fall photo shoot

While visiting Provo last October, my wonderful sister-in-law and mother-in-law took a few family photos for us. (Everett is 6 months old here). The location is significant because Jonny and I came to this park on our very first date in the summer of 2007.

First Haircut

To celebrate turning 13 months old (May 7th), Everett got his first haircut. My sweet friend and hairdresser Katelyn was kind enough to do it in her home. I brought him a special treat- a lollipop! And he sat happily like a champ while she quickly and expertly snipped off his little baby mullet. The sticky drool and hair clippings eventually collided in a nasty mess! But it was worth it to keep him still and happy during the traumatic event. I was the only one traumatized. He grew up right in front of my eyes. My cute baby was suddenly a handsome boy. You bet I kept a lock of hair in a little envelope. I've been surprised to find that I'm highly emotional about some things, and yet very logical about others when it comes to this motherhood gig. I think I will never cease to be amazed and surprised by my children.

UPDATE: Everett's hair has gone through some big changes in his short life. He started out with a head full of dark brown locks, the top of which fell out promptly at his 1 month mark, leaving him partially bald, or what I call a "cul de sac". The rest of it slowly thinned and lightened to match the hair that eventually grew back on top. The back/bottom continued to grow stringy and long- like it was here before the cut. After that initial cut it grew back, and the summer sun bleached it blonde! While visiting more humid climates, that length turned into the most tender curls. Just as I was contemplating the wonders of hair gel, he began a strange habit of pulling it out! He pulled out all the curls in the back and just the right side. We trimmed the left side to match the length, though its a thick patch compared to the thinned-out job he did! Currently (at 16 months old), he has that strange, blonde 'do and we still think he is the most adorable thing.

This photo shows Ever holding a $20, but Katelyn wouldn't accept any money for her work! 

grandma quilts

There is a basket in his room full of blankets. But these three are special. Everett is blessed to have 2 grandmas and a great grandma who made beautiful, hand-stitched quilts for him while I was pregnant. I'm grateful for the time and sacrifice that went into each of these soft warm blankets! 

When he was about 8 months old, we had a little photo shoot with these precious heirlooms. He loved to touch and explore the different fabrics and colors. I hope he will enjoy them for years to come. 

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Grandma Betty- The Happy Everything quilt- made with all the happy colors since we didn't know his gender before birth. She has made a quilt for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren... I think the number is over 100 now!

Grandma Krissy- The Custom Quilt- Jonny's mom was kind enough to let us choose the fabric and pattern for this quilt. It ended up tying together Everett's room. We made a flag banner for the nursery out of the scraps. I wanted yellows, greens and blues but Jonny voted for the pop of red. I love how it turned out!

Grammy Leslie- The Animal Quilt- Everett loves this quilt because he likes to look at the animals, each one carefully quilted around their shape, and "read" the alphabet around the edge. I love it because it reminds me of my mom- animal prints and palm trees!

My favorite Jedi

Like the nerds that we are, we scoured the interwebs for a baby yoda hat, and Jedi robe patterns, and I set to work. I am such a novice seamstress. It probably took me way too long to make these. I learned a lot, though, and gained some confidence. I spent hours during the weeks leading up to Halloween on Jonny and Everett's robes, and had to settle on a last minute thrift-store skirt and turtleneck for me, in the end. Little Ever would scoot and crawl around a little on the floor beneath the table, while the sewing machine whirred above. And our Halloween party came and went and we were so busy running around helping with activities that we didn't get a.single.photo.  It didn't take much arm-twisting to get my boys to don their costumes again later that week for a tripod family photo experience. My hair was pretty epic, if I do say so myself, and I planned it that way. The long locks had one last debut in buns, since I chopped it all off the next week.


[I realize that Leia goes romantically with Han Solo but I have a thing about guns, and we decided Harrison Ford couldnt be represented without one, so Jonny settled for Luke Skywalker. So try to look past the creepy sibling love, ok?]

We thought he was the most rad baby Master Yoda. Once he was tucked into his sleeping quarters for the night, we watched Little Shop of Horrors and I rejoiced in finally sharing that silly musical with Jonny while we waited for the doorbell buzz and grubbed on candy and laughed our guts out at Steve Martin. It was a Happy Halloween indeed.