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...