Ainsley's 2nd Brithday

Ainsley Shay turned 2 on August 9th this year and what a firecracker she is!

This girl constantly keeps us on our toes. She is a little spitfire with the energy of a puppy and the toughness of a rock.   She is Miss Independent to a T! She straps her sandals on all by herself and insists on getting dressed by herself though she eventually cries for help in the end (about 15 mins later).  She is the shortest of our girls in terms of percentile, but she sure is out to prove she can hold her own.  I love that about her, even if she physically hurts me unintentionally because of it. ;)  She is a cowboy boot and pig tail wearin' kind of gal and we love it.  Aside from her tough side, she has a big heart.  She loves her baby sister so much that she physically cannot contain it.  She gives rough hugs and powerful kisses that may bring her baby sister to tears but they are filled with pure love.  Yes, she still is a little jealous of the baby, however, her love trumps the jealousy.  Usually. ;)

We did a simple and small (as small as my family gatherings get) party at Neptune Park near our home and had cupcakes, because that is what she wanted. 

 

Ainsley the Dare-Devil

Miss Ainsley bug wants to fly.  She thinks she can do everything her big sister can.  I love her "I can do anything I set my mind to" attitude. :) I hope she grows up feeling the same way always.

 See how that mom is trying to get her older child to come down? Yea, she never did slide down.

 See what I mean?...

She sees her sister do one thing and immediately wants to do it herself. And by that I mean, ALL by herself; no help required or she screams at you. 

 Wanted to ride the Big kid swing.

Getting stuck...Inevitable.

  The other moms at this park looked over at me at first wondering if I was going to help my small child go down the slide. I sit on the bench and just smile. After Ainsley goes down wildly, plops on the ground and starts laughing, the women give me this smile and say, "oh I guess she doesn't need any help." 

"Nope." :)

Later, I overheard the women talking about how Ainsley makes their kids look like whips. 

Haha, I smiled. ;)

Videos:

However, she does know when she has an actual "owie." 

 

Ainsley's ER Adventure

January 17, 2014

I should probably title this "Ainsley's First ER Adventure" since I feel like this may not be the last... :)

On Friday morning with what started as what I thought would be a pretty typical, slightly boring, day. I had just cleaned out a tote from the garage (one of the totes used from our Christmas flood adventure) and was taking it upstairs to Sydney's room to replace it with the cardboard toy box in her closet. It was 10am because I was JUST about to put Ainsley down for a nap. While I was upstairs I heard a thud and Ainsley cry bloody murder- a sincere hurt cry.  I came downstairs to find Ainsley crying face down between the fireplace and TV console. I didn't think she was badly hurt until she turned around and there was blood everywhere! Sydney was standing behind her so I had to assume her sister was the cause. I didn't have time to figure out at the moment as I was trying to get Ainsley's face to stop bleeding. I looked by the fireplace and her face had hit the sharp edge of the tile right before it transitions to carpet. (That really should be covered up.)  The blood was on the carpet and on the tile surrounding the edge. I noticed a deep cut that extended from her top lip to the bottom of her nose. My first thought was maybe we can shut this with Silver and a bandaid, unfortunately, the cut was way too wide, nor would Ainsley allow a bandaid to be on that part of her face.  I realized it definitely needed stitches. I had just agreed to let Sydney's friend (Lyla) from next door to play at our house that day, so I had to ask them to take the girls instead so I could run Ainsley to the Saratoga Springs InstaCare (because Eagle Mtn and Saratoga's nearest hospitals are AF and Timpanogos (30 min away each).)  But when the doctor saw her, he immediately said there was nothing they could do and I had to go to the ER.  Turns out, InstaCares won't touch such sensitive areas for stitches, especially on babies' faces.  And because she was so little, she wouldn't hold still for stitches without being put out.  SO, I then ran home, picked up Sydney, a change of clothes for me (because I had yet to shower),  and the gift we were taking to the wedding reception in Highland that night and took off. I dropped Syd off at my mom's and took Ainsley to the AF Hospital.  Lucky for us, there was no wait and practically no one there. The receptionist was cute because as we walked in the door she immediately told me, "Oh my gosh! Your baby is so beautiful even with her face all beat up like that!" :) That was nice.  They got us in no problem, and gave me two options of sedation: via shot or via I.V.  I first agreed to an I.V. but then felt better about the shot, even though they had to give her two.  The doctor was able to close her cut with 6 stitches. 6! That's a lot for such a small face. :(  The stitches extended from on TOP of her top lip to the bottom of her nose.  It was so hard for me to watch them sedate her and then stitch her poor face.  It honestly is different when it's your own child; if it were my sister or other baby the same age, it just is different when it's your own child.  Right after she got hurt, to calm her down I gave her a bottle, and as she tried drinking it she would pull it away from her mouth, look at me, and say, "owie."  Poor baby; broke my heart. :(

