the first 5 years

may 5th was our five year anniversary. amazing.

in 5 years we have:

lived in 8 states (CA,AZ,NV,UT,ID,VA,NY,AR)

moved 13 times

visited 14 countries

owned 3 cars

graduated college together

both got jobs at walmart

bought our first home

had a beautiful baby girl

not too shabby.

thank you duben for an amazing 5 years. it has truly been the best years of my life. i can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

maybe this is my favorite stage....

being a mom continues to be better than i had expected. i wasn't sure how i'd deal with the not-so-fun parts of motherhood, but there really aren't any. ainsley deserves a lot of credit for that. she is an amazing baby.

i can't believe six months have already passed since she arrived. she already has such a personality. she loves to interact with anyone and everyone.

thanks for an amazing six months. i love you more.

a mean trick

i came home from running some errands this afternoon and had a scary surprise waiting for me. all the bedroom doors in the house were open. i was scared to death.
the back bedroom doors were open - we never go in those rooms - and even the closet doors were wide open. i hurried and called duben to see if maybe he had left them open for some strange reason. nope. so i made him stay on the phone while i checked each room and waited for a scary burglar to jump out at me.
nothing.
then i saw him.








oscar.
oscar has taught himself to open doors. that was a mean trick oscar.

forever. forever ever. forever ever.

duben and i went out to dinner today to celebrate his promotion.
way to go duben.

little miss 'a' decided that she wanted to talk...and it wasn't her church voice. we figured it was probably because she's teething. (she has her two bottom teeth in, and we think the top two will soon be arriving.) she was content in her car seat until dinner arrived....of course. so i held her while duben ate for a bit and then we switched so i could eat.
we were finishing up when this older couple across from us finished and the wife came over to look at ainsley. she left to go to the restroom and the husband told us about how they went to dinner a week ago and saw a couple in a similar situation as us with a little fussy baby. except the wife held the baby the whole time and got her food to go. he told us that when he saw duben take ainsley he told his wife, "that couple is gonna last." (people are so nice here)

i always knew i had a great marriage, but it is always nice to know that other people see it too. thanks duben for being a great husband.

sit ainsley sit

who would have thought that seeing a baby sit would be so cute? ainsley hit another milestone today, she's found her balance and can sit on her own now. i must say she just looks so cute sitting there all by herself. thank goodness for cell phones, i was able to catch it and send it to dad at work. we're both so proud.

she loved trying to sit by mom and dad but hadn't had much luck in staying up without a little help. she knows she's able to do it by herself and gets a big smile when she sits....so adorable.

'i love this stage.'

she's growing up so fast!

keep rollin rollin rollin

another exciting milestone for ainsley. she's mastered the art of rolling over, both ways! over christmas she rolled from her belly to back a few times, which was awesome. and now she's finally got it down. its so fun seeing the look in her eyes when she pops up on her belly, she's so proud! its the cutest thing ever.

since its march she's also sporting her irish threads. daddy is so proud. my favorite irish pair!

food glorious food

i was pretty excited when the doctor told me to start giving ainsley food....though my mom warned me just to be patient. you can't be in a hurry when its time to feed babies. they eat on their own time.

so true.

we started with rice cereal, then in a week or so it's on to the good stuff. well, as good as pureed peas can be. she did so well though...it took her a bit to get used to the consistency, but she's learned quickly. so fun!

again, 'i love this stage.'