Ainsley is Three!

I began this day three years ago utterly exhausted! And I've never recovered!

At 36 weeks, I had an ultrasound to check Ainsley's growth and was told she was a little on the small side.  My belly hadn't grown in 2 weeks and this made me nervous.  My dr, however, didn't seem to think anything was wrong.  At my appt at 37 weeks (and 4 days) I still didn't measure any bigger, so I was told she was ready to induce to make sure my placenta wasn't "giving out".  And I will quote her, "Do you want Friday or Tuesday?"  I thought Friday was a little soon...I mean three days away?!?  But if I got to choose her birthday, I had my reasons not to wait. 

So on Thursay August 30th, we checked into Grady Memorial Hosptial at around 10pm and got this process started!

Here I am all hooked up and ready for bed!  It wasn't the most comfortable night of my life...and I didn't really sleep much.  I was ready to hold my baby!

Bright and early, my sweet nurse Brandy came in and turned on the horrible pitocin.  She's lucky I liked her...

Dr Kathy came in and broke my water around 9am and thus began the horredous pain.  (Honestly, it hurt...but I could have handled it for a while as long as I wasn't talking or moving!)  However, with the pit, my contractions were coming really fast and I just couldn't catch my breath.  So I kindly asked for an epidural.  I knew that it would take him a minute or an hour to get there, so I braced myself!

And soon the medicine was in place and I was relaxed! And we waited.

And waited....

And waited...

I wasn't progressing at all.  I had dilated to a 4, but nothing else was happening.  It was a busy day at GMH and my dr had to do an emergency c-section, so she came in and looked (felt) me over and said we were going to be cutting it close.  And she recommended I go ahead with a c-section.  It was a little after 5pm and I was ready to get this show started!  She was already headed to someone in more need than me, so again;

we waited.

But in the mean time, shifts changed so I got a new nurse.  The surgery team came in and got me all set up.  The anethestisologist that was going to be with me in surgery came in and gave me a boost for the wait...and surprisingly enough, when they turned off my pit, Ainsley moved right back up under my ribs to wait.

Here we are just waiting for our c-section

One last belly shot...see how dark my "line" was?!?

A little after 8pm I was wheeled back to the OR.  This was my first experience being in one as a patient, so I took it all in...and tried to stay relaxed.  Soon after everyone barged in and Joe came back to be with me.

At 8:43pm, Ainsley Kate Neal arrived.  She was 6lbs 11oz and 18in long.  (which there is a debate for because 6 days later she was 19 3/4in.  Hmmm)

She was beautiful and perfect!  I cannot describe this moment and you will never understand unless you are a parent yourself.  It's amazing!

Almost my entire family was there to celebrate her arrival.  Many had been there for hours!  So Joe took her out while I went to recovery.  By the time I got to my room, most everyone had left...except ALL her grandparents, of course. 

When I got home, I knew my life would never be the same.  She was more important than anything else.

My daughter and I just bonded.

During that first year, she did so much!  And grew so much!  First words, first steps, first foods, all of the fun firsts.  It went by WAY TO FAST! 

But having her 1st Birthday party was the best first of all!  We got to celebrate with all of the people who were there to celebrate the arrival.  They all came back to help celebrate her first year of life!

She was just really beginning to get into her babies.

By the time her second birthday rolled around...she was into so many things.  I asked her what kind of birthday party she would like, and she said..."YO GABBA GABBA"

She loved watching this show.  We watched it many times a day.  So I did my best and she loved all the Gabba stuff!

The love for her babies just got stronger!

And now that the 3rd party has rolled around...I opted for a more normal theme.  This may be the last year she will let me have an opinion, so I took advantage.

ICE CREAM!!  She love ice cream and it was so easy to decorate.  She has gotten so many more friends in the past year, I don't think they were going to fit in my house.  So her party was at a local park.  We all had a great time!

While she STILL loves her babies...she enjoys playing dress up with KK.

Three years have gone by much to quickly.  I'm so grateful for having a camera and getting to capture these fun moments. 

 I love you, my darling daughter.  You are everything I've ever dreamed of. 

Happy 3rd Birthday.

Love, Mommy

*On a side note, I want to express another emotion I will always feel on this day.  While today is the best day of my life, my sweet friend experienced the worst day of her life.  I share this day with her by never forgetting.  She lived a nightmare that no mother ever wants to.  She is strong and amazing...and I am a better person because of her.  And her sweet angel made me a better mother.  I will cherish everyday with my Princess.  And every August 31st, I will celebrate that Ainsley is with me...and say a prayer for my friend and her angel.  

Ainsley's 1st Haircut!

Since my child has some CRAZY hair...I decided to give it a trim.  It wasn't much, but hopefully now it will grow evenly.  She did so great!  I thought she would freak out, but she wanted to sit all by herself.  Rachelle did a wonderful job with her, too.

