What have I DONE?

 Grandpa has been here!  I have a million more pictures to post of that, but I first had to post a couple updates about this constantly changing baby.  My dad helped with Gabe's HAIRCUT!  I knew it would be sad because he's such an angelic baby, I SO don't want him growing up any faster.  And I LOVE running my fingers through his fine, silky, strawberry-blonde hair.  I could do it all day long (and I do).  But it was getting pretty shaggy around the ears and neck and I didn't want to take a pair of scissors to his wiggly little scalp, so I just buzzed it.

Did I mention the silky shine? :)

It curls a little in the back.

Ready...set...

He did fuss some, but there were no tears and he was a total champ as long as he had his thumb (surprise, surprise).

 Big boy!

Bwaaaaa!!!!  He's so adorable, but what have I DONE?  I made a BIG BOY out of him!  *sniff*

I know it's nice, but I MISS running my fingers through my baby's hair!  

However, as I've been looking back through recent pics of him, it was just a reminder that it had gotten pretty shaggy and it had to be done.  I can't stand having my babies' hair flipping way out over their ears.  And I didn't want him being mistaken for a girl (I do have beautiful boys, if I do say so myself).  But, note to self: next time let's try putting the #6 guard on it rather than a close buzz, okey dokey?

SEE how shaggy??  Right?  See?  Right!?

The other Gaber-Smacks updates

A couple weeks ago I posted about Gabe cutting his first tooth and possibly crawling, which I didn't believe.  Well, just a few days after that he DID start crawling and I ate some humble pie.  He's such a mellow and content baby though, that he's really not into EVERYTHING.  I mean, he is, but not like some curious little motors are. He's happy to crawl to one interesting thing and hang out there for a while inspecting it before moving on. He also cut a second tooth, but on top this time!  So he is my first baby to cut his bottom and top teeth before the one year mark (read: hello, formula).  He is also playing lots of games, giving high fives, finding lots of different ways to groove (he is by far my dance-iest baby), still always up for a snuggle, LOVES all food, and hasn't mastered da-da yet.  Which makes Marty ready to send him back when I walk out of the room and Gabe's little lip quivers as he pathetically whines, "Ma-ma!  Ma-ma-ma!"  Not that I enjoy that or anything...

Rainy

 Yesterday afternoon and evening it cooled down quite a bit.  Wanting to take advantage of the gray skies, I told the kids we'd eat breakfast at the park this morning,  When we left the house it wasn't raining, but I brought an umbrella anyway.  After we crossed our street, it started sprinkling.  By the time we got just down the road to the park it was a full-on monsoon and we were frantically ditching the bike and scooter and high-tailing it to the covered tables.  The whole thing took about three minutes.  That's how fast monsoons come on here in AZ.  We huddled together and ate our blueberry bran muffins.

 To the tune of "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine," Brynn started singing:
           We are eating a muffin in the rain,
                                 a muffin in the rain,
                                 a muffin in the rain.
           We are eating a muffin in the rain,
                                 a muffin in the rain,
                                 a muffin in the rain.
Then Bryce informed me that he was soooo cold (I thought it felt wonderful), so I told him to wait just a couple of minutes to let the monsoon let up to a normal drizzle.  They ventured out in it once or twice looking  for "shelter" (read that word in a very dramatic Brynn voice) at the playground.

Finally, we were ready to head home, but first we had to find Bryce's shoes in the waterfall/pond.  Of course.  I can't believe how fast these drainage areas can fill up.

Lately I've been feeling very torn in my mothering style.  Torn between wanting to be the spontaneous, enjoying-every-second mom who has play-in-pajama-days and who drops everything to chase a lizard down the street and the consistent mom who pushes her kids hard so that they can learn responsibility and independence by completing a "good routine."  The last couple of months we've had a morning and nightly routine that includes things like making beds, devotional, practicing, preschool/homework, among other things.  I think it's good for the kids, but I've been pushing them so hard.  Two days ago we went to the library and as we were going through our books deciding which to keep or take back, I realized we hadn't read many of them.  I thought, "What's the point of going to the library if we can't even make the time to read the books?"  You can't win as a mom.  Just as I was feeling so good about the "routine" I realized we weren't leaving enough time for other things.  So I think we'll let up on Fridays and enjoy being a kid (which is something I never thought I'd have a hard time with).

Balance:  the seemingly unattainable.