Auntie

As you all have probably figured out by now I have been struggling with this blog for the past couple months. I haven't had much inspiration to write, and i haven't tried to make the time to do so. I guess you could say I'm kind of in a funk, so the 3 of you that actually read this......sorry. I will try and get more posts up soon.

With all that said I am so happy to say that tomorrow is going to be an AWESOME day! I cant wait! My sister in law is going to have her first baby, which will make me an Auntie for the 1st time. And on top of that..... the gender and name of the little one is still a mystery. I am waiting anxiously the news. i just hate that we are so far away, and probably wont get to actually see hold him/her for a couple of months until we can make it up to Bean Town. I hope that she showers us with pictures and videos!

Oh and Kaylee seems to think that the baby is a girl now. From the moment we told her C was pregnant she was confident the baby was a boy. Then, about 6 or so weeks ago Kaylee announced "I changed my mind!" I asked her what she changed her mind about and she said "C is NOT having a boy anymore, now she is having a girl." And ever since she has been adamant it is a girl. Recently she came up with the baby's name too, she says her name is Darla Alyssa (but sometimes she changes it to Narna). Oh and earlier this week she tried to convince C that she has TWO babies in her belly. C was quick to assure her that she KNOWS there is only one baby in there. hahahaha

I have to say that besides my SIL, I have another friend who will be having her baby in March and she does not know the gender of her baby either. It is KILLING me having to wait and see! That is funny to me because we didn't find out the sex of either of our children, and we never thought twice about our decision. It was easy for me to not know, when I was the one pregnant, but now to be on the other side, it is MUCH harder. I want to know SO bad, now I only have to wait a little longer.


Congrats C&H! Enjoy your last night as a family of 2, and know that tomorrow marks the beginning of the rest of your lives. And it is going to be the ride of your life!

Snow Days

So I don't have any actual pictures of us IN the snow, but I have some shots of the hot chocolate afterwards.

I haven't bought a sled in the past, because we usually only get like 1 snow a year. But this year we have gotten record amounts of snow in the month of January alone! So let me tell you the next time I see a sled I am buying it (ok maybe only the first one on sale).

Kaylee is always being crazy!
Ainslee had to take her last sip, right as I was ready to take the pic

Kaylee only ate the marshmallows, didn't even drink the hot chocolate

My cutie pie!

Our only "snow" picture. If you cant tell that is our family of snow angels. Marcus is on the left, I am in the middle, and Kaylee is on the right, and Ainslee wanted nothing to do with lying in the snow. She kept her happy little self in the wagon the entire time, that's what I used as a sled........it was the best I could come up with.

I wonder how many more snows we will get this winter?

Heart Day

I'm not really a Valentine's Day type of girl! I could completely care less about spending money on flowers that will die in a couple of days (although the VERY occasional flower or 2 is quite nice). I eat enough chocolate as it is so I don't need more on Valentine's Day. And frankly I love the people I love EVERY day (and tell them) so why is Valentine's Day any different? Call me a scrooge, or whatever it is for not agreeing with "manufactured holiday" that card companies make millions over. Did I ever mention I don't like cards either? Man I'm a double scrooge today. I think homemade cards are perfect. Why go out and spend 3-5 bucks on a piece of paper that gets tossed in the trash? that is more money that could be spent on the gift! Anyways that's not really the point of this post......technically this post doesn't have a point, but that's not where I wanted it to end up.

Our heart day started like any other Monday, but quickly changed into a WILD and CRAZY day! I was on the phone most of the morning with the insurance company (more on this in a later post), the adjuster, Dr's offices, car dealerships (to schedule oil change for my car), and repair companies (to fix the oven). The girls were getting crazy from the lack of attention from me so I had to wake Marcus up early to help me out. Usually on Monday mornings he sleeps in because he has to work that night, but today we had to pick up his mom and sister so he was going to have to wake up early anyways, I just moved that time up a bit. To make it up to him I made him breakfast in bed. Then I got everyone ready to go, and I headed out the door ALONE in the Jetta to run some errands. it is nice to get to drive in a car all by myself sometimes! Marcus loaded the girls in my car and headed to Cville, I met him and switched to my parents car. We then drove to the dealership to drop my car. After that we headed to pick up Marcus' mom. Then we had lunch at Booya's, the girls' most favoritest restaurant of all time. I took the girls to my parents to nap while Marcus headed home in the Jetta to take a nap himself. A friend of my moms came over to ride with me to pick up my car this evening when it was ready, I completely lost track of time, and we made it there only 9 minutes before they closed. We then came BACK to my moms house to spend the night, because I was supposed to pick Marcus' mom back up tomorrow morning (but that got cancelled), and we were already late for dinner, so I figured we would crash at my parents' empty house. So here I sit, the girls are asleep, I am waiting for Marcus to bring the list of things I need for tonight and tomorrow, so I thought I would blog. I wanted to hit the sack early, but obviously that didn't happen.

