Toes in the sand

A few weeks ago we escaped to the beach for a nice little mini vacation. We went to the same beach house we had rented when Aubrey was a baby...its so nice because its literally a 3 minute walk down one flight of stairs to the beach. For the Oregon coast we had a fair amount of sunny weather and even during the raindrops, we just sat inside and stared at the ocean in front of a nice warm fireplace. As much as I love camping, this is definitely my preferred method of beach vacationing with children. My girls are unphased by the cold Pacific ocean thus come back from the beach almost every time soaking wet. Thanks to the washing machine we could let them splash until they were frozen ;-)

Sitting on the deck....definitely a relaxing view!

Hanging out in the hot tub

Ainsley taking in the view ;-)

Ainsley flying a kite for the first time

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We were privileged to get front row balcony seats to a private dance show one evening. Ella was busy being the director so I didn't get her moves captured. Aiden was doing the "puppy dance", Nathan showed us the "fireman dance" and Aubrey was our resident ballerina.

Perfect end to a great day!

The raindrops had nothing on the moments like this....

Ainsley loved walking and playing in the sand

Aubrey and Aiden sharing a chair, a snack and the view. Aiden kept telling me, "Look, there is the ocean!"

Ella with her beach treasures. She is our beach beauty!

The deck saw many many hours of dancing. (Thanks for the dresses Uncle Jason and Auntie Sarah! We love them!)

Ella has a very artistic soul. She pulled out her chalk board and was taking in the view.

The kids loved running from the surf. Ready, wait for it, run... NOW!

Wow, even though I had just edited these pictures I had no idea how many I really had. Whoops! Fortunately these are some pretty cute faces so I bet it wasn't too much torture ;-)

Our life in pictures

Between birthday parties and Girl Scout camp and our trip to the beach, spare time around here is has been sparse. And then there is all the normal life stuff that somehow has trumped downloading pictures (dishes and vacuuming aren't nearly as fun as looking through pictures ;-))

Ainsley loves playing on the trampoline with her big sisters!

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Our 3 little girlies!

Such a happy girl!

Our hearts and life is full with these 3!

Ainsley likes to stretch the boundaries some days. Today she figured, why use the perfectly good open door to the play tent when there is a window right next to it?!? Unfortunately for her, her arms and legs are little too short and she ended up high-centered in the window!!

We enjoyed many picnics in the park during the sneak peek of summer we had a few weeks ago.

I'm sure there are many many funny/crazy/typical us stories that have escaped my mind now that I have sat down to blog. Now that I have 3 uniquely funny/active girls I really should adopt a new method of making note of our daily laughs...my memory just isn't what it used to be!?! (I'm not even 30 and its already all heading downhill ;-))

1st birthday party

Ainsley Rae is ready for the party!

1st birthday cake- dairy free, egg free, gluten free! She was in awe of the candle and everyone singing to her. Once she figured out what this thing on her tray was, she dug in. And once she really got into it, she just dug in with her mouth...silly girl!

Daddy helped give her a few tastes to peek her interest.

Loving her new baby

She caught on really quick to dig into the bag and pull out what she found.

So excited for her new clothes!

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Ainsley's 1st birthday!!

April Insta-life

Ainsley loves her banana chocolate chip muffins!! This is actually a pretty clean messy face considering some of the other end results.

Aubrey is really doing well with writing her letters and getting her name in the correct order on paper. She has now even started drawing people!!

If you look closely, you will notice a very interesting texture to this chocolate birthday cake for Aubrey's birthday. How did I get such a texture you ask? It can only happen by allowing your freshly iced cake to fall from approximately waist high and roll along the carpet of Chuck E. Cheese!! I did not cry or yell, even though part of me wanted to. I had finished frosting this cake a mere 10 minutes before leaving for the birthday party. Neal ran to Fred Meyer and saved the day and bought Aubrey an edible chocolate birthday cake. Then I went home and scraped the frosting off (the actual cake part didn't technically touch the nasty carpet of Chuck E. Cheese, right?!?) and ate the plain cake.

