Help me decide!

So, I'm trying to take some pictures of Ainsley that are similar to pictures I have of Elise at this age. Then, I'll frame them (or scrapbook them) side by side as a comparison. I'm having trouble with the "5 month" shot...give me your opinions! Just go to "leave a comment" below the post, and you can leave a comment under "Anonymous" if you don't want to sign in. Just leave your name on the Anonymous post so I know who left imput! Thanks.

The middle picture is Elise at 5 months. The two on top and bottom are Ainsley...and I'm trying to see which is a better comparison...I know I won't be able to get the exact same pose, expression, etc...b/c they're different kids, but which do YOU think looks better side-by-side!?!

Bathtime

Along with just about everything else in life, Ainsley loves bathtime! Although she's actually gotten a little too big for the kitchen sink(thanks, in part, to the last 2 weeks of rice cereal! This kid is beefing up quickly!), it's definitely the easiest option so I still squeeze her in. Elise loves helping out. Check out the rolls on this kid- she could be the next Gerber baby, for sure. =)

No Poop and Peanut Butter

We hit the Waterpark again today and I'm pleased to announce that we made it WITHOUT any poop in the water (See last week's "Dirty Kid" post if you're confused)! It was a blast again- Elise just loves being in the water, playing on the slides, etc...and it feels great since it's almost 100 degrees here again today!
The trickiest part is getting us there, unloaded from the car, and then the reverse on the way home... We got home today after 2 hours in the sun and heat, I got Ainsley up to bed (crying b/c she was overtired, but that's what the 2nd kid gets to deal with, right?), and started prepping lunch for Elise and I. Elise informed me that she wanted "P Butter ackers" for lunch and went in the pantry to get the crackers. She came back and said "new P Butter, Mommy" and was holding the brand new GLASS jar of Organic Peanut Butter. Before I could say anything, she dropped it, glass shattering EVERYWHERE. I got she and Gus out of the way, cleaned it all up...but stewing the whole time that it wasn't the cheap plastic JIF at 2.99 a jar but the totally organic (and unopened) glass jar at, like, $5.25 a jar....grrr. I looked closely to see if I could salvage any of the PB, but I guess (!) the idea of ingesting glass for any of us isn't worth $5.25. I did think about it, though...

Daddy's little helper

"Safety first, folks!!! Although I didn't use the tools this time, I read a library book on Daddy's lap as he cut a hole in the island for an electric outlet. I think he appreciated the extra help and the safety goggles are so stylish, I loved them." Love, Elise

kitchen project #2

This house has a great kitchen. 11' ceilings, great "flow" into the eat-in portion and rest of the house, good pantry and cabinet space,etc...but the island is LAME! It's too small and seems to just be floating in the middle of a pretty expansive kitchen. So, the first project in this kitchen was to update and improve the island...after all, the kitchen is always where people hang out, right!?!


Standing at Kitchen table "Before" Shot


Standing at living room threshold "Before" shot

Good friends/neighbors were updating their kitchen and hated their island, so they gave it to us....Step 1 of free materials! Combining it with our current island, we would have a 4'x4' area to cover.
Adam found a great deal on Craigslist for a 10' section of butchers block. He cut it in half and we 'squared up' the future island....with a nice little 'nook' for the trashcan/a stool...

And the mostly FINISHED PROJECT......
It looks so great! It really fits the size of the kitchen now, it looks professionally done, and only took Adam a few hours on Saturday to get it almost totally complete! Yeah again.

Next step.... tile the countertops...it'll probably be a month or so, though...

Weekend Projects

Although the project started about 5 weeks ago, we finally finished re-doing the steps in our house. I'll re-attach the "during" shot, but here are a couple more...the steps look FANTASTIC and it's so nice to not have the nasty, smelly carpet under our feet collecting dog hair all day long. Amen and thanks for a handyman husband!

the dirty kid....

On Wednesday, the girls and I went to one of the big Charleston Waterparks with a friend Jessica and her two kids (almost identical in age to Elise and Ainsley). We figured that between the two of us, we could keep a close watch on the 'bigger' kids, or one of us could sit with the little ones in strollers, or whatever....woah. It was an EXAUSTING two hours! Elise and Ben didn't feel like playing in the same area at the same time, so our "tag team" approach didn't work. Elise loved the slides ...Ben was scared of the slides; Elise was bored with the water gun area, but Ben could've stayed there all day. You get the point.
As we got there, Jessica was telling me how her mom told her they shouldn't really go to 'these places'. "There are probably diseases in the water, it'll be so dirty, etc..."...with the STENCH of chlorine (which luckily I love!) in the air, I'm pretty sure there was no living bacteria in that place! Within 10 minutes of that conversation (and only 15 of being there overall!), Jessica and I both looked down at some dirt on elise's feet and legs. Thinking that strange since she'd just run out of the water, I went in for a closer look. Yep, you guessed it....POOP! Apparently the poop had liquified and travelled all the way down the back of her legs, onto her feet, between the toes, etc...seriously, if you're not gagging right now, you're the only one! I grabbed her up quickly, ran over to where our towels were, changed her, almost vomited once, and hoped that nobody was watching too closely. Jessica didn't think anyone else saw anything, but we moved to another portion of the pool for the next 15 minutes anyway, just until everything was "cleaned out".
Jessica's mom was right. There are dirty kids at the pool and moms that don't notice the floaters until too late. It's the Moseleys...

