Over the Weekend - Farewell February

First of all how can tomorrow be March? I'm so glad for our extra day today!! Haha 

We had quite the weekend and I was working on my recovery.  I shared on Saturday (what a post on Saturday? I know I know) that Ellie and I might have had a little too much fun on Friday....

But for a quick recap, I had signed Ellie up for another Gymnastics class at the Y so we went on Friday only to learn that it was their break week and there was no class...Thankfully they let us play around all by ourselves for about 20 minutes!!  Then off to Ice Skating we went because we had some extra time before nap...and that's when my back started to hurt.  

After Ice Skating we went home for a nap and I went out to work on the farm when one of the goats escaped and I had to chase her around. I finally caught her and picked her up which then really did it to my back and I could hardly walk without shooting pains...Ooops.  But in true Ashley form I still wanted to go out to MOD Pizza for dinner and walk around Target for a bit.  When we got home and got Ellie to bed I was able to just sit, relax and binge watch on the most awaited show on Netflix:

Yep I am a fan and I am not ashamed!! I only made it through 7 episodes because it was starting to get a little too late....

In the morning Ellie insisted on bringing the stool around for her "peet" er feet while watching her morning showing of Cars!

Not sure how comfortable it was but girlfriend sure is cute. What a crack up!

Then Thomas took her out to do farm chores and to run around.  She mentioned to him she wanted to dig in the dirt and look for worms so they went around front to our vegetable garden and got to work.  I saw them out the window and just had to come be a part of it.  I made a SnapChat account (@alifeonthefarm) and did my first snap with Ellie searching for worms!! too cute!

My back started to get really irritated so I had to go back inside to use more Green Heat on my back and take some pain killers.

If you know me then you know I can only "convalesce" for so long before I get antsy...so I took advantage of my stationary self and applied the wall decals in Ellie's room:

I got these several months ago from Zulily and I love them so much.  The flowers were much bigger than I anticipated but they work perfectly in this little corner!

Part of the reason it has taken me so long is that I am lazy but also because I was debating if I wanted to do a grid or a random pattern...I chose random and I think it turned out pretty good!!

But then someone had some indy time in her room and so this happened...little stinker

She certainly had a lot of fun peeling them off the wall....

Later we started some laundry and so I got out all of Ellie's newborn and 0-3 month clothes...got them washed up and then chose a few to take to the hospital with us.... I snapped about it - again.

We are just about 5 weeks from the due date so really we could get a call and she could be here any time!!! Eek I can't believe how close we are.

It looks like a lot of clothes but when you're adopting you never know how long you will be there and since we will be driving across the state we are going to need a few changes of clothes.  I just about melted getting all of the baby clothes out and remembering them all on Ellie!!  I had to make sure to pack the onesies that we had for Ellie in hospital because how cute?!! We aren't quite sure how big she will be so I brought some preemie sizes, newborn and 0-3 month.  I also threw in a couple of hats because I am not too fond of the hospital ones and I chose three different options for what she is going to "wear home" on the far right.  I also found Ellie newborn mittens so she won't scratch her face with those razorsharp newborn nails!!  Anything else I am missing??

And then I sat down and made a list of what we still need "to do" to the nursery...

Wow, once I wrote it all down I guess I have a lot more work to do than I thought! I already got the doors and baseboard primed so I just need to get those painted (hopefully today) and then I can work on the door frames and wall paint touch up!

So that was our weekend!!

♥ Ashley

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Six on Saturday

So I obviously missed the boat for the Five on Friday...which means I am going to go for a Six on Saturday.  I have a feeling I might be reaching to come up with Six things but let's make the best of it.

