Keelyn is 3 Months Old and Ainsley is 2.5 this week!
Hello all!
Wow so much has changed in the last 6-7 weeks. We don't even know where to start :)
First things first, today Ainsley turned 2.5! We can hardly believe it ourselves. Also this week Keelyn turned 3 months. To mark that milestone she began rolling over in both directions, just days before. Gone is the time where we can just leave her lying anywhere unless she is in the middle of the bed, and I'm sure by the time we post next that will not even be possible! As we type this she just rolled twice consecutively, so we now have a rolling baby on our hands! They grow and change so fast and right before your eyes!
Now for us, there is no better way to say it than life is crazy and we are learning as we go. This is probably one of the busiest and most stressful times we have ever gone through as a family. Everyone keeps winking at us and saying "Oh I see, 2 small kids equals 4x the work, right?" And while yes it can be a struggle to get everything and everyone out of the house sometimes, that really is not the source of our challenges. Keelyn is a great sleeper (thankfully!) and she is a low maintenance baby. It's our job situation that has thrown everything in overdrive on top of so many other changes all at once.
Our plan had been for Jason to stay home with the girls for a while and then Caroline to go back to work part-time after 8 weeks for 8-12 weeks depending on how things were going with her new role at HP/Healthways. However, the week before Caroline was set to go back to work Jason had 2 interviews and received an offer in a 48 hour time period. The opportunity was a great fit for him and they wanted him immediately. He was able to push his start date out a week, but as you can imagine our whole plan changed almost overnight. Caroline contacted HP to try and push back her start date, but they encouraged her to come back at 8 weeks and agreed to be flexible on her schedule, allowing her to work from home until we could work out child care arrangements. Several weeks before all of this we had chosen to enroll Ainsley in a Mother's Day Out program at Franklin Christian Church 2 days a week. Of course that started the first week of September as well as both of our new jobs.
So here we are, both of us working for new companies (i.e., think new benefits, new bosses, training, etc), no formal childcare except Ainsley going to Mother's Day out 2 days part-time (which was a scary and new experience for her), and only one daycare in the area that we could find with an infant spot open. We also were really struggling with the idea of putting Keelyn in a daycare facility at 8-10 weeks old going into the winter months, especially after having Ainsley at home for over 2 years. Immediately Caroline started researching nannies and we leaned on anyone available to help us during the week and weekends so Caroline could get her hours in at work and do everything required to hire a nanny. Jason immediately jumped into work and has been averaging 60-70 hour weeks ever since. This should be temporary for the next couple of months until his company gets through a crunch and he gets up to speed, but has been very hard on the home-front nonetheless. Since his office is downtown, he also has not been able to help during the day with dr's appointments and anything else that comes up, and he leaves before the girls are up in the morning. All of this is quite the change compared to our schedule just a month ago.
It took us 3 weeks and multiple, 2 part interviews to find the right nanny for our family. (Screening nannies, figuring out taxes, and bringing people into your home and life to potentially watch your children is absolutely nerve wracking and the hardest decision we have ever made as parents. If you ever set out to do this, feel free to call us and make sure and check references! We had some crazies.) Our nanny's name is Jordan and she is very good with our girls. She brings infant and pre-school teaching experience with her, as well as a culinary degree. Caroline spent 3 weeks easing Jordan into our family and we decided at that time it really made sense for her to go back to work full-time the first of October. HP needed her more than 3 days a week and work was a mess, and with a full time nanny it just made the most sense. Caroline felt like she wasn't doing anything well at home or at work too. There is some regret that she did not get to enjoy the last part of her maternity leave or take as long as planned, but she is trying to work from home on Fridays so she can spend a little more time with the girls with Jordan there so she can work too. Jason is doing well in his new position with LPS Integration (an IT company too, thus the craziness at his office. Caroline doubts it will ever really calm down because she has first hand experience with the IT types!). LPS Integration was recently named the fastest growing company in Nashville.
Within the last week it seems like Ainsley it getting more comfortable with our new schedule too. The first several weeks she cried when Caroline would leave her at school- even though she begged to go to school. Now when Jordan drops her off she is happy and excited to be there. We also started Ainsley in a ballet class on Sat mornings and in today's class (the 5th week) she was able to be in the classroom without Caroline in the room with her. The first couple of classes Caroline even had to dance with her. We are so proud of her! Of course she does miss spending time with her Daddy but Jason takes some special time with her during the week to do some of the things they used to do together like a quick trip to the store, or going to get the mail every night, just the two of them. She is also such a good big sister as you can see from our pictures. The only complaint we have is that she loves to play with Keelyn so much that she has gotten her sick again twice in a month since starting school. This week was the most recent cold and poor Keelyn caught the brunt of it. Of course it was Caroline's first week full-time which didn't make things any easier. Welcome to parenthood, right?
Otherwise, Keelyn has been doing great. The change doesn't phase her that much except that she does want us to hold her more once we get home. She laughs regularly now and is a very smily baby. Her play mat, her crib mobile, and her car seat toy that hangs down are by far her favorite things. She amazes us with her coordination as she can actually bat, grab, and pull down items hanging above her. She is happily entertained with these toys for long periods of time. She can wiggle off her play mat and she gets stuck on her belly once she rolls over a couple of times, which can frustrate her, but overall she is such a happy baby. She still has never cried in the night (we hear her sucking her hands or grunting) and she rarely gets up other than when she is sick. She generally goes to bed around 10 or 11 pm and gets up between 7 and 8 am. (Yes, we know how lucky we are! However, we have had to get up quite a bit with Ainsley as she has been coughing a lot due to all of her colds and we don't get much sleep because we stay up late working, getting household stuff done, planning, etc.). Keelyn has also discovered her thumb and has become somewhat of a thumb sucker. We hope it doesn't turn into a bad habit, but right now we are not concerned since it is not all the time. She had to stop part of this week when she got sick because she couldn't breathe through her nose, poor thing! Her next appointment is the first week of Nov so we will update stats then. We weighed her this week and she was around 11.5 pounds.
Please go check out all of our pictures including our professional newborn and 2 year pictures from July. With everything going on we never got a birth announcement out. We are doing 3 month and 2.5 year pictures next week.
Congrats to our friends Nate and Katie on their wedding last weekend that we could not attend in DC. Thanks to our friend Laura Pratt for coming down and staying with us several weeks ago. Finally, we enjoyed seeing Jason's brother David and his Aunt Wanda who came in from out of town to spend time with Keelyn several weeks ago as well.
We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beautiful weather. Next time we hope to report that we are in a good routine and have established our new normal!
Until then,
Caroline, Jason, Ainsley, and Keelyn
Keelyn is 6 weeks old!
Hello everyone!
It has been a month since we last posted and we have lots to report! Keelyn is doing really well, although we have had some challenges these first couple of weeks. We estimate her weight to be between 9.5 and 10 pounds now. At her 2 week appointment (our last official measurement) she was back up to her birth weight (plus a little more) at 8 pounds 2 ounces so she has been gaining at a great pace. She also had grown an inch in 2 weeks to 21 inches. The jaundice had fully subsided and her coloring was perfect. However, during her examination our pediatrician did notice a popping in her hips indicating that her hip joints may not be fully developed or the bone around her hips that keeps the joint in place may not be formed. At their recommendation, we scheduled an appointment at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to have an ultrasound done at 4-5 weeks to make sure she did not have hip displaysia and have to wear a corrective brace to prevent surgery in the future. Thankfully, the results of the ultrasound last week showed her hips to be developing normally and we have put that behind us. It does make you appreciate healthy babies and we hope we will not be returning to Vanderbilt for either of the girls any time soon.
The other major challenge we had was everyone getting sick 3 weeks after Keelyn was born. Ainsley came down with a virus of some sort first and then passed it to Caroline and Keelyn--somehow Jason managed to escape. It was absolutely miserable and lasted forever. Caroline and Ainsley ended up on antibiotics 10 days into it as they were not getting better and it went into secondary infections. It was rough because we were all cooped up for several weeks and no-one slept very much or very well during that time. Ainsley didn't understand she couldn't touch Keelyn or sneeze around her so we felt like we were constantly telling her not to touch something or get too close. We were lucky that Keelyn was nursing as she received Caroline's antibodies and only had minor symptoms for a couple of days. We watched her closely for fever as anything over 100.4 in a newborn requires hospitalization. Our doctors did check her out and there were really only a couple of days in the danger zone where she acted lethargic and struggled to nurse due to the congestion. Needless to say it was nerve wracking and exhausting having a sick newborn and we are so glad we got through that without requiring further intervention. Caroline is also glad to be feeling better as it was miserable being sick and extra tired and having to nurse every 2-3 hours with very limited use of decongestants as it can affect milk production severely especially in the early weeks. Boy are we glad those 2-3 weeks are over! We are happy to report everyone feels good now.
In other news Keelyn has had some big milestones. She smiles at us now regularly and even coos. We just eat it up! For the last 2.5 weeks she loves to lay on her play mat and kick. She can do it happily for almost an hour at a time during her awake time. We all joke she is running a marathon. Ainsley also loves to lay next to her while she does this. Keelyn still remains very peaceful and only cries when she has a wet diaper, gas, or when she is really hungry. She still doesn't cry in the middle of the night or early morning, but rather stirs enough where Caroline hears her on the monitor and gets up to feed her. Being in the car is the only other exception that she does not seem to like and when she will cry a lot. She does not seem to be a very good rider.
Keelyn has been sleeping between 5.5 hours to almost 7 hours on average for the last two weeks. Last night we hit another milestone of her sleeping through the night! She made it 9 hours. We are hoping it is not a fluke as we wore both girls out by spending a couple of hours at the Williamson County fair last night. Even so, we will take it. Caroline got 7.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night for the first time in over 2 months which is reason to celebrate!
Big Sister Ainsley has been having her ups and downs the last couple of weeks. Being sick was really hard on her and not getting out of the house caused her to go a little stir crazy. She loves Baby Keelyn and is very affectionate and even protective of her sister, but she does get jealous too. Caroline's mom came to visit for 10 days over the last 2 weeks and that was a lot of fun for Ainsley and for us. She pulled out all kinds of toys we haven't seen in months to play with Grandma. Ainsley also got some good time with us since we had extra hands to help with Keelyn. Thanks Grandma for helping us out and spending time with us!
Ainsley's growing vocabulary just never ceases to amaze us. Some of her latest phrases are "Let's do it", "I don't know", "Oh my goodness", "Daddy loves me", "Mamma what's wrong?", "Mamma change her she's dirty", and "Bye Mommy, Bye Daddy, I'm going to school!" Then she also has come up with some other things that are shocking and that we are working on like "That's stupid", "Dad-gum it", "Whatever, Mamma" and she bosses us all around. Caroline jokes that Ainsley acts like she runs the household. Trust us, we are sure she thinks she does at least! To top everything off Ainsley is getting her top 2 year old molars and we believe that is also affecting her sleeping and eating behaviors and causing her to be a little cranky. We are definitely in the terrible twos, tantrums and all, however she still gives us a lot of sweet with her sour!
Finally, about us. We are doing good. It has not been the most relaxing maternity leave so far and we can't believe it is almost over, but we are enjoying our time together as a family. Jason is actively looking for a job but will stay home with both girls until that opportunity materializes. With full-time childcare being so expensive especially for an infant we want to make sure it is the right position for our family. Caroline is planning to go to work at HP starting Sept 1, part-time, 3 days a week for a while to ease back into things and to help Jason get used to keeping two. We are looking into pre-schools and Mother's Day out programs for Ainsley. We hope to be enrolled in a Mother's Day out program next week with the start of school and then we may move her somewhere else in October when she is 30 months and our options increase due to her age.
We love both of our girls and could not imagine life any other way--even if things are a little hectic right now in the household. (Can you say circus some days with the babies and the dogs?)
Warm thanks to everyone who has come to visit us and those who checked in on us when we were sick. Please forgive us if we are late on our thank you notes! Check out all of our recent pictures. We hope everyone is doing well and staying cool despite this miserable heat.
Talk to you all soon!
Caroline, Jason, Ainsley, and Keelyn
And Then There Were 4!
Hello everyone!
It has been a whirlwind of a week for us. Keelyn is a week old today and doing great. The day after she was born it was determined she had jaundice due to some bruising on her head. (The doctor had to tug on her to pull her out because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and her heart rate was dropping while pushing.) So as a result, the bruising can cause an increase in bilirubin levels and create jaundice. Her case was never severe enough to require the light treatments in the hospital, however her levels rose rapidly the second day and we had to see the pediatrician every day until Wednesday and then again on Friday to make sure she was improving. She turned very golden tan and had yellow in her eyes versus the rosy pink you all saw in her pictures from last Saturday. In addition Keelyn lost over a pound in the hospital and was not having any bowel movements after leaving the hospital which helps dispel the bilirubin. Fortunately, everything improved Wednesday and we began having regular bowel movements. Today she really looks much better and is back to the rosy color more like what she looked like when she was born--Thank goodness! Her doctor's appt yesterday revealed she had gained back half of the weight she lost so that is great!