"Happy Fodder's Day, Daddy!"

We heard that phrase MANY times on Sunday, along with "Happy Birfday, Daddy"...ok, so Elise doesn't really understand it all. We had a quiet, but nice, day. Elise and I had colored a poster earlier in the week and we hung that up with streamers and a couple little presents. Elise was going in for a kiss from daddy on the bottom picture...

It sounds pretty boring, but we had some yard work to take care of, Elise went to the "Daddy Store" (Home Depot) with Adam for a little bit, which she always enjoys...we had a nice dinner and got to just play together in the afternoon since there was some bad weather outside. Adam also brewed the third batch of beer- an American Spiced Wheat Ale (to be named later).
After naptime, Elise and Adam worked together to build a little castle out of wood that's part of a kit we were given. Although Adam did most of the work, Elise liked "helping". After that, she and I painted it to make it look pretty. On Monday, I put a couple coats of varnish on it to really finish it up. Here are some pictures of the work in progress and the finished product.



We're so thankful for Adam and we really enjoyed the day together just as our family. Happy Fodder's Day to Adam and to all the other dads out there, too!

Ainsley's Day

After "Elise's Day" blog & photos the other day, I thought I'd do the same thing for Ainsley today, it's only fair, right?
Ainsley continues to be a total joy. She never stops smiling through the day, naps well, eats great, etc...she has good little "playtime"- rolling over, holding toys, giggling at Elise, and just watching everything around her. She loves her Exersaucer and is actually starting to play with the different elements and to try to put pieces in her mouth (Thanks for the hand-me-down, Guerreros!). =)
At her 4 month "well baby checkup" last week, the doctor recommended we start some little rice cereal meals a couple times a day to maybe help her sleep overnight. She's still awake and needing to eat every 4 hours overnight and it's just killin' me! After just two days of rice cereal 2x/day, she slept 7hours overnight on Saturday and Sunday!! Yeah. i was hoping to keep her exclusively nursing for 6 months just for the ease of everything, but I'm willing to try almost anything to help us all sleep overnight! So, we'll hope the cereal continues to fill her little tummy and help us all out! Here are two pics from the first attempt at rice cereal- Friday afternoon of last week...she wasn't so sure at first, but is getting better each attempt!

What is this stuff!?!

EIEIO, con't....

Sunday evening, (Father's Day), Elise and I were singing Old McDonald again...this time "Daddy" was on the farm. Thinking Daddy would "say" Tickle, fun, etc...but then she told me "Daddy says I love you, too". Awwww....so sweet. We also learned that "Ainsley says WAAAAAA".

E-I-E-I-O

There are days where I wonder if all Elise hears me say is "No, not right now, hold on a second, Stop doing that, etc..." in spite of me trying hard to focus on her individual needs/wants as much as I can.
A heart-warming moment hit twice yesterday while singing "Old McDonald..." with her. That's the song we sing before/during/after naptimes almost daily. After covering the basic animals of cow, piggy, sheep, rooster, etc...

elise said "on his farm he had a MOMMY" and then she giggled.

it was cute. and a first time for mommy on the farm.

So I kept going, "..>EIEIO...with a ummm? "What does a mommy say, elise?"

"Mommy says, 'I love you' " (!!!!)

Awwww. As my eyes got a little foggy, I kept going.

"...with I love you here, I love you there, here I love you, there I love you, everywhere I love you. Old McDonald had a farm, EIEIO"

That happened twice yesterday...and both times I was in awe. I guess it's moments like that will keep me going on days when I have no patience, little sleep, and no desire to sing yet ONE MORE verse of "Old McDonald"!

Elise's day-to-day...

Here are a couple quick shots of our day-to-day playtime with Elise. She is SO MUCH fun these days- especially as she starts to 'play' with Ainsley. She constantly says, "I Wuv Ain-swee, I pway wif Ain-swee, Ain-swee woll ober on Tummy all by self,etc..." it's adorable, really. So, here's a pic of a FORT (who can remember childhood without building forts all over the house!?) we built on Monday- elise INSISTED on having Ainsley AND Gus under there with her. She also ate lunch under the table. Although I felt old as my back creaked from getting in and out of the fort for a few hours, She LOVED it.



