Ainsley Christianna Balzer!

She's finally here! Mom and Baby are doing very well (though missing Sadie Beth immensely). 11/05/2009 4:33 pm
7lbs 13.4 oz
20 inches

Getting ready...catching up!

One last catch-up post before baby sister arrives! We are so excited to meet our new sweet baby girl. But until then, here are some pictures of what our sweet Sadie Beth has been up to lately...probably not a lot to say about some...enjoy!
She likes wearing Daddy's work glasses...

...and Mommy's pajamas....

I'm not sure that there are many things in life more fun than listening to a 2 year old play...I'm loving hearing the things Sadie Beth comes up with these days. She told me when I found this that she was making oatmeal for her ducks....of course she was! :)

David was volunteered to be a pirate at work for some team-building activity. Sadie Beth enjoyed his costume....more than he did anyway.

And what is a pirate without her handy turtle-sidekick?

Sadie Beth has become quite the "helper" lately...she loves it and we love the opportunities we have to teach her the value of work and about having a sense of accomplishment. I guess here she decided she had accomplished enough and was done helping me change the bed.

Playing in the tub with her letters, a new favorite!
My poor red-faced girl was sick and running a pretty high fever....

Cheese-boo! Still one of Sadie Beth's favorite games - I think because she knows she came up with it. Doesn't she look so big! This part is where she says, "CHEESE!"

And then it's "Boo!"

We had a beautiful Sunday afternoon not too long ago and enjoyed a stop at the park after church.

She was particularly excited because Daddy got to be at the park too! And he is much more fun than Mommy.

It has been lots of fun watching Sadie Beth gain confidence at the park. At the beginning of the summer she wouldn't go down any slide by herself and practically had to be pushed even with someone to catch her....

Now she will go down every slide on this playground - even the curly slide!

Someone has become quite the daddy's girl over the last few weeks. I think it started while I was in Indy for the weekend. Sadie Beth adores David....I think the feeling is mutual.

Big girl bed!!!!!!!! Sadie Beth did really well transitioning into her new big girl room. We had a few rough nights, but I've been so proud of her.

I'm so thankful we were able to get the bedding and sheets that I fell in love with. I need to post better pictures, but her room is adorable and she is so proud of it. God provided so amazingly - the bedding was too expensive new, but I found it used on Craigslist for a ridiculously low price!

Sleeping for the first time in her bed. She fell asleep no problem! She remembered that Olivia the pig sleeps in a big girl bed and that was about all it took...we loves Olivia.

Cheese-boo on Sunday morning in a new dress. She thinks she's hilarious.

Very proud of her new "monster jamas." And of putting her shoes on all by herself!

While I was in Indy, David took Sadie Beth to a fall festival at a nearby church. It was a super-fun "daddy-daughter day" and Sadie Beth still loves her little pumpkin and talks about her butterfly cheek. Last weekend she told David, "I want...I need....Daddy-daughter day." He asked her when she wanted to do that and she said, "Right now." My sweet girl.

For Halloween Sadie Beth dressed up as a "lalalalala - LADYBUG!!!" We had fun dressing up. She got spoiled rotten trick-or-treating at my mom's work. I took her just so mom could see her in her costume and all of mom's friends had goodies for her - they were so sweet to do that. And Sadie Beth loved it. She's still telling people, "I trick or treat Grammy's work!"

Last Wednesday we also had fun at our church's fall festival. You know you are really pregnant when you are walking up a flight of stairs, a lady stops and looks you up and down, and says, "oh...ooohhh....wow." Yes, this definitely happened at the fall festival. I wasn't sure how to respond.

Our little ladybug loved the bounce houses - she would have spent the whole night in there if we'd let her....who needs candy when you can bounce!?!

And let's not forget trick or treating Saturday night. :) Sadie Beth got so excited about going from house to house. We probably only went to 10 houses, but she loved pointing to a house and saying, "I go to that one!" I think she picked the houses she thought would have dogs.

