Video baby

Sometimes a picture really isn't worth a thousand words, but a short video clip is : )

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Ainsley loves loves loves to dance! (Incidentally, I think this comes from months and months of watching me dance around the kitchen to entertain her before she was big enough to do anything about it! I think I recognize some of those moves ...) Any time she hears music she stops what she is doing and comes to find the source of it so she can dance! Recently my Mom sent me a video clip to watch and it had an upbeat version of 'Amazing Grace' as a soundtrack. Well .. let's just say the video speaks for itself! You'll notice that she really got going once she realized the camera was on : )



One of her other favorite things to do is watch Baby Einstein. She loves when I ask 'Ainsley, do you want to watch a movie?' She will run over to the tv and wait for me to put the DVD in. At the beginning of each video they introduce it and then say 'enjoy the show'. I realized awhile back that every time we watched one Ainsley was saying the same thing at the beginning, but I couldn't figure out what it was she was saying! It got clearer and clearer and here is the result! Ainsley anticipates this each time and often will shout it out before she even hears it spoken from the DVD! It is cute and always makes me laugh!



What a little ham : )

Team PM & Ainsley

Adventures with Ainsley

Here are some photos in a cute pink dress that my Mom bought her. She was all ready to head to church ... until she tried to drink water from a cup that Daddy left beside the bed. It ended up all over her and she had to be changed :)




The other day Ainsley was playing alone in her room ... things got a little too quiet and I decided to see what was going on. It seems that she had felt it would be a good idea to completely empty her two bottom drawers ; ) She was instructed to help me clean it up ... she did try, but then wanted to put everything in the drawers ... toys, blanket, stuffed animals ; )





She still loves to watch her Baby Einstein videos; she will now repeat after them when she hears animal names, shapes, colors etc.




Team PM & Ainsley

After dinner conversation

Here is a cute video of Ainsley talking with her Dad the other night after dinner. I had to stand behind the highchair because she wouldn't have 'performed' as well if she'd known the camera was on : ) Our favorite part was her hand gestures!



Team PM & Ainsley

Another hike to the fire tower

On Saturday morning Peter & I took the 'kids' .. as in Ainsley and Fletch, to Meadow Lake Provincial Park to go for a hike. We went to this same place last fall and have been meaning to go back for a long while now. Finally, we had the opportunity! The weather was fantastic, about 1 or 2 degrees above zero (which was way above seasonal) and it was nice and sunny out. The hike up to the tower is about 4 kilometres, then we stopped for some hot chocolate and a rest and hiked back down. It was intense and we were all tired afterward!

Here we are getting started, we thought we'd let Ainsley walk a bit first ...



That didn't last long ... she was pretty slow, especially in her boots and snowsuit ; )



We finally reached the top and stopped for a much needed rest ...






It seems like that weekend was the last of the nice warm November weather ... since December has arrived, so have the cooler temperatures; but so far not much snow!

Team PM & Ainsley

Our big girl!

Here are some shots I've taken of Ainsley in the last few days. Some are of her first ponytail : ) The others were just some cute ones of her I took while we were playing outside earlier this week - it was beautiful outside, about 12 degrees (which is pretty great for Cold Lake in November!)

Playing ball with Fletch, her 'brother' : )


'Mom, look at all the rocks I found!'


Being coy


After washing off some rocks with her mouth ; )


Ready to go inside for supper!


Ainsley let me do her hair the other night. I've been wanting to try a ponytail for awhile since the back is long enough for it now. We thought it looked so cute and the first thing Peter said was 'wow, it makes her look so old!'





She is our sweetheart and we just love watching her grow and learn! Her vocabulary is getting pretty impressive and she likes to try and repeat everything we say : )

Team PM & Ainsley

Olympic Torch Relay in Cold Lake!

