racking up the sick days

The past week we have all been sick in the Stokes household, and the little one is the instigator. She woke up last Monday with a fever and a little cough. I thought it was just a cold, so we treated it as such. Well, after a long wait at the after-hours clinic we discovered it was bronchitis. Poor baby.  They gave us a nebulizer and sent us home.  We went for a follow-up on Monday and apparently every other child in the county was sick because it was standing room only in the waiting room.  After another really long wait, the Dr. said that although her lungs sound better, she will continue with this for another week or two. So, we have been sequestered for yet another week. Baby girl and I are really getting cabin fever! We can’t have guests or go anywhere because, according to the Dr., she is “super contagious still”. Awesome. Needless to say, we have been doing a whole lot of nothing here! I have had a great little helper with some cleaning.
This picture sums up how we have been feeling:

This is my cleaning assistant. Don’t worry…it is not clorox in the bottle, it is vinegar and water. We don’t even use chemicals to clean, just an old bottle.





Teddy Bear was reading her a story.

She takes after her momma…big feet! ha.

rantings of a SAHM....

I have to preface this with the fact that I love staying at home with my little girl. I am very blessed to do so, and trust me I know this. I count my blessings everyday! However, the thing about being a SAHM(stay-at-home-mom) is the fact that it can be very lonely. Let's face it, you can't really have deep conversation with a person whose vocabulary consists of about 30 words. While Dr. Seuss can work with 50 words, I just can't! The thing I miss most about being around people is healthy conversation and debate. I have a degree in Sociology, so let's just say I have a few opinions about things. So with that being said, I am going to put my opinion out there and I welcome your insights. The great thing about debate is the chance to learn something new from a different perspective.

I have a love for History, a love! I find it so fascinating the way cultures progressed and digressed and I am enthralled with interesting people. Growing up I took all the required classes in the topic and thought I knew quite a bit. Well, I was WRONG! It wasn't until college where I truly learned a lot about History. I learned that most History books that I read growing up were, shall we say, "sugar coated". I wasn't allowed to learn some of the gritty details that can make all the difference in the world. I thought that this was just me missing out, but it turns out to be very common. I will never forget when I was in my African American Studies class my Junior year in college when we started talking about this very topic. Another student in my class was a mother to an elementary-aged child, she was saying that her daughter brought home her History book and that inside it said that slaves came to America to "help". Help!? Are you serious?! I couldn't believe that! While some of you may say, well a child is too young to know. I think that is hogwash! Children are much smarter than we give them credit for, and in today's society they are exposed to so much more than even I was a child. How can a child respect um let's say the Civil War, if they thought slaves came to "help"? Now that is just one example of a multitude of others. I really could write a dissertation on this if given the opportunity. I just want to know what you think? Should we "white wash" our History to "protect" our children?

Recently, Huckleberry Finn was re-released with slave substituted for the N word. While I think the use of the N word is deplorable, I wonder if slave is appropriate. First of all Jim was not a slave, he was freed, so in that sense it is inappropriate. However, because of this substitution more classes will be incorporating this text into their curriculum. Is this just another example of us "white washing" something to appease everyone? How can we truly celebrate how far people have fought and come, if we don't know where they started from? Don't you think we are doing those courageous forerunners throughout History a disservice? Do we devalue the 13th amendment, if we teach that slavery wasn't all that bad, I mean they came to "help"?

I know that Ansley and our next one on the way, will be getting the whole picture. I want them to know what really happened so that they have a sense of respect for how far we have come. Anyway, I will get off of my soap box, for now. Tell me, what do you think?

dancing queen!

I will preface this video with a little background information. Ansley and I have "dance parties" during the day, and this has caused my little girl to develop a love for music and dance. I stated doing this with her because my mom did this with me and my sister. Our "dance parties" are some of my fondest memories from my childhood. After dinner we would turn on the music (our favorite was "Hey Mickey") and just rock out! I wanted to pass down this "tradition" to Ansley and she loves it! Well, Freddy got a new alarm clock for Christmas and yesterday we were sitting on the couch watching a movie when we heard something coming from our room. Freddy went in there and was laughing so hard. This is what we saw:

Ansley figured out how to turn on the music and started a dance party of her own. Freddy asked me if I showed her how to turn on the music and I assured him I did not. Folks, we have a genius on our hands, or a happy accident.

snow day!!