That was how my V-Day went.......hope yours was just as exciting!

you like the red font? all 3 of us girls wore red shirts today, so I thought I'd stick with the theme

My Awesome 2 YEAR OLD!

EXACTLY 2 Years ago today I was lying in a hospital bed waiting (but not for too long) for Ainslee to arrive. We didn't know if she was a boy or a girl, and how fitting cause apparently the public still doesn't know if she is a boy or a girl. I was SHOCKED when I was told she was a girl! I am even more shocked by the way she has changed my life. She is such a joy to have around, she is such a lovable, fun, happy, funny, sweet, energetic, and most of all EASY baby! Not a day goes by that she doesn't surprise me, she makes me smile and makes me a better person. I am sure I have aided in the fact that she is such a momma's girl, but I still love it! I love that she wants me (instead of daddy or anyone else) and cuddles with me all the time!

(above pictures were all taken at Ainslee's birthday dinner with Marcus' mom and sister, and family friend)

I searched and searched for a website that had a Happy Birthday Ainslee song (like I found for Kaylee) but I came up empty handed. So I decided to list a few of her recent accomplishments and newest behaviors.

Her favorite words are "self" and "own". As in "I want to do it myself" and “I want my own”. These words get used frequently throughout the day. Most of the things she is actually able to do by herself, but when this next particular situation began unfolding I was a bit skeptical. She announced that she had to go to the bathroom, so off she ran while I trailed behind her. She immediately pushed the stool over to the front of the toilet and pulled down her pants, that's when I came to her "assistance" like I always do, to put her on the potty. She looked up at me and said "self, self". She then proceeded to push me out the door saying "out out momma, SELF". I was crushed, she didn't want my help, but she NEEDED my help. So I stood there outside the bathroom door watching as she climbed up on the stool with her pants around her ankles. She tried to figure out the best way to actually get onto the potty, her way didn't quite work out so I stepped in to assist (and i am confident she was ok with that since she was basically stuck). So now almost every time she has to go to the bathroom she wants to do it by herself, that makes me kinda sad.

She was determined to make her last meal as a baby 1 year old a big one. Last night, unlike the past 3 nights when she had about 3 bites for dinner, she ate 2 HUGE plates of food, 2 bowls of applesauce, and dessert. She probably would've eaten more had I offered it to her. I'm telling you this kid must be going through some sort of growth spurt because she can put away more food than me most days, I swear she has a tapeworm!

She decided to be the first to rise on her birthday. She wanted to enjoy EVERY bit of her special day! She woke up a good hour before her usual time, but I was happy to spend some cuddle time with her in my bed before we started the day.

She is able to put together all the puzzles we own. She LOVES puzzles!

She knows at least 25 body parts

She has her favorite books that she asks to read nearly every night before bed, and she has memorized them!

She still is very attached to her mana (blanket)

She loves and admires her big sister! While I am usually 1st on her list, sister is a close 2nd, Ainslee is very concerned when they are separated.

She loves watching TV and probably wishes I let her watch more often, Dora and Curious George are all she watches. Although I have saved the Oprah when Sugarland was on and she LOVES watching them sing "All I want to do". She usually sits on the couch and dances/moves around while watching intently. I don't think she even blinks throughout the entire song.

She does the "we did it dance" after each Dora and it is super cute

She still goes to bed about 6 every night, some nights it is a little later depending on our schedule. And she still wakes up after 8 nearly every morning (except on her birthday) I'm not even alarmed anymore if she sleeps past 9.

She eats a RIDICULOUSLY large breakfast EVERY morning. Actually she eats solid for about the first 2 hours she is awake. When I say ridiculously I mean ridiculously! She puts away more food in the morning than most children eat in 3 days. Like this morning.....she had her usual bowl of oatmeal which is 1/2 cup dry oatmeal (when cooked is more like 1 cup) with 1/2 cup mixed berries mixed in (because I don't add sugar to their food, the berries are a good way to sweeten in up). Then she had 2 decent sized bowls of cereal, a glass of OJ with prune juice mixed in, and a clementine. This was all before she even wanted to get down from the highchair. About 30 minutes later she was asking for more food! My dad says he is going to start charging me when she comes to his house because all she does is eat all their food!

She loves putting on chap stick and Aunt Mary has given both of them a 6 tube chap stick set that gets applied about 4 times a day. She says "Yip Yip" when she wants some more

She had her 2 year check up and she is 34 inches tall (58th percentile) and 28.6 lbs (73rd percentile). So basically she is short and fat. HA! just kidding, she is perfectly proportional, unlike her giant big sister who was always off the charts in every category.

