Thanks, Aunt Amanda!

In addition to "Spring/Easter" care packages we received recently from both grandmothers (THANK YOU!!!), we got one from Adam's sister Amanda. There were new PJ's for both girls in the box and they SOO needed that! So, here are a couple pictures of the girls from this weekend...Elise LOVES them and keeps talking about her 'new pretty jammies"! Thanks, Amanda!


Ainsley also loves necklaces lately...she's constantly putting them on herself and is so proud.



Ainsley hugging Gus. I love the "fine, I'll just sit here and take it" look on his face!

Playing in the rain...again...

It was raining outside yesterday and Elise BEGGED to play outside after naptime...you can see it was a pretty serious storm (no thunder or lightening, though!), but she LOVES it so, who cares?! Let's play in the rain! I put on her new suit and she had a blast...she ran around, splashed in the 2" deep water at the curb, DUNKED her hair in the rain on the street (see pic #2 below). The fun lasted about 30 minutes and she slept well after that. So cute.



Ainsley is WAY MORE timid about pools, bathtubs, new experiences, etc... so we weren't sure how she'd feel about playing in the rain. She was happy for a couple minutes...


Until she fell in a puddle and then she FROZE in place! She was on the border of hysterically crying, but it was so funny . We had to snap just one picture before I picked her up...She doesn't like mud/dirt/water the way her sister does...but she's adorable in her own way.

Our Recon trip to VA

Ok, so no pictures to post...we took our camera with us to VA, but didn't even take it out of the bag the whole weekend. Just no extra energy...I'm not sure how much I've shared on the blog, but here's the gist of it: A month ago, Adam turned in his resignation letter to the NAVY and he's accepted a law job in Roanoke, VA. There are SOOOO Many reasons for this turn of events, but the simplest explanation is just this, It's the best thing for our family. We've LOVED some of the great experiences being a NAVY JAG has provided in the past 5 or 6 years, but the constant moving, the TONS of traveling even on a "home job" has worn hard on me (and thus EVERYONE suffers some!). Being pregnant with our 3rd kiddo and looking ahead to what would surely be a year-ish in Iraq/Afghanistan a year from now, knowing we'd have another overseas job w/in 10 years, etc...was just too much. So, he was offered and AWESOME opportunity with a small firm in Roanoke. Adam has lived in VA before and loved it, so he went to visit/meet people in January and we went back this weekend to "Recon" some neighborhoods, meet some people, etc...and it was very encouraging! We loved seeing mountains all around us, lakes nearby, and LOTS of mature trees. Elise and Ainsley were FANTASTIC- 3 nights in a hotel room and countless hours in their carseats and they were total champs. We stopped at several playgrounds around town and that was a ton of fun, too. It turns out Ainsley loves slides and Elise (I knew this part!) is quite the little daredevil on the playground! We're hoping to move there around Oct 1st, so I'm sure there will be another actual house-hunting trip, but this was a great weekend to acclimate ourselves to the area a bit. With Baby #3 due in early September, we've got a crazy 6-8 months ahead of us, but we're up for the challenge!

fever, doctors, and earache, oh my!

Yesterday afternoon, Ainsley woke up from her nap with a Fever! Augh. My kids really NEVER get sick, so it was a little unsettling to me when her temperature was hovering around 103 for a couple of hours. She wouldn't stop crying, wasn't eating well, and was just very "not her". Adam was out of town, and my wonderful friend Jean made me leave Elise with her and just take Ainsley into the ER to get checked out. (Since it was past 4pm, the Navy doctors were gone for the day, nobody was answering the Physician Referral line, etc...) So, we left at 6pm and headed into the closest ER. She was pitiful, just totally lethargic in the car and VERY CUDDLY with me (which is totally unlike her- she NEVER snuggles).
The good thing? A crying, pitiful, adorable baby in the ER gets back to see a doctor quickly.
The funny thing? A little-bit flustered mom of said baby can be an idiot.
As I filled out the forms, I put her first name as "Erica"...uh, that's me. I put her Birthday as Feb 8th (no, it's the 7th), and I wrote Adam's SS# wrong. They couldn't find us in their system...shocking since I was giving information of a kid that didn't exist! I apologized numerous times, but I know they were thinking I was an idiot. Sick kid, high fever, husband gone, other kid with neighbor, me pregnant, etc...not a great combination!
An hour later, we were on our way to Walgreens to pick up a prescription for double Ear Infections...one in each ear, that is. She slept ALL night (which i hear is rare with ear infection kiddos), and is feeling much better today. She's still extra tired, cuddly, and a little 'off', but mostly back to her smiley self. What a great little kid. =)

In the Bear Cave...

Elise and Ainsley are really starting to play well together and it's so fun! I heard a lot of thumping and crashing for a couple minutes while I was prepping dinner earlier today. There was no crying, so I stayed in the kitchen. =) A few minutes later, Elise told me to come and find them "in the cave" in the playroom. Here's what I saw a few seconds later:




The best part was the laughter! They were cracking each other up and it was a riot. Also, note the mess on the floor. That cabinet is where we keep all their books...of course it took awhile to clean up, but it was well worth it for the pictures and memory!

Last 12 months...

We love our MAC computer. I was resistant at first, but quickly converted into a MAC LOVER! One of my favorite programs is the totally basic iPhoto. We don't do anything too fancy with pictures, but I love to organize them, look back over old and new shots, etc...Last night I was playing around with some fun weekend pictures and accidentally hit the "view last 12 months" portion. WOW. I was amazed to see the first pictures that came up that were 364 days ago. WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?! Someone once told me that (with kids, especially. But with everything really) "days and weeks go slowly; months and years fly by!" It's so true. Here are a couple pictures from 12 months ago vs. this weekend. Almost unbelievable the changes in these two kids!

Easter 2008. March 23

Playing dress-up. March 2009

Ainsley- March 2008. Look how scrawny she was!
Ainsley-March 2009. Look at those cheeks now! Dress up time, too

some pictures

Adam and Ainsley last week...resemblance is pretty solid, eh?

Here are pictures from the last 10 days that I keep forgetting to post.
Adam has been gone a week and I'm kind of going crazy around here...we're cooped up a little extra b/c of the cold weather and my patience is at it's snapping point! I'm very thankful that he's coming back tomorrow...but then I think he leaves again next week for another week. Augh-it seems like the traveling never ends!

Elise was very proud of her new tights...going to school on Monday

Ainsley's little stinker smile....that's her "growling" look