So Sweet

So those of you that know us, know that Little Miss Anna-Grace has kind of had a rough time since her little sister has been born. For 4 years it has been "All About Anna-Grace" and from the moment we found out it was a "little sister" and not a "little brother" we've been dealing with jealousy issues.

I've tried everything- books, special days out with mommy and daddy....you name it we've done it. However over the past few weeks as Reagan is getting a bit bigger and AG is noticing that Reagan watches her like a hawk- she's been doing things to get her attention. I just happened to be home last night with my phone handy to witness this little moment. I could have cried it made me so happy!

Reagan's 3 Month Pictures...

Ok- so the 3 month pictures were actually done at 4 months, but hey better late than never! As usual Michelle Coleman Photography captured our family and out little girls perfectly! If your in the Greenville area and need some professional pictures done, look her up here! I promise she wont disappoint!

GO WOLFPACK!

The picture says it all! Saturday was a GREAT day in the Williford household- when the Wolfpack beat the Tarheels for the 5th time in a row! Not only did they beat them, but they didn't even let them score a point!Looks like all the Tarheel fans are going to be ready for basketball season!

Our Pirates however lost to Southern Miss! However a streaker during the halftime performance added some life to an otherwise dismal game!

Ch-Ch-Ch...Changes

It's kind of funny how things come into your life when you least expect them. 4 months after the birth of Anna-Grace, I was offered my current position as Branch Manager of Mega Force in Washington, NC and almost 4 months after the birth of Reagan another wonderful job opportunity presented itself to me and I happened to land it! (makes me wonder if I want to further my career if I should have thought more about having my tubes tied and kept having children-LOL).

I am super excited about this new opportunity for several reasons.
1. It's a step up in my career, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Human Resources part of my work and am very excited about being able to focus on that "specific" part of my job. It's going to be a bit of a change of pace for me from managing 400-500 people to 75-100 but that may be a welcomed change!
2. it's closer to home- I currently drive 30-40 minutes to my current job and though the downtime to and from work is kind of nice the savings on time, gas and wear and tear on my car will be nice! Not to mention a sweet 4 year old that will be starting Kindergarten next year- might need to have her mommy close by!
3. being closer to home will provide me with more quality time with my family- I currently manage a branch that has a 24/7 operation which means sometimes my time at home is spent working, though don't get me wrong I take on that added responsibility because I want my clients to get the best service possible, but being able to come home and be home will be wonderful:-) 

If you read this and work for me or with me, know that I am going to miss each of you dearly. When I made this decision the hardest part of it was leaving the people that work for me and with me. I spend almost as much time with you as I do my family and am sad to leave you. This decision was in no way made because I don't like my job or the people I work with or for! I told our President the other day no matter where I go or what I do Mega Force will always be with me and no one will ever be able to convince me they are better!

Thankful

Last week was an eye opener for me. I happened to stumble across the blog of a special family from Greenville, NC. I had followed their blog a while ago but hadn't looked at it recently and after reading the most recent post found myself in tears. You can see that post here . There this family was clinging to the life of their precious 7 year old little girl. I was speechless and immediately thought of the 2 precious girls I had waiting for me at home. I said a quick prayer for the Byrd family, thanked god for my girls and went on with my day. 

The next morning I had to go back to see how things were and saw this . Again I was speechless. The pictures brought tears to my eyes again, especially the one with her parents caring for her and the ones with the dog. For those of you that know us our dogs are just as much our babies as our babies are so these especially hit home. In reading the words typed by her mother I at least found comfort in the fact that they knew their daughter was going to a better place and they seemed surprisingly ok with it. I again said another prayer for them and went on with my day. All day long however they kept popping into my thoughts.

Fast forward to the next day when I woke up and saw that precious Lydia made her way to heaven. You can see her mom's post about it here . I read this on my way into work......I could not get home to my girls fast enough that day. I got home gave them the biggest hugs I may have ever given them in their lives,made them what they wanted for dinner (with the exception of Reagan-formula is her only option right now!LOL) laid on the couch with both of them in my arms and let Anna-Grace watch whatever she wanted on TV. Instead of rushing around preparing things for the next day or taking time for me I sat there and watched it with her. She spilled a drink and I didn't fuss......I cleaned it up and told her it was no big deal. Why? Because it wasn't. Nothing in our lives right now seems like a big deal compared to what the Byrd family is going through. When my husband got home he hugged and kissed the girls the same as I had (he was witness to a couple of my crying sessions over the blog so he knew what was going on)  and he looked at me and said "I guess they're both sleeping with us tonight huh"? And they did!

I don't know if anyone from the Byrd family will ever read this blog, but if for some reason they happen across it I want them to know what an impact their family has had on mine. Not that I never appreciated my family and all that God has given me but like everyone else I get wrapped up in my own little world and my problems that I take for granted what I have that others don't. I have been more loving to my girls, more patient, and find myself appreciating more and more of the little things. All because of 1 little girl and her precious family. Her mother is inspiring. Her strength, her faith, and her outlook on Lydia's life is the kind I hope I would have if faced with that type of situation.

