A singing along

Ainsley loves to sing along with this toy... I caught a little on camera:

Evan making Ainsley laugh

Nothing better...

Making Pizza

Last week, Evan and I got to go on a field trip to Domino's for pizza making! (Thanks to Aunt Robin and Mya for watching Miss A!) Evan got to put his order in the computer, wash his hands, and then make a pizza. He rolled out the dough (not sure about that one), spread the sauce, and put on the cheese. He then made their own pizza box while the pizza cooked in the oven.

Evan got to eat his work at the end of the field trip - it looked pretty delious! What a fun day with E.

My Sweet Boy

So, I have found that parenting so far has gone in phases - all the phases (so far) have been fun - but some are more challenging than others. :) Everyone says that 4 is fun (after those "tough threes") - well, I have definitely found that to be true so far. It also seems true that when it gets tough with one (Ainsley has decided not to sleep at night), the other "steps up" for me.

Self portrait

Anyway, Evan has been in an awesome "phase" lately. I am just enjoying him so much and feel so blessed to be his mom. He just seems so grown up! I can ask him to get ready for school and he'll go potty, wash his hands, brush his teeth and put his clothes on all by himself. I just look at him and think, when did you become so big? He thinks about everything, and every night at bedtime, he's asking Doug or I a ton of questions about his day. He loves school and has re-learned to write his name. (We taught his to write in all caps, now he can write it correctly.) He loves his art table. He is getting really good at amusing himself. He is obsessed with the Wii (Super Mario Brothers) and that is all he wants to do with me while A is napping. He makes the funniest faces and has the best reactions. He still loves to pretend to be Scooby Doo.

I love him and I am so super thankful for my grown-up little man.

9 months old

Ainsley is 9 months old! Another post again - I can't believe it! I wish I could slow down time, but for now we are just enjoying every minute of it!

1. Ainsley has become a huge Momma's girl this past month! She is usually fine if she doesn't see me, but as soon as she does, "ma-ma-ma-ma"! However, in the middle of the night, daddy just won't do. If I'm around, she's by my side. I am enjoying it too - because I know she's going to be daddy's girl soon enough.



2. The girl loves ice cold water, especially from mom's big pink cup. (She drinks from a straw.) If she sees my cup, she'll jump out of my arms to get it. Still breastfeeding, and we are lucky to get 1/2 jar of baby food in a day.


3. Ainsley is way on the move - she crawls, pulls up, cruises across her toys, uses push toys and is starting to climb. It's fun, but we definitely have to keep an eye for small objects.


4. At her 9 month appointment today, she was 18lbs, 8 oz (50%) and 27in (50%). Her head was 50% too.

5. She loves looking at books, with or without us. Evan never seemed that interested, but she'll crawl over and look through a book by herself. She loves Pat the Bunny and books that have pictures of babies.


6. Ainsley is starting to say her first words.. so fun! She will usually say "pat-pat" to pet dogs and "ma-ma" for me. She also repeats the songs on some of toys. She loves peek-a-boo and "So Big".

7. She lets us know what she wants with her "ah-ah" noise and jumping in the direction of the thing she wants.

8. This past month, it's been so fun to see Evan playing with her. He has been a great big brother, and he gives her lots of love.


9. Finally, Ainsley's 1st Christmas was this past month. It was so fun to get her dressed up and she had a great time pushing and climbing the boxes. She didn't take many naps, because she didn't want to miss out on any of the excitement!

New Year's Eve

Once again, we got to spend New Year's Eve with our fun neighbors. Matt & Genie hosted another fun party with duck racing at Ducky Downs. Evan was so excited all day because he remembered the previous year. He picked the same duck that he has last year - WonderDuck. All the kids lined up along the side to watch the ducks race down the water. When his duck won (after several rounds :)), Matt and Genie gave him a prize - a Spiderman bat and ball. He loved every minute of it. We had a great time visiting with friends as well.