Sunday Afternoon Snippet

Ainsley: Come on, Xander! We're going to save Princess!

"I have to give this
to the dragon."

Xander: *mmmmmmmm*

Me: What are you doing?

Ainsley: We're having an adventure.

Me: What kind of adventure?

Ainsley: We're going to save the princess from the dragon. We're going to sing songs.

Me: Ok, I'll have lunch ready when you're done.

I really love these monsters.

So It Begins...

Ainsley (on the couch, drops Tickle Seebee): Xander, pick up Tickle Seebee!

Xander (doing a puzzle): *ignores her*

Ainsley (gets off couch, runs past Tickle Seebee on the floor to Xander, grabs his hand, leads him to Tickle Seebee on the floor): See, here it is. Get it.

Xander: *turns and walks back to his puzzle*

STAR WARS at the Zoo

pre-wagon rejection

So, FW Children's Zoo has this Wild Zoo Halloween thing that they do, where kids get all dressed up and get some treats. This is the first year we decided to go...and It. Was. Awesome.

First off, both Janine and Daelynn AND Cathleen and Eilidh were able to come.  This became particularly helpful after I realized that 1) I didn't bring the stroller, and 2) the wagon I rented (even though we already have a stroller and a wagon of our own) was rejected by both children.

Hay Mazes and Witches

The first place we went was toward the corn/hay maze. Daelynn is totally Xander's suckah. She may be tired and want to put him down, but he'll look up at her, give her the "uh" and hold up his arms, and up he goes again.  She'll learn. Hehehe

Xander, as I've mentioned before, is more than willing to run off at a moment's notice, so it was nice that he was both contained and followed by Daelynn on this particular adventure.

Ainsley was pretty Momma-centric until we hit the hay maze, then she and Eilidh were off too! There was a lot of general frivolity and children running around getting exhausted.



Now, after the maze came pictures with the witch.  This exchange follows and I must share because it is still making me laugh. As with almost everything today (Halloween zoo is very popular, particularly on Saturdays), there was a line. After waiting forevah in the line, we walk up to BroomHilda with Ainsley and Xander.

BroomHilda: HELLO, Shrek! HELLO, Donkey!

Daelynn and I, staunch Star Wars geeks, are stunned. This is, after all, STAR WARS DAY at the zoo!  I corrected her, and she laughed...but the whole thing was pretty surreal.


General Cuteness


The animals weren't really on much display...this was all about pumpkins, scarecrows, costumes, and candy. BUT the penguins were HELLAactive.  Xander was enchanted. I've been to the zoo tons of times in the 15 years since I've lived in Fort Wayne and never have I seen them swimming around and playing so much. The temperature must have been just right for them. Or maybe they were hopped up on sugar like all the rest of the people at the zoo that day!

Also enchanted were Janine and the rest of the entire zoo population over my kids' costumes cuteness. We think that the glasses make Leia even cuter.

I think my favorite part of this whole trip was pointing out costumes to the kids and hearing people point out Yoda and Leia (or Shrek and Donkey) to their kids.  This is a *must do* for us until the kids declare it dead to them.

FINALLY the Force Is With Us

So, we'd been several places in the zoo, and the Star Wars stuff was pretty lost on us. We didn't see any characters (who were supposed to be around between 1-4), and I was getting antsy. Then we went to Australia, and we felt a trembling in the Force.

Then we saw a Storm Trooper.  Ainsley decided that she needed to stick her tongue out at him. I decided she'd gone method and let it go.

Once we entered the courtyard (of filth as I call it in my head because of all the parents that let their kids play in the fountain), we encountered several other characters. Obi Wan, a Gamorrean Guard, the Emperor, Boba Fett, and, of course, Vader.

Vader wasn't very method, he was actually a really nice guy who was patient with the gajillion kids who wanted to hang with/on him and or fight him. Sooo cute.

Will We EVER Visit the Zoo and Not Play with Lil Toot?!?

You know Stewart children looooove Lil Toot. Apparently, Yoda and Leia love Lil Toot too. I wouldn't have posted any of this pictures, but this one is so ridiculously cute, I couldn't control myself.

