For years I wrote in my journal, nightly...so why is it so hard for me update my blog even monthly? I think it might be because when I finally sit at the computer to browse around for my self and read everyone else's blog...I don't have any interest in thinking through what to say to document my own life. So here it is...my most recent blog update. I won't even try to fill you in on what has happened in our lives since...well...I opened up my preschool last fall (I think that was my last update...ugh!)

I have the time to update the blog right now, because I am being forced to sit down chill out these last couple of days. I had a minor surgery on Monday. Now I have to take it easy and relax on the couch (which is impossible to do with a 1 1/2 year old). The surgery was to take out my I.U.D. You might think to yourself..."you don't need surgery to take that out". My I.U.D actually made its way through my uterus and was resting behind my left hip bone. So in this case, we did need surgery to take it out. The surgery went totally fine though. The incisions were kept very small and so I am healing fast! The number 1 question that I have been repeatedly asked is if I will ever get an I.U.D. again. For me...no. It feels pretty silly to have to go get the thing removed through surgery and then later, put one back in. This is supposed to be pretty rare, so I am not telling anyone else what would be smart or not. I used to swear by it, but I will have to find a new kind of birth control.

My goodness...Ainsley is almost a year and a half and she is the funniest, most adorable little girl to us. This is more for myself than for anyone else, but a little bit about her right now...
she will eat almost anything, anytime...
she calls both Trevor and I, Dad...
she LOVES shoes, phones, laptops, ipads, etc.. and cars!
she LOVES the wind in her face and insists on having windows rolled down in the car..
she wears her jacket around all day, just hoping to go outside or in the car...
she sleeps with her Kiss,Kiss Bear...
she can't get enough of books...
she can spot Sesame Street characters in EVERY store we go in...
she can now say, Dad, shoes, there it is, uh-oh, please, car...
she signs milk, again, music, lay down, change diaper, thank you, sorry...
she wants me to sing 24/7 in the car, usually the same song over and over...
she is bossy when she plays house...
she will sit on uncles and grandpas laps for longer than she ever does for Mom or Dad
she will never tire of playing Hide and Seek...
she is a wonderful helper when it comes to cleaning up the house...

We love her so much! There is an endless amount of patience, frustration, joy and love when it comes to having kids...at least for us! Thanks for checking in.

P.S. Pictures always make a post more fun, so I picked 5 of our recent-ish pictures, in hopes that it would help to summarize our life a little bit.

Here I am after surgery...a very loopy day for me.



Our family trip to visit Temple Square:



Oh yeah, Trevor brought me along on a business trip he had to New York...awesome vacation! Here we are on the top of the Empire State Building. This site was by far, Trevor's FAVORITE!




Ainsley, just being cute with her little mischievous face.



This was awhile ago, I guess just long enough to out grow those clothes that she is in.

Preschool Opening

I know I need to update our blog about our life...but I just can't wait to tell everyone about how we are actually going through with my Preschool plan! I have been planning and contemplating this for a long time, and we have almost finished our basement in hopes that it would all work out, I was just waiting for the city's approval for my preschool business license. It was finally approved last night and so Trevor and I are putting on the finishing touches of the basement and gathering the rest of the supplies that I need to start out the preschool with. I have butterflies in my stomach!!! Anyways, if you know of anyone looking for a preschool for their 3 to 5 year old, in the Herriman/Riverton area. Send them my way! Thanks so much!

Last night Trevor and I made a trip to Costco. Man, we can never walk out of there without spending a few hundred dollars. Anyways, look what Ainsley found!





We were such the sight to see, walking around Costco. Of course our cart was filled to the brim already, so the bear sat in the cart, like a baby would...only it took up the entire cart, even while sitting. Ainsley was completely giddy about the whole thing. We got so many looks as we lug around this huge bear, sitting upright in our cart, with our baby clinging to its arms, belly, legs, nose, ears. She was all smiles and giggles the whole time. Trevor and I started feeling very conspicuous because we couldn't pass by anyone without them laughing, whispering to themselves, making a comment, or even having some others' kids cry because now they wanted one too. Just so that you know, even though Ainsley would love to think this bear is hers, we really bought the bear for the reading nook we are putting in our basement for my preschool.

Which reminds me, I need to show pictures of before and after, as we finish up our basement. I have been getting more and more furniture for the preschool. I am getting really excited. I just have to wait for the letter from the city saying that the zoning is okay. Then I can start enrolling for this next year. Any day now...I can't wait! If you know of anyone that is out on this west side of the valley, that is looking for a preschool...I would love to have them!

