happy birthday aunt shelly!

Today is my sister Michelle's birthday! She is an old fart at the ripe old age of 29. ha! I am so proud to call you my sister! You are so brave and never complain...you are the bravest person I know! We love you Shelly, and we hope this year brings healing for you!

sore loser

Today I am so sore and a loser!! Sore because I worked out with my friend Corey (the trainer) twice this week, and a loser because I lost 1.5 lbs this week!! Yay! Off to a pretty good start. I have been surprised at how well I have been doing with getting up at 5:30 to work out. The food is another story. It is a struggle everyday. Being home all day is awful for a diet. All I want to do is munch and munch, but I have been resisting. Freddy made cake balls this weekend and I only had 3, which is a big deal for me! This week I was looking through a Jillian Micheals book that I bought a year and a half ago, when I thought I was fat and needed to lose weight. What was I thinking? In the front there is a space to write your "before" measurements. Let me just tell you I read those and thought I was an idiot for ever thinking I was fat!! Back then I had a 26" waist, 34" bust, 38" hips and was a size 2/4. Today, after my angel Ansley, I have a 31" waist, 42" bust, and 42" hips and I am not going to tell you what size I am. I can't believe I thought I was big then!! Boy will I appreciate my body more from now on!!

On another note, I am going to preface this with the statement: I love my baby girl more than anything and would not trade a thing in the world for her!! With that being said, I am going to gripe a little. After going through pregnancy your body changes so much and it is a little hard to accept sometimes. Right after I had her I got all these bumps all over my thighs and forearms, and nothing seems to be helping the ones on my legs! It looks awful! Also, these past few weeks my hair has been falling out in clumps! Yikes! Talk about something that will put a little scare in ya. Finally, my feet have gotten bigger! I talked to my dr. this week and he said if they haven't gone back down by now they probably will stay this big. Ok, let me tell you that my feet were big to start with, I wore a size 10.5 and now I wear a size 11! Man, if I have any more kids I am going to have to special order my shoes. With all that griping out of the way, let me emphasize that I love my baby and would do it again in a heart beat, and also that I am so blessed to have a healthy body. But, sometimes a girl has to vent a little.

4 months old!!

Ansley is 4 months old today! These have been the fastest 4 months of my life! I can't believe how much she has grown and how deeper my love for her grows. I can't wait to see what is to come, but this is what she has been up to recently:

• She is such a great sleeper! She averages 10-12 hours a night and takes 2 or 3 really good naps during the day. I guess she gets that from her momma, because I could sleep about 16 hours if you let me.
• She is such a morning person. She gets so excited when I walk in to wake her up in the morning. She is a jabber box for about the first hour that she is up in the morning.
  
• She is a little piglet! She eats about 30-32 oz a day!! I love all of her little rolls and those big chubby cheeks! She especially does NOT like it when you take her bottle away to burp her. She has to calm down after a few minutes of protesting just to burp!
  
• She loves to smile and is one of the happiest babies! She has started to really laugh a lot!
  
• She is beginning to sit up out of her bouncy seat. She loves to see what is going on around her.
  
• We call her our little koala bear because she will grip onto you like nobody's business, and she loves to perch herself on you side so that she can observe.
  
• She is becoming a bit of a drama queen. She gets very frustrated when she doesn't get her way or can't do something that she is trying to do. She makes sure that you know it when she is upset, leaning back and putting her hands behind her head when she cries.
  
• She has rolled over from her stomach to her back and from her back to her stomach, but once she figured it out she didn't like it and hasn't rolled to her stomach since.
  
• She loves music, especially classical and somewhat sings along to it.
  
• She is such a GREAT traveler! She sits in her sit like a little lady and doesn't complain one bit.
  
• She is such a big girl, weighing around 16 pounds and wearing size 6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.
  
• She has discovered her hands and they are always in her mouth. As is everything else that she can hold-it goes straight to the mouth!

