Grady's Ready!

Ok, somebody stop me! I just can't stop decorating! I don't know what it is, but I just feel like I need to be working on a project at all times. And since the baby is all I can think about right now, all of my projects revolve around him. You know those crazy crib quilts that come with baby bedding? I've never really understood why. In Ainsley's room I just hung hers over the rocking chair, but after working so hard on my chair cover, I didn't want to cover anything up in Grady's room! So, I thought I'd get some quilt clips. Well, those are really expensive and not real cheap to make either. So, I bought some wooden star hooks at Hobby Lobby for $.50 each and painted them blue. Then I just hooked some ribbon onto the corners of the quilt and whala! Wall decoration! :)

It adds a little whimsy to that wall, so I like the way it looks. Plus, it only cost me a dollar and gave me a good place to store the quilt!

Here's how Grady balls up every time I sit down. He immediately goes to my left side and pokes his little hiney out. Then he almost stretches sideways because the right side pokes out too, but way over under my arm almost. It always looks so ugly...my deformed belly and all. It's a little hard to see here because I was sitting on the bed and the comforter has a swirly background, but you get the idea...
My ticker says 24 days left, which I guess is more like 23 now. I really think we're ready! I mean, there are a million things I could still think of, but if we had a baby today I think I'd be ok and not have to rush out to the store. Tonight, Ainsley was playing with her rubber duckies in the bathtub. (I usually don't let her play with things that can hold water...yucky!) One was a doctor and one was a princess. The princes duck's chest kind of stuck out, so Ainsley told me she had a baby in her tummy. She laid the duckie down and told her to push, then the doctor said, "Oh! Here's your baby!" Ha! She played the rest of the time with the imaginary baby and then told me his name was Grady. I think she's ready too!

Sesame Street Live 2008

Saturday I took my last official "trip" before the baby is born. I bought tickets a few weeks ago, so we drove to Tulsa to take Ainsley to "Sesame Street Live 2008 - When Elmo Grows Up". We all had a blast! Ainsley was SO cute! She kept telling us that she was going to "Elmo's house." All I told her was that we were going to see Elmo, but I guess she thought that meant we'd go to his house. She even told me that she was going to see Elmo's Mommy and Daddy too. We got there in just enough time to take a potty break and find our seats when Big Bird's voice came over the speakers to count us down. Every kid in that entire place gasped when they heard his voice! :) I was trying to get her to pose with me here, but she kept telling me that she heard Big Bird! And the show begins! Ainsley was so overwhelmed. She just stared...we couldn't get a single smile or reaction out of her. The songs were really loud and it was pretty fast paced, so maybe that was it. She's always been the type to just sit back and take it all in, but I was starting to get worried that she wasn't having fun. That is, until Clint pointed out that every toddler around us had the same look on their face. I think they were all just in awe!
There were several different sets and they were all very impressive. The costumes were excellent too...much better than I remember them being when I was little.

Still in awe, I guess... She stayed like this all the way through the first half of the show. Then at intermission, Clint took her out to buy a t-shirt (which she LOVES) and she came back SO excited to see Elmo again.

The entire second half of the show, she danced and sang with all the characters. She even got off of my lap (thank goodness because I don't have much of a lap these days!) and stood in front of us. I bet she turned around 10 times just to tell me "Momma, I see Zoe!" and then give me a big hug! The lady next to me told me that she was very sweet. :)

We really had a great time and we'll definitely go back if they come again sometime. Just, preferably, not while I'm 9 months pregnant! It was not a fun drive. We got home at 3:55pm, went to the bathroom, and left at 4:00pm for a birthday party for one of Ainsley's best little friends. We didn't get home until after 6:00pm that night (and left at 8:00am) so I was BEAT! I think all I did the rest of the night was complain about how much pain I was in. :) Hey, I deserve to now and then!

Kids are funny!

In the last week or so, Clint has been in charge of Ainsley's bedtime routine. I will usually bathe her and get her dressed, but then Clint brushes her teeth, reads to her, tucks her in, etc. It's just gotten too hard for me this late in the pregnancy. By the end of the day my stomach muscles hurt so bad that it hurts to even sit up (and crawling out of her bed is even harder) but she's such a cuddle-bug! So, anyway, last night I had been listening in the monitor and heard her crying a little. This is not normal, so I was concerned. But it turns out that she was just wired and was very squirmy and giggly and wouldn't cooperate at all, so Clint told her she was going to get a spankin' if she didn't stop. We rarely have to spank her...just the though of it always gets her SO upset that she immediately stops. So, she burst into tears and then just wanted hugs. :)

