Anna Katherine Has Arrived!

On Tuesday morning at 2:18am on November 2nd we welcomed tiny Anna Katherine into the world! She is 20 inches long and weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 12 oz. Apparently she was very eager to join us; she delivered so quickly that the doctor had to come sprinting into the room to catch her! She was particularly happy that her "Da Da" gave her her first bath a few minutes later. During her first 18 hours out of the womb she was calm and peaceful although later she found her vocal cords and decided to put them to use between 10pm and 6am.

Anna is a very happy and healthy baby whose big sister Riley is curious about who she is and why she is around so much. For the most part Riley is curious about her little sister and happy to see her. So happy, in fact, that she tries to rush toward Anna and kiss her. She is also compassionate toward her sister; whenever Anna cries, Riley breaks down in tears of sympathy. One of Riley's new favorite phrases is "bay-bay si-si."

Riley loves to give her little sister kisses =)

Bruce helping with Anna's first bath and sneaking a few kisses

Finally HOME!!!

Waiting for Baby

Yes, we are waiting for the arrival of our second baby girl! The due date is November 1 so if you calculate that we have about 1 1/2 weeks! Wow where did the time go? Riley came 6 days over her due date so we are thinking that this precious girl might do the same. No, we do not know her name. Bruce and I seem to like the method of naming our baby girls just after they are born =) Our girls will be 14 months apart which is so exciting (and sometimes overwhelming) to us. We already pray that our girls will have a special friendship and love for one another. I am sure there will be many challenges along the way but Bruce and I are both confident in the Lord's grace and His timing. Both girls are answers to many prayers and we could not be happier to be "da da" and "ma ma" (although Riley excitedly says "da da" and every now-and-then decides to throw in a "ma ma" I am not jealous =)

As we are awaiting the arrival of our second baby girl there have been a lot of things going on around the Ashford household (some may call this nesting =). Here is some evidence of "baby arrival anticipation"

We started with an open entry office that Bruce used when he worked from home. Well...he has had to make some sacrifices and his office was the first thing to go. He graciously moved books into the hallway and living room and his desk into our bedroom. The next step was to put doors on the entry of the room. Here they are. Ignore the mess in the room!

My dad (Lauren) was a huge help in this! Thank you daddy!

We bought some unfinished shelves and painted them. Bruce patiently hung them. Trust me you think they would make the shelves exactly the same so that your measuring and hanging would be easy but oh no...

The rug that I found on clearance at Target might be one my favorite things!

There is just so much cuteness that I had to stick this in. Riley is very confident to walk behind this but take it away as she is back on her knees! Thank you BiBi for a great gift!

Riley looking at "da da's" empty checkbook after all of "ma ma's" projects. =) Seriously she found an old wallet of mine and played with it for an hour!

Love those eyes!

I thought that 5 weeks before the baby was due I should learn to sew. Seems like a perfectly great idea right? =) I think this is when nesting hit full swing! Bruce's mom gave me a lesson on the basics several months ago but I didnt have a chance to get back to the machine. Thank you Bibi! Also, thank you to my sweet friend Chesed who came over to help out with my nesting, teach me a few more sewing tricks, and leave her machine with me for a few days. She is brave! I have to be very serious when I sew =) You have to admit that face is intimidating =)

During all of these projects Bruce and Riley went on several dates. Most of them included a stop at Starbucks. A trip to Starbucks is never complete for Bruce unless it includes an iced lemon pound cake. Riley was happy about this development =) On their way out...

Riley also ate quite a few goldfish one day while mom was hard at work. It is hard to see but Riley had cheese all over her face including in her eyebrows. She is a sneaky one!

Nap time is VERY important!

The sewing projects produced several things including a blanket and a crib skirt (you cant see it in this picture). If you know what you are doing with a sewing machine do not look closely!

2 pillows, a taggie blanket, and too many burp clothes!

And what girls room is complete without a place for her hair bows???

A fun board for pictures and cards.

