See the Resmblance?

I have been packing and came across my baby book.  What do you think?

Potty Training Victory!

Those of you who were at the Ainsworth house over spring break have seen first hand the frustration of mommy and toddler over the potty.  We bought an Elmo potty seat to go in the potty- which was exciting- until it came to sitting in the potty.  She did not like being "put" on the potty and couldnt sit on it herself even with the help of a stool.  We tried and tried but NO NO NO! was all we got.

But now we are home, back to our regular schedule and normal familiar potty on the ground.  Potty after waking... nothing... potty after breakfast... success! poopoo!  yeah!  then nothing till after lunch! pee pee!  Then before bath time... pee pee again!!  Anytime she said no all I had to say was "rumble rumble rumble"... She absolutely loves her book "Put your left paw in" a jungle hokey pokey... she doesnt want to get off the potty till it is done.

So tomorrow we begin again, but she went to bed early and got a good nap today so I am feeling optimistic.

*cough*

Ok that may have been gross but that is all I seem to be able to do lately.  I can barely talk... argh.  Alergies?  Cold?  who knows except I feel miserable.  It's nice I enjoyed Spring Break but now I have to get better before Monday.

If you want to see Spring Break pics of Alexandra check out our flickr account to the right of this screen.  We got some great park pics on Amber's camera.  We spent Wed and Thurs with Uncle Philip and Aunt Amber.  And poor neglected little baby had an entourage of 8 following her around the park:)

Also, the other party has signed the paperwork for the house so now we are on to Title company and inspections etc.  April 23rd is the closing date so hopefully soon we will be homeowners! Hooray!

"Niiiice!!"

So now whenever Alexandra wants me to do something for her that is what she says.  I am not sure she gets the idea  but it is very cute.  She has also picked up the word "soda". Yipes.

We are excited about having a relaxing "real" 2 day weekend because I have next week off of Kindermusik but I wish the weather wasn't so gross.  That will really limit our activity.  It is so cold and wet!  I don't even want to go outside to get anything.

This may be anticlimactic since I basically already posted that we were going to make an offer.  But today we actually did.  So I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the response.  Will they accept?  Counter?  Reject!!?  Oh, dear I am praying about that.

Also, I have 4 couples who want to learn Billings Ovulation method of NFP!  That may seem like a strange thing to be excited about but I have worked so hard to be a BOM teacher and now I will finally get to share it!  YAY!

Earlier little Alexandra was helping her dad throw water at the wall and laughing histerically when the water went everywhere.  There is also an update to her lullaby preferences.  She figured out that I would sing Twinkle to put her to sleep so she would say no.  So I switched to Baa Baa Black Sheep.  Now she says "Ships! Ships!"  A lot of what she says has an exclamation point.

Our Time

Alexandra and I went to her Our Time class today and once more she has taken a step towards independence.  It may seem small but if feels huge to me.  Our first class she would not walk beside me and cried if I didn't pick her up each time I stood.  She would barely leave my lap, opted not to move her hands to participate and would not go sit on the story blanket to for story-time with the other children.  Today she was singing and clapping and went all by herself to the story blanket where she sat happily all through the story.  I know that if I blink she will be going to class with out me after saying "See ya, Mom."  It is so wonderful to hear her sing and see the joy she gets from the instruments and listening to the music.  There is a part of class where we listen to a sound (a dog barking, a clock ticking, a pig oinking) and now she points out when she hears a bird or a dog.  I try to keep in mind that she may prefer sports or some other activity when she gets older, but I can't help hoping she will have a special place in her heart for music.

Mom and her Coffee

We have had a slow morning and I have managed to motivate myself to do some laundry and housework. Generally I try to keep busy with playdates and such so that I can avoid... I mean, so I am too busy, to work on that stuff.  As I was working I thought a cup of coffee would be good.  As I pulled out the coffeemaker my mom bought when she came to help me take care of a newborn Alexandra, I was suddenly nastalgic for those days with my mommy.  Since July 07  more and more I have found myself admiring and attempting to emulate my mother's grace and productivity.  She does so much so well and I hope I can be a little like that.  So even if I can only copy her cup of coffee in the morning in my work out clothes with a visor on, I will enjoy immitating Mom.  And as I write, Alexandra is trying on my shoes.

Mondays

Mondays have been notorious in our families since September of 2007 when I went back to teach Kindermusik and  baby was home alone with Daddy.  Now it has become tiring for Daddy but also a fun time that baby and Daddy can spend together playing, going to the park, and otherwise being naughty (ice cream).  Today he took her to the Dr. Office to see about a concerning "diaper rash" that looked like more than a diaper rash.  It turned out that our doctor also uses cloth diapers and had seen this exact thing before.  So now we have a prescription and a new way to clean diapers and it should be better in no time.

Also you may or may not have heard that my car is having trouble.  That is to say... it won't start.  When I turn the ignition, nothing happens.  Nothing at all.  Since we really only need one car we have just been using David's and putting off fixing mine.  We will get on it this week.

Also, no updates on the house except that we compared rates with a mortgage lender and she said the deal we have sounds great.  Then we talked finally (he was not responding to calls) to our guy and it looks like we are pretty good to go:)  So hopefully we will be making an offer tomorrow.

