Ainsley's first day at Hope's house

Ainsley's first day at Hope's house was 10/12/10. She has been doing great and is the current star of daycare! We are so blessed to have found another great daycare provider!

hanging out at home...

Showing off Addysen's AWESOME owl hat she made at Hope's house!  I think that Ainsley is very impressed!

Testing out our new jumpy toy for the first time... I think she needs to grow a little more:)



Chillin in her swing, lookin cute as a button!



I had to get a picture of her in this outfit, it was Addysen's, and I just love it! 

 

During the last couple of warm days, Ainsley took every chance she could to show off her belly!

  

Where's Ainsley?

  

isn't she festive?

  

Testing out the bumbo seat... and she likes it so far!



Apple Blossom Farm



Lexi, Morgan, Addysen, Hunter and Caleb

Ready for fun at Apple Blossom Farm!



Feeding the goats and miniture horses was a hit with all the kids!



Evan even liked the goats!



Caleb, Hunter, Morgan and Addysen all rode on the monster truck. They were all very excited about it and had a blast. Tammy, Nici and I were all freaking out and regreting our decision to put them on it as soon as they pulled away from us. It was fun for the kids; scary for the moms to watch.



Lexi and Addysen riding the train together.



Who is that crazy lady in the background?

  

trying to get a good picture of the kids before we left... This was the best I got but notice Ainsley, she was just starting to spit up as the picture was taken. (gross!)

my two favorite girls!



This is the face you get when your sister toots on you during a picture :)



It was a cool day and I forgot a hat for Miss Ainsley, so I had Tammy bring me one.
Obviously from this picture, Ainsley is feeling Gangsta' in this hat, as she flashes me her sign.



It's FALL!

We've got some pretty happy people living in our house right now! We all love the fall for many reasons. We love it for some of the same reasons and some different reasons. But it doesn't matter, fall is here and we are happy about it.

Peighton's 1!

Happy Birthday PePe!

what a pretty birthday girl!

Lindsay gave Addysen the okay to help Peighton blow our her candle.

Ye-haw!!

Riding the Happy Joe's merry-go-round!

(notice, Jared is riding too:) )

Go Illini!

Addysen LOVES going to sporting events! She was really bummed that we did not make it to an Illini basketball game this past winter, so we made sure we made it to at least one football game this fall. Addysen wanted to stay for the whole game but she had her first day of Sunday school the next day, we had Baby Ainsley with us, and Peighton was celebrating her 1st birthday the next day, so we only stayed until half time. All the kids did great and we all had a fabulous time!

Thanks to the Higgerson's we had our picture taken at the game... I forgot my camera.

Addysen - would NOT cooperate for a picture!
(this is becoming a theme)

Baby Ainsley is ready to go to her first football game.

She slept the entire day, only to wake up to eat. And surprisingly, she slept that night too!

August Highlights...

Trying to get a good picture... you think either one would cooperate??

he he he - non of the pictures I took were good, but I thought this one was pretty funny!

Anna and Ainsley

The girls posed for a couple of pictures after Anna's baptism.

Anna, Ainsley and Addysen

This was the first time I let Addysen paint her nails, all by herself. She loved it, and had a great time! Mommy, the control freak, needed her hands tied behind her back:)

Didn't she do a beautiful job? What did I have to worry about?

last swim of the summer

"Catch me Daddy!"

This was the first time Ainsley met Great Grandpa Vincent.

I Miss You Dad.

As many know, the end of August and the beginning of September was pretty rough on our family, therefore blogging was put on the back burner. Over three long weeks, I watched my Dad slowly fade away from this life. Watching this process was the worst thing that I have ever been through. He was the strongest, toughest man I knew. He fought and lived through the worst of life. One of the strongest battles he fought was his 19 year fight against MS. Over the years it slowly and continually took the best parts of him that I haven't seen in so long and miss so dearly. He was the best Dad! He was fun, extremely funny and witty, caring, supportive and encouraging. He was a proud dad, proud of his girls, proud of his family, proud of his job, proud of his country. He was just an all around great guy. I miss him so much. I'm so sad and angry that he had this disease and that it took him from all the things that he loved the most. Why did this happen to my family? Why did this happen to my dad? Why do these things happen to good people? I don't understand. It feels so unfair... These are the things that keep going through my head. I know life is not fair and I know one day we'll understand why this happened, but it still hurts so much. He was my Dad, he was suppose to be here for a long time, he was suppose to be here to see my kids and watch them grow up. I hate that this happened and I hate MS. Luckily not all people with MS end up like my Dad, but it is still a nasty disease, that no one deserves. We're proud to say that MS did not win this battle, my Dad did. He has now been given a new eternal life, a life free from disease and free from his worn down body. Although he is no longer with us, I can still take comfort in knowing he is whole again. He can do all the things that he had not done in so long, walk, communicate and eat. I know he will be watching over us as our guardian angels from now until we meet again. Until then, he'll always live on in my heart, for me to share with my girls. And as for his stories and one-liners, they will live on in our house until the very end.

While sharing memories and stories over the past several weeks about my Dad I have come to realized that his approach to life was right on. He always lived life to the fullest and never took things too seriously. As I have learned through my Dad's life experience, LIFE IS TOO SHORT, we are only here for a temporary stay, so while we're here lets live... Live Like Larry:)