Dallas

Joel and I made a short trip to Dallas for the Dairy.com Christmas party.  It was a short trip for us.  We flew in Thursday morning and had the Christmas party that evening.  Friday was our year end meeting and then we went over to a co-workers house that night for supper.  It's nice getting together with my co-workers a few times a year, and it helps that we all like each other.  (At least I think we do!)  There are four of us that work from home, so we only get to see each other a couple times a year.  It's nice to be able to joke around with each other, and some people (including my boss) make it pretty easy for us. 

Charlie, my boss, and me comparing bellies....I think he still has me beat!

I think we were starting to compare bellies, but Vickie wasn't paying attention!

Some of my coworkers...Ros, Charlie, me, and Vickie

Before we flew out Saturday afternoon, we stopped at the mall to grab some lunch and shop.  The Cheesecake Factory sounded amazing, and we got there right as it opened.  I absolutely love their their shrimp scampi, really, it's just the scampi sauce, so I was beyond excited to get it.  The mashed potatoes dipped in the scampi sauce is to die for!  Jennifer and I went to The Cheesecake Factory when I was pregnant with Ainsley and I ordered the same thing that day as I ordered on Saturday.  She couldn't believe I was going to eat all of it and had to take my picture with it.  So, I had to take a picture of myself with it this time and send her the picture of her "Pregnant sister-in-law divulging while she can!"

Just stuffing my face...

We only stayed two nights, but it was one of the hardest trips yet.  I think my hormones had something to do with it, but it was really hard to leave Ainsley this time.  I couldn't wait to get home to her, and it definitely helped when we walked in the door and she literally ran over to me and gave me a hug.  I needed it!

We're lucky to have so many people that are able and willing to keep Ainsley.  She stayed with Jim and Rita, my Mom, and Jeremy and Kathleen.  I know she had lots of fun while we were gone, and didn't get spoiled at all...

Aunt Kathleen let her watch Mickey while eating her lunch.  Can we say s-p-o-i-l-e-d?

I always said my daughter would never play with Star Wars toys...well, she liked all of Jack's old figurines.  So much for opening my mouth saying:  "My child will never...."

Mom and Mark's dog had puppies a few weeks ago, and when we were over there earlier this week, Ainsley loved playing with them!  She carried them all over the living room, and thought Mommy would like them too, but she was wrong!  She didn't like the fact that Mommy didn't want anything to do with the puppy either!!!!

It was nice to be able to spend all day at home with Ainsley today.  I got the rest of the Christmas presents wrapped this afternoon, with the help of our little princess.  She thinks climbing on the presents is pretty cool. 

December fun

Last week we had some really nice weather.  I think we had the windows open two or three days.  Having the windows open in December with the Christmas tree up is pretty weird in central Illinois, but it was nice.  I took Ainsley outside a few days to play.  It was in the 70's and Ainsley loved the fresh air.  (I still haven't figured out how to get longer videos to upload to YouTube, so I had to seperate the one of her sliding into two).  Here's a video of her getting ready to go down her slide.  And, here's a video of her actually going down it!  She also loves to jump and doesn't walk anywhere she goes, but runs everywhere.  Here's a video of her jumping.

Looking out the window while standing on her "step stool" that Daddy made for her

Ainsley's had a runny nose and been congested for a few weeks now.  It got better for a few days and then came back again.  When I looked in her mouth, I quickly discovered why she's been a little cranky and congested.  I think 3 or 4 teeth popped through at the same time.  She now has all of her bottom teeth (except for maybe the very back one on each side).  The last few days, she's been cutting another top tooth.  It's so weird to look in her mouth and see so many teeth!  She's changing way too fast and needs to stay my little baby for a little while longer!

We put up the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and Ainsley wasn't very interested in it until I started putting on the ornaments.  She was the little ornament thief and would go over to the tree, grab an ornament, and then run off with it as fast as she could. 

I also went through my stockpile last week to clean it out before the new year and give away some of our stuff.  Below is a picture of Ainsley helping me go through it.  It's really nice being able to give stuff away, plus save a ton of money for ourselves throughout the year!

I wrapped up a bunch of the things to give as "gag" gifts at Aunt Doris's, and I ran back to switch laundry one night (while Joel was sitting four feet away from Ainsley) and walked back into the room to find Ainsley had one present almost completely unwrapped!  So much for Daddy watching her!  I think she's going to really enjoy Christmas this year.

Disney Jr. (the channel) put out a new movie about a month ago, Sophia the First.  They had previews for it a few weeks before it actually debuted and every time Ainsley would see the Princess (Sophia) on tv, she would stop what she was doing and point to her.  Once the preview was over, she would put her arms in the air and say:  "Um um um um?"  She wanted to know where the princess went.  Now that the movie is on (and two or three times a day, I might add), Ainsley loves to sit and watch it. 

