we almost shaved two heads

"brennan, you look like an old man!" -cade

...

usually it takes me until july to talk him into shaving his head,

after two months of sweating it out in the utah summer heat.

this year, on my second offer to buzz it off, he said yes,

so i went running for the clippers.

5 minutes later and the job was D-O-N-E done.

chase stared at brennan without moving for a good 5 min. off of the back porch after.

if i could only have known what was going through his baby man brain.

there was just something missing,

and he couldn't quite place it...

hahahaha 

at which point max decided she would ALSO like her head shaved.

and while i wanted to be open minded and not restricted to 

social predispositions on gender correct hair styles,

i just couldn't bring myself to be supportive of such a task.

for 2.5 minutes i was sure there would be life long psychological implications 

and repercussions of this event in her teenage years if i did not agree to her wishes.

i imagined a 15 year old max with a half shaven head and neon green hair that remained on the other side.

call me stereotypical if you must.

i just really wanted to avoid shaving her head.

instead,

i talked her into 4" off the bottom.

seeing as the tangles were really the root of the problem.

and once i explained that you can't do Rapunzel braids with no hair she changed her mind anyway.

AND as i discovered, by asking me to shave her head,

she didn't ACTUALLY mean shave her head like brennan,

and PANICKED with eyes bigger than the state of texas
and a shriek higher than mirah carrey's octaves
when i said that shaving her head meant having NO hair.

"just a little shave of the tangles" really meant trimming out the tangles from the bottom.

shaving=scissors trimming.

mental note NOTED.

phew.

really dodged the bullet on that one.

i only meant to take 2" off,

but by the time i finished the first time around,

one side was 2" shorter than the other.

{cutting a 3 year old's hair who is constantly moving proves harder the second time you do it},

so i had to go back around and even it out.

goodbye tangles and tears.

our mornings just got a LOT easier:)

and i can still braid it.

i'm just not sure about buns...

welcome summer.

she was so proud.

and brennan keeps asking me every morning if we can go ride bikes out front.

so he can "show everyone his cool bald head."

AND about every 5 minutes he asks me if his head is still bald like an old man.

and when i confirm that indeed it still is,

he always wants to know if we can shave it again when it's not.

clearly, he won't have any psychological implications from his haircut.

good thing.

only one ball was harmed in the making of this photo gallery.

200 phthalate free balls.

no idea what phthalate is.

or why it's good to be free of it.

but i assume some mom somewhere fought for balls to be free of it 

for some third limb growing syndrome that i should be informed of.

all i know is that last wednesday those 200 phthalate free balls 

provided 4 hours of constant play for my 3 children.

and then another 2 hours the next morning.

they are now hiding in my coat closet.

for such a time when i will need their assistance again.

heaven bless phthalate free balls.

all 200 of them.

did i mention there are 200 of them?

and the next day...

{yes, 2 out of 3 gibson's are wearing their star wars costumes.}

{Halloween fitting.}

...

note:

only one ball, a purple ball, 

was harmed in the making of this photo gallery.

walks like a man {almost}

you love to stand at the front window, 

ESPECIALLY if it's open with just a screen.

you wave at each car that passes by,

and baby man squawk at people you see.

you will stand there for half an hour 

and not move from that windowsill 

when the window is open.

....

dear chase,
you took your first two steps tonight.
we were at the yogurt shop with grandma and grandpa gibson.
you ate most of max's raspberry frozen yogurt with sprinkles on top.
and then grandma gibson was holding your hands, while you were standing up, across from me.
then she let go of your hands and you took two steps to me with no help.
it was so great.
we were all clapping for you.
so exciting:)
i can't believe that you are going to be walking soon.
you are going to love it.
right now you crawl around outside on your hands and feet with your butt in the air like a walking downward dog yoga pose b/c you don't like the cement to scrape your knees up anymore.
it's hilarious.
also,
when you find an ant,
you stop dead in your tracks,
try to touch it with your index finger,
and then almost fall onto your head following it as it crawls underneath you toward your feet.
you usually fall onto your bum,
and then you try to touch it with your index finger again.
when the ant crawls into the cracks of the cement you try to follow it,
but you just get confused and then move onto something else.
it is so so cute.
you can climb up any slide.
and all chairs.
{thankfully you don't try to climb out of your crib...yet}
you just learned how to climb up onto the flat part of the double slide.
and then you tried to climb through the tube.
backwards.
your arms and legs are so strong.
dad and i can't BELIEVE it.
i adore your little defined arm muscles, and chubby, solid body.
my favorite thing is to watch you crawl around in just a diaper.
i just can't wait for you to learn to walk,
even though it will make some things harder for me,
b/c i will have to watch you more closely on the stairs again.
you are just going to LOVE it!
i am so excited for you.

