Happy Mother's Day

What a wonderful day to show appreciation for all the Mother's and to reflect on those special women in my life who have helped shape me into the mother, daughter, granddaughter and daughter-in-law I am today.

My precious children and I celebrating Mother's Day!

Will's mini me

When I woke Wright from his nap yesterday he says groggily, "Mommy, where is my iPad....and my flip flops".

His iPad is his leapfrog tablet that he likes to listen to stories on and sing songs with. He naps with his rainbows in his bed...he loves his flops! Mostly because they were a gift from his daddy and he sees his daddy wearing them. Such a sweetheart!

Things we love

 Kate and Wright love to read, but now they want to read to us.  It is so fun to listen to them repeat words from the books and make up their own stories. They love Silly Sally, the Bear Snores on series, bible stories and Sleep Tight little mouse.
They also LOVE to ride their bikes! We ride down to the dock on the sidewalk, at the park and they ride the loop in the house daily. Today they both took some of their favorite (Kate her baby and Wright his stuffed dog) things on a bike ride with them. It was so cute to see them riding around with their baby and bear stuffed behind them on the seat.
They play very well together and also independently. I love watching them use their imaginations!

We also enjoy watching them dance and sing! So entertaining!

Easter

This Easter Kate and Wright learned about Jesus and his sacrifice for each of us and his unconditional love.  They also understood a bit more the concept of "hunting" Easter Eggs and just how yummy jellybeans are! We enjoyed decorating eggs, hunting eggs and eating eggs (peanut butter eggs that is)!  

Bunny Bait that the kids and I made for our family and the Easter bunny. We found the recipe on Pinterest and it was delicious!

All the cousins enjoyed a fun day at Gran and Granddads! They had an Easter Egg hunt and cookout, lots of fun activities, crafts and yummy treats! 

Grace, Caroline, Kate and Madison 

Love this picture of all the Dinkins' and Palmer cousins

Thank you, Gran for our precious outfits!

Easter Sunday

They had the best time playing with the balls in this pool! I love watching them play together!

Spring Cleaning

The Dinkins household has been very busy this spring! Each day brings a new joy and complete exhaustion.

After our successful trip to the Dentist we decided that it was time to give up "boppies" (pacifiers) for good. We had been given lots of advice and we were very scared...In hindsight, if I had known how difficult it would be I would have been even more nervous!!

Dr. Will (dentist) did confirm my fears that the pacifiers were affecting Kate and Wright's palette and teeth, nothing too drastic, but it would be a good idea to get rid of them. So I kindly asked if he would tell the kids that, which he did and they were a bit skeptical. They nodded their heads at the right time, but I could tell they were wary. We had been doing well until January or so and they only used them during sleep. However, sometime after the holidays they (mostly Kate) had started requesting her boppy more frequently. When she was getting tired, riding in the car or around dinnertime. It had become funny at times because Wright would tell me he didn't need his because he "is a big boy"...minutes later if Kate had hers he would come up, "I not a big boy mommy, I am baby. I NEED it". Confirmed: we had a major attachment to the boppies.

A few weeks before Easter we started talking about giving our boppies to the Easter bunny babies, I took them to see real bunnies and they started to get excited about it. We then "broke" the boppies a few nights before Easter in anticipation of giving them up. With a hole in the pacifier it wasn't working quite as well and Wright was done. Kate held on a bit longer, but watched her "big" brother and did give it up as well. So, we replaced our boppies with stuffed dogs that are named "boppy dog" that they now sleep with.

Our bunny bait we made for the Easter bunny with our note and boppies

Napping in our bed on a rainy Sunday afternoon

This transition feels harder than others, but I'm sure that is because we are currently in this transition. Kate and Wright have only mentioned their boppy a few times and it has been positive. However, they are having a hard time falling asleep without one of us in their rooms and once they wake up in the morning they are up. This could be due to their age and the stall tactics that come with toddlers. Just a few we hear nightly..

Lay with me 2 minutes and Mommy, you right here? How could we resist the extra snuggles! We just continue to pray they fall asleep before 9pm and wake after 6am. Everyone said it would take a few days and it is getting better. I sure hope potty training is easier....