I live in the PNW, near Seattle to be exact which means that we get a lot of rain here...sorry CA friends!  Growing up our dirt had a lot of clay and I swear my parents watered the grass everyday, resulting in a wet lawn 24/7.  I was hard pressed to find a day in my life when I could sit out on the grass without getting a wet spot on my clothes.  Never mind being able to have a picnic without a table and chairs!!  So when we were blessed with 4 days of beautiful weather this week (and practically 60 weather) I had to get out of my comfort zone and have a picnic with Ellie in our front yard.  She loved it.  I loved it.  And because our dirt on the farm holds absolutely no moisture we had a very dry picnic and I think I can do these more often!!  I mean really, when have we ever been able to have a picnic outside in the middle of February in Seattle??

We recently joined the local YMCA, actually we meaning Ellie and we can sign her up for all sorts of activities: actually only gymnastics, swimming, and dance.  But those are the activities I have been looking for for her.  Well I signed her up for gymnastics again and went to class yesterday...only it was their break week and we actually didn't have gymnastics class.  Thankfully the coach was super nice and let Ellie run around and have her own private gymnastics "lesson".  We jumped on the trampoline, worked on her forward rolls, jumped onto the bar to hang, and practiced spinning on the rings...I was even able to get her to walk on the balance beam!   The coach loved how brave and small she is and says she is going to keep an eye out for her!  I also learned that when Ellie turns 3 she will get to be in a more structured gymnastics class - I cannot wait for MAY!!!

Since I totally screwed up on the class time for gymnastics, I decided that I would take Ellie to the Ice Skating rink....since she tells me she wants to go Ice Skating every time Adele's Hello song comes on (I guess that song was playing the last time we went??).  There was an older lady there (probably 50+) who still has it going on and Ellie was completely mesmerised with her skills.  She came over and gave me some tips on how to get Ellie to balance and skate on her own...by the end of our skating time Ellie was skating around chasing after a cone and picking it up all on her own!!  I have absolutely no pictures as it was just the two of us and I had to be nearby with both hands at the ready to help her if she started to fall.  But holy heck I am so impressed with her bravery!!

We were walking through the garage the other day and girlfriend found an old plastic hand shovel.  She then insisted on taking it out to the garden to dig around for some worms.  I don't always like touching worms, but once my hands get dirty all my fears go away and I may as well just roll in the dirt.  It's kind of like swimming...once my hair gets wet I am all in! haha  So requesting to go out in the dirt has been a daily question since then and lucky for Ellie she has an awesome Dada who will take her out and let her get dirty!

BIG NEWS!!! I finally got on SnapChat!!!  You can follow along @alifeonthefarm I am on a learning curve and have only snapped one chat? Is that even the lingo? I have no idea but I think this is something that I can get into.  I would love to follow along on your story so please leave your handle in the comments and we can be friends!!

I hurt my back and its so lame.  I am not as young as I once was and its bad news bears.  It all started at gymnastics with Ellie yesterday.  I thought it would be fun to do some forward rolls, jump on the trampoline and do a cartwheel or two.  Then we went ice skating where I had to be in the most compromising position to keep the babe upright.  After she went down for her nap I took advantage of the sun before the rain was due to come in a couple hours and put the goats away to let my big horse out in the pasture while I scooped some poop.  After 3 back breaking wheelbarrows I look out to see that one of the goats escaped (and my horse will trample them without remorse) so I proceeded to chase the little bugger to no avail - they have 4 legs to turn around on and its just not fair!!! I finally found my brains and just caught the horse to put her away.  Then I got to some real business and finally caught the damn goat and tossed her into her pen.  I no longer turned around to find that another goat had escaped...I was done and my back was killing me!!  Now I can barely stand up - let alone walk around so I am posted on the couch, taking some pain killers, and utilizing my green heat.  Have y'all ever heard of these things before?  They are reusable heating pads and seriously awesome.  I got mine at the County Fair a few years ago and they are just as awesome!!

So there you have it!! My 6 on Saturday and I actually didn't even have to reach!!! haha

Happy Weekend Y'all!!