We ended up spending 3 nights total in the hospital and were discharged on Monday afternoon, July 4th. After being discharged we spent the evening of the 4th at Caroline's Dad's house with both of our families. Jason's sister Meridith drove in the night before Keelyn was born from Texas and she has a 3 year old son named Demetri. It worked out perfectly that Meridith and Jason's mom kept Ainsley several nights during all of this as Demetri and Ainsley had a blast playing with each other. Ainsley actually chose not to stay with us Wednesday night as she was having so much fun with them. It was a blessing as the first 2 nights home Keelyn did not sleep until early morning when she would finally crash for a couple of hours. Finally on Tuesday night/Wednesday Caroline's milk came in and literally everything turned around Wednesday afternoon. Keelyn went back to her peaceful self and did not cry at all Wednesday night, even to eat. Caroline actually went and woke her up twice to eat just to make sure she was gaining back some weight. The same has been true the last 2 nights as she has been sleeping in 4-6 hour stretches after eating at about midnight and Caroline is waking her up.
Keelyn is just so sweet right now. She seems to have a really good demeanor. Caroline keeps holding her breath in case it all changes overnight, however right now she is such a quiet, peaceful, cuddly baby. We just can't get enough of her! She really is strong too holding her head up very well and squirming around. We call it the turtle look because she pops her head off of our chests sometimes when we are holding her and peeks around. She also can break her hands free of almost any swaddle to get them up to her mouth or by her face. She is our little Houdini that way. She also makes the cutest little baby noises snorting and squeaking. We are such proud new parents!
Big sister Ainsley loves Baby Kee-Kee as she calls her. She loves to help change diapers, has helped with her first baths, and loves to hold her. She is our littler helper. She has had her moments of frustration with our new family setup, but overall we would say she is doing really well and we are excited about our future. She has been very distracted with all of the family and visitors coming in and paying her extra special attention. Check out all of our family pics.
We wanted to thank everyone for being so wonderful to us during this time. We have loved all of the visits, calls, prayers, and especially the food! Thanks to everyone who came in from out of town just to be with us. It really is special and we are so thankful to have such great family and friends. Finally it was Jason's birthday yesterday, and while he wanted Keelyn to try and wait to be born until then, he thinks she is the best birthday gift anyone could give him! So happy Birthday to Jason!
Until next time,
Caroline, Jason, Ainsley, and Keelyn
Happy Birthday Keelyn!
Keelyn Elizabeth has arrived! She was born July 2, 2011 at 1:08 pm. She is 7 pounds and 14 ounces and 20 inches long. Our birth experience was not what we expected, but we have a healthy baby and mamma which is most important. After several visits to the hospital within the last week, we are so happy to be holding her in our arms tonight and we are such proud parents!
Caroline's contractions started a week ago, which caused us to go to the hospital last weekend. They were as close as 3-6 minutes apart for hours but were never so strong that she couldn't breathe through them. Since Caroline is Group Strep B positive we were supposed to be at the hospital when they were 4 min apart to get antibiotics, so we went ahead and got things checked out--only to end up going home to try and pursue our natural birth plan without intervention. Keelyn was low and in perfect position as well as Caroline was dilated 2-3 and 70% effaced, so all signs seemed promising for our natural delivery. Yesterday afternoon, Caroline was cleaning the bathroom and felt a "pop" which she thought might have been her water. When she went to the bathroom it was instead blood, and quite a bit of it. We went into emergency mode and flew to the hospital in break neck speed where they admitted Caroline and kept us all night watching the baby and Caroline very closely. We were all hopeful it was an internal vein in the uterine wall, but there was risk that the placenta could have an abruption which is a very dangerous situation. The baby was never under any stress fortuneately, but when the bleeding had not subsided this morning her doctor pushed for induction immediately. This was not at all what we had planned and definitely threw us a curve ball, but we ultimately agreed with our doctor and at 10:00 am we were on our way when they broke Caroline's water and started Pitocin to intensify her contractions.
After only 3 hours Miss Keelyn was born at 1:08 pm. Caroline did make it natural without an epidural, but had a really tough time through transition and pushing--the last 2 phases of labor. Between Jason, the nurses, and her doctor she made it through the last 30 minutes with the most intense pain of her life. Caroline even screamed during pushing which is pretty out of character for her. In fact, Caroline's contractions were so strong they had to turn off the Pitocin the last hour of labor and they never administered very much because her body did most of the work. (Pitocin makes contractions longer, harder, and stronger than the body would naturally.) It was also hard because they wanted to monitor the baby at all times which really restricted Caroline's ability to move around and get into more comfortable positions. Overall Williamson really was supportive and worked with us to make the best of the situation.
In the end, Caroline and Keelyn are doing really well. They did see some abnormalities with the placenta once Keelyn was born so we feel very blessed we went ahead and delivered. Keelyn came into the world peacefully without much crying and began nursing almost immediately after being born. She continues to prove she is going to be a good eater and sucks her hands and thumbs constantly. She seems to be a very peaceful and laid back girl, although we realize when we get home everything can change! She was awake the first 4 hours of her life-- we think because there was not an epidural and even now only takes catnaps and then eats again.
Big sister Ainsley was such a big girl holding Keelyn and being very careful and still with her. We have been so blessed to have family returning and arriving into town within the last 24 hours and Miss Keelyn has gotten to meet them all on her Birthday. It makes it feel like the timing was just meant to be for her arrival. Check out all of our pictures.
Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers and we will update again soon.
Caroline, Jason, Ainsley, and Keelyn
The Final 2.5 Weeks--Keelyn is almost here!
Hey all,
Sorry we have been quite behind on posting. It had been a hectic couple of weeks for our family.
We have been aggressively getting everything ready for Miss Keelyn Elizabeth and Caroline is in the process of changing jobs/companies due to an outsourcing deal Healthways made with HP (Hewlett Packard) to take over most of their IT staff including herself and her team. (Caroline would still work at Healthways on-site for some amount of time, but as an HP employee. She then could move to another project, role etc within HP's consulting division-formerly EDS.) As you can imagine the timing could not be worse as the date she would be transitioning to HP happens to fall while she will be out on FMLA, so there have been all sorts of legal and benefits related questions to work out. Fortunately it seems like both parties are trying to do the right thing, so our fears have been eased somewhat, but it is still complicated and stuff you just don't want to have to worry about this late in pregnancy. It has created a lot of stress and caused Caroline's blood pressure to spike there for a couple of weeks, but luckily she is back in good shape and made it full term this past week! In the end this could be a great opportunity so we are excited about the possiblilities and trying to embrace it.
The baby is doing good and at our dr's appt today at 37.5 weeks Caroline was dilated to 2 cm and 75% effaced. Keelyn is heads down and very low so she is ready! The doctors say it literally could be any day now or it could be a week. It's all up to little Keelyn, but they are very surprised by Caroline's progress within the last week and half and expect it to be soon. We had a 3D/4D ultrasound about a month ago and got to see her in action. She didn't make it easy for good pictures, but we did get a couple. She had her hands in her mouth the entire time so we expect a good eater! She is a cutie so check out our pics!
Caroline has decided she would like to try and have an all natural birth. In preparation we have taken a hypno-birthing class with a mid-wife from Vanderbilt and have been practicing deep relaxation techniques. Caroline knows people thinks she is crazy (although her drs are completely on board), but after 4 epidurals already for her back and 1 for Ainsley's birth, she really would like to avoid it. In addition she has heard from numerous people who have delivered both ways how much better you feel after a natural birth. It is also less risky for her back as she will have complete control and is less likely to injure herself when pushing. We pray we will be able to have a fast, unmedicated, uncomplicated birth--so wish us well!
Since we last posted we celebrated Ainsley's 2nd Birthday at Granny White Park, Easter, Caroline's birthday, Mother's Day and Father's Day. We also attended Caroline's cousin Katie's wedding at the end of April and went to visit Jason's friend Bill and his family while he was in Knoxville. Go check out all of our pics! Finally we also have added nursery pics and 3D ultrasound pics of Baby Keelyn.
Now onto big sister Ainsley. She is so ecited to meet Keelyn. She told us today she will be jealous. We told her she didn't have to be that, there is enough love to go around, but she said she would be. (You guys would not believe her vocabulary if you haven't seen her in a while!) She learns new words every week and uses them in context. Last week she learned 'I need xxx' and 2 weeks ago she learned "I'm trying to xxxx" and "Mamma, I will". It really is amazing to watch her grow. She is also very sweet and loves to cuddle on the couch with us. The funniest phrase she says right now is "No, no Mommy is too big" since Caroline can't pick her up well, hold her in her lap easily, or put her in the crib without simply droping her in there. Finally, her biggest milestone is that she is fully potty trained! About 2-3 weeks before her 2nd birthday she began acting ready and against Jason's better judgement, Caroline took a weekend when it was mostly just the two of them and had her bare bottom with a portable potty in the den. By the end of the weekend she was 90% trained and even pooping on the potty for a Hershey's kiss! Within 2 weeks we no longer used diapers except for nightime and even then she didn't need them. We now are temporarily diaper free until little Keelyn arives! As you can imagine we have potties everywhere and know most bathrooms in the Coolsprings area. We have one in the car (which is the best by the way it uses ziploc bags), one for her diaper bag as an attachmnet to use in public so she doesn't fall in, and one upstairs and downstairs at home. We are so proud of her and how big of a girl she has become almost overnight!
We hope everyone is well and are so excited to see all of the family coming to visit us over the next couple of weeks from North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, and other parts of Tennessee!
Much love,
Caroline, Jason, and Ainsley
March Madness Has Begun!
Hello everyone,
The time has arrived for our baby name announcement! We have created a new tab on this website at the very top next to 'Home' labeled 'March Madness' to track everything. On that tab there is a file with our Sweet 16 baby names and how things will work with our announcement. We hope you will fill out brackets and play along!
As for us, we have been busy! Ainsley's second birthday has snuck up on us and we have been doing some party planning. Since her favorite place to be is outside, we are going to take our chances and have a party at the park. Her theme this year is 'Cute as a Bug' with pink and green ladybugs and a garden feel. As long as the current weather keeps up, we should be in good shape for the second weekend in April. Thank goodness spring has finally arrived. We have been spending a lot of time outside.
For the most part we have been healthy. We did have one more stomach bug come through our house at the end of February, but other than that we are doing good. Caroline has gotten to the good stage of pregnancy with little morning sickness and few ailments, so no complaints there either. She will be entering into the third trimester in 3.5 weeks, so we will be in the home stretch! So far she has only gained 10 pounds, mostly due to illness and just not being very hungry, but we are hoping she can keep it up and only gain 20-25 total. Plus, it's a lot of work chasing a 2 year old!
We are going to kick things up here in the next few weeks and get our baby planning underway. We have been holding off trying to decide if we move Ainsley to a big-girl bed in the guest room and put the new baby in her crib until we can get into a bigger house, or if we just keep the new baby in our room or a portable crib for a few months. Jason also has been applying to grad schools to get his MBA, so we should hear soon the options there which could change things for us and what we decide to do. This year could bring lots of changes for us, but all good ones! It will be nice when we have everything all figured out.
As for Ainsley, we had a big milestone last week. Ainsley went pee-pee in her potty several nights in a row before bed! We are not rushing her, but certainly are pleased that she gets the concept and will keep working with her on it. She has been acting more ready and telling us for weeks when she needs a diaper change. Wouldn't that be amazing if we could get her mostly out of diapers before the new baby comes along! She is still bossing us around as much as ever and talking up a storm. She also is really showing her nurturing instincts. She talks to the baby every night and kisses Caroline's belly. She helps with all of the cleaning, moving clothes to the dryer, using wipes to clean tables, helping cook, and getting the mail with Jason and feeding the dogs. We have her 2 year appointment coming up in April so we can't wait to hear her new stats.
We hope everyone is doing well and you will be receiving regular blog updates regarding our name announcement progress.
Caroline and Jason
Double Trouble--It's a Girl!!!!!
Happy Valentine's Day!
We have to admit we were a little surprised when we heard the words "It's a girl" today! Even though we went in thinking it could go either way, it still comes as a surprise! Caroline was thinking boy because things have been so different in the pregnancy, but knows that kids never seem to be wrong on these type of things. Ainsley has seriously been telling us for weeks she was having a sister and she was right! Then we polled all of our parents before we told them today and they all said girl too. Maybe we should have asked our family first--they were dead on!
Now that the news has settled a little we are even more excited. The ultrasound went very well and the baby is healthy and cooperated very nicely. They were able to get all of the required pictures and measurements and we got some good facial shots too. The funniest part is that she was curled up in a C shaped position the whole time with her feet over her head. She even played with her feet and peeked her face through them! Talk about flexible! Check out the picture above and look for her feet.
Our due date is accurate between July 5th and 6th based on her measurements, although the doctor did say not to be surprised if Caroline went a week or two early this time around based on the last pregnancy. Be on the lookout for our name annoucement in the March/April timeframe during March Madness. We will release 16 names with brackets and then narrow them down to the Elite 8, Final 4, etc. Overall we are so happy and feel very blessed! It has been a great Valentine's for us. We wish the same for you!
Love,
Caroline and Jason
It's a New Year With Big News!
Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!
