Art project...

Each week at Elise's preschool, they study a letter of the alphabet and on Fridays, they can bring in a Show-and-Tell item that starts with that letter. So, for some reason, Elise decided that she wanted to bring in a ROCK this past week for her "R" item. So we went on a nature hike on Tuesday (with neighbor Kristina, too, of course!), picked up some rocks, washed them, then painted them on Wednesday afternoon. She was SOOO proud yesterday to take in her rock (actually, she took in the one they painted for Ainsley. Elise's rock is huge and weighs about 10 pounds...Ainsley's is much more manageable size to carry around). She told me that everyone loved her pretty rock. She also said that Ben brought in a Raccoon (a pretend one) and Peyton's dad brought in their new puppy. The rock probably wasn't all that cool compared to a new puppy, but Elise was happy and we had fun finding, washing, painting, etc...

Tuesday afternoon-washing the dirt off the rocks.

Wednesday-painting day. They had so much fun and it wasn't too messy, either!

VERY proud of their finished products...

...and She's off!

Ainsley's first official steps were about 6 weeks ago, but last week in Jacksonville, she really got her legs figured out! Although still adorably wobbly, she can clear a room in just seconds. And that's fun. It's also reminded me to stay on my toes a little more again. (That saying about kids that goes something like, "as soon as you get used to a routine of ANY type, they change it on you" is SOOO TRUE!). I was very happy with her just hanging out on the floor, surrounded by toys. Elise would be running around of course, but at least there was only one that I had to keep an eye/ear on. All bets are off now. Here's a shot of her from a couple days ago when I partially ignored her for just a couple minutes while emailing! This is our little desk area in the kitchen- full of stamps, batteries, stationary, rolls of address labels, etc. Stuff was EVERYWHERE. She was so proud of herself.

laundry woes...

In the hurry to get caught up on laundry quickly after Florida and before Adam went to work on Wednesday, I may have forgotten to put in a dryer sheet. oops.
I got this email from him in the middle of the day yesterday:

"So I'm standing at my office door chatting with Lauren (the other lawyer in the office) for a minute and an extremely small sock dropped out of my sleeve. One of Ainsley's socks must havebeen stuck to my undershirt sleeve and I didn't notice. How funny is that? I'm glad I wasn't in trial or anything, but that would have been a great story."

Phew!

We're just coming off a pretty insane 9 days, so this is the first time I've even CONSIDERED blogging! We were in Jacksonville for a week staying with wonderful friends while Adam had PRK eye surgery. He's seeing 20/20 now, which is unreal! It was a pretty tough recovery for a few days, but he's doing a ton better now. We were able to catch up with several good friends that we were stationed with in Japan, and that was so encouraging to see them all!
Elise played like a dream with Grayson and it was a huge blessing to stay with them (they're probably still recovering from the Moseley Tornado that came through!). Unfortunately, we didn't take a SINGLE picture...I was just too overwhelmed with taking care of the kids, Adam, the dog, etc...in a house that's no longer 'babyproofed'. =) The photos just didn't make the priority list.
Regardless, everyone is doing great. We're happy to be home, back to our 'normal' lives, and all sleeping in our own beds! Ainsley is now walking (and climbing!!) like crazy and trying to keep up with Elise or Gus all the time.

What a difference a YEAR makes...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our little AINSLEY!!!!!!!!!
Exactly one year ago RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, I was in the hospital, all drugged up with an epidural and giving birth (after exactly three pushes!) to our precious second daughter! What an amazing moment of our lives...8:19pm. Obviously, we fell in completely love with her the moment we saw her.
Fast forward to today and there are so many things to love about her:
*Ainsley has the greatest smile with a scrunched up nose. She thinks she's a riot. So do we.
*Her gnarly teeth right now....two HUGE chipmunk chompers on the top, a couple on the bottom...but adorable overall.
*She's made our family more of a "team" and we love that. We all work together and support each other and that's such a blessing.
*She growls. Seriously. She sounds like a polar bear and it really shocks people sometimes.

I could go on for awhile, but it's really just such a blessing to have her in our lives and we're SOOO THANKFUL for her. =)
Here are a couple quick shots of today. We didn't have a 'party', just a couple neighbors over- Ainsley had her own cake and LOVED it.

Bite One...not so sure about this!

A few minutes later...this is pretty good!
End shot...she ate a good little chunk of that cake!

Opening a cool airplane toy from Nana...Elise loves it, too!

fun Aunt Amanda...

Adam's sister Amanda was here visiting earlier this week (Sun-Wed) and it was sooo good to see her. We only see her a couple times a year, but Elise just LOVES her Aunt Amanda- it's so fun. We played a lot around the house (it's too stinkin' cold to go ANYWHERE outside!), we went to the awesome local Children's museum, and I think Amanda put Elise down for every nap and bedtime while she was here except 1. And that's a big deal b/c Elise is usually Mommy's little girl when it comes to storytime and bedtime routines. That was a great break for me b/c Adam has been out of town for almost 3 weeks straight...grrr! It's always fun to connect with family and to have someone else love our kids a ton, too. I also think poor Amanda played hide-and-seek a dozen or more times with the girls...Elise is teaching her little sister how to play and it's hilarious! Adam did get back in time to spend an hour with his sister, so that was something. Overall, we're doing well. Here are a couple cute shots from the time with Amanda...

On a makeshift "slide" in the castle at the museum

Ainsley at the "water table room"...soaking wet even with the smock!!
Hide-and-Seek...she giggles the whole time

Elise loves cuddling!


Amanda took this totally candid shot- it may be the only one we have of all three of us smiling! Just in time for Ainsley to turn 1 this weekend! I so love my girls...

Fun times...

Last weekend (ok, like 8 days ago now...I'm a little behind!), we had some good friends stop by for the weekend with their adorable 4 year-old twin girls. Elise played so well with Ali and Rae who were a total blast...there were lots of babydolls put to sleep, lots of pretend walks to the park and library, and LOTs of giggling...it was fun to see her play with kids a smidge older than her (although don't tell her she was the 'little one'- she takes great offense to that!). And, since Elise is kind of a giant kid and Ali/Rae are twins and thus a little small for their age, they really are all the same size, even though a year apart in age. =) Elise liked making silly faces in the pictures, too...that was a new thing that the twins taught her. We had a blast and SOOOO wish we could live closer to the Sanders family! Maybe some day...




They make their "Lion Face" all the time...complete with growling!