Baby Dedication

Our church does a baby dedication every year for the babies born the previous year. This past Sunday Ainsley was "dedicated". It is a time of reflection for families to focus on their baby/family and commit to raising them in the Lord. It is also a time for the church to see all of those who have started families or have continued to extend their families in the past year. Since our church is pretty big, it's hard to know how many babies there actually are, and boy are there a lot! I too enjoyed seeing all of the babies right around Ainsley's age that I hadn't seen before. The parents were asked to stand and commit to dedicating not only our children's lives, but to rededicate our lives to Christ and raise them to be Godly people. As the 2 Children's Ministers called the name of each child and their families to come on to the stage, they had a slide show with pictures of each child/family along with the baby's birthday. Ainsley was also given a Bible and a little book of blessings and words of encouragement from members who currently are or have been a part of our congregation over the past several years. It was such a nice service and I was so excited for Ainsley to be a part of it. I now know how meaningful this experience is and cannot wait for those having babies this year to be able to go through it themselves. We love our Church family.

It was very interesting having Ainsley in service with us. Let's just say that our VERY serious quiet baby decided to let her light shine and was the loudest most talkative one! (Not to mention a major wiggle worm as well.) Brantley did take her out and walk around with her at one point, but that didn't last long. And the bottle I brought thinking surely it would make her go to sleep because she hadn't had a nap yet didn't help either. It was pretty funny and we were saying, "Shhh," to her as if she had any clue what that meant. And ever since Sunday she has been talking away like crazy! Today her new thing was the "b" sound. This is her first consonant sound to make and I finally got her repeating me saying "bye-bye". (Over and over and over again). It's so funny to me to hear her making all of these new sounds and talking so much. I could just eat her up and LOVE her to death. She is the most amazing thing in the world and I am so happy to get to be home with her and experience this time of her life. What a special time and I will cherish it forever.

Our church just recently went to 2 services and these were the families at 2nd service with babies born this past year. (I'm in the red sweater. Ainsley was mesmerized by all of the people and kids behind us. She barely looked towards the audience.)

After service, there was a luncheon. Each table was assigned to a family and had a special centerpiece to label it. We got to take home the "A" and gift bag, which had some cute personalized note cards in it. So cute!

Eating puffs and cheerios and looking at me like I'm crazy...

Beautiful girl

Very good, close family friends of ours from growing up. Lynn ("Lolli") and my mom are besties and are together all of the time! Who ever knew we'd all end up here in Nashville together? It's wonderful having them so close by.

~Carrie and Ainsley~

Carrie and Justin are Don's and Lynn's (above) son and daughter-in-law. Justin and I were babies together. As you can see, they are about to have a baby themselves! Carrie is due, ummm, this week! They all go to the same church we do, so they will get to share this experience next year with Owen Kate. We cannot wait to meet this baby girl!

(If you can't tell, Ainsley was getting very cranky at this point and ready to go home and crash!)

I was happy that my family was able to be a part of this day, although we wished all of our family could be there.

Ainsley's 1st Valentine's Party!

A friend of mine invited Ainsley and me to come to their play group's Valentine's party last week. We are in small group with most of the girls/kids that were there, so it was fun getting together with them outside of a church/small group setting and watching their "big kids" enjoy playing together. I only got to run by for about 45 minutes because I went and met my mom so we could run some errands. Ainsley LOVED sitting in the floor and watching the other kids play. She rarely took her eyes of them. And when she did it was only because she was enjoying "eating" the play food (ice cream cone and pizza slice her momma's faves :). We ended up heading out right as they started their cute sticker and mailbox craft. It was so cute watching them sit at the table together and do their crafts, but it didn't last long! The kids were way more interested in the cupcakes and suckers in sight. The problem was they couldn't have them because they hadn't eaten lunch yet....Let's just say I got a good taste of what's ahead in the coming months. I really enjoyed the little time we were there. Thanks Jenny for the invite and Courtney for opening your home to us!

(*If you haven't seen my other new post below from earlier today, don't miss it!)

Ainsley was very interested in what Addy Grace was doing...

(Addy's mom, Jenny, and I were babies together. Our parents went to college together and have always stayed good friends and now we all live in Nashville!)

Mmmm, pizza!

