Business in front, Party in the back

Somehow, our little Paxton has managed to grow and maintain an awesome mullet, pretty much since he was about a month old. Below is "The Hair" in its early development stages. I kept thinking it would fall out, like the rest of his hair did, but no. Those hairs had stayin' power!

Here's "The Hair" Sunday morning, just before I CUT IT!!!! (Im still having sad, remorseful feelings about parting with his baby hair).

I have been back and forth for 2 months now about cutting his nasty, adorable mullet off.  It didn't help that every time my brother (who has a 2 year old mulletless boy of his own) saw him he would call him one of the many great mullet nicknames; achey-breaky-hair, hockey hair, ape drape, Kentucky waterfall, Canadian passport, mudflap, Camero cut, Tennessee top hat, neck warmer.... the list goes on and on... who knew he was so up on his mullcabulary!!!! The final straw was last week when Jon and I took Pax to the mall. He was playing in the toddler play area and two Hispanic ladies were waving at him and smiling. Then, in Spanish, and BLATANTLY loud, one of the women says to the other "Is that a boy or a girl?" and the other replied "its a girl, just look at that hair". Well, little did they know, my husband (who speaks fluent Spanish) overheard them. Ugh, any mother will sympathize with me on this one. We all know its an honest mistake. We all know its often hard to tell a boy baby from a girl baby. But DANG IT, it TICKS US OFF still when people get it wrong. Of course he's a BOY cant you SEE?????

SNIP SNIP

SNIP SNIP SNIP

And here it is now. I really miss his hair. He looks so much older now. Oh well, it'll grow back, right?
Anyway, am I really supposed to keep his hair that I cut off? And what the heck do I do with it? Mommas and Pappas, what did you do?

Pax and his Daddy

I love how much Paxton is like his daddy. Jon has a very passive temperament. He'd much rather be happy and "let things go" rather than get worked up over silly things that dont really matter. He's loving and affectionate. Yesterday, I realized just how much my two boys are alike. Yes, Pax cries. But usually only when he's ready to go to sleep. He goes throughout his day with an adorable little smile and is genuinely happy all the time. I dont think I could keep track of the number of times in a day that Paxton will walk over to me and give me a little kiss, then go back to playing. If I look at him for too long without smiling, he makes the most hilarious face at me because he knows I always laugh at it. He still loves to snuggle in my arms for hours and he is just as sweet as ever. He's a patient little boy, calm and just such a joy to have. Both of my boys are :)

Workout Ideas, Anyone???

Ive decided to try a workout video. The problem is, I havent worked out in ages so I cant jump into a super intense one quite yet. Im thinking maybe a dance workout, kickboxing or maybe just an ordinary aerobic. Has anyone had success with a particular technique?
Oh, and I read from my Fitness magazine that getting more calcium, vitamin C and B vitamins in every day will help a lot if you are trying to lose some weight. Just a tidbit of info in case anyone cares :)
Oh, and Im open to any advice anyone may have out there. BRING IT ON!!!!

Squeamish, beware!

Pax has had a runny nose for about a week now. His favorite thing to do is waddle over and wipe his nose all over me. Yesterday, he did just that but moved his head up and down instead of his usual side-to-side. Well, this is what the end result was...

Sick. But HILARIOUS!

Let's review, shall we?

So we're coming to the end of February now and I thought I would take a look and see where the Halls are at with our goals for 2011. I laughed a little because already, its not looking so hot. We have a pretty good excuse for not keeping most of them, that being MOVING!!! But review is good, it reminds us where we are at and what we need to be doing better and also what we're doing good with (positive acknowledgement is so important).
We are definitely moving forward with paying off our debt, although I wish we could do more and more quickly. But until Jon gets settled in a job again, we will do the small amount that we can and thats good enough for today.
Ive been in a few more pictures than normal so I will give myself props for that. I havent done too well with my other goals though. Maybe once we settle in.
Jon, too, has been ailed by moving in his goals for 2011. He has a couple of books he'd like to start reading and his guitar is here with us at my parents instead of storage so hopefully he'll find some time to pick it up now and then.
Pax learned how to walk. He's cruising around everywhere now! He sleeps through the night every now and then. He keeps getting sick so that throws off his sleeping a lot. He gained almost 3 pounds and lost most of that again because he got sick about a week ago. But now he is eating again and will hopefully thicken up for us :)
Well, not too shabby. Not amazing either though. I think I'll revisit sometime over the summer and hopefully things will look better for us. Wish me luck!

