She's a cowgirl!

This weekend has been a really fun, yet busy one for us. On Saturday, we went to the Brown County State Park which is located about a half an hour away from Bloomington. It was beautiful and we want to go back when there is a little more leaves on the trees. We had a picnic with the Kelley Kids group again. All of the kids got to ride a pony. At first Ainsley was a little scared of the horse, but after a few seconds she got used to it and did really well. Tom taught her how to hold on to the horn and by the end of the ride she was holding on all by herself while Tom led the horse around a little track. I think Tom had just as much fun as she did. He can't wait to bring her up to his family's ranch in the Uintas to ride a real horse with Grandpa Reese. Too bad, ol' Docs Bill isn't around anymore. Tom grew up riding horses with his grandpa, dad, and uncle at this ranch. He was riding by himself at about 4-5 and so he wants our kids to be proficient riders too. He was trying to convince me how we need to buy a horse next year....we'll see about that. My theory...a house before a horse. But for her first ride, Ainsley did really well and who knows, maybe we'll make it out to Utah this summer where she can ride another horse up at the ranch. I know Grandpa Reese would love that!

Jenner, Me, Kristina, Jedda and Chris at the picnic

Guess what keeps me occupied these days...

Ainsley's newest trick....Emptying things. Every drawer, basket, box, or bag within grasp gets emptied within a few seconds. Her favorite thing to empty is these two drawers in our entertainment center. In one drawer we store all of the dvds from the library and left over electrical cords and in the other is all of my craft supplies-fabric, glue gun, patterns, etc. She will empty these drawers at least 4-5 times a day. I am so bad though, I let her empty stuff just so I have a few seconds to get something done. But then our house looks like a tornado hit and I am stuck cleaning it up when she's done. I really need to baby proof the house better. Luckily, she hasn't discovered the kitchen yet. Oh why, oh why did I ever want her to crawl?


So as a result of all of these new messes, I found this lying in the closet....it gives me a few minutes each day of mess free bliss.

Day at the Park

Last week I took Ainsley to Bryan Park and met up with some friends. This was the first park trip that Ainsley actually was into. We went a couple of times last fall but she was too little to do much. This trip she loved swinging, going down the slide, crawling in the dirt, and walking along the big toys. It was a lot of fun. Since it was her first official park trip, I let her play in the sand as long as she wanted even though it made a giant mess. She was caked in sand by the time we went home. And yes, she did eat her first fistful's of sand as well. She seemed to enjoy it. There was sand everywhere for a few days- in her bed, changing table, and carseat. But she enjoyed it so it was worth it....don't know if I will be that willing to let me make a huge mess everytime though.







I tried to take a video of her coming down the slide because she loved it, but it was a little hard putting her up there, taking the video and catching her all by myself, I'll have to post a better video when I go to the park with Tom sometime

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We had a great holiday. It was wonderful to go to church and be reminded of the special Easter message of the atonement and resurrection. We had fun celebrating Ainsley's first Easter by some of the following activities:

One of the only good things about living away from family is that we receive fun packages from them every once in awhile. (We never got fun mail before this). Ainsley got this cute bunny from Grandma Butler. Thanks Grandma for our fun Easter package!

The Kelley Kids had an Easter Hunt on Thursday. We helped stuff eggs and them hid them in a local park. The kids loved searching for the eggs and Ainsley even found a few. We have loved all of the fun activities that the Kelley Kids plan each week. They have at least 1-2 activities every week. Ainsley is now old enough that I am starting to attend more and am loving it. It also gives me a chance to get out and socialize with my friends too.

The Kelley Kids getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!

Looking for Easter eggs

Ainsley tried to eat the flowers

Ainsley with her best friend Ella.
Aren't they cute together? Here they are sharing secrets or something

On Saturday night we decided to decorate Easter eggs. This was the first time Tom and I have done them in our six years together. But we figured now that we have a child, we need to start creating our own traditions instead of always relying on our parents traditions. Ainsley enjoyed holding the eggs for us as we dyed them. About half way through though she had a fit and was ready for bed. We only dyed six because we figured we couldn't eat more than six boiled eggs in one week. It was a lot of fun and hopefully something we continue to do in the future.

Tom and Ainsley creating the first egg

Ainsley enjoyed sucking on the boiled eggs before they were placed in the dye

A meltdown because we wouldn't let her hold the boiled eggs anymore

Since we only had six eggs, we decided to decorate Ainsley as well

Our beautiful creations

On Sunday we went to church and had a wonderful time. I am chorister and had to lead the Primary children in a song during sacrement meeting. Since I am busy in primary, Tom takes Ainsley for the last two hours-he is a good sport because she is often pretty wild since church is during normal naptime. Anyway now that Ainsley is crawling, she wants to be down on the floor playing rather than sitting in our laps. Tom put her on the floor and then looked over and realized that she had something in her mouth. He reached in and grabbed it out and it was a ladybug! She killed it but there was another one was in her hand ! We thought was pretty funny.


After church, we had Ainsley hunt for Easter eggs around the apartment. We placed them all over the floor and she would crawl to them. She would pick them up and shake it to hear the candy inside. I would have to take the egg away from her to get her to look for another one though. I think by the end she was a little fed up with me stealing all her eggs. We were a little sad that we missed the competitive jellybean hunt at the Butlers this year though, but it was fun to watch Ainsley enjoy looking for them. Our wonderful friends the Rich's had us over for dinner with the Carlstons. We are so lucky to have such great friends here in Bloomington to celebrate the holiday with. Thank you!!!

