Ainsley's Half Birthday

Happy Half Birthday to our Favorite Little Girl! 
you all, she is at the funnest age right now. she is just so. much. fun. her imagination is developing and she is saying new things all the time. she constantly cracks us up and has us falling more in love with her personality every day. 
some things she is doing that we don't want to forget:  -she makes us pray before dinner. she bows her head and closes her eyes and repeats words we say in prayer.  - she asks for snuggles in the morning when she first wakes up. most the time in our bed watching Mickey or Elmo.  - she can work an iPhone better than Philip or I can  - if you do something she wanted to do (flush the toilet, snap her car seat buckle, push the red button on the phone) she gets really upset screaming that SHE wanted to do it  - she loves bath time and making 'bubble beards' 

- loves to be 'covered up' with her blankets and 'go to sleep'  - LOVES her stuffed animals. loves to talk to them, have you talk for them, give them 'big hugs and kisses', and have picnics with them. 

- when she goes potty she looks at you and says 'here it comes Mommy!' before she pees. having some trouble with #2 in the potty.  - compares things to herself. like- 'you got on stripes just like I got on stripes!' or ' you got a cough just like I have a cough Daddy'. or 'Minnie wears panties just like me!'  - she says her night time prayers, on her knees at night, and always thanks God for suckers. usually blue ones.  - she has the best heart and will look at you and say ' you ok Mommy?' if i'm sad or tired or crying  - her current favorite songs are "woo-hoo" (Blur Song 2), Timber, Carol of the Bells (home alone), Right Round, and Bob Marley kids songs. 

- her favorite movie by far is Frozen. she says ' we don't like Prince Hans' and does thumbs down and says 'boo prince hans!'  - she loves running to the door when Daddy comes home from work in the morning  - her favorite foods are: steak, mango, macaroni and cheese, kiwi and popsicles. she won't eat many vegetables other than corn, and refuses to drink milk.  - she is a water bug. at the pool she insists on jumping in the big pool with her puddle jumpers on "by myself! don't help me!". she will go under, pop back up and ask to do it again. 

- we painted her toes for the first time. which was followed by her painting daddy's toes to match :) she looked too grown up and we decided not to do this again (I told P I wasn't ready to do it yet!) 

- she got time out a few weeks ago and when we were talking to her about why she was in time out she said (in a very somber voice) " because I lost my shadow. from Peter Pan- lol 
Ainsley- you have filled our lives with love, laughs, frustrations, learning and pure joy. We could have never imagined 2 1/2 years ago how that small bundle of pink could change our lives but we are so grateful for the gift of you. We thank God every day for you and pray for you (and us) as you grow up. We love you soo much with more big hugs than we could ever give you.

36 weeks

Yay! We have made it to 36 weeks! If Parker is born any time now he will be good to go and not require going to NICU:) and any 'pre term labor' concerns are over now. 

Parker this week: 

he is 19-22 inches and 6 lbs. around the size of a large canteloupe. Most of his systems are developed and he is just cooking right now:) He is laying with his back on my left side and his legs curled up on my right side. 

He is not quite as active (because he doesn't really have much room in there) but he still moves around quite a bit. At the OB today he asked me how big Ainsley was at birth, and I told him 7 lbs 5 oz. he said ' looks like he is going to be quite bigger than that'. I was like 'what? really?' and he said well let's measure you. so he measured my belly and informed me that he ( I) look bigger than he actually is, and he's measuring right on track. ::sigh:: i don't have a long torso, I know that. There just isn't much room for babies in there. 

Me this week: 

I haven't started swelling too bad yet. I can still wear my rings , except for when I go on walks. 

I am for sure waddling. My hips still bother me but my back hurts me the most. I use a heating pad at night if I can stomach it but a lot of times the heat makes me nauseas. 

I have just reached the 'uncomfortable' phase where standing, sitting, laying- nothing is comfortable. I use at least 3 pillows at night to cocoon myself as well as I can. but I don't sleep well and am up at least every hour. The joys of pregnancy, right? 

