One little, two little . . .

Indians! Okay, totally not politically correct; but, it was the Buckskinner Rendevous! WHOOOO -hhooooo. Talk about a blast. You want a toddler's dream come true? Ask Ansley. There were free pony rides with NO lines, a petting zoo, crafts, headbands with feathers, face painting and most importantly ( to Ansley) a BAND!!!! The only things missing for the dream toddler day were a pool and pizza. This was a neat little event that a local retirement home presented. As you can see from the pics, we partook in the festivities.

On a side note, Harrison started officially army crawling today. Can't say he is wild about having to work at it; but, he is usually delighted when he gets to whatever he is after. Today, it was a clothes hanger that created the motivation. . .suppose it is really time to babyproof again. Harrison also started on solids last night. He caught on quickly and wolfed down 3/4 of a container of apples and prunes today. ( Feel free to insert your lecture here about starting children on the oranges or a cereal.) He didn't mind though.

Ansley is SUPER excited about her birthday. She will tell any passerby, "My birfday is July 30th" with great pride. If you stick around long enough, she will tell you she wants a blue cake with Mickey Mouse and that she is going to be two. She will also let you know who she will be inviting over and what presents she wants, it just depends on how much time you have to listen.

She is a delightful little girl. She is getting super at making up her own songs to familiar tunes. Today, she spent a great deal of time caring for her "baby." ( a little person from the castle set.) She had it swaddled in one of Harrison's blankets, toted it around the house rocking it, singing to it, nursing it, making it lunch in her kitchen, need I say more? Ansley is also quite the mini mom to Harrison. She is super at helping to get diapers, pacifiers, etc. She is also an amazing conversationalist, is getting good at putting some laundry away and is almost completely potty trained. . . NO ACCIDENTS TODAY! (It is amazing what a couple of m&ms can do.)

She's bbbbaaaaccckkk!

We knew Ansley was starting to bounce back this morning when the first words out of her mouth when Tim went to get her were, "I love you Daddy." When Harrison and I came down and saw her for the first time, she said, " I love you mommy, I love you Harrison." Ansley then proceeded to fold those sweet little hands and say, " Dear God, Thank you on mommy, thank you on Harrison, Amen." Talk about music to our ears today!!!! She is still a bit lethargic and is starting to get a rash; but, man, we will take that ANY day. Naturally, there were more than a few hitches today but PRAISE GOD our baby is doing better.

Harrison is still plugging along and seems to be bothered more by that lower tooth desperately trying to make its way through than his version of this virus. He is king of blowing raspberries and screeching in delight.

So we are gearing up for the big birthday . . . July 30th. Ansley will happily tell you about it if you simply ask. She knows when it is and that she will be two. When asked what she will get for her birthday, her usual response is, "Cake, a blue one." Another likeness with her mommy, she LOVES blue and is fond of orange too. Haven't quite decided about her birthday. . . stay tuned . .

Recharging

So we were wondering why we only get around to blogging when the babies are sicky. . .well, the children's doctor explained it perfectly this morning. She told of a favorite cartoon of two women holding their sick, passed out children in the doctor's office. One said to the other, "It is hard to imagine it this way; but, you know that they are really just recharging." Ahhhhh - how true. It is really one of the few breaks you get to do things like this.

Really though, we are going on our third week of sick babes. Our latest actually, as mentioned before, landed us at Dr. Illes this AM. (And, you know the major aversion we have to going in.) Naturally, Ansley did not want to make a liar out of us and actually got sick on cue when asked when the last time she got sick was. Fortunately, daddy was there with a cupped hand. The children's doctor did not flinch, just reached out with the hand sanitizer. The great news though is no hospital!

Ansley is growing like a weed. We were just finishing the bulk of potty training before this last virus hit. Princess undies, especially Cinderella were the MAJOR motivation. Every time she had to go, she would sit and pour over (ha ha pun intended) her new package of Disney princess undies and talk about which ones she was going to wear. We may have overdone rewards as chocolate or a marshmallow followed each time too. We are actually fully back in dipes right now but once Ansley is awake for more than 20 minutes at a time and actually walking again, we will be picking up the banner.

