1st Haircut

Last night, my baby boy got his very first hair cut ever.

 EVER. 

I have never even trimmed one single strand of those beautiful white blonde curls. We have always smiled and nodded (and chuckled) when people called him a little girl...and remember the bullying incident because of the ponytail? Whoops! Finn has always said he likes his long hair and never mentioned really WANTING it cut....until recently. He started asking for a haircut...not just any hair cut but he wanted to "get spiky hair, momma" like a little boy in his class. I put that thought in the back of my mind and then again yesterday, when I picked him up from school, he looked at a photo on the Rhea Lana's flyer we got and brought it up again. With bright eyes, he looked at me and said "momma, I want spiky hair like him" in the most serious 3 year old tone. We talked for a minute about how we would have to have our baths in the morning now so we could fix our hair, how it would be really short, etc. He was adamant about "getting spiky hair from the spiky hair store". I asked him when he wanted to go get a haircut and he said "Now". This was serious business, you guys! Off we went.......(after I washed his hair because the major downfall to that head of long curls was the HEAT...bless his heart...he was SO hot all the time :/ )

Those of you that know me know that I no longer have a regular hairdresser. I was dedicated to a fabulous lady (by dedicated, I mean, the 2 times a year I used to get my haircut/colored, she was the ONLY one who could do it....) but, I had Finn and spending money on those kinds of things was no longer an option so my hair was placed very far on the justifiable spending list. I have gotten the occasional "so so" walk in haircut and then let it grow several times.....then the last time I got my hair cut, I went to a different walk in place and got a really good haircut! We went to the Supercuts and even though it wasn't the same person who gave me the great cut, we were really AMAZED at how great of a job she did. Her name was Chiree and she will officially always be cutting Finn's hair. I couldn't speak more highly of how good she was with him and how great of a job she did!!

Now, on to pictures!! 

Before: 

While I LOVED my baby's long curls, they were unruly 98% of the time. Humidity, little boy activity, plus naps made it kind of a mess :/

Long hair combed walking into the salon...he was so excited I could not get him to stand still enough for me to get a good photo!!

Bye, bye, curls....Kept the first curl to save ;)

Such a big boy! Did not move or shed a tear! He was mesmerized watching her cut it in the mirror...

At this point, he held his hands up to his hair in the shape of a point and asked if it was going to "get spiky"!!

Finished!!! 

Of course, we had to go show it off to husband's family!

Grown up hair? check..Big boy scraped elbow? check.

Wiped out after all the excitement :) Oh yeah, and daddy got his haircut "spiky" too :) Husband, I love you and I love how you always want to match Finny

Fitter Fave Foods-Chili Lime Chicken Tacos

Here is a recipe I made last week that I thought was awesome. I made the chicken from this recipe and man, it was delicious! Super simple and packed with flavor...it even went over well with the husband who is much more of a ground beef taco guy!

Chili Lime Rubbed Chicken Soft Tacos-Makes about 6 soft tacos


                                 photo from recipe.com site

Ingredients:

Chili lime rubbed chicken breasts, recipe here. (I did not change anything about this recipe except for I only used 3 pieces of chicken and only had about 1 teaspoon of the grated lime peel but, still felt like it had enough lime flavor)
6 soft taco tortillas
1/2 large white onion
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
Fresh cooked black beans (or canned, if you don't have time to make fresh..I will post how I make them)
Whole kernel corn-I did use canned here because it was in my pantry and sounded good so I threw it in there!)
Additional toppings, if desired:
Light sour cream
Shredded fiesta blend cheese
Fresh chopped cilantro
Salsa

Directions:
I followed the chicken recipe exactly and it was great. I grilled the chicken breasts on our gas grill and they turned out perfect. I received the green version of this digital meat thermometer as a wedding gift and absolutely love it. Be gone, dry chicken! The rub was super easy to make and I had the chicken cooking in no time. Meanwhile, I took my onion and green pepper and put it on the stove in a small skillet over medium-low heat. I let these cook the entire time I was cooking the chicken and preparing everything. Cook until the onions are translucent and starting to brown. When the chicken was done, I covered it with foil and let it "rest" about 5 minutes while I got everything on the table. This is good to do with any type of grilled meat. I then sliced the chicken and served a "taco bar" with all our choice toppings, etc.