Enjoying the eggs she found

The Easter bunny brought her Strawberry Apple Puffs, Peach Yogurt Melts, and Biter Biscuits since she was too little for candy this year. I guess Mommy and Daddy will have to eat all that chocolate she found in the eggs:)

Utah Part 2

*Sorry it has taken so long to finish this trip, but I want to still post it for journaling reasons.

On Sunday, March 15 I went with the Reese family to Anne's single's ward to list to Anne speak in sacrement meeting. She did a really great job. Then my parents picked me up and we headed to Provo to go to my Grandpa and Grandma Seethaler's old home. My Grandpa Seethaler passed away recently and so my parents wanted to go through the home to see if there was anything belonging to my grandmother that they wanted to keep. My grandma (my dad's mom) passed away when I was seven and her husband, my dad's stepfather remarried and so we didn't go there very much as I got older. It was so fun to walk through the house again. It hasn't changed much since my dad moved there when he was only 13 years old. It still has red carpet, wood paneling, green and red toilets, and seventies style furniture. It brought back great memories of playing there as a child. Some of my favorite memories include sliding down the firepole they had in a closet in the family room that went down to the garage, riding in the dumb waiter elevator from the garage to the kitchen that my grandpa had built, and being "locked" in the room size refridgerator in the basement by my dad. I lived in this house for a year when I was little and so it was fun to see my old bed and all of the places we used to play. I picked out a few things that I wanted to remember my grandmother by. She was an avid reader and had hundreds of books. I remember as a child she would bring us a box of books each time she came to our house. It was always such a treat. After we went through the house, we went to my sister's house to have dinner. My brother inherited a banjo that day had been my grandmother's. He is so talented at the guitar and music that he sat on the couch and figured out how to play it on his own. We had fun listening to him pluck out tunes for us.

Ainsley with Aunt Susie after Annie's talk

Jon on the wicker chair in Grandma's entry way, we always used to play on this chair and in the umbrella stand next to it as kids

The firepole that went downstairs to the basement-we would always beg grandpa to let us go down it. He had to remove the boards in the floor that protected us from falling down the hole

Ainsley in the dumb waiter, it still works but we didn't send her down it by herself. I remember being small enough to fit in the box with my older sister and ride downstairs in it.

My dad looking at some of my grandmother's sheles of books. My parents picked out a box for Tom because they know how much he loves books too...Grandma would have loved him.

This is the classic seventies style living room with beautiful red carpet, green couches, and goudy lamps. Love it, love it, love it
The couch I picked out to inherit...my Grandpa Butler had given it to my grandma before they were divorced. I figure I can recover it to match my future home. I wanted something that I could remember them both by.
My loving family enjoying dinner

Flower Child

My brother Jon teaching himself to play the banjo

On Monday, March 16 my mom and I spent the day sewing and scrapbooking. My mom helped me make a sundress for Ainsley. That evening we went to Five Guys Burger and Fries with my whole family for dinner and then walked across the street to Paradise Bakery to have some cookies. It was a lot of fun.

The sun dress that my mom and I made for Ainsley

Ainsley and her cousin Will at Five Guys. Will was so cute with Ainsley. I wish we lived closer so she could play with her cousins all the time

On Tuesday, March 17 was St. Patrick's day. I got my hair cut then went over to my friend Shae's to visit. Shae and I have known each other since we were four years old. She and I went snowboarding together last time I was in town...wish we had thought to go again but I didn't have time. It was fun to visit with her and her cute daughter Emmi.

One excited little leprechaun
Thanks for the cute onsie Sarah!
Shae, Emmi, Me and Ainsley-notice the girls seem fascinated with one another

Wednesday, March 18 was my last full day in Utah. My mom had the opportunity to show how to turn old boardbooks into new scrapbooking projects on a local news show called Studio Five. My mom creates and teaches projects at conventions for the scrapbooking company Imaginisce. I drove down to Tom's sister Susie's apartment in Provo and we watched it together. Ainsley had fun playing with her one last time. When my mom was done, she drove down to Provo too. My mom, my sisters Cami, Andrea, and my nephews all went to lunch together at Rhumbi Island Grill. Then Cami, my mom and I went to my cousin Ethan's bakery called "The Sweet Tooth Fairy." Megan, Ethan's wife, is an amazing cake decorator. She makes all sorts of elaborate cakes. She made an electric guitar cake for my brother's nineteenth birthday. They opened up a shop in East Bay area a few months ago and we wanted to check it out. Megan's famous "Cake Bites" have been featured on the Rachel Ray show as well as many local tv shows. (For anyone living in Utah county, go check it out!)
After we went to Megan's bakery, we went to my grandparents house in Mapleton. It was so fun because there were several of my cousins and aunts and uncle who came over. It was so good to see everyone again. Afterwards, I went to the Reese's for dinner. Annie's friend Sarah and her little boy Mason also came over. Ainsley and Mason had fun playing on the toy train together. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone. The next morning, I packed up and flew back home to Indiana. It was a great trip and I look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Hanging out with Aunt Susie one last time before we leave

At "The Sweet Tooth Fairy" with Megan

Megan's cake bites that have been featured on Rachel Ray. They were delicious!
We tried a few different cupcakes including Key Lime, Chocolate and Carmel, S'mores, and Red Velvet...they were so yummy!

Cousins Ainsley and Caden playing together at Great Grandma Gallier's house

Ainsley and her Great Grandpa Gallier

Aunt Annie and Ainsley

At the airport on the way home. I had quite an adventure during my layover in Minneapolis. The airlines broke my friends stroller I was using. I had to change terminals, ride a train, and walk a really long distrance while trying to balance a stroller with three wheels and juggle three bags. It was a handful and I am sure I looked ridiculous. Luckily, the airline reimbursed me for the broken wheel so I could buy my friend Laura a new stroller....thanks Laura!