First Professional Haircut

As you all know, Southern got his first haircut at home on Good Friday. While I think we did a pretty good job at it, it was shorter than I wanted. And it was hard to do! I have been cutting Dustin's hair with a buzzer and scissors for a few years now, but he holds still. Southern doesn't. So I decided we should go to a professional this time. I found this really cool place for kids - ironically named Cool Cuts 4 Kids - where they have video games and toys, and the younger ones can get their hair cut in a fire truck or a car. Very fun! We drove on over to the Forum and stopped at the store.

Once inside, we were greeted and told to sign in. They didn't have prices listed on their website, but I assumed it would be about $10-15. Well, we now saw that they were $18. That's more than we pay for my haircuts! Oh well, we'll deal with it. There were 3 kids in line in front of us with 2 people working so it would be a bit of a wait. Okay, we'll deal with the wait too. There were video game stations (that Daddy played with), some stuffed animals, a train track, and blocks (all that Southern played with). So we played... and played... and played...

One hour later, we still don't have a haircut. One lady had just finished up with a customer, checked them out, sold them some hair gel, and was cleaning up her station. We're up next, right? WRONG! She then clocks out and walks to the break room. That's it. Dustin's had it. No one had talked to us for over an hour, and then she just walks off. He proclaimed the haircut cancelled. Luckily, I had noticed a Super Cuts in the same strip of shops as the one we were in. So we walked over there and were told our wait would only be a few minutes.It wasn't as kid friendly, but oh well. We were getting that haircut no matter what now!

She calls our name and asks if we would like to hold Southern or if he will sit on his own. We said just to try whatever was best for her. So she plops a cushion down on the chair, and we sit Southern on top of it. She whips out a kid-sized cape, and off we go.

She put it around Southern, and he starts snuggling with it! I guess he thought it was a blanket.

Then she brings out the comb and squirt bottle. Southern didn't know what to think!

But she squirts and combs, and he is doing fine.

Daddy had to help hold his head while she cut around the ears so he wouldn't move.

Still holding while she trims around the ears...

And then he gives Dustin a look as if to say, alright Dad, that's enough. I'm a big boy.

So Dustin lets go and Southern is just sitting like a pro, getting his hair cut so calmly.

But then he starts to get squirmy. Daddy distracts him by pointing out the different animals on his cape.

That worked for a little while. Then that was it! Southern started crying and wiggling. I had to sit down and hold him on my lap with his head up against my shoulder and Dustin holding his arms as she finished the last few snips. It was nap time, and he was letting us know it!

We got him out of there and into the car where he soon fell asleep. At least his hair looks good now!! And lesson learned... just go to the cheap place first next time!

New Car

Southern experienced something new this past Friday - buying a new car. I have driven the same car since I started driving at age 16. My trusty ol' 1998 black Honda CR-V. It has been such a great car that I couldn't imagine driving anything other than a Honda. While my car is perfect for a single girl or a couple, it started getting a little cramped with a baby on board. It was getting hard to try to carry everything we now need on trips - car seat, high chair, play pen, etc. But my CR-V is just perfect for zipping around. It gets great gas mileage, is easy to drive, and can carry a large amount of cargo for its size.

Dustin's car, on the other hand, has been having problems since he bought it. It was his 2nd car. He got it his senior year of high school. His Paw-Paw is the one who actually spotted it and drove it home for Dustin to try out. He loved it, but it has been costing us money over the years. It was mainly just little things - chipping exterior paint, control knobs popping off, vinyl peeling up inside, windows not rolling down, cargo light falling off, doors not staying open, etc. But then there was also the failed transmission that no matter how many times we got it "fixed" we would still occasionally find new red stains in our driveway. So it was decided that if we ever got a new car, his would be the one to go. And sadly, last week was the last time he will ever drive it. I got a video of that final drive...

It was with us through his senior year of high school. We went to prom in it that year. It saw us through college, two moves since Dustin's TLU graduation, and it was the car that Southern and I would wait on the front porch to see driving home to us in the afternoons of Southern's first 15 months of life. We'll miss it.

But in order to expand our family, we will have to have a vehicle that can hold everyone and all the stuff that comes along with us. So we've been casually looking a larger SUVs for the past few months. I came across one on the internet just last week that really caught our attention. We stopped by to look at it one evening, which led to us test driving it the next day, which led to us buying it the next afternoon. Our "new" car is a 2004 Honda Pilot. It is "loaded" with leather, nice speakers, a CD player, and even a tape player! It has the third row that we needed and is in almost perfect condition. It had belonged to a doctor who would use it for his commute from East San Antonio to South Austin during the week. Only the front seat shows wear. It was just too good of a deal to pass up.

So now my car is Dustin's commuter, his truck is for his hunting and fishing adventures, and our new Honda Pilot is our family vehicle. The only thing we need next is a bigger driveway!

15 Months Old

Southern had his 15-month check up at the doctor's yesterday. His doctor is popular, and there is usually a little wait, but Southern didn't mind. He made a new friend. He and another little boy played with a train together in the waiting room. The little boy was playing with it when we got there, and when Southern noticed, he started making his car sounds and ran right over to join in the fun.

The nurse soon called us in. She first weighed and measured Southern. He weighed 23.781 lbs (47th percentile), was 32.75 inches long (91st percentile), and his head circumference was 18.5 (49th percentile). He grew an inch and half and gained 0.4 lbs since his last check up at 12 months old. Then she took us to the exam room. Each room is a different theme, and we got the dinosaur room this time! Southern loved it. As soon as we walked in, he started growling. haha!

