Ella's First Haircut

This is the before shot. Ella likes to pull out any thing I put in her hair and it usually ends up looking like this by the end of the day.

Cute little baby bangs
This picture is for you, Katie Jane!

Ah, pure bliss!

So calm and poised

Nancy giving Ella an extra glam hair do!

Grandma feeding Ella some of the best soup I've ever tasted

Ella was so calm and well behaved during her first hair cut. I think she really liked going to the hair dresser! I packed the kids up and brought them to Nancy's, where I always got my hair trimmed (it was never really cut until I was in college) growing up. She's the only one I trust with the very important first haircut! Grandma went in to get her eyebrows done, the eyebrows that I inherited from her. They can definitely be unruly! So, we had a day of beauty and then went right next door and had a fabulous lunch. If you're ever in the area, try the potato soup and cornbread. I really think it might have been the best soup I've ever had. The corn bread was pretty darn good too. I'm not going to say the best I've ever had because my grandmas both come from the south and can make some pretty mean cornbread. I thought it was so cute to see my grandma feeding Ella.

After lunch Will got a little emotional because he didn't get his hair cut. Poor thing. We had to schedule him an appointment for the following week just to appease him! That's my boy! It's all about the hair!

Nerd Alert

Since I've already been called names due to my overuse of alliteration (see Katie's comment below) I thought I would take it one step further and share my latest obsession with you all. It began in college, but never had the opportunity to blossom. While taking a beginning level poetry class we read a Sylvia Plath poem. I immediately identified with her voice and understood what she was trying to say. I can't say that about all of the subsequent poems I have read of hers. When I found out that she committed suicide I was intrigued. While suffering from insomnia after having Will, I found solace in her writing. I wanted to know more about her. Why did she choose to leave this world, especially after having two children. I read The Bell Jar (fiction, but highly autobiographical) and loved it, but it only made me more curious about the woman. Next, I read Letters from Home. I read every word of it, but it still left me pondering about her death. Now I'm reading the letters of Ted Hughes, her ex, and an amazing poet in his own right. I'm such a voyeur, I know. I've done little to no writing since the kids were born. I haven't made time for it and even before then I usually only wrote when something "came" to me. I would have lines dancing around my head and feel compelled to write them down. When I ignored them, they vanished into thin air. After reading Plath's letters I realized how disciplined a real writer is. She would write every single day. Plath had an au pair so that she could write in peace after she had her children. You have to be very dedicated to your craft to produce a decent body of work. Of course, she did more than just produce a decent body of work. She was brilliant.

My obsession continues...I'll let you know what I think of Ted after I finish reading his letters.

Birthdays #1 and #3

Does this look like birthday bliss or what?

The birthday kids looking forward to blowing out the candles

Will and his cousin Mason digging into the presents. Will and Ella received a lot of fun gifts to play with. Thanks, everybody!

Official birthday cake picture

Three layers of chocolately goodness

Jeffro carrying in the big sandwich. Hard to believe, but we ate all of this!

This post is a little belated, but here are some photos from Ella and Will's combined birthday party. It was good to celebrate with family and friends. Will was very excited to invite some of his special friends. He's always excited to see his aunts, uncles, grandmas and papas. Ella decided to walk the night before and was happy to show off her new skill! My kids are growing up fast!