Heart Ring - Or really any jewelry from here! I think they are all so pretty!

Personalized Senegence Bundle - Okay, I know this is a shameless plug, but there is legit something for everyone! Plus, new products that are SOO good!

Garden wagon/bench - Any gardening moms out there?! I have my first garden this year and this (and a new pair of garden gloves!) is definitely on my list!

Bird House - I saw the cutest bird houses and feeders at TJMaxx a few weeks ago! Perfect for anyone that loves to sit outside and enjoy all the sweet noises.

Keepsake box - This is such a sweet idea for moms and grandmas! You could even fill it with other items and tell them the box is for all the memories to come! I think this is especially sweet for new grandmas, new empty nesters, or even first time moms!

Cricut Joy - I want one for myself! Think of all the fun crafts!

New robe/slippers - You can never go wrong with this idea! Already have slippers? Maybe some new cozy socks. Not a robe person? Maybe a new pair of jams!

Vaca tote - Are you or mom finally getting back out into the world?! We are! I think it would be a great way to personalize a gift by getting things she could use on the car ride, plane, or vaca destination!

Y’all I feel like I have been working on this bathroom reno for FOREVER!! In reality, it’s only taken me a few actual weeks of work. Everything takes a little longer when you are trying to keep an 8 month entertained. I have to say that even though it took me much longer than I expected, I’m so happy with the way this space turned out!

Do you ever feel like you don’t keep a space picked up and clean because that room doesn’t bring you joy? That’s how I always felt about this bathroom. When we moved in, I knew I was going to have to tackle this room asap, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money or time on something that was total functional.

I wanted the space to be bright and more modern. I painted the walls Eider White to match the main living spaces in the house. This completely changed the feel of the bathroom. Then I got new mirrors, a double hang towel rack, and floating shelves. One of the things I’m most proud of, however, is the cabinets! I used a paint and technique I have never used before and was not disappointed! If you are redoing cabinets and don’t want to see the brush strokes, I definitely recommend using Heirloom All-in-One Paint! We used the color Weathervane and love how it looks! I feel like it made the space more cozy. And to top it all off, I got new rugs from At Home and super fluffy new towels at Target!

Pick up/do dishes before bed every night. This one is life changing. I know that sounds dramatic, but it’s seriously the truth! No matter the time or how tired I am, I absolutely insist on cleaning up and loading the dishwasher. This way, every morning when I get up to start the day, I don’t have the mess from the day before staring me down.

Do something just for me each day. Even if it’s only take a shower or watch an episode of your fave show! With a 6 month old in the house, sometimes these are harder to come by. Somedays I don’t get this moment until the end of the day when Rhett and I go to bed at 8:30 just to binge watch something ridiculous for a little bit. Sometimes it’s literally just a pee break.

Make the bed. I used to do this every day because I was raised with my mother insisting I do so. Then I went off to college and became my own person (aka decided it wasn’t necessary aka became lazy). When we redid our bedroom, I loved the way I felt every time I walked into the room when the bed was made. On top of that, I realized that if I expected Edee to make her bed ever, I better get my act together.

Make notes for tomorrow. When I get into bed, I always reflect on the day and make notes about what I need to do tomorrow. This helps me to feel like I have a handle on my life and also lets me go to sleep without feeling like I’m forgetting something.

Clean one thing each day. This is the worst and also the most helpful most of the time. If I don’t do this, I always feel like I make it to the weekend and have SOO much to get done. So in true Ashley fashion, I made myself a list. I do sheets on Mondays, dust on Tuesdays, clean a bathroom each Thursday. You get the gist. I always want to be able to spend as much time as possible with my family at night and the weekends, so even when I don’t want to scrub that toilet, I know it will be worth it in the long run.

How have we gotten here?? Where has the time gone? I feel like we just brought out little Edee home yesterday, but also like I’ve been her mom forever. I thought I would share some of the things we have learned and loved over the past few months! Most of our must haves are in this blog post, so I’m going to share more about some little tips and tricks!

