2 and a half...

My little baby is growing up! Ainsley is now 2-1/2. She is growing every day and she's so much fun to be around. I love seeing how she'll surprise us next! Ainsley is..

Completely potty trained (both day and night)
In her big girl bed.. which means hardly any naps
She LOVES to draw
Loves to have dance parties with Evan and to sing
More outgoing, but still gets pretty shy
She talks like crazy and knows what she wants
Still loves her bubby
Starting to really play with other kids, especially her cousin Mya
Loves the color pink
Her sweet smile, big brown eyes, and dimples get me every time!!

Doug, Evan and I love this little girl so much!

6 Years Old!

I know I post it every time, but seriously, we have a 6 year old! Unbelievable!

I don't know how to even start describing our little man. Here's just a few ways to try to capture a little part of him..

- Evan is so sweet, yet all boy.

- He loves school (especially the social part), numbers (adding and subtracting), and reading is even growing on him.
- He's an awesome big brother, and is almost always patient and kind with his little sis.
- He learned to swim on his own this summer, and the water is still one of his favorite places to be.

- He saved up his money for his first big purchase - a DS. Doug and Evan searched ebay and found a great deal. All that obsession with money was great for this "project"
- Evan still likes to watch Scooby and Phineas and Ferb, but will still watch Curious George and other "kids" shows with his sister.

- He loves to be around other kids.
- His favorite toys are his legos and anything else to build with.
- He is still cautious but is getting more adventurous

- Evan had his first sleepover recently - a campout with his best friend (Doug was there too)

- He has tried out soccer and t-ball, and thinks he is going to stick with soccer (and he's trying out basketball this winter).

We are extremely blessed! I am so glad that he only goes to kindergarten half the day so I can still have time with my little man! It's awesome watching him grow up into the boy he is becoming.

Double Appointment - 6 and 2-1/2

We just had the kids well checkups last week with our favorite Dr. Joe. Doug and I both got to go, it's just too much fun listening to the kids interact with him. Both kids did great, Evan chatting away and Ainsley playing shy. The are both growing great and are right on track.

Here are their stats:

Evan - 47 pounds (50%) and 44 3/4 inches (35%)
Ainsley - 27.5 pounds (30%) and 35 inches (30%)

Bike-Ki-L

In the tradition of wanting to do everything that her big brother does, Ainsley has learned to ride a bike. (We got her a pink one at a garage sale a few weeks ago.) She is very fast, but she hasn't quite got the steering down yet! Picture us, running down the street after her, trying to keep her from going off the road!

Here is the fun:

My Little (Big) Fish

Evan has done amazingly well with swimming this year. I was worried about getting him in lessons, but he has pretty much taught himself. He absolutely loves the water. I love watching him in the water! He totally lights up whenever we are at the pool, KI, etc.

This past week, he showed off his skills, check it out:

Potty Trained

I haven't posted in awhile (obviously), but there are a few things that I wanted to catch up on.

The first is that Ainsley is completely potty trained. I had hesitated posting, but she is doing awesome, and we are completely out of diapers!! I have to say, it was all her. About two weeks after her second birthday, she told us, "no more diapers". I figured, it was worth the shot and I put her in panties. She did amazingly well staying dry, with few accidents, so we decided to give it a shot. Ever since then, she has been in big girls - and is now even wearing them through the night and telling us consistently when she needs to go. So, thank you Ainsley! It was quite a wonderful gift!!

Pretty Amazing Few Weeks..

Evan read his first book to me on Mother's Day

Ainsley potty trained herself. Three weeks and no accidents!

Family Vacation - Part 1

It's been awhile since we went, but I wanted to capture as much as I could remember from our family vacation! We took off on Wednesday from cold Cincinnati in late February to warm, sunny Florida! The kids were great on the plane - eating lunch and hanging out. We finally got to our hotel room in the late afternoon - and after a few technical difficulties in the room - we got a beautiful 2 bedroom suite on the corner. We were nervous about the weather, but it was perfect - 80's - great for swimming, but not too warm. After we got settled in, we headed down to try out the pool. It was awesome of course! That evening we headed over to Boardwalk at Disney to look around. We had a perfect night, and it was fun to see all that was going on.

The next day, we took advantage of the pool and also headed over to Downtown Disney. Evan loved checking out the Lego store, looking at the Disney toys, and most of all, running through the fountains! I think he might have stayed there all day if we would have let him. We headed back to the hotel and headed to bed early to get ready for our trip to the Magic Kingdom the next day!

On Friday, it was the big day - heading to Magic Kingdom! We caught our shuttle from the hotel at 7am to arrive for the 8 am opening. We made it right in time to watch the train pull into the station, Mickey arrive, sing Zipity-Do-Dah, and open the gates! I must admit, watching the kids get their first glimpse and seeing the excitement in their faces made me tear up a little bit. We were off for a very fun day!

First up was a picture in front of the castle and a ride on Dumbo the Flying elephant.