I am glad I went back and read my blog from 36 weeks with Ainsley because it makes me feel better about being so emotional today. I'm just so tired and find myself being impatient with Ainsley when she really is being such a good kid. and then I cry because these are her last weeks as an only child and I should be soaking them up and letting her soak them up. ( this will be its own blog soon)

It does crack me up that at 36 weeks with Ainsley the nursery was done, the car seat was installed in car, and we were literally just waiting. This time around, the nursery isn't even painted and I just got my first box of diapers this week.

cravings: nothing too crazy. chips and salty things. 

but I did get this adorable piece in the mail today and it is so tiny I can't even imagine him being so small to wear it. 

and this gown I am in love with from aunt rachel and uncle bubby: 

here are just some pics from our week, in case you were missing Ainsley:) 

ainsley and pop getting into mischief as usual ;) 

potty training {post 2}

Well, we are almost 2 weeks in to this whole new potty business, and I have to say we are both so pleasantly surprised at how awesome she's doing! I shouldn't have dreaded it for as long as I did. 

She hasn't had an accident since Monday night (we were at Auntie Jo's with so many new people and new things to play with and by the time she told Crystal she had to pee pee she had already started a little and didn't quite make it in time). But other than that she has been accident free, been a champ at using public restrooms, and even using her little car potty when needed. She has also for the most part moved up to the 'big potty' instead of her little potty. We are so proud of her:) 

Yes, I realize she may have accidents and we still carry extra clothes, panties, and pull ups around everywhere we go. And yes, she still struggles with #2 in potty (she has a really cool Frozen Domino present she gets when she finally gets the hang of that one). We no longer have to use candy or stickers to reward her. She usually wakes up dry from her naps. If we are at home she will tell us when she needs to go but when we are out I usually just take her with me when I go and we go together (let's be honest I have to go every 30 minutes anyway).

and yes, her butt cheek still hangs out :) :) 

so- mark that one off our list! next up is getting rid of paci at night time. This one might be a little harder and we decided to wait until after Parker comes to tackle this one:) 

35 weeks

eek!!! 5 more weeks! so so crazy :) 

Parker this week :  he is a whopping 5.5 lbs and 19-22 inches! poor thing is running out of room in there. his brain development is rapid at the end now. get smart in there little baby:) at the doctor this week he said he is still head down and will more than likely stay that way now. no progress, but its still early so that is a good thing. he told me to fasten my seat belt because we're in the home stretch! (guess we should get nursery done?!)  oh, he likes it when I run oil on my belly and pushes out at my hand when I do it:) 
me this week: i fell asleep and forgot to take my piece of unisom and puked the next day. i mean, it's crazy I still need to take medicine to not puke at this point. but my doctor said it's perfectly fine so we will just do what we have to do. sweet aunt carol sent me some ginger tablets so hoping they can help too:)  I feel huge, my hips are killing me, and I can't sleep longer than 1.5 hours without getting up to pee. i use the heating pad every night. we are hitting the last month of pregnancy which I have always said is it's own ring of hell:) BUT, all worth it:) (i read my 35 week blog with ainsley and I was having same issues with her, I just forgot i guess)  I have started 'nesting' and finally starting to get things ready for this sweet boy:) 
cravings: strawberry lemonade, mango, chicken in a biskit crackers 
my mom's sweet friend Kathy hosted a sprinkle for me today. all of my mom's best friends came and showered Parker with so many cute gifts and yummy food. we are so blessed to have such wonderful people who love Mom and her new grandson so much :) 

34 weeks

Shew-wee, this heat is killing me! 80/90 degree weather + an internal heater + a crazy toddler = one sweaty (and often grouchy) momma! hitting up the pool a lot and cranking the AC up:) 
* insert picture here, after hubs isn't working 4 in a row and I have someone to take my pic for me* 
Parker this week: he is about 19-22 inches long and almost 5 lbs now (around the size of a pineapple). its so hard to believe. his boys parts are moving down to their final destination (i don't even know what to do with baby boy parts haha). and his fingernails have reached the ends of his fingers:)  He is still getting the hiccups but not as bad as the past several weeks.  He is still very active and as Whitney would say 'it's like an episode of Alien in there'. 
Me this week: my hips and legs are killing me. I wake up feeling like I have run a marathon and been at the gym for hours. I guess having the extra weight and then laying on my sides at night causes bad hip pain? and I have no idea why my thighs hurt so bad.  my walking (waddling?)  has slowed down considerably but I still try to get it in when I can. 
It was a Big Mac week, after being up all night from storms one night and getting very little sleep. Ainsley slept through most of it, but our other baby Jackson was terrified. When I got Ainsley up the next morning she said 'mommy i saw fireworks'. 
I didn't go to the doctor this week but will go back next week. 
in all seriousness- my life is changed. Today after church I discovered Cosi (a restaurant right next to our house) has caffeine free diet coke- FOUNTAIN drink. p had to stop at 3 different gas stations to find me bottles of this a few weeks ago- and now it's so close and in a fountain (which is the best). I am so happy. 