♥ Ashley

What's Up Wednesday - the February Edition

So here's the funny story, I have been taking a bit of a blogging break because I just don't feel too motivated to write anything.  In all honesty it really makes me sad because I absolutely adore this community and the relationships I have built through them...but truth be told, blogging takes up a great deal of time.  I guess that isn't too funny of a story, so lets get some humor in it shall we?  I was thinking to myself "hey tomorrow is Wednesday, I should write a What's Up Wednesday post, and then I came to the realization that it is actually the last Wednesday of the month so I probably should write one!" Okay that wasn't very funny just more of an aha moment that I thought I would share.

So I thought I would link up for What's Up Wednesday and see if that will help to get my writing creative juices going!! fingers crossed.

What We're Eating This Week:

We have actually been pretty good about coming up with a meal plan each week and I have to say that I absolutely love it.  Although the days where we have a "DIY" or "OUT" sometimes throw us for a loop, but we also have switched things up a bit. 

This week, we already scratched Tuesday and moved it to Wednesday and got Subway instead...the reason is I forgot to thaw out the steak for the soup (I hope it will be ready for today!)  Nothing new or too exciting and in case you're wondering CFP stands for Cornflake Potatoes and I promise that I will document and share the recipe soon!!

What I'm Reminiscing About:

If you follow me on IG (@lifeonthefarm) then you know we went back to Disneyland again!! (our third trip)  We had way too much fun and I cannot get the images of Ellie having so much fun out of my head!! I am so grateful for all the photos and videos we took while we were there so we can go back and relive those moments.  One of our favorite moments was meeting Kylo Ren.  He was perfection and Ellie was in heaven (she also chose him as her "valentines date" at Target...) so I guess you can say we are on the #darkside haha!

What I'm Loving:

Ellie's toddler room!!!  I still have yet to write a post about transitioning her from her crib to her full size big girl bed...but that is probably because there really isn't much to tell.  We moved her in back in the middle of August and it has been the best decision yet.  She didn't freak out, slept totally great the first couple of nights.  Then she fell out so we went to Target and picked up a pool noodle and it has done the trick.  She doesn't always sleep through the night but since the bed is so roomy we just climb in with her and then we sleep great until the morning!!

I think with all rooms in our homes this one is a work in progress...but I am just loving it in each stage!!  So here is what it looks like today.  What I am loving most is the new rug I picked up at Target while taking advantage of their 20% off sale this last weekend, I also ordered it through Ebates to get cashback and was able to pick it up in store! I love that about Target!  Let me tell you that it is so soft and both Ellie and I cannot stop laying on it! I also did some rearranging and moving things around.  We got her closet "organized" a couple of weekends ago and now there is so much more room in there.  I have been wanting to get rid of the ikea bookshelf that was in her room since August and finally moved all the books in it into her closet and moved it out of her room.  I replaced it with a nightstand we got at TJMaxx many years ago and it makes her room look so much more grown up!  Additionally I moved the sheepskin into her Teepee and it looks much more authentic now.  The major things I still want/need to do is finish up her curtains, apply her wall decals (gold dots), hang up her gilded goat head, and figure out a gallery wall...please help!!!

I also grabbed this rug for #2's nursery and I cannot wait for it to arrive!  I think it is going to tie everything in perfectly!!

What We've Been Up To:

Like I mentioned above, we went to Disneyland and had the best time!  Ellie got to go on all her favorite rides and see her favorite characters.  We even got to do a few new things like: Goofy's Sky School, the Pixar Play Parade, Mickey's Magical Map and For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing Along!

What I'm Dreading:

I don't know if I really have anything that I am dreading...although if we want to go to the "negative", if I hadn't had my fifth miscarriage this last summer I would be 39 weeks pregnant, my due date was March 1 and I have a feeling I will be a bit sad when it comes.

