The Wednesday Weekly - Week 16

Another Wednesday already?? Actually it seems like this week was l o o o o n g, and I am so happy that we are here already.  Finnley girl is getting quite the personality and her smile slays me every time.  She has totally got me wrapped around her finger and knows how to get her way...secretly, I love it.

Week 16

Eats: same old same old. Just Similac Sensitive formula with our Dr. Browns Bottles.  It's so funny because I am seriously counting down the days until we will start her on solids!! I was a nervous nelly about it with Ellie, but this time around the sooner we can the better...not to mention that I am so looking forward to no longer be bottle feeding.  Don't get me wrong I love our bottles and how easy it is to feed formula (doesn't take any creativity) but preparing and washing bottles gets mundane after a while.

Sleeps: Finnley babe is getting into a better routine with her naps...which we are all loving around here.  We learned that she actually sleeps better when the room is dark, so against my better judgement we are pandering to her preferences and making the room super dark, it's worth it though because this week we have been getting much longer stretches of naps.  Plus girlfriend is still a rockstar at sleeping through the night.  She is still in our room in the bassinet for it all and I'm getting ready to see how she does sleeping in her room.  We have to just stop being lazy and buy a monitor, I'm thinking this one but if you have any recommendations I would love to know!

Goes: no where out of the ordinary.  Thomas and I have been working on our deck remodel, so we've been homebodies this week.  We have made a few trips to the home improvement store, the market, grocery store, and Nanny and Paps's.  Sometimes it just feels really good to hang around home.

Does: I cleaned off the baby walker and we've been putting Finnley in it.  At first she wasn't too much of a fan but now she likes it better.  She found her feet and will play with them for a good amount of time. She has started to grab for her toys and has been able to bring them into her mouth (much preferred over her fingers in her mouth).  She still cries during tummy time (unless she is in Ellie's room) and spits up throughout the day.

Loves: she loves to hangout in her infant seat, the baby walker and in our arms. A great toy for her lately has been the connecting links - what a great invention, and when we were in Poulsbo last week we picked up the most adorable teether that Finnley just coos and babbles to nonstop.

Mama: I am loving that Finnley is a Mama's girl, and I am loving that she is more interactive.  The first few months of babyhood are a lot of work without a lot of reciprocation.  But now she gets the biggest gummy smile when she sees me and seriously y'all it is the best thing ever!!! Ellie was always a happy baby but I don't remember her smiling like Finnley does. Some days are easier than others but honestly I don't really remember the hard days - and that is a very good thing.

Sister: Ellie is still 150% obsessed with her sister.  She is so kind and loving and will always tell us when Finnley is crying, that she needs a bottle (and she is right 90% of the time) and so desperately wants to help change her diapers.  Her favorite part is Finnley's head and since we haven't been putting socks on Ellie is able to soak up as much of Finn's feet as she wants!  These two are the best and I will never tire of Ellie telling me multiple times an hour that "I love Pinnley too much".

♥ Ashley

previous weeks
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Ellie at 16 weeks

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping

Quite a few weeks ago I had some applesauce that needed to get used. I was going to make applesauce cupcakes but was inspired by this recipe to make muffins!!  And let me tell you I am so glad I did.

I wanted to change up the recipe just a bit because I wanted to include some other ingredients mainly some oatmeal because of the dietary benefits.  I considered some other recipes but most of the applesauce recipes I could find were for cupcakes rather than muffins so I had to adapt the recipe.

Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

1 c softened butter

2 c sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 c applesauce 

3 c all purpose flour

1 c oatmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°

1. In a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar

2. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) with the vanilla

3. Add in the applesauce

4. Combine the dry ingredients and then slowly add into the wet mixture until just combined

5. Evenly distribute batter into lined muffin tins (about 24)

6. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Topping:

While the muffins are cooling for 5 minutes make a cinnamon sugar mixture (1/2 c sugar & 2 T cinnamon) then dip the tops of the muffins in the Cinnamon Sugar. YUMMM!!

These were so good and I can't wait to make them again.  I think I will use some whole wheat flour next time and see how the texture turns out.

Bon Appétit!

