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.

Thomas the Train Book

Even though we are fully obsessed with trains around here, we're a little lacking on train themed books in our house. So, last night, I threw together a couple of Thomas books for the boys. I just pulled a few pictures off the Thomas website and covered them with contact paper to add some strength. Although, after watching them "flip" through them for the first 5 minutes, I'm not sure the contact paper is going to help us for very long!

Happy Easter

We hope your family had a wonderful, blessed Easter weekend; our house certainly did. We spent a wonderful weekend enjoying time with family, church friends, and, of course, some fun presents.

Egg dyeing went better than I expected. No eggs were harmed in the process, and the newspaper soaked up most of the "stirring" process. The boys were thoroughly intrigued by eggs turning colors.

We had done several practice runs with empty eggs, so imagine the delight when there were puffs and yogurt melts in the eggs the Easter Bunny left!

Str-e-e-e-e-tch!

Best puffs ever!

The Easter Bunny brought Thing 1 and Thing 2 Elmos. They haven't left their sides since. So, Thing 1's hands are getting awfully full because he's my collector. At any given time, his hands are full with rhino, Elmo, his dog (woof, woof) and a train engine or two.

I love that S caught Thing 1 in perfect running form.

My three loves.

A little post-nap viewing of "Tangled" that the Easter Bunny brought us.

When did this happen? Where did my baby go, and who is this big boy?

More Choo Choos

S managed to capture a few quiet moments of Thing 1 with his choo-choos. It's definitely true love.

This might be one of my favorite pictures ever. You can just see the adoration in his eyes and the wheels turning about what to do next with his best friends.

My Helpers

There comes a time in a mother's life, when her kiddos step up and say "let me help you with that."

For me, that time came in the form of Thing1 and Thing 2 saying, "Mommy, don't worry, we'll feed Bubba's fish for him."

It was really so thoughtful of them. They wanted to make sure Glub, Glub was taken care of and had enough food to last him for at least the next 6 months.

And then they figured, why should Glub, Glub get all the love. Doesn't the carpet deserve a little fish food too? Such thoughtful, loving boys I have ; ).

Feeding My Boys

Most people who know me, know I love to bake - with some cooking thrown in there. That love is probably a bigger reason for me being on Weight Watchers than giving birth to twins. But I do love it; and I love providing my family with food they love and is good for them, for the most part (I mean, I can't really claim that soft, buttery pretzels fresh from the oven are really good for us).

A couple of years ago, I stumbled across this website, Tastebook, where you can design your own cookbook and enter all of your own recipes. So, you end up with a fully customized cookbook with just the recipes you want/use. I, of course, had to have it! My wonderful hubby got me a gift card to the site for Christmas, so I could design our family cookbook. I was ecstatic!!

Well, then my business took off, we got pregnant with twins, we moved, we had twins...

But I finished it! Not until last night, but I finished it and sent it to the printer! It's a great site, easy to use, and the book looks amazing. You have the opportunity to choose your cover and title, and add a dedication page with a picture if you want. The cookbook is tabbed by categories for easy finding. And, even if you don't fill it up on the first printing, you won't be wasting your money. The price point I ordered allows for 50 recipes (the books hold 100), but I only entered 30 recipes to get started. The great thing is, I don't lose those other 20 recipe spaces. They simply credit my account for 20 recipes that I can order at a future time and add to my book. Genius!!

I cannot wait to receive our cookbook and start using it. Each time I use a recipe, I know I will be cooking a meal I selected especially for my boys. And I'm sure that will make it taste even better!

They're 2, they're 4, they're 6...

Thomas Fever has hit our house like...well, like a freight train. Thing 1 is over the moon with all things trains, or "choo choo" as they're known around here. Thing 2 likes them because "big" brother does.

Several hundred times a day, I hear a sweet voice professing "choo choo" as he's either playing with a long train on a track, building a track, or simply carrying around one of his engines. At this very moment, Edward is napping with Thing 1, and has been at his side since 8:00 this morning.