Happy Birthday, Daddy!

In looking over photos that I was going to post I realized in my "To Come" list I left out Brad's birthday! Shame on me!! His birthday is October 9th. In Kaylee's wisdom she now wants to know what "kind" of birthday everyone has. As you all know everyone must have themed parties. In asking Brad this he told her she could plan his birthday and she chose a Cars theme for him. It's interesting because she enjoys seeing the various products associated with Cars, but I rented the movie once and she didn't even make it through 1/2.

Brad was actually out of town the day before his birthday, got back in town the day of his birthday. So the day before the girls and I went to Artful Design to make Brad some gifts. Kaylee painted a mug and we did a hand print platter for him to use when grilling. He didn't get these until about a week later, but it's hard to find time to go there when he wasn't traveling, so we had to seize that opportunity and then we went to Party City to get things for the Cars party. We got some balloons, plates, napkins and a candle. Then went home to make the cake. Kaylee is also really into making everyone a cake for their birthday. So Grandpa Bentley be prepared as your birthday is rapidly approaching! On Brad's birthday we set everything out for him so he would see it on the counter when he came home. I should say I had set some stuff out and Kaylee rearranged it. Such a party planner...has to have that control.

Most importantly Brad had a good birthday and was very proud of the initiative Kaylee took in his party. I know it meant a lot to him and of course he means the world to us. Here are some of our photos:

Some of the things we had set-up. As you can see Ainsley was very interested in the balloon's and Kaylee in the cake.

Kaylee was entertaining us with song for dinner. She really enjoys making up her own songs these days, or taking part from a real song and taking creative liberties with the rest of it.

Here is the cake that Kaylee made! She picked out all the candles and even let Daddy use the Nemo candle from her birthday!
Getting ready to sing and blow-out the candles.
Ainsley REALLY enjoyed the cake!

To come...

Yet another post of my posts to come. This is really more of an aide to help me remember!

• Remodel
• Fall Fun
• Halloween
• Ainsley's 18 mos. stats (come on weight gain!!!)

My goal is to have these all posted by the end of this next week. Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned...

Congratulations!!

A quick post to say Congratulations to our friends Brian & Kristin on the new addition of their son Jacob.

Jacob "Jake" Michael was born Monday, October 27th. He weighed in at 7lbs. 1oz. and was 191/2 inches long. Everyone is doing great!

Many congrats to Brian, Kristin, and Big Sister Kami!

Ainsley's results....

So last Friday was the "big" weigh-in. Apparently I had mixed-up appointment dates, as Ainsley's 18 mos. appointment is scheduled for November 3, this appointment was actually supposed to be the 8th of October. Thankfully they were able to get us in while we were there so we did not have to come back. I was glad because while we know Ainsley is healthy it has still been on our minds. In 5 weeks she gained 6 oz. So she went from 19 lbs. 15 oz. to 20 lbs. 5 oz., in kilograms it actually appears she gained over 1/2 lb.

Dr. Rosa, who I love dearly, and I am so thankful for her as our pediatrician, said that since Ainsley is gaining we are fine. Had she stayed the same or lost we would be on to blood tests for her thyroid, etc. As I mentioned earlier she will be there in another month for her 18 mos. appointment so we will be able to continue to monitor her. We will continue what we have been doing, cutting back on milk, giving her the vitamin (which is disgusting...poor thing), and letting her eat all the time.

Dr. Rosa also said that she is meeting all her milestones, active and not one who is sick which is another sign that she is fine. She had a big jump from 12-15 mos. in her height, and the doctor said many times they will have a growth spurt in one direction or the other, but not usually both at the same time.

