First Hair Cut

This weekend I took Y to have her first hair cut.  I've been focusing lately on how to properly take care of her hair and well, the first step is getting rid of all those rough split ends.  Fortunately we have a friend from church who is now a stay at home mom but previously attended cosmetology school and worked with hair professionally, so I asked her if she would trim Y's hair for me. 

My biggest worry was that it would appear to be super short again, although she has a lot of hair (in length and volume) it's not always apparent because it has a tendency to curl up fairly tightly which makes it appear much shorter than it actually would be if it were straight.  So with that said, I wanted the bare minimum amount to be cut, just enough to help her hair look and feel healthy again (and much less frizzy).  In the end she asked me if I'd like it shaped as well, to which I agreed.  I've noticed for a couple years now that Y's hair has a looser curl at the top of her head and tighter at the bottom which causes the hair on top to look longer and the hair on bottom to look shorter, but it's a true optical illusion (the tightly curled hair on bottom is actually MUCH longer than the loosely curled top)!  But anyways, the point of the shaping was to make top and bottom appear the same length.

I was very happy with the end result!  It's not a huge difference but I've been able to tell that her hair feels much softer and less frizzy without all those messy ends.  It's a plus for both of us because her hair doesn't tangle as much or as easily as it did before!

Birthday Party

Earlier in the month, Y had the opportunity to attend a friend's birthday party.  It was actually the first really birthday party Y has ever attended.  While we have given her small little birthday parties with a few family members she has not yet had one where she got to invite friends and she hadn't really been invited to one either, mostly because in 2008 when Y was born all of our friends that live close and were pregnant were pregnant with boys.

When she received the invitation in the mail she was so excited to see that she had her own pieces of mail and even more excited to learn that she'd be going to a Princess birthday party.  She knows the days of the week and so when the final week came around she knew exactly how long she had until the party, and she spent that whole week telling me, "the princess birthday party is Wednesday" and then she would list all the days that remained between the current day and Wednesday.

She loved going to the store and picking out the present, I set a price range and then asked her what she'd like to get her (her answer was, princess stuff) so we went down the aisle and put a bunch of different princess items in the cart and then I told her she could choose which one she wanted to give, all the while making sure she knew it was a gift for the birthday girl and not for herself.  She seemed to grasp that pretty well, because not once did she ask to open it and play with it, in fact she kept asking me when I would wrap it!

She had a blast at the party!  They decorated pretty notebooks with their name and pretty foam stickers, they played with toys, ate lots of yummy food, and they were even given darling little tutus to wear which our lovely hostess made herself.  It was a blast and has given me a few ideas for Y's 4th birthday, we had previously decided that 4 would be a good age for a birthday party with friends!

No Sugar? Really?

Yes...really!

I intended to write this post 10 days ago, April 9th, the day after Easter.  My intent was to write a post and let you all know what I was doing and then update you on my journey.  But obviously, that didn't happen.  The post and the updates I mean, the journey...well that did happen!

I decided that I was going to attempt to go 10 days without eating sugar. I decided to do this to hopefully break my addiction to sugar.  I hope you're not envisioning me as a shaky, sweaty mess if I don't get my fix, I'm not THAT kind of addict.  Rather, I'm the kind of addict that is completely stuffed from dinner but I want to eat dessert anyway.  The kind that once I start eating said dessert I won't stop eating it until it is completely gone, no matter how stuffed I am because it tastes so good.  The kind of addict that sees a piece of chocolate and says to myself, "whatever" and eats it. And then eats another.  And maybe 4 or 5 more after that.

I knew that going 10 days without sugar was going to be difficult.  I suppose I should specify what I mean by sugar.  I didn't give up sugar completely I gave up processed sugar, artificial sweeteners, and any item that contain a lot of sugar (some cereals as an example).  So basically that left me with yogurt and fruit as the only sweet things I could eat and for beverages I had the choice of water or milk.

Day one was by far the hardest.  Why?  Mostly because it was the day after Easter and everywhere I looked there was chocolate staring back at me.  My solution was to put all the Easter candy into a container and place it in a cabinet so I'd only have to see it when I opened that cabinet.  I placed it in the cabinet where we keep our drinking glasses so it is still a cabinet that I use quite often but for whatever reason placing it there solved the problem. 

My next biggest challenger was my after dinner sweet tooth.  I don't know why but I always seem to want something sweet after dinner.  That fix was fairly easy though!  Granny Smith Apples, pineapple, strawberries and mangoes have been my lifesaver!  All are amazingly sweet, juicy, and delicious and were able to curb even the worst craving for something sweet.  The only time I really, came close to caving was the night that Y decided she wanted chocolate chip cookies for an after dinner treat.  When I make cookie dough I always form the dough into balls and freeze them so that they can be easily and quickly baked.  The smell of them baking in the oven was about all I could take.  Enter in the mango to save the day!  Tomorrow I will take dinner over to a friend from church who just had a baby.  I just completed making the dessert I'll be taking over, Knock You Naked Brownies (the most incredible brownie you'll ever eat)!  I was so proud of myself that I was able to make them without eating any of the caramels (I always manage to unwrap a few and eat them) and I also didn't  pop a single chocolate chip into my mouth either (that's never happened either). 

