Melissa was in heaven as she basked in the 70 degree weather of southern California. The perfect remedy for a sunsick mommy on the east coast. She was not dreaming of a white Christmas, rather a sunny Christmas :-)!!! Ainsley also enjoyed the weather as she was able to swing on the playground without freezing her nose off!
Since we forgot ALL of our cameras (we are blaming the number of items we had to bring for Ainsley), we are hoping we receive some pictures that Melissa's cousins took to add to the two pics following.
Ainsley's first time at the beach. Not a real fan of SAND. The water was too cold to try her out on that one, we'll definitely have to take her to beach this summer.
Yes... Melissa had her 2nd ultra sound on the 27th and this set of pictures showed a girl. However, it could not be confirmed a second time because the babys legs were closed when the tech went back to it (figures!). We did get all of pics that we need and everything looks great. We may be headed back in the 3rd trimester for a 3rd ultra sound and hopefully we'll get another chance at "guess the sex of the baby"!!!
Before taking the 5 hour flight to the west coast to spend Christmas (which was wonderful) we had an early Christmas with family on the east coast. West coast pics will be coming shortly, but for now enjoy these...
Ainsley trying on her fuzzy hat and paws. These will help her stay warm while making her look extra cute!
Mommy and Ainsley reading one of her new books from Chique and Popeye.
We finally have some pictures of Ainsley signing. Here are mommy, daddy and eat.
On Tuesday December 11th Karl will attend his final class for his MBA! Yeah!!! He will walk in the Spring, however, they did have a reception for all of those August and December grads... pics below...
Yes, Melissa, Karl and Ainsley are expecting an addition to their family at the end of April. You can expect the same polls, questionaires and graphs put out by the dad towards the beginning of next year. In the mean time, however, enjoy the first pic of the little one... a boy, we think :-)
As Thanksgiving rolled by, Ainsley celebrated her 18th mile marker through reaching new developmental milestones. We have no doctor stats since her 18 month check up actually won't take place until the end of December... but here are some milestones that mommy and daddy have noticed.
*She is up to 4 words in spoken English... to include bye bye (when she wants to go bye bye), uh uh uh (when she wants up up up), ball and dada (pretty consistently when she signs dada).
*She is beginning to understand one step commands in spoken Englinsh and understands roughly 15 or so words in spoken English.
*She is making a myriad of sounds which continues to diversify daily.
*Ainsley is becoming a pro at ASL using roughly 15 signs, understanding one step commands and beginning to put 2 signs together (still through immitation).
*She LOVES music and loves to dance.
*She loves running and kicking her ball (as shown below).
*Ainsley is becoming a PRO at her little temper tantrums, we especially love it when she throws her self on the floor with kicking feet and all, but she is careful not to bang her head and lowers it slowly.
*Stranger anxiety has become fierce, so Christmas in CA should be interesting :-).
*Her hair is growing SLOWLY... much slower then mommy would like.
*She LOVES her daddy to throw her around... even though mommy doesn't really like it.
*She is very opinionated!! I wonder where she gets that :-)...
Enjoy the pics and video below...
Thanksgiving was a beautiful 70+ degrees outside so we spent much of it running around the park.
Karl and Chris cut up the turkey.
Ainsley waits for dinner.
Ainsley and daddy decorate for Christmas.
Ainsley makes the rounds posing with everyone... mom and dad are first...
Aunt Stacey and Uncle Chris are next...
Chique and Popeye finish it off...
Here is a video of Ainsley running around the park and kicking the ball with daddy on Thanksgiving...
When we heard that Grandma Nancy was taking a trip to Chicago we had to join in on the fun. It was great seeing Aunt Sara, Uncle Erik and Grandma Nancy... it was even cuter seeing the Ainsley and Faelyn play and get along so well. Except for an accidental bite, an accidental kick in the head and some good practice "sharing" they got along fabulously! We miss you guys already. Enjoy the pictures...
The girls LOVED the aquarium! They were definitely turtle enough :-).
Karl got some practice holding 2 at time! The girls loved being held by the same person... Ainsley did get a little jealous when Faelyn was playing with Karl. It was sooo cute!
Erik entertains the girls at dinner. He didn't realize that was a chopstick, not a toothpick :-).
The girls pose for a picture with their mommy's and grandma!
Bath time!!!
The girls get curious with George.
Grandma playing with Ainsley and Faelyn.
Video of Ainsley and Faelyn enjoying and "sharing" strawberries.
What would fall be without a pumkin festival. Ainsley took her mom to a pumpkin festival to enjoy some hay and pumpkin pickin'. Daddy had to stay home and study :-(
Ainsley and Karl suprised mom with a trip to NYC. It was a wonderful suprise and even more wonderful seeing everyone again.
Before I get into the pics of NYC here are a couple of updates on Ainsley...
*She is bigger and heavier! *Ainsley is copying sounds and she looked up at a helicoper flying overhead the other day. *Ainsley has become a world traveler visiting 3 different states over the last 3 weekends... pics below. *She is still working on her 4 incisors that have been coming in for ages. I believe we have 1 down and 4 to go. *Ainsley was great on the plane. She would sign lights on, lights off until we turned the overhead lights on and off. *She loves going outside and gets mad if she has to come in when she is not ready.
*Mom is doing well adjusting to her old age :-)
Enjoy the pics...
Ainsley strolling around NYC.
Aunt Jordi showing Ainsley the seals at the Central Park Zoo.
Daddy plays with Ainsley in the zoo.
Already showing us that Uncle Larry's jibber jabber hurts her head :-).
Everyone at TAO for dinner. She loved the fish.
Ainsley demanded to go to Alices Tea Cup for breakfast (the last time she was there she was inutero) :-). The scones and chai tea were divine!
* Thank you Christen, Courtney, Charles Paul, Larry, Karen, Jordi, Karl and Ainsley for making mommy's birthday so special!!
Grandpa Joe and Grandma Norma had a conference in Hershey Pennsylvania so we decided to drive up to see them. Ainsley had a great time in Hershey and a great time with her grandparents.
Enjoy the pics...
Ainsley loves Pepermint Patie.
Ainsley and mommy on a train ride.
Dadddy takes Ainsley on a more vigerous car ride (which she enjoys much more then the boring train).
In tribute to Sam (Ainsley's cousin)... she too loves Ketchup.
Grandpa Joe, Grandma Norma, Ainsley and Karl outside the hotel.
