first haircut

My little boy got his first haircut today. He has a ton of hair and it is very out of control because of the curls, cowlicks, and the long length. He was starting to get a mullet. I debated whether or not to wait to cut his hair until his first birthday because it seemed like a sin to do it before then, ha!, but I decided to go ahead and do it! Luckily my mom knows a little about cutting hair. I didn't know where to take him and this was bound to be less traumatizing than a professional place. She was excited to share this experience with us! Here are some before pictures, but I really think you can see the craziness in this picture. He seemed to have a wing behind his left ear.

Here are some of the BEFORE shots. I think he looks so adorable in the hair cutting cape.

Here are a few shots DURING the cut.

Here he is AFTER the cut. He was very ready to be out of the chair and wasn't really cooperating. I will be sure to get a few more close up pictures later. At least you can tell that the wing is gone!

What a precious little boy. We did not save any locks of hair. I know that might seem like a sin too, but we have plenty of pictures and the memories of the first cut!

the view from here

Why can't the weather bring snow on a school day? Last time it snowed, it started on the Friday night before Christmas vacation and now we have snow on another weekend. My only hope for a snow day is for the VERY cold temperatures they are calling for to keep the snow on the ground! In the mean time, we have hunkered down for a weekend snow day. Here is the view from the back door. (I think we're up to at least 11 inches).

We faced the car so we could get out easily if need be. However, I have no desire to get myself and Bryce out to the car. Jason, on the other hand, CANNOT stand to spend an entire day at home so he took his truck out for some fun in the snow. When the mail came today, I asked Jason if their cars were 4 wheel drive. He called while he was out to tell me that they are not! He helped pull one out of the snow while he was out and about.

As I was standing at the door taking this picture, a car (VW bug, crazy person) got stuck in the middle of the main road and people had to help them. I don't know why people, including my husband, need to get out in this stuff. I love a good snow day at home. I have already accomplished so much today.....made muffins for Bryce for breakfast, did laundry, ordered Bryce's birthday cake, typed up my report card comments, assembled Bryce's ABC mat, ate leftover pizza from last night, ate 3/4 of a bag of almond M&M's, and I'm currently deciding what I want to eat next, ha. Eating is the downfall to a snow day! Is it snowing where you live?

power button

Bryce has learned how to cut the tv on and off. Thankfully there is only one tv in the house that he can reach. Of course, this tv is in the den with all of his toys so we watch it quite often. It only becomes a problem in the mornings when I'm trying to watch the opening credits of the Today show and Bryce cuts the tv on and off 5 times before they ever start a news segment.

TV is on

Now it's off. Silly boy!

a long rambling post about an invitation

I spent WAY too much time (and maybe too much money) deliberating about the invitations. I got the invitations here and I just love them! Daina was very easy to work with and she did a great job matching the invitation to Bryce's outfit. However, the colors printed differently with different companies. I printed the invitation at home and it was perfect, so I ordered a set from Snapfish (because they were the cheapest). When I got them, the brown had way too much red in it, so I threw them away. I tried having them printed at Shutterfly on the card stock that they use for announcements and invitations, but no one in the customer service department could get me to a blank template to upload the invitation. The colors at CVS were good, but they don't offer a matte finish and I would have had to trim off the white border around all of them. I finally decided on Costco (they actually ended up being cheaper than Snapfish). I had a print made in the store to see the colors, but I was going to order them online because they had a blank greeting card template and they would have come with envelopes. Well the invitation was too big for the template so I just ordered regular prints and had them mailed to me. The invitations I got were SO NOT the same color (still had too much red) as the print I had made in the store. But.....with much deliberation, I just decided I was over it and enough time and money had been spent! But it is his first birthday and everything has to be perfect, doesn't it?!?

Aaaaamazing.....

In an effort to help sell our house, we had our shower remodeled/updated. My parents had theirs done last year and recommended that we do the same. Today was the big day and I couldn't be more pleased! I was even on top of things enough to take before pictures so you could see the comparisons with the final product.

Before: The view of the top of the shower walls to the ceiling.

After: We had the shower walls extended to the ceiling since the lack of an exhaust fan in our bathroom causes paint peeling and a bit of mold.

