One thing I'm absolutely horrible at is taking my kids to get haircuts. I think it's because I get so sick of getting my highlights done that I dread having to deal with it. Curtis took over the responsibility of Jackson's hair long ago, but I would never put him in charge of my daughter's glory. (Her hair, y'all.) Anyway, I took her to her preschool "meet the teacher" and upon seeing the other perfectly groomed children, I suddenly realized I had let my son's school preparation overshadow my daughter's. This cannot be! So the very next day I took her to my hair stylist and got a little brave. There were about 5 inches of her sweet hair covering the floor when I took this picture. She looks simultaneously older and younger to me now. I love it.
Here she is with her friends Rory and Tori at a little birthday that night. We were celebrating my friend's foster baby's first birthday. We have loved sweet Miss M since last November and are going to miss her so much when she returns to her family soon. My friend has made an incredible, eternal investment in this little girl's life and I'm so in awe of her. Saying goodbye is going to cost this sweet family so much, but they have done a very good and hard thing.
Before and after preschool, our dear friend Ellison comes over to play with us. On this day, the girls were both wearing Cinderella dresses and reading to each other. Annabeth likes to read in a language that the Lord alone understands.
*Major milestone alert* Yesterday I took AB to get her ears pierced. She's been talking about it for a long time and I just woke up yesterday thinking it was the day. So we went to Merle Norman, where generations of mothers and daughters have done this ritual, and she sat down like a big girl.
She picked out some tiny pink earrings, the nice lady put dots on her earlobes, and then the deed was done. She was very calm until about 2 seconds after the earrings went in and then there were tears. It was kind of tragic but I figured there would be tears no matter when we did it. They told me that even the 13-year-olds cry. Here's an after picture. Her feelings were still kind of hurt and the joy of her earrings hadn't arrived yet.
We had lots of fun surprising Daddy, Bibby, and our friends with our new earrings. At one point I told her she had been brave and she replied that she wasn't brave because she had cried. That made me so sad! I told her that it was okay to cry, but that being willing to do it made her brave. I'm super proud of her. I remember so clearly the day my mom took me to Merle Norman to get my ears pierced. It was a full circle kind of moment to get to celebrate with my mom.
It's hard to believe that Jackson is a first grader now! He's only been back in school for 8 days but it feels like he's made this big jump into maturity. Here's his first day of school picture.
Mom went with me to pick him up and then we had the traditional ice cream cake.
I think this was like the third day of school, but he just looked so handsome.
That's about it! I have to shower unless I want to look greasy picking up the girls from preschool. It's always fun to look worse at pick up than you did at drop off. ;)
PS - Who is going to LifeWay's Dot Mom conference in Birmingham, Alabama? It's on September 21-22. It was amazing last year and I'm so excited to get to go again. Come if you can! FYI, if that weekend doesn't work, they're having another one in the Dallas area in February.
24 comments:
AB looks so old in the first picture of her hair cut. Super cute, and what a big day w/pierced ears too!
Love her haircut and ears pierced. They are growing up so fast but cuter and cuter all the time. :)
I just want to say that I wish I had Annabeth's hair. It is gorgeous! I can't wait to see her little face on Sunday with those precious earrings.
AB is gorgeous, Amanda!
Oh my goodness, what a doll! She is absolutely precious in her hair cut picture.
Okay, my girlie needs a haircut. They are both darling!
First earrings is a major milestone! I remember when I first started wearing dangly earrings (college), I loved them so much, I would wear them with everything — hoodies, workout clothes. I was quite a fashion statement. Looks like your little girl is already quite fashionable, with the latest in Cinderella dresses. Precious!
Adorable!! And girl, I'll be at DotMom!! And hope to see you there!
her hair, her earrings, her personality... i love it all!
and that guy of yours is getting so grown-up too.
what wonderful memories and pics of your cute growing kids!
getting my ears pierced was a big deal for me too! It's one of my strongest childhood memories. I always get a little sad when I see babies with their ears pierced because they don't get that experience!