Potty Training {post #1}

disclaimer: this post will probably not interest most of you- but this blog is also like her baby book so I have to write about it! I do talk about pee, poop and use the word potty about 50 times. oh, and in 14 years she might kill me for posting this on the internet. 
Friday night after we went to Saul Good for dinner and came home, we were changing Ainsley's diaper and we asked her if she wanted to wear big girl panties. she said yes.  wait let me rewind:  - for the past month or so we have been asking her this and showing her her big girl panties just to get her used to the idea. For the past several months we have had a little potty in our bathroom that she has been checking out and even sitting on every now and then. But mostly she just takes her stuffed animals to potty instead of using it herself.-
So basically we have just been trying to get her used to the idea. Our plan was to start actually potty training after all of our vacations were over and Philip and I were both home with no plans for at least 2 days. well between work, classes, racing, family plans and just life, there were NO 2 days in July that we were both home with nothing else going on to dedicate to potty training. oy. so I had decided the first week of August we would buckle down and get this done. Ainsley had other plans. 
Ok, so Friday night. We asked her if she wanted to wear panties, she said yes (Frozen panties, of course). we were both like 'wait what?' because she usually says no. But we put panties on her and brought her potty out to the middle of the living room. she was very excited about this new game. she went potty 3 times that night, she kept telling us she wanted to 'go potty'. we gave her a sucker each time because that was all the treats we had in the house ( i wasn't prepared!!!)

showing us 'anna and elsa' 

The next day Philip was gone racing all day, I had a shower for a friend and plans that afternoon, so we were both busy most the day. I didn't want to push A if one of us wasn't going to be dedicated and consistent so when she woke up that morning and her first words were 'no big girl panties' I didn't argue with her. We let her wear diapers. This also gave me time to get my needed supplies to get this potty started (hahaha). 

we have also started brushing her teeth more frequently ^ :) 

Sunday after church we started back up with panties and she did really well! Well, at first she cried when we put her on the potty. she kept saying 'no potty no potty' but then once she went, and got her treat, i think she decided it was ok. That night she had two accidents (one going down her slide and one while she was just busy playing). Monday was our first 'full day' of potty training. I had a meeting that morning but P got her up and asked her if she needed to potty, she said yes and she went! she wore panties the rest of the day and we sat her on potty every 45-60 minutes to go. Mom came up and we ventured out to Hobby Lobby and after we were done she used her 'car potty' like a champ so we could run another errand!  She was accident free until monday night she had one while playing again.  Tuesday went pretty well with another accident at night, and today she has been accident free! Last night and today she has started telling me 'I need to go pee pee' instead of me making me sit there at a certain time later. We are SO PROUD OF HER! 

making hippo pee with her 

playing woo-hoo while trying to pee 

Every time she pees she gets to pick a treat (Skittles, M&Ms or a gummy worm). she always picks skittles. and if she poops she gets a sucker. I will spare you the details, but she has used #2 on the potty the past 3 days! such a big girl. 

those of you who know A, knows she has to go under a table to do her business. So night #1, this is what had to be done to get the job done… don't judge. 

she doesn't like being without panties and asks to 'wear my big girl panties please'. we let her pick out which ones she wants to wear. Neither one of us can handle her little butt running around in panties. because most the time she has one cheek hanging out and it is the cutest thing in the world. 

Today she has gone about every hour (sometimes telling me, sometimes me telling her). Currently she is napping and is wearing a pull up, even though she has been waking up from naps dry. She obviously doesn't wake up dry in the mornings so still wears a diaper at night time. 

helping me 'clean up' after an accident 

I know this will be a process and we have a long way to go- but we are so proud of her and her willingness to learn. She gets so excited when her potty sings to her (once it detects water it sings a potty song) and she jumps up and says 'i did it!' almost every time:) Then she asks for her treat and asks to put a sticker on her potty chart. Go A! 

listen we wipe, 'flush' and wash hands but I can't be handing out 4 stickers 12 times a day 

took a break today and went to the pool! she is such a water baby 

33 weeks

It's going so fast yet so slow at the same time:) one part of me feels like we just found out we were pregnant and the other part of me is like '7 more weeks you have to be kidding me'. 

my sweet husband always says 'you look great' when he takes my pic. he's lying but I appreciate it nonetheless

