The Little Gym

Last night, we were invited by some friends, to a toddler class at The Little Gym. I've always wanted to take Ainsley to a place like this, but just haven't gotten around to it. It was so much fun and I think Ainsley really enjoyed it as well. She got to walk on a balance beam, ride on a parachute, swing on rings, and flip over the uneven bars. She had so much fun on all the equipment that she barely participated in the group activities. Oh, and she loved the water fountain. You give that kid a water fountain and she is happy for hours.

After our class, I was sure that Ainsley would sleep great last night. Once again we are going through some difficulties. It seems she does so well for awhile and then all of the sudden something creeps up. Right now it's the going to sleep at a reasonable time that she's having trouble with. Well, after trying for quite awhile to get her to sleep, I finally put her in bed with me. I was just too tired to deal with it anymore. I turned on Mary Poppins, her current favorite movie - she calls it A Puppins, thinking that it would lull her to sleep. Well, mommy passed out almost immediately. Ainsley not so much. Suddenly I felt this little breath right in my face and heard "Mommy...Mommy...Mommy...A up Mommy." (Translation: Get Up Mommy!). I open my eyes to the end of the movie and the clock reading 11:56. YES, the child stayed up until midnight!!!! I really am a horrible parent sometimes...but it is instances like this that I don't know what else to do. That kid is strong willed and if she doesn't want to sleep, she won't! You know if you read this blog, that I have tried just about everything. I have read books, I have asked friends, I have researched the Internet, I have made up my own theories...nothing works.

Oh well, otherwise she's a great kid...so I guess I can't complain. I guess I will just be sleep deprived until she hits the teenage years. Then she'll want to sleep all the time and I'll say "Uh-uh kiddo...you kept me up, now I keep you up." She can clean the house while I take a nap :)

We are supposed to get our camera back tomorrow. Of course that is coming from the worst store ever, so I don't really believe them. But keep your fingers crossed and hopefully I'll have pictures to post this weekend.

Pig Tails!!!!

So just a quick update. I just got pictures from a friend that was at the cook out with us Sunday. I put Ainsley's hair in pig tails that day. Very tiny, hardly noticeable pig tails, but still pig tails. Here are the pictures...enjoy.

Memorial Day Weekend

So I still have no camera...and we can't find the charger for our video camera...so still no visuals of Ainsley Bug. I can't believe we can't find our charger...we rarely use that camera so you'd think it would be in a logical place, but can't find it. Hopefully we will have our camera back this week and I can post pictures.

We had a very nice Memorial Day Weekend. I'm so glad we weren't travelling or doing anything busy. We tried the potty training thing on Saturday. It was a no go. By the end Ainsley was running away from me and tearing up every time I said the word potty. So that means she's not ready. We will wait until this fall I think.

Nanny and Poppa came to visit that afternoon for a late lunch and then we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening doing a few things around the house, watching Ainsley play in the pool and just relaxing.

Sunday Ainsley and I went to church again and next week, she'll be visiting the nursery while I attend the service. I just can't take the stress of it. I ended up leaving about 15 minutes before the end of the service. She just talks so much, all the time in fact, and she just doesn't have the whispering thing down yet. At the end of the first hymn she clapped and said "Yeah." Everyone thought that was really cute. However, when she started pounding on the metal chair with pencils and screaming "NO MINE" when I took them away, I knew it was time to leave. So hopefully she will enjoy the nursery next Sunday.

That afternoon we went to a cookout at my good friend Tara's house. Ainsley was the only child there and Tara and Ron have a REALLY nice house with REALLY nice things, so I was a little nervous, but Ainsley did great. She was such a good girl, other than sneaking M&M's all night, she really behaved well and everyone seemed to enjoy her.

We drove a friend home that night and she was so upset when she got out of the car. She kept asking "A Natole? A Natole doe?" (Translation: Where's Nicole? Where did Nicole go?) So I'd say "Nicole had to go home" and she would burst into tears. She was a bit overtired, and she really likes Nicole :) She hates when people leave, she just loves having visitors.

Yesterday was very low key. We slept in, we went out for breakfast, walked around the mall, and just kind of sat around the house. I think everyone was just tired and not really looking forward to getting back to the normal week. I for one, am not so happy to be sitting at work right now. I'd much rather have another day with Clif and Ainsley.

Four day week Jaime, only 4 days until the weekend...

