Travelling Fools

Last weekend Ainsley and I drove to Gloucester to visit the Blakes. Clif stayed behind to take care of dogs and hang out with some friends that came to town for a visit.

It was nice catching up with Julie, Todd and Katherine (pronounced Fafrin in Ainsley speak). We spent the day hanging out in their brand new house along with two other friends from college and their very little babies. Heidi brought her 3 month old, Eli and Rebecca showed off her 1 month old, Warner.

It's so crazy to see smaller babies. They change so fast that it's hard to even believe Ainsley was ever like that. Even seeing Katherine makes me think "Were we ever really there?" Why yes, we were, just one year ago.

All week Ainsley has been asking about "Fafrin, Jew and Todd." She'll say "Fafrin house? Fafrin my aside a pway?" Translation: Can we go to Katherine's house? Can Katherine play outside with me?" The child is talking in full sentences now. Like I said, crazy how quickly they grow up.

Daddy was very excited to see Ainsley on Sunday when we got home. He misses us when we're gone. That evening, when it stopped being 1000 degrees outside, we took Ainsley to the park. She loves it more and more every time we go there. She even tried out the big slide this time.

This weekend we are hitting the road again. We are going to visit DeeDee and Mike in Raleigh for the beer festival. That means it's been just over a year since I started blogging because last year we went to the Raleigh beer fest and it was one of my first posts. Yeah me...a whole year :)

Ok, short post but I need to go to bed. Love to all, talk to you soon.

Dave Matthews Concert

First, I wanted to give an update on Recession Clif. He said the last picture I posted was not an accurate portrayal of what his hair looks like. He says he had had a hat on all day. So here are Clif's curls in all their glory...

Last weekend Clif and I went to see Dave Matthews in concert with my sister and her boyfriend Mike, and two friends - Corey and Jill. Nanny and Poppa came to spend the day with Ainsley so we could leave fairly early and make a whole day of it. We had such a great time and the show was awesome. It's been a long time since we tailgated like that. When we were younger and non of us had kids and we were all just dating and we didn't have to pay for day care or buy diapers...we did it all the time. Now things have changed a bit.

This past week Ainsley has learned to climb on to her changing table. We often let her go back to her room and play and we just check on her every now and then. Well, Clif checked on her and there she was, sitting on her changing table saying "Hi daddy!" all proud of herself. Later that night I had her do it for me, so I watched her kick her little feet until she could propel herself to the top. I don't have any pictures of that, but it was crazy. A few weeks ago she climbed in to her crib while the rail was down. She has not attempted to climb out of her crib yet. I think when she wants out she just cries her head off. Anyway, we have quite the little monkey on our hands. She also likes to climb over the couch, and she can do it either way. Crazy little girl!

Clif and Ainsley also had another playdate at Maymont park this week. They saw the animals again, and this time they also went through the Japanese Garden which looks beautiful.

Today, Ainsley and I are headed to Gloucester to visit the Blakes. Clif has some friends in town so he is staying home. I'm sure he is looking forward to a break and I am looking forward to one on one time with Miss Ainsley.

We're Back!!!

After a very hectic month, I am back on the blog. I'm not even sure what I did over the last month...but man,it has just flown by. I'm pretty wiped from it, but I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes.

So let me give you a nice long update with lots of pics so you can see what we've been doing.

The last weekend of March, my mom came to visit and we ran the Monument 10K together.

I am not in the best of shape these days, so I think we did more walking than running but we had a lot of fun.

Ainsley hung out with Clif in the park at the finish line while we completed the race.

Ainsley enjoyed spending time with her "Dama" that weekend. Other than the race we didn't do a whole lot. Just kind of hung out at home and did some shopping.

The following weekend, my friend Courtney - who now lives in Italy - visited the US with her little baby boy. I'm probably going to spell this wrong, so sorry Courtney...his name is Ludovico and he is so adorable. Julie and Katherine came to visit as well and we had a nice weekend just visiting with friends.

Courtney has been around for a couple of weeks and we see her every once in awhile. She heads back to Italy this coming Friday. We'll miss seeing her.

We travelled up to Northern Virginia for Easter weekend with the Whites. However, before the Easter bunny visited on Sunday, we went to the circus on Saturday. I was a little concerned at how Ainsley would do in a 2.5 hour show...especially with no nap. But she did awesome. She loved the circus. Her favorites were probably the elephants. That kid loves elephants. She calls them "el-fants."

Thank you so much to Nanny and Poppa for taking us, we all had a great time.

We also got to play at the mall play area while Nanny and Poppa bought Ainsley new shoes. They love to buy her shoes, so we always let them and are very thankful that they do so. Ainsley was really good at taking turns on the slide.

However, I have to say that not all kids are so good...and where the heck are these kids parents? Kids pushing Ainsley out of the way to get to the slide. Makes me so mad!!! But Ainsley minded her manners very well. She would slide down and say "My turn?" and I'd say, "No, it's this little boy's turn." So he'd go, then she'd look at me and say "My turn?" It's always more fun when you can say "Yes, Ainsley's turn." Then she would get all excited before going down again.

Easter Sunday, Ainsley got to put on her brand new dress from Non Non and go to church with us.

We tried putting her in the nursery...well, they called Clif about 45 minutes in saying she wouldn't stop crying. So, Clif spent the rest of the service in the hallways and lobby with little Ainsley. I don't really blame her, it's not like she knows those people. Plus, she hasn't really been left with any one since she left day care.

After church we had brunch with Non Non, Auntie Carol and Cousin Meghann. It was nice to catch up with everyone and spend the holiday together.

Ainsley was very spoiled by the Easter bunny. She must have been a very good girl this year.

The following week, my friend Shanna and her little boy Grayson came to visit for a few days. Shanna is a teacher and she was on spring break. So she came to visit with us and see Courtney before she takes off back to Italy.

Ainsley and Grayson are only a few months apart. They had a lot of fun playing with one another.

It was really nice having Shanna around. She is one of my closest friends from college and we used to live together. Now, because we both have kids and we live about 4 hours apart, we rarely get together. It's sad, but good that we can still kind of pick up where we left off.

Thursday night we had a little cook out so Shanna could try and see as many friends as possible while she was in town. So most of the crew from Richmond came over with their kiddies and hung out on the deck for a few hours.

So that about catches you up with all the happenings. Through all this, Ainsley is just getting to be such a little girl. She can talk in sentences now and she has such a personality. I have to say, that she really is a good kid though. I talk about how rotten she is...and she is :) But she is sweet and she's really learning to share and take turns with other kids - that has taken a lot of work, but I think she's really starting to get it.

She also has maybe, kind of, sort of started to potty train. She has gone to the bathroom on the potty 3 times in the last few weeks. I know, not a huge feat, but it's a start. She does tell us that she needs to go, but normally it's right as she's going. So we don't often catch it in time. I think I may take a weekend in May and aggressively attack it to see if it sticks and she gets it. If not, I'll just drop it and wait a few months.

Oh my...I forgot the most important thing that has happened in the last few weeks. We have a new puppy!!

Yes, I know that I am insane! His name is Brinkley and he is so sweet. We got him at 4.5 months so he's almost completely house broken and just about as big as Gatsby. Speaking of Gatsby, he is in heaven with another dog around. They are so great together. Here are a few pics.

Finally, I want to introduce you all to Recession Clif.

He is almost exactly like regular Clif except he doesn't have a job...oh and he's growing a forest on his face and head!!! A regular reader of the blog has requested photo updates of Clif and his mane and I don't want to disappoint.

That's about all for now. I'll have pictures from the DMB concert Clif and I went to last weekend later in the week. Right now, I need to get back to work.