Instead of flying to Montana for my annual visit to my parents’ home, this year my mom and I decided to make a road trip out of it. Since I usually stay for at least 3 or so weeks, we figured I’d need to bring a lot of baby stuff for little miss Ainslie, plus we just thought seeing the country would be fun! My Aunt Diana decided to come along for the journey, which made it even more fun.

After flying to our home in Atlanta and staying to visit for a week, my mom, aunt, Ainslie, and I set out on our big “girl’s road trip” on Wednesday morning, June 24, 2009. We woke up at 5am and left by 6:30 in order to get an early start and to miss the crazy Atlanta commute traffic. Here’s a  picture that Eddie took of the 4 of us as we were about to leave…

On day 1 of our road trip, we drove through Georgia and into Alabama, and then on into Mississippi, and finally to Memphis, Tennessee. Once in Memphis, the four of us visited the former home of Elvis Presley… Graceland.

On day 2, we drove from Memphis to St. Louis, Missouri. It was a short drive, but we needed to stop there to get the mounts on our Thule cartop carrier fixed. We were lucky that the REI there had what we needed in stock and that they were able to install them for us. After getting things fixed, we went to see the Gateway Arch. We also took a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River. It was SO hot there (113 heat index) that we weren’t able to spend much time outside, plus that’s why Ainslie is naked on the riverboat. She needed to cool down badly!

And we got a new Maclaren Quest Mod stroller recently that Ainslie used for the first time on our road trip. She loved it and I love how lightweight it is and how easy it is to collapse. I can do it one handed while holding her!

Day 3 of our road trip was pretty boring. We drove all day from St. Louis, Missouri to Omaha, Nebraska. We did take a quick stop to see St. Charles, Missouri which is where Lewis & Clark began their journey on the Missouri River. The historic district was amazing with all of the authentic old buildings and brick streets. I wish that we’d had more time to explore it!

Notice the mood swing in the photos above, LOL?! We were taking a break at a rest area in Iowa and my little angel was getting very annoyed that I wanted to take her picture. Uh oh!

And here we are on the side of the road in Iowa… Very tired of being in the car!

Here is little Dexter lounging on the comfy beds at the Doubletree Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. They made me pay a $50 pet fee, so I figured he could sleep on the bed with me for a change instead of in his crate.

Day 4… We drove from Omaha, Nebraska to a  tiny little town of 600 in the middle of South Dakota (Murdo, SD). Not much stopping along the way, at least not for sightseeing. Honestly though, there really wasn’t much to see, LOL! Here are a couple of pictures. One of Dexter at a cute little dog park @ a gas station in Iowa (very cool idea!) and another of Ainslie taking a nap in her “home on wheels,” LOL!

Well, I am pretty darn tired now, so I think I’ll have to put days 5-7 in a later post. Be sure to check back in the next couple of days because I have so pretty cool photos to share from day 5 (we visited Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, and Custer State Park)! Have a happy 4th of July tomorrow!

Last month, Eddie celebrated his very first Father’s Day as a daddy! Ainslie and I tried to make his day very special. She got him a special little “I love Daddy” magnet that holds a picture of her smiling face. She also got him a cute little card.

And speaking of our sweet little angel, she is now 4 months old! She is 14 lbs, 12 oz and is 24.5 inches tall. She is such a daddy’s girl and I suspect she will be tall just like her daddy!

My Father’s Day gift to Ed was a really nice hammock and stand, a 12 pack of his favorite beer, and his favorite candy bar. He proceeded to spend the rest of his special day out in his hammock reading a good book and drinking beer. He described it as his “perfect day.”

Later on in the evening, he took Ainslie for her first swim in our pool. She reacted surprisingly well to it and actually enjoyed herself. I was surprised that she didn’t cry at all!

We finished off the evening with a little BBQ with my mom and Aunt Diana who were in Atlanta to visit us. We also played a little Mario Kart (my mom & aunt’s first time ever!).

The day before Father’s Day, we all went out boating on Lake Allatoona. Our friends, Jeremy and Jess Lauzon, were kind enough to lend us their pontoon boat while they were vacationing in Florida for the week. We had a great time hanging out, picnicing, swimming and tubing in the lake, and just enjoying each other’s company!

