Holiday Stuff

I can't believe how fast the season came and went this year. We had a great Christmas. We celebrated through the weekend with family. Christmas day was really neat. It gets more exciting every year, as Addy comes to understand a little more each time. I did go a little overboard this year..again..despite my attempts to keep things simple. Having the only grandchildren in the family also plays a roll in the spoiled-o-meter.

I was surprised to see that Ainsley enjoyed herself so much. She's always smiley and happy, but she was also very interested and took an immediate liking to some of her gifts. That was exciting. I wasn't expecting that she would express much interest. Addy made sure to help her open her gifts and kept a steady stream of toys flowing her way, so she didn't get bored.


Happy girl.


Unpacking Ainsley's stocking..her first sippy cup.. she grabbed it out of my hand and plucked it right into her mouth..no instruction necessary..


More stocking goodies.


Addy rockin' her new blades...now Mommy needs some.


Santa's big surprise..it's what she asked him for.


Personalized.


Cruising with baby Ainsley..


Addy enjoying her new playset..now featuring lots of sand!

That's a little bit of our Christmas fun. We are thankful to be so fortunate.

Gravity Hates My Baby

My poor sweet little Ainsley.. I haven't shared much about what we have been dealing with over the past couple months, but Ainsley was born with some unfortunate "issues". Fortunately, the issues are relatively minor and mostly harmless. The road to learning about the problems was a bit of a rough one, but we are happy to have the facts now and the resources to help her work through them (a HUGE insurance deductible later..)

Ainsley has always been so sweet and easy going. She is such a happy little girl, even as she deals with discomfort. It was almost by accident that we learned that Ainsley was suffering from a UTI around 2 months of age. It is pretty uncommon for a child so young to get a UTI, apparently, so she was summoned to undergo some testing. One of the tests was a bit scary and extremely uncomfortable for her.. It was one of something I surely could have lived without experiencing. Unfortunately, we will be repeating the test after a year-- which will surely be more unpleasant as a toddler.

The tests confirmed that she has Urinary Reflux. It is a genetic condition that she very well may outgrow in the next year or two and if not can be corrected by a small procedure. We are glad to know that it is nothing that will effect her, long term. It still breaks my heart to see her dealing with the repercussions of it now. She is much stronger than I am. Mean-while, she must take antibiotics daily, until the problem is corrected, to protect her kidneys from infection.

Today we went in for her 4 month check-up. I had suspicions, but I was completely in denial. I voiced some concerns to her doctor and was immediately told that she has reflux...aka..GERD.

Why must all the fluids inside my baby insist on traveling upward?

Lucky for all parties involved it is a relatively mild case..she was prescribed yet another (thrice) daily medication to help ease the discomfort. This too, she will outgrow. We are thankful that her problems are of the mild nature. We know that things could be a whole lot worse. I am just not use to dealing with these types of things, since Addy was/is the one we refer to as "The Tank". She seems to be able to ward off pretty much everything. Until this year, she had never once even suffered from even a common cold. Of course, we got a rude awakening this year when she suffered from a few little things back to back, at the same time we were dealing with Ainsley's dilemma. We have come to know the people at our pediatrician's office quite well.

Anywho-- I didn't intend to elaborate quite so much.. I just wanted to say what a wonderful and brave little girl I have..and how I wish she didn't have to deal with these things, however minute they may be, I hate seeing her in any kind of pain or discomfort. She is so lovely and so happy-- I'm not sure how she does it, but I admire her. The reflux makes for extremely awkward, uncomfortable and stressful "mealtimes" for her and I both..but it's a small price to pay, I suppose.. since she wears a smile most of the time.

...


On a completely separate note.. we visited Santa this week. For what it cost me, the he should be one rich man! So much for him bringing the gifts! I was disappointed that they didn't take more time to achieve a picture worth $40!! Even though we were the ONLY PEOPLE IN LINE! It did my sweet little baby no justice, the way she sat, slumped into Santa's arm.. but we managed to get a smile out of the very skeptical miss Addy, so I guess we take what we can get.

Big Girl Stuff

Addy is very interested in "Big Girl" things. Everything related to her is now known as Big Girl this or that. Such as her Big Girl bed.. or Big Girl cup.. She always wants to do things herself. I've been trying to let her help do things a lot more. She helps make her own PB&J sandwiches, helps me cook on occasion, she pours her own milk (when the container isn't full), gets her own water, mixed her own oatmeal, etc.

I was looking for a snack when I got a flashback from my childhood. I'm pretty sure I've made it for her in the past, but I specifically remembered making these in school..must have been in kindergarten. So we made "ants on a log". Only-- I didn't have raisins, so we substituted mini m&ms instead. I'm pretty sure Addy didn't mind! ;) She did a real good job and I couldn't resist taking some video.



