"Hehwoh..."

That's "Hello" in Asher language in case you didn't know. His two new favorite people to talk to on the phone are Mickey Mouse and Lightning McQueen. Today he said, "Hehwoh Mickey Mouse." It was hilarious!

Speaking of Mickey. I have a hand-me-down Mickey costume from Amy, and I did not realize HOW CUTE it would be until I tried it on Asher today. He was by FAR the cutest little mouse I'VE ever seen!!! He's wearing it to King's Kids tomorrow. I can't wait to take pictures!!! And don't worry, I'll post them - because they'll be too cute not to! =)

Which reminds me, for reasons that I won't bore you with...Tonight we went to a little church near here with some new friends. They invited us to eat dinner with them and to watch their "entertainment" that they had afterwards (costume contest, magic show, and skit). It was really fun. But the funny part is, that Asher got up from where we were sitting before it even started. He walked up to the row in front of us and sat in between two complete strangers. And he just sat there and watched the show for a while. Then he made his way back to us. But it was pretty funny. =)

Happy Wednesday!

I haven't sat down at a computer for DAYS! It's nice to be here for a short bit. =) The kiddos are both sleeping. Have I said it before that I love it when that happens?!

Asher has said and done some MORE cute things the past few days...can you believe it?! =) He has added a few new things to say to Ainsley - other than his usual VERY REPETITIVE, "Ainsley awake!" and "Hi Ainsley!" Now he also says, "I miss you Ainsley", which is so darn cute! (I think he picked that up from seeing his Grandad, Grammie, Aunt Lee, and other family on Beau's side this past weekend...which was so great!) It seems like maybe to him it's the equivalent of saying, "I love you." And this morning, he also said, "Ainsley cute!" Oh! Couldn't you just eat him up?!

The other day, the kids and I went on a drive. I had heard about this pretty drive from someone who worked out here at the camp this past summer, and she said (at least as I recall) that it was just thirty minutes from here. WELL...we drove, and we drove, and we DROVE! And come to find out, it's a state park about an hour and a HALF from here!!! That's ok. I was definitely questioning myself as we were still DRIVING, but once we got there, it was worth it. It's a beautiful place, and we found a fun playground for Asher to play at while I fed Ainsley. It worked out quite nicely. Although I was, of course, EXHAUSTED by the time we got home. Maybe I shouldn't go on adventures like that without another adult. =) ANYWAY...the whole point of that was to tell you about what Asher said. We were driving through the park, and he gasped and said, "Dinosaur!" I said, "Did you see a dinosaur?" And he said, "Yeah!!!" It was funny! I don't know if he really thought he saw one or if he was pretending, which he's doing more and more and more! I love it! Then we were leaving, and he was saying bye to everything: "Bye trees." "Bye water." "Bye slide." You get the picture? And then when he had run out of things to say bye to, he put his little pointer finger to his chin, with his little eyes shifting from side to side and said, "Hmmmmm...what else?" It CRACKED me up!!! He has never said that before, but I have a million times! He's got a LOT rolling around in his little head, and it's starting to spill out. It's SO CUTE! I love him! =)

Oh! And he's putting together sentences every once in a while too. He says, "What's that sound?" and "Mommy, watch this." It makes me so happy that he's learning things...like his colors too! I used to be nervous that I wouldn't know how to teach him what he needed to know, but it just kind of happens. God makes amazing little people! =)

Now. Of course there are pictures to upload and more things to blog about, but I better get to this house! It NEEDS my attention! Yikes!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I love it when I ask Asher a question like, "Are you ready to go night-night?" or "Are you hungry?" And he answers with a song: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..." or "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope..." You get the picture. It's so funny!

I love finding things stashed places by Asher. On his little Fisher Price barn is a thing (I don't know what the "thing" is called) where there's an opening at the top (and that's where he puts his toys) and a door that you raise at the bottom. And a lot of times, if I raise the door I'll find as many little random balls, animals, cars, etc. in there as he can fit.

He's got this other toy that is kind of like a loopty slide that goes around and around. It's made to let little balls slide down, but there was a season where that was his place to stash any little toy he could find.

This afternoon after I put him down for his nap, I was cleaning up the living room. I was about to put up Beau's boots when I found a little superhero (or some kind of miniature guy) that Asher had stuck in the bootstrap. I don't know if anyone else can appreciate it, but it's just cute to me to see how his little mind works.

