Matt & Jackie's Wedding Weekend

Matt & Jackie are married! Matt & Jackie are married!!
Welcome, officially, to the family Jackie! We love you and are so happy you are stuck with us forever now! hehee

Luc did an awesome job as the ring bearer. We weren't sure what he was going to think about it and if he'd freeze out at the last minute, but he bucked up and did his job. And looked darned cute while doing so. I think it also helped having Frederic as a groomsman and an arms-length away.

We drove up to New York Friday morning after rush hour. Six hours later Frederic was picking up his tux and we went to hang out at Aunt Anita's & Uncle Ron's house until the rehearsal and dinner. Luc and Aria became buddies with the flower girl, and were busy playing together during the whole dinner. Until it got late, then Aria fell asleep on me.

Saturday was one busy day. Frederic and Luc had to be at my aunt and uncle's house by 10:30 to get ready and take photos when the photographer arrived.

Then they were off to the church at 1:30 in time for the 3pm ceremony. Luc loved the party bus and hanging out with all the men.

Aria fell asleep in the car ride to the church, which worked out so she wasn't cranky and miserable in the afternoon.

The ceremony was beautiful and everyone looked fantastic.

Dave drove with me and Luc to the reception location for more pics while Aria stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. After Luc was done with all his pics, we went back to the hotel to wait until 7pm when the party started.

Entertaining ourselves

The kids didn't last long. I think they were both asleep by 9-9:30pm. Aria straddling my waist, Luc laying across two chairs. Since they were asleep and content (and Aria didn't mind going between me and Grandma so I could dance a little), we stayed. By 12:30 Aria woke up and I was tired. Dave and my parents were ready to leave as well (the reception was ending at 1am anyways). So Dave drove back with me to the hotel with the kids. Frederic stayed til the end so he could ride back with Dan, who was going to return his tux to the shop the next day.

Don't worry, it's just orange juice.

Sunday was a quick breakfast and a fire alarm in the hotel which scared Luc the worst I've ever seen. He full-blown went into panic mode and started getting hysterical. I calmly got his shoes on and led him and carried Aria to the stairway and outside (Frederic was at the car packing our stuff). Frederic and Dan went back up to get the rest of our things since Luc was too scared to go back into the hotel. We said our goodbyes and left to come home. The drive was easy and fairly quick. The kids slept the last half of it.

I hate saying goodbye to my family. I wish we could see each other a lot more often. And even though Facebook helps, there's nothing like being in someone's presence.
Til next time, NY!

Photo Booth Fun!

Bye-Bye, Pacifier

We decided to pull the plug, the cork, from Aria's mouth and get rid of her pacifier this weekend.
Since she had her burns, she started sucking on it constantly again and now it's harder for her to be without it. I've noticed it's starting to shift her front teeth a lot and don't want her to have it after 3 years old, so we did it.
I looked online for some ideas and saw a post that for their 3 year old, they put the pacifier in a Build-a-Bear. The boy knew it was there and even though he couldn't suck on it, it helped. So I thought that would be a good idea for Aria. And they have a rainbow teddy bear that I knew she would love.
The night before I told her about this idea, and she wouldn't have a pacifier to suck on anymore, and she agreed. I got my hopes up thinking she was all in. Saturday morning she kept wanting to get to the mall to get her "animal". She picked out the rainbow bear, went through the whole song and dance (literally), and even shoved the pacifier in the bear herself. She seemed fine while we were there and walking out of the mall.

Then we headed straight to Bonne Maman and Bon Papa's house. She hadn't napped yet and was getting tired. She cried and yelled the whole way there for her pacifier. Then at their house, on and off she cried for it. At one point she tried to rip the bear open to get her pacifier out. But when she calmed down I told her she hurt the bear, and she kissed it and said she was sorry.
On the way home, she cried and whaled again until she exhausted herself, 10 minutes from home. She slept until 4:45am and then wouldn't calm down. Frederic mentioned turning on the TV to distract her, so we were up since 4:45.
The rest of the day we were outside playing with the neighborhood kids. Nap time didn't happen. She actually took the bear out of her crib and shoved it between the wall and crib, pushing it onto the floor. So I started to think her seeing the bear and being reminded wasn't helping. Later on, Frederic and Luc hid the bear in her closet. We'll take it out when she's over her pacifier and has forgotten a little bit.
The second night she passed out quickly because she was so active and tired from the day. But she woke at 3:30am and started with the whining and crying. We let her go on and on for over an hour until she fell back asleep.
She's a fighter. And I think going cold turkey is the only way. I just hope she adjusts and forgets sooner than later. She doesn't take bribes (new toys, candy, etc) and keeps wanting it. And now we're kicking ourselves for not doing this a year ago when it would've been easier.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update 9/13:

Aria has not had her pacifier. It's totally random when she thinks and asks for it. At night, when she's going to bed, she rarely asks for it. The last two nights she's slept all the way through with no waking and crying. When she woke up yesterday, she wanted her "fier" (as she calls it) and then proceeded to have a meltdown for 15 minutes, while also refusing to put a shirt on. Mommy won. On both accounts. Though she did go into the car without shoes...I'm picking my battles.

