Ainsley and Andrew

It has been a wonderful transition here at the Rankin household going from a family of three to a family of four. Ainsley has become a wonderful big sister and enjoys helping her little brother and spending time with him. Here are a few of mom's favorite moments that she has been able to capture with the two of us:

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

Here are a few of her favorite sayings:
Ainsley: "When will Andrew be able to say my name?"
Ainsley: "Isn't he so cute."
Ainsley: "Hey there little guy, it's okay. Big sister is here."
Ainsley: "Mom I did it, he's not crying." (After inserting the pacifier all on her own.)

Ainsley: "What's that he's drinking?"
Mom: "He's drinking mommy's milk. You use to drink it as a baby."
Ainsley: "Oh, I drink my milk now. I wouldn't like that."

Ainsley: Sings "Jesus Loves Me" to Andrew.
Ainsley: "Mom it's not working. He's not opening his eyes."
Mom: "It's okay, Andrew is just sleeping. You can still sing."
Ainsley: "I'll do it louder."
Ainsley: "It's working! He's opening his eyes."

Happy 3rd Birthday Ainsley

It's been an ongoing party around here since the arrival of my brother, Andrew, and in the midst of it all we've been celebrating my birthday as well. On Saturday, January 17th, we had a "mini" party with my favorite food, Pizza, and a blue cake. Yes, a really blue cake. Blue (and red) have become my favorite colors as of late. I don't know how dad found the cake, but he did and I was so excited. Our whole family enjoyed blue cake, blue teeth, blue tongues...you get the picture.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

On my birthday, mom's good friend Mrs. Douglas picked me up and took me to play group! (Mom wasn't quite ready for a big outing like that.) To my surprise, my play group friends had planned a birthday celebration for me at Tunnel Voyage. Complete with chocolate donuts, popcorn, and juice boxes (more of my favorite foods)! It was so nice to celebrate with my friends.

This coming weekend, we'll celebrate my birthday with the real party! My whole family will be here and mom's getting ready for the big celebration, I can't wait! Stay tuned for an update on the party and my life as a three year old. (I'm still getting used to saying that!) Mom is too!

First Bath

I had my first bath at home today, January 18th. It took mom awhile to set everything up, but she jumped right in and went for it. This was not the way it went for her when she gave my sister Ainsley her first bath. I heard all about it before hand, there were tears with Ainsley. So I was sure to make it an easy go for her. Yes, there was crying, but there was no peeing! I thought that was a pretty good effort on my part.

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

My favorite part of the bath was getting my hair washed.

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

This is a good thing since I have so much of it! It turns out that my hair is even more blond then we all thought. It sure does feel good to be clean.

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

Update on Andrew and Family

Here's a quick update for everyone on what's going on with Andrew and the rest of the Rankin family. Given that Mom has von Willebrand's disease, the doctors kept a close eye on her. However, on Friday she was released from the hospital around noon, so we all got to come home.

Upon getting home, Ainsley and I both needed our diapers changed at the same time. Mom took me, and Dad took Ainsley. Turns out Mom got the short-end of the stick as I decided to practice being a fireman when Mom had my diaper off. Good thing she changed me in the kitchen because hardwood floors are much easier to clean than carpet. Dad and Mom both had a good laugh over it though, so no harm no foul. (They'd better laugh considering that's not the last time that will happen.)

I didn't sleep the best on Friday night, but since then I've been getting better. Ainsley has been a fantastic big sister, as she loves to give me hugs and say "Isn't he so cute." Ainsley even sleeps all through the night when I'm crying, so that's good news. Well, time to eat, so until next time.

—Andrew

Andrew Tyndale Rankin's Birth

I'd like to introduce you to my new little brother—Andrew Tyndale Rankin. Andrew was born yesterday, January 14th, at 6:17AM. I was very shocked woke up yesterday to find Mom and Dad gone and Papa and Gigi at our house. When mom called to tell me that the baby had come, my shock was twofold since 1) I fully expected the baby to come on the due date, which is also my birthday, January 19th, and 2) I really thought that the baby would be a little sister even though no one but God and the sonographer knew prior to the delivery.

After recovering from my initial shock that she was a he, I warmed up to the idea of having a little brother. It was especially nice that Andrew had a gift for me when I arrived at the hospital to meet him. New crayons and a Curious George sticker book are always appreciated.

Since I know that he's here to stay, I decided to sit down and hold him. Below is a picture of the two of us. At 7 lbs 2.4 oz birth weight, Andrew was only 0.6 oz. lighter than when I was born. However, he was a little longer than me at 20.2 inches, while I was 19.5 inches. I think that he has the same nose that I do, although he has a lot more hair than I did and it's so blond that it's almost white. It must be pretty rare to be born with so much hair and for it to be so blond, since all the nurses know him as the blond baby.

