Exhibit A

Yesterday, when I thought Will was better and before I realized he wasn't (more on that later), I took him to get a haircut. I usually take him to Sports Clips (I think it's a chain?) and they generally do a good job. His hair is thick and wavy and it's hard to make it look bad. Yet the Walmart salon lady found a way.

ExhIbit A:
Notice how he has no sideburns anymore. Not that he needs huge ones since he's a toddler, but a little curve wouldn't hurt. It's the way nature made him. And she cut it straight off. And you can see where she didn't cut the hair near it. This is just one part I'm disastisfied with. You can find something from every angle if you look.

(This is what will typed while I was away from the computer trying to comfort Reed: kdsddddddddddcdccddcssss

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdscdnkedddddzc'

Not quite 2 and typing. Very talented boy.)

Anyway, when we first got there I asked if there would be a wait, because I'm all about not waiting with a baby or toddler in tow. She said no, so we signed in. She proceeded to spend the next 5 minutes acting like she was looking for someone or something and didn't say anything to us. Then she finally got her supply case, a towel and an adult drape out and gestured toward a chair. I asked if she had a booster for him or if she wanted me to hold him. She looked around for about 30 seconds and spotted the boosters behind her. After she got a towel around his neck she then realized she would be needing a drape for a child. I was starting to gather she wasn't their star stylist.

I explained what I wanted (cut a short as possible around the sides and back without using clippers and then a little longer on the top). She then cut about 1/3 of the hair on his head and asked if that was good. I suggested maybe she should trim the hair that was hanging over his ears and could she maybe do it a little shorter. So she did what you see to the areas over his ears, though obviously neglecting certain patches. She trimmed the top of his head about 1/2 a cm. And then asked if that was good. So I asked again could she just do it a little shorter because his hair grows so fast and really he could use a haircut once a month, so I like to get it short. So she trims his bangs pretty well and takes about a mm off what she's already done and asks a third time what I think. By this point I'm just done with her. She was obviously new and apparently in some sort of community program where people with learning disabilities can get jobs.

I'm kidding.

But then we tried to check out. Oh boy.

She rings us up for an ADULT HAIRCUT. We got 1/2 a child's cut.

"That will be $14.95."

"You rang us up for an adult haircut."

"Oh. That will be $13.00"

"Are you sure, because it says right here - 'Child's Cut and Shampoo: $10.95'. And you didn't shampoo, so is the haircut only cheaper?"

"I'm not sure, let me check."

Insert Will starting to FREAK OUT because he has used up all his toddler patience sitting still for a haircut and oh the injustice of having to sit in a basket and wait for a special needs lady to check us out.

(sorry. she irked me)

FINALLY we figure out that shampoo or not, full haircut or not, it is $10.95 for a kid's cut. So I give her my debit card. I am not sure I have ever had it take that long to process a debit card. Bless me and Will's patience by this point.

I finally get the slip to sign and begrudgingly gave her $1.50 tip because I just feel like with haircuts or restaurants, you give SOME kind of tip, even if it's not totally deserved. So that's $12.45 for a terrible haircut. And tomorrow (if he's feeling better), we're going to Sports Clips to get it fixed.

Will feeds the ducks

A couple of notes:

1. This was his first time going to feed the ducks. When I handed him the first piece of bread, before the camera was one, he stood there and took a couple of bites of it.

2. There are normally a ton of ducks at the lake. Not sure where they all were.

3. I fully expected him to try and chase them or get close to the water and debated on whether it was a good idea to take him and Reed by myself. But as you can see, he stood in one place! Amazing!

4. I didn't mean to stop the video when I did - I accidentally hit the button. Oh well.

5. Right before we left, I was kneeling down by the stroller talking to Reed and an 8 year old kid (he told me his age) walked by Will and made some funny faces at him, then came and stood behind me and made faces at Reed. I'm pretty sure he gave me bunny ears, too.

