First haircut I'm ready to talk to other people about

well, today was the big day. the day that billy has looked forward to since about day 2 of crawford's little life. the boy got his first professional haircut. not his first haircut, i'm still not ready to talk about that, but his first official real haircut. the first one i was present and prepared for. all five of us went (billy, crawford, bailey, my mom and myself) and totally invaded the barber shop. i was worried that we embarrassed billy with our cameras and talk of things other than sports but billy assured me that we didn't. billy has been getting his hair cut at this barber shop since 1977 along with the other men in his family, so it was important to him that crawford get his hair cut here as well.

ignore billy's hair in these pictures. he was up next.our last look at crawford's curls. i do miss them. we fluffed his hair out for the last time here.

crawford did pretty good, you know, for an almost 9 month old. he squirmed and fussed a little but i was armed with his beloved puffs and started popping those suckers in whenever he would cry or try to move around when he was supposed to stay still. his cute daddy also held his head still a few times. no major meltdown, no strange missing patches of hair and no blood, i consider that a success.

i wish i had a better after picture but you will get to see plenty of those in the upcoming posts. as with any haircut, or change whatsoever, i'm still getting used to it. crawford is now a blondie and his curls are a thing of the past. it's just so hard to believe that just a few short months ago he looked like this

with the weight gain and loss, the various types of hair and the normal changes a baby goes through during the first year, crawford has had so many different looks. i do think that he looks perfectly handsome with his new, shorter, lighter, straighter, tidier 'do. it's just a little sad to me that he is growing up so fast.

Ooh-la-la!!

bailey had a blast at olivia's fancy nancy birthday party! we were supposed to dress all fancy, so bailey chose to wear this dressy dress with a ton of accessories. she was pretty much the only one, besides the birthday girl, all decked out.

they had a little bouncehouse that bailey went back and forth in.

bailey, you have no idea how pumped i am that you and olivia are friends. i just adore her mommy and it is so cool that our daughters like playing together :)

Butterfly sandwich

from my experience, attractive food must be easier to consume :)
just thought i'd document what i try to do for bailey at lunch.

At Last!

crawford finally crawled for the first time this morning! our lives are about to change!
hopefully, i'll post a video later.

Bangs

bailey got her hair cut this afternoon in exchange for a homemade coconut cream pie, which took me over a solid hour and a half to make. not sure if i came out ahead on that one. i'm still getting used to it but i definitely think it was time to go ahead and cut the girl some bangs so she doesn't have to deal with the thin, uneven wispy stands of hair all around her sweet face.

i love the length, but miss the curls :( it's still wavy, thick and beautiful though. a bit darker as well.

i think bailey is adorable no matter what her hair looks like! i'm never a fan of freshly cut bangs, particularly if they are a tinge on the short side but i think these will grow out nicely. man, they really shrank up after they dried!

bailey did great during the haircut and was the most pumped about the package of tweety bird gummies she earned when she was done.

Getting close!

crawford, you cute thing! look at you, standing up on your own....kinda. i've been saying it for about 3 weeks now but i think you will start crawling any day. you get up on all fours, rock and today you made one entire forward moving sequence (leg, then arm) before laying down on your tummy and reaching out. however, most of the time, you end up scooting yourself backwards which neither of us are big fans of. this inability to crawl has made you a very frustrated and loud guy. bless your heart, you just can't get to what you want and those strong lungs of yours definitely let us all know. to top it off, you must be going through some major attachment phase because if you can see me but are denied the pleasure of somehow clinging to me, you scream and scream. it's been really loud around here and i can barely get anything done (which is why i've been so mia on the blog).crawford, you are just such a boy. you love to bounce and pound on things and i'm lucky that my glasses have survived your several swipes. you kick and drool everywhere and tonight, while sitting upright in your bouncy seat, refusing to recline, you started getting into the drawers in your bathroom. i guess it's time for the baby proofing. despite your several boyish characteristics, you refuse to touch any food but your beloved puffs. you will not pick up bananas, carrots, beans, peaches, blueberries, cut up grapes or anything else you have been offered. instead, you sit there and yell at me until i put another bite in your mouth. feels like i am raising another adam. i know i eventually will have to stop feeding you and make you pick it up but i'm not ready to start that battle quite yet.

crawford, you are so loved my sweet boy! although there are several parts of this phase that we are ready to leave behind, we always enjoy watching you grown and learn and thank god for adding you to our family.

Whoops.....kinda late

well, it wasn't actually late. i just posted this really late. bailey helped me make billy's giant oatmeal raisin cookie cake from scratch. and by help, i mean she dumped in just enough ingredients to earn the distinct honor of licking the bowl. after asking me "now can i have a taste" after each ingredient was added or anytime there was the slightest pause in the cookie making process. the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, i guess.
billy had a nice birthday i think. i was able to pull off another surprise, which brings me great joy :) the golfing hasn't been planned quite yet but billy sure is excited. part two of his gift from me will occur next week when we spend 2 hours touring a place that "is NOT a timeshare" in exchange for a really nice set of golf clubs.

happy birthday billy! your family sure does love you! hope you enjoyed your edible card :)

Bailey and Maggie

bailey and maggie really clicked at the 4th of july party this year! i hope to get these girls together to play again soon :)

Another dream come true

bailey has been looking forward to sharing the double wide sam's cart with crawford ever since i was pregnant. seriously, she was super excited to finally get to ride by him :) very sweet!

A visit with Mamaw and Papaw

i'd love to add words to this post and hope i get a chance to at some point soon.

Everything's better with Daddy

crawford getting ready for his first real pool experience.

he just needed his big strong daddy!

bailey having fun with an old yogurt container and a water gun.

good times!

thanks granna and poppy for sharing your pool with us!

I know

i've always known how blessed i've been to have billy as my husband and the father of my children but i appreciate him this year more than ever. for father's day, bailey made her cute daddy a card with a picture of them fishing together on the front and wrote "happy father's day! i love you! bailey" all by herself inside (well, i told her how to spell the words, but that's all). as his gift, bailey and billy went to academy to pick out a fishing pole. i was going to try to buy one for him but realized that i knew absolutely nothing about what to look for in fishing poles and figured he would want to pick one out for himself anyway. i also didn't tell bailey what we were getting him until the day of and thus, was able to actually surprise billy!

here is billy teaching bailey how to fish (in the front yard, of course) with the pink and purple fishing rod she admired for so long and finally got for christmas this past year.

plenty of women claim that their husband is the best but i'm pretty sure i've got them beat. i could never have imagined marrying a better man. billy has always been a supportive, caring, strong, helpful, funny husband and i had no idea how much more i could love him until after we had bailey. not only is billy a wonderful husband, he is a very involved, responsible, playful daddy who enjoys teaching and loving on his kids. he helps me out tremendously as much as he can and for that, i am so grateful. billy is teaching bailey and crawford what being a man of god is all about the only way you can, by example. with his daddy's help, crawford is going to be a phenomenal man someday and i cannot even imagine what kind of guy will be able to compete with billy in bailey's eyes. he's already been declared more handsome than prince eric and that's pretty major.

so, thank you billy for leading our family so well and keeping our focus where it belongs, on christ.

Our bouncing baby boy!

crawford really loves to bounce! bailey would kinda just hang out in this doorway bouncer and look around when she was a baby but crawford is very active!