Hannah is here!

Yesterday, we headed to The Barefoot in Hardin for lunch to celebrate Lou's birthday.  The fish and company was good.  We were able to see a lot of the countryside on the way there and then again on the way out of Hardin.  When we left, we headed to Josh and Callie's to meet baby Hannah.  It should have taken 20 minutes or so to get there, but it ended up taking almost 50.  Oh, I love how my husband thinks he knows of "shortcuts" and makes a trip two times as long as it needs to be. 

Playing with her exersaucer before taking it to Hadlee

Hannah was born mid last week, and she is absolutely perfect.  I miss Ainsley being that small.  It's amazing how much they change in the first year.  I think I could have sat and held her all afternoon.  Ainsley didn't care in the least that I held Hannah (or Hadlee during lunch).  Madie and Ainsley played for a little while together, but Madie was more worried about Ainsley playing with her toys than anything else.  Madie did, however, like to give Ainsley hugs and kisses! 

Hannah

Madie had to keep giving Ainsley hugs....

Getting a good picture with a newborn, one year old, and two year old is pretty much impossible.  Here's the best that we got.

Me, Ainsley, Madie (hugging Ainsley again), Hannah, and Callie

I'm so happy for Josh, Callie, and Madilynn with the newest addition to their adorable little family.

On our way home, we stopped by McDonald's to grab some supper.  It was Ainsley's first experience with McDonald's food, and she LOVED it!  She ate almost half of a cheeseburger and 8-10 french fries.  She shoveled it in as fast as she could while saying "mmmm".

Friday night, while at Jim and Rita's, Ainsley said "papa" for the first time.  Jim was sitting on the couch asking her if she could say it, and she looked at me and clear as day said "Papa".  I about died!  I'm going to try to get a video of her saying it and a few other words in the next few days.

Cousin-ly Love

Ainsley had a busy day yesterday.  Drake spent the day with us, and kept Ainsley entertained.  We played in the basement before he had to go to preschool, and he wanted all of Ainsley's baby toys.  He asked me numerous times if he could have Ainsley's toys when she was done with them.  Those toys included:  a rattle, vibrating teether, and her new Mickey car.  I told him they were baby toys, but he didn't care in the least.  I took him to preschool that morning and Drake and Ainsley just stared at each other the whole way to Murrayville in the back seat.  Of course, Drake was full of a thousand questions....Why does Ainsley have to face backwards, Why is Ainsley looking at me, What is she playing with, etc. etc. etc. 

I picked him up later that afternoon and we stopped at Steak and Shake on the way home to get a milk shake.  First, he told me that we couldn't go to Steak and Shake, because his Mom always goes to Dairy Queen.  Then, once we got in line, there was a car in front of us that must have ordered the "whole cow" as I told Drake.  We waited a good 5-10 minutes before they finally got their food and we could move forward.  Drake insisted after 5 minutes or so that we needed to get out and throw those people (in front of us) in the trash can because they were taking forever.

I knew everything Ainsley was doing, because Drake gave me a play by play all day.  Ainsley took my toy, Ainsley won't get off of me, Ainsley's in the drawer, Ainsley won't move out of my way....you get the point.  I was cracking up yesterday afternoon, because Drake and Ainsley reminded me SO MUCH of Jack and Lani!  Drake was laying on the couch watching t.v. and Ainsley would pull herself up on the couch, so she was standing right in front of him.  Of course, I had to hear "Aunt Trista-Ainsley's in my way".  Or, she would go over to a toy that makes noise and turn it on, and Drake would complain because Ainsley was playing with her toy and he couldn't hear the t.v.  I don't know how many times Ainsley stole Drake's drink and would take a drink out of it and that would make him mad. 

Bothering Drake....again!

Drake really cracked me up while I was fixing supper last night.  I'm not for sure exactly what Ainsley was doing, but Drake yells over to me:  "Aunt Trista-WHERE did you get this baby from?  She's CRAZY!" 

Ainsley loving on Drake

They did play good together yesterday and Drake can really get Ainsley laughing.  Ainsley liked loving on Drake, but I don't think Drake enjoyed it quite as much as Ainsley.  All in all, it was a good day, and Drake helped keep Ainsley entertained.

1 year pictures

I got Ainsley's one year pictures today.  I don't think we're EVER going to get a picture of her actually smiling.  I had to bribe her with yogurt bites and puffs in order for her to sit still.  Here are a few of my favorites.

This one shows Ainsley's little diva attitude!  She DID NOT want those pearls around her neck!

She would rather eat them!

Nice smile here....

Another attitude shot.  She didn't like the hat!

