Christmas is here!! It may not feel like it in LA but—it’s definitely here. Decorating for Christmas is one of my absolute favorite things to do. My goal every year is to make my home a place of warmth and joy from the moment you step foot at the door. I love decorating for every season but there’s just something extra special that comes with decorating for Christmas. Maybe it’s the fact that it comes with all the cozy feelings and things? Like watching a movie or better yet… enjoying all the decorations around us while playing a fun game, doing crafts, making something sweet and sipping on hot cocoa.

I wish I could invite you all over to our little humble abode for some hot cocoa or coffee while we enjoy the simple Christmas bliss.. but I suppose I’ll just have to settle for just sharing with you here as I sip on my cup of jo from this morning (which is now turning into a cold afternoon cup).

Mat: $12.99 (world market)

Buckets: $.99 (purchased at the 99c store)

pointsettias and wreath: $5.99 & $12.99 (Local Trader Joe’s)

Faux Christmas berries: $6.00 (purchased at Target)

Christmas Bow: $5.00 (purchased at Target)

I hope your Home feels just as cozy as ours and that you are soaking up all of the sweet traditions with your family. I know that we are!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Okay, so for years I’ve always been told that sourdough is SO hard to make and for that reason I never even bothered to even look into it. Boy was I missing out!! I told you that I would take tons of photos from my first loaf and share my new found obsession of being a sourdough bread baker. Without further adieu, Heres the scoop on what I like to call my Sourdough life..

A friend of mine inherited a sourdough starter and bought the Artisan Sourdough Made Simple book followed by making her first loaf. After she had made her first loaf she had nothing but crazy amazing things to say about her experience and walked me through the process. Just hearing her experience got me excited… So excited, that I wanted to have a sourdough life of my own. She gave me some of her starter and I immediately went home and purchased the same book on amazon and later realized that I don’t have anything to actually bake it in. After doing a bit of research and putting into consideration that I don’t want to spend $300 for a dutch oven, I settled for the next best thing. A clay bread baking dome by Sassafras.

After all of my glorious tools arrived I was ready to bake my heart out!

I don’t know about you but whenever I’m baking something new I’m always a nervous wreck in the kitchen. Is it going to rise? Is it going to taste like salt or what if its tasteless? All the scenarios flash through my head. This time around though I also had the added pressure of living up to Augusts Sourdough loving expectations so I definitely wanted it to turn out well! I mean… what wide wants to disappoint their husbands by bombing it making their favorite thing?! PS. Ive totally done that before haha!!!!

Pictured here: The 2nd step of mixing together your starter, Water, Salt & Bread flour- Mix it together till its all shaggy and then let it sit for 30 minutes.

One thing that I appreciate about this The “Artisan Sourdough made simple” recipe book is that there are ample photos for you to go off of. Even down to what the shaggy dough bowl is supposed to look like. If your anything like me and do much better following directions that include photos as apposed to JUST directions than this is the book for you! Since this was my first time making the bread I wasn’t sure what to expect in each step and thankfully this all of those photos made it less of a mystery although I wouldn’t say a complete mystery… you just never know until you you actually bite into it right?

Pictured here: The 3rd step- pulling the doughs corners and folding them into the center until it nice and tight and semi smooth. I obviously didn’t finish the process before jumping to a photo. lol after thats done, you let it rise with a damp towel over it for 8-10 hours.

THE RISE

Now… Ill admit, this was the HARDEST part for me! we stayed around the house all day, so I was just kind of in holding for 8-10 hours just asking myself constantly “I wonder if its rising?” “Maybe I should check under the towel to make sure its working.” For this very reason she mentions in the book to have it rise over night so that you aren’t tempted to keep creeping on your sourdough! Im not a very patient person so I happen to think that this sourdough making life is helping me learn to love the “Process” of things much more. Theres no speeding up the bread rising process unless you were to use a packet of yeast, in which case it changes things about the dough a bit.

After hours of self rising and my patience meter bursting, this dough was ready to be transferred onto the parchment paper and scored.