Yes it has been a while. We have not posted since we found out our big news in October! Yes, it's true we are PREGNANT! We are 17.5 weeks pregnant, due July 6, 2011. We are so excited and have our appointment scheduled in 2 weeks, on Valentine's Day, to find out the sex.
Life has been difficult for our household these last 8 weeks through the holidays. We all have been sick and Caroline was in the first trimester and feeling bad to begin with. We have had 4 viruses each since Thanksgiving, some that then developed into secondary infections. It started the week of Thanksgiving when we traveled to Chicago to visit our friend Laura Pratt. Ainsley picked up an upper respiratory infection at a birthday party before we left that later went into pnuemonia after we got back. She was sick most of Thanksgiving and a week or 2 after, as well as us. Since then any cold she has gotten (which is quite a few since we have been around so many kids during the holidays) has gone into a bad cough with fluid again on her right lung and ear infections, after spreading the colds of course to both of us. There were many nights where we took turns holding her and rocking her and not getting much sleep ourselves. Ainsley was very sick the week of Christmas and then the week after New Year's. Caroline developed a bad sinus infection after being run down the last week of the year, and thankfully it was the beginning of the second trimester so she could take more medicines safely including antibiotics and Sudafed. Finally last week we all came down with the most awful stomach virus/flu while trying to get over the latest cold. While in the pediatrician's office for Ainsley's ears she apparently picked up the stomach virus. That virus was by far the worst thing we have gone through. It didn't seem to affect Ainsley very long, but for us we had fevers, body aches, and violent stomach pain and vomiting for several days. Caroline's doctor closely monitored her and called in anti-vomiting drugs, but needless to say it was a bad week for both of us and wiped us out.
All said, we have had it rough and can't wait for spring! We have a final appointment next week to check Ainsley's ears to make sure they have cleared up, otherwise we begin exploring tubes. Let's hope that is not the case and we are done with being sick for a while. We finally feel great this week and hope to keep it up!
Ainsley has really entered into a whole new stage of development and we love this age. She will be 22 months next week and is quite the talker. It seems that she learns ten to twenty new words a day and just last week we started hearing her put together some pretty good sentences. She also is bossy and bosses us around. Our favorite is hearing her in the mornings when she wakes up in her crib. Instead of her calling for us, we hear "Mamma, Get up!", "Daddy, Come Here Now!". Yesterday she did try a new approach "Mamma, I love you...Come Now!".
She keeps us very entertained with the things she says. Some of our other favorites are that she calls our dog Baxter just 'Beagle' most of the time. We hear "Beagle, get down" or "Beagle Hush!" She also tells us to "Hush" whenever she doesn't like what we are saying or she says "Mamma stop please". She also loves talking on the phone and wants to say Hi to anyone that calls. We now tell our family just to hang up when they are done talking because Ainsley could go on for a while. She especially likes talking to our favorite pediatric nurse practitioner, Joe Sanfilippo. She wants to call Joe almost every day. We think it might be her first crush!
Her vocabulary just amazes us. She can count to 20, sing her ABCs, sing several of her favorite songs, spell her name, tell us when and where things hurt, tell us how to do things, what food she wants, and when she needs a diaper change. While this has been building, we would say it has really taken off from about 20 months when it was just one or two words to now full sentences like "Where did Daddy go?" or "C'mon Momma, Let's go upstairs". It is amazing to watch her transformation right before our eyes. Just last night she pushed the pause button on our Tivo remote when the pizza guy came to the door and un-paused it when her and Jason came back from the door. We never even taught her that and she wasn't even watching tv! She stopped it for Jason so he didn't miss anything--sweet girl!
Ainsley is pretty independent and a little dare-devil. She has always been a climber, and that is probably our biggest challenge. We fight to keep her from standing in and on chairs, couches, tables, and high chairs. Since she is small she can maneuver easily and scale things. In public places she likes to visit with people and investigate versus sitting in a high chair. She definitely is a people person and outgoing.
Ainsley is very affectionate, although it may take her a few minutes to warm up if there are a lot of new people. She loves giving people good hugs and kisses. Some of our favorite times are first thing in the morning after she calls for us. We bring her into our room where she cuddles and gives us the best hugs. She is very sweet in other ways too and every night she kisses the dogs, both of us, and the baby in Mommy's belly before bed. We have to say, that is one of the nicest things about having a toddler. While you still have the tantrums and crying, you also have these moments that melt your heart when she tells you she loves you, gives you a kiss, and then says "night, night". It makes it all worthwhile!
Now about the pregnancy. Caroline is doing much better than the past several weeks. This pregnancy has been challenging just because of the all the ongoing sinus problems and the queasiness, plus the lack of sleep. Caroline also broke her third toe at 6 weeks which was awful. It took a good 4-6 weeks for that to go back to normal and before she could wear heels again. It is also the busiest time of the year at Healthways with new customer launches and there have been ongoing organizational changes to add to the chaos. Caroline has put in a lot of hours and weekends the last few months and not taken any time off since Thanksgiving--except for the 2 sick days last week. Caroline did not tell Healthways she was pregnant until 2 weeks ago (the reason why we haven't posted sooner), so it is a relief now that everyone knows. She probably could not have hid it much longer because last week she really seemed to "pop" and it is now impossible to hide!
Everyone keeps asking if this pregnancy is different and it really does feel much different than when she was carrying Ainsley. Caroline has had morning sickness much later starting at about 7 weeks versus 3 with Ainsley, and it has been mostly late afternoons and evenings versus morning with Ainsley. The morning sickness (or late afternoon sickness in our case) is finally lightening up, but still happens some days. Jason has been a trooper through all of this taking care of dinner many times and in some cases Caroline and Ainsley even if he didn't feel good himself. Debbie (Jason's mom) was also living with us until the week before Christmas since her house was being renovated and helped out tremendously with cooking and Ainsley, especially after Thanksgiving when Ainsley was sick and had major problems going to sleep in her bed after we got back from Chicago. (Looking back we think she may have developed a fear of the dark. Some nights it would take us 2 hours to get her to bed and all three of us rocking her multiple times.)
Caroline also had a lot of nose bleeds early on and has had lots of congestion and swelling in her sinuses from the beginning, which she did not have at all last time. Her Netti pot has been her best friend since 8 weeks on. With Ainsley, Caroline ate and craved fruit, particularly pineapple and blueberries. This time around there has not been anything in particular she craves, but she has been eating much more high carb foods like potatoes and pasta. Mulit-grain cheerios have been a staple as well as apple juice, hot chocolate, and cheeseburgers. Caroline thinks it is a boy based on all the differences between the pregnancies and the food choices, but Ainsley tells us she is having a sister. The chinese gender chart also says girl, so who knows? We will find out and tell you all in 2 weeks!
Please check out all of our pictures. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's were all a blur for us but overall we really enjoyed seeing everyone and spending time with friends and family. While in Chicago we had some great food, bitterly cold weather (which just prepared us for what was coming in Nashville since it has been so cold this year), and we got to do some fun sightseeing like the Sear's tower, downtown Napierville, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. We also got to visit with Pratt and see where she lived.
Over Christmas we got to see our family, hit a Garth Brooks benefit concert for the Nashville floods, and we even had a White Christmas for the first time in 17 years. Speaking of snow, last week we had our 4th big snow of the season which is a lot for us. We have some pretty good sledding pictures from a couple of weeks ago so check those out too!
Christmas morning started early for us because Ainsley was up all night coughing, so we got up at 4:45 to open presents. That's why we look tired in the pics! Sick and all, Ainsley loved seeing what Santa brought her and she really got into opening things by the time we had our last family celebration in January. On Christmas Day she did get a little overwhelmed and really was fine not opening much because she wanted to play with what she opened as it was unwrapped. Now, Ainsley loves all of her new toys and really plays with them all. She got dolls, a dancing Mickey, 2 riding toys, a doodle pro, books, a keyboard, pots and pans, clothes and more! It has expanded her horizons greatly.
We want to say congrats to our friends Marie and Kenneth who had Luca Simon McDaniel the weekend before Thanksgiving. We still haven't met Luca because of all of our germs but hope to spend some time with him in the upcoming weeks as we prove we can stay healthy! We also wanted to say congrats to Caroline's step-brother Trey and his wife Brandi on their new baby, Cannon O'Bannion, born the week before Christmas! We did get to meet him over the holidays and there are a couple of pics of him posted. We are so happy for both families!
Look for an update from us in 2 weeks after we find out what the baby's sex is. In true Grant style, we will be announcing the new baby's name in a fun way like we did for Ainsley during the 12 Days of Christmas. Think March Madness and brackets for this name announcement! Details to come as we set all of that up and a new page on this site.
Love to all and Happy New Year again. We wish for a healthy 2011 to all.
Caroline, Jason, and Ainsley
Happy Halloween!
Hello everyone and Happy Halloween!
The cooler weather this week has finally made it feel like fall. We hope you are enjoying it as much as us! The last two weekends we have celebrated fall by going to the pumpkin patch and then today we went to downtown Franklin's Pumpkinfest. Ainsley has thoroughly enjoyed these excursions due to the petting zoos, costumes, and activities. (She is also a big fan of people watching!) Her favorite animal so far is sheep due to their fuzzy coat, although the goats interested her with their horns.
Ainsley is going to be a cupcake this year for Halloween. She is adorable in her costume! Make sure to check out our pictures. Caroline actually made her costume (with a little help from Jason) after a cupcake-like hat her cousin Katie gave Ainsley last year. It was the inspiration of the outfit. Thank you Katie!!!
It has been a while since we last sent an update and we have been busy. We had a great time in Hawaii in September. It was very different than we expected and someplace we would like to go again. We missed Ainsley terribly, but knew we made the right decision after the long trip out there and our long days spent sightseeing. We spent 7 nights total in Waikiki and 2 nights in Kauai in a small town called Hanalei Bay. Kauai was our favorite island due its remoteness and unspoiled beauty, as well as the plane tour we took over the island which was the highlight of our trip. We hiked part of the Kalahau trail (a very treacherous and well known hike worldwide) and ate the best food of our trip while in Kauai. While in Oahu, we really liked seeing Pearl Harbor, the buddhist temple, and relaxing at our luxurious resort--the Hilton Hawaiian Village which was like a small town in itself. We also enjoyed the asian food while in Honolulu and honestly had no idea how many Japanese people visit Hawaii every year. The biggest downside to Hawaii is the sticker shock, but thank goodness we used miles and hotel points to fund the majority of the trip! Check out the highlights of our trip posted here in pictures. One of the great things about us coming back from Hawaii is that Ainsley missed us too and now appreciates us much more. She went on a "Mommy" kick for several weeks after and now has switched to a "Daddy" phase. It's good to feel loved!
Ainsley is changing and getting bigger everyday. We can't believe what a big girl she has become. She is finally getting some hair too as everyone points out to us and four of her molars came in at once this month! At her 18 month appointment last week she weighed 22.8 pounds (29th percentile) and was 31 3/4 inches (54th percentile), which is a huge jump for her since her 12 month visit. Her vocabulary has increased tremendously since we last posted. She is now putting phrases together and saying words we didn't even know that she knew. The word shower comes to mind, although her favorite word right now is "No" while she shakes her head at us. Her other new favorite words are "Thank you" (Dank you) and "Please" (Peas) which she says often and in context-- Thank goodness! That makes up for some of the temper tantrums and meltdowns that are are beginning to happen showing us signs of the terrible twos already.
Ainsley has started singing to herself songs that she makes up and she loves to dance. She loves to dance so much that she goes and gets the computer and says "dance" so we will turn on Itunes for her. She also has been playing pretend a lot more often with her dolls, kitchen, and tea set. We have had tea time several times this week already! We have started working on potty training and Ainsley has had a small success in her potty. She likes playing with it more than anything. Right now we are just emphasizing when to use the potty and how it works.
Ainsley tries hard to be a good helper. She can be a very sweet girl. She brings sliverware to the drawer when we are unloading the dishwasher. (You also have to watch her when loading because she wants to help so much she will even put away dirty silverware.) She helps Jason feed the dogs every day by putting their bowls down and she helps him put their leashes on. She will say "Boys Sit" and "Mojo (Dodo) Hush". She loves throwing stuff in the trash can (including things we don't want in there) and "Trash" is another one of her favorite words. She will pick up trash anywhere and make sure to point it out to us.
Ainsley has learned to lock/unlock and open all of the doors in our house. We have had a couple instances where the garage door will be open and Ainsley will unlock and open the door to the garage, letting the dogs out. We have to watch everything now and always deadbolt because she is fast and tries to make a run for it too in those circumstances! She is very michevious and keeps us on our toes.
That about sums it in our world. The other thing we have had going on is a lot of visitors and many people staying at our house. Jason's mom is renovating her house and has been staying with us since we left for Hawaii. Laura Pratt and Jason's brother David also came to visit several weekends after we got back making it a full house 3 weeks in a row. We enjoy the extra chaos and helping hands but it does keep us busy. For Thanksgiving we are planning to go to Chicago to see our friend Laura Pratt who had surgery this week and will not be traveling home to Tennessee. We will take some Southern cookin' and hospitality to her instead!
