Wednesday, March 29, 2017

The Wednesday Weekly - Week 50

I am almost having a hard time with the fact that the Finn is 2 weeks shy of her first birthday.  I have to admit though that we are fast approaching my favorite stage - Toddlerhood!!!!! that I can hardly contain my excitement.

Week 50


Eats: well I have made some huge strides in the feeding department.  Finnley can self feed, has definite likes (fruit) and dislikes (veggies) and we have replaced at least one feeding a day with some solid foods.  We have less than 3 weeks left of bottles and formula (we have switched up the formula because I keep getting coupons - save me all the money please!!) so I really need to be more intentional this week of encouraging the Sippy Cup.  We've been really lucky this time around that Finnley doesn't seem to have many issues with food and has a much stronger GI tract than Ellie.  She loves her sweet things and is all about cookies, cakes, and chocolate ;)  Also pouches have been a total life saver around here, not only can Finnley feed herself with them but I can sneak in some veggies and grains into her diet as well.



Sleeps: Finnley babe has been rocking it in the sleep department.  She has been taking some solid afternoon naps (2+ hours) and a couple of short morning naps as well.  She is also sleeping for some decent hours at nighttime 7-7:30pm to about 7:00am.  It has been awesome and the weather has been pretty great this week that I have been able to accomplish a lot of farm chores during naps (Ellie also takes a solid 2+ hour nap in the afternoon).

Does: last week girlfriend cried and cried when I tried to teach her how to climb up the stairs...it was just too hard and this week she climbed the entire flight all by herself (of course I was one stair behind her the entire way...) but she still won't walk!!! I know that babes do things in their own time when they are ready, but I am so ready for her to be walking!!! She is cruising along furniture, pulling up on everything and even attempting to stand up on her own!! She can stand for long periods of time and is more coordinated when she walks holding our hands.  So I guess she is making progress.  Other things she is doing:
feeding herself, clapping her hands (the cutest), sucking on her fingers (not the cutest),
says "Dadadadadada" and sometimes "momomomom" so we'll take it as talking, occasionally will sign "more", shakes head "no", and smiles at her people.


Goes: we went to the mall, to Ellie's ballet and gymnastics classes,  and then Thomas was out of town for 4 days so we lived up life just the three of us girls.  We lunched, we shopped, and I sold some of our furniture through OfferUp and the girls went into the nursery at church.  I was so busy entertaining both girls that I didn't really get too many pictures of our girl time but we had a great time.



Mama: We missed Thomas something terrible while he was at his conference but we had a fabulous time just the three of us and kept ourselves busy enough that our time without him was so much fun.  While I was so happy for him to come home I think we did really well without him.  Finnley was a total rock star and slept in until almost 8am every morning and Ellie was on her best behavior.  This mom gig is even better than I imagined and I love having both of my girls to enrich my life.


Sister: as I mentioned above Ellie was a spectacular sister this week.  We did have some arguments and redirection over letting Finnley play with toys but overall they were the bees knees.  Ellie's heart for her sister is something to be admired and I love watching these two girls growing up together.  My heart is so full.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Finnley's 1st Birthday inspiration

Finnley's 1st Birthday


Eek!! I can't believe how quickly we are approaching my sweet baby girls 1st birthday!!  It feels like we just brought her home yesterday and yet like she has been with us for forever.  Funny how that works isn't it?

If you follow me on Pinterest then you have noticed that I have been pinning a lot of ideas onto Finnley's First Birthday board.  I finally got the invitations ordered this weekend and things are starting to get real for the planning and prepping stages.

I don't want to go too crazy but I am loving the theme of going down the rabbit hole to ONEderland for this party.  We'll be hosting it at our farm (like we have for past birthdays) and I'm hoping to make it a fairly simple affair.

Staying true to form I am probably going to hand make a lot of the items but with Disney items so readily available I think I'll try to utilize those as well.  It's going to be an afternoon party so we'll have some snacks, treats, and of course a cake!! Along with some drinks.  I found the cutest dress for Finnley to wear and thankfully this girl is above the 100th percentile so she can fit into the dress!! I am going to try and use a bunch of what I have already as well and I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

What are some of your favorite parties you've thrown for your kiddos?

♥ Ashley

Ellie's 1st Birtday
Ellie's 2nd Birthday
Ellie's 3rd Birthday









 

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

The Wednesday Weekly - Week 49

49 weeks?!!! Holy cow I can't believe how close to the wire we are getting!!! This was a big week and girlfriend made a lot of strides this week!!

Week 49


Eats: ahh she is feeding herself!! like I can put Puffs, Yogurt Melts or Squares down on her high chair and she will pick them up and put them in her mouth all by herself (she started it on my birthday!!)  She also figured out how to suck out of a pouch all on her own so we can be eating on the go now, which is so nice.  I have been really working on feeding her more solids this week since we are on the final countdown to eliminating the bottles and formula!! about 4 weeks and counting!!





Sleeps: we are back on to a better schedule with night sleeping and naps!!  the babe is taking a morning nap just around 9 am for about an hour and then her afternoon nap around 12:30 for a good 2-2 1/2 hours!  Finnley generally goes down for bed around 7 - 7:30 and is up around 6:30-7.  I love walking in and getting a glimpse of her loving on her Mouse or Bunny!!


