Roller coasters, swings, hot dogs and more!

Recently Ainsley has experienced a couple of new things. One is that she went on her first roller coaster ride. Down at the beach there is a little amusement park which has a few rides. We went there one day with our friends the Brocks and the Prathers. The caterpillar is for children so it goes quite slow but there are a couple dips where it speeds up a little bit. She never cried but her facial expressions showed she was very unsure about what was happening. Andy got a picture of all of us that went on it (the car in front and behind the one we're in) so I've put that on for you to see. Also, Ainsley rode on the swing for the first time. Her reaction to that was pretty much the same as the roller coaster ride. After the swing we sat down in the sand to play. She loved the sand. She kept picking it up, letting it run through her fingers, dropping it. In fact, when we took her away she fussed a little bit because she wanted to play more. Unfortunately I forgot the camera that day so we've got no pictures of that experience. The weather's been lovely lately so we've gone to the beach a couple of times for hot dogs. The international market was in town a couple of weekends ago so we also went down there with Scott and Molly and got a bratwurst. You'd think we're pork fanatics by the way I'm talking about hot dogs and brats! Oh well, they're quite tasty. Mmmm...! Anyway, Ainsley also has gotten a couple more teeth too. 8 in total now! In the picture to the left you'll see a few of those teeth right up close. Ainsley was wanting to eat the camera rather than stay still for a picture! Also, she's so funny whenever we push her in the stroller. She just lounges and puts both her feet up on top of the front tray. Takes after her daddy in that respect! You'll see in the two pictures at the top that she gets into everything (literally, the washing machine and figuratively, whatever is on shelves that she can reach). We definitely have to keep all small objects out of her reach now because everything goes in her mouth too. For example she likes to go over to the window sill and pull leaves off the plant that sits there. A few days ago we noticed her gagging on something and couldn't figure out what it was. After one throw up nothing came out then after another out came a small leaf! The plant no longer sits on the window sill she can reach.

Headed south

We're coming back to America. Andy has gotten a job in Atlanta, Georgia so that's where we'll soon be calling home. It's farewell to Scotland on July 10th. It is so hard to believe we've lived here nearly 3 years! We'll fly to Indiana and stay there for 2 days. Then we'll rent a Uhaul and drive the stuff we have in storage there down with us to Georgia. While we're there we'll have Ainsley's 1st birthday party (a week and a half early but that's okay!) which will be so much fun to do with family and good friends. Before we come back to the states we are vacationing in Italy for a week and a half. We can't wait! First we'll go to Florence for a week where we'll stay with my mom and two aunts and uncles in a villa. Then we're off to Rome for 3 days with my mom. Andy is sooo... excited to see Vatican City and the many other sights. I'm looking forward to beautiful weather, awesome sights and great food! Anyway, while we're waiting for that trip to arrive we are busy packing our things up here and selling lots of them as well. I am also working a lot. I can't remember if I said this in a previous blog or not but I was promoted to Store Manager for a new store opening in Aberdeen. Of course now that I'm leaving it will only be my store for about 3 weeks. :( But at least I'll get to see the outcome of all the work I've put into preparing for it. Anyway, my new store opens this weekend so the lead up to it is filled with lots of things to do in preparation. Hopefully everything will run smoothly and let's hope I didn't forget to order anything really important! :) I'll let you know how that goes. Most importantly though, Andy is submitting his dissertation this week! Yay! His oral examination (Viva, they call it) won't be until September unfortunately but after turning the hard copy in this week a major weight will be lifted. I am so proud of him. What an accomplishment. Pretty soon here we'll all be calling him Doctor Odle. Although he'd actually prefer the Reverend Doctor Odle I'm sure. I think I'll be sticking with Andy. :) Anyway, that's a brief update on our lives at the moment. We're looking forward to this next chapter but are feeling sad to leave Aberdeen as well. After all, we do have some good friends here and lots of great memories. Not the least of which, of course, is that we added another member to our family whilst over here. Came as 2, leave as 3. We couldn't be any happier about that!

1st shoulder ride

Here's the first time Ainsley's been on a shoulder ride (well, it wasn't much of a ride but she was on top of Andy's shoulders anyway). As you can see, she seemed to love it! :)

It's been a while!

This post is LONG overdue but computer time (for me) is not much these days since Andy's nearing the end of writing his thesis. So, I'll take what I can get and fill you in briefly. All is well here. I'm still working full time and, as I said, Andy is working all the time as well. Just a couple days ago we took a small break and headed down to Glasgow. It was a very expensive trip since we hired a car, got a hotel and paid for Ainsley's visa... the reason for going down there in the first place (she's been living illegally for the first 9 months of her life). None the less, it was nice to get away from Aberdeen for a couple days. Also, a few weeks ago I went out with a couple girlfriends for drinks and dancing which was so much fun. I don't think I caught up on my sleep for about a week though! Besides when I gave birth to Ainsley I don't remember the last time I was up until 4 all in one go! A week or two later Andy followed in my footsteps and stayed out until 4 with "the guys". He had a great time as well. Ainsley is now crawling faster than ever and pulling herself up onto everything and everyone all of the time. She also stands alone momentarily then slowly lowers herself to the ground. She's quite clever. I wouldn't be surprised if she started walking soon (although I can wait a bit longer for that). She holds her own sippy cup when drinking from it now. She rides in the shopping cart. She has her 6th tooth. She understands "NO" although doesn't always obey it and throws a little bit of a tantrum when she doesn't get her way. It's quite interesting. She seems to have lost her cute little laugh (not all the time though) and replaced it with a cackle. It's really funny...where do kids learn these things?! She continues to eat her little finger snacks and loves them. She has also tried a few other big girl foods too. Cheddar cheese...not a fan. Cous cous... also, not a fan. Cheesy scrambled eggs...unsure about it. French toast...likes it but finds it hard to chew. Chips (french fries)... likes them. Cooked peas...loves them (and they're fun to throw on the floor too!). She wears 9-12 month clothing now too. She's getting so big! After her bath we take her onto our bed to get dried off, dressed and to play a little bit. She loves being naked and almost immediately (before we can get a nappy or clothes on her) crawls to the end of the bed, pulls up on the bars and starts walking from one side to the other (see pictures above). She is so much fun!Anyway, of course I've attached several pictures of Ainsley for all to see. Hope you enjoy.