Normally we go out to eat wherever the birthday person wants for dinner. Unfortunately for Aubrey we had Girl Scouts that evening so she got to choose whatever she wanted for dinner. Her pick? Oatmeal. And can I have a candle in it please? Easiest birthday dinner request and it made her so happy =)

Sweet blue-eyed baby girl

Flashback to 2004

Oh sunshine...we could get used to this every day!

Ainsley realized quickly that crawling outside isn't very friendly to the knees. She adaptability was impressive and she was soon bear-crawling across the porch.

Back story before we get into this picture. Ainsley and her tummy troubles were less than kind to our nice, light-colored carpets. Each room of the house had some sort of splatter stain on them from her spitting up. After we realized that if we tried to keep up on the spot cleaning would require a full-time carpet cleaning job, we vowed to just ignore it and get the carpets professionally cleaned when this season passed. A groupon-type offer came along and coincided well with the end of this spitty season. We moved all the furniture we could and had the entire house steam-cleaned.----------------------- Fast forward one week. Neal and I go into Aubrey's room after nap to find this picture. Purple crayon on the floor in this spot, in front of the door mimicking the arch the door makes, on the baseboards and on her bed. ARGH!!! When I asked Aubrey what she did at nap, she matterfactly told me "I colored on my bed and floor and wall." I blame the sun and moon and whatever else causes children to do things that make no sense. Earlier this same day, Aubrey had taken a pen and just started scribbling all over the craft table. She had plenty of paper at her disposal and no real good reason behind it. Fast forward 1 hour, I am upstairs putting Ainsley down for her nap. When I come downstairs I notice blue spots on her dress. Her response to what the blue is "Its the pen I'm not supposed to touch." She had gotten a sharpie out and wrote on her clothes. ARGH!!! Needless to say our day was less than fun... Before I went to work the next day I told Aubrey, "I want to hear you had a good day, okay?" After I got home from work, I checked in with her to see how her day went. Just as serious as serious can be she tells me "I had to be disciplined." Oh that girl!!!

Happy 1st birthday Ainsley!!

What a year it has been! As I was going through pictures from each month, it made me so sad to see the pictures of Ainsley smiling with red, tired eyes. Those months of getting the milk protein allergy figured out and resolved were just heartbreaking. We are so thankful to have figured out the cause of her pain and tummy troubles. Ainsley truly is such a smiley, happy girl!

Love this toothy grin!

Awe, love your baby =)

This is her "I'm so excited/yes that is what I want" expression!

Ainsley is still our little peanut. Her official 1 year weight is 19lbs 7.5ozs. She is still riding in her infant carrier in the car!!! Her height and weight are still in the 25-30%.
- wearing 12 month clothes
- size 3 diapers
- still only 2 teeth on top and 2 on bottom
- has slept through the night 4 times in the last week and a half (WAHOO!!!)
- walking pretty good. She can walk across the room, starting to be able to turn.
- l.o.v.e.s. to swing at the park and still strongly dislikes the grass
- says "dada" "mama" "e ya (Ella)" "nigh nigh" and something that I'm not sure how to replicate but its her word for Aubrey
- points, babbles and says "ooh ooh" at things she wants or is interested in
- doesn't have a favorite toy, but loves to snuggle/hug any baby/stuffed animal she sees

We made it through the first year without any additional food allergies so now we are starting the slow and steady process of adding in wheat, eggs and citrus. Doctor suggested we wait on any dairy products until 18 months and I was more than okay with that. I have to admit I am afraid to even attempt it. I've adopted the dairy free cooking/eating and now its really not that difficult for me. Most of the recipes have such a good flavor that other people cannot tell any difference and there are very few things I truly miss (cheesecake and donuts to name a few!).

This 1st year has had its rough patches but we all made it through and we have the happiest baby girl in the end! Happy happy 1st birthday Ainsley Rae! We love you to pieces peanut!