We hope everyone is doing well and has a Happy Halloween and a great Thanksgiving!
Love,
Caroline, Jason , and Ainsley
Summer is Over and Hawaii Here We Come!
Hello everyone,
Yes it has been a while! So the summer is drawing to a close but we are thankful because it has been miserably hot here, making it impossible to even enjoy the pool. July was one of the 10 hottest months ever in Tennessee since they have been tracking record temps, so we welcome fall and finally some time outside! So we have been lying low after our bad start to the summer and because of the heat. The good news is that you would never even know that Ainsley broke her leg at 13 months old. 3 months later, she does not favor her right leg at all and is running! She did struggle for the first 2 weeks after the cast was removed and had to re-learn to walk without the cast, but once she got going there was no stopping her!
There is a funny story about it all. When Ainsley had the cast removed in June her leg muscles were weaker and she could not put full pressure on her foot. We walked holding her hands, but even 2 weeks later she limped like she still had the cast on. While Caroline was visiting at our neighbor Alli's house one night, she told her about how Ainsley would only walk on her right toes because she was scared to put her foot down. Alli said she may have the perfect thing for us to try since she has 2 girls, one 3 months younger than Ainsley. She brought out some red squeaker shoes that squeak when babies learning to walk put their feet down. We tried them right away. Ainsley loved the squeak! She limped for several minutes with only one foot squeaking. Then she set her right foot down when she paused walking and it squeaked too! That was all it took. She has been walking ever since! The irritating squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak was never so nice to our ears as that night! We will definitely recommend those shoes to others.
Since we last posted, Ainsley had her 15 month appointment the second week of July. She is still running small at 20.5 pounds and 29 3/4 inches. That puts her in the 18th percentile in weight and the 30th percentile for height which is a little jump up from her 12 month numbers. Her speech has also accelerated tremendously since about 15 months. She went from saying about 20 words to over a hundred now and singing parts of her ABCs and identifying her body parts clearly. We have been teaching her basic sign language since about 10 months which helps on the big items like eating so we know what she wants. Ainsley did pick up her first bad word (or so we thought) and we now watch what we say around her closer than ever. For about a week Ainsley mumbled something that kind of resembled "Oh Shhht" in context when she dropped something. Caroline's mom was in town that week and her and Caroline tried everything to figure out what she was trying to say and not to laugh. Of course we all swore I don't say "Oh Shoot" or the alternative. Sure enough the day after Caroline's mom left, Jason was feeding Ainsley and dropped a piece of food and he said "Oh Shoot!". Now we all know where it came from!
Ainsley is a true girly-girl. We have seen signs of it since she was little but over the last couple of months it is really coming out. Caroline's Step-mom and good friend Karen have both aided Ainsley's purse habit by giving her some purses they do not use anymore that are Ainsley's size. She carries them around the house and in public on her shoulder. The Verizon guy gave her a demo cell phone that also goes in her purse and she thinks is real. Finally we have some old credit cards and other cards that Ainsley has added to her purse. Ainsley also LOVES shoes. She goes in her closet and picks out her shoes and asks us to put shoes on her even at home. Sometimes she tries to walk with Caroline's shoes on, which is pretty funny. Within the last month she has really been playing with 2 dolls that she received for her birthday and she carries the "dollies" around the house and in the car. She gets very upset if Mojo or Baxter touch her dolls or stuffed animals and screams and points telling them no. Jason is already bracing himself for the teenage years! Today at the mall Ainsley picked a poofy black and pink rocker skirt in her size and handed it to him. He just shook his head and said not until you are 21. Other dads that see us out in public already offer advice.
Ainsley is really into everything now. She can open all of the doors in our house as they have the lever that pulls down, that includes the bathroom, closets, and the door to the garage. It is a whole new world for her and us as we try and stay one step ahead of her. She can now open the pantry and pull out items. She is a climber too getting on the couch or any furniture item by herself whether you want her there or not. We have caught her several times sitting on top of our iron table outside emptying the flower pot and playing in the dirt. She also chases the dogs around laughing hysterically. Luckily they are good sports about it all and know to run faster! We do love parts of this age such as the easier communication with her, but there are definite disadvantages too like temper tantrums and the constant testing that she does of her boundaries. Oh terrible twos here we come!
Since we last posted we have had a lot of family in town. Check out pictures with Jason's brother and sister. We also took a day trip with Jason's sister Meridith, her son Demitri, and Jason's mom to the Chattanooga aquarium. We had a great time! Ainsley missed the last part of the exhibit because she zonked out, but enjoyed herself otherwise. Caroline's mom and cousin Katie also have been in town and there are several pictures included of them too.
Finally, we saved the best for last. We are heading out to Hawaii next Saturday without Ainsley. Caroline had airline and hotel points from her last job where she traveled that were expiring this summer, so we went ahead and booked a big trip. We are going to treat it as out 5-year wedding anniversary present 6 months early! We will be gone for 10 days staying on Oahu and Kauai. We are very excited to get away, but also know we will miss Ainsley terribly. Jason's mom Debbie will be keeping Ainsley for the majority of the time with others helping during the day. Thanks to all who are helping us while we are gone and know that many of you are also on a emergency contact list that Debbie has. Caroline has been writing a separate novel on the side regarding Ainsley's care instructions! We have learned how much preparation something like this takes, but it has been good for us to get our will documented and all of our affairs in order.
We hope everyone has a great Labor day (we are pretty sure we will from Hawaii) and in closing just want to say---Go Vols!
Caroline and Jason
Our Beach Baby Broke Her Leg!
Hello all,
We have a had a whirlwind of activity in the last 6 weeks. From Caroline's birthday, to historic flooding in Nashville, to our beach trip to FL (no oil thankfully), to Ainsley breaking her leg 3 weeks ago--it has been crazy!
Starting with the floods, thankfully we had no property damage. Caroline did have a scare when she was at the Coolsprings Mall with Ainsley that Saturday, May 1st to get a birthday gift. Her car flooded pretty badly and they ended up replacing all of her electrical, the car computer, all of her foamcore, and floor padding.
It was pouring when her and Ainsley got to the mall, to the point where Caroline actually debated about going home. However Lillie's birthday party was supposed to be that evening so we needed a gift. While sitting in the car hoping the rain would let up, the tornado sirens started going off forcing her to go inside. She was inside a total of 90 minutes when she started hearing rumors in the mall that people were having a hard time getting out of the area due to flash flooding. Knowing Ainsley needed a nap and was getting hungry she decided to go ahead and head back to her car. When Caroline got back to the Macy's parking lot her car and hundreds of others were flooded with tons of people just standing at the doors watching. The water was up to her tires or as tall as her knees. Jason was downtown and was trying to get there to pick them up but they closed the interstate and the roads around Coolsprings Mall due to flooding. At that point Caroline saw a handful of people manage to get their cars our. Rather than be stuck with poor Ainsley all night (as some people did) it seemed like a better option to wade out there and least get the car seat and maybe try and get out. Caroline left Ainsley with nice strangers, took her shoes off, rolled up her jeans, and waded out to her car with mall security. They were telling people at that point they could not leave. When they got to her car, Caroline decided she had to open the door anyway to get the car seat out (which let in water of course), so might as well see if it would start. With the help of security she got her car to slightly higher ground, they loaded the baby up and she drove straight to the dealership (barefoot and with water sloshing around) with many detours along the way due to flooded roads. Once there they shop vacuumed 3 bags of water out and all of her engine lights came on. Jason was able to get to the dealership 45 minutes later and the rest is history! It was very scary in the moment, but fortunately our comprehensive coverage took care of everything but the 200 dollar deductible. There were so many people who had damage to their homes that were not as lucky. Her car was with the Honda dealer for a week, but it seems as good as new now. Only time will tell if there is lasting damage. We are just so thankful it was not worse and others close to us were not affected by the floods. Born and raised in Nashville, we have never seen anything like what happened that day.
So the day we get Caroline's car back, we were off to the beach for our family vacation to the Lower Lagoon area of Panama City. It was wonderful! Jason's mom went with us and we all had a great time. After a rough couple of weeks prior, it was everything we all needed! The highlight of our trip was definitely being with Ainsley. She just loved the beach! She was born to be a water baby. She played in the sand with her buckets and shovels. She walked up and down the beach visiting with families and talking to people. She played in the waves and was not afraid of the water. She just loved every minute of it. She didn't seem to mind eating sandy cheerios or drinking out of a sandy sippy cup. As a matter of fact every day she would eat a little sand even with us saying "Yucky" and "Baby girl, don't eat that!".
We had good seafood and did not catch a glimpse of oil. While we were there we celebrated out 4th wedding anniversary which also was very nice. Ainsley stayed with GiGi and Jason and I had a wonderful dinner and then an evening out. All in all, we had a great time and plan to do it again next year! Check out all of our beach pictures.
Several days after we returned Ainsley has her accident and breaks her leg. We thought that night her teeth may have been bothering her as she could not sleep. After the third time of getting up with her, Caroline gave up when she climbed out of her lap and headed to the stairs to go down and be with daddy. For the record, Ainsley goes up and down the steps several times a day and has for a while. She is very cautious only going down backwards, feet first so she can control her pace. Everything is carpeted so if she did miss a step there would not be a bad fall. We are always watching or nearby too when she climbs them. So as she was on the last step going down our mid-level area she turned slightly from going down backwards and fell forward. The doctors believe she hit her leg just right and that caused the fracture. (Babies bones are actually not very strong as they are in the developing phase.) It was not a bad fall and we thought Ainsley was being dramatic since she was so tired. After several minutes we realized she could not put any pressure on her right foot. We called our favorite pediatric nurse practitioner Joe, and he gave us great advise. After 30 minutes of trying to distract her and she still wouldn't walk we suspected something was wrong although we did not believe it was broken. Jason took her to Vanderbilt Children's hospital so Caroline could try and get some rest as she had to go to be in the office the next day, with the promise to call if something was seriously wrong. Of course Caroline was not sleeping well and woke up several times realizing they were not back yet. At 3:00 when she woke up she called only to learn Ainsley had indeed fractured her leg and they were putting on a cast! (Thank goodness they did not have to set it or we would have had to spend the night overnight in the hospital.) Of course, Jason was drilled at Vanderbilt for child abuse and he walked out of there much more frazzled than when he entered. In the end they believed us!
The first two days with the cast was rough with both of us taking shifts so the other could rest, work, etc. Ainsley was in some pain and could not crawl or move around. For us that was an adjustment as Ainsley is very independent and entertains herself well for periods of time. During those 2 days one of us had to be with her at all times. It brought us back to our early days coming home from the hospital when it was hard to even take a shower without someone else being there! After that though, Ainsley has been fine. It has probably been harder on us than on her. We have learned how to handle the cast while changing diapers. You have to quickly duck so you don't get whacked in the face with a heavy cast when you are leaning over changing her. Caroline learned on day 3 we needed to keep it covered otherwise it was going to be black from dirt and falling apart, so we have kept white knee socks on it most times. Several of them now have holes from wear and tear! For dinner we put a grocery store produce bag over the sock just to make sure nothing gets in there because Ainsley is a messy eater and stuff ends up even on her bottom. For bath times we use an umbrella bag from Publix taped to her leg to keep the water out and we put her in the infant tub. The hardest part of all of this is trying to keep her indoors because it is so hot we don't want her leg to sweat and trap moisture. Ever since we have gotten back from the beach she points to outside all of the time, so we honor her wishes with several minutes at a time only.
Thank goodness the orthopedic is taking it off after 3 weeks versus 6, because now Ainsley has decided she is going to walk on it. Check out the video of her first crawling during week 1 and now walking on week 3. This week the cast has started frustrating her just a little bit as she really wants to walk more. She also has started going up and down the steps and we just stand right behind her as she is determined she is doing it herself.
All in all, we are doing good. We have had a couple of quiet weekends including Memorial Day which is needed to keep Ainsley under wraps with the cast. We are celebrating Tuesday when it comes off by going to the pool which she will love. Caroline is starting a small garden with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash so we will see how that turns out in the coming months. We are also hoping to get Ainsley in swim lessons this month.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
Happy Summer!
Love- Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 1!!!!
Hello everyone!
So it has been a year since Ainsley was born! As we look back, in some ways it seems like yesterday and in other ways it seems like it has been much longer than a year. Either way, we definitely cannot imagine life without her. She is the joy of our life and keeps us smiling!
Ainsley is at such a fun stage right now. 2 weeks before her birthday she really took off with walking. At first we called it the mummy walk becuase she walked awkwardly with her arms out, but now she is getting much more confident and is looking more natural. She also can maneuver off beds, couches, steps, and stairs by sitting down, turning around, and easing down. It is really cute! We do have to watch out becuase she is everywhere. We have caught her on the deck eating dirt out of a flower pot twice now because we had the door open while grilling!
