Some Family Pictures

On Tuesday, May 14, some of my family got together to have pictures taken. Since we were all dressed up I asked Lyndsie to snap a few of just our little family. Eli was not being cooperative so they didn't turn out very well, but we like them anyway. Aaron, Lyndsie and Brooklyn are in town for the summer and we have been having fun spending time with them over the past few days. We took a few pictures of them, too, since it's a novelty to have them in our midst, and Brooklyn has grown and changed so much over just the past few months!

PS - 13 new blog posts!

Eli's First Haircut

I kind of hoped this day would never come. If only his hair hadn't grown such beautiful, perfect, golden ringlets, it wouldn't have been so hard. But yes, the day came. Eli got a haircut. And now his golden curls will only live on inside my heart. But maybe, just maybe, when he grows up he will become a hippie and grow out his hair and the golden ringlets will return! A mother can dream, can't she?

I took many pictures of this event, because it was a BIG DEAL to me. I did love his hair, but Tony kept insisting that he was starting to look like a girl and needed a haircut. He brought it up to everyone we saw and tried to get them to weigh in on the debate. Most people said little boys can look cute with long hair (agreeing with me), but I think there was like one person who agreed with Tony and said he needed a haircut.

On Tuesday, May 14, Eli finally had his first haircut. We had some family pictures that were going to be taken that evening, and I had cut Tony's hair the night before for them. Then that morning I got my hair trimmed and high-lighted (which was just a coincidence since I had made my hair appointment before I knew about the family pictures). So I just thought that since Tony and I had both gotten our hair done, maybe Eli should too. I also thought it would be a fun surprise for Tony to come home to since he had been wanting Eli's hair cut for a while.

My mom got out her shears (that's what she calls them), and we put Eli in the bathtub to distract him (a tip I heard from a friend). Then I turned my heart cold and black (which was necessary to do this job) and began cutting off his beautiful ringlets!!!! And here are just a few of the many pictures we took throughout the process...

(And yes, Eli was wearing Christmas PJ's in the middle of May.)

The look of desperation. Someone, please, save me!

The first snip.

The second snip.

Saying goodbye to the curls.

"What have you done, Mom?"

At this point he would no longer tolerate me pulling on his hair. He kept shaking his head back and forth to make me stop, and it was impossible to get it completely even.

I tried to even up a few obvious spots while he was in the high chair with a toy.

"AFTER"

It's impossible for this guy to not look handsome!

This was when Tony came home and saw his short hair for the first time. I wanted to hide Eli and surprise him in a more creative way, but he got home 10 minutes earlier than he said he would and so he just walked in and saw him sitting in the high chair. He thought he looked so handsome and like a little boy instead of a little girl.

Mother's Day 2013

We tried to take some Mother's Day pictures before church this year (Sunday, May 12), but they didn't turn out too well since Eli wasn't interested in posing for the camera...

So, later, after dinner at my parents' house, we took a few more, and we even got some generation pictures with my mom and grandma.

I am so grateful to be a mom! Before I had Eli I was not shy about expressing my fears of motherhood. I wasn't sure I was cut out for it. I'm an independent person, and I was worried that having a baby who was constantly dependent on me would strip me of all my independence and cause me to feel resentful and unhappy. This may sound crazy to others, but those were my honest fears and thoughts.

But then Eli was born.... Annnnd, the rest is history. I had no idea until he was born the kind of love I could feel for a child. I can honestly say that every single day since he was born, I have, in my imperfect ways, loved him completely and totally, with all my heart!!! There are so many people I love, but my love for my sweet, perfect baby boy is something so different and so consuming! It is impossible to explain my true feelings (and I don't have the patience to try), so I'll just end it by saying that that baby has my heart in his hands. I am so thankful and humbled that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to be Eli's mom.

Flower Power

On Sunday, April 28, Eli and I started growing flowers from our heads. Just kidding! Hahaha, gotcha! My parents have these crazy flower headbands and we put them on. They looked so cute that we decided to take some pictures. When Tony saw Eli wearing this, he said, "If we ever have a girl, I'm going to dress her up like a car!" I hope he never does that because I would be so offended!

Weddings and Tulips

On Friday, April 26, my cousin got married and had his reception at Thanksgiving Point, where the tulip festival also happened to be going on. He's one of the cousins that I'm closer to, so I wanted to see him, and it was also nice that we were able to see the tulips for free while we were there!

I wanted to dance with Eli on the dance floor, but he wasn't into it.

After the dance floor was getting packed up, he decided dancing was cool.

"Oh yeah, I got the moves!"

The next day, Saturday, April 27, one of our good friends from the student ward got married, too! We haven't been to a wedding in probably years, and then we had 2 on the same weekend. It was fun to see him again and celebrate his marriage.

Best Friends Forever

Well, now it's official. You can't take a bath together and not be best friends! Eli and Luke spent the day together and they were pretty messy from pouring dirt all over, so Wendy and I decided to give them a bath. We couldn't resist snapping a few pictures so that, you know, we can have them for blackmail when they're older. Haha. What cute little guys. (Friday, April 26.)

Dirty and Clean

Eli has recently discovered a love for dirt. Or maybe it was more of an instinct than a discovery. He sees dirt and he must go to it and get dirty. We have an empty flower bed next to our front porch, and Eli thinks it's his personal sandbox. It's hard to tell because of the lighting, but there was dirt all over his head and hair. He thought it was fun to pour it on himself. (Thursday, April 18.)

After a sufficient amount of play-in-the-dirt-time, he gets to go in and have a bath. His other favorite thing.

Whether dirty or clean, oh how we love this little boy.