Fireman at dinner

I'm just curious, do you sometimes have a fireman eating with you at dinner?

I do.

And I love it.  We're going through a fireman phase over here and we don't do anything without our fireman hat and fireman boots. I had to draw the line the other day when he wanted to wear this hat outside instead of his winter hat. I think it's sort of cute.

Weeee-oooooooh, weeeee-ooooh, weeeeeee-oooooooh!

The big 2-8

Did you know my husband is a youngin'?  Technically speaking, I might be a cougar.  Love is love though, guys!

Actually, he's just 354 days younger than me. So for these next few days, we'll both be 28.  What's that quote though...."The older, the wiser?"  I will remind him of it.

On a serious note, we are so lucky to have him in our lives.  He works so hard to support us and I am so thankful he allows me to stay at home and take care of our kids.  It was a priority for both of us that I stay home to raise our kids, and I thank him for the sacrifices he makes to make it happen.  He works long hours, sometimes overnight, with some heavy situations that I can't even believe are in his hands (literally life and death).  He's a pretty amazing guy, and I'm lucky to call him mine.

Enjoying his birthday present.  And duh, this is totally the new way to game...

Happy Birthday, my Love!

Pacu fairy

(For the purposes of this post, Pacu is pronounced pass-ew, and is our family's nickname for a pacifier)

When Jude turned 2 we decided it was time for him to ditch the pacifier. But around that same time, his life turned upside down with the addition of Lucy. So we somewhat threw that deadline out the window and gave in to his every wailing "I need my pacu" cry. It was annoying, and the addiction was getting old. We knew he needed an intervention, but didn't know how, especially with a pacu-sucking baby and her pacifiers around him all the time. (Is it weird that I totally relate this to a recovering drug addict living with a user? For crying out loud, it's just a pacifier....but still, you see how I thought this would be impossible, right?)

Insert Pacu Fairy here.

A few days ago I was just so fed up that I started making up this story that the Pacu Fairy was going to come that night and take all his pacifiers and give them to some other little boys to enjoy (creepy and gross, right?...or totally brilliant!) I also mentioned that the Pacu Fairy might leave a toy since he was such a good, BIG boy. (Good thing I'd already done some Christmas shopping!)

So then it happened. He fell asleep, conveniently without his pacu that night, and I did it. I TOOK AWAY HIS PACUS!! (Dear God! I hope he never reads this post....!!!) 

And I placed a huge trash truck on the end of his bed, wondering how all of this would go down.

Flash forward to like 3 in the morning. It's pitch black (except for the subtle nightlight in their room) and I hear Jude pitters climbing out of bed and coming into our room!

 "Mommy....TRASH TRUCK!!!!!!" 

I slightly wake up and see him coming around the corner carrying the darn thing into our room (this is no small trash truck)!  

"Who gave it to you, Jude?" I say, half asleep. 

"Momma bought it at the store!" (This kid is sharp, even at the pre-crack of dawn!)

"No...momma didn't buy it...who gave it to you? 

Silence from Jude

"Did the Pacu Fairy come?"

"Oh yeah! Left big, huge trash truck on my bed!" 

We talked for a bit longer and then I convinced him that we had to sleep a 'little' longer before we could open it. He cuddled with me that night and I swear he said "I wuv you momma" a zillion times (Ahhhh, dying just thinking about it).

Fast forward to 7 in the morning, where we have an awake Jude holding the trash truck. Daddy wakes up to see what was the clatter, and finds a note from the Pacu Fairy and reads it aloud.

"What did the Pacu Fairy say, Jude?" Daddy asks

"No more pacus!" Jude says (impressively getting the point of the long note)

And so it was. No more pacus for Jude. Instead, he falls asleep to the soothing comfort of the trash truck....knowing all the while that he is a big boy now!

The End!

(I hope...)

Ps. We're on day 4 and he's asked three times for his pacifier, only one time in full-on tantrum mode in the middle of the night. Other than that, I think he might like the fact that other little boys are enjoying them...

Christmas-y

Merry Christmas!!!

Sorry, I just had to come out and say it.  I'm just so excited it's Christmas time!  I wait all year for this. I'm currently drinking reheated coffee from this morning (any other moms unable to finish their morning coffee?), watching the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting which has now switched to SNL Christmas (in case you were really wondering, JT is on doing 'homelessville'...who isn't in love with that guy?).  I have 2 kids who fell asleep at 7: the littlest in my arms and the bigger awkwardly in his chair. Either way, they are totally out.  And I had a decision to make: clean the house, or sit on the couch with a Christmas quilt and do THIS.  I chose THIS.  So far, I'm not regretting it.

So, how was your Thanksgiving?  We had the busiest, yet best time in Omaha.  We were there for a little over a week and it felt like 2 days.  Our trip can be summed up in one quote by the one and only Jude, "Wow! Omaha so busy, but so fun!"  Not kidding, guys, he said this as we were driving from Grandma's house to Nana's house.  He followed that by saying, "Nana's house, are you? (He was looking for it as we were driving)....I love all my houses!" Referring to the houses he thinks he owns, ie. Grandma's and Nana's.  He literally had the time of his life.  It makes me sad that it's only for a week here and there, but that's life.  God willing, we will be back in 4 years (You can start praying for Radiology jobs in Omaha now).  Besides Jude bouncing from all his houses, we were finally able to get our little Lucy Lu baptized!  We were so happy for her to be surrounded by family for her first sacrament! What a special day it was. All in all, it was absolutely perfect spending time with all our family.

Here are a few highlights from our trip...you ready for this?

But seriously, were you ready for that?  Who knew I could take almost 400 pics in a week?  I'm happy to report we will be doing it all over again in just 3 short weeks.

Did I mention I love this time of the year?  Merry Christmas to all!