I need your opinion.....

So as you may have read a while back, here , I took Brynn's blankie away except at bedtimes. She did really well with it and was good for several weeks.

In the last week or so, though, she's been kind of a mess. She begs for it constantly, stays in bed long after I woken her just so she can snuggle with it, cries easily, extra clingy, etc. I was reading in my Parents magazine about "Raising a confident, independent child," and it mentions to let them have their lovey as long as they need them. So I'm confused now. We took it away in hopes it would decrease her thumb sucking, which it does, but I don't want her to become more fearful, etc....

What do you think? Would I totally be confusing her, regressing, letting her get her way if I gave it back to her now? Also Bella gave hers up with no problem (but she's always been more independent, outgoing, and less attached to us than Brynn) and will she feel shafted if Brynn gets her back?

The hubs and I are leaning on the side of giving it back to her for a while but I wanted some advice from my fellow mommy friends!

Oh the struggles of parenthood!

See Honey.......

..... minivans really ARE cool! : )

Baby Names....

Isabella Kathryn

Bryanna Karina

I just love their names. They're so beautiful to me.

We're having the toughest time!! We had Bella and Brynn's name already in mind before we even had either of them, never did I imagine I'd have to come up with 3 adorable girl names!

I'm very torn with Little Bean. Do we stick with the B theme or go a different direction? Will she feel left out? Technically Bella is Isabella so if we do another B name will Bella feel left out? Names are such a big deal, so permanent. I change my mind and want change everything so often I have to make sure its a name I'll love forever.

Here are some "rules" I'd like to try to stick with:

*I love long names so she can have a nickname- always drove me crazy I didn't have one

*I'd like the long name to be a beautiful but not uncommon name and the nickname to be more unique- I always hated that my name was so unusual and I could never find my name anywhere and, at the time of course, Bella and Brynn were more unique but I can find Isabella anywhere, although Bryanna (at least spelled this way) is harder.

*We're not tied to a B name but it would be preferred. A long name that starts with whatever but then the nickname starts with B would be awesome, can you think of any!?

*We are considering Yvonne for her middle name- after my grandma that passed away at the end of Feb.- so it would have to flow nice with that name and our last of course.

Here are some names I'm mulling over:

Braelyn- but what is a good nickname?

Bryleigh- but again nickname?

Brooklyn-Brook- but the hubs isn't crazy about this since we have no ties to the city of Brooklyn

Brylind- hubs suggested this with maybe Brylie as the nickname? Just not sure about Brylind...

Brittany- nickname Britta (but of course the hubs points out this is a name of a water filter- this is probably my top pick right now)

And then some other none B names:

Emmalyn-Emma- this was one of our favorite names before Bella was born and means a lot to us since we're both Swedish but then TV Friends (Ross and Rachel) went and had a baby Emma and it got way popular, I thought making her full name Emmalyn could make it more unique-this is also one of my favorites but then its not a B and it is super popular.....

Alexandra- Lexie or Lexa

Shailey/Shaely- Shai/Shae

Reese

Vienna- I LOVE this name, I was born there and I thought it would be special since it begins with V like the hub's name but then the Bachelor went and ruined it, Hubs was never crazy about it and now I'm sure he really isn't!

I don't know guys, help!

Little Bean Update....

Dear Little Bean,

Hi my littlest bean. Yesterday I got to hear your sweet little heart beat. Beating strong in the 150s. I am measuring right where I need to be but they are going to monitor it closely to make sure I stay that way. You have officially helped me gain 11 pounds. I was just mentioning this to another blogger friend, even though you're suppose to gain weight for some reason its hard for us mommies to wrap our heads around that concept, thanks to our society. I'm "ok" with it but my only fear is passing up your daddy's weight. :) I haven't done it yet, although came dangerously close with Brynn (darn skinny man), with the last two pregnancies so just help me out there, k. : ) No, no all kidding aside, just grow, grow, grow and continue to be healthy. In 3 weeks mommy has to get her lovely Rogam (sp.?) shot since apparently daddy and my blood don't mesh : ) and do the oh so tasty sugar test. And they said the appointment after that we can go ahead and schedule your birthday! Woohoo! You are officially big enough now that every day things are getting quite a bit more complicated to do. Bending over, carrying my babies, shaving, tying shoes, changing positions at night, and you know just getting up are just some of the things. : ) No, no overall I'm feeling great and enjoying my precious little bump (your daddy especially likes my bump- said I make a cute pregnant lady, such a sweetie). Gotta enjoy it before I'm huge right?! : ) Sleep is going ok. I'm up twice for potty breaks but other than that I'm able to sleep peacefully. Although, I have been having crazy dreams this time. The other night I dreamt I gave birth to twin, red headed, one year olds. Yeah, I don't know either. Anyway, I am very thankful that these are my only woes and I will never take any of it for granted. I'm just enjoying feeling you kick and move like a crazy woman inside of me!