I hope that Ed would agree that it was a great Father’s Day weekend spent with the family who loves him! He is the best daddy EVER and I am so proud that he is my partner in crime!

This is my latest design team project for Say it With Letters! When I first received the mermaid shape in the mail, I will admit that I was a little intimidated. What a challenge! It was fun to put my creative thinking cap on and I made a trip to my local craft store for inspiration. After wandering the aisles for an hour, I left with a bag of large teal sequins, blue glitter, blonde doll hair, some small circular mirrors, shiny silver paper, some brown fiber, and teal and flesh toned paints. A few hours of work later, my mermaid was born!

I have to say that she turned out way better than I had anticipated and think that she will go great in our beach themed bedroom. Be sure to check out Say it With Letters for the mermaid shape, as well as other beach and summer themed shapes!

Not by life, but by how much has happened since I last posted and by the enormous amounts of pictures I have to share! Yikes! Where do I start?

Well, sweet little miss Ainslie will officially be 4 months old in a week. I always say this every time I post, but she is growing SO fast. I really wish that the days would last longer or that I could just slow down time a little. Before I know it she will be walking and talking and going to the prom, that’s why I try so hard to cherish every single little moment with her.

Photos taken at 13 Weeks Old while wearing the cute little dress that Dani sent her:

She is truly such a happy baby and is such a joy to be around. Sure, she has her crabby moments (and days!), but for the most part she is so sweet and loving and loves her life. She loves to smile at me and every time she does, my heart just completely melts. It never gets old!

Photos taken at 13 Weeks Old w/ Daddy on Memorial Day:

She discovered her voice the other day. Not that she didn’t talk and coo before, but I mean she REALLY has discovered her voice and boy oh boy, does she like the sound of it! She started this new thing yesterday where she just talks and squeals and sometimes even shrieks and then she smiles because it sounds so cool. So adorable, although my ears sometimes beg to differ!

Photos taken at 13 Weeks Old while on a walk w/ Mommy & Dexter (outfit was made by me):

Last week when we were out at dinner at our favorite Mexican restauarant, On the Border, I choked on a chip. Not choking like I was going to die or anything, just it got a little stuck in my throat and I had to cough a lot. Guess who thought that was funny? Miss Ainslie chose that moment to do her very first laugh. She hasn’t done it since, but I am waiting and have been trying to do every goofy thing I can think of to get her to do it again. I get lots of smiles and squeals, but so far choking is the only thing that she finds humorous.

Photos taken at 13 Weeks Old while at her first Atlanta Braves baseball game:

Up until yesterday, we had been having a heck of a time with tummy time. She flat out hated it. We would put her on her tummy (trying to get in the 30 minute minimum per day) and she would scream and scream until her face turned purple. She would lift her head up for maybe a minute if we were lucky and then she would put it down and just give up. It was very stressful for her and also for us. It even stressed the dogs out because they get nervous when she cries. We were beginning to think that she’d never do tummy time and many people told us that it was OK, she’d probably just skip crawling, but we still worried because who knows if it might mess up something later on down the road. If you are a parent, you know all of the worries, especially over a first child. Well, yesterday my worries disappeared! I don’t know why, but all of a sudden she doesn’t hate tummy time as much anymore. She doesn’t love it, I don’t even think she really likes it, but the awesome part is that she does it for 2-5 minutes before screaming. And she is lifting herself way higher than she used to, like using her arms for support and stuff. Gotta love progress!

Photos taken at 14 Weeks Old at the May Concert in the Square:

What else is new? Well, we took Ainslie on a couple of camping trips lately. Her very first wasn’t very far… Just to Lake Allatoona. We wanted to stay close to home in case it was a total disaster. She was an angel and apparently the great outdoors really wears her out because the first night she fell asleep at 4PM and stayed asleep until 7AM (with only a 20 minute feeding at 5AM). If only she could sleep like that EVERY night!