Her good little friend from across the street, Kristina, comes over almost daily and they play so well together. Although Kristina is almost 5, she's a great little playmate. It's extra cool because I see Elise's language skills improving DAILY, probably thanks to an 'older girl' influence.
Kristina was over Wednesday and we put "Superhero capes" on them and they ran (sorry, FLEW!) around the house for a solid 30 minutes...elise took a GREAT nap that afternoon! =)

"Ainsley" is famous!

Ok, so not really "FAMOUS", but maybe I could say "published"?! Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. A good friend of ours from Japan (now lives near Seattle with the NAVY and has three adorable little kids that Elise still talks about!), does custom-made baby gifts (bibs, burp cloths, blankets, etc...) and they're the CUTEST THINGS in the world! Seriously! Fantastic quality, adorable fonts and patterns, etc...they're so professional looking and made with love! =) Cheryl made three burp cloths for Ainsley (which we get compliments on ALL THE TIME!) and the pictures of those are on her website. So, that kind of makes her famous, right?! =)
Anyway, if you are AT ALL looking for a baby gift for anyone or something (especially great for '2nd kids' when the parents already have all the necessary gear and you just want to send something fun and personalized)...here's a shameless advertisement for Cheryl and her company. Check out "justsewcute.com" (even an adorable name), and look at "burp cloths" for 2 of the 3 of Ainsley's...as an example. Cheryl is the first to admit that her website needs a little work, but the quality of the product is top notch, the website is just a work in progress...so, that's all. Check it out and let me know if you have any other questions, email her through the website or ask me- I've ordered burp cloths and bibs from her several times, and I have 3 of my own now, too! =) Enjoy!

...Desperate Times

When we first moved to Jacksonville (4 1/2 years ago-WOW!), Adam quickly FORCED me to get a job. Why? He would come home from work and I would absolutely overwhelm him with a need to 'use my words' (there's some theory out there that by the end of the day a woman needs to speak 30,000 words vs men using 15,000. That's probably a pretty accurate difference in how the sexes communicate). I didn't have any friends there, yet, and I wouldn't talk to anyone throughout the day. He would get home from work and I would pounce on him and just talk,talk,talk,talk....poor guy.
Then I got a part-time job at the outdoor gear shop, "used" all my words during the day working in retail and everyone was happy!
I think the same scenario has played out this week. Adam has been out of town for 7 full days now and I'm dying to 'use my words' on anyone, anywhere...it's pitiful, but I make myself laugh to think about it.
Example #1: Thursday I went to the nearby park with both girls. Ainsley played/slept happily in the Baby Bjorn, so I was able to play well with Elise. However, there was a friendly mom who started talking to me early on...man, would she come to regret that! She was so sweet and we traded 'pregnancy/kid/husband stories' for a few minutes, then she walked away following her kid to a slide. She had another friend with her and they were clearly catching up on old times, talking about college memories, etc... I was SHAMELESS and kept hovering so they would include me in the conversation. They would move away a little and avoid eye contact with me, but I kept moving in on their conversations...after about an hour it was time to go home-I'm pretty sure they faked the "our kids are getting tired, we've got to go now..." line!

Example #2 (this is so humiliating): Friday afternoon we headed to Publix for groceries. Ainsley (once again in the Bjorn) was super happy, and Elise was being great, too. Two people in a row stopped us and said how cute the girls are, which is always sweet, but I was on a mission to get groceries and get home. We're in the Apple juice aisle and this guy/wife with a 3ish year old keep commenting on how smiley Ainsley is. I take it as 'invitation for friendship' and just start chatting with them...so much for my "mission". After a couple SECONDS of small talk, they AGAIN say "your little one is just SO happy..." Then I, at a loss for how to return the compliment b/c their kid is throwing a total fit, I say, "yeah, she's the kind of kid that makes you want to have another one right away". They looked a little shocked at the comment, YET I KEPT GOING!! "I mean, who wouldn't want to get pregnant again immediately when this one is so good?!"...The look of disbelief on their faces finally got through to me and I stammered something like, "Well, I should go now..." and walked off quickly, avoiding eye contact when we passed several more times throughout the store. I mean, was I really discussing our FAMILY PLAN/REPRODUCTIVE FUTURE with ABSOLUTE strangers at Publix?!?! Who does that!?!
I guess I do.
Good thing Adam gets home soon.

Bubbles...

After an afternoon in the sprinkler, I took Elise up to the bath after dinner last night. While "coloring" in the tub with bathtub finger paints (Thanks, Paul and Jen), she was apparently experiencing a little intestinal discomfort. After the second or third "episode" she said (all by herself, not prompted by me, I promise!), "Eis (Elise) toot in bat-tub make bubbles". YES! hilarious. We called my brother Kelly, knowing he would appreciate it more than most. Elise repeated it mostly on the phone and it was great.

