And Time Flies By!

This evening as the boys and I were getting ready to head out to our Bible study, Beniah looked at me and said, "Mama, you know the group that meets at church tonight? (Do you mean the youth group?) Yeah. I want to go to youth group."   I am a little humored by this because I remember feeling like it was going to take forever for winter to be over, for summer to come, to turn 13, etc.  Now, I am noticing how quickly life is flying by (although, I do still find myself thinking "when will diapers end!")  This past month and a half has been very busy.

Elijah turned 3 and had two parties.
The first one was with the Luse family at Pietro's Pizza in Salem. The kids had a blast eating at their own table and playing all sorts of arcade games.

 

 Grandma had a blast cuddling the baby while the rest of us followed the older kids around.

The second party was the next day on Elijah's birthday. The Whittakers came over to play, eat some pizza and cupcakes, give some gifts, and (of course) play Mario Kart.

 He has is own sense of style!

 Isaac just slept through the whole party.

 But with the ending of the birthday parties, came the leaving of the cousins.

 

 

 And time marches on and with it comes new firsts.

Fist time that Isaac slept in the cradle that his Mama, Grandpa, and (I believe) his Great Grandpa slept in.

Isaac's first smile captured by my camera (there was one taken a couple days before this one, but it was on his Grandma's camera).

First recreation of a Daddy's baby picture.

 

 He looks amazingly like Tim did at this age.

First walk.

We also traveled and had fun in the snow, but those are stories for another post (especially since it is past my bedtime and the middle of the night feedings will be here before I know it). Just know that month was filled with love.

Lots and lots of love.

 

 And with a dash of charm and cuteness!

Becoming Jo March

"For I only sold what was my own." As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose, for all her abundant hair was cut short.

About three years ago, I was looking into making some money while being at home with my boys as a stay at home mom. There are a lot of scams, but one of the legit ways is to sell your hair. For three years, I grew out my hair, barely used hair products or heat from my curling iron, blow drier, and straightener.

Photo credit: Joann Renee Photography. 

I can't recommend her enough.

Not only is she a wonderful sister in law, 

she also takes the BEST photos. 

(Shameless plug over)

Three years later, I am more than ready to chop my hair. The thought of a hospital stay with super long hair is not appealing to me. So, I found a reputable hair selling site (whose owner is very militant about cracking down on scammers), placed an ad, and watched as the emails came in. Then I realized there are some weird people out there who really like free pictures of hair. However, one of the emails was actually legitimate (he was even on the legitimate buyer list that the website's owner has)!  Today, I went into the beauty shop and chopped my hair.

The boys were not impressed with my hair.  To them, long hair is pretty and short hair is NOT pretty! I think the conversation went something like this....

Beniah: Mama, what happened to your hair?
Tim: What do you think of Mama's hair? Is it pretty?
Beniah: No! It's not pretty!
Elijah: Not pretty a-all!

"Oh, Jo, how could you? Your one beauty" 

   I'm not sure how I feel about my short hair yet. I think I need more time to figure out how to style this short of hair.  I do know that unless I find some way to thicken my hair strands, I am not going to try to sell my hair again. The amount of money it sold for was not nearly enough considering the work I put into my hair for three years.I don't regret selling my hair though. This economy and my desire to be a stay at home mom doesn't always mesh, so I am glad for this contribution to our household income. Plus, I will always be able to say, "I sold my hair" whenever one of those awkward icebreaker questions about the weirdest thing you've done comes up. 

"Jo, dear, what is it? Are you crying about father?"

"No, not now."

"What then?"

"My . . . My hair!" burst out poor Jo

Italicized quotes are from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

Staying at Home

  For some reason, I actually feel like a stay at home mom. I've been doing this ever since I was 37 weeks pregnant with Beniah, so the feeling shouldn't be a new one.  I think that it is mainly due to Tim finally having a career oriented job. Today was his first day working in 8 months. And while, we are still living with Tim's parents (and will continue to until after the summer is over) and can have them help out with the boys when needed, they are now solely my responsibility from the time they get up until Tim gets home at 5:20.  I am immensely enjoying this time (especially since, I got two batches of strawberry jam canned and the boys are both sound asleep).  Now for my afternoon cup of coffee!

Who wouldn't want to be the Mama of these two precious boys?