Eilidh kept trying to avoid getting her picture
taken. GOTCHA! On Lil Toot even!!

Pumpkins!!

Going to Hilger's

It was sunless and spitty last Sunday when we went to get pumpkins for the house. We were supposed to go on Saturday, but Momma got her drink on Friday night and Just. Couldn't. Do. Anything. on Saturday.  Saturday was beautiful and sunny and lovely...but it wasn't happening.  So Sunday morning, we sent a text to Janine and Daelynn and Big Sarah and let them know we were heading out.

We went to Hilger's because we'd heard there was tons of fun there...and there was. The first big hit of the visit was the tire swings. Xander was a bit to small, so Daelynn pulled him in with her and I gave her some pushes.  Ainsley, however, was the perfect size for the tire horse swing. She rode that one for about 10 minutes.  Luckily, since it was cold and rainy, we were practically the only people there.

I overheard the Hilger's lady say that the day before was "a zoo." So, see kids...you got to play with stuff longer and to yourself because Mommy drinks! Aren't you lucky?!

This was some sort of
pumpkin education center that the kids
didn't really pay attention to...

Behind the barn was a fun area for the kids to run around and play with Big Sarah while Daelynn shopped for her pie hole and Janine and I chat. Janine informed me that they'd covered the hay bales with tarp so the hay wouldn't disintegrate in the dampness. One of my favorite things about hanging with Janine is I get to learn interesting little tidbits like that.

There was this plywood maze thing they made for the kids, and Big Sarah, Ainsley, and Xander had a BALL playing in it.

Daelynn returned with popcorn and then, for Ainsley, it *was on*.  Ainsley will cut you for some popcorn. So, of course, I got her a little bag. She had great fun after that eating and protecting her popcorn.

Because it was raining, the hay rides were canceled, had Ainsley been old enough to know what that meant, she'd have been disappointed...remember she has that weird obsession with hay bales.  Traveling out to the pumpkin patch was also canceled, so we picked our pumpkins from the ones they had gathered in front of the barn.  It's not like we're big into pumpkin patches, per se...so we were cool with that.

Because of her big ole hippie status, Big Sarah was showing the kids how to love and respect all the animals, gourds, etc. As this was DAY TWO of my hangover, I let her. Heh.

Ultimately because it was so wet and rainy, we couldn't stay very long...we picked our pumpkins and left. You can really see how wet the kids got in the picture to the left. No, Xander didn't pee himself, he was just playing in the pumpkins!

All the cool kids drive home
pantless with popcorn.

PAINTING Pumpkins

Ainsley: Brush
Xander: Finger

By far, what's much cooler than getting pumpkins is painting pumpkins. This year, I bought a few of those minipumpkin looking gourds for the kids to paint.  This has proven to be one of the wisest Momma moves I've made!

Day One Pumpkins

So far, we've had two pumpkin painting days...mostly I'm just letting her repaint over the same pumpkins because 1) I'm cheap and 2) she's 3 and doesn't care to complain yet. I'm sure next year each pumpkin will be a Work of Art like each piece of paper is right now.

Ainsley painted one pumpkin as her "princess' pumpkin. It's the one with pink, white, and green.  I find this hilarious!

Often when painting, Xander ends up getting bored and painting on the table, his face, the pumpkin, the high chair, and then just plain trying to eat paint. Thank goodness it's washable and non-toxic.  He's still a bit young for painting, so normally he'll paint a bit and then move to the bathtub.

As she is with everything, Ainsley is a very serious artist. She'll move from color to color, and when painting with the brush is very particular about not mixing the colors together. This makes me happy because I think it'd drive the OCD in me INSANE if her colors were all mixed up. I have a hard enough time when she mixes PlayDough colors together.

When we paint, I'll do some painting, but mostly I'm there to manage the mess.  As you can see from these pictures, this time (Day Two of painting), I'm being instructed by Ainsley when, where, and how to paint, and I'm trying to get Xander to actually paint instead of eating the pumpkin. Look closely at that picture (or click on it to enlarge it)...his mouth is covered with paint because he picked it up to chew on it as I was setting the timer on the camera.

