Say goodbye to the NUK!

Our goal these last couple months have been to get rid of the NUK!  Laila has had this since she was born and it seems to have taken over her world and become a perminant fixture on her!!  I've called Laila the nuk hoarder!!  Even though Laila has her nuk in her mouth, she will steal Lainies as a standby incase hers get lost or taken!  Thankfully Lainie has not had this bad of a problem with the nuks!  That is why we wanted to get rid of hers now before it came to the point where Laila is at.

Before we moved to TX, we were going to try and ween the girls off of it.  Since I was at home with the girls all day, the nuk was my life savor as many of you momma's can relate!  I wasn't ready to give it up and didn't want to, but I was going to tickle the idea!  Soon after we started, we found out we were moving to TX.  We then decided to put the process on hold since moving was going to be enough stress on them!

The nuk removal never really got started til about 2 months ago.  We would take it away during the day and give it to them at their at naps and bedtime.  This was starting to work and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!  At first I felt horrible for the two college girls who lived below us!  Laila was sooo cranky, upset, ticked and just plain mad at us for taking away her best friend, comforter, etc.  At one point I called Andy at work and told him I was putting in my two weeks notice!  He just laughed and said we would get through it!  I then requested a raise instead!  I have yet to get my yearly review! :)  Anyways it was going to be a long run!  Lainie has never really shown as much attachment to it as Laila, so the process was going to be a piece of cake for her!

I have to say this has also been a process for myself as well for the girls!!  I was taking away something they have always known and comforted them!  How was I going to do it!  We tried to cut the nuk at the tips and continue each week til there wasn't anything left!  Yeah that didn't work to well!!  I would find the nuk in Normans cage all chewed up!  The second trial run of the nuk cutting also ended up in Normans cage!  We were working with smart kiddo's!  I had two left and refused to buy anymore!  I was getting down to the wire! 

Last Friday as we were playing and cleaning up, one of the last two nuks went missing!  I've searched this place up and down and have yet to find it!  My only worries is Laila will find it somewhere and all our hard work these last six days will go down the drain!  Taking advantage of this window of opportunity, I decided to hide the remaining nuk and start the cold turkey withdrawl!  I totally think it's a withdrawl process!  The first two days Laila kept asking where her nuk was?  We kept replying with, it's lost but we will go look for it in a bit.  That would seem to hold her for the time being and would eventually forget about it!  The first night I worried it was going to be the hardest!  Nope a piece of cake!  The girls did great!  Again we had to keep reminding Laila we would find it tomorrow and she would accept it.  Lainie never really showed much emotion that it was gone.  We were finally getting somewhere!!!  We have been nuk free for 6 days and counting!!

Most of you will probably wonder why this is so important to post about!  If you have a kiddo/baby that has been through it, you will understand!!  Plus I am so proud that we did this as a family!!  The nuk word is no longer welcomed at our house and is usually spelled out so certian ears don't get reminded of this!!  Everyone is different when it comes to taking away the nuk and I feel we just had to wait until it was the right time for the girls!!  The picture of Laila is with her happy nuk free smile!  The picture of Lainie is one that does not include a nuk as she sleeps!!!  So woooohoooo on the nuk removal!!!!  Til the next!  EN

Smile!

It's that time again!  Laila is now 2 1/2 and such a girly girl!  Lainie is 14 months and wanting to check everything and anything out!  We have used Walmarts Picture Me Portratit Studio since Laila was a week old and love it!!  As much as I get their pictures done, this place has been very useful! 

I wanted to get both girls's pictures done since it had been awhile, but I didn't want to take this adventure on by myself!  So I enlisted my friend Bonnie to help me out!  Bonnie is 9 months pg with her first baby!  I'm sure this was an exciting/ funny experience for her!!  I wanted to take Lainie's picture first since she is so wiggly and doesn't stay still for very long!  The pictures were great, however this wiggly worm moved so much I broke out in a sweat!  It probably didn't help it was in the high 90's that day too! :)  But we did it!

Laila's turn was next!  I was thinking Laila will be a piece of cake!!  Yeah right!  She was more work than Lainie!  Not in the wiggly sense, but the stubborn, i'm not going to smile or sit that way attitude!!  I can just imagine what Bonnie was thinking, plus having to hold back her laughs!!  Her little baby inside was probably wondering what was going on!!  Bonnie got a work out that day by bouncy Lainie up and down to keep her entertained!!  Thank you, it was so much help!!  After bribing Laila with a bouncy ball and candy she finally made some smiles!  That and me telling her to sound like a rooster!  In a previous post you can hear her making the cock a doodle doo sound!  This is what I was doing the entire time she was taking pictures to get her to smile!  I can just imagine people's looks as they heard me!  But we got some good photo's!!  The things we do!!  Anyways please enjoy the two links below to their pictures!!  Til the next!  EN