Just watching the "princess" movie

I know I've said it before, but I don't know how I could love my daughter any more than I already do!  This last week there have been so many times that my heart has exploded with love for our little girl.  She does the funniest things.  (And, I'm the Mom that has to grab the camera when she does something funny instead of yelling at her!)

Joel kept sitting where Ainsley wanted to sit the other night and Ainsley thought it was hilarious.  Of course, I grabbed the camera after she really did her belly laughs, but she still laughs pretty good in this video.

She has been interested in dressing herself for the last few weeks.  She actually put one of her own shoes on the other day.  She's tried putting on shirts, pants, and socks also.  I was in the kitchen the other day and Ainsley walks around the corner whining.  I looked over to find her like this....

She somehow managed to get her shirt half way off and one arm back in the head hole!

I put all of Ainsley's outgrown clothes into a tote in her closet.  She likes to get in it and drag the clothes all over the house.  I finally put the lid on it the other day and latched it down.  Now she uses it to climb on....I can't catch a break!

While taking the sheets off her bed this morning, she decided she wanted in her crib.  I put her in it while I finished doing some other things around her room, and she thought jumping in it was pretty fun!  Watch her jumping here, and you can also hear her tell me "No no" when I try to get her out!

Trying to escape

Peek-a-boo!

I was working the other day when the phone rang.  Of course, the phone was in the kitchen so I got up out of my chair to go answer it.  When I walked back into my office, I found Ainsley sitting in my office chair, "talking" on my cell phone!  She kind of rules the house...

Just another day in the office

Not only is she funny, but she's also the sweetest little thing!  She loves to give hugs and kisses.  In the past, if we asked her for a kiss, she would come over and give us her cheek.  She wanted us to kiss her cheek, but lately, if I point to my cheek, she'll give me a kiss.  I love the smack of her lips on my cheek!

Laying down for a nap...has to play with my hair

Joel got a new iphone, so is able to take pictures with it.  He's captured her blue eyes a few times over the last few weeks!

Blowing kisses

Ready to go to Lisa's

Tupperware hat anyone???

This video isn't the greatest quality, but Ainsley loves to put the bucket on her head and walk around the house.  Check her out here!

Ryder's 12th birthday party was last night, so we headed over to Brian and Jennifer's for the evening.  His cake was amazing!

Ainsley liked watching the train underneath the Christmas tree (along with Avelyn!)

She loved Drake's firefighter hat.  She cracks me up...the hat was laying upside down on the floor and she kept bending down and putting her head on the ground, trying to put the hat on that way! 

Future pop star??

Thrilled to see Santa

Saturday morning we headed to Arends-Awe (the John Deere dealership) to see Santa.  Ainsley walked around the house that morning saying "Ho Ho Ho" and I kept telling her we were going to see Santa Clause.  We had to get there a little early to get a number, because there were a lot of little kids that wanted to see Santa that morning!  Ainsley did pretty good during the wait.  It helped they had M&M's, marshmallows, and cookies.  She also liked looking at all the tractors, books, and toys.

Playing with her tractor while waiting for Santa

Love the blue eyes!

Santa arrived in a John Deere tractor right at 10.  What else would he come in?!  He also had reindeer with him that he brought in for pictures.  We missed seeing him arrive in the tractor, but Brian and Jennifer were behind him on their way and happened to get a picture!

Shortly after Santa arrived, Ainsley fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder.  She had been up since 5:55 that morning and it was her nap time! 

We were kind of worried how she would react to Santa.  We thought for sure she'd be one of the kids that screamed and wanted off of his lap.  That ended up not being a problem with her asleep.  We had waited over an hour to see Santa, so asleep or not, we were going to get a picture!  Joel walked her up to Santa, and handed her over.  Once Santa took her, she woke up a little, looked around and then at Santa, and passed back out!  Everyone just laughed!!!  I thought for sure when she woke up she was going to have a meltdown, but she was wore out!  She didn't wake up until we put her in the car.

Below is a pretty good summary of how the meeting with Santa went in pictures.

Starting to wake up...

Looking around...

Why are all these people looking at me???

Her scrunched up nose face after she looked at Santa!

Oh, heck...I'm going back to sleep!

Santa's lap is pretty comfy!

Drake was able to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.  I would have loved to have heard the whole conversation between Drake and Santa that morning.  Drake asked him for a lawn mower, and then started looking around the showroom for more things to add to his already long list!  He just kept rattling off things! 

Santa and Drake...here's a good picture of the live reindeer also!

