Catching up...

Where have the last few weeks gone?  I don't know what we've been doing, but we've certainly been keeping busy.  Joel started getting some corn out of the fields on Thursday, and continued into Friday.  The elevator was closed over the weekend, so lucky for us, he was home and able to spend some time with us.  It certainly isn't going to be a good year with the crops, but I guess you have good and bad years.  We got a little bit of relief from the hot temperatures late last week and it was in the upper 70's one day and even got down into the 50's during the night.  It was nice to be able to get the windows opened up for a few days and let the house air out.  Of course, we had to shut them again yesterday afternoon before the road crew started working on the road again today behind our house.  I'll be so glad when the road is completed and I can open our windows again (and not have to deal with the loud noises, dust, three way stop, 45 mph speed zone, and the flaggers).

Last Sunday, Ainsley and I went to Hannah's 1/2 birthday cookout.  I can't believe she's already 6 months old, and is such a happy baby!  Callie had little pools out for the kids to play in, and Ainsley loved them, although she kept falling while trying to get in and out.  She only came home with a few scrapes and bruises.  As soon as Ainsley got in the pool, Madilynn had to love on her.  Ainsley usually gives hugs and kisses right back, but she wasn't too keen on it that day.

Hannah even got in the pool for a little bit and loved to splash and watch the other kids run around.


Hannah 6 months enjoying the water

Ainsley didn't want to sit and eat supper, but instead wanted to go up and down the deck steps and run all over, so we didn't stay long.  I think she was asleep before we even got a mile down the road, and was one wore out baby after playing outside and running around!

All the girls in the pool...Ainsley, Madie, Hannah, and Reese

I got Ainsley's quilt out the other day after Ainsley fell asleep to lay her on the floor while she took her nap, and she loves to play with it now.  She'll drag it around and try to lay on it herself, although she's usually just laying on the carpet beside the blanket.

Her newest thing, especially with the pictures on her quilt, is to ask "What's that?"  It's so funny to watch her say it, because she doesn't say the "What is" part, it's only "That?".  And, she says it while pointing to the picture.  I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Ainsley doesn't use her pointer finger to point to things, but rather uses her thumb.  It's so cute to watch her say "That?" and point using her thumb to a picture.  I love these quirky little things about her!

Speaking of quirky things...I walked into the living room the other day to find Ainsley laying on the floor with her toes in her mouth.  Really?!  Here's a video of her with her toes in her mouth.

Since it cooled off last week, we were able to go outside again.  I've been keeping Ainsley inside because it's been so hot outside.  Ainsley loved it!  We've went for a couple of walks during the past week, and she likes to reach out and touch the grass in one of the yards we pass.  The grass is really tall, and the people should really cut it, but Ainsley seems to like it and will hang her arm out of her car and touch it while we walk by.

Touching all the grass....

While playing outside the other day, the phone started ringing in the house and Ainsley heard it.  She immediately put her hand up to her ear and started "talking on the phone."  In this video, you can hear her say "hello", "daddy", and then "joel" and "trista".  She still walks around the house yelling "Joel" and "Trista" throughout the day and very rarely calls us Mommy or Daddy.

Another new thing she's just started doing in the last week is leaving her sunglasses on.  In the past, she would leave them on for a few seconds at a time, but she's been doing really good about leaving them on and will even ask for them when we get in the car.  Now, if only she'd do the same with bows...

Having a snack

LOVE how she always has her pinky finger up while eating....so proper!

One of Ainsley's favorite toys outside is her bucket and shovel.  She likes to run laps around the house, and will usually have the bucket and shovel in her hands while doing it.  The landscaping rocks are also fun to scoop up with her shovel and then she likes to dump all the rocks out of the bucket once she's scooped some in.

Keeping tabs on our street is also a fun thing to do.  She's started waving to everyone as they drive by and yelling "bye-bye" to them.  For living on a dead end street, our street is still pretty busy with all the guys coming and going to Brockhouse's, so she gets plenty of action throughout the day.

Grandma Bowman was admitted to Passavant last week, and Ainsley and I went over to see her one night.  Mom was also there visiting before starting her shift for the night, and both Grandmas were happy to see Ainsley.  I knew we probably wouldn't be able to stay long, since I had a busy 18 month old with me, and I was right.   Ainsley was getting into everything (well, I guess it could have been worse, but it was bad enough).  She managed to dump the diaper bag, and then liked Grandma's purse.  I don't know how many times she ran into a machine at the end of the bed or how many tears were shed over running into the thing.  Needless to say, it was a short visit!

Ainsley has discovered ketchup and thinks she has to dip everything in it.  Which, mainly consists of dipping her finger in it and licking it off, and occasionally dipping food in it.

Yummy ketchup!

Powdered doughnuts are so good

She doesn't like for her banana to be cut up anymore. 

Here's a video of Ainsley sleep-eating from last week.