Ten days without sugar and I haven't even been moody about it.  Miracles do happen!

All-in-all, when I look back over the past 10 days I am amazed by how easy it was for me to keep sugar out of my diet.  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised because, for the most part, it's what I do when I'm pregnant.  But it's always easier to do when I know that the health of some little life depends on my choices.  It's been so easy that I've been toying with the idea of extending my 10 day "detox" into a full 30 days.  I just decided about an hour ago that I'd extend it another 10 days for now and maybe after that's over I'll look into an additional 10 days which would put me at 30 days total.

Here's to 20 days!  Wish me luck!

Great Men

I know I just posted this photo in my previous post but I just had to write one more regarding the thoughts that came to my mind as I looked at this photo.

As I look at this photo I cannot help but think of what great men are pictured here!  And as I thought about that I began to think about all the great men, even those not pictured here, that my daughters (and any subsequent children) will have the opportunity to know as they grow up.  We definitely live in a world where we so often hear more about the bad examples than the good examples.  Far too often children grow up with terrible role models who make questionable decisions.

And so, when I look at this picture of 4 out of 6 her their uncle's, I am so very encouraged by the great models of manhood which my children will grow up with.  And hopefully, these models will help them choose boyfriends, husbands, etc who will be worthy of them and treat them as the princesses I believe them to be.  And if we ever have any boys, I hope that they will look to these great men as the true example of manhood.

I also feel the need to add that there are more great men in our lives that are not pictured here, this was just a photo snapped at an Easter gathering of the B and his brothers.  They have a couple more uncles, a great uncle, grandfathers, cousins and a host of our friends who this post applies to as well.  So if you happen to be reading this and you're not pictured above, don't think it's not intended for you!

The value of having great male role models, for girls as well as for boys, has been greatly diminished in our society and I'm grateful for all the great men in our life.

Easter 2012

While I miss celebrating Easter with my family in North Carolina I am so grateful that we have family close to go share the holiday with!  It is awesome to be able to sit around and laugh and joke with family, even if you have to depart early due to a 3 year old that won't quit yelling - she had too much sugar AND it was almost her normal bedtime.

We had good food, good laughs, good company and I wish we could all get together and do it more often but since none of us are rich we all must return to our normal lives. 

This year, for the first time, we had the Easter egg hunt on Saturday!  We asked Aunt S to hide the eggs and she did an absolutely amazing job!  They were hidden in places and ways that I never would have thought to hide them.  They were nestled in branches of bushes, perched in window seals, sitting in chairs, leaning up against trees, behind brooms and rakes, and I believe there was even one placed ever so perfectly on a piece of plastic piping!  I was so happy that I asked her to do it because I had planned to just put them in the grass and that requires absolutely no creativity at all!  So now, Aunt S will be the designated egg hider each year!

Y, of course, found the majority of the eggs and she did most of it with little help.  Q found 9 eggs with my help but she would have been more than content had she only found 2 - one for each hand.  She also had little interest in the chocolate that was inside the egg, Y was an entirely different story...which ended in that yelling and screaming mentioned above.

On Sunday morning the Easter Bunny arrived before heading out to church.  Y's basket had lots of princess items mixed in with a little Tinkerbell and Strawberry Shortcake, plus a beautiful towel embroidered with her name and a chocolate bunny.  Q's basket also had an embroidered towel as well as some bath toys, I guess the Easter Bunny knows that Q can't have chocolate yet so he didn't bring her a bunny.  Both also received a really cute stuffed friend from Uncle B and Aunt S which they can sleep with in their bed/crib.

Since we celebrated with Easter Dinner on Saturday we were able to have a nice relaxing day after church.  We received so many complements on the girl's dresses this year.  They are from The Children's Place (big surprise) and I loved that they were so similar but slightly different in design at the top.  I also knitted each of them 2 shrugs, one in pink and another in purple, and had them each wear it in the opposite color.  Y got to wear purple because it happens to be her favorite color...for this month anyway.



The Fox Boys

First Dentist Appointment

Y went in for her very first dental checkup on Tuesday (April 3).  We had been prepping her for it ever since we scheduled the appointments 6 months ago at our last checkup and I definitely think it paid off.  She wasn't scared at all and was actually quite excited to do it.  She did flinch a few times when they used the tool that sprays waters in your mouth and the one that subsequently sucks the water and saliva out of the mouth but she adjusted to it fairly quickly.  They also attempted to do an xray but Y just couldn't manage to keep the bite-wing in place - I suppose her mouth still isn't quite large enough for that.  But then again, I even hate biting down on those things, it's never comfortable.