Voila! That's it!

Photo(less) Life

Guys----you will never guess what I did.....(actually, husband you are probably not the in the least surprised by the statement I am about to type)

I deleted everything on my phone. 

every-dang-thing.

contacts, photos, videos, to do lists, saved random notes on things I wanted to remember......

shoot.

Sooooooooo, I don't have any photos to share....I did...I promise! I had lots of photos that I was overdue to post here but, they are gone. Along with some videos I really wanted to treasure. Shoot again. Awesome video I made of Finn singing happy birthday to my sister so I could send it to her at the crack of dawn on her actual birthday? deleted. Pictures of the super top secret craft project I couldn't tell you about until after it was given to sister for her birthday? deleted. 

Thank the stars above that I had recently transferred most of my photos, etc over to our home computer so that when I updated the ol iphone to the new iOS 6 without plugging it into itunes (I had JUST updated my phone to the last OS without plugging it in and had no problems so I assumed (you know what THAT means) this update could be done the same), it only deleted a month or so worth of memories as opposed to a year's. 

Believe me! LOTS of photos will be taken from now on and shared IMMEDIATELY on the blog before ol Mrs. McFancyphone has the chance to delete them again. 

Little things...

(As I mentioned before, I will be doing some posts about things that make me happy/unhappy modeled after posts I enjoy reading by Brandilyn on Cats and Cardigans)

Things that make me happy this week:

New projects in the future with my shop. (Remember my shop? I haven't talked about it much on here but I have been busy!! There are around 100 items currently for sale! I plan on featuring more of those items on this blog as well as some things I have my fingers crossed about!)

Successful recipes and new recipes to try in the future

Toddler snuggles

Having husband around the house with us for 99% of the time Saturday and Sunday (!!)

Miller has a new sister!!!!!!!!!!! The Woodruff family welcomed a sweet baby girl, Mattie McNeil, into the world on Monday! Congratulations!!! <3 

Things that make me less than happy this week:

Ty Louis Campbell. Please go read his story. Please pray for him and his family. If you live close to them, please go give his sweet momma a hug from me. I know I have said this before but their battle is long from over and every tiny thought helps. I have never lost a child. My child has never battled a major disease. I know or know of people who have but, as much as I would like to think I can sympathize, I know that my aching heart for them and for what they have been through in no way compares to what they are feeling. 

This list ends there. As much as I would like to complain more about my "terrible threes" or the fact that my child hasn't been sleeping through the night, I can't. My "problems' are so trivial compared to what others are facing. As weird as it may seem to constantly think about someone you don't really "know", my thoughts have been filled with this family. I have been meaning to write about the recipes I mentioned or about silly things happening in our home and I just haven't. I promise to get back to posting about the other things but, just wanted to mention them again because they have been on my mind so much.

Super Ty

I woke up this morning all gung ho to share with you some delicious food I made last night. It has been a while since I have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and last night's dinner was the first "success" we have had in a while. But then..something more important came along......

Super Ty

"Super Ty" is an understatement. Ty is a hero. Ty is my hero. At just shy of five years old, this little boy (and his courageous family), have gone through more than most people go through in a lifetime. Ty was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and his mother documents their miraculous ups and heartbreaking downs. Super Ty was the first blog I ever started reading. It used to be the first website I went to each morning (long before I ever signed up to get the updates by email, long before my blogger reading list, etc). Ty needs our prayers. His family needs our prayers. If you have not ever gone to their site, please do. Please just take a minute or five or ten or however long you choose to read their story.

 My heart aches for him....for his mother and father and little brother. 

whoa, momma....