♥ Ashley

Stop Objectifying Women

I recently read a blog post where the author was begging mothers to stop posting photos of them breastfeeding their children. In her post she described these photos as graphic and borderline pornographic, that they are immodest, and can have negative repercussions with the child in the photo when they get older. She also mentioned that she is embarrassed for her husband to not only see breastfeeding photos but women out in public. That breasts are meant for the sacredness of marriage and she doesn't want her man to see another women's breasts, so I guess they go out in public wearing blinders. 

The accusations that she made in her ignorantly narrow minded article irritated me to no end. I have to address the deeper underlying issue. That even though we are in a modern society we are still struggling with objectifying women.   

"We need to teach them that Women are valid, 

Women are significant, Women are equals."

The rights between men and women has been so lopsided for centuries. And up until very recently this has been because women were regarded as property. I can go into a history lesson about dowries, Kings beheading their Queens for "treason" when they themselves can have as many mistresses as they like, and even at the altar when the couple is pronounced Man and Wife, but I won't bore you with the details.  Women have worked so hard for their rights: the right to vote, the right to custody of their children, the right to own property, the right to their inheritance, the right to divorce their cheating husband, the right to choose what's best for their bodies, and the right for equal pay. 

This hits home for me because I've always had this point of view, for as long as I can remember and my memory goes back to 7th grade. I guess that's the time when you start discovering yourself and become more aware of the world around you. The specific memory in question was myself getting sent to the office during the last class of the day for the length of my dress, to which I had basketball shorts on underneath mind you. It was in that moment that I learned the travesty that is our "modern" society. Of course that was some years ago but what that male teacher taught me and imprinted on me was so much more than he could have ever imagined. 

"Modesty has become an organized religion agenda 

that focuses on the female body being a sexual object 

that causes men to sin."

The thing that gets me is that women are shaming women for breastfeeding and nourishing their children.  Their reasoning is they believe it to be immodest and are fearful of their husbands wandering eye. Rather than looking inside and finding the root of their insecurities they are choosing to dictate to women that they are the ones who need to make the change. Because once again we cannot hold a man responsible for his actions, we cannot expect him to just look away. Why? I'm not even sure I can answer that. I guess it's because we've been giving men a hall pass.  

There are a great amount of opposing  views regarding modesty and here is where I stand. Modesty has become an organized religion agenda that focuses on the female body being a sexual object that causes men to sin. It puts all the blame on the woman and holds no man responsible for his actions.  Shaming public breastfeeding continues to support that a woman's body is just a sexual object and that even in this modern time of society we are still not allowed to have control over our bodies. 

"We need to stop viewing women as 

an object, prize or property"

By allowing the mentality that women are sexual objects leads to men thinking it's okay to abuse, use, rape, and degrade women. Often times they will be able to "excuse" their behavior with a simple statement: "did you see what she was wearing/how she was walking/standing/the way she was looking at me? She was asking for it". The fact that men can even feel that they can say that and it justifies their actions means that we really haven't come that far. They are not taking responsibility for their actions nor did someone hold them accountable as they were growing up. This is a fundamental change we need to make in our society. 

We need to change this. We need to stop viewing women as an object, prize or property. We need to stop giving men hall passes for their behaviors. We need to teach our husbands, brothers, sons, and even fathers that they are responsible for themselves and how they conduct themselves, it is on them alone. We need to teach them that they are accountable for their actions. We need to stop saying "boys will be boys" when they act a fool, get into a scuffle, or are disrespectful to a girl. We need to teach them that women are not objects or property. We need to teach them that women are valid, women are significant, women are equals.

"We need to raise them by teaching them that the female body is beautiful and capable of so much...they will not be embarrassed or feel shame."

We need to raise our children to respect a woman, her body, and her rights. We need to raise them by teaching them that the female body is beautiful and capable of so much. By normalizing the body and showing our children that breastfeeding is a natural and normal occurrence then we can begin the conversations and in turn begin the change that our society so desperately needs. So that when our children see a photo of themselves nursing on their mother they will acknowledge the true beauty and the reality of the photo. They will not be embarrassed or feel shame.  They will not be considered "odd" because they accept the photo for what it is.  The only people who would be embarrassed by these photos are the people who are raised to believe the female body is a sexual object and that it is sinful to look at, that it causes men to sin, and should remain covered at all times. Furthermore, if a child becomes embarrassed of his/her mothers photos then it is probably because they have been indoctrinated into believing that any and all forms of sexuality and sensuality is sinful unless it is in the private confines of ones marital home, in the bedroom, preferably missionary style. And that my friends would be a tragedy. 

