Tuesday, January 31, 2012

25 Rules for Mothers of Sons



I found this on Pinterest.
I'm pretty sure I need to print it out and post it on the fridge.
These are words to live by.



25 Rules for Mothers of Sons 

1. Teach him the words for how he feels
2. Be a cheerleader for his life.
3. Teach him how to do laundry.
4. Read to him and read with him. 
5. Encourage him to dance. 
6. Make sure he has examples of good men who are powerful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity. 
7. Make sure he has examples of women who are beautiful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity.
8. Be an example of a beautiful woman with brains, determination, and integrity. 
9. Teach him to have manners.
10. Give him something to believe in.
11. Teach him that there are times when you need to be gentle.
12. Let him ruin his clothes.
13. Learn how to throw a football.
14. Go outside with him.
15. Let him lose.
16. Give him opportunities to help others.
17. Remind him that practice makes perfect. 
18. Answer him when he asks, "Why?" 
19. Always carry band-aids and wipes on you. 
20. Let his dad teach him how to do things.
21. Give him something to release his energy.
22. Build him forts.
23. Take him to new places.
24. Kiss him.
25. Be home base.


This is just another reminder of the beautiful gift our children are to us, the beautiful gift our boys are to us. 

Someday {far, far, far away} I want some woman to thank me for raising my son to be a great man.
xoxo,
Ashley

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Happy half birthday my sweet boy

Humor me while I write another post that's mostly for me and keeping our memories alive?

Thanks, friend.

...



Dear my sweet Morgan,

How can it possibly be that we are celebrating your half birthday and 18 months today? 18 months! That just blows my mind. In the 18 months that we've been blessed with your little soul you have changed and enriched our lives beyond measure.



Firstly, there's the cuteness factor.  Everyday life got a whole heck of a lot cuter once you came around. I mean really, has there ever been a cuter baby than you? Really? I'm in love with your chubby little fingers and toes. Oh those toes! I don't think we get to see those enough, me thinks we shall go sock less a little more just so we can fully soak up the cuteness that is those stubby little toes and chubby feet of yours. And those curls on your head? I'm holding onto those with all my might.



Next, your funniness. I don't think there's a day that goes by that you don't make us laugh. Like when you toot in the bathtub and then let out a little giggle. Or when you start giggling uncontrollably when I take a whiff of your feet and say "pee yew". That joy is infectious, little man. Or how about when you take the orange paint dauber and touch the top with your finger and then rub it on your butt like it's butt cream? Where in the world you got the idea that the orange {only the orange one, I might add} paint dauber is butt cream is beyond me. And when we ask you where your nose is and you stick your little finger right up into it. So funny!




And then there’s your smartness. Man, you never cease to amaze me! Like when you take the keys to the door and try to unlock it from the inside because you want to go "bye bye". Or a couple of days ago when you handed me my water bottle and pointed to the kitchen, leading me to the cup cabinet to get you a cup, and then leading me to the fridge for juice so you can have one of the water/juice concoctions that I’ve started making you. You’re so smart, my sweet boy.
 
Or how about that fiery temper of yours? I’ve had to stifle a laugh a time or two when you’ve stomped your feet, thrown yourself back, and gotten red in the face because you didn’t get your way. Mind you this is cute and funny when we're at home, not so much when we're out in public.



And your excitement for all things big and small. Walking around eating a little box of raisins? Highlight of your day! Spotting a dog and yelling out “woof woof”? That’s enough to get us both excited!  Spotting a "breach in the security" {as we like to call it} in a heartbeat and booking it towards an open door, open dishwasher, or open laptop? That’s where it’s at. 



And finally your sweetness. You are such a sweet boy from your head down to your toes , and everywhere in between. I’ll always remember the sweet smell of your skin and how I can smell you on your blanket or sometimes on me.  I'll always remember picking you up out of your crib in the morning or from a nap and you leaning into me and hugging as we head towards the changing table. And then just stopping there and cuddling and soaking up the moment. Those are the moments I live for.



I love you little man. And I know you aren't a "baby" anymore, but you will always, always be my baby. I'll always remember you dancing and twirling in circles to any music you hear. I'll always remember holding onto your tiny little hand as you lead us around, showing us around the apartment like it's a new adventure every single time. 