One of my most recent favorites is the carrier we bought for us and her on Valentine’s Day! I wanted one that we could use for all stage of baby. So we could use it with her now and also with a newborn baby. I had a wrap whenever she was a tiny thing, but with the pandemic, we didn't get out much to use it. Since she has loved sleeping in her crib since day 1, I never had to wear her for naps. She had colic when she was about a month old, so I remember putting her in it one day just to be able to make cookies in piece! This carrier is super simple and truly think will get so much use come spring when we can go on walks and get outside!

We had her sleeping in our room in a bassinet until she was 6 weeks old. She took 90% of her naps in her crib from seriously day 1, so we knew she slept well in there. She was beginning to get restless and not sleep as well in her bassinet at night because she was touching the top with her head halfway through! She used to sleep like such a little savage! Legs mermaiding in her sleep sack, fidgeting around. When we first put her in her crib, I would put her down one direction and by the time it was time to feed or get up in the morning, she would be completely turned around! Needless to say, we all slept better when she started sleeping in her own room. Rhett was a little worried about her sleeping in there, but I think it was mostly the fact that she was just getting bigger that made him sad.

Since we are on the topic of sleep, I have to say that one of the biggest most haves for us has been Taking Cara Babies. We took the newborn class before she was born to help us both understand all of the things that happen before, during, and after birth. We also took her sleep class when Edee was almost 5 month. It helped us with weening her from her one night feeding and got her sleeping through the night (8pm-7am)!

When she started sleeping through the night, she needing more calories during the day to be able to go without her night feeding. We started giving her some rice cereal in each of her bottles. We started giving her baby food around 5 months, but she really never cared for any of it. This past week we have started baby led weaning. So far she seems to be enjoying this much more!

One of our exciting yet somewhat exhausting developments is that she is teething. None have broken through just yet, but I’m starting to see the tiny two bottom teeth. Luckily, with the help if Taking Cara Babies, we have a great sleep foundation in place so she working through this like a champ! I have been putting Mommy Bliss Organic Little Gums soothing gel on her before and after naps and before bed to help some!

A few days before turning 6 months, she began sitting up completely on her own! She now much prefers to sit by herself and play with all of her toys. We are also practicing crawling and rolling over. Although at this point, I am certain that she is going to crawl and walk before she has any desire to lay on the ground and roll over. She is too much of a nosey rose to lay down for that long.

Something I read before she was even here that I can now agree is a must, is to keep a basket in the closet or near the laundry hamper. As the baby grows out of clothes, put them in that basket until you are ready to put them in away in a tote or give away. Since Edee is, Lord willing, just our first baby, I put all of her items away in a tote for future babies. This keeps me organized and able to constantly have only clothes that fit her in her closet. My plan is to have 1 tote per child with items and clothes that were their favorites, to be able to pass to them when they are older. I will give them this tote and their baby books (this one is a must have in my opinion!) with notes written from us.

She is our greatest joy and most loved challenge. She is completely obsessed with her daddy and has a new obsession with making circle with a tricycle we push around the house. She absolutely loves showers and still isn’t that fond of laying down for longer than it takes to change her diaper. She is a total chatter box and tells daddy all of her stories from the day as soon as he gets home.

Here’s the deal. Rhett and I aren’t doing anything thrilling for Valentine’s Day. We have a 6 month old at home, we are still in quarantine, and the temperature will be below freezing in Oklahoma that day. So even though I plan on wearing my regular mom uniform (aka leggings and grandma sweaters), I will definitely be doing a little bit of a glam makeup look just to make myself feel special!