Photos taken at 14 Weeks Old while camping at Lake Allatoona:

Oh and I almost forgot! She’s discovered rattles and she LOVES them! She is just beginning to bat at things and to grab things that are in her line of sight. She thinks rattles are the coolest. Today when we were at Target, we were in the toy aisle and I was looking at different rattles. I put one close to her and shook it and she squealed with delight. We bought that one…

Photos taken at 14 Weeks Old while playing with her rattles:

And if you haven’t noticed, everything goes in her mouth now… And I mean EVERYTHING! Today Dexter came over to see her when she was sitting in her Bumbo seat and she proceeded to try to suck on his forehead. I kid you not!

So last week I got this wild idea to go ahead and try feeding her a tiny bit of rice cereal. I’d heard that it might help with gas and since she was having some gassy issues, I thought what the heck! It was a complete failure, but we sure had fun trying! She is NOT ready for rice cereal yet. That whole crazy tongue reflex issue thing is still there, so it looks like we will wait another month or so.

Photos taken at 15 Weeks Old while trying rice cereal:

I love the look on her face in that last photo… Kind of like, “Mom, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” LOL!

I have a new best friend, by the way. It’s name is Bumbo. Oh how I love the Bumbo baby seat. What an awesome invention! We started using it last week (at about 15 weeks) when we felt that she had REALLY good control of her head. In other words, her head is not wobbly at all anymore and she can hold it perfectly erect when supported at her hips and back. She wasn’t too sure of the whole idea at first, so I introduced it to her slowly, but a week later she is loving it. We have made a routine out of it. When she wakes up in the morning or after naps, she gets her diaper changed and then sits in her Bumbo for about 5-10 minutes while I get chores done (like make bottles, start laundry, etc) and then we play and do tummy time (in small 2-5 minute increments). That way she’s getting the pressure off of the back of her head so that she doesn’t get a flat head. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Photos taken at 15 Weeks Old while sitting in her Bumbo seat for the first time:

This past week, we went camping for a few days up at Amicalola Falls State Park. It was our first time there and we really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was way cooler up in the mountains, which was a nice relief from the hot and very humid temps that we have been having lately. And here’s some interesing trivia for you… Apparently Amicalola Falls is the tallest waterfall in the southeast. Cool, right?

Photos take at 15 Weeks Old while camping at Amicalola Falls:

That last one of Dexter and Ed isn’t from camping, but it’s one that I took this past week and I think it is so cute. Dexter looks so much like a sweet little teddy bear in it!

And I saved the best photos for last! This is the wonderful sight that Ed and I are greeted with every morning. Isn’t she lovely?

Photos taken at 15 Weeks Old – Ready to start her day and SO very happy to see us:

And for those of you who are thinking, “Why is this blog called ScrapArt Designs when it should be renamed “The Everything Ainslie Blog,”  you’re probably right, but guess what? I’ve got layouts to share! Yep, I’ve been scrapbooking on and off again whenever I find spare time (which is rare, but I sure do try!). So for those of you who are interested in my layouts, enjoy!

You Color My World

Journaling says, “My life has been so much brighter with you in it.”

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl

Journaling says, “I can only imagine what it’s like to be chillin’ out in the womb, happy and content, when all of a sudden you get pulled out into the world.”

Finally Family

Journaling says, “We weren’t sure if this day would ever happen. It was a long 19 months of trying to conceive, two early miscarriages, and eight months of a high risk pregnancy, but we persevered and finally received an amazing reward: you! Despite having to be delivered a month early, you were absolutely perfect and very healthy. We are finally a family.”

Watch it Grow

You Are So Tweet

Before You Were Born

Journaling says:

1. Here you are about 7 weeks old. This was the 1st time we saw you and you just looked like a blob.
2. This was our 2nd ultrasound. You were around 12 weeks old. It was amazing because you looked like a little baby!
3. Here you are 18 weeks old…Still so small, yet so much bigger than before. At this visit we found out that you are a little girl!
4. You were around 28 weeks here. You were so cute! We saw you sucking on your hand and also practicing your breathing.
5. At this ultrasound you were around 30 weeks old. You weighed approximately 3 lbs, 3 oz. You were very shy and kept hiding your face from us.
6. This was our final peek at you before you were born. You were about 35 weeks and weighed around 6 pounds. You look so big now!