I feel like there is still so much left that is untouched on this issue, but it is my hope that we can start making a difference for ourselves, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters.  We deserve better, they deserve better.  It won't get better until we get our voices heard.  Thankfully I know that I am not alone in this effort and there are other women that feel the same way.

♥ Ashley

The Wednesday Weekly - Week 15

And here we are at another Wednesday! 

I was reflecting today about our first pregnancy...if it hadn't ended in a miscarriage that sweet babe would have turned 5 today.  I could have a five year old!!  That just blows my mind.  Even though I never met that little nugget I love them dearly and think of them every day.  But as I was reflecting and thinking about the bloggers I follow and how they posted weekly bumpdates while pregnant and then how so many of them posted weekly updates once their bundles of joy arrived, I am so grateful for God's plan, not only because Ellie and Finnley wouldn't be a part of our lives but also because I was inspired by those bloggers to document my daughter's first year of life.  Without reading those blog posts I can pretty much guarantee that my 5 year old wouldn't have posts like these - and these posts are my all time favorites.

We have had a super busy week but it also feels like we haven't really done that much, funny how that works.

Week 15

Eats: nothing really new here.  Finnley is all about the bottle and is still having her bouts of spit up.  One thing we noticed this week is that she has gas long after she eats...like at least an hour or more.  We were out at a Vietnamese restaurant this week and were served lime with our Pho so we gave Finnley a taste - as you can imagine she wasn't a fan. 

Sleeps: this girl is so much different than Ellie.  Finnley is still being a super sleeper at night.  Her day naps are still inconsistent but I am pretty sure that is normal at 3 months old.  The best part about all of it though is that we can lay Finnley down to go to sleep and 80% of the time she will fall alseep without fussing!! This is so different than Ellie who needed to be rocked/bounced to sleep in our arms and then very delicately transferred to her bed (for about 15 months).  We are so hoping this will continue to be her sleep routine. We do still have her sleeping in the bassinet in our room and are looking into a monitor so we can move her into her nursery.

not quite her crib...but it is her room so I'll call it a win ;)

Goes:  baby girl was still in Vancouver, BC and she went to all our favorite places.  We went out to lunch at the best Italian spot and she hung out on the booth just like Ellie did on her first visit there.  We made our way to Granville Island and the market and enjoyed a slice of Pride Cake, well we did - Finnley had a bottle.  We also made a quick trip to our local Farmers Market on Saturday, went to a new park on Sunday, and went to visit my best childhood friend in a quaint little town, Poulsbo.

Does: smiles all the time, cries for attention and as soon as she sees you or you pick her up she gives all the smiles, holds her head up, hates tummy time but can roll onto her side from back to side, drools all over the place and has the best burps.

Loves: to smile, to make all the noises, the baby swing and infant walker, her sister, mama and dada, and girfriend is finally getting more comfortable in her car seat but prefers it to be moving.

Of Note: Finnley babe is tall and it's time for me to move the straps on her car seat so she can fit in it better.  I can tell that she is taking everything in and is incredibly observant and even though she has her meltdowns she really is the sweetest babe.

Mama: Finnley is a mama's girl right now and I L O V E love it!  She wants to be held all the time (slight exaggeration) and my heart is so full and happy.  Last year when we had our 5th miscarriage it flipped a switch in my and as funny as it sounds I am a much happier person.  I finally accepted my infertility and was able to get out of the depths of it.  I have found myself again this year and just feel like I am in a much better place in my life.  Having this new outlook on life has really allowed me to truly and fully enjoy this special time with Finnley girl and to embrace all of her goodness.