Products used in Look #1

Eyes

Moca Java ShadowSense - Outer corner and lid

Sandstone Pearl Shimmer ShadowSense - lid

Black/Brown Liner Pencil - Upper water line

Lash Primer

Black Regular VolumeIntense Mascara

Black Waterproof VolumeInstense Mascara

Face

Candlelight ShadowSense - Under eye color correcting

Creme Beige Foundation

Light Concealer

Light Concealer + Whisper Pink ShadowSense - Undereye Highlight

Pink Posey - Blush

Lips

Blu-Red LipSense + Glossy Gloss

Products used in Look #2

Eyes

Desert Rose - All over

French Roast - Outer Corner, lower lash line

Shell Glitter - Lid, Inner lower lash line

Lash Primer

Black Regular VolumeIntense Mascara

Black Waterproof VolumeIntense Mascara

Face

Candlelight ShadowSense - Under eye color correcting

Creme Beige Foundation

Light Concealer

Light Concealer + Whisper Pink ShadowSense - Undereye Highlight

Desert Rose - Blush

Lips

Blush LipSense + Bella Matte Gloss

Well we all know that last spring was a little different then all the others. Then we moved and had a baby and a lot of other things happened and we finally made it to a hopefully more exciting spring! I didn't want this list to be like all the other bucket lists out there. So I added things that I am really excited about for our family in hopes that they will inspire you! When I talk about my bathroom update, maybe you will think of that dresser you’ve been meaning to refinish or the closet you’ve wanted to get organized for forever!

Fishing with fam (Rhett’s one and only goal for the spring)

The zoo

Picnics in the backyard

Evening walks

Gardening

Bathroom update

Creating our first Easter traditions with Edee

Read books under the tree at the park with family

Go to a Farmers Market

Go on drives in the country to pick flowers

My goal for this spring is to cherish the small moments. The evenings spent sitting on the back porch and throwing tennis balls for the dogs. The slow mornings spent sitting in the living room listening to Edee chatter away. I hope this list helps you to look forward for the daily moments that you will hold onto forever.

We moved into our home in April of last year and love [almost] everything about it! I started the interior updates with Edee’s room since we only had a few months until she was born. I decided our bedroom was next on the list and started it in November. It has taken me a few months to get all of the finishing touches done, but I can’t wait to share!

It all started with the paint color! Rhett wanted something more “moody” or as my mom thought “dungeon-esque”. When I started painting, I actually didn’t think it would be dark enough. Pro tip: wait to judge until you are totally done painting. Including ceiling!

All of our furniture came from Mathis Brothers in OKC, but we have had it for a few years now!

5’ faux fiddle leaf fern

Bed pillows: Black Lumbar Throw, Faux Leather, White Quilted Fringe

Weighted blanket

Lamps

We have had the art for years, too, so I cannot remember where it’s from!

I wanted to make our room feel cozy and like we were on vacation every time we walked in. I can’t even begin to tell you how long I looked at inspiration images before I realized that we needed a faux fireplace to give me the vibe I was looking for. We didn’t think we would actually use an electric fireplace insert, so we went with with the surround and candles for aesthetics. I found our fireplace on Facebook Marketplace for like $50 and painted it! It’s amazing what you can do with things when you use your imagination! Pro tip: if you have little kids or are planning to anchor something like this to the wall, attach a piece of wood to the back. This way you can screw it to the wall without having to remove any trim and it will still be level! We attached a 1x4 to the back, inset it from the sides a bit and painted it black so it will never be noticed!

The barn door was another custom build. You can 100% buy a barn door, but I’m a little extra and wanted the entire inside (towards the bathroom) to be mirror! The bathroom is next on my updating list, so I thought ahead for the best use of the door! We decided to change out our french doors for a barn door because they always seemed to be in the way.

One of my custom pieces is the dog kennel bench. My family owns a construction company, meaning I am extremely fortunate to get a whole bunch of my ideas built for the price of baby snuggles and moderate assistance. We used to keep the dogs in their travel kennels on our night stands for bedtime, so they needed something more permanent. I looked up ideas on Pinterest and came up with this! The top comes off and we put plastic “kennel trays” in the bottom for easy clean up if necessary! If you are planning to build your own or have own built, I recommend finding the tray first. Then figure out the other dimensions based off the kennel they use already.

These frames are from all over the place. I love that they are all just a little different so if I decide I want to add more photos down the road, I can just pull in any white frame! I had to get a close up shot of the photos because I am obsessed.

The lamp was Rhett’s grandmas and fit too perfectly in the room not to use it. And humidifier because it’s Oklahoma and the weather changes every day so we have to create our own environment!

