Cousins!

A few weeks ago, Ainsley and I spent the day with my sister and her girls (sadly, my nephew Eli was at school). We snapped a few pictures in between all the silliness. 

My little learner

Today Ainsley learned a new word- bear. I have been a teacher for the past seven years and rarely have I felt as much excitement over one of my students grasping something in class as I have in watching my little girl learn. She is such an observer. Watching her take in every inch of her small little world is overwhelming and so very humbling.
Joel and I were laughing this week about how little you can actually prepare for parenthood. Before Ainsley was born, we read baby books and talked to friends about their experiences with kids and thought of ourselves as ready to be parents. But truly, there is so much that no one tells you because there are no words really to describe the best and most challenging parts of being someone's parent. No one tells you that at times you will feel you've come to the end of yourself and have no human way to continue. You cannot grasp the kind of joy that comes when your child says your name or voluntarily gives you a kiss. There are not words for that maddening feeling when you know that your daughter needs to take a nap but she refuses to lay down and sleep. No where in the baby books do they tell you that soon you will be able to sing the theme song of "Martha Speaks" with your spouse and have deep conversations about why one sippy cup is better than another. Parenthood feels rewarding and helpless all at the same time. And yet, next to being married to Joel, being Ainsley's Mama is the most fun part of my life.
I can only imagine how much more fun adding a second little one to the mix will be.

Ainsley's first puppy

Yesterday was a big day in the Smith household. Not only was a trip to Ikea involved, but we added another "member" to our family- a MASSIVE stuffed puppy. To say that Ainsley has an affinity for puppies would be a bit of an understatement. This little lady lights up when she sees anything resembling a puppy (she still has yet to figure out that bears, horses, and the big buffalo at our local park are not puppies). She squeals "puppy, puppy, puppy-dog, puppy!" at the top of her little lungs and then begins barking.
All this to say, when the three Smiths were at Ikea yesterday and the littlest one saw the stuffed animal display, all hope of walking out empty handed was lost. Not only was there a puppy stuffed animal but there were MANY huge puppy dogs for our baby girl. She went to another place for a while there. Her eyes glassed over and the shouts of elation could be heard on all three levels of Ikea. Mercy.

My husband grabbed one of the puppies and gave it Ainsley who proceeded to carry it on her lap for the rest of the trip, quietly whispering "puppy" under her breath. She has dragged that dog all around our apartment, stopping only to cuddle up next to it on the floor.

Tis the season

When Joel and I were first married, I was a bit of a Scrooge when it came to Christmas decorations. Our first apartment housed no Christmas tree, no festive wreaths or snowmen, and played no holiday-celebrating music. I didn't even wrap presents until the day before Christmas Eve.
Enter my mother-in-law. She took me to the most wonderful Christmas shop in her small town and outfitted us with many a Christmas decoration. Not only did she purchase ornaments, but she also bought all of these branches, sparkly leaves, and fancy garland. Armed with my array of decorating goodies, our second Christmas as a married couple was such a HUGE upgrade that I was almost proud of my accomplishments. I took pictures and sent them to my mother-in-law to see the fruits of her labor.
Each year since, I've added little touches to our apartment. We now have a tree, a few snowmen, a second baby tree, and an inkling of a wreath I'm thinking of making. This year making its GRAND entrance is the newest addition to our tree, courtesy of Mom Smith, a Christmas bird. I also have been playing A Very She and Him Christmas on repeat in my car.  Scrooge, no more.

Off schedule

Tonight I fell asleep at 7pm. Now it is 1:10am and I am wide awake, ready to start the day. Argh. I think because I spend so much of my brain power trying to be aware of Ainsley's schedule that I've become a schedule junky. When did this happen? Pre-baby life was so much more random and unexpected...spontaneous, even. I imagine that as Ainsley grows and I mature as a mama, that hold I have on our schedule will start to ease up and our lives will look a little less predictable again- at least I hope.
While I am here at 1:14 in the morning, I must share some pretty AWESOME news. In March, my father-in-law was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. The whole family was shaken, but held fast to the Lord's promises. For months, Psalm 119:71 ran through my mind and prayers. "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." The whole experience pushed me deeper into the Word and challenged me in my faith. Yesterday, the doctor told my father-in-law that he is in COMPLETE remission. No cancer left. God is so merciful. My husband and I are both overwhelmed by the news.
Last night at small group, one of the girls was talking about how she doesn't want to forget the goodness of the Lord but rather to live in a place of constant gratitude. I feel so similarly this morning. Let me not forget a moment of your grace, Lord.
Now, I need to try and sleep some more.

My little family of three

picture by Allison McKelvey

Lions, tigers, and pigtails.

Joel took the day off from work on Thursday so we grabbed the lady and headed to the pumpkin farm. Goebberts Pumpkin Farm has a cute cafe, haunted house (which I would NEVER explore), an animal land, and pony rides. We had a ball. Also, I put Ainsley's hair in pigtails for the excursion. She was not a fan.

What calms down an unhappy baby?

A week ago, Joel was flipping channels on our TV and found this show about puppies. He decided to record a few minutes of the it for Ainsley, since she really loves puppies. The other night she couldn't sleep so we cuddled with her and put on the puppy show....

Annual Morton Pumpkin Festival

My husband hails from the small town of Morton, Illinois. He refers to it as the Emerald City but Morton is better known as the pumpkin capital of the world. Joel has told me about the annual Pumpkin Festival since we first met and has often urged me to attend. Finally after years of pining, I grabbed Ainsley and headed down to my in-laws house for the festivities.
Ainsley was quite the trooper. She faced the brisk September air with her trusty North Face and a pumpkin hat. We dined on pumpkin chili, pumpkin pasta salad, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin ice cream. The little lady polished off a piece of pumpkin pie all by herself! Then she went on a ride down the giant slide with Grandpa and the carousal with Grandma. We topped the night off with a cup of coffee and early bedtime.

Laborless day before a labor-laden week...

How we spent our Labor Day...

Ainsley's spectacular birthday week...

 I am so thrilled to post some pictures from Ainsley's birthday week. In one week, our little lady had three birthday celebrations. Prepare yourself for a lot of pictures!

On Monday we had a joint birthday party with Ainsley's one day younger friend, Maverick. She wore a red polka dot dress and new shoes. I teared up several times just watching our friends and their kids play with my kid. Community is a true blessing from the Lord.

 If you're itching to see a little video of the birthday babes tearing into their cake, watch this video!

On Ainsley's actual birthday we had a quiet three guest party- the birthday lady, my foxy husband, and me. We played with her new picnic basket (thanks, Kristi!) ate macaroni-and-cheese, and went out for gelato. Ainsley might not have loved the Elmo cake from her birthday party but she was quite into the strawberry gelato!

Finally, on Sunday we had a family party for this one year old Miss. BOTH sides of our family make the trek to Elgin. I baked three dozen cupcakes from scratch, making myself very proud. Everyone sat around talking, eating, and laughing- the perfect birthday party. 

When the last guest had left and the last piece of wrapping paper was picked up off of our hardwood floors, I sat outside on our deck with my husband and felt oddly sad. My daughter is no longer an infant. While moments of this past year were really stretching for us, it has easily been the fullest, most joyful year of my life...and now it is done. When Ainsley was first born, a good friend told me that the days will be long but the years will be short. This year was so very short. Challenging, messy, humbling, memorable, fun and short. 

The party girl was a little pooped after all the merriment had ceased.