Time flies...

...when you're having fun!

Can't believe it's been over 8 months since the last post!  So much has occurred over these months...all of Ainslee's first major holidays and her first birthday!  She is 14.5 months now, and everyday is an adventure with her.  Since I use this somewhat as a record keeping tool, she is now 30" and in the 20-ish pound range.  She is in 12 month clothes and a size 3 shoe.  She has mastered walking and can sign many things to keep us apprised of her wants and needs.  She has 5 teeth and one more coming in.  She loves bath time, music, dancing, animals (especially dogs), playtime, M&M's, being outside, her friends at Mrs. Ruth's, going to the park, Mac & Cheese, shoes, playing on the iPad, and getting into everything.  

Here are some pics of her lately:

She is a wild monkey sometimes, but I wouldn't change her for anything!  

Hopefully I will do better at updating our blog this time around!

Where Did the Time Go?

It's been almost 5 weeks since the last post, and I can't believe it's gone by so fast. Here is what's been going on with us:

-Ainslee continues to grow so quickly that I can't believe it! Rolling over is an old trick, and now she sits so well and will be crawling any day now.

-She started solids! Cereal went well, and so did sweet potatoes. Now we're on green beans. I got domestic and made her food, and it's all organic for a healthy start. I'm actually pretty proud of this.

-She loves going to Mrs. Ruth's. I'm so glad that she is so well cared for and has other little ones to interact with. She's all smiles when I drop her off, and still smiling when I pick her up.

-We keep passing the funk around, and Lady A currently has another URI and ear infection. She's not her normal, happy self, but as far as sick babies go, she's still been great. On a side note, she went to the doc 9 days apart and gained 6 ounces in that time. Illness isn't hurting her appetite!

-Her Halloween costume arrived. Monster baby on the way!

-The Laurie Berkner Band is Ainslee's favorite. It's ridiculous how much she loves them. Any member of the family can sing any of the songs at will, and it's pretty entertaining at times.

-We've been to Glenville a few times, most recently to celebrate Kat's 7th birthday. I can't believe that she's 7 already! It seems like Jess just had her.

Now for a barrage of pics:

Cheese!


A classy hat.


Daddy did this hair.


Flapper baby!


Snoozing in the carseat.


Reading!


A hello wave!


Playing.


Sweet potatoes!


Hanging out in the Reds hat.


Playing with a balloon with Dad.


Frosty face! (but just a taste)


Spending time with great grandma Delphia.


Cinci gets some bling (courtesy of Kat).


Working on baby food.


I will do it myself.


Green beans.


More cereal now!


Playing with Nana.


Monster baby!


Snoozing!


Lounging.

Today we're going to have lunch with the fam and do a little shopping, then watch the game. Go WVU!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Our Big Adventure!

As I've said before, Lady A is developing quite the personality. She was not thrilled to be in her "big girl seat" at the table, so I kept getting the look.

She's also been much more interested in her toys, and I found her "reading" her book the other day. I can imagine her just like this throughout the years. Too cute!

She is also teething, and she officially has her first tooth at 5 months! Top left, with a top right coming in, too. We're going to have a vampire baby!

For the adventure part, This past weekend we packed up and headed to Cincinnati to take Kathrine to her first Reds game.  JP, Ainslee, Nana (my mom), Kathrine, and I went. Everyone did great on the ride there, even though we got to our hotel late and everyone was tired.

On Saturday, we got up and headed to Newport on the Levee to go to the aquarium and enjoy some shopping and good food. Kathrine loved the sharks, and Ainslee seemed pretty interested, also.

Ainslee especially loved putting her feet on the glass of the tanks.

Saturday evening, Nana stayed with Ainslee at the hotel while Jeremiah and I took Kathrine to the game.

I had told her to make sure she had some pants and a long sleeve shirt with her in case it was too cool (JP supervised this activity), and she pulled out her pajamas at the ballpark and put them on.

This girl cracks me up! At any rate, we enjoyed a Reds victory and some fireworks after the game.

On Sunday, the plan was to check out of the hotel around noon, eat a nice lunch, then head home. We expected to get home around 6 or so, but this did not go as planned.

Ainslee had a cold for a few days, but she kept getting sicker, so we ended up at the Cincinnati Children's Urgent Care facility. She was very congested, so they did a super suction treatment on her to clear her out. The nurse said she was the first baby not to cry during this procedure (the machine is loud and scares a lot of the kids), and they were amazed at how happy she was despite being so sick. The facility and staff are top notch, and I can't say enough how thankful we are to them, especially as we were so far from home with a sick baby.

She's a trooper!

When we got back in the car, Kathrine said she was starting to feel bad. She was fevered and said her head hurt. We stopped to pick up some meds, then altered our plans and stopped at an IHOP for a quick meal before getting on the road. Long story short, Ainslee did ok, but Kathrine ended up getting sick at the table. The folks beside us were incredibly tolerant and understanding, and the staff was great. The manager even gave us 20% off our food and that of the table beside us (we picked up their tab because that was dinner and a show nobody should have to see). The ride home was an adventure, and I have never been so glad to make it home, especially as we were much later than we had planned. Now Mom, JP, and I are all sick, too, so we are all recuperating today and hoping to feel better ASAP. As Di said, this was a good "welcome to motherhood" for me. Here's hoping our next adventure will end better! Hope you all had great weekends!

Happy September!

It's been 2 weeks since the last time I posted, and it's been life as usual!

Ainslee continues to grow and change each day, and I love experiencing this.  She'll be 5 months on Tuesday, and she already has quite the personality.  She's very vocal now, and has perfected a hilarious fake cough that she likes to use when she thinks she should be receiving more attention than she is.  It's extra funny because she laughs after she does it.  She's also mastered the skill of rolling from her back to her tummy, so she's extra wiggly these days!  She just smiles and coos at the sitter now, and the other kiddies there call her "the good baby." 

Some pics from the last few weeks:
 

Drying off after a bath!


Napping with the monkey Kat bought her.


Looking awesome in her duck robe!


Cheese!


Let's go Mountaineers!


New flapper headband.


Napping with Pap.


My gorgeous girl!


Giving some love to Penelope.

She's such a joy!

Last night we visited with our northern Drake family at Brit's place. Good times! JP is on his way back from the beach today. He's been a bum, playing golf and softball for the week! Kris is on her way home from Ohio, where she went for a wedding this weekend. Our little family will be back together again, then we're going out this evening to celebrate Mom's 25th anniversary of her 29th birthday! Tomorrow we're going to have a lazy day and enjoy the extra day off work! I'm hoping our week goes smoothly and we get some rest because we're off to Cincinnati next weekend to take Kat to her first Reds/MLB game!

Hope everyone has a great week!