Laila
http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=7fd4fdde-66da-4337-a5b1-606db6021a1b

Lainie
http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=8decdd25-b50d-4de9-9f67-80e0c197390f

I have a "Kool Smile"

Many of you are aware I do not have very much luck with my teeth!  My parents tell me that they could of bought a new car with how much work i've gotten done with my teeth growing up!  Thank you mom and dad, your new car is still running, but with some repairs! :)  If you know my husband, he is very lucky with his teeth.  He will maybe go to the dentist once every 2-3 years.  You would think that he would be in my shoes with cavities, crowns etc. because of such a long time inbetween the dentist!  Nope!  He comes out of the dentist glowing, "what wonderful teeth you have!", "you must brush your teeth all the time!", really!  On the other hand, you have myself, who brushes her teeth everyday, dental flosses, ACT mouthwash, check-up every 6 months!!  But i'm still the "lucky" one who ends up with the worse teeth!! 

Since we are in TX, I wasn't able to go to my usual wonderful MN denstist!!  So I found a dental office in the next town over called Kool Smiles, not really thinking about the name.  As soon as I entered the building I knew I was in for a different dental experience!  Kool Smiles is a childrens dentist!  They are now taking adults, but I think I must of been their first adult client, as I was the only adult getting her teeth cleaned!!  This wasn't an ordinary dental office, it was one that had a playground inside, toys, etc.!  Laila and Lainie would of loved it!  But along with those awesome toys, there were about 30 children running around screaming everywhere!!  I kept thinking about my quiet, relaxing, calm dentist in MN and how I was overwhelmed by all this!  First of all, I don't want to be here, second, i'm ready to jet out of here in a second, do they not know i'm a flight risk!  After a long period of waiting, the office manager must of seen my expressions on my face, as he asked me to come back in the examination room to wait there instead!  He kind of laughed and said he will keep me in a quiet adult area so the little ones don't get to be to much!  Thank you Mr. Office Manager, that was very thoughtful of you!  Not only did he rescue me from the craziness, but also made sure I had a clean chair to sit on as he cleaned it for it seemed like 10 minutes!  But it was nice! 

Still some what a flight risk, I was taken into the x-ray room!  First I need to clarify, I have always had cavities since I can remember.  The last time I heard, you have no cavities, was when I was in high school!  So I dread these things!  Knowining I was due for the x-rays, I could only hope that ACT mouthwash I used before this appointment was going to hide any and everything that may show up!  The x-ray girl was very nice and I learned a lot about her life in 10 minutes and it was enough to distract me from thinking what was going to show up!  After those were done, I finally got back to the hygenist who looked like she just graduated HS!  She was very grumpy and not happy, but as soon as she her my MN "accent" she perked up and asked me tons of questions!  Everyone who came in the room was told that I was from Minnesota (trying to sound like MN in a very bad accent!).  I just smiled and hoped that my teeth wouldn't let me down again!  In the end, my x-rays showed I was cavitiy free!!  I asked the Dr. to check two times to make sure, since this never happends to me!  Yep, all clear!  Was I finally winning the cavity battle!!  Yes, the Dr. told me however, she said with all my fillings in my teeth, the cavities have no place to go!  Well all the money and time put into my teeth have finally come through for a change!!  Leaving with a huge smile on my face, I had to call Andy and express my happiness!!  Now when little kids get a great check-up, they ususally get to go into a toy chest to pick a prize!  I told Andy I would like to also pick a prize, but on a much bigger scale! :)  He just smiled!!  I'm just happy to not have any cavities!!  That is my award!!  Til the next!  EN

Blueberry Festival!

First a little history about this HUGE event!!  It takes place down in Texas Forest Country in the oldest town in Texas, Nacogdoches!!  This festival is a full day celebration of the annual blueberry harvest. Great/really warm growing conditions make Nacogdoches one of the top blueberry producers in the state of TX, with the annual harvest reaching it's peak in early summer.  This event is huge and has visitors from all over the country!

The Blueberry Festival is also known for their blueberry pancakes.  Andy had been talking about going to the festival all week for these!!  So Saturday morning, bright and early we headed into the downtown area to join in on the celebration with our friends!  Of course Andy's eyes were bigger than his stomach, so the two huge plates of blueberry pancakes seemed to be overwhelming!  But not for Andy!!  They were amazing!!  I'm not a breakfast gal, but these made my day!  The girls also enjoyed, as Lainie ate an entire pancake by herself.  She is our eater!!  Laila ate good, but kept room for the treats!!  Smart girl!! ;)

This event was so huge that we didn't know where to start/finish!!  They had vendures throughout, kids activities and animals!!  Guess where we spent the majority of our time!!  The animals!  Laila was so excited to see horses!  She wanted to ride a horse so bad!  So Andy and Laila went on that adventure while myself and Lainie checked out the humaine society tent.  To answer your question, nope we did not get a dog :( .  One, because there wasn't the perfect dog for our family and living situation right now and two because someone, i won't name, doesn't want one at this moment!!  I'm working on it!!  But it was fun to pet and let Lainie enjoy the furry friends!!  Meanwhile, Laila was all saddled up on a horse without dad! (There was a helper by her side)  She did great and got very upset when she had to leave!  But before she left, she made sure to say goodbye! 