ABC Spaghetti-Os!

The Difference 21 Months Can Make

For today's pajama day, Xander as been removed from his pajamas for lunchtime, as today they finish a can of ABC Spaghetti-Os I bought A when she was sick. (I'd prefer to just buy ABC pasta & serve it with other stuff if possible as Spaghetti-Os are gross.) Ms. A is a much daintier eater now...letter by letter she eats this. But most importantly...SHE EATS IT.

Then I remembered when Ainsley was this age, I fed her some ravioli babyfood and she had a similar approach. They're about the same age in the high chair pictures above. Sometimes I think my kids look very similar and other times, not so much. In this one, I think they couldn't look much more different.

Goodbye, zoo!

 Last weekend, the kids and I met Janine and Daelynn at the zoo to say goodbye for the season. Actually, I should say the kids and I and ALL OF FORT WAYNE went. We've gotten pretty spoiled going in the evening hours when the zoo is ours.

Bye Bye, Train

Silly girl!

I feel I should just get this out of the way. The train that kids can play on at the zoo is named Lil Toot. That's right. My kids, and all kids from what I can tell, love Lil Toot. The kids had a grand ole time playing on Lil Toot.

The train is so captivating, X
refuses to look at the camera.

Daelynn uses our visits to do some babysitting training. She got a quick lesson in Xander, who now feels that it's completely appropriate to run away AS FAST AS HE CAN toward, if possible, moving vehicles or large bodies of water.

Bye Bye, Sea Lions

While I've always been under the impression that the meerkats (or the things that look and act like meerkats but could actually be mongooses...mongeese?...whatever) are Ainsley's favorite animal at the park, on this visit, she explicitly asked to see the sea lions.

It was a nice day and not too long after feeding, so the sea lions were particularly active. It's possible that A could have sat and watched them all day. But we had ice cream to get to...

Daelynn learned to adapt to Xander's attempts at suicide by containing him. Brilliant.

Bye Bye, Boat

Loving the boat.

The Children's Zoo has several rides: the carousel (A's favorite), the train that goes in a big circle and doesn't show you any animals except for invading geese (effing GEESE), the world's most depressing pony ride (which we have and will avoid FOREVER), a skyride (not until Xander gets over his desire to kill himself), and the boat rides. We normally hit the carousel because we like it best. But Ainsley had been pleading for the train and boats the last several trips to the zoo. I finally relented on the train a few weeks ago...and this trip it was ON for the boats. Because all of greater Fort Wayne was at the zoo, the line was emotionally destructive. Janine and Daelynn wisely determined it was time for them to go home. We toughed it out. The boat ride was pretty enjoyable, actually. We'll have to do it more often next year.

Bye Bye, Monkeys...and Wall

We decided to watch the monkeys as we left...the monkeys weren't saying goodbye. They were all hiding...but A still diligently searched for them.

I have to say, I'm kinda glad that the zoo will be closed for the next few months. It's not that we won't miss it (we will be going to Halloween at the Zoo and Christmas at the Zoo)...it's just that I'm thinking/hoping by the time it opens again, Xander will be over his continual attempts at suicide.

Fingerpainting!

Notice the trifecta of girly coolness in this picture:
Ariel cup, My Little Pony toy, Buffy mug 

My mom bought Ainsley fingerpaints for her birthday. These fingerpaints, specifically. These paints are awesome because they're washable.  Mom got A the primary colors. I must now replace them & get the secondary colors because of A's immense love for them.

I've let A paint several days in a row before I decided that Mr. X needed in on the action. He wasn't really good about getting the paint out of the tray, so I had to squirt it directly onto the paper...once it was there though...It. Was. On.

X will always smile for the camera.

After I went downstairs to snag the camera, I returned to discover that A had painted her face red. Then she started painting her body with each color declaring herself to be Rainbow Dash, one of the My Little Ponies: "I Rainbow Dash!"

