Ansley's Baptism

Today was a special day for our family as Ansley was baptized at church. Infant baptism dates back to the Old Testament and New Testament churches. The Bible says that God considers the children of believers as members of His church, and as a result, children of believers should receive the sacrament of baptism. Because Mitch and I are believers, Ansley was able to receive the sacrament of baptism. In the Old Testament, circumcision was the sign of the covenant for believers and their children, but the sacrament changed to baptism in the New Testament. Infant baptism does not mean that Ansley has received salvation. Salvation is still through grace and faith alone in Jesus Christ. Mitch and I are still called to bring her up in a Christian household, pray for her, and teach her about Christ. Infant baptism is a covenant to God to bring Ansley up in the way of the Lord. When infants are baptized, the parents and the church commit to nurturing the child in faith. We shared this special sacrament with our family. Both of our parents were there, along with my grandmother, Shana, Chad, Asher, Aunt Denise, Uncle Ken, and Hayley.

Family photo before the service started. Ansley is wearing the baptism gown that her great granddaddy wore. It has been worn by several members of Mitch's family, including Mitch. The gown was beautiful and wearing it made the day so special.

Parker introducing Ansley to the congregation.

Quick Update...

Happy 4 months sweet Ansley! I can't believe it's been 4 months already. During the first month when we were feeding every 3 hours around the clock, I felt like time was in extreme slow motion. I loved every minute with my precious newborn, but sleep deprivation is rough! Since then I feel like someone has hit the fast forward button! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing our tiny bundle home from the NICU, and now she's 4 months old. I love this age though. She loves smiling, and she smiles for us constantly. The morning is the sweetest. She's just laying there waiting for someone to come get her, and when she sees us her face lights up. If that doesn't help your day start off great I don't know what will. I can't seem to capture a good smile on camera though because she's not quite sure how to react when she sees the camera....we're working on it! She's starting to make a few noises too, and they are so sweet to hear. She's also sleeping wonderful at night....12 hours each night (knock on wood!). We're going on over 3 weeks of sleeping through the night, which is a huge blessing now that I'm back at work. She's a little snuggle-bug too. She will sit in your lap all day if you let her. She loves to stare at you and be held. I think I've created a monster sometimes, but I love the sweet love! :) She's also starting to entertain herself. She has so much fun on her mobile gym looking at the lights and making the toys move. I love watching her discover new things. I know that every good and perfect gift comes from above, and I thank Him each day for our wonderful and perfect blessing.

Daddy's Oops...

So I've been back to work for almost two weeks now, and it's definitely been an adjustment. I never knew I could be this tired! I only thought I was tired before....wow. Ansley is doing great at her sitter's house, and I'm back into a routine at school. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have had no time to sit down and type. After I pick-up Ansley, it's non-stop until around 7:00 when she goes to bed. After she's asleep, it's time for me to figure out dinner for Mitch and me. Usually by that point, I'm exhausted and crawling into bed. I've missed so many of my shows at night because I was just too tired to watch. I've turned into an old lady!

This afternoon though, I laughed so hard when I saw Ansley. Mitch does all of the morning duties. He does a fabulous job of getting her up, dressed, fed, and to Cathy's house. This morning I left a little earlier than normal because I needed to do a few things at school, so I kissed Ansley goodbye as Mitch was changing her diaper. I pick out her outfit each morning before I leave, but when I saw her this afternoon, I noticed her outfit didn't look quite right. Then I realized....it was on backwards! Poor baby had her cute outfit on backwards ALL day! THEN....I looked in her bag to get the dirties out for the washer, and I noticed that Mitch had sent her in the "My First Christmas" bib. I about died! I know Miss Cathy got a good giggle out of Ansley's appearance today! :) After a long day, it was a laugh I definitely needed.

Ansley's Arrival Video

I've been working on a video of Ansley's arrival and first month. I finally finished...whew! It was really sweet to look back at her first few days of life. I can't believe how much she has grown in 3 months. Everyone always says that it goes by so fast, and they are right. She was so very tiny! Here's her video:

On this day 11 years ago...

February 20th is a special day. On February 20, 2001 (11 years ago today), Mitch and I started dating. Although we don't "celebrate" this day anymore now that we have a wedding anniversary, I still think about how blessed I am that we started our journey that day. We've definitely learned so much about ourselves and each other during this adventure together, and I know there's no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with than Mitch. I gathered a few pictures of us throughout the years. Enjoy!


Prom Junior Year - 2001

Prom Senior Year - 2002

Perry National Fair - Senior Year 2001

Christmas Senior Year - 2001

Destin Senior Year - 2002


Christmas - 2003

Spring Break - 2003

UGA Game - 2004


Nags Head, NC - 2004

UGA Game - 2005



Engagement Night - 2008


Wedding - July 2008

Wedding - July 2008

Honeymoon - Jamaica 2008


Honeymoon - Jamaica 2008

Vegas -2009


Hilton Head - 2010

Cruise -2011


NYE -2011

Ahhh....sleep.

Well, I hope I'm not speaking too soon but....Ansley has had two wonderful nights in a row. I am hoping our CIO method worked. Saturday night she slept from 8:30-7:30, and Sunday night she slept from 10:00-8:00. Now, if we can just keep this pattern going and work on getting her down earlier each night. I feel like a new woman!

CIO - Night One...

Whew! Last night was rough! I mentioned in a previous post that Ansley has proven to us several times that she can sleep through the night, but she doesn't always do it. We really need her to be more consistent with sleeping all night, especially since I'll be returning to work soon. After talking with some of our friends who have been through this and using the pediatrician's recommendation, we decided to use the cry it out (CIO) method. This doesn't mean let your baby cry all night and just ignore it, like the title suggests. Basically when the baby starts crying you set time intervals that you will go in and comfort the baby. From what I've read, they suggest starting with letting the baby cry for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, if the baby is still crying, you comfort the baby (either rocking, reswaddling, rubbing, talking to, etc.) and you put the baby back to bed. If the baby is still crying, you wait a little longer to return for comfort....12-15 minutes. You repeat this process adding more wait time in between. So....we figured the weekend would be the best way to try.

BIG YAWN....man it was rough! Due to Ansley's feeding schedule, we've been putting her down for the night around 9:00. My goal is to move this to 7:00 eventually, but she's used to 9:00, so we are gradually trying to push it back. Last night, she was asleep by about 8:45. At 1:30 am she started crying. I went in there, reswaddled and rocked for about 10 minutes, and then I put her back in her crib. She started crying before I even made it back to bed....so we started the 10 minute waiting. She cried screamed for the entire 10 minutes. When I returned, I didn’t get her up. I just talked to her so she knew I was there, rubbed her face/tummy, and gave her a paci. Again, she cried when I left, and we decided to wait 15 minutes. She screamed again for 10 minutes, but after those 10 minutes she started to give up. I could tell by her crying she was going to quit, and she did! Yay…victory for mommy!

Around 3:30, the process started over! Again, I started with 10 minutes. I went in, reswaddled and rocked for about 10 minutes, and then I put her back in her crib. I decided to make the time 20 minutes before I went back in, and before the 20 minutes was up, she was back asleep. Yay…victory number 2 for mommy!

Then around 5:20, she woke up again. This time, I got up and fed her. I would have liked for her to have made it longer, but I think that was pretty successful for the first night of the process. It doesn’t seem that rough as I sit here and think about it, but when you’re going through it during the middle of the night, it’s pretty miserable. We’re hoping for better luck tonight!