At Ainsley's 12-month appointment she weighed 18 pounds and 1 ounce and was 28 and 1/4 inches long. She is tiny--in the 7th percentile for weight and the 24th for height! She is definitely taking after Caroline in regards to size and it surprises us just as much as anyone! However, she can eat "like a Grant" (they so say themselves!) so there is no excuse for her size other than the fact that she is so active! The little girl is eating us out of the house! We are convinced if we just kept putting food out she would keep eating. A normal dinner for Ainsley is ground turkey or beef with shredded cheese, a vegetable medley, and sometimes rice or pasta--all organic of course. Then she will also eat some of whatever we have on our plates and washes it all down with a sippy cup of milk or water. She has her final feeding about an hour after dinner. (Caroline is still nursing once a day.) We hear from our pediatrician that one day soon she will just stop eating like this, but for now she likes everything and will try it all.
Ainsley is talking, screaming, pointing, signing, and laughing often. She says "good girl" probably the most. She will hand us things and then will say "good girl". I guess we say it too often, huh? She's just such a good baby we can't help it! She also says, "go, hi, baxter, mama, dada, dog, done," and "uh-oh." Her new thing is pointing. She points at everything, but she will also point if she wants food--particularly food on our plates. She has always had screaming tendencies, but just yesterday we witnessed her first real tantrum. We are trying to wean her off the bottle and get her only using a sippy cup. That is fine with her for water, but for her milk she likes the bottle and being held. Yesterday afternoon when we gave her a sippy cup of milk she threw herself on the floor crying and hysterical. That continued for a good 10-15 minutes and then we caught her walking over to the coffee table grabbing the sippy cup and drinking some! That stinker is testing us! It is a battle of wills and she looks so pathetic you want to give in, but we are standing our ground! Oh, the fun we have to look forward too! She is so dramatic (it's a Berry trait). When she cries she puts her hands over her eyes to add extra effect! Even our pediatrician has said, "Wow, she is working you guys!"
At the end of February, Caroline's sister Laurie and her family came to town. Ainsley got to meet her newest cousin, Baby Kai. Check out our pictures! We were so happy to meet him and Ainsley had lots of fun playing with her older cousin Landon. Unfortunately all of the kids got sick after the visit and she ended up with the viral respiratory infection RSV. Ainsley had her first round of antibiotics after the RSV created double ear infections and it is by far the sickest we have ever seen her. She is all better now, although Ainsley did spike a high fever last night. We took her to the doctor this morning and she has a viral throat infection that is common in babies. We are learning that it is always something!
Two weeks ago we celebrated Ainsley's First Birthday at the clubhouse in our neighborhood! It was a shower of butterflies and blossoms. Thanks to all who joined us. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we could not have had a more perfect day. Ainsley was dressed in a cute pink and white butterfly and flower dress with accessorized pink butterfly wings. She was the cutest butterfly we had ever seen! We had our professional photographer Andrea Davis out to take her 12-month pictures just before the party and to witness Ainsley eating her cake. Once we get those we will definitely post them. Andrea says they turned out beautiful! The highlight of the party of course was Ainsley eating her cake.
There is a funny story about Ainsley's smash cake. We had beautiful butterfly and flower cakes made from the Flour Shop in Brentwood for all of our guests to enjoy. They were pastels and matched all of our color themes for the party. We opted to have Whole Foods make her smash cake since all of the ingredients would be all-natural and organic. (Yes, we are a little over the top on her food!) The head cake decorator there is known as Captain Fabulous. He did not disappoint! Ainsley's smash cake was most definitely fabulous, but in a very different way than we expected. It had elaborate chocolate butterflies leaning up against the cake and a color scheme very different than what we had discussed! (Check out our pics for the full effect.)
Ok, now back to Ainsley eating her cake. She really was not a fan of the icing and chose to play with it more than eat it. She also shivered several times because she's not used to sugar, which was too funny! When she discovered the cake under the icing, she realized it was pretty good and much tastier. Now if she sees cake (we had some leftovers) she totally goes for it. Jason was holding her while unwrapping our last piece leftover and she reached down and grabbed a big hunk and ate half of his piece before he grabbed it!
Ainsley still loves her books and she loves a lot of the new toys she got for her birthday. One of her favorite things to do is to take wooden puzzle pieces, blocks, toy pieces, etc and put them places. Sometimes she puts everything away, (Caroline taught her that of course) but other times she moves stuff across the house. We have lost Caroline's cell phone on several occasions because Ainsley took it, set the ringtone to vibrate, and put it in her diaper bag. You should have seen us trying to figure out where it was based on a vibrating sound! We have to watch whatever we have on the coffee table or couch because she will take it and put it in her diaper bag, the oven drawer, the dogs bowls, small trash cans or even the toilet. She is keeping us on our toes!
We are taking our first big trip with Ainsley on May 8th. We will be going to the beach for a week and cannot wait! It should be a quiet time of year on the Gulf Coast since school is not out. It will be the first vacation we have had since Ainsley was born, not counting a couple of weekend trips we took last summer. Caroline didn't take any time at Christmas due to work, so this is much needed! We are sure Ainsley will love the beach since she loves the water so much. We will post again after we get back with lots of pictures!
Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Caroline, Jason and Ainsley
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hello Everyone!
Yes, it has been a while! We have made it through the holidays, illness, and ice and snow. Check out all of our Christmas Pics and latest video! Ainsley is now 10 months old. It's hard to believe she will be a year old in 2 months. Birthday party planning is underway! Ainsley will be hosting a 'Butterflies and Blossoms' party in April. In other news, Ainsley has become increasingly more mobile. She is a magnet for the fridge, the pantry, and the hall bathroom. If any of those doors are open she can be there in 3 seconds flat from anywhere downstairs. She is lightening fast! The only saving grace is that she crawls so you can hear her coming when those knees hit the floor. She has discovered all of our cabinets, the dishwasher, and the toilet paper. We certainly have our hands full right now, but she is still a very sweet baby!
Ainsley has also learned to dance (while holding on), crawl up the stairs, and stand for a 10-30 seconds at a time without holding onto anything. Just last night we hit a MAJOR milestone! She took her first step without holding onto anything! Jason has been teaching her how to stand for longer periods of time on her own by placing her upright, keeping his hands near by in case she falls, and then counting for her before she squats down. It is their new little game! While doing that yesterday, she took her first steps forward and then fell. She tried again today. We are sure she will be walking by the time we post next if not sooner!
At her 9 month appointment Ainsley weighed 16 pounds and 11 ounces. She was 27 inches long. That puts her in the 15% for weight and the 30% for height. She is still a tiny little thing. The doctor assures us she is healthy and her lack of weight gain is just because she is so active. We weighed her again this week at 10 months and she was 16 pounds 13 ounces--so a small gain of 2 ounces in a month. Oh well! She does seem very happy and healthy so we don't mind if she is a little small. At least she can wear her clothes longer!
Speaking of food, Ainsley has begun eating a lot more food in a day and is eating many more solids. Her top two teeth seem to be coming in so that should help her chew, but she is "gumming it" pretty darn good. Some mornings she eats a whole banana on her own right from the skin! In addition to the pureed food Caroline has been providing for dinner, she also likes to eat green beans, baked sweet potato chunks, rice, bread, puffs, yogurt, and anything on our plates that seems appealing.
Ainsley's favorite toy right now is her tea set that Aunt Brandi and Uncle Trey gave her for Christmas. She has learned how to push the music button so we know by heart all of the songs the tea pot sings. Ainsley also likes to carry the tea cups in her mouth while she crawls around. It is pretty funny. We do think we may have a girly, girl on our hands!
Other than that life has just been busy. Caroline and Ainsley both were really sick at the beginning of the year and it took us several weeks to fully recover and get back in the swing of things. Caroline is still very busy at work and working long hours and weekends, with hopes things are stabilizing on the new system Healthways launched in January. Jason is studying for the GMAT and playing in a spring football league in Wilson county on upcoming Saturdays--no travel required thank goodness! All in all, we have had a busy start to the year but seem to be slowing down a little here in the upcoming weeks, at least we hope. We eat in now the majority of the time and have definitely become more homebodies, mostly because we are tired! We do take Ainsley almost everywhere we go including the grocery store, Target, restaurants, errands, super bowl parties, wherever! She loves it and loves people watching. She is a great baby out in public and we get lots of attention everywhere we go! Caroline did go to the John Mayer concert this week with Karen and had a great time. After discussing it, we realized it was the first time she has gone out (not counting girls night in the neighborhood, or hair parties, etc) without the baby or Jason. How things have changed, right? Jason did get out when he went to Cincinnati in November to visit his brother David. However, we couldn't be happier with our new family and are looking forward to Ainsley's first birthday and taking a family vacation in May to the beach.
We wish everyone a Happy Valentine's day! We celebrated ours today with a big lunch at Wild Ginger and then at Best Buy. I am typing this from our new computer now! (Thank you cupid!)
Hope everyone is doing well!
Jason and Caroline
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hello everyone!
We wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas. Can you believe it has been a year since our website was created and we released Ainsley's name on Christmas Day 2008? We can hardly believe it ourselves! This year has been very special for us and we thank you all for being part of it. Christmas this year has a special joy and even Jason is excited!
Since our last update, Ainsley has said her first words. She has been babbling and yelling for quite some time, but just last week she officially said Da-da. Then the next day Caroline was yelling at our beagle, Baxter, as he was trying to take a toy out of her hands and she yelled Bax-tah at him too! Just tonight we think she said mama in context as she crawled up to Caroline and pulled herself up and said mama-mama. Caroline will take it and there were plenty of witnesses that would agree! We are sure soon enough she will say no to everything and yell MAMMA from the top her lungs, but for now we are thrilled!
We weighed her the first week of Dec at 8 months and she was 16.5 pounds. Everyone keeps telling us she looks bigger and seems to have filled out recently. We will let you decide based on our pics. She is definitley eating more solids and she is getting into different foods and textures. Caroline is also getting more adventerous with mixing purees and adding spices like cinnamon and ginger. We did try some yogurt last week and she did not like that at all!
Life has been very busy for us the last couple of weeks. Caroline has been woking like crazy for a big go-live Jan 1st 2010. She has worked everyday since Thanksgiving for at least a couple of hours and the last 2 weeks have been all weekend and very long days and late nights. The good news is the new system that is launching is looking good and Jason has been taking care of everything else at home (thank goodness!). We are both ready for things to return back to normal. Becuase of that, we are quite behind on planning for Christnmas. We bought Ainsley's first gift on Dec 22nd and we picked up a few last minute items tonight on Christmas Eve. As most of you know, Christmas is already a pretty stressful hoiday for us as we have a lot of family in Nashville and many people to see. This year we have plans every day with different gatherings from the 23rd-26th. (Does the movie 4 Christmases sound like us or what?) So we have had 3 get togethers already with 2 more to go! We are excited to visit with several of our family members from out of town like Jason's brother and sister and Caroline's Mom.
Looking back from the past year we did want to highlight some of our favorite moments and favorite things about Ainsley:
- Our first night in the hospital Ainsley gagged and starting spitting up. Jason ran and held her over the trash can. Classic!
- Ainsley's fascination/love for the dogs. She loves watching them, following them, playing with their ears and tails, and their kisses. Most of the time she is gentle, but they are very patient and loving.
- Ainsley's love for the computer. She has already popped 2 keys off one of keyboards. We have to make sure the laptops are closed at all times! Santa is bringing her a Barbie laptop of her own for Christmas!
- The fact that we have to remove her from the fireplace about 50 times a day and she seems to never get sick of making a beeline for it.
- Her laugh. It is a mixture of a belly laugh with a squeal plugged in. People on the phone have mistaken her for crying when she gets going. Mojo has been able to make her laugh the hardest. We addded video from Nov, so go hear her laugh!
- Her smile. She has smiled all the time since she was a month old, particurlay at men. She is such a flirt already. We are stopped everywhere with people commenting on what a happy, friendly child she is.
- Her love of water. Ainsley liked the pool this summer and now she loves a bath. She crawls to the bathtub, pulls up, and bounces up and down with excitement, and squeals even when she is not getting a bath!
- Her independentness (Is that a word?). Ainsley can play in her crib with her stuffed animals or entertain herself for periods of time with everyday items like paper and magazines. Those can last hours. We are so thankful!
- Her beavis and butthead grumble that means she is hungry. When she sees the boppy come out or we put her in the bumbo to eat she gives us her little grumble telling us she is ready.
- The way she bends the tips of her fingers to touch or pull items she wants toward her. Occasionally we hear a scratching sound on the monitor and sure enough she is moving those fingers scratching the sheets.
- Her ability to empty a small trash can, diaper bag, or Caroline's purse in minutes. She loves pulling things out of bags.
- The pitter patter of her knees as she crawls on the hardwood. Usually she is heading to the kitchen to get in the dogs bowls. She loves dumping the water bowl in particular and doesn't mind if it is on herself. She also crawls to the front door and waits for Jason to come back if he is taking the dogs out.
- Some of our favorite time with Ainsley is rocking her before naps and bed time. We treasure this time with her now and we read to her as well our rocker/recliner. That has by far been our best baby furniture purchase!
- Ainsley is michievous. We get worried when we don't hear her for a few minutes because she is fast and she is very curious. She also is stealthy and can be very quiet. You blink or turn your head and she is gone.