Usually in the mornings when I go to get her (yes, she still lays in her bed until I come get her) she says, "Hi Momma! I sweep good!" but instead, this morning she said, "My Daddy no spank me!" in a pitiful, wimpy-cry sort of voice. So I explained that she wasn't being a good girl, but Daddy didn't spank her. (Actually, he felt so bad when she started crying that he kissed and hugged her a whole lot!) Well, that wasn't good enough. She kept wimpering for a while and then said, "My Daddy a bad, bad boy." Wow! She was really upset about this! I just can't believe she was still so upset about it the next morning. So, we had to call Clint at work and have him tell her that he loved her and he wasn't mad at her. When we got off the phone she was all smiles and said, "My Daddy happy now!" :)

A few minutes later we were cooking biscuits (from a can) which she always gets to place on the cookie sheet. Normally she knows to stand back while I open the oven, but she kept putting her hands out and saying, "Me do it!" When I did it anyway she started crying again. She was saying she wanted to cook. I guess she thought she wasn't really cooking unless she used the oven. So, I explained that it was something that only Mommy's could do...not little girls. Then she turns to me with this mad look on her face, put her arms up to "show her muscles" and said, "I'm a big girl! But I strong, Momma!"

After eating her biscuits she turned to me and said she was sad. When I asked why she said, "I sick."
Me: "Where are you sick?"
Ainsley: "My head."
Me: "Why is your head sick? Does it hurt?"
Ainsley: "I have hole in my head...right here."
Me: "Do you need some medicine?"
Ainsley: "Yeah, I need mecine for my hole."
***I gave her a vitamin...
Ainsley: "Mecine make me feel all better, Momma. My hole all gone!"

Ok, I asked for it....next she came walking in with her baby doll. (The one she calls "Baby Grady") She was kissing his head and said baby was sad. When I asked why she said, "Baby has hole too. Ainsey need more mecine." When I said no that Ainsley had enough medicine, she said, "Benji have hole too...Ainsey need more mecine. Say 'Ok Ainsey doctor!'"

What a silly little girl! Oh, and when my friend, Teresa, called to say they had their baby, and I told Ainsley, she put her shoes on and said, "Me go see! Me go hopital!" Now she's going to think we go to the hospital every time someone has a baby. :)

Easter Egg Hunt

My sister, brother-in-law, and niece had planned to come over Saturday afternoon to let the girls have an egg hunt while the weather was still warm. We didn't want to wait until Sunday because it was supposed to be so cold. Here's Ainsley (and Daddy) decorating her eggs. You know it just can't be done without the tongue!

It was so hard to wait for the dye! She kept asking, "Now? Now?"

Having a tea party with cousin Hailey! My parents called while we were doing the eggs and said they were on their way to Arkansas too! They got here just in time for the egg hunt!

Ready, set, go! Hailey fell over about 5 times before I got this shot! :)

Little Easter girls

Easter morning...checking out what the Easter Bunny brought!

We had a very good Easter and I'm SO glad we celebrated the outside stuff on Saturday. It was 30 degrees on Sunday morning and very windy too. There weren't many Spring colors at church on Sunday. After the egg hunt, my sister also surprised me with homemade cheesecake (my brother-in-law is a great cook!) and a homemade berry topping for my baby shower. We all ate dessert and I opened my present from her. It was a lot of fun. Then (after dessert) we went to the Hiwasse Hilton for burgers....the best burgers around, and probably cheapest too!

I am SO sad to say that I have no pictures from Sunday morning. We were all 3 in our Easter outfits. It was the first time in a couple of years that Clint and I have gone to church together in the same car and sat together the entire time. It was my Easter present. :) He'll be back in the choir next week, but it was nice to have a week off. After church we went to lunch with my parents and my sister's family at Olive Garden. There was a crazy long wait and then we waited forever on our food. By the time we left it was 1:30pm and Ainsley fell asleep in the car. So, she took a nap in her Easter dress (another 3 hour nap) and we didn't really want to stay dressed up that long. Clint promised that we could all dress up again and take some pictures soon, though!

Beauty Shop Ainsley!

Clint and Ainsley had been playing back in her room for quite a while this morning...and being very quiet too. I had no idea what they were doing since there aren't hardly any toys in her bedroom, but I figured they were just reading or something. I soon figured it out when Ainsley came running out and said, "I ready for church, Momma!" Here's what she looked like:

Apparently, they had been playing "beauty shop." Ha! It was TOO cute! After Christmas I bought her this little set with a hairdryer, lipstick, perfumes, shadow, curling iron, etc. (all plastic, of course) for $3 in the clearance toys at Wal-Mart. I gave her an old makeup box of mine and put all of her costume jewelry in there too. Daddy had shown her how to set it all out on her step stool and turn it into a shop. She was SO excited to show me what she had been doing! Then I heard, "Daddy's tuwn!"

