Sad Day "Between the Hedges"

We went back to Athens this weekend for the Ga vs. Alabama game. Thankfully we took a long weekend so we were able to get some rest while we were there! Mimi and Pops were in town for the game so it was great seeing them as well.

Nan (Mimi) & I went downtown and did some shopping on Friday morning, it was so fun! I can't get over all the cute shops there, way more then we were in school. Plus, most of it is cheap becuase it is in a college town....While we were shopping, Rob & Greg (Pops) took Ansley to visit with Gammie. She is now in an assited living place right by the Athens mall, which will allow us more opportunities to visit with her when we come to Athens.

Here are some pics of Ansley playing outside. If she could stay outside all day, she would be in heaven!

As for Saturday, we had a blast tailgating and visiting with friends. Ansley came to the tailgate for a little while, and then I was able to hand her off to Mimi while I got to go into the game (this was the first game I had been into the stadium in 2 years). YES, I began to think I was bad luck, becuase I couldn't believe how bad we were playing the first half. But the Dawgs did play hard the second half and for a second there, there was a glimpse of hope that we could possibly pull through with the win. Unfortunately, that was not the case and we lost to Alabama :(

Game Day "Blackout"

We had a pledge class "reunion" tailgate before the game.

Kelly, Brandy, Me, Casey, Willis, Candice, Sarah K., Katherine, and Andie & Lins (in the middle)

All in all, we would have loved if the DAWGS had won, but we still had a great weekend!

...... Here are some pics I took from the other weekend. We were enjoying the beautiful weather in between football games

Parker Grelecki Update

Crysie and Ryan got one of the greatest gifts today, they got to take home thier precious baby boy, Parker! Parker is doing wonderfully and is progressing like he should after his surgery. They have thier next appt in a couple of weeks with the neurologist, so please pray that Parker's condition continues to heal. Congratulations Crysie and Ryan!

Another Saturday full of Georgia football ...

Sorry this is late... Last Saturday we went over to our friend's house to watch the Georgia game. Jenna, Richard and Treyton were nice enough to welcome Georgia fans into thier home :) Even though Georgia had a rough day, we were glad they were able to pull through with the win!

We had a great time and ofcourse the kids had a blast chasing after eachother. Our other friends, Laura, Dave and Libby joined us as well. Libby, Treyton and Ansley see eachother on a regular basis and they love to play together!

I got some really cute pictures of the kids in the wagon.

Treyton going for Ansley's hairbow

sweet Libby

Ansley & Treyton inside the fort...

Update on Parker Grelecki

Crysie sent out an email last night with an update on Parker and he is doing great! YEAH!!! He came through his surgery wonderfully and everyday continues to do better and better. He is still in the NICU at Scottish Rite and will be for probably a week, they are taking great care of him.

They gave him his first bottle, which is huge because one of the big milestones to leave the hospital is for Parker to be able to eat. He will get better with every feeding, so please continue to pray that he is able to keep the food down and continue to eat more food. The neurosurgeons come by every morning and keep saying that he is doing great, which is awesome news!

Parker will have to remain in the hospital for a week, but hopefully by the end of this week he will be home with his loving family! Please continue to pray.

Asking for Prayers for baby Parker

My dear friend, Crysie "Yawn", and her husband Ryan, welcomed thier son into the world yesterday (September 9th at 1:24pm). It has been a long journey for Crysie. She found out at 20 weeks that something was wrong with Parker. He had swelling on his brain and was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (it is a condition where thier is excess fluid on the brain). We had all prayed throughout her pregnancy that by the time Parker was born the fluid would have been released. Unfortunately, when Parker Grelecki was born the hydrocephalus was worse then they had thought. He was transported to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta this morning to have surgery to input the shunt which will allow the fluid to drain. After the surgery they will run tests to determine if there is any neurological/developmental concerns.

I am asking you to PLEASE pray for the Grelecki family! Pray that God is looking over Parker during his surgery and helping heal his condition. Crysie is one of the strongest people I know and has such a deep faith for God. But it has to be hard to see your baby taken away from you, not to be able to hold him when he was born or soon after. Crysie had Parker via c-section so she is at Northside Hospital while Parker is at Children's. Her husband, Ryan will be with Parker at Children's while Crysie's family is with her. They are going to allow Crysie to go over to Children's to be with Parker sometime today.

Please add this loving family to your prayer lists.

Victory for the Dawgs!

We were so excited to get the Georgia game on TV, plus, the pre-game and the Mark Richt special. Rob was on cloud 9!!! We had some friends over during the game, and had a great time. Jenna and Richard's son, Treyton, is 3 weeks younger then Ansley. They play so well together, plus they see each other on a regular basis :) We ofcourse were decked out in our Red & Black!

cheering on the dawgs to victory!

silly girl!love these last 2 pics of Treyton (below: he was very serious about playing the piano)

Dress-Up

I wanted to play around with my new camera and wanted to get some fun photos, so Ansley put her tutu on and decided to put on a show for me :) I got some really cute pics....

There is a lot I want to be able to do with the camera but haven't figured it out yet (if anyone knows how to focus on the subject and have the background blurred, please let me know...I have the Nikon D40, but I am not sure if this is something you do in photoshop or with the camera).

Happy Belated Birthday Nana!

Nana, we are sorry we forgot to post "Happy Birthday" on your actual birthday (09/03). We love you and we are glad you had a great day!

Love you,
Jen, Ansley & Rob

Ansley's 1st Day of Preschool

Ansley started preschool today :) She was not in the best of moods this morning so I knew the hand-off wasn't going to be a good one. Last week she had a ball at orientation so I know she likes it. Well she walked right into preschool so happy. We got all the way to the door to her classroom and then when I picked her up, she pointed to the teacher and said "oooooooo" (still happy); but when the teacher reached out her hands to take her, she started to cry. I wasn't surprised, she does the same thing at church on Sunday mornings. I knew she would be okay once she got distracted. And sure enough she was, and had a GREAT day!

When I picked her up, the teachers said she was all smiles, which always makes a mommy feel good. A lot of people think Ansley is too young for preschool, but she missed the cut off for the 2 year program by just a month and a half. It is a great christian based preschool program at a Methodist Church (hopefully she will be going to our church next year). I think she is going to get a lot out of preschool, she loves to be around other kids. Plus she will get the opportunity to play on the church playground, have story time, play with puppets, do arts and crafts, and just following someone else's orders will be so beneficial to her.

Each day the teachers give us "A Peak at their Day" sheet which tells us how they did. Ansley's was funny and reassured me that this is the right place for her. Here is just a little bit of what they had to say about Ansley on her first day:

I tried to get some pictures of Ansley this morning before we left for school but she really didn't want to cooperate so I got only a few.

(These are from my new camera, which I got for my birthday. I am still trying to figure it all out)

Let's just hope Ansley continues to enjoy preschool!