It was a pretty hilarious morning at the Stephens household...

"Mom, I definitely want to smile for you, but I always forget to hold both sides of my mouth up at the same time..."

On the eve of her 7th birthday, with her most important things: Madeline doll and her favorite feline, Chloe.

Kind of dark, but you get the gist of it...

7 weeks old

Sophie's 7th birthday

Ainsley has Girl Scouts to anticipate, just like big sis!

Ainsley performs.

Cousin Vanessa & Ainsley!

Ainsley's first hike

Ainsley had her first hike this weekend - a short one.  During Member Weekend at the Ozark Natural Science Center, we packed her in the Baby Bjorn and took her to the King's River overlook. 

What a great afternoon with fun families and plenty of kids ages 4 - 9 all on the hunt for bald eagles.  It was a perfect, sunny, crisp November day.

 Ainsley's first hike

 The Boyer Clan + Stan

 Naima Montacer

 Sophie & Lily

 Our fam

 Taylor, Sophie & Lily

 Ainsley snuggled up

Grant - LOVE this cute pic.

She already hates me for this bow...

Ainsley update

So, some of you may know we were a bit concerned about Ainsley's weight gain.  As all babies do, she had dropped from her initial birth weight of 8 pounds 13 ounces to 8/4, but did not seem to be gaining it back at first.

Well, rest assured that issue is resolved and she is an enthusiastic grazer (and sleeper) like the rest of her family.  She gained over a pound in one week!  I would not like the results if I gained 10% of my body weight in one week.  And, I love how opposing our weight goals are currently - I wish I were having as much success as her with my regular weigh-ins.

Anyway, Dr. Schroeder gave us the seal of approval so we no longer have to go in for all these doctor appointments and have carte blanche until the eight week check-up later this month.

All is well.  :)

I love that this child is a thumb sucker. :)

Ainsley was super excited about her first Halloween... clearly. She immediately slept right through it.