He had to make himself comfortable for the long list of things to tell Santa!

All in all, our visit with Santa went pretty good. 

Joel's birthday



Joel's birthday was last week and Ainsley helped me get his presents ready.  She colored on his birthday card from her, and even pointed and told me who the bears were on the card.  There was a Daddy bear and a little girl bear, and without even mentioning them, she pointed to the Daddy bear and said "Daddy".  I'm not going to lie, it caught me off guard.  My little firecracker is pretty dang smart! 

She also didn't understand why she couldn't open the card after I sealed it up, or open the presents.  That last hour or so waiting for Daddy to get home was pretty rough on her.  She wanted the presents!!

I got her to say something along the lines of "Happy Birthday", but she refused to say it once Joel got home.  I made cupcakes, and that evening Ainsley saw them in the pan on the counter and was reaching up over the counter trying to get one out of the pan.  She loves her sweets!

We went over to Evandy's Boatel last night with Jim, Rita, and Drake for Joel's birthday.  It just opened a month or so ago, so we were excited to try it out.  We got there around 5:30 since they don't take reservations, and had a 10-15 minute wait.  They weren't the most organized, and it took us a while to get our food.  Ainsley absolutely loved the fried green beans that we got as an appetizer.  I think she ate at least half of them! 

She only had one major meltdown, and Papa Jim took her outside for a few minutes, but it was almost 7 at that point and we still hadn't even got our salads or entrees.  She was ready to run around.  Not too long after that, our food arrived and Ainsley found the sweeteners on the table that kept her busy the rest of the time.  Thank goodness!!!  It's so hard to take her out to eat at a restaurant that doesn't immediately serve your food.  She doesn't like to sit, and especially not in a high chair!

Take 1...Drake took this one!

Take 2 with Drake in it...notice the fingerprints on the window?  They look like little Ainsley handprints to me!

On our way home, we stopped at Placke's for some ice cream.  Ainsley loved her ice cream cone! 

I love how her belly is hanging out!

18 weeks

I'm 18 weeks today, and the baby should be 10 inches from head to toe.  I had my monthly doctor's appointment a week and a half ago.  Everything was good.  Heartbeat sounded good and it was a quick visit.  I gained four pounds, so I'm up to 5.5 pounds so far. 

I don't know why my shirt looks psychedelic in this picture....

My sonogram to find out the gender was scheduled for Jan. 2nd, but I told Dr. Huston that I wasn't very happy with that date and I would love to find out before Christmas.  My doctor's office likes for you to be 22 weeks before they do a gender sonogram, and I would only be 20 weeks (almost 21 weeks) the week before Christmas. 

I guess they need a "reason" to do a sonogram early.  He asked how tall I was, looked at my weight chart,  and said "You're skinny". I'm going to use that in my argument to try to get your sonogram moved up. Whatever works, but did he really just call me skinny?!? I've always liked him, but now I like him even more!!!  I think he made my day (okay, maybe my month) when those words came out of his mouth. 

He worked his magic, and they called on Friday to let me know they got me in on Friday, Dec. 21st for my sonogram!  What a great early Christmas present to me!!!  Jamie find out on the 21st also, so we'll both know what our little peanuts are before Christmas. 

I wanted to do a gender reveal party with either balloons or a cake to find out the sex, but I don't know when I would be able to schedule it with the busy weekend we have planned with Christmas and my Mom and Dad's work schedules.

I've thought the entire pregnancy that the baby is a boy this time.  My pregnancy has been completely different than with Ainsley, and I just have a "feeling".  That was until last night and I had a dream about the sonogram.  We ended up going ahead and finding out during the sonogram instead of waiting until my planned "gender reveal party" to find out the sex, and it was a GIRL!  I was completely shocked!  I guess we'll have to wait a few more weeks to find out if it's a boy or girl.  We really don't care either way, and just want it to be healthy. 

I'm not as tired as I have been, and am still feeling pretty good.  I've been feeling the baby move for a few weeks now.  I haven't had a definite "kick" yet, but the baby is definitely moving around in there.  I'll never forget the first few times I felt Ainsley move.  I was so grossed/freaked out by it and would squirm around and tell her to quit! 

Last weekend I woke up with a major cramp in my lower abdomen.  I could hardly roll over in bed and stand up.  It continued throughout the morning, and eventually got a little better that afternoon.   It lasted a few days, although it wasn't as strong as the first day.  I'm sure it was the round ligament pain, and I think I remember having it with Ainsley a few times, but never as bad as it was last weekend.

Ainsley still has no clue that Mommy has a baby in her belly, even though I tell her constantly.  She's going to get a huge surprise when this baby does make its appearance!