Sunday, May 30, 2010

Dress up

We never really play dress up around here....but we did yesterday.....

Ansley is wearing her "dress" which is actually one of my old maternity shirts ;)

And then there is our little Tibetan Monk....I tried explaining to Austin about Tibet and the monks, etc.....he was not as interested as I thought he might be ;(

Happy Memorial Day weekend, we are thankful for those who have fought and served so that we can be free!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Birthday party fun!!

Ann LOVED her cupcake on Sunday, but she only ate the icing, she skipped the cake part ;)

She had to get a little help from Austin to blow out her candles

It was hot (for Georgia) on Saturday, so we set up their kiddie pool in the front yard

Austin kept jumping in like this into the pool....

and this was always the resulting splash. I don't know if you can see it as well, but there is water splashing up above the pool. Needless to say, Austin absolutely loved the water and ....

notice where Ansley is....that is because she wanted NOTHING to do with the water again. It did not matter if Austin was in the pool or not, she did not want anything to do with the water. Oh well.

We considered moving Ansley to her big girl bed last night, and she really was not liking the bed, so we tried to all sing her a song to coax her to sleep. It did not work and she went back in her crib. But Austin's good night song was noteworthy.......

Ode to Ansley by Austin
Goodnight Anzy
Goodnight baby sister
I missed you today
But I saw you on the playground
And Connor had poop on his back
Goodnight baby girl
Goodnight baby
Goodnight Anzy

Aren't you feeling sleepy already?!?

Friday, May 21, 2010

2

Readers note: I am not good at keeping a baby book, so this blog is my baby book for our kids, so this post is not really for y'all so much as it is for Ansley and our memories of her on her 2nd birthday)


Ansley, Annie, Ann, Ampersand, Anzy (Austin's name for you),

You are 2!! I cannot believe you are 2!! It does not seem like it has only been 2 years since you were born; honestly, it feels like 5! You are such a joy and I just feel like you have been here with us for a long time.

You are such a good, sweet child. Everyone that meets you says how pretty or cute or adorable you are, and as your mom and dad, that makes us feel wonderful inside, not because we want people to think we have a cute kid, but because other people can see how wonderful you are, and it is not just us!! Although of course we are super partial!!

You and your brother are just starting to play together like true siblings; of course you fight and argue, but you also seem to play together too! Austin has figured out (slowly) that if you have something he wants, if he just asks you for it, you will almost always give it to him. You are very giving and you really love to share.

You love to share everything, but especially food. You want to share your food and you insist that others share their food with you....no matter what it is!! You love everything dad & grandpa eat, and you like some pretty weird stuff, raw onions seem to be one of your favorites!! But you also like horseradish ;)

You love to talk, you love to laugh, you love to be tickled, you love to be silly, you LOVE Charlie like no one else, you love to pat Charlie's face & back, you love to swing and play in the sandbox, you love to talk on the phone, you love to smile, and you love to be loved. You love to wave bye and blow kisses, you say "kiss, kiss" and wave bye. You sound just like a southern belle when you say "bye" and we all laugh when you say it.

You have your stubborn moments too (don't know where that comes from) but you can get a stubborn streak in you. You have already started to roll your eyes up into the corner of your eye socket when you are in trouble, and you will refuse to look at us when we are trying to talk to you about what you did. But honestly, this happens about once every two weeks, and it usually happens when you are tired or when Austin has been picking on you! But I am not making excuses ;)

Everyone at school loves you! Numerous teachers on numerous occasions have said that they wish all of their kids could be like you! Your daily notes share things about you like: she did a great job answering yes & no questions; she loves singing her ABC's; she knows her numbers; she loved playing outside.....

We can always tell when you are sick; when you have a fever you are bright red and you are just not your normal self! I hate when you have to have a catheter put in to draw a urine sample, and you do too!! You have been better this year, and we hope the end is in sight. Nothing hurts your mother more than seeing you in pain. Every time we go to the doctor's office now, you will not let me put you down and you scream when I do, as you probably are thinking that a catheter is coming....I am so sorry for that and I am willing all I can that you get better soon.

I love you so much it hurts sometime, because I wish that your grandmother was here to see you since you would have been one of the prettiest apples of her eyes! You remind me so much of her and you are just as sweet as she was. I know she is watching over you and I hope to help you know her through me. I am just like her in many ways, as I am crying now as I write this, and I know she would be too!! We are just old softies at heart!!

You are now starting to show your loving side by patting your baby dolls on their backs and putting them to bed. After you lay them down and pat them on their backs you say "shhh" and put your finger to your lips, it is pretty funny. You also love to say certain words that just make us laugh!!

