Swimming with our BFF's

A couple of weeks ago we went swimming with Jamie, Luke, Landen and Jaycie! Lukes aunt has an in-ground pool near Oxford and we had an awesome time swimming! All the kids loved the water and with it being 100+ degrees out what else is there to do!?! We had so much swimming with them on a Saturday that we went to the public pool on Sunday! Thanks guys we had a great time, even if some of us were hungover ;)

Taking a break! Ansley 8 months, Jaycie 5 months!

Floating with daddy!

our BFF's! We love you guys!

Yes, he is a handful!! :)

Thanks for taking us swimming, can't wait to go again!

Swimming Lessons

I decided at the last minute to enroll Ansley into swimming lessons. I called the REC a week before the lessons started and they still had openings! I had been meaning to enroll her for weeks, but lets face it my memory is completely shot! lol. I can't remember anything anymore. It drives me crazy.

I enrolled her in aqua babies and she loves it! Its two days a week for 30 minutes. We have to get into the water with her and she has a blast playing with the ping pong ball and sponge they hand out. They of course go straight to her mouth, which I'm sure are covered in germs! yuck. I wouldn't say the instructor really teaches us anything, but she still has a blast playing in the water. On the days I work Zach gets into the water with her and I get in with her when I'm off.

These pics are from her first night at swimming lessons!

if you look hard enough you can see her pearly white! :)

chewing on the sponge

After mommy dunked her!

Only two more classes left! I'll take my camera next with Zach swimming with her. Grandma & Grandpa McCaslin came to watch her swim last night

8 months

Another month has passed and another month that our little monkey is getting so big! I know I say this every month, but really its been 8 months already?  Here is a list of what Ansley is doing:

• Started CRAWLING three weeks ago and into everything
• Pull's up to any and everything
• Has started to feed herself snacks
• Used the last of breast milk last week and is now on formula
• Only nursing at night (since she's still not sleeping all night)
• Not pumping anymore at work or at home
• started waving bye-bye last week :)
• Can say mama
• has learned to stand up in her crib
• Loves her learning table
• wearing size 3 diapers
• still wearing 6-9 month clothes and some 3-6
• Got her first tooth on Friday
• loves snacks
• holds her own bottle
• started dancing :)

love you monkey!

WAC

While I was in vacation Alicia and I took Ansley to the Winfield Aquatic Center (WAC). She loved it! I figured she would since she loves bath time so much! This was our first trip to the pool and if the weather keeps up we might start going everyday!

Being at the pool brought back so many memories! I worked at the pool for 4 years and loved every minute of it! Made some great friends and made some even better memories! I became a lifeguard when I was 16 and thought it would be a great job! Great friends, an awesome tan and you can't beat swimming on a 110 degree day! As I type I'm thinking of all the crazy things that happened at the pool and the countless times that we should have been fired. You were friends with everyone at the pool and everyone hung out together even after the pool closed. I remember all the parties, stealing the alligator after hours and of course sneeking into the pool at midnight to go for a swim! Yes, we really did that! lol :) If Judy only knew! lol. (See we should have been fired several times).  Awww, memories! I loved that pool and all the great friends that I made! I think you could count on Kristi and I always being together and I spent several nights sleeping at her house, or at least thats what I told my mom! lol. (I'm sure all you then WAC employee's are laughing right now and trust me I can think of quite a few of you that read my blog lol) Maybe we should have a reunion for WAC employees and steal the alligator again!! lol.

Anyway, here are pics of Ansley's first swim!!

TAG... You're it!!

So, I was tagged a couple of days ago by Brandy with this fun little game. So here goes!

1. What is your stable meal? (i.e. the meal you cook most often when you can't be bothered to be adventurous)?      I don't get to cook as often as I'd like. Since I work 12 hour shifts and with an hour commute each way I only cook about 2 or 3 days a week. We have chicken a lot, normally make some sort of casserole. With summer here we grill a lot and always gave potatoes on the grill!