Little Miss Priss

In the mornings, if Ainsley is awake when I'm getting ready, she is all about the hair product, the makeup, the lotion, the brushes...anything girlie you can imagine. She watches me put on lotion and says "My some? A my yegs mommy? My some" That means: Can I have some? On my legs, mommy? Can I have some?

Then she watches me do my hair in the bathroom. "My some mommy? My aire? My some" and she pats her head. So I give her the tiniest bit of mousse and she splats it on the top of her head matting her hair down.

Then she sees the makeup case come out and she starts "My some mommy? My face? My yeyes?" That's my eyes. So I pretend to put blush and eye shadow on her and then she runs to show daddy.

She's such the prissy girl.

This weekend we are attempting potty training. We'll see how it goes...I'm not going to stress over it and I'm not going to overly push. But she does often ask to sit on the potty, she just rarely does anything once she's there.

Have a great LONG weekend.

I ya you fuggy.

So, I know I'm biased, but seriously, Ainsley is just the sweetest little thing in the world. Last night she was taking her bath and became fascinated with the faucet cover, which is a frog. She'd take it off and play with it, then put it back and laugh and say "Ah fuggy!" That would be froggy for all of you not familiar with Ainsley speak.

Finally, I said "Okay, time to get out" and I drained the water. Well as the water drained, she said goodbye to "fuggy." She had put him back on the faucet at this point and she proceeded to kiss him and whisper "I ya you fuggy. I ya you." Then she'd kiss, kiss, kiss him over and over again. Then again she'd whisper "I ya you." Kiss. "I ya you." Kiss.

It was really just too precious for words.

No Camera :(

Our camera is broken :( So we had to take it back to that evil place that I hate and it won't be returned for 2-4 weeks. So no new pics of Ainsley until then.

It has been a looooooong week and I am just really looking forward to the weekend. We have no plans this coming weekend, so it will be nice to just hang out around the house and get some things done. These kind of weekends always feel longer which is exactly what I need right now...a long weekend. Work has been wearing me out and I feel like I haven't had a break in ages.

Ainsley is talking like crazy. It amazes me the things that she knows how to say. Everyday it's something new and different. Most days, while I'm at work, I'll call home and talk to her for a few minutes. She'll say "Hiiiii Mommy! Ewww a werk?" Translation: Hi Mommy! Are you at work? Then I'll ask her how she is and she'll say "A fiiine," (I'm fine) and then she'll go on to tell me about the video she's watching or what daddy is doing. I can't quite get it all, but it's getting more and more clear every day. Maybe since I can't take pictures I will break out the video camera and take some video of her chatting away. I'll try and do that this weekend.

Hope everyone makes it through this very long week and I'll be in touch soon.

A Formula That Works...For Now

So I have finally found it! After almost 2 years of motherhood, I have finally found the magic formula. That balance between being a mom, being a wife, working, keeping my house in some order, working out and taking a class. Well, at least for now. I'm hoping it sticks...we'll see.

It started with the class. A couple of months ago I decided that I just had to do it in the morning. I had to get up early and just do it. Well, I guess that has been the toughest part of my transition. Getting up early is no easy task when a certain little girl does not always sleep so well. So every morning I try to get up early and work on my class. I would say I make it 3 out of 7 days. Hey, at least it's a start. Better than the 0 out of 7 I was accomplishing.

Then I decided I needed to try and get in shape. Also, not easy when you only have 3-4 good hours a night and it's also the only time you spend with your family. So I have joined a gym 2 miles from my office and I go for 20 minutes 3-4 times a week during my lunch break. Bonus: My company pays for it if I go 9 times a month :)

Finally, and I think this is my favorite part, I have figured out how to keep my house relatively clean. Clif and I each do one chore a day/night. Like tonight I'll do laundry and Clif will pick up the clutter in the bedrooms. It's worked for 2 weeks so far. I know 2 weeks is not a long time...but if you have been to my house unexpectedly in the last 2 years, you know that 2 weeks is a LIFETIME!!!!! My house is always crazy, chaos, clutter, mess!!!! In the past I have tried to clean the entire house in the span of 2 hours. This always just felt overwhelming and impossible, which it is, so I would usually end up doing 1 or 2 things on my list of 20. This would then make me feel like a failure and I would end up eating ice cream on the couch for the rest of the night.

The mom and wife thing I think I had down pretty well. And work, well that's a dreaded necessity so it has to fit in for a whopping 40-50 hours a week. It was fitting all the other things I wanted or needed to do in to that tight schedule.

