduce which side they chew on because they teeth on that side are starting to move up and out. Crap.

Now I'm sure it would have been great to get rid of them before they were 6 months and before they were attached. But there are two of them. We weren't even breathing by 6 months. Thing 1 had reflux and Thing 2 had severe colic so we were just starting to sleep. There are two of them. 'Nuff said. So...now we have to ditch the pacifiers to save the teeth.

Don't get me wrong, we're ditching them because I don't want their teeth to get any worse, or set them up for future issues/problems. But part of me feels like a horrible mommy. Thing 1 is really attached to his, really attached.

They are only allowed to have them at bed time, and I have to hide them the rest of the day because he'll go searching for them. The pacifier combined with his rhino lovey is a complete self-soother for him. If he has those two items, he can completely calm himself down (and he has an Irish temper that can flare out of nowhere). Even though I know we need to get rid of it, I feel so bad for Thing 1. I feel like I'm going to traumatize him by taking it away.

It's so hard when, as a parent, you know you're doing the right thing, but at the same time it's breaking your heart.

Milwaukee Weekend

We got to take a great trip to Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my brother-in-law's graduation from medical school. We were so excited for him, and excited for our first real road trip with the little boys. In the end, we didn't attend the actual graduation - even though that was the reason for the trip! The little boys didn't sleep on the ride to Milwaukee and then had a really hard time getting to sleep once we got to the hotel at 1:30 AM. We were afraid if we pushed through a 2.5 hour graduation, there would be a colossal meltdown that would prevent us from attending any of the other family activities for the weekend.

So, in lieu of attending graduation, we celebrated at a fun little kids' hangout we found. It was part Wonderscope (kid's museum here)/part McDonald's play area. But, showing up on a Friday morning means we were the only ones there for about an hour and a half, and by the time we left, there were only 4 other kiddos there. So, it was really nice for the little boys, because no one was running them down.

The little boys loved the climbing play place.

Rockin' the tunnel.

The tongue out helps for crawling concentration.

They had a room full of soybeans for scooping and digging. You could even load up a hopper and dump the beans into huge Tonka dump trucks to transport them. They definitely spent the most time in this room.

Bubbles!!!! They had a bubble machine that kicked on about every 20 minutes. As soon as the boys heard the buzzer go off, they went running for the bubbles.

And of course, they had a train room. Although it was a bit disappointing. When we read train room on the website, we were expecting a bit more than this...we have this at home. But it was a hit with our two, or course.

After graduation, about 15 of us went out to eat to celebrate Mike's graduation at a fun Mexican restaurant. We actually ate in a train car. Yeah, pretty happy little boys; except I'm pretty sure Thing 1 wanted it to "goooo!".

It was a great weekend, and all three boys traveled really well, which gives us hope for future vacations. And we're really, really proud of Dr. Mike!!

School Year Wrap Up

Somehow we've been out of school for a week now, and have had a great start to our summer. But I have to say, we're going to miss 1st grade. Bub had an amazing year, and an even more amazing teacher, Mrs. Faddis. She really got Bub and his personality, and was always able to find ways to motivate him (which isn't always easy). He absolutely adored her, and mentions frequently how much he's going to miss having her for a teacher. We begged her to loop with us next year : ), but I suppose we'll find an equally amazing teacher next year.

We put together a picnic "recipe" for Mrs. Faddis for the end of the year present. She has 5 grandsons!, so I put a big bottle of bubbles in a sand bucket and made 5 Thomas the Train place mats for them to use when they're at Grandma's. And for a special treat for Mrs. Faddis, we added a Panera gift card. Bub was really excited to give her the present!

After our last half day of school, we invited our neighborhood friends over for a picnic. It was a great way to celebrate the beginning of summer!

Because who doesn't love to eat outside???

Even if we're just relaxing and lounging between courses.