Good News

I need to post about cookie making and decorating and such but this is just a quick post to tell you all some good news.

As most of you know, I had gestational diabetes with Ainsley. Well, I took my sugar test on Friday and NO DIABETES!!!!!! Yay, I'm so excited. That means no specialists, no needles, no insulin and all the sugar I want!!!!!! Kidding, I don't need to gain 50 pounds. However, I would be really sad if I could not eat any of the cookies Ainsley helped make or drink a milk shake when my heartburn gets so bad I can't deal.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Cinderella Make Believe

Aunt DeeDee and Uncle Mike came to visit yesterday and brought Ainsley her Christmas presents. They got her a Cinderella dress up outfit. Ainsley, as you can imagine, adores it and asks to put on her "bwue petty dess" every 20 minutes.

Instead of writing all about it, I will just show you these two videos. Enjoy...

And what Cinderella outfit would be complete without glass slippers...

Not So Perfect

There are 2 reasons that I keep this blog. First - to keep you all up to date on Ainsley and us. I don't live near any of my family or Clif's and I want them all to know Ainsley like we do. Second - I suck at keeping up with baby books, scrapbooks, journals, etc. So this one day will be my children's memory books. And I have to keep up with it or I hear it from you all :)

So the point of this post is just to tell a funny story about Ainsley. I know I complain about her sleeping habits, but aside from that she really is just the best little girl. She is so well behaved and so happy and so loving and caring. I really don't know how I deserved such a perfect little girl. Well, okay, she's not PERFECT...but she's about as close as any kid could get. This story is about her not being so perfect...but man is she cute!

While we were visiting Nanny and Poppa Ainsley picked up a new phrase...I'm not placing any blame here, because I'm pretty sure I've never heard my in-laws say this, however, it may be Cameron's fault. Just kidding Uncle Cam :)

Ainsley likes to go into their basement and jump on the small trampoline that is down there. Sometimes Caitlyn or Amanda or I will take her down to "jump-jump." However, my in-laws often keep that door locked. So we are all sitting around the den at one point and Ainsley walks over to the door and tries to open it.

"What the hell?!"

We all kind of looked at her and looked at each other. I wasn't exactly sure she had said that because it came out more "What da heel?!" And I thought, no, where did she hear that? I'm pretty sure Clif and I don't really say that. So I let it slide.

Then I heard multiple stories of her saying it over the weekend when I wasn't around and was soon convinced, when she dropped a toy on the floor and exclaimed "What da heel?!" that, she indeed was saying what we thought.

Well, fast forward to the day we get our Christmas tree. We're getting the living room ready, since the tree needed to be where a couch was. As Clif pulled the couch around to the other side of the living room, Ainsley stopped, looked at him strangely and said "Daddy, what da heel?!"

Clif was no help...he turned away and started shaking in laughter. So I reacted as quickly as I could, grabbed her and said "Ainsley, in the corner! We DO NOT talk like that."

She seemed very confused and didn't really understand why she was being punished, but she obliged and stood in the corner for a few minutes. Afterwards, I explained that we don't talk like that and we should ask nicer questions.

Later on, as we were getting ready for bed, Ainsley said "Mommy?" in a very sweet little voice, when I responded she said "What da heel?! We DO NOT say dat!"

I didn't punish her this time, just tried not to laugh and said "That's right Ainsley." And she hasn't said it since. However, I find myself thinking that "What the hell?!" is not such a bad curse word as potty language goes. And it is just so freaking cute the way she says it...maybe it wouldn't be too bad to encourage it?

Joking...kind of.

Cinderella Barbie

When we visited my Aunt a couple of weeks ago, Ainsley found a Barbie doll that was dressed as Cinderella. My Aunt gave it to her at the end of our visit and let me tell you, she has not been the same. She LOVES that doll. She dances with her, kisses her, hugs her, carries her around the house and tries to sleep with her. Since she usually ends up in bed with us, Clif was not down with the idea of rolling over on a hard Barbie doll. So to keep her from crying, I told her we would make Cinderella Barbie her own bed and put her to bed the next night.

Well remember that memory I mentioned in my last post? She does not forget. I had no more than taken off my coat from work the next day when she said "Mommy, make bed for Cinderella Barbie?" So I went to work.

You see, when I was a kid my parents were flat broke, but I loved me some Barbies. So I didn't have any of the fancy Barbie stuff. My mom made a lot of the Barbie clothes. However, there was a girl in my neighborhood who had every possible Barbie accessory, but she was also fairly annoying. So like any kid, I really only played with her because of her good stuff. So when I couldn't stand to be around her anymore I went back to my own Barbies with handmade clothes and I would build elaborate houses/rooms/towns for them using shoe boxes and towels and bowls and thread spools. I got very creative.

I found a shoe box and grabbed a couple of old pillow cases, a hand towel and a burp cloth. Voila, Cinderella Barbie's bed...

Now every night we hug her and kiss her good night. Then we tuck her in and she sleeps in her own bed on top of Daddy's dresser.