- Ainsley loves her tongue, She started by smacking her lips with it, sticking it out at us, and doing what we called the lizard. Now she sticks it out when she is eating to make a mess, rolls it in half, and rolls her Rs which even Caroline can't do. She also loves clicking, smacking,and making nosies.
- Most of all we love cuddling with Ainsley. She is a very loving baby and often she will sit in our lap and let us read to her, give us kisses, and put her head on our sholder when she is tired. Now of course there are plenty of times where she is squirming or throwing a fit, but overall she is pretty cuddly.
Once again we hope everyone has a verry Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Congrats to Caroline's cousin Katie who we just heard got engaged!
Christmas love--
Jason, Caroline, and Ainsley
Watch out World (Mojo and Baxter especially)--Ainsley is Mobile!
Hello everyone,
So Ainsley is now almost 7 months old! Amazing again how much can change in 6 weeks.
First things first--we want to welcome our newest nephew and Ainsley's cousin, Kai Parrish! He arrived just after midnight Friday morning at 12:33 am on November 6th. Congrats to Caroline's sister Laurie and her husband Chris in Wilmington, NC! We can't wait to meet him! He was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Laurie and Kai are doing good. Check out the pictures Laurie sent us of the newest family member! (He looks a lot like Landon but with hair!)
At our house the big news is that Ainsley has been crawling since shortly after 6 months. Then a week after crawling she started pulling up and within the last 2 nights she has pulled herself from sitting to completely standing. She also wants us to help her as she tries to walk. Yes, we understand how crazy it is going to be when that starts! We have had to drop the crib, begin baby-proofing (especially focusing on light sockets and power cords), and kiss many bumps and bruises as a result. Check out our video of her first crawl and then how fast she mastered it 7 days later while chasing the cup! She also began clapping her hands at 6 months and she had her first two bottom teeth come in 3 weeks ago as well. It feels like we have hit so many milestones in such a short time!
The one area we are lacking is talking. Ainsley yells and squeals or make small noises constantly (and has since she was born), but she has shown no interest in saying mama or dada or any repetitive sound like that. We are convinced her first word will be one syllable and like Hi or something along those lines. The funniest thing we have heard her do so far is when the dogs bark sometimes she will yell very loudly to match them and it becomes a game between her and the dogs yelling and barking. We are now focusing more effort on trying to get her say words so we will report our progress next time and maybe even have heard her first word!
While she isn't talking officially, she is laughing much more often starting this week. She still doesn't laugh much at us, but man she thinks Mojo is hilarious! He sniffs her and licks her and she loves it! We can always tell where Mojo is if we hear her start laughing! This morning we had her in her exersaucer in the rec room while we were cleaning and we heard her laughing from the other room. Sure enough there was Mojo sitting right next to her. Most recently she has even been laughing when Baxter comes over to her. It is the funniest thing to listen to because she almost sounds like she is crying and sometimes she throws in our favorite little fake cough laugh. Then she will squeal and giggle. You just have to hear it to understand! We will put some video out there soon. We got some good footage today but haven't had time to download.
The last time we posted at the end of September we were heading out of town to FL. We had a great time in Tallahassee meeting up with one of Jason's good friends, Wade. We picked the right game to go to as the University of South Florida upset Florida State at home. We of course were cheering for USF. It was hot as all get out, but really a good weekend and a nice way that we spent some time together baby-free. Of course GiGi loved having Ainsley for a couple of nights. We did miss Ainsley terribly and kept a picture of her in the console of our car so we could talk to here everywhere we went!
At Ainsley's 6 month appointment the first week of Oct she weighed 14 pounds and 8 ounces and was 25 1/4 inches long. She is still on the small side and did not double her birth weight as most babies do by 6 months, but she is keeping a steady pace and staying in the 20th percentiles for weight so the pediatrician is not concerned. Plus, she has little fat rolls now so we think she looks very healthy! We have started solids so maybe that will beef her up a little. Caroline is making 90% of her food, so that is a fun new adventure. She bakes or steams veggies or fruit and then throws it in the blender or our chopper. We freeze it in ice cube trays or keep fruit in the fridge (fruit does not freeze well). We then pop all of the frozen cubes in a ziploc bag in the freezer. It works great because we just grab a cube or two and thaw it and she has a nice variety of fresh choices without throwing away half a jar of baby food. To us it seems cheaper and healthier as we are buying organic foods and know they have no preservatives and are not processed. It does take some work and can be tedious so we understand why others choose not to go this route. For us we cook at home often, so it is not that much harder to steam some veggies or bake something that we all can eat like sweet potatoes and save for later. Caroline usually picks a night over the weekend and makes a couple of things. Ainsley’s favorites so far are butternut squash, acorn squash, peas, carrots, and oatmeal with pears. Her least favorites are green beans and avocado. She likes but not loves apples, sweet potatoes, bananas, mangos, peaches, and pumpkin. After her first taste of green beans she didn't trust Caroline to feed her for 2 days. She gagged, shuttered, dry heaved, spit all of it out, and then coughed. Jason had to regain her trust by taking over feeding for several days and we stuck with mostly oatmeal! Now she is starting to chow down on some food and she leans forward, hits her hands on the tray for more, and grunts! We are looking forward to our food adventure and presenting her with different, healthy foods early. One thing is for sure, we are eating healthier things ourselves as we do this for her. Caroline has even eaten broccoli and bell peppers since Ainsley was tasting them too. (Can you guys believe it?) Caroline has also had an education on food at the grocery store as she had never bought a mango or an acorn squash before, much less cooked them! It has been good learnings for all of us! PS--We are still giving her green beans but we are mixing them with pears or squash to try and get it down! In our household disliking green beans is sacrilegious so we will keep trying and are already getting better responses!
We had our first round of illness after Ainsley's 6 month dr’s appointment. We think she may have picked something up at church and then she had shots the following week at her check-up which may have played a toll on her immune system. The night after her shots she woke up with a high fever (her first) and bad congestion. Needless to say within 2 days we both had it too. We felt so bad for her because she had mucus pouring out and her little eyes ran, but she seemed happy most of the time even if she felt bad. It turned out to just be a nasty virus going around (no swine flu thank goodness as we did not have much fever) but man it really knocked us out for a week or so. Caroline had not been sick since before she was pregnant and it was especially hard on her since she couldn't take much due to nursing. She finally broke down and took Nyquil at night when Ainsley would not be eating. We are so glad all of that is behind us!
Finally, Ainsley experienced her first Halloween last week. To be honest she has been dressed in goofy outfits since mid-October mostly because of Caroline! Our friend Cassandra had a fairies and pirates birthday party for her daughter Cadie turning 5, so it all started there October 16th. Caroline made a tutu for Ainsley thinking she could use it for that party, Halloween, and our 6 month pictures. Ainsley dressed up as a pirate princess for the birthday party with her pale pink tutu that turned out lovely. The following weekend we visited the pumpkin patch and saw Ainsley’s Cousin Sarah Mason and Aunt Brandi. She wore her 'Got Candy?' outfit there to celebrate picking pumpkins of course. Finally she sported her Happy Halloween Onesie that Grant Mother (Jason’s step-mom) gave her. For Halloween night and trick-or-treating at Caroline’s office, Ainsley was a princess again. She modeled a onesie with a crown on it, her tutu, and her very own princess wand that lit up. She was absolutely adorable! Check out all of our Halloween pics. We took Ainsley around to see all of her grandparents in the area and then we had GiGi (Jason’s mom) over to our house to help us hand out candy since our neighborhood gets hit very hard. It was pretty cold here that evening so we decided it best to keep her out of the cold. It was a good holiday if you can call Halloween that?
All in all life is good in the Grant household, just super busy. Caroline has been working a lot of extra hours and many weekends. It’s that time of year for her and may get worse before it gets better. Jason is still awaiting confirmation regarding several projects but things do seem to be picking up. While Jason would love to be working, staying home has worked wonderfully for us and Ainsley has been so healthy and seems very well-rounded as a result--not to mention the bond that her and her daddy have built during this time.
We will try and post again before Thanksgiving. Right now we do not know our plans but it will include eating for sure!
Hope everyone is doing well!
Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 24 Weeks Old (5 and a half months)
Hello everyone!
So much has changed since we last posted 8 weeks ago it is amazing! The summer has flown by and Ainsley is now 5 and half months old. Life just keeps changing and getting better for our little family! Since we last posted we have taken Ainsley to the lake to visit Caroline's family, spent time visiting with Jason's family from out-of-town, attended Sarah Mason's first birthday (Ainsley's cousin), introduced Ainsley to Tennesse football, and had a play date and introduction to Baby Ethan (Tori and John's little boy)! Boy have we been busy! Not to mention that Caroline is back at work full time (plus some) and Jason took on a part-time project with GM for several weeks and has a new contract hopefully starting next week with Asurion. He is still hammering out all of the details.
Since we last posted we have hit several other developmental milestones. Ainsley is now mobile! The fun has just begun, right? While she is not officially crawling, she can maneuver herself anywhere she needs to go by pivoting her body, using her arms to push herself backwards, and then rolling over. She can move all the way across the room, mostly going backwards and rolling, but she still gets anywhere. We call it the boot scoot because she sticks her little butt in the air. It really is quite entertaining! She also only rolls in one direction (to the right) which is pretty funny too. Sometimes she gets stuck when she hits the couch or one of our chairs because she can't roll the other way! We have several pictures of her halfway stuck under things so go check them out under our pictures. We will try and put video out on the sight soon for your viewing pleasure! Along the lines of her mobility, we have had our first parent blunders where Ainsley managed to climb out of her bumbo and fall on the floor under Caroline's watch and then she rolled off the bed under Jason's watch. Lesson learned, she is strapped in everywhere including the changing table which has become a demonstration of acrobatics! Baby-proofing is soon to follow as Jason saw her eying some electrical outlets this week.
Ainsley also has started laughing although she doesn't like to give it up for Daddy! Caroline heard the first laughs at 18 weeks right before bath time one night. GiGi (Jason's mom) also heard a couple one night at her house. Ainsley must not think we are very funny because her little laughs are so rare. We are working on our stand up routines daily! Uncle David should be here next weekend and he is the comedian of the family so we have high hopes. Until then we will settle for her big smiles, shrieks of joy, and her squeals. She has discovered her tongue and has starting making noises with her lips which she thinks is funny. She also sticks her tongue out at us regularly-go figure!
We have not yet introduced solid foods (she is still exclusively breast-fed), but we have been giving Ainsley samples of our food to taste. She has now tried avocado, banana, honey dew, orange and red bell peppers, apple, lemon, and water. She loves to try new things so far, although she makes some funny faces at the different flavors. She reaches for our food and does not like it when we take food away from her after she has been licking and tasting it. In the upcoming weeks we are planning to introduce solids so there are many funny pictures and videos to come!
When we weighed her at 5 months she was 13 pounds and 5 ounces. We have her 6 month appointment in 2 weeks for a big check up. Though she will probably not double her birth weight to 16 pounds, we are hoping she is at least 14.5 pounds. She has finally filled out a little so she has a couple of rolls--mainly on her little legs! They are adorable. She is wearing her 3-6 month clothes now, thank goodness, and we are trying to wear all of the remaining summer items as much as possible while it is still warm.
Now for other updates. Jason is no longer playing football. He decided that 6 upcoming road games (some of them being 6 plus hours away) and his position constantly changing was not worth it. The Nashville Storm is doing great though and looks like they will be playing in the championship game in several weeks. We are pulling for them and wish them the best. Jason has kept up with his workouts and is looking into some winter leagues that do not involve travel.
We also are leaving the baby for the first time this weekend and going to visit Jason's good friend Wade in FL. Wade is alum from the University of South Florida. For the first time in history, USF will be playing Florida State University in football. We will be meeting him in Tallahassee and going to the game. It will be a busy weekend, but a good time. Pictures to follow and best wishes to GiGi who has her hands full with little Ainsley.
It looks like Jason starts his project with Asurion when we return and won't be caring for Ainsley during the day. He is meeting with the hiring manager Monday to work out the details of his contract. We have a couple of options we are pursuing right now for Ainsley's care. We have interviewed a nanny who comes highly recommended from Caroline's colleague and former boss. We have also been on a waiting list for a daycare/pre-school in our neighborhood called The Academy, and they called back today saying they had an unexpected vacancy beginning Oct 5th which may work out. We will be finalizing all of our plans next week. Life is getting ready to get crazier with both of us working full-time so we are bracing ourselves!
Caroline is staying very busy with work right now as Healthways prepares to launch a new software application in Oct. that has been underway for several years. It will keep her and others reading this blog busy through the end of the year and beyond as new customers are being implemented Jan. 1 after the first release Oct 19. (Unless you understand IT development and software releases, just know that Caroline will be very busy.)
