No More Paci!!

I've been having internal conflicts with if, when, how, why to wean Landyn off of her pacifier. I've known that babies can soothe themselves after 4 months, but why-when the paci works soooo well!!! We started just giving it to her in her crib and car seat and then found ourselves giving her the little piece of silicone magic when she was tired or fussy more than just at home. We have several friends whose children had pacifiers for a while and Kris and I were really sort of okay with that for Landyn - although secretly and deeply I would love for her to just "go down" on her own.

Landyn's Aunt Dia (Andrea) came over and she injected me with courage and strength to go through a crying fit without it.

So this morning when she went down for her first nap I put her in her crib without her "soother" and patted her bottom until her eyes closed...NO SCREAMING at all occurred and she went right to sleep - for 2 hours!!!! So at this point I was so happy and proud of Landyn!! I knew it was God giving me a sense of peace to know she was ABLE to sleep without her paci.

Nap number 2 came around and that was haaaard!!!! Had the first nap not been so easy, I would have given in, but I didn't! I stayed strong for an hour of crying, screaming hell with tears in my eyes and prayers flowing from my lips :( It was pitiful!!!

But she did it again!!! And took a 2.5 hour nap!! So... my strength is increasing.

Bedtime (which Landyn is pretty good with). We wore her out at Center Court and gave her bottle to her when we got home. I put her to bed and within 10 min of rolling around and searching with her hand for her old trusty friend, she fell asleep!! NO TEARS!!!

DAY 1 is down and I hope there are zero more to go with tears.

I am so proud of Landyn and myself for getting past such a comfort item! I will keep this little paci forever and keep it as a reminder that once - she was so small :(

So here's to you, little pink, silicone, Soothie pacifier that was used by your owner from the first day she came home from the hospital :( Thank you for all of your restless nights and holding up through 6 teeth! You are a champ and we appreciated all of your "suckiness" for our precious girl!

Over and Under

Landyn has recently found that crawling, over, under and through things are a way to challenge her motorskills and movement, I guess. So that's what she does...over pillows, people, dogs, toys; under people, dogs, toys, tables, chairs... If it has space - she tries to fit in it. And when she sees the camera - she starts hammin it up :) I just love this little beauty :)

4 Little Monsters

Four little monsters came out to play,

But Mommy helped the pain go away...

Welcome teeth; Numbers three, four, five and six :/

Shout Outs

As I blog, I realize there are so many people that are mentioned in the stories of our life. We have such wonderful friends and I must say, it's pretty nice having some of them be as talented as they are and swesomely sweet. So I wanted to give some "shout outs" to my talented, generous photographer friends :) If you ever need someone to capture some special moments, give these ladies a hollaaaa...

Maritere Castillas-Rice of MaritereCR Photography

Marisa Heymach of Homespun Photography

Sarah and Savannah Wagner of Freeze Frame Photography

Ashley White of Ashley White Photography

Father's Day/Astros

Landyn shared Father's Day with her Daddy at her first Astros game (thanks to 'Auntie Maribou' - Meredith's tickets).We let Daddy sleep until 8 o'clock while we made him breakfast tacos, a mini brownie sunday and coffee. Then we went to church and headed to the game. Landyn and Daddy were all smiles... She also shared her first hot dog with Daddybut didn't know what to think.

She really enjoyed seeing so many people who also loved seeing her. But when everyone started to cheer quite loudly, she was confused and a bit clingy, so she played with Meredith to keep her occupiedAnd then she started getting sleepy so we went for a walk (only Mommy has this 'magic' touch...) to see Nana and Pops who were also at the game...

Needless to say, we had a wonderful day celebrating our Dad and Landyn's Daddy. Landyn left the game with Astros winning...but when their good luck charm left the building - they lost :( Guess we will have to bring her back so they can end the season with a few wins under their belts :)

We hope everyone was as blessed as we were to celebrate Dads!!!

Landyn's Dedication Day

June 6, 2010
Landyn's dedication day was very special, including our family friend, John Haynes, who facilitated the ceremony at our home, full of our family and friends. During the ceremony we asked God to give us his grace and wisdom in carrying out our responsibilities as parents to Landyn. We pray that one day Landyn will trust Jesus Christ as the Savior of sin.

Our friend and oh, so talented photographer, Maritere Castillas-Rice, came to capture this special day through photographs. She is a wonderful mother to her two boys (her eldest was in my 2nd kinder class) and is expecting her third child in December, yet finds time to get out and put her talent to VERY good use! She has an online shop for her photographs at Etsy.com - you should go check it out!! Thank you, Maritere, for taking time to spend with our family and friends!!

More picture to come...

8 Months

Height: 2ft 4.5 inches (28.5 inches)
Weight: 20 lbs.

Landyn is such a happy girl and has a very unique personality. She likes to wrinkle her nose and breathe in and out really fast, and she has a distinct gargling scream that we call her "Awesome-o-saurus" noise. She realizes now, where she can and cannot go in the house. She knows exactly what to do to get a reaction from her Mommy and Daddy...
She is starting to show that she is scared of certain things, in particular the blender (when Mommy makes salsa). Other than that, she is a very good, happy baby most of the time. She only likes to sleep in her crib - no rocking for this little girl. We have found (the easy way) that she can now get herself out of her Bebe Pod chair - so no more of that :( Landyn will eat anything you give her and like "rebel" parents, we have found that she is NOT allergic to peanuts nor milk products (she loooooves ice cream)!! Landyn does not like to wear bibs, laying on the changing table (we all probably know why...), nor does she like to be without her family and/or friends (although she is a very independent girl who can entertain herself for an extended time). She has a new favorite place in the house - the kitchen (with supervision), loves drinking from straws (and chewing them), loves to swing outside, likes to get objects out of bags, boxes, etc... and loooooves dogs!! She still only has 2 full blown bottom teeth and one upper tooth that is still making its way down. She is still very dependent on her pacifier, but usually only needs it in her crib and in the car - when she is tired. If we are out in public and she is sleepy, I'll give it to her to soothe her, although I hate being in that habit.
Landyn is a "busy body" and likes to be where people are. A few comments that we have heard when picking from our church nursery are "She's active", "Wow, she likes to move!", and "She is so fast!" I picked her up a couple of weeks ago and she was strapped into the 8-kid buggy and admiring the floating bubbles being blown. It was so cute and I'll have to get a picture next time she gets to ride!
As all parents know, they grow fast so we are cherishing each and every moment that we have with Landyn. She is such a blessing and with time off for the summer, Landyn gets a lot of time with her Mommy AND Daddy :) :)