And how could these faces NOT be one of your favorite things?! I love my funny guys!!!

"Dr. Wilson"

Well, we took our little whippersnappers to the Doc this morning. "Dr. Wilson" is one of Asher's favorite things to say and favorite people to "talk" to on the phone. He's always having imaginary conversations with "Dr. Wilson", and he just laughs and laughs when he's talking to him. He must be pretty funny on the phone. =)

We're going to try some safe medicine (alcohol-free, which is different than what they used to use) for Ainsley for a couple of weeks to see if that will help with the reflux that it seems like she is having. And I'm going to use lactose-free milk for myself to see if that will make a difference. But she is HEALTHY otherwise - which we knew. =) She weighs 11lbs. 7oz. So she's gained three whole pounds from her birth weight! She's a heavy girl! And she's 22 inches long.

And Asher's ears were fine. We just went ahead and had him looked at since we were going there anyway. He's been waking up a lot at night, so I just wanted to make sure that he was all clear. And he is. Just boogery. And we knew that too. =)

New Pictures!!!

Here is the link to follow if you want to see pictures from the last month of our lives...and more! There are some ugly ones in there, but it's all about the story they tell. =) Enjoy! Just click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/beauandsarawaters/SeptOct08#

Ugggh!

We had a most terrible evening last night. I've mentioned before that Ainsley has been having a spitting up problem. Not just little spit up...but it comes from the depths of her. I had also said that I thought maybe it was getting better. Well, I'm not so sure. The last several evenings (except for one) she's been really fussy - I mean REALLY fussy! It's very hard to keep her calm. It's as if she's in pain. So we burp her and feed her (when it seems like she's hungry) and swaddle her and bounce her...and we try EVERYTHING! Well, last night she spit up BIG four times I think, so we would have to change her clothes - which she wasn't in the mood for. It was just a mess. And she was exhausted from the whole thing, but she wouldn't go to sleep. Finally a little after 11:00, I think, we were all in bed. Thank the Lord! It was SO sad to see her like that - and so exhausting for us, of course. Anyway, please pray for her. She's doing really, really well in most ways. But we're having a hard time figuring her tummy out. We're actually taking her to the doctor in the morning just to see what his input is. If there's something we can do to help her, we want to do that! And of course I've thought about the possibility that there's something that I've been eating or drinking that's not agreeing with her. But it seems like if that were the case, she would be upset more than just in the evenings. I don't know. But we'll welcome any prayers for her tummy and emotional state, wisdom for us...and rest! And while you're at it, you can also pray that Asher will stop waking up in the middle of the night (again!) or in the EARLY morning. We're not sure what's up with that either. He's cutting three molars right now, so it could be that. Kids are a mystery!!! With that, I'll bid you farewell. It's naptime!!!

Happy Birthday Ainsley!

I was driving home this evening and realized that today is Ainsley's birthday! =) She's one month (and four hours) old! I can't believe it! This month has gone by really fast!

*Note: This post is more for Ainsley's and my rememberance than anything else...just in case you find it random. =)

Dear Ainsley Grace,

I've loved having you in our lives this last month! The moment I laid eyes on you I loved you more than I could articulate! I wondered for nine months what you would look like - and all of a sudden I knew. I loved looking into your eyes for the first time and you looking into mine. I loved your chubby little legs! =) And I'll never forget one of the very first things I said about you..."She's so fat!" You've been a healthy girl since the beginning, and I'm so thankful for that!

Your time thus far has been spent eating and sleeping. And you're doing a good job at both of those things - for the most part. We've been really blessed! It seems that you're already a little bit more "emotional" than Asher, which is interesting and challenging, but you're still a pretty peaceful baby overall.

Speaking of Asher, he's been such a good big brother to you so far. We have to protect you from him, because he's not quite two yet, so he doesn't fully understand what it means to be "gentle" with you. But he loves you a lot! He LOVES it when you're awake. And he loves it when your tiny little hands touch him. He says, "Ainsley got you." And he just laughs and laughs. I'm excited about watching the two of you grow up together and being good friends.

Daddy also loves you to pieces! He loves to hold you and look at you. He loves your funny faces and sounds. I could tell from the moment he saw you that he already had a soft spot in his heart for his baby girl.

