winding down

Ahhh! It's so nice to be home. Christmas was really nice. The baby was so sweet and so good throughout all the new surroundings, new arms holding her, and all the noise, but I think she's glad to be home too. She always grows up a little with the new stimulation from being away from home and so this morning we have really noticed a difference. She woke up flashing us smile after smile and, for the first time, started really making little talking noises! We've been waiting for this but every time up until now, what has seemed like promising talking has just been a prelude to outright crying. This morning she repeated the same coos followed by smiles! Her smiles are so sweet. They start out little and end with a huge, open mouth grin. We can't seem to catch it on film yet. Hopefully soon. The picture above is what I see, looking down at Paige after she falls asleep nursing after her bath. It's so sweet.

Right now she is sleeping soundly in her swing, catching up with her familiar routine. Ainsleigh caught up on some sleep too. She loved spending time with family and could probably keep going with no sleep at all, but is much less grouchy now that she has slept in. It's been so nice to be together, with Tim off work the last few days. We're adjusting more to Paige and she is growing up enough to be happier and a little more predictable so I'm not really ready for his vacation time to be over, but I guess it all must end at some point. On to 2009. I am so not ready for that.

moments

The pride of a big sister. I kind of remember that myself, being a "big sister" to two siblings. I don't really remember Meghan as a baby, but I remember the day my parents brought Carly home from the hospital. I remember hopping down off the school bus and the driver (this really nice old lady who just recently passed away....yeah, my hometown is small so I can keep tabs on things like that) saying, "So I hear you have a new baby sister at your house today!" and my response being, "Yeah...and a new swingset."

I think I was actually really excited, but it kind of faded when baby Carly seemed to do nothing but cry all the time, especially if anyone other than my mom was holding her. That was so hard because here I was, old enough to want to help out and hold this beautiful little toy...I mean baby, but she didn't seem to like me very much. Or anyone other than my Mom for that matter.

Ainsleigh is experiencing this feeling right now. I keep telling her it will get better as Paige gets older. Still, we have moments like the one I got to capture above that make up for some of it. I'm pretty happy with my baby sister these days although we had our moments growing up, as bossy big sisters and annoying little sisters go. I miss her like crazy when she's on the other side of the planet and there is a part of me that only my sisters know. I'm excited to see what stories these girls will have to tell as they grow up. I'm thinking some of them will involve me, and probably not always in the most positive light (sorry Mom), but they will be their stories and I can't really control how they remember everything! Lots of memories of me sitting in the chair, rocking and feeding. That will be Christmas with Paige, year #1. I can hear Ainsleigh telling it now...

I hope they always look at each other so adoringly

What will the future hold for these two? I am so excited to find out. I wonder what my life would be like without my sisters and I am so glad that Paige and Ainsleigh will always have each other.

This weekend we put the Christmas tree up with our big helper, Ainsleigh, while Paige slept. Ainsleigh really enjoyed it this year and had fun going through the ornaments and hearing the stories behind them. It's been a really nice, long, relaxing weekend. Much of it spent at home with our beautiful new baby, but I'm glad we could do that, especially on a snowy day like today. We were all pretty excited and surprised to open the curtains and see all the snow already settled. We're really a family of four now and it is a little crazy to think that we are responsible for these two beautiful little girls. I am thankful for so much this year, especially when I look at Paige and watch her sleep so peacefully unaware of how long we have waited for her and prayed for her safe, healthy arrival. She has no idea what a miracle she is to all of us. I guess that calm feeling is spreading to each one of us and I am really thankful for that most of all.

she's here!

Paige is here! I know, it is kind of old news, well two-week-old news, but this is the first opportunity I've had to write it out. It was the most amazing experience and it already seems like it was so long ago. All the worries and concerns, wondering if I'd end up with another c-section or if my vbac (vaginal birth after caesarean) would be successful and safe, are over and it was just more than I could have even planned for it to be. Tuesday, November 11th my sister Meghan had come to visit. We made soup and coffee and sat and talked while the kids played. I was having contractions throughout the day, but it was so nice and calm. Really the perfect day to go into labor.

