Been Clean for One Week

Well one week ago today, I made the split decision that we were going to cut back on the paci. I told Luke that he was a big boy and that he didn't need his paci's anymore. And that paci's were for "night, night".


And for the record, Luke has been having his paci nearly 24 hours a day. The only time he was ever without it was while he was eating and even then, he'd stick it in after every few bites. He would cry for his paci if they ever got separated. Basically, he was never seen without it.

So I anticipated a lot of difficulty in this process. But to my surprise, it went very smoothly. Last Monday when he got up from his nap and I insisted that he leave the paci in his bed, he definitely protested. I carried him out of his room kicking and screaming and gave him a sucker because I am a sucker myself.

He asked for it again and I reiterated the above explanation. I saw his wheels turning and then I could see things click in his mind, and he said, "Paci's nigh, nigh" and I confirmed, "Yes, your paci's are night, night."


When I go to get him from his bed, he is usually standing up, empty mouthed, ready to be gotten. He occasionally asks for it, almost half-heartedly, and is always satisfied with the answer. So much easier than I ever imagined it would be.

And the silly and sad truth is that sometimes it feels like I'm seeing him for the first time. His expressions are almost new because I have not been privy to this view of his cute little mouth, because it was literally hidden by the pacifier.


He's like a new man! He is still terrifically and terribly two! Major fits and major loves. Sounds more and more like his big sister.

The other day, Dan had both the kids with him at the computer and he started looking up funny youtube videos. And they stumbled on to a funny cat video. It's a cheesy compilation of amusing little clips of cats.

So Luke came to me the a few days ago, saying "Pa! Pa! Kitty!"

And though I haven't mentioned it before, Luke is obsessed with ceiling fans. Luckily we don't have any (and he has kind of killed our desire to get them), but if we are somewhere with fans he is insistent that they be turned on. And Pa!=fan.

And so as I stood there staring at him with his "Pa! Kitty!" request over and over, I finally asked him to show me what he wanted. He took me by the hand and led me to the computer, where he pointed and said again, "Pa! Pa! Kitty!"

And then I remembered. I searched youtube for funny cat videos. And I found it. And now Luke is not only obsessed with ceiling fans, but cats getting their claws stuck on ceiling fan cords. Take a looksie, skip to 1:49 if you don't have much time.

cat video

What does this say about my son, that he wants to watch this over and over and over? And that he laughs hysterically every single time? And what does it say about me that I keep pressing play?

Still Sewing

I can't seem to stay away from the machine. In my head I have so much I'd like to be working on (new baby items, and blankets all around), and so much I need to be working on (for those who commented on that tag-1 down, 4 to go!).

But here's the latest:

A woman in my local mom's group needed someone to turn her little girls' crib bumper into some pillows. I thought it was a great idea and I was happy to help her out.

I'm not usually so particular but I really wish I could reach into that picture and turn that last pillow right side up!



I used the little ties as piping on the edges.


And aside from all the original seams of the bumper that had to be ripped out, this was a pretty quick deal.



And then as my first tag item, I made Jill's new baby, Abe, this elephant blanket.


I have been focusing on making the wrong side of whatever I'm working on look as nice as the right side. And I must say I am proud of how the inside of this little quilt looks even though it will never be seen!


And lastly, a little dress for Ava.


I found the perfect amount of pre-smocked flower fabric in the remnant bin for a couple of bucks. Of course just the one seam does the trick. I tried my hand at a french seam, since there was only one. Pretty simple though it did play tricks with my mind for a minute.


I added the band at the bottom and the ties at the top, of course. And it was a success! She's been wearing it non-stop.


To those I still owe a gift-They are coming, I hope. There's this little event in November that may make my goal to finish by the end of the year a little far fetched, but I will do my best. Also, one more question, did you remember to post the tag on your blog as part of the deal?

Part 4- The Finale

This is what happens when I take too long putting up my posts. Other things start happening that I would like to post about but I can't write about them until I finish the series. I gotta put the pedal to the metal. This post is ginormous!

So part of our fun took us to Temple Square.


Ava loved visiting "where Mom and Dad got marry"

Eavan, Roan, Oliver, Marin, Sara, and Ava

And I got one of my now favorite photos of Dan and Ava.

Grandpa and the girls, Rebecca and Kieran

Christina and Bret

The Little Girls-Sofia, Ava, Sara, and Marin



Ava and Marin

Dallin and Marin

The weather was so awesome I could hardly stand it. We went through the visitors center, and walked the grounds. Luke was ridiculous. Honestly, I don't even know what his problem was but he would be fine and happy one moment and then miserably beside himself the next. As was the case for much of our reunion, Grandma Leslie was his comfort.


If he didn't have Dan, then he wanted Grandma. I think it was because she was one of the only familiar faces to him. And because he flat out adores her.


But in a happy moment, I caught this glimpse of him.



And I thought how even better it might be if I could get one sans paci.

This is what I got when I said, "Luke can I have your paci for just one picture?"



Wish us luck as we begin the Paci Reduction Program at our house this week.

We took a day to go down to BYU campus. All of us have memories there, as all of us kids either attended or graduated from BYU and Mom and Dad visited every year for nearly 15 years for Dad to lecture.





In any case, we all needed a little visit. We lunched at the Cougar Eat and desserted at the Creamery.

And we finished up the day at one of my personal favorite places-South Fork Park in Provo Canyon. Dan and I used to take lunch and a frisbee or football up there all the time. It is so beautiful!

The stream was very cold, but it didn't stop the kids from getting in.


In fact, Dallin got more than he bargained for, when he realized just how deep it was!



The football was thrown,




the stream was waded in,




the blanket was laid on,


the grass was reveled in,


the view was enjoyed.




