::--Bring on the sunshine and fun--::

Busy is an understatement of our last few weeks. We've had lots of long, full days filled with lots of family and fun. Uncle Jason and Auntie Sarah are visiting this month from Lebanon, so in addition to spending time with them, we've also had lots of grandparents in to visit.

Grandma and Grandpa Kerner came to visit from for a few days. Of course, trying to get a picture of 3 kids and 2 grandparents all looking at the camera can be a challenge---the best picture of course included Ainsley screaming ;-)

Ainsley has been full of smiles and talking these days. Of course, as soon as I pull out the camera she stops!  Here is one of my best attempts at catching a smile =)

Ainsley- 2 months old
Man, time is flying by!!!

Quick stats:
11 lbs 15.5 oz (She is my petite one! Ella and Aubrey were already 12 1/2lbs by this point)
Sleeping between 4-7 hour stretches at night (YAY!!)
Still wearing size 3 months clothes
Finally lets Daddy hold her for more than 5 minutes without screaming ;-)
Loved bunches and bunches!!

Aubrey's favorite phrase,
"I love my baby sister so so so so so so so much!!"

Twin babies ?!?
I can't believe how much Ainsley looks like Aubrey these days!
Top picture is Aubrey at about 7 weeks, bottom picture is Ainsley at 8 1/2 weeks

4th of July parade in Hillsboro

Aubrey enjoying 4th of July fireworks.
She was not fond of any that made noise so she would cover her ears just in case mommy accidentally bought one that crackled or shrieked. Pop-its are always a hit, and since Aubrey couldn't throw them hard enough to pop...she did the next best thing, stomp them! Then there were lots of smiles with the sparklers =)

Ella was ready for the excitement of the fireworks!
Last year we missed fireworks due to church camp, and Ella was eager to make up for lost time ;-)
She was quite the dancer with her sparklers!! This year she was strong enough to throw the pop-its to make them pop, but still enjoyed stomping on them. (Unfortunately I didn't get very good pictures of that between her quickness and the setting sun.)

Its these expressions of pure excitement that keep parents lighting money (aka fireworks) on fire year after year =)

Ainsley was a great sport during all the fireworks. And since we wanted her away from the smoke,  she provided Aubrey with a great place to stand when the fireworks got a little scary.

On the 5th, we took off for our 1st camping trip of the season. 

Ainsley did amazingly well for her 1st trip!

Ella had her 1st kneeboarding experience and loved it! Uncle Ryan made it a little easier by starting her out up on the water on shore ;-)

The weather was beautiful the entire weekend we were at the lake. But the downside to the nice sunny weather is having to stay in the shade with a newborn. Ainsley and I hung out at camp most of the time and Neal was busy with Ella and Aubrey...with both parents hands full, we didn't end up with many pictures ;(

Ainsley- 10 weeks old
Today during tummy time, she got SO MAD that she rolled from her tummy to her back! She definitely has some strong legs and strong opinions....wonder where she gets that from?!

Just too cute for words!!

A lesson in patience

**Disclaimer** This post was originally started last week in a real attempt at more frequent blogging ;-)

Being a momma of 3 beautiful little girls has proven to be a lesson in patience the last few weeks. Not in a bad way, but just all those little reminders to be patient and all will be ok!

The 1st lesson in patience of recent is technology, and the inability to make it cooperate! My time to sit and blog these days is sporadic at best. I either haven't downloaded pictures, forgot to edit them, can't form an intelligible sentence, etc! Last week I finally had all the peaces in line, typed out an entire blog with cute stories and cuter pictures only to find out that the blogger had frozen and auto-save had failed to boot.

Cleaning, more like the lack there of, has been another lesson in patience for me. I'm the 1st person to say, "Oh well, the xxx will still be there tomorrow and I'll clean it then!" But seriously there are days when I am beginning to question the color of my floor/walls/etc. I finally muster enough energy to tackle one of the many items filling my 'to-do' list and that is the afternoon that Ainsley insists we snuggle. How can I say no to those chubby little cheeks?! 

