Snips and Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

October 07, 2010

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of photographing my friend's new baby girl. When I arrived at her house, I looked around a bit to check out my surroundings and see where I wanted to set up. I saw a very blue room and an equally frilly, pink room. That's right, she has a sweet little boy and precious baby girl. I can't even imagine the thought after having two boys. Boys and girls are like night and day and you can see it just by glancing in their rooms. I cannot say all the pretty pink, lacy curtains and frilly dresses didn't make my heart flip for a second. The thought that kept circling in my mind was, "Wow, this is so different. This is a whole other world - literally." I am a mommy of two boys and my life will forever be different because of it. As I was driving home to pick up my boys, I thought of the following classic rhyme:

"What are little boys made of?

Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails

That's what little boys are made of !"

What are little girls made of?

"Sugar and spice and all things nice

That's what little girls are made of!"

It's funny because I don't recall growing up and having a yearning for either a boy or a girl. I knew I wanted to be a mommy, but gender didn't seem to cross my mind. Even when I got pregnant the first time, I didn't think "Oh, I really want a boy. Or, I really want a girl." At that time, since my husband came from a family of all boy's, it was assumed that everyone would have boys (this theory has since been disproved). I thought it was a girl, only because I was going against the odds. Sure enough, we found out we were having a baby boy, and we immediately knew his name would be Silas. I was overjoyed. The second time around, again, I thought it was a girl only because my pregnancy seemed very different. I knew I'd be happy either way, but deep down also knew I would love another little boy. At 20 weeks, it was again confirmed we were having our second baby boy, Eli. So there you have it, two boys.

Having boys has touched my heart in such a unique way. Although, I certainly cannot understand everything about them or how they operate. It's been a learning experience, that's for sure! After all -I am all girl. The thought of leaving the house without make up or not dressed in normal clothing is something that would never cross my mind. I don't care if I plan to stay home all day, I will shower, fix my hair and get ready as if I were going to work for the day. Call it girly, or be it that I'm from Texas, there's definitely nothing tom-boyish about me. So the world of boys was incredibly new to me. I did have a brother, so it wasn't a complete shock - but I never had a boyfriend or dated prior to meeting Dusty. So in thinking about all of this, here's some things I just don't get about boys, as well as things I appreciate about them.

1. Why do boys insist on wrestling, constantly? It's a rare occasion my boys are sitting and playing quietly. I know I talk about this a lot, but it's an everyday battle in my house - literally. There's a constant stream of voices, noises, wrestling, pretend fighting, running around, crashing/throwing toys, etc. There is never a dull moment.

2. Why, oh why is it impossible not to pee all over the toilet seat? You'd think I would remember to check the seat before sitting down, but again and again I forget. {Sigh} I will never enjoy cleaning my boy's bathroom. Never.

3. What is the obsession with talking about or calling one another names involving poop? Why is poop so funny? Seriously. For that matter, any noise that a boy can generate from his body - burping, tooting, you get the pictures. Come on boys, grow up! It's just not funny.

4. Why are boys so attracted to dirt? It's on their face, it's in their shoes, it's in their pockets. I'd love to know how many playgrounds I could fill with the sand that's come home with my boys from school.

5. Why are all their "ickies" cool? You know, boogers, dirty q-tips, stinky feet, etc. Again, I nod my head in disbelief - I don't understand the fascination. Gross.

6. Haircuts - way too often. Most little girls don't maintain a particular style and often grow their hair. My boy's hair grows like weeds. It seems they need a new haircut every 3 weeks.

7. I love the low maintenance. They don't care what they wear and there are no morning meltdowns regarding how their hair looks. If anything, I frequently get "Momma, you're taking too long!! I don't want my hair fixed." Having boys is definitely a time saver in the mornings.

8. I love the sweet relationship between a mommy and son. There's no way to describe it. Enough said.

9. I love the lack of drama. Yes, there may be fighting - but there's no drama, emotional breakdowns or prissy attitudes. Thank heavens.

10. In my opinion, as far as parenting goes, boys seem to be tougher when they're younger and girls when they're older. This means, I'm putting in all my hard work now. Yes!

11. Boys are just so darn cute and loveable. I wouldn't trade my sweet boys for the world. They are my heart.

I honestly don't know what I'd do if I had a little girl to dress up, fix her hair and go shopping with. I might go bankrupt - because after having to shop for boy's clothes the past four and a half years, I would go nuts shopping for a girl. Even now, I admire all the cute girly clothes while shopping for my two little stinkers. There's not much fun about boys clothing. All this being said, I would never say having one is better than the other. Boys and girls are both so wonderful in their own little ways. I simply think their differences are fascinating.

On that note, here's some of the photos from yesterday of beautiful Haven Nichole.