We gave up binkies!!!

I know, I know we should have done it a long time ago but I think I was the one who wasn't ready. Plus, I wanted to take it away from both kids at the same time so I think this ended up being the best time for us.

A few months ago I started being better about only allowing Ethan to have a binky at nap time. Although we didn't know when we were going to take the binky away we did tell him a few times that we were going to have to take it away soon. We also told him that we would buy him a lego set after he had gone a whole week without a binky, more as a way of saying good job and congratulations than as bribery. I thought the hardest parts would be sleep time (of course) and church (where we also let Ethan use a binky to keep him calm). I knew I wanted take them away on a Monday so that they had as long as possible to adjust before church. Logan was never really attached. He slept with it sometimes but mostly he liked to have it while in his car seat (because he hates his car seat). Two weeks before we took it away Logan got a little cold and he started using a binky more often. Then the week before we took them away I noticed that Logan was finding binkies and putting them in his mouth for the first time. He normally just played with them in his hands but when I saw him starting to always put it in his mouth I started to get worried about him getting addicted to his binky. Plus Ethan was begging for his constantly and I did not like that. I figured Ethan would never nap again but I decided I would have to learn to live with that. On Sunday, December 30th I made a last minute decision and told Ethan that it was his last night with a binky. I don't think he believed me although he did cry in protest for a little bit. He asked me why so I told him that the binky was hurting his teeth and the doctor said he needed to be done with using a binky. The next morning I took hid all the binkies. Ethan asked for it briefly a couple times in the morning but I told him they were gone. I don't think he was really listening. Logan cried for an hour during his first nap and then slept for less than 30 minutes. My heart was breaking. This was going to be harder than I thought. But I knew I couldn't stop now. Then the next time I tried to take them away it would be even harder. I actually gave him his binky for his second nap so that he wouldn't get too overtired. But that was the last time. I didn't even attempt to put him down for a nap because I knew there would be crying.  During the middle of his normal nap time he started crying for his binky. I told him that there were no more-that Daddy had taken both his and Logan's binkies to work and thrown them away. And that there would be no more binkies. He cried for only a minute or two and I mourned with him (hey, this was hard for me too! Those were my go-to calming devices!). I almost started crying and told him that I knew it was hard that that he was so strong and could do it. I said I was sorry repeatedly. I realized when he calmed down quickly that he really appreciated me being sad with him. He didn't mention binkies again until bedtime. Logan cried for 30 seconds at bed time. I don't think he has even noticed at all since then. We knew Ethan would have a hard time going down so instead of trying to put him down we just let him crash. We got him ready for bed as normal but we told him he could keep his light on and play for as long as he wanted. He came out crying just a few times, and he came out excited to show us what he was doing a few times as well. At one point when he was crying he said, "I want to buy more binkies." I told him that we were going to go a whole week first and then maybe we would buy more. Trent got upset about that, but I told him that I just felt like I didn't want Ethan to feel like it was the end of the world. I wanted him to have hope he would sleep easily again. Finally after 10:00 PM he crashed. No more crying. I was amazed. That was a lot less crying on the first day than I would have anticipated even in my most optimistic of dreams. I think the key was that Logan wasn't too addicted yet and that Ethan knew there were no more in the house. If Logan had still had his binky I am sure that Ethan would have just begged for one of his. This way he had to accept that there was literally no way to get one.
The next two days were about the same. I think the third day was the hardest. He would ask me periodically for his binky and each time I would give him a sincere hug and tell him I was sorry; there were no more binkies. Ethan was getting progressively more tired each day but I knew he would catch up later. Then, on Friday he did something totally unexpected. He put himself down for a nap. Then again on Saturday and Sunday! The worst of it was over and it hadn't even been that bad! Whew!
We, of course, have had him ask for a binky a few times after that (and he may have briefly cried for 3 seconds or so) but mostly he has been fine. It's funny because sometimes it is ME that wants to grab one for him or Logan even though I can see that they are doing fine without it. I am so thankful that it went so well.

This is the last picture I have of both of them with their binkies. Brotherly love ;).

2013, a year in review...

This past year has been one of huge blessings and sweet tender mercies.

