the paci man

Luke's almost three and was still going to sleep with a paci for every nap and every night.
Judge now.  Go ahead.  I can take it.

We thought about getting rid of the thing before AE was born, but it just didn't feel like good timing.  I really felt like he still needed good naps and solid bed times, and I knew that if I took the paci away we wouldn't have either.

But a few weeks ago, when discussing it again, we decided he was ready.  He's more flexible and more easy-going now than he was a year ago.  And we thought he could handle it.

So last Friday we sat him down and told him he'd gotten to be such a big boy and that it was going to be a very special day.  We explained that the paci man was going to come and take his pacis to babies and bring him something in return.  He was all in.

He packed up his pacis and put them in a bag.  We walked to the mail box and put the bag inside and then came in.

He ate lunch with eager anticipation.  He asked about one hundred times if the paci man had come yet.  And over and over again he would say, "I don't know I can do it."  It was so sweet.

When lunch was over, we walked out to the mail box as a family.  Luke took his ladder so he could open the mailbox himself.

The paci man left Luke a note with his gift.  And when we got back inside we read it to him.

Inside the box was a monkey we've since named Coconut.

I would have never dreamed this transition would go so well.   He fell asleep at that first nap without a fuss, but only slept for 30 minutes.  I laid back down with him and he slept off and on for another hour or so.  When he woke up we got to celebrate with a cupcake.

And true to his introverted self, he has not mentioned his paci since that day.  I know he still thinks about it, and I know he's not sleeping quite as well without it, especially at nap time.  But I am so thankful to have this behind us.  And so thankful that he did so well.

country livin'

When you live in the country you can burn things.  Or, at least, you can watch your daddy burn things.

You can sit in your wagon, bundled in your jacket, soaking up the sounds and smells of country life.

You can delight in the fresh air, watch the dog run, and look for deer.

And you can do it all without your pants on.

it's january!

Major blogging fail.  I'm so behind.  But to think about going back and documenting every major event between November and now feels overwhelming.  So a brief recap, then we're starting anew.

We moved into our house mid-December and got just enough unpacked and just enough settled in to enjoy every single moment of Christmas and New Year's.  We had a lovely holiday with lots of time as a family and lots of time with our families and that was the best part about it.

The second best part was the magic of Christmas through the eyes of an almost-three-year-old.
He was so much fun this year.  I'm so disappointed I didn't capture more of this  magic in photos, but I just didn't.  I was too busy living in the moment (right where I should be!) and loving each moment that I really didn't take blog-worthy photos.  But.  It was awesome.

These days, we're still getting settled in and we are loving our new house.  There is still much to be done but we're getting to do it together and we love that.

We celebrated my 30th birthday last week (wow!) with two girl's nights (what!?), a date night, a sushi night, a kid-free lunch, and a family night.  It was the party that never ended.  And it was so fun.

Happy birthday to me!  I'm actually super excited about being thirty and really looking forward to this next decade of my life.  I mean, seriously.  It just doesn't get any better than this.

Or this.

Sorry for the lack of posts.  I'm back, I think.  ;)  And I'm looking forward to 2014!