Before pictures with a SUPER messy room

Omg we made it! Normally we are all like “New Year, New Me!” This year, I’m choosing to say “New Year, Moderately Improved Old Me” I feel like after last year, it’s important not to put sooo much pressure on yourself or on a single year. Let’s take a step back and make small changes that will impact our lives forever.

When I sat down to think about what I wanted from this year, I came up with one word. Consistency. Life is a lot sometimes. Working from home, being a first time mom, running our home, being a dog mom, being a wife, practicing self care. I don’t want to shock you or anything, but it is actually impossible to balance it all at one time. Every day something is chosen as a priority and something else is put on the back burner. There are only so many hours in the day. So when I thought about what I wanted my year to look like, I knew that being consistent with my energy each day was the key.

---

Last year was not only a strange year, but it was also a big year for my family. We moved, had a baby, and had a whole lot of at home time. I, like many people I know, became addicted to Amazon. I mean I did have things to actually shop for! I was staring at my closet the other day, thinking about how much I loved my new shoe organizers, and decided I just had to share some of my favorites for the year.

For me:

Shoe Organizers - The best way to maximize closet space! Or buy more shoes!

Christmas Memories Book - A friend told me they did this every year and I knew it would be such a special memory for our families!

Hair Dryer - The best! My hair is so smooth!

Slippers - Everyone needs a good pair of house shoes!

Sound Machine - Perfect for babies or to block out snoring husbands!

For baby:

Sleep Sack - The only swaddle Edee would wear.

Baby Book - This is from the same person as the Christmas Memories Book. The perfect combination of photo album and bench marks.

Swing - Edee loved this as a newborn and still loves it at 5 months old!

Footies - Trust me, the best footies are the ones that make night time changes the easiest! AKA Two Way Zipper!

Books:

Memory Making Mom

A Court of Thorns and Roses series

The Royals series

Binge worthy shows:

Outlander

NCIS

Cobra Kia

Dream Home Makeover

The Queens Gambit

The Home Edit

P.s. I promise Rhett got plenty of things too, most of them fishing related, but I wouldn’t even know where to start with that!

Okay, we are 3 months into this parenting thing, so I officially feel like I can offer my opinion about all of the must haves, nice to haves, and not so necessary items for baby! I want to preface this with, these items are so different for everyone, so you have to see what works best for you! Also, I pinky promise, you don’t need that many things to keep a baby happy and healthy! Keep it simple!!

Must Haves

Noise Machine

Did you know that it sounds like a vacuum inside the womb at all times?! I was watching a newborn sleep training video and was shocked by this info! Because of this, babies sleep better with a constant noise. We have two of these! We had one in our room while baby girl slept in the bassinet in there and one in the nursery for naps during the day!

Sleep sack/swaddles

Studies show that newborns sleep better when they are wrapped in a way that their startle reflex won’t wake them up. There are so many different types of swaddle blankets and sleep sacks out there. we tried a couple different types and found that Edee’s favorite is this one! I love that it’s super easy to get on and off and that it makes diaper changes in the night super quick! We went with the small versus the newborn because she was a long baby and it was more comfortable for her!

Inverted Zipper Footies

This pajamas make like SOO much easier! When you are having to change a diaper in the middle of the night in the semi darkness you do not want to get a baby naked to do that! With these, you can unzip from the foot up, pull the legs out, change the diaper and hardly disturb the sleeping cherub!

Gripe Water

This one was a must have for us because Edee went through some serious tummy problems and major hiccup episodes! I also recommend Gas Relief if your little one has a problem tummy!

Swing/Bouncer

Okay, obviously you want to hold that sweet baby at all times. But sometimes you want to shower, or pee, or make a 4th cup of coffee while baby is awake. We were gifted this bouncer and she loved it! I actually now keep this one in the bathroom so she can hang out in there if I’m getting ready or doing laundry! We bought this swing when she was probable a month old and y’all it is our favorite thing! She loves the mobile and the music and I love that it goes in two different directions! Somedays she likes to swing side to side and watch out the window and other days she likes the back and forth motion!

