There is no turning back

Aria has slept without her pacifier for 3 (going on 4) nights in a row. Her love affair with the "paci" has been a long one and it was time after two whole years to give it up. The withdrawal began last weekend when we snipped the tip of the two we store in her dresser drawer. When she went to get one, it perplexed her but she still used it! And then a couple nights later, I snipped it again. With just a small nub she still continued to use it a couple more nights. Then on Friday, the paci was nowhere to be found. We kept low key about it and when she asked a couple times we quickly said, "baby-cousin Felipe needed it." Surprisingly, she stopped asking and went to sleep no problem (with one or two more "buddies" in her bed and 3 extra books read). This weekend she woke up an hour earlier than normal, but that's not too bad. There's been little mention of the paci, which is just plain a miracle! Tonight she came into her room after her bath (this is where she normally yells "PACI!" and runs to her drawer to get it) and then she babbled something that had "Felipe" in it. She is such a good girl. So now, we need to get rid of our hidden paci stash! It's up to us to stick to it now, it's in her best interest if she's not re-introduced (on purpose or mistake).

On a side note, Aria is now in her Junior Bed. We took the crib rails off and she has just a lower-half-thingy that keeps her from rolling out. She's had that for 2 weeks and hasn't once gotten out of bed without us in the room. I know it won't always be like that, but it sure is nice for now. I really didn't think that was possible!

The moral of this post is...I'm constantly surprised at what my daughter can handle and do. Sometimes I feel like we hold her back when it comes to things like the paci. I'm glad WE finally figured out that she can handle the change (although change is scary sometimes for her and us).

I like my big empty office

I work in a large production room (3 workstations, giant work table, large-format inkjet & big color laser printers). And the cool thing now that I'm coming into work more these days is it's still like working from home—my lazy coworker now only comes in twice a week, and for maybe 4 hrs each of those 2 days. He "works from home" the other days. That got the sarcastic quotes because it's questionable whether or not he actually does any work while he's at home. I and others have brought up our issues with this guy to his manager and the group's manager, but the main problem is he does just enough work to appear productive... I could go on and on about this guy. but I won't.

So, I get to play music at a nice volume, and have the convenience of seeing people I need to see, and keep the office doors closed—a cypher lock is a good thing. :-)

Man Nooks

Over at parent bloggers they are having a Blog Blast about man caves. It's sponsored by Bill Me Later. So I thought I'd discuss my Cava Nuveau™, the Man Nook™.
I've talked a bit before about how I'm a collector by nature, but I've severely toned it down over the years. I used to collect comics, lego sets, Star Wars figures, DVDs, and coins, so having a space to display it all would be great, but not entirely feasible when you are married and have a kid.
I'm a musician, so when thinking about buying a house, I always imagined having space for me to setup all my instruments. Fortunately, the house we now own has such a space. it's kinda a nook. my Man Nook™ (insert dirty thought here—wait, please don't).
Being the nice husband that I am, I didn't try to take over the whole basement with my collections. The basement became half office, half music area. Then Aria was born, so it became half office, half play area, half music area—I used to be good at math. Either way, like the other floors in the house, our little girl is taking over this one too. oh well.
My collections are safely packed away where no one has to look at them except me when I decide to open the door to the furnace room and daydream of building the Ultimate Collector's Series LEGO Star Destroyer, or read some old Green Lantern comics in the closet under the stairs (yes, I have done it). These are my other nooks, though not really used. I do have a Man Book Nook™ in our bedroom that is constantly growing...

I apologize for the use of trademarks, we just saw The Love Guru this weekend—he used a lot of those little TMs, and alt 0153 is too easy (I use it at work lots).

Apple Picking

Aria's excited to pick some apples!

Look at her go...

Snack Time (before)

Snack Time (after)

The Apple Pickin' Gang

Aria thought this was so fun, I was pretty scared, and Goofydaddy got a work out...

The next day we made enough applesauce to fill half my freezer! YAY, thanks Mom. My mom fills her freezer up every year with homemade applesauce. She usually shares with us through out the year. I have over the years helped out, but I really looked forward to doing it in my own home. I was a little pre occupied with Aria, so I didn't help as much as I would have like too. Maybe a couple more years and then we'll have another hand not only picking, but helping in the kitchen too. My Mom is an applesauce machine! Thanks again!!!

Aria's pick for President

16 more years until she can vote...

That's Aunt Jennine's voice in the background. She's a great role model for Aria. She always stands up for what she believes in and is not afraid to voice her (educated) opinion. She has encouraged me, countless times, to get out and vote. I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first year I've actually done it. I made it out to the Primaries and I will be out there again in November. I know it's important; I'm just indecisive.
I obviously didn't get the same genes as my sister :-)

School Pictures

We got the proofs from Aria's 1st school picture...

Aria's 2nd B-day

Aria is 2!

She had a fun party over the weekend. My mom's cousin's family came over and Aria met her 3rd cousin, Leah!

She got to spend quality time with Grandmas and Pop Pops!

We worked all last week to get her to blow out her candle. It took like 2 minutes, but she did it! Here's the end of the VERY long video...

Of course there were presents. She loved them all, especially the little kitchen and baby doll from her grandparents. (We got her a wood train set and blocks to balance it out, haha.)

Doogan catches a ride in the baby carrier.

Birthday hat fun!

Aria built "castles" with all the leftover hats.

On the actual day of her B-day we took her to a moon bounce place with Austin! She loved it, but it tired her out.

Happy Anniversary!

Four years today!

Many many more will come. We have excellent marriage role models in our parents (over 70 years combined), as well as countless others in our families and friends.

I look forward to all the joys we will share over the years, and know that when times are not so joyful, we will be able to weather them and survive because of the incredibly strong foundation we have built and are building with every day we are together.