BEFORE

Here are some of my before pictures. I feel like a totally different person. It's crazy what a haircut and some color can do. I had no idea I'd feel so different. But one awesome thing is that instead of taking 25 minutes to blowdry my hair and 15 minutes to style; it will take about 6 minutes to blowdry and 10 minutes to style. HIP HIP HOORAY!

AFTER

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So here are some pics of my new do. My friend Steph went with me to the hair appointment in case I needed someone to cry with. I got to the Salon at 5:30 pm and Emmigyn put ponytail holders in my hair. I was chatting to Steph in hopes of distracting myself when the scissors came out. But Emmi paused to make sure I was ready. I said the big word "yes" and that was that. I didn't cry, shocking, I know. I was completely calm through the entire thing. I had a ton of fun doing it and Emmi did an awesome job. The cut and color took 5 hours. (the longest haircut of my life) Emmi wanted to make sure everything was perfect for the photo shoot on Sunday, so she took her time making sure the shape of the cut and the color was how she wanted it.
The photo shoot was so much fun. Emmi did my make up and I even got to wear fake eyelashes. She did shades of green on my eyes to make them pop and to accent the hair. She kept the rest of my make-up soft and natural. They took some serious shots and then Emmi did a few crazy hair shots where my hair was practically a mohawk. It was fun. I felt like a teenager again. Once they get the film developed Emmi will send me copies so I'll post some from the actual photo shoot later. Here are some Tim took.
What do you think?

My little helper

Xavier has become my little helper these days. This week he helped me put laundry in the dryer. He manages to find little scraps of paper and throws it in the garbage. After he does it he says "thank you" to himself for doing a good job.

Today he woke up from his nap and saw the basket of folded clothes I brought up to his room. After pulling him out of his crib he ran over to the basket, pulled out a sweater and pants, and put them in his dresser drawer. Then he went over to some books sitting on the floor and put them on his bookcase. I was so proud to see my boy being Mr. Independent.

Some of Xavier's newest tricks are somersaults and hiding from the 3 bears under his blankets. He loves Buzz Lightyear and often shouts "To infininity and beyond!"
He loves when I pull his toes and chant "This little piggy went to market"....he will request "piggies" over and over again.
He loves to ride on mommy's back and calls it "Giddy Up"
He also loves to sit on mommy or daddy's legs while we sing "Coming around the mountain"
His favorite foods right now are "granoodle" bars- (granola bars) and "pan-a-cakes"- pancakes.

Xavier is my little ball of energy. It's so nice to have such a fun boy to help this dreary winter pass. Even though he never stops moving he always manages to take a second here or a second there to give mommy kisses during the day. I'm glad he's got such a tender heart.

I'M GOING TO DO IT!

So I've decided to cut my hair. I went to the model call last weekend and they approved my girl's haircut. They took my "before" picture. The big day is this Saturday. Emmie will cut and color my hair. Then on Sunday they will be styling my hair, doing my make up and taking pictures.

I figure you only live once and I've had long hair for many years. A change will be nice. It will be low maintenance and I think I'll like it. Plus, while it's short I can play with different cute short hairstyles and even play with hair color for a while. Oh and if they cut enough hair I'll be donating it to locks of love.

I'll post pictures after it's all done. Wish me luck!

Should I cut my hair?????

So I have a dilemma. I went to get a haircut on Saturday at the Douglas J Salon. One of the employees saw me getting my haircut and pulled my hairdresser aside. She asked my hairdresser if she would ask me if I'd be interested in getting my hair cut short.
Come to find out the girl is entering a nationwide contest for up and coming hairstyles. She has envisioned a short hairstyle similar to Pink's haircut, but a tad bit longer in the front. She thinks I have the look she needs to pull this hairstyle off. Plus she would color my hair red. If her committee approves her idea I would have my hair cut and colored and participate in a photo shoot.

http://www.seventeen.com/cm/seventeen/images/pink-cover-240x312-revise-large.jpg (Here is a link to Pink's haircut)

Two girls from Douglas J won last year. If she wins we would get a trip to Vegas and she would have a lot of opportunities to present this hairstyle at hair shows in New York City.

I think it would be fun to do something totally different, but at the same time I'm not sure if I am willing to go that short. So, what do you think? Should I go for it or should I forget it?

Christmas Fun (late post)

We spent Christmas Eve with Tim's brother John and his family. It was so much fun. We read the story of Jesus' birth and had a birthday cake for Jesus. Then the kids opened a couple presents. Xavier loved playing with his cousins. His favorite things that night were trying on every hat he could find, banging on the drums, playing Zach's guitar, and discovering his cousin's ball basket.

We had a wonderful Christmas morning opening presents. Xavier was still a little out of it when we walked down the stairs, but as soon as his eyes saw the basketball hoop he was beside himself. All he could say was "BASKETBALL!!!" as enthusiastically and as loud as he could. Then he looked in the middle of our living room and caught site of the train tracks and Thomas. You could tell he was torn. I could tell he was trying to decide which one to play with first. He headed for Thomas and found that there were two Thomas trains. So he picked both of them up and threw them in the basketball hoop. Apparently he thought of a solution to play with both. Problem solved. He didn't even want to open the presents we got him he was so content with the train and basketball hoop. If only I knew that before I bought his other presents. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the hoop and thanks John and Reva for the train set. They have been a huge hit!

Christmas Day Eve we had our friends, The Miners and the Oversons over for a yummy dinner. We all pitched in with food so it was less stress on one person. It was great to spend some time with such awesome friends.

We spent a couple days at Grandma and Grandpa Richardson's house. We did our traditional visit to Riverton Mall in Grand Rapids and spent an afternoon at Craig's Cruisers which has racing cars, lazer tag, and all sorts of arcade games. Xavier pretty much went around trying out all the steering wheels on the arcade games and played the basketball game with Grandpa. He loved it!

New Year's Eve was held at Tim's oldest sisters house, Jenny. Thanks Jenny for hosting a great party; lots of yummy food, great company, fun games, and good laughs.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we hope you have a healthy and prosperous new year ahead. We love you all. Hope you enjoy the slide show of our adventures this season.

Snow Days

We have been enjoying a pretty cold and snow-filled winter so far. Tim and X decided to try out our new sled on a big snow day. I didn't feel like venturing in the cold, so I just took the pictures. Xavier loved going "snedding".



Strong daddy!



Xavier and Daddy love hanging out together. They've been playing lots of soccer, football, and basketball not to mention lots of rough-housing. Mommy just isn't strong enough to throw Xavier in a 360 move or lift him up and flip him in mid-air. Boy has Xavier enjoyed having daddy to entertain him in such exciting ways. I just keep my eyes closed and hope neither of them get hurt doing it.



Xavier's cold little face. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!


After playing in the snow I made both my guys hot chocolate. I asked Xavier what he thought of the hot chocolate and he said "It's tasty!"

I have apparently fallen off the planet blogworld for the last month. I guess we have been taking advantage of daddy being home for a month. Tim has loved being on break. He hasn't had this long of a break in his entire life. These are some pictures from the beginning of the holidays and the beginning of many fun memories for Christmas 2008. We made a gingerbread train. It came as a kit and when Xavier saw all the circle shaped candies and round gum balls he went nuts. All he could say, or shout was "Eat ball! Eat white ball! Want red ball!" We had to put the train together fast before Xavier ate all the candy. We had a lot of fun doing it and you can take a look at our final product.



Chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo!



Xavier enjoying his favorite candy- a lollipop!



Our first attempt at taking a timed family photo. Such amateurs. ;)