6. I littered for a minute. I was feeding Reed and Will took the last piece of bread and the bread bag blew into the water. But it was at the edge and I was able to get it and throw it away. When I got to the trash can I saw 6 or 7 bread bags, so no wonder the ducks weren't going nuts over the bread. Guess we'll have to get there early next time.

What were you doing a year ago today?

I was taking pictures of my sweet 11 month old Will.

And looking quite shocked at this:

A year ago today I found out I was pregnant with Reed. We were shocked. Stunned. Excited. Scared. I smiled. I cried. I thought I wasn't ready. How in the world were we going to do this? But looking back, that day ranks as one of the top faves in my life. Oh my precious Reed. I don't know how we lived without him.

Reflecting on today and Reed's pregnancy and birth, I decided I should post his birth story. I retro-dated it to the day he was born, and you can read it by clicking here. It is long, and you may find it boring or graphic, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible before I forget.

Lucky Girl

Today is my birthday. I'm a St. Paddy's day baby, so some may call me a 'lucky girl'. I feel pretty lucky, but I think blessed is a more appropriate term. I have so much to be thankful for on my 28th birthday. My life now is by far more full and rich than I could ever imagine. And by rich I don't mean money wise. Our house is modest and in need of improvements we can't afford. Our cars are a little older and our bank account looks quite sad sometimes. But man, are we wealthy in other ways! Just look how full my arms are!


Last year on my birthday I thought we were quite complete for the time being. And just 5 days later I learned we would be adding to our family. Now I have a wonderful 5 month old to love and cuddle. God is so loving and giving! I never could have imagined how happy that sweet little baby could make me but God knew. And He sent me my precious Reed.

Will delights me daily. Even though he can be a challenge sometimes, he is such a joy! I have a wonderful husband who takes care of us and such great family to help. Just this morning my mom came over at 5:30 because Brad was out of town and I had to be at work at 5:45 (and I woke up at 5:27 - whoops! I DID shower and clocked in at 5:48! Good thing I live so close to work!). She got the boys up, fed Reed and drove them to daycare. And she even did dishes while the boys slept! My dad made my lunch and she delivered that this morning, too. How thoughtful! Tonight she came by and brought me a birthday cake and card.

Will loves his Nana!

Tonight Brad and I went to Applebees while Brad's parents kept the boys. Will was pretty excited to see Gigi and Poppy since he doesn't see them everyday now.

I received many wonderful phone calls, texts and facebook messages for my birthday this year and a few cards in the mail. Haven even blogged about me! How sweet! Oh and my friend Laura sent me some spatulas with shamrocks on them. That may seem like a random gift to some, but I thought it was perfect! See, last week I was making some of The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls and I broke a spatula. I had also previously broken another one, so I was down to just 2 and made a mental note to buy some more. Of couse, I didn't tell anyone (wouldn't that be a boring conversation?), but Laura sent me some!

My life is filled with so many people who I love and even though it can be hectic at times, it feels so perfect. Some may call me lucky, but I am definitely blessed!

5 Months

Reed,
You are five months old today! FIVE. That just seems so wrong! How is it possible that nearly half a year has slipped by already?

You are such a happy boy! You smile at me all the time, unless I have the camera in my hands, of course. You love to coo and make noises and do a big, noisey yawn. It ALWAYS makes me yawn if I see you do it. I actually yawned just thinking about it a second ago!

I am still waiting to watch you find your feet and roll over and sit up. I know you will do all of these things and more very soon! For now I am just enjoying you being my sweet baby. I still take you to church with me and I love holding you and watching you sleep. Sometimes you are so BUSY staring at everyone and looking at the stained glass windows and sometimes you go right to sleep. I will probably have to take you to the nursery soon but I glad I have kept you with me this long.