We lived our first year in our first house. Trent and I have spent so many hours trying to make our house perfect for us. We put in a new backyard (its almost finished!!), we added to the existing shelf set by putting another set of shelves in our pantry. We got that hot pink room painted brown and blue so that Logan could finally move in. We have mostly organized where things go and have cleared out a bunch of things that we don't need. We even finally put together our living room and hung up pictures (I don't know why we always take so long to do that)! We love this house more now then we did when we bought it, which I think is a really good sign ;). I am so grateful that we found this house and were able to move in when we did. It has felt like a miracle in our lives.

Logan was the first great blessing of the year. He was born on January 6th last year. Trent was ecstatic to add another boy into the family and he has not been disappointed by Logan at all. He is Logan's favorite. Logan would rather be with him than with anyone else. Logan LOVES balls and will already play "catch" by rolling you the ball, him catching it and throwing/bouncing it back to you. This last week he even stood up with a ball next to our little hoop and tried to make a basket! He definitely watches his daddy and Ethan! I feel so blessed that Ethan and Logan are already little buddies. Ethan loves to play with his little brother and he can make Logan laugh more readily than I can! Just yesterday they locked themselves in my walk in closet (which is a small room) and they played in there for almost 40 minutes. Every time I would open the door to check on them they were laughing with each other. Ethan would show me what they were doing and then ask me to leave and shut the door again. It makes my heart melt to see them being such good friends.

It is hard sometimes to be away from close family but in other ways it is wonderful. We have made some amazing friends down here and have learned how to trust and rely on people that we have only known for a short time. I honestly don't think I would ever have formed such strong friendships if we had family close by. I mostly feel blessed that we could find such wonderful people that liked us back ;). It has also been good for Trent and I's relationship. We are each other's confidant down here and we have really come to rely on each other and support each other even more. It has been really great.

In July of this year Trent and I started working about 10 hours a week for a couple in our ward. This couple is amazing. A few years ago they had an idea to make a heat-shrink home canning label. Over a period of time they researched doing it and put the product into production. Their business took off way faster than they ever expected and they needed help to keep up with it all. The husband used to be our bishop and he had worked with Trent and thought we would could do a good job. The wife was feeling very overwhelmed one day and just had the impression: The Spratlings can help. We are thrilled to be working with them. We are learning a lot about starting a small business and all the work that goes into it. We hope to someday to start our own business and I think that what we have learned will help us be successful at that in the future.

We had a bounteous garden this fall and it was so much fun to grow! I have always known I would have one when I grew up but I was pretty impatient last summer. It was so great to see that become a reality. We grew tomatoes, jalapenos, chilis, watermelon, zucchini and squash and learned a lot about what works here and what doesn't. Hopefully next year will be even better!

We are so grateful for Heavenly Father's blessings.

I love this season!

This month has already had so much fun in it that I can't believe the best is yet to come! Our neighbors and good friends, the Grahams, also have no family close by and so we decided that for each others anniversaries we will swap kids so we can each spend a night away at a hotel. We decided to add in an extra swap because Trent's boss invited the wives of the employees who attended their strategic planning session this year to stay come join their husbands up at a fancy resort outside of Albuquerque. Trent attended this strategic planning session last time but Logan was only three weeks old so we ended up bringing him and Ethan. Not very fun. So it was wonderful to get to go alone with Trent this time.Trent's meeting was Thursday and Friday and I drove up Friday to meet him. We ate an amazing dinner buffet (Trent's favorite was the prime rib, of course) and talked for hours with his coworkers and their wives. The people we were seated next to were so fun and I seriously cannot remember having more fun talking to strangers! I guess they weren't strangers to Trent, and I had met three of those sitting near us before, but still for as much as I knew about them they could have been strangers to me ;).

We were invited to a Christmas party put on by some friends in our ward and we had so much fun at that as well. It was an Ugly Sweater Party with some games and a white elephant gift exchange. I have always liked going places with Trent (obviously ;)) but since we have had a kids I don't get many chances to be in public with him without our children. Being at these two events have reminded me how entertaining he can be when he is in a group! He had me and other people laughing at his stories, and no one would expect him to have been the kid to go to detention all the time so I think that makes it especially entertaining. Anyway, it was just good for my soul to spend some time with Trent and other adults and it just reminded me of a part of him that I haven't seen in awhile.