You are a sweet, special little soul and I'll never stop being thankful for the blessing that you have been to me and your daddy. I'm sad to see your baby years go by so fast, but I know that we only have more cuteness, sweetness, funniness, excitement, and smartness to look forward to.

I love you with all my heart angel baby.

Love,

Mama

buckle up, baby!


The cashier at Target handed Morgan this sticker yesterday.

Was he buckled into the cart?
Nope.

Way to shame me Mr. Cashier Man,
I guess I'm not winning any parent of the year awards from Target.

*Shrugs*

...

p.s. when I typed "winning" I totally heard that crazy cakes girl Courtney from The Bachelor saying it in my head.



xoxo,
Ashley

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Display your kiddos art



Morgan loves to color.

He loves markers, crayons, colored pencils, paint daubers...


I can't get enough of those chubby fingers
...

Side Note:
{He also has a new love for sticking things up his nose, 
and this morning it was a highlighter straight up the nose. 
It was mildly disturbing and doubly hilarious}

...

So what's a mama to do with all that artwork? 
I picked up these wooden pant hangers at Walmart for $3,
and they do the job perfectly! 


Sometimes we like to collaborate :)


Plus, once you have a new masterpiece, you just add it to the top of the stacks, leaving all the others beneath it to flip through.




p.s. We used up a leftover can of pumpkin from this fall and had this for breakfast. It was amazingly delicious.


xoxo,
Ashley

Friday, January 27, 2012

DIY Date Night Envelopes!

 Do you ever feel like you and your husband/boyfriend/significant other get into a dating rut

Are you always going to the same places and doing the same things?

I know we do. Although to be honest, going to the grocery store just the two of us would probably be considered new and exciting to us these days...ahh, parenthood. 

...



Well, yesterday I got together with two of my friends to work on a top secret Valentine's project for our husbands. Our project was of course inspired by things we had seen on pinterest {link to inspiration board}, and specifically some of the ideas from this and this blog. 



Our project was to come up with a new date idea for each month of the year, and then decorate envelopes with clues and invitations for each date and month. Most of the dates are for just the two of us, but some of them we planned for the same month and will do as group dates. 



We spent 6 fun hours working on them yesterday and still didn't finish. I have to pick up a few fun clues to add to the envelopes and add in some cash to pay for the dates and then they will be ready to deliver to my Valentine in February.





Need some date ideas? 
Here are a couple we came up with:

planetarium {what's more romantic than the stars in the sky?}
drive-in movie
a baseball game
indoor picnic
a comedy show
and
an overnight camping trip just the two of us


I think it's so easy to get ourselves into a dating rut and take our time together for granted, but it's so important to keep that excitement alive that you had for each other when you first started dating. I'm so excited to do go on all these fun dates,
but most importantly I'm so excited for all of the new experiences and memories with my love.

xoxo,
Ashley

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

my happy

Chubby fingers. Love.

1. Coming home to a baby running around in just a diaper and eating cheerios with a fork. Priceless.  2. Waking up to be at work at 11:15pm to find a love note and a box of chocolates. Just because.  3. Avocados in everything. Yummmy.  4. Playing Catch Phrase and The Game of Things with my sorority sisters and yelling at each other the whole time and then hugging it out after. We really are like real sisters sometimes.  5. Beer. And beer bread.  6. Unsolicited Morgan hugs. I got two in a row today that brought a tear to my eye.  7. Morgan yanking my glasses off and then giving me a kiss after. He's already realized that a kiss can make anything better.  8. iBook. Ahh the joys of reading 5 books at once and having them all in one compact device.  9. Meaningful chats with two great girls on a long drive back from Kenosha {even if I was exhausted and going on 24 hours with no sleep}.  10. Having a fun Valentine's themed art sesh with my budding artist. 



Mixed medium artist.

Thank goodness for non-toxic Crayola!


p.s. Have you heard Picnik is closing? This does NOT make me happy :(
xoxo,
Ashley

Sunday, January 22, 2012

good {healthy} eats

Was your new years goal {or intention} to eat healthier?
I talked about my intentions in this post here,
And one of them was to eat more healthy foods.