A side from eating it, this may be one of my favorite parts of the sourdough making process because it makes you bread look SO inviting. I tried to be all super professional with it obviously.. Here’s what my first scoring job looked like…

Its a beauty!! At this point I was so stoked to be putting this baby in the oven… I could hardly wait for it to be completely done!

In the oven it goes….

After the dough has been cooking for a solid 45 minutes it was ready to come out of the oven but not yet ready to eat. I know what you’re saying… Seriously?! When can you eat the dang thing? lol I was saying the same thing… Once it comes out of the oven you have to wait another hour for it to sit and cool. The fun part about this is hearing all of the crackling when the dough comes out. It kind of soothing sounding…

Pictured here is my finished product mid crackling:

Y’all… I am SO HAPPY to report that my sourdough came out FANTASTIC and got the approval from mr. sourdough himself. haha! My sourdough life has been nothing short of a fun, therapudic time. So if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to make your own sourdough bread.. I would say to you JUST DO IT! I can almost promise you that you will find joy in it and it might even teach you a few things in the process. (Thats another blog post for another day.) IF you decide to have a sourdough life of your own, feel free to share your experience, tips + tricks in the comments below!!

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So, this baby boy LOVES sweets apparently or maybe thats just me and my natural love for anything sweet? Its probably the latter but ill blame it on pregnancy for now because that leaves me room for some grace on the amount of sweets I’ve been craving. For some reason, in the last few days, I have been intensely craving Chocolate chip cookies. Im talking… Soft GF/V Chocolate Chip Cookies For The Pregnant Soul! I mean, I literally dreamt about it & woke up thinking about them kind of a status so maybe now having said that… Its most definitely a weird pregnant craving! Seeing as I’m definitely not vegan and for the most part gluten free but I don’t really bake gluten free goodies often, I was in for a little baking experiment. Thankfully I succeeded and my  pregnant soul was singing!

I used this Chocolate chip cookie bite recipe and substituted out a few things:

Chocolate chip cookies – I used Enjoy Life Foods mini chips. So far this is is my favorite gluten free product. Everything that I have tried of theirs I’ve enjoyed (no pun intended). It never leaves me feeling like I just consumed something gluten free.

Butter – I used coconut oil

Brown Rice flour – I used Bob Mills White Rice Flour

Brown Sugar – I used Truvia Brown sugar

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups rice flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1/2 cup chopped nuts

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I can’t believe we are already 2 weeks into the new year! This post is coming to you a little later than I had anticipated but it’s still super relevant and a fun, extremely easy, affordable DIY project that I call the “Blessing List”!

Have you ever found yourself at the end of the year saying “What DID happen this year?!”. I feel you… that literally happens to my husband and I every year & I’m determined to stop that cycle! Usually the first things that comes to mind are all of the things that were not as great and then following those thoughts are maybe a few great things that happened during the year but I can never remember all of them. Going into 2018, I wanted my family to record ALL of the blessings that will happen! From small victories like- Haven did a hand stand on her own to August booked a regular on a TV series.. Whatever the victory.. big or small, I want it to be in our faces on the daily so we can be constantly reminded of our forward movement this year, hence the reason for the Blessing List.

||Here is your quick DIY project for this month||

BLESSING LIST

Supplies you will need: Easel Roll ($5.99), Rope ($1.49), Command wall hangers($3.29) & of course a marker

Total: $10.77

Step 1: Cut rope into 3 even long strands. For my first one, I stranded it through the easel roll and figured out how long I wanted it then cut the rest according to that one strand.

Step 2: Pull the 3 strands of rope through he easel roll meeting the ends evenly at the top and make a knot right above the roll leaving you with about 8-10 inches of rope to braid.

Step 3: Braid the excess rope available and tie a knot at the end.

Step 4: loop the braid over meeting the first knot you made in the very beginning & use some loose strands (if you have anymore) to tie around that main knot.

Step 5: Place your Command Strip wherever your Blessing List will be

Step 6: Hang your easel roll and roll it out

Step 7: Write Away!!!!