Goes: Finnley had quite the week with her adventures!  We made a "quick" trip to IKEA while Ellie was at school, they have been building a new store and it finally opened!! Our IKEA now boasts an upstairs and the layout is a bit different than the old one... We ventured out to see Beauty and the Beast in theatre's and the girls did okay,  Finnley couldn't get close enough to the screen!! haha  We went out for my birthday to an Irish restaurant that I have been going to for practically all my life (although I have taken a few years off here and there) it is such a fun tradition and I love it even more now with my two girls!! We also went to the library and the park when the beautiful PNW graced us with some sun this weekend.






Does: all the things the big kids do, like sitting in chairs, feeding herself, pulling up on everything and saying "dadadada" over and over again. Now that the babe can feed herself we had a picnic on the First day of Spring and it was so much fun spending time outside with the girls!



Loves: while I am still her favorite, Finnley is loving her Dada lately.  He gets all the smiles and all the words!!  It melts my heart seeing how much the girls love him, they know how hard he works to support us and makes the most of family time.  I guess I love him too ;)


Mama: y'all this has been the best.  The babe and I have been spending some serious time together and I am loving every second of it.  I love how much more self sufficient she is getting, how she is trying so hard to walk, and just that she is becoming quite the little person.  We are on the cusp of my favorite age/stage (Toddler) and I am soaking it all up!!




Sister: I mean could there be a better set of sisters than these two?  They love each other so much, Ellie is always wanting Finnley to play with her (until Finnley starts grabbing for the toys ;) ) Finnley is always on the lookout for Ellie and just watching the two of them together is priceless.  Ellie is such a great helper, IDK what I would do without her - probably walk around the house a lot more ;) But these two sure do love each other!








♥ Ashley 

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Erin go Bragh - Home Decor

Happy St. Patrick's Day Eve!!



If you know me then you know I love to decorate for all the holidays and being that I am a St. Patrick's Day babe means that I have an affinity for all things green and have acquired quite to St. Pats collection over the years.  Green is such a great color all year round but it really lightens things up and reminds me of Spring this time of year.

I have gotten pretty picky with my decor over the years and actually didn't put out all that I have this year because I don't love all of it.  So what you see are the pieces that made the cut ;)


In the living room I am loving my new jute rug!! I adore how it has defined the space (and brightened it up a bit) and the nubs in the weave are like a foot massage when I walk on it.  I have some touches of green in blankets, plants, and a few St. Pats Shamrock decor.




I grew up with this Philodendron.  Rumor has it that my mom had it in our very first house which means this plant is older than me!! Of course that story comes from my Dad so his details could be a bit off.  My dad recently sold his house and he wasn't able to bring this plant with him to his new place (plus he's been traveling 90% of the time since he retired) so I gladly brought it into our space.  It seems to be doing well in our home and I can't believe that it is over 30 years old!!


Up on the mantle I have this cute little leprechaun and a four leaf clover I received for my birthday from my cousin years ago.  Oh and that bow you see there....that was a gift to Ellie from a violinist in Ireland that we met at the VAT House Bar in Temple Bar, Dublin back in 2014.


On the other side I have some fresh greenery in the cutest milk jar and some wooden shamrocks I picked up probably at Michaels.


I tend to have touches of green throughout my house anyways so this holiday is perfect for me.  I green frame from IKEA and super cute pillows I picked up a few years ago from JoAnn's.


And then I have these cute little Irish girl and boy figurines along with a Wee Forest Folk mouse that my mom got for me when I was super young.


The girl's table is even decorated (and take a look at that FARMER'S MARKET sign, I found it a few weeks ago and am totes smitten) with a shamrock plant and some cute coasters I picked up at the Dollar Tree.



Michaels has a ton of great seasonal decor for super cheap, I love the hat and pot o' gold flower picks.



Over in the dining room I have some more bits of green, like a shamrock teapot I found at HomeGoods, Ellie's holiday canvases and then my moms vintage green china set.  The crystal shamrock mugs were a staple on my birthday growing up and I remember my mom serving me green milk for breakfast in bed in them.  The green glasses are also vintage that were given to me years ago for my birthday as well...good thing I have embraced my inner Irish ;)


Also on the table I have some green glassy baby's and I love how the chargers bring in a rustic charm to the otherwise super fancy table.  This year I brought in some potted Hyacinths for the table and love them on the wood slice.  Flowers are my love language.





over on the shelf I have my green cake stand, a super cute vintage wall hanging and my green tree.  Oh and a cute little leprechaun chilling out.



I toned down the ornaments this year on my every season tree and picked my favorites...another favorite of mine is the arrow with hanging shamrock.  I got that for my birthday a few years ago and have loved it ever since!



And what is a holiday without some chalk art?  I like to switch it up each year and this year is pretty fun.  You will notice that the horse shoe has 7 clovers...that is because years ago my horse shoe-er told me that she always put in 7 nails for good luck.



The bathroom got a small touch of St. Patrick's Day as well with a door hanging (Michaels) and some artwork I did...in an attempt to try to paint something without flowers, I think it turned out pretty good!!


The magnets are from the Dollar Tree and get used on the daily...such a fun touch for the girls. And then Ellie made the cutest calendar this month at school...it might be my favorite one to date!!


Do you decorate for the holidays?

♥ Ashley

previous years decor
2016
2015
2012