National Lampoon's Camping Trip

As the title suggests, we took a 'camping' trip this past weekend. Since Adam has been out of town more than we'd expected with this job, we wanted to just get away for a day and have a little adventure with the girls...and it was definitely that!
We rented a pop-up camper from the nearby Air Force Base, which was very nice. It had 2 queen-sized beds, a gas stove, mini-fridge, and (the kicker) AIR CONDITIONING! Hilarious. Adam is a long way from the 8-day backpacking trips he used to guide in Colorado and Wyoming with Young Life...if it weren't for the kiddos, we'd still be 'roughin it', I promise!
We decided to just do 24 hours out as the first camping attempt and headed over to ShortStay, a Naval Recreation site- just 45 minutes from home. The place was awesome- situated on a huge lake (Lake Moultrie), there was a good-sized beach, tons of kids running around playing, campsites, log cabins, a playground, mini-mart, sailboats to rent, etc...we had a blast during the day! We spent most of the time in the lake- our own private little beach area, too.

Elise got to try her own little kayak out, she LOVED 'swimming' with Adam, and got thrown in the air more times than we could count...(on a side note, as a result of throwing a 36 pound wiggly kid into the air dozens of times, Adam's back hurt so bad he could barely move on Monday!).

Naptime didn't go so well- elise thought it was more fun to peek under the curtain and talk to us over and over again, for about 2 hours until we gave up and went back into the lake...

Ainsley was easy and happy, she became a true "roller" over the weekend, too, flipping over onto her tummy every single time we put her down on her back. She slept great the whole day and went through 5 outfits in under 24 hours, using a variety of bodily fluids.


The only big issue was sleeping overnight for elise! She was so over-tired from not napping and hours in the sun that she just couldn't settle well. Poor thing (and poor us!)- she was awake crying (sometimes in total hysterics) from 8pm until midnight! augh. She's a kid who likes routine and we screwed that up enough for one day that I think she just snapped. Adam ended up sleeping in the bed with her and Ainsley and I bunked in the other one. Since we hadn't planned on that, I didn't bring an extra blanket, so about 1 am I found Adam shivering and curled up under one of Ainsley's extra 'swaddling' blankets! I would've loved a picture of that. We both woke up looking/feeling pretty ragged, but we survived! It was fun, a little chaotic, and another realization that packing up/getting away/cleaning up isn't NEARLY as simple as it used to be. We loved it, overall...it just may be another 6 months until we try it again!

A Winning (?) Bet

A couple weeks ago, Adam had some neighbors over here for a poker night. Although Adam claimed it would be an "early night" as I went to bed around 10, he didn't join me until after 1:30...and at some point in the evening, the fact came out that Adam has a kilt in our closet...it's another story how he got it- THANKS, TIM WATKINS!!!!!! I guess in the course of the conversations, Adam was DARED to wear the kilt to the Memorial Day picnic a few days later. The winnings, should he choose to don the kilt, was a box of Padrone (sp?) cigars! I guess that's a good thing amongst the guys... So, two days later, we're getting ready for the picnic and Adam comes downstairs in the outfit pictured below...I had forgotten the mention of the bet and was a little shocked when I heard Elise exclaim, "PRETTY DRESS, DADDY". We both almost fell over laughing! (He actually changed the shirt before we left to make it a little 'louder' outfit...he wore a bright blue Hawaiian shirt with the plaid kilt!!!). We walked across the street, the neighbors were UNBELIEVABLY SHOCKED that he actually wore it outside! We loved it and it was hilarious...obviously, they're not aware of what former Young Life Staff members have done/will do for a good laugh (and a box of expensive cigars) !!! Elise's line was classic and the guys are bringing the cigars to the next poker night! Nice dress, Adam...

"NEXT BLOG"

Ok, so I have several postings building up in my head and with Adam out of town for a week, I'll get to them soon... but this one I've been meaning to type quickly forever...at the top of our blog page (but below your Internet Search Windows), you'll see a blue 'task bar' that has the option of hitting "Next Blog"...near the middle of the screen Right-to-Left...see it? Ok, sometime when you're a little bored, hit that button. You can just skip through a million Blogger windows! (I guess it's kind of like spying, or "Lurking" as my brother Kelly recently introduced us to a new term), but it's absolutely fascinating. The coolest thing is that it changes by the minute...you can just keep hitting "Next Blog" at the top of most pages and go on for awhile...It's a real sociology lesson when sometimes you'll go through 10 blogs in a row that AREN'T in ENGLISH! It's so cool to realize that, as Americans, we're really not the majority of the world that we often think we are! You'll see blogs of people's families like us, advertising sites, just random stuff, etc...I saw one the other day titled 'Teenage Knitter: I love monkeys, I love knitting, so I make Knit Monkeys"...such a riot...and pretty ugly knit monkeys! =)
So, "Next Blog"-away and and enjoy!