Isn't he cute with his cal-lick combed down? :) He hated it, but although I prefer his cal-lick, I think the bangs lend him some boyish charm ;). 

Seriously though, I love this time of year. I feel like people are happier, Christmas songs are playing everywhere you go, and the love of the Savior is once again touching those who have drifted away during the year. It is just beautiful. I don't even want Christmas to come because then the season will be over. I generally dislike to be cold, but there is a warmth at Christmastime that overcomes the weather and permeates deep inside of me, warming me inside and out. I don't mind winter so much knowing that there is Christmas in its depths.

New Family Tradition: Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

On Saturday we went up to the mountains to cut down our first real Christmas tree! Trent and I both remember going with our families to the mountains to get a Christmas tree and riding behind our dads' trucks on sleds (Trent calls it hooky-bobbing...). Anyway, we want to make it a tradition with our family.

Trent was amazing and packed EVERYTHING that we could possibly need on Friday night. On Saturday morning we woke up and we were out the door within 20 minutes, with me on the tail end grabbing extra things that I couldn't have thought of the night before, like toys and the like (this pretty much describes our different packing strategies). The drive was beautiful and we drove through an area that we had never been to before. There was barely any snow on the road but we did find a hill that we rode down about three times until Ethan was done (poor kid, he is most decidedly not accustomed to cold). We found a place with promise for finding a tree and parked the truck and walked across a large field of snow and ice. We walked along the trees which formed a line between the field and the base of a hill. Unfortunately Ethan and Logan got cold quickly and by the time we thought we had found our tree both of them were crying. We decided that it would not be fun to cut the tree down like that so we hoofed it back across the field and sat in the truck to eat lunch and warm up. Soon both boys were happy and warm. After lunch we drove until we could see what looked like a tree worth cutting down. We hopped out of the truck, walked back across the field, quickly chose a different tree and chopped it down before anyone could get cold! We kept driving for awhile though and found a beautiful snowy area that would be a great place to camp next summer and had much better trees to choose from for next year!

After we got home we spent the afternoon putting up and decorating the tree and the rest of the house with Christmas things. It has really brought some extra excitement into our home and Ethan loves to look at the tree and the presents underneath. The excitement is my favorite part about Christmas. It is in the air. I always feel sad on Christmas Day and I think it is because I don't want that wonder and excitement to be done. I miss it. But, I am grateful to have it now and I am grateful to have such a great family to share it with!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was so awesome this year. We were really blessed to have my parents and Natalie come down to spend it with us. My parents drove down and back (it took three days each way...pretty sure they won't be doing that again ;)) so that they could bring us a water softener and a lot of my stuff that I had stored at home. They arrived on Monday and Natalie arrived Thanksgiving Day at around 12 (she has a new job so she couldn't take off too much time). They all left (driving and flying) around 4 on Sunday. We had so much fun while they were here.

Dad installed the water softener with Trent and was a favorite with Logan. Mom helped me around the house and played all day long with the boys. My parents were kind enough to watch the boys overnight while Trent and I got a hotel. It was the FIRST time we have been away from the kids since Ethan was 15 months old (so almost a year and a half)! I love my parents so much. I know that neither of their parents ever did anything like that for them (I don't think people really thought about it much back then) but I am grateful that they see that as something that would be good for their children's marital relationships. It was a blessing for Trent and I to get to be alone without being exhausted and reconnect a little bit.

When Ethan was under two he would treat Natalie as another mommy. Before he could speak he would go to her like she was his mommy. If he was hurt or sad he wanted either me or her. When he started speaking he called her Momma Two. He would go to her always if he needed his mommy but he could definitely tell us apart (he'd point: Momma. Momma Two.). We were curious to see Logan's reaction to Natalie since the only time he had seen her was when he was 6 months old. When I got back from picking her up at the airport she went in without me. Logan (who is pretty leery of strangers) immediately went to her. He didn't really look much at her because Ethan was doing something on the ground that he wanted to watch. I then walked up and stood by him. He looked up at me for a few seconds. Then looked at Natalie for a few seconds. Then back and me. Then at Natalie. And back and forth a few more times. Then, thinking he had it figured out he reached and leaned to come to me. But almost before I even had him in my arms he turned around and went back to Natalie and stayed with her. During the whole four days she was here he went back and forth to us as if we were both his mommy. Sometimes it seemed he knew I was his mom, but sometimes he really wanted Natalie. It was so fun and Natalie, of course, loved it.