Despite the difficulties our kids had, we wouldn't miss this reunion for the world. I can't count the times in a week that I long for my sisters. Or how much I enjoy the big brother security and love I feel from my brothers. These are my people.



Mom, Dad, Mimi, Geof, Charlie, Benny, Bret, Christina, Rebecca, Elise, Sara, Chandra, Paul, Brayden, Kieran, Torin, Eavan, Roan, Marin, Dallin, Ian, Cristina, Oliver, Sofia, Santiago, Leah, Chris, Noah, Ian, Dan, Ava, and Luke, Thank you for being my family.

Part 3-Pictures and lots of walking

So the every-two-year Abbott Reunion took place in Park City this year. We stayed in a 3 story house right near the Olympic Park. Those stairs made me really grateful for our one story house. Seriously, if I had to live with those stairs I think I would probably drop this baby a few months early.

And the saga continued with the kids as we moved from one reunion to the next. Luke would scream and throw himself around if Dan ever left his line of sight. Ava was officially rude to each member of the family. And this is my official apology to all who came across her crusty path: I am sorry.

There were a few things that were soothing to the kids. A daily walk was one of them.


The neighborhood boasted lots of shade and flowers for picking (dandelions, mostly).



To Ava's delight, Grandma even figured out how to make flower buttons!



And it afforded us all some happy time. It really reminded me how much I would love to live in a more "natural" setting. There is something calming and refreshing about being outside. Especially when it's not 100 degrees and humid.

And on our first day there, while the rest of the family took off to the temple open house, Leah's fam and ours stayed home so our kids could nap.

Before they did though, I took some pictures for them. A few of the family and then some of just Leah.



And as we were doing the latter, we heard little Ian let out a scream! Chris brought him over to show us the damage. The poor little guy took a tumble down the mulch covered hill.


And it was his own mama who requested the pictures!


The last story for this post is really one of "what might have been". On one of our last days, the crew decided to take a hike up Stewart Falls. I am was automatically out because as I mentioned previously, I was already feeling like the ligaments and tendons holding the lower half of my body together went on a separate vacation than me. Luke was out, obviously, which also meant Dan was out, mostly because he felt too bad to leave me with Luke.

But Ava was not necessarily out. I questioned her willingness to go once she found out neither Dan or I would be going, but surprise us she did! She was very excited! I didn't pack the right shoes for hiking but her purple sparkle shoes with some borrowed socks would just have to do.

Meanwhile, Dan, Mimi, Luke, and I had our own "hike" around Bridal Veil Falls just a few minutes away.


I really wanted to stay close in case Ava couldn't make it. I didn't want her to tire out and then ruin the hike for everyone else. So I promised that we would be 15 minutes and phone call away in case she couldn't do it. As they were leaving I kept asking her, "What do you do when your legs get tired?"

"Keep walking!"

So we meandered through the park. Luke was so cute when he came to this little clearing along the river. He let go of Dan and Mimi's hands, walked himself over to this spot and plopped down to watch.



After a little more walking we sat down in the shade with some trail mix and I dialed up Mom just to check in. She informed me that Ava was still just as enthusiastic as she was at the beginning, but that her darn purple shoe was rubbing her heel and making a blister. She was slowing them down because she was trying to walk with her heel out of her shoe. Uncle Chris got her a band aid but it wasn't doing the job. At that point they decided it would be best for Ava to turn back accompanied by Grandpa (Thank you, Grandpa! Though I think he was secretly happy for the excuse!)



So we gathered ourselves and made it out of the park and met the hikers at the trail head a few minutes later.



Ava was still in good spirits.



I was really proud of her. And I promised we would take her to see a waterfall since she didn't get to see this one.



Apparently, on the way up a lady passing the group saw Ava's shoes and said, "Well, Stewart Falls has never seen the likes of those shoes!"

And sadly enough they never will!

Part 2- Pioneers and Butterflys

Pioneer Day was never much of a holiday for me growing up. But we were in Utah for Pioneer Day this year and there were quite the festivities.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don's neighborhood in Midway held a huge BBQ celebration. And instead of being smart and getting in line for food first, we got in line for the face painting clown. Unfortunately, by the time we finished our turn, the line to the food was SUPER long. So we opted instead to hop in the car and go through the Taco Bell drive thru.

On our way to the car I had Madame Butterfly pose for a picture.


That clown was pretty talented!

Now here's where I have to do it. And I will have to continue to do it throughout the rest of this series of posts.

While I don't really enjoy reading about people complain, I also don't like reading people's blogs where everything is always perfect. Mostly because I think they are lying. Because nothing is ever ALWAYS perfect. I just like a nice balance of reality. And I guess that's what I'm striving for in my record keeping.

So, this trip was really hard. The kids were out of their element. And they got tired of it very quickly. It was a lot of work for Dan and I. But mostly Dan because he picked up the slack.

But on the bright side, it was less than 2 minutes into our ride to Taco Bell until Madame Butterfly looked like this:


That was a much needed rest right there.

She wore that makeup for the rest of the weekend and insisted on being called Super Butterfly.

Later, Auntie Wendy showed Luke what I would guess to be one of the highlights of his trip.

He adores playing with matchbox cars. He had a whole bucket nearly to himself. And then Wendy brought out the sheet pan.

She set it up on the bucket near the wood floor, and showed him how it was done!


With every car he would yell, "WOW!" with such excitement!

Our time with the Colton's seemed all too quick. We enjoyed meeting Dan's sister's fiancee, getting to hang out with all the rest of the family, and being charmed by one of the worlds best dogs.

And it's no secret that Ava loves her Grandma Linda.



Prior to our trip to Utah this year, Ava told me the following,

"Grandma Linda lubs me the best. That's why I lub her so much!"