A few things to live for

Milk, cookies and crackers. Water and grapes. Her baby doll stroller. The green headband and pink slippers. Her chair and stool.

A "romantic" Valentine's Day lunch at one of our favourites, Ippolito's.

Indiana

Here's a bunch of pictures with some of Ainsley's favourite people...... Mommy, Daddy, GG, Grandma Great, Soren, Charlie, Gran and Gramps. Daddy and Ainsley have been sick all week so you can tell in the picture of them that they're feeling a bit under the weather. :( The rest of the pictures were taken on a recent trip to Indiana. Andy was asked to speak at Anderson University's "Impact Your World Week" so Ainsley and I tagged along to support him and, of course, spend time with family since all expenses were paid. Can't beat that! We had a great time despite the terrible weather (negative wind chill and a blizzard...froze us right to the bones!) Andy did fantastic speaking and received very positive feedback from students, professors and even the President of the university. As always, I was very proud of him.

Conversations

Ainsley:"I want to go in the business center
Daddy." (Of course that actually sounds more like, "Ooh, ooh, ooh" while pointing to the door)
Andy: "No, come on sweetie, Daddy needs coffee. Let's go in the clubhouse."

Ainsley: "How about the gym? I love to walk on the treadmill and look in the big mirrors."

Andy: "No sweetie. As long as there's noone in there we'll go in there in a few minutes. Come on. We'll play some putt putt."
Ainsley: (reaching for the golf clubs) "Can you get those for me Daddy? I need both of them to start with. I also must have all 5 balls around the hole at once."
Andy: "Can you show Mommy how you hit the balls in the hole?"
Ainsley: "Of course I can. Mommy, watch this! (Hits the balls in then claps) Yay!"




This is just a sample of what the routine is like every morning. There's also stairs which she loves to climb up and down several times and would gladly try to do on her own if we weren't watching her every move. As you can see in the picture, it is a steep set of stairs so we prefer she doesn't attempt it solo for quite some time. Also, whenever we are walking to the car she has to be sure she's holding the keys so she can press the unlock button and hear the "conk conk" or honk honk as we adults like to say.

Our Sweet Pea

Praying

Hiding

Lounging

Talking

Playing

Riding

Posing

Bouncing

Walking

Hello

I'm not actually sure where to begin since it's been over a month since I've written anything. So, here it goes... After 6 good years our oh so faithful camera broke. It's been a great one and provided us with years of memories but we finally bought a new one. I am just now figuring out how to load the pictures onto the computer so that's the main reason I've slacked on updating the blog. :(

Ainsley update: She says new things every day and now repeats things very well. She is becoming a great communicator. She has a lot to say and one of these days soon I'm sure it will come out in the form of full sentences. She has the best, most fun personality and is very outgoing. She waves and says hi to every single person she walks by. She LOVES other kids. She is over the 90th percentile for her weight and "off the charts" for her height (don't know where she gets that from!). She blows kisses and plays peek a boo. She can point to her body parts when asked where they are. She loves to put on other people's shoes and walk around in them (especially loves Daddy's slippers and Mommy's heels). She loves to Skype with people on the computer. She's down to one nap a day now and usually fights that one nap (leaving her often to either fall asleep in the car [hence the 2 pictures below] or fall asleep on one of our chests while watching tv). She loves to drink out of big cups (see pictures above) and is very clear in letting you know that she wants to do it herself (by pushing your hand away and pointing to the table for you to set it down). She loves to sit on the counter and "help" cook. She also helps unload the dishwasher and load the washing machine. She can open the door to the hallway and reach the down button for the elevator (so we're afraid if we forget to lock the door one of these days she'll end up in the lobby or parking garage and we won't even know it!). She's one smart cookie! When we say, "Ainsley, want to brush your teeth?" she puts a hand to her mouth and says, "Aaaahhh" while running to the bathroom. She loves to push things around, including the laundry basket, her dump truck and baby doll stroller. She is very good at sharing and often shares her food and drinks with her dolls too. She likes to flip light switches on and off. When she poops she pats her bum and says, "poopoo" then runs to her bedroom and comes back with a nappy so we can change her. She loves bread. She LOVES milk. When we sit down to eat she reaches both of her hands out to hold ours so we can pray. It is soooo cute! And the list goes on and on and on.

Ainsley's vocabulary (some of it) along with translations when needed: Belly Button= Beba or, sometimes, Bb, Blanket= Bb, Car= Conk conk, Duck= cack cack, I Love You= Ya Yo, Baby, Hi, Bye bye, Knock knock, Night night= Nigh nigh, Banana= Nana, Nappy(Diaper)= Nana, Pretty= Ditta, Mama, Dada, Hot, Hat, Eye, Eeeewww (waving her hand in front of her nose), Poopoo, Peepee, Bum bum= Butt, Coo coo= Her private parts, Cookie= Cook cook, Bonk= Bonbon. I am now drawing a blank on all the other things she says but believe me there are lots. It is really a joy to watch her grow and learn. Each day brings new and exciting things!