A Princess Bed

I have been dreaming about the day I would get Amelia a canopy-type bed since the moment I found out she was a girl! However, it slipped my mind recently and I forgot about it. Over the weekend, we went to some garage sales because the weather was nice and at the first sale I spotted this canopy top blowing gently in the wind!! ;) Before I even walked up to the sale, I knew I was buying it! Luckily, there were no rips or tares and it was only $2. It made my day.

The minute we got home, we put it up! I was nervous that she would accidentally pull it down but it's been up a few days now and so far so good. I've been calling it a princess bed so now at bedtime, she will dive in it and yell "princess bed". It's so cute... I love it. She loves it!

Now if I could only have my OWN canopy bed... It'd look something like this.

Or maybe this one... Regardless, I could get some quality sleep under one of these babies! 
:)

Simple, Yet Beautiful Conversations

Miss Long Legs

There is so much to write about motherhood and so little time. Amelia has been growing ridiculously fast. She is almost TWO YEARS OLD already! (22 months!) She is very healthy and just a blast to be around. Since I can't go into detail today about everything she has accomplished, I'll narrow in on one of my favorites.

She speaks in fuller sentences and initiates conversations with me! 

It's been the coolest thing listening to her learn to talk. It started with simple sounds and pointing into just babbling words. Now her sentences are still simple, of course, but they are understood.

In the morning, she comes in my room to wake me up by saying "GOOD MORNING! Ice water? Cookies?" I don't know where she got this idea of getting cookies for breakfast but she asks me for them anyways. Then she will say, "Daddy working?"
"Yes, daddy is working."
"Daddy come home later?"
"Yes, daddy will be home later."
"Take a shower?"
"In a little bit." And then she will wiggle around in my bed, singing and reading books until I manage to get myself up. I have never regretted putting the crib away around her one year milestone. It was still one of the best decisions ever, so she could come wake me up ANY way other than crying.

She also likes to talk to me about our cats. She knows she needs to learn to be nice to them. Here is what she says, "Give Annabelle huggies?"
I reassure her, "You can give Annabelle a hug. Be nice to her though."
"Don't be mean to Annabelle. Annabelle cry. Don't hurt Annabelle."
It's so cute!

She also reads all her books out loud by describing the pictures and colors or just using her memory because we've read all of her books a hundred times over. She is so smart and if she makes a mistake or says something she already knows the answer to, she will correct herself. For example, "Eat animal crackers?---Noooo, animal crackers alllllll gone!"

Simple, yet beautiful conversations!! Makes my heart melt.

Baby Steps to Rid the Pacifier

Here is a list of reasons why the pacifier has got to go!

1. She is really growing up and big girls do not have pacifiers. This is definitely something I notice when I see newborns in the store with a pacifier. The pacifier is huge on the newborn and super tiny on my one and a half year old daughter's mouth!!  She doesn't use a bottle anymore so she shouldn't have a pacifier. (I mean, come on, I let her carry around her two blankies, pillow, and stuffed animal baby!)
2. She talks with the pacifier in her mouth. I can barely understand her as is! I do not need a muffler.
3. Her little girly lips are too cute to hide! Mommy wants to see that pretty smiley face.
4. She whines about her pacifier mid-conversation usually when it's in her hand OR MOUTH STILL! She whines,... pacie, pacie, pacie... Obnoxious.
5. She loses her pacifier a lot. Then will whine some more about it.
6. She uses two pacifiers at once. Not all the time... but enough times to add it to the list. She is definitely a silly one.

I've been thinking about taking away the pacifier for quite some time now. Last night after listening to her whine about her pacie and talk with it in her mouth for a good half hour, I was over it! She set her two pacifiers down and went to grab some books. Guess what I did? I snuck over and stole them. Then I hid them!! Muahahahaa!

Shortly after, she started whining about her pacie again.
I told her, "PACIE GO BUH BYE. PACIE ALL GONE."

You'd think she would have started to cry... but no! She simply repeated what I said, "Pacie go buh bye. Pacie Allllll goooonnnnnnnnnnne." She said it so stinkin' cute and then returned to playing with her toys.

Once again, she asked, "Pacie?"
I repeated, "Pacie go buh bye. Pacie all gone!" And she just waved buh bye and said,"Pacie alllll goonnnnnee!"

No whining. No crying. She returned to playing with her toys AGAIN.

I have been repeating this over and over for 24 hours now. She did not need the pacifier for naptime yesterday, bedtime, and naptime again today. She did GREAT!

Today, I also stole my mom's secret pacie stash at her house and told her my apparently super mean plan to rid the pacifier. I only halfway have her support. Regardless, I'm on a mission. I hope it works!!

Briefing on the baby steps to rid the pacifier:

1. Steal the pacifier when the toddler is not looking.
2. Hide it.
3. Tell the toddler that the pacifier has gone bye bye
4. Continuously repeat step 4
5. Pray for the best & don't let yourself feel guilty!

I will let you know if my plan works permanently in time! :)
Best of luck to you!