   2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
        When I was a senior in high school I wanted to be a nurse and attended Emporia State for a semester. I decided that I didn't want to go to school for four years and decided to go to Paramedic school! Best decision I've ever made! I love my job, but I've always wanted to open my own flower shop. I'm not really sure why I know nothing about flowers, but I love getting them! :) Which reminds me, my husband hasn't sent me flowers in a while :)

   3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)?
        I occasionally read "What to expect the first year," my husband loves that book! lol jk. When I was on maternity leave I read that damn book everyday and it would drive my husband crazy with all the crap it said. I still pick it up every month or so, just to make sure our little monkey is on track with everything that she is suppose to be doing. I've relaxed a lot in the past 8 months and am trying to go with the flow when it comes to raising Ansley! She happy, chunky and healthy so we must be doing something right :)

     4. How do you relax?
         I love this question! I love being pampered! Love massages and pedicure and anything else that involves someone else taking care of me, even if its only for a few hours. :) My husband has gotten me a gift card to healing water's for the past couple of years and I love that place! BEST massages ever!

     5. What colors are your interior walls?
          We have lots of different colors in our house!  When we moved in every inch of the house was mint green! YUCK! We have painted every room, but one.  Our walls are tan, red, blue, a lighter tan, green and of course Ansley's room is pink, brown and white.

     6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
           I love little debbie brownie's! I swear I eat one everyday! I'm also addicted to Pepsi. I have a Pepsi
           a day and trust me you'll know if I haven't had my pop for the day!

     7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?
         Bedtime is normally 9:30! Yes, I am lame. Ansley gets a bath between 8-8:30 and get her ready for bed, then we get ready for the next day. Normally in the shower by 9:15 and laying in bed by 9:30. Normally, we watch TV til 10 or so. Getting up time, I hate to say it, but the days I work 4:30am! Too early!!! On my days off 7:30, when Zach brings Ansley to me before he leaves for the day. I love sleeping in and could sleep til 10 if my little monkey would let me! My one wish is for Ansley to sleep all night every night!

    8.  How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or week)?
         Normally 30 minutes a day. Just depends on how busy I am at work and how Ansley is on my days off.

And the person I tag is........  Danielle

very bad: part II

A week has gone by since our basement was flooded. The carpet is gone and the cement is dry, but we still have fans and humidifers covering the floor in the basement. The restoration will be back today and hopefully the couch and chair are dry so the fans can leave and the rest of the work can start! The total water in the basement: 22inches!! YIKES! The construction people are suppose to call this week about redoing the sheet rock and getting the carpet laid. I'm hoping this week that we can get a lot of things accomplished and some work started. Here are some pics of the disaster. I'm pretty sure none of the pics need any explaining :(

So SAD!! Notice Ansley's toy's floating! :(

4th of July!

On Sunday morning we headed back out to the lake to spend a few hours with our family and friends! It of course rained and about 5pm Ansley and I headed to grandma and grandpa McCaslin for a BBQ and fireworks! Zach decided to stay at the lake, so Ansley and I spent the evening with gma and gpa. I stopped by the fireworks stand on Sunday before heading to the lake! I spent $1.97! lol. I picked up some sparklers and smoke bombs so Ansley could enjoy her first 4th of July with some fireworks!! Here are a few pics from our evening. I had to work the next day, so Ansley spent the night with Greg and Teresa. She didn't seem to interested in the fireworks, so its a good thing that I only spend a couple of dollars!

watching the fireworks with grandpa!