While they were here we got to go to the Aquarium and Botanical Gardens, ice skating, and to Santa Fe. It was Ethan's first time ice skating! He was not impressed at all at first and would NOT let go of us. By the end he would lean on the ice skating bar they have for kids and skate around by himself (but he preferred to have me hanging on to the bar right behind him). It was kind of cool to have a kid old enough to come do that with us. It makes me excited to have older kids that we can take on new and exciting adventures!

I cried when my parents left. Trent and I love the adventure of living away from family and we feel we are closer as a couple because of it but we feel sad when we think that our children won't get to spend as much time around our amazing parents. This was the first time ever that Ethan has had a hard time warming up to his grandparents. It made me sad. He has gotten a little clingier to me lately and I know he just doesn't get to see them that often. It breaks my heart when I think about it.  I know that Trent and I enjoy living away but I LOVE spending time with my family. I always wish we just had a little more time together. I am so grateful that they made the sacrifice to come down. Logan has the cutest wagging bum when he crawls and the best toothless grin known to man. Ethan has grown at least six inches in the last 8 months and talks almost non-stop. I hate that my and Trent's parents have to miss those things so I am grateful that mine could come down to visit.

Funny Ethan

Ethan says the funniest things. I love listening to what he says and how he says it.

Yesterday when we went sledding we went to the same place we went last year. Last year there were people there, this time there wasn't anyone. After a few slides Ethan said to me: "Everyone isn't here." (See how cute?) I smiled, "You're right, no one is here! We are the only ones." After getting home and sitting fown to lunch we asked Ethan to say the prayer. In his prayer he included: "Please bless no one on the mountain." Which I am sure he didn't mean "no one". I think that he took what I had said but wanted to bless people on the mountain. It was so sweet.

Trent is really busy. He works 9-10 hours every day and then has meetings or visits for his calling or home teaching at least 4 days a week. We also work a side job a couple times a week. Between those things it seems as though Trent is rarely home with us where we can all relax and just play. At least a few days a week Trent comes home and has enough time to eat dinner and talk some before leaving again. The other day as Trent headed off to another meeting Ethan smiled and waved, "Good to see you Dad! Thanks for coming over!" As if Trent doesn't live here. Hahaha. We died laughing (and so did Ethan, he loves it when we think he is funny). Now we say it all the time when Trent has to leave. (And as a side note, life is busy but it is good. I am grateful that Trent has a job that he enjoys and that he has the opportunity to serve in his calling. I am only telling the above as a backdrop to Ethan's story, not to complain.)

Family Fun Day: Mountain Snow Fun

It probably goes without saying, but it doesn't snow much here in Albuquerque. Maybe two or three times a year and it all melts off by the next day. Snow was predicted for this weekend and when we woke up Saturday morning, saw a tiny skiff in the backyard and snow clouds over the mountain, Trent and Ethan decided that we were going up. We bought a sled and drove the hour or so to the top of Sandia Crest. The trees were snow covered and beautiful. Logan slept through the sledding but woke up at the end in time to get to put his hands in the snow.

 Trent writhing in pain after he hit a rock (and cracked our new sled...)

 Holding snow for the first time. His face kind of looked like this the whole time...and then he put it in his mouth. Go figure.

When we got home we built our first fire ever in our fireplace. Ethan and Trent drank hot chocolate and played Go Fish. It was a great way to spend the cold afternoon and warm up from the morning.

 Boys love fire ;).

Saturday night it snowed again. We let Logan crawl out in the snow as Trent was leaving for a meeting before church. He loved it...for about 40 seconds. Then he held up his cold hands and started crying. Haha. It was fun for the boys (all three of them ;)) to see the snow!