It only took her a second to finish and Ainsley wasn't ready to stop!  So Rachelle had to "fix" her hair a little bit.

Love To Dance

Today was Ainsley and KK's very first dance class!  This was one of those moments I will never forget and am so very thankful I got to do.

Emily Hector is their teacher and they LOVED her.  KK walked right in and started telling Miss Emily all about her day at school.  And then Ainsley jumped right in to show Miss Emily her ballet shoes.

Here they are waiting for class to start.  And once we started taking pictures...they started posing!

When class started my girls were so big!  They didn't cry, just simply asked that I would not leave.  (Thank you Miss Emily for allowing me to sit in!)  They are new at instructions from teachers, but they both did very well.  They love to dance anyway...so this was right up their alley!

First, we did ballet...

Then, we did some tap!

Like the little ones, they are...they got loose a couple times.  But they did a TERRIFIC job!

And when all was said and done, both girls said they LOVED dance and want to do it again.

SUCCESS for Miss Emily!

*and on a side note-we ate dinner at Eduardo's and saw Miss Emily...Ainsley could hardly contain herself.  She told Nana, Buddy, Tracy, Maloree and Joe all about her teacher.

Just pedaling!

Nana got Ainsley a tricycle last year so we could start riding around our neighborhood.  However, Ainsley hasn't been to keen on the idea pedaling.  She just pushes with her feet.

A couple weeks ago, we pulled it out and she just started pedaling!  And rode all the way to Mammy's house.  Since then, some days she wants to pedal and others she doesn't.

But we're getting there...baby steps!

And yes, she picked out her own Dora helmet and knee pads.  She won't pedal..but she never forgets that helmet and those knee pads!

(taken in April-she put them on herself!)

Spash Pad

We met our friends (cousins) KK, Crew and Garrett at the Splash Pad!  (Sandy and Candy, too!)

We went at 9am so that no one else would be there.  Due to Ainsley not associating with stranger kids and Crew screaming everytime water sprays near him!

But it was so much fun! 

HE GOT IN!!  YAY, CREW!

Da-Da Da-Da Da-DORA!

If you watch Nick Jr like I do... then you know what I'm talking about.  If you don't, I'll fill you in!  It's Dora's Birthday this month!  And there are some commercials telling everyone to say Happy Birthday to Dora.  And the commercial also consists of celebrities (Nick Jr celebrities) singing the Dora theme song.  Everytime this comes one, the girls sing along.  So I thought I would grab my camera!

Crew didn't want to be left out.  He was just standing there saying...CHEESE!  So I had to take a pic of him, too!

And since my camera was out, and I have models around the house these days, I snapped a few more!

ENJOY!  :)

Let's Take a Vacation!

The Neal Family decided that we would like to take a vacation!  So we ALL hoped in our car and headed south...

We left late (this momma gets carsick) and drove all night Sunday July 4th.  Our first stop was Corpus Christi, TX.  We wanted to frolick in the beach and make sand castles.  (The sunburns were a bonus!)

Because of the hurricane, the beach wasn't so pretty!  There was a lot of trash and seaweed everywhere.  But we made the best of it.  I don't think the kids even noticed!

Brady and Ainsley builting castles in the sand!

Ainsley's very 1st sand castle

Joe, Ainsley and I strolled a ways down the beach to see if there was a more clean spot.  (There wasn't!) So we strolled back.  Sometime in the walk, Joe's and my feet were stinging.  I don't what it was...but it got us!

Joe got a sting on the top of his foot and I got one on my ankle.

Yes, I took a picture of it.  On a side note, a lady heard us talking and just told me that the water was really stinging today and that was probably it.  I was polite and just smiled...but I wish I could have told her that the ocean just doesn't pick ONE spot on your foot to sting, nor does it leave a scab.  But that's beside the point!  :)

The kids were a little nervous about the water at first...but it didn't take long for them to run and jump through it.

Ainsley loved it!  But true to form, after an hour she was wanting to go home.  It was too hot and too sandy! 

So we washed off and changed clothes. 

We grabbed some sandwiches to eat and were packing up to head to San Antonio when we thought we would feed the pretty birds.  The birds were actually not aggresive at all.  The kids threw bread in the air and the birds caught it.  I tried to get a good picture...

And off to San Antionio we went....

My best friend, Smalls, lives in San Antonio.  She had a crazy work schedule, so she wasn't going to get to spend much time with us.  But she met us at the hotel and played with Ainsley while I got ready and just hung out with all of us.

Baxter, Ainsley and Brady waiting "patiently" as we got all checked in

We decided that we wanted to get dinner on the river walk and Smalls suggested we got to Casa Rio.  It was a great choice!

We had a short wait, but took this time to take pictures of ourselves!