Before: The fixtures and dirty tile grout.

After: New fixtures and no more tile!

Before: Mold stains on the wall, well water stains on the tub, and just plain nastiness

After: New shelves, new curtain rod, no stains, and did I mention NO tile?!

Before: A nasty tub that I would never take a bath in (thank goodness Bryce's tub sits in this one)

After: a brand spanking new sparkly tub calling my name for a bubble bath

We are so thankful to my parents for suggesting this wonderful renovation and helping foot most of the bill. Hoping someone comes to the open house on Sunday and falls in love with the shower (since it is the only one). Yay!

11 months

1 more month and this little boy will be a year old!

I want a picture from the other side so I can see him peeking at me upside down. I just can't seem to get that shot.

He does everything with his tongue out theses days!

What are you up to this month, Bryce?

• You L.O.V.E. to eat, but you are kind of a picky eater. You like all fruits and breads, but you aren't much for veggies or meat.
• You took your first steps today. It was only about 3 steps, but that is HUGE!
• Your vocabulary is growing. I did an update on your vocabulary here, but since then, you can tell us what sound the elephant makes (it is too cute) and you can hold up one finger to tell us how old you are going to be!
  
  I'm sure there is much more that I am leaving out, but I feel like I have been updating your progress this month since you are doing so much. Daddy and I love you so much and we are so happy you are in our lives. You continue to bring us so much joy everyday.
  
  

baby dedication

As promised, here are a few pictures from the baby dedication service at church. Bryce was making a lovely face for this picture!

He knew he looked handsome in that suit!

Every January our church has a baby dedication service to recognize the babies that were born the previous year. Parents promise to be an example to their children and instruct them in the ways of the Lord and to love and cherish them as gifts from God. The congregation promises to support the families, encourage them, and assist them in Godly training of our little ones! I hope Bryce follows in his Daddy's Christian footsteps, what a great role model.

another pictureless weekend recap

We had a nice weekend! Friday night we ran a few errands and went out to dinner. We went to Suffolk on Saturday and had a wonderful visit with Nanny and Poppy. They both looked great and Nanny is on the mend from her hip replacement. I actually let myself relax on Saturday night. I watched Julie and Julia and really enjoyed it. This morning was baby recognition Sunday at church. We dressed Bryce up in his suit and tie and showed him off! He looked super cute. My pictures were not great so I'm waiting to get some others from a friend. Bryce will be 11 months tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. I just hope I can get his birthday party planned with all of the other events that seem to be popping up every weekend. We are getting a new shower installed on Tuesday. I'm really hoping this will help us sell the house. We're having an open house next Sunday. Well enough of my random thoughts. I hope to post some pictures of all the events I have mentioned tonight. Happy Sunday!

happy birthday, macy

Today is Macy's 4th birthday! While this is not a recent picture of her, I thought her party dress picture was perfect for the occasion. Macy had a wonderful birthday. My parents were watching Bryce tonight while we taught the middle schoolers at church so they took Macy to Bruster's for a doggy sundae. She enjoys the ice cream, but she loves the dog bone that comes with it!

A while back I did a post about Bryce and his tongue. Well he remembered he had a tongue today and it hung out of his mouth all afternoon! I couldn't decide which pictures to use, so I used them all, ha!

Just like his daddy. Jason always sticks out his tongue when he is concentrating on a task!

curls

Who needs water anyway?

We had a showing on the house yesterday so we had to pack the whole house up into the car so it would be clean and clutter free. I finally got around to bringing Bryce's bathtub in tonight so I could give him a bath. He enjoyed playing in the tub in his clothes before bath time.

This little boy has some curls! He gets that from me. The curls look so cute when they are wet, but if we don't brush them out, it just turns into a mohawk in the morning. I decided to capture the curls since we are the only ones who ever get to enjoy them.

Bryce has just recently started making a fish face. This was the best I could get tonight. He can contort his mouth into many different fish faces and he makes the silliest sounds while doing it.

preppy boy

Precious Baby

Bryce loves to read!

He enjoys pulling EVERY book off the shelf!

I can't wait until Bryce can help clean up his messes!

Hopefully he will still like to read when he gets older.