The Jon Wadley Fam

We thoroughly enjoyed our 4th of July weekend and hope you did too! Yes I know, it’s now the 12th of July - just bear with me on this. We spent the actual day of the 4th with the Wadley family but forgot to take our camera along We had a fun breakfast in the backyard with those from around here that could make it, and Glenn and Tracie were in town with some of their kids so they joined us as well. Dave and Alissa borrowed her parent’s huge inflatable water slide and oh boy did the kids love that.  Katelyn just couldn’t hold it in she was so excited and had a ton of fun sliding down and then running around the back to climb up and slide again and again just as fast as she could.  We lounged around a bit in the afternoon and then had a bbq and watched the Pleasant Grove City fireworks show when it was dark. See Joe and Missy’s blog here for actual footage of the show which was really cool (for once!). It was at the Jr. High this year instead of the high school so we had a great view from my mom and dad’s front lawn. We spent Saturday with the McArthur’s and that was a lot of fun as well. When the boys get together the testosterone level goes through the stratosphere and we just have to get out and blow stuff up in the west desert. As usual that was a blast (yes, pun intended). We also did some archery as well. We then went swimming in Maxine’s indoor pool and that too was a real splash (watch out, I’m on a roll). At night we put on our own fireworks show which was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. Here are a few pics of the natation and armament utilization endeavors.

I threw the fumanchu pic in because I got in trouble with BriAnne for comparing Ethan to Bull Hurley in my last post. Sorry honey, I shouldn’t have made a comparison I wouldn’t be willing to make of myself! Now, combine my chu with Ethan’s cueballness and we’ve got something going for ourselves!

On the near scalping of little Ethan from his Dad’s perspective (see original post below this one).  It turns out after a couple of days we are starting to recognize the little tyke again, sorta like getting our own kid back from an extended stay at this place.  There is just something about being alopecic, when he doesn’t have to be, that seemingly gives him a good excuse to carry a little chip on his shoulder.  It does seem to be wearing off though, as he seems a lot nicer/happier/friendlier lately, but you might want to get checked out of you don’t see a similarity between these two images (minus the awesomely massive fumanchu of course):

One enjoys breaking arms and driving trucks, the other enjoys breaking anything he can find around the house that’s of any importance (and throwing his break-fast all over the floor).  You decide who does what.

Of course, the bad moods may have something to do with the fact that Ethan is cutting another couple of teeth….naahhh.

 That was the question!  For quite some time now Ethan has had little curly hairs popping out at the sides of his head just above his ears… yes quite similar to a clown hair-do.  So I’ve been aching to cut it, and Jon has been reveling in Ethan’s curls pleading with me to leave them be.  But alas, I won.  Two nights ago I could take no more of the silly “old man” look, and gave Jon no more say in the matter.  He tried to tell me not to bic it and just to cut it if I had to do something, but by that point I was past hearing.  I had in mind what I wanted, and I was determined to do it…

  About half way through I was suddenly siezed with a kind of terror - in the realization that I had made a huge mistake.  I had turned my sweet, loving, handsome little baby boy into a skin-head, a sickly child, and a bully.  Several things flashed through my head at once - the memory of his sweet smiling face surrounded by soft curly locks of baby hair in contrast to this screaming half bald child in front of me, a Wadley family party coming up on the fourth where we are to take family pictures, and a McArthur family party on Saturday where I’m sure many pictures will be taken.  I had transformed my handsome baby boy into a scary dude, and I couldn’t even keep him in hiding until his hair grew back, I would be forced to get him out in the open right away.  Yikes, what a mistake.  It’s been two days since the tramatic haircut, and I feel as though I am watching someone else’s child - waiting for his parents to come pick him up and bring my baby back. 

He was already entering a new phase of life - already hitting Katelyn in self defense, or just for fun.  Already pinching me whenever he felt like it, and already getting a kick out of “play-wrestling” with Daddy and throwing tantrums on the floor when Daddy won.  But now that he is a baldy - those qualities suddenly seem to fit him, seem to be more who he is - instead of a phase he’s going to pass through quickly. 