We had a snow day here in Augusta! We probably got about 3 inches between today and last night, but the kicker was the sleet that we had this morning. The nice fluffy snow was coated with about a half an inch of ice. That is not the ideal snow for playing in but we still went out anyway!

Shiraz and I experiencing the snow last night at 11.
Up? Ansley didn't like sitting in the snow.

Brushing the snow off of her boots. Little cutie pants.

Handling the big sheet of ice Daddy handed her.
This is what sits on top of the snow.

Snow butt.

a new year!!

I know a lot of people had a wonderful 2010, but for me it was the worst year of my life. While the year went quickly, it just couldn't seem to go quickly enough. And, the thing is, I don't really remember about half of it. That is one great thing about grief, it almost lets you forget the most painful time in your life. Everything is just such a blur that you can pick out a few great moments and just forget the rest. Well, with 2011 comes a sense of renewal for me. I am looking forward to what this year is going to bring. I am hopeful that great things are to come!

I have never really made resolutions, at least nothing I was serious about. You know, I made the cliche resolution to lose 5 lbs or whatever. This year instead of making a meaningless resolution, I decided to change my outlook on things. I am not going to get wrapped up in superficial things that fill my time, instead I am going to focus on being present in every moment. I want to be a better mother and wife. I want to remember all of the incredible things that happen to me. I just want to live and not go through the motions. I want to do things that are important, I want to say "no" to the million things that fill up my time and take away from my family. I had all of these revelations about 2 weeks ago. I was getting ready for Christmas, baking and cleaning and wrapping, checking all of these things off of a list and missing time with my family. Freddy was playing with Ansley and they were laughing and having a great time while I was checking off a list, and for what? Just to have a clean house, cookies and wrapped gifts that I won't remember next year? I want to be on the floor playing with my child and husband.

The thing that really got me thinking is the fact that we are having another little one! I'm pregnant again, and we are so blessed to be welcoming a little one in July. I can't wait to bring our baby home from the hospital and see Ansley interact with them. I want to free myself from all the superficial obligations that I place upon myself so that I can relish in the time I have with our growing little family. I really want to enjoy every minute with this baby. I want to hold it as much as I can and remember that newborn smell, because I have learned that life is fleeting and it passes you by before you know it.

So far, 2011 is looking bright! Tomorrow I will go to the Dr. and hear our little one's heart beat once again. I can't wait! Here I am at 12 weeks:

holiday overload!

I don't know about y'all, but I am so glad that the holidays are over. Between the parties, the shopping, the traveling, the decorating and so on, it just wears me out. We did A LOT of traveling for Christmas, well at least what seemed to be a lot of traveling. My mom and my grandparents came to our house on the 23 and 24 to see us, and then we left for my dad and Freddy's family on the 25th. So it was pretty busy and I was horrible and hardly took any pictures. I will fill you in on all the blanks. Basically, the holiday consisted of Ansley opening her many presents, very slowly I might add, from all of her adoring fans. By fans, I mean grandparents and great grandparents. Let me just say, the girl did not get shafted. She was immensely spoiled!! Let's see she got: a tricycle, a car(a toy one not a real one), a huge stuffed bear, two pairs of shoes, a toy camera, a magna doodle, about 10 books, clothes galore, and about 5 other things I can't remember. So, like I said, SPOILED. She loved opening the presents but we lost her after she opened one because she wanted to play with what she opened...naturally. Anyway, we had a great time being with our families, and stuffing our faces with delicious food. I mean, that is truly what the holidays are about right? So here are the few pictures I did take, and when I saw few I mean six. Opening presents at Pop's. This is what most of the trip looked like sitting in the car or playing with the Hello Kitty Pez dispenser.

She found her car.
Checking out all the presents with Gigi.

Chilling with her bear. The thing is HUGE!