dear mommy

dear mommy,
i know that you have a schedule that you want me to follow- however, i am on vacation- and i choose not to follow that silly schedule. and just so you know i find schedules useless. so- for the rest of the vacation if you could forget about that schedule- i think that would be great. besides, if you don't put these swim trunks on me- auntie katy will because she loves me. and she wants me to have fun. so- please do as i ask and TAKE ME TO THE BEACH!!!

view from my window

i could totally get used to this!

content.... but only for a moment

how fast can you go from happy to MAD...... miss ainsley can do it pretty fast....

4 happy babies

so- as it turns out- when you're a nurse on the labor and delivery unit- having a baby can be contagious (planned or unplanned- right ladies??!! :). these four little ones were all born this summer- and all their mommies work on the same floor. baby caroline on the right is the oldest, then baby cory (far left), then miss ains (middle right) followed shortly after by miss rebecca (middle left). i'm sure panera appreciated us invading their restaurant with not only these 4, but another 5 kiddos running around crazy. regardless- it was fun catching up and seeing how much they have changed and grown already. and lucky for me- i'll get to catch up with their mommies often when i head back to work.

who else wants a ride?

we were at my parents house last night for dinner and this is what entertained both lisa and noah. usually he's getting pushed- but i think lisa paid him in m&m's to score a ride. i can't say for sure- but it's a good guess. he's a good pusher and managed to crash only a few times.

noah's first day of "school"

thanks for the backpack erin!! he LOVES it.

so noah headed off to his first day of "school" yesterday. by "school"- i mean a mom's day out program at a church near our house. he goes on wednesdays from 9:30-2. kinda a long day for him i think- especially since his nap time is right after lunch. his teacher- miss angela- said the morning went well but she mentioned that he doesn't like to pick up toys. not surprised. she also mentioned that he did not want to give up "his" thomas train when it was time to go outside. not surprised. and lastly she mentioned that she can tell that he stays home with me most of the time. again, not surprised. so we have a little work to do i guess. she did day she thinks he had a great time and (surprisingly) plays well with the other kiddos. so that's a relief. he's not hitting anyone.... yet. maybe he won't since he's the youngest in the class. all in all i think it went well. and let me say what a nice morning/afternoon i had! haven't gotten that much stuff done in quite some time. ains and i went all over running errands, having a late breakfast, lunch out with my parents- i'd forgotten what it was like to eat without battling a toddler. but, i still missed the little guy. missed him A LOT. good thing kindergarten is a ways off yet.

giving ains some lovin before we headed off

not sure why your getting all teary mom and taking all those pics....
let's go! (obviously i should have spent some of my free time washing the door!)

(note the sweet ride to the right.... :) never thought i would love driving a mini)

new friends (they just don't know it yet)

this is ainsley's new friend ryder. what she just doesn't know yet is that i have big plans for her and ryder. i still gotta talk to his mom about it- but i think they make a great couple- don't you? and how perfect. we love his mom and dad- we've known them a long time. it's a sweet set-up. and his mom and i have had our fair share of fun together- so nothing these two might get into in the years ahead is getting past us :)
thanks for meeting us for lunch ryder and kristin- we had a great time and so glad to finally meet your little man (our future son-in-law :)

because i want her to.....

...... sleep on her back, she sleeps on her stomach. i'm sure that's why. so this is our daily battle, and quite possibly why she doesn't nap well during the day. because i try to force her onto her back. and she doesn't like it. at all. but she loves her stomach. that's for sure.

are they related??

noah- one month old

ainsley- one month old
















what do you think- do they look alike? some people see her and say she really looks like him- and then the next person tells me they look nothing alike. jurys still out for me. i just think she looks like her daddy.

one month old

so here's little miss at one month. she's just over 8 pounds, nursing well, had a few first smiles, starting to sleep longer at nighttime (i'm getting at least one 6 hour stretch!), tolerates a lot from her big brother, is definitely a "snuggler". she is content and happy- IF someone is holding her. she is a little more high maintenance than her brother was, but we're ok with that. we're working on getting out of the habit of having her in our room- but let's face it- wherever she'll sleep is fine with me!

playing with the boys

not much to say about this post. i think it's clear- he has a true obsession with thomas the train. uncle d.j. helped him set it up, and then it was all over from there. he played with this the entire time we were at my dad's house. i think he had the most fun playing with grandpa and G.U.S. (great uncle steve :)

love blog give-aways

just entered myself in a blog give-away to win one of these fantastic headbands for my niece, isabell. they are so stinkin cute! anyway, check out jenn at http://takeabowcreations.blogspot.com to enter yourself. she makes the cutest kids clothes- and takes great photos too! the newborn pics (that i have failed to put up here yet( were taken by her- and i can't say enough about them! she also made us an awesome blanket for miss a- i think i may need to have one made for noah too. you can sneak a peek at some of her newborn pics on her blog too- they are a few entries down. she may have red hair??? let me know what you think.....