1st Days

Journaling says, “Looking back on these early photos of you, I can’t believe how incredibly tiny you were. I remember all of the nurses and lactation consultants commenting on how “delicate” and “dainty” you were, but I don’t think we realized it until we saw you laying next to all of the other babies in the hospital nursery. Those 1st few days were filled with feedings every 1 1/2 hours, but you continued to lose weight anyway and made us very nervous. On day 3 you even got down to just 6 lbs! Finally on day 4, you gained an ounce and haven’t stopped since!”

Happy Birth Day

Journaling says, “You weren’t due until March 16th, 2009, but due to some pregnancy complications, you were born early on February 20th. You were a bit stubborn and refused to turn head down, so you had to be delivered via c-section. The surgery went well and you entered this world at 5:43pm EST. We were so glad to meet you! After a quick introduction, you and daddy were taken to the recovery room to get cleaned up. I had to stay behind in the OR to get stitched back up. I finally got to join you 30 minutes later.”

Dr. Ech

Journaling says, “Dr. Michael Echemendia was the doctor who took care of you and I while I was pregnant with you. He was an excellent and very caring doctor who took the time to get to know your daddy and I. Thanks Dr. Ech!”

I have a few more layouts, as well as an altered wooden mermaid from Say it With Letters, but I still need to take photos. I will try to update my blog with photos of those in the next few days before we leave on our road trip to Montana (more about that later, too). Until then, ciao!

This past Saturday we had a little backyard BBQ and invited a bunch of friends over to meet Ainslie. It started off a little wet, but luckily it stopped raining just in time for burgers and kabobs and we were able to hang out by the pool. We had such a great time!

Ainslie wore her adorable little picnic dress. She was an angel and was all smiles for her guests!

She had a fun time sitting on Rich’s lap and ended up getting pretty comfy and falling asleep.

After 4 hours of fun and entertainment, the little lady was all tuckered out! She slept so hard that night!

Today Ainslie is 3 months old! Isn’t it crazy that three months have passed already? Hard to believe! The three of us took a walk this afternoon and decided to stop in at her pediatrician’s office just to get her weight checked (it’s just around the corner from our house). She weighed in at 12 pounds. Wow! She has so much fun on our walk and was such a goofball. Check out these adorable pictures that I got of her!

And she’s been learning how to grab things. Here she is playing with the string on my sweatshirt. Look at me Mom!

And just one more of her today at 3 months old. This one was taken right after bath time. Isn’t she sweet?

I LOVE HER!

Eddie and Ainslie surprised me with a wonderful trip to the beach for my first Mother’s Day. Last Saturday, Eddie told me that we were going on a trip, but I had no idea where we were going. We got in the car and started heading south. I figured out that we were headed to the beach when we were packing, but I wasn’t sure of where we were headed. 7 or so hours later we arrived in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Eddie had rented us a really cute 2 bedroom condo across the street from the beach. It was fabulous!

On Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, Eddie got up with Ainslie and let me sleep in until 10am. When I woke up, he surprised me with breakfast in bed and cards from him and Ainslie. Even wrote a sweet little message from Ainslie in one of them – so cute! Ainslie also gave me a Wishblade which I am told she ordered on the internet all by herself. I am so excited to get in my scrapbook room so that I can try it out!

All day Sunday was spent at the beach lounging with my wonderful husband and sweet baby girl. The weather was GORGEOUS and I had such a fabulous day! It couldn’t have been better! And isn’t Ainslie just precious in her little bikini and sunglasses?!

Besides spending the day at the beach on Sunday for Mother’s Day, we also spent Monday through Wednesday there as well. We had really awesome weather on Sunday and Wednesday, so-so weather on Tuesday, and got rained out Monday afternoon.

Here’s some pictures of Ainslie and her daddy. She is SUCH a daddy’s girl – it is so cute!

Ainslie was very interested in the sand, but definitely did NOT love the ocean!