Whew! What a weekend!! How about yours? This weekend we really didn't do a whole lot...partially because we have been so busy that I was not only badly in need of a weekend at home but also, if I didn't get some housework done, dust bunnies were going to start playing games with Finn! (I am only half joking here, guys....I feel like I can be honest here!) Although, if we are REALLY being honest, I would tell you that Finn already has lots of "people" to play with around our house because he has several imaginary friends....Hi, Fred, Annie, and oh, um, one other "friend" whose name doesn't get said as often as the first two......is that strange to talk about? We are pretty out in the open with the "friends" at our house. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Which brings me to what I really got on here to talk about.....my toddler. We are three months and 2 months old.....going on 16. Does anyone else have this problem? Growing up, I remember people joking about the "Terrible Two's" then as I got older and got to where my friends were actually having children, the truth came out that the "Three's" were actually worse than the "Two's" and man, they kind of are! There is a fine line between being old enough to know right and wrong and then just pushing the boundaries to see how far they will go before mommies eyes go crossed! Then there is also that line between "independence" and "neediness". While this may all sound like I am complaining, please understand that I am NOT! Children are a gift from God. To be fortunate enough to raise a child where my biggest complaint or worst experience is a touch of sass is truly and completely a blessing. We are beyond blessed in a countless number of ways so please do not think I am enjoying a pity party for one here...I really am not! I am however curious if any of you readers can give me some insight into your own parenting methods....what works for you? Are you a time out household? Do favorite toys go into time out? Do you spank? (yes, yes, I know...I just opened a flood gate here with that one.......I just want to hear what "works" for everyone else). In our house, it seems as though the best response to a fit is to simply walk the other direction. Nothing makes my son stop a fit quicker then if I just walk out of the room.  Next thing you know, "tears" have stopped and he is right behind me.....but, then that makes me question..is this reallllllly working if he continues to start to throw the fits in the first place? or is this just that road that all parents go down where you just wait and follow the old saying "this too shall pass".

This post has already been wordy enough, so I am going to leave this open for discussion. 

What works in your household? What advice do you have? What methods to you use in your household to correct bad behavior or mold your children into gracious and respectful adults of the future?

My GN

Aaaaaah, and I am back...still full from an evening of fabulous food, even more fabulous friends, and LOTS of laughter and SURPRISES!! (That I can't really talk about yet...soon though....I think)

As I mentioned yesterday, I was going out to eat with my "GN" (Girl's Night girls) to celebrate my sister's birthday. This is something we do for each girl every year and it is always above and beyond what the birthday girl could hope for! (Maybe that sounds like I am patting myself on the back there....I mean, everyone always seems happy!) Since I have never really explained my GN group on here, let me tell you about them!

GN is a group of girl's that my older sister went to school with that began getting together for dinner on Thursday evenings many years ago. They were all friends and their husbands were all friends so it was a good chance for the guys to hang out somewhere and the girls to get together. Now, it was several years later that I joined this group of girls and it was one of the best things that ever happened to my life. At the time, I was 20 years old and had gone through a yucky break up with my serious boyfriend at the time and was a bit down in the dumps. My sister invited me to tag along with her to go hang out with her girls and the rest is history. We still get together almost every Thursday (I say almost because as the years have gone by and we have all had children, sometimes one or two of us has something else going on) and this group of girls has become the very best friends I could have ever asked for. There is no project too large or small (in our eyes at least) and I wish I had a nickle for every time someone has said "Girl's night can do it!". Every year we hold a Sweet Swap and an Ornament Exchange along with the aforementioned birthday celebration for each girl...and the occasional bridal (all done with those now!) or baby shower along the way! Without the girl's permission, I won't go tooooo in depth on here yet but once I run it by them, I will tell you more and share some of our "projects" along the way! From a four wall mural for a baby nursery to the most recent project of two full size quilt tops in 2 "working" days, we have done a little bit of everything!

Stay tuned...more to come from these lovely ladies!

Guys...

This post is going to be all over the place but, to be really honest, that's how my brain is feeling right now so I am just going to go with it! Feel free to leave now....or to get a good cup of coffee and read away!

