potty training & the pacificier

my daughter is 2 1/2 years old.  she is sassy; independent yet very loving and sweet.  (gee, i wonder where she gets that from?)  she is growing up so fast.  sometimes, i swear she has grown another 2 inches overnight. this summer has brought some changes for her.  she is now sleeping in her toddler bed - she actually stays asleep in it all night and doesn't get out.  [that's HUGE, people!]  additionally, she is potty training in preparation for preschool next year.  unfortunately, she is still attached to her pacifier - aka: nee-nee.  whenever i start to have anxiety about her being attached to her nee-nee, my mother reminds me not to worry and that she won't be taking her nee-nee to prom.  right?  right.  right??  i hope not. even though i know she won't have that thing in her mouth when she takes her drivers ed. classes, i still get anxious when another mom makes a comment: "oh, YOU let her have THAT??"  or "oh, I NEVER let my child have a pacifier."  whatever.  this does not make me a horrible mother.
alas, i thought this summer would be a good time to take-on the process of potty training.  she seemed interested in the big girl potty, so why not?   of course we need to make this experience a fun one; we have potty parties,do potty dances, and make up silly potty songs too. 
we began the process of potty training at the end of may.  with the warm weather, i figured she would enjoy running around the house in her undies or simply nothing at all and this might help make for an easier transition to using the potty. we made a chart complete with princess stickers and hello kitty stamps for each time she took care of her business.  i was pleased with her progress and encouraged her along the way, offering goodies: candy, books, etc - whatever it takes to get the job done.
fast forward to this morning.  my daughter wakes up in such a happy mood. "good morning" she sings with the pacifier in her mouth.  "i love you, momma"  she says as she stretches her little arms up to give me a hug.  "hi baby" I smile down at her.  "did you sleep good?" I ask.  She shakes her sleepy head, yes.  "Let's go potty." I tell her.  so she runs into my bathroom and proceeds to take care of her business - with the nee-nee still clenched in her teeth.  i can tell she is still waking up because she just sits on the potty staring off into outer space.  every once in a while she lets out a soft yawn.
i make myself busy brushing my teeth and straightening up the bed sheets.  "momma, look!! i go pee pee!!"  she exclaims, jumping off the toilet.  this time she takes the nee-nee out of her mouth and uses it to point down at her business, as if to emphasize her achievement.  immediately i give lots of praise.  we shake our booty and do a little potty dance then laugh [anything to make it fun, remember?]  "come on, let's flush it down" i tell her.  she pops the pacifier back into her mouth and we proceed to wave to the pee pee as it swirls around and around the porcelain bowl.  "Buh-Bye Pee Pee!!" she squeals and before either of us can do anything the
nee-nee slips from between her lips, lands in the swirling toilet bowl and gets sucked down into the abyss.
it's quiet for a moment.  the only sound is of the water running to refill the toilet bowl.  but nothing is in the bowl.  no more pee pee. and no more nee-nee.  my daughter looks up at me with huge eyes.  her mouth still hangs open in disbelief.  then it happens.  her bottom lip starts to quiver and i can see the corners of her mouth turning down.  i, too am standing there with my mouth open but i start to laugh and place my hand over my smile.  in between giggles, i try to be sympathetic.  "what happened?" i ask her.  "did your nee-nee go buh-bye too?"  she shakes her head, yes while still staring down at the empty toilet bowl.  "it's ok, honey.  don't be sad."  i tell her,still giggling and laughing.  i try to think of a way to soothe my daughter but i have to admit, this is funny as all heck!  so how can i make it funny to her?  more importantly, a thought flashes into my head: how can i get her to "accidentally" flush the rest of those darn nee-nees down the toilet so we can be done with all of them??