We love you so much little princess!!! It's been so special getting to know you this past month, and I am excited about what this next month will hold as we watch you grow and develop even more. You're so precious to us!

All my love,
Mommy


Some things that come to mind about this first month of Ainsley's life with us:

• Her dark hair - We pictured her with dark hair. It will be interesting to see if it stays that way.


• Her "fluffy" body and how it's getting "fluffier" by the day - I love it!


• She seemed like she was dark complected like Beau for a while, but since the jaundice has gone away, I'm not really sure what her skin will be like.


• She doesn't spit up all the time, but for several days (until the last two) she would spit up REALLY big, from the depths of her about once a day. I'm not sure if it was because of the drainage from her cold, overeating, or that we weren't burping her enough. But it seems to be getting better...I'm hoping!


• I love dressing up a girl! I love all the pink, the ruffles, the smocking, the puffed sleeves, the bows, etc., etc., etc. It's fun!


• I love it when you're able to start giving them baths IN water (after their umbilical cord falls off). She loves her baths now, because she is warm. She really HATES being cold! She instantly relaxes at bathtime. It's so cute.


• I like it that it's not as hard to keep her awake for a full feeding now as it was the first couple of weeks. She was such a sleepy head!


• I like it that she gets the milk she needs fairly quickly and goes a decent amount of time between feedings - three to four hours (even four and a half sometimes) vs. two to three hours the first few days. It's amazing what a difference that makes for a tired mommy - especially at night!!!

I could go on and on, but I must turn in for the night - or I will regret it tomorrow! Good night!

Right Now...

Right Now, I am:
feeling... relatively laid back and content with the way my day has gone. I got a long nap this afternoon, went and ran a few errands with Ainsley (and she slept the whole time), washed my dishes, and relaxed with my family.
enjoying... the internet =) - it's a nice "break".
wondering... how long I'm going to get to stay on the computer, because it's just about time for Ainsley to eat again.
listening... to Asher jabber - I love his words, inflections, songs, etc.! I love it when he's really happy and just talks and sings while he's playing alone.
drinking... nothing at the moment, but I did FINALLY get a Sonic drink today. I haven't had one in WEEKS - except for water. It was yummy!
wanting... my house to be pretty and decluttered! I HATE the clutter! I REALLY, REALLY HATE IT! I may be getting to where I hate it enough to actually do something about it...hopefully! =)
loving... that my man is such a great daddy! He loves his kids so much and does a great job at taking care of them!!!
looking... forward to visiting Waco. I miss "home". I've been wanting to visit for a while now, but I need to hold out for just a few more weeks. I wish I could go to one of my dad's games, but I'll have to wait until next year. =( I'm not sure I've EVER missed ALL of his games before.

Tag, you're it!

Asher...

One more quick post before I take a nap! I know I could easily get sucked into this computer and miss it all together, so I have to hurry before it's too late... =)

Asher has been so funny lately...not that he ever isn't...well, sometimes he isn't! =) This morning, he said that he had bonked his head on the rock, then he randomly started saying, "sheet rock". Sheet rock?! I'm sorry, but that's funny! What not-yet-two-year-old has ever even heard the words "sheet rock", much less says them?! That's funny! Later, out of the blue, he was saying, "two months". I don't know what he was talking about or where he got that, but that's also funny. =) We were watching "The Price is Right" this morning - doesn't everybody do that in the mornings??? And he loved it by the way. =) And he said, "Funny show!" I love it that he's talking more and more. He amazes us - probably because we're his biased parents - but he amazes us nonetheless. He was looking at a book of his this morning, and in it there is a picture of a little boy with shorts only on, and he has a water hose with water spraying out of it. So Asher lifts up his shirt and says, "Pour water Asher." He wanted THAT water in the book to be sprayed on him. It took him a minute or two to figure out that we had to pretend. It was cute.

I've thought of several little tidbits that I wanted to blog about in the last couple of days, but then the moment passes and I forget. Beau had a brilliant idea when I told him that - to write it down. So I'm going to have to start jotting things down when I think of them, because otherwise I forget. I'm so glad I've got a smart husband. =)

Ok. I'm off to my nap. And even as I typed that, Ainsley squeaked. We'll see if I can pull it off. Here's to hoping!!!

Tag!