I really do love letting them paint...and now Ainsley asks every day, "I paint now?"

On the Importance of Pausing and Reflecting

I've had a perfect storm of parenting reflection recently.

Exhibit 1: Ainsley's Birthday Party

Rachel and I were talking about Ainsley's birthday party on FB recently (Sunday night? I've lost all concept of time...). She was praising me for my diligence in decorating the house for A's party. I responded with something to the effect of "I'm overcompensating because I'm gone so much."  Rachel empathized.

And later I kinda realized that many of my perfectionist issues (like making the "perfect" cake) stem from this nascent thing inside of me that feels that I'm not being the mother I could be...should be...whatever. Probably left over 50s gender stereotyping Leave It to Beaver bullshit. 

Exhibit 2: Appreciating the Moment

Kiddy dog pile!

Yesterday, Ainsley and I ran some quick errands to the mall. I wanted to hit JCPenneys and Kohls to look for sleeper pajamas for both kids and comfy clothes for Xander. Ainsley and I were walking past the big water fountain; we needed to throw all the pennies I had into the fountain. That was imperative. But then Ainsley remembered that the mall playground was near the fountain and asked to go. 

We were running late; we hadn't found anything for them yet, we hadn't even gotten to Kohls, and it was getting near dinner/bed time.  But I relented. I just couldn't say no...so we went.  

Moving faster than
the speed of my camera!

It was a really good group of kids at the playground. No too big kids pushing around the little ones, no inappropriately free too little ones. Just lots and lots of kids running around like crazy people jumping, sliding, laughing, and having general fun. The pictures that I took are all blurry, but I decided they really reflect what watching these kids was really like. 

While I was letting them play, I sent Sean a text letting him know we'd gotten detoured. It said something like "I made the mistake of getting too close to the playground. I am dumb." He responded with "So let her play." 

*sidenote* Sean's generally the more level-headed and laid back of the two of us...so I took great pride in the fact that my decision coincided with his advice.

Watching her play was wonderful. She was so happy, and it took only a few minutes for her to start playing with and engaging the other kids. I could see her little mind working as she watched the kids who already knew each other interact and figure out how to join them. 

At one point, the little girl she was playing with pointed to me and said something to Ainsley. Ainsley, in her usual matter-of-fact fashion said, "That's my mom."

And I cried. I attribute the crying to 3 things: 1) Watching her assert that to a stranger with the certainty of Ainsley was touching, 2) It made me begin to realize that much of my kvetching about working isn't affecting her in the negative ways that I'm imagining, and 3) I'm PMSing.

Exhibit 3: The Feminist Breeder Reads My Mind

This morning, I read this post by the Feminist Breeder. Her posts are generally awesome, but it was this line from the penultimate paragraph that spoke to me and gave me my Cher "SNAP OUT OF IT!" moment:

 But getting my education and working are two things that I do for mine and my families current and future livelihood, too. They aren’t cute little hobbies that I can just put off until I’m all done raising my kids. This is PART of raising them.

Thanks to Rachel, Ainsley, and The Feminist Breeder for my perspective. Awesome ladies, indeed.

Ainsley Isobel Stewart Is Three Years Old!!

Post-party, the decorations remain vigilant.

Ni Hao, Kai Lan!!

So, it's almost 10pm. I've been up since God decided to create the universe...I'm so tired I could punch someone in the face...and yet here I am blogging Ainsley's 3rd birthday party.  Why? Because I know if I don't now, it likely will be Ainsley's 4th birthday before I get around to it.

So, this year Ainsley really wanted a Ni Hao Kai Lan birthday party...and I'm here to oblige.  I hit Party City and busted out the Kai Lan gear. I didn't tell her that's what I'd done, but when we got ready to show her the decorations (she played in her room with Aunt Jill while I put up decorations), I asked her, "What kind of party do you think you'll have?"

Let's go, go, GO!

She whispered, "Kai Lan."

Me: "Why Kai Lan?"

A: "Because I like her." *melt*

When we took her into the dining/living room, she got so excited she had to go back into the bedroom and squeal with excitement.

