It's a......

Girl!!!!!  Yay! Ryan and Whitney found out on my birthday that they were expecting a girl!  Wahoo!  I can't even begin to explain how exciting this is!  A boy would have been great too, of course!  But a girl....Ansley and Brynn? will have so much fun together!

To show just how it all went down....here's a video of us at the gender reveal party (those of us who thought it would be a girl...Pam, Dale, Rene, me, and Ansley.  Those who thought boy...Rick, Agatha, and Jason).  Girl won!

Ansley Harper: 16 Months!

Well, it just keeps getting better and better!  Time spent with you is so precious and we love to watch your little personality blossom!  Everyday you learn something new and watching you figure this big world out makes our lives so fun!  You make our lives so full, Ansley!  

*You are such a little talker these days and echoing so many words we say!  You are pretty good at saying some new words like...please, outside, slide, I love you, baby, thank you, and daddy is your best!

*You are climbing everywhere you can.  Chairs are your favorite thing to climb on and many times there is a bump or a bruise involved, but most of the time a busted lip! 

*Going outside is one of your favorite things to do.  You love to play with your outdoor toys, take wagon rides to see the horses (and stick your finger in their noses!), and you still think it's the best thing in the world to visit with Alleigh (you like to tell her to sit). 

*You enjoy watching Barney and Blue's clues, especially when you're not feeling well or in the mornings.  This is usually when we get our snuggle time in...it's the only time you stay still enough to let us!

*You love to have music playing!  When we're in the car, if you're not talking to me, you want to be singing! It is so precious!

*Speaking of not feeling well, you had your first ear infection at 15 months.  It's been a doosy...we are still trying to fight it off.  You also just had your first stomach bug.  Daddy had to take care of you because mommy was sick too!  It was not a good night (we went through every sheet/blanket in the house)!

*Mrs. Cathy found a bubble bee outfit for your Halloween costume this year, which is absolutely fitting since you are buzzing around everywhere!  You looked pretty darn cute in it!  We wore it to your daddy's half Ironman race and also to the fall block party. 

*You love to blow bubbles with me on the porch and eat the playdoh when I'm not looking.

*We are having lots of fun in your playroom these days.  You could spend hours playing with your kitchen and shopping cart.  I'm pretty sure you will one day be a domestic diva!

*The sweetest thing is watching you give kisses...the smacking sound you make is too much!

*You can be really silly sometimes, flirting is what some may call it :).  You give the cutest grin and look out the sides of your eyes...you can pretty much get whatever you want when you do this!

You are a joy, Ansley!  We thank God daily for the gift he has given us!

Last Weekend's Fun Times!

 This weekend was a packed one!  It was homecoming weekend, so Saturday morning we rode on the St. Francis float.  Their theme this year was pink for breast cancer awareness month, so of course, we were all decked out in our pink.  Jason's coworkers and the SEMO baseball team rode on the float with us and it turned out to be a lot of fun!  The crowds went absolutely wild for the baseball boys!  I'm ashamed to say, I've never been to the homecoming parade, but I will say...the sorority/fraternitys get pretty creative with their floats.  Just seeing them was well worth the trip!

Jason and Ansley getting ready for the pink parade!

 The St. Francis crew

Excited for the floats!

The winning float

Jason, Ryan, and Mark Coots did a half Ironman on Sunday, which means they swam 1.5 miles, biked 65 miles, and ran 13.1 miles.  Can we say...crazy?!  I still can't believe they spent over 5 hours exercising without stopping.  They are serious!  Jason did it in 5 hours and 41 minutes, which he was really proud of.  He deserves to be proud of this tremendous accomplishment...he has trained for this for several months (almost every morning of the week he was up at 4:45 am to exercise).  Way to go, J!!!
 

Jason and Ansley before the big race! 

To see them come out of the water and stumble around was a pretty odd site.  It was as if they had stood up too fast!

He was pumped after a great swim!

Here comes Ryan!

Next up...the bike.

Ansley greeted Jason in her Halloween costume at the finish.

Kisses for daddy after a great race

Matt, Kristi, and Alex came to cheer them on and Ansley enjoyed seeing Alex.

After the race, we all headed to one of the fall block party's that our sunday school class put together. The Underwood's hosted the party outside their house with food, lots of candy, and a movie. Let me say, I've never seen so many kids in one neighborhood! It was such a great way to minister to the community! Here are a few pictures of the block party.

At the Halloween block party with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Whitney

These girls looked too cute in their wings!

This is where Ansley could be found for most of the night.  She loved to pull the ducks out of the water!

Did I mention her arms were soaked from the water?  Yes, yes...they were.  And can you tell...she loved it!

Ansley found Rhiannon and McKinsley's new puppy!

Charlie Brown Pumpkin was playing on a big screen...how sweet!

We had a packed weekend...full of fun and lots of memories!