We've had a huge accomplishment over the last week or so.  I can officially say that Ainsley is now sleeping in her crib all night!  It is wonderful (although, I do miss snuggling with her at night).  The first few nights we put her in the crib, she woke up 2-4 times crying, but would eventually go back to sleep.  Joel and I each got up a few times to go get her, or try to calm her down, because we couldn't take any more, only to reach our doorway and stop because she had finally fallen back asleep.  She's even sleeping in longer in the morning.  For a few weeks, she was getting up between 5-6, and now she's been sleeping until 6:30-7:30.  She's even sleeping in her crib at nap time, which is nice. 

Someone wasn't very happy after waking up!

Pouty face

Ever since we got back from vacation, it seems like Ainsley needs to play with my hair more than ever.  Every time she drinks from her sippy cup, she has to play with my hair.  She will literally reach as far as she can if we're both sitting on the couch to play with my hair.  Even Lisa said she's noticed that Ainsley's been wanting to play with her hair more than usual lately.  (For the record, I'm so happy that we have a sitter that lets my baby play with her hair!!)  I don't know if she just really missed me the few days I was gone or what, but it seemed like I couldn't do anything because every time I turned around, Ainsley needed my hair.  So, being the good Mommy that I am, I googled the issue.  It turns out there are lots of babies (including myself when I was younger) that uses hair as a type of security blanket.  One suggestion was to get a baby doll (or other stuffed toy with hair) and let the child play with it while falling asleep.  So, off to Walmart we went in search of a baby doll with hair.  Ainsley loved walking through the toy aisle and looking at all the toys.  As soon as I handed her a baby with hair, she immediately started playing with the baby's hair while in the box, so I thought this little trick just may work.  Unfortunately, once we got the baby home and out of the box, it didn't quite match Mommy's hair, and I still had to let Ainsley play with my hair to fall asleep.  Ainsley does, however, like the baby and the little brush that came along with it.

This is what I get when I ask her where her teeth are.

Brushing her baby's hair

Brushing her hair

This past weekend was Chapin Big Country Days, with the parade on Saturday morning.  We walked up town to watch it, and Ainsley seemed to enjoy it.  She liked getting the bead necklaces and knew just what to do with them.

Ready to head to the parade

Ainsley and Daddy watching the parade

We went over to Jim and Rita's later that afternoon, and was entertained by Drake.  I don't know where that kid comes up with half the stuff that comes out of his mouth, but he sure is a funny little guy.  One of my favorite quotes of the day was when Rita came out of the bathroom after her shower.  She was in her robe and her hair was still wet, and when Drake saw her, he said:  "Look at that fancy lady!"  Oh, how I love that kid!

We finally went over to Jeremy and Kathleen's Saturday night to take Jack his birthday present.  We were only a few weeks late!  Ainsley loved playing with the Mardi Gras beads and bracelets at Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Kathleen's!

Ainsley didn't get too far out of Lani's sight, and if she did, Lani was sure to run over and get her.  I think Ainsley only got tired of it a few times and would swat at Lani's hand!

Kathleen had a yard sale earlier that day and the couch and loveseat that was for sale hadn't been moved back into the garage.  Joel made himself right at home in the driveway.

The boys thought they could help Joel move the couch, but I don't think they were able to lift it even an inch off the ground!

I wanted to take Ainsley to the State Fair yesterday, but Joel wasn't having any of it.  Instead, we headed over to Lowe's for a little shopping and then a trip to Washington Park.  I wanted to let Ainsley feed the ducks, but we couldn't figure out how to get back to where the ducks were, since most of the park was shut off for runners.  We let Ainsley play at the playground and in the big sand box instead.  She loved going down the slides and running around.  Once she found the big sand box, it was all over.  She didn't want to leave it!  We had a little temper tantrum when we did finally leave, but it didn't last very long.  I think we need to get her a little sandbox, because sister loved it!

Joel needed gloves, so we stopped at Farm and Home before heading home.  I was hungry, and Funyons sounded good, so I grabbed a bag before checking out.  Ainsley had a few Funyons the day before at Grandma and Grandpa's, and liked them, so I handed her some on the way home.  I looked back after handing her one, and she was trying to put it on her wrist like a bracelet.  She's such a diva, funyon bracelets and all!

Here's some pictures of Ainsley with her baby.  She likes giving it her sippy cup and pushing it around in the stroller, however she isn't the nicest when putting it in and taking it out of the stroller!

Holding hands

Ainsley has started holding our hand while walking to take us to where she wants to go. She'll grab our hand and walk us to the refrigerator or to a toy that she wants to play with. She started doing this when we got back from vacation and I love it! She will even pull on Joel's pants or shorts and drags him around the house, taking him to where she wants to go. It's so cute!

Friday, while laying on the couch watching Mickey Mouse, she reached over and grabbed my hand and just held it while she watched tv. My heart about exploded with love! I hope this continues for a long time!

Ainsley is 18 months old!

Ainsley is 18 months old today.  She's one and a half years old.  Six months away from being a two year old.  Where did the time go?  My baby is growing up.