You are small! You definitely have your grandma's genes, as you might weigh 22 pounds, and that is with all your clothes & shoes on and a pretty full diaper!! You are short, but as your dad always says, you are dainty!! Since you are so small it is okay that you still love to be carried, but as you get bigger, you are going to have to do some more walking on your own!! But I will carry you as long as I can! This is not to say you do not walk on your own, but given the chance, you love to be carried around ;)

We are so glad that you are our daughter, sister, granddaughter, and niece. Happy birthday Ansley!!

ps. your real birthday party is on Sunday so that the rest of your family can be here. Today your school is having an "end of the school year" party, so you will have lots of sugar at school!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Big day!

It has been almost two years since Ansley was born so....we finally got a haircut!!

This is an after shot

This shows you how long it is now....she got about 2 inches cut off

She was happy to pose for the camera

This was taken before we went to get it cut, so you can kind of see how long it was....but this last picture has more to do with the idea of nature vs. nurture....we do not encourage her to play with dolls, in fact, most are up so high or tucked away so that she cannot play with them, not on purpose so much now, but before she was just too little to play with the ones she had been given. But this last picture shows her new favorite past time, it is taking a towel/blanket and covering her baby doll and patting her on the back. I am sure she sees the teachers at school doing this for her and the other kids in her class at nap time, but she has just starting doing it here with this doll. Mind you there are NO other dolls or girl toys down at her level, most everything is boy based, like trucks and trains and cars, etc....so I am a firm believer in the nature idea that girls are more nurturing. Just my two cents ;)

Friday, May 14, 2010

Hard day at work....

Don't ask me why, but a publishing company had a marketing event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway today, so we got to go there and preview their new textbook line and....go for rides in pace cars!!!
This is just one of the "pit" cars that we got to take pictures by...but we got to go for rides in a 2010 Chevy Camero at speeds of up to 115 mph!! It was so much fun!! Not a hard day at the "office!"

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Happenings around here....

We came home from Tybee Island today....wish we could have stayed a little longer, as we had a blast!!

Eric had fun making sand castles ;)
Ansley had fun playing with our rubber mallet that we took with us to hammer in the umbrella to keep us shaded (of note, only Eric got a sunburn this whole trip, and that is because he did not wear any sunscreen!! Silly boy). The rest of us pale people wore plenty of sunscreen and some of us (Ansley) even got a little bit of a tan!! Ansley continued to hate the water and generally just wanted to play in the sand box (beach).
Austin & Eric played in the water with a beach ball, Austin had SO much fun!! I think this is a pretty cool picture with the way the light reflects off the water...it was early on Wednesday morning, and we were almost totally by ourselves on the beach.

Austin & Ansley really started playing together like brother and sister this trip; they slept in the same room and would talk to each other in the morning when they woke up before Austin would come and get us up too.

Uncle Bunny gave Austin a new truck before we left, and he loved playing with it in the sand and water....we lost the doors to in the first day in the surf....look how empty the beach is!!

We came home to rose bushes in full bloom; this is how Eric gets out of buying me flowers, he buys me rose bushes instead; the gift that keeps on giving!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Hot fun in the ocean!!

We came to the beach for a few days between semesters..............lots of fun!!

Austin & I playing in the water.......ignore the blindingly white bodies!!

Austin is concerned that you all might think he is having fun

Austin & I are having a water fight!!

Ansley keeps calling the beach a sand box....but, rest assured, she HATES the water!! She does not like to be in the water at all!! She cries and fusses and screams.....she just wants to be held or to run around in the sand.....when she does walk, she will go to the waters edge with us and walk, but she deliberately avoids the wet sand...prissy!!

But at least she is having fun in the sand box!!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Meerkat Mom Day!!

Today, Austin asked me if he could give me a meerkat kiss...sure!! So he came over and licked me on the cheek!! eeww!! But I'll take it!!

Today, the kids & Eric gave me a cool card that sings; before Eric gave it to me Austin told me it was a super hero card....turns out it was! It was "Mom the Superhero" card ;)

Happy mothers day; I hope you got some licks (kisses) too!!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Really bad sign

Tonight while Eric was making Austin's bed with clean sheets, he lifted up the mattress to tuck in the top and look at what he found!!!! That's right it is a Bruder toy truck magazine!!!! When asked why he had it under his bed, Austin responded, "that is my hiding place".....well at least we know he already thinks like a teenage boy .... hahahaha....look at the look on his face
BUSTED!!!

p.s. Eric did not pee in his pants, it was bath time....all of the boys in the house are potty trained!!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Even sicker

When I went to get Austin from school yesterday they had him in the front office with a towel around his neck....said he had a 103 fever.....so since it was 4:30pm the pediatrician's office was closed already so we had to go to a minor emergency clinic....after smelling his breath, I knew what they were going to say....Strep Throat part II. Seems strep throat is being spread around our neighborhood like a good rumor ... so back on antibiotics.

If you are keeping score, that is two sick kids on two different antibiotics and ibuprofen in our house. Both have fever, both are cranky, both want to just be held all the time or lay on the couch eating popsicles or run to the bathroom because they think they are going to throw up or yell at the other for looking at the other or ..... who wants to come take a shift so I can get some sleep??? I know, I know, it is always all about me ;)