Super easy and cheap, right?! We can’t wait to fill this up. Who knows, maybe by the end of the year we will have gone through the whole easel role. 🙂  I hope that you find the time to add a Blessing list to your home!

Enjoy!! <3 Ashleigh

Who doesn’t like executing an idea that you have in your mind on a small budget, especially if its going to help the functionality of your home. Thats why I decided to do a “How to create a command center on a budget”! Whenever I am decorating/designing/crafting, etc. I always try to stay within some type of a budget. Why? Because I feel that a lot of times its not worth spending an arm & a leg on something that I can either do myself or find at another store at a cheaper price. You just have to broaden your horizons a bit. Does that mean more work? Not always.. Take for example, this command center. I had every intention to make my own calendar board, pin board and chalkboard but at the end of the day I actually found a better deal!

Lets tackle what a command center even is..In my words: A command center is a centralized place in your home where every family member can see any order of business pertaining to your home life. Theres really no one way to execute it. You put up on the command center wall whatever best suites your family and your needs. For me, the calendar was the main thing. Our schedules are always so crazy (especially my husbands) so its helpful for me to see a visual of just the important things that are happening that week and the weeks to come. We are also starting Haven on a homeschool preschool program called The Peaceful Preschool , so I wanted to create a great space for her to be excited about learning, displaying her hard work and a place to store whats coming up the next day. We are all visual learners in this house so the more we can see and do the better we are.

Here’s how to create a command center on a budget:

1. Decide on the things that you want to display on the wall that will ultimately help you run your household more smooth. These are the things I felt I needed for this season in our life right now..
   • Calendar
   • Chalkboard
   • Some type of a basket
   • pin board
   • desk
   • storage
2. Find the perfect space in your home for that command center and then start SHOPPING!!
   • I found our desk on the Facebook market for $20! It has a few little imperfections but nothing I can’t cover up or fix.
   • Homegoods is a perfect place to shop when you’re on a budget! This is where I found my pin board, calendar, filing basket + chalkboard. Originally, I had every intention to make my own calendar by buying a thrifted picture frame + skinny black marker tape (Find Here). After walking through home goods though, I found exactly what I needed for just $9.99! So I tossed my original miniature DIY project and opted for the already done just because the prices were so good.
   • The chair I also found on the Facebook Market. If you don’t know what that is, its like a craigslist on Facebook.
   • All of the bins and accessories came from IKEA. Super cheap!

Thats it!! Its so simple and honestly it was really fun. Took me about a week to accomplish and get it all set up + now its rockin’ & rollin’. Havens favorite place in the house to create is at this desk and I love that.

If you decide on doing your own ‘Command Center’, send us some photos! We would love to see it.

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To sum up this chapter in one short sentence I’d say: Show up for yourself! I’m going to go ahead and tie this chapter right on in to my new stats for my nutrition challenge with insideoutfit_nutrition because getting healthier and reaching your goals requires you to show up for yourself in a big way!

I wish that I could say that Ive kept every commitment I’ve ever made to myself… but the truth is that I haven’t! There have been more times than I’m willing to admit that I have told myself that I’m going to  do something and then a week or 2 later I crumble and that “thing” gets pushed aside. Rachel nailed the title for this chapter “I’ll do it tomorrow..” because i can recall plenty of moments when i have used those exact words pushing aside the things i promised myself that i would do! One thing leads to another and “I’ll do it tomorrow” turns into basically never doing it OR half-assing it.

I connect this to health and weight loss because how many of us can relate to the start Getting healthier and reaching for your goals rhand stop health journey?! How many of us can relate to having a sugar addiction, saying we are going to cut out sugar only to then give in to sugar the first week or 2 so then we decide to just fizzle out that promise to ourselves completely?! I’ve done it my friends… I’ve done it so many times! The reality is that I’m only breaking promises to myself. In this chapter, Rachel talks about when you make a new goal your mind will automatically reach for your highest training. So if I’ve only made it without sugar for 3 days than i know that I can at least do 3 days without. But how about exceeding that? I think it’s definitely mind over matter but I also believe that it has a lot to do with self love. If a loved one was trying to reach a new goal I would check up on them, be with them if they needed company and never cancel or be late because I would see it as very important. While I was reading this chapter though I was like, why don’t I do that for myself? I’m just as important as my loved one! In fact.. I’m even. Ore important because what use am i to them if i don’t take care of myself?! Literally, mid read I was like “gosh dang it Ashleigh, Show up for yourself!

