Goodbye, Justin Bieber; hello, Rico Suave!

Taken like a good mug shot, the pictures below are of Patrick as he looked earlier this morning after getting ready for the day. Here he is from the front:

And the sides:

Seriously, people, I’m as shocked as you are to look at these pictures. No need to call Social Services on us for neglecting our child. How did this happen? When did our sweet little Patrick turn into a shagadelic mastermind punk? Look at those ridiculous sideburns, among other atrocities!

In any case, both Todd and I knew we had to do something with that mop, even though he has a great head of hair and it looked quite hip for the day–all Justin Bieber-like and such. I really wanted to find a picture of a good cut before taking him in, both for the ease of the stylist and to get Patrick used to the idea. The latter was harder than the first, though, because Patrick did not want his hair cut. Patrick liked his long locks. Patrick only thought a trim was in order.

Good thing Patrick’s not in charge.

As we sat in church this past Sunday, we both had the same thought: there was a clean-cut (and handsome) boy sitting in front of us and we each admired his style apart from each other. It was almost comical when we brought it up to each other. Todd asked if he could take his picture so we’d have something to show the stylist, the amazing Stephanie. Then came the hard part: breaking the news to Patrick. The first showing did not go well, but we weren’t expecting him to fall down with excitement over cutting his hair. Not a problem. We let the idea sit for the rest of the week until today, and by the time he arrived, he was OK (or at least not showing his dislike) with the plan.

Stephanie got to work, and there was a lot of work to do (see above picture). Patrick mumbled something about not having had the clippers near his hair in quite a while (Thank you, Dr. Obvious). It didn’t take long to see the new Patrick emerging from behind the bangs, and before we knew it, a cleanly shaven boy was sitting in his place!

Here’s an action shot of the work in progress:

He doesn’t look too upset in these, does he? Maybe he’s actually warming up to the idea of shorter hair…

After she finished, I had to take a shot of the hair he left behind:

Here are the pictures of the oldest boy in our house after his extreme makeover. Wouldn’t you agree that he looks much better?

The obligatory ‘after’ mug shot:

The end result is quite dramatic.

Move over, Justin.