Oh, love your blog. Just happened by from another blog I follow.
Oh, your little girl is so adorable and what a handsome little man. Doubly blessed!
Happy weekend!
Absolutely precious!!! What a sweet girl! And I LOVE what you told her about being brave. And I'm so excited to hear that Dot Moms is coming till Dallas!
My oldest turns 10 in January and we're going to have her ears pierced- so excited! What sweet memories for you!!
Thanks for sharing your pictures Amanda. I can't believe how much Jackson has grown. Annabeth looks just like you. Beautiful family. <3 Grandmamitz.
Amanda, I love your blog!! I've love watching your kids as they grow, and my goodness how they've grown. I am an mom to adult children, and I so appreciate your candidness and authenticity in your life. You are such a wonderful role model for other young moms. I say this, not to make you feel pressured, but to encourage you in the realness of life!! You are the real deal, and it shows!! Thank you!
Annabeth is absolutely adorable, she's really grown. Jackson, too! Where has the time gone?!
I love Jackson's shoes! My son's are red :). Please tell Annabeth that I love the hair.
I'm coming to dotMom! So excited. Met you at FBCHouston at a missions luncheon when you were preggers w/ AB and I was pregnant w/ my 1st little girl. Now I've got 2 :) Time flies! I'll introduce myself again if I see you in Bham.
Kendra T
Hey Amanda, Your kids are so precious. My little Bethany that looks so much like A.B., also is in need of a haircut. I've only trimmed the very ends myself. Her daddy even said something about her needing a haircut tonight so you know it's a little wild. I was trying to wait until she was four before I cut off the baby hair. Thanks for sharing your life with us. http://littlejakemcswain.blogspot.com/
Hey Amanda, I was wanting to go to dot mom but don't think I will be able to this year and prob not in Feb either since i should be close to full term in my pregnancy next Feb. I had heard of Unglued but haven't read it yet. It sounds interesting though. ((HUGS)) to you Amanda. I'm trying to potty train my two and a half year old and it is slow progress. Very frustrating sometimes!:)
The haircut is precious. AB is definitely brave to get her ears pierced. Tell her my 14 and 12 year olds still haven't gotten their ears pierced ... we were at the mall years ago, and ran into a friend getting her baby's ears pierced. The baby was screaming, of course. That totally ruined it for us! They are still afraid to go through with it. I've even offered to use EMLA cream on their ears(a numbing cream that our daughter used thru cancer treatments/and bloodwork). But no! Hope your school year is going great so far.
When did AB turn into such a big girl??? Oh, it hurts.
Your daughter looks so much like your mother. It's unreal. I love hearing all her stories about your children. Glad you had such a fun/relaxing moment in Galveston. (Can a mom truly relax on vacation when her children come?)
I stumbled upon this last night, didn't have time to comment, glad I came back today after watching your mom's livestream---it clicked and you have no idea how YOUR words blessed me--it's not what you think (Yes, the pictures are adorable) Thank you for re-confirming our family's ministry to love foster babies. We have taken six into our home over the course of five years, celebrated a little one's first birthday just like you did, and the 'cost' = yes, finally someone who understands, it "costs" us dearly and deeply from the heart. My children are preteens I am blessed that our whole family gets involved in this ministry, but many times after a child leaves our kids have gone to bed and cried for having loved so much! I tell them they have loved well---that as hard as it hurts is as deep as you have loved! I tell them we can stop at anytime if it gets too hard and they are always a firm, "no, when do we get to care for another". This year I was beginning to seriously consider ending this family ministry not knowing the long term effects on my kids. Your comment about making an "eternal contribution" (forget how you worded it) and today's livestream about "what fruit is eternal in your life"--confirmed for me that this is still a year for us to invest in the lives of these yet unknown children/babies as our eternal gift to them, for however long we have to love them. I will continue to pray and seek that this is a positive experience for our entire family, but your blog and beth's livestream got me back into the focus of eternal fruit! Many thanks to you and to God through you!
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