And then there is patience as we begin yet another new routine. Summer vacation is upon us. Hard to believe that Ella is old enough to be having a summer vacation! And while I am very thankful to not have a place to be at a certain time so early in the morning, I find that we have many mornings where its closer to afternoon before we are all ready to head out to do something. Time will definitely make this transition easier, but I have to just remember to be patient.

Now onto the real reason why everyone checks in with our ol' blog....pictures of our insanely adorable children =)

Ms Ainsley is getting so big that she has outgrown sink baths already

Ainsley- 1 month old
Her personality is starting to really form!

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby

My 3 favorite girls

Ella loves her role as biggest sister.

Doug and Myrna came up one evening to meet Ainsley. They brought special desserts that were a HUGE hit with Ella and Aubrey!

Ella, Aubrey and Ainsley are so lucky to have such wonderful people in their lives.
Doug and Myrna play games, wear crowns and give the girls so much love!

Ainsley-- 6 weeks old
I love the little sing-song sounding noises you have started making.
And those smiles...they melt every heart in this house!

Here's to patience and more frequent blogging! Happy start of summer!

If I could just bottle this moment...

Life as we have transitioned from 4 to 5 has been more than I could have hoped and prayed for. Its been almost "easy"! There are days lacking sleep, full of timeouts and questioning whether or not my children have functioning ears ;-) But still, I couldn't be happier and freeze this moment in time. Ella and Aubrey have such an overflowing love for Ainsley, and the bond between the two of them is growing stronger and sweeter every day.

Aubrey has embraced her role of big sister with open arms. She LOVES to be a big helper. Each morning, she gets up, comes into our room and heads straight for the pack-n-play. She looks at the pile of diapers from the previous night and says "Ah, time for me to do my big helper!" Then she gathers an armful of diapers and carts them into Ainsley's room to put them in the diaper champ. Apparently I thank her with the same phrase each time, and didn't realize this until I changed up my thanks. I said "Thank you so much for helping Aubrey" to which she replied, "No, say you really appreciate it!" =)

Ella loves to help in bigger sister ways. She asked me to teach her how to pick up Ainsley, and I showed her but with very specific instructions (she can pick her up and walk from the swing to the couch or chair). When Ainsley starts fussing and I am busy, Ella will come in and ask if she can pick up Ainsley. Then I come in and find Ella "shh-ing" Ainsley, rocking her, giving her the pacifier, wiping up spit-up...she is such a wonderful mommy's helper! One of our first days home, Ella looked at Aubrey very seriously and told her "Aubrey, you need to be a good listener when I go to school on Monday because mommy doesn't need a 'not-good-listener' AND a crying baby!"

I could go on and on about this subject and how wonderful our little family is. These really are moments that Neal and I are cherishing more than words can express.

So here are some of the latest pictures of these 3 little girls that make us smile =)

**Warning--there are just a few pictures**

Bed time story 

Ella and Aubrey LOVE to be thisclose to Ainsley whenever possible! Most of the time Ainsley is a good sport ;-)

Aubrey being her usually self!

Grandpa Rick came up to meet Ainsley

And love on the other girls too!

Aubrey was trying to steal my chapstick ;-)

Poppa hanging out with Ainsley

Grandma Marian with her 3 great granddaughters

Something so sweet about a sleeping baby

Ella roller skating at her end of the year celebration.

Ella receiving her certificate at the end of 4 year old preschool with her teacher Mrs. Nolan

Ella received the "most outgoing" award for her class.
So fitting!!

Its hard to believe that tomorrow marks 4 weeks since Ainsley joined our lives. We fall more and more in love with her and Ella and Aubrey each day. God truly blessed us with the best three little girls ever!

She has arrived!!

Ainsley Rae Kerner joined our family on May 2, 2012 at 11:08PM. She was 8 lbs 12.6oz, 20 3/4" long and absolutely perfect =]

 She was welcomed with big open arms by her big sisters!

Wide-eyed and ready to go home!

Happy to have all 3 girls home together.

Our family of 5!!

World's best and proudest big sisters

Its hard to believe its been 2 1/2 weeks since Ainsley joined our family! Neal was able to be home the 1st 2 weeks and ease the transition for everyone. Here's to the beginning of a wonderful new chapter in our story!