Our Latest and Greatest

Well Trevor and I finally feel settled in our new home! All of the boxes are unpacked and we only have 3 things left to hang on the walls. Here are some pictures of the day we were moving in. I wish I had some final shots of the house all put together, but I haven't taken any yet. We absolutely love our new house, our new neighbors, our new ward...we feel very blessed. I know that we have family that feels like we are on the edge of the world, but Trevor and I are starting to really enjoy a little bit of a longer drive to our parents (it used to be 10 minutes and now its 30), because we get into some of the best conversations when we have a little bit more time. The view out here is beautiful. We can see so much of the mountain range, and we are able to see 3 of the temples in the valley,very clearly. I love the sight that we get to see at night from our upstairs windows...the lights of the city are wonderful.



Here is Ainsley in our backyard, squinting into the sunlight, and putting up with me weeding for as long as she'll let me.

Ainsley is all bundled up to take a walk around our new neighborhood.

I know that I should have posted all of the wonderful things that Ainsley was up to at her 6 month checkpoint, but moving kind of got in the way of that. She is now a little over 7 months. She seems to be getting happier and happier all of the time. She LOVES the fact that she is more mobile. What a wiggle worm! She is always on to the new thing...well as long as we are at home she is. Whenever we are out and about at other places she likes to sit and take everything in for awhile. She is getting faster at her army crawl. She goes from laying down to sitting up all the time, and when she does she looks at us and claps for the praise that she knows she deserves. The latest accomplishment is pulling herself up to standing next to our ottoman. She is not shy about showing us how proud she is of herself...you should see that grin! She is in the 60 to 70th percentile on weight, height and head circumference. She loves bananas and eating anything that she sees me eating. Toys that have lights and noises are her favorites (which is bad news for Dad who has an Ipad, Motorola Xoom, Evo Phone, 2 laptops, xbox controllers, and several remote controls). Ainsley thinks Dad is the funnest person. When he comes home from work she gets a big grin on her face and if he doesn't come over to her quick enough, she starts her whining until she gets a big hug from Daddy. My favorite thing is when she wakes up from her naps, she pulls down her bumper pads and looks through her crib bars, searching for me, until I come for her. I know that I taught her this, after playing peek-a-boo constantly through her crib. I just love to see her PATIENTLY looking for me. Thats a lot about Ainsley...props to you if you made it through that whole explanation!




Here is Ainsley trying to peek out at me through her crib bars. So cute!

I wanted to also say congratulations to a couple of my brothers. Aaron graduated from the Fire and Rescue Academy at UVU. He is working and going to school like a mad man and we are so proud of him! He is going to be fighting wild fires this summer. What an exciting job! I'll post about this again later, but my older brother, Paul, is also graduating with his JD from the law school at the University of Utah. Between them and Trevor graduating, I feel like I belong to a very productive family these days.



Trevor sitting with Ainsley in one of the fire trucks.



Here is the building that the students would practice putting out fires in, or practice falling out of buildings, or practice ventilating roofs, and the list goes on...



Ainsley and I



Aaron and his girlfriend, Katie

Another news of excitement...Jiffer (Jennifer) is prego! I'm so excited for my little sister to have another baby. Right now I can't even think about having a second child. Ainsley has me busy enough, but I know that she is so excited for this next member of her family. We are happy for her!



This is Ainsley and her cousin Lydia trying to play together. I think it will take some more time!



Trevor and I took Ainsley to a park to see if she liked the slides...she did!




Ainsley is laughing at me here. I was giving her a binkie...which she refused to take at about 3 months old. She thinks the binkie is hilarious now. Its almost as if she is laughing at me for giving her a "baby" toy. She puts it to the side of her mouth, and laughs before spitting it out. Silly little sprite!

Tata for now!

Woohoo!

Yeah!!!! After what feels like a long time coming...but really it isn't...Trevor and I will close on our house sometime between the 2nd and 7th of March. We will most likely move in a week or so after that. We went and saw the house again today for our inspection, and we fell in love with the house all over again. We are both so excited to move into our new home. Right now we are looking forward to all of the projects that we have started making for ourselves...building stairs off the kitchen, finishing the basement, just a little bit of paint, setting up the pre-school to be...and the list goes on and on, but gets more mundane after this. I'm sure it will reach a point that we won't be excited about projects, but as of right now I think Trevor and I are just excited because all of the projects will be for OUR HOUSE! I can stay excited about the house, as long as we don't start talking about all of the expense that comes along with the house. I don't know if I have ever met someone as much as a penny pincher as I seem to be. Spending ANY money gets my stomach churning...so I guess I need to buckle up for an extensive stomach ache. Well, the house is in Herriman...about 4 minutes away from where Trevor's office is. The top reasons I love the house are

-front porch

-landscaped yard

-adorable gables

-kitchenette by entertaining area

-nice looking wood trim/flooring/cabinets EVERYWHERE

-super cute room for Ainsley

-play room just for Ainsley (and future kids)

-big enough area for a preschool

-it is MY HOUSE!



