ethan's new 'do!

ethan has had 7 haircuts at home by sweet auntie k, but his hair just grows too thick and too fast for just scissors to handle. as you can see above, his hair would fall down in his face or just go plain crazy if i didn't constantly brush it over to the side. i'd been talking about getting his hair cut pretty short for a little while, and daddy was all for it (well, think about how brian wears his hair!). i'd pull back the front of his hair, and i could see that a short cut on him would make him look so grown up and handsome, but my mommy's heart just broke thinking about buzzing off all his beautiful hair! the other day, i had tentatively decided to take him to get his hair cut that night, and well, ethan woke up from his nap that afternoon with this 'do.... resembling a high school girls' prom up-do!!!!


and that was all she wrote.... we took him to get his hair cut that evening! the whole day, i'd been sort of preparing him, saying, "we're going to get your hair TRIMMED" (being careful not to use the word "cut" because i didn't want him to think he was getting cut and hurt!).... i was very intentional in what words i used all day... we pull into the parking lot of the hair cut place, and ethan exclaims, "GET HAIR.... CUT!" so much for intentionality, huh?

a friend of mine told me about this new, adorable kids salon in town, and it was the same price as supercuts. it's a saloon theme with cowboy stuff everywhere. the kids can sit on horses and play video games while they get their hair cut. of course, ethan wanted daddy to wear a purple cape, so he opted for the "sit in daddy's lap" version. :) haha. he was pretty unnerved at the stranger pointing the buzzing instrument at his head, even though we told him it was like daddy's razor. but once i starting shelling out crackers, he was content. here's some pictures of ethan's first professional haircut... i'm still getting used to this BOY running around the house!

ethan happily waiting in the fun salon
he's not so happy now!
(don't you think brian looks good in purple? heehee!)
he survived the haircut!
he's not sure WHO that is in the mirror!
here's our big boy

a few more...

ok, here's the last few pictures from our trip down south. ya gotta love the big row of rockers on the front porch of every cracker barrel! ethan is smiling because he devoured 2 bowls of fried okra! and caroline is smiling because, well, that's what she does best!



and it would not be a trip with my husband without a journey to the beloved apple store. like father, like son... they're just drawn to it. :)



well, i'm all caught up with pictures from our trip now! i wish i could say the same about the laundry...

we are equal opportunity photographers...

so we also attempted to take some 2 year portraits of ethan... but he's much more mobile than caroline and was much more interested in the sand and shells (his shoes were on!)... so here's what we got. they are indeed some precious moments, but i think we'll have to take another stab at these for the big frame on the wall. (if he'd been standing still for the close-up, that one would be the winner...)






and this one isn't quiiiiite portrait worthy, but i had to share it... somebody get this kid a tissue! :)

6 month pictures of caroline

while we were in marco island, we thought we'd take advantage of the beautiful scenery and attempt some 6 month portraits of caroline. i don't know if any of these will be able to be enlarged to a 10x13, but i was pretty happy with how they turned out. she's still a little wobbly sitting up by herself, so anytime she got excited and smiled, she toppled right over! since we didn't get any really smiley ones, i might try to capture her sweet smile on another day. i changed most of these to b&w because the white balance was a little off with the sand. i'd love to know your vote for her portrait!








(this last one isn't portrait material, i know, but it was her first time in a highchair, and i just had to share it!)

go out and buy this today!

this is the best bible storybook i have seen yet... my mom read about it on somebody's blog, and she couldn't help but order a copy for ethan. and now i know why! the jesus storybook bible is full of truths that christian parents long to pass on to their children, not just facts about commonly heard bible stories. from the beginning, you read of our need for a Savior and God's amazing grace! starting with creation, the person of Jesus Christ is presented in every story, and this book includes "unlikely bible story book stories" like genesis 3 and revelation. brian was so happy to see that it did not go from the garden of eden straight to noah's ark and skip right over the truth of the fall of man...ethan's typical toddler bible story book does just that! here is my favorite excerpt from the book so far....

(from the story of genesis 3)
"you see, God knew if they ate the fruit, they would think they didn't need Him. and they would try to make themselves happy without Him. but God knew there was no such thing as happiness without Him, and life without Him wouldn't be life at all."

isn't that great? i love it. i haven't read through the whole book yet, but i'm confident in my recommendation. go out and buy this book...even if you don't have kids. you'll be so glad you did.

(ok, after i wrote this post, i visited girl talk, only to find that they had just reviewed this story book! so see, i'm not the only one who loves this book! check out their review, too.)