Halloween 2013

This is our first holiday of the season an we couldn't be more excited to celebrate it with our sweet little Ellie Faith!!

Witching you a Happy Halloween 2013!! (Hopefully we will get some trick or treaters this year!)

Pumpkins on the left were grown in our garden!!

Headband is from "A Little Lady Shop" on Etsy. 

-Ashley 

{weekly update} week 23

How is my tiny sweet little girl already 23 weeks old!?!? We have had a super fun week with lots of growing and discovering. 

Diet: Ellie is still eating about 26-28 ounces of formula a day and is really taking to her rice cereal. We feed it to her once a day, usually in the evening. She gets about 1 1/2 teaspoons of cereal with about 2 teaspoons of formula to mix in. Hoping to try something new next week, probably peas. 

Crying: Once again we have a stellar daughter. Cries when tired, hungry, or her teeth hurt. She has been easy to console with a cuddle, food, or swaddle. But let me tell you she makes the cutest pouty face!

Sleep: EF has been pretty good about this. She has been taking a pretty good 3 hour nap in the morning and then a couple power naps in the afternoon. Girlfriend has been sleeping about 8 to 10 hours at night and wakes up a happy girl! She still sleeps in her bassinet. We have it out in the living room during the day and then back in our room at night. As soon as we invest in a monitor she will transition to her nursery. 

Clothes: I have officially retired all of her newborn clothes (minus the nightgowns) and prepped all of the 3-6 month clothes we have. 0-3 are still fitting though some are getting a little short. 

Baby Gear Love: Pie is loving to play on her activity mat while sitting and also loves to be pushed in her princess walker (she is too short to reach the ground). We are also loving her Baltic Amber necklace for teething and pain relief. Ellie has also started liking Sophie a lot more and is now trying to stick most of her toys in her mouth. We are also loving the boppy for feeding and lounging/sitting and sometimes with sleeping when she gets really congested. Baby Girl is also a huge fan of my old Poms from community college. If you follow me on IG (@lifeonthefarm) you can see videos of her playing with them!!

And of course she LOVES her puppies and they love her too!

Milestones: Little Miss E is really liking Bath time she kicks and splashes in the water. She also is making moves towards crawling, really getting her legs/feet under her and sticking her butt up in the air (if only she would support her weight on her arms a little more we might be moving already). She does a little scooch (sp?) with her face in the floor so it can't feel too good, ha!   

Mama: I am starting to feel much better and hopefully my body I starting to go back to normal. I am just so looking forward to Ellie's first Halloween on Thursday and can't wait to show you all her costume! The holiday season is upon us and I can't believe we actually get to celebrate with a little one this year!

Sweet Ellie I just love you so much!

-Ashley 

I will always remember

My friend Erinn over at Strawberry Swing and other Things wrote a post earlier this month about Pregnancy Loss, as a "Loss Mama" myself her post really hit home. You can read her post on it here.

I don't think that anyone can truly understand how this feels unless they have experienced it.  Not only is the initial loss of the baby a difficult thing but the pain doesn't really ever go away.  Even if a new baby has come into your life, they don't replace the ones that have been lost, sure they bring light and joy and love in but the fact remains that those little bundles who never made it, still aren't here.

With each of my four pregnancy losses I have calculated what the due date would have been.  Each year (especially with my first loss) around their due date, I can't help but feel just a little sad.  Other people may forget about that precious little one, but the Mama who carried them for 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, or even 40 weeks will not ever forget that little baby who could have been or when they would have been.  There are babies out there that are the "same age" as my loss babies, while I love them they serve as a little reminder of what I almost had and my love for them is bittersweet.

Before I became a "Loss Mama", I don't think that I could really grasp this idea.  Now after being one four times (and each loss was SO different from the one before) I still don't know how to comfort others.  I can be there to hug them or listen and feel their pain.  Words can help, but they can also makes things worse. My heart goes out to all "Loss Mama's" and pray that they get to experience the joys of motherhood.

Time goes by and the pain may become a little bit less.  But you can't help but wonder what that little one would have been like had they made it.  Would they look more like you or their father? What would they act like? Who would they be?  One day we will get to meet them.  I have faith in that.  I know it was my mother's dream to become a grandparent, unfortunately she passed before that would become a reality.  I find great peace and a little bit of joy in knowing that she is up there with my babies in Heaven, loving on them and teaching them all the things I would have asked her to if she were still here.

October is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month and I wanted to share my story.

♥ Ashley

Five on Friday

Today brings you another link up post with The Good Life Blog's

 

1.

 Halloween is next week and I need to get to work on making Ellie's costume.  Only part of it is DIY and I might try to do a tute of it next week after I reveal it of course.  I have all the parts just need to get it done.  Hoping for a better turn out of Trick or Treater's this year.

2.