That is it! I will bore you no more =) I will try to take and post a picture of the completed room as soon as we get the curtains up! 1 1/2 weeks and counting...

It Has Been a While...

Well, there is no excuse for my posting to be silent from February to October! Where did the time go? Riley is now 13 months! (I have been trying for several days to upload her birthday pictures but I keep getting an error message??? Hopefully they are "to come" She has been changing so much in the last month. She is now a Daddy's girl, has 4 teeth (so cute), eats a ton of solid foods (especially loves applesauce, cheerios, bread and graham crackers), knows what it means to brush her hair and brush her teeth, is a copy cat, has weened herself from the paci during the day, loves books and baby-dolls, gives lots of good kisses, tries to talk like mom and dad, and understands "NO" even though she often tries to hide the fact. Did I mention that she loves her "Da Da??? =)

We have done a lot over the last 7 months and here are a few pictures to recap...

We took our first family vacation in Virginia Beach. Riley loved the

water and wasnt sure what to do with the sand.

Snack time on the beach.

Beach Babe!

We spent a week with Bruce's parents at Ocean Isle Beach.

It was great to have the family all together! Riley had a blast!

Riley enjoyed playing with her cousin Jacob!

Jacob and Elijah were both great to take care of Riley!

We celebrated Joy's (Bruce's sister) birthday while at the beach. What better way to celebrate than with family and blueberry pound cake??? Here is a great family picture!

Riley enjoys "reading" to Papa

On a recent visit to Franklin Riley spent a day working with her Grandaddy and

Uncle Pres on the crane. She was a big helper =)

Um...did I mention that Riley likes ice cream?

After the SBC in Orlando we were able to spend a couple of days with

Lauren's parent's in Disney World.

Riley loves the cell phone.

Riley picked squash from her Grandaddy's garden. She also enjoyed eating it!

February Update!

Gooooo Dawgs!!!

Riley helping Mimi with the honey... it seems to be a little more slobbery than usual =)

Riley got a package in the Mail on Valentines Day!

Thank you Grandaddy and Grammy for all the new clothes and toys!

1-2-3 Out for the count!

Riley pins dad in 20 seconds flat to win the Ashford family wrestling championship!

Riley with Bibi and Papa

Riley with Grammy

Cuteness

Christmas in Dunn and Wake Forest

This year we were able to celebrate Christmas with both sides of our family. The weekend before Chirstmas Day Gram and Grandaddy (Lauren's parents) visited Wake Forest. Riley really enjoyed the tissue paper that Gram used to wrap her gifts =) She also enjoyed Gram's choice of books which included one of my (Lauren) favorites "Pat the Bunny" Riley loved looking at the pages as Grandaddy read the book to her. We enjoyed the day together at the house talking, opening gifts, playing with Riley and eating good food! Gram finished the night with a big pot of delicious Chicken and Dumplings!

On the day of Christmas Eve Bruce and I decided that we just could not wait any longer to give the gifts that we had bought for one another and decided that we should go ahead and exchange =) After a good breakfast and opening gifts we sat down and talked about the blessings God has given us through the year and our discussion centered around one blessing in particular, Riley Noelle! God has given us a sweet and precious baby girl and we love living life with her!

On Christmas Eve we traveled to Dunn to spend the night with Bibi and Papa (Bruce's parents). They greeted us with many hugs and wonderful smelling kitchen. We have no idea how long Bibi spent cooking but we enjoyed wonderful food that night and the next day. My (Lauren) favorites were the cranberry/orange muffins and baked Mac and Cheese! We also enjoyed time with Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Kristen, Uncle Peter, and Laurel.

A happy family...

Laurel was trying to help Riley with her crazy hair that always seems to be sticking up. Thank you Laurel for looking out for your baby cousin =)

Elizabeth surprised Bruce with a signed copy of Roy Williams book!

Love those eyes!

Bibi, Papa and Riley

A very happy Bibi

Grandaddy and Gram giving Riley her new blanket!

Riley holding on to the card from her Uncle Preston while wishing someone would sew the area where her toes are sticking out