We waited in the exam room for awhile, looking and growling at dinosaurs and reading a few dinosaur-themed books. Then the doctor came in. He was very pleased. He says all too often kids Southern's age just live on junk - french fries, candy, etc. - and that he could tell from Southern's weight/height ratio that this wasn't the case with us. Yay! And that is true, Southern eats whole grains, dairy products, and veggies each day with fruits and meats about 4-5 times a week. He'll sometimes eat sweets but not very often. I'm glad the extra effort I'm putting in is paying off. Fast food is so much easier but not always healthy.

He then did Southern's exam, proclaiming him a growing healthy boy. We also talked about Southern's development. He's perfect on the walking and coordination development mark for his age, but he is not talking yet. The doctor said that at his age, the mark is 3-5 words. I was telling him how Southern has different sounds for dog, ball, duck, etc., and he said that that counted as the 3-5 word mark in his eyes. He said as long as Southern is recognizing that those things have different sounding names and is trying, pronunciation doesn't matter yet. He said that by the 18-month check up, he wants Southern onto 5-10 "words". Let's hope all my reading to him will pay off.

We concluded the check up with two shots. Southern got a Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) Vaccine and a Diphtheria Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine. He took the first one like a trooper but then cried with the second one. It was short-lived though as I soon picked him up, and he calmed down.

And speaking of fast food, we took Southern out for a treat after his doctor's appointment. We went to Chick-fil-a and got him a kid's meal of chicken nuggets, fruit, and milk. He loved it! He ate the chicken first, and quickly. He took his time with the fruit but ate most of it. Daddy had to help with the leftovers, but I don't think he minded too much! ;)

Dustin's Second Father's Day

For Dustin's second Father's Day, I planned a day of fun. We went to the Witte Museum in San Antonio......where they had dinosaurs!

The guys loved it. My dad, Dustin, Southern, and I went all over the musuem. We went through the moving dinosaur exhibit as soon as we got there. Then we saw art, stuffed animals, rocks, dresses, mummies, Native American tools, early Texan furniture, and more.

We also explored outside. They have a path to the river, a pioneer village, and a science tree house (that was 4 stories tall). The video below shows just a little bit of the fun that was had in the tree house. This part was geared toward children, but as you can see, children of all ages enjoy it!

And of course we had to walk through the dinosaurs one last time before leaving the museum. In the video below, you can see just how life-like they look. Some kids were afraid of them, and one little girl had a screaming fit until her mom took her outside. We didn't know how Southern would react, and he was a little worried at first, but in no time he was growling right back at them.

Happy Father's Day to an awesome dad! :)

House Re-modeling

As always, we are working on projects around the house. We have done so much in the 2+ years we have lived here, but there's more to go. Our latest project was upgrading our light in the kitchen. Dustin also took the time to center it over the island.

Southern loves trying to help out. He enjoys digging through Daddy's tool box and finding some good things to play with. He also likes to watch Daddy work...We've got just about everything done downstairs that we want to attempt right now (eventually we'd like to put up a backsplash, do some tile work, and maybe paint), but we're still working upstairs. We've got 2 ceiling fans and 1 light to install as well as cabinet knobs in the bathrooms. And we're in the process of clearing out the computer room. I moved the bookcases out into the movie room this past weekend. We'd like to have an extra bedroom soon...

A Bass Pro shopping experience

We drove over to San Antonio yesterday afternoon to celebrate Carly's birthday with her. On the way, we got a little side-tracked...


No, they're not really on a pier at a lake - it's just a backdrop! But we had you fooled, huh?


We stopped by Bass Pro Shops. They are having a "summer camp" experience for kids during certain days this week, and we just happened to be by on one of those days. Most of the activities were for older kids - target shooting video games, soft dart arrows for bow shooting, a fish identification class, etc. But they also were making s'mores outside, and eating is an activity my son can definitely participate in, so Southern got to enjoy a gooey graham cracker. Yum!
He also enjoyed riding around in the buggy looking at everything. He liked all the neat merchandise, but what really caught his attention were all of the animals. He pointed them out to us and even tried to tell us what he saw. We got the "d" sound for deer (when he saw any deer or African species with horns), "du" for duck (any bird he saw), "do" for dog (when he spotted a coyote), and "t" for cat (when he saw the lions). And of course Dustin found another big-ticket item to add to his wish list...

14 Months Old

At almost 14 months old, Southern is quite a handful.

He not only walks, he runs. He loves to play in the backyard and will get out every ball, frisbee, golf club, etc. he owns each day. We try to spend time outside daily. We keep a big deck box on our back porch full of his outdoor toys, and he loves to rummage through it. There is also a box of rocks that he plays with out there. He likes to collect leaves, pick tomatoes off of our tomato plant, and point out birds and planes flying overhead.

As for his eating habits, he wants to try everything. He is a veggie lover. He can scarf down peas, green beans, and lima beans faster than you can serve them to him. He likes bananas and can eat a whole one on his own. He is also a lover of pasta and bread (who isn't?) and can go to town munching on popcorn in front of a good movie. He does not care for oranges just yet. He also doesn't like eggs (unless they are cooked with sausage) or potatoes much.

He loves to give hugs and kisses. He likes to be chased around the house. He loves to go through the kitchen cabinets, and he loves bath night. His favorite toys are his 4-wheeler, dinosaurs, blocks, and stuffed animals. He still never tires of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See. He is now able to climb up on the couch in our movie room by himself. And he loves to throw.

He has been sleeping through the night, and for the most part, getting 9-11 hours of sleep each night. He does fight me at nap time some days, but as long as he's sleeping at night, I'm happy!