Somedays you look so much like Will to me, then somedays you look nothing like him. I think you will favor him but you look more like a Gibbs to me and my mom. You have lots of hair coming in and it looks brownish red. Your eyes are HUGE and a beautiful light blue. Speaking of your eyes, your left eye cleared up a few weeks ago! Now we just have the drainage in your right eye. It drives me and Ms. Honey crazy trying to keep it clean and you get annoyed with us constantly wiping it. Hopefully the right one will clear up soon! You weigh around 15lb and can only wear a few 0-3 month things. Most of your clothes are 3-6 month and a couple of 6-9 month. You wear a size 1-2 or 2 diaper.

You are a happy boy but you do have opinions about things. Like when you are tired you start crying and want to go to bed RIGHT THEN. And you want to be put on your tummy to sleep. You will sleep in my arms, too, but you prefer your own space. You sleep from around 8 or 9 until 5 if I have to wake you before I go to work to 7 if you wake up on your own. I miss having you right next to me, but I am loving the sleep! You still nap a lot during the day, usually inbetween each feeding. You eat about every 3 hours during the day. I nurse you in the morning and before bed and you take 4 bottles varying from 4-6 oz. We haven't tried any cereal or baby food yet. I still don't think you are quite ready.

I really wish you would stop growing so fast. The days and weeks pass by too quickly. I love spending time just holding you and talking to you, especially in the mornings (when I am usually very short on time) because you are so happy then. It makes me hate to leave you when you talk to me so sweet, but it always makes me smile.

Daddy and I love having you as our second son and we look forward to seeing you grown and learn new things.

Love,

Mommy

Newd Balance and Little Boy Blue

Where's Will?

I stole this from my mom's iphone tonight. I had forgotten about it. She took this during a visit one night while I was in the hospital trying not to have Reed. Will LOVED playing in the cabinet. It occupied him for several minutes during each visit.

23 Months

Will,
You are 23 months old today! It is your LAST month as a 1 year old! You make me smile frequently and crack me up often. After I got you out of the bathtub and was dressing Reed, I used Reed's brush to tame your wild hair. You took off with the brush and a minute later I found you with your toothbrush in one hand and Reed's hairbrush in the other and you were just going to town...buck naked. You are quite a fan of brushing your teeth as long as YOU can do it. How much proper tooth brushing is being performed, I can't say, but at least something is getting done.

You started daycare last week and you LOVE it! You are so happy there with Ms. Honey. When I pick you up, you usually start doing something a little naughty and Ms. Honey is always surprised because apparently you are a pretty good boy for her. I guess you save your more challenging behavior for me and daddy! Ha!

You are so big. The last I measured and weighed you, I think you were 35lb and 36 inches tall. These pjs are new and they are 3t's! The pants are a little long, which is usually the problem we have with 3t stuff. But it fits everywhere else! You mainly wear 2t and 3t clothes, size 8 or 9 shoes and size 6 diapers. After trying many different diapers brands, we finally figured out we can buy diaper doubler pads to put in with your diaper overnight so you don't have wet sheets in the morning. What a relief!

You are so sweet to Reed (most of the time). Tonight Reed was spitting up and I didn't see him. You went and got his blanket and started wiping his chin while saying "baby spit up". Last night you kept saying "Shh! Quiet Reed!" when he was talking in the car. How funny for YOU to be telling someone else to be quiet! One of daddy and my favorite things for you to say is "I love you." We kind of get in yelling matches saying it to each other. Yours comes out as "I lud choo!" most of the time.

You are a book fiend and crazy about Barney these days. You frequently ask to "Watch Barney" and thanks to your grandparents, we have several DVDs. You get SO excited when Barney pops on the screen and you shout his name and laugh! Tonight I watched you as you sang along a little and did some of the motions. You also really love trucks and motorcycles. You like to line all of your trucks in a row and you often put them in your little people barn and silo. You still love your "mink" (monkey) and go to bed with it but you also want a book or a toy. I oblige because you will often play or 'read' then go to sleep without fussing.

You have so much personality and I just adore you! I can hardly believe you are almost 2! Last year at this time you were just starting to walk and now you run everywhere! You have been such a blessing these past 23 months!