What I'm Working On:

Getting #2's room organized, decorated and ready for her arrival!! I finally got the motivation to take the closet doors off their hinges and out into the garage to paint them, they are both currently primed and waiting their first coat of paint...it's nothing major, just painting over the 1989 faux oak to the same white that is all throughout our house.  I am also thinking I might continue with the priming and white with the baseboard in her room!  So hopefully I will get that done this week and I can do some touch up painting on the walls.  Once that's done I think it's just bringing in the furniture, figuring out the layout and getting the decor sorted out and up!!! 

What I'm Excited About:

That hopefully we will be bringing our sweet baby girl #2 home in March!! I can't believe that we are already this close to meeting her and becoming a family of four!! This process has been so much easier than it was with Ellie, but I think that's just because we have already experienced Adoption.  Regardless we are just so thrilled that we have been matched and are blessed with another daughter!! 

What I'm Watching/Reading:

I don't really have much time to read anymore...now that Ellie and I are home during her naps I have been using that time wisely well!  I try to do some of my self appointed chores and then relax with watching a show.  Though lately I have been painting so that hasn't left much time for tv watching.  What I am loving right now is Downton Abby, The Walking Dead, The Big Bang Theory, and all the Disney Movies!!  

When I do have a chance to sit down and read it is either a magazine (BHG or Martha Stewart) or blogs...I currently have about 60 posts to catch up on my Bloglovin Feed....sorry if you haven't heard from me in a while.

What I'm Listening To:

I recently found Pandora again and am loving to listen to it while in the bathroom or doing laundry.  My favorite stations are: Jewell Radio, *NSync Radio, 2000s Pop Radio and 90s Pop Radio...what can I say I live for the old music of my better yester years!!

What I'm Wearing:

At home I am rocking the sweat pants and t shirt, when I do go to work (at my church nursery) I will throw on some jeans or leggings and a "stylish" top.

What I'm Doing This Weekend:

I got Ellie signed up for both Toddler Gym (again) and Dance so we are excited for her first Dance Class on Saturday and I hope that it lives up to my expectations! Ellie absolutely loves going to gymnastics but has been asking to do Ballet ever since we went to the Nutcracker back in December!  I am hoping that she will get a little bit of an introductory in this class, though it's labeled "Creative Movement" so we shall see.  Other things we have planned are to hopefully go on a dump run (we still have all the left over flooring from when we replaced our floors back in November) work on the nursery a bit, and weather permitting some yard and garden work!

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month:

Hopefully baby girl #2 will be born and an official member of our family!! 

Also March is my Birthday month! So there will be a whole mess of celebrating going on, I hope.  My birthday is on St. Patrick's Day (yes it's on that day every year) and I just love that so many people get decked out in green and celebrate my birthday for me!! haha  

One of my best friends is hosting a baby sprinkle for me and I couldn't be more pleased with the idea of it!

And Easter is happening in March this year! I love Easter but honestly I wish it could always be the second Sunday of April...it just makes it so hard when Easter is so early (anyone else?) maybe it's a teacher thing.

What Else Is New:

Since I had my partial tubal back in July I have been experiencing some strong symptoms.  When I first brought them to my doctors attention she just waved them off saying that its because I was still recovering from the surgery, but here I am over 6 months post op and they haven't gotten any better.  Last month she conceded that maybe something might be wrong and had me go in for an US which showed nothing except for a cyst on my left ovary (I have had one there on many of my US but they keep changing at each one so they are not too concerned about it at this time).  Her only idea is to put me on BC to see if that will help to mellow out my symptoms.  Here's to hoping that I can finally get some relief from the pain, emotions, and exhaustion I have been experiencing...

Our bonus question for the month is...

What is your favorite Easter tradition? 

Ooooh this is a good one! My favorite Easter Tradition are the Easter Baskets left by the Easter Bunny!! I have learned the past two years though that it's a lot of work...sure wish I had the same Easter Bunny I grew up with (Momala, I love and miss you so much!!) I remember one year we actually got live bunny rabbits, I named mine Cara-Mel because he was a light brown color and so super sweet...I keep telling Thomas that our Easter Bunny should bring Ellie a bunny, but I don't think we are ready for that for a few more years....I know we live on a farm and really how difficult is it to have a bunny? Our answer is we have a Siberian Husky....that is all.

