Last Day of School

 The girls' LAST DAY OF SCHOOL was June 5. They had to go about 5 extra days to make up for several snow days this year. It was a great year for both girls! They had lots of fun and learned lots too ;)

Avery was in Kindergarten this past year and her teachers name was Mrs. Behrens. She had a great time in her class, made several little friends, and really enjoyed going to school each day. She was excited to learn new things and make crafts and do all the fun activities that kindergartners get to do!! She was the 2nd in her class to master all 77 of her sight words (spelling them AND writing them) so she was very proud of herself ;). I loved having her come home everyday to tell me what she did that day.

Quinnlyn made it through 2nd grade easily of course. I have to admit, I slacked off in challenging her beyond what her teacher was able to.....I can thank the Ainslee girl for that, but she learned a lot and did well. Her biggest weakness is being responsible for herself. I had to remind her A LOT to do what she needed to do. This year she didn't have any homework which was nice, but it certainly didn't help her in the responsibility area. Quinnlyn's teacher, Mrs. Knox, was absolutely fantastic! Quinnlyn latches onto her teachers and loves them so much, so she has always been lucky to have a teacher who loves her back and appreciates her silliness.

Ainslee is 11 months

 This cute girl is starting to get into everything! She climbs on everything....stairs, chairs, tables, the gate that blocks of the stairs, etc. She can go up and down stairs pretty well now, but I still get kind of scared that she might fall down them....again.
Now that it is finally warm outside, I let Ainslee go out onto the deck or porch a lot. She loves being outside and lately, if she sees the kids from the window, she will scream her head off until she gets to join them. She got her first popsicle the other day and was in heaven!
She also loves eating dirt......
She can stand up on her own for several seconds and attempts to walk, but she falls down before she can even move one leg ;). She loves trying though because she sees how excited we get.
She loves when dad comes home and immediately starts crying for him to pick her up. When he does, she scratches and pinches his face for some weird reason. She loves him.
She switched to formula last week and is completely fine with it. Since Ainslee was born, I have been pumping nearly half the time because she has never been a great nurser. After our cruise in March, she started biting so I was exclusively pumping since then and I was just burned out from it. The switch has been nice.
Ainslee HATES being confined to anything. She cries in the car seat, the stroller, the highchair, the shopping cart. She wants to be crawling around everywhere. She gets SOOOO dirty because we always give into her.
She got a new tooth so now she has 3.
She got sick this month where she had a fever for 5 days. She was miserable and so were we! The doctor said it was just a virus and luckily it went away on day 5!! She has gotten sick a lot this year. It sucks.
Nicknames for Ainslee include: Little Goose (sometimes Miss Goose....according to Easton), Ains, Chicken little girl (don't ask), and the normal Ainslee Girl.

This month

Quinnlyn's #8

Guess I will do some catch-up.

Quinnlyn turned 8 in February. We did the usual Breakfast (which dad has deemed 'HIS' tradition even though mom started it). I am not willing to wake up at 5:30 am to go to breakfast anyway, so I guess it works out. They went to the one and only Mcdonald's. She opened a few gifts before school, we went and ate lunch with her AT school, she took treats for her class, opened a few presents when she got home from school, we ate at Applebee's per her request for her birthday dinner, and then came home to open more presents. No cake on her actual birthday because we were waiting for her party which was on Saturday.

Quinnlyn wasn't actually suppose to get a friend party this year. I decided a while ago that my kids would get to have friend parties every other year.....and this year was Avery's turn. Well being the awesome mom that I am, I gave in and planned a little shin-dig a few weeks before her birthday. When I say small, I mean small. I only let her invite 5 friends from school. She was fine with it, and I didn't go crazy. WIN WIN!

The theme was 'NIGHT OWL'. We had it in the evening and had the girls wear their pajamas. They did a craft (owl bookmarks), did a 'punch pinata' where they each got a few prizes, ate pizza + cake & ice cream, watched a short movie, opened gifts, & ran around like 8 year old girls. At the end, I hid glow sticks downstairs in the basement and the girls had to search in the dark for one. Each glow stick had a number that corresponded to their own present to open. The presents were little stuffed owls that I made that turned out pretty cute. The girls loved them!

I think the party was a success. Quinnlyn had a blast, it was inexpensive, and I didn't go crazy. YAY!

10 is the Magic Number.

When a baby has Colic, most people will say that by 4 months, it will be gone. Well in our house, 10 is the magic number. Every single month I thought to myself "Maybe this is the month.....please let this be the month" and every month I was disappointed. By the time our ten months rolled around, I feel like I had given up on Ainslee ever being a content baby. I have loved this past month with her and it was definitely a good break for me!