I took her to the doctor this morning for her 18 month well baby check up.  She loved the fish in the waiting room, and got into everything in the exam room.  She managed to untie the nurse's shoe laces, write on the floor tile with a pen, and mess with the tv when the nurse finally gave her the remote to distract her for a few minutes. 

She was 27.9 pounds, 33 inches tall, and everything looked good.  It feels so good to be done with specialists and therapy.  Her next appointment will be at two years.

At 18 months, Ainsley enjoys watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, playing with her Mickey car, baby doll, doll stroller, looking at books, coloring, purses, bracelets, playing with Mommy's tupperware, going bye-bye, rocking with Mommy and Daddy, swimming, playing outside, giving "five", hugs and kisses, and getting into anything and everything she can get her little hands on!  She loves fruit, but refuses to eat meat.  She's become a picky eater and it's sometimes hard to find something she'll eat.

Ainsley got another tooth while we were gone on vacation.  She now has four front top teeth, three middle bottom teeth, and one bottom molar.  She obviously wasn't too fussy while cutting her newest tooth, because noone complained of her being cranky while we were gone.

A new thing she's learned (in addition to burping and farting) is putting her finger up her nose.  She'll do it for so long her nostrils turn red. 

She's figured out how to ride her Mickey car.  She could only go backwards for a few days, but she's now mastered going forward too. 

While watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she likes to yell "bye-bye Mickey" at the end of every episode.  She's also started saying "Oh Toodles" every time Mickey does, although you can't really understand what she's saying!

I was working in my office today and Ainsley went into her room to play.  A few minutes later, I could hear her dragging something down the hallway.  I figured it was her doll stroller, but got up to look.  She found her Howdy cow and was pulling it down the hallway into the living room by one of the horns.  She drug that cow all around the house today and can really bounce on it.

She still likes to push her baby doll around in the stroller and will tell you bye-bye and blow kisses while she's talking her baby for a walk down the hallway.  The baby doll gets lots of kisses from Ainsley, but Ainsley sure is rough with the doll when she's not giving it kisses.  It's funny to watch her throw the baby around because she gets mad at it.  She's also started giving the baby some milk from her sippy cup by holding the cup to the baby's mouth.  I don't have a fake baby bottle for her, so I need to find an old one of Ainsley's for her to play with.

That little smirk is trouble!

I needed to get some work done yesterday afternoon, and Little Einstein's was on.  A win-win for both of us!  She didn't take her eyes off of it, and I was able to finish up with work.

Watching Little Einstein's

Another new thing we're working on is drinking out of a regular cup.  Of course, it's with the cup in the bathtub, so she's probably drinking a little pee with the water, but Ainsley likes trying to drink the water.

We had a major accomplishment last night.  Ainsley slept in her crib the entire night for the first time in months!!!  Joel and I both said when we got back from vacation, we were going to stick with it and make her sleep in her crib.  We're both tired of getting kicked all night and having only a few inches of bed to sleep on each night.  She woke up twice in the night, and only cried for a few minutes each time (at least that's what we think....we both were pretty tired and ended up falling back asleep).  She got up at 6 for the day, and was tired by 8 this morning, but I was so proud of my little girl for sleeping in her own bed.

Ainsley's turned into a little dare devil.  Monday night when we got home, she was climbing up the basement stairs, and got to the third or fourth step with Joel right behind her.  She stood up to go back down the stairs (which we don't let her do) and before Joel could catch her, she slipped and hit her chin on the side of the stairs.  She got it pretty good and it's still reddish/purple today.  Not even half an hour after she fell on the stairs, she climbed into the living room chair and was leaning over the arm and fell face first into the carpet.  Her face hit the carpet first and then her legs went over her head and back to the floor.  Right before her feet hit the floor, her head finally went over.  I thought she broke her neck the way she fell.  It scared me to death.  Joel says she "scorpioned".  Whatever she did wasn't pretty and I wish she would just sit on the floor and not climb anything!

While at Grandma Shelly's over the weekend, she had some fun in the pool with Grandma.  She loves splashing!!!

I love this one!  Pure excitement on her face!

Ainsley slept with Uncle Thomas and Aunt Jamie while her, Mom, and Mark visited them over the weekend.  I heard she slept on Thom's side of the bed.  I'm just glad I was able to get a few night's break from someone's little feet in my side all night!

I hope her little arms hit her Uncle Thomas at least a few times in the middle of the night!!!

Ainsley loves playing with Jake (the dog), and especially riding him.  You can tell (or at least I can) in this picture that her dress is on backwards!  Poor girl!

We brought Ainsley a flute and some maracas back from Mexico.  She loves them!

We got Ainsley's 18 month pictures taken a few weeks ago.  Ainsley didn't want anything to do with getting her picture taken, so I was worried we wouldn't get any good ones.  She literally never stopped running around the whole time we were there, but Lauren ended up getting some good ones.  Below are some of my favorites.

Trying to get her hair bow off