Bottle Warmer

We decided to formula feed miss Edee. This bottle warmer makes night time feedings so much easier because I can prepare bottles ahead of time and warm them when she is ready! I pre make her middle of the night feeding and her 7 am feeding so we don’t have to mess with a hangry baby!

Nice to Haves

Car camera

We started with a mirror that went over the headrest, which worked fine enough, but Rhett found this camera that we love! It makes car rides less stressful for me, because I can keep an eye on her if I need to!

Video Monitor

So the reason this is on the nice to haves list and not the must haves is because you can 100% get the just audio monitors and they work great! We bought this Audio monitor for when we go to our families houses so she can nap soundly and we don’t have to worry about her. But if you can get one with the video, this is the one we got! We like it and it is so easy to use! We did a test run to make sure the signal reached form the nursery to our room, that way it wouldn’t go off in the middle of the night!

Wipe Warmer

This one is pretty self explanatory. Who wants cold wipes on your tushy in the middle of the night if you can help it, right?!

Not so Necessary

All the clothes

This may not be true all of the time, but we had Edee in the middle of the pandemic. So we didn’t get out of the house much in the first couple months! I felt like I had to put her in the newborn cutesy things had just so I could see them on her before she out grew them! We definitely lived in our footies and long sleeve onesies and soft pants!

Petal Bath

This didn’t work for us, but your baby may love it! Edee didn’t like being naked at all, so in order to give her a bat, she needed to be more “submerged”! We used this bath instead! Side note, she also didn’t care for the newborn hammock thing in this so we put her in the more reclined side with a warm wash cloth over her belly and bath time got much less painful!

Another thing that is obviously necessary is a car seat stroller. There are SOOO many options out there. We did extensive research, pushed all of them through the stores, and had many [heated] discussions about which would be best for us. We settled on the Graco Travel System, because I knew for sure I wanted one with the bassinet option. She loves the bassinet if we are going on a walk or working outside! Plus, then we could just get extra carseat bases Rhett’s truck and the grandparents vehicles!

Here a re few other things that made life easier for us!

Bottle Drying Rack | Burp Rags | Travel Bassinet | Nose Picker

I have debated about whether or not to write this post and finally decided to share my experience with the world.

We had two different due dates, one from our fertility doctor based on size and one from our OBGYN based on date of last period. We had decided that if we went one week past OBGYN due date that we were going to be induced. With the pandemic still in full force, we wanted to be in as much control as we could be if possible.

I had been dilated to a 3 for two weeks at this point. On Monday, I had been having mild contractions. My parents were up at our house that night and I had made dinner. The whole time we were timing them. By the time we went to bed, I had been having these contractions for 2 hours between 5-7 minutes apart. They weren’t super aggressive, but I was worried that if I fell asleep, we would wake up and not have time to make it to the hospital before she came. (Logically, yes, I know that’s not how it happens. But at this point there is no logic.) Soo after a full sobbing break down, we decide to drive to the hospital just to check on everything. We were there for a couple hours with no progress, still at a three and only mild contractions. So they gave me a sleeping pill and sent us home.

At the doctors visit the next day, I just knew when she checked me she was going to break my water on accident. I was certain that I would be calling Rhett to tell him to meet me at the hospital. And yet, I was still only a 3.. I went home angry and legit laid in bed the rest of the day.

We went to bed with the realization that this stubborn child was going to make us physically evict her.
I woke up the next morning at 5 because I absolutely had to pee. When I laid back down I could not get comfortable to save my life. As I laid there, I realized I was having a contraction. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but a few minutes later another one hit. I opened my phone to scroll Insta, since I obviously wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. About 30 minutes later, and quite a few contractions, I decided I better start timing these. They were getting more intense and pretty consistent. For the next hour the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and getting pretty aggressive. So I got up, took a warm shower and got ready because this baby was definitely coming today!
Rhett’s alarm went off at 7 and I was standing next to the bed. I said “hey, you want to go have a baby today?” He was like wait for real? I told him he had 15 minutes to get ready before I decided to drive myself!
Of course, once we got checked in and they checked my I was only dilated to a 4.. well you don’t get to go to the delivery floor until you are 5 cm or your water is broke. So we walked. And walked. And walked some more. For a little over an hour I walked hallway with a mask on. We were officially moved to the delivery floor around 11. I hadn’t been 100% sure I wanted an epidural until now. I was uncomfortable and anxious and knew that the epidural would relax me enough to enjoy the process. I got the goods at about 12:30 and sent Rhett for our bags and for him to eat some lunch! Nothing exciting happens until about 5:30 when our doctor came in to break my water. At that point, I was dilated to an 8. One hour later we hit 10 and started “practice pushing” to get the baby dropped into place for delivery! Edith Rose was born at 7:12 after pushing for 3 contractions. She had big lungs and was so beautiful! I got to hold her for just a few minutes before I started to feel sick. And that’s when it got tricky.