First off, allergies/end of summer head cold.....dude....go...go now...Finny and I are so through with you..k thanks

Second off.....one word....Bonefish!! I am so, so, so very excited to eat there this evening! Even MORE excited that I will be eating there to celebrate my sister's birthday (birthweek, if you will) with my girl's night girls (or GN as I like to call them....oh wait..have I not told you about these girls?? whew...post to follow)!! Dear aforementioned sickness, Please allow me to taste my yummy ahi tuna. That would be greaaaaaaaat. Love, Lo.---Special note about Bonefish....husband and I ate there for the first time the night we got engaged....little did I know, my STUNNING engagement ring was in his blazer pocket at that time! (oh wait...have I not told you our engagement story? well, geeeeez louise, what do I even talk about on here?? post to follow...). We ate there again in May of this year to celebrate our "1 year engagement/2 year dating" anniversary...we love celebrating anniversaries :) and I love husband for loving to celebrate them with me.

Third off.....well, I don't really have a "third off" because it sounds like I have some other posts to get to work on! Although, maybe not right now.....I have a date with my little one and a group of FABULOUS women <3

A few little things...

A few weeks ago, I emailed the lovely Brandilyn Haynes, from Cats and Cardigans, to not only tell her how much I enjoy her blog but, to also ask her how she felt about me "borrowing" an idea for a post that she had done several times (a post on things that she is grateful for). I didn't really expect a response back but, I knew I didn't want to proceed without reaching out to her first. Well, she not only emailed me back but was also incredibly kind! That lady gets an A++ in my book! So, once a week, I would like to start just jotting down the things I am grateful for or things that make me happy (yes, I know, I know.....but, you hardly post once a week so does that mean these will be the only posts you do?! no, no..I am working on doing better about that!). Here it goes!

Things that make me happy this week:

Happy Anniversary, husband!! 

Lunch and dinner date in one day with Husband for above! Greek food here AND salmon kabobs here in one day?! yes, please!

the not one, but TWO bouquets of flowers husband got me....holy moly! 

Happy birthday, sister!! My lovely and amazing older sister and celebrating a birthday today! <3 

Getting to take my sister lunch and presents at her shop today to celebrate! um, I may or may not share a similar strong love of Greek food with my sister....and we may or may not have had that for lunch today...two times in three days is too much, you say? Fuh-gettaboutit! PS..if you live in NWA, go getcha some Kosmo's....like right now. man, oh, man...moving on

Having son make a birthday video singing happy birthday to said sister and all the comedic moments that may have included. best. video. ever. watch out, hallmark! 

Spending the weekend working on something that must remain nameless until a later date.....I may or may not have stayed in my pajamas and glasses most of the weekend working away but, it was totally worth it....sorry, husband! 

Laughter....so much of it already and it's only Wednesday! 

Things that made me less than happy this week:

Bullies.....at daycare. yes, this does happen and no, it is not the first time. Sets a very good example to my Finny on the difference between right and wrong and makes me hope he always tries to do the right thing. 

Choosing my tallest heels on a day when I have to power walk/sprint through the mall to get strawberry gummies (for sister's birthday) and chinese take out for husband.....I may or may not have dropped my phone then almost tripped on my own shoe in about ten feet. flats, lo lo, flats...

discovering I start every sentence with "so..", "well," or "may or may not have"......the publishers are lined up over here, folks...lined up, I say! 

That's all! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! 

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, I did this....

random string removed? check (thank you, sister!)....beautiful sash that went with my dress...no check!! whoops :/ 

to get ready to do this....

walk down to this guy...

so we could do this...

where we stood before our Lord and Savior...

to become this...

because from the moment I met you, you made me do this...

so we became this...

a family...

From our very first official "date" where I met your parents (and somehow didn't die of a heart attack)...

to the first night you told me you loved me...

from goofy glasses...

to engagement announcements in the paper...

you have always been right there by my side....just like our vows...for better or worse..in good times and in the bad...in sickness and in health. I love you, dear husband. I couldn't think of a better person to be my everything. 

Happy Anniversary <3