Weekend fun!

We had another birthday party this past weekend.  J.D. turned three!  Although, if you asked him, he still only held up two fingers.  It's going to take a while to get used to being another year older and another finger to hold up!!!


I'm "2", Mom! (I'm really 3)

J.D. doesn't like for you to sing to him, so we couldn't sing "Happy Birthday".  Instead, we all just told him "Happy Birthday" while he blew out his candles.  Of course, he had to try to take a bite out of the cake when he thought noone was looking!  (He gets that from his mother).


Noone will notice if I take a moutful of icing right about....here!

He got lots of cool presents, and it was fun to watch him open them.  He would rip a little of the paper off and then try to look inside to see if he could tell what it was.  I think his favorite presents were his new bike and new train.

Daddy showing JD how to pedal

His smile says it all!  He was one happy boy!!!

Of course, Ainsley really liked his new train also, and only got caught playing with it a few times by the birthday boy! 

BUSTED!!  The birthday boy wanted his train back!

We have tried to show Ainsley how to climb up a slide before and then sit down to go down it, but she didn't quite get it.  J.D. had a little slide, and after just a few times showing Ainsley what to do, she got the hang of it.  Although, she didn't fully understand that she needed to sit down to go down the slide, but we didn't have any major falls, so that was good. 

Aunt Sudi helping Ainsley

Can't I just walk down the slide?!

She would clap for herself and then look around at everyone when she landed on her butt at the bottom of the slide to make sure everyone else saw her and clapped.   She's such a ham!

We ended up bringing the slide home with us.  JD got a new swingset for his birthday, and didn't play with that one any more.  My car was full on the way home!

Clint, Brayden, and JD

Me, Ainsley, Abby, and JD

It had been a few months since we had seen Dad's family, and I know everyone enjoyed seeing Ainsley.  As soon as we got there, we had to go into the garage so Ainsley could have her presents.  I thought we were going for J.D.'s birthday party, not so Ainsley could get gifts!  She sure is one lucky little girl to have such great Aunts!  She got all kinds of cool new toys and it was like Christmas morning to her when we got home.  She couldn't wait to play with all of it!

Playing with her new baby bottles

She actually knew what to do with the "punch" balloon and was pretty good with it!

Riding on one of JD's toys

Look at my new hat, Mommy!

She LOVES the megaphone.  Future cheerleader on our hands?!  Mommy will be no help there!

She would squint her eyes every time she shook the pom pom

These are fun!

I've already found numerous things stuffed in this suitcase. I need to remember to check in it the next time we're missing something.

We left Abby and Gabe's and headed to the field to ride with Daddy in the tractor.  I haven't been able to get Ainsley out to the field yet this fall.  The last time she rode in the tractor, which was in the spring, she didn't last very long.  Joel and I both were pleasantly surprised with how well she did.  She sat on Daddy's lap like a champ and didn't bother the steering wheel or controls (too much). 

She wouldn't take her necklace off or let go of her pig and kitty (in her hands)!

She liked looking at all the corn.  Joel points out all the corn fields on their way to Lisa's every morning, so Ainsley has gotten pretty good at saying "corn".

After an afternoon full of excitement, Ainsley was one tired little girl.  It was an early night to bed for her!

Quit taking my picture, Mom.

C'mon, Daddy

It's hard walking through the corn.

Daddy to the rescue

Waving bye-bye

I met a few friends for breakfast Sunday morning in Modesto, and since Joel was still in the fields, Ainsley came along.  She was better than I thought she would be and did pretty good while we ate.  Ainsley didn't eat anything, but a few bites of her waffle, but she enjoyed watching the people and coloring while Alaina, Ashlee, and I talked.

Ainsley and I went to Dad's after we ate breakfast.  It ended up being a lazy Sunday and Ainsley enjoyed playing with Grandpa and Uncle Tanner.  She got up at 5:15 Sunday morning and only napped from Jacksonville to Modesto that morning, so she was very tired early afternoon.  I tried laying in Tanner's bed with her so she would fall asleep, but she thought jumping on the bed was more fun than falling asleep.  It also didn't help that Uncle Tanner was playing peek a boo with her from the other room (without Mommy knowing).  So, we headed back out to the living room without a nap.   I decided to go ahead and fix her lunch since she wasn't going to fall asleep.  I was in the kitchen for five minutes and walked back out to let Ainsley know her lunch was ready and she was asleep on Dad's lap!  I laid with her for fifteen minutes and the little stinker didn't fall asleep and a few minutes on Grandpa's lap and she was out cold! 