It was 4 days before my due date and I had started to believe it would be awhile before Paige would decide to come. Meghan got ready to go shortly after Tim got home from work at 5: 30. But, as she got ready to get her coat on, I stood up and walked into the dining room and felt a little gush. I was convincing myself that I just peed my pants a little (pregnant women do that...or so I've heard) but then it happened again and again. Meghan, Tim and I packed my things as we called family and then headed to the hospital around 6:30. It was so perfect that Meghan was there. We said goodbye to Ainsleigh who was totally preoccupied with playing with her cousins, she didn't seem to understand what was happening no matter how much we had prepared her for it.

We got to the hospital, I stepped out of the jeep, and my water completely broke, soaking my pants. It was a little embarrassing walking into the hospital that way, but I think everyone understood! We were all checked into our room and ready to settle in for a long night at around 7:30. My wonderful midwife called and said she'd be on her way in about an hour. My contractions really picked up right before she got there and I was in active labor. I am just so glad that I had her and I sort of doubt that I would have had the experience I did without her. She stayed the entire night and talked TIm and I through each contraction. It was the most pain I've ever experienced, but by 11:30, just a few short hours later, it was over and my daughter was in my arms, safe and healthy. My parents were in the room the entire time, my Dad snuck behind the curtain when I'd get checked and when I pushed. My midwife was so surprised at how big Paige turned out to be and so was I. Tim was really great. He took the midwife's instructions well and rubbed my back as I cried and screamed, or breathed loudly(!) in the shower and in the bed. When it was time to push, it was really neat to have everyone there encouraging me because I honestly didn't believe I could do it at that point. I did have an epidural right before I started pushing, but I still felt everything. I think it might have taken the edge off the contractions, but not by much. Really though, I wouldn't change anything. It somehow makes me feel really strong and proud of what I accomplished and I will never have to wonder what it all feels like. Tim wasn't into cutting the cord, so my midwife called my Dad over and told him to do it. I think Dad is really proud that he played a part in everything. I can't believe my labor was so short. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I hope I never forget it.

It was all so peaceful, even with the pain. It felt like I was among people who loved me, wanted to encourage me, and were as excited to meet Paige as I was. I am so glad for that comfortable environment in which to welcome this third baby. It was nothing like the sterile, surgical environment we had with Addie and we are so glad to have made the new, joyful memories we have made. It was such a lesson in God's faithfulness. My midwife laid Paige on my stomach the second she was born, and I got to to hold her and cuddle her as they cleaned her up, then breastfed her right away. I'll never forget that feeling as I sat there looking into her little eyes for the first time, comforting her after the trauma of being born-the first of many comforts, touching her little back and thinking about how much she looked like Ainsleigh, the dark wavy hair, the brow, the sweet little pink lips. She is here, she is sweet and calm, she is so loved already and we are all just ecstatic!

passing the time

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but I'm really tired and ready to have this baby. Since she seems to want to stay put, we've been trying to pass the time doing as much to keep Ainsleigh occupied as I can manage. Yesterday we went to a Halloween party with our playgroup. Ainsleigh was really happy to be running around, playing hide and seek under the table, and just generally going a little crazy with other kids. That was BEFORE she even had any candy.


She was very focused making Halloween houses with bean ghosts. This was right up her alley.


She begged to hold the baby for the group photo and it is all she has talked about since. I just can't wait to see her with Paige. She really is gentle but it must be a baby's instinct to look worried when an anxious four year old is holding them. I remember Addie looking the same way!


Ainsleigh and "the other Paige." They play really well together, they're both four!


And one final picture of the two of us with the baby is still yet to be born. It took everything Ainsleigh had to stop playing and pose with mommy. She had a really good day but its amazing how little it takes to wear me out these days!

getting there

Well, I'm 37 weeks and three days. This baby can come any day! Ainsleigh has been waking up each morning and saying "Good Morning baby Paige! How are you doing this morning?" I'll be walking down the hall and she'll just run up and hug my tummy to tell the baby she loves her. It's so sweet. I broke down and let Tim take some pictures. It's something I don't want to forget.


Despite feeling pretty tired lately, I did manage to help Ainsleigh carve her pumpkin. She drew her own design on the pumpkin. She said, "I want two hearts for eyes, a triangle nose, and a mouth that goes...(makes face with 'oh no' expression)."


We went to "Boo at the Zoo" on Saturday. I decided Ainsleigh needed to do something fun after being pretty cooped up all week. She went as Barbie the Island Princess, from one of her favorite movies. She loved it, but wow, it was cold out!




