Ainsley's Christmas Program

Last week Ainsley had her Christmas program at school.  She was an angel and was so excited to sing all her songs.  She was adorable and felt so special to have a night out alone with Mom and Dad since we decided to leave Bailey home with a sitter.  The picture above is from the actual night of the program and the pictures below are from the dress rehearsal the day before, hence the different dress and bow.  Her school doesn't allow photos on the actual performance night, which seemed a bit hard core at first, but I kind of love it because then the night of, you can just sit back and enjoy rather than having to worry about getting the perfect shot.

She was so cute and would wave and blow kisses between the songs, but then as soon as it was time to sing, she would look right at her teacher and do what she was supposed to do.  Such a first child!  They sang "Go tell it on the Mountain," "The virgin Mary had a baby boy," "Joy to the World," and "We wish you a Merry Christmas."  Ainsley said that her favorite song was "Go tell it on the Mountain" and she still sings it often at home.  Such a precious angel!  We love you Ainsley!

And just for a dose of reality, this is what our family picture really looked like the night of her performance!  Ha!  Five minutes before the sitter arrived Bailey made a huge mess and got water all over his clothes so I had to strip him down but didn't have the energy to go upstairs to get him new clothes but didn't want him to be cold so just put on one of Ainsley's shirts that was lying around.  Sorry little boy.  :)

Getting Ready for Baby Girl

I'm not sure if it is because this baby girl will be our third child or because we haven't wanted to give up our guest room and aren't ready for Ainsley to move up to the third floor but the practical preparations for this wee one have been a little less exciting.  There is no nursery to decorate or big baby items to research and purchase.  But that hasn't meant that preparing and anticipating this baby girl's arrival hasn't been just as special and meaningful.  In some ways, it has been more so because there have been fewer things to stress about and more things just to look forward to.  

For the time being, we have set up a crib in our room.  I would post a full picture but we are still waiting on her crib bedding which is on backorder and probably won't be here for another few weeks.  But the above picture is of her sweet lovey (This time I was wise enough to buy four upfront rather than scrambling to find additional ones like I did when Ainsley's started to show significant wear or when Bailey threw his out the car window a few hours before bedtime - see there are perks to being third!) with the blanket that Grandma Smoothie made and her paci all waiting for her arrival.  The two green rings in the picture have been carefully placed there by Bailey.  He found them one day in his room and exclaimed that they were for the baby and then brought them right over to her crib and placed them in as an offering.  He has check on and re-positioned them in her crib on several occasions over the past month, so they must be somehow significant.

We also moved the blue rocker out of Bailey's room and into our room and recovered it in the pink slipcover that we used when it was Ainsley's rocker.  It brought back a flood of memories - good and bad - as I was scrubbing out all the stains in the pink slipcover and putting it back on the chair.  Above and below is Bailey sitting in the chair in its last night of being blue.  This too made me so nostalgic because he looks so big sitting there and there is a good chance that this blue slipcover might never be on this chair again.  But I remember thinking that when we took the pink slipcover off too, so you never know...  Anyway, I would show you a picture of the chair in pink... but I'm still waiting on the pillow that coordinates with the crib bedding.  Hmmm... maybe this baby girl knows what she's doing by coming late.  :)

As tradition, my sweet mom made this baby a fuzzy soft newborn blanket just like she did with Ainsley and Bailey.  When she gave it to me a few months ago, I could hardly believe that it was made with the same yarn as the  blankets that both my children still sleep with now.  It is just so much softer and nicer!  So for fun, below are some comparison shots of the old and new blankets.  Below is Ainsley's, Bailey's, and this baby's blankets.  Wow!

The biggest difference is really between Ainsley's and this baby's.  Look at all the love and wear Ainsley's has had!

And just for memory sake, here is the label that my loving mom adds to everything she knits for our kids.  Melts my heart.

We have also squeezed the changing table in our room and a small shelf for all this baby's extra stuff.  I'm not sure how long this arrangement will work but for now we are excited and ready to meet this little girl!!

Happy Due Date

 

 

Here are baby girl and I yesterday, Thursday December 12th, on her due date.  I sure hope she decides to make an appearance soon because we are excited to meet her!

Lights

The Honda

George recently got a new car and so we sold our beloved Honda Accord or as Ainsley calls it, "daddy's little black car."  The process was a pretty sentimental for me as it has been a great car for the past 8 years and represents mine and George's early married years. It was one of our first big purchases as a married couple and it was the first new car that I had ever driven. It also made me feel like a  liability  because right after we got married, my old Camry started to die.  George being the sweet husband he is didn't want me to get stranded on the side of the road so let me drive his beloved truck to and from work. Well, after I scrapped up the side of his truck on a tight turn in a parking garage and after he got stranded with the Camry on a few occasions, we decided it was time to get a new car. It was February 2006 and we were living in Fort Worth and had only been married two months. I felt so expensive to need a new car right off the bat, but George was so sweet about it all.  My family is also a Toyota Camry family - literally having 4 or 5 at one time - so I felt like kind of a trader switching brands.  But the Honda was so good to us that I got over that quickly.