After the whole experience in the big bad scary ocean, Ainslie was all tuckered out and took a little nap on me. I love our snuggle time!

When she woke up, we played in the sand. She really enjoyed the texture of it! We also tried the ocean one more time and this time she didn’t hate it too much. Looking back at these photos, we should have had her sunglasses on because she wasn’t liking the bright sun in her eyes, poor thing!

We bought this really great cabana at Walmart on our first day there and it was a lifesaver. It kept things cooler and kept us out of the sun. A definite beach must-have in my opinion, plus a great place to take a nice nap!

And Neutrogena has the best new sunscreen for babies. Even though she is under 6 months, Ainslie’s pediatrician recommended she wear sunscreen. He said as long as she had no signs of irritation that she needs to wear it each time she is out in the sun to protect her from sun damage. We found this sunscreen after I saw an ad for it in Parenting Magazine and it was great. No irritation or anything!

And here’s a couple of cute random pictures. The first one is Ainslie smiling in her sleep, which she often does. I always wonder what kind of sweet dreams she is having! The second is just a cute one of Ainslie and her daddy bonding on the beach. He was singing her the “Baby Beluga” song by Raffi and telling her about all of the creatures in the sea. She was loving it and kept totally beaming at him!

On our final night in Florida, we went out to dinner at a great little seafood restaurant on the water and then we headed out to the beach to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and we snapped a few photos as it was setting. It was a great way to end our trip!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Mother’s Day! I know that this was definitely a Mother’s Day that I will NEVER forget!

I recently discovered that I really NEED my creative time. Last week I was super grumpy and I just could not figure out why. There was really no reason for me to be such a grump and Eddie kept asking me what was wrong, but I really had no explanation for him. Who knew that scrapbooking would be the cure? Last Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day (to my non-scrapbooking friends and family, yes… there is actually a national day for my favorite hobby and it happens every year), and Eddie was kind enough to babysit Ainslie while I scrapbooked for the first time in FOREVER. It was really hard to get going since it had been so long, but I eventually got started and ended up creating 4 layouts. The most important part though? It got me out of my funk and I had a ton of fun! I had so much fun that I tried scrapbooking with Ainslie a couple of days later and it actually worked. I sat her in her little rocker and put on some fun music and she enjoyed watching me while I danced (and scrapped of course!) – I even managed to get 2 layouts done!

Here’s what I created… (be easy on me… it HAS been quite awhile!)

That Smile of Yours

Journaling says, “I absolutely adore that sweet smile of yours. When you smile, your eyes light up and the joy in them is incredible. It’s easy to see that you are a genuinely happy baby and that makes me smile too.”

Love at 1st Sight

Journaling says, “I loved you from the moment that I found out I was expecting you. I loved you more and more with each passing day. The first time I heard your heartbeat, with each and every ultrasound, and with every single kick and bump inside of me, I loved you more. When the doctor pulled you out of my belly and I heard your first cries, I loved you more. I didn’t think that it would be possible to love you any more than I already did, but I was wrong. When I held you in my arms for the very first time in the recovery room, I was completely overwhelmed with the most intense feeling of love that I had ever felt. At that moment I vowed to love you forever no matter what. And guess what? I still love you more and more with every day that passes. My love for you is unstoppable.”

Waiting for You

Journaling says, “We tried hard to be patient while we waited for you to arrive, but that proved to be very difficult. The excitement and anticipation were nearly too much to handle, but somehow we managed. We are so glad that you are finally here!”

Hot Mama

Journaling says, “31 weeks pregnant with an angel baby.”

Once Upon a Time

Journaling says, “Normally you fall asleep during story time, but today you were wide awake and very alert. You absolutely loved daddy’s silly voices and seeing yourself in the book’s many mirrors.”

Little Buddies

Journaling says, “Dexter loves “his” baby Ainslie. On this occasion, I laid her down next to me on our bed and he snuggled up to her.”

