Lifesong

Through Ansley's Eyes

This morning while I was feeding Christian, Ansley found my camera (usually I keep it up very high, but I was neglectful). She proceeded to take about 50 pictures of various things throughout the house. I thought it was so interesting and funny, that I had to post some of what she took.

I feel like I am finally getting my groove back. We are finally having routine to our days, I'm feeling like I can get things done, and I'm getting out of the house on my own more with the two of them (and those trips are going quite well!). Yes, there's still the friend thing, the man-it's-hard-to-move-with-kids woes, but since I'm feeling more confident as a mom, I'm feeling more confident that those things will fall into place as well. And even if they don't right away, then I think that means that for this time, right now, this is what I'm meant to do - be with my children, teach them, learn from them, listen to them, laugh with them, hold on to these fleeting moments.

Now, onto the budding photographer. All these photos are unedited, left just how Ansley took them. How did she get a black and white one?? I don't even know how to do that! And except the last one, of course, which I took per Ansley's request. (Notice we've had a different dress on each day this week?). I love her perspective, and I think the photos are really good! The one that makes me laugh the most is the photo of (in case you didn't know what it was) the breast pad sitting on the nightstand. :) I love how these capture the ordinary, everyday routine of our lives. Because mostly, the ordinary is where the magic is - when Ansley says something hilarious, or Christian flashes me a sweet boy smile, or where Ansley spouts off "legitimate" like it's an everyday word.

The everyday moments. Priceless.

Playroom = All Day Fun

One of my favorite things about this house is the humongous playroom. Ansley loves spending time in it, and every day she has playtime on her own and playtime with me. I suspect Christian will love it just as much as he grows, and I think lots of good 'ol brother/sister playing will happen here. But for now, here's what their playing consists of: (and no matter what, he still smiles)

Then there's the good wear-you-out kind of playing:

There's such good lighting in here, so I have to have the cute baby picture. He is the smilingest baby ever. Isn't he adorable?

Ansley loves to learn these days, and she is especially into letters and words, asking everywhere we go "what does that say, Mommy?" So we've been working on letters and simple words, and she really enjoys it. She's very into rhymes these days, and throughout the day she'll say rhymes and point out when what I say rhymes. She loves to make up rhymes, too, such as 'let's go, Mo!' or 'Monkey sunkey'. I pray that she keeps this love of learning (learning is always more fun when you can wear a tiara!):

Love our playroom. Love spending my days with my precious, sweet children!

Tuesday Pictures

They were taken yesterday, but I'll still call them Tuesday pictures. Some cute pictures of Ansley and Christian:

She was hugging on him, not choking him - and being very sweet:

Christian is giving me a big smile:

Just Christian. He's entered the drool stage. :)

   

Happy Tuesday!

Good Friends, Good Times

We had a great visit to Atlanta. We were so busy and on the go the whole time that unfortunately I did not take a single picture. We got in Thursday evening after a late start leaving here. We forgot that it takes half the house when you travel with a baby, so it took us much longer to get everything ready to go (but we actually made it without stopping once!). Ansley and Christian both traveled very well, and although I was worried traveling might throw Christian off, he slept until 8 every morning we were there.

It was so, so nice to be able to see everyone, spend time and catch up. It was good for us. Made us definitely miss having such good friends close by. I guess you don't realize, until you don't have it, how important good friends are in your life. Big thanks to: Chris and Kimberly for letting us stay with ya'll and trash your house; Mark and Ashley for taking time out of your already busy weekend to hang out with us Saturday night; Shawn, Christina, Alex and baby Jake for putting up with our last minute plans and having dinner with us anyway; Ron, Kelly, McKane, Riese and Cooper for letting us hang out with ya'll all day Friday; Tim, Sara and Kaitlyn for a delicious brunch on Sunday morning and for hanging out with us at the last minute. It was so great to see all of you. As Ansley says "these are our friends, and we love them." That's what she has been telling me today as she talks about each of these friends that she enjoyed spending time with as well. I am definitely a better friend, a better mom, a better person for having known these wonderful friends. These are not just my friends, or Ansley's friends, they are our friends, couple friends that we have gotten to know over years of talking, laughing, crying, pregnancies, having kids, changes, challenges, ups and downs. I am acutely aware of their absence in our lives, but forever grateful for how their presence has enriched us.