Sister:  once again Ellie is all about her sister.  She tells me all the time that "I love Finnley so much" and whenever we are going to go somewhere she always wants Finnley to come too (like we'd leave her behind!!) We got out all of the infant toys this week and Ellie was so excited about the "TOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" that she is having a hard time sharing them with her sister but is actually doing a really good job of it. I could only have hoped that Ellie would love her sister as much as she does and I can't believe how lucky I am that she does.  And we do get to have a sister picture this week because when I mentioned to Ellie that it was time for Finnley's photo shoot, she marched right into her room and got her bunny and sheepskin so she could have pictures too!

♥ Ashley

previous weeks

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen

Ellie at 15 weeks

The Wednesday Weekly - Week 14

Fourteen weeks?!!!?!?!!? Wow that went by fast!  I remember before Ellie was born reading the weekly updates of my favorite bloggers and even then it seemed like it went fairly fast. I couldn't wait to get to write my own and now here I am writing my second round of them and I feel like I just wrote last weeks an hour ago!!

Eats: I was actually able to kind of keep track one day this week and she had about 25 ounces...so I would say that she is doing great! We are still just using formula but I am actually looking forward to starting solid foods with her.  We waited until Ellie was sitting up on her own and I think we will do the same with Finnley.

Sleeps: nighttime sleep is on point and I'm praying that it stays that way forever and ever...naps on the other hand are not going as smoothly.  I guess that if I had to choose I would prefer her to be the awesome night sleeper.  I think that part of the reason that her naps are all wonky is because we aren't too consistent with our schedule, poor babe will fall asleep in the car just minutes before we arrive home and we aren't too successful at the transfer yet.

Goes: we went on a boat ride, to Vashon Island (ferry ride), to a Thomas the Train event, and Vancouver, BC!! Our little traveler is getting more used to her car seat and is pretty good at going with the flow...though I am having to ride in the back seat sometimes to keep her calm.

Does: smiles, coo's, and has the smallest of "giggles".  She is recognizing us more and more and gets the biggest smile on her face when she see's us and it just melts my heart!! Also she is putting weight on her legs and I'm hoping that means that she'll be ready to keep up with big sis here pretty soon. 

Loves: to sit up with assistance of course...though I am counting down the days until she can do this herself. We also gave her one of those baby blankets with a stuffed animal attached to it and she really likes it a lot.

Of Note: I'm sure there is something but I can't think of anything right now.

Mama: her smiles melt my heart, her cooing and silly sounds are music to my ears and just that I get to do this whole Mama thing over again is a dream come true.  I've been reflecting a lot this week and I am so thankful that I don't have the stress of going back to work and that I just get to be at home with my girls and that I have this opportunity to get to watch them grow. 

Sister: the best!! Ellie just loves having a sister and is now thinking that they should ride in the car seat together...so it's been a bit interesting.  Ellie loves to give hugs and as usual is obsessed with Finnley's head. No weekly sister picture this week because our schedule was just crazy...I was lucky to get one of just Finnley!!

♥ Ashley

previous weeks:

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. eleven, twelve, thirteen

Ellie at 14 weeks

Show and Tell Tuesday - a home tour

It feels like it's been forever since I've posted photos of our home, but also like it was just yesterday...funny how that works. 

Today I'm linking up with Andrea for her Show and Tell Tuesday series, and today is the Home Tour Edition. If you know me then you know I love to see other people's homes and it just wouldn't be right if I wasn't willing to share mine too!  

And if you are new around here, thanks for stopping by!  I'll give you a little history on our home.  We purchased our home in 2008 several months before I got married (and my mom being old fashioned like she was "forbade" me to move in until after we were married...so being the good daughter she raised, I lived at home for another 7 months)  

We've done a lot of work on our house over the years: front yard overhaul, painted the exterior, painted the interior (a couple of times) and the moldings, new floors, kitchen refresh, new appliances, replaced lighting, enlarged and covered our deck, and fenced the whole property for our animals.

When the house was on the market the front yard was chock full of junipers, like over 20 of them, bark and gravel.  Within two years we pulled them all out, laid grass, planted trees and created some flower beds and just last year we put the cherry on top by painting it a dark grey (instead of peaches and cream).