When the doc asked me if she had at least 50 words in her vocabulary I stopped and thought for a second "man 50 is a lot, does she have 50 words? I have been a bit worried about her speech. She does vocalize a lot, but does she have 50 words. Are there 50 words that anyone besides me understands?" I told the doc I thought she did have 50 words and that evening we were at my parents house for dinner. As my mom, sister, and I were preparing the table I nonchalantly asked them "Hey how many words do you guys think Ainslee has in her vocabulary?" They both stopped, thought, and looked at me like "crap I don't want to say the wrong thing, I wonder what the answer she is looking for is." Then I explained why I was asking them and was wondering if she really DID have 50 words in her vocabulary. Mary looked at me like I was crazy and said "Michele she says 50 FOOD words, that's not even counting all the other words she says!" Then it hit me, she TOTALLY has 50 words, she has WAY more than 50 words, and they are getting clearer and clearer as each day goes by.

She has cut teeth number 13, 14, and 15 in the last week.

She is NOT a fan of the snow. As in could not care any less about any snow experience at all!

She is still rear facing in the car, and I have no intention of turning her around. She likes it that way and she is safer too......win/win for everyone

Anytime she wants something to eat she says "bowl bowl," for us to put said food in bowl that she gets out of the drawer by herself

Her kisses are the sweetest thing you can find ANYWHERE around! If you dont pucker up and make the smack sound she puts both hands on the sides of your face and pulls you in. She kisses until you kiss back. And she isnt stingy at all with her kisses!

She can be very shy and she definitely is NOT a performer. When I ask her to show daddy her lastest accomplishments she almost never does.

She counts to 5 and is very proud of herself

I am sure there are more that I am leaving out, but this post is mighty lengthy already.

(pictures taken below are from her combo birthday celebration with my dad whose birthday is the 15th)

Big Girl eating her own bowl of YoLo for her birthday dessert

Thank you daddy for my YoLo

She even shared hers with Kaylee

Money and Updates

I am FINALLY better, by that I mean completely unsymptomatic except for my annoying cough. Buuuuuuuut the girls are now not feeling 100%. Ainslee has been nursing her runny nose (being controlled by twice a day sock treatments which she LOVES), and now she has developed a cough too. She might have a low grade fever, nothing high enough to test though. She is eat well and sleeping fabulous, so I am ok with her situation. Kaylee had some drainage from one of her ears this weekend as well as near complete blockage when I looked in the ear. I decided to go ahead and take her to the doctor yesterday even though she says it doesnt hurt, and it didnt seem to be affect her. The doc says she has swimmers ear, and she was given a clean bill of health besides that. And as luck would have it, her cough has decided to escalate since going to the doctor. She is running a low grade fever which the doctor wasnt at all concerned about. So with all that said I think we could use a little R&R around here, we are all ready to be well again!

Now on to the main reason I started this post.........MONEY!

Marcus' mom has always said (about Marcus), "he could fall out of an airplane and land on his feet." Basically he is just lucky. But as Oprah says there is no such thing as luck, so call it what you want but he always seems to come out on the right side of every deal. Anyways, so with our recent bank change, we have had some minor problems with bills not getting paid. Some our fault, some the companies fault, but either way because of this and the fact that our garbage pick up was a few days late. Marcus decided to call the company to find out what the problem was. He was shocked to learn what he learned from the phone call. Basically we havent paid for trash service since (dont pass out here)..............................2004! Last time we switched banks apparently that was one bill that never got switched. The company had made a mistake and never stopped our service. So each week our trash has been picked up, all the while saving us around $2000 big ones!!! So now we are paying our trash bill, and I have to say we honestly did not know we werent paying it for 6 years. That is really sad to admit, but its true!

Remember a few months ago when we had all our car issues? We spent a pretty penny that month on car maintainence. Last week we learned we would be getting some of that money back. We got a letter in the mail from VW stating that the "air bag sensor issue" we had fixed is being covered by them. I had to copy some paperwork, scan some bank documents and put a packet in the mail, and once approved we should be getting about $320 back. YIPPEE SKIPPY!

Lastly, Marcus and I have been conteplating buying a playground for the girls. Actually I have a huge dream in mind for the back yard, and hopefully it can come true piece by piece. But the first and foremost is a playground. The girls need something to do outside. Right now the options are slim (read non-exsistent). So last weekend we went for a family walk, I however wasnt completely recovered and feared that I shouldnt have tried to walk, so we decided to cut the walk short. Kaylee knows that she has an open invitation at one of our neighbors house to jump on their trampoline. So we decided to let her jump for a few minutes. One thing led to the next and soon we were invited to dinner and the men were heading to the store for a few bits and pieces. That night these neighbors offered to GIVE the girls their playground set! AWESOME! Yes it isnt exactly what I had in mind but, hello, ITS FREE!!! We are thrilled, now we just need to figure out how to move it down the street.