Hopefully this post has gotten me out of my funk and you will be hearing more from me in the near future...I can at least guarantee some more detailed posts about Disneyland!! 

♥ Ashley

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{Travel Diaries} Disneyland Fall 2015 - Day 4

I wanted to make sure to finish recapping our second trip to Disneyland before we left for our third trip ;)  In case you missed the first 3 days you can see them here, here, and here, and to check out our Disneyland Essentials here.

Day 4 started super early and we all donned our newest Disney attire.  Thomas and I got matching t-shirts that celebrated the Diamond Anniversary of the park.  They are super cool and transition from black/grayscale to color and has all the main characters on it! Ellie got the most adorable Minnie Mouse t-shirt with an original looking Minnie with a daisy on her hat!  And we had to document leaving our hotel room for our last day in Disney!

Once in the park and after we got our beloved coffee we headed into Tomorrowland and I got to walk right on into Star Tours.  I have to admit that I don't recall if I have ever been on this ride and I got to be in the front row!  And now that I have seen all the movies I was truly able to appreciate this ride.

While I was on Star Tours, Thomas and Ellie went onto Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and the Astro Orbitor.  Then we met up together and walked on over to Autopia so that I could take a drive with Ellie.

After Ellie gave me whiplash we walked by Pixie Hollow and saw that it was a relatively short line so we jumped right in.  Ellie and I have watched all of the Tinkerbell movies together and it was so fun to see her world come to life.  

 can you spot my little Pixie below?

Ellie was mesmerized when we got into the meet and greet area and we became Pixie sized.

She was so shy during this meet and greet it was hilarious.

She barely said a word to Tinkerbell, but Tink was just the best with her and let her look around at all her lost things.  Once we left the Hollow, Ellie said "I want to see Tinkerbell again!!" 

Then we stopped off at the bathroom and girlfriend was having a little too much fun with her blanket.

Then over to Adventureland and Ellie and I got in line to meet Aladdin and Genie while Thomas waited in line for the Dole Whip.  We told them that we saw them the day before over in DCA for Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular at the Hyperion Theater and they did a fabulous job (truth be told Ellie only made it until Genie appeared) and they loved us for it.  Genie was hilarious and it was so great that Aladdin was there to be able to speak for him.  Out of all the characters we met on our trip this time I would have to say that this duo was my favorite.  They were both extremely engaging and the Genie stayed true to himself and wanted it to be all about him!  

Case and point: he kept photobombing our pictures....

Thomas made it just in time to see us interacting with these two goofballs and then we got to enjoy some delicious Dole Whips...that were melting faster than we could eat them - thanks to the obscenely hot SoCal weather...so to save our Dole Whips we were able to be the last group in for the Enchanted Tiki Room.  I am not sure if I have been to this attraction before...it was ok, but I think that once is enough for me - unless Ellie is insistent on some future trip.  Ellie enjoyed it for the most part, but was more into the Dole Whip than anything.

After we walked through Adventureland we headed over to Frontierland to see the Big Thunder Ranch before they closed it down for good.  We saw Woody and got to be his last group before he left for a break and thankfully he was camped out in the shade!

Then Ellie heard a rumor about there being some goats and we just had to go in.  She walked up to every goat to give them a pat, a hug and a kiss and tell them she loved them so much.

I am so glad that we finally made it to the Ranch.  The goats were absolutely adorable and my heart is so sad that they are no longer at the park...

Then it was inside the little house they had there (but first Ellie tried climbing the fence to get into the cow pen...) and Ellie saw both the piano to play and the Pumpkin Head lady - of which she nearly pulled her hand off....oops!

