First Haircut??? I don't think so!

I have a little boy who happens to be a pretty child and has very pretty hair. I'm talking the type of hair that is golden blonde, naturally parts on the side and has little ringlets and waves in the back. He also happens to get called a "girl" every day by random strangers. It usually goes something like this:

Random Stranger (usually someone working at the drugstore, restaurant, etc.): Oh, she's soooo pretty!

Me: Thank you. Jace, can you say "thank you"?

Jace: *signs "thank you"*

Random Stranger: Can she have a balloon?

Me: Yes, HE can. Jace, would you like a balloon?

Random Stranger (STILL not getting the subtle clues given by myself that "she" is actually a "he": What color would she like?

Me: Well, pretty much anything but pink since "she's" a boy! (With nice, friendly smile on my face and sort of laughing so random stranger doesn't feel so bad for calling my son a girl.)

Random Stranger: OH I'M SOOO SORRY...he's just SOOO pretty! I didn't realize he was a boy!

Me: That's OK, we're used to it at this point. It's happened ever since he was born.

So that's a normal day in our life. I am starting to think that maybe it has something to do with my son's long hair, but honestly, it has happend his entire life and up until this last spring/summer, he was pretty bald! I dress him in what *I* think are fairly obvious boy clothes...ok, so it's not usually planes, trains and automobiles or soccer and basketballs, but it's definitely NOT girly stuff! I can't figure this out!

My other question is this: When did it become fashionable or even *expected* for little boys to get that "little boy haircut"? Is it so wrong of me (and my husband) to not want to cut his hair? I didn't realize this decision would catch so much flak from some many people. I get the comments quite often, lately, like "Oh, are we going to take Jace for his first haircut soon??" or "Jace, you need to tell Mommy that you are ready for a little trim"...you know, stuff like that. I really dislike that passive-aggressive approach. I want to say to people, "You had your chance to raise your children, now may I have mine??". What is so wrong with me wanting to keep his hair long?

Breakthrough

We finally are having a signing AND speaking breakthrough!!! Yes, Jace is finally communicating and it has warmed my heart to no end (now if we can only get the eating thing under control, but that's another story).

Jace is the type of child who has done most things "early". He rolled over when he was only a couple weeks old (yes, WEEKS), crawled at 5 1/2 months, walked around 10 1/2 months, has excellent small motor skills (for his age) but has just not had any interest in talking. Oh he says a few words like M0mma, Daddy (though that one came pretty late), Papa (my dad and other one of his favorites and FIRST, by the way) and Nana (my mom)...in fact, all day that's what I hear and it goes like this:

Jace: Mom, Mommy, Momma, MOOOOMMMM, Mom, MOOOMMMYYY, Mom??, M0mma??, MOOOOMMMM.

Me: What, Baby?

Jace: Papa?

Me: Papa's at work

Jace: Nana? (though he has decided to pronounce it "nah-nah")

Me: Nana's at work

Jace:Daddy?

Me: Daddy's at work, Baby

Jace: ha ha (with tounge haning out - I'll explain later)
Me: Wyatt's over there, laying down (Wyatt is our black chihuahua whom Jace ADORES to no end but Wyatt is still not so sure about this person who came into our family!)

Jace: Papa? Nana? Mommy? Daddy?

(You get the picture!) And we know he CAN speak because sometimes he will say something perfectly clear then never say it again! We have tried teaching him signs since he was probably around 6 months and he never really was interested in that, either. Again, he KNEW them because I would catch him signing to himself while he was watching his signing dvd's but he would rarely do them for us as a means of communication. Needless to say, he would get easily frustrated, upset, angry and have an outburst.