And I have some pictures of baby Ainslie to share from this past week too. She will be 11 weeks old tomorrow! She is still growing like a weed, of course! I had to pack up all of her 0-3 month outfits and pull out her 3-6 month stuff last week. They’re all a little big on her, but the smaller sizes were just getting way too tight to be comfortable anymore. We also started going to Gymboree Play & Learn classes last week and that has been a lot of fun! She is in the level 1 class for 0-6 month old babies and has two other little playmates there, Lily and Evan. She loves the hand puppets and the bubbles and is beginning to enjoy tummy time more because we do it on top of a mirror there. She likes being able to see herself and will often smile at herself in the mirror. She is very vocal and is beginning to “talk” a lot. And she DEFINITELY lets you know if she’s not happy about something!

Anyway, here’s the pictures…

Ainslie and her little buddy, Dexter:

Out to dinner with Mommy & Daddy:

Just being reflective in her cradle:

Silly girl with her sideways baseball cap:

Well, the little one is up from her very short nap (we are having a heck of a time getting her to take naps during the day), so I need to get going. I think it’s playtime!

Whew! We’ve been so busy this weekend!

Friday evening we headed down to the Marietta Square for the first concert of the season. The weather was warm and gorgeous with absolutely no threat of rain for a change. The band played oldies and Ainslie and I enjoyed dancing and singing. She really responds to music and bops her head and flings her arms around with the beat. Makes me wonder if she will be musically inclined… Piano and violin lessons here we come!

That picture above just totally cracks me up everytime I look at it! I have no idea what she was looking at, but that was quite the face!

We woke up early on Saturday morning and headed down to Marietta Middle School to get signed in for the March for Babies which helps support March of Dimes, prematurity, and birth defects. Since Ainslie was almost a month early, Eddie and I have become big supports of this cause. We were lucky that she was born healthy, but unfortunately not everyone is that lucky. Did you know that there are over 500,000 premature births each year in the US? Isn’t that crazy?

With the help of our friends and family, Eddie and I were able to raise $190.00 to help babies. We had a fabulous 3.5 mile walk through historic Marietta. The weather was gorgeous, although it was a little warm for my liking – it almost made it to 90! We finished our walk in an hour and five minutes and enjoyed a nice lunch provided by Publix afterward.

This morning Eddie let me sleep in until 10AM! SOOOO sweet of him! Once I was up, we got ready to head back to the Marietta Square for the annual Taste of Marietta festival. After I got Ainslie ready, I put her in her little rocker so I could get ready. As always, Dexter was right by her side and she enjoyed watching him. She has also just discovered the little bug toys that hang from her rocker. She loves to bat at them and we often catch her smiling and cooing at them. She smiles ALOT nowadays and sometimes will even mimic our different facial expressions. She is such a sweet baby!

This was our third year attending the Taste of Marietta and we had a great time as usual! It was another beautiful and HOT day and we enjoyed filling our bellies with yummy food and treats from area restaurants. My diet was definitely “on hold” for the day, but never fear… it starts again tomorrow (as well as gym time – I just signed up for a new membership!). Eddie always enjoys BBQ, ribs, and cajun flavors, while I like Aussie Meat Pie and Chicken Salad Croissants w/ delish pasta salad.

It was another really hot day and we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Little Ainslie slept through the entire experience! And check out the eyelashes on this kid! They are INCREDIBLE!

Eddie and I both got iPhones last weekend when we switched over from Verizon to AT&T. The Verizon service at our house was hideous (we couldn’t even make or receive calls) and the AT&T service is a little bit better. Anyway, Eddie is so addicted to his iPhone. He is just amazed at all of the things that it can do and I am constantly having to ask him to please get off of it. He even begged me to let him update my Facebook status while we were at the festival today. Why he will never update his own Facebook status I do not know, but oh well…

We had a great weekend together with our beautiful little angel! Truth be told, I don’t think we have been this happy in a very long time. Ainslie really brightens our lives. She is such a perfect little miracle!

Hope you had a GREAT weekend as well! Cheers!

Our little monkey is already two months old! How did that happen?

I took her to her two month checkup at the pediatrician yesterday. She weighed in at 11 lbs, 1 oz and was 23 inches long. When we brought her home from the hospital she only weighed 6 lbs, 1 oz  so that’s a whopping 5 lb gain and 2 1/4 inches of growth. Good for her!