Well, I have a confession to make. I didn't want to use the 6th picture in the 6th folder of my pictures, because I didn't really have anything to say about it. So I just found a picture that I love in that folder instead. What can I say...I'm such a rebel! =) So here is the picture I chose.

It's of Asher on the 4th of July in 2007. He was seven months old - and SO CUTE if I may say so myself. He still wasn't quite stable, so I had to make sure that he didn't topple off during our photo shoot. =) We were visiting the family at Emily's. And we had a great time. He loved his first fireworks that night. And then he took his first flight the next day when Emily, Claire, he, and I flew to Amarillo to see our grandparents.

I love his chub!!!

P.S. If you haven't already seen this tag on somebody else's blog, you can play too if you want. Find the 6th picture in the 6th folder of your pictures and tell the story behind it.

June Cleaver and Me

How does life go from completely ideal to completely overwhelming in less than a second? This morning, I was in the kitchen holding Ainsley in my left arm, Asher was sitting on the counter helping me stir muffin batter, and I felt like I was June Cleaver or something. =) It was one of those moments that was like the ones I dreamed about growing up...one of those I pretended to have when I was a little girl. I was doing what I was made for. It was so fun. But the next thing I knew I was sitting on the couch, looking really beautiful (not really!) in my mismatching pjs and pony-tailed hair, trying to calm down a sad baby and trying to keep Asher from rolling trucks on her head or throwing balls at her. Chaos I tell you! =) Oh well! I suppose that's my life now. And I wouldn't trade it...although it isn't very "pretty" sometimes!!!

Ainsley by "Aunt Flashy" - One and a Half Weeks

These are some pictures that "Aunt Flashy", "MiMi", my sister Amy - whatever you want to call her - took when she was here two weeks ago - when Ainsley was a week and a half old. She took pictures like this of Asher when he was about the same age, and I will love them forever! She's so great at taking pictures!!!

She actually made this sweet little bracelet for Ainsley.
I think Ainsley's big toes are going to stick up like mine and Asher's. =)
I love her "elephant knees". =) It's one of the first things I noticed about her when she was born. I said, "She's so fat!" I'm sure she'll love that one day. =)

She kind of reminds me of a charpay (you know, one of those wrinkly dogs?) in this one.

I love her fingers!

Three Weeks Pics of Ainsley (and her big brother)

My sister Emily and her little girl "Claire Bear" came to visit last week for a couple of days. Here are a few pictures that she took of Ainsley in her ballerina outfit. =) Yes, these are repeats for those of you who look at Emily's blog too. I stole them from her.

Addendum...

AND they turned my epidural completely OFF while I was pushing WITHOUT telling me! =) I made some comment about it not working, and they spilled the beans - that they had turned it off 30 minutes earlier, because I hadn't been pushing the way I needed to. SO SAD!!!

You Want Details?

So some have requested more details about Ainsley and such, so here goes...

Thursday, September 18, 2008
6:30am We arrived at the hospital to have our little bundle. I changed into my beautiful gown, climbed into my bed, and thought that I would have a new baby in six or seven hours at the most! =) I was wrong! Darn it!
7:30am They started my pitocin. I didn't feel much for quite a while. The morning went fairly fast.
I don't remember any more times after that. I guess things started picking up a bit. =) I did well for quite a while again (like I did with Asher), but when I could tell that soon it was going to get REALLY interesting, I opted for an epidural. That's when the excitement began.

The epidural...When he was putting it in, I could really feel him moving it around in my spine, and that FREAKED ME OUT!!! Maybe that's everyone's experience, but I did NOT remember that with Asher (never mind that that epidural never worked one bit!). Anyway, I started really tensing up and crying and being terrified that I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. It was all probably completely unfounded, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get a grip. THEN I started feeling it work, which was great for a minute until the anesthesia went up too high in my body, and I COULDN'T SWALLOW!!! I could breathe fine. My oxygen levels remained fine the whole time, but I literally could NOT swallow a DROP of saliva! So I had a panic attack. I've never experienced anything so bizarre in all my life! I was acting really nutty. I would just cry and cry. Even after they fixed things to where I could swallow (which felt like an eternity), I felt warm all over, which I LOVED. I would be telling Beau how amazing and worth it it was to feel so good, and then I would just start BAWLING my eyes out again. I'm telling you, my emotions were WAY out there!!! I was out of control! But I eventually got better...thank goodness!!! Towards the end of that whole thing, I let my family come in to see me, and I think it's safe to say that we ALL got some good entertainment from the bizarre swing in my emotions. Even I thought it was funny after I started feeling "good". It was terrible and weird!