Superbowl weekend

We had a few doctor appointments last week for Ainsley, and I'm so excited to say that we now only have her well baby checkups on the calendar going forward!  Last Monday, we had her follow up appointment with the neurologist.  This appointment was following up from a few months ago, when the neurologist thought there were red flags for some developmental delays.  The doctor walked in, saw how well Ainsley was interacting with others, asked me a few questions, did a few activities with Ainsley and told me that we didn't need to see the neurologist again.  I think we were out of there in under ten minutes!  The neurologist said that Ainsley is doing great, and the only reason we should call her in the future is if Ainsley starts losing things she's already learned.  We're knocking these specialty doctors out!  Orthotist-done, physical therapist-done, neurologist-done! 

Ainsley then had her one year well baby checkup on Thursday.  She weighed 25 pounds and was 30 1/4 inches long.  She's still hanging right around the 98th percentile for weight and 75th for height.  The nurses got to see Ainsley's attitude during the visit.  She cried (rather, screamed) while sitting on the scale, pushed the nurses hand away when she tried to listen to her heart, and we'll just say it wasn't pretty (and didn't sound pretty) when she had her shots!  She had to have 5 shots this time, plus they had to draw blood.  It took me plus 3 nurses to hold her down to get her blood drawn.  She still has a bruise on her arm where they drew the blood.  The nurse called this morning with the results from the blood draw, and everything came back normal.  They test for lead and to see if the baby is enemic at one year.  Ainsley ran a very low fever the rest of the afternoon/evening after she got her shots and the day after.  I gave her a little tylenol, and she didn't seem too terribly fussy or anything from them.

Ainsley and Daddy counting Ainsley's money in her piggy bank. 

Joel gave Ainsley our old laptop that's broke, and she LOVES it!

Dad, Tanner, Josh, Kathleen, and the boys all came over yesterday afternoon to watch the Superbowl.  I tried out a few new recipes I got off Pinterest, and all I have to say is Pinterest is going to put a few extra pounds on me if I'm not careful!  The kids all played in the basement, and we were able to watch Ainsley play with Nathan and Augie.  She tended to stay off to the side and didn't really get in the middle of the chaos.  It's looking more like Ainsley is going be shy like I was with every day that goes by.  She's started being shy when there are new people around and she gets very attached to Mommy or Daddy at that point.  I'm hoping it's just a stage she's going through, and it doesn't continue for years. 

Nathan and Ainsley playing

Mommy and Ainsley

Augie trying out Ainsley's leg warmers...I don't care what his Mommy and Daddy say.  Boys wear legwarmers, too!

Nathan told Joel:  "Hey-that's Trista's camera!"

Ainsley didn't know what to think of Josh.  She didn't stay close to him for very long!

Ainsley is ONE!!

Note:  I wrote this on Wednesday, but didn't get it published until today. 

One year ago today, our precious little ball of energy was born in the middle of a huge snow storm.  What a difference a year makes!  Today was beautiful, 50 degrees with a light wind, and sunny.  A far cry from last year's 18+ inches of snow and freezing temperatures.

Oh, what a year it's been!  I'll never forget leaving the hospital with Ainsley.  There was still snow on the roads in downtown Springfield, and I was in the back seat with her completely stressed out!  For one, Joel was driving.  Enough said there.  Two, didn't all the people driving like idiots around us know that we had an itty bitty newborn baby in our car and they needed to stay in their own lane?!?!  It may have been a little easier, if you could have distinguished one lane from another, but the snow didn't help the situation there.  It was the most nerve wracking 15 minute drive out of Springfield in my entire life! 

When we finally got home, Joel and I just sat in the living room looking at each other smiling from ear to ear.  We were finally parents, and we were home with our little girl.  The fun was just beginning.  The next few months were a blur of changing diapers, feeding Ainsley, baths, running on little sleep, and did I mention changing diapers and feeding Ainsley?  I don't think our house was cleaned for a good six weeks or so after getting home from the hospital.  I was lucky to get a shower every few days.  I had to make myself stay up to eat something.  Who needs food when you could get some sleep instead?! 

A few of my favorite memories the first few weeks were:  just holding Ainsley.  I loved how she would curl up in this tiny little ball on your chest and sleep.  The way she would look up and just stare at me.  Her first smile came on a day that I needed it most.  I had taken her to a doctor's appointment by myself, and she screamed in her carseat the entire way to Jacksonville.  I was so frazzled by the time we finally made it home.  I took her out of her carseat, and she looked up at me with her big eyes and grinned.  I remember sitting there crying, calling Joel (while crying....which scared the crap out of him) and not wanting to put her down after that.  One of the things I'm sure I'll never forget during the first few weeks was Ainsley pooping all over Joel!  I was sleeping in our bedroom and I was woke up by Joel yelling "SHIT!"  I was scared to death.  I ran into the living room to see what was wrong and he very literally meant "shit" when he yelled.  She had pooped all over him!