If you've read this today and you have children, go home tell them how much you love them and thank God for them. You never know how long you have!

Last blog as a mom of 2!!

So Little Ms. Reagan is already showing us that she likes order and schedules. The doctor said she was going to be born on the 8th, and though she may have given us a few false alarms it looks like she is sticking to the plan and will be born on the 8th.

I can hardly believe as I sit here that in less than 48 hours I will be the mom of  2 precious girls and that Chris and I will have our family complete (and when I say complete I mean complete....doc's tying my tubes while she's in there getting the baby out)! I always dreamed of having 2 kids my whole life I knew that was what I wanted......now that it's almost here I have spent 1/2 the day so excited for her to finally be here and so thankful for a husband that has just been AWESOME these past 9 months and the other 1/2 of the day scared out of my friggin mind!

So I know it's probably a little late for all of these fears to surface, but HOLY CRAP I'M GONNA HAVE 2 KIDS!!! There are so many things I don't know how to do with 2 kids for instance, grocery shopping? How do you shop with a carrier in the front part of the cart when you have a 4 year old that wanders off and can't keep her hands off of things and needs to be in the front part of the cart? I can't very well put the carrier in the basket part because that's where the food needs to go. When I go back to work how am I supposed to get 2 kids ready and me and out the door. I can barely do that with me and AG!! And last but not least my biggest worry is how am I going to make sure to balance my time so I can still be devoted to my husband, my family and most importantly (not that Chris isn't most important) make sure I still have plenty of time for Anna-Grace. I am worried enough about how she is going to take this whole new baby thing, she's been the "Princess" for 4 years now, I am worried she's not going to like her, that jealousy will set in and she won't be able to get over it and I am worried she will think I love the new baby more :-(
I am hoping this is normal and that every mom has these fears and anxieties, I hope Anna-Grace loves her sister and that they end up being the best of friends. I pray for the strength and balance to be able to juggle all that is coming my way~

All I do know is that it's going to be a wild ride!!

Anna-Grace's 1st Dance Recital

I know it's a bit late, but please remember I'm 9 months pregnant! LOL

On Saturday June 4th Anna-Grace had her 1st dance recital! Her Daddy and I could not have been more proud. She strutted on stage with the best of them and waved at my Aunt taking pictures of her during her tap routine. The above picture was taken by a friend of ours Scott Muller who also happened to have a daughter in the program. She was on stage getting ready for her ballet routine and I must say looks too friggin adorable! During this routine, she surprised us not only with a wave but she blew kisses as well. She was definitely the talk of the class! Stage fright apparently is one thing Ms. Anna-Grace does NOT have....those of you that know her though, know that already!

After the recital, her Daddy surprised her with her first official "big girl" necklace complete with a ballerina charm, and Nana and Papa, Grandma Debbie, Aunt Vicki, and Mommy and Daddy gave her all a dozen roses (4 dozen total=SPOILED)

I must admit I teared up with pride that afternoon......our little girl is just growing up WAY to fast!

20 Weeks and Halfway Through!

I always have such great intentions for this blog, but life never seems to allow me to update like I should! GO Figure!

For those of you that don't know we found out a few weeks ago that God is blessing us with another precious little GIRL!! Reagan Lynn Williford will be her name and we are beyond excited! Anna-Grace has even warmed up to the idea of a little sister, and is no longer completely devistated that it's not a little brother! Fortunatly for us our neighbors have 3 boys and some good friends of ours have 2 boys, so she'll be able to get her boy fix in! LOL

Yesaterday marked 20 Weeks for me and Baby Reagan- which already sounds like alot since I'm halfway through but when I think about Anna-Grace coming 3 weeks early really makes it sink in how close we are to meeting her! My weight is not climbing as fast as it did with Anna-Grace (Thank God) but I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the FLU and sinus infection....hopefully I can keep eating better and not be the big cow I was with AG! HA HA!

It's been a crazy month in the Williford household with Anna-Grace having a sinus infection,then the next week we BOTH got the FLU, then the next week Anna-Grace had an Ear Infection. We have been to the doctor more times than I can count, and (crossing my fingers and toes) think we are finally all back on the mend. How my husband managed to stay healthy through all of this AMAZES me, but thank god he did or our house would have fallen apart!

Reagan is moving like crazy the doctor said my placenta is in the back so I should be feeling a lot more movement. Anna-Grace has felt her move, (she's not that impressed!) but Daddy hasn't yet, I'm sure by the end of this week he will though. While I 'm at work it seems as if she's trying to kick her way out. I go back to the doctor next week so I'll try to update again then if not before!

Week 8 and Everything's GREAT!

