With Much Emotion...

Well, we finally did it! We cut Noelle's hair. This isn't the first major cut she has had, however this is the shortest she has ever gone and it was hard...for me anyways. She wanted it this way and it is her hair. I love having the option to braid and curl and do all of the fun girly things with it. This girl has got some great hair, but her short do has turned out quite cute if I don't say so myself! She has so much hair, it was best to divide it into 2 pony tails for the cut. So Ellie ended up getting 14 inches cut off and she donated it to Locks of Love. Here are some pics from the event...




























Of course, Sadie wanted to get her hair cut like big sister, Ellie's, after she saw hers getting done. I still need the option of being able to pull Sadie's hair out of her face and don't want to do bangs so we went shorter, but not as short as Ellie's. Sadie is still very happy with the end result. I was playing with Noelle's new do so I missed getting some before photos when Sadie got up in the chair. But, if you want to see what Sadie's hair was like before, you can look at my previous post which has a picture of Sadie on her birthday in May. Sadie ended up getting 5 inches cut off...not enough to donate to Locks of Love, but she had a great time at the salon. Check her out chillin' in the salon chair! For all of you who don't remember, Sadie is obsessed with Rapunzel right now. The moment we walked out of the salon Sadie asked me if her hair turned brown?! Here are Sadie's pics...















Thanks Anne Marie for super cute hair cuts on both of my girls! You never fail us!!

Here's the pregnancy update. I am 31 weeks today...officially in the single digit week count down! Woo hoo!! Even though I am bigger than what I have been in past pregnancies at this time, I'm measuring right on now. The baby has been measuring right on, but my belly has been measuring small. My belly usually measures small and doesn't usually catch up until after 36 weeks. So I am definitely bigger this time around and feeling it. I don't know where I have put the baby in the past, but I am feeling it this time around. Things that haven't usually been difficult for me during pregnancy have been more difficult this time around...harder to work, harder to sleep, harder to bend over, harder to breathe. I know that these are all normal pregnancy things...it's just too early for me and I wasn't expecting it yet. I am still just trying to enjoy every moment of the pregnancy though. I know that these are not things I should complain about. We're getting excited to meet this little one. I am feeling anxious but I don't want to get too anxious because I don't want to miss out on this summer vacation with my kids. This baby is due just one month after my kids go back to school. So I feel like if I get too anxious about the baby coming that I'm also getting anxious about my kids going back to school and I'm not. I feel that I've already missed out on this summer vacation with my kids as I have not done so many of the things that I usually do with them during summer break because I'm tired. Nonetheless, I am still enjoying having them all home and letting them relax from the routine and just letting them run and play. I can't believe there is only one more month of summer vacation!! So this picture is of me a week ago. I meant to get this right on my 30 week mark, but forgot and got it at 30 weeks and 1 day.

Other things that we've been doing lately...

*We got to go camping with Ben's parents, Grandma & Grandpa Altop. It was a very strange camping trip because we couldn't have a camp fire due to the many large wildland fires all over the state and dry conditions! This is the first time that I have ever been camping without a camp fire and I have decided that it is like Christmas without a Christmas tree. Oh, and my pregnant state of mind forgot the camera to document the event, so no pics. I think that Grandma got some though. While Grandma & Grandpa were here we got to go to the Family Fun Park and ride the go-carts...well, everyone except for me. I was asked not to ride because of my condition. I thought about lying to the young lad who asked me if I was pregnant. Could you imagine his horror if I had told him that I didn't know what he was talking about and denied it?! I was both honest and cooperative and it gave Grandpa Altop another opportunity to ride since the kiddos weren't tall enough to drive these particular go-carts by themselves. We let the kids drive the kiddie go-carts later.

*This years annual 4th of July tradition with our family was interrupted by an injury. It has been tradition since our second year living up here that Ben's sister and family all come up for the 4th of July festivities. We go to the rodeo, we play games, we bbq, we go to the parade and fireworks and party it up all weekend. This year Ben's sister, Kathleen had a back injury and some other events that prevented her from coming. On the 3rd her husband and kids decided to still come up and we had a blast, but it wasn't the same without her. We weren't able to cram all of the festivities into the short time that they were here, but were so glad that they came. Here are some pics of us while waiting for the parade to start. By the way Kathleen, even though your husband and children made it up here for one night, we still think that the Burley family owes us a weekend!

*While I was at work yesterday, Ben took the kids to the Petrified Forest. They had a great time! Ben really is a rockstar Dad!! He is ALWAYS willing to give the kids a good time with or without my help!...And they are a handful since we had the 4 of them all in 4 1/2 years...a handful of JOY!