Deer Season

Last weekend was deer season, so we all headed down to Dad's.  I met Alaina Friday night to watch the new Breaking Dawn 2 movie, which was fantastic!  Joel had taken Ainsley to Dad's with him Friday night so he could get up and hunt Saturday morning.  That meant I had to go to Dad's after the movie so someone was there with Ainsley the next morning.

We got up Saturday morning and got ready (the best we know how, anyway) for deer season.  Ainsley wore her hunting/camo shirt!

Of course, Jake was at Dad's, so Ainsley had a buddy to play with.  She loves throwing the balls to him and watching him chase them.  She just laughs and laughs after she throws the ball!

Up to no good...

She finally crashed around 3 that afternoon after much whining, crying, and mindlessly walking around.  She usually takes a nap around 11-11:30, so she was beyond tired.

Mom wanted to keep her Saturday night, so I dropped her off at Mom's before heading back home.  Joel stayed at Dad's to hunt on Sunday, and that little night away all by myself was just what I needed.  I ran through Jacksonville on my way home and got the movie "What to expect when you're expecting" and some Taco Bell.  I took it all down to the basement and ate my supper while watching the movie.  I'm pretty sure I haven't had a night alone in our house since before Ainsley was born, and boy was it nice!  I fell right asleep and didn't wake up once during the night.  That never happens!!!  I even got up early Sunday morning and ran into town to do my couponing and then came home and got some of the house cleaned before Joel and Ainsley got home that afternoon. 

Ainsley came home with a manicure and pedicure from Grandma Shelly's, which was much needed!  I'm sure she had lots of fun.  Joel said when he got there to pick her up, she didn't even want him.  She wanted Grandma Shelly instead!

Happy Fall Y'all

My sister in law (Jennifer) is going to start taking pictures, where you'll get a c.d. of all the pictures and a dvd with music also.  She wanted a cute little model to work with, and who better than Ainsley?!?   We gave her a run for her money!  Ainsley did not stand still, didn't listen to either one of us, and didn't want her pictures taken!  We ended up getting a few pictures, but it involved me running around like a crazy woman, jumping up and down, throwing leaves at Ainsley, and anything else to get her to stand still for a second and possibly look at the camera.

This is how most of the time was spent....not happy!

My favorite picture...I just wish she let me put her boots on her instead of her Squeakers.  Oh well!

Let me know if you need some pictures taken, and I can hook you up.

Ainsley still says "no" or shakes her head "no" when she means "yes".  It's very rare that she'll answer a question with "yes", but she always answers with "no" even when she means "yes".

Stacking blocks

Today we learned 'up' and 'down'.  She's very proud of herself after she says it, and points up and down, too.  She thinks she's hot stuff!

She also found the beads that she somehow came home with over the weekend.  Thanks, Jeremy and Kathleen!

We went to Placke's yesterday to meet Joel and Jim for lunch.  Ainsley was really good the whole time!  Brad even gave her a balloon before we left, which made her day.  She loved it!

Fish lips

She loves to go down to the basement and play. I think it's because she has a lot more room to run around than upstairs.  If we even mention going downstairs, she runs to the basement door.  She's learned how to go down the stairs by scooting on her butt, although I still stand in front of her the whole time, because it still scares me. 


Why can't I lay on the baby bed???

What, Mom?!?!

Finally putting her baby to bed and kissing her good night.

I'm sure she picked this up from the kids at Lisa's, but she's been laying on her belly to watch tv.  She did it for the first time one day last week and I just laughed at her, because she's never done it before.  It's pretty cute!

Last Friday it was so nice outside (almost 70) so we spent some time outside, which Ainsley loves.  I think she'd stay outside all day if I would let her. 

Grandma's driving....both hands on the wheel!

She loves the lawn mower and runs right over to it and has to climb up and act like she's driving.

I took her to the doctor last week because I was afraid she had another ear infection.   She'd been cranky, not eating, runny nose, etc.  Luckily, both ears and her throat looked good!  However, little Miss Ainsley did not want to go back to the room to be checked out.  As soon as the nurse called our name in the waiting room, Ainsley lost it and started throwing a fit.  She wanted to stay in the waiting room and color.  We got into the room and she was still throwing a fit, so I put her on the floor while the nurse asked the regular questions.  Ainsley proceeded to bang her head on the floor (hard) while crying, and of course, it left a huge red mark on her forehead. 

Just hanging out with a big red mark on my forehead....

Girl

One of the little boys at the sitter's calls Ainsley "girl".  Every morning when Joel drops Ainsley off, Blaine is already there and Joel says he comes running over to Joel and Ainsley pointing to Ainsley and saying "girl".  He's a few months older than Ainsley, and it's so funny!  I'll pick her up from Lisa's and Blaine will run over and put his finger on Ainsley and say "girl".  Lisa tries to correct him and tell him her name is Ainsley, but he doesn't pay any attention to her.  We all just laugh about it, and the other day I asked Ainsley what Blaine calls her and she responded with "girl"!  A new word added to her vocabulary!  I got it on video, which is pretty stinking cute!  Check it out here.