Well, I'm happy to report that I have done just that,
and kicked the bad for me foods in the process {not originally an intention}.

The good news? 
Eating healthy never tasted so good.
Our meals around here have consisted of...

delicious smoothies, 





and

{did I mention I've lost 4 lbs eating all of the above?}

Intrigued? 
You can find out the reason behind the easiest diet change I've ever made by reading this book.

xoxo,
Ashley

Saturday, January 21, 2012

lessons in life, love, and forgiveness


I've been under a lot of stress lately. 
Little things adding up...
and then big things like your car that you just paid off needing
three repairs in three weeks time. 



I must admit I haven't been the most fun to be around the past couple of days.
Today, I really just needed some peace and quiet.
I didn't want to have to think about another car repair and how much it was going to cost,
or towing it to the repair shop, blah blah blah.



Well, that didn't happen. 
I had a husband that had to leave to take care of the car, 
multiple phone calls to coordinate the pick up and drop off of said car, 
a toddler that wouldn't nap, and dinner that needed to be made. 



I found myself snapping at everyone I talked to including my sweet little toddler. 
The minute I did it I felt just awful. 
Really? 
How dare I be bothered that my little guy loves me and wants to play with me so much that he doesn't want to take a break from playing for me to make dinner. 
Right then I stopped what I was doing and sat down on the floor and apologized to my year and a half year old and asked him to forgive Mommy for losing her patience. 
And you know what he did? He leaned in and hugged me. 



That my friends is forgiveness. 
That my friends is a truly humbling experience.
That my friends is a reminder to just take a deep breath and let things go. 



Life throws you curve balls sometimes, but it could be oh so worse, 
and I have so much to be thankful for. 

xoxo,
Ashley

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Hey girl.



Well, I may not have bought you any {I'm not made of money!},
but there is a sale on my fav baker's twine over here at Groopdealz,
And I thought I should be nice and spread the word.
Go get you some, girl! 

So, have you seen the handmade Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl's"?
They are flippin' hilarious. 
You can see all of them here: Handmade Ryan Gosling
I'll share a few more, just because I can't help myself:










Tee-hee.
They crack me up. 

xoxo,
Ashley

Sunday, January 15, 2012

valentine's

I switched up my "fantels" this week with some Valentine's decor. 

Here's the little black/white themed vignette situated above the TV. 




It was all inspired by the printable which you can find
here at Tattered and Inked.
Isn't it sweet?


And in the dining room...
Another printable which also happens to be from Tattered and Inked.
I printed it out last year around Valentines Day and decided to pull it out again this year.



...

I moved my little snowman fella over to the center of the table.
He's pretty cute and cozy there.


Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

xoxo,
Ashley

Thursday, January 12, 2012

randomness

These things I know to be true...

Country music is good for the soul. 

I may not be a big fan of the fluffy white stuff, 
but there's nothing more peaceful than driving home 
in the snowy dusk.

Wine is good. Riesling is the bomb diggity.

No one can bring me back from the brink of insanity and make me laugh at just the right time quite like my hubby.

I have the cutest, sweetest, funniest, smartest boy ever. The end. 

Life is good. 

xoxo,
Ashley

Monday, January 9, 2012

my happy

Sleepy baby.


Baking!

Reading. Shirtless. This is how we do it.

Helping Daddy


1. Getting the house clean and organized. It's amazing how much junk we live with. It felt so good to drop off a load at Goodwill this weekend. I think we have another load to drop off today too  2. Morgan sitting on the floor with Frank tinkering with tools as he transferred his tools over to his new toolbox.  3. Morgan giving out kisses all day long. I can't get enough of 'em.  4. The book "Heaven is for real". I read it in 3 hours last night while laying in bed. If that book doesn't make you a believer, I don't know what will.  5. Morgan pausing to dance anytime he hears any sort of music. We could all learn a little from the carefree-ness of little ones.  6. All three of us waking up before the sun today and cuddling up on the couch. Frank caught up on sports center and me and Morgan played Monkey Preschool Lunchbox on the iPad.  7. Having the whole weekend off with Frank.  8. Fresh Lilac scented candles.  9. This weather we've been having this past week. It's been oddly warm for January, but I'm loving every minute of it!  10. Waffles for breakfast. 

xoxo,
Ashley