I was beginning to become concerned with his lack of verbal communication and was starting to wonder if he needed to have a hearing test done. When he would "talk" or babble it sounded very muffled and most of the time he wouldn't even open his mouth when he was "talking" - like he was practicing his ventriloquism or something! :) As a last-ditch effort I decided to order him a Signing Time dvd since I have heard and read WONDERFUL things about this program. (I have also been taking a sign language class since the end of September and have really been working with him at home.) Long story short, IT WORKED!!! Something about the combination of me being more consistent (and comfortable with my new found "skill") and his new love for the dvd has really sparked something in him! I am on cloud nine! His verbal communication is increasing, as well! WOO HOO...and his outbursts are become less and less frequent since he is finally able to tell us what he wants. When he is hungry he will come to me and sign AND say "eat", if he wants milk he signs "milk", same with "cereal", "ball", "book", "more", "all done", etc! He also has learned a lot of animals which is fun to him because he LOVES animals. The other day we were driving in the car and I heard him in the back patting his leg. I knew that was the sign for "dog" but wasn't sure if that's exactly what he was doing. We pulled in the driveway and when I was getting him out of his seat I asked him if he was signing "dog". He patted his leg and looked at me like, "Duh, Mom" and also said "ha ha" with his tounge hanging out (like a doggie does). That is actually his own made-up sign that he's been doing since he was very little (he absolutely LOVES dogs...any kind - big, little, hairy, slobbery - doesn't matter to him). It was probably one of the first (and only) things he would actually "say" consistently.

All that to say, I am finally seeing the fruits of my labor. Jace is just one of those kids that has a mind of his own and runs on his own time-table! He is definitely going to give me a run for my money as the years go on, that's for sure! I am so blessed, though, to have him. He is such a joy and has the most fun personality and makes me laugh every day. I also am so blessed to be home with him. It took a while and TONS of prayer but I can honestly say it is the best decision I have ever made. I don't miss working (outside the home, that is) one bit! Please continue to pray for us as the winter weather approaches since when it is nasty outside, Jay can't work. I am trusting God to take care of us and I KNOW He will provide! God is good all the time...

I get by with a little help from my friends

I have amazing friends. The type of friends that have been together for 20 years and still will be when we are sitting around in muumuus in Boca. I like to think we are a mix of the girls from Friends, Sex and the City and The Golden Girls. Each one of us brings something different to the mix. I love my girls and would do anything for them. I have depended on them in some of the most difficult times in my life and have been able to rejoice and celebrate with them during some of the best times in my life. I have been in all their weddings (except one or two) and have the dresses to prove it - thankfully none of them picked any super hideous dresses but I have yet to find an opportunity to be able to "shorten them and wear again"! ;) In fact, we are so close, three of us even had baby boys within 2 weeks of eachother (not on purpose)!

Unfortunately, I miss my friends. They are spread all over the states, it seems. From Nevada to Virginia to Ohio. I do have one of the besties here in Michigan, but she's an hour away and between both of our schedules it's hard to plan an activity more than once every couple of months or so. I have "tried on" other friends over the years and only a couple have made the "cut" into my inner circle but most just fizzle and fade away. I almost feel guilty, at times, for trying to find "replacements" or substitutes for my girls but then I realize I will never be able to do that. They are irreplacable and have helped shape me into the person I am today.

Our pastor (Randy Wheeler - Twin Oaks Christian Church) did a sermon a couple weeks ago that made me think of my friends and as I listened to his words, I felt the Lord urging me to share some of his points. The series he's been doing has been called "Help!" and he's been using Beatles songs as a starting point! (Have I mentioned before how much I love our church?? :) The verses he used were 1 Samual 18:1-23:18 and I thought I post some of the points.

Why do we need friends?

-We need friends who will LOVE us
-We need friends who will WARN us
-We need friends who will REJOICE and WEEP with us
-We need allies who will DEFEND us
-We need teammates who will ENCOURAGE us

If you want to HAVE good friends, then you need to BE a good friend!

I hope and pray that that my friends can say the same about me. I love you guys and "thank you for being a friend"! :)

Autumn...my favorite time of year!

Ahh, fall is here! Ok, so it's been here for a few weeks, but I'm just now writing about it. :)

There's no comparison to fall...the beautiful leaves on the tree (and the ground), the cool, crisp air, apple cider and donuts, pumpkin ANYTHING and my personal favorite...Halloween! I love Halloween. In fact, I simply ADORE it...costumes, trick or treating, decorating the house - what more could you want??? One of my best friends has always joked that my favorite part is being able to wear fake eyelashes and fishnets! Truth be told, she's probably right; I love the big make-up and fake eyelashes. I secretly wish I was daring enough to be one of those women who always has big make-up and even bigger hair. I've always thought it was such a fun opportunity to get to be someone or something else for a night.

