Goodbye Binkies

I know, I know...she's three years old.  I was one of those parents who said I would never let my child have a binky.  But Chandra was addicted.  Only at bedtime, but she absolutely loved her binky.  She'd ask to go to sleep just so she could have it.  We've been meaning to take it away from her...for the last two and a half years!! We had several attempts where we gave up.  But now the binkies are no more, and here's how it happened:

My awesome sister-in-law Sally called me one day and said, "I think you should get rid of Chandra's binkies." I told her I agreed but wondered why she'd called to tell me.  She'd just been to the orthodontist with her daughter who sucked her thumb, and was looking at spending $7200 for braces. And they're going to be the painful kind.

I told Chandra about this, and that we needed to get rid of her binkies soon.  That night she asked me for her binkies and I truthfully told her I didn't know where they were.  She got a sad look on her face and then said, "Oh, yeah, I know where they are.  They're in the garbage." She took me to the bathroom garbage and showed me her cut up binkies.  Apparently Bracken had overheard me tell Chandra about their cousin, and the two of them decided to cut them up and throw them away.

She was pretty sad that night, but Kinsey shared her soft pink blanket with the owl and that made Chandra cheer up.  She's named the owl Tweet-Tweet and sleeps with it each night.  So thanks to my kids making it happen....No more binkies.

My Baby and Me

 I took a newborn photography class in June, and loved it.  A few months later I found out the mentor from my class, Alicia Gould, needed a newborn model in SLC, two weeks after I was due with Kinsey. So exciting!  I learned a lot watching Alicia work. I love the pictures and am especially grateful to have photos of me with Kinsey.

Grandpa Rudy and Grandma Ginger

 We went to Evanston for the day to visit my Grandparents.  We love them so much!! Grandpa got Kinsey to sleep and then snuggled her for a long time.  She loved it.  He took the kids on golf cart rides to the train and park, Grandma had made a delicious dinner for us, Glad and Shaylee came too, and we all played Hand and Foot that night while Chandra fell asleep watching Winnie the Pooh and we let Bracken play the Wii. Oh yeah...and the candy drawer...we made good use of that.  :)  We love Grandpa and Grandma.  It's been so nice living closer to them.  We especially enjoy when they stop in for a surprise visit when they come to Salt Lake for shopping or doctors appointments.  It's been fun getting to see them more often!

A Typical Evening

I'm really enjoying life right now.  The transistion to three kids has been smooth so far.  Here's a picture of a typical night at our house...The kids are coloring, playing, and periodically talking to Kinsey.  I'm making dinner, and Brian uses ear phones or ear plugs and studies away until dinner or bed time.  It works out.  We always look forward to the weekend when we get a little more time with Brian.

Being a Doggy

"I've been pretending I been a doggy.  When I'm a dog my name is Clinkly.  Clinkly likes five things to eat. Grapes cut in half, whole bananas, yellow cheese, apples, and Grandma Lisa eggs. Clinkly likes to play fetch and eat out of bowls on the tile." - excerpt from Chandra's Journal

It cracks me up how Chandra talks about herself in the third person whenever she's pretending to be a dog (which is fairly often this past few weeks). When she's a dog she asks us to throw her "gold fetch" (gold necklace) for her to fetch.  She crawls around on all fours panting and bringing us her leash to take her on a walk.  She gets so bent out of shape if we accidently call her Chandra.  "Not Chandra!! Clinkly!" Silly girl.

Proud Brother and Sister