We were very fortunate to have the Olympic Flame stop by Cold Lake a couple weeks ago. They ran it from the base down to one of the elementary schools where a huge crowd gathered to welcome it. It was a very cool experience ... Peter unfortunately was in Greenwood at the time and so he missed it! Ainsley & I went out with Jamie & Olivia to check it out. Here are a few shots, some are blurry because it was nighttime and I didn't have my flash on. There was live music, an F18 fly over and fireworks! It really was a great night, but the temperature sure dropped fast and I'm not sure we were ready for it!




Me & a torchbearer ... and the torch!



Team PM & Ainsley

Halloween : Take two

This year was Ainsleys' second Halloween ... she still didn't go trick or treating, but she did attend a Halloween party with her little friends. A friend of mine (and mom of Griffin), planned a huge, amazing party for the little ones at a hall just outside of Cold Lake. There were toys, balloons, food, music and even a cute little photo op spot all set up and decorated for Halloween. Here are a few photos of Ainsley enjoying the fun.


As you can see, Ainsley wasn't the only ladybug this year - little Tess was also a ladybug. Sawyer (sitting on her mom Jaimie's lap) was a skunk!


I didn't manage to get a good shot of Ainsley here ... she kept looking down to get off the chair!


Here are some of the other little cuties in their costumes (I didn't get a picture of everybody.)

Hailey and her mom Dian - a bumblebee and a ladybug.


Landon - the little devil who is just learning to walk : )


Linden and his mom Rachelle: two chickens!


Brody the golfer - missing his clubs (he had to put them down in order to properly explore!)


Evan and his mom Stasha - the princess and the dragon (he's the cutest dragon I've ever seen!)


And, last but not least - Olivia the little butterfly/fairy.




In case you'd forgotten - or never saw photos from last Halloween, here they are: Ainsley, the cutest little cow (with a mascara tipped nose!)




Piece of trivia: the black shirt that Ainsley wore under her cow costume last year - she wore again this year under her ladybug costume! Believe me, she HAS grown, but apparently her torso isn't that much longer!

My, how she's grown in one short year ... no longer a baby, but now a real toddler! Must be time to have another baby ; )

Team PM & Ainsley

Ainsleys' new skill

Our daughter does not like her food plain. She refuses to eat plain chicken breast anymore, it has to have some sort of spice or sauce on it ... same goes for pretty much all types of meat. SO - her Dad & I had a great idea to teach her how to dip her food ... we had chicken souvlaki and Greek salad on the weekend, and we showed Ainsley how to dip her souvlaki in salad dressing. She caught on pretty fast, and now wants to dip everything. I must also say that she has been 'pretend dipping' for awhile now ... where she pretends to dip her Cheerio (or whatever) in the invisible sauce that sits in the palm of a hand (like mine!) ... or sometimes in her yogourt! Very cute : )



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A very busy Friday night

Last night we had a few things on the go. First, we headed to the Officers Mess for the annual family Halloween party. There were games, crafts, door prizes, pizza etc. and, of course, all the kids (and some of the parents) were dressed up in costumes. Ainsley was a ladybug : )



Here she is enjoying some of the activities that were planned including coloring a picture, and watching 'Monsters Inc.'. She also 'participated' in musical chairs by watching the big kids play and dancing each time the music came on.





After we ate a yummy pizza supper, Ainsley had a quick change and we were off to Bonnyville for a Pontiacs game (Junior A hockey). Our friend Rob is a referee and so we wanted to go to one of the games to see him. Ainsley has never been to a hockey game before, and she was quite taken with the music, lights and action on the rink when we got there. She even had her own seat!



After she settled in with a snack (which all moms know is a necessity ..), she was pretty content to sit and watch most of the first period.



During intermission(s) she went for a walk with Peter; also, her friend Joel (Rob's son) and Joel's mom Kinsley came and sat with us, so the two kids got to entertain each other a bit. Ainsley was also very interested in watching the 'big' kids behind us being silly.


It took me awhile to get a shot of her looking at the camera ... isn't she a doll? : )


And finally we headed home and Ainsley hit the hay around 10:00 - which is very late for her. As you can see, she didn't quite make it home to go to sleep ; )



Team PM & Ainsley