The bear is still hidden in her closet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update 9/20:

We're now more than a week without the pacifier. I think we deserve to celebrate. After the first few days, Aria was fine. She asks for her "fier" in passing once every other day. Usually I answer with a "yea, in a minute." or just ignore her and change the subject and she forgets about it. We even traveled to NY last week and was successful with no pacifier. Whew!
Bear is still in the closet though...

Luc's 1st day of Kindergarten

Luc started the big leagues yesterday! Kindergarten. Full day, all day: 8am-3pm. Lunch with the big kids; computer, music and P.E. with a different teacher and room, and uniforms! Lots of changes this year from preschool. Luc loved his first day. He was all smiles when I saw him and asked how his day went. He normally wouldn't give me any details but what he had for snack, but yesterday I learned a lot about Kindergarten.


I did learn about snack time: after lunch, today: rainbow goldfish.
There are 20 kids in the class.
There is a new boy in his class that has the same (!) lunch bag as him! (I'm saying this with exclamation because Luc was really impressed by this).
He didn't nap during quiet/nap time, but he did lay there quietly.
He saw his PK4 teacher, Mrs. Maack. And her room changed and now she's right next door.
When he enters the classroom in the morning, he hangs up his bag in the cubby, puts his lunch bag on the shelf above. Then he has to move his card into a bin to show he's here for the day. Then he gets to sit down and do an activity before the bell rings.
He's classmate, Spencer, from PK3 class is in Kindergarten with him, and he seems happy about that.
He didn't have time to finish all his lunch. All that was left was a quarter of his sandwich. Not bad!

Luc is super excited to go to Computer class this year. He keeps asking me when he's going. (I don't have the schedule yet, so I told him to ask his teacher).
He also doesn't care about having to wear a uniform. He didn't even want to bother changing when he got to Grandma's after school. And he's very protective of it. We went to his allergy shot and he insisted bringing the umbrella in with us because it was supposed to start storming and he didn't want to get his uniform wet.

Aria did okay with Luc being in school all day. She loved being able to play with his new flashlight laser toy. No tears today, though we are expecting it later on. She did say she missed him. She's also a little jealous; she's desperate to go to school too.

It'll be interesting to see how Luc develops and changes now that he's in school all day. I'm excited to see him learn new things, navigate homework, and improve his skills. 

I am also curious to see how Aria will change. She has been with Luc the majority of hours in a day since birth. Even when he was in preschool, he was only gone for 4 hours (half that time she was napping). Now it'll be like she's an only child with Grandma. She won't have to worry about Luc stealing toys. I know she will miss playing with him (when the mood strikes), but I'm also happy she gets some one-on-one time with Grandma and some alone time to play the way she wants.

Summertime & the Livin's Easy

I can't believe school starts in a few short weeks! And I'm not ready to talk about how Luc will be in school full-time this year as a Kindergartner. That will be a post for the first day of school as I try to write a post through my stream of tears.

Since summer is just about over with, here's a recap of what we've been up to since the beach:

Luc being silly trying on Daddy's shirt:

 And Aria being silly trying on my pants:

Eating yummy treats with such passion, we look a mess! (It was really just Aria, who are we kidding?! She's such a foodie.)

 Hanging out with fun Uncle Bill whenever we get the chance before he and Aunt Alice move to North Carolina. :-(

Having some fun at the playground.














Lots & LOTS of biking!

Playing with friends in the evenings in the court:

Walks around the neighborhood and finding things:

These mushrooms appeared after a few days of storms.

Watching Christmas movies because I guess they're ready for some cooler weather...and presents!

Watching the cement truck redo the sidewalks in front of our house. What Excitement!!

Frederic & I got matching wave tattoos to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary.

While Mommy went to NY with Grandma for Jackie's bridal shower, Frederic took the kids to his parent's house for a little "camping" trip.

Me & Grandma

We received the money from the car insurance company to replace the car seats that were in Frederic's car from the accident a month ago. Luc upgraded to a high-back booster. No harness buckle. He's using a real seat belt. I am NOT ready for this!