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!

A boo=Love you (in Ainsley talk)

I finally got Ainsley saying "Love you" on video.  It's near the end of the video, but she did finally say it.  Of course, she kept saying it over and over again once I turned the video camera off.  Watch the video here.

I've had Ainsley home with me for the last few days and she's quite the independent baby!  She will not stay in my office if I have the door open.  She heads right out the door and either goes into her room to play, into the living room, or she'll make it all the way into the kitchen and play with her farm toy on the refrigerator.  She likes playing by in her room by herself.  She'll pull all her stuffed animals out of the cradle, or her absolute favorite is pulling all the books off her bookshelf and then sitting on the floor flipping through the books.

She can do pretty good when asked what certain animals say/do.  You have to prompt her on some, but she is pretty good at doing others by herself.  She knows what a horse, cow, and monkey says.  She also knows that a bunny goes "hop, hop, hop".  You can check her out in this video.

It was in the 60's last Monday, so after I picked Ainsley up from Lisa's, I put her in her car and took her for a short walk.  She would cry when I would stop.  We walked for 20 minutes or so and she loved it (while we were moving). 

I'm sure I'm not the only parent out there that feels a sense of accomplishment when you get your sleeping child out of the car seat, into the house, and laid back down without waking them up.  We don't even bother taking her coat or boots off of her if we can accomplish this task!  Here's a picture of her the other day after Mommy managed to get her in without waking her.

Ainsley was busy cleaning out a shelf in the pantry the other day and found Mommy's candy stash!

Look what came in the mail today....Ainsley's crib protectors!  No more chewing up the crib.  She didn't seem to mind them.

Keeping busy

As our little girl's big birthday quickly approaches, it's getting harder to call her our "baby".  She's turning into a toddler and there isn't much "baby" left to her.  She's getting closer to walking every day, and can make her way from one side of the couch to the other (while holding on, of course).

 
We had a physical therapy appointment last week, and the therapist was very happy with Ainsley's progress over the last month.  She couldn't believe how well she was doing.  She said that Ainsley is getting very close to walking and the only thing holding her back at this point is the confidence in herself.  Ainsley needs to have more confidence and trust herself to actually take the first step, and once she does that, she's going to be running around the house!

We also had an appointment at Hanger last week for the last followup appointment for her helmet.  They did one last scan on her head to see how much it changed on its own.  There was a little improvement over the last two months.  When we saw the before and after pictures, we could really see the difference the helmet made.  I think most of the time, the helmet helps babies out more, but with all the trouble we had with Ainsley's helmet, we're happy with the progress that was made.  I wish things could have worked out to where she could have wore the regular helmet, and it probably would have helped more, but it doesn't seem like we can do anything normal with our little princess!

Ainsley's last head scan!

Ainsley is into absolutely EVERYTHING.  Joel came home yesterday to a kitchen and dining room scattered with bowls, trays, silverware, and anything else Ainsley could find in the cabinets while I was fixing lunch.  One of her favorite things to get into is the pantry.  She'll open up the doors and clean out the bottom two or three shelves and then play with the food on the floor. 

We had a busy weekend, and Ainsley was able to spend some time away from us.  She stayed at Jim and Rita's Friday night, and of course, she was good for Grandma and slept all through the night.  Saturday night, she stayed with Erin, Terry, and the kids for a few hours and got lots of attention.  Dad and Tanner came up last night.  Tanner was a good uncle and let Ainsley play with his hair while Dad gave her a bottle. 

We put Ainsley in her crib yesterday afternoon, and she was suppose to be taking a nap.  She fussed for a little while and then started playing with her crib toy and we could hear her jabbering to herself.  We left her in there and hoped she would fall asleep on her own.  After five minutes or so of playing and jabbering, we heard a loud thud and then she started screaming and crying.  I ran in and grabbed her.  She was screaming and crying out because she was hurting, but I had no clue what had happened or what she hurt.  Of course, Joel just said that she scared herself when she fell, but I knew it was a "hurt" cry.  When I turned her around, she had blood coming out of her mouth!  We don't know exactly what happened, but we did discover little teeth marks on her crib railing and the wood was splintered up where she had been gnawing on the wood.  I don't think she got a splinter in her mouth from her crib, but who knows!  I ordered the crib rail pads last night so she doesn't chew up her crib!

Her other front tooth is starting to pop through.

She's loving all kinds of table food now.  Baby food is pretty much out of the picture now and macaroni and cheese has taken center stage.  She loves that stuff!  Pancakes, peaches, mandarin oranges, bananas, green beans, peas, and of course, yogurt bites are also on the food list.  One of the best things that I would recommend to any Mom for babies at this stage are the bibs with the sleeves that you can wipe down.  My cousin told me about them when I was pregnant and I just happened to be at Ikea the next week and picked some up.  I'm glad I did.  They really are a life saver!  Thanks, Amanda!

Ainsley has never really cared for a pacifier, but she found one in the bottom of her toy basket in my office a few weeks ago.  She likes to play and chew on it.  The other night she was actually sucking on it for a little bit and then would throw it and go get it and repeat the process.

We're gearing up for the big birthday party this weekend.  I hope everyone can make it!