From Blogger Pictures

Legos, Legos, Legos

I love blocks! For Christmas, Papa and Gigi, got me a 300 piece mega set of a Lego variation. And, while putting away the Christmas decor in our garage, dad found his old Legos and brought them in from the cold. We've been building every night since! It gives mom great joy to see us constructing, it also helps that I've been doing this activity on my own quietly for about 2 hours a day now. I like mom to just sit, watch, and assist with tear down once in a while. I see more Legos in my future.

I really like my dad's Legos those. He likes to build the the space ships. I like to make my versions of rockets. We're working on the idea of sharing pieces with each other. This is a difficult concept for both of us when we are on task.

From The Rankin Family

The Count Down

Happy New Year to all! It's hard to believe that we're in 2009, I'm almost 3 years old, and the baby will be here in 19 days (give or take)! So, the count down has begun for my birthday and Baby Rankin's arrival. Mom's frantically trying to get prepared, we still don't know if both car seats will fit in the back, Christmas is still up, my baby book isn't up to date, and the list goes on. I'm really thankful for all of my new art supplies, blocks, dress-up clothes, and play dogs that I got for Christmas as mom is trying to be very productive each day now. But, she's making sure I still get to do all of our fun daily stuff together and spending quality time with me.

First up in 2009 for me is potty training and learning to be a big sister. Stay tuned, mom will frequently update the blog with these exciting events on the horizon. She's really hoping potty training will be a breeze since I've been so insistent that I'm going to accomplish this on my birthday.

We hope that your New Year is as exciting as ours!

Artist at Work

My first painting experience! I've been waiting and waiting to try the paints out that go with the new art easel. Mom has a sheet out in the middle of our family room and the easel is on top. So I've been playing with chalk, drawing with crayons, and using dry erase markers because the paint was just too messy. But she's finally ready and here comes the paint!

From The Rankin Family

My favorite color is blue and that's all I wanted to paint with. I'm into circles, eyes, and just drawing lines. I'm happy with my faces and the lines make up my maps. I take the maps with us in the car on our trips and am learning my directions really well. I'm not real fond of having to wear a smock but this is a must with the poster paints.

From The Rankin Family

Overall, mom has been a good sport with all of the creativeness I'm expressing. She's just hoping that I continue to follow directions and all of my artwork stays on the easel and paper.

Christmas Round One, Two, and Three

Merry Christmas everyone! After a wonderful Christmas Eve with church and all of my grandparents, I actually slept in a little for mom and dad. Had I known what was waiting for me downstairs, they may not have gotten the reprieve. Our stockings were full and there were a few presents for me under the tree and I was so excited to get started.

From The Rankin Family

I got to help mom and dad open their stockings, my stockings, and then I opened my small gifts. I got a lot of art related supplies to go with what is now my favorite activity. An art easel! It's out in the center of our family room now and it's the first thing I play with each morning.

From The Rankin Family

After a wonderful morning with just mom and dad, we headed over Papa and Gigi's hose for Christmas part two. We got there for breakfast (cookies and some healthy items, but I liked the cookies) and started opening some more presents! I got t help everyone and was very interested in playing with each item for awhile before moving on. (Mom really enjoyed seeing me appreciate each and every item and there was no rushing.)

From The Rankin Family

Trying out some more new art things. Mom says I get my creative art streak from her. Dad seems to agree.

I had a few wow gifts this year. Wow gift one, my new puppies (Bella and Bean). Aunt Trish got me a whole ensemble for the puppies. This set came with a stroller, back pack, carrier, and dog bed. I've had a lot of fun feeding, tending, and pushing my new friends around. Mom says it's good practice for what's coming in the New Year.

From The Rankin Family

Christmas part three began after my nap, what a busy day! We went over to Aunt Markie's and Uncle David's for Christmas with Nana, granddad, my cousins, and my aunts and uncle. Nana and granddad got me this really cool bean bag for my new big girl room. I read there now each day before my bed times. It's pretty big for me and almost swallows me up! I'm usually not this serious, but I'm starting to listen to stories and become much more intrigued by similar items.

From The Rankin Family

And here is wow two, Aunt Katherine got my cousin Chanie and me the same gift, a princess dress up trunk! I like to layer the dresses, Chanie was really into the jewels. We wore the dresses for the rest of the night playing tea party and doing other little girl things. Dad's been a good sport and has been known to pretend to be a prince for me and help me dance.

From The Rankin Family

I'm a very blessed little girl to have been able to spend my entire day with all of my family, full of love and excitement, and the joy of a few gifts in between.

Early Christmas

I had an early Christmas surprise from mom and dad this year. My dad has been playing hockey and for his birthday, mom and I got him hockey skates. I had been talking about ice skating since the moment I saw those shiny blades. On Monday, my prayer for ice skates was answered and dad even took me ice skating!

