Mama Said Knock You Out

Well, to be exact, mama knocked Ainsley out. I went outside to turn the grill on and when I came back inside Ainsley had planted herself right inside the back door. I had no clue she was there and while I didn't kick the door open, I didn't exactly open it gently either. All I saw was her fall backward and start screaming. I scooped her up and loved on her till she calmed down, then I took a look at her. Somehow she escaped with no bruises, bumps, cuts or scrapes. She did however end up with a bloody nose. Bad mommy! Now before you run and call CPS on me, look at that smile on her face (and notice the top two teeth while you are at it)!

New Toy

We bought Ainsley a new toy today so she'd have something she could try to walk behind. She'll try a few steps if we stand her up, but right now she's more interested in the cool things to play with on the front side. She also likes sitting on it and letting us push her around.

Behind

Sorry we haven't posted in awhile. Work and life have been a bit crazy. Here are some pictures from the last week and a half. Presley and her mommy came over last week. They were happy for about 30 seconds, then I think Ainsley realized Presley was sitting in her toy (not that she sits in it much anymore) and Presley wanted Ainsley out of her personal space. She also tried mixed veggies for the first time. She swallowed them all except the green beans which she gnawed on and then spit out when she was done. She's really getting the hang of finger foods now. 5 teeth makes chewing pretty easy. And the last picture is her trying to figure out how to move her feet with sandals on.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

When your child is working on 5 teeth at once, you will do or let them do anything to make them happy...and I mean anything. She may not look happy, but trust me, if you'd seen or heard her about 15 minutes earlier, you would realize just how happy she was. And if you are wondering, yes, it was a bath night.

More Vacation Pictures

Sorry to bore you with more vacation pictures, but I got my mom's pictures in the mail today and her's are much better than mine.

Vacation Pictures

Sorry for so many posts, but I decided to post the pictures by the different parts of our vacation. We just got home about 11pm last night. Our flight out there was much easier than our flight home. One of Ainsley's top teeth popped through yesterday and the three others up top are close. So she was a bit grumpy and rightfully so. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Ainsley from our trip and then I posted more below. I'm waiting to get copies of my mom's pictures, so I might post some more later this week when I get those.

Rocky Creek Ranch

The first part of our vacation was spent at Rocky Creek Ranch outside of Statesville. We kept ourselves busy swimming, canoeing, fishing, horseback riding, and shooting guns. Ainsley met lots of new family members including 3 of my cousins, 5 of her second cousins and a great aunt she had never met before.


























I couldn't resist posting the next two pictures.

Anne shot Osama right in the middle of the forehead.

















And my mom shooting a machine gun is a site I never thought I'd see. She got him in the elbow.

The Mountains

The second leg of our vacation took us to my aunt's house in Boone for a couple of nights. We didn't have nearly enough time to do everything, but we hit a few major highlights including Blowing Rock, the Mast General Store and Grandfather Mountain. I also had to take the time to enjoy two of my favorite things about North Carolina ...Cheerwine and Mellow Mushroom (I've read that Mellow Mushroom has finally made it to Texas, but no where near my house of course). Ainsley also had two firsts while in Boone, bruise #1 and bruise #2, both on her forward, but from two separate incidents.

Old Friends and New Friends

The last stop on our vacation was one night in Charlotte. We didn't have a lot of time, so we were happy to sandwich in visits with old friends and to make new friends for Ainsley. We spent the night with our friends Shannon and Reagan. They introduced us to their neighborhood, Noda, and their favorite place Alexander Michaels. Saturday my friend Sarah from college drove up with her daughter Eleanor and we went to lunch. Eleanor and Ainsley got a long great and Eleanor even tried to teach Ainsley about sharing by introducing her to fruit flavored Cheerios and graham crackers. Thank you to everyone for carting us around while in Charlotte! Hopefully next time we visit we will be able to stay in town longer.

9 Months!

She's 9 months old! It's crazy to look at how much she has changed in the last month. She went from barely being able to crawl to pulling up on things, letting go with one hand (sometimes both, but not for long), and slowly cruising around toys and back and forth along the couch. We've gone from 2 teeth to 3 with 5 more ...yes 5...about to pop through (1 more on the bottom and 4 on top)! She's still on the light but long side weighing in at 16 lb 12 oz and 28 inches long.

I got smart with her 9 month sign this time and laminated it before taking pictures. It lasted much longer and she liked it almost as much as she likes her cuppy.