Next up was Pooh's adventures. This was the first real Disney ride, and surprisingly, Evan loved it and Ainsley was completely terrified! After that, any inside ride, Ainsley was completely not interested in riding! The crowds were really light to start, so Evan rode again, then tried out Snow White while Ainsley rode the carousel (which she absolutely loved). We then all tried out a Small World, which is one of the few ride that I remember. Ainsley was okay with it, and the rest of us enjoyed watching and singing along. We checked out Peter Pan (with rider swap), which was really neat. Evan really enjoyed it, especially since we had just watched the movie.

We headed over to Tomorrow Land and the crowds started to pick up. Buzz Lightyear, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, super proud - Space Mountain, and Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor.

We were able to catch our first parade in the afternoon, and Ainsley loved dancing along.

In the afternoon, we got Ainsley to fall asleep in the stroller. (My dad was awesome, keeping her asleep for almost 2 hours.) During that time, we took a break and had some ice cream. Evan even tried out Big Thunder mountain. By the way, the FastPass is awesome! We never had to wait in any lines! Next full parade, highlight was Evan getting a pat on the head from Pluto.

Then headed over to Swiss Family Robinson, then the Jungle Cruise, then Pirates of the Caribbean. Dinner and then Mickey's Philharmonic. Headed over to the Electric parade. Magical and front row seat. Fireworks and smashed pennies. Left the park at 9:30 at night. Wonderful exhausting day!

Two Year Stats...

Sigh.. a two year old post.. wow..

But really, Ainsley is the sweetest thing. I am loving every minute I get to spend with this little girl! Ok.. it's all about Ainsley at 2...

- She is talking really well - 3-5 word sentences. We understand her almost all the time, and she lets us know what she's thinking.

- Ainsley is beginning to try out the potty. She loves her Dora big girls.. so we're trying it out. If it works, great.. if not, no big deal!
- She follows Evan around all the time and tries out everything he does. The fighting has started too :P

- I think one of her favorite phrases is "self". She likes to do everything - from buckling, getting dressed, putting shoes on, pouring cereal, and sitting on big chair - herself. It makes for quite a challenge sometime :)

- She will only drink from an open cup

- Ainsley loved sweets - seriously. Evan could take them or leave them, but this girl has a serious sweet tooth! Ice cream, fruit snacks, jelly beans, sprinkles. All other food (except cheese) is hit or miss.

- Ainsley loves to dance, loves princesses and her dolls, and is now into playing hairdresser and doctor. She also likes to draw and color. She recently started drawing and then will say, "Look Mommy" and tell me what it is. This is her first drawing, a strawberry:


- She is sleeping well - a 2 hour nap (I wake her every day) and about 11 hours at night. (She still has her bubby in her bed only.)


- Ainsley says her numbers to 13, sings the abc song, and is still working on the colors - except she knows pink!

- Her stats were: Weight: 25 lbs, 13 oz (40%), Height: 33 1/4 inches (40%), HC 48.5 cms
- She just got her first haircut and first pedicure (at home).

We love you Ainsley!

Ainsley is 21 Months Old

21 months.. can't believe my little girl is on her way to being two!
She has grown so much in the last few months, I hope I remember it all.

- One of the biggest things Ainsley has done is to start to talk in 3-4 word sentances. She'll ask for "some juice please" or "hun (honey) nut cheerios please". She also is pick up on our language.. one of her favorites is "there you go" (just like Daddy). A few others that we love are "thank you, welcome" (all one phrase for thank you) and "uuuh - huh" (a very exaggerated uh-huh).

- She is getting pretty opinionated :) She lets us know what she wants by telling us. She also loves Evan, but doesn't like it (screams) if she thinks he might be taking something from her.

- A month ago, she climbed out of her crib. When I found her, I asked, "How did you get out?". She replied, "self" and proceeded to show me how she escaped. Thankfully, the mattress could go down one more space and the bumper pad is gone, so it has contained her for now.

- Ainsley had a great Christmas... definitely girly! She loves playing with her babies. She rocks them, feeds them, and strolls them around. She also loves the dollhouse - calling the people mommy, daddy, and baby and helping them move around the house. There are lots of kisses and rock-a-bye babies too.

- Her sleeping has been all over - for a few months, she was waking up at 5:30 every morning! Hopefully she'll grow out of that one! She still loves her bubby (pacifier) for naps, bedtime, and car rides. Her eating has been all over too - she always eat breakfast, and after that, who knows. I think her favorite food is cereal.

- Ainsley loves to dance, sing, and draw. At night, we have dance parties in the living room. Her favorite songs to sing are "twinkle, twinkle", "hap birthday", "rosie", and "mary had a little lamb".

It's been so fun to watch her grow up. I'm trying to enjoy every minute, because it's been going too fast. My baby can't be 2 soon, right?

A few more pics:She loves to make crazy faces.

She wasn't too sure about the snow (didn't like that she couldn't walk around.)

She did enjoy eating the snow though :)

Cheesin' it up with Buddy