Here's to you, friends!

Happy Spring!

Ansley has been very into drawing, which she always has been, but her drawings are changing. She draws people now. I see these people on her easel in the playroom, in chalk on the driveway, on pieces of paper at the table. And it makes me smile every time I see it:

This is the first color version I've seen. A nice touch, I think. After she draws it she will say "Well, I don't draw very well" (can you say 'perfectionist'?) but of course I say "Yes, you do! It's wonderful!" And I really believe that it is.

You may be wondering why there haven't been too many pictures of Christian lately. That's because the best photos I can take these days look something like this:

Why, you ask? Well, because I was holding him while also holding the camera out to attempt to take a picture of him. That's a silly way to take a picture, you say, of course it's going to turn out that way. Yes, but if I put him down, say, long enough to try and take a picture, then this is the picture I get:

It's a stage, right? They all go through it, I just don't remember with Ansley because it was a lot easier to hold one when that was all you had. Christian does not like to be put down, and he will let you know that pretty quickly. My baby carriers have become my close friends. And I love holding my boy as much as the next person...well, possibly not, the next person may not like babies at all....but certainly as much as John, or even a grandparent, but it makes it slightly difficult to get anything done while wearing a baby. So, I'll just sit here and email and update my blog, and wait for the stage to pass......

.............it will pass, right?

Same Dress, Different Day

Here's Ansley again in her favorite dress, apparently. And, apparently, I say "apparently" quite often, because it's Ansley's new word. And she even knows how to use it correctly.

Upon coming inside, Ansley runs upstairs while I get Christian out of the Bjorn. She comes downstairs, in pj's.

Me: You got your pj's on already??

Ansley: Apparently.

A little smarty pants in her as well. We won't talk about where those apples come from. ;)

It's very nice here, so we've been outside this afternoon. It is spring break here this week, so this morning I had a few errands to run and I called Grace next door and she came over and watched both kids for a few hours while I went out. I got so much done, it was amazing! I may have to take advantage of it again sometime this week.

But it's a short week for us. We are leaving Thursday to go to Atlanta for the weekend for my good friend Ashley's shower. We are so looking forward to seeing friends, catching up and hanging out, and Ansley will have lots of fun with her old friends as well. A fun weekend for us!

Christian has slept until 7 and then 7:30 the past two mornings. Could we be creating a habit?? I hope so! :) For those wondering/interested, we have followed Growing Kids God's Way/Babywise religiously with both our kids on the eat/wake/sleep cycle, and it has worked very well for us. It's a lot of work in the beginning, but it seems to have created good sleepers both times, so I'm a believer! I highly recommend it.

Here's to Almost Spring! :)

Pictures

Here are the pictures of our pictures. :) We went to Portrait Innovations - they do a great job and are very inexpensive, and I find that it's easier for me to just have a bunch of cute photos taken and then I have them in frames around the house. I like the way they turned out!

Here is a sweet one of Ansley and Christian:

The only serious one of Christian. I got more shots of just Christian because, well, if you've been to our house you know it's pretty much covered in Ansley shots, so I figured that was only fair. I did get a few of just Ansley though. This one is in his room, his first official 2 month photo.

Like I said, he smiles very easily!

And again. One of my favorites:

Got this one taken to send to work with John:

Love all these together:

 

There are a few more, but those are my favorites! :)

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Case in point:

John and I were making dinner tonight, and I turned around and saw this. I wonder where she gets that from?

In Milestone News, Christian slept last night from 10 pm to 8 am! We were seriously amazed, but quite happy and well rested. :) We'll see if we're so fortunate tonight (and, in case you're wondering, those apples come from me! I'm a sleeper, always have been, always will be).