You wouldn't know from the video here.. I think she was too busy concentrating on what she was doing to speak in complete sentences..but Addy has been speaking very well lately. All of a sudden she started having full conversations, with complete sentences and even talking a lot in play. I spy on her with the video monitor when she's in bed and her stuffed animals are talking, hugging, kissing, etc. It's so extremely neat to see her developing into the little person she is.

We also sat down and created a gingerbread train the other night. Addy is huge into trains..so we opted out of the typical gingerbread house and decided on a train instead.. We didn't really complete it..and I must admit it bothers me a bit that the project is so sloppy.. but I just have to remember it was really for Addy's benefit, not mine.. It's just the OCD hiding deep down inside me. We may finish it at a later time.. but Addy really enjoyed putting the candies on and sneaking plenty of them into her mouth in between.



Just thought I'd take a few minutes to share some of our recent fun. Now I must attempt to get ready and get to the store. :)

Little things..

I still can't believe how quickly the time is passing. We had a nice Thanksgiving weekend, though it was also a little stressful. We did manage to get into the Holiday spirit and decorated the house, inside and out. Addy had a lot of fun helping. It sure is nice to see her enjoying these things. She is at a fun age, but the good times are surely balanced with the bad. It's also a very difficult age-- with her.

Addy started pre-school. She has a love-hate relationship with it. We will see how things go after a week or two. As for now, she really enjoys recess..

Ainsley has mastered some new milestones. Her hands are quite fascinating and her feet pay her surprise visits occasionally, making for some pretty convenient entertainment. She has also taken a liking to some of her toys. Big sister Addy always makes sure she has plenty of things handy. She has good control of her hands and takes everything right to her mouth. She rolls over..occasionally. Tummy time is becoming much more exciting, now that it's not quite as much work to hold up her big brain. ;) She absolutely loves watching her sister run around and smiles every time she sees her.

We are looking forward to many holiday events/traditions and I can't wait to include little Ainsley in them. I just love this time of year..

Sweet Ainsley Laughing

Just a little video of our sweet Ainsley laughing. Mommy is trying to eat her hand..

Do you know?

Want to kill a few minutes and take a fun little quiz?

Addy & Ainsley might just look more alike than you think! See if you know who is who! :)

Guess Who

Halloween & Things

Our Halloween activities were a lot of fun. We attended a Halloween party with our usual play group friends. It was a lot of fun. Addy helped me bake some sweet treats for the party..unfortunately I dropped all 2 dozen iced and decorated cookies on the floor prior to the event. Good thing we made cupcakes also..




Thanks for the cute pic, Katherine! :)






On Halloween Ainsley joined me in the Autism Walk and following that we all went to Desert Ridge Marketplace for some daytime trick or treating fun. Addy really enjoyed that. I think she was pretty surprised at the endless offering of candy! That evening we finished up by trick-or-treating down one street in our neighborhood and handing out candy from the drive way, enjoying the nice fairly cool air outside.

Addy was quite pleased with the sack of treats she accumulated and took complete inventory once we got inside.





Sweet, smiling Ainsley..



Sisterly love..

Life in the Fast Lane!

As I come to realize how busy life is with two little ones and how infrequently we are able to see our family and friends these days.. I decided I should try this blogging thing again. I'm truly horrible at it..however I think it will be a good way to keep everyone informed between visits and maybe even help me keep track of things a little better..since it's all such a blur as time races by!

I could probably write a 10 page entry on recent activity, but I'll spare everyone and focus on things from this point forward! :)

Ainsley is getting so big, so fast. She is such a pleasure to be around. She is still super calm and is full of smiles! (Which I need to capture on camera more often!) Sugar represents my sweet baby Ainsley.

Spice, on the other hand, would refer to our little Addy.

Addy is a little spitfire. She keeps us on our toes for sure. Although, when she is sweet..she is extraordinarily sweet. She definitely knows how to flip the switch and how to take advantage of a situation, to the fullest. Two has proven to be tough and from what I know, three is likely going to be twice as difficult. Which brings me to say- I can NOT believe my baby is going to be THREE soon! On another note.. She has taken quite nicely to the big sister role. She loves Baby Ainsley and always looks out for her. All babies in broad form and baby dolls are now referred to as Baby Ainsley.

We visited the fair this last weekend and had a lot of fun. Addy enjoyed a chocolate covered banana and we all tried deep-fried oreos. Yum!! Addy and I rode the big Ferris wheel together and a very cool para-sailing type of ride. She enjoyed it so much that she followed it up with an Addy-tude meltdown. She wanted to stay on it forever. To be fair..I didn't want to get off either. ;) We are definitely looking forward to our upcoming Disneyland vacation, in the spring! Since it was dark out, our pictures did not turn out well, so I wont bother sharing, sorry!

We are looking forward to Halloween festivities this week and will post pictures of the little monsters in their costumes. We would like to visit a pumpkin patch also, but may not be able to. So much to do, so little time!

I'll do my best to keep the blog posts coming this time! :) Check back soon!