love,
mom

{above and below: trying to squish an ant--->notice scrapped and red knees/legs/toes/tops of feet.}

letters to Emily {bike stoplights, ireland week from..., & i cut my own hair to cope}

Dearest Beautiful Emily 100-30-17,

I love that Brennan puts emphasis on how he feels with numbers!  I love love love it!.  The poop in the backyard story is priceless, I especially loved that she had to pick it up herself.  Wonderful.  I am getting my first dose of parenting and disciplining, it is so much fun (shaking my head no).   When we go outside it is great.  Bear usually has dirt smeared around his face and his hands, has a long stick in his hand waving it around, and is running and tripping on things.  While Smith is smiling sitting on a bench.  That is the best.  My husband and I are reading Count of Monte Cristo right now.  IT is written so beautifully.  I am loving it.  We have been riding our bikes like crazy.  We got a new bike trailer that fits Smith and Bear so well.  This town is set up for biking.  They even have bike stoplights believe it or not!  When our friends came out to visit they couldn't get enough of the bike stoplights, they took pictures of them!  I feel so inspired by the beauty here, I find myself painting and creating more and more!  

Ireland Weekend.

You want to know how that went?

Hardest weekend of my life.

Smith had some pain issues that weekend Bryce was gone and didn't stop screaming for 48 hours.  

Bear was still nursing around the clock.

We were all exhausted   Bear woke up to Smith screaming, I couldn't sleep to Smith screaming, and Smith was awake screaming.  

And Bryce was not here.

horrible.

To even prove how crazy I went.....

I cut my own hair.

Not like trim.

Not like a little.

A lot.

I went to YouTube and I put in how to cut and layer your own hair.

I followed her instructions.

Then I highlighted my hair with a kit I bought at the store.

I felt like a new woman.

Even though there were ugly chunks chopped from my hair, I felt new.  And better.

Yep.  I bet you are laughing right now!  Because I laughed once I blow dried my hair! 

And guess what?

I totally don't care!  I think it's funny!  I love pointed out my random chunks cut from my "layered" hair.

So that is how my weekend went with Bryce gone to Ireland.

We should be visiting Utah soon.  I will let you know when we know.

Have a good Mother's day!

love

Beth!

7:19pm on tuesday night

oh the misery

oh the misery of only being 1 when you think you're 3.

hahahaha.

this baby man can swing like a big kid with the best of them.

baby squawkin' his baby man squawk to the kids as they walk by off of the school bus.

just put sand in his pants, and sit him on the swing.

and he'll melt your heart each and every second of it.

he also waves at cars as they drive by our front window.

like i said,

10 TRICK PONY.

he always has new ones up his sleeve for you.

may the FOURTH be with you {a photo gallery}

2 leia's, 1 R2D2, and a luke

MISSING:

sean DARTH VADER gibson

{still traumatized by last halloween's king tritan merMANtail}

{i think we can talk him into it by halloween}

...

at 3pm on saturday afternoon my kids told me 

they had decided they wanted to dress up for troy's star wars party afterall.

so chase and i ran off to hobby lobby for felt and oversized t-shirts.

$11 and one hour later we were back.

linsey came over with three sets of freshly washed socks,

hair ties and bobby pins,

and we watched a youtube video on "how to" princess leia buns.

you should have seen us standing in my kitchen,

armed with gel and hairspray and a youtube video blaring on my iphone.

it was a hoot.

i cut up an old white turtleneck of mine for max,

and linsey wrapped her with a gold ribbon.

two little low buns later and max was the cutest little leia you have ever seen.

i copied an R2D2 baby costume andrea found on pinterest with felt and a white onsie 

{complete with a headband b/c i knew he would never keep on a cap}.

then i took a pair of scissors to two x-large black and brown t-shirts 

to make brennan's requested luke costume.

he was beaming.

start to finish, including driving and shopping time, and hair?

2 hours, 45 min.

yessssssss:)

an old t-shirt and white shirt for me, with a belt and sandals from 10 years ago and i was set.

my buns and gold eye shadow were my favorite part.

i wanted to sleep in my leia buns i loved them so much.

max did.

and we had to bribe our kid's costumes off of them with promises of extra songs and bedtime stories.

they were filthy.

and i have pretty low standards for cleanliness.

sleeping in them was just not an option. 

may the FOURTH be with you.

{and no, we're not making any announcements. just that it was MAY 4TH.}

these kids were legit chalk artists.

audrey drew me.

so proud:)

notice my blue eyes.

love her.

brennan had his eye on the red light saber.

but his red was a good red.

that's what he said.

sibling rivalry at its finest.

with uncle dave's light saber.

rumor has it that THIS light saber was in THE star wars movie.

FOR REAL.

you can never really believe dave though.

decide for yourself;)

 THE END.