Henry's Hoodlum Haircut

Though some would say that his hair was perfectly fine and not needing a haircut, it was starting to curl into his ears and just looking at it gave me the jibblies. So, Ben and I had discussed what we'd like to do to handle his curly wisps, coming to the same conclusion at the same time.

MOHAWK! Oh, yeah!

Before you gasp in horror, think about who you are talking to. Really. A woman who does this. 

A man who does this:

 

No, not holding a cat... it's the rare red haired rat attached to his chin.

But, have no fear. Our little Hank is darn tootin' cute no matter what. We could probably shave his head and stick it to his back and he'd still be cute... albeit a little disturbing.

So, without further ado... The photographs, if you please.

His hair naturally curls. So, here he was with a perfectly surfable pipeline wave.

Here, we had just rinsed his hair and he was trying to be happy about his bath again after getting water dumped all over him.

A little gel and finger combing and he's ready to join his grandpa at the Launchpad tonight. If he got on a plane now, do you think he'd make it? ;-D

Until next time. Don't underestimate us. Oh, yeah.

Pickle Eyes

Along with our dinner tonight came the option of pickle spears. I have never been a fan of pickles, or anything steeped in vinegar. Audrey expressed some interest, but the moment we offered her some, she refused, so I ended up with a fifth of a dill pickle sitting on my plate.

It was suggested that, perhaps, Henry would like a little taste. I inwardly rolled my eyes, thinking of gagging and spitting. (On his part, though I would likely sympathize.) It was when Hank decided that he wasn't getting enough attention to go with his graham crackers that I concluded his mouth could use a little puckering.

I cut off a tiny slice, which i then cut into 3 little sections. One minuscule bit was handed off to Papa who obligingly put in into Henry's open mouth....

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Much to everyone's surprise, he didn't spit it out. In fact, he looked interested as he rolled the bit of soggy cucumber around in his mouth. It was when he looked toward me and started squawking again, that I figured I'd try more. After a few more pieces, I decided to go bigger. Maybe, just maybe, he thought it was good because he wasn't getting a big enough piece to really taste it.

In went a bigger chunk of pickle. Henry rolled it around and chewed. Wow.

Of course, all of this supplied plenty of amusement for the adults around the table. Every time he took a piece, we chuckled in appreciation as he inquisitively mouthed it and started to chew with his front teeth, occasionally taking it out, looking at it and putting it back in.

At one point Papa said, "It looks like you've been Pickle-ized."

A few minutes later, while Henry happily munched on more of the offensive vegetable, Audrey piped up, "Henry, you have pickle eyes!"

Audrey did end up trying a tiny piece of the pickle. It was only after I told her that she could have ice cream after she swallowed it that she stopped threatening to spit it out.

I guess Audrey IS my daughter after all.

Colloquialisms and Toddlers Don't Mix

Yesterday evening, before the dreaded bedtime ritual of screaming, crying, peeing of the pants, objects moving at high velocity at my head, more crying, threatenings from a harried parent, wrestling matches involving pajamas and flailing limbs, bare bottomed escaping pre-toddlers and, yes, crying, Audrey thought it would be funny to open and slam her bedroom door repeatedly in the face of her brother, who looked over his shoulder at me in utter bewilderment.

"Audrey stop it."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" *SLAM!*

"Audrey-!" *SLAM!"

"Grrr! Audrey Renae, knock" *SLAM* "it off!"

*Stomp, stomp, stomp!*

I wrenched the door open to find my little girl chortling as she ran to her bed. I followed her and got down on my knees to talk to her.

"Audrey, I don't want you to slam the door like that. Henry can't get in when the door is closed, he's too little."

"Heehee!"

"Audrey," warning tone, "I asked you not to slam the door."

Audrey tries, mostly, to catch my serious tone and stops laughing.

Here is where I went wrong: "Please don't slam the door, it's not funny."

I watched the smile spread across my little girl's face and she dared a little giggle.

"Audrey it's not funny. You need to listen when I tell you things."

"Heehee..."

"Audrey, wipe that smile off your face!"

Audrey obediently bows her head, raises her hand and slowly wipes her mouth.

At that point I nearly lost it. Struggling not to laugh, I must have looked like I swallowed a lemon dipped in tabasco sauce;

my face beet red, my mouth puckered and twisted to one side. After a moment, Audrey looked up and, seeing my expression, started laughing. I don't know if she was laughing because she knew she had me, or if my face looked that ridiculous.

Probably both.

Guess what?

Not five minutes ago, I took Henry downstairs to play with his sister and her friend, Kylee. I put him down on the floor, but he refused to sit, locking his knees. He's been doing this a lot lately. He REALLY wants to walk. So, I made sure he was balanced and let go. He'll normally stand for a moment and then plop down on his bum. He stood for about a second and a half, then swung his left leg forward and leaned forward slightly, wobbled, set his foot down, wobbled, plop!

It took me a moment to realize that I had just witnessed Henry's first honest-to-goodness step. I sprinted up the stairs to find Ben who was getting ready to run to the bus stop to get to school.