My Sweet Valentines

I am going to start with my amazing husband. He truly is the perfect Valentine and is constantly letting me know how much he loves me. Brantley has continued to become an incredible husband and father. We have grown so much together in our years we've been together. He continues to amaze me with his sweet comments and surprises. But more than anything, the best gift he has given me is (obviously) Ainsley. And the next best gift? Watching them interact with each other. I see his love grow for her every day. The excitement on both of their faces when he walks in the door from work. He is the only one that can get her laughing so hard for a long time! Ainsley loves to be "thrown" in the air or held up high like and airplane by her Daddy. This gets her laughing every time. What an awesome gift God has given me. My family. Brantley/Daddy, we love you! Thank you for ALL you do to make sure we are taken care of. You are the best!

Icing on the cake: beautiful roses delivered to me on Monday.

Sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake: a beautiful bracelet that came in a baby blue box....What a surprise!

On to my second Valentine, this precious 10 month old! Ainsley turned 10 months old on Valentine's Day. I love her more and more each day. It has been such a blessing to get to stay at home with her and watch her doing new things. She is becoming more fun and playful. We are really enjoying this age! Happy Valentine's Day, baby. We love you!

At 10 months, Ainsley is:

-rolling around just a little more (finally)

-okay on her tummy for longer amounts of time (finally)

-VERY interested in Bella and her toys. Will grab Bella's toy and hold it up towards her. They have started playing tug-a-war, which lasts a whole 1/2 a second!

-wearing some 9 month and some 12 month clothing

-size 3 diapers

-takes two at least 2 hour naps a day and sleeps 11 to 12 hours every night (usually from 7:30/8:00 to 7:00/8:00, depending on if I'm working that next day or not)

-being introduced to table foods. Not a big fan yet. She will pretty much only eat bread anything and loves yogurt. Have attempted: cheese, watermelon, grapes, pears, peas, carrots and all have failed. I think it's because it's chunks of food and not liquidy. She will gag like she's going to throw up. I'm assuming this is normal.....

-somewhat interested in a sippy cup. I put one on her blanket on the floor around 8 months. She has not once cared about it and would NOT let me put it in her mouth. Finally yesterday I laid her back like I was giving her a bottle and gave it to her. She actually wanted to drink it after that. I guess she just never knew there was something yummy in it! But today she's not really interested in it anymore. Oh well.

-rolling the ball back to us. She loves to sit on the floor and roll the ball back and forth.

-saying, "Yeeeaaahhhh...." when we do. Whenever we clap for her and say this she will continue to say it back. Such a sweet sound!

-started clapping a couple of weeks ago, but is very inconsistent with it. I guess she has to be in the right mood.

-"patting" on things. We will say, "pat, pat, pat" and she will pat the table, high chair, floor, etc.

-starting to recognize her name. Brantley doesn't believe me, but she really does! Unless she's totally distracted in what she's doing or looking at.

-starting Monday into yesterday, whenever my mom or I went to get her from waking up in her crib, she had rolled over and was sleeping on her stomach. I was just surprised because she usually hates to be on her stomach.

-starting to notice what her mouth can do when she puckers her lips and blows! Just this week she has started spitting all of the time. She's a pro, even with her paci in her mouth. We say we aren't setting a very good example because we can get her started if we do it and then we crack up at her.

-LOVES her paci. She has also started this new funny habit. I keep 2 pacifiers in her crib (besides the one she already will have in her mouth), so that if she wakes up at night she can easily/quickly find one. I always keep the 2 extra ones at both sides just above her head and she knows it. Every single time I go to lay her in her crib (even though she ALWAYS already has a paci in her mouth), she will immediately reach back and grab the one that is laying at her left side and just hold it. I guess her pacifiers comfort her? :) She used to grab on to her little blanket and pull it up close to her face. Now, she doesn't really care about that she just wants to hold on to the extra paci!

Well, I guess that about sums it up. Ainsley has been "talking" in her crib for a little while now, so I guess I better go get her. Enjoy the pics of our beautiful girl!

~10 Months~

"Big People Food!"

Ainsley had true table food for the first time today. (I say "true" because she's had the typical things like crackers and pizza crust.) I didn't think she'd go for it because whenever we have tried to get her to eat little pieces of banana she gags. But she actually ate quite a bit and got to enjoy lunch with Mommy! Ainsley's lunch menu today consisted of wheat bread, turkey, shredded cheese, and grapes. There's no doubt she's my daughter because for a while all she wanted to eat was the bread. It was interesting seeing her make a choice in what she wanted to pick up and eat. She knew she wanted the bread, but when I reached down to get a piece of grape to put in her mouth she would turn her head. She finally decided to give everything else a try. Her favorites were the bread and turkey. It was nice to not have to worry about feeding her the baby food so I could eat along with her. It will be easier in a lot of ways here soon when she can just eat whatever we are eating, but I'm going to have to get in the hang of fixing stuff she can eat and figuring out how to save time doing it! For right now we are just starting to transition her over to table food. I thought today seemed like a good afternoon to try it out!