One morning not too long ago I found her sitting like this....I guess she decided her puppy was due for a hair-brushing. :) She is so excited about meeting her little sister...as are we of course. I'm not naive enough to think it's all going to be perfect, but she is ready!

A girl & her BBQ - fun times!

A couple of weeks ago my mom brought over some pulled pork BBQ. The way Sadie Beth enjoyed it, she probably thought, "Why have you been holding out on me for so long?!?" :) Apparently, it's a winner.
Yes, most meals at our house do involve a shirt-less Sadie Beth. Saves money on SHOUT....btw - SHOUT advanced (in the blue bottle) is pretty amazing. I highly recommend it.

Too bad I didn't make it. I don't know that she ever gets this excited over my food.

Though I did make some pretty awesome cheesy potatoes with it that didn't last long on her plate. What a silly bug!

A girl & her ice cream-Happy Birthday Sadie Beth!!!

September 18th is a big day for the Balzer family - both David and Sadie Beth's birthday! David feels like he has permanently surrendered his birthday to Sadie Beth, so I guess I will focus on her. (Though I did make David a fun birthday dinner the night before). What a special weekend we had celebrating with our big girl! We didn't do anything super big or fancy, but our goal was to make Sadie Beth feel like the most awesome kid in the world - and I think we succeeded! Sadie Beth's birthday started out with "special oatmeal." We get the variety pack and she loves both the "strawberries & cream" and the "blueberries & cream" flavors. So, we had "strawberries & cream" with fresh blueberries mixed in! Definitely a winner...
Sadie Beth proudly wore her "birthday girl" shirt pretty much all weekend long. Why not? I can't get over how grown up she is looking these days.

After David got home from work that evening we took off for his (and now I believe Sadie Beth's) favorite restaurant - Red Robin! Sadie Beth has been in restaurants many times, but this was a big day because it was her first time getting food from the kids menu. Call us cheap, but we've always just brought her food with us. Sadie Beth loved her eating her "big girl pizza" and talking about the "big red bird robin" statue in the corner of the restaurant.

The highlight of the night though definitely had to be the look on Sadie Beth's face when the staff came out to sing Happy Birthday and brought her her very own "ice cream cone cup!" Sadie Beth does 100% dealing with just about anything in her life if we "process" with her what is going to be happening (just like her daddy!). So, we told her what was going to happen and when they came out to sing to her she clapped and grinned like she was the star of the show! And you can tell she didn't enjoy her ice cream at all!

Keep track of the balloon. Notice it doesn't leave her hand the ENTIRE time.

She was felt big, that's for sure. And I think she entertained everyone in ear shot.

Still clutching the "orange balloon".....

Such a fun night. After dinner we picked out some new sneakers for Sadie Beth....hers were 1 1/2 sizes too small! No wonder she was always taking them off. :)

The next day we got up bright and early and headed for the zoo! Sadie Beth loves when we can go as a family. We did all the fun stuff - animals, carousel (aka - "up and down"), elephant show. When we got home, Sadie Beth managed to find herself a little "2 year old mischief" and got into my thank you notes box....I thought heard her in the living room saying, "I'm tryin - I'm tryin..." which is a normal phrase for Sadie Beth when she is trying to do something that takes a little effort. Then I listened a little more closely and heard, "I'm writin, I'm writin..." I knew that was trouble. So if you get a "scribbled" on thank you not from me in the coming months - it's just a little love from Sadie Beth.

After her nap, it was time for birthday presents!!!

Does it get any better than that face right there followed by a "thank you daddy, thank you mommy PUZZLES!" We are so blessed by our sweet girl.

Her other present was an ever bigger hit I would say - an AbbyCadabby doll! I knew she would love it, but we're talking new best friend status. Abby Cadabby has become a permanent fixture with us lately, doing just about anything we do.

2 friends! (AbbyCadabby and Elmo).

Sadie Beth wanted Abby-dabby to do puzzles too!

This little girl blesses my socks off....(and wears me out too!) We hope she knows how much her Mommy and Daddy love her every day!