easter!!

Easter was a pretty rough day, but it was made easier because both my mom and dad came up to visit. My mom came on that Thursday so we got to spend a lot of fun time together. My dad came the day of. After church we were all hungry and I didn't cook, so we decided to go have Mexican. What doesn't say Easter like Mexican?! I think that is a tradition we may keep. :) Growing up we always did Easter egg hunts, even until we were in college! Being that Ansley can't walk yet we decided to nix that tradition this year, and pick it up next year. My sister LOVED the hunts, and I think she was the one who insisted on having them even when we were older. She would say that we had to have them until my cousin Brianna graduated high school, which made us 22, 20, and 26! This was the first holiday with out her and it was very hard, but seeing my little girl in her cute little dress brightened my day. I can't wait to see her face next year when her Easter basket is outside her door and as she goes hunting for eggs!!!

All the ladies, Me, Ansley and Gigi

Mommy and Ansley

Daddy and his princess

Family picture:

Take 1Take 2
Take 3

i'm back, finally!

So, I have taken a brief hiatus from the blog world for obvious reasons. Ansley is growing like a weed, and it takes all my energy just to get out of bed, let alone take care of my precious baby girl. I am still grieving for Shelley and will be for quite a while, but life keeps on going and nothing reminds me of that more than my little one. She has been VERY busy. She mastered crawling, and pulling up like a champ! Now, she is getting brave and moving from object to object. I see walking in our future soon, and I don't know how I feel about that. She has definitely developed her personality and let me tell you, this girl is a mess! She is such a social butterfly when we go to the store or out to eat, she just loves attention. She also likes getting her way, and when she doesn't she pitches a fit...I mean full out drama queen! The other day I just had to laugh because I told her not to get into the fire place (for obvious reasons), and when she kept trying to go over there I would stop her. Well, she did NOT like that at all and just sat on the rug in front of the fire place and wailed. She is very strong willed but also such a happy baby. We get so many laughs and smiles with those two little teeth. She melts my heart and always seems to know when I need one of those teethy grins. Here are a few pictures of what she has been up to for the past month.Hoarding her pacies, she doesn't like to share.

Sweet girl resting her head on me, she NEVER does this, she is not a cuddler, she is a wiggle worm, but you better believe I loved every second of it. (By the way she doesn't match bc it was laundry day)


Too cool for school.
Standing like a big girl.
Standing for the first time at my Nana and Pawpaw's.

Too cute for words, I would say.


Always trying to find a teething ring, she is very resourceful.

angels among us

The angels among us organization supports the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke Univeristy. It is an organization that researches, and treats patients with brain tumors. Brain tumors are very nasty, and quite hard to beat. However, in honor of my sister, our family will be participating in a 5K to help raise money. My sister's team name is Michelle's Avalanches (for her love of hockey), and if you would like to sponsor us we would be honored. The website is www.angelsamongus.org when you get to the main page on the left side there is a tab named "team list" scroll down a bit to the teams registered and from there it is alphabetical. Shelly fought this horrible disease with everything she had. We are doing this so that no other beloved daughter and sister has to die of this horrible disease at 29. Thank you for all of your support during this trying time. I never imagined how hard it was going to be.!

grief stricken

On February 28, my sister passed on after a long battle with brain tumors. She fought hard for so many years and endured so much pain. All the while she would be happy, have a huge smile and just enjoy life. I am empty inside. The loss was very sudden, we were told we would have 4-6 months. I guess God had other plans. The only thing that gives me comfort is knowing that she is no longer in excruciating pain. My sister was my hero and my best friend. I don't know how I will go through life without her encouragement, love and contagious laugh. I just want one more bone crushing hug, I want another text asking me how my day was and to give Ansley a big kiss, I want her to see Ansley grow up, I want to watch Bones with her one more time, I want her back. I know that is selfish, but this all seems like a horrible nightmare. Shelly lived like no one I know. She did anything to pursue her dreams, she always told you how much she loved you, and she fought...she fought for her life, for what she believed in, for who she loved. Shelly...I don't know how we will go on with out you, but I know that you are here with us. I feel your presence when I am with your baby girl Ansley, please watch over my baby, keep her safe. You are so loved and so so missed. My heart breaks when I see reminders of you. I love you sissy and miss you like crazy!!

valentine's day!

