life lessons from Ashley Stock - a momma-in-training.
I assure you this is not becoming a food blog. But ever since I started feeling better during this pregnancy, and as I’m nearly finished with my third trimester, it seems all I can think about is food. Food. Food. Food. My second chin can confirm that this is, in fact, true. That being said, I’ve discovered my new all-time favorite pasta recipe that I’ve already made 4 times in two weeks. Even Ben, who won’t touch a pasta that’s not covered in meat, downed {…Read More…}
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Today’s guest post, is by a girl I feel incredibly blessed to have as a part of my life. She’s real. She’s fabulous. And she’s pretty much the type of girl whose imperfections only make her that much more perfect. She’s inspired me in more ways than she could ever know. Read her blog, and she’ll inspire you too. Today she’s blogging here, and I’m over at her place. Here’s Casey…and her love story. *** Hi! My name is Casey Wiegand, I am a freelance {…Read More…}
These pretties have been on my to-do list for months now. With the outdoor dinner party I’m throwing this week, I knew now would be the perfect time to give painted jars a try for the tablescape center pieces. After seeing these jars on Pinterest, I knew I liked the jars in different shades of the same color–I decided to go with blues. My saved up jars with the labels removed. Shades of blue acrylic craft paint, and white so that I could dilute any {…Read More…}
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Brooke trying on a vintage red hat. Abby toting the handmade ‘sparkle’ flag. It was Saturday at 4:30 p.m. I was drowning in piles of laundry, tired from doing yet another load of dishes, overwhelmed at my unorganized and unpacked baby nursery, and to be honest–just tired of being on “toddler duty”. I needed a break. A head clearing. A moment (or a few hours) to escape my expanding to-do list and just take a deep breath. We all have that special place. The one {…Read More…}
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Coming up with new ideas or topics to write about on your blog (or journal for that matter) can be challenging. Which is why a while back I wrote a post about overcoming writer’s block. In that post, I gave one tip that encouraged you to get ideas from other blogger’s posts. Don’t plagiarize–simply be inspired by their topics (and give credit to your inspiration in your post). For example, if a blogger you like has written about their most embarrassing moment, this may inspire {…Read More…}
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Drool literally started to form in my mouth when I opened up Jacqui’s guest post in my inbox–Lemon Blueberry Scones! Are you kidding me?! Just look at how yummy and simple these bad boys are. And get a load of how stunning and fun and adorable Jacqui is–you’ll want to check out her site often! _________________________________________________________________________________ Hey! I’m Jacqui of Baby Boy Bakery and I am super excited to be sharing a yummy recipe with you all today! Thank you Ashley for letting me take {…Read More…}
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{Inspired by Lisa Leonard’s Hello Monday series} Hello beautiful Mother’s Day. Hello to my precious itty bitty baby boy. Hello to pretty packages wrapped for my favorite mothers. Hello to yummy appetizers. Hello future PGA tour winner–and lefty. Hello Mother’s Day flowers. Hello to my favorite Mother’s Day gift–a 2 hour mid-day nap on Grandma’s couch. Hello to a yummy BBQ dinner. Hello to cheesy toddler smiles. Hello to my adorable gap toothed smiley boy. Hello to the random bass my Uncle Joe caught from {…Read More…}
A looong while back, I guest posted for the super fab Jen of Tatertots & Jello and I shared one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. Now this was back in Fall, but I was looking through my drafts today and this post caught my eye and even resulted in some drool–so I knew I needed to share this recipe with y’all, even if it is a bit out of season. Pumpkin cookies are my all-time favorite cookies–and that’s saying a lot. It’s possible that I am {…Read More…}
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My beautiful, talented and beyond sweet friend, Brooke White, has this super fun blog called The Girls With Glasses–maybe you’ve heard of it, because it’s basically pure awesome. I had the pleasure of taking part in their most recent video with a bunch of other fun bloggers–A Message to Mother’s. Rad bloggers seen in video include: Jenny from Little Green Notebook Erin from Design For Mankind CJane from CJaneKendrick.com and Alex from AVEStyle.com Enjoy listening to my scratchy voice and watching my swollen face – ahhh, the joys of third trimester pregnancy. {…Read More…}