And finally, she drew this last week for Daddy to take to work. I had gone out with some friends and when I got home, she came running up to me to show me her drawing of "Daddy at work, waving out the window at us!" It was so cute, I had to seriously stifle my laughter, she's so sensitive lately about being laughed at. But this was too much! Note the shadow at the bottom of the building. She puts this on all of her drawings, underneath the figures.


That's all I have to report. Hopefully next time it will be an introduction to our newest little family member. Hopefully!

it's still pretty sweet.

It's funny how, when she's sleeping, Ainsleigh's little face looks so much like it did when she was a sleepy baby. We had to get up early this morning to drop Tim off at work and I think it caught up with her this afternoon. She crawled up next to me on the couch and fell right asleep. The days of naps have long passed us by, although I could definitely use them lately! I just wanted so badly to snuggle her up close (how could I not, seriously...look at that face!), but this pregnant condition is making that harder and harder. It will be so nice to have my normal self back and be able to cuddle both these girls up close.





I haven't posted new photos lately, so here are a few to recap what we've been up to. She did some pumpkin painting last week, tried on Daddy's socks last Sunday and thought that was pretty hilarious, and the last picture is from the day we went to the swimming pool with cousins Eden and River. She's been doing this odd poses lately that kind of look like she's making gang signs and she thinks it is so funny. Almost every picture has some weird hand pointing thing going on.




We're having fun spending our last few weeks together, just the two of us but I have a feeling that it will be pretty fun to share these things with baby sister too.

two months

Exactly two months from today, baby girl #3, baby Paige as we call her around here, is expected to arrive. We're starting to feel pressure to get ready. We've got the crib up in Ainsleigh's room. Ainsleigh walked in and saw it and said excitedly, with her hands on her cheeks, "It's like a dream come true!" She just can't wait much longer. I have her baby quilt made and now I just need to get baby clothes out. I'm ready to be not pregnant but not quite ready for the baby to be here in terms of having everything out and ready. No diapers, no wipes, no clean bottles, no baby blankets ready other than the quilt, no clothes ready. The carseat is out but that is by accident! However unprepared I am in those terms, I am completely prepared to finally hold this girl in my arms and know she is here safely.

We had an appointment last week and my midwife seemed really surprised at how large the baby felt, which means my uterus is all the way up to my rib cage already. It's a little odd to hear your midwife say, while pushing in on your stomach to feel the baby, "Oh Steph" repeatedly! She thinks Paige has just had a growth spurt. Not much fun for me but she is really active and its nice to be able to feel her constantly moving around and know she is okay.

My midwife wanted to make sure I was tested for gestational diabetes that day, to make sure the baby isn't big for the wrong reasons. I passed thank goodness, but something funny happened after I took the test. We were walking out to the car and Ainsleigh goes, "Mommy, maybe you can get one of those things and you can test at home and it can fit in your purse because its only the size of an ipod." I wasn't really listening at first but then I realized that she was describing a diabetes tester. I asked her where she heard about that and she said from tv. Yeah, we must watch way too much when my daughter can describe an insulin tester. I can't believe she was paying that much attention to even know what my test was for. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Ainsleigh doesn't miss much.

So we are a little concerned about the baby being big, but I guess God has a sense of humor. We spent weeks worrying that Addie was too small and now we'll spend weeks worrying that Paige is too big! I even caught Tim laughing at me yesterday when I tried to pick something up off the floor and stood up with baby belly hanging out of my shirt. He tried to cover it up at first by asking if I needed some new clothes that fit, but finally laughed and said, "Wow, I think we're going to have a big baby!" Yeah, so I'm feeling real attractive right now. It's worth it for the baby to be healthy, it just isn't very comfortable and I'm really looking forward to being me again. I'm not one of those people who love being pregnant. Not at all. This is definitely the largest my belly has ever gotten but then it is my third pregnancy and its hard to compare it with Addie, since she was so tiny. Tim also pointed out that Ainsleigh's routine prayer for the baby has changed over the last two months from being, "Jesus, we pray that this baby is healthy and strong" to being, "Jesus, we pray that this baby is BIG and strong." Maybe God is just answering Ainsleigh's prayers. We're trying to get her back to saying healthy, but she just can't leave "big" out.

We're starting non-stress tests this week every Monday and Thursday until the baby comes. My midwife wants to check on her because of a blood clotting disorder I inherited. I'm only a carrier so hopefully everything will be fine and we will just see these tests as an opportunity to listen to Paige roll around and get some reassurance that she's doing great! Keep us in your prayers, I know we're all getting a little anxious as the time gets closer and any testing makes me apprehensive. I'm anxious about going through baby clothes also and all the Addie memories they will provoke. It is exciting though. It's just a matter of time now!

"It's not even the moon science."

This was Ainsleigh's response to Daddy's complaint that McDonald's just couldn't get his breakfast order right. "It's not even the moon science."

I guess that's one way of saying, "It's not like its rocket science."

It tooks us awhile to figure that one out! Moon science. It's kind of like the other day when, out of the blue, she tells me, "Mommy, the big bear is part of the little dipper constellation, right?!"

Maybe Astronomy is in her future?

my very logical daughter

Sunday we met my sister at the swimming pool here. She surprised us and came home for a visit last week. It was hard for Ainsleigh to wait until Sunday to see her cousins, but we weren't much good Saturday, after getting home so late Friday night and me being up sick most of the night.

It turned out that one of the reasons for the visit was that my sister's little girl remembered the water park here with a huge water slide just for the little kids under 8 years old. There is a lifeguard that helps them at the top and lifeguard to catch them at the bottom of the slide. Ainsleigh had finally gotten brave enough (with the help of her cousin) to go all by herself but there was a lifeguard switch and apparently the new lifeguard didn't think she was big enough to go by herself. Maybe it was because Ainsleigh was being hesitant, I'm not sure.

So I am waiting for her in the pool at the bottom of the slide. Down she comes and runs over to me with a big story to tell. She's so excited from her slide, it takes me awhile to understand what she's trying to say.

Finally she calms a little and says, "Mommy, that lifeguard told me I was too little go and I needed my mommy or daddy to come with me."

I thought this was strange because even littler kids go down by themselves. I ask Ainsleigh what she said.

Ainsleigh says, "I told her, here's the problem. My Daddy isn't here, he's at home. And my Mommy has a baby in her tummy. Then she let me go!"

I love it!

I'll have to post some pictures later. We had so much fun! I love the "here's the problem." She's so funny!

and this is why its nice to get away

We're back from our trip and it was all we needed it to be. It's been a long time since I've seen Tim so relaxed. We made lots of memories and I think this time Ainsleigh will actually remember some of them herself. So nice.

politics

Last night Tim and I were watching the Olympics with Ainsleigh and one of those McCain ads came on where they call Obama a celebrity. Tim started complaining that he didn't like that and doesn't see why they are using that tactic. He went into the other room and Ainsleigh followed him and this conversation took place:

Ainsleigh: (sighing) ....that McCain.

Daddy: Ainsleigh, you shouldn't take Daddy's opinions about politics for your own. You should find out for yourself.

Ainsleigh: But I'm a little girl.

Daddy: Well, you'll have to find out for yourself someday. I guess until then you probably will have the same opinion as as Mommy and Daddy do when it comes to politics.

Ainsleigh: I think I better go eat my soup now.

going for a bike ride

We got Ainsleigh a new "big girl" bike for her birthday. We took her out for a ride tonight and she loved it. She did such a good job pedaling. Thanks to Aunt Kristi for the matching helmet. She spent the entire ride telling me how her big strong muscles were so powerful that she could ride up the hills all by herself. Then later she told me, "I'm okay Mommy. I'm wearing my helmet to protect my head so I won't crack it open and my brains spill out. It sure was nice that someone loved me enough to get me a helmet." Yeah, I don't know where she heard the cracked head/brains spilling out part. The "sure" thing has been funny. Lately she uses that word a lot - "I sure do!" or "Sure is!" are common phrases for her the last several days. It was nice to take her out, but another reminder of how old she is getting!

only three more months

It hit me that, we have only about three months more of just the three of us. I remember thinking about this when Addie was on the way. I feel like we have to savor every moment of this time so we can remember what it was like when all our attention was focused on Ainsleigh. I'm not sure why, since we are all so excited to meet this new little person. Maybe it will help us understand what is going on if/when Ainseigh starts to feel left out or jealous. So far there is no sign of jealousy, only lots of suggestions of how she plans to help out as a big sister.


This photo is of her the day before her birthday. We went out with friends to get pizza. She wasn't big on the pizza, but the special birthday ice cream clown treat was very exciting!




Later we went and painted some pottery. She is very focused, even if she wanted to paint her teddy bear all black.



The next day she turned four and, I swear, it seems like she suddenly got taller and more mature overnight. This entire week has been amazing. She talks so differently, reacts so much more maturely to everything. Tim and I took her to build a bear for her birthday and she LOVED building "fluffy." She picked out the outfit, selecting the glittery red shoes first, then matching the rest of the outfit to them. She's pretty girly already!


Last Friday she got to spend an entire day at Grandma's preschool. She was so excited to go! I am so proud of the report I got too. She's never been in preschool so I wondered how she would react to following rules, taking a nap, and sharing Grandma with other boys and girls. I guess she made us all very proud! She has deconstructed this painting for me several times. "See Mommy, first I made the dots and then I connected them." I am loving this time with her, getting to appreciate every conversation, especially the one about gravity, after which she told Daddy that when she fell off the swing, it was gravity that pulled her to the ground and made her fall on her face.

serious business

I was going through photos and ran across this one of Ainsleigh typing an email, one of her favorite things to pretend to do. So serious.

We celebrated her 4th birthday this weekend and I'll have to post pictures of that soon. She had a really good time. The morning of her birthday, after her bath, she asked me if she was going to need new clothes now that she's four. I told her that she probably didn't grow that much overnight, but I swear that it sort of seems like she has! Now that she is four, she gets to visit her grandma Debbie's preschool on Friday and she can't wait! She woke up early this morning, and when I asked her why she told me that she had to so that she can go to grandma's preschool. I told her that we weren't going today, and she explained that she knew that, but she had to practice! Duh! I can't wait to hear her report back after Friday. Should be interesting!

Ainsleigh

Today Ainsleigh turns 4 years old. I am the mother of a four year old. That makes me feel really old. It just seems so impossible that so much time has passed since the day she was born.

She is one smart little girl. She's independent, strong-willed, and stubborn. She's also sweet, gentle, and an amazing big sister. I have been so impressed with the amount of information she can manage to comprehend, even when it is something as complex as the death of her baby sister and the expectations of another baby sister. Over the last year, she's definitely become a good helper. She's gotten more and more self-sufficient and her independence is something we're happy to see coming but it also reminds us that she's growing up and she'll never be that tiny baby with the dark black hair again! I guess we've known that for awhile now. It's been so challenging at times, especially now that she can really argue back and bargain with us. With all of those challenges, the rewards have been just awesome. The hugs and kisses, the "I love you Mama's" and pride I get to have when she writes all her letters (both upper and lower-case by the way) and draws us pictures, the feeling of those little hugs around my neck.

She's still got some growing up to do, but she's on the right track and I'm so lucky to be her Mommy. Happy Birthday Ainsleigh!

sick

Ainsleigh has had a tough couple weeks. I always brag about how healthy she is so I should have known this would happen. Actually she has been pretty healthy. It's been over a year since she had to go to the doctor. So within the last two weeks she's broken her face...well, hurt it a lot anyway, got a horrible blister on her foot that has seemed to cause way more trauma than the face wounds, and last night, right before bed she was burning up. She's been running a slight fever today and was pretty lazy yesterday. She's taken naps the last two days so it should have been a sign that something is up. It's just a fever so far though. I just worry at the smallest thing because, well, like I said, she just isn't sick very often. I just look at her with her droopy sick eyes and rosy feverish cheeks and I just feel so bad for her.

Besides that it was a pretty nice weekend. We met friends at the farmer's market and we were really impressed with it. I can't believe we haven't gone before. Ainseigh had her friend over and was sad when he left. Tim and I scheduled his vacation and we're so excited! We're taking a real vacation this year against his better judgement. No, we can't afford it, but we're using the excuse that it will be much harder to do once we have another baby. The friends we're visiting are having a baby in December so this will be good, pre-baby timing for them too, as long as two pregnant people together doesn't make it too crazy. I'm secretly hoping that I somehow get to visit them once the baby is born too since I'm already going crazy wanting to meet that little person. We'll see.

So baby girl#3 is making her little self known quite a bit lately. Today I sat and watched my stomach deform itself several times. Her kicks and bumps are getting stronger. It's just so amazing! I try to imagine what little body part is sticking out where, but I never can tell if it's a hand or a foot or a little bottom. It's making me feel more and more excited about the prospect of a new member of the family. I've been really apprehensive throughout the pregnancy so far, but I'm slowly letting myself enjoy it and focus on being hopeful.

Ainsleigh turns 4 this Saturday. I can't believe it! I remember feeling her little kicks and hiccups. She's such a bright spot in our lives. I hope she knows that. Things would be so dull without her. I miss her baby sweetness but I'm enjoying the big girl she's becoming. She

's so excited about going on vacation too and its nice that she is old enough now to really experience everything. It's going to be a long month waiting for her though. She was ready to go today! Here's a picture of her on her birthday last year. She hasn't changed much, but I think she has definitely grown, especially in terms of her vocabulary. Big words of today are "enormous" and "accessories."

the weekend

Ainsleigh's been busy painting. I love seeing the way her interpretations are changing. The above is her in the door of a house. I also love the way she writes letters all over the pictures as if to explain what they are. OAPBROi. I'm not sure what that means, but it is interesting that she tried.


The picture above is of a flying school bus. She said the green dots with the lines on the sides are the buses wings and the green dots on the bottom are its wheels. Very futuristic.



Here is a family portrait I believe. She told me the baby in my tummy is interpreted as a dot because it isn't very big yet.

We made cookies this weekend to bring to share with some friends. She's getting really good at it. Soon she'll probably have the recipe memorized. We don't make them THAT often. Okay, maybe we do but its just another indicator of how much she can do by herself now and what a really great helper she is going to be with the baby. She's really starting to be a lot of fun to do things with; more like a little buddy. Not always, but she's getting there.




And I'll leave you with one final picture of Tim in his weekend element in the sewing/computer room. He wasn't too pleased to have a picture taken of him, unshowered, but it is a typical weekend for us and something about it is really comforting. Ainsleigh and I painting and doing a little baking and Tim doing his thing at the computer. It's kind of nice being at home together, just bumming around, getting random things accomplished. I'm sure it will be much different in a few months when our days and nights are more determined by the baby, but we're looking forward to that too. We've got to appreciate these days as they come, one at a time, each with their own memories because they're flying by. I can't believe Ainsleigh will be four years old in a week and a half. It seems like just yesterday we were spending our days waiting to meet her and here we are, waiting to meet this new little girl. Girl #3! Our lives will be so different!

The 4th

We had a really nice, relaxing fourth of July. I forgot the camera but saw this print online and Ainsleigh had to stop and stare at it for several minutes. She loved the fireworks and provided commentary for us as we watched. She said things like, "I bet the next one is going to be really big!" and "That one hit the spot!"

It was a long day for her though, and she was asleep as soon as we put her in her carseat. I have to admit, even Tim and I were impressed by the fireworks. It was nice to have a long weekend together, although Ainsleigh got some new shoes that gave her a terrible blister on her foot. Her face is healing well though, so I guess it was on to the next "boo-boo."

Hope you guys had a really nice fourth!

a lesson in gravity

Ahh, poor Ainsleigh! Every time I look at this face, my heart breaks a little. Yesterday we had plans to play with a friend. We went to swimming lessons and Ainsleigh was ready to head right over to her buddy's house. She patiently waited through grocery shopping, lunch, a trip home to put the groceries away, a trip to the bank, and finally on to our friends'. She walked in his front door and they took off running to the backyard to play on the swingset. She almost made it! We watched as she ran towards the swing and tried to lay across it on her stomach, then missed and hit the ground face first. We heard some crying and she stood up, turned around with heavy sobs and headed towards me. Then she opened her mouth. That is when the blood started spilling out. So much blood. We had barely been there for more than 1 minute. I held her close while she poured blood out of both her mouth and her nose and checked to make sure she still had all of her teeth! She looked down and commented about how she had gotten blood all over her pretty outfit. She's such a girl, even in the midst of her pain! My friend Lindsay, Ainsleigh's buddy's mom, was so wonderful! She kept handing me paper towels and ice cubes, and was ready to clean Ainsleigh off with a washcloth. Then she spoiled her with popsicles. It's hard to tell what all happened to cause so much bleeding, the nosebleed and the bruise across her nose. She obviously bit her lip, and skinned them both, and skinned her chin. I knew that face wounds bleed the worse, but I can really go the rest of my life without this happening again! Poor Lindsay, she felt so bad, even though it was so not her fault, she kept saying, "You're going to blog this aren't you?" Sorry Lindsay!

This is a much more accurate photo now. She cried for about 45 minutes while we cleaned her up and comforted her, then she was ready to play again! The bleeding stopped pretty quickly, but it totally freaked me out. I'm so not good with these things. Her whole mouth was full of blood, her teeth were covered, and her nose bled into her mouth and down her chin. So there I was trying to squeeze her nose to get it to stop bleeding while holding a paper towel over her mouth to stop the bleeding on her lips. Finally she said, "Mommy, I can't breathe!"

Her lips are pretty swollen still and her poor nose is pretty swollen too, but I think she'll make a full recovery! Tim and I are still feeling so badly about it, especially when she looks at us with that poor nose and lips! She was pretty brave though. She keeps reassuring US that she's fine. Last night she told me, "Mommy, its okay. I can handle it. I can handle my boo-boos."

She went to swimming lessons today and told her teacher about it. She's totally over it, but I still had to spoil her today with a trip to the bookstore, chocolate milk, and a Wall E sticker book.

I don't like this whole getting hurt thing! I guess this is our initiation into the world of accidents. Unfortunately, I'm sure it won't be the last time! It was another reminder of how big she's getting and how independent she is becoming. She needed Mommy at first, but then she was tired of my comforting. Poor Daddy didn't get to comfort her at all, no matter how much he begged her to let him hold her! He's SUCH a pushover for this little girl. And now he's got another one on the way. I was so proud of her for thanking everyone for helping her. She's been really sweet through it all, which somehow makes me want to spoil her even more! Hopefully this face will return to its previous condition quickly!

It's a Girl! And Wall E.

Ainsleigh's been obsessed with this little robot. Tim took her to see the movie last Saturday and she loved it! So last night she is sleeping (in our bed of course) and turns over and says, "Oh. Well, I'm not really a robot." She was talking in her sleep, which she has done before, but this time I laughed so hard! I asked her if she was dreaming about robots this morning and she said a little bit! She has been asking to watch a clip of Wall E with bouncing balls over and over again. It's so funny!

In other news, we had our ultrasound yesterday and got nothing but good news! It's another girl though and we're short on girl names. My midwife even met us at the ultrasound and watched with us which was SO NICE because that way the sonographer could tell us what she was seeing without having to wait for the doctor to explain it. That waiting is so hard! The baby had a full bladder, both kidneys, and (most importantly) a healthy heart with all four chambers looking normal! It is such a relief for us to know that. I am so glad I decided not to go the high-risk route. It has made this pregnancy so much less stressful.

Ainsleigh started swimming lessons yesterday and I am so impressed at the difference in her between last year and this year. She just walked in, sat down by the lifeguard, and told me, "See you later Mommy." I watched some of the other kids cry and want their Mommies and I was so glad I wasn't that Mommy, at least not THIS year. She's really growing up. She's wanting to go to Sunday school all the time too, and just walks in and tells us goodbye. I guess our days of separation anxiety are on their way out. She's growing up, but it's a good thing I think.

BUMP!

This morning something very exciting happened! Ainsleigh and I were laying in bed and the baby started moving around more than usual. When I mentioned it to Ainsleigh, she put her hand on my stomach and as soon as she did....BUMP! I think Ainsleigh was actually surprised to feel it because she jumped and yelled, "Mommy! It went, POKE! It poked me!" It was really neat for her to be old enough to know understand what it was and for her to even feel anything since it is still a little early for that. She's been pretending to feel it up until now. So we've been talking all morning about how the baby "poked" her.

Yesterday we went to a little zoo here that is infamous for animals getting out, which made me a little hesitant to go, but the neatest attraction for Ainsleigh was the tadpoles she saw in the little man-made pond the had. Afterwards we went to a friend's house and she got to go swimming. She's been a busy girl.

I know this isn't the most interesting pose, but you can totally imagine the bossiness, can't you?!

Funny how what starts out innocently...

...seems to always lead to splashing and getting splashed!

It's been a nice summer so far. She is so excited about going out with Daddy on Saturday to see Wall-E and then starting swimming lessons on Monday. It's so nice to see her so much more at ease in the water. I think swimming lessons will be really good this year.

Ainsleigh just turned to me out of the blue and said, "Mommy, like when I held baby Addie, I was very careful and did not squeeze her a bit." I guess we're going to have lots of baby talk going on around here. Our ultrasound on Monday might reveal the gender and end the debate going on here! We'll keep you posted. *Hopefully healthy baby news!*