Parker this week:   he is measuring around 19inches and 4.5 lbs. about the size of a honeydew melon.  my amniotic fluid is at it's max, which explains why his movements feel so much sharper and hurt so much more (ouch!) today was an OB visit (every two weeks) but the visits are pretty uneventful. He pulls out his tape measure, measures my belly, told me 'you are right on 33 weeks'. then asked me if I had any questions. which I didn't this time:)  He did put his fingers on either side of Parker's head and showed his student what that felt like. so weird. like 'you're squeezing my baby's head!'. but he's head down and should stay like that, so that's good news. 
me this week: nausea is coming back especially in mornings. I almost had to leave church sunday bc I was pretty sure breakfast wasn't staying down. but miraculously it did:)  I have gotten back on my walking routine this week- although my times are slowing down quite a bit. it's still good for my mental sanity to get out and walk a few miles though. 
cravings: I don't think i have listed this one yet, but it has been a constant this pregnancy {like Subway}- Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich. yumm.  maple sausage links (so random) 

Beach Trip and Nanny's 60th

This past week we spent in the Nags Head, NC to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday!  We started the (what ended up being) 13 hour trek Friday night after my little cousin Joey got married. We had high hopes that Ainsley would fall asleep in the car on the way there- but at midnight we realized that was not going to happen and ended up stopping at a hotel. oh, and I should add right before we stopped she passed out in the car. go figure. But it did make the next day of driving not nearly as long- even though we drove through torrential downpours and horrible traffic…  we made it! 

The house Mom and Dad found was perfect. It had a basement with pool table, pin ball and lots of toys to play with. We had our own pool in the back which was great for every one of us:) It had a swing on the front porch which A loved to swing in. Ainsley called it 'our blue house' for the week. 

We would get up in the mornings, take A to the beach for a few hours, come home for lunch and pool time, then put her down for nap. Several days were spent poolside during nap time and one day we ventured out to Roanoke Island to explore. 

At nights we ate dinner out mostly, but one night the boys got (a ton) of seafood that they grilled up for everyone. Philip loves grilling and he loves seafood so this was his favorite meal. He even made me chicken veggie kabobs which were yummy too :) We even managed to get in a family game of putt putt one night. The boys won:) 

Ainsley eating alligator. Asked Uncle Bubby for 'more alligator please' 

Philip got in a wreck dive that he had been wanting to do. But the boat ride out was 1.5 hours and the water was super choppy. He got sea sick, along with everyone else on the boat. And he said the water was so cold he could barely complete the second dive. Not the best dive for him, but at least he got to see the wreck.  One night we went to the Sand Dunes there (thank you for recommendation Lindsay!). They were gorgeous. It was sort of like a natural world wonder being there (on a smaller scale). Ainsley literally ran for what seemed like miles. Pop flew his kite. Matt and Rachel explored. Mom hung back with me while I did my best to climb the sandy hills. I finally made it to the top of the big one and was so proud, only to have the lightening sirens off and send everyone back down in mass exodus. Ainsley of course thought the rain and running (riding for her) was fun. 

And there was an ice cream shop just a very short walk from our house. 

Some of us enjoyed it more than others;) 

Mom's actual birthday started off with sprinkled doughnuts and 50+ cards her friends and family sent for her to open (thank you Aunt Ellen for that awesome idea and making that happen!). Then we hit the beach, relaxed by the pool and had a nice dinner out at Tale of the Wale restaurant. 

Philip bought fireworks (nice ones) to set off at the beach and has been so excited about them. We saw a small sign on the fridge saying fireworks were banned in Nags Head and he decided it was worth a fine to get to set them off at the beach. Upon further investigation, he found out it is a pretty strict 'no fireworks' law, requiring a mandatory court appearance and possible prison time. So, back to KY the fireworks came. Waiting to be set off since he had to work July 4, 5 &6.  Overall, Ainsley probably had the best time because she loved the beach. She loved the sand, the ocean, watching her daddy and pop 'ride the waves', and just running. It was pure joy to watch her. Philip and I had such a good time just being there with her and letting her have so much fun playing. 

telling us how 'the waves got me. every time. pop swimming.' 

"racing with daddy" 

It was a wonderful week and despite the craziness of having so many people under one roof with so many different schedules- it was just fun to be around family. We are so blessed with such amazing people in our family who not only love us but love our kids as well.   And to celebrate my mom who deserves celebrating more than anyone. She is the most selfless caring person we know, and we are beyond grateful for everything she does for us. We hope your 60th was one to remember!!!