14 months and gearing up for craziness!

I told myself that I wouldn't get behind with blogs/scrapbooking with the second child. I told myself that I would take just as many videos and pictures of Ainsley as I did with Brayden. Yep, Mom fail. :) I tell myself that I will do better but the next few months isn't going to help. In the next month, my car and all of our household goods will be off to Kansas. Jeff will be passing on his job to his replacement and we will be saying goodbye to this chapter of our life in Germany. As much as I am ready to be back with everything familiar to me, there is so much that I will miss about this part of our lives where I learn something new every day. Whether it is a new German word, a new food to try, a new place to visit, or a new store to shop. I feel like every day is an adventure here and I know that we are going to view things a lot differently when we get back to the States. I'm sure that we aren't going to sit on the couch on weekends. This experience has forced us to embrace the things around us and see as much as possible. There are so many more trips that we would have loved to take, but we definitely feel like we have taken full advantage of this opportunity to live overseas. I know that we will make the most of living in Kansas and see everything there is to see around the area. I'm looking forward to living somewhere that is brand new to us! So the real reason I started this blog post, Ainsley is 14 months! She just started walking last week...finally! She's still pretty unsteady on her feet but at least she's making an effort now. She says "Dada", "Mama", "Hi", "nana"-banana, "ni-ni"-night night, "eeeeee" for "cheese" and "please" and says her version of "all done". She also signs "please", "thank you", "more" and "all done". She loves to eat and probably would live off to bananas if she had her choice. She eats just about anything that we put in front of her though. Ainsley is such a happy girl. She gives kisses on command and she gives the best hugs (she'll even pat your back). She loves to climb the stairs and crawl around everywhere. She is very curious and loves to get into things. Ainsley continues to brighten every day for us!

1 year old!

It's true that time goes by a little faster after you have a child. It goes by even faster after the second one! I'm not sure where the past year has gone, but it has been a fun-filled year with a happy little girl! Ainsley is incredibly easy-going, happy and loving and it barely felt like we'd had a newborn. She loves to give kisses and hugs. Her favorite words are "dada", "mama" and "hi". She makes monkey sounds and pants when she sees a dog. She gives high-fives, waves "hi" and "bye" and blows kisses. She signs "more", "all done" and "eat". Her favorite foods include bananas, chicken, pasta, peaches, broccoli, peas and potatoes. She continues to sleep 11-13 hours through the night and takes 2 naps a day. In the past year she has been to Germany, United States, Austria, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Ireland, and Scotland. Although she won't remember a thing about her adventures here, I'm thankful that we have the wonderful memories and pictures to share when she gets older. Brayden continues to adore his sister and he loves that she is interacting with him more and more. It has been such an amazing year and we are looking forward to creating wonderful memories in the U.S. starting in November!

10 months!

Very hard to believe, but our baby girl is getting so big! I've been bad about updating since we've been so busy and we took a trip back to the States last month. A couple of weeks ago, Ainsley was 19.2 lbs and 29 1/2 inches long at her 9 month appointment. Her favorite word is "dada", but she does say "mama" when she feels like it. :) Last month in Ohio, she started to finally crawl on all fours, pulled up to stand on furniture and started cruising around everything. She also crawls up the stairs. I'm sure that it won't be long before she starts walking. She waves "hi" and "bye-bye" and claps her hands and says her version of "yay!". She is still such a happy little girl and very easy going. Ainsley eats just about anything we put in front of her, but some of her favorites recently have been pasta, peaches and green beans. She is already becoming a world traveler and has been to Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, France, Austria and the US! She continues to adore her big brother, Brayden and he is always able to make her smile!

7 months!

The past month has been very busy and Ainsley continues to happily go with the flow! We took a trip to Garmisch, Germany a couple of weeks ago for a marriage retreat through Jeff's Company. Poor Ainsley was sick for most of our trip, but it ended up being nothing that some antibiotics and Tylenol couldn't handle. She had her 6 month checkup the day after we got back from our trip (even though she was almost 7 months old). She was 27 1/2 inches long and 17 lbs 10 oz. She continues to be such a happy baby and is now babbling like crazy. She imitates our sounds and facial expressions. She loves to scrunch up her nose and make a sniffing sound. Ainsley loves to watch her brother and he sure does love her too. Brayden goes into her room first thing in the morning to talk to her and she smiles from ear to ear. He says "Good morning baby girl!! Mommy, Ainsley is awake!". She is rolling all over the place and I wouldn't be surprised if she's crawling by next month. She loves to eat! She eats solid foods 2-3 times a day now and loves green beans, peas and carrots (just like her brother). She drinks about 25 ounces of milk a day as well.

Munich!