more later on what we've been up to in the last few days... it involves buying a new vehicle (i've become a proud new van owner :) and somehow managing to get 2 flat tires in less than 24 hours- lots of fun let me tell you! and don't forget to enter!!

note to the fed ex gentleman

dear mr. fed ex delivery man,

i appreciate what you do, and thanks for bringing us a package. HOWEVER, it is NOT necessary to bang on the door, ring the doorbell TWICE, and then proceed to bang again. give a gal a second to get to the door and you might see that all that noise wouldn't be necessary. so now i get to enjoy a crabby toddler for the remainder of the day as i think the second ringing- or banging- is what woke him up (after a mere 35 minutes of napping). and here's hoping that his baby sister falls back to sleep as she too enjoyed your visit.

perhaps i should invest in a sign for the door.......

what we do while noah naps....

just can't beat a good snuggly nap with this sweet baby girl.....

passed out with thomas

so here we have a very tired boy (due to the 4:00 a.m. wake ups he has been having for the last week) who is OBSESSED with thomas the train- can't even put the book down for a nap. he fell asleep in his self made pillow fort on the "big" bed that is usually reserved for jumping on. this little deputy (thanks for the outfit auntie rachel!) would love to watch it over and over and over and over (i could go on forever) but we can only handle it so much. it's true- we are in survival mode at this time- so we do watch it 5 or 6 times a day and let me tell you- that is A LOT of thomas for one day. granted they are only about 20 minutes long- i could repeat all of them word for word. grandma and grandpa k. got to enjoy their fill of it while they were here last week too. lucky them!

2 weeks

so here is little miss at 2 weeks- a mini photo shoot by me on our couch... i am obsessed with her cute little feet. i don't know why. but i love them- and i love to take pictures of them. she'e eating well- sleeps about 6 hours at night and eats and eats and eats during the day. not noah's favorite time- but it may be hers. ok- gotta keep updating. next up- newborn pictures we had taken!

labor day catch up (the first of many updates!)

so here are some pics from labor day weekend- i know it was like 2 weeks ago.... we had my parents here for the long weekend- and then gail got to stay a few extra days (thanks!!). aaron and my dad did some work outside and then enjoyed the game from their self made "stadium" in the driveway watching the t.v. in the garage. i think aaron has accepted the fact that this is as close as he may get to a stadium this season. we'll see. anyway, we had a great time with them and showing off new baby A. i've got lots of updating to do- safe to say that this was easier to keep up to date on with only one child who eats on his own without needing me. anyway, we're doing well and i will get the rest of the updates on here shortly!

first game at "the stadium"

proud new grandpa
with grandma and grandpa h.
an afternoon at the stadium
big brother's "soft" hands- which is how we HOPE he touches her....

how ainsley spends her days..... i think i almost caught a sleepy smile
and how noah spends his.......

we truly have tried to nix this great habit- and clearly it's not working. sometimes i don't even think he realizes he is doing it- and then other times he thinks it's the funniest thing in the world. so- here's hoping it's a boy thing.

brotherly love

here's a few pics of noah's first visits with his new sister. he's doing pretty well with it, just a few moments here and there but i suppose that's normal. he likes to "hold her" and sing to her. and he's done about as quickly as he was ready. so we do a lot of 'mine' followed by 'all done'. he's the first to run and comfort her- which usually consists of rubbing her head with his cheek and ever so gently pulling on her arms. where this came from i don't know- but it's what he does none the less. i think having family so close- him having spent so much time with nana and papa- and now with my dad and gail here and becky and galen's visit to follow- the transition hasn't been too bad. we'll see what happens when we're on our own. so far so good though....

welcome, baby ainsley

i imagine most have seen these pictures, but i thought i'd put them up here anyway. so here she is- ainsley ann. she was born august 26th at 0411 a.m. she weighed 6# 10.5 oz and is 20 inches long. she's a pound smaller and an inch longer than noah was. but to us- and compared to him now she is tiny. and no c-section for me this time- what a blessing. labor went well- thanks to the best labor nurses ever! you gals know who you are- laura, kim, elizabeth and krysta- you guys rock! who knew having a baby could be so easy.... relatively speaking of course. anyway, we are home and doing well. still trying to get a hang of the nursing, but that is normal in our world. more to come when noah allows me to get on here.....