We are very thankful this is the outcome and thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers on this. She is now legal to be forward facing, although she had been since 12 mos., she now meets the weight requirement. Hopefully she will have a big growth spurt weight wise at her next appointment or at least have added a pound. We will keep you updated, and for now just continue to enjoy our Ainsley. Don't we all wish we had her problem :)

United Way Fun Run

Last Saturday we went out to State Farm Park to participate in the United Way 5K Run/Walk, and kids Fun Run. The weather was perfect and there was a nice turn out. Brad ran the 5K, which is 3.2 miles, I wouldn't know that if he didn't tell me. I pushed the girls, in the double stroller, for the 3.2 miles. That was a little more difficult then just walking and not pushing anything! When Brad was done he came back and finished walking with us. The girls enjoyed it but by the end of the walk they were definitely ready to get out! After the run/walk was done they had a Fun Run for kids. They had a spot for different age groups to start at and then they ran through the finish line and each got a medal, which the girls really liked. After that we walked down to the large shelter and they had drinks, cookies and bagels and we listened to the presentations, then played at the park for a little bit and went home. It was nice to get out as a family, especially with the girls having colds a couple weeks ago and Brad working on the house it had seemed like awhile where we had done something together. The best part is all the money all goes to a great organization!


Here we are getting ready to start the race. I'm not sure what kind of look Kaylee is giving.


We're off! I carried Ainsley most of the way, it was only 1/4 mile, so we could keep up with Kaylee, toward the end Kaylee let go of my hand and was on her own. After she informed me next time I didn't need to run with her and I could just watch her like we watch Daddy because she is a big girl! So now I know :)


Here she is on her own. I'm not sure what kind of look I'm giving in this picture....

We're getting closer to the finish line here. Brad was trying to push the stroller ahead and take photos.
This is Kaylee after the race admiring her medal. They both really liked them and even Ainsley will put it on and walk around with it at home.


Here we are all after the race and the girls with their medals. They both ran across the finish line, I just held both their hands to try to avoid anyone being trampled. We finished in 3 minutes! We are SUPER FAST!!!

Sooo Big!

Ainsley continues to get farther and farther away from "baby" and closer and closer to "kid". She has such a fun personality and always seems to laugh and be silly. The only time she really gets upset is when she wants to eat. She loves to "jump", clap and dance. Her newest trick is to roll her arms while doing patty cake. She has started Kindermusick this fall and seems to enjoy that as well. Brad has a "tool" type cube that you can plug things into while working on construction type projects and it also has a radio/CD player/MP3 connector. It has been inside while the renovations have been going on and almost every night, after dinner, she gets down from the table and turns it on and begins to dance. She also enjoys bringing dress-up clothes and things to me to put on her. She also likes to give me hair things, but as soon as those go in she takes them out, then it becomes a game. Every time she sees a cat, real or not, she says Meow, and seems to pick more words up each day. She will say "Mommy" and I will say "what" and then she will babble in a way that she is telling me something. She will do this to Brad do, we think this is because she hears Kaylee do this a lot. It also tends to happen often in the car where Kaylee is talking away. So I'm sure it's Ainsley's way of participating and reminding us she is there too. I wanted to post some random photos that are recent of Ainsley. Enjoy!
We were sitting in the chair together and I had to get up for something. So I quickly took this because I knew she wouldn't stay there for long!
Ainsley now sits with us at the table instead of her high chair. She's been doing this since August. With Kaylee I seemed to do a long transition from her high chair to a booster. Looking back it seemed silly so we just went straight to the booster. She does so well and seems to really enjoy being at the same level with us. Dinner time with us all together at the table is definitely one of my favorites!

These two photos are typical looks Ainsley likes to give when she's being mischievous. It's like she's saying how could I do something wrong, look how cute I am.

I took this because I was taking "after" photos of the remodeling (to be posted soon...we have paint and new counter tops for kitchen then we are done, it will be done by the bonfire, but the pictures may not be posted :)) She was following me around saying "Cheese", so I took a picture of her, she then likes to see them on the camera.

A few weeks ago our subdivision had it's annual fall garage sale. So trying to sell my baby stuff I participated in it. Ainsley enjoyed climbing in all of the old things that she is too big for now. I will have to find some old photos of her in the swing when she was small enough to do so, although with her weight it may have still swung her because it goes up to 20 or 22 pounds. However it sold so we won't be able to try it.

