"paci, all gone!"

so this weekend was one to mark in the baby book--we took away m's pacis. we've been putting it off for months, did the whole only at nap and bedtime thing, but we always found an excuse to not push through and take it away. plus she's just so darn cute with her paci in her mouth when she's going to sleep and when she first wakes up. but it had to be done.

so we talked to her about it and got up saturday morning and talked about it some more, which she received with big, serious eyes. then we went to build a bear and let her pick out her animal (quite the deliberation!) and we put her last three pacis into the bear before it was stuffed. she was a little scared of pushing the stuffing pedal, but she was definitely aware of what was going on. she was so serious--just precious! when we finished and walked out, we talked to her about it again, and she said "paci, all gone! my tebby bear, paci all gone." yep, definitely got it. :) all in all, she's done really well. there were big tears before her nap on saturday, and 10-15 minutes of crying to soothe herself to sleep saturday night and sunday, but we're so proud of her. d said that last night she didn't even ask for it before he put her to bed. yay m!!! i told d it makes me feel like we took a little piece of her childhood away, but i know it's best. i wish i could bottle her up right now and keep a piece of her preciousness to have forever. i just love this age and i swear she's the cutest little 2 year old around. obviously i'm partial, but still. :)

this week is going to be hard because it's the first time i've been away from her in 6 weeks. dropping her off yesterday before i came back up to cinci was HARD, and i might have shed a few tears. d called me last night and we had our weekly, sometimes daily, conversation of "we're so over this living situation". we are so ready to live under one roof again and stop the madness of crna school. 8 more months!!! we can do it, we'll just keep pushing forward like we've been. i am so proud of us.

savoring the sweetness...and the attitude

i've composed so many blog entries over the past year, all of which were intended to chronicle what our lives were like at the time. i would love for m to be able to read this one day and read my words describing her at each stage. i've obviously failed miserably at writing them down, but i have been storing them away in my memories and heart for sure.

right now miss m is hilarious! we are so blessed to have such a well behaved baby girl. i feel like everyone who meets her says this, and we certainly know how fortunate we are. i think it's because she's so well behaved that it's challenging and also funny at the same time for her to be experiencing a definite "no!" phase. this is her new favorite word, especially when we are telling her to do something, or to apologize for something, etc. she also has this look where she kind of purses her lips and looks up at us with a very stubborn gleam in her eyes--it's hilarious. sometimes, like today, i'm in the middle of giving her a mommy speech about not telling mommy no, no telling mommy no about going to time out and needing to say "yes, ma'am", and she's continuing with "the look" and saying a very defiant "no". i actually had to put my face on my arm for a second and pretend to cough so she wouldn't see that i was laughing. i'll be happy when this phase is winding down because i hate having to discipline her so often right now for saying no, but i think i'll miss the stubborn cuteness of her little face. i'm sure my mom or mother in law would quickly remind me that i'll have plenty more stubbornness in store in the coming years! :)

beyond the no thing, m is just growing too fast! she's speaking in conversational sentences right now and we just can't believe it. sometimes we have to figure out what she's saying, but most is pretty clear. we're experimenting with going peepee on the potty and she's getting excited about it. not quite ready for full potty training, but moving that direction. her hair is growing and she's loving her hair bows these days, and she likes to have a "sweadah" (sweater) most of the time. :)

d and i are feeling the freshness of spring! the downward slope towards graduation feels closer and we are getting excited. i actually have my first job interview on friday (fingers crossed!), so we'll see how it goes. we'd love for me to have an offer sometime this summer so we can make plans, but most places aren't definite on their hiring needs for next year until october. d's houses are taking off and i'm so proud! they're beginning to become known for their style and location and i can tell they are proud of themselves. they've certainly paid their dues with a lot of hard work and long hours, so i'm happy to see them enjoying it and making such great progress.

that's all for now. i feel like i have so much more i should add to catch the blog up from all my never-written posts. oh well, i bet my posts will be as sporadic and random as my train of thought is normally...poor thing!

we'll see...

so, this is my first post to this blog i created over a year and a half ago. i had then intention it would be a great way for me to keep our families updated on miss m's constant growth, and to help chronicle our crazy lives while i'm in school. best laid plans, but then life took over and i kept thinking, "tomorrow i'll post something". i've written so many posts in my head, trying to describe everything that is going on: how m's doing with it all (wonderful!), how d and i are handling it, the stress, the excitement, the happiness, the sadness, the heartache and the determination that is getting us through living apart for 16 months. i remember d making an excellent point when the 28 month program started. he reminded us both that as much as we wanted to wish away the lengthy program, we'd also be wishing away 28 precious months of our amazing baby girl's life, and we didn't want to do that. we've tried to truly treasure each day and phase, and count our blessings for the time we have together, because we know how truly blessed we are, even with the crazy stress my program is putting on us. i hope to commit to posting on here and capturing m's latests regularly. she's changing so quickly, and i keep thinking each age and phase is my favorite. i remember my sister becky telling me something very similar! :) right now m seems to be growing and changing daily. she's seeming very much like a toddler and not a baby, except for when i read stories and rock her at night, which i will definitely do until she doesn't want me to---i love that special time of snuggling. she's speaking clearly more than half the time and sometimes in sentences. it's so funny, and challenging sometimes, to have a true conversation with this adorable little girl we created. simply amazing! her currents: she's loving elmo, abby and any babydoll still, and now loves pooh and eyeore too. she loves pockets, pink, hairbows (most days) and shoes. she's still a great eater, but is also experiencing the toddler grazing habits. she definitely inherited our sweet tooth, and is always up for some chocolate. she gravitates towards other kids, and is super excited about molly's baby lyla. we're starting to get excited to imagine what she'll be like as a big sister (not yet--promise!). there's so much more to write, but not tonight. i'm tired. :)