Ansley, I have learned so much in the past 4 months. You have made me so happy, and we are so blessed to have you as our daughter. I can't wait for all of the months to come, as I know you are going to teach me as much as I will teach you! I love you baby girl!

workin' on my fitness

I never could have imagined how hard it has been to lose the pregnancy weight. I always heard, 'oh you will lose it breastfeeding' or 'it will just fall right off'. Those are lies! I guess it doesn't help that when I was pregnant I ate like a 300 pound linebacker and proceeded to gain over 70 pounds! So, now that I am done breastfeeding I have started watching what I am eating, but that has been extremely difficult. I have had horrible eating habits for a year now and it is harder to break than I would have thought. Well, this morning at 5:30 I went to the gym to work out! It was not as difficult as I thought and I feel so much better than when I left. I am making a commitment to myself to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight by my birthday(April 10). I have 40 pounds to lose and I think 4 months is reasonable. I just have to get back to the healthy mindset I had before I was pregnant. Plus, I would love to get back into my cute pre-baby-body wardrobe that is currently residing in my guest room closet!

mr. & mrs. stokes go to washington

Freddy and I took a trip (just the two of us) to Washington for a few days. Initially we were just going to go overnight for my grammy's funeral, but we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. We got back on Tuesday night and I was so so excited to see my baby! Well, unfortunately she didn't share the same sentiment. She got the biggest frown on her face and was looking around for my mom. I can't believe it, I carried her for nine months, have been with her everyday for four months, and I am gone for 3 days and she forgets who I am!! Needless to say, she has remembered who I am and it is all good now. This is the longest we have been gone from her, and I was proud of myself! I didn't cry once and I only called about every 4 hours :)! We had such a great time touring the city for a day, eating out, and reconnecting as a couple. I must say though, it was a bit weird without baby girl. It's funny because you don't really realize how many strollers are around until you are a parent. I swear we saw so many strollers and little kids, I just think we never noticed them before we were in the same boat. As fun as it was to get away I couldn't wait to get back home. Since then, I have been trying to catch up with everything around the house, because it looked like a hurricane hit! I finally got the fall decorations down so that I can put the Christmas decorations up this weekend. Better late than never!!
My christmas gift from Freddy! ha ha!
Our yummy lunch at the Smithsonian. Look at the size of those desserts would ya?!
Freddy's big dino cookie from lunch at the Smithsonian.

a little r&r!!

So after a long day yesterday we drove home from St. Mary's last night and got home around midnight. Our little one had such a fun-filled day yesterday that she just didn't want to nap! So, that meant we had one tired baby on our hands. She slept the entire way home (4 hours) and then slept until 9:30 this morning!! That is a total of 13.5 hours folks! This is what we saw when we went to check on her this morning.



She has discovered laying on her side!! What a smarty pants, and how cute is she?! After she had some breakfast Daddy told me to come in our room and look at something, so I walk in and this is what I see.
She was tucked into our bed, how cute? I just couldn't resist cuddling with my little angel so I hopped into bed with her. Well, she got a little kick out of it and started to just giggle uncontrollably. She rolled over and we just laughed at each other. I love that little girl so much I feel like my heart will just burst any second!!

Today we are just going to relax and soak up every second with our precious angel, because we are going to Washington, DC tomorrow. My grammy is going to be buried with my grampy in Arlington National Cemetery. The funeral is on Monday, so we decided to make a mini vacation out of it because I have never seen the city, just Arlington. My mom is coming down today and is going to stay with Ansley from Saturday to Tuesday and she is in hog heaven!! We are going to miss Ansley so much, but it will also be nice to enjoy some alone time with my handsome and wonderful hubs!!

I will be back with lots of pictures on Wednsday! See ya then!!

turkey day

We set out on Wednesday to visit our families in south Georgia for turkey day. My dad lives about an hour north of Freddy's parents who live right on the Georgia/Florida border. We stayed at my Dad's on Wednesday night and had some of the best fried shrimp in Georgia!! They cook it right after they catch it! Yummy!! So yesterday morning after Thanksgiving breakfast with my Dad we left for Freddy's parents house in St. Mary's. It was a busy day of eating and catching up with family. Grandma and Grandpa had a lot of friends who wanted to meet baby girl, so we made a lot of house calls. We had a great time seeing everyone, and Ansley loved seeing her Pop, Aunts, Grandma and Grandpa!!We are so thankful for all of our wonderful families. I am especially thankful for my baby girl and my wonderful, amazing, loving husband! I am so blessed!

photo shoot time!

My wonderful friend Jessica came to visit for the day from Atlanta on Tuesday. It was so great to catch up with her! Jessica, being the fabulous friend and photographer she is, decided that she would do a little photo shoot for us. Well, miss Ansley was not too keen on the idea, as she was a little grumpy that afternoon. I still think Jess got some great pictures of her, and while she had crying breaks our cat, Shiraz, stepped in. He is such a good model. Here are a few of the wonderful pictures! Thanks again Jess!! We love you!

bye bye boobies!!