Does this sound horrible for a loving mother to say these terrible things about her child?  Well, most of it is dramatized a bit.  But the shock of it is very much accurate - I am definitely still getting over the shock, and I miss those little curls.  Jon was right, yet again.  I do, however, realize that time helps these things.  I feel quite similar to how I felt after getting my own hair cut quite short - it took me at least a week until I felt okay about it, and two weeks before I actually liked it - so I’m sure I’ll feel okay about his bare head next week, and hopefully I might even like it in two weeks, especially if it grows enough that it’s soft to pet- then I’ll like it much better I’m sure!  (So then he won’t be a scary dude anymore, just a new pet!) 

I’d love to hear feedback telling me that he still looks to you like the same Ethan he ever was… but don’t lie just for my sake, I can take the truth!

A woman can only stay away from blogging for so long, and I suppose it’s time that I come out of blog-hiding and fulfill my cyber duty.  Let me tell you what has finally induced me to turn the tide and give in to the trend I’ve been diligently avoiding:  My love for Jon! Allow me to explain. Tonight was book club, which is right up there on my list of favorites with a long, hot bubble bath.  Tonight’s book club was extra special for two reasons: 1. I was in charge of the book. & 2. The book I chose was one of the most inspiring, sweetest novels I’ve ever read.  I first read it about three years ago when my dear mother-in-law got me reading Nicholas Sparks novels.  He is a wonderful author, I highly recommend many of his books.  The name of this book is The Wedding.  When book club first got started in our ward – the very first time I attended I knew that I wanted to do The Wedding.  I didn’t speak up about this treasure until February when I couldn’t hold it in any longer and it just blurted out of me, I surprised everyone because it wasn’t even time to give book suggestions for upcoming months yet.  But they put me down for the next available slot – which happened to be for tonight.  This past couple of days I’ve had the pleasure of re-reading this special find, and loving it all over again.  I will not go into further details about the book – because I want you to get the whole story when you read it.

When I got home from Book Club tonight I saw my sweet Jonna sitting there on the rocking chair in our living room comforting a sad Ethan, and I had this great desire to do something special and out of the ordinary for him.  I went through some ideas in my head of things I could do.  There are many actually because Jon is the quiet accepting type of person who never asks anything of me even when he has some obvious needs.  – So I quietly thought of these things: sew up the holes in some the old, worn out jeans he likes to keep wearing, iron some shirts, sew up the ripped pillow case on our bed, rub his feet, and then it hit me that there is something he actually has asked me to do.  Of all the things Jon could ask me to do, he wants me to add to our family blog!  He has even asked me to do this more than ten times since he first made our blog – which is a LOT for Jon. 

So here I sit, with overflowing emotion for this good man I’m married to, with my heart pounding and this simple thing to say: I love you Jon!  Thank you for loving me so completely just the way I am, for accepting my silliness, my deep well of emotions, my cooking & non-cooking, my inability to make decisions, my air-headed moments, and most of all, my love.  You’re a wonderful, super fun & funny, sweet, gentle & loving Daddy, and a remarkable, sincere, hardworking husband.  You vacuum the house more than I do, and it’s one of my favorite things to do!  (And with a pink dyson no less.) You cook almost as much as I do, you always take the garbage out without me having to ask, you never miss a day of work, are always home for dinner, never leave a mess for me to clean up, always help get the kids to bed, never complain about the holes in your worn out running shoes or the ache in your knee after jogging, always eat my burned dinner without even one word of complaint, and always compliment me when the dinner is actually goodJ, and you always patiently walk me through the process of making a decision I can’t seem to make on my own – like which outfit to wear to church, or which earings look the best.  These things may seem to you to be insignificant because they come so natural to you, but I assure you, they are significant to me.  Thank you.  I love you.