At 5 months, Harrison is sitting up, rolling like a maniac, and having a regular ball. He has been hit with this latest bug and has been grumbly - very unusual for him. The bright side of that is he actually took a TWO HOUR nap yesterday. He has a lower right tooth and lower left is about to pop. He has also started babbling. mama, dada, baba. We are also convinced he waves on occasion. But, like Ansley people thought we were crazy when we said she could say "boo" (our cat's name) at 7 months.

Funny enough, the kids are only a pound and a half apart now - Ansley weighed in at 21.10 Harrison at 19 - something. The race is on. My original prediction was they would match at 6 months - not far off.

Did That Just Happen?

Are you serious? Who has weeks like we just had? As you can see from the pics, poor little Ansley has had a fever. She was up Saturday night from 3:30 to 5, Sunday night until 1, but last night . . . ahhhhh, sleep ( for her anyway.) Poor little bug passed out on the couch from exhaustion. We are thinking it might be her two year molars coming in. They have poked through on the bottom but we are still awaiting that blessed ivory up top. She has eaten just about nothing the past couple days despite our plees and threats. We have tried ALL her favs . . .broccoli, blueberries, strawberries and finally gave in at a couple of bites of ice cream and a couple of M & Ms (she would only eat a few!) The good news is she ate cheese, olives and some berries for dinner tonight!!!! Despite her lethargy, she has been in good spirits and has had plenty of hugs and kisses for all.

WOW has Harrison changed this week, except for his sleeping patterns. As you can see from the pics, he is sitting up and even standing. Really though, he took his longest nap EVER yesterday, coming in at just under two hours. Speaking of stats, we naturally had a weekly weighin on Saturday . . . 17 pounds. He is slowing down though . . . maybe some sleep is on the horizon.

We are officially homeless as of June 7th. Check back for the latest on finding a house.

The Circus Comes to Town!!!

Despite a cold, biting wind, which produced runny eyes and noses, Ansley was "over-the-big top" about her first circus. She constantly pointed, clapped, and danced throughout, and even begged for "anoda one" after her first circus hotdog (ok, we admit this wasn't the healthiest decision, but hey, you only live once and you only go to your first circus once, right?) So anyway, Ansley loved the tigers, lions, little yip dogs, the camel, and most of all, the elephants. This pretty much sums up the variety of animals this traveling circus contained, except for a few more ponies and horses. As we were walking back to the car after the excitement ended, we asked Ansley, "what was your favorite part of the circus?" She replied, "the animals." We then asked, "what animal did you like the best?" Without hesitation she replied, "the giraffe!" Although Sarah and I never saw a giraffe, we're sure Ansley saw one in the excitement of her first circus!!!! (it could've been the hallucinogenic effects of the hotdog chemicals on a young brain!"
In addition to Ansley having a blast, Harrison decided to wake up for the 2nd half, and watched attentively as the "two amazing (insert some Latin last name) brothers jumped and twisted and flipped on a trampoline.

75 words per minute . . .

No really, Ansley has become a computer junkie and let us tell you, you can never watch a toddler play "Elmo's Potty Time" too many times. BTW - a highly recommended activity for EXTREMELY sleep-deprived parents. Speaking of which, Harrison, who just turned three months old on Saturday, was up not one, not two, not three, but yes a whopping FOUR times last night to eat. (Between 9:30 and 7.) Did I mention that we are sleep-deprived? Our redemption is weighing him in our weakest moments. He is up to 16 pounds 6

ounces as of this morning. Yes, on occasion, we weigh him multiple times a day. Ansley enjoys it so much that she insists on weighing all her baby dolls. She usually will predict their weight if you ask. (Most baby dolls weigh "10" or "12" according to Ansley.) If you haven't had the joy of witnessing this event, it includes the fish scale at our house. We hook the car seat up to the fish scale, tare it, and then load Harrison in. It is a quite popular event and usually includes wagering. Sometimes, friends with little ones even stop by to get their munchkins weighed.

Thought you may enjoy Ansley's latest "knock, knock" joke. (Nelle is a her sweet baby friend, who is two days older than Harrison.)

Ansley: "Knock, Knock."

Any adult: "Whose there"

Ansley: "Nelle"

Any adult: "Nelle Who"

Ansley: "Nelle Baby."

Followed by Ansley hysterically laughing

Our First Attempt

So here is Harrison playing in his gym two days ago. He is such a happy little guy and has such an easy smile.

We decided to attempt blogging in lieu of sending pics, etc.