Caroline's back is also doing much better. She had her second epidural in August and she has been stretching, seeing her chiropractor at least twice a week, and following all doctor's orders to not lift weights or items more than 20 pounds until she is completely healed. It's a good thing Ainsley is small right? Funny story about our chiropractor Chris, who is our also our neighbor. So today when Caroline had her chiropractor appointment, Jason met her at the office because he happened to be nearby. Jason had the dogs with him as he had just come from the vet's office as Mojo was not acting like his normal self. (We noticed last night he stopped jumping on the couch, bed, etc.) The vet said he suspected Mojo had disc problems and told Jason that Mojo needed to lose weight and take it easy for the next couple of days to reduce the inflammation and pressure on his back. So when Caroline went to see Chris she was laughing about how even the dog has back problems! With all seriousness Chris described how animals also benefit from chiropractic adjustments and how his college professor had treated animals during class. Since Mojo was in the car we brought him into the office and he got adjusted! He seems to be doing better tonight. Who would have thought? Only our family, right? Thank you Chris we appreciate it!
We hope everyone is well and wish everyone a happy fall. Now if it would just stop raining!
Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 16 weeks old!
Hello everyone!
So we can hardly believe it ourselves, but Ainsley will be 4 months old next week! The last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind with Caroline having some health issues, Ainsley growing and changing every day, and Jason taking care of both of them.
Since we last posted Ainsley has had some milestones. At her 3 month appointment she weighed 10 pounds 13 ounces. We guess that at her 4 month appointment in 10 days that she will be around 12 pounds, maybe a little more. She is still our small little girl and in the 20th percentiles, but she is very active and can hold herself up very well as a result. As Sarah describes her, she is just very busy. She doesn't want to miss a minute of anything! We believe she started teething about 3 weeks ago and are on the lookout for a bottom tooth to come in soon. As a result, she has been a little more fussy than normal and has had some bad diaper rash, but otherwise seems to be OK. Since 3 months she has been able to sit in her Bumbo for periods of time while we eat or clean-although since she has so much room she turns herself to the side and tries to eat the rubber. (A Bumbo is a cool rubber device that allows babies to sit up supported--check out our pics if you haven't seen one). It's quite entertaining. She also has started reaching and pulling items including hair, shirts, noses, or really anything in reach. She can hold her hand rattle and now plays with her hanging objects on her car seat. This week we also had a major milestone with her learning how to roll over completely in both directions. It's a little scary because since she first did it on Tuesday she has now gotten even better and faster at it. We now have to strap her down on the changing table and are nervous about leaving her anywhere where she can roll herself off. So much for her being stationary!
Ainsley has definitely started showing us her inner personality. Within the last couple of weeks she has been testing her vocal cords and she has learned to yell and scream. Sometimes it even sounds like she is doing vocal exercises going up and down the scales. She has always been a talker, but this is much more animated. Caroline calls her the screaming banshee because sometimes she will yell loudly for a brief second or two and stop as suddenly as she starts, especially if she wants your attention. She also screams when you take the bottle away from her to burp her in the middle of a feeding. She hates that more than anything and definitely tells you about it! She still coos and talks like normal with some high pitched squeals mixed in occasionally, especially if she is happy. She seems to be partial to guys and flirts with them and even bats her long eyelashes at them which is terrifying Jason even now. However, she is definitely a Daddy's girl!
Ainsley is still a great sleeper and is averaging 9-11 hours every night. (Yes, we know how lucky we are, but we figure we will pay for this luck later either in her teenage years or with our next child!) We have a pretty good routine going during the week which is good since Caroline is returning to work full time. She is up to 4 days a week and will do that for three more weeks. Things are picking up as she enters the busy time of the year for Healthways so timing should be perfect for her return.
We took Ainsley on her first roadtrip 2 weeks ago. Jason had an away game in Louisville, KY which is about 3.5 hours away from home so we decided to go. Jason's brother David came down from Cincinnati and stayed with us one night and we got to test out what new parents need the most while traveling. Lesson learned--you need the stroller (we had left it in Caroline's trunk) and you should watch the weather even in July becuase it can be in the 50s every 100 years or so (We have had some record breaking lows this summer.)! We ended up buying an umbrella stroller there and some fleece PJs to keep her warm while outside at the game. Jason's team won, is undefeated, and is beating most teams they have played by large margins. Check out our pictures from the game and our trip to Louisville. One of the highlights of our trip was driving into Papa John's Stadium at the University of Louisville football field after seeing a gate open for authorized vehicles. We authorized ourselves and thought the stadium was pretty cool!
The last time we posted, Caroline had just had throat surgery to stretch the tight ring they found in her throat that was causing her to choke. What was supposed to be an easy procedure, ended up taking her about 2 weeks to recover and she was on a liquid diet for the first 8 days because of the swelling and the difficulty she had swallowing. The good news is that she can tell a difference in her throat now. Soon after surgery, Caroline noticed her lower back was bothering her and she started having very bad nerve pain shooting down her leg, calf, and to the bottom of her foot making it difficult to sit, stand, walk or do anything comfortably. Her doctors think it was her position on the table during surgery since they had her on her side and then moved her to her back, in combination with her weakened ab muscles from pregnancy that are not supporting her back as well. Three and half years ago Caroline herniated a disc and had similiar symptoms, so we suspected that it was the same thing. At her doctor's recommendation, she tried to stay very active during pregnancy and watch weight gain to prevent any issues. We thought we had made it. Go figure! After a round of oral steroids and a steroid shot with no improvement, an MRI confirmed that the disc is herniated again pinching the nerve, and the disc below it is bulging. Since we do not want to go the surgery route, we opted for a more conservative approach. Caroline chose to have an epidural injection with steroids directly in the disc since that worked well for her last time to reduce the inflammation and eliminate most of the nerve pain. She will have a second one in three weeks. She is also working with a chiropractor (who happens to be our neighbor-Thanks Chris!) trying to get the disc back in place and will be doing exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles. It is slow going, but she is doing much better and is no longer in serious pain. She is having to watch all of her lifting (like the car seat) and absolutely cannot lift anything more than 20-30 pounds as it could effect the disc more. Our friend Laura Pratt happened to be in the area last weekend from Chicago and took care of Caroline and Ainsley while Jason had an away game in Memphis. Caroline was not allowed to pick up the baby for a couple of days following the epidural last week. Thank you Pratty! We appreciated your help and enjoyed having you! Our fingers are crossed that we can avoid surgery and get Caroline's back restored to full health again in a couple of months.
Many of you have asked us questions so here's two of the most common.
How are the dogs doing?
They are doing well. It has been an adjustment for them but they are still our first children and we tend to spend more one on one time with them at night and first thing in the morning when the baby is asleep. They love Ainsley and have accepted her as one of us. Baxter loves her toys and we have to watch him because he will go grab her favorite hippo and lick it and cuddle with it. (He never had any of his own stuffed animals because Mojo always tore them up, so he really likes Ainsley's!) He also goes and checks on the baby the most when her door is cracked so we are constantly checking to make sure her door is no wide open when she is asleep. Mojo we call our mamma dog as he watches out for all of us, makes sure he treats our boo-boos, and he keep us all clean. He is the best for our accidents like when she has spit up. He also tells us when she has a dirty diaper by nosing her butt! We do have to watch him because he is the one that can chew up diapers and grab her clean socks and toss them in the air. Ainsley loves touching the dogs to feel their fur and they are both very patient and loving with her.
Is Caroline still nursing and is that going well?
Yes, Caroline is still exclusively nursing and it is going well. We will begin to introduce cereal and solid food in the next 2 months based on our pediatrician's recommendations next week, although since she is sleeping so well we may hold off a little while. Nursing is a big sacrifice especially while working, but we believe it is well worth it since Ainsley has not even had a sniffle yet and she seems very healthy. Caroline does have nightly and morning rituals like cleaning all the bottles, freezing milk, etc and it does take her about two hours and 15 minutes to get ready in the mornings to allow enough time to feed Ainsley and do everything else. Thank goodness for her stockpiles in the freezer with all of the drugs and steroids she has had to take in the last month! We have probably had to use 15 days worth of stored milk in the last 40 days, but she has about 2 weeks worth now in the freezer so we should be good in the event of an emergency and she is building her stash back up. Caroline has found that breast milk has all kinds of cures and it is the new joke in our household--well just put some BM on that! The most recent use is Ainsley's diaper rash from teething. It has worked wonders!
That about covers the highlights in our world. We have had family in town recently. Caroline's Mom, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Linda, cousin Mandy, Uncle Steve and her cousin Cash all spent time wih us over the past couple of weeks, as well as Jason's step-grandmother Mrs. Wormsley. Jason's sister is here this week and his Aunt Wanda is visiting Tuesday from Knoxville. Thanks to all for thinking about us and hopefully these next 4-5 weeks will be better than the last ones! When you see our pictures, please note the professional ones we had done for her 3 month milestone. They turned out so good!
We also wanted to say congrats to Tori and John as they welcomed their firstborn Ethan into the world on July 26th!
Love to all,
Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 10 weeks!
Hello,
So we are a little behind on our blog, but have been really busy! Ainsley is now 2 and half months old. We have left behind our sheltered world that we referred to as the "baby bubble" and re-entered the real world! Life is much faster in the real world. . .
Caroline has gone back to work 3 days a week and will continue the part-time schedule until the end of July. Work is going well, but Caroline is tracking her time diligently to ensure she does not slip back into full time. So far so good. Jason keeps the baby those days while he continues to look for job opportunities. We are on a waiting list at The Academy (our daycare choice) until an opening comes available in August, so the arrangement works out nicely for now. For those of you not in the area, daycare around here is extremely competitive and we have been on a waiting list since November!
On Friday, Caroline had throat surgery to correct her choking problems. Her surgery started with a pretty common procedure done at an outpatient center where they stuck a scope down her throat to assess what was going on, however, it did require going under anesthesia. The doctor determined that Caroline had a tight ring in her esophagus that has been causing the choking for most of her life. This particular type of ring is not a very common condition, especially since it appeared to be a birth defect. They then stretched the ring to double its original size, but it is still smaller than the average person's esophagal canal. The good news is that Caroline should not choke as often (hopefully never again) once her throat heals, although she may have to repeat this process in the future. Everyone we have known that has undergone this scope had very little pain and was eating again that day so that's what we expected too. Unfortunately, Caroline's outcome was not the same since she was stretched in her esophogas and she is on a primarily liquid diet for 3-4 days and in pretty serious pain when she swallows. After she came out of surgery, she rated the pain higher than all of her contractions during labor. Between her diet and medication, her ability to nurse has been impaired. Thankfully she has built up several weeks of reserve for the baby, and we are praying that she gets better soon so things can return back to normal!
Jason is playing semi-pro football for the Nashville Storm again this year (he played several years ago for them). This is keeping us busy with practice two nights a week and games on Saturdays. His first away game was last weekend in Memphis and we will be traveling several weekends this summer as a family to watch him play. This weekend was an off weekend so we are catching up on our household chores! The Storm is one of the top teams in the North American Football League and so far they are 2-0. His next away game is in Louisville, KY on July 18th, so we are plannig on all going to that game and maybe seeing Jason's brother David. David was just promoted to the General Manager of J. Alexander's in Cincinnati and we couldn't be more proud. He will be moving this week and we will miss him and his weekly visits!
Now for Ainsley's update! Last week she had her 2 month checkup and her first vaccinations. The shots were the most traumatic part of the visit and Ainsley had her first real tears. There is a picture where we tried to capture her crying in the pink and orange dress. Thankfully she did not run a fever or become fussy, but was just a little more sleepy than normal. She weighed 10 pounds even and was 22 1/4 inches long. We thought this sounded great and were hoping for a big move up in the growth chart percentiles from the previous 20% range. She registered at 28% for weight and the 45% for height. That's better than where we were before, so we will take it! This growth spurt has allowed her to wear most of her 0-3 month clothes within the last two weeks, though some are still big!
Ainsley has kept up her great sleeping habits and usually sleeps between 8 and 10 hours every night. We have not had a night under 7 hours in at least three weeks so we know we are blessed! We have also gotten her on a pretty good day schedule and she naps in her crib instead of her Moses basket. She is not taking the long day naps yet, but there are no complaints from us. She is very adaptable and will sleep in her car seat if we are out and about. We know we are biased, but she is just a great baby and happy most of the time!
We have had several firsts these past couple of weeks in addition to the shots and the tears. Ainsley has discovered her hands. Last week, she grabbed Caroline's necklace and hair for the first time while nursing. She now holds our fingers and her clothes often. She sucks on her hands too, and rather loudly at times. She also stares at her feet for long periods of time which is hilarious. Jason is already concerned about our future shoe budget! Ainsley has also discovered the dogs, particularly Baxter since he is black and white and she can see his coloring better. She will follow both of them with her eyes and stare at their feet too. Last weekend, Caroline took Ainsley to the pool for the first time and dipped her feet in the water. She seemed to enjoy it, so we can't wait to take her swimming soon. We are hoping she is a water baby like her Momma! We also had our first diaper where the poop came up to her belly button! I know that is TMI for some people so sorry in advance, but needless to say we are moving to the 1.5 size diapers to prevent any future mishaps!
Ainsley enjoys sitting up and is continuing to gain her balance. She talks to us frequently, and we have learned the different fusses and cries that she uses. Our favorite is her pissed off cry when we take the bottle away to burp her half way through a feeding. She lets out a high pitch scream/squeal to let us know her displeasure with our decision. We are convinced this is foreshadowing of future temper tantrums, but right now we just think it is cute! We love her big smiles, various facial expressions and her cooing when she talks to us.