 I love my house don't get me wrong, but I am aching to move.  I think at this point I would be interested in staying close to where we are just more land - though we have long term plans to move across the state.  When I think about moving, leaving the house doesn't make me sad but all of my plants and the work we have put into the yard make me sad.  There are so many plants that I want to bring to the next house with me - can I do that?  Disclaimer - we are NOT looking for a house but the though crosses my mind often.

3.

We got Ellie one of these and while she wasn't complaining about her teeth too much we just love it.  And she looks so cute with it on.  Speaking of teething, I also got one of these for myself.  I have only worn it a couple of times but as Ellie gets more dexterous and teethes more I am sure it will come in super handy! 

4.

 Yesterday I shared this delish recipe for Pumpkin Crunch Cake.  Go check it out try and let me know what you think!!

5.

 We are starting to think about the upcoming Holidays and can I just say I am so excited to have Christmas this year.  I think it is going to be so fun to see how Ellie reacts to all the fun happenings and going to see Santa.  I hope she doesn't get scared of him!

♥ Ashley

 

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

I came across this recipe on FB of all places.  It is an easy pumpkin crunch cake. Sounded good so I snapped a picture of it and tried it out the following night. It was a hit. It is now my go to pumpkin recipe and it really couldn't be any easier. 

As usual I changed it up a bit. I have found that pumpkin tastes better with sweetened condensed milk rather than evaporated milk and sugar. 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can of pumpkin purée 

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (or combination of ground cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom and ginger)

3 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

1 box of white or yellow cake mix

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl combine first four ingredients with a whisk. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray or butter and pour the mixture into the baking dish. Gently sprinkle the cake mix on top of the pumpkin. Pour melted butter over the top of the cake mix evenly. Put into preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.  Should be set and top golden brown.  Let cool slightly and serve with ice cream Yum. 

(I have found the longer it bakes the pumpkin mixture gets set a little bit better and comes out of the pan much easier)

Let me know if you try it and I hope you enjoy it. 

-Ashley 

Pumpkins for our little Punkin!!

We had a wonderfully busy weekend. Saturday we prepped and prepared for our "pumpkin party" that we were having on Sunday. We cleaned the house: dusted, vacuumed, carpet cleaned, mowed the lawn, and got the remainder of our Halloween decorations up.

I attempted a couple chalkboard designs from Pinterest. (Love my chalkboard pantry doors!!) 

Then on Sunday we did some final preps and I made soup for our dinner. Ellie had a wonderful long nap and then we met up with some family at the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins.  After we purchased our pumpkins we all headed back to our house for carving and dinner. 

The Menu: pumpkin soup, green salad with rotisserie chicken, sourdough bread, and lots of little nibbles. We also had pumpkin crunch cake for dessert. Yum!!

Picture overload begins

Have you gone or are you going to the pumpkin farm this year? What Halloween traditions do you and your family have? What Fall/Thanksgiving traditions do you have?

-Ashley 

{weekly update} week 22

Another week bites the dust. How can she be 22 weeks already I just can't believe how quickly time goes by.  Writing these posts every Tuesday really does make the time go by just a little bit quicker. Ellie was such a joy this week and really is growing up.

Diet: Ellie is eating about an average of 26 ounces of the Similac Sensitive formula. We started her on Organic Rice Cereal in Sunday. She doesn't eat very much but is starting to understand the concept of "solid" foods. 

Sleep: Naps have been a little off this week due to her nose being stuffy but we are still getting our solid night sleep of about 8 hours. She is still sleeping in our room in the bassinet right next to me. Usually she is swaddled at night but sometimes she gets to sleep "free" during naps.  

Crying: Same as other weeks when tired or hungry.  Occasionally when bored and then when her teeth are bothering her. 

Clothes: Still rocking the 0-3 month clothes though her torso is starting to her a little too long for some so we will start transitioning into 3-6 month size here pretty soon. (Makes me so sad to pack up her cute little clothes). 

Baby Gear Love: OMG Ellie Faith is having a total blast with all the toys on her Exersaucer and Walker, she is doing so much better at sitting up and can now reach all of the fun things. She also is starting to become a fan of Sophie and still loves her Oball. She is also a fan of playing with her activity mat and just wants to put all of the hanging toys in her mouth. We also got her a Baltic Amber teething necklace this week, while she wasn't showing too much discomfort we thought we would give it a try from all the tips I have gotten about them. While I was out shopping with Ellie and Nanny I also got a Chewbeads necklace that Ellie is also enjoying!

Milestones: Sitting on her own better and improved balance, being able to grab at all the toys on her Exersaucer, and having "solid" food for the first time. Ellie also went to the Pumpkin Patch for the first time with her Grandpa, Papa, Nanny and Uncle Cory.  We had a great time!

Mama: I am just loving this stage that Ellie is in. If you have read my Infertiltiy Jourmey page recently you know that we just suffered our fourth loss and Ellie has been such a wonderful thing to have during this difficult time. She just brings me so much joy and fulfillment in my life. 

Sweet Little Miss E you are a true blessing in my life and such a sweet adorable angel. I thank God for you everyday. 

-Ashley