If only we could get Ainsley to sleep in her own bed...that is coming soon.

Trimming the Tree

This past weekend we ventured out in the cold rain to get our Christmas Tree. It was not really the Christmas-y weather you'd hope for when Christmas tree shopping, but sometimes your schedule is limited and you don't have much of a choice.

It actually wasn't too bad. Even though we had to deal with the wet conditions, there was no one else there. So we got personalized treatment from the staff and pretty much had the place to ourselves.

We did not take pictures of the actually Christmas Tree purchasing adventure, due to inclement weather, but we did take some when we got home.

Here's Ainsley placing one of her ornaments on the tree...

And here's a picture of Ainsley's favorite Christmas tree branch...

I can only assume it's her favorite because she put 7 ornaments on it.

While decorating I started telling Ainsley about Santa and how he would come and leave presents for her while she was sleeping. Well, big mistake. She wakes up every morning saying "Santa come my house and peasants for Ainsley?" I guess I need to learn to keep my mouth shut. She definitely is getting a better memory.

We also went to the Grand Illumination in downtown Richmond on Friday night. If you've ever driven up 95 through Richmond during this time of year, you know that all the buildings are outlined in white lights. The Grand Illumination is when all those lights get switched on. It was fun and Ainsley seemed to enjoy it. She was most excited that Santa was there. I don't think we'll have a repeat of last year. I think she will gladly sit on Santa's lap this year. When she saw him she said "Mommy, der Santa! My go see him! Santa yove me, mommy!" (Mommy, there's Santa, can I go see him. Santa loves me!)

Yes Ainsley, Santa does love you!

Thanksgiving Celebration

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend with Clif's family. After work on Wednesday, I actually went and got a manicure and a massage...wonderful. Exactly what I needed. Then we just hung out at home the rest of the night. It was nice to sit and relax before running off for a very busy 4 days.

Thursday morning we drove to Clif's grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner before heading on to Northern Virginia. We got to visit with Clif's Aunt and Cousins and some of their kids.

Friday morning, Ainsley and I went to visit with my Aunt Linda, Uncle Matt and their two boys. Every time I see these kids I feel so old. I remember visiting my aunt in the hospital when she had the younger one and I spent a lot of my high school and college days babysitting and hanging out with these little guys. They are the only reason I know that a little boy will love to hang out with me! Now, not so little. They both tower over me. The oldest, Eddie, is in his second year of college. The younger one, Chris, is a Junior in High School. Where does the time go? This is how I like to remember them...

And here they are now...

Wonderful young men, but I miss those sweet cute little boys :( It's hard to believe that my kids will be that big one day.

We headed back to Nanny and Poppa's house Friday afternoon to visit with Cameron and Amanda. They gave Ainsley her Christmas present early...a brand new pair of boots. And not just any boots...Uggs! Lucky little girl.

Saturday we went to the mall for a bit where Ainsley got a new little pet at Build-A-Bear. The skating puppy's name is Sandy...because Ainsley loves Annie. This was Auntie Keek's present to Ainsley...yes, I have the most spoiled child on earth. What will she do when baby brother arrives!

Saturday night was the engagement party for Cam and Amanda. Ainsley had a ball running around in her pretty dress and twirling with all the bigger girls.


Mommy was very tired and had trouble keeping up with the little bug...who managed to go, go, go on very little sleep and very little food. The child was so distracted all weekend that she barely touched her meals and napping? Well that was out of the question.

Sunday morning Ainsley rode her Little Wheels that Nanny and Poppa got for her before we headed home.


Ainsley does not like to leave people and does not like guests to leave us. She was pretty sad, but stayed a big girl and didn't cry.

Then we sat in traffic and just vegged out the rest of the evening. Very busy weekend, but lots of fun.

Ainsley and Her Boyfriends

NOTE: I wrote this post about a week ago, but have been so busy that I never could upload pictures until today. I will post soon about our Thanksgiving Holiday.

Not only did grandma come to visit us this weekend but we got a big surprise when my friend Courtney from Italy and my friend Shanna from the Eastern Shore brought their little boys to play on Saturday! This was our best effort to get the 3 of them together for a picture. We had to bribe a few of them with fruit snacks.

Ainsley just loves playing with other kids. For awhile I thought she might be a loner because anytime we were around other kids she just wanted to play with adults or play by herself. However, now she just loves to take kids to her playroom and play, play, play!

She and Grayson did so well together, better than they've done in the past. We had a much better time sharing and communicating with each other. It's so cute how they have their own little language and seem to understand each other perfectly. We could hear them talking in the playroom, back and forth just like adults. They're such mini grown ups!

Last time Grayson and Ainsley played, Grayson taught her to jump off the ottoman. This time, Ainsley taught him to escape the baby gate and climb into her crib and jump on the mattress. Shanna, I apologize if Grayson starts climbing out of his crib. They seem to like to share their rotten little habits with one another.

Otherwise, it was a very busy weekend. I had 2 jewelry shows and Clif went to visit some friends. We are all looking forward to a 4 day weekend this coming week!