RSV Update: She's definitely on the way to getting better. Less coughing and wheezing (although it's still there) and her nose is continuing to run nonstop. But no fever in a few days :)

9 Month Check-up

Ainsley went in for her 9 month well-visit today, which also ended up doubling as a sick visit :( As I said in the previous post, we've had a sick baby girl on our hands since Tuesday. I was just glad that I already had this appointment scheduled for today so they could check her out. I had called on Tuesday and they told me a few things to try to make her feel better, but they don't normally have you come in until the child has been running a constant fever for three days. So we have waited it out. The diagnosis: poor baby has RSV. I feel so bad for her, but there's nothing I can do and that's the worst part. Since RSV is a virus there isn't a medicine to give her you just have to let it run its course. The doctor said it will usually last up to 5 days with days 3, 4, and 5 being the worst. Well today is the 4 day and it has definitely been the worst by far. I'm so glad I have these days off now and didn't have to worry about trying to stay home with her. She is very clingy and the most pitiful thing you ever did see. Today has mostly consumed of the 2 "C's": crying and coughing. Along with that she sounds terrible as she's breathing and has a constant runny nose. Let's just hope this is nearing the end because I can't take seeing her like this anymore! This is the first time she has been sick so far. She was also supposed to get 2 shots today, but I opted not to and will take her back next week when she's well. She did get her finger pricked though, so there were extra tears added on top of the tears she had going on already. Besides all of this, the appointment went good though and he said she's doing great! We are about to start a lot of new things with her (table food, sippy cup, etc.), so that will be interesting. I guess that's it for now. Enjoy your weekend and if you haven't seen my other new post below check it out!

Ainsley's stats at 9 months, 3 weeks:

Weight- 19 pounds 1.5 ounces (50% percentile)

Height- 28 1/2 inches (75% percentile)

Head Circumference- 18 3/8 in. (95% percentile)

He said she was doing awesome and he was so happy to see her stats go up like they did. We've got a beautiful growing girl on our hands!

These are from Wednesday. I looked over at her and could not believe how much she has grown! Sometimes there are certain little things that cause you to really notice it.

These are from this morning when we got home from her check-up. She was very intrigued by her red Crayola band-aid on her finger. Of course within seconds it was in her mouth and I had to quickly pull it out. It was the first tim the nurse had to remind me to be careful and remember the band-aid!

Poor baby :(

Update since I wrote the top portion of this post this morning: My arm hurts! Ainsley has had me carry her around ALL DAY. She's okay in the floor for maybe 5 minutes at a time before breaking down. And the three 45 minute naps she's had just hasn't cut it. I'm not used to that. But I've definitely gotten plenty of lovin' and she took a nap with me on the couch (although I didn't sleep). So at least I have all of that going for me :) As a matter of fact she's crying right now. Gotta get going!

January this, January that...

I'm back! And as you can tell from the title of this post, I have A LOT to post about from the entire month that I've been a stranger to the blogging world, and therefore decided to make it easier on myself and roll all my posts into one. So here is a much needed update of what's gone on during the month of January with the Pearce family!

~January 1st, 2011~

First and foremost, Brantley and I celebrated 6 wonderful years of marriage at the beginning of the month. I know I will say this every year, but what better way to begin a new year by celebrating you anniversary!? I love it. Each year has brought new challenges and new happiness to our lives. I wouldn't want to experience any of it without him. I am blessed to be married to such a loving, caring, dedicated man and am so thankful that he longs to take care of his family. Each year seems to get better and better and I can't wait to enjoy the years to come with him. Brantley, I love you!

