Big Boy Haircut

TOO SOON
By: Shel Silverstein

You've spilt you milk
And dumped the mashed
Potatoes in your chair.
There's tapioca in your nose
And broccoli in your hair.
Your applesauce is on the wall
And nothin's on your spoon.
I think perhaps we let you
Try to feed yourself too soon.

I'm pretty sure the above poem, by my all-time favorite kids author, describes my child to a tee when it comes to mealtime! He would rather wear the food than eat it! Cheese-Its are his lifeline at this point...gotta love that crunchy goodness.

He is now 17 1/2 months old and more interesting than ever! We have discovered that he has a fetish and love for shoes...it's quite cute! Mamie and Pops brought back an adorable pair of sneakers from Bonaire in the Caribbean. We tried them on Sebastian and he was hilarious... He went around the house showing everyone his new shoes. He would lift his foot and point to his sneakers and show everyone the cars on them.

In anticipation of the summer months, I have been trying to find a pair of sandals/flips for him to wear. This sounds like it shouldn't be that difficult right? He wears size 6 baby shoes...BUT...he has the strangest feet in that they are sooooo chunky on top. They aren't incredibly huge or anything, they just have very poofy tops. To give you an example, I bought him a pair of crocs and they only sell a size 4 and larger so I got the 4s, which at the time, he did not fit into. I figured he would grow into them...yeah, when he was finally ready to wear them, I squished his little foot in there only to discover that his poor little fatty tops oozzed out of the little holes. Needless to say, he never got to wear them! They were a great (BRAND NEW) handy me down to his cousin, Wesley.

So, this search for a pair of sandals/flips that will actually fit his feet has not been very productive. We bought a pair of Nike ones, when he wasn't with us, that had to be returned and he won't even try the ones with a thong. We exchanged the Nike sandals for an adorable pair of loafers, doesn't really help us for the summer, but they were cute and he LOVES them...couldn't wait to try them on.

On another note, I took Sebastian to get his first "Big Boy" haircut at a place called Pigtails and Crewcuts. Usually, Mamie just cuts his hair but it was getting wildly unmanageable of late and I arrived at my Dr. Appt too early today, so...since the barber was literally across the street, we ventured in. They have a fabulous set-up. The chairs are fire trucks, taxis, airplanes and cars and they play Disney movies in view of each seat. Sebastian was thrilled to get to sit in the Fire Truck and steer his way through "Tangled". He did beautifully! He usually does pretty good if I am close by and talk to him while its being cut but not a tear was shed and not a tantrum was thrown during the whole process. He was most upset about not being able to reach the bell on the fire truck...a true emergency. Jonathan freaked a little when I told him it cost me a whopping $17.00 but I said it was worth it if it was a good experience and he leaves happy verses traumatized. I hear all these horror stories about having to hold them down and screaming babies when the clippers come out...I'll fork up $17 bucks any day to have him smile through the whole thing and see haircuts as fun and not scary.

He looks quite handsome with his new hairdo!

My appointment went well...she is not too large measuring in at 34.5 weeks and I am 35 weeks. I have made it to the every week appointment breakdown...oh joy! Only four weeks left til delivery...its right around the corner!

Meeting the Easter Bunny

So, meeting the Easter Bunny went considerably better than meeting Santa a few months ago. When we pulled up to the rope and he got out of his stroller, he squealed with excitement! He was actually excited about seeing what this crazy large bunny was about!

Now, he was not as fond of the situation the closer we got to the sitting part. Luckily there was no one else in line so we could take as long as we wanted and our bunny was very patient. She had a squeaker in her paw, which helped IMMENSELY. It only took two tries to get him to sit next to her, not on her, cause that was NEVER going to happen.

Like usual, there were NO SMILES....we couldn't even get a fake smile out of him.

This was the best shot! Stone cold expression...

He is FINALLY out for good!!!

The long awaited day has finally arrived...no, I have not gone into labor although it would be welcomed at this point! After four long years of active duty and four years of inactive reserves, Jonathan got his HONORABLY DISCHARGED certificate from the United States Marine Corps!

When we first met...five long years ago...I very vividly remember having mixed feelings about the whole military thing. Not having grown up in a military family, my grandfather served but none of my immediate family, I was very unfamiliar with all things military. When my friend told me she had someone she wanted to introduce me to and that he was a Marine, my initial thought was "no, way...I'm not going to get attached to someone who will be gone half the time, military life is not for me!" But, she connected us anyway and although his first message was nothing spectacular, it was worth a second look. I could tell immediately that I would be missing out on the best thing in my life if I said "no" just because he was a military man.

Pictures from Iraq

It just so happened that Jonathan was deployed a whole two days prior to sending me my first message. I look back now and am grateful for this fact...I think meeting him, briefly or not, then watching him leave for seven months, would have been a nightmare. This way, we had to get to know each other solely through messages and words...you can tell a lot about someone when you have nothing to do but talk!

It was the LONGEST seven months of my life...my nine month pregnancy went by faster! When he finally came home on October 15, 2008 (after two delays), there really is no way to describe what kind of feelings I was flooded with. I could finally, physically feel that he was real and safe and excited to see me. I had numerous dreams about finally seeing him, always to wake up and feel that rush of disappointment but when it was finally real...its indescribable!