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Struggling to find ANY outfit that both fit and was farm appropriate. Rushing out the door, already late for his farm field trip. Sweat dripping down my back. Severe sciatica pain shooting from my back down into my foot. Chasing Lil W around while in the middle of some serious Braxton Hicks contractions. My feet swelling to gigantic proportions and nearly splitting the seams of my Toms. Losing track of my energetic toddler amongst a giant crowd of elementary school kids. Sticky strawberry juice wiped {…Read More…}
Country music. It’s a love-hate sorta thing. Meaning, you’re either someone who loves it, or you’re someone who hates it. I happen to be a country music lover–despite being raised in a state of mostly haters. So it wasn’t strange that I was blasting my favorite country station as I headed out to tackle my looong to-do list this Saturday morning. And it wasn’t strange that I was singing the tunes at the top of my lungs despite the inquisitive looks of those driving by. {…Read More…}
hand holder. dream soother. love giver. That pretty much sums up motherhood–and brings a sentimental, pregnancy induced tear to my eye. Which is why I haven’t taken off the Lisa Leonard “New Mama” necklace since I ripped open the package last week. New Mama Necklace I am without a doubt a humongous Lisa Leonard Designs fan–with a glorious collection that boasts over a dozen pieces of hand-crafted goodness. Last Fall, I even had the pleasure of visiting Lisa Leonard and her team in San Luis {…Read More…}
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{29 weeks pregnant} I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but the reality is… that aside from the beautiful end result, being pregnant is about my least favorite thing in the world. I’m beyond grateful and realize how blessed I am to be capable of creating a miracle in my belly, but the experience is still a struggle I’m working to overcome. The extreme sickness, the trips to the hospital, the mood swings, the headaches, the shortness of breath, the heartburn, the way NO clothes seem to {…Read More…}
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My boys, on a casual Friday night. Lil W was born bald as bald can be. And, aside from some peach fuzz, his sweet noggin stayed that way for over a year. So I just sorta assumed the little peanut in my tummy would be a baldy as well, like his big brother. But today, in my third trimester ultra-sound, the doctor discovered something that made this Momma giddy. My 2.8 pound, 15 inch bundle of joy has a head full of hair. A head, {…Read More…}
You can read about Lil W’s week without a smile here. Once upon a time we went to the zoo and met a 500 pound, 82 year old tortoise with a mouth strong enough to bite off your arm. While this tortoise had a face that I will surely be seeing in my nightmares, Lil W was able to see past his rough and creepy exterior, and became smitten with the giant right away. But toddlers aren’t allowed to pet appendage removing tortoises, so Lil {…Read More…}
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When I met Ben, there were two meals he considered himself an expert at making. Spaghetti and Foil Dinners. The first time he cooked for me, he made his Spaghetti. In all honesty, there was MUCH to be desired. And I remember choking it down with a smile on my face. The second time Ben cooked for me he made his foil dinner. From the looks of this meal, I was going to have trouble even faking a tolerance. Imagine my surprise, when his super {…Read More…}
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You can read about why Lil W needed surgery here. Friday was Lil W’s post-surgery 10 day check up. It actually feels more like a year has passed since he had his adenoids removed, because that’s the kind of stressful week we had following his surgery. For those who have been asking how the surgery went, here goes: Thursday night we put Lil W to bed at about 9 and waited reluctantly for his first awakening. You see, when Lil W wakes up (which is {…Read More…}
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Dear Baby in My Tummy, I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this letter to you for a while now… so that I feel less guilty about my lack of preparation for you. so that I stop worrying that we still haven’t found the perfect name for you. so that you become more real to me. and so that you know just how much you already matter to our family. In the 6 months that you have been growing in my belly, life has {…Read More…}
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