Soccer season two

We started our second season of soccer a few weeks ago.  Dan is coaching Maddie's team this season and it has made an amazing difference!  I'm sure that having a season under her belt has helped Maddie get comfortable with soccer in general, but having her daddy there coaching has given her confidence and seems to have completely changed her attitude.  She has been loving soccer practice and there have been no tears.  Last season we hardly made it through a practice or game without some kind of melt down.  It appears that Maddie has also started to really get into the game.  She jumps in there, steals the ball away and has been making goals like crazy!  At her last game she made 3 goals.  I'm really glad that she is liking this experience!  I am so proud of Dan too.....he is proving to be a great coach!  I love that this is a great family experience for all of us.

 

Maddie is #6.....in the front with the ball

 

 

Hooray!  Right after one of her goals.

Dirty little secrets

My three year old still has a paci. We've tried at different times to phase out her beloved paci but something always seems to come up (sickness, trips) and it just hasn't happened. There are lots of people out there with lots of opinions on the subject.....some are louder than others but most of the opinions are that she should not still have a paci. The only two people whos opinions matter to me in this regard are my daughter and her dentist (and of course my husband who's opinion always matters). My little one would love to keep her paci but her dentist has suggested we take it away because it is starting to affect her teeth. Which means, that the dentist wins and we are going to part ways with our paci.

This topic in general is very difficult for me. Coming from a 31 year old woman who still has a blankie, still sleeps with a blankie I totally get Charlotte's attachment to her paci! And it's just so unfair. We are the ones who introduced a paci to her.....from day one! We bought numerous brands of pacifiers trying to find one that my colicky baby would take to stop the crying. We gave it to her and asked her to accept it. And she did. She formed an attachment to the silicone and plastic noise reducer and it has been in her mouth everyday since the day we brought her home. It seems so cruel to me that I asked her to attach to it and now I am forcing her to give it up. It was convenient for us until it was no longer convenient and my poor baby is the one who has to deal with the end results.

I understand that we NEED to do this! I don't want her to have messed up teeth or need dental work in her future to correct the damage that a paci did. I get it. But it's really hard! If there wasn't a dental issue this wouldn't even be a problem. I truly believe that she would out grow her need for a paci on her own time. That it could be something that she chose to let go of when she was ready. I really hate doing this. We've been talking about saying goodbye to the paci. We've talked about her teeth and how she's a big girl and doesn't need it anymore. We've talked about sending the pacis up to God so that he can give them to new babies and we've talked about getting her a paci bear (Build a Bear) to replace her paci. She seems excited about all of these things.....she wants to send her pacis to God, and she wants to get a new animal to cuddle at night but I'm not sure she really realizes that she has to give them up. It's a big concept, one that I'm not sure a 3 year old can completely comprehend. This morning while I was talking to her about it all again (I want to go over it and over it so she knows exactly what is going to happen) I took her paci away from her and said that we were going to practice and not have the paci. And she cried. A heart wrenching, big fat tears, utterly devastated, cry. I felt like a total meany.

The paci has got to go. I think we'll be making the transition this upcoming weekend.....the sooner the better, right? But I feel like crap about it. I wish we didn't have to do this! My heart hurts for my precious daughter and this very big change that she has to go through. I pray that it won't be as bad as I think it's gonna be and I hope that she won't be too mad at Dan and I for forcing this on her. I also hope that she doesn't start sucking her thumb as a replacement for the paci.....that I have been told is an even harder habit to break! Wish us luck.

P.S. If you happen to be one of those people who are of the opinion that children of a certain age shouldn't have a paci/blankie/lovie, please know that voicing your opinion to someone who doesn't have the same ideas as you is not helpful. Some thoughts are best kept to yourself. :o)

Blueberries

Blueberries are messy, but oh-so-delicious! Good thing kids can be cleaned up pretty easily....Miss Eleanor was escorted to the bathtub as soon as dinner was over.

Labor day camping extravaganza

We headed back up to the mountains over Labor day weekend to do some camping. And this time grandma and papa came with us! It was another long drive, but the kids did better this time except for the nearly constant asking, "Are we there yet?" I think because they knew where we were going and they knew the fun that was ahead they tolerated the 5 hour drive better. It was a great weekend! The weather was a bit cooler than it was in July (which was nice) the lake was also a bit cooler but was lovely once you got in. The first night we were there we barely got all the tents set up before it started raining buckets. We stayed dry and happy all night and the next day was beautiful. A big storm was supposed to come in on Sunday afternoon and last all day Monday so we packed up while it was still dry and left a day early. I was bummed that we had to go home, but constant rain and little kids living in tents is not very much fun. I can't wait to go back to Cascade lake! I think it will be spring before we get back up there but next time we are going to go for a full week.....it makes the drive seem more worth it! Here are some pictures from our weekend. It's really a ton of pictures from our weekend. I have a hard time picking and choosing what I want to post, so you get all of my favorites! Enjoy.

She strapped herself in and then couldn't get out! Ha.

Maddie was a big helper with the tent

Papa taking a nap

Eleanor being adorable.....what's new?

Maddie took this one

Another Maddie shot
And the rest that she took were of her shoes! :o)

Yep, we were roughing it!

Waiting patiently (?) to roast s'mores

Escape artist

She was not happy about being contained!

I think she needs to be more expressive!

All 3 kids in one picture!
Too bad it isn't a great shot.

She colored on herself

Grandma and her girls

My two youngest fast asleep