Permission to Pacify

Stella has always used a pacifier

Maybe not always correctly,

but she's always been a paci baby.

Awww, look how cute and chunky she was.

Well, we had a paci emergency yesterday.

It seems that Miss Stella bit into the nipple on her

one and only pacifier.

And it was not fit for further use.

Being the tough guy that I am, I said:

"Well, I guess that's it then- no more pacifiers."

Except I kind of forgot to consult Stella on this development.

So bedtime came, and she was asking for her "Mommy"

Yes, she calls her paci "Mommy"

because I played a game with her where I would pop it out of her 

mouth and pretend to put it in my own

and when I did that, I would say:

"That's Mommy's"

And it stuck.

So for about an hour and a half

she cried and wailed and arched her back

and threw an all out fit

for her "Mommy"

and I broke.

I put my shoes on, grabbed my coat and 

made the quickest trip to Target

that I have ever made, and came home 

with the coveted Mommy.

And she was asleep within 10 minutes.

Jim was succeeding in the fight against the "Mommy"

but I was weak, and I caved.

I'm not proud to admit it, but I'm not going to deny it.

So now we have to decide how to proceed.

Do we care that at almost 17 months our daughter still uses a pacifier?

Our pediatrician cares.

She lets me know every time we're there.

But I'm not sure I care.

I don't know what harm it's doing.

And it makes her so happy....

So if you see Stella walking down the halls of her 

high school in about 15 years

with her paci hanging out of her mouth-

I tried, 

but I was weak.

SNOW!!!

I realize I've been MIA for quite a while.

I'll get to that in a different post.

But right now, let's talk about SNOW.

Snow has also been MIA this winter,

until this past weekend.

I know that not everyone is a fan

but at our house- we love the white stuff.

We kind of enjoy being homebound during a big storm.

We also enjoy getting out and playing in it.

This was Stella's first real opportunity to play in the snow.

As you can see, she liked it.

She especially liked sledding down the driveway with Cole.

And without him.

Now let's talk about the other aspect of snow that is not so awesome.

The damage it does to our trees.

See those limbs that are full and resting on the ground.

They're usually a good 12 feet in the air.

We lost some limbs on the trees in our front yard.

Well, actually, we lost at least one whole tree, 

maybe two.

Maybe all three.

Here is Cole trying to give our trees a little relief.

I think that shaking them off a bit probably saved them.

Whew- that branch found relief by resting on the trampoline.

There was one teenage boy who was just praying that the branch didn't snap

and crush his trampoline.

It didn't!

Even Though They're Far Away...

Stella knows her baby cousins. 

We discovered her affinity for their photos when 

we received Mason's birthday party invitation today.

(Happy 1st Birthday Mason!!!!)

(And Happy 16 Months to Stella today too!)

She carried around Mason's invitation 

and kept repeating his name

so I got out photos of Kyley and Calyn

and sure enough- she did her best to say their names too.

Mason & Kyley are both easier to say

than Calyn, but I think she'll get the hang of it.

16 months is a pretty fun age.

Big Brothers Are Pretty Hilarious

That's what Stella thinks.

I think that Stella is about the luckiest girl in the world

to have a big brother who adores her

as much as she adores him.

A Busy Mom Will Do....

A busy Mom will do pretty much

whatever she needs to do to keep

toddler hands occupied

when dinner needs to be made.

Stella seemed to enjoy the bubbles

And it kept her busy.

It kept Cole busy too...

Yeah, he's silly

I'm a proud Mom!

Christmas Photos Catch-Up

I thought it was high time I shared some pictures

from our family Christmas...

Cole enjoyed his T-Shirt of the Month Club subscription.

It's like the gift that keeps on giving!

Puzzles

Oh Man! Christmas is so exciting!

We had such a wonderful day spending it enjoying our little family.

Stella loves her new bean bag.

And she loves to do cheesy smiles.

She really didn't mess too much with the tree.

Mostly she just liked to sit near it.

And look at the lights.

She even helped as Mommy took the tree down.

So now we're on to the new year.

Happy 2012

Stella Sounds Off

So, I realize that I've been walking around these past few weeks

as if I'm a person who doesn't have a blog to update.

I realize that I only did 4 posts in all of December.

I actually have a lot of photos and videos.

They just didn't make it onto the blog.

I realize that I haven't shared one single photo of my kids

opening their gifts on Christmas.

I'll try to get some of those on here soon.

In the meantime....

Stella has been learning what sounds animals make.

And what it sounds like when someone in the house burps. 

Yeah- she's pretty much awesome!