I'm almost 26 weeks now but I took this pic back at 24 1/2 weeks

Excuse my lovely pic, I took it after a wonderful 7 hour trip back from MN and I was pooped!

Wordless Wednesday- Our encounter with a water table......

Even on the bad days....

Even though we have our bad days, these two precious girls can always make me smile!

In general (NOT always by any means) they play so sweetly together. One of their big games right now is playing house in their club house. Bella also has been on the kick of having to wear these sunglasses where the shades have fallen out. I snapped these pics several days ago, you know back when we knew what warm weather and sunshine felt/looked like! : )

Apparently this is how they clean house, hence why I just do it myself! : )

A sweet moment caught....

While we were visiting my grandpa last weekend, the hubs and I caught the girls sweetly entertaining themselves during some down time we had. We found Bella reading Cinderella to her baby sister. Be still my heart! I of course immediately grabbed my camera to capture the moment. : )

Bella reads to Brynn from Barclay Domier on Vimeo.

Bloggy Fun

My bloggy friend Heather tagged me in this fun little game so I thought I'd play along! : )

3 names I go by:

Barclay

Mom/Mommy

Cakes -that one is from the hubs : )

3 jobs I have had:

First and Second grade teacher

Child care in a health club

Mom

3 places I have lived:

Vienna, Austria

Buffalo Grove, IL

Grayslake, IL

3 fave drinks:

Dr. Pepper

Kiwi Strawberry Propel

Lemonade

3 TV shows I watch:

ONLY 3?!

Glee

Lost

Modern Family

24

Chuck....

oops. : )

3 places I have been:

England

Italy

Hawaii

3 places I would like to visit:

Sweden

Alaska

Australia

3 fave retro TV shows:

The Nanny (is that considered retro?)

Bewitched

Gilligan's Island

3 fave dishes:

Toasted Ravioli at Olive Garden

Chicken Tender Wrap from Buffalo Wild Wings

My momma's Lasagna

3 things I am looking forward to:

Summer weather

Going to Great America as a fam. a ton

Little Bean's arrival in August

Three bloggy friends I am tagging:

Somer @ thejoysofbeingamother

Kelly @ joyfuladorations

Christina @ myfamilymylovemylife

Happy Mother's Day!

We had the pleasure of spending the weekend up in MN with my gramps. Since my grandma passed away in February we like someone with him and my aunt and uncle were going to be away, so we jumped at the opportunity to spend some time with him! We had such a nice visit with him and he just loves watching the girls be their crazy selves!

Best mother's day presents!

The grossest thing ever- did I leave you hanging?!

So apparently if you follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter I left a lot of you hanging yesterday. Yesterday evening I posted that the grossest thing ever just happened to me. I did not elaborate. Allow me to do so today. : )

So the girls and I were out enjoying the beautiful afternoon weather while the hubs had a little Cinco De Mayo golf outing. We decided to clean up the backyard and head out for a walk before dinner. I noticed the hub's golf flag from his small backyard golf hole had fallen down.

I thought I'd be a nice wife and put it back up for him. I held the flag while I asked Bella to pick the balls out so I could put the flag back. She wasn't too excited to pick up the dirt covered balls but did none the less. So when all was clear I jabbed the flag back in to position.

Some dark, liquid mixture of goodness knows what went flying and just coated me. It smelled and TASTED horrific!! My cleanliness goddess got a bit on her face and hands as well and Bella got a drop or two.

Needless to say we did not go for our walk, but straight to the shower!! Sorry to leave you hanging! : )

The pictures aren't great but I had to of course, document this event!

Brynn showing off her messy hands, NOT a happy camper!

Oh this picture doesn't even do it justice. My hair was caked, all over my hands and up my arms..... yuk!

Wordless Wednesday- hiding from the vacuum!

Can we handle 3?

So the other evening we decided to give 3 kiddos a try! : )

Our neighbor needed us to watch her 6 month old son, so we jumped at the chance.

It went great!

Bella wanted to be a part of EVERYTHING, which was so great to see. When Brynn was born Bella didn't pay her much attention. She has never been a big doll player either, so I wondered how she might take to another little one. From the minute she heard he was coming for a visit she was so excited. She wanted to hold him, feed him, everything! It was precious to see.

She's going to be a great big sister!

Monday Mugs!

LOVE this idea. Got from my bloggy friend Heather, great idea Heather!Are you in need of a mindless Monday Blog post? Are you struggling to deal with the weekend being over and can't muster the strength to type a single word? Well, Monday Mugs are for YOU! I may or may not "borrow" ideas from IheartFaces and post my interpretation of their weekly theme. Without submitting my photo for judgement and not being forced to follow the rules.

Mondays are hard! Blogging on Mondays shouldn't be!

Today's theme for Monday Mugs is: Then and NowI chose pictures from the girl's first summer and now because we are anxious for summer weather to be here!
Then

Now

Then

Now

Check out others' posts on Heather site!