Back to Black

I went back to black. Black with some funky dark red highlights and stuff. I missed it, I really did. I just never felt like I ever had a good hair day when my hair was blonde. I guess in a few weeks it will be more brown than black, but either way, I'm lovin it! Thanks for my new hair, Uncle Sam!

A..G..A..I..N!!!!!!!

We moved. AGAIN. Ugh. I gotta say, I think Ive had my taste of the whole moving experience. I think Im officially ready to "settle down".
Long story short: Jon was fed up with Pinnacle and they were making weird changes so we decided that Jon should look for another job. Since Pinnacle was the ONLY reason we moved all our stuff from AZ, we decided "heck, lets just move it all back!" So now we are in the beautiful sunshine with family and friends, Jon is looking for a job and we are happy as we have ever been :) Although, I must say, we are missing our family in Utah terribly. We were able to become much closer with Jon's brother Jeff and his family (miss you all!) as well as grandparents and other family members. Thank goodness for family reunions!
Anyway, we are crashing at my parents house until Jon settles in with a job and we find a house to rent that we are in love with. And I mean IN LOVE because I AM NOT MOVING EVER AGAIN!
Arizona, I love you and your warmth and your sunshine. I have missed your amazing mexican food, gorgeous sunsets and your cool breezy mornings. Utah, I will miss the fry sauce... and thats about it :)

We Have a New Brother!

This is Diego. I havent written too much about him and I havent posted too many pictures of him because for the past 3 1/2-ish years, he's been a foster placement in my parents home. Since he was in protective custody, we werent allowed to put pictures of him on the internet.
I will never forget the first time I met Diego. My parents got a call that the state had a placement for them. They went together to pick him up. When he first walked in the door, I was a little shocked. Diego was the smallest little 4yr-old that I have ever seen. He had a scared look in his eyes, nothing but skin and bone and was clutching a blanket. He hardly spoke, partly because he was shy and partly because he came from a home that had English and Spanish spoken and he didnt really know how to speak.
He struggled a lot. He pushed my parents away as they tried desperately to love him. Lucky for Diego, he was placed with my parents, who pulled him back in every time he pushed away. He would build up a wall and my mom and dad would knock it right down. It took time, but Diego finally was able to feel safe with my parents. He knew they would feed him, keep him warm and he knew that they would protect him.
My parents were not necessarily planning on adopting when they became a foster home, but Diego was special. I wont splurge too much detail, but Diego was always meant to be a part of the Carlson family. We are all so thankful that he is now officially adopted, after such a long road with many bumps in it. Diego, we all love you. I would say,"welcome to the family" but I feel in my heart that you have always been a part of us. So instead I will say "welcome home".

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Anyone listen to U2? Well, their song was the inspiration for the title to my post. That, and of course, Pax.
On Sunday, while we were at church, Pax was walking around getting his wiggles out. He's been doing really good with walking lately and being more adventurous. Anyway, he kept walking up to the window and kissing his reflection (he learned how to kiss and is kissing EVERYTHING lately). On his way up to the window, he slipped on the rug and hit his eye on the corner of the big entry door. Jon was out there with him and by the time he got pax in to the bathroom, blood was rushing from the wound and the poor baby was screaming!
The Relief Society prez came in to the chapel and told me my husband needed me out in the foyer. So, I walked out there and found Jon holding a crying and very bloody Paxton. Jon was a little worried that I was going to freak out and was a little surprised when I said "gee, Im glad this happened on your watch and not mine!"
Anyway, thank goodness for good insurance and an after-hours urgent care just down the street. We took him in and left a couple hours later with 6 stitches and a Spider Man band aid. Ugh, I never want to go through this again. In order for them to stitch him up, they had to strap him to a table and cover his head (for sanitary reasons). The only thing I could do was sing to him and tell him that I was still there. Poor Jon gets a little queasy with blood and the doctor made him sit in the corner but every time Pax heard his daddy's voice, he seemed to calm down a little for just a second.
Im glad the worst is over and I hope Ive filled my quota with this baby on injuries. I still cant believe that I have a 14month old with stitches. especially since he's so passive and generally speaking, not very crazy. Just goes to show that these things can happen to anyone.

This is Pax on the way to the urgent care. I just happened to have my camera in the back seat from the night before!

This is Pax later that day with his cool new band aid. He did really well with leaving it alone actually. 

Here's Paxton earlier today. We took him back in to the doctor for a suture check. On Friday we will take him back in the get the stitches taken out. That poor eye looks awful! 

And this is how Paxton has been feeling since Sunday. Cranky, tired and sore. Oh, and did I mention he's teething? Yep, also has two molars wanting to push through.

Poor guy. Poor parents too. I wish I could take all his hurts away.