Now, there is a large part of me that will miss several things about where we are living now...which is in the basement of Trevor's parents. We have continually commented about how blessed we have been, to be able to live in this basement to start our family and get through school. We would not be buying the house that we have now, if it weren't for the opportunity that we've had to live here. Now, my top reasons for missing our current home...

-late night talks with family

-we are 10 minutes away from almost ALL of both our families...except for our wonderful sister Suzie in Iowa

-saving money

-being able to borrow (mooch) milk, eggs, spices, soda, buttons, internet, satellite, netflix, etc...at the blink of an eye

-closer to the University of Utah for Trevor's commute (going to end soon!!)

-having someone to talk to when Trevor is away at school for the week

-being able to know my niece and nephews that live above us so well

-its close to our sons graves

-Its been our home for the past 3 years

Thank you Mom and Dad Schow for letting us have 1/3 of your house for 3 years. We are excited that you will finally have it back in a few weeks, you deserve the space. Not that your excited for it. :) Not like you have already bought ALL of the furniture to fill it up.

One Handed

Because our little Miss Ainsley loves to be held when she gets bored or tired, I have become proficient at many things with one hand...usually my right hand while Ainsley is in my left. I am sure lots of mothers get used to performing one handed but here is my list off the top of my head...

Changing loads of laundry
Cooking
Putting on make-up
Making the bed
Cleaning the house, in general
Looking up things online
Getting dressed
Packing our home in boxes
Putting on jewelry
Cleaning drool off my face/hair/clothes
Scrubbing drool/spit-up off of the floor
Balancing books/dishes/groceries/miscellaneous items on one side of me for various reasons
Blogging...

Although I realize I am not unique in having these abilities, I nevertheless find that each day I impress myself with the clever abilities that I now realize I can do.

One another note! Trevor got an iPad because of his work...And I have gotten to play on it a lot so far. I thoroughly enjoy the iPad. It is now on my Christmas list, along with my jogging stroller. I have to admit that I have had more time than lately to fool around on the iPad because my little family has been a basket case of head colds and stomach bugs for the last week. I haven't wanted to do much but sit on the couch and waist the time away. Let's hope this next week brings us health and energy.

Little by Little

It's about time I post something for 2011. The year has been great so far. Trevor is back in school, in his last BUSY semester. He does have one semester after this one, but not nearly as busy. He is only taking 2 classes next semester...and then he will graduate with his masters! I can't tell you how ready I am for that day! He will definitely deserve that proud feeling you get when you accomplish what you set out to do. I am so proud of Trevor. I've said that a lot on here, but it is VERY hard and trying to go through school without being able to see your new baby girl, because she hasn't woken up before you go to work, and has gone to bed before you get home from school. Ainsley and I definitely miss Trevor during the week as well. But thats not what I came to blog about...

Ainsley is SO fun to have in our family. She is my personal playmate all day. She gets more and more giggly all the time. She loves being tickled on her feet, under her ribs, and on the inside of her thigh. She knows how to roll over now, but I don't think she sees a purpose in doing it very much yet. She thinks Daddy is hilarious. He doesn't even have to do anything, and she'll be beaming at him for minutes at a time. She really enjoys sucking and gumming anything she can get her hands on. Oh, and the latest...she LOVES solid food. I gave her sweet potatoes for the first time last week and after the first bite she stuck her arms out towards the food and started shaking them with anticipation, with her mouth open wide and puckered for the next bite. The first couple of times I fed her, she would get upset as soon as she finished the food in her mouth, because she didn't like having to wait at all for the next spoon full. She has learned by now that the food will come, and she doesn't need to whine about it. I have learned that she gets fairly bored being inside the same house all day. She has a much better day when we have an excuse to get out of the house and go somewhere. For that reason, I can't wait until it warms up so that we can just go walk outside! At her 4 month check up she weighed 14 lbs. 10 oz., she is 2 feet tall and is as healthy as ever. Some of you might know that she has had blood in her stool, since about 2 weeks after birth. We have been trying to figure out why for awhile now. We finally were able to go see a gastro-intestinal doctor about it. She diagnosed it as neo-natal colitis and the good news is, she will outgrow it, probably by the time she is a year old. If you ever want the details, I'm happy to share, but that could get a little boring on here.

Here are some pictures of our little baby girl:

Here she is eating her sweet potatoes for the first time.



She LOVES to suck on the bird's hair in this picture...I want to figure out how to take the thing off and wash it!



Trevor and I took her to Wheeler Farm and looked at all of the animals...




This is a toy that will always put a smile on Ainsley's face: her monkey



Ainsley is beginning to like being on her tummy for longer periods of time, finally.



Like I said, everything goes in the mouth...



The latest trick she knows...she can play with her feet!