Brantley made us some special anniversary plans: We left Ainsley overnight with my parents. This was her first night away from us thus far. I thought I would be thinking about her non-stop that night and sad that I was not with her to tuck her in to bed. But surprisingly it wasn't like that and I enjoyed our night as just the two of us, which was a much needed, nice, refreshing, relaxing, I could go on and on, time. So we headed to dinner at this place near downtown called "Sam Buca". It was so good! Then we headed downtown to the Hermitage Hotel for the night. This hotel is over the top! It's the only 5 Star hotel in the state. So to say it was nice is an understatement. The next morning we ate brunch at the restaurant at the hotel and as we were leaving there was a wedding going on and they were taking pictures in the lobby. It was such a good time just the two of us and I'm pretty sure Ainsley enjoyed staying with Lili and Pop because she had such a great night helped them out by sleeping through the night!

My cutie-pa-tootie in an adorable outfit from her Aunt Terri

All dressed up and ready to hit the town (kinda)

Beautiful Hermitage Hotel

Cookies anyone? Oh, and please take a look at the weather for tomorrow while your at it.

~Beaver Creek, Colorado~

Brantley, Ainsley, my parents, Michael, Emily, and I left for a little ski trip in Colorado later that week. We had all been looking forward to it because we hadn't been in a while. I was so excited to take Ainsley to the mountains and get her in the snow! Unfortunately, that only happened one time. It was SO COLD. My mom and I skied half days and swapped out watching Ainsley. We had a blast and enjoyed spending some time away together playing games, eating good food, chilling by the fire, and skiing. Although I have gotten to the point where I enjoy just simply being there and could do without the skiing (well, at least when it's 10 degrees or below outside), I cannot wait to go back!

Here is a little taste of what it looks like when flying with a nine month old...

Our little pilot ready to take off! Haha. She loved, loved, loved sitting in this thing.

She was fully standing up inside. She hasn't done this since then, so I guess this little plane had some sort of affect on her.

Before we even took off, we had this lying across both of our laps:

Only time we got her out in the snow and it was only for maybe 10 minutes. Oh well, at least she had a warm cute snowsuit to wear thanks to Lili and Pop!

(That's my brother right over our shoulders. As you can tell, he's a pretty serious skier.)

Lili took her back inside so I could go ski. She had to find the room key, so Ainsley got to chill in the floor for a second. So cute!

Thanks for my tabogan Uncle Michael and Aunt Emily!

Ready to dig in to this scrumptious steak...

At the Village of Beaver Creek

"What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?"

Group Shot before heading home!

We just had to stop at this pizza place on our way to the airport. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Seriously the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Delectable.

Playing with Daddy at the airport.

~9 Month photoshoot with Mommy~

I already put up Ainsley's 9 month post, but finally also got around to taking some extra pictures a few days ago. This little dress is definitely more for summer (hence the sail boat), but it was a dress of mine that I wore and am pretty sure it won't be fitting her a few months from now. She didn't last long taking pictures before having a meltdown. So here's what I got:

~Road trip~

This past weekend, we headed to Tupelo, MS. Since Brantley became the PMC Manager, he is having to do a lot of traveling. Part of what he is having to do is go out to all of the office locations and meet with his reps. One of the offices is in Tupelo, which is where my grandparents live. So I asked him to wait until I could tag along! This was Ainsley's first trip to Great-Mimi's and Papa's house. They hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving, so to say they were excited would be an understatement. I also hadn't been to their house in a really long time, so it felt good to be there for a couple of days. On Monday, we left Tupelo and headed to Memphis, where Brantley had to meet with a rep located there and Ainsley got to make a short stop at her other great-grandparents. It couldn't have worked out better and we can't wait to see all of them again!

Playtime with Great-Mimi

(Look at that belly and those chunky legs!)

Hmmm...I wonder if I could get this ball without using my hands....

Mimi's bracelet is very intriguing

Lunch at Chili's after church on Sunday. I've been dying to put this dress on her and what a better time than church with Great-Mimi and Papa in small town Sherman, MS? I LOVE blue on my baby girl!

My cousin Tatum and her little boy, Tripp

Ty (Tatum's hubby)

It was so sweet how smitten he was with Ainsley! However, Ainsley wasn't too sure about him...

Some fun before heading home! That little stinker would not let me get a decent picture of her with the 2 of them. Oh well. What else is new?

On a side note, we've had a pitiful sick little girl in this house the past couple of days. Ainsley started running a fever Tuesday morning and has continued off and on with a fever since then. Add to that lots of congestion, coughing, and a constant runny nose. It's tough seeing your little one sick because you feel helpless. But she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so we will hear what the doc has to say. Will give you an update when I put up my next post (hopefully this weekend, but don't hold me to that).....