So here is how I’m showing up for myself in this fitness challenge with insideoutfit_nutrition.

1) I’m going to start working out at LEAST 2-3 times a week. No matter the time, if I’m said I have plans to workout and it’s written in my agenda. I Will Work Out!!!

2) upping my water intake! I will complete a whole cup of water before eating anything in the morning. I’m just going to start there because that is a huge accomplishment for me. So when I make my new goal my mind will automatically reach for its highest training and I’ll know that I can exceed that!

How are you showing up for yourself today?! Have you joined us on the fitness journey yet!? If not, head over to ,u friend Brianna’s insta page @insideoutfit_nutrition and get started TODAY!

Here are my current stats:

Waist- 35 1/4

RT/LT Thigh- 23.5

Arms- 11

It’s a new season for me! I am all done birthing babies and now all of my focus is going to be on raising those beautiful babies of mine, becoming an even better wife & mother and learning how to grow a business.

I have teamed up with a friend of mine over at Inside Out Fit to create a meal plan and hold me accountable to returning back to my post partum body and beyond because like I said, new season – new me!

One of the hardest parts for me after having a baby is food. What I should be consuming and how much, etc.when I’m in the trying to figure out your groove with a new baby phase, the initial tendency is to just fall off the bandwagon and let food be my last thought when in fact, it should most definitely be one of my first. This is where Bri over at Inside Out Fit comes in. The girl is a beast! I mean that in the most feminine way… She is a single mama of 2, works a job & in all of her spare time, works on her passion job which is helping people walk in a healthier lifestyle by creating meal plans. She is amazing!

Sharing my physical progress isn’t easy for me. Ive always been a bit on the hush hush about my weight and even wearing certain things makes me self contious. With that being said, I feel like we should be super proud of our bodies and not ashamed! Especially after we have birthed children! So I am sharing this journey with all of you because I want you to know that I am in that struggle bus with you!! I laugh because the last time I started my health journey back to my normal pre pregnancy self it was also right around the holidays. My husband and I sure do know how to make those summer babies! If ya need any tips, obviously we’ve got them for you. Haha.

Here are my current stats as of 8/1/2018:

Weight: 150.8

Waist: 36 1/2

Thighs: 23 1/2

Chest: 34 1/2 (This is forever fluctuating thought because of milk production)

Current status of physical activity: I am going to start with doing a bit of yoga but ease my way back into things. At this point I’m more focused on getting my diet in check.

So who is in this with me?!

I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

Happy Workout Wednesday! I thought I would share some workouts that I’ve been loving from other bloggers  since being pregnant. Today I’m going to share one of my favorite mommy fitness bloggers @Nourishmovelove that I love to follow who has a 20 min. pregnancy cardio barre workout. There are a few things that I love about this. One being, its quick! The other being that its effective. Give me a quick effective workout any day of the week and I will love you forever! This girl is most certainly not a fan of working out for hours on end. Anyone else with me?! Lindsey, over at Nourish Move Love is doing her thing and if you haven’t heard of her yet, You will thank me later for introducing you to her amazing content. 🙂

I hope that you guys enjoy this Pregnancy Cardio Barre workout as much as I did this morning!

Ps. I used 5lb dumbells for this cardio barre workout

www.Nourishmovelove.com

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I am SO excited (Well aren’t I always excited? haha) to introduce someone who has been a fitness inspiration to me personally for years AND she happens to be a friend of mine! Introducing….. JOANNA RABON. First, Joanna performed professionally with Pacific Northwest Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater, Nevada Ballