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!