I started to feel sick so I passed baby girl back to the nurse so I could get a, for lack of a more attractive word, puke bag. I didn’t really know what was happening. I just knew that I was super nauseous and the room was full of people all of a sudden. I looked over at Rhett and could tell that something was wrong. He was totally calm, but his eyes were on high alert. I started getting stuck with all sorts of IVs and needles, which let me just say was THE WORST! I’m not a fan of needles to begin with, but when you start putting them in my hands, I get real aggressive. Come to find out I was hemorrhaging, which isn’t that uncommon. The difference in my case, was that they couldn’t get it to stop. They inserted a balloon to get my uterus to contract in order to stop the bleeding. It contracted, but actually pushed the balloon back out and I was still bleeding. They tried that one more time and it did the same thing. Each time they inserted the balloon, they would push on my stomach to encourage my body to contract. And every time they did that, I would get sick.

I remember them saying they needed more blood and faster because I was getting more and more pale. I straight up said, “I’m totally fine! I came in here super pale!” After the second balloon didn't work, the doctor told us they were going to give my body a second to catch up with all of the medicine they were pumping into me, to see if it would stop the bleeding on it’s own. If that didn’t work, we were going to have to go into emergency surgery with a possible hysterectomy. I looked over at Rhett. He told me that no matter what happened here, we would find a way to build our family. However, thankfully, my body took over and contracted and the bleeding finally stopped.

It took a total of about 2 hours for them to get the bleeding under control. I was so loopy and thankfully couldn’t feel anything from the waist down (Thank the sweet lord for epidurals!). Rhett had held my hand and my leg up (my stirrup broke about 30 minutes in) the entire time. Edee was snuggled and loved on by all of the nurses. We finally got to call our parents and show her off and reassure everyone that we were both okay. I was SOO swollen because of all of the liquids they had to pump into me. But for me the worst was the panic attack that came about an hour after everything settled down. I still couldn’t feel my legs so I wasn’t able to move. I felt trapped. Then the even more wonderful part came. They had to come into the room every 15 minutes for 2 hours to push on my stomach to get all of the excess blood out and to make sure that I wouldn’t start bleeding again. It was beyond painful. Legit the worst pain I have ever felt. However, when all was said and done, I was up and moving by 4am when we got moved to our post delivery room.

We stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon. By that time, I felt mostly like myself and was beyond ready to go home and have everyone meet little miss!

I wanted to sit down and write all of this because I felt like everything that I read before hand was either scary or too chill. Nothing matched my story.

So here are the things that I want to say.

1. You have the choice to not make a decision about an epidural until you are there in the moment. Listen to your body.

2. Everyone’s story is different. That’s what makes it special.

3. Yes, it hurts. For me, it wasn’t near as bad as I thought it was going to. I had heard so many stories..

4. You’re probably going to tear and that is perfectly normal. For me, I didn't really notice it until it was about 4-5 weeks healed. Then it got.. itchy. And sore. I kept Dermaplast on it and took plenty of warm baths.

5. Ice packs and high waisted “control top” underwear are key. You want to feel like all your bits are being held where they are supposed to be!

6. And lastly, for me, it was important that I at least took a shower every day. I would put her in her bouncer in the bathroom with me or lay her in her bassinet when she was napping. It made me feel like I was a little more myself.