We stopped for lunch and I was craving some Gumbo so I got a bowl from Royal Street Veranda and it didn't come close to the deliciousness I had at the Blue Bayou back in February of 2015.  Thomas got a burger at the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country while Ellie enjoyed dumping a cup of ice water on her head...girlfriend I don't blame you with the heat we were experiencing (note the girl at the table in the background)

It was getting close to Ellie's nap time (and it was starting to get way too hot and crowded) so we headed back towards our hotel for a break.  We enjoyed the a/c of our room and rested up a bit.

After a couple hours and Ellie's restlessness we headed back to the park, over to DCA this time and we got to see Tow Mater in Cars Land!!  Ellie was super excited to see her favorite character from the movies.

I don't have any more photo of the rest of our afternoon but we enjoyed some more time in Cars Land and Thomas and Ellie took another spin around Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, while I spent some time in the restroom - thanks to my gumbo being disagreeable... We then headed over to The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure and stopped in some of the shops.  And I was slowly starting to feel better!

After the crowd died down in Disneyland we headed that way and then realized that we had lost one of Ellie's moccasins...it must have fallen out of the stroller in Cars Land since that was the last time we had messed with the storage compartment.  So while Thomas took Ellie on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters I headed out of the park and to their Lost and Found department.  It hadn't been turned in yet but they took all of my information so that they could mail it to us (for free) if it turned up.  When I was done with the lost and found I came back into the park and they had their evening parade going on "Paint the Night" and as with all parades the Main Street Square is just ridiculously crowded and its nearly impossible to navigate through there...especially when you are in a "hurry".  I finally met up with Thomas and Ellie in Tomorrowland and we walked over near "it's a small world" and Edelweiss Snacks to watch the Disneyland Forever fireworks show...and Ellie had already passed out in the stroller so she slept through the whole thing. **and let me tell you that this is a great spot to watch the fireworks without all the crowds**

After the fireworks were over we walked over to Dumbo for a ride and girlfriend slept through that as well...our sweet little trooper (why won't she sleep through things at home??)

Once we were off of Dumbo we noticed the Lunar Eclipse right over the top of the Matterhorn and had to take a few photos...I mean look at that placement (and how crazy long the line is for Peter Pan!!)!!

We walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle and got one last photo of it lit up in all it's 60th Anniversary Glory...

And a final stop at the Starbucks on Main Street USA for some milk for Ellie to have in the morning.  While we were waiting I got on one of the old phones and got to listen to a bunch of recorded gossip...it was entertaining and if you have time while visiting the park just listen for 5 minutes!!

And that was the end of our trip!! We headed back to the hotel to do some packing and then to sleep for our flight back home the following morning.

We got up and got on our shuttle that had to pick up a few more people at one of the Disneyland Resorts and then off to the airport.  While we were waiting in the TSA line Ellie had a massive pee and it leaked right through her diaper and her pants...so as soon as we were cleared through security we booked it to the bathroom for a quick outfit change.  And then it was time for coffee, thankfully our gate was right next to the Starbucks stand and we got Ellie her very own smoothie.

She loved it.

Then I thought I would try to document my outfit for flying...the most comfy top and jeans from my latest Stitch Fix!! Have you signed up already? If not please use my referral code here!!

Then it was time to get on the plane...and while lugging the carseat around the airport is such a pain, it is so nice to have Ellie all strapped in during the flights!

Have paci...will travel (oh and a little Sparky never hurt)

Then we finally arrived back in our home state and awaited for our ride to pick us up and take us home.

Ellie was so excited to show off her first pair of Mouse Ears!!

And that brings us to the end of our 2nd Disneyland vacation.  We had just the best time (even though we nearly died of the heat, lol) and Ellie cannot stop talking about Disneyland.  She loved riding on "the horsies" i.e. King Arthur's Carousel, Dumbo and the Teacups.

Until Next Time Disneyland!!

♥ Ashley

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