So while my mom and sis were here last weekend, we decided to have a fun dinner. My mom and I scoured my house looking for stuff that looked festive. It was so much fun, and I think we did a pretty good job! I had these xmas lights that had gold hearts so I took them off and scattered them on the table. Then, I had these pink peonies that we used as the centerpiece. Finally, I hung hearts from our chandelier that Freddy made for me before we were married. They all have a reason why he loves me on the back, he is so sweet!! Also,we had so much fun at dinner playing this game where there is an envelope on your plat that has random sayings in it that you have to slip into the conversation. It made for some pretty good laughs. One was: "I have got to be more careful with my telekinesis." We truly are a weird family, but I think we are fun.
On valentine's day we went to church and had a pretty relaxed day. My mom babysat for us that night. We decided to go see the move "Valentine's Day" because we thought it was festive. Well, apparently so did all of Augusta, so we changed our plans. Freddy asked me what I wanted to do and I said just walk around Target. That is one of my favorite things to do, and it is really hard when you have a baby who is on a schedule. After that we decided to go to Sonic. Yummy! I know it wasn't a fancy Valentine's day, but it was one of the best I can remember. I love being spontaneous.

Aunt Shelly loves he little b, so she had to get her something for v-day. It is so weird because Ansley loves every gift Michelle gives her, well Shelly got baby girl the cutest little bear. You tell me if she liked it or not.

snow in augusta? really?!!!

Last Friday it was forcasted that we would possibly be getting a few flurries. Well, my unbelieving husband was sure we wouldn't get any at all. Unbeknown to him, my sister was coming for the weekend and where she goes snow follows. With that being said we got 6 INCHES!!! It was so much fun! We had snowball fights, built a snowman as tall as my husband, and just played for hours in the dark like little kids.


Our house all covered in snow. I told Freddy that this was the best our yard has looked in a while.
View from our back porch.
Can you tell someone is excited to play in the snow?

Aunt Shelly and "the little b" as she calls her.

SNOWBALL FIGHT!! You can't really see Freddy and I but just know that I clobbered him a lot!!

Our snowman. Freddy did most of the work because I got bored. Isn't it beautiful?!

Showing off his work to his little snow angel. He even made a snow dog. Every man needs a best friend, right?

The princess all bundled up in a HUGE snow outfit that my mom just happen to buy.

The next morning. The aftermath.....
Beautiful backyard that wasn't demolished with snowball fights.


Shiraz didn't know what to think. He was wigging out big time.
Our neighbor's pretty snow...he obviously didn't play in it.

Freddy's perspective of how deep the snow was. He was out there measuring it every few hours.

are you ready for some football?!

Sunday was a wonderful day. We went to the early service at church because it was friend day and we knew it would be packed. It was even crowded at the 8:30 service, which never happens. It was so great to see God working in our community. Ansley went to the church nursery for the first time and she did wonderful! On our way out of church we got hot dogs that they were handing out in honor of the super bowl. I hadn't eaten breakfast so I had one, and it was delicious! Though, I must say it wasn't the healthiest of breakfastes. After that we went to Wal Mart to get a propane tank for our grill that we got for Christmas(which took almost 2 months for the hubs to put together), and some brats to cook on it. So I had a hot dog for breakfast and a brat for lunch...healthy!! After that we went to the park and put baby girl in the swings. She had such a good time! Later we went to a super bowl party at our friends Annie and Greg's. Annie is an amazing cook so we had lots of yummy food. I was so excited that the Saints won!! I hope y'all had a great weekend as well.
I know this is a falcons outfit, but she really wanted to support her home team(even if they weren't playing).

wednesday in washington

Ansley and I met with my Nana and Pawpaw last Wednesday in Washington, GA. It is about half way between us, so we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and roam a new city. We had the best time!! We had lunch in a beautifully restored hotel on the town square. Ansley was such a big girl and had her green beans in a high chair, granted she was a little small for it so she didn't stay in the whole meal. Later we walked around the square and went into some cute little shops. We were in one shop and while Nana and I were shopping, Pawpaw was entertaining Ansley. They were having such a great time. He was sitting on the floor while she was sitting in her stroller blowing razzies at him. It sounded like they had a blast because we heard a lot of giggling from both of them! My Nana ended up buying me some beautiful things for my house, these cool hooks with birds on the top that are now in my kitchen, a runner for my table that matches perfectly with my wall color, and a tall metal thingymajig that I am going to put in my garden and have a vine growing up it. Thanks Nana!! It was so great to see both of them and it was just what I needed that day. We can't wait to do it again soon!!

urgent prayer and postive energy needed!!!!

I just found out from my mother that my sister's brain tumor has doubled in size and spread to the other side of her brain in the last few weeks. She had been having bad headaches, worse than usual, and very high blood pressure( 180/120). They immediately scheduled an MRI for today and these were the results. For the few people who read this blog, my sister could really use your prayers and positive energy right now. We will hear from here oncologist hopefully tomorrow, but we are not sure what is going to happen from here. I am very worried for her because the chemo that she had been on was already really aggressive, so I don't know where we are going to go from here. I love my big sister so much and I don't even want to imagine losing her. Please, please, please pray for her right now!! Thank you.