Off With His...

...Hair!  I suppose it was time.  Roy has been asking to cut his hair for well over a year now.  I have issues cutting my boys' hair for the first time.  I'm not entirely sure why, but it's upsetting and depressing for me.  I was not planning on cutting Declan's hair until he was old enough to drive himself to the barber.  However, with the warm weather lately he was getting really hot and sweaty.  The older boys were constantly correcting people when they referred to their little sister and the girl comments were bothering Roy.  Up until yesterday, any time you asked Declan if he wanted his hair cut he would answer with a firm "no".  For some reason he decided yesterday was the day and said he wanted his hair cut.  Marie did a wonderful job, I can guarantee he has the most thorough hair cut of any 2 1/2 year old out there.  I miss his curls the most, they were absolutely adorable.  I know it will be so much easier to take care of and I cannot deny how cute he looks with his new "do".  I am wondering how long it will take to get used to it though.  Declan walks around rubbing his head all day, I'm sure it feels weird to him!

Getting all ready.

It looks a little nasty...half wet and some popsicle will do that.

First cut!



A better idea of how long his hair was.

I asked Marie to leave his bangs like that...didn't happen.

The last of it comes off.

Seriously had no idea he would be this cute!

Notice a *slight* resemblance???

Vacation Time!

Keegan started asking to go to a hotel with a pool for his birthday sometime in October of last year.  Roy and I decided after months of this request to go ahead with it and make it even better than just a pool.  Due to schedules and everything, we did not go until March, but Keegan still loved it.  This was actually our first family trip.  Usually I take the boys to Illinois while Roy stays home or Roy takes the boys to Kansas City without me.  It's kind of sad that it took us almost 6 years to take some time for ourselves and just have fun.  We decided on the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City because it is geared for smaller children and was fairly close (3 hours).  We had an absolute blast!  I can't explain how exhausted we all were, but we loved it.  Aside from Roy getting his debit card stolen and having to deal with those charges and my losing Declan which required a slight hotel lockdown, it was simply a perfect trip.  We are already discussing what we will be doing next year for our family trip and we have Keegan to thank for starting this tradition.

This post is going to be picture heavy.  We took a total of 587 pictures (over 3 days)!  I promise I won't be sharing all of them.  We also have some video that for some reason will not load on my computer right now, so I will hopefully be adding that later.

Playing in the arcade when we first arrived.  (Cousin Jack hitched a ride back to Kansas City with us and got to play for a few hours.)

Coloring their own shirts.

Declan's bed.

Quentin's bunk bed...up top.

Keegan's bunk bed.

Keegan taking the "alternative" route out of bed.

Breakfast of champions.

Keegan in front of one of the water areas.

Figures that I ruin the only decent picture of all 3 boys in the water.

Keegan enjoyed this game a bit too much.  Quentin mostly threw down his sword and ran away.  I think that pretty much sums up their personalities.

Daddy got in on the action.

This was taken at about 10 at night, after a VERY long day of activities.  I think that's the only reason we got them to stay still,

Keegan's face is priceless!  Needless to say, he LOVED the waterpark.

Playing MagicQuest.  Basically you have "magic" wands and have to complete quests throughout the hotel.  This meant we spent hours and hours going up and down flights of stairs and searching for things.  It was actually a lot of fun.

Showing off their wands.  Quentin gets the idea, Keegan thinks it should be a gun, and Declan has no idea what to do with it.

Keegan coming down the slide.

Quentin on the same slide.

Declan on his mini-slide.  He really loved these!

Pic in front of the bucket that dumps 1,000 gallons every few minutes.  The boys refused to stand underneath it.

Quentin doing the obstacle course, which he was beyond proud of himself for being able to complete.

Riding the snake.

The lone picture of Roy with the boys.

Quentin and his smashed penny.

Roy helping kill the dragon. (One of the quests.)

Declan taking a shot at it.

Right before we headed home.  As you can see, they are a bit tired!

Happy 4th Birthday, Keegan!

Has it really been 4 years since Keegan made his surprising early entrance into this world?  It's so hard for me to believe.  Our family has done so much growing and learning in these years and I know Keegan has a huge part in that.  Without Keegan, I am not sure where our little family would be.  He is the one that taught Roy and I to appreciate each other more, to be thankful for and love each other every chance we get.  Our "planned" child, we felt that we knew exactly what we were getting into.  Little did we know that Keegan had other plans.  I've said before that there is just *something* about your first child.  Well, there is definitely *something* about your second.  Yes, we had already jumped off the cliff of parenthood and our knowledge base was a little broader, but nothing could have prepared us for Keegan.  He's impossible to sum up into words.  He is simply Keegan.  I have yet to find one of his traits that are not unique to him.  I call Declan sunshine because that's what I picture when I think of him.  Keegan would be sunshine, thunderstorm, hurricane, tornado, sunset, snowstorm, sunrise, and the brightest rainbow you could ever imagine all rolled into one and often occurring simultaneously.  We are beyond proud and often amazed with this little boy.  How many 3 1/2 years olds do you know that simply decide to ride a bike without training wheels and actually do it?  He has the intelligence and pure willpower to do anything he wants to do.  As much as I hate admitting my little boy is growing up, I simply cannot wait to see the man Keegan becomes.

As an example of Keegan's one of kind personality and refusal to conform, he requested his Cousin Marie to dye his hair green for his birthday.  So green it is.  This year we are not having our usual birthday party.  Keegan has been asking to stay in a hotel with a pool for his birthday since we stayed in one in August.  Roy and I decided that we would make it a little better than just a hotel with a pool.  We will be taking a trip to an indoor waterpark resort in February (our first EVER family vacation).  Keegan is beyond excited about this.  We will also be celebrating with family at Chuck E. Cheese this evening.

Happy 4th Birthday, Keegan! 

Christmas!

This year Christmas Eve was with Roy’s family and Christmas Day was at our house with my family.  We had the addition of Angel (Aunt Valerie’s boyfriend) and his 2 kids on Christmas Eve.  Sarah and Randy were able to make the drive up from Texas for Christmas Day and the boys loved seeing them.  My sister’s burns are looking great and I was amazed to see how they are still healing and changing.  The boys’ excitement over their presents was priceless, especially Keegan’s.  He is rarely that happy and it was so awesome to see pure joy on his face.  Declan decided that present opening was actually fun and wanted to open everyone’s presents on Christmas Day.  We are so thankful to be able to spend the holidays with our wonderful families!

Boys will be boys!

Wrestling, rough housing, and play fighting has become a regular routine around here now that Declan is able to hold his own.  Roy is quickly figuring out that he probably only has a year or two left before they can truly take him down.  A few bruises, bumped heads, and bloody lips have ensued, but as Keegan says, "just shake it off".