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!!

visitors

Yesterday we had a treat when my grandparents came to visit Ansley and I for the day. It was so nice of them to come down, especially because it is 3 hours one way. They were so excited to see our beautiful girl. I dressed her up in her cute little skeleton onesie and the new bow that Grandma sent. We had a great time visiting with Nana and Pawpaw. They just couldn't get over how much she had grown!! Ansley definitely loves them, especially her G-pops! He held her and cooed at her and she cooed right back. She also showed Nana and G-pops how strong her little legs are! We had such a great time and hope that they come back soon!!

lots of happenings!!

So, I know I haven't blogged in forever (but there is a good reason). Ansley has recently been having a battle with her reflux. Poor baby has been hurting so bad, so that means she has been very vocal with her pain. The only thing that seems to relieve it is walking her around on my shoulder. So all that walking means no time to do the blog (let alone take a shower!). We have been busy little bees so there is a lot to catch up on.

We recently went up to Virginia for our friends Katie and Dylan's wedding. The ceremony was so beautiful. It took place at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond. I don't know if any of you watch Bones, but the Greenhouse looked just like the Jeffersonian!! Ansley was a perfect little angel the whole time! She even slept through the rehearsal dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. This was our first really long road trip (it took 8 hrs to get there) and she slept the entire time both ways. However, when we got back that is when we had the problem. Apparently, it is not that great for babies with bad reflux to sit in their car seats that long, so it really irritated it. All in all, we had a great time though. I especially loved seeing my handsome hubby dressed in his tux!

Since we have been home Ansley has also had a trip to the doctor for her 2 month check up. Our baby is a GROWING girl! She already weighs 12 pounds 4 ounces, and is 23 and 3/4 long!! The doctor said that she is growing perfectly despite her reflux, which was a relief to me. The doctor put her on Prevacid hoping that it helps her better than the Zantac. So far it seems to be working, but yesterday we had a pretty bad day. There was lots of screaming and purple spit up. I put a call in and the nurse said that it was just some of the dye in the medicine and not to worry. Last night I ran to Target(my favorite store) and picked up some Gripe Water for her gas, and it seemed to work! Hopefully these things will help our baby girl to feel better!! Also at that appointment she got her shots! It was horrible (for me at least). She did pretty good and only screamed a little, but she wasn't a happy camper the rest of the dayHere is our (big) little pumpkin!!




We have also had lots of visitors the past few weeks. Freddy's parents Grandma and Grandpa Stokes stayed with us after a brief visit to Atlanta. Ansley absolutely loved seeing them!!

GO JACKETS!!

Yesterday was a great fall day!! First, it was GiGi's birthday. (Happy Birthday we love you so much!) Second, Tech won!! YAY!! Third, UGA lost!! Daddy was very happy that Georgia lost, he was probably more excited that they lost than that we won. We just lounged around the house, watched football, ate yummy brunswick stew, and all three of us took an afternoon nap together. Doesn't get much better than that!!