Love,

Mommy

How to have fun at the park (by Reed and Will)

For starters, give mommy a good glare when she tries to take your picture. Smile as soon as she takes the camera away.

Show mommy how big you are by sliding down the big slide.
Stick the landing.


Glare at mommy again.

Think about conquering the big slide again.

Own it.

Hang out underneath the playset on a cool little bench.

Give mommy a break and smile a little while she has the camera focused on you.

Tell her that's enough.

Look cute coming off the little slide.

Make a funny face.

Climb up the steps for the 100th time in 10 minutes.

Charge mommy.

Slide down the little slide again.

Look bored with all the sliding.

Go up the little slide, just to keep it interesting.

Make a silly face.

Make mommy think you're going to jump out of the open space because you're crazy enough to do it.

Spot the swings! Beg mommy to help you on the swings. Since there are no baby swings, (and she tries prevent tantrums) she obliges and you stay on the big kid swing!

Make a sillier face.

Cry and throw a fit and try and wiggle out of mommy's arms when she tells you it's time to go. Make her stop and readjust 3 times on the way to the car so she doesn't drop you. Keep crying after you're buckled into your carseat and give mommy plenty of time to capture photographic evidence of tantrum.

And THAT is how you have fun at the park!

Sweet as honey

Meet Ms. Honey. She is taking care of the boys for us now and she lives up to her name (it's not her real name - I guess you could call it her business name, but it suits her). They LOVE her. Well, Will does anyway. Reed likes anyone who gives him a bottle. Will loves her. He asks for her. I had to hear about "Mih Huh-knee" all weekend. He doesn't want to leave when I pick him up. He has become big buddies with Ms. Honey's granddaughter, Austin.

I guess I can't blame him for wanting to stay. Other kids to play with. Getting to paint with marshmallows. She even has instruments. He can play a mean maraca, that boy.

I know he misses his Poppy because he asks about him a lot, too. But we thought with Will being older and needing more stimulation and Reed on his way to being mobile in a few months, it may be best to have someone else keep them most of the time. We weren't planning to do it so soon but I found Ms. Honey and fell in love with her and she had two spots, so the timing felt right. We are on week two of them being there and so far, so good!

Clothing optional

I can assure you he came up with this on his own. He did NOT see mommy vacuuming like that!

I have been following Katie's Keepers since her sweet baby girl Reese was born. Reese left this world just 2 days after entering it. Katie is always so positive and gives God the glory despite being heartbroken over her loss. Katie started posting pictures of Reese's name gallery right before Reed was born and I decided to send her one. She was such an inspiration to me while Reed was in the NICU. Reading her posts helped me through some tough days when I just wanted my baby home in my arms. When I would think of how unfair it was that I had to come home without my baby, God would remind me how blessed I was that I would be bringing him home soon and He would remind me to pray for Katie and other mothers who had lost their babies. I had to come home without Reed when he was 3 days old and didn't get to bring him home for another 15 days. Those days were so painful for me. I felt an actual aching in my chest at times. There were days I didn't think I could make it. But Katie never got to bring Reese home. I had to wait 2 days before I could dress my baby. She had a closet full of dresses she never got to put on her little girl.

I was and am humbled when I read her blog because she has suffered a loss so great I just can't fathom. But she praises God anyway. I hope and pray that if I ever have to go through something even half as horrible as she did, that I can praise God, too.

I sent her a picture for Reese's gallery back in October and told her how she helped me through the NICU experience and how I often thought of her and prayed for her as I held Reed. She emailed me a week or so later thanking me. I kept looking for it but never saw it and thought maybe she decided not to use it. But mom called me tonight and asked if I had checked Katie's blog recently. I hadn't made it through all the blogs since Sunday and was hoping everything was ok (Katie is pregnant again!) and mom told me the picture was on there! You can check it out here. Can you guess which one I sent?