We also have a vegetable garden in the front, along with some apple trees and blueberry bushes.  The front flower bed is HUGE and it's taken me 6 years to get it filled in, I still have a lot of work to do but I love it so much.

We really lucked out with our house, even though it was built in 1989 it has a great open concept feel to it that I absolutely love.  Our living room has transformed over the years but I really love how it is now.  I just recently painted the wall the fireplace is on and I am not sure why it took me so long.  It used to be green and I loved that too, but I wanted something lighter and more neutral so I painted it the same color as the rest of the walls and it makes the space seem so much larger.  The couch is from Macy's home and the arm chairs I got at Target.  The coffee table is from IKEA.  We actually have a second couch that you can just see the arm of, it was in my moms house.  The other tables in this space were found at antique stores and the TV stand was a Goodwill DIY.

I just love how the new wall color doesn't compete with the furniture, gallery photos, or other accessories.  

My Dad retired last month from over 40 years of practicing medicine as a General Practitioner, but wasn't done providing medical care and is now over in Jordan serving the Syrian Refugees.  It all happened rather quickly but he decided that he is going to sell his home and I was honored to have the chance to grab this Philodendron and bring it into my home.  It's actually a very old plant - it was my mom's and I can remember it being in my childhood home, now it's one of Ellie's favorite things and she insisted on being in the picture with it telling me "I love this so much!"!  It looks spectacular in this spot and seems to be very happy here.  I love having plants in my home and this one is near and dear to my heart!

This past November we finally replaced all the wall to wall carpet in our great room and hallway, along with the linoleum in the kitchen with laminate flooring.  It's held up great and we love this look so much.  I feel like our home is so much cleaner, brighter, and grounded...plus Ellie loves to go "skating" in her socks.

Here is our pantry.  I painted the pantry doors three years ago with Chalkboard paint and I love being able to change up the original artwork as often as I want! Ellie draws on it too and I love it.

Here is our kitchen, it was originally oak colored cabinets with linoleum floors (from 1989) and fairly "dark" to my standards.  So I wanted to lighten up the space by painting them white and it made a huge difference.  We then got a new dishwasher because our vintage one from 89 stopped working and then due to a fluke tea kettle accident (I left it on the stove for too long) we had to replace our oven/range.  This past year we got a killer deal on a fridge that fit into the space like a glove (it barely fits and the guys who brought it in to install were pretty freaked and measured about 5 times).  The next on our list is the microwave - but this one works so well we can't come up with a reason to replace it.  I also just painted the lighting fixture last week.  It was oak colored too and a total eyesore...it still is but much improved. I was hoping that by painting it white it would sort of just blend into the ceiling and I'm kicking myself that I didn't paint it 8 years ago! What was wrong with me??  Oh and we have replaced the light above the sink a couple times too, I am loving this current one.

And how sweet are these four sack towels??  We made a trip to Vashon Island last week and picked these up in the Pharmacy, we are suckers for things with goats on them and so these two just had to come home with us.  I am so glad that Thomas found them and that he insisted we get two of them!  I've trained him well over the years, haha.

And our last stop on the home tour this time around is Finnley's nursery. I am actually not sure if I've shared it on the blog before or not?  But I am just in love with it and it came out better than I imagined.  I was going for a neutral/boho/tribal/bows,arrows, and feathers feel with wood tones and gold/rose gold accents.  I love this room so much (and way more than Ellie's nursery...)  We reused a lot of things from there but my decor style has changed in the past three years and this just fits me.

Mirror, chalkboard Arrow with custom calligraphy, dreamcatcher from Disneyland, feather drawer pulls, tear drop drawer pulls, birdhouses from Michaels, area rug from Target (no longer available), glider (I sanded it down), accent table from HomeGoods, crib,  frames-curtains-sheepskin rug IKEA, changing pad cover

Her closet and behind the shutters is more storage for extra diapers and other similar necessities. 

I am in love with her crib, we used it with Ellie too and it's been great.  The tassel garland is from Target's Valentines decore and I made the mobile after I couldn't find what I was looking for.  I got all the supplies at Michaels and it's one of my favorite things in her room!

