Best Friend

So I have to admit I'm kind of jealous! I spend a lot of time with Ansley, so much in fact that I often find myself thinking that she is my best friend. Then I catch her in the act of cheating on me! Of all the nerve!!! When did she find this other friend. It's quite obvious that she loves her new friend... Kisses, holding hands, how do I win my best friend back? Oh wait she's hungry:)

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The many faces of Ansley. I'll never tire of waking up to such a beautiful girl. One who's eyes light up the minute she see's me. Who's laughter brigthens my day. And who's many faces make me laugh and smile till I'm blue. Next to her crooked scrunch, this new O has to be might favorite! I don't know where she picked it up from, but she gets so excited, she just opens her mouth wide with delight:) She's gotten so used to the reaction she gets from everyone when she does it that now she does it just for fun!

Yummy Pacifier

Now Ansley has not been one who craves her pacifier. She uses it during the day just when she is tired, and at night when she first goes to sleep. Sometimes she spits it out when I think she'd want it, other times she's totally fine and doesn't cry for it when it falls out. When she was younger she would even gag on it like it was the most terrible thing in the world, even so far as to pretend to be choking on it! Now apparently she has found a new pacifier. I don't know if this is becoming a habit of hers, finding sticks of fruits and vegtables to suck on, but if it makes her happy I think I might invest in some:) We were at my mom's house swimming. She'd just woken up from a very short, very needed nap, and was still a little whiny. So my sister Sarah decided to give her a piece of cantalope to suck on. It was a little slippery, so we tried wrapping it in a towel cuz she kept dropping it and getting very upset (see the tear). But finally she solved her own problem by treating it like a pacifier and just sucking on it hands free! What a smart girl we have.

As far as Ansley growing up... She's getting better at sitting up on her own every day! She seems to enjoy playing while sitting next to me, whether it's with toys, or bending over to eat her toes. She has started to pick up sucking her thumb again, though today she's found her lower lip to be quite intriguing. I told you she had mastered rolling over to her tummy, she's getting there on rolling back to her back. She sure gabs a lot, definitely a Wither's girl! And even though no one else believes us, she is finally growing some hair! It's short and thin, but I can't wait to style it:) She loves outside and going for our nightly family walks. This weekend we've decided to try out Yellowstone, can't wait to see how happy she is, I'll let you know how it goes.

DADDY! :)

So I'm sitting on the couch reading a book and I glance up to see Ansley not only playing happily on her playmat, but showing the world how well Daddy can put on a diaper. I couldn't help but laugh. It's partly my fault because I'm too cheap to waste diapers and buy the next size up, which she should be in, but I have like 100 left! Apparently this smaller size makes it hard for Daddy to wrap the diaper around both legs:) And of course Ansley didn't mind since she prefers to be naked; she probably helped the velcro come undone!

2 WEEKS

So the claims to keep up on this blog and post a new entry each Sunday has already failed! :/ But the past two weeks have been uterly crazy~ It's amazing how much can happen in 2 WEEKS!

Ansley has mastered rolling from her back to her tummy, sometimes she'll attempt rolling back to her back, otherwise she just gets frustrated and grunts as she scoots herself around! Yup that's right she's already scooting:) Today she was so far off her playmat she almost ran into the coffee table. I'm kind of sad though at the same time cuz she seems to be growing up so fast. Brady was even making fun of me for snuggling with one of her stuffed animals one night. But that's other news... she has started sleeping 6-7 hours at night. Oh what are we going to do? I miss sleeping with her, but we both are getting much better sleep. She's so good that most nights she doesn't even cry herself to sleep, she just kind of cuddles into her crib and goes down for the night. When she wakes up to eat she goes right back to sleep. We don't want to get our hopes up since it was only 2 weeks ago that she started having fits at night again and I thought a trip to California was going to be miserable for everyone involved. But the fussing didn't last long, I think it's because I've kind of figured what works for her with a bedtime routine, and now we are getting used to the hours of sleep to the point that we are sleeping not wondering if something is wrong.

2 Weekends ago Ansley & I took a trip down to California for a family funeral. It was her first flight and she did awesome, never fussed on the plane both ways, and she received numerous comment from fellow travelers about how good a baby she is:) I was also worried about her sleeping in a hotel room with me since she'd just started getting used to her crib. But that too went over smoothly, she slept well and came home happy and ready for her crib again. Actually since we came back she's been almost like a whole new baby, unbelievably happy, laughing all the time, and playing on her own for longer periods of time. Maybe it was the oxygen on the plane:)

So she's always had all these cute little sounds and things she does just like all babies, but she has recently taken up growling... Honestly at first I was scared that people would think my baby was possessed, but it was funny, and has gotten even funnier. Just tonight her and Brady were growling back and forth at each other.

About a month ago she took up sucking her thumb, which everyone thought was just so adorable, but now in the past two weeks she's already decided she doesn't need it. Go figure! It amazes me how she goes thru such quick fazes of little things. Growling, sucking her thumb, blowing bubbles, squealing, etc. I must say though that she is such a little girl... her little squeals melt my heart:) She is growing up so fast. Almost sitting on her own, talking more and more, getting bigger every day (I can't believe she is bigger than her purple stuffed bear already!), and just this past Sunday she stood on her own holding onto the back of the bench and church!

We tried rice cereal again last week... she's not a big fan. Spits it up too! So I think we are going to wait another month and try solids again. Though she has grown a fascination for cups and water bottles. She actually drinks water pretty good out of a cup.

The key to Ansley's happiness is most definitely sleep. When she has her good nights, and good 2 hour naps she is the happiest baby in the world, unless of course she claims that she is starving! Last weekend proved this theory with a long holiday weekend and absolutely no sleep. I promise it is not our fault, if she wasn't so stubborn, and felt that it was ok to miss out on the world going around her for an hour or two to take in a few zzz's, she would be ok. Man she fights sleep like crazy. She just feels like she is going to miss out on something. Though I do have to give applause to my mom and sister Amanda, they actually got her to sleep in their arms. She used to only sleep in my arms, but now she refuses to sleep with me, just keeping her big baby blue eyes wide open to observe everything I'm doing. Here's a pic for proof that she slept with grandma:)

Man I love being a mom. It's the absolute greatest thing in the world:)

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Cookies... Yummy!

I just finished making the most delicious triple chocolate cranberry cookies, you totally have to try the recipe. Click ME for recipe link. I changed a couple of things… I only used 1 egg and I used 2/3 cup lg milk chocolate chips, 2/3 cup semi sweet morsels, & 2/3 cup craisens. Then I made lg cookies instead of small – makes about 18 cookies if you do about ¼ cup size scoops, cook at 350 for 15 min. yummmmmm.