Blush...

Eye Shadow...

Clint was tired of getting his nails done so he volunteered the baby...

And some lipstick...

It was pretty funny! Clint is the best Daddy...so patient when he's playing beauty shop, Barbie dolls, school, etc. She gets a lot of her imagination from him!

Going to Mommy's Doctor!

We had such a fun day today. I had a doctor's appointment, as usual on a Friday, but Ainsley is usually in school. Since it's Spring Break, I decided to take her with me. I have never taken her before because my doctor's office has a policy that children under the age of 6 are not allowed in the office. This is to keep the expectant moms and newborns in the office from getting all the little toddler germs. :) A policy that I much appreciated when I was pregnant the first time, but now that I have a child it's a policy that I have grown to despise!

Anyway, I decided to just take her and see what they said. It turns out it really wasn't a big deal. Especially since it was almost closing time and we were the only people in the waiting room. Ainsley was SO cute. While we were waiting, she danced for all the older ladies of the office and touched every one of their shiny rings. This, of course, scored her some nice Little Mermaid stickers! Then when my doctor came in, she sat patiently as I had told her and colored in her book while the doctor and I talked. I had explained ahead of time that the chair was going to make into a bed so when it started moving she got very excited. Dr. Reiter asked her, "Ainsley, what's in Mommy's tummy?" And she said, "My baby Grady!" It was very cute. As we listened to the heartbeat I asked Ainsley if she could hear Grady. She said, "Her goes boom, boom...boom, boom!" (Still working on the "he vs. her" thing) She was very talkative and even scored a sucker from the doctor. The kid thought Mommy's doctor was a carnival! Ha!

I'm very glad I took her because this was my last regular appointment. I have one more in 2 weeks to check me and do the Strep B test and that's it! Nothing else until I go to the hospital. After the doctor we went to Target and bought the last couple of things we needed for the baby. Ainsley also picked out 2 shirts (I was needing t-shirts for her) and she got an Ariel t-shirt and a Tinkerbell t-shirt. At some point, I swore I'd never put my child in character clothing, but here I am! She was so good and had so much fun shopping for Grady. (This is something I usually do on Friday's while she's at school too) Then she got an icee and we stopped at McDonald's on the way home too. She took a 3 hour nap when we got home and then we played outside for a while. I'm so glad she's so good in public...I'm such a stress ball and control freak that I just don't think I could handle anything else. I know, I know...I just jinxed myself and now I'm going to have a wild little boy! :)

By the way, I'm still measuring right on track and gaining about a pound a week right now, so the doctor thinks I'll have a 6-7 pound baby. I just want a baby bigger than Ainsley was! But I do have all the preemie clothes washed up just in case...

My Baby Shower!

I had a fabulous shower! It was in the banquet room at Copeland's....one of my favorite restaurants! It was pouring down rain that night, so it gave all of us a good excuse to get out of our pj's and put on some makeup. :) I got a lot of great gifts too...almost everything I needed! I have the best friends! And if you're wondering...it was on St. Patrick's Day so there's a lot of green in these pictures!

Check out Leigh's tummy sneaking into this pic....

These are onesies that say "Grady" and "Bean Sprout". SO cute! (Thanks Teresa!)

This was a nursing cover (or otherwise known as a "hooter hider") that I'm very excited about too!

My friend Leigh stuffed a nursing bra down in the bottom of her gift. (Just one that didn't fit her) She came over and told me not to pull it out, so of course I had to pull it out and show everyone! The funniest part was that we had a fairly young, male waiter that had to listen to all of our birth/pregnancy stories and watch me take pictures with bras! :)

The cookies were so cute...little onesies with all sorts of different designs on them!

Cookies and fresh cut tulips!

A picture of me with all of the hostesses....

This is a picture of all the pregnant ladies at my shower. There are only 8 here, but 3 others just had their babies in the last 2 months.

I seriously had a great time and wish I could have a shower every week! :) My friends are great and so very thoughtful. Now I just have to get everything put away and ready to go!

(My apologies to Barbie and Katie for posting you in almost every picture!)

Ainsley is really into mimicking us lately. She'll put my shoes on and say, "Come on...time for you to take a nap. You go pee pee first, ok? Good girl!" (etc, etc.) Here she put the phone on her shoulder and said, "Hi! How are you?" and then turned to me and said, "Look, I like Momma!"