One place that Jeff's parents wanted to visit while they were here was Munich. We loved it there and would always take a trip back! We arrived at the train station looking like the Beverly Hillbillies with the amount of stuff we had to take (gotta love traveling with 2 kids). After a 4 hour train ride, we arrived in Munich! We rented a car, got settled in the hotel and headed out to explore. We took the subway into Marienplatz and saw the Glockenspiel then had an AMAZING dinner at a place called Haxnbauer. We had slices of pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Best meal in Germany so far!! We walked around the corner and enjoyed a couple of drinks at the Hofbrauhaus! The next day we woke up and drove around to explore! Jeff's dad lived in Munich when we was younger and we were able to drive around the area that was the old Army post where they lived. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the BMW Factory and Museum. Once we took a break at the hotel, we headed out for dinner at a place across from the Hofbrauhaus. I don't remember what exactly it was called, but I remember it had the sign for "Augustiner Brau" on the outside. The meal there was delicious as well. Then, we spent the rest of the night at the Hofbrauhaus. We even got to have snowball fights out in the biergarten. Such a great trip!!

6 Months!

6 months...half a year...not sure how it happened so quickly! Ainsley continues to be such a joy! Happy and content are the best words to describe her. She has adapted so well to our busy life and she just goes along for the ride without a complaint. Brayden adores her. She's close to 20 pounds and long enough to fill out a 12 month sleeper. She has just started to really enjoy eating solid foods and is a big fan of bananas, carrots, apples and sweet potatoes. She has also tried peas and green beans, but didn't love those yet. She's rolling all over the place and pivots well on her belly. She can sit unsupported for about 30 seconds before she topples over. Ainsley has started babbling and she vocalizes back and forth with us. She loves to scream (in a happy way) like she is so impressed with herself that she can make so much noise. :) Just yesterday I was vacumming and I could hear Ainsley sitting in her bumbo seat screaming away and smiling. It was like she had to try to be louder than the vacuum! This month, we had a visit from Jeff's parents. It was so great to have them here and it's pretty clear that Ainsley already has her Papaw wrapped around her little finger. She would just hear his voice and get the biggest smile on her face.

5 months!

I really have absolutely no idea where the past 5 months have gone! I must say that Ainsley has made having a newborn incredibly easy! She is very happy, easygoing, content and best of all....she has slept through the night since 3 weeks old!! We really aren't sure how we've gotten so lucky! She started rolling over on New Years Eve. She's about 16 pounds right now and was 26 inches long at her 4 month appointment. She drinks A LOT during the day and we just started some solids this week. So far we've tried cereal, sweet potatoes and bananas and none have been a huge hit yet. I'm in no hurry to get her eating mainly because she's pretty content with just milk for now. She is giggling, smiling, belly laughing and only cries when she's hungry or overly tired. We couldn't ask for a better baby! Brayden LOVES her and has been so helpful. He loves to give her hugs and kisses and he loves to make her smile! Sometimes when he runs around, she just giggles at him. I can't wait to see how they interact in the next few months when Ainsley becomes more mobile!

New Year, New Adventures

As I look back on 2012, I have to say that it definitely goes down as one of the best years that we've had! Although we hate being away from family, we have had an amazing (and BUSY!) year! We traveled, moved into a new house (again), took a trip back to the States, had family come to visit and added a wonderful little girl to our family! One of the things that I wanted to do in 2012 was to have a larger travel list than we did in 2011 and we definitely succeeded. We have taken full advantage of where we live and we are loving every minute of it! Germany has become a "home" now and it sure is going to feel weird to leave later this year. Here is what we were up to in 2012... January 28th- Koblenz, Germany February 17-20th- London, England March 5- Nurnberg, Germany (Jeff) March 17th-18th- Munich, Germany May 11-13th- Amsterdam, Netherlands May 25-28th- Zadar, Croatia June 1-12- Colorado Springs, CO (Jeff) June 13-26th- Ohio (Brayden and Stephanie) July 18-24th- Colorado Springs, CO (Jeff) October 7th- Darmstadt, Germany- Burg Frankenstein October 27-28th- Remagen, Cologne, Burg Eltz, Germany November 9-10th- Brussels/Brugge, Belgium November 23-24th- Paris, France December 1st- Medieval Christmas Market, Kusel, Germany December 16th- St. Wendel, Germany Christmas Market December 22nd- Saarbrucken, Germany Christmas Market December 28th- Hamm, Luxembourg (American Cemetery), Trier, Kusel, Germany December 29th- Bastogne, Belgium (Jeff) December 30th- Strasbourg, France We feel so fortunate to have the opportunities that we have right now and we look forward to 2013!!