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...

Up from the grave He arose!!!

Yes, I realize Easter was over a month ago, but Sadie Beth still is singing this hymn with great enthusiasm at least 10 times a day. So, I figured it was a good title for our Easter pictures.
Ainsley looks excited about going to church, but little does she know, this is going to be her first week in the nursery.

And here we are at church....notice....we are not in the nursery. It didn't last so long that first week. Instead, we are in the nursing corner of the ladies room. I'm happy to report, she has acclimated and Sunday mornings go much more smoothly. I've not been paged for a couple weeks now.

Ainsley says, "Do you see this innocent face? I've been so good to you. How could you leave me?" Sorry pumpkin. (haha - actually I worry the entire time she's there - ridiculous I know).

This picture attempt didn't go so well. But look at our pretty tree!

We got this dress as a shower gift before Sadie Beth was even born! It worked out quite nicely.

She was most excited about her new sandals. Girls are fun...

With her Easter basket before visiting family in Indianapolis.

Easter egg hunting with her "chicky-poo" bag-(as she called it). I love the Target dollar section.

There were lots of kids and lots of eggs.

Ainsley got to hang out with Grammy while I took pictures.

She wanted to hunt for eggs too. Next year, Ainsley.

He arose...he arose...Hallelujah! Christ Arose! (somehow, it doesn't get old hearing SB sing it)

Marching on...

March was lots of fun - especially as Ainsley is being awake more and more and as we anticipated spring's arrival! Ainsley says, "Bring on the sunshine, I'm ready!" Sunglasses compliments of Sadie Beth.
Ainsley lights up when David comes into the room. She sure loves her Daddy.

We've had some bathtime drama at our house lately....Sadie Beth became terrified of her bath toys floating under Ainsley's tub while they bathed together. After about 2 weeks of letting Sadie Beth bathe in the shower downstairs, new bath toys, and retiring Ainsley's tub for a bath seat, I think we are back in business. Shoo, talk about exhausting...every bath time was a total melt down/near panic attach for Sadie Beth. This has been our first "fear" experience with her and I'm thankful we survived. It's always difficult finding that line between genuine emotion and inappropriate responses requiring discipline with little ones. While Sadie Beth would be melting down (because she became anxious whenever Ainsley got a bath, regardless of what she was doing), Ainsley pretty much looked like this. Truthfully, it was hard not to laugh at that part. Sadie Beth would be screaming (again, b/c Ainsley was getting a bath not her) and Ainsley would be sitting in her tub just chattering and laughing.

My beautiful girl - this fall/winter was really the first season we've needed to go out and buy clothes for Sadie Beth. Until now, we've enjoyed lots of hand-me-downs and all of the gifts family and friends so generously bestowed upon us. It was kindof fun getting to pick stuff out! And fun hearing Sadie Beth's opinions. This curdoroy dress was my favorite, and it looked so cute with her polka-dot tights from Grandma!

Our first walk outside for the year! The girls love riding in their double stroller together. You can definitely tell Ainsley feels big. Unfortunately, the walk didn't end this happy. Sadie Beth had strep throat and was a cranky pants by the time we got home.

A new fun game. She is always asking me, "Mommy, can you shut the door please?"

My kitchen helper...

Ainsley loves this ball. She always "mouth attacks" it...pretty funny.

Mouth attack in progress!

yikes!

One of the highlights of Sadie Beth's week is Honeybees. She loves her teacher (Miss Anna) and singing the Honeybees song. Apparently she's one of the only kids still wearing her shirt. I figure we paid for the silly thing, might as well keep wearing it.

Sunglasses are pretty much always a must in the car these days - even on rainy days.

I know, this is probably the 5th exersaucer picture - I just can't get enough.

It's a special hair day - then again, the argument could be made that every day is a special hair day for Ainsley.

This box provided endless fun for whatever reason - I guess it is just the right size to play in. This is how I found her one day after nap.

My bigger kitchen helper! Sadie Beth thrives on getting to help in the kitchen. I try to let her help whenever I can and need to let her do more. She gets uncontainably excited. Funny how letting her help usually results in twice the amount of work for me....so worth it though. Here we were making taco cups - a great recipe from Kraft.com if anyone is interested.

Ainsley's wants in on the fun too.

I hope they are best friends. I'm definitely already hearing on a regular basis, "Mooom, Ainsley's touching me!" Sheesh.

Sadie Beth went on a very special date with Grammy - to see Sesame Street Live! If you know my kid, you know this was quite possibly the highlight of her short life.

She seemed so big walking away from the car with my mom. David, Ainsley, and I got to enjoy dinner at Spaghetti Factory during their show...(and by enjoyed, I mean waited for 30 minutes, Ainsley screamed for 15 in the restaurant and fell asleep just as we were getting ready to pack up our food, and then we rushed out to pick Mom and Sadie Beth up in time). Hey, it was sortof a date!

One afternoon while I was making dinner, I heard Sadie Beth in the living room talking to Ainsley about P.U.s...(Miss Anna's label for stinky diapers). I didn't worry too much but then went in to check things out when I heard Ainsley squealing with excitement. This is what I found. (Note: Ainsley did not, in fact, have a dirty diaper.) I clearly informed Sadie Beth that this should not happen again - and then I laughed and took pictures.

Just for fun....

Sadie Elisabeth- 5 months and 3 days old.

Ainsley Christianna- 5 months, 12 days old.