No peas please!

Sadie Beth ate anything I put in her mouth, pretty much no questions asked. She didn't really like eggs and still doesn't to this day unless it is some sort of casserole, but other than and avocado that didn't protest much to anything I fed her as a baby. All in all, she is a MUCH easier baby than Sadie Beth, but Ainsley's taken me for a bit more of a ride when it comes to the great wide world of food....
I fought starting foods until just before she was six months old - it is just so easy to stick with nursing only. But she was starting to wake at night to eat, so I knew she needed more. I honestly didn't mind (and even treasured) those 4am feedings but didn't want to reinforce bad habits for the long term so I finally gave in. So much changes it seems when I start my babies on food - they just start growing up so fast. Ainsley started doing all sorts of developmental things and it just so happened to coincide with dropping her dreamfeed and starting solids that she stopped sleeping til 8am and started waking at 6:30! What's up with that?!?

Not so sure what she thinks, but she'll stay all smiles for a little while at least. It's kindof a game to figure out what she wants to eat - because it changes all the time. And if she isn't in the mood for what you try to give her, WATCH OUT!!! But don't worry, just because she's not in the mood for it now, doesn't mean she won't want it later...probably even the next meal.

Except for peas, she never is in the mood for peas. :) Or greenbeans. But spinach, oh yes - she and Sadie Beth gobbled up a jar of spinach and carrots yesterday. It was one of the strangest things I've seen in a long while. "Yuck" was my only thought, but I told Sadie Beth I would get her some more if she wanted it - who cares if it was pureed, my 2 year old was begging me for spinach. Who am I to get her way?Right now, she's a little orange tinted - because she LOVES her sweet potatoes, squash, and peaches. And sure, Jesus said that man cannot live on bread alone, but Ainsley thinks she can live on applesauce alone. She would eat it all day long if I let her.

Ainsley's my sweet girl. Even if I make her mad during mealtime - which often seems to be the case - she never stays mad for too long. Before you know it, she's back to her sweet smiley self. :)

April fun....

We love springtime, warm weather clothes, playing outside, and being with friends! The zoo and park have been calling our names. This little girl has grown up so much since last spring. Last spring she was a baby...now she has long pigtails, sings crazy songs, and climbs all over the playground without hesitation.
We had fun dying eggs this year, though they didn't turn out very colorful. Sadie Beth loved having our eggs at the table; David loved eating them.

I'm not very arts & crafty, so this was quite the feat for the Balzers.

Saturday morning cuddles....in the bathroom? I think I just happened to be walking by with camera in hand. Since this picture in early April, we've retired the potty-seats. Sadie Beth can officially go potty all by herself, now that she's coordinated enough to get on and off by herself. It's amazing how helpful this is.

She's still playing with those eggs...

Some of the last days with the old swing set. It's in terrible condition. The wood was rotten, it was infested with insects, and rusty nails and screws were starting to detach from the wood all over the place. We couldn't let Sadie Beth play by herself on it at all.

Climbing like a big girl. We've officially entered the "I'll do it all by myself stage."

No hesitation this year....

Sadie Beth adores Ainsley, and I think it's safe to say the feeling is mutual. Unfortunately, Ainsley does't always appreciate her demonstrations of affection. They are a little intense.

We enjoyed an picnic end of the year celebration for my mom's group from church. Here is Sadie Beth with a bunch of her church friends...most are right around her age.

It was at a lovely home in Taylorsville. Ainsley was hot....but such a trooper.

After we got home it was definitely past nap time, but Boobear was in such a good mood that I couldn't help myself. I put Sadie Beth down for a nap and we had some fun.

In case you didn't know, we believe Ainsley thinks her name is "Boobear." She responds to it more quickly than Ainsley.

Sadie Beth has called her Boobear from the very beginning and it stuck. The other day she told me she wanted to go to the zoo with "Mommy, Daddy, and Boobear Christianna."

She will tell you, "Ainsley's a boobear and I'm a bug-bear,"...one of her first nicknames.

She is a Boobear if I've ever seen one. We are so blessed to have this sweet, sweet girl in our lives....truly she is a gift from God. She is so much fun, so easy going and easy to please...as long as you don't feed her green vegetables. I just want to kiss her cheeks off.

Here she's trying to convince me that she's too much fun to lay down for a nap. It almost worked, but then the sense that God gave me kicked in and off to bed she went.

She woke up just as happy though.

And still a little red-cheeked, but don't worry Grandma - she had sunscreen on and wasn't really burned. Just pink and flushed for awhile....it was HOT.

Sadie Beth enjoyed spending time with Kendra one morning. They both were definitely into Sesame Street while munching on their goldfish.

Ainsley feels big in her new bath seat and very proud to be sitting up like Sadie Beth. This was the primary fix to Sadie Beth's bath anxiety that I had previously blogged about. Once we got the baby tub out, things got better...with the help of a few new bath toys too.

Either Ainsley keeps getting bigger or the bouncy seat keeps getting smaller. It happens so fast.

It's a Grammy night - we've started having dinner with Mom every other Sunday night. Sadie Beth has loved getting to spend this time with Grammy. If Ainsley could talk, she'd agree.

I never realized it was possible to love as strongly as I do my girls and David. My heart just feels like it is going to burst sometimes.

I finally gave in and started solid foods.

I think I delay it for so long because it means my babies officially aren't tiny babies any more. And it is so easy just to nurse and not have to worry about feeding them...not that I would EVER forget to feed my child (at least not for very long).

Needless to say, she wasn't a fan of the rice cereal. I think she hoped that if she closed her eyes it wouldn't be in her mouth any longer.

We don't just do one puzzle at a time at our house. Nope, we dump them all out and then put them ALL back together. It's not hard for her, just time consuming because she goes completely ADHD during the "putting back together" phase.

Boy I sure do love them. Being a Mommy is exhausting, fun, overwhelming, invigorating, heart-wrenching, fulfilling...and so so so much more. So thankful for each moment...