I can’t imagine her not being in my life. She is just so precious and sweet. She’s starting to smile more regularly now and when she does her whole face lights up – it is the cutest thing ever! And she has always been a very vocal baby and has always made lots of noises, but she has officially started to coo. The cutest thing is when I talk to her and she coos back like she is answering me. I love it!

Here are some photos that I haven’t shared yet…

7 Weeks Old

She is usually very active. She loves to kick and fling her arms all over the place! She loves her elephant toy and any toy that makes noises. Her Auntie Christine bought her some fun Baby Einstein toys and she LOVES the cricket noise that one of them makes. When she hears it her eyes totally light up.

Dexter absolutely adores her! He can’t stand to leave her side. Sometimes she will kick him in the face (obviously not on purpose) and he doesn’t even flinch – Hopefully that is a good sign that he will be patient with her in the future.

This is one of the many little pant set outfits that I sewed for her. For this one, I used up leftover fabric that I had lying around from her bedding. These were super easy to make and for that reason I made a whole bunch of them!

This was her very first time getting mail (well, that was specifically addressed to just her). I know, I am a total dork for taking a picture of this moment! My parents sent her a box of goodies – some clothes that my mom sewed for her and a fun soft cloth activity book for Easter. And look, she really was excited!

8 Weeks Old

She loves going on walks around the neighborhood. She’s tries so hard to stay awake so that she can see the sights and listen to me (I like to talk to her and tell her stories about the things we see), but the motion always ends up lulling her to sleep. Dexter loves our walks too, although he is lazy and whenever we go up a big hill he jumps into the basket of the stroller for a ride. Lazy pug!

She usually falls asleep during storytime, but on this occasion she was wide awake. I think she really enjoyed looking at herself in the mirrors inside of the book. Plus, her daddy was making lots of silly noises which she thought was pretty funny.

Last Saturday was a beautiful day so we decided to take a walk down to the Marietta Square. It was about 4 miles roundtrip, so we decided that we could splurge on an ice cream cone once we got there. It was well worth it and I still managed to lose weight this week. I am now just 3 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, although I keep forgetting to mention that I still want to lose a good 30 pounds on top of that so I have a long way to go!

Isn’t her little outfit cute? Her Aunt Simona and Uncle Jon got it for her – I love the matching hat! So sweet! We tried and tried to get her to smile in these photos, but she just didn’t want to. We finally got a teeny tiny bit of a smile in the last one. She’ll learn!

And finally, I just wanted to share pictures of her finished room. I finally was able to find a little time to decorate the wooden letters from above her crib. I love how they turned out and think they look fabulous in her room. It really pulls it all together well in my opinion. Her room was such a fun project for me and in a way, it is kind of sad that I’m all done with it. Making everything by hand was really enjoyable and makes her room all that more special to us. Many thanks to Deb and Steven from Say It With Letters for working with Eddie and I on the wooden letters. They custom cut them with the fonts and sizes that I chose and they turned out just how I envisioned them!

This weekend we’ve got a lot planned. Friday evening there is a concert in the park that we’ll probably go to and Sunday is “Taste of Marietta” which we always love. It’ll be our third year attending and we definitely won’t miss that! And Saturday we have the “March for Babies” benefiting March of Dimes. I am SO close to reaching my fundraising goal of $150… just $15 more. Anybody?

Thanks for visiting us!

Ainslie and I are very excited to be a part of March for Babies! We will be walking with our local Stroller Strides team on Saturday, April 25th at 10AM. Please support my participation by making a donation!

Why March for Babies? Because the March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nation. The money we raise for March for Babies will help:

- support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects
- educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby
- provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care
- push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children

Won’t you please help me in this worthy cause? Contributing to my walk online is fast, easy and secure. You can donate directly from my personal webpage with a credit card or PayPal. If you prefer, I can also accept cash or check. Just click the appropriate box on my webpage.

Thank you so much for your support!

Love,

Kory and Ainslie