I was able to witness something at Dad's over the weekend that I never, in a million years, thought I would see.  Tanner was reading a book.  Let me repeat that:  Tanner.was.reading.a.book.  And, no, it wasn't a book for school.  It was a book just because he wanted to read.  By the time we left Sunday afternoon, he only had a few pages left in the book and he had started it on Thursday.  Man, oh man, I still wonder if my eyes were deceiving me.

We couldn't leave Grandpa's without a banana.  She had to shove it ALL in her mouth!

Funyons

So, my daughter loves funyons.  Is that normal for a 19 month old?!  Since she doesn't eat very much of anything besides fruit, I try to give her whatever she'll eat so she at least gets something in her belly.  She especially likes the ones that are not broken and still a circle.  She thinks they're bracelets!

We found out last weekend that she likes salt and vinegar chips also.  She made a sour face every time she would eat one, but she kept asking for more and wasn't very happy when I told her she didn't need anymore.  After eating them, her poor face was red all around her mouth and nose.  I know she has sensitive skin, but I hate that she gets red blotches on her face when eating certain things.  It went away after a few hours, but of course, I had to ask Mom if she thought it was ok.  She told me that Thomas and I would get red blotches on our face when we ate cinammon.  I guess every kid has their thing.

As for my newest obsession:  Softsoap milk protein and honey hand soap.  I.love.it.  I wash my hands numerous times throughout the day for no reason, except to smell my hands.  It smells wonderful!  I usually have Bath and Body Works hand soap around the house, since it smells so good, but I got a few bottles of Softsoap hand soap a few weeks ago for a quarter a piece.  Of course, I can't pass up a good stockup price.  $0.25 vs. $3.00 or more for a bottle of hand soap?  I think I'll take as many bottles as possible of the Softsoap!  I'm hooked.  Softsoap milk protein and honey hand soap-go get ya some!  You won't be disappointed, and if you are...you know where you can send them!

Disclaimer:  a 4:45 a.m. Saturday morning wake up call by my adorable, sweet, loving, baby girl means Mommy gets caught up on the blog by 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning.  What ever happened to sleeping in?   Why doesn't my child understand that weekends are for sleeping in??

Hadlee is One!

Hadlee turned one last weekend and we went over for her birthday party.  It was a Mickey Mouse themed party and very cute!  Hadlee did really good during the party (even if Mom and Dad thought differently at times). 

Alaina, Lou, and Hadlee

She even sat in her new chair to open most of the presents!

Sitting in her chair...reading her book

The cake was amazing (a Debra Elmore cake-yum!).  Hadlee seemed to like hers also.

I had a little munchkin that was pretty interested in Hadlee's new toys, especially the ball popper thing and her new car.  Hadlee only got jealous a couple of times, but I would too if I just got some new toys!

Hadlee liked her new car!

Ainsley liked Hadlee's new Minnie chair

Going in for a kiss

Hold on, Hadlee!  Ainsley's going to take you for a ride!

All the kids liked playing with the balloons.  Go figure...my daughter was a little diva, and tried taking balloons away from the other kids.  She even pushed Grayson and was pulling him around by his shirt at one point.  One of these days, these kids are going to get her back and Joel and I are going to sit back and laugh.

Give me that balloon, Grayson!

All gone!

Ainsley liked playing with Alaina's neice, Keatyn.  Little miss Keatyn has always been really good with Ainsley and is like a little mother hen.  Hadlee has one great big cousin!

After Hadlee's party, we went to Dad's to eat some more cake for his birthday!  Ainsley gave Grandpa some peanut butter cups (that we left in the car all afternoon, so they were a little melted).  Of course, she had to have one of them.  It still tastes the same, melted or not.

She decided she liked her Mickey ears she got from Hadlee's party and wore them around for awhile.

The ball pit is a big hit at Grandpa's.  Not only for Ainsley, but for Uncle Tanner and Daddy too.

Playing peek-a-boo with Uncle Tanner

The ball pit gives Ainsley static hair!

After we left Dad's, we headed over to Mom's to drop Ainsley off.  Ainsley spent the next couple days with Grandma, and had a good time.  They walked all over Carlinville one day while Grandma ran errands and went to visit Grandma Bowman who had got home a few days before from her hospital stay.  I know Mommy and Daddy was glad to have Ainsley back home.  It's so quiet in this house when she isn't here and even if we get tired of hearing Mickey all day, it sure was missed for the two days she was gone.

We have birthday parties the next two weekends also.  September is just full of birthdays for us, but Ainsley doesn't care.  She (ok, maybe Mom) loves cake and ice cream!