more ainsley pics

creative title, uh?  here are some pictures of the little bug -

hanging out after bath time ...

shelby and ainsley checking each other out ...



chad snuggling with his little girl ...

lovin' a little naked tummy time !



celebrating thanksgiving at talena and chad's house

hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!!

ainsley's firsts

the third week of life held some firsts.  a first real bath in the whale bathtub, a first shopping trip, the first time mom and ainsley ventured out alone together, a first bottle and the first time to meet chad's grandparents - mema and papa.  i guess when you are less than a month old there will be a lot of firsts, right?

ainsley really enjoyed her first bath....

until she didn't anymore.  which thankfully was when we were just about finished anyways. 

ainsley, mom and nana went on their first outlet mall shopping trip.  who says three weeks is too young (well, mom was thinking this actually but it turned out to be an okay trip.)  mom didn't realize that she had her camera with her the whole time so all she got was a picture of ainsley's loot. 

and ainsley met mema and papa, chad's grandparents, for the first time.  they were in love - and who can blame them? 

ainsley at two weeks

for friends and family near and far...here is an ainsley post for you. 

two weeks (almost three) into this beautiful life!  we returned from the hospital very late, almost midnight, on a thursday evening.  the next week mama (chad's mom) came to stay with us to help out while chad was away at work.  the week after that nana (carmen's mom) helped out.  both grandmas were extremely helpful in assisting with the baby and house duties.  not to mention all of the wonderful friends, family and neighbors that have brought food and other goodies to the house.  we would have starved without all of the cooked meals you provided!

ainsley is a good baby overall.  i believe she mostly has chad's disposition - very laid back about most things.  she does, however, seem to have carmen's short temper in some situations (like when she decides she is hungry - from zero to sixty is how mommy likes to describe it).  she also tends to have some of carmen's looks come across her face (kinda like she is thinking: what the hell is going on here?)

she sleeps well, anywhere from 2 1/2 hour to 4 hour stretches at a time.  last week, however, for a few days we had a growth spurt and she only slept for about an hour at a time and wanted to eat, eat, eat every time she woke up.  i won't go into details here but...ouch.  that's all i'm going to say.  on saturday she lost her cord stump (gross), so tonight she gets her first "real" bath in her whale bathtub. 

this is what ainsley looks like right after she eats.  we call her "punchy" or punch drunk love.  she just gets so sleepy!

some of ainsley's favorite things right now:

• sleeping
• eating
• her flannel blanket made by mama
• going for walks
• music (baby mozart and rockabye baby U2, Led Zep, and Pink Floyd.  she has good taste.)
• her swing (or maybe mom and dad love it when she is in the swing)
• her daddy
• whiskers felt on her face from her big sister, shelby
• being held
• singing (by her daddy)
• did i mention eating???
• car rides

and never to forget our first baby.  this is what poor shelby looks like in the middle of the night when the crying and feeding frenzy ensues.  i love this picture.  i feel like shelby is thinking: can we get some quiet here so i can sleep?

till next time!

changes to irvington bungalow blog

since everything else in our life seems to be changing, i've decided to change the blog a tiny bit.  from now on i'll be posting about our daily and family life on this blog as well as our house.  with some of our family living far from indy, i thought i would post about ainsley and our trials and triumphs as our life changes.  of course, the house will still be a main focus too.  so as we progress with our projects at irvington bungalow (can anyone say: bathroom??) i'll still be posting about that.  hopefully there will be changes to the overall look as well, but this might be a bit ambitious.  stay tuned!

home improvements and baby have arrived!!

so a LOT has happened since my last post.  the most important is that baby arrived on october 19.  coming in a very close second and third is that the floors were refinished and we now have painted walls in ... (wait for it) ... not one but three bedrooms and a hallway.  some people might be like: what's the big deal, paint?  but seriously, i have waited six and a half long years for these precious moments.  and we're enjoying the baby too, thank you.  :)

here are some before and after pics

living room before:

 living room after:

dining room before (sorry for the poor quality):

dining room after (during, actually.  this was after the first coat of polyurethane, hence why the floors are super shiny in this picture).

this is a pic of the nursery in late july:

this is what it looked like about two weeks ago.  it actually looks a little better now but i haven't had time to take a new picture!  {uh, babies take a lot of time, did you know that??}

and the holes from our insulation have been filled & sanded, new drywall put up and the walls painted.  chad worked so hard during this entire year to get the house in shape for baby.  we're so lucky to have him (and the paint).  life is better with color on the walls.  and, please, pay no attention to the lack of decoration.  all of this work was finished the night before i was induced and we didn't even live here for the month before that day.  so all we had time to do was get the basics moved back in for us to come home from the hospital. 

the guest bedroom last year.  notice the walls.  that is what most of them looked like even in september.

guest bedroom after:

bedroom:

our biggest improvement, Ainsley Harper:

we're still waiting on the damn tile for the bathroom.  but we hope to have that project completed by christmas.  we'll see.