We may have the world's greatest hygienist ever, and she may be a big reason as to why we haven't switched dentists yet.  She was great with Y and according to her Y may have been one of the easiest first-timers she's ever had.  After Y was all finished Y asked if she could stay and help with Daddy's teeth!

The best part was that Y had a perfect checkup without a single cavity!

Having a fluoride rinse

Q at 8 Months

Q is still one of the sweetest, most mellow babies I have encountered!  She smiles at pretty much everyone, especially when they comment on how beautiful she is, and when I have meetings or other church related stuff you hardly hear a peep out of her.  But don't be fooled, this girl is a talker!  If there's a toy in her hand more than likely she is babbling to it.

She can also prove to be quite demanding, most of the time that involves food and any item that she wants but I won't let her have, namely my cellphone and iPod.  She's a really good eater so far she has eaten everything I've given her with the exception of those little Gerber puffs, she's not a fan of that.  Also, the days of being able to hold her while I eat are long gone!  In fact if she even sees me chewing while I'm holding her she opens her mouth and starts to move it towards my face as if she's going to eat me, it makes me laugh every time but for some reason she never does this with B.  Maybe because she associates me with food.  She throws fits if she wants something that someone else has, as mentioned above.  Mostly with me it's my phone or iPod but she's also done it with Y a few times over a toy that Y happens to be playing with.

As far as gross motor skills go, she has continued to roll over.  Many people told me about how when their child started rolling they'd use it to get from one place to another until they learned to crawl.  Yeah, that's definitely not Q!  If you put her on her stomach she will almost immediately roll over to her back, grab the closest toy and be content with it.  When she tires of that toy she will roll over onto her side and reach for a new toy, once she has the toy in hand...back to the back she goes!  haha, I'm pretty sure she's going to skip crawling all together or she'll crawl like Y did initially, scooting on her back like an upside down inchworm!  She is pretty steady at sitting by herself now though we always have to stay close of have a pillow behind her because she likes to throw herself backwards at random.

She's happy and healthy and so much fun.  She loves to laugh at her big sister and her big sister loves to make her laugh.  I really love watching them together in moments like that.  B and I sure are lucky!

Easter Egg Hunt

Y has never been to an Easter Egg Hunt...with other children.  We've had one every year since she could walk but since she (prior to this year) had no siblings and no cousins anywhere close, she didn't have any competition in those hunts.  And we were always out of town or otherwise busy for the church Easter Egg Hunts.  So this year we decided we'd sign her up for our township Easter Egg Hunt.

I had anticipated an Easter Egg Hunt like that of my youth, where we dashed around trying to find the most eggs - it was a competition.  So when we arrived I was more than surprised to see that there was a line which curved around in a parking lot.  You waited in this line to go to different "booths" to find an egg hidden under straw which had been laid in the parking lot.

It was neat and well organized and while I understand why they do it that way, I really wanted her to experience what I consider to be a real Easter Egg Hunt.  In the end, each child got the same number of eggs and the same amount of candy and prizes but I missed the competition aspect of it.  I guess what truly matters is that Y had a fun time - and she did.  Looks like I'll have to wait for Q and any unborn siblings to get older so we can have those competitive hunts at home.

They also had a few animals there for the children to pet but Y would only pet the bunnies.  The other animals were a piglet, chicken, calf, and a momma goat with her baby.

Visitors

Nana B.'s sister, Tia Edith (tia means aunt in spanish), came to visit for a week while her husband, Uncle Darrell, had to work in Toronto.  We were able to go and spend the weekend with them in Canada.  We hadn't seen them since we last went to Utah in 2009 so it was great to get together to talk and spend some time catching up.  It was also just plain nice to get away for the weekend as we haven't been to Canada since New Year's.  It was warm and so we were able to spend lots of time outdoors which always keeps Y happy. 

Now we just need to convince more family members to come for a visit...

fun with Grandpa P

Enjoying a trip down to the bridge.

Beautiful Weather

We have been experiencing the most beautiful March weather, it really reminds of more of North Carolina than Michigan.  This winter has been surprisingly warm anyway but 80 degrees in March just doesn't happen in Michigan, or at least it hadn't happened since I had lived here...until now.  I have been loving it and the girls have been loving it, we've spent quite a bit of time outside playing and just enjoying the warmth.  This year has been a nice change and I know for many reasons we need the snow here in Michigan to replenish the Great Lakes and other sources of our water but I can't help but be excited about this weather.  Here are some photos I took as we ventured out on the first of many successive warm days.

Y loves the "tall grasses" that run in back of our condo complex, she always goes there with Grandpa P