Addison's first haircut!

I don't know if you all realize this but it's my fault that Addie had so little hair when she was born and has taken what seems like forever to grow hair. Really it is. Here's why.....When I was pregnant with Addie, I wished for 3 things to be different about her than Liv. We love Liv to death, but would change or would have changed 3 things.

First, I asked (ok, threatened) Addie to be a good sleeper. For the first 9 months of Olivia's life, she did not sleep and neither did Bill and I. I told Addie that if she was as bad of a sleeper as Liv was, we were going to return her to the hospital where she was born and ask for a better sleeper.

Second, I asked her to be a better eater than Liv. Liv did great with baby food but that is where her good eating ended. Addie is a great eater. She eats more than Liv many days and will eat a greater variety of foods than Liv will eat.

The third wish was about hair. Olivia had tons of beautiful, dark hair when she was born. It was so beautiful but it was a huge pain in the neck. She had so much hair by 5 months that we could put pony tails in it. Have you tried to put pony tails in a 5 month old baby's hair?? Not always an easy task but her hair looked so bad if I didn't. I wished that baby #2 would be a bald baby. Yes, I did it. It was my fault. It seemed like a good idea at the time but after she was born and people kept mistaking her for a boy (even in her pink and purple) it got old. It was much easier to care for but we wished she had more hair than the little bit she had. It didn't help that the little hair she had was on the sides and back of her head and she looked like she had an old man's receding hairline.

So, now that she's just about 21 months old, she has beautiful red hair. It's long enough that we can get some pony tails in it to keep the hair out of her eyes but not long enough to get all of her hair in the pony tails. Still, it has gotten to the point that it looks terrible without pony tails in and I decided it was time to take her to the hair salon to get her first haircut....not to get it all cut off but to give it some sort of shape and style. Here's the before picture of the back & side...

Go ahead, call it a mullet. We have.

So this morning, I told Bill that today was the day. Addie was going to get her first haircut. You all know us. Bill is the laid back one who is pretty agreeable most of the time. For some reason, the girls hair is one of those odd things that he will argue with me about. I expected him to say we should wait but he agreed it was looking pretty bad. So, off we went (before he could change his mind). When we got there, he was ok but as Addie got into the chair and he saw the reality of what was about to happen and heard the hair stylist ask how much we wanted cut off, I think he was rethinking his decision. And as the hair stylist pulled out her scissors and went to make that first cut, I think I saw a little tear form at the corner of his eye. Ok, so I'm exaggerating but it was a stressful thing for Bill to watch.

Of course she looks gorgeous. Her hair is shorter than it was but she looks so cute and her curls are back. She has her own little style.

The picture says it all.....

Easter Photos

Easter has come and gone quickly. The girls went to a few egg hunts but didn't get to see the Easter Bunny this year. I think it was more fun for Olivia to pick out a new dress and get to wear it all day like a Princess. The Easter Bunny did visit our house and brought some candy but also some toys and books. I know, kids want candy but don't worry. My mom pumped them full of M&Ms on Easter Sunday. Believe me, there was no shortage of sugar in them that day. Here are some photos from one of the egg hunts and of the girls in their Easter dresses.

Jinx

Well some of you know our sad news. Jinx, our 15 year old cat died last week. Her little kidneys were failing for over a year and she lived longer than the vet anticipated. Right before I left for a work trip, she started going down hill pretty quickly. We thought it might be time to put her to sleep but really had a hard time making that decision. We had decided that when I got home from St. Louis, I would take her to the vet. She was so thin and was barely eating anything. It was very hard to see her so thin and even harder to pet her or hold her and feel how thin she was. (Billy offered to take her to save me the heartache but Jinx was my cat before he and I started dating and I felt like I needed to be the one to take her.....as hard as that would be.)


Well, I didn't have to take her to be put to sleep. Jinx died on her own. Billy went to check on her last Thursday morning (4/2) and she had passed away. It was very sad but we feel it was better that she died on her own and didn't have to be put to sleep.


Billy really didn't want to be the one to talk to Olivia about it. It was hard enough for him that he had to call me and tell me. I had been thinking how we would tell her since we knew Jinx's health was failing. Unfortunately, Liv overheard Bill on the phone with the vet's office telling them that Jinx had died and asking about cremation. Olivia had lots of questions and was very sad. Addie is too young and really didn't know anything had happened.


Olivia said she would miss Jinx and worried that Chevy (our other cat) would be very lonely without Jinx, especially while we were all at school or work. Of course we talked about heaven and tried to explain why she died. We explained that she was old and she was sick and the medicine couldn't make her better. Last Saturday night I was putting Liv to bed and she broke my heart. Chevy jumped up on the bed so Liv again told me that she was sad for Chevy because she didn't have her sister-cat to play with (Jinx wasn't playful for the past 12 years or so.....how do you think she got up to 22 lbs??). But she also said that sometimes she gets sick and maybe next time she gets sick, she might die. Boy, I never expected that one!


To make her feel better, we've thought of ways that we can remember Jinx. We put her picture up as our desktop background and Olivia wants to put a picture of her in her bedroom. She thinks that heaven is up in the clouds and likes to look at the clouds and find different shapes or animals. Liv thinks that she will be able to find a cloud shaped like a cat and it will be Jinx.

It's funny. Jinx was not an active cat at all. But, she had her favorite spots and at different times of the day, you always knew where to find her. We still look for her in those spots and miss her very much. Olivia's plans for how to remember Jinx has helped all of us feel better.