Ever since I was little, I have loved playing "dress-up". I could put on my petti-coat, some pink tights, a bunch of bracelets and Mom's high heals and I was instantly transformed into one of The Bangles, Barbie or even my own version of my mom! (No, she didn't REALLY look like that in the '80's but in my 5 year old mind, she did!)

I have realized, lately, that I have inadvertently passed this world of make-believe on to my son (who is not even 2, mind you). This should have dawned on me a little earlier when he starting using his blanket as a "cape", but I just thought he was being silly. My second glimpse into his world came a few weeks ago when we came across his Halloween costume from last year. I pulled it out of the box and he squealed in delight! He wanted me to put it on him right away and didn't take it off for TWO DAYS! Fast forward to today...we were getting ready to run some errands and I quickly opened the package we received with his new costume in it. I wanted to try it on him *real quick* just see how it looked and if it fit. Big mistake! He still had his glow-in-the-dark skeleton p.j.'s on and I knew I had to get him dressed before we left but I figured "What the heck" and went for it. I put his little costume on and it looked ADORABLE and he knew it!!! (Of course I had to snap a few pics!) Needless to say, he didn't want to take it off. So, that's how we left the house. I loaded up Baby Bear (Halloween p.j.'s and all) and off we went!

I'm sure one day when he hears these stories he won't think it was too funny that I let him out in public like that, but I DO know that today he had one of the best days ever! His behavior was amazing...no tantrums, no crying, nothing! I'm thinking that we may start having more dress-up days - Halloween or not!!! :)

AskDrSears - About Sears

AskDrSears - About Sears

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naptime

Ahh, naptime! Possibly the time of day that is looked forward to the most. But why? I begged and pleaded with the hubs in order to quit my job and stay home. This is what I wanted, right? Right. So why is naptime such a blessed time of day? It's not like I'm one of those Super Women wives who just gets all sorts of cooking and cleaning done during that time. It's normally spent catching up on old reruns on T.V., e-mails, facebook, and - if I'm lucky - my own nap!

As I reflect on our morning, I keep hearing Jace's sweet voice in my head saying, "Oh" when I showed him how to attach two of his toys together. Those that know Jace, know that he is a "man" of few words. Oh, he actually has a pretty broad vocabulary, he just chooses not to use it very often. When he does say something, it's usually pretty funny and grown up! So why do I wish for the quietness of naptime when my son is a fairly quiet child?

I wish I had the answer. I admit, I really don't like to hear mothers say that old saying we've all heard numerous times, "I just need some 'me' time". I HAD "me" time for 27 years and all I wanted was "family" time. I wish I could say that I've never said that myself, because I am guilty of the same thing. I thought before that it was maybe just because I worked full time and what energy I DID have left at the end of the day was spent on Jay and Jace. Now I stay home and I can say that I'm not NEARLY as worn out as before but I still look forward to some alone time. Are we really ever satisfied with what we have?

Happy Blogging

Ok, here goes...

So I've decided to start my own blog. Why not? It seems to me that everyone these days has one and if they don't, they certainly have one that they read and follow. Even my own mother tells me stories of "so and so's" blogs that she religiously reads! Why now? Well, it's September 1st. Though it's not technically the first day of fall, but summer (in my book) is offically over. I told myself all summer that once September started, then that's when I would start a blog. I'm in a new place in my life and I just feel like writing about it.

I'm just going to put this out there (just in case anyone actually decides to read this - I'm still pretty skeptical and apprehensive)...this may not be written in "research paper" format! What does that mean? I will write my thoughts, stories, etc., as I see fit! LOL I may use incorrect grammar, punctuation, fragment OR run-on sentences - not because I do not know how to correctly write, speak or spell (ok, I probably won't have too many spelling errors - that's what spell-check is for AND it's also a huge pet peeve for me) but because I like to write "conversationally", that's all!

Ok, now that we've got that out of they way, let's start blogging!