Ashleigh Rose, Child of God

Dear Sweet Ashleigh,

Last Thursday evening, your dad and I made a very big promise to God.  We promised to nurture you in faith and prayer. We promised to live with you among God’s faithful people. We promised Him that we would teach you the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. We promised Him that we would help you grow in the Christian faith and life.

Last Thursday evening, your dad and I had you baptized at the Christ Chapel on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. For several years, we have been attending various worship services in that chapel along with the other seminarians that attend LTSS. It’s a gorgeous chapel with a very large pipe organ and dazzling stained glass windows. However, we didn’t choose this chapel for your baptism based on the looks of the place. We chose to have you baptized here because of the love we feel when we walk into the chapel…. our love for each other…the love of the people around us…the love of the professors who have guided your daddy through this journey to become a pastor….. the love of Christ because we know He is present here.

Last Thursday evening, your dad and I handed you over to Pastor Largen and he gently placed you into a large bowl full of water and you were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You didn’t make a sound. Your wide, blue eyes gleamed.You stared at Pastor Largen as if YOU KNEW what was going on. YOU KNEW that this was a very important day for you, and you were hanging on to every single word that he uttered.

Last Thursday evening, your dad and I were surrounded by people who love you, who promised to help support you and pray for you in your new life in Christ. You could feel the love in the air. As I looked around the font and saw so many familiar faces smiling down at you, my eyes welled up. So many people love you and care for you, sweet girl. We are all here to make sure you live a Godly life.

Last Thursday night, Sweet Ashleigh Rose, you became a Child of God.

Love,

Your Momma and Daddy

Ashleigh’s baptism dress was made by my Mimi (my Mom’s mom) for my baptism in May 1981.

The whole family

The Tituses

The Ruckers

The Corleys

Ashleigh’s sponsors- Ginger and Kris Litman-Koon

“Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Playdate with Charlie

And this is how Ashleigh felt when Charlie had to leave…

Check.out.that.lip.

We’re in big trouble!

Erin

Attack of the Naked Giggle Monster!!

Ashleigh had a giggling contest with Daddy!

Here Ashleigh is learning how to play videogames with Daddy.  She still hasn’t got the hang of it yet, but its still cute!

4 months old

Wow. Wow. Wow. Where has time gone? How is Ashleigh already 4 months old? She is growing up way too quickly.

Ashleigh turned 4 months old yesterday. And how did we celebrate? By taking her to the doctor for her 4 month well check. She did great and even handled the shots like a pro- she only cried for about a minute! She is 25 inches long and weighs 11 lbs, 12 oz. She’s a bit on the small side, but the doc said she was fine!

She is such a happy girl. She smiles all the time, and we’ve even been able to coax out a laugh every once in a while (although she is very stingy about laughing! Or, maybe we’re just not funny…)!

Her monthly photo shoot was a bit more challenging this time around… she was absolutely fascinated by the lamb and the book. See?

She’s learning how to turn the pages in her book, though!

And just because she’s so cute (and we’re not biased, at all) here are some more pictures of Ashleigh!  (Can you tell we’re a bit camera-happy around here??)

One of the newest things she is doing is she always has her hands behind her head! She looks so relaxed!

Look! A baby pretzel!

Can she get any cuter??

Showing off her long tongue

At 4 months, Ashleigh…

-wears Size 1 diapers

-loves to stick out her tongue (and drool!)

-loves to stand up

-enjoys playing on her playmat and in her exersaucer

-is wearing size 3 month clothing

-likes to “talk”

-is starting to notice that big black thing (we call her Arden) and that gray fluffy thing (Hobbes) that like to lay near her

-realizes that if she cries, she gets attention (uh oh…)

-is still sleeping through the night!

-waves her arms and kicks her legs like crazy!

-smiles constantly, but is still stingy about laughing

-loves bathtime and splashing in the water

-likes to pull Momma’s hair

-is reaching for things and holding onto them! (this is so cool to watch!)

 

Our little Ashleigh is growing up so fast!
-Erin

Jacksonville Christmas

Two days after Christmas, we headed down to Jacksonville, FL, to spend time with Matt’s mom and stepdad. This was Ashleigh’s first major road trip, so I was a bit anxious to see how she would do. We left after lunch because that’s her prime napping time. She did great! Our 5 hour trip turned into about 9 hours on the road because of terrible traffic. NOT FUN! Oh, how we hate I-95 in SC. Our vacation was nice and relaxing, and Ashleigh was loved on quite a bit by her doting grandparents (and their cats)!!

(Hobbes was not happy that we were leaving. Here is his attempt at making us stay!)

Grandma Sue getting some cuddle time.

Yoda the cat came to snuggle with me.

Ashleigh loved playing in her new exersaucer. And when she got tired of playing, she enjoyed chewing on the towel that we used to prop her up!

During the week, we took a trip to St. Augustine. Ashleigh was a trooper! She was quite content in the Moby Wrap and took a good 2 hour nap while we walked around!

Ashleigh got to take a “sink bath” and really enjoyed it!

We also took a walk to a nearby park where Daddy and Ashleigh had a lot of fun on the playground. ( I won’t tell you who had more fun!)

We celebrated New Years by popping a bottle of champagne and toasting to the new year. 2010 was pretty amazing for us- I can’t even imagine how wonderful 2011 will be!

Happy New Year!!