Begging, Pleading, and Begging Some More

Griffin has been BEGGING for "super-super-short hair" for months. When he begs he gives me this face that I imagine is the same face a girl gives her mother when she is begging for pierced ears. I LOVE his hair long and have been pushing him off. Until yesterday. I decided that at 3 years and 9 months old, he is living his very own life. A life where his say matters, especially on a contextually little issue like hair. So off we went.

I tried for "pre-photo" and he curled up and said he was cold. This was the best I got. 


We went inside a cutsie haircut spot (we usually take the boys to SuperCuts type spots). He climbed into an airplane and saw glimpses of his first ever princess movie (Cinderella) while he waited for his turn (which he loved, by way. note to self, break out that VHS the next time we're at gram & pop's house.)



While he watched I showed him photos of little boys with kind-of short hair. His response? "No mommy. I was super-super short hair. Like Noah." So that's what she did. He stared at himself in the mirror and smiled the.entire.time.




After his cut was done I asked the stylist to put some gel in his hair to add some fun-factor. She added a TON of gel and spiked it up. Poor guy's lips curled down to a frown and tiny little tears came out of his eyes. He said he wanted his hair "down" so she quickly combed it down, but it was so loaded up with junk and he was devastated. It was so sad. She quickly grabbed him and brought him to the sink in the back and washed his hair. In the process, water poured down the back of his neck/shirt so he jerked forward and soaked his pants. It was like a comedy of errors.


Once he was cleaned up and blown dry he was thrilled again. He gave the stylist a hug and asked for an extra cookie to give to Noah (his inspiration so sweet). Here he is outside the car with his little cup of animal crackers, picking one out for Noah.


I texted Mike a photo of Griffin's new haircut. He was SHOCKED by the photo (and that I went through with it) and called us immediately. Griffin was very proud to talk about his new look.


When Noah jumped into the car at preschool pickup it was a love fest. They got really close together. Noah said, "Griffin I really like your hair. Do you really like your hair?" Griffin said, "Noah, I have your hair!" They had a sweet little back and forth for about 10 minutes. I just sat in the front seat and let them have their special time. It honestly made me cry to witness such a precious, pure, honest brotherly moment. I was filled with joy.



They were so stinkin' cute when we got home too.





Miles was in shock when he got home from school. Then he quickly announced that he is the brother with the longest hair (he's begging us not to make him cut it...he wants it "long" - haven't figured out exactly how long he's thinking yet).






Love this little guy. So very much.

Great Day

The boys have been so sick over the past few weeks. Strep. Stomach Bug. Pneumonia. Yesterday we got the clear that no one is contagious/sick anymore (barring some coughs that should remain for at least another week). We busted outside and played around. It was great. Couldn't help myself but get out cameras.

Untitled from Brooke Brown Photography on Vimeo.

PS got excited last night when i realized its feb. i'm two-for-two on doing a movie every month in 2011. :)

Weekend in Summerville

Last weekend the boys and I went to Summerville so I could do a maternity shoot for one of Dana's friends (Mike stayed home and got some much needed r&r...he's been traveling like crazy and had to leave again on sunday).  While we were there, we checked out a local dog show.  It was small and the boys loved it.  Griffin (the dog lover) was entranced -- as we knew he would be.  Noah (the dog fearer) was cautious -- as we knew he would be.  Miles was in the mix, ready to run on the empty ampitheatre after we milled around a bit.






kickin' it in the ampitheatre and by the water





on the way home we stopped by charleston southern university and checked out my dad's office. he's got the coolest office on the block, full of photos and treasures from all of his travels. i just love it in there.






{this painting was in our house when i was little. it will always be one of my favorites. it takes me back.}

while at my parents' house, we all played chinese checkers. i hadn't introduced the game to the boys yet and they loved it (esp miles and griffin...noah got burnt out) and did great (miles came in 2nd - behind by only one move!). it took forever since all 6 of us played -- so we broke it up over 2 days/3 sessions. (my parents have a great set w/ colorful wooden pieces -- it would have been all over after 20 minutes if we'd been playing with a marble set.)

my mom played jenga with the boys, too. i love that all the boys have crossed into an "adult game" stage. {miles and i play some sort of game almost every night. our recent favorite is qwirkle...will have to do a post on it soon...}


thanks for a great weekend, mom & dad!

Just hangin'

Noah is insanely flexible and super clumbsy -- which makes this common stance of his crack me up.  After I took the photo I tried it myself (sitting on buns, leaning against nothing, legs up).  I couldn't do it.  He sits like this for 30+ minutes at a time.  Good 'ole Noah B.

Weekend

We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Hope you did too. We played around a little with our tiny Kodak Play Sport video camera. (I have a ways to go before I get as great as my friend Anne is with her flipvideo. And, I'll admit that watching parts of this video make me a little nauseous from my shaking hand. woops.) In any event, one of my resolutions (just made it actually) is to make more videos of our family. I'll aim for one a month. How about you?


Untitled from Brooke Brown Photography on Vimeo.

Hub

Its a rare occasion these days that I take a shower AND blow-dry my hair AND put on make-up.  I found myself in that situation yesterday and asked Mike to take a quick photo of me for the bio section of my website.  While I set up the shot, I took this one of him.  Its a little brighter on one side than the other, but whatever....he's still a super cutie {men do just keep getting better with age, don't they?}

Post Holiday Post

I'm working my way backwards with holiday postings.  Here's a little post holiday update:

We got back from Christmas and immediately had a fun night with the Williams. A little sushi and a little play time with our new presents.


{i think its so sweet whenever griffin and ella pair up}

We also had a fun visit with Mike's parents (Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Bob) and then with Mike's sister Shannon and our niece, Mason.  Their visits crossed over for a couple of hours, so we all piled onto the couch and got a Brown-Brown-Bailey photo.


It was really fun to have Bob and Peggy here for a few days.  Bob and Mike went on their usual rounds to Dick's Sporting Goods, Circuit City, Trader Joe's etc and Peggy and I rearranged all the furniture in the downstairs of my house.  We were all in heaven.  :)


One of the things I was looking for in the rearrange was a spot to put a big coffee table/game table. I want a space where we can all play Sorry!, Guess Who?, Battleship, Rummy-Qube.....I'm a girl that loves game time. :) We found the perfect table at one of my favorite local shops and the kids started playing games there IMMEDIATELY. Mission accomplished!


{Miles' victory dance and Mason's irritation over it crack me up in this photo}

We spent New Year's at the Williams' House and it was MUCH fun. The kids (9 boys, 2 girls) all ran around together while we adults played a fun game. We also had AWESOME food and some hilarious rounds of some wii dancing game (we don't have it, so I can't recall exactly which one it was)


{ella and mason had an instant connection}

{i read about this game hours before the party. the person next to you writes the name of a famous person on a sticky note. you put the sticky note on your forehead and try to guess who you are. it was HILARIOUS and much fun.}



{a little movie time}

{and a little dancing...this game is now on my 'need to own' list}



A great way to wrap up 2010 and ring in 2011!!

Snow Day Part II

Yesterday's snow was fluffy and light (good for walking in and eating).  Today's snow was i-c-y (great for stomping, throwing, licking, biting, and speed sledding).  The boys had fun both days -- but the icy snow was definitely their favorite.









We're done a great job enjoying the snow.  I'm pretty certain tomorrow a movie theater outing is on the docket.  I'm ready to mix it up.  :)