Layla's First Haircut

I can't believe how big L is getting. :( I'm not sure I can handle any more of this growing up business. And I'm not sure how much longer I can get by without finishing up some of her firsts in her baby book. I think the only two left were first hair cut and first dentist appointment. Since the dentist appointment was a bust in January and was rescheduled for June, it was haircut time.

We've been working up to this one for awhile. She's weird about stuff like this and I never know how she's going to handle it. Every time I did her hair in the morning we'd play "hair cut". She was SO excited that today was the day to get her "baby hair cut off"...I can hardly stand it when she says that. Booooo hoooo hooooo!!!

Here she is this afternoon ready for her big appointment:

Last pictures of those almost white "baby hairs". :(

And here's a snapshot of her first hair cut in progress:

Overall she did really well! When we first got there she asked if she could sit on my lap and I told her "we'll see". In my head I was screaming NO NO NO!! Because I wanted to get good pictures. I just didn't give her the option and plopped her booty right on the booster our stylist had waiting for her. She didn't crack many smiles but she normally won't when she's soaking something in. It is hard to tell from the pics but she was into it...you know because if she wasn't I wouldn't have good pictures to share. LOL.

She didn't get much taken off...just those crazy ends that were constantly tangled and enough of the bulk out the back to give it a nice shape. She honestly doesn't look much different but I could tell a huge difference when I ran my fingers through it tonight after bath. No more baby hair, but not many tangles. :)

I'm so proud of her...she even asked if she could get her hair colored green next time. I know she'll love going back. I L.O.V.E. having a little girl to do these things with. And I also love having a little boy that won't require as much maintenance. Ahhhh...the joys of having one of each!! :)

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

I had a fairly uneventful Mother's Day...and that is perfectly fine with me. Church in the morning, lunch somewhere...I can't even remember and then I went grocery shopping and made shrimp tacos for dinner. Yum!

The kids (Layla) thought it would be a good idea to make me a Mother's Day crown:

I love being their Mommy. Although I love to complain about eating issues, sleeping issues and their stubbornness in general (they do NOT get that from me...no way)...I love every ounce of them. They have shown me what real love is. And they have shown me what life is all about. Those crazy kids of mine. ;o)

Soccer

We signed Layla up for soccer this year when our church friends decided to start a team. It is SO nice to have such a close group of friends and watch our kids grow up together. Layla has grown to love these kids and watching her play with her best friends is pretty amazing. I forgot my camera the last TWO games (Mother/Photographer of the year!) but busted it out today.

Layla wasn't really into it the first few games. Bryan is coaching and she really just wanted 100% of Daddy's attention. So the first few games consisted of L either crying on the sidelines or just running around Daddy. Today she actually got into it...it was awesome! Layla even "scored" a goal! By scored I mean that one of her teammates kicked the ball in her direction, it grazed her foot and then went it the net but I'm TOTALLY counting it! ;o)

Here's a hilarious video of L's turn to kick off...she has her Mother's showmanship...

And a few pictures from the game:

Action shot...running to get a drink from Mommy.

Proud to be team green (aka- the holy rollers). 

Jack had fun on Miss Christel's lap. Thankfully he waited to puke until 5 seconds after Mommy took him back. 

Layla and her BFF Addie pretty much just hugged it out the entire game. LOL

Another action shot! 

I actually posted this and it wasn't until I made the picture bigger that I realized this isn't my kid...L's twin and BFF, Addie:

Barton's Visit / Mommy's Birthday

First...check out this LINK. That was posted almost exactly 3 years ago. Crazy!

Jack has been using his jumper a lot lately...he LOVES it. Doesn't his serious look remind you of Layla? I can't get enough of his dimples and big brown eyes.

OK...on to the Barton's visit. Grandma and Grandpa Barton came down to help us with Layla while Jack went to his head squeezing appointment. The first appointment took a little longer than 2 hours and with 4 hours of driving time...it would have been a long and boring day for this active girl.

My birthday was a day for Mommy to get stuff done and just play around the house. Layla's hair was in need of a major brush down:

But she decided to do Grandma and Grandpa's hair instead:

After a birthday dinner at Olive Garden we headed back to our house to eat cake! Here is Layla putting the final touches on Mommy's birthday decor:

Before doing cake and gifts we decided we needed a family photo. Here are a few of the "bloopers":

I'm going to caption this one:  Jack to Layla: "Sissy, is this serious?". Layla to Jack: "Get used to it kid...that camera is everywhere!". Us through our teeth: "SMIIIILLLEE. Look at the camera. Sit still!".

