mauve flowers.

lazy daisy.

pacifier detox: day 2.

day 2 of the detox went better than expected.  toddlergirl woke up a couple of times during the night and was unsure of how to get herself back to sleep, but with a couple of stories and a mini-snuggle, she was back to sleep. 

we went overboard with our praise and excitement towards her exclaiming how pleased we were with her accomplishments.  she beamed.  we beamed. 

there was only one little soother requesting moment at what would have been nap time, but clearly there were no soothers to be found.  the result has been that she no longer naps, but we shall see if that means she might go to bed sooner and for a longer rest (crossing fingers!)

to better things (like toddlergirl becoming a big girl),

steph

pacifier detox: day 1.

toddlergirl has used a pacifier.  binky. soother. suckie.  whatever you may call it.  contraption of plastic crap.  for too long.  we’ve known this for awhile.  the time had come.  today was soother intervention.

we have known for sometime it had become a problem.  awhile back we made the rules for the soother “only at nap time/bedtime/or cuddling.”  toddlergirl was onto us and we’d see her with the soother mid-day.  we would ask for her to relinquish it.  she would jump into the nearest person’s lap and announce loudly that she “was cuddling!!”  “i’m cuddling!  i’m going to go to sleep!!!”  11am?  no way. 

the last three days our soother addict was showing signs of serious trouble.  incrediblehusband and i chatted.  a gradual moving away from the soother was not going to work.  it’s cold turkey with this kid.  she is rather stubborn, defiant, difficult, er… i mean strong minded, confident and creative.  so when you’re going to go to battle with this girl, you’d better be really  ready if you mean business.

the intervention began this morning after she woke up happy.  “soothers are for babies.  you’re a big girl.  let’s name all the big girl things you can do now…”  we realized that a reward would need to be given for giving up all the soothers.  (we have a collection of about 10 soothers).  toddlergirl agreed.  she would give up soothers for a special big girl toy.  we bought a fisher price set at costco and upon arrival at home (before any toy cellophane was ripped away), toddlergirl and i walked hand in hand through the house on a soother hunt.  ziploc bag ready to collect, we went on a search that was reminiscent to an easter egg hunt gone bad.  a sandwich bag full of little pacifiers was waved a special goodbye and daddy took it far and away.  gone.  for good. 

big girl toy was a hit.  she played with it for three hours solid.  when it was nap time there were many protests for a soother. raging. screaming. kicking. flailing. red faced tantruming.  i (amazingly) remained calm.  i treated her like the soother addict she is/was.  a lot of reassuring that it was certainly “hard to give it up”, but that she was doing “such a good job.”   in the end, the nap was forgotten about.  “no soother for her, then hmpf!  no nap either!” 

bedtime.  soother protests again. but she had made a deal with us (we shook hands in costco). and nighttime was met with minimal protests.  there was painful crying and salty tears of sadness, but she still had her rainbow dolly to cuddle with. 

the amazing thing was she fell asleep without the soother.  day 1.  done. 

mommy and daddy are feeling pretty happy.   of course, tomorrow is another day.

to better things,

steph

toddlergirl & rainbow dolly.

crushing on curt.

toddlergirl and uncle curt.  she kind of likes him.

nine years.

nine years ago today,  incrediblehusband and i got married. 

it was a day where i remember all the details.  i was determined no matter what (crazy caterer, hot summer weather, contact lens not working, tim horton’s iced cappuccino on my dress, wasp nest in the trees at the receiving line) that at the end of the day i was going to be married to my love and that was all that really mattered in the long run. 

 it was a perfect day.  i remember the smell of freesia, sweet peas, and roses in the flowers.  the friends that helped make the day happen- both behind the scenes and up front with us.  the look on incrediblehusband’s face when i saw him for the first time that day. 

photography was a huge element of the day for us (kudos to designer photographics in SK).  they are part of the reason i was inspired to learn more about photography.  enjoy a glimpse into our day nine years ago. 

my wedding dress being created. 

  my bridesmaids  and i. 

  we saw each other in the morning, before the ceremony.

(so worth it for couple of quiet moments together!)

 

more pre-wedding posing.

where incrediblehusband proposed. 

 

dad and i. the aisle.

 

getting married

(by my dad & incrediblehusband’s dad too- both father’s are ministers).

 

married!

wedding party.

apparently something was funny.

 wedding party posed. 

kind of formal for my liking, but whatever…

why, yes!  i walked in high heels on the railway track.

in a white dress. in +34 C weather.

it was not easy. 

(but anything for the photo).

 

evening light. 

a simple snapshot from the end of the reception.  one of my favourite.

wheelchairs can go anywhere.

wheelchairs can go anywhere.

this… is nothing.

grandpa & grandma.

canola fields + red playdoh

 

mere minutes before this photo was taken we were combing bright red playdoh out of toddlergirl’s hair. 

i was driving along, mildly listening to her mentioning making a “barrette” for herself out of the poppy colored red playdoh.  upon pulling the car off the highway to a gravel road, we found a massive chunk of red playdoh seriouly stuck in her blonde curls.  a little bit of combing and backcombing, soothing of her tears, a real barrette and a change of clothes for her and she was as good as new.  tally-ho, it’s picture time.

touch the sky.