The same day she was continuously climbing into the walker. Neither of my girls really liked the walker that much, they always preferred the Jumperoo, but now that they don't need it they both seem to like to try to get in it. She would get in, play around for a bit, then I would have to get her out. This went on and on and on and on!

Just to show that the little cutie can find some mischief to get into. She unrolled the toilet paper from the downstairs bathroom all the way to the french doors in the kitchen. She really enjoys unrolling toilet paper and I have to be careful to either close the bathroom doors or keep an eye on her. Kaylee never really got "into" a lot of things she shouldn't or if she did you could usually correct her a couple times and she would stop. Ainsley however is a little more free spirited when it comes to these things. In fact last night I found some bath toys that she had put in their toilet upstairs. Kaylee was going potty and left the door open when left the bathroom and Ainsley seized the moment!

We go in this Friday for her "weigh-in" and Brad and I are confident that all will be just fine. She is always on the go and that makes it difficult to keep weight on! We will keep you posted on the outcome.....

Viva Las Vegas!!

We headed out to Vegas September 12, with my brother, Brian, and his girlfriend Sarah. We just went for a long weekend but had a great time. Vegas is definitely over the top and a place everyone should see at least once. We, Brad and I, are the farthest from gamblers, I think most of you who know my husband would not be shocked by that! But there is so much more to do out there. It's an amazing place that is literally surrounded by nothing. It's a spot in the middle of some mountains. We stayed at the Stratosphere and from the top observation deck you can see the outskirts of Vegas all the way around. It was so fun and we hope to do it again! Here are some random photos:

I took this on the plane as we were landing. I'm not a big flying fan so I was happy to be safely on the ground. It was a decent flight although we were in the very back so we didn't have much of a view. This is the first flight I had in a long time without any kids. That was a strange feeling!

This is Brad and I on top of the Stratosphere's observation deck.

This is one of the rides on the observation deck. It shoots you out then drops you over the side of the hotel to make it look like you are going over the edge. I would like to say that is me on the ride but it's not. No one would go on them with me. So I went on the roller coaster at New York New York instead.

This is the Bellagio Hotel. One of the nicest hotels in Vegas. It has a water show that goes to music during the day and night. It's very cool to see.

This is one of my most favorite photos. For those of you who follow baseball I'm sure you will appreciate it too. This was in the shops in Cesar's Palace. Pete Rose signing autographs in Vegas...oh, how I love the irony of this.
Another shot of the shops in Cesar's. It's basically a high-end mall that is attached to the hotel. We did a lot of looking and no buying here!

This is in front of FAO Schwartz in Cesar's. It's a giant Dragon. I thought Kaylee would think it was cool. Taking a photo with the stuffed animal was definitely cheaper than buying it for a couple grand. Plus I didn't know how you would even get it home!

This is a fountain with an aquarium in the bottom. They do a show and the statues come to life and the fountain goes crazy and they shoot fire. It was pretty cool especially given it's inside the mall. Notice the Cheesecake Factory in the background. Yum!

Here is Brian and Sarah. This night we went to Old Vegas. We had a very interesting cab ride over by Dave, or Tim, I'm still not 100% sure what is name was, and I don't know if he is either. It was just good to get there safely, but made for a good story....for another time.

This is Brian with some sunglasses in the gift shop of the Hotel. He really admired these every time we walked by. Which was a lot since the shop is right next to the elevators.

This is a light show they do in Old Vegas. They shut off all the lights on the whole old Vegas strip and this is a dome that runs down a few blocks, so it goes on over your heads. It goes a long to music.


This is a photo of the Eiffel Tower which comes up through the ceiling of the Paris Hotel. It's pretty cool to see. Now I've never see the real one in person but this one sure looks an awful lot like it!

As I said it was a fun trip. I have many other photos but didn't want to be to excessive on the blog. It was good to come home and see the girls. I think they missed us, although they had a lot of fun staying with Mee-Maw and Paw-Paw T-Dog, and even got to go to the circus with Mee-Maw and Brad's parents.