Smarty

I know that we've posted a bunch lately about Miss A, but we've been having just as much fun with Evan lately :) I have to record a little about my math smarty! A few weeks ago, we started playing a numbers game with Evan. We would "buy" a certain number of items and pay for it, and Evan would tell us the change we'd get back. It started off easy, buying 1 item, and giving him $3, him telling us the change. We quickly discovered that he really liked this game and wanted to challenge himself more and more. Now, on a pretty consistent basis, we can give him any combination of items we are buying and dollar amount, with numbers between 1-12, and he correctly gives us the change. It's been pretty fun to watch him grow in confidence - and maybe he will have my love of math too :)

Steps

Two days before her 1st birthday, Ainsley decided to try out some new moves...

Now all she wants to do is practice!

1st Birthday Party!!

We had Ainsley's 1st birthday party on Sunday. It was a fun, wonderful day that we all got to enjoy. Here are (lots) of pictures from the day...

Some of the easy preparations - princess highchair and homemade hat:
Easy butterfly cupcakes:

We had a small family party, and it was fun to enjoy all our guests and the birthday girl (and our neighbors trampoline too):


Ainsley had so much fun with her cake. We were able do everything outside, since it was such a gorgeous day!

Singing:
What is this??
The cake part is much better

We were all there to cheer her on


Then came the presents! Everyone was so generous! Lots of sweet girl things - a purse and tea set from Mya, pink walkers from Grandma and Grandpa and Nani and Poppy, clothes...

Crawling tunnel from Aunt Jen and Uncle Chad..

And a charm braclet from Mom & Dad..

We had so much fun celebrating our little girls first year of life!

Blessed!

Today is Ainlsey's first birthday. Over the last few days, I have been thinking about this past year. The one thing that I have realized is how blessed I am. I have an amazing husband who is also a wonderful dad. I get to stay home and spend my days (the good and the bad) with my kids :).
Evan has turned into such a sweet, "grown up" little boy. I can't believe how much he understands and how he can make us laugh. He has turned into my helper and he's just fun to be around! And, he's learning and growing like crazy!
And Ainsley.. my now one year old. What a gift she is!! Such a sweet little girl - always smiling and making it easy for me. And having her as my second baby - I have enjoyed this past year so much, not bothered by all the worry. I feel like I've been able to soak up all the minutes as she grows up.
I feel so blessed to be able to parent a boy and a girl. They are so different! And, I do love having a little girl to dress up :)
So, today, I am going to enjoy every minute the best that I can. More tomorrow about Ainsley's progress and Evan's soccer.. but today
I am so blessed.

Soccer

Evan started his first organized sport last week - soccer! It's exciting for both Doug and I since we both played and our dad's coached growing up. Evan had a great time chasing the ball around - and we'll need to work on those jumping jacks. Can't wait for this season!

11 Months..

It's time for Miss A's 11 month blog post - yikes! This is her last "baby" post. Ainsley has been such fun, so we are soaking in every minute!



So, here's what we're up to..
- Sleeping: Still just okay. She takes good naps, but likes mom to come in for visits several times a night :P
- Eating: finally.. a little. Ainsley only likes finger foods and refuses baby foods. Her favorites are bread, pasta, and cheese, and fruit smoothies! Other than that, she would still prefer mom's milk. Or, of course, water through a straw!
- Moving around: A is pulling up, cruising along, getting on and off toys, getting herself down (without falling), and standing for a few seconds.

- Teeth: She finally has some! The two on top are coming in, and just today I felt one coming in on the bottom.
- Activities: She still loves to read, and had now mastered putting the rings on and off the ring toy. She also loves to play with the Wii remote!



- Talking: It's always difficult to know, but I'm pretty sure that she's said mama, dada, pat-pat, and baby. Also, she is signing milk, all done, more, and drink pretty consistently.
- Favorites: Ainsley loves going in the basement to play. In fact, if I say basement, she crawls to the door and pounds on it. She loves to ride in Evan's little car and swing on the swing hanging from the rafters. The past few days, she has discovered outside too. Same reaction - except anytime we walk by the door outside, she gets excited. She loved her first bike ride and just being outside.

Lastly, a few days ago Ainsley gave me the sweetest hug. She wrapped her arms around me and even gave me a pat on the back.I've gotten several since. So sweet!

Videos from the past month with A..

Here's my popper...



and apparently both my kids love video games...

My Little Prince

A few weeks ago, we went to Evan's good friend Avery's birthday party. The theme was a princess party, and everyone was to dress up in their princess costumes. To help Evan understand what all this princess stuff was about, we rented Snow White from the library. He didn't like the movie. To get in the spirit, we let Evan dress up as a prince for the party... complete with sword and crown.



Avery was so welcoming and they had activities for Evan as well, but he was still the only boy with eight other princess girls. It was too funny to watch, because at one point, he was just sitting on the couch staring at 8 little girls twirling around like princesses. :) He did have a great time, and we are so thankful to have our friend Avery next door!

My 10 Month Old Baby

Ainsley is 10 months old today! What a fun age! Ainsley is waving all the time, loves to give big, open mouth kisses, and is giggling away! She is still my happy, sweet baby!



A few things about the last month:
~ Ainsley is finally eating.. a little :) She has discovered finger foods, and seems to like them much better than baby food. She's still nursing 5-6 times a day, and now enjoys cheerios, yogurt puffs, cheese, noodles, and of course, water from any straw cups! Interestingly, she will eat baby food from anyone except me :)
~ The past month has been pretty rough sleeping wise. I think it's mostly due to separation anxiety, but Miss A wants to make sure that I'm around. We have had lots of time in the middle of the night hanging out and early morning wake ups. I hope we are back on track now!
~ She is still a Momma's girl, although she's starting to warm up to Daddy too!
~ She is starting to really communicate and understand us. She's starting to say ma-ma, da-da, pat-pat, and up. She's signing milk occasionally, and definitely knows what it means.
~ Ainsley has been pulling up, cruising, and getting herself around everywhere. She's getting pretty good at her walker too, figuring out how to turn it around.

~ She is finally over her snotty nose - yeah!!

~ She plays so well by herself, especially if she has a stack of books. She will sit and look at books forever! Her favorite book is Pat the Bunny, along with any other touch and feel books.

Ainsley's hair up (for our church tailgate party)!

Loves to swing - either outside or in the basement

Dressed up from her 1st (of many) princess birthday party!

Park

A few weeks ago, the forecast was 50 for Saturday afternoon. Doug was busy moving a pool table, so I asked my parents to join the kids and I at the park. Although the temperature was 50 - it didn't feel that warm since the sun was missing! We had a great time anyway. It did make for some great pictures at the park of the kids and my parents. (Btw - I am so lucky to have them in our lives! They are so loving and giving and Evan and Ainsley adore them!)