Happy 1st Birthday Ainsley!

What a fun year we have had. Ainsley has been the most gentle, patient, and perfect baby. Her easy going personality and love for music has made her a joy to be around. I rarely see Aubrey and Caleb playing without Ainsley. They are always playing, pretending, and laughing with her.

-Ainsley started sleeping through the night at 6 months (what a surprise since Caleb/Aubrey still do not sleep through the night).

-She started standing/walking while holding onto things at 8 months.

-Her first word was at 11 months and it was MA MA!

-She loves to mimic my actions and gestures. She wakes up, takes a nap, and goes to bed at the same exact time every day!

-She loves to dance and make musical sounds.

-She loves her bunny blanket, stuffed pony "Melanie", and her book.

-She is such a beautiful and wonderful part of my life. I love waking up to her laughter. She is easy to please and she seems to understand simple directions!!!

-She loves to help me load the dryer, she always has to sit on the dishwasher door while I unload/load it, and always has to "take turns".... example: After she takes a bite of her toast she hands it to me for "my turn", I pretend to take a bite, and then I hand it back to her. This continues until the toast is completely gone. If she shakes a toy and hears something fun she hands it to me for "my turn" and then I hand it back to her. So on and so on!

AINSLEYS 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Grandma and Grandpa Griner came up for the big party. After a yummy dinner we let Ainsley open her presents. Aubrey and Caleb were very excited. They let Ainsley know exactly how this birthday thing was done!

Ainsley loved looking at all of the gifts that surrounded her. Thank goodness for Paul (Grandpa Griner) who was there to take pictures and take all of the toys out of the boxes!

Marlene was kind enough to make a cake and Caleb was kind enough to poke at it and lick it upon arrival.
Ainsley wasn't sure what to do. She tore the cake apart only getting a little bit of it in her mouth! She is not really a cake fan (she must have learned that from Andy).

Her party was a lot of fun. We love our little Ainlsey and look forward to the upcoming year!

My life with a Caleb.

I think that every mom needs a Caleb. In the past three weeks he has been in the hospital 2 times and has had 1 really close call!

Let me start....When life is hard, it is really hard.

It is either good or really bad. There seems to be no middle ground for The Griners.

Our car was in the shop, our computer crashed, and Andy's pay check was stolen all at the end of week 1.

Week 2 went fairly smooth until early one morning when Caleb got hurt. Right away I knew something was wrong when he lost all use of his arm and his tears did not stop. So after talking to Caleb's doctor Children's Mercy South was our destination. The doctor said it was Nurse Maids Elbow and he pushed the bone back into the socket. Ouch!

Last week (week 3). Thursday Caleb was standing on the kitchen table chair. He slipped, fell,and hit his mouth. He bit all the way through his lower lip. ALL THE WAY THROUGH! His lip was so swollen that he couldn't eat or talk. By Saturday his lower lip was all better. He was back to his normal self (crazy, into everything, and refusing to take a nap). He was playing behind the couch on Ainsley bike and somehow slid down the 3 stairs that lead to our basement. I ran to him and picked him up. Blood, Blood, and more Blood. I just couldn't get the blood to stop. Caleb kept yelling "My teeth are gone Mommy!". There was so much blood I couldn't really see. He finally let me touch his mouth and I discovered that his two front teeth were pushed back and up into his gums. His mouth was still bleeding allot so back to Children's Mercy South we went. The doctor said they do not really do stitches in the mouth because it heals so quickly, he told me to go home try to "gently" push his teeth back into place, call my dentist (Paul, Andy's dad), and keep him from doing any harm to his mouth for the next week. When we got home Andy pushed the teeth back into place and we waited 3 days(we needed to see if his teeth would tighten or if his mouth would reject them). Trying to keep Caleb from hitting his mouth is IMPOSSIBLE! Since he has been hurt he has hit his mouth on everything! The good news is that it has been almost a week and his teeth have tightened!

The picture above is 5 days after he got hurt. It looks much better. It is still purple but his lips and gums aren't swollen anymore!!

MY MORNING WITH CALEB AND AINSLEYThis morning while Aubrey was at school I took Caleb/Ainsley to run errands. We did really well...Target (why do my children still get excited about the big red "balls" in front of Target?) and then Sam's Club. Caleb carried this big thing of Cheese Balls all through Sam's Club. We walked around for over 40 minutes looking at all of the Halloween/Christmas Decorations and the new fun toys coming out for Christmas. Caleb never got tired. He held onto the case of Cheese Balls for dear life. The pumpkin....

Caleb has been bugging me for a pumpkin for weeks. I am not sure why he is so interested in them but he is. When we were walking into Sam's Club Caleb asked "Mommy, can we please get a pumpkin in this store. Please Mommy, I would like a big mean pumpkin!"

I said "Okay." I honestly thought Sam's Club wouldn't sell pumpkins. I do not want to deal with such a big mess so I have been hesitant to buy one. When we walked into Sam's Club there they were.....BIG HUGE PUMPKINS. I had never seen pumpkins so big. Caleb was so happy. He let me know exactly which one he wanted. I tried everything I could to change his mind but it just wasn't happening. So I left Sams Club with Milk, trash bags, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, granola bars, a BIG PUMPKIN, and a BIG THING OF CHEESE BALLS!