She was pretty funny coming out of sedation though.  It took her about an hour after they finished (took about a half hour to do the stitches).  Once she realized she was awake, she would try and lift herself up but couldn't. Then she tried to stand and couldn't again. She is so independent and rarely sits on my lap to begin with, that it frustrated her that she could get up on her own. It took another good half hour or more to get her feeling back. As we were leaving she wanted to walk. She could barely hold herself up, Miss La la Loopsy, so I picked her back up. Crazy baby. :) (I see a stubborn and independent future for her....like her mama...oh boy.)  Turns out, Sydney said she didn't "push" her, like I asked her and she denied.  She said she "spanked" her. ....Oh man. I don't know where she would get that since we don't hit or spank either of them. We had quite a talk with her later if you can imagine.

She's doing much better, but her poor battered face makes me sad. The ER Doctor said the stitches should dissolve in about a 5-7 days and complete heal within 6 months.  LOTS of sunscreen this summer and Silver. ;)

 

  

 A bath the next day made the stitches look better (washed some of the dried blood away) and made her feel a little better.

 

 A day later and doing much better! :)
The interesting thing was that right before I went upstairs to switch that tote, I had the thought, "I should take Ainsley up for her nap now so I won't have to come back down." I chose not too because my hands would be too full. That's when it happened. Throughout the day, I was thinking and it was such a slight thought it didn't seem like a "spiritual impression."  I decided that our Conscience is just another way of saying the "light of Christ" or "Spirit of Christ" that everyone is given (Moroni 7:16*).  Everyone has a conscience. Therefore, those that choose to ignore those good impressions soon don't have them. It was an interesting thought stream I had while sitting in the ER for Ainsley to wake up. The same thing happened when Kory jumped off the back of the truck and hurt his knee. So, basically, if you get ANY good thought it is from God, so just go with it. You may never know what you avoided for doing so, but you'll never go wrong if you do. ;) 
(*Note: The footnote by "Spirit of Christ" in the scripture takes you to "Conscience" in the Topical Guide.)

Ainsley's 1st Birthday!

Miss Ainsley turned 1 today!

What Ainsley Can Do:

• Tiny Walker - She love to walk, but we daily get comments on how tiny she is! She even tries to run and keep up with her sister.
• Strutting 18 lbs and loosing those baby rolls fast. :(
• Fuzz head - She has the most fuzzy and fun hair! As if she rubbed a balloon on her head everyday.  
• Loves to play with her sister, but is not afraid to voice her opinion. ("voice" = letting out a loud screech when she disagrees.)
• Loves drinking milk from her bottles and sippy cups, but she loves to drink from mommy's water bottle most (has a built in straw that she can suck from).
• Bluest sea blue eyes.
• Sweetie-pie  - She is happy with anyone and will smile at everyone.
• Animal lover - She absolutely loves dogs and practically any animal she can pet. Her face just lights up every time! (A lot like her reaction to her piggy toy in the present pictures below.)
• Nicknames: Ainsley-bug and Ains.

 We celebrated her birthday the night before with a picnic at the park.

 Presents! 

*A BIG THANK YOU to all who came and gave little Ainsley a gift. She may not appreciate it now, but her mommy and daddy sure did. You are all amazing and we love having you in our life and the lives of our children!*

 The best part: CAKE!

Both of my kids have loved their first cake. Sydney was a little more hesitant than Ainsley. Ainsley saw it and immediately wanted to dive it. After giving her a large slice, we let her. ;)

 "Let me touch it, mom, please!!"

 Dive! Dive!

  She loved her lemon cake and cream cheese mustache.

In case you couldn't tell. :)

 Kiya happily joined in. hehe.

 And a messy kiss for Auntie Savannah. (She asked for it.)

We love our Ainsley-bug!

Clean up in the splash pad.