Not only does Blaine teach my daughter new words, but he also teaches her how to climb on things.  Blaine is a climber, and I've walked into Lisa's a few times to pick up Ainsley to find Blaine climbing on the dining room table.  Yep, yet another thing my daughter learned from him.  I turned around the other night while cooking supper to find Ainsley in the middle of our table.  She's such a daredevil.

Girls Weekend

I was able to get away over the weekend for some shopping with the girls.  We went up to Chicago (well, actually the suburbs, but it's all Chicago to me).  We hit an outlet mall and then Ikea the next day. 

I don't know if this is something new, but there were a lot of people walking around the outlet mall with suitcases on rollers.  I think they were stuffing all their bags in the suitcase.  It was kind of weird!  The mall was very crowded, and it was pretty obvious that I was a sick, pregnant woman walking around it.  It seemed like every store I went into people were blocking the aisles with strollers, suitcases, or little kids and didn't have any consideration for anyone else.  I couldn't have imagined having Ainsley with me.  I think we would have ended up just leaving and going home!

I was still stuffed up and had a terrible cough, so the trip went as well as it could being sick.  I was exhausted Saturday night, but we ended up going to Maggiano's to eat.  Rigatoni "D" for supper?  I wasn't going to pass that up!  By the time we finally got our food, it was so late and I was about to pass out from exhaustion that I only ate a few bites of my meal.  I can't believe I wasted all the good Maggiano's food.

Alaina, Me, Michelle, Kristina, Katie, and Gretchen at Maggiano's

We hit Ikea Sunday before heading home.  I'm proud to say I only bought one thing at Ikea....unlike some of the others that had a cart full!  We ended up getting everything in the car, even if it was piled to the ceiling, in the seats, floor boards, and aisle.  Poor Gretchen and Alaina was packed in the back seat like sardines! 

Trying to figure out how to stuff the rest of the stuff in the back

Ainsley stayed with Daddy, Aunt Jennifer, and Aunt Kathleen while I was gone.  I didn't hear of any major mishaps while I was gone, so I guess she was okay for everyone.  I got a picture and video from Aunt Jennifer.  She was trying to ride a toy of Drake's and kept falling off.  It's pretty funny.  You can check it out here.

Ainsley and Drake eating breakfast

I did get a text Sunday morning from Jeremy, though, that she likes chocolate pudding with the picture below.  I'm sure she had a great time at Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Kathleen's because I'm sure they gave her whatever she wanted.

Yummy!  Chocolate pudding.

I think she was happy for me to get home Sunday night.  She was probably more excited for the toys I brought home for her than actually seeing me, but I did end up getting to snuggle with her, so all was good.

I'm still trying to get rid of my cough, and am hoping it only lasts for a few more days because I'm sick of it!  Ainsley's nose is still running, but she seems to feel pretty good.  Hopefully everyone is on the mend and we'll be well again in no time.

It must be in the water...

It seems like everyone is pregnant these days.  We're going to have a baby boom early next year, and I think it's great.  I know of at least 15 babies that are due in between January and June, and new pregnancies are being announced every day! 

New babies means baby showers, and that's what has consisted of our last few weekends.  A few weekends ago was Audri's baby shower, where she got lots of nice things for her and baby Piper!  Ainsley only slept for half an hour or so on the way to the shower, so I had a feeling she would be a handful.  She did pretty good playing with Madilynn, but she had her meltdowns also. 

We were eating, with Ainsley on my lap and Madilynn beside me, when Madilynn starts playing with her food.  Ainsley looks over at her, points her finger, and proceeds to tell her "No-No".  Madilynn put her head down and then looked at Ainsley and said: "You be nice".  I'm sure the conversations between these girls will only continue to get better as they get older. 

I tried getting a few pictures at the shower, but I had taken my little camera with me, and I really dislike using it.  It seems like all pictures I take with it turn out blurry and it takes so long for the camera to actually capture the picture that by the time I've finally got it to take the picture, everyone is out of frame.  I guess I'm just spoiled with my big camera, but it's too big and bulky to take everywhere with me.  I'm hoping my new phone camera will work out much better for circumstances like this.  I just upgraded to the Iphone 4S.  I've had the old Iphone 3G for the last two years and the camera on it was terrible. 

Two little divas...Madilynn and Ainsley

Well, Hi there Hannah!

This last Sunday we had another shower for a friend that is having triplets.  Yep, you read that right....TRIPLETS!!!!  I've known Elisha since grade school and our families were friends growing up.  She couldn't be a better person to be pregnant with triplets.  She's a preschool teacher and absolutely adores kids.  She's always upbeat and happy, and I know is going to make a great mommy.  We couldn't be happier for her and Bob. 

