Ainsley is 18 Months Old

Wow - in one week Evan turned 5 and Ainsley is now 18 months. Time is flying! A few things about my sweet 18 month old:

- The stats - weight: 22lb 10oz (25%), height: 31.5" (50%)


- She is quite the talker! I haven't tried counting, but it has to be at least 200 words. She'll try saying anything! Some of my favorite words she says are: by-kick-lul (bicycle), hold-you, love u, hap-bir-day, and up-sight-dow (upside down). She also knows how to say yes and no, and she knows how to use them!

- Some of her favorite things to do are to look at books, coloring with crayons, and playing with her baby dolls (feeding them, putting them to bed, strolling them around) I have recently started taking her to story time, which she loves. Ainsley also loves singing songs - especially the Elmo cd in the car. And, although I wish she didn't love it so much, Ainsley loves Elmo's world on tv.


-Ainsley loves to be upside down and it almost always does the trick to make her happy.

- She has the most expressive faces, loves to squeal, and is very girly!

- She is warming up to daddy, but is still a momma's girl! She also has crazy stranger anxiety, which she will hopefully grow out of soon.

Ainsley is turning into our sweet little toddler!

My 5 Year Old Boy!

A few days ago, Evan turned 5. I can't believe it. Wasn't he just a tiny baby? Where did my little guy go? Seriously though, I love my little BOY so much! He is so much fun. I feel thankful that I get to spend my days with him.
I don't know where to start about him.. I guess first the stats. He went to the doctor and he weighed 40lbs (35%) and was 42-1/4" (25%) tall. It was actually super fun at the appointment because the doctor asked him all the questions, instead of us, so we got to see him "show off" all he knows. He is doing great :)

Evan is so much more of a boy now then ever before. He likes silly knock-knock jokes, nerf guns, being crazy with his friends, wrestling, jumping, carnival games, and anything with water. It's fun to see him by so boy-ish (and a little adjustment for me too :)). He is also so much more grown up. You can have a real conversation with him or ask him to help with Ainsley or the grocery, and he does!

He is doing really well with preschool. He really likes going and I even get more details this year about his days. So far, they have been really focusing on penmanship, beginning reading, and math skills. He really enjoys math and numbers. We are always adding numbers (up to 20, in the 100s, 1000s) and counting, counting by tens and any other patterns.

Evan does get frustrated when he can't do something right away (like learning to ride his new scooter), so we are working on that! We have turned him into a thrifty little boy - wondering how much everything costs and telling us that things we buy are too expensive :)

He still loves Scooby Doo, silly bandz, and playing the wii. Over the summer, he went from being afraid to even ride the little coaster at KI or go on the the little slide to riding almost all the rides and swimming like a fish. He has definitely found his confidence.

On the night of Evan's birthday, after he was in bed, Doug and I just looked at each other and agreed - how did we get so lucky? Evan is such a sweet, caring, fun little boy. We both feel so blessed!

Cousins

We feel so blessed that Ainsley has her cousin Mya!
The girls are only 15 days apart, and we hope that as they grow up, they will be great friends.
For now, the girls are happy to swing together...
And just hang out...

15 Month Stats..

We went to the doctor yesterday for Ainsley's 15 month doctor appointment. It was crazy! She was completely scared of everyone that touched her.. I don't know if she remembers being there? I couldn't even get her to sit on the scale with the nurse across the room - she was screaming her head off! I guess she knows what she likes and doesn't like!

Anyway, here are her stats:
Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz (30%)
Height: 29 1/8 inches (30%) - I highly doubt this measurement, Ainsley was kicking and screaming
Head: 46 cm (50%)

Hopefully we won't have to go back for another 3 months!

Mini Trip #2: Dayton

On the Tuesday after the 4th of July, we took another mini-trip. Doug took the day off, and we headed with kids to Dayton. The first stop was the Wegerzyn Gardens. I had read about this park in a book and it was free, so we decided to check it out. It turned out to be awesome!! There was a special Children's garden with plants that the kids could touch and smell, and also an area were kids could water fruits and veggies that were being grown.
The grounds were beautiful, and we spent some time walking around. The kids loved it!


The highlight of the garden for Evan was the stream leading to the waterfall that he could play in! He would have run around for hours if we would have let him.




Ainsley even posed for some pictures for daddy..
After we left the gardens, we headed over to the Boonshoft Museum. We got to watch a cool laser show in the planitarium that felt like you were riding amusement park rides. Evan played with the locks at the water table:
Ainsley had a great time dancing in a crazy room that projected the outline of your image on a wall: She had a blast playing on the air table with daddy:


Check out the video of her playing:



We had another amazing day and made more great memories!!

4th of July (well, really the 3rd..)

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year. The day with all the festivities was actually the 3rd.. It was a really hot day, but we made the most of it. The day started off with the neighborhood bike parade. Evan was all decked out and Ainsley liked watching the other kids. My brother Chad biked from his neighborhood (8+ miles) to see the parade - which was really cool!



The hot afternoon was spent playing in the backyard pool with Avery next door. Later in the evening, we headed to the Mason 4th celebration. We met up with our niece Mya and the girls got to play.

Evan got a really cool Scooby Doo balloon animal..
Ainsley tried to play some games..
and she got to watch the crowd from up high...

As we were walking out, Evan saw laser tag and at the last minute decided to play. At first he was telling us the gun was too heavy and that he couldn't do it...

Then, by the end, he was really into it..
We headed home around 9, and everyone got showered. After Ainsley was in bed, I asked Evan if he'd like to go back and watch the fireworks. Doug stayed home, and we went and parked in the back of the Mason High School. I let Evan sit on the roof of my car. He was so excited, I could tell it would be a fun night! As the fireworks started - he kept saying, "Wow, that one almost touched me" and we played that's my favorite. On the way home, Evan asked me if there were fireworks in heaven. Priceless.. what a wonderful day!

Mini Trip #1: Columbus

We've recently taken several mini-day trips and had so much fun! Doug has taken off a few days, and we've been able to do so many fun things. Plus, Ainsley's car ride tolerance seems to be 2-3 hours, so it's been working out well.

First, over Memorial Day, we took the kids to Columbus. We went for two days and pricelined an awesome hotel. The hotel had a indoor and outdoor pool that connected, so you could swim between the two. (I missed pictures of this!) Evan was in heaven at the pool! We also took a tour of the Anthony Thomas Chocolate Factory (also missed pictures). Evan was super interested and it was fun to watch the chocolate being made. We even got free Buckeyes at the end!

The rest of the time, we went to Cosi using our Cincinnati Museum Center pass. So much fun!! Here are some pictures from our two day visit:

First up - the water table in the Kid's Zone. We spent the most time there - Evan playing with the locks and Ainsley spraying water:


The kids also loved the Kidspace - it was for little ones 5 and under and it was strictly enforced, which was really nice:

Evan tried to pull himself up using a pulley system:

And lift lots of heavy weights: Of course, there was the big kid water area too:


And lots of fun to be had playing on the bed at the hotel:



We had such a great time on our little adventure!