The price of a haircut...a goat

In order to persuade Bailey into allowing her bangs to be cut, I prepared her, bribed her with the idea of returning to the Deanna Rose Farmstead.  I kept mentioning feeding the goats milk, and suddenly she was on board and kept letting me know she was getting her haircut.  We went over this again and again the whole drive to Shear Madness and everything was fine.  Bailey remembered the place, found the toys, and when they called her name she willingly came forward to be taken to her seat.  She was blissfully obedient...until it was time for the smock to be put over her little body.  It's like it came to her what was about to happen.  She realized what she had to endure for the goats. 

The actual cut took a few seconds.  Bailey knew we were only cutting the front, because I'd explained this to her.  She explained this to the stylist.  None of this stopped her from twisting and turning in defiance.  But the bangs are now cut, the stylist not seeming all that thrilled, and Bailey then announced it was time to go eat so we could see the goats.  Bailey paid the woman at the desk and away we went.

The goats were more than a fair trade and for the first time, time was on our side at the farm.  We spent well over two hours there, checking out every corner, every crevice, every slide, every farm animal.  Well, I guess we missed a couple crevices, but that was her choice.  We took a fishing pole when we weren't supposed to and forced Mommy to duck as it was swung all over the place.  That was a good time.  After being momentarily punished and taken away from that area, we rejoined the fun we were having.  The pictures should prove that.

As I spent last Friday with Bailey, gazing at farm animals, petting goats, and walking the beautiful grounds, I couldn't help but think about just how lucky of a mom I am to do these types of things with my child.  It makes it difficult for me to understand why there are so many stay-at-home mothers out there who do nothing of this sort with their own children.  The farm is free.  FREE.  It's gorgeous.  It's invigorating.  Spending time with your child is a luxury.  It's foreign for me to understand anything less.

I'm glad I'm unable to understand though, otherwise, I wouldn't have had so much fun, even if I did have to avoid a fishing hook with my life.

 

Haircuts costing a goat...what an awesome concept!

Snow!!!

Everything was going beautifully.  Spring finally came after a winter everyone was ready to escape.  Tulips were blooming, grass was green, trees were blossoming and then as some cruel joke, cold weather moved in again.  And how appropriate it then snowed on Friday the 13th, IN APRIL. 

At least Bailey enjoyed it.

One rare sleeping moment and just another day in Paradise...

Dr. Seuss' Magic

Dr. Seuss has become mighty popular in these parts.  Sure, we liked him before, but he's now a God of sorts right now.  My child has finally joined the Seuss pop culture.  Most importantly, my child has finally become part of the bedtime story clan.  And bedtime stories, for the last couples of months (or longer), are why she goes to bed.  She treats it as a stall tactic and we treat it as a bribe.  It's a win-win situation and everybody's thrilled. 

Every single night, we're forced to read a book we read to her every day while in utero.  It's a Seuss-inspired book called Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go, a Book to Read In Utero, and Bailey still adores it.  Good Night Moon is also a regular and a Wocket in my Pocket has joined the list too.  Really, Bailey likes to add on as many books as possible to keep that bedtime further back.  Good Night Gorilla, Ten Apples up on Top, Classis Pooh stories, Peter Rabbit, The Runaway Bunny...It's not unusual to read approximately four books or more in one session.

But tonight, tonight I did something different.  I got out some other books from my collection on the high shelves, and one happened to be Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book.  When I taught preschool, this book was like magic sleeping dust.  It's long-winded, but that's fantastic, because everyone fell asleep by the time I reached the middle.  And tonight, for the very first time, my Bailey fell asleep while I was reading.  Not immediately after, oh no, during.  There was no, "one more story?" or "can you read another book please?"  No, there was just snoring. 

 

The magic worked.  That man really was a genius.

A Day with the Robinsons

Well, unfortunately, we don't mean the Robinsons we'd like to mean, but we did hang out with Wilbur Robinson's family for a bit Sunday afternoon.  We watched the movie Meet the Robinsons, based on the book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, a book I dearly love.  Bailey liked the movie tremendously, especially the part involving an erupting volcano and some fire ants.  She knows what life's all about.

After we finished watching the movie, we headed over to the Deanna Rose Farmstead for a short while before I had to get home and get ready to go to work.  Bailey remembered being there last fall, which I find amazing, but it shouldn't surprise me.  She remembers things from last spring...and even earlier.  With that memory of hers, I have to fear making any mistakes at all.

We hope to return to the farm very soon since we've spent such short intervals there both times we've visited.  We also hope to have more family time together.  And maybe some time, we can hang out with the real Robinsons.

An Egg-cellent Sunday

Easter Sunday was hardly in traditional mode this year.  The Easter Bunny brought Bailey an Easter bicycle, we went to a baseball game and got a rabbit, went to Grandma and Grandpa's long enough to hunt for money, and then somehow, some way, we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese for Easter dinner in the form of gross pizza.  We're not sure how it all happened, but it was memorable nonetheless.  We were frozen little spring chicks at the game, but Sluggerr was far worth the wait (considering she wouldn't have let us leave until she saw him).  Our seats would have been fantastic on any other day, but when it's cold, the shade is even colder, so we chose to stand out in the sun near the Little K. 

Grandma and Grandpa's house wasn't as bitter cold since they lacked the wind, so they hid some eggs outside for Bailey, which she enjoyed fetching immensely.  She napped on the way back to Kansas and woke up a little disoriented.  Things we were expecting to be opened were indeed closed, and then we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese for some unknown reason.  Bailey had a marvelous time though and watching her dance around was worth the nasty overpriced pizza any day.  Well, not any day, because I honestly couldn't eat that grease on crust every day.

After our busy day, Bailey was unable to enter the house until she visited Kaitlin in the backyard and gave her one of her Easter treats.  (We'd found rawhide flowers at Target.)  When she finally did decide to come inside she discovered that the Easter Bunny had hidden some eggs in our living room while we were out.  The eggs had various things inside including chocolate coins, real coins, a dollar, stickers, and Reese's miniature peanut butter cups.  When she found each egg, she had to open them up immediately with the same amount of enthusiasm and vigor as the one previous to it before moving on to another find.  Who knew plastic eggs could be so delightful?

 

So maybe your Easter ham tasted better than our pizza, and maybe you weren't freezing like we did, but we had a lot of fun regardless.  I wonder what traditions we'll break next year...

 

Leading up to Easter Morning

 

 

Easter festivities included hunting, Peeps, egg-breaking, frosting tasting, and of course her gift from the Easter Bunny.

Still picturing....

Auto Show 2007.

Pictures Coming, Pictures Going...

 

I'm playing catch up.  They're out of order, but you'll see them just the same.  Enjoy.