At 10 months, Ainslee:

-Loves climbing stairs. I can barely keep her off of them. And she has fallen down them once. OOPS!
-Loves pulling the utensils out of the dishwasher. She cries when I close it.
-Loves playing in the fridge. Also cries when I close the door.
-Sleeps all night until about 5 or 6 am. Then she nurses and sleeps until about 7:15 am.
-Only nurses once in the early morning. The other times, she drinks pumped milk from a bottle.
-Eats whatever we eat.
-Loves playing with her crib toy and will stand and push buttons for a good 30 minutes in the morning while she waits for someone to get her up.
-Will take a binky, but doesn't love it.
-Plays Peek-a-Boo.
-Claps
-Has blonde hair
-Has ice blue eyes like Avery
-Most people say she looks like Avery
-Weighs 19 pounds (57%) and is short (7%)

Loves playing with Easton

Thinks she is a such a big girl

Blueberries

Oh Child!

Playing on the deck

Watching a movie with the other kids

Love this tiny just drinking her bottle

What??? He is 3 already!

I can't believe our Little Buddy is 3 years old!! He was so excited for his birthday this year and his excitement rubbed off on the rest of us!

Easton woke up to the Happy Birthday song and PANCAKES. He insisted on putting candles in his pancakes so who am I to tell him 'no' on his birthday? He chose four candles instead of three. He got to open a few presents from the girls before they went to school and one with new clothes in it (I thought it would be short weather by his birthday....but I was wrong. He wore them anyway.)

At lunchtime, we went to Mcdonald's with Dad. I can't wait until my children quit choosing that darn restaurant for Birthdays. He got the coveted kids meal with a toy of course. Then we came home to have a birthday nap :)

When the girls got home from school and Dad home from work, we all went to Incredible Pizza Company (similar to Chuck-E-Cheese but less dirty and ghetto). We ate from the buffet and then played some fun games to win tickets. Easton loved it and all the kids had lots of fun! 

After we got home, he opened the rest of his presents, which included 3 Cars toys and a new bike with a helmet. He loved it all! Then he blew out candles on his Baseball Cake. He rode his new bike around the house for a while after the rest of the kids went to bed and then we dragged him up to bed. What a fun day. We love our 3 year old Easton!!

Two weeks after Easton birthday, we got to turn around and celebrate ANOTHER one!! Avery turned 6 in May She hates that her birthday is after Quinnlyn and Easton's, and just didn't think it would ever be her turn ;). I assured her that it would come soon. She also got a friend party this year so on her actual birthday she got to do the typical stuff that the other kids do. Breakfast with dad in the early a.m, gifts before school, lunch with mom, Easton,& Ainslee at school, gifts after school, The Pizza Ranch for dinner, and more GIFTS! This year all she asked for was books and a Lalaloopsy doll. So that is what she got....along with clothes, shoes, a little walking puppy, and a messenger bag that she got to decorate/color herself. Plus money & cards from G&G's.

Her birthday theme was the same as Quinnlyn's: Night Owl. It made it easier on me since I had everything planned. She invited 4 friends from school and I loved seeing them play & interact together. Kindergartner's are so sweet and innocent. They played, made owl bookmarks, ate pizza, opened gifts, played the punch pinata, and they also got owl pillows. Avery's cake request was Lalaloopsy (didn't really go with the owl theme, but that is ok). I think the cake turned out cute and she loved it.

Can't believe this girl is 6!! Love her!

9 months and mom is going crazy!

Wow! I can't believe Ainslee and I BOTH made it to her 9 month milestone! Each month of Ainslee's life, I have said: "Maybe next month she will magically turn into a content baby"......each month my dreams are crushed. This girl is as high maintenance as they come.

She wants to be held always, but hates being held......what the heck??!!
She hates getting her diaper changed and getting dressed
She whines and cries the second we walk away from her
We pretty much walk on egg shells around her so she doesn't cry.

WHATEVER AINSLEE WANTS, AINSLEE GETS. That is has been our motto for several months now.

She's not all frustrating though. She has a tiny sweet side that shows its face once in a while.

She sleeps pretty well, going to bed around 6:30 pm and waking once in the early morning to eat. She does wake up at 7:00 which is too early for me, but I manage. 
She is cruising around furniture and is always pulling herself up to stand.
She loves feeding herself and we really don't do much pureed food these days. She loves carbs just like her mom!
She has started climbing up the stairs.....and falling down the stairs :O
She gets so excited when we walk into her room after bedtime or naptime. She crawls back and forth in her crib like a crazy girl.
She doesn't have a bald spot anymore.
She wears size 3 diapers and size 9 months and 12 month clothes (as well as a few 6 month stragglers).
People say she looks like Avery