Just because he had finished his deployment by no means meant we were done with the military, it just meant I had changed my mind...he was worth the wait! I was now willing to go on this active/inactive journey with him. He was stationed at Camp Lejuene for at least another 8 months, which meant more long distance relationship but he was incredible and drove home to Charlotte every single weekend from October to June! He was discharged from active duty the day before my sister, Kristyn's wedding, on June 25, 2009. Active duty discharge meant the beginning of inactive reserves, which for us, was relatively event free...thank you, God! Even though you know the likeliness of being recalled is super slim, you always have it lingering in the back of your mind. For those of you who are pro-military life, it would probably be hard to understand but although Jonathan enjoyed the Marines Corps and values his time spent in the service, he never intended to be a lifetime Marine. After the birth of our son, it has become clear that he is definitely a family man...there is no way he could be away from his little man for more than a day and Sebastian is glued to his Daddy!

So, after five years for me and eight years for Jonathan, we are OVERJOYED to see that magic little piece of paper! I am grateful to the Marines for helping make Jonathan into the man he is today. I don't think we would have met or become the family we are today without his time spent in the service, BUT I am so thrilled to be free from that daunting contract! My husband is ALL mine now, no one else gets to tell him what to do or take him away for someone else's cause. We are happy to continue growing our family and start this new chapter in our life....military free!

SO extremely proud of you babe!!! I love you a ridiculous amount!!! Thank you for serving our country and thank you for making me the happiest woman in the world...we have a life to be envious of!

Like Father, Like Son

I am not sure if you can tell in this picture....

BUT...these two were made for each other!!! They are already BEST BUDS and they have only known each other for 17 months!

Playhouse

Like I said in previous posts...this was the first beautiful weather weekend we have had in a long time. The warmer days have been landing during the week and the weekends have been plagued by rainy weather. Our backyard is a harbor for rain water, so we can't go out and run around in it for at least a few days after it rains...in the summer we water with sprinklers and we have the same problem. We have to keep it moist to keep it green but then it is too wet to play in...ugh the joys of home ownership!

Anyway, back to business...it was so beautiful outside that we decided to finally assemble Sebastian's Christmas gift from Mamie and Pops, a playhouse!

We dread these tasks...especially when you open the box and the assembly instructions look like a novel! A million wooden pieces and even more screws...it was going to be a LONG project. But, it was beautiful outside and if we were going to sit out there anyway, we might as well make good use of our time.

What trouble could a 16 month old possibly get into when trapped in a fenced in yard.....he would climb the ONE bench in the yard! Turn your back for two seconds and he is standing all the way up on the bench, waiting to be rescued!

Anyway, just so you know...this darn thing took us most of the day on Saturday and all day on Sunday to put together! We finished it around 4:00pm on Sunday. He loves it though! It comes equipped with a phone, sink, stove, counter, doorbell and bench! It is quite funny to watch him go in and out...the door is secured by a magnet and it is a tad too tough for him. He will push/pull with all his might to get it open and then it will let loose and he goes tumbling down. He will get the hang of it eventually....what is the most interesting is when he gets Mama or Daddy to go inside with him...that's a sight to see!

It will be a fun summer playing in the backyard with the buck-a-roo...he is definitely an outdoors-man!

Zoo-tastic!

So, I was able to get ahead enough at work to take the day and spend it at the Riverbanks Zoo with my little man. Now that does not mean I did not get a dozen calls throughout the day but at least we got to go to the zoo.

Sebastian started off in a great mood. However, he refused to take his morning nap so by the time we got to the zoo, he was exhausted. He still wasn't too bad to manage but it did mean limited smiles while we were there.

As always, we enjoyed seeing all the fascinating wild life...there weren't any fantastic, action packed displays but we did get to see the elephants very close, have a hands on experience with the lorries and lorikeets, and got to feed the giraffes.

Okay, so my computer does some screwy things with captions so I am not going to add one to each of these pictures, they are pretty self explanatory. Like I said, very few smiles.

Yes, that is my very huge belly! After the elephants, we stopped to have some pizza at a little restaurant inside the zoo...it was actually pretty tasty despite costing a fortune!

He was out cold within minutes of leaving the zoo! Uncle Kamerin, Uncle Sam and Samantha joined us for the fun day out in the beautiful weather, the first day we were above 55 degrees.

Saturday morning, having been outside more than normal the day before, Sebastian was glued to the glass door begging to go out! So, we had a hurried breakfast and headed out for a neighborhood stroll in the wagon and stopped at the neighborhood park for some energy exhausting fun!

When we got back to the house, over an hour later, Jonathan took one good look at our lawn and exclaimed it was time to mow...I agreed! Our lawn had begun to turn a yellowish hue due to the overly long blades. Now, I knew this would be a battle since Sebastian is fascinated with all things motorized and manly! He threw a tantrum of epic proportions when we went inside to change his diaper...I felt so bad cause all he wanted to do was help Daddy. We ventured back out and I tried distracting him with the broom....his Mack truck....his tricycle with plenty of loud buttons....NOTHING was as good as chasing down Daddy to push the lawn mower! Jonathan finally gave in and tried a few laps with him on his shoulders....even this was not as satisfying as pushing the darn thing!

Saturday afternoon, we had Kamerin and Samuel and Samantha over for a cookout while we also tried to tackle putting together Sebastian's Christmas present from Mamie and Pops.....a playhouse! The cookout was fabulous, Jonathan made his steak specialty and our playhouse adventure dragged on til Sunday afternoon....I'll be posting about that experience next!