At bedtime she was so good.  I just laid her in her bed and said goodnight.  Havent heard from her since.  I guess a good nap helps.

Lullaby

I have started singing Alexandra "the angel song" every night while I rock her right before I lay her in bed.  But lately as soon as I sing "Darkness coveeeers,  aaaaall the grooooound..."  she starts opening and closing a fist and saying "tinkle! tinkle"  she means Twinkle Twinkle.  As long as I sing this song and this song only she is happy.  But if I stray, she will once again say Tinkle! Tinkle!  Very cute, but I do get a little tired of that song.  Also I told her no to "nursie"  and she was cool with it.  So I am kind of hoping that may stick.  She has also been singing in the car with mother duck says "quack quack quack quack!"  She loves to point out when she hears a dog bark or birds sining (she signs both of these also).  Maybe tomorrow at bed time I will switch to baa baa black sheep and see what she thinks of that :)

Mass with a Toddler

Mass with a toddler is a whole different experience.  Many times it is more like being at the park and chasing Alexandra around for an hour than it is like praying in a church. At least at the park I can sit down for a few minutes.  Last week Alexandra went to the nursery for the first time.  I bit the bullet and left even though she was upset.  Of course shortly after that she was fine.  This week there was no nursery.  Argh.  Just when I was getting ready to actually use it!  Alexandra would be so loud and I said "We have to be quiet"  she would smile and put her finger to her mouth and say very loudly "SSSSHHHHH!"  What can I do.  We got through it.

House Finalist

Vienna is our finalist!  We are hoping to get them to come down on the price (of course) but we love the location and the layout and the price.  So here we go with the fun drama of making an offer.  We actually looked at several houses today(our fourth and hopefully final trip) and some of them were quite nice.  Alexandra checked every closet and drawer.  We weighed the pros and cons of each but in the end it was clear that some each one was not for us and Vienna has so many nice things.  It has a sprinkler system, gutters, right by the park, carpeted floors (easier on children when they fall), no fire place (nothing for children to play with), a nice place to put electronics for TV out of site(very important to David), and a nice back yard.  My only complaint is no bathtub in the master bath, but that is certainly not a deal breaker- it does have double sinks:)  It is just the right size for us.  I wish we could move in today!  Beer and pizza available for the moving crew... send a resume...jk.

Weird Baby Awsome Husband

Well not only does Alexandra like to eat peppers, cucumbers, and broccoli now add spinach spring mix salad to the list.  She saw me eating it and demanded to have some.  It had balsamic vinegar and olive oil on it.  She ate what was left then asked for more!  Strange kid, but at least it is a healthy habit.  This morning she downed an apple and some oatmeal.  She is always my good eater:)

As for my husband... well, he let me sleep in! And when I got up the kitchen (where I had left a huge mess) and the playroom were spotless!  He must have been working all morning.  Wow... I am sooo lucky.

We are going house hunting again this morning... Please God bring us to the right house and open our eyes to see it.

The Joy of "Staying at Home"

This was Alexandra having pizza at Sams.  Couldnt get her to smile...

It has been a fun day, Kindermusik then Sam's then the park for a play-date but the illusive nap time has become nonexistent.  It seems the last few days we read book and rock and sing and I will lay her in her crib but she doesn't sleep.  She was in there for an hour fussing on and off.  After that I saw no point in leaving her in there.  I have no clue why, but that means I am in for a fussy afternoon/evening.  If we get out of the house that always helps and we have plenty of blueberries.  My "during nap time"  to-do list will have to wait, and my list of "things to do with Alexandra" will take priority.  Thank God the weather is nice.  

Say a little prayer that this weekend we will find THE house.  

Beautiful Day

Well our good friends the Clements are moving away.  I don't know what we will do without them.  Alexandra has had such fun playing with her friend Karis who is about a week older.  And I of course will miss her mom dearly.  I am glad that we will be moving soon, hopefully moving closer to other friends and leaving behind the reminder of their absence.  Fortunately they will live close to my sister, Amber, so perhaps I will get to see them again soon.  

We drove and looked at some houses too.  I had no idea how frustrating the process of buying a house would be.  I thought the right one would be apparent but that is far from our experience.  I think many of them will work great for us and of course my husband feels that none of them are quite right.  Hopefully soon one will fit just right.

And although it is late, now Alexandra is  napping.  It's amazing how she fights sleep even when she is exhausted.  Hopefully we can get back to our schedule and it will be easier on her.  I imagine I will miss these quiet moments one day when we have a second  child, God willing.  So maybe I will lay down for a little while.

Creating a family Blog

Of course I don't really expect anyone to look at this blog;)  however some moms have cool blogs for their families and I thought it might be fun.  It has already been compared to the pre Dunder-Infinity Office Website (coming in 2007)  but I am still hopeful.  I mean come on... there are several cute stories everyday about stuff Alexandra did that inquiring minds would like to know about.  And of course the courageous and admirable ragamuffin Sir David and his adventures in the Kingdom of College Station.  Though I probably cannot share his debacles here most of the time, perhaps I could share an occasional silly story.

In any case if anyone is out there... welcome.  I hope you will have fun seeing what our family is up to.