"DAD!" I said a little loudly, expecting him to be at the door, not in the kitchen with my mom.

"Ya?"

"Guess who just took his first step?"

Ben's mouth popped open and then just as quickly turned downward in a disappointed pout. He has missed a lot of Henry's firsts lately. I explained what happened and then said, "Of course, his first step would be toward Audrey."

"Of course," Ben said, philosophically, "She's his big sister."

Audrey has been responsible for quite a few firsts with Henry. She was the first one to make him REALLY laugh hard; when she was crying. She frequently makes him cry hard; when she's laughing. She's typically the only one who can get him to laugh and be happy when he's sad.

I have high hopes for them being best friends as they grow up.

Another project checked off!

Almost a year and a half ago, I put together a shadowbox featuring Audrey's blessing dress and highlights from her blessing. It's been hanging in her room, sweetly reminding me of my tiny little girl. When she grows up and moves away, it will be one of the keepsakes that I hope she will be more than happy to take with her, along with the Baby Socks shadowbox I just made the other day.

Today, I finally completed the Blessing Suit shadowbox for Henry, which will also go to him when he grows up as a set with the Baby Socks shadowbox.

My children are so important to me and, though I don't always remember when they are screaming and crying, I love them more than I can ever express with words.

One day I will inundate them with pictures, scrapbooks, keepsakes, afghans, and who knows what all else.

Next on the list for kid memorabilia? Plaster hand prints. I'm terrified.

P.S. How can you save a lock of your child's hair if you never intend on cutting a long enough piece to save?

Hot off the Presses!

I put these cute shadowboxes together in about an hour! They'll go in the kids room with their Blessing outfit shadowboxes.

The text reads:

Dad got these socks for Mom shortly after we were married. He thought that Mom might be pregnant and excitedly got a little gift. As it turned out, Mom wasn’t pregnant and wouldn’t be for a long time. This made Mom and Dad feel incomplete.

When Mom was working for the healthcare company, she had to go to the doctor for a work injury. Dr. Love, when she found that Mom has hypothyroidism, asked what medicine she took for it. Dr. Love suggested a change and said that if Mom was having a hard time getting pregnant, this new medication might help. Mom was amazed because she hadn’t told the doctor that she had been struggling to have a baby.

Three months after Mom started the new medication, she found out she was going to have a baby! Nearly eight years after Mom and Dad got married, Audrey was finally born and we knew it was a miracle. We used the pink socks for her tiny little feet.

For a while, Mom wasn’t able to take the medication and couldn’t get pregnant again. When she finally got to take the medicine again, three months later she was pregnant! Henry was born two years after Audrey. He was the first grandson born in the Thompson family in 15 years. Henry is a miracle to us too. We used the blue socks for Henry’s tiny little feet.

Mom and Dad love Audrey and Henry so much. We know that if Heavenly Father hadn’t guided us, we may never have had children. We know He sent us two very special, wonderful spirits to be part of our family.

Motivation

I have never enjoyed exercising and, for a large chunk of my life, I didn't need to. I was active in many other ways and so I didn't need to exercise. When I got married, I was a slightly ribby, but toned 125 pound thing that squeezed into a dress with a corset-like top. It's no wonder women back in the corset days fainted on a regular basis. Shortly after I got married, however, I found that reality was slapping me in the face... or thighs, belly and chin as the case may be. I will always blame this on my job, the temptation to eat out all the time and pure unadulterated joy. I was in love, and so were my fat cells.

I have tried on and off to exercise, nothing lasting any more than a few weeks at a stretch. I have tried on and off to eat better. I must say that this was easier to do... when you have no money, you don't eat out. My weight has bounced around a bit, depending on how active my job was or how well I was eating.

Then I had Audrey. She was a lovely (nearly) eight pound baby and yet, somehow, I had gained 50 pounds. I buckled down shortly after she was born and started exercising every morning. This lasted perhaps three months. I lost a little bit of weight but I never got down to my pre-pregnancy weight which was quite a bit higher than my pre-marriage weight. Just over a year later, I was finally getting my energy back and feeling ready to add fun activities into my days with Audrey. Trips to the zoo happened multiple times a week and playing with my little girl wasn't completely exhausting. Within months I was pregnant again... that stopped nearly all attempts at reasonable exertion.

So, here I am, nine months after Henry and finding myself a few pounds heavier than my post-Audrey, pre-Henry weight... If I keep having kids, I'll slowly die in an avalanche of cellulite. Anyway....

I have continued to exercise on and off the past nine months, but nothing consistent. I'm one of those people who needs a routine to stick to, or I'll forget or lose interest. So, here's my brilliant idea:

I've set up a little reward jar for myself. Ben and I made these cute little origami stars tonight.

Every time I exercise, I put a little star in my jar. Any time I want to reward myself for being good, I take two out, so I will need to consistently fill my jar in order to keep rewarding myself. Ben will be keeping me honest, ensuring that I don't "sneak" rewards. Once I get into a routine, I may not need the reward jar anymore since, as they say, the action reaps it's own rewards. I'll let you know when I hit my target weight. 36 pounds to go!

What have you done to shed the body clutter???