I felt good for a while after that, but eventually I started REALLY feeling the contractions again. I would feel decent in between, but it was pretty painful when they would hit...which was often.

And somewhere in there, Ainsley's heartbeat started dipping every time I would have a contraction. So I started getting scared that I was going to have to have a c-section. But we prayed, they had me turn to my other side, and that pretty quickly solved the problem! Thank you Lord...although later, I was wishing I could have had a c-section! Just kidding!

***This part may have a thing or two in it that guys might not want to read. =)
I think it was about 5:00 when I started pushing. Last time I pushed for thirty minutes and had Asher. So I thought this would surely be comparable. =) (If I learned anything from this experience, it's that you CAN'T count on something just because that's the way it happened before or because that's the "norm"!) Every time my doctor checked me from the time I was 36 weeks on, he commented on how high Ainsley was. Well, this was no exception. She was not dropping like she should. So in the midst of pushing I had to "take a break" for about 10-15 minutes to see if my relaxing would help her to drop. It was not easy, but it worked...a little. We were making progress, but when my doctor came in for the first time, my first push with him in the room, he stuck his finger inside of me, and it felt like he was STRETCHING me from here to kingdom come! It hurt!!! After that set of pushes, he let me know that her face had been the opposite direction of the way it was supposed to be, and that he had to "guide" her head to turn her. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I thought he should've warned me at LEAST, but Beau made a good point in saying that I would have just tensed up more, and that probably would not have been good. Anyway, after that he had me take another "break" for about 15 minutes to allow her to drop some more. It worked, and soon after that she was BORN!!! The last few sets of pushes before she born, I thought I might DIE and that I could NOT do it, but lo and behold, she was born...MIRACULOUSLY! And it was INSTANTLY AMAZING and ALL WORTH IT!!! Although I was QUICK to say that I NEVER wanted to do that again.

I SO WISH that I was one of those people with amazing birth stories...but I just haven't been so far. It HURTS to HIGH HEAVEN if you ask ME!!! =) But even the next day, I thought MAYBE I could do it again. And now I think we'll PROBABLY have at least one more. =) But like people say, I don't have to think about that right now. I'm busy trying to recover from this big baby exiting my body, and enjoying her SO MUCH!!! We love her to pieces!!! And we're so thankful for our little princess!!!

I would probably add a little more. But my other little one is waking up, so I better go get him. Pictures to come soon...I promise. =) (Of course, "soon" is relative!)

Things of Noteworthiness...

• Asher tee-teed in the potty for the FIRST time today...TWICE!!! Way to go Asher!!!! We all (besides Ainsley) had fun singing a tee-tee song afterwards, and he was VERY PROUD!!! (By the way, we're not "trying" to potty train him right now. That would be just plain crazy with a two week old! =) So these episodes will probably be few and far between for quite some time still.)
• I love the different names that come out of kids' mouths for "flip-flops"..."shoe shlops" (Skyler), "clip clops" (Claire)...The other day, Asher called them "wee wops". Cute! =)
• Beau bought a new meat injector. (I don't know if that's really what it's called.) And he made some REALLY yummy pork steaks the other day by injecting them with teriyaki sauce. He's doing a great job being Mr. Mom!
• We have a "shoe gremlin" in our house. Beau always sets his flip flops by our door - facing the direction where he can just walk up to them and put them on...but every time he goes to put them on, they're facing the other way! He says it's a shoe gremlin...???
• Ainsley is fat! =) We had her two week appointment yesterday. She was born at 8lbs. 7 oz.. She weighed 8lbs. 4oz. when we left the hospital. She was 8lbs. 11oz. at her one week appointment - which they were very impressed with. She was the first one that week that had gained and not lost. And yesterday, she weighed 9lbs. 9oz.!!! She's a hefty little sucker! =) Hence the reason she's gained over a pound past her birth weight. =) Plus, the doctor said that some women have "skim milk", some have "whole milk", but that I must have "half and half". I thought that was pretty funny!
• I wore non-maternity jeans the last two days. They were my "big girl" jeans (as I think my friend Robin calls them), but they were not maternity by golly. =)