My Mom and Dad brought Ansley back on Thursday, and then helped me get both kids to get some pictures made on Friday. I'll try and post pictures of the pictures soon - they turned out cute! Christian was quite the happy boy - he smiled in almost every photo!

Last Thursday, Ansley turned 3 1/2 and Christian turned 2 months. Rather neat to have the same date for each of them! I can't believe Ansley's halfway to being 4. Pretty soon I'll blink and Christian will be one!

How was your weekend? Hope it was great!

ETA: It is John that drinks straight from the milk carton!

Pigtails, Photos, Projects....

The pigtails, with the favorite dress, of course:

The photos:

Christian at 8 weeks. He loves to smile! Ansley was a more serious baby, which is funny because she's quite the silly three year old. So I guess you never know, but we love his sweet smiles!

 

The Projects:

Mom and Dad came in for the weekend to help out. Dad helped John out with playroom projects, and Mom helped me out with the kids (and some shopping :)). We got a lot accomplished - thanks, Mom and Dad!

Ta-Da! The New and Improved Playroom - shelves across the back wall which fits everything nice and neat. Ansley is already learning to take out something, and then put it back. They need to be painted, of course, but I couldn't wait to start organizing and loading stuff in. Each blue bin contains organized toys that I will label this week - such as dolls, Little People, cars, etc. The only thing left is to hang pegboard on each side, one side for Ansley and one side for Christian, for them to hang their artwork, keep their toys, etc. The little jars on top will go on a shelf on each of their pegboards.

A close up:

Right when you walk in the door to the playroom, this is the bookshelf John made. As you can see, Ansley has accumulated quite a book collection in her short three and a half years! I love books, though, and I love easy access to books, and she's already discovering books she forgot she had!

On the wall right when you walk in, I'm ordering two large poster size prints, one of Ansley and one of Christian, to hang there. This is the kitchen area, nothing new here, just rearranged to make it more functional. This is right when you walk in on the right.

I love it! It makes such a huge difference, and is so organized and neat. The perfect playspace for kids! I'm so happy to have such a talented husband who can pull things together like this in a weekend! Thanks, John, for all that you do to make our house a home!

John is having a tough week this week and will be working long hours, so Mom and Dad offered to take Ansley back with them for the week. So she is having a blast in Nashville, and Christian and I have been running errands and getting lots done already today. Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for all the quality time and energy you put into being wonderful grandparents. Ansley and Christian are very blessed to have you in their lives!

Musings For Today

I am loving this picture right now. Not the best photographically, but I love what it captures and the story behind it. I laid Christian down so I could run throw in a load of laundry, and he started fussing. Ok, who am I kidding? He was full-out crying. The trademark Christian frown (I'll capture that one of these days), tears, the whole she-bang. When I came back in, this is what I found -- Ansley lying next to him, reading him a book. And the best part? It worked! He stopped fussing, er, crying, instantly. Look at how intently he is watching her, and how much she is enjoying "reading" to him. Makes me smile.

This was taken this afternoon while Ansley and I were enjoying a picnic together on the deck. When I look at this picture, I'm amazed at how "grown up" she seems. I wonder if I would have thought she looked so grown up if I didn't have a baby to compare her to? Either way, she has done a lot of growing, in so many different ways, over the last few months, and I am so, so proud of the sweet, beautiful girl she is becoming.

 

Another one I like from this afternoon. This is Ansley's favorite dress. It's what she wants to wear every time it is time to get dressed. I'm thinking of purchasing a second dress just like it, just in case.

What was Christian doing while Ansley and I were picnicking? You guessed it...sleeping. He's been quite a good napper today. This outfit was one of the first I purchased when we found out we were having a boy. Hard to believe way back then when I got it and was wondering what this little boy would look like, what he would be like...and now here he is, and I know firsthand how sweet it is to have him here.