Thanks for taking a small tour with me today! I hope you enjoyed taking a peek inside my house.  We still have a few things we would like to complete in out house, like replacing the baseboards with some more detailed white ones (which we currently have in our garage...just have to paint them), switch out the lighting in the bathrooms, new light fixture in our bedroom, new flooring in our bathroom (to get rid of the 1989 linoleum) and then replace the carpets in the bedrooms. I think once we do that and reorganize our laundry room this house will work for us for the foreseeable future!!  I am really hoping to get those baseboards done this summer...

Thanks for stopping by and if you have time feel free to check out more of my blog!!

♥ Ashley

The Wednesday Weekly - Week 13

Not only is today Finnley's 13th week but it's also her 3rd Monthday!! Hooray!!  This week we were pretty busy just living life that I didn't get too many pictures...I guess that's the way it goes sometimes but we've been enjoying it nonetheless.

Week 13

Eats: I've been trying to keep count of how many bottles our sweet babe is going through a day and I keep forgetting after her 4th bottle...I'm guessing that she's probably taking in about 8 bottles a day with 4 ounces each for a total of 24 ounces a day on the average. We're still using Similac Sensitive formula and our beloved Dr. Browns bottles. She is still spitting up, not quite as much but I'm pretty sure I need to make a trip up to the attic to get down all of Ellie's old bibs. 

Sleeps: we aren't having a consistent nap schedule lately, might have something to do with is being super busy and such.  It doesn't seem to be a problem because she is still a great sleeper at night: from about 8:30pm - 6/6:30 am. Naps go better if she's swaddled but I want her to be able to sleep without it. Finnley girl is still sleeping in the bassinet right next to me in our room. I'm hoping to get her a monitor pretty soon so we can start transitioning her into her room. She is such a good sleeper that I'm so much more comfortable with it (Ellie on the other hand still wakes in the night...)

Goes: this week was pretty busy with Ellie having swimming and gymnastics lessons back to back, hanging out at home and making a trip to the farmers market! Also on Monday we went to look at two houses, neither one is the right fit but we all have a better idea of what "works" for us. 

Does: Finnley can hold her head up during tummy time - for a short amount of time and then once her neck gets tired she hates tummy time. She does the best when we are in Ellie's room. We also got out the Johnny Jump Up, which we rarely used with Ellie because she was so short and her chin didn't meet the top, but Finnley has been doing so great. She can swing herself a bit and get herself turned around, she likes to hold onto things so we give her what it easily accessible: like tampons...girlfriend better get used to those!

Loves: her car seat (she sleeps so well in the car), the Johnny Jump Up, laying around, trying to sit up (with our help), smiling in the morning, and blowing bubbles with her drool. 

Of Note: she is 3 months old today and I  think I will do a tri-monthly update post on her for that. We've been practicing sitting up and she can do it for a nanosecond. She's drooling a lot more and has the sweetest smiles. She is no longer a fan of the bath so we're going to force her to like it, along with getting lotion applied, getting her diaper changed and appreciating tummy time ;)  We also had our first fire of the summer and both girls did very well with them, Finnley slept during most of it - but at this point that comes as no surprise.

Mama: I'm in disbelief that my sweet baby girl is already 3 months old. She's found her voice and now her crying is hitting me to the core and I want to just fix whatever it is so I don't have to hear it. Every time she smiles it melts my heart and I honestly cannot wait for her to get a bit older, more independent and interactive to get to see her relationship and friendship with Ellie blossom and grow! I pray that I can raise both my girls to be the best of friends with each other. 

Sister: oh my word, I had no idea that Ellie could love her sister any more but somehow she can and she does. She wants Finnley to be more interactive with her so she "helps" her to roll over, which results in crying (both girls) and getting in trouble.  But Ellie still exclaims at least 10 times a day that "I love Finnley so much" or "I love my sister so much".  Ellie has also gained some more independence and I love having her in her own gymnastics lessons where I don't have to follow her around!  This week's pictures were so cute it was hard choosing a favorite, I was able to narrow it down to 2 so I'll just leave them both here for y'all.

I really don't have the words to express how much I love being a mom, a girl mom, and a girl mom of two!!!

♥ Ashley

previous weeks:

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve

Ellie at 13 weeks