Well, Ansley has decided she is done with nursing. It all started with getting my tooth pulled. I was put under sedation and was unable to breastfeed for 24 hours, so I had pumped a lot so that she could be satisfied. Well, after that my supply started to fade even more than before. I tried everything and it was not meeting miss Ansley's needs. Thus, I have been supplementing with formula for the past 2 weeks. She has gotten so used to the bottle because we were giving her the formula or the pumped milk during the day, but I would still nurse her in the morning. Well, she was DONE with that last week. I didn't realize how emotional I would be about not nursing anymore. I don't even remember the last time I nursed her and that makes me sad, because I know I would have savored it more if I knew it would be the last time!So now, I am still pumping but am not getting much. I hope to give her one bottle of breast milk a day as long as I can. On the bright side, this means I can start dieting and exercising like I want. Those who say that you drop all the weight breastfeeding lie! Or at least it didn't work for me, I was hungrier and I couldn't work out like I am used to because it affected my supply so much.

I had been having so many mixed emotions about breastfeeding. I know that it is the best thing for her, but it has not been the best thing for me. I have been struggling with it the entire time! From the beginning when she gave me blisters, to over abundant supply, to lack of supply. It has been hard, and no one seems to tell you how hard it truly is. I have wanted to stop for a while but guilt has kept me going. Now, my body and my baby have pretty much decided for me. My little girl is very content with formula and she has transitioned flawlessly. However, I still feel that guilt that I am not providing what's best for her, but it is what I can provide her now so I just have to deal with it. To all those mothers who can go a year with no problems, you are my heroes and I applaud you. I don't know how you do it, but hopefully the next time around I will do better.

roll over, roll over!

So, Ansley has not liked being on her stomach since the day she was born. I think that it hurts her reflux really bad, and just churns all that acid into her esophagus. So, after the screaming while on the tummy and the screaming for 30 minutes after I became a bit reluctant to do tummy time. Well, baby girl hasn't had tummy time for about a month because of this. So, today Daddy put her on her tummy while I was out of the room, and as I walk in I see our little one ROLL OVER!!!!! We were so excited I think we may have scared her. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, we put her on her belly again, but this time we put her arm down by her side. Well, wouldn't you know our little genius pulled her arm up and rolled over again!! It was amazing! Never did I think that I would be so excited to see someone roll over. Our little girl is beginning to show her personality, and when she doesn't like something she either gets frustrated or does something about it. So, no more tummy time for her, she will be rolling over before that happens!!

where do I start?

Holy cow!! It has been WAY too long since I have blogged. We have been very busy here at the Stokes household, so I have not had a chance to sit down and let you in on all of the happenings. I guess I will start from Nana and Pawpaw's. We went to visit them about three weeks ago, and let me tell you Ansley has a new biggest fan-Pawpaw!! Man he was smitten! They were so cute together, they would just hang out together in Pawpaw's recliner and watch everything that was going on. We had a great time visiting and being in the beautiful mountains.



After that trip, Gigi came home with us so that she could recover from her neck surgery. We really enjoyed having her here for a whole week! That was when Ansley first started to giggle and Gigi was the only one who could make her laugh! That has since changed as our little girl is a giggling fool (which I absolutely LOVE!). During that week Grandpa Stokes came for a short visit while he was in town. Since then we have also been to Atlanta and back. I had a tooth pulled, and was also sick. Sheesh! It has been a busy 3 weeks. I will try to be better about it from now on.

Road Trip!!

Daddy left today for a business meeting in Charlotte, and he will be gone until Wednesday night. Mommy said that she didn't want to be here all alone, so she decided that we would go up to the mountains and visit Nana and G-pops. She is very excited to see the pretty leaves and all the beautiful scenery. Gigi is also going to be there because she is recovering from her surgery she had last week. She is supposed to come home with us on Wednesday to stay with us while she feels better. Everybody is very excited to see me so I am sure Mommy will take loads of pictures and post them when we get home. See you then!
Love,
Ansley

Happy Halloween!!

I can't tell you how excited I have been to see my precious little angel in her costume!! I have been waiting for over a month, and she did not disappoint! She is the CUTEST little leopard ever!! See for yourself:
Cutest little booger! I could just snack on those cheeks for hours. You mean I don't get this candy? I have to give it away?