Here I am opening my brand new, double runner figure skates complete with pink laces. They are a little bit big for me now, but mom and dad said that I will grow into them. We'll just use double socks for the time being.

From The Rankin Family

Here I am opening my new helmet. Safety first on the ice. I helped pick it out, my favorite color right now is blue. Mom says I can use this helmet in the spring/summer too for our bike rides.

From The Rankin Family

Ready to skate!

From The Rankin Family

Out on the ice!

From The Rankin Family

Many thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Hausmann for letting us all come over for this early Christmas. They have an ice skating rink right out in their front yard that Mr. Hausmann built. That's where dad will play hockey this winter. It even has lights! Between their horses and now the ice rink, this is one of my most requested trips.

Evidence of dad playing hockey.

From The Rankin Family

Snow Bound

Well, the snow has really been flying here today. I couldn't wait to get out there and really give my new snow suit a try. The snow wasn't quite right for snowman, but it worked great for snow angels and a hike in the woods with my dad.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

My favorite though was just playing around. I loved rolling, digging, and running in the snow. The ground sure seems softer with all this padding and the fluffy snow. Mom watched me purposefully falling down every once in awhile just for the fun of it and got quite a kick out of it.

From The Rankin Family

It was pretty cold out there for both mom and me. When we came in we had rosy cheeks and cold feet. So, mom told me there's nothing like warming up in front of the fire and a good cup of hot cocoa (and chocolate donut). I even got to use a grown up hot chocolate mug. It was my first effort with a no lid cup and I did great!

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

Giving the Tree a Trim

We got up our tree this year with much help from Aunt Trish. Thanks Aunt Trish! It was fun to get all of the decorations up at once and mom let me hang all of the special ornaments on the tree myself. I even got to hear a special story about each ornament.

From The Rankin Family

The finished product!

From The Rankin Family

Since the tree has been up, I've enjoyed pointing to each ornament and repeating the story. I have also enjoyed seeing how much my hands have grown each year and frequently put my hands down on the tree skirt. Mom's got me hand prints from this year to add and we've talked about how there will be a new set of hand prints that our smaller than mine next year.

First Snow, 2009

It's winter here, that's for sure, and the snow is beginning to fall to the ground. Mom got me all bundled up and I went out to see the snow. You'll see I have winter crocs on, stay tuned for posts with boots, the weatherman says we'll be needing them in a week. It sure was cold, but I loved trying to catch the snowflakes with my hands.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

I can't wait for enough snow to fall to build snowman and snow angels. I talk about that and going for a walk in the woods to find animal footprints all the time. This could be a challenge for mom, so we'll have to call for some reinforcements when the time is right.

Mom stayed in the garage while snapping these photos. Baby is growing more and more each day and mom can't button her winter jacket all the way. Even with dad's fleece under her jacket, I think mom and baby were pretty cold. Speaking of baby, we received the good news from the Dr. that mom's placenta previa has moved. In fact, it moved the full distance necessary for mom to go full term and have a regular delivery. SO, baby may share my birthday with me after all!

Big Girl Room, Big Girl Bed

Well, it's official. After having my room semi-ready since March, I have finally decided to make it my own instead of just "The Pink Room". Mom's been telling me for about a week now that I can let her know when I'm ready to sleep in my big girl bed and today was the day, October 24th, 2009! (Yes, I'm a bit behind in posting this.)

Here I am taking my very first nap in my new bed.

From The Rankin Family

Some details on how it has been going. After a rough wake up and climbing out of my bed without permission from mom, I finally got this down and agreed to mom's rules. Stay in bed till I open your door. There was no negotiating on this though I tried my hardest for about 40 minutes that day. We've been very successful since that day in following the rules, taking naps, and sleeping mostly through the night. My wake up schedule has been a little off and mom doesn't think my quality of sleep has been quite the same yet, but we've had no relapses and we continue to press forward with the move.

Here's a couple pictures of my completed room. Mom refinished the bed for me, it's an antique and took her a lot longer than she had hoped. Papa helped her with the painting and some of the sanding. The dresser was my mom's when she was little, she's updated it a bit and made me some hand-painted knobs for it too that match my room perfect! And then there's my reading corner, my favorite. Thanks Nana for my bookcase! I'm hoping to get a chair at some point, but right now I love to lay on my rug and read with the butterflies.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

Monday Mom's Play Group

Here is a rare picture of all of the kids in our "Monday Mom's" play group.

From The Rankin Family

Mom started this play group back in the spring and it was and is a combination of our friends from the library and gymnastics. We've got a pretty steady group now and even more exciting is the fact that we'll be adding 3 new babies to the group in the next 3-4 months. So with that, we celebrated the new ones on the way with a baby shower!

From The Rankin Family

Here's a rare picture of mom from the side. Check out that baby, it's sure making mom's belly big! (And yes, that's a fork in her hand, the chocolate cake was amazing!)

From The Rankin Family