The thumb stops here!

Let me just start off by saying, I LOVE thumb suckers. They m.e.l.t. my heart! And I have been blessed with 2 precious ones, who oddly enough, suck their thumbs (haha, I just wrote "sumbs"...that's how Audrey says it!) the EXACT same way. Same hand, lovey held the same way, etc. And I love it all!

Except for the resulting orthodontic problems...gappy, buck teeth, deformed hard palate, tongue thrusting, etc. And this is just what I see w/ my untrained eye! So, as much as I love those little thumb suckers, the time has come. Blaine wanted "the time" to come a while back, but Momma wasn't ready. Recently, I've come around a bit. I even asked the pediatrician at Wyatt's 1 yr checkup what he thought about banning the thumb from Wyatt too! After all, it's pretty hard to quit smoking when your family is still lighting up. ;) He said go for it! So we are...

The most common recommendation I've received was for Mavala Stop. Some Swedish brand, that according to all online reviews, personal friends, pediatric dentists, and dental hygienist-friend works the best! It's just some yucky tasting stuff you paint on the nail. Ok, so I finally got around to ordering it on Amazon for ~$12 about a week ago. Delivery date was supposed to be April 17, so I knew I had a few days to get myself prepared (I was nervous!!). When the stuff arrived on April 10th!!, I freaked out, called a few people for support, and decided to jump in. All or nothing, no more thumb sucking!

I painted both thumbs before nap on Wed. Wyatt tasted it, make a yucky face, a spit-it-out sound, tossed around a minute, then went to sleep. He fussed a bit about every hour, which I think was likely when he used to grab his thumb and roll back to sleep. Other than that, he took a pretty decent nap. Audrey had a mini-meltdown b/f nap, just with the THOUGHT of not being able to suck her thumb! She hadn't even tasted it; I just told her she was a big girl and couldn't suck it any more. When I finally told her she could taste it, she did, and freaked out some more, but then eventually went to sleep. So far-success!

Bedtime. I'm still a little nervous. But we paint their thumbs again, and off we go. I think they were both so tired from fitful naps, that they didn't really complain at bedtime! Wyatt did yucky-face-spit-it-out-noise again, but that was that. Audrey tried to tell Daddy what a big girl she was, then cried some big tears, then went to sleep.

Morning. Looking for a real verdict! Wyatt's thumb was wet and wrinkly. That crazy kid, sucked his thumb all night long in spite of the nastiness!! That's dedication. (And let me tell you, this stuff is NASTY. I was blowing on his thumb to dry it at bedtime and accidentally got some on my lip. Ruined the rest of my evening, including my kids-are-asleep-where's-the-candy-snack.) We tried it again for both naps on Thursday, but he apparently didn't care. He sucked it right off. Final verdict for Wyatt: try again in ~6 mos. We know he's still young, but it was worth a shot!

Audrey, on Thursday morning, woke up singing and clapping "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. Clap clap!" (Which she has deemed a pink song??) I guess she slept well! Her thumb was dry, and she said she didn't suck it! (cautiously...) Victory! We have continued painting her thumb at bedtime and naptime, this only being the 3rd day, but she hasn't sucked her thumb since we started. The only current struggle is how long it takes her to go to sleep, since she's had to change her routine. I'm sure that will settle out soon enough.

So once again, I'm surprised and impressed (and not just a little saddened!) by my sweet Audrey, at how she seamlessly moves from babyhood to big kid status. At least I have a little more time with one thumb sucker baby... ;)

Easter music in big church!

Last Wednesday, our church choir presented an Easter program called "The Story". It was SO good!! They sang from creation, through the life of Jesus, about his death and resurrection, and about the final ending. It was really neat b/c there was a lot of audience participation. (requested, not impromptu :)) We took Audrey into big church w/ us, because she's such a good, calm girl, and because she loves music so much, we knew she'd sit through it. And she loved it!

The next morning, she was still talking about "big church." She said "Big chuuuuurch....I singed."
"You didn't sing, silly girl! Who sang?"
"De angels."
(Maybe she really did see angels, I'm not gonna count that out. But she's also 2. I'm gonna at least investigate...) "Angels? You saw angels singing? Where were they?"
"Yes'sam. Up dere."
"What were they wearing?"
"White."

Audrey thinks our choir loft is full of angels!! They really did a great job of sharing the gospel, and Audrey thought they sounded heavenly. :)

Dear Little One

*I feel like I haven't had anything to say the past several weeks. Really, this is the subject that has been consuming my thoughts, and I wasn't sure (still not) if I wanted to/was ready to share. Not trying to be a tearjerker here, just trying to keep it real. This is all about the Business of Being Broussards, after all.*

Dear Little One,
I miss you. Some days worse than others, and this weekend has been some of those worse days. Not sure if it's because of Easter, and thinking about God willingly giving up his child for me. Or maybe because you recently had a precious little friend join you in heaven, but either way it's been a little tougher here lately.

I miss what you were going to be, miss my growing belly, those sweet little flutters from the inside, the excuse to eat, the glow of new life. Your pregnancy was due almost exactly 3 years after Audrey's pregnancy was due, so that makes it easier to keep up with the pregnancy milestones, and harder to forget what should be happening in our lives right now. My throat is tight thinking about how I should by now either be pulling out Audrey's baby clothes for another sweet little girl, or wondering how I would manage 2 little boys, 17 mos apart in age.

Instead, the Lord saw fit to let you enter heaven before you entered earth. Your Daddy and I were talking about this today. I said, "I know God allows trials to further show his glory. But why does it have to hurt so much?" He wisely answered, "Sometimes diamonds require a lot of pressure in the process of refinement." Then we talked about relationships in heaven. Like, will we know each other as mother and child? Will you and your siblings run to each other to play? Are you being loved on by your cousin and your aunt? What about your great-grandmas, are they taking care of you? Right now, I need to think so. Even though, as your Daddy again wisely said, "When we get to heaven, in the presence of Jesus, will it matter?" Of course not; nothing will compare to meeting Jesus. But it comforts me here on earth to think about snuggling you, my sweet baby once I get to heaven.

Little One, I know that you're in the best place of all right now, and that you couldn't be better off, even if you were in my arms. I thank God for the short time that I got to carry you in my belly, and try not to think too much about what I missed with you. After all, none of us is promised more than today. For now, I just have the hope of more siblings for you, and the future joy of meeting you in the presence of Jesus.

I love you so much, Little One.

Momma