So that about sums up what is going on with us.
We have another doctor's appointment in two weeks for the 3-month visit, so we will post afterwards. Hopefully, Ainsley will have made further gains on the growth charts, as she is rapidly growing before our eyes. We hope everyone is doing well and wish everyone a Happy Father's Day!
We also wanted to wish a special congratulations to Alli and Chris on their new baby girl Elizabeth McCall, who was born Thursday morning. We can't wait to meet her next week!
Love-
Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 7 Weeks Old!
Hello all,
So we can hardly believe it but Ainsley will be 2 months old on Wednesday. In some ways it seems like she has been part of our family for much longer and then in other ways it seems like it was just 2 weeks ago that she was born. As everyone keeps telling us, they only stay small for a short time. Wow can we tell, as Ainsley has grown a lot recently.
The last 2 weeks have been action packed with family in town and lots of activity. Ainsley has now met all of her cousins. Check out all of our pictures with the kids together. During week 6 Caroline took Ainsley to her first hair party where the girls get together and Andrea does their cut and color. Might as well start her early! Ainsley also had her first trip to the mall where Karen introduced her to the Gap. Jason was fine with it as long as Aunt Karen is buying! Last week Caroline went to visit Healthways where she met all of Caroline's work buddies and Lisa's daughter born 2.5 weeks after Ainsley (on Caroline's Birthday as a matter of fact). Then Ainsley had her first playdate with Kami's daughter Raegan--how perfect since they were born on the same day! The babies were so cute together--picture coming soon! For Memorial Day we attended 2 cookouts in the neighborhood and spent time catching up. Finally, we left Ainsley for the first time with GiGi (Jason's Mom) so we could attend a birthday celebration for Caroline's Step-Mom this past Wednesday. As you can tell we have been busy!
So along with all of our activitites we have also been busy trying to figure out Ainsley's sleep schedule. Ainsley officially hit the "sleep through the night" club last Friday night when she slept 7 hours at 6 and a half weeks. Woo-hoo, we were so excited. However since then we have been all over the map with sleeping. We have had several nights at 5-6 hours, 2 nights around 7.5 hours, and then we regressed all the way back to getting up every 3 hours. Just when we got concerned, this past Friday night she slept 9 hours? Go figure, so there is no telling what we will have tonight as we type this! We also have been letting her cry it out some at night when we put her down which truly is one of the hardest things to do as parents. We equate it to bringing Mojo home as a puppy when we had to suffer through 2 nights of him whining off and on all night because he wanted to be with us. Absolutely heartbreaking, but we know it will make bedtime easier in the long run and we are trying not to establish sleep props like rocking to go to sleep which is what we were having to do before.
In addition to the sleeping inconsistencies, Ainsley has had her first allergic reaction. Caroline feels horrible and takes responsibility, although several moms and the pediatrician keep telling her they all have done it and at least you know not to ever use that product again. Ainsley had just spit up after taking a bath so Caroline used one of the Huggies disposable washcloths to clean her up that you just put under the faucet and it foams up. She used it on her face, shoulders, and head where the spit up was and sure enough within several hours small red bumbs everywhere! After several days it just seemed to be getting worse so we called in backup--our favorite pediatric nurse practitioner Joe. He came over and confirmed that there was not much we can do, but if it didn't get better to call the pediatrician in a couple of days. After about a week and it still not improving we took her in. The doctor said the same thing that Joe did that it was Contact Dermatitis, or in English, something that she had come into contact with since it was isolated to the upper part of her body. Since it didn't seem to be bothering her terribly, we have opted to let it take it's course but her poor little face and shoulders look so bad.
While we were at the doctor we also got to learn her weight. At 6 weeks 1 day she weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. We thought that sounded pretty good since it was up a pound and 2 ounces since our previous visit at 2 weeks 1 day. As it turned out, she dropped from the 25th percentile to the 20th percentile! They are not concerned yet as she looks and seems healthy, but are going to re-evaluate her next week this coming Tuesday. Wish us luck as poor Ainsley has all of her shots then too.
Check out our latest pictures. The photoshoot album is from a month ago when Joe took some great outdoor shots with us. Thank you again Joe! We also have some professional ones we had done at 2 weeks that we need to post, so stay tuned as those will be coming soon.
We hope everyone had a great holiday and is enjoying the weather. We are just thrilled that the rain seems to be ending and that we can get out more in the stroller. Caroline has gotten Dr.'s approval to begin her workout so let the weight loss program start!
Until next time,
Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 5 weeks old!
Hello everyone,
So it has been a little over 5 weeks since Ainsley was born and we brought her home! Time sure does fly. As we had hoped, our schedule has started to take shape beginning week 3 with Ainsley sleeping and feeding on a much more consistent basis. We almost hate to post it (as soon as we do she will change), but Ainsley has been sleeping an average of 6 hours most nights from midnight until 6:00 am and then she usually goes back down at 7:00 am for another 2 hours or so. Like her Momma she doesn't like to go to bed until late and seems to get a second wind at about 10:00 pm! We are still pretty worn out since Caroline at least can never make it to bed when she goes down, but we are doing better these days versus getting up every 3 hours. We have been following the Babywise method since the beginning (thanks to Stephen for recommending the book when Caroline was in the first trimester) and that really works for us. The basic premise is that you feed every 2-3 hours religiously, keep them awake for 30 minutes after for playtime, and then let them sleep. It is supposed to help set their metabolism and get them into a routine which results in most babies sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. So far it has worked for us!
Ainsley's personality is starting to take shape as she makes all kinds of funny facial expressions, noises, and still engages those hands actively. She is definitely a cuddler and likes to be held. We really hope we are not spoiling her, but she is just so content and peaceful in your arms! She likes being on her back more than being in a bouncer or in an upright position and she will just lay on the couch or in our laps kicking and cooing. She also loves watching her mobile or lying on her Baby Einstein play mat and looking at everything. Of course ceiling fans and lights also entertain her just as well! Overall she is not really a crier and usually only cries when there is a reason. She does hate being wet and she seems to have some gas pains, so those are the times we hear from her the most.
She still is pretty small. We don't have another dr appointment for 2 more weeks, so we are not sure her exact weight, but she is still mostly in newborn clothes and now wearing some small 0-3 month items. Indria, your DIT outfits (Diva In Training) are some of the only 0-3 outfits that she can wear and boy does she look cute in Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein! Check out our pictures of her in her little pink and white tennis dress!
Week 3 was quiet which was great for us. We really stayed home and enjoyed the rainy days together while getting things into a routine. Jason took the baby for his first outing by himself to Publix in our neighborhood and everyone showered them with attention.
Week 4 we introduced the bottle with breast milk and she has taken to it well. Caroline can now leave the baby for a little while longer at least without having to feed her every 3 hours. Jason can also help with the night feedings, although of course since we introduced the bottle she has been pretty much sleeping 6 hours straight--go figure. Week 4 has been much more hectic as we have family in town visiting. Caroline's Mom and step-dad arrived on Mother's day and stayed until Wednesday from North Carolina. Then on Wednesday Caroline's sister and Jason's sister both arrived from out of town, as well as Caroline's cousin on Thursday. We have loved seeing everyone and spending time visiting. Thank you all so much for coming and spending time with us. Check out all of our pictures! To add to a busy week our air conditioner went out Wednesday and did not get fixed until Friday afternoon late. Friday was really hot and humid and the downstairs got up to 85 so you can only imagine upstairs, but that was the only day that it was bad thank goodness. We ended up having to replace the whole unit as the warrantee expired last year so week 5 has started with a bang!
That about sums up our fun. Healthways--Caroline will be visiting next week!
Caroline and Jason
Ainsley is 3 weeks old!
Hello everyone,
So our poll results were split 50% for weekly updates and 50% for monthly updates. Thanks to everyone who voted. Right now we are thinking we are going to split the difference and do bi-weekly updates. It has been just over two weeks since we last posted, so go check out all of our pictures from the last couple of weeks!
Today marks 3 weeks since Ainsley's arrival. She lost a lot of weight during her first week of life-- down from 8.0 pounds to 7.1 at her 1 week pediatric appointment. Last Tuesday at her 2 week appointment she had gained 7 ounces up to 7.8, so the doctor was pleased that she was gaining the appropriate amount of weight about an ounce a day. We think by today she should be back at 8 pounds or close to it! At her 2 week appointment she was still 20.5 inches so she had not grown any. This week she is looking a little longer to us, so she may have grown a little too. We are still struggling with her clothes being big and she is just now starting to look the right size for newborn clothes.
Week 1 was a whirlwind as we were ecstatic new parents running on adrenaline. We were all just learning about each other and Ainsley slept pretty good that week, feeding every 2-3 hours as expected. Caroline then got sick that weekend and week 2 was really rough as result. Caroline had a fever of a 101 for 48 hours with a bad sore throat, body aches, and slight congestion and ended up going to the doctor where they put her on antibiotics. At the start of the second week Ainsley also created a pattern of feeding three times during the night and would not sleep between the second or third feeding, leaving us taking turns with her from around 3:00 am to 6:00 am all week. Finally we are starting to see a little relief with her skipping one night feeding and last night she even went back down after her 2:30 feeding within an hour and did not wake up until 6:30! Jason got his first night of uninterrupted sleep since she was born and Caroline is finally feeling more like herself. Her umbilical cord also fell off at day 13, so we have been able to give her real baths in her infant tub versus just the sponge baths. She seems to really enjoy her bath time until she has to get out!
We have been out and about a little bit. Before Caroline got sick we did make an appearance at the MS walk to support our friend Angela. Ainsley was the youngest member of Angela's team and probably any team at the MS walk as she was 10 days old! It was a beautiful day and good for Ainsley to get some fresh air and sunshine. We have also made a couple of brief trips to Target at off hours for Diapers, Wipes, and other related items. Last week we also went to have some pictures made with Ainsley while she was still small (Jason claims these will be her only naked photos ever!) and she managed to pee on Jason while we were there! Make sure you check out that picture. It was pretty funny. Lastly, we did venture out a little this weekend for Caroline's Birthday during the afternoons but only for brief amounts of time. Caroline also had her first outing without Ainsley for a birthday lunch with Sarah on Friday. With the Swine flu around and now confirmed in Williamson county, we will probably be restricting our time out and about in public. (Sorry Heathways team, as we were thinking about visiting next week!)
All in all we are still in our bubble, just operating with less sleep. We love hanging out with Ainsley and listening to her talk and squeak--which she does often. We are still not totally sure who she looks like, so in the next couple of weeks we may post a poll for you guys to vote. She is a very cuddly baby and enjoys our time holding her. Her hands are engaged in everything she does with that little pinky sticking straight up most of the time. She has even managed to give us the finger several times, although we do not think it is intentional! She is getting more alert and watching her mobile and holding her head up better too. Overall she is a good baby or at least we think so!
Thanks again for everything you all have done and for checking on us. We are looking forward to getting into more of a routine this week so cross your fingers for us.
With Love-
Caroline and Jason
Since Ainsley's Arrival...
Hello everyone!
So it's almost like our normal Monday night update! Life has definitely changed since we posted 7 nights ago, but for the better! We are completely enamored with our little girl Ainsley. Jason now claims that he is in love with two women in his life, but to be honest we are both in love.
Our first night home was rough with little Ainsley hungry all of the time and unsatisfied, plus a lot of change in one day leaving the hospital. Caroline's milk has now come in and life has been easier. We are trying to keep her on a 2-3 hour feeding schedule and that seems to be going relatively smoothly. Ainsley has been sleeping sometimes for 4 hours at night which is nice, but we aren't holding our breath! Overall she appears to be an even tempered baby that has these big blue eyes and peach fuzz sticking off the top of her head. She is just beautiful and we are happy glowing parents. We have had some firsts like Jason trimming some of her fingernails yesterday and us giving her a bath and washing her hair on Saturday. (She loves to have her hair washed, go figure!) We also took her outside today for her first walk before the storms came through. Jason has been a great daddy and has changed almost every diaper while Caroline handles the feedings (Caroline has not had to change a poopy diaper since Ainsley was born).
We would like to trademark the phrase "time suckage." We are in babyland right now with absolutely no sense of time or the world around us. It is kind of nice just losing touch with everything except the people close to us and our new family. However, today seemed more normal and we expect things will continue to be more normal as we get our schedule down. Tomorrow morning we have our first pediatric appointment, and expect a clean bill of health.
So overall, life is good in our little bubble. We truly appreciate what everyone has been doing for us - the meals in the hospital, the cards and arrangements, Mojo and Baxter being tended to, and to the food that has arrived since coming home. Our fridge is more full than it has ever been and the 'food chain' has been altered to accomodate our disproportionate food surplus. So thank you all for everything! We are not exactly sure how we can ever repay everyone, but we will eventually find a way!
We have minimized the e-mail updates to a weekly distribution, are not sure how much longer we will continue to add written content, but will continue to post pictures in the future. We will let the audience decide with the poll above, but hurry. The poll closes Wednesday April 22nd.
We love sharing our lives with you all and look forward to sharing new experiences yet to come, regardless of the medium.
Love-
Caroline and Jason