Very BAD :(

I'm not sure that things could get any worse for us this week and its only Tuesday! I mentioned last week that we were planning on camping at the lake all weekend for the 4th of July. We headed for the lake early Friday afternoon and had a great time until it came to sleeping and the rain. Ansley did not sleep at all on Friday in the camper, up like 5 times! {bad, very bad} Saturday morning I decided to go home to shower and let Ansley nap in her own bed. Well, her nap lasted 45min and I was exhausted and Zach was playing GOLF! Are you kidding me, golf when I need sleep! :) He came home around noon and I took a 2 hour nap. The rain started early afternoon on Saturday so we decided to stay at home and I thought get some sleep, but nope up like 4 times Saturday night! {I think she is trying to teeth, but I haven't seen anything popping threw}Sunday morning we decided to try again at spending the day at the lake. Well, it rained again! Ansley and I came back to town around 5 on Sunday and headed to Greg and Teresa's for a BBQ and some fireworks! Zach decided to stay the night at the lake and I had to work on Monday, so Ansley spent the night with Teresa and slept really good! :)

Now, onto where things get bad. Zach came home yesterday afternoon {about 3:30) to do some laundry and unpack. He decided to take Ansley down stairs to feed her a bottle, when he stepped in a hug puddle of water. I'm not sure I can even call it a puddle more like 2 feet of water!!! Our sump pump quit working some time Monday morning (probably when the 3inches of water fell Sunday night) and flooded our basement. Its bad, I mean really bad. I was at work of course, so Zach's parents, grandparents and my dad came to help. Brandy, Fredo, Heather and Rob brought everyone dinner {Big thanks to them! We have amazing friends and don't know what we would do without them} The restoration people arrived around 8pm after Zach, his dad and my dad pumped all the water out of the basement and were there til 12:30! Ansley and I went and stayed with Greg and Teresa and I'm back at work today!

Our carpet is ruined, in about 10 pieces in our front lawn. Not sure on the coffee table, end tables, entertainment center, chair or couch yet, but we should know something today if the restoration people can save it. There are about 5 different fans and humidifiers going down stairs and up. So, my time this week will be filled with insurance people coming out, trying to find someone to replace the sheet rock and carpet and anything else that will go wrong. On the plus side of things, our TV and AC wern't ruined. We are just thankful that our insurance is going to cover it! When Teresa called them for us yesterday the guy said that flood insurance and sump pump insurance is an optional coverage!! Thank goodness we opted for that coverage because I'm not sure I want to know how much it costs for the restoration people to come out and stay until 12:30!! So that is how our week it going!! I'm not sure things could get any worse, but we are all healthy and I guess happy so that is all that matters! Until I post again, which may be a while, have a great week! Just when you think your week couldn't get any worse just think of us lol . :(  I'll post pics when I have time.

HarVesT

I blogged on my Father's Day post that Zach was busy helping my dad with harvest and wasn't around much on Father's Day or that entire weekend. Zach enjoy's helping my dad and uncle with anything farm related. Always has and probably always will. When Zach was laid off from Hawker he spent many days helping my uncle with cattle, farming and anything else that needed to be bulit or done. He really enjoy's it and hopes one day to take over the cattle business when my dad retires! I don't see that happening anytime soon, but one day he will and I'm sure make my dad very proud!

Anyway, Ansley and I went to visit my uncle, dad and Zach in the field. She sat on the combine with my uncle, sat with daddy in the grain truck and went for a ride in the tractor with papa! Actually, we all three went for a ride in the tractor. Ansley even got to drive!! :)  I remember growing up and spending many hours in the field with my dad and uncle. The best part was when we got to go to the grain elevator for a pop and a candy bar! :) Awwww, memories. I can't wait until Ansley is older and makes her own memories with papa in the field. Pics from her first harvest 2010!!

Driving the tractor :)

Driving the grain truck too!!

Sitting with papa!

Watching the combine!

Thanks papa for the ride in the tractor, can't wait to go again!! As you can tell we still have to be fashionable while in field! lol :)

p.s. Ansley said mama for the first time tonight! :) I fed her and put her to bed and came back to find her whining and STANDING up in the crib holding onto the side and when I walked in she said mama!! Awwww, my baby is growing up :(