A Joyful Noise (Giggles & Pups)

{coming up on week 13}

your new fav activity has become sucking on your fists. i swear you're trying to get a whole one in there. it scares me. 

you're also much more opinionated these days, and will let us know that you do NOT enjoy sitting in the swing at certain times and require us to hold you instead. dangit you may be figuring us out.. 

you do like the bjorn, though. it's about the only way mommy & daddy can get anything accomplished. so we like it, too. 

(Erica and Grace, modeling the Bjorn)

sadly, mommy's venture back to work has become a bit problematic as your meal supply has decreased considerably. i've been doing all i can to get it back to normal, but it requires a 2-hour schedule and has not been a fun process. it has also caused you to return to a 3-hour feeding schedule at night (which last night prompted daddy to declare "we're giving her rice cereal tomorrow i don't care if she's not old enough"). grrrr... 

you're definitely getting more and more vocal. and last night (cue trumpets) you bestowed upon us a most magnificent giggle. it is now my favorite sound... ever. it only happened twice, but holy crap if i don't get that on tape at some point it will be a loss to humanity.  ;)  mimi sally brought it forth, so she may have to come over and work her magic again. you were just watching her make faces and noises at you, and all of a sudden emitted a little scream. so mimi imitated you and you screamed back at her. then came the laugh. it's so fabulous i feel like we could bottle up a bunch of baby giggles and transmit them around the world and it might bring peace to the nations. ok so maybe that's taking it a little far, but you get the picture.

this past weekend we took you and your furry brother and sister to country park and played at the "bark park." you watched the pups for a bit and then promptly fell asleep, but it was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed it. we got to meet nick's new lady - a chocolate lab named emmi. only had a couple minor incidents getting there (mommy forgot her phone and will NEVER do that again) and sitting on the bench when a tiny little dog jumped up to check you out. you should have seen how fast your daddy left nick hanging mid-sentence and sprinted to get to you. hehehe. fast johnny comes in kinda handy! he gets extra daddy points for that maneuver.

Let's Face It

{just about 2 months}

your many faces:

(excited. and doing the jersey shore fist pump)

(still excited. more fist pump action)

(and now she's disgusted. 

"mommy, i am sooo much cooler than that")

("I grow tired of your endless compliments. 

But keep them coming..")

("Alright now it's just annoying. 

Less paparazzi; more parent please.")

The Daily Ansley

{almost 12 weeks}

yikes 4 weeks. shameful. mommy needs to get on the ball and write in your journal more often! sorry babydoll. well a lot's been going down the past month, so you'll have to excuse my tardiness with this entry. you've logged a record number of hours with the grandparents lately, as daddy and i have taken on the task of painting the entire downstairs and upstairs hallway. they love it, though, and even request more time with their precious ansley. thank heaven for grandparents. seriously.

in other news, you've started producing more drool than your mouth can contain. this is alternated with spitup, and you are now soaking through at least 2 bibs a day. speaking of which, mommy made the big leap and started back to work 4 days a week when you were exactly 10 weeks old. it was sooo hard for me to leave you the first few times, but i was brave and only cried a little bit. miss darlene watches you from 8:30 to 5:30 tuesday through friday. she says you're good but "only take 30-minute naps." mwahahahaha we've totally spoiled you letting you sleep on us during the day. oopsie. i can't help it - it's the best feeling in the world. a baby sleeping on your chest is just the sweetest. someday you'll see. 

(gee what a lovely drool bib you have!..either that or you've been doing some serious working out)

the grandparents have gone a little crazy with the outfits, but you are moving into some seriously cute ones, which will require me to change and take a picture of you pretty much at 30-minute intervals throughout the day. oh well! unfortunately, you now have less hair than the day you were born so i especially love putting you in headbands (my little blair waldorf), as your hair is currently falling out faster than it's coming in. and man, oh, man, we cannot get enough of those smiles. how i love your beautiful smiles. especially when you get so excited that you squeeze your fists and wiggle around. it's literally the cutest thing. can you even imagine how in love with you we are? it boggles the mind. 

we had a breakthrough the other day when daddy held up an object and you reached out and grabbed it. you solely practice this trick with your left hand (woot! go lefties!!! secretly hoping you're left-handed), but we'll take what we can get. it's quite entertaining. still not so much loving the books, but you will sit and watch daddy play video games like a champ (yes, i'm sure call of duty: world at war is incredibly mind-enriching for our little one daddy...).

(You're trying to eat your Zaboomafoo. I think your eyes are the same size in this picture!)

you're also making some pretty awesome noises at the moment. little short screams and assorted coos. we have some great conversations with your incoherent babbling little self. 

halloween was our first big holiday, and we did it up right with no less than 3 costume changes. you were asleep most of the night, but woke up in good spirits and loving your hula costume!! pretty sure you preferred it to the lion that i made into a lioness with the use of a pink ribbon, but you were so cute in both. 

we just found out the other day that marisa and marc are having a girl AND that aunt jennifer is pregnant!! mommy came home and told daddy who proudly trumpeted that "he'd started it." jaclyn and chad had baby jake just a few weeks ago, and we are way too excited for you to have more little "cousins" to play with! and i'm calling it right now, somebody's kids are gonna get married to somebody else's from our group. it's like, inevitable. just do the math.   :)