*sidenote* This year I made Ainsley's cake. I bought a cake decorating kit at Michaels, a toy from Amazon, and crossed my fingers. It ended up turning out ok. I consider it a phenomenal success considering it's my first real attempt at decorating. The handwriting was a bit janky, but all in all, PASS.

Ainsley Is Loved

Cousin Kaelynn and Xander

We had a packed house for the party. Most of my immediate family was able to attend, which is pretty extensive: my grandma, Mom, sisters Jill, Jessy, Kellyn, Alysee, and SIL Sarah, brother Joel, Dad, stepmomma Debbie, aunt Sarah. The only ones who couldn't make it were Sean who's overseas, Lee Roy who was being Batman (as Tom would say) and Jamie who had a scheduling mix up. Ainsley's invitees were at 50 percent ("Cafween, Awee, and Cawen" were there..."Faif"was out of town). Cafween brought hubby Rich along as well. My guess is Rich doesn't get singled out because he was, you know, working while we had our pool dates this summer. ;)

I think I have about 200 different shots
of this pose throughout A's 3 years

It was great fun to see that Ainsley was more willing to share her balloons and toys this year with cousins (Kaelynn and MaKayla)...she was also hopped up on "it's my birthday" crack, so she was nicer than normal...or maybe she's becoming a big girl. It's hard to say.

"I Have A Secret!"

Ainsley to the candle: Are you
lookin' at ME?!

After the obligatory singing of Happy Birthday, there was, of course, cake and ice cream. Xander didn't have a plate of either, instead he played the look how cute I am! GIVE ME CAKE, MO'FO! card. It worked really well. I'm pretty certain he ate a metric ton of cake and ice cream.  


Ainsley still isn't comfortable blowing out the candle, so I had to help out. While we all ate and were merry, the aunts got Ainsley, Xander, and Kaelynn involved in a rambunctious game of "I Have a Secret."  The premise of the game is as follows:


Aunt Sarah calls an unsuspecting bystander over because "Ainsley has a secret." Upon our going over, Ainsley tosses out a completely unexpected "AAAAHHHH BOO!" The "aahhh boo" is what Ainsley used to do to Xander when he was a teeny little brother; it was her way of playing with him before he could do things like sit on her and immobilize her, so it was sweet to see her bust out the "aahhh boo" again.

Don't hate on my party hat!

Have You Seen My Shoes?!

These shoes are sparkly AND
light up, WHAT?!

The gift opening process was a long one...people love Ainsley a lot. She got a great variety of toys—everything from My Little Ponies to awesome art supplies—and clothes—warm ones, which she greatly needed.  She loves everything...but she was particularly fond of her shoes. She got functional shoes, and slippers, and a crap ton of dress up shoes. I have a feeling Sean and I will be picking up shoes forever.

This is what a metric ton of
dress up shoes look like.

Notice her examining the sparkly, light up shoes. I consider it a victory that she isn't wearing them to bed tonight!

Anyway, present opening was pretty funny. She was GEEKED. At one point, Cathleen was certain that she was going to fall/dive into one of her gift bags.


Tell Them "Thank You"

I'd like to thank my fans!

So, this year, I made a bigger point of making Ainsley thank people for her presents—mostly because I know I'm not going to be doing thank yous. This public thank you suffices, right?  So, each time I told her to thank whomever, she'd look at them and smile. I felt that wasn't enough, so I'd prod her, "Tell them 'Thank You,' sweetie."

Her reaction?  She'd wave her hand and them and be ubercute.  We all deemed that an appropriate response.

She's a Girly Girl...In Case You Were Wondering


I know I've talked bout gender stuff in this blog before, but look at this picture. Things to notice:

> Rapunzel dress
> Tiara for Grandma
> Tea set
> Jewels


Thanks to everyone for making the party AWESOME! And happy birthday to my monster of a little girl. I love you more than I could ever express on a blog or with words or with hugs or with kisses or with candy or with toys or with trips to the zoo or with kitties or puppies. To the moon and back again, I love you, kid.