Cute little tail!!

Playing with her new toy, which she absolutely loves!!

Passed out from all the fun!

We were extra excited this year not only because it was Ansley's first Halloween, but because we had trick-or-treaters!! Last year we bought all this candy but only had two little ones. This year we had so many that we ran out! Freddy was very excited because he never really had that many people come to his house growing up. His dad would hide in the bushes with a chainsaw and scare all the kids away. It was so great seeing all the little ones! They were so precious, but not as cute as our little leopard!! Now we are watching the Tech game, hoping that we don't lose to Vandy! That would definitely be a trick, not a treat!! We hope that you had a safe and fun Halloween!!

new wally world

So today was the grand opening of a new wal-mart down the street from our house. I have been very excited about it opening for quite some time. Something I NEVER would have imagined I would ever admit to in my entire life! You see- I am a Target girl,I love everything about it. The clothes, the home stuff, the holiday decorations-EVERYTHING!! I have, however, moved to Augusta and my shopping standards have lowered DRAMATICALLY. My husband was in shock when I said I was excited to have a wal-mart this close to our house. Nevertheless, I loaded up baby girl and we made our way to wally world. Oh my lord!!! What a nightmare!! It was crowded beyond belief, I didn't realize everyone else was as excited as I was. Well, needless to say we did not stay very long.

After that we hit up the new food lion down the street. I never go there either, but hey I guess I am branching out. We got a coupon in the mail for $10 off so I figured why not. Well, I got a killer deal!! I got 5 packages of chicken, 1 package of steak, a HUGE box of brown rice, and 2 packages of Lays for $19!! Man, I love a good deal!!

So for the rest of the day, we will be chillin at home cleaning and playing the afternoon away.

new favorite!

So baby girl has been a little fussy this week due to my lack of supply. Well, I seem to be up and running again thanks to the Fenugreek. Thank you lord! So now I am finally keeping up with my hungry little hippo, and she is A LOT less fussy. Well, during the fussiness we re-discovered a toy that Aunt Shelly had given to me at my baby shower, and let me tell you it is a HIT!!! Ansley absolutely loves it. It is a little sea horse whose belly lights up and plays music. If she is ever a little fussy we turn that thing on and she is mesmerized and usually goes right to sleep. So from all of us: THANK YOU AUNT SHELLY!!! Here is our little angel loving on her new bestie!

small group

Last night we had our small group over to our house. It was so much fun because it gave me the opportunity to go a little crazy with Halloween(my FAVORITE holiday). I made lots of fun treats including spider and mummy cupcakes, and cake balls. Freddy loved the cake balls so much he made himself sick. My hubby loves his sweets!!!


Here is the table spread. So many cupcakes!! I didn't even set out all of them.

My cute little spiders. I made the eyes with marshmallows and m&ms, the legs with pull and peel twizzlers, and the hairy bodies are sprinkles. Aren't they cute?

These are the cute little mummies. They are made with m&ms as the eyes, then I took a baggie and filled it with icing to make it look like bandages. These were really easy and I love the result.


The cake balls are super easy to make, and they were a hit!! All you do is follow the directions for a box cake as you would normally, then while it is still warm you crumble the cake into a bowl and mix in a tub of frosting. You let that mixture cool in the fridge for about an hour. Then you melt almond bark, and roll the balls in the chocolate. You can pick any combination of cake and icing that you want. We picked yellow cake with fudge frosting and chocolate bark. Delicious!

out and about

Yesterday Ansley and I were out and about the majority of the afternoon. Once again she was great, but the funny thing is when the wind blows it scares her. I don't know why, but it cracks me up every time. We had to run to GNC to get some Fenugreek, to help increase my milk supply so that I can keep up with my little hungry hippo!! Then we went to the library and got some good books and DVDs. When we came back, my little girl did something amazing-she sat up. It didn't last very long, but it did last long enough to get a picture. She is getting so big!


Today, after our morning walk we had more errands. We dropped Daddy off at the gym, and ran around town. We decided to surprise Daddy with his favorite-Chick fil a after the gym. I know, it kind of defeats the purpose of going to the gym, but he enjoyed it. Now we are just working around the house and watching Tech play. It is a beautiful fall day, and we hope you are enjoying it as much as we are!!