What's in a name?

I have had a request, from a reader of Ainslee's blog, for a post on how we came to choose Ainslee's name. This reader is actually named Ainslee and has a grandmother named Grace, how neat is that?!

Jason and I had made a list of boy and girl names we liked when we first found out we were expecting. Once we found out we were having a girl we quickly had our list cut in half. We both knew we wanted a unique name, but something that was still pretty and feminine. The name Ainsley was one that we BOTH agreed on and it made its way to the top of the list. At the time I was working for a financial planner and we had a new client come in with a daughter named Ainslee. I immediately new that would be our daughter's name. Jason's middle name is Lee and I loved the idea of having his name being apart of hers. Grace is my cousin's middle name and she was the flower girl in our wedding. It is also Jason's great-great aunt's name. It was quickly decided that Ainslee Grace Gilbreath would be her name. It was later that we discovered her initials would be AGG, but since we are both Aggies we thought it would be okay :)

The Mess Maker

I think the pictures speak mostly for themselves, but Ainslee is REALLY into making messes lately. Any cabinet or drawer she can get open has become fair game, and she actively seeks them out.

Grammy got new shoes this weekend and Ainslee was quick to inspect (and then SHRED all the tissue paper)

This is actually very minor damage to her room

In about 2 seconds she had pulled this out of the bathroom cabinet

The disaster zone, aka, the living room

Have I mentioned that I don't really like clutter. I hope this phase ends soon, or at least she learns how to clean more thoroughly.

On the go

We had our first trip in the beast, I mean double stroller today! We went for a long walk and played for awhile at the park. It was SO nice to get out of the house on such a pretty day. And an added bonus, both babies went to sleep when we got home :)

Two new tricks

One is cute the other not so much. When you ask Ainslee how old she is, she will hold up one finger. She also just learned how to open and empty her drawers and diaper cabinet. Life just got even busier. Here she is showing off both tricks.

Weekend Recap

Last Friday night we met Auntie Lo & Uncle Trevor in New Braunfels to pick up the new stroller (can't wait to use it!) and have dinner at Mamacita's, yum! Apparently it had been too long since we last saw them, because Ainslee got a little freaked out when Uncle Trevor walked up to the table. Maybe it was the beard? Auntie Lo enjoyed getting to see Ainslee walk-yes, it had been THAT long! We enjoyed our quick little visit with them and can't wait to see them again.

Saturday was Valentine's Day/my birthday. Daddy got Ainslee a giant horse for Valentine's Day and she and Charley are enjoying climbing all over it. That afternoon, we went to a birthday party for one of Ainslee's little friends, Braden who turned 5! It was at a park so Ainslee had a great time running around chasing after big kids. Daddy made a surprise stop on the way home and picked up Mommy's ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins, jamocha and chocolate! I told him that was all I wanted for my birthday :) When we got home Ainslee refused to take a nap since she had slept in the car, so Jason took her to HEB to pick up dinner making supplies...while I took a nap. Jason made dinner -grilled steaks, corn on the cob, asparagus, and beer bread. We put the babe to bed and watched The Secret Life of Bees (another request) and ate cake. It was a wonderful, relaxing birthday!

Sunday morning Jason had a mountain bike trip with his Jr. High group and got home too late for church. We ate lunch and decided to head to the rodeo... To make a long story short- we don't have debit cards (we just realized)=no cash=no parking=no rodeo. So, we decided to go to the zoo, who accepts major credit cards and checks! We spent all afternoon showing Ainslee all the animals. She signed kitty, dog, or fish for everything. I guess we need to learn more animal signs. But hey, a lion is like a big kitty right?

Ainslee got a pony for Valentine's Day!

Charley likes to cuddle with it too, and they match :)

My cute and delicious cake!

The fam

Our beautiful little butterfly

The zebra is not eating my hair

She loved to pull the goats horns, they did not enjoy it

They didn't mind the kisses though. She kissed all of them on the back.

Wrestling alligators already!

And the infamous fish face, haha!

Oh the places we will go...

My name is Cara and I am a strolleraholic. I just purchased our 4th stroller. But this one will be grand! I have been in DIRE need of a double stroller now that we have baby Cameron with us during the week. I have been looking on Craig's List since December and haven't found anything that didn't look completely repulsive to put two sweet babies in or wasn't $200! The other day I decided to try the Austin list and found the exact stroller I almost bought new online (for way more than I'm getting it for). Aunt Lauren was leaving to go skiing in CO so her sweet friend, Johnna, met up with a stranger, in a parking lot to pick it up for me. How WONDERFUL is she?!

I am so excited! I once attempted the baby bjorn and single stroller combo on a trip to the park, and I thought I was going to DIE by the time I got home. Not to mention it was rather difficult to get Ainslee out of her stroller and into the swing, and back out, while I had Cameron attached to me. Who knows what kind of adventures we might have in our new double stroller!

You can have both seats facing out, facing you, or facing each other. They also both fully recline for naptime!

It also does this:

14 Months... and a day

Well, I realized around 7:30 last night, that Ainslee was now 14 months old! This is exciting to me only because 14 just happens to be my favorite number! Strange, I know. But I thought I would give an update on her latest and greatest tricks, although I'm sure she will add another one by the end of the day. She truly learns something new everyday and it has been so exciting to watch.

We are slowly adding more signs to her repertoire, only because she looks at us and waits for us to show her the sign for something. This is quite unfortunate if we have no clue what the sign is. She now signs hi/bye, more, please, finished, baby, kitty, horse, dog, and has her own *very* distinct sign for fish (I'm not sure what the real sign is). As you can see, she has a love for animals. She also blows kisses, such a sweet new trick.

Her speaking vocab now includes mama, dada, more, hi, bye, banana, duck and fish. She will also say moo if you ask her what the cow says (or if you just say cow)-it's hilarious.

We know she is understanding almost everything we say these days, which is a little scary. She can follow simple directions. She can also point to her head, ears, and bellybutton when asked. We are working on learning body parts these days.

She is starting to eat more foods (finally!) and has discovered a love for carbs :) She loves waffles, bread, crackers, pancakes, and bagels. Her favorites though are still any kind of fruit and avocados.

I'm sure I am leaving out a few, but as you can see she is keeping us well entertained these days.

Watching Sesame Street with Cameron

Beautiful, happy little girls!