The girls also enjoyed the petting zoo!  Lainie of course was thrilled!!  The picture to the left is her trying to get the goats attention and with a little help of the food, she got it!  We then continued on where Laila got her face painted for the first time!  It's not easy being two and trying to not see/touch what they are putting on your face!  But she did good!  Lainie by this time was asleep in the stroller!!  It's funny how many people kept passing by us saying she's asleep!!!  Good job Blueberry Festival!!  You were a hit with the girls and wore them out!!  Plus the parents too!!  We ended by stopping at the Kettle Korn booth!!  It is a must to get a bag before we leave!!  It's so addicting and awesome!!  We headed home since the girls both had their first day of swimming lessons in a few hours!!  The heat at that point was in the hight 90's!!  Still not used to it! :)

Swimming lessons were a big hit!  Laila (a fish) was wanting to get in the water from the moment we entered the building!  Lainie could take it or leave it.  But they both did great!  The first lesson was to meet and greet with the teacher and other kids/parents!  It should be a fun class.  On a funny side note, we were told this class will not make your kids swimmers right away, so don't throw them in the pool!!  Gottcha!! 

After a long day, us grown-ups which I can't believe i'm calling us, went out on the town with some of our TX friends!  Andy enjoyed the night entirely!  I hope to obtain the video of him dancing on the dance floor for over an hour!!  But I will leave you with the ending result of the night! :)  Til the next!  EN

P.S.  the video below is how tired miss Lainie lou was after the Blueberry Festival!!!

Laila, what sound does a frog make ......... ribbbbit rrrrrrriiiiibbbbit!

This was one of many questions Laila was asked today in the car, while driving to the Splash Pad in Lufkin, TX.  Some of the animal noises we asked her were cow, dog, pig, mom :), Dad :), horse and of course, her favorite the rooster!  But the frog was the winner today!  Until now, i'm not sure if she has fully seen a real frog!  But after making the noise, she quickly found out her own frog call!  "Ribbbbbbbit, mom you hear that, ribbbbbbbit!!"  Everyone knows how I feel about animals, etc.  As long as they are not spiders (knock on wood they are not listening!) I will be very kind and welcoming!  So our sights are set to see a frog! 

This Splash Pad was a great invention and a great way to stay cool in this 100 and above degree weather!  I do enjoy nice weather, but man this is really taking a lot to get used to!!  I keep being told this is not even the worse of it!  I guess I will be visiting MN during those months! :)  Anyhoo, this Splash Pad had at least 10 different spouts shooting water out at different times.  I could hardly keep Andy and Laila calm when we got there!!  Good thing we sunscreened up before we came!!  Lainie also enjoyed this activity!  Now that she is walking and on a mission, this was joy to her!  As funny as it was to watch her, she was not so sure of the water spraying out every so many seconds!  As soon as she would leave one sprinkler, another one would cut her off in her path!  She did finally get used to it with the help of her big sister by her side!!  It was a great ending to the hot day!!

Besides the Splash Pad, we have been doing great!!  Since school has ended for the school age kids here in TX, I feel the need to give my report card on the girls! :)  Laila continues to amaze us with how much she knows and has learned.  But also how funny she can be!  The other day, we were eating our lunch and I heard a goose, (Laila tooted).  I asked her, Laila did you hear that goose?  She responded, no mom, it's not a goose, it's daddy!!  hahah made my day!!!  As I mentioned above, she amazes us with how spot on she is!!  Gotta love that girl!  Lainie is on a mission everyday!  Her new best friend is now Norman.  There isn't a morning that goes by, that she doesn't go greet him!  She will sit at his cage, or on it, visiting throughout the day!  I keep saying she is an animal girl!  Animals will always be apart of her life!!  At the Splash Pad today for example, Lainie was having so much fun walking around, when she noticed a dog!  Everything in her world haulted as she ventured off to meet and greet this dog!  The girl has a huge heart!!  Lainie's words are now, turtle, hi, hey daddy, momma and a high pitched scream when her big sister takes something from her!!!  Time flys and the girls are changing so much!  I'm super excited to have this blog to look back on!!  Keep cool!!  Til the next!! EN