I had to wake Ainsley up from her nap to go to Elisha's shower, and she wasn't in a very good mood about it.  The shower was at Elisha's Mom's house, who had breakables, etc. all over her house.  Ainsley wanted to explore, and had to go into every room, under everyone's legs, and it seemed like had to get into everything!  She wasn't scared of anyone, and kept everyone entertained.  She especially like the dog's tail and following the dog around.

Elisha and the babies got lots of nice things, and hopefully a good start on everything they're going to need.  She isn't finding out the sex of the babies, so she got lots of neutral gender things.  She got a few things with pink in them, but boys can wear pink too!  If even one of those babies is a little girl, I know she's going to one of the best dressed girls around!

Saturday night we went over to Lou and Alaina's, where Ainsley and Hadlee actually played good together.  It was so cute to watch them play.  I did get a picture with the camera on my new phone, and it's not too bad!

Getting ready to eat

This week hasn't been the greatest.  I woke up yesterday morning with my throat hurting, and the day just got worse as it went on.  I just felt like crap and it's continued today.  My head hurts.  I have no energy.  I feel like I have pins and needles poking me, and haven't had an appetite.  I did finally eat a little chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese tonight, but I hadn't ate anything since lunch yesterday before that.  I don't think Ainsley feels the greatest either.  She's been stuffy and  her nose has been running a little.  We've been keeping Tylenol and Benadryl in her, hoping it helps.  Lisa said when she woke up from her nap today that she was grabbing at her ear, so I have to try to get her into the doctor tomorrow to check for an ear infection.  I wish all this sickness would leave the Freeman house and never come back again!

Ainsley + Minnie Mouse=BFF

Ainsley has been carrying around her Minnie for the past few days and we haven't seen her without Minnie very often.  Ainsley thinks Minnie has a diaper on (her bloomers) and that she poops too, so I have to pretend to change Minnie's diaper.  We play pat-a-cake with Minnie and give her drinks from Ainsley's sippy cup.  Ainsley lays with her in bed, and gives her lots of hugs and kisses.

We rode with Daddy in the tractor the other day.  Ainsley did really good and sat still.  She tried turning the steering wheel a few times, but only got the auto-steer off a few times.  Oops!  Like most kids, the tractor started to put her to sleep, so we figured we should probably go.

Playing in the rocks while waiting on Daddy to get to us

Watching Daddy switch tanks

She still managed to fall asleep in the car.  Farming is hard work!

Ainsley has such sensitive skin, and she had bright red blotches all around her mouth last night after eating macaroni and cheese.  I usually buy the Great Value macaroni and cheese, but was able to get Velveeta shells and cheese (the good stuff!) for under $0.25 a box a few weeks ago couponing.  It's probably the first time Ainsley's had Velveeta macaroni, but it made her face turn red!  I guess we should just stick to the generic stuff.

Trick or Treating

We've gone trick or treating a couple of times over the last few days.  Ainsley didn't exactly care for her costume this year, and when Thomas and Tanner tried to put it on her at Dad's on Sunday, she had a total meltdown.  I was finally able to get it on her by telling her she could play outside for a little bit.

She found the mums at Dad's and had to pick a couple.  She likes smelling the flowers, and it's so cute to watch her wrinkle up her nose and put the flower close to her nose so she can smell it! 

Love her face!

We went down to Papa and Nanny's to trick or treat, where Ainsley had M&M's for the first time.  She liked them, but who doesn't?? 

We were planning on making a few more stops before heading home, but noone seemed to be home.  We were able to catch Grandma Mary out walking Barney, but Ainsley had already fallen asleep in the car, so we didn't really do much trick-or-treating!

Tuesday night, we went to the nursing home to see Grandma Bowman. It was "Safe Trick or Treat" night at the nursing home, so there were a lot of kids there.  Of course, Ainsley wouldn't sit on Grandma's lap, but she was able to get a few hugs and kisses out of her. 

Great Gma Bowman with Ainsley running away!

Mom paraded Ainsley around so the rest of the residents could see her, and she said Ainsley got a little scared in the dining room when she saw someone dressed up as a monster. 

Gma Shelly and Ainsley

We finished out Halloween yesterday afternoon when I took Ainsley down to the bank to see Rita (and the rest of the bank ladies).  Ainsley ran around like she owned the place, and we left lots of little fingerprints on the bank windows.  She went right to Pam after Pam mentioned a sucker, and even let Pam hold her!  She loves suckers!!

I do have to say that I'm glad Halloween is over this year.  Ainsley really didn't like putting her costume on, and then when I would take it off, she would have another meltdown because she wanted it back on.  You just can't win with her!