After a year in TX, the Honda helped us move to CA in July in 2007. It was on a car trailer behind the truck and about half way through the trip the trailer popped a tire that whipped around and scratched the side of the car.   It was the first damage on the car. I was so sad. 

The Honda continued to be "my car" for the two years we were in CA with the exception of the summer of 2008 when George had an internship in San Francisco.  His truck was too big to fit in the garage there so he drove it to and from the city leaving me to get into some interesting truck situations. :)

Then that same summer the Honda drove us from CA to TX and all around TX to visit friends. Then up to MO to visit my family and then back to CA. It was such a good little car. 

In the summer of 2009, the Honda rushed us to the hospital while I was in labor and then three weeks later brought Ainsley home. Then a few weeks later, once again on a trailer, the Honda came back home to TX.

The Honda remained primarily my car (I have vivid memories of sitting in the car in the parking garage between my grad school classes pumping when Ainsley was just a baby) until February 2011 when we bought a bigger car for me to drive in anticipation of Bailey's arrival. 

Then once we got the Enclave, it became our primary car and the Honda became George's "to-and-from-work" car.  And even though George would never agree with me, it developed a sort of basketball shoes and golf bag odor.  But it was still a great car, always getting the job done and never needing repairs.

Still, George has been thinking and talking about getting a newer car for about 9 months now and a few weeks ago, he finally made the decision to do it.  We still have the truck for the rare times that we need to do truck type jobs... but it just seemed silly to have the Honda too even though it was entirely paid off and in great condition.  So, although a little sad for both of us, we decided to sell it.  In a way, it feels like the end of an era since that car represented the first years of our marriage when we were young and free without kids.  Sigh.  Feels like a lifetime ago but time moves on.

Bye Honda!  Sorry we didn't give you a bath before you met your new owner but thanks for being such a great car!

 



Leaves

That's right, now that it is December, it is finally starting to look like fall here in Austin!  (Actually these pictures are from a few weeks ago... this year, fall only lasted about a week and now we have already moved onto winter)  Still, the kids had such a blast playing in the leaves.  It was especially sweet to see Bailey's delight.

Thanksgiving

 

Being two weeks from my due date, we had a very low key Thanksgiving this year.  That said, we were excited to be able to host George's Mom and husband and his brother and girlfriend.  Above is George and the kids with Gammy Pam and Harold.  Below is Ainsley giving uncle Ray sweet snuggles.  Somehow I didn't get a picture of Natalie - sorry!

 



 

I was so thankful that they were easy guests and were eager to celebrate with us, even if the entire meal was catered!  I couldn't help but laugh at myself because the only thing I made was an easy cream cheese cherry pie that is a tradition for George and his family and only takes 20 minutes or so.... and it didn't turn out!  Ha!  It tasted good but for some reason it never hardened.  Ha - still makes me laugh.  :)  Good thing I didn't try to make the rest of the meal!  Here I am below at a very thankful (although maybe a bit scattered-brained) 38 weeks pregnant on Thanksgiving day.

 



 

As Gammy always does, she came prepared with crafts and activities that the kids, especially Ainsley adored!!  Knowing that Ainsley and Bailey love to play kitty together, her and Harold got them these mechanical kitty cats that purr and meow.  The kids LOVE them!!



 

 

Plus, they also brought all these creative accessories for the kitties to "play" with.  They brought small colorful toy mice and birds and other little feathers and bells for the kitties to "play" with, along with blankets and ribbon for collars so that the kitties had everything they needed.

And as if that wasn't enough for Ainsley and Bailey's imagination to go wild with, Gammy spent a good amount of time making little kitty houses out of card board boxes for each of the kids.  Ainsley helped for quite a bit but Gammy also made one for Bailey's kitty even though the creation process didn't hold his attention for long.  Below is Gammy and Ainsley with their finished product.  Both houses are so awesome and needless to say I was very impressed!  Thank you Gammy!!

 

The rest of the weekend went by fast with lots of leftover and laughs.  Here are a few pictures of our time.  Uncle Ray and Ainsley in their matching jammies...

 





Daddy getting some post-nap snuggles from Bailey on two separate days.  Such a daddy's boy...

 

 

George with his mom (and Bailey)...

Daddy and Ainsley snuggles...

 

George and his brother, Ray...

 

It was such a good visit and both George and I were honestly sad to see everyone go home.  We feel so blessed and have so much to be thankful for and getting to spend sweet time with family is always at the top of the list.  Thanks for coming to visit Pam, Harold, Ray, and Natalie!!