Ansley Update: July Already???

Is it really July already? How can this be???? Last July I was awaiting my brand new baby girl. Last year I was as big as a house. Last year I was praying that she would be both beautiful and healthy. Last year I was enjoying the last of my paychecks. Last year I was planning on returning to work at Christmas. Last year was...great.

This July is chaotic! LOL Having 4 is hard. I will not sugarcoat it. It is hard. Having 4 all day long during the summer and having a hubby that has put on his coach's hat at 5:30 (most times without coming home) and doesn't put on his daddy/husband cap until 7:15 on a good day is extremely hard. And there were many times he went back on to work after practice, and did not come home until 10 or so. Several times it was like 2am.

Talk about hard. It has been hard. That meant I had to do everything. And on top of it June was a busy month as far as photography, too. I plan to do 0 during July. It's not the sessions that killy you...it's the insanely long editing process that makes me want to kill myself. lol. But I did promote my business quite a bit in May b/c I wanted a lot of business at end of May/beginning of June so that we could go on vacation. I told Kevin I wanted to try to pay for it all with photography money. done :) We leave next week!

So I want to talk about Ansley Elizabeth. Well, I'm trying to instill our little house nickname as "Ansley-cakes." I think that's so sweet and girly and happy sounding. Spencer was called "Spencer-bear" some, but really it never took off. Now "Riley-bug" has been a sure fire winner. He even brought home papers this year, in 1st grade, with his name being "Riley Bug Moore." hahaha! I asked him about it, and he said, "Because that's my middle name." LOL And I said, "No...it's 'Alexander,'" and he said, "Oh. Well that's my other middle name." Ha! So yes, we do say that a lot. When Talan was born, I specifically named him so that we could call him "TJ," and yes, I do sometimes, but I'm the only one....

So I'm hoping "Ansley-cakes" will take off...Oh, and as far as texting goes, I like texting "ae" for her name. So cute!!!!

Oh yeah...Ansley...she is SOOOOO girly! I can't believe it! Her little squeals are soooooo girly!!!! I love it!!!! All of her little noises are girly now!!!! They are less "baby" and just flat out "girly!" I'm in heaven! She is wonderful. She is a breath of fresh air. She is pure joy to my heart. Seriously. She is pure joy. She is full of complete joy! Her spirit is so full of life and happiness. I cannot really explain it. She is so content, so confident, so...aware that we love her so much. It's just written all over her. Pure Joy. She thinks that her brothers are the best thing since sliced bread, and she just hugs on them with her little short arms... :) She also smacks at them in the face when she doesn't want them and I'm holding her. LOL She wakes me up by pulling my hair [of course] and smacking me in the face [why not] but the sweetest thing in the world that the boys never did was wake me up also by hugging me. She puts her face on mine, cheek to cheek, and just holds me tight around my head/neck, as I begin to wake up. All the while with her paci in her mouth. It still amazes me how she just gets one and plops it right in. Yes, she has been doing that for months but it is so so sooooo cute! She is the only one that has taken a paci, so I do find it a little bit extra adorable.

Because she sleeps in our bed, it has put me in a pickle at naptime. Now she wakes up and can obviously crawl right off. And she doesn't wake up crying. So I really have to listen for her on the monitor. She will talk....:)))))

I have walked in on her many times lying awake in the bed, paci in her mouth, just hanging out...She is just sooooo cute!!!! I just cannot tell you how in love with her I am. My heart just bursts inside and I can't really express it!

She has amazing persistence. Last Monday was the first time she stood up all on her own without pulling up--just straight up from the ground without touching anything--and she was so excited she was cackling in her very girly voice and waving her hands all around, so very excited!!!! She gets really fired up! :) I didn't notice until she made such a commotion over herself! LOL Then she did it again, but didn't last as long. She keeps doing it. Tonight she did it like 10 times in a row. Oh and she loves that praise. She LOVES it. LOVES it!!! She has a great sense of humor, and we are so much like two peas in a pod and all I have to do is look at her a certain way and she will just crack up. That big wide smile behind that paci. :))))

Let me see...what else does she do? She recently mastered the sippy cup. Yes, she began holding her own bottle when I took that trip to Hawaii in May. I sat her in the stroller and reclined her just right to where it was a little easier on her. Still she's only done it like 5 or less times in her whole life. Mommy and daddy happily hold her bottle for her because she is only a baby once! So now she does eat her Graduates and drink her juice all by herself. She loves it! She is such an eater. She will eat anything we eat, and would way rather eat our food than baby food. Kevin just sticks a piece of pizza up to her mouth and she bites a piece right off. No joke. He's not right. lol

She is of course still in the she-drops-it-you-pick-it-up phase, too. That's kinda cute...kinda not...lol. She has gotten to where she pulls out her hairbow after I put it in. Now she doesn't know what she is messing with there!!! That is not compromisable, as she is finding out. She can take it out 101 times, I will put it back in 102! She understands "No," and that little "Eh!" when she tries to put something in her mouth. What do I mean by tries...does, actually. She says, "Eh." nonchalantly back to us. hahahaha! When Talan naps on the couch, she goes over and over and over again to him to wake him up. She loves him so much :) I can bring her back, and she'll go right back. She's sneaky. And when I see her round that corner, I'll say, "Ansley!" and she will look back with the biggest grin in the world, and do her little laugh at me. She knows she's got me. :)

I have been blessed beyond belief with this child. Yes, the others are true blessings as well. But there's always something about knowing it's your last, and just allowing yourself to be overcome, since you're no longer trying to impress anyone or comparing milestones...it's really about pure joy and enjoying life together. And yeah, it's a little chaotic around here. And it's all good :)

I have already ordered 2 birthday outfits for her. One from an etsy shop, one from Gap. I don't know what to do with them. I want her pictures in them, and then I also want her in them at her little party. What to do, what to do...

Oh. And it was told to me that I had to return to teaching this year. So no option for taking a 2nd year off after all. I'll deal with it; I'll live. But there have been a lot of changes taking place, and I'm not happy with any of them. So I'm totally bummed out with work right now. :(