We had our first "official" visit to the baby doctor this week. No new ultrasound since there was no more bleeding since last week :-( I was kind of sad Chris missed the 1st ultrasound, but it was way more important we checked on baby last week.  Everything looks good. I have a new midwife than I had last time (as mine left the practice) but she's really nice and fits in well with our since of humor! The next 7 months of visits could prove to be interesting! LOL We go back January 5th to hear the heartbeat and then February 10th to find out the Million Dollar Question is it a Boy or Girl!!! Deette (my Midwife) said we could bring Anna-Grace we told her and she's SUPER excited. She really wants a baby brother and we keep trying to explain to her she may not get what she wants, something she's totally not used to, so we will wait and see how that goes.

As far as everything else goes, I finally got in the Christmas spirit last weekend and put the tree up, Chris put up the outside decorations on Monday so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Williford household. Anna-Grace has her own special Princess Tree this year complete with Princess ornaments and pink bulbs! My Grandma Leen gave me an Angel Ornament (in the picture above to the left of Tiny our Elf on A Shelf) the Christmas before she passed away and it makes me sad every year when I put it on the tree. I have comfort in the fact that it's her way of watching over us at one of her favorite holidays....she would have spoiled Anna-Grace rotten and would have loved how excited she's going to be this year when she opens up her presents. She would be even more thrilled to know we had another one on the way.....times like this are when I miss her the most :-(

On a happier note, we had a bit of snow while we were putting up the tree, but it was too dark for pictures and when we woke up the sun had melted it all away. Anna-Grace and I were leaving the grocery store when it started and I was pushing her in a cart. A little old lady behind us remarked about how Anna-Grace's eyes were glowing and they were, she was so excited! This year Christmas is going to be the best one yet. I may be more excited than she is!

Introducing Baby #2

So we had a sneak peak at our litle peanut yesterday......I don't go to my official 1st visit until next Wednesday but I had some minor bleeding the night before last, so they just wanted to check things out. The doctor said everything looked good, the heartbeat was strong and everything was A OK! Which was great news.

We have had one sick little girl on our hands this week as Anna-Grace has strep throat and a sinus infection. We were starting to wonder if she was ever going to feel better. She woke p this morning and seems a bit better so hopefully we have reached a turning point. Poor Chris had to take care of me all weekend as I was just exhausted and then he spent all 3 of his days off caring for a sick 3 year old (who can be quite bossy when she's sick)!  Poor thing I think he may have been a bit relieved to go back to work today! LOL

In other news, Tiny reappeared when we arrived home from our Thanksgiving travels! He works wonders. I am thinking about asking Santa if he can spare that little Elf all year long! He however, is the ONLY Christmas decoration we have up. I had plans to do it over the weekend but did not have the energy.....I haven't even taken down our Halloween stuff (whoops) Oh well, here's to getting it done this weekend!

Anna-Grace sings Princess Songs

Our Little Girl is quite the performer! She was upstairs in her room last week singing away for over an hour, I was suprised when I snuck up there to secretly videotape her that she turned right around and performed for me!

Week 6 and My New Best Friend!

I thought I would take today to introduce you to my new best friend! It seems the 2 of us will be spending a lot of time together over the course of the next few weeks (and hopefully ONLY the next few weeks).

I never had any of this with Anna-Grace, and I think God planned it that way because if I would have, I never would have had any other children!!!!

Other than the morning sickness and the fatigue things are going well. My Doctor just called me in some meds for the nausea so hopefully they will help. She did however tell me I was out of luck because they cannot write a prescription for more energy :-( so I guess I'm stuck with that one! I have been trying to decide all day how to convince our families to have Thanksgiving without food....

Exciting news!!

Anna-Grace is going to be a Big Sister!!!

We are super excited to announce that the newest (and final for those of you wondering) addition to our little family should be arriving sometime in July! Anna-Grace is very excited to be a Big Sister but says she wants a Baby Brother because a Baby Sister might want to play with all of her toys! Pretty smart for a 3 year old. We just keep explaining to her that we don't get to pick and we have to take what God thinks we should have, so we will have to wait and see.

The picture above was taken before Chris got home from work a few weeks ago this was how we told him I was pregnant. I love her face in this one because she truly looks excited~ we will have to see how long it lasts. We go to our 1st appointment December 8th so we will keep everyone posted.

So She Thinks She Can Dance

Ladies and Gentlemen keep your eyes open because one day you may see this precious little face on TV one day.

Anna-Grace started her Kinder Ballet/Tap class last night. She was so excited and ready to go the second I got home from work.

Parents were not allowed to stay inside the classroom (too much of a distraction for 3 & 4 year olds) so most of my pictures were snapped through the door! She listened to the teacher very well and was all smiles when the teacher gave her a stamp at the end of class. Her recital isn't until June and I am very excited to see how much she learns over the next 10 months!

Love our Grandma Teenie!!

After we rested from a night of dancing Anna-Grace and I headed to one of my most favorite places in the world.....Grandma Teenie's house. We got to spend some QT time with her and played the piano and sat in the swing on the front porch! Something about her house just relaxes me and makes me feel at home. I just wish we lived closer so we could visit more!!