Everyone told us how fast time would go after we had Ainsley.  They weren't kidding!  Where did the last year go???  The next few months of Ainsley cooing, laughing, and getting a little personality went by just as fast as the first few weeks.  I didn't know what I was going to do when we found out Ainsley needed to wear a helmet.  My perfect little princess was suppose to have bows in her hair everyday that matched her cute outfits, not a big pink helmet with a knit hat underneath that never seemed to stay in place.  We survived the helmet, just like we survived the numerous visits to the neurologist, hearing that our baby may have developmental delays, visits to the physical therapist, and various other doctors visits for allergic reactions, rashes, etc.  I've already decided that year two is going to be much better than year one when it comes to doctors.  We only have her well baby checkups scheduled for 2012, and I'm hoping to keep it that way.  No more specialists for us!

I know Joel will agree with me when I say that we fall more in love with our daughter every day.  She continues to develop her own personality and is such a sweetheart.  She loves to cuddle with you, give hugs and kisses, and say "A-boo" (love you).  She's started to become shy, especially around strangers.  She loves to look at books, wrestle with Daddy on the floor, and go bye-bye. 

I took her to Bluffs to meet Daddy for her birthday lunch.  First, we went to the bank first to deposit her birthday money.  While at the bank, Pam decided that since she is now one year old, she could have a sucker.  Ainsley didn't want anything to do with the sucker, which is hard to believe.  1.  because it's food, and 2.  because it's sweet.  Ainsley likes all sweet food....or so we thought!  Pam thought she just didn't like the sucker because it was a light colored one and didn't make a mess.  If I would have let her give Ainsley a blue one, maybe she would have liked it more.  Nice try, but she'll have to try that one when Ainsley's with her Dad!

After visiting at the bank, we headed to Placke's.  Ainsley didn't eat very much, and even got....(gasp!) free ice cream for her birthday, which she didn't eat either.  She usually loves ice cream.  Brad himself even tried feeding the ice cream to her using the "airplane" technique to no avail.  I think she was tired and shy.

That's my girl...always sober!

She ended up falling asleep on the way home and slept for a good hour or so once we got home.  I made cupcakes for Ainsley to take to daycare the day before for her birthday and kept a few back for her actual birthday.  I gave her one after supper, and she dug right into it.

Mommy makes good cupcakes!

It's so much fun playing with the cupcake!

After her bath, she helped Mommy put away some of her clothes that are too small (all the cake she ate in the last week had nothing to do with her growing waist!)  She loves playing in her room.  It's really more like destroying her room.  It's amazing how fast her room can turn into a huge mess when she's in there "playing".  I know that's only going to get worse in the years to come.

You can see the little stinker in the upper corner trying to get out of the picture.  Don't let her fool you, though.  That mess is solely her doing!

Here, Mom...I think you need this.

Here's a quick video showing just how crazy our sweet little girl can be. 

I'm looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us.  Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Ainsley-bug.  Mommy and Daddy love you to pieces!!!

1st Birthday Party

Ainsley had her first birthday party on Sunday, and it went great!  I was worried that she wouldn't want anything to do with the party when we got her there, but she was a perfect angel.  She was shy at first and didn't want anyone but me or Joel.  I had Joel drive her around before the party so she would sleep, but she only slept for 30-45 minutes and we were worried she was still tired.  Once we started opening presents, she perked right up and helped tear some of the paper off and played with the toys while opening them.

She loved the laptop that Uncle Thom and Aunt Jamie got her

What's in the bag??

She liked chewing on her tutu.

Happy girl

We opened her pink chair from Aunt Doris and Shane first, thinking she may sit in it while we opened presents, but she wanted on the floor where she could crawl around.

She ended up getting all kinds of cool toys, books, and cute clothes.  She isn't the least bit spoiled.....well, okay, maybe she is! 

After we opened presents, it was time for Ainsley to dig into some cake.  And, sister didn't disappoint us!  She dug right in, and had icing everywhere.  My little girl sure does love the sweet stuff!

Mmmm...this is pretty good!

Ok...this cake is REALLY good!

The end result.

Once she was cleaned up, she was beyond ready for a nap.  Joel took her home while we stayed and cleaned up.  She didn't fall asleep until that night during supper.  She just couldn't keep her eyes open while eating her macaroni and cheese!

Ainsley is such a lucky little girl, who has a lot of people who love her.  Thanks to everyone who could make it to help us celebrate our little girl's first year!