It didn't take very long before we were seated.  Of course, with 10 adults and 3 children, we were the biggest table in the place!  It was reasonably priced and we proportioned.  I can definitely see why it's a popular place.  And the views were fabulous, as well.

And after a good night's sleep...we were up and ready for SEAWORLD!

Ainsley, Joe and I were up before everyone else, so we decided to go downstairs for breakfast and let them get up.  On our way back upstairs, Ainsley posed in front of the elevator door which had a picture of Shamu on it! (and all of u that know her well, know this is the closest it's going to get!)

And finally we made it!

Candice, Joe, Leslie, Ainsley, Jay, Ashley, John, Stacy, Baxter, Brady and Papa Jumbo

Our first stop was the dolphins!

This was Ainsley's favorite thing to do at SeaWorld!  You can just sit and watch them. 

We walked around for awhile, and ended up going on the log ride.  The log ride was only 1 of a couple Ainsley could ride.  But I was sure she wouldn't go!  When she said she wanted to...I thought "let's see how long this lasts".  But she did it!!  She waited for an hr in line and rode the ride!  I'm still such a proud momma!!

We watched a show in the afternoon, but I had one cranky girl and had to convince her that she would like it.  Of course, she sat on my lap, but in the end she really liked the show.  It was called Azul and here is a description: "where beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, colorful birds, and human acrobats come together in a celebration of sea and sky"

It was a really good show.  Afterwards, it was really hot so we headed to the water park inside Sea World. (which I think is the coolest idea!)  We definitely needed some cooling down and playing in the water made Ainsley is a TERRIFIC mood!

She even made a friend to play with.

This little wading pool was right in front of the wave pool...so every 20 minutes there would be a rush of people run to the wave pool and then slowly trickle out!  They made fun waves for us to play in!

We had to get out of the pool in time to go and get seats to see the Shamu show.  There is only 1 show a day, so the line is super long!  So we went early and not only got good seats, we got to watch them do some practice tricks.

This is a mama and a baby!  Ainsley loved that she saw a baby whale!

We sat just close enough to see really well, but never got wet.  But we still didn't take our camera out, just in case!

There was lots of videos/dancers/rock music to go along with the show.  Ainsley really liked the colorful videos...and of course, kept asking to see the baby whale.  ;)

It was time to head home after that...we started heading to the car and soon realized that no one else was with us and we didn't have any keys.  So we hung out in the parking lot until they came.  Ainsley was nice and played with her little penquin she got today.

DAY 2!!

On the second day, we decided to go back to let Daddy ride some rides.  I just planned to walk around and do whatever Ainsley wanted to do.  As soon as we walked in, she spoted a "baby dolphin" (stuffed of course) and wanted to take it home.  I asked her to wait until we were leaving so we didn't drop it or lose it.  She agreed, but barely!

Then we headed to see the dolphins, again.  But this time, we got to feed them.  I didn't know if she would cooperate, but she did FANTASTIC!  I did my best at trying to hide my distain for touching fish-and it worked. She didn't hesitate at all to feed them!

 

We watched Brady, Bax, John, Stacy, Jay, Ashley and Candice feed dolphins, too.  And while we were watching, a dolphin jumped up at us!  Mouth open and everything!  It startled us a little!

This is what we saw...

There was even one that did a jump and soaked us!  I guess they liked that we had food for them!

Afterwards, Ainsley and I took off by ourselves.  We went and saw the penquins again...and cooled down.  (It's the coolest place in the park!)  I asked her what she wanted to do and all she said was that she wanted to get a baby dolphin to take home.  So I headed to the gift shop!  There was no need in making her wait if that's all she wanted!

But it was getting a little hot and there a little kids park we hadn't been to yet.  She wasn't tall enough to ride the rides, but there was a splash pad that looked fun.  I had my doubts that she would participate with so many people there, but she did just fine.  She had a couple mishaps with kids and their splashing...but momma was there to put the "smack down"!  (LOL Not really)

While we were there, it did get much busier, so we decided it was time for us to go. Ainsley wanted to go and look at the dolphins...AGAIN! So we headed back that way.  The dolphins were very playful today..and Ainsley wanted to take some pictures. 

She took these, so u can see just how close they were to us!

Daddy called us soon after and we met him back at the little pool.  We played for a little while to cool down and then we met up with everyone else to head home.

We stopped for gas and a bathroom break...and Grandma bought the kids vanilla cones from Dairy Queen.  This was Ainsley's first ice cream cone EVER!  It was an interesting moment...

We drove with the fam to Ft Worth and helped them get checked in to a motel for the night.  We went in and used the restroom and talked for a bit-I think the kids were tired of sitting because they were CRAZY when we got in the room.

Soon after, we headed home.  It was was so nice to be home. 

But Ainsley is already asking to see the dolphins again!  Thank goodness Smalls lives there so we can make another trip!