So that's it. Maybe I should write a book. Speaking of, I even managed to READ a book in the last couple of months. Imagine that!!!!

Now that I'm done praising myself for my brilliance, I'll move on :)

Sunday was Mother's Day (belated happy mother's day to all my favorite mommies). When I got out of the shower Sunday morning, Clif was making breakfast and my gift was sitting on the table.

Isn't it beautiful? I think she'll be the next Monet!

After breakfast I did a very brave thing...I took Ainsley to church with me, by myself. I was so stressed through the whole service, but it was ok. Not great, but ok. The people around us seemed very amused by Ainsley. She liked to announce to me, and everyone in the room, that the man next to us was sleeping every time we prayed. She also liked to sing her songs (Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and the Bumble Bee Song), dance and sway with her eyes closed while we sang hymns. She reminded me a bit of Stevie Wonder. God bless the woman behind us who put me as at ease as I was going to get. She said "Now just remember there is only one person in this whole room that she is bothering and who thinks she's out of hand...and that is you." It made me feel better, but it was still a bit stressful.

We made it through the hour long service then headed home so we could go to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. We did this last year on a rainy Mother's Day. This year, it was beautiful out and the garden was much more crowded, but it was still a really nice afternoon. Last year, Clif took this really great picture of Ainsley and me and we thought we'd try and get another this year. Well, here's the best we could do. Ainsley wanted nothing of it.

We spent some time walking through the new rose garden and meandering through the woods, but Ainsley was not enjoying the stroller much. As I've said recently, it's a bit harder with her so mobile. She just wants to get out and run.

We spent most of the time in the Children's Garden. Ainsley could be a little more free to run around and play there without tearing anything up.

It's a great area of the garden. It's fairly new and there are a bunch of things for kids to do. There's a tree house and a little area with water fountains that kids can run though. They also have these little huts and houses with brooms and drums and other instruments the kids can use. Then there are hula hoops and sidewalk chalk. Ainsley was kept very busy and very entertained. She really liked the broom. I guess that bodes well for us later.

I would have to say her favorite part was the little cottage in the Arboretum. She kept knocking on the door saying "Hewwoa. Hewwoa."

She seemed to have a good time, but was definitely over it by the time we left. She fell asleep in her car seat on the way to lunch.

All in all it was a fabulous Mother's Day. I am very grateful for my wonderful family, and I guess that's what you're supposed to realize on Mother's Day. So mission accomplished.

My Hat Daddy

Last weekend we travelled to Raleigh to visit Carolyn and Mike. Friday night they had a cook out and invited some friends over. Saturday we ventured out to the beer fest. Ainsley did OK. She is getting a little old to take to these things now. I know that sounds odd, but when she was younger we could put her in the baby carrier and walk around all day, she'd fall asleep when she wanted and all was good. Even 6 months ago we could bank on her falling asleep in the stroller. Now, she wants out.

She wants to run around and play and explore and we just really can't do that with millions of people around. So most of the day was spent carrying her around or forcing her back into the stroller. I guess we'll have to forgo these types of events for awhile.

Even though the festival did not turn out as planned, it was still a really fun weekend. We've seen so much of Carolyn and Mike lately that I'm going to miss them over the next couple of months where we won't be seeing them. I know Ainsley will miss them too.

We got home Sunday evening and I think we were all pretty tired so we headed out for some Chinese food. Before we left, Ainsley did one of the cutest things I've ever seen/heard. Oh this is a perfect opportunity to give you a new pic of Recession Clif:

So since Recession Clif must tame his mane in public, he has taken to wearing his Redskins hat always. While we sat around the house before heading out, Ainsley found the hat and wore it around for a bit. As we were walking out the door this is what happened...

Clif: Ainsley, can daddy have his hat back?

Ainsley: No daddy, my hat.

Clif: I think it's my hat, can I wear it?

(Now picture this little girl with a big ole hat on her head, backwards no less, and she looks up at Clif with these big puppy dog eyes and says...)

Ainsley: Ah, no, ah bababa daddy, my hat, babababa ah...pwease?

And then she just waits. And Clif melted...and got a different hat. It was seriously the most precious thing I've ever seen. I have no idea what all those "bababa's" meant, but it was obvious that she was saying "No daddy, I want the hat, can I wear it please?"

Too cute.