Dexter

a new ‘do for Dexter

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Before Dexter was born, I assumed he would have a head full of thick dark brown hair like Theo.  He came out with blondish brown wispy hair that has only gotten blonder.  Theo had to have a haircut at 10 months.  I mean, HAD to, because every morning he would wake up with it in knots.  Dexter, on the other hand, was slower to fill in.  But by 12+ months, it was starting to get in his eyes and definitely taking on the defining characteristics of a mullet.  I didn’t really care, it’s part of his baby-ness.  I’m not in as big of a hurry as he is to speed into toddler-ness.

Without further ado, Dexter’s first haircut.

May 31st, 2012.  My blondie’s long locks…

from the front

from the back

and from the side.
Dexter was happy as a clam during the haircut because he got his own comb.  Naturally, he was happy to help with his new style!
He wasn’t a huge fan of the water bottle.

Good sport!

All done!

~C~

the last night at home.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

May 24, 2012.

That’s the last night our boys slept at their beds in their first home.

Coincidentally, I had scheduled our family pictures for the same night long before I knew it would be our last night there as a family of four.  It was serendipitous timing for the photo shoot.  I have bragged on our photographer before, but she never ceases to amaze me.  Every time she leaves, I’m thinking she didn’t get anything good, but somehow, she always does.  We wanted to make sure some of the pictures had our house in the background.

The main reason for the photo shoot was to capture my baby boys, ages 1 and 2.
Photos courtesy of Simply Angie Photography
I can’t help it, I just think these two are the cutest peanuts in the pack. After Angie left, we decided to take one last walk to the Dairy Queen down the road.  We can get to it from behind without ever leaving our neighborhood.  We took in all of the sights and sounds and smells.  Fresh cut grass.  Kids laughing and playing.  Cars driving by and people waving.  Neighbors saying hello and nodding at one another as they pass on the street.  It really is a wonderful neighborhood. 
In an unexpected twist, Theo chose the stroller over the wagon for our last family walk.

Ordering our treats.

The air conditioned store was a nice break.

This is what we get now when we tell him to smile for the camera. 

I WANT ICE CREAM.

Monumental day, monumental first:  His very own ice cream cone.

And boy did he make that thing disappear, down to the last bite of cone.

Now that’s a good big brother!

Theo decided he wanted to walk/run home – the whole .8 mi home!

He knows the way.
It was getting dark so we went inside and turned on a little Lightning McQueen to end our day with some normalcy.  We tried explaining what is happening to Theo but I don’t know how much he understands.  He just keeps saying “I wanna go to mommy’s house.”  When we tell him we can’t, he says “my stuff’s all gone!” We took him there after we had moved everything out.  He thought it was fun hearing his own echo and driving his Little Tikes car as fast as he could through the empty rooms.  
xo,
~C~

Dexter’s circus-themed 1st birthday party, Part 3

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

The one you’ve all been waiting for:  The fun!

Did you see Part One and Part Two already?  No?  Go on, get caught up.  I’ll wait.

Well, as you saw in Part One, I decided to rent a bounce house to entertain the little ones.  It is a bit much for a 1 year old’s party, I know, but most of Dexter’s friends, cousins, etc. are older.  The party is about pleasing the guests as much as the guest of honor, right?  So we planned big fun.  Some gifts that we assembled ahead of time were big hits too, like the Little Tikes Police Car, Step Two Waterpark, and Step 2 All Sports Climber.  I think there was something for everyone!

A friend at the babysitter’s house, Beau

The babysitter’s sweet boy, Layton

Another friend, maybe girlfriend, Abby!

Our newest friend, Kingston (3 little weeks old!)

Time to eat!

Water park time!

This kid loves to splash.

Playing in the water with cousin Spencer.

My sister and grandma both made it in from out of town.

I LOVE TO BOUNCE!

More friends, Angie, Cody, and baby Dawson.

Me and tiny Kingston.

Me & Ang.  I realize now that I did not do a good job of making sure I got pictures with all my/our friends.  So bad about remembering to do this!

Well, we hadn’t planned on opening presents naked, but after getting soaked at the water park table…it seemed like the only reasonable option!

A new backpack!  Wait…it’s not your birthday!

Time to smash!

He didn’t know what to do, so big brother had to show him the ropes. 

Figured it out.

Bye bye cake.  And camera battery (good timing!).
There are lots of other friends and family members that came to celebrate who are not pictured in the blog – I hope no one is sad that I left them out!  We were just thrilled to have such a great turnout and such beautiful weather on this very special day.  At the end of the day, my heart was full of love for our people and pride for my baby boys.  Also, my stomach was full of hearty laughter because we saw Aziz Ansari at 8:30pm.  That was waaay too much to do in one day, but I couldn’t miss a chance to see my favorite celebrity make me laugh my butt off.  Not literally. It’s still there.  
Start to finish, it was one fabulous day.  Thanks to everyone that helped to make it that way! 
xoxo, 
the very happy mommy of a 1 year old and a 2 year old