Happy Thanksgiving

In the kitchen preparing the big meal.
I always have a helper!



Admiring the food.


Here it all is. Just for Andy, Ainsley and I.

I love olives!

The day after Thanksgiving. Our apartment is now very festive! :)

Well, I had a great time preparing all of the food that is a "must have" for Thanksgiving. The problem was trying to prepare enough for just 2 adults and a baby. Impossible for me to do! I made mashed potatoes, sweet potato balls, green bean casserole, stuffing, mixed berry pie, pumpkin pie and, of course, turkey. I took the turkey out of the oven when it was done (or so I thought). Andy was carving it as I heard him say, "um, Amy, is this okay? It looks like a vampire turkey". It wasn't okay, still very bloody...oops. Everything else was done and ready to eat though so we went ahead and ate anyway while the turkey was back in the oven. We were so stuffed we didn't have room for the turkey. Good thing because when I took it out again it STILL wasn't finished! I was so annoyed and we didn't have the patience to keep waiting for it so we ended up throwing the whole thing away! Can you believe that? Of course Andy thinks it's hilarious while I am upset because of all the money we spent and the time I spent preparing it, etc. Oh well! I guess it is pretty funny that we had Thanksgiving dinner without the main ingredient. We still enjoyed it all and had leftovers for 3 more meals after that.

Our baby's getting big

Every day Ainsley is doing something new that amazes us. When we say, "what does a ducky say?" she says, "quack quack". She also says, "ooo ooo ooo" in a high pitched voice for what a monkey says. My favourite though is that whenever we open the door to the oven or take something out of the microwave she goes, in a kind of loud whisper, "hot, hot, hot" and makes a blowing gesture with her mouth. It is so cute. Her favourite toy seems to be our laundry basket which she first empties of dirty clothes then pushes around the house and adds new items (such as a roasting pan and cooling rack that she loves to remove from the drawer, pillow, stuffed animals, etc.) to it. She likes to get in it and play too. She also knows where the books in her bedroom are so she points to them for us to get one down and read to her. Once she has it in hand she either climbs up on a chair and waits for us to sit down with her or she walks over to a chair, pats it with her hand and points to one of us to sit down with her. She is very clear about what she wants and she loves to read books or at least look at and kiss the pictures. She has 14 teeth and is working on 2 more. Her hair is getting very long. She loves to slide. She's wearing 18-24 months and 2T size clothing! I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of things but this is just a small snapshot into our busy days.

Chomp and Stomp

Last weekend we met our friends Liz, Anthony and Ella at Grant Park in Cabbagetown for a festival. There were at least 40 booths set up by individuals and local restaurants serving what they claimed was over 1000 gallons of chili! There were also tons of art vendors, other food booths, beer stations and live bluegrass music. We paid $5 for chili spoons and could eat as much as we wanted from each booth. My favourite was from a restaurant called Javavino and was made using organic espresso and organic Mexican chocolate....sooo good! Daddy had fun chasing Ainsley around the park while I did a little shopping too. It was a good time had by all.

YES WE CAN!

We just witnessed a historic day and Andy and I are quite happy with the outcome of the election. Yesterday we took Ainsley over to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King memorial to spend some time there and get some pictures. We know she won't remember this day but we want her to be able to look back and realise the significance of electing America's first African American president. What a day!!

Florida

At Pineapple Willy's to watch the Colts' game

What a cutie!

Playing in the sand with Daddy

In the pool with Gran

Still on the beach

Being silly with Gran and Gramps

Getting attention from Alli and Alaina

Getting more attention from the Abney family

The boys played football and although the "big boys" won by a touchdown they showed their age...lots of time outs, sore backs, etc.

Alli and Alaina cheering on the boys during their game. They taught me a cheer and I felt like I was in high school again! :)

Ainsley was in love with Austin! Here she is giving him kisses.

Ainsley with Austin and Alli, wearing the shirt they bought her. How sweet!

Every year Jack and Rebecca go to Panama City Beach, Florida for two weeks in October and this year we joined them for their second week there. October 24th we drove down and spent a week relaxing and enjoying the company of Andy's parents. There was also a couple other families down there who Jack and Rebecca have gotten to know over the years so we spent time with them too. Ainsley was the center of attention ALL week which, needless to say, she LOVED! We feel like we need to make friends here in Atlanta quickly so she can continue to have people to play with and get attention from people other than just mommy and daddy! While in Florida we realised we have a fearless daughter. She loves the pool and ocean. We think it's great but it just meant we had to keep a really close eye on her or otherwise she would have dove right in. On November 1st we drove home. On the way down and back we only stopped once, both times in Eufala, Alabama ("The Big Bass Capital of the World"). Not that there's any significance to that last piece of information, we just thought it was kind of funny. Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures.

Back home again

Although we don't live in the same place as either one of our families we're fortunate that at least we live just a drive away from Andy's family (okay, it's a 9 hour drive but none the less...). So we took advantage of that closeness a few weeks ago and drove up to Indiana for a few day visit with family and friends. It was great. I took a few pictures of Ainsley with one of her future BFF's Soren (Jeff and Sarah's daughter, who turns one in a week and a half). They were cute together but I think sometimes Soren wasn't quite sure what to think of Ainsley running all around her! The picture on the left is of the girls giving each other kisses. :)