And finally a good one:

Then it was time for happy birthday and cake. This has been my all time favorite birthday for two reasons: #1- Jack is here, which means our family is complete. #2- Layla actually sang happy birthday this year. And this is my all time favorite picture EVER:

 So much love and happiness right there...melts my heart. And another reason I loved this birthday- Layla picked out my presents:

Luckiest Mom in the world to get a turkey baster, butterfly spatula and a mega water gun. You KNOW you are jealous! Look how excited  she was for me to open that stuff!

What a great week! Thanks for making it special Daddy and Gma and Gpa Barton!

Sweet Potatoes Time!

Jack has been eating rice cereal at night for about a month. He's doing so well with it that we decided to start "real" food and sweet potatoes were one of the first things on the doctor's list.

I'm making my own baby food this time...funny how different things are with #2. Normally people are more relaxed, I'm more paranoid! Sweet potatoes were a piece of cake and now I'm wishing I would have just found the time to do this with L. AAAAAAnywaysss...here's how Jack felt about the sweet potatoes:

Here we go...first bite:

Hmmmmm...this is interesting. 

GAG!! What have

 I guess I could go for another bite...

I'm not sure about this. Where's my cereal? Do you have ANY idea what you are doing?

Overall he did OK with it. Not bad for a first timer! ;o) Next up...steak

Butterflies at Dow Gardens

Several weeks ago our friends invited us to Dow Gardens for a rare "warm" day in March to see the butterflies. It felt amazing to not only get out of the house, but spend some time outside. Outside + friends + a Panera lunch = Layla in heaven. I am SO thankful for my friend, Neely...she's been a great help since Jack has been born and makes sure we having something to do weekly, even if it is just to play at each others house. :) Here are some pictures from the butterflies:

Checking out the butterfly nursery:

Maddie was the first to "catch" one. Hayden looks thrilled. LOL

Jack snoozed most of the time, I'm sure he'll get in on the action next year!

I was SO proud of Layla for wanting to hold one. She really enjoyed it! 

The girls being butterflies. ;o) 

Jack's Head Appointment

I'm writing it all down quickly so I don't forget (and have to explain it 100 times to everyone on the phone). ;o)

We went to Lansing today to get Jack's head squeezed. He was a TOTAL. ROCKSTAR. in the car...only cried for the last 10 minutes or so of the trip. Whew! We got to the doctor's office right on time, walked in and secretly started cracking up.

It was kind of like a spa/doctor's office/chiropractor's office. There was some kind of aromatherapy going on (it smelled heavenly) and it was very chill. The receptionist was so nice and seemed excited to see us even though I've canceled and rescheduled this appointment 10,000 times.

We were sent back to our room and Bryan and I started busting out laughing. There were some weird things going on...more aromatherapy, a massage table instead of the exam table I was picturing, a sink with bath toys and some kind of hieroglyphics on the walls. Bryan's exact words: "If this guy draws a triangle with a star on my son's head we are OUT. OF. HERE.". LOL!

The doctor walked in and was very nice. Answered all of our questions (Will this hurt? How many times do we have to do this? Yada Yada...) and got started.

I honestly think this is some kind of voodoo. He started by pointing out a "flat" spot in Jack's spine and a spot at the base of his skull that is lopsided and causing his head to grow funny. He explained that helmets work for some kids but for Jack, wouldn't fix the main problem (spine/neck) and would only make a cosmetic change.

He did a quick exam noting not only this spine/neck but also the obvious flat spot. He also pointed out to us that his ears are not centered (one is farther towards his face than the other) and that his head is pointier than it should be. Things that aren't obvious unless you knew what to look for, but we totally saw it once he started pointing it out. He also felt the roof of Jack's mouth...this is where it gets interesting folks-

He said that the roof is flat instead of raised. Something that Jack could grow out of but the molding and reshaping of his skull will surely fix. This could be the reason #1- Jack doesn't take a bottle. #2- Jack doesn't take a pacifier. #3- He wants to nurse ALL THE TIME (every 2 hours still during the day). Nursing helps relieve some of the pressure he's feeling from his head AND works better with his mouth.

I thought were we just going in for a little head squeezing but I came out feeling better about the fact that I'm not doing something wrong when it comes to this bottle thing. Ahhhhh...$380 worth of relief for both Mommy and baby. ;o) I know I should probably just enjoy nursing but let's face it, I'm tired.

After some vibrating, molding and massaging...we were done! The doctor confidently said we should see a change in a few weeks. Whaaaaaat?! We shall see. He also gave us a few things to do at home- lots of tummy time of course but also a relaxing technique to help take some of the pressure off his neck.

I was pretty pumped after leaving. I think this is really going to work for Jack and maybe even "fix" a few things (bottle!!!) that we haven't been able to work out. We will go back at the end of May for a quicker session and to check his progress. We hope to only have to go 2-3 more times...but it all depends on how Jack's head decides to grow. ;o)