Ainsley's friend Kyla's baby brother was born yesterday. We went to the hospital to see him and timed it so that Kyla would be there to show him off. We walked in right behind Kyla and her grandparents when she came running up to hug Ainsley and said, "Follow me! I'll show you baby Nathan!" It was so cute! What a proud big sister!
Ainsley immediately put both arms around him and kissed his head while Kyla reminded her she needed to hold his head. :) They sat here for a while holding him and he was SO good! The girls played for a while in the tiny hospital room, running around and all. Ainsley was so upset when we had to leave. She really wanted to stay.

When we talked about going to the hospital, Ainsley assumed it meant that I was going to the hospital. She got all excited and said, "And see Baby Grady!" It took a while, but by the time we were in the car she was saying, "I will go see Baby Nathan and Kyla!" I'm very glad we went. She was a little timid of Becca in the hospital bed at first, until Becca showed her how cool her bracelets were and all of the neat lights and buttons on the bed. Then she seemed ok. Hopefully this will be a good warm-up for my delivery...right around the corner!

An Early Easter (And Playing with Kyla)

Our Toddler Toes group had an Easter egg hunt at the park today. We were supposed to have it last week, but it ended up snowing the day before. I'm so glad we waited because it was 65 degrees today! Each child was asked to bring 10 plastic eggs filled with something. I bought Ainsley some Starbursts in Easter colors, but that turned out to be such a headache. She had to color-coordinate each egg with a matching candy. It was fine until she reached the purple eggs and realized I didn't have any purple candy for her. Meltdown! :) Oh, and another trait I wish she didn't get from me....check out the tongue!
At some point, she decided it would be easier if she sorted the candy and lined it up by color. Again with the tongue! She was beside herself with excitement at this time...Easter egg hunt AND playdate with Kyla!
Kyla's mom has her C-section tomorrow so her pre-op appointment/work was this morning. She brought Kyla over for the morning so the girls could play and go to the egg hunt together while she was at the hospital. They had SO much fun! I told Becca so many times about how good they were, but I really was amazed. They didn't have a single fight, argument, even disagreement on any level. They shared their toys, said please/thank you/your welcome to each other, etc. They were just so good and super cute in their little 2 year old conversations. (You know, about who should be the big doggy and who should be the little doggy, whether it's better to have jelly on your sandwich or just peanut butter, etc.) They started the morning off with every little girl's favorite activity....a tea party picnic!

Then a little activity to work all the extra pounds off from the plastic food...

This was during the role-playing phase where Kyla was the mommy doggy and Ainsley was the baby doggy. The doghouse was the slide and the baby bed was the 4 inches under the trampoline. :) Ainsley was pretending to be sleeping like a baby...

The car ride was the funniest part. I was cracking up at them talking about how interesting their books were and telling each other all about them. It was so cute and I kept laughing! (They each have a Dora book. I'm so glad we had 2!)

Walking down to the egg hunt...they were just giddy!

The girls...Sadie, Kyla, Ainsley, and Zoie.

Ready, set, go!

Kyla's first egg. I had to convince her it really was ok to keep it!

Ainsley really got into the hunt! She was crawling under the tables and everything!

And Kyla finally started getting a little more aggressive. By the end, I was having the girls put eggs BACK because none of the younger kids could get to them fast enough! :) (They pretended like they were the "mommies" and they were hiding the eggs for the babies)

I have no pictures of their faces. They were so fast I never could get in front of them! This is Ainsley, Zoie, and Kyla. They stayed together the whole time.

Showing off her egg supply!

This picture totally cracks me up! Doesn't Will look like he's mackin' on Ainsley? :) He looks so grown up here!

Checking out the prizes...

Building a sand castle. Their shoes were full of sand, but (being the little girls they are) they were surprisingly fairly clean!

After the hunt a few of the kids played chase. It was really such a wonderful day to be at the park.

Eating lunch. I don't know what happened to this picture. I was doing red-eye touch-ups and somehow turned ALL the red to black. (Including the napkins and apples on the table....I even think the jelly on Ainsley's face is black!)

The day ended with the girls playing tricycles in the driveway and riding the horsey.

They had so much fun! Kyla's baby brother will be here tomorrow morning, so we plan to go see him in the hospital at some point. I'm hoping I can get Ainsley used to the idea of Mommy being in the hospital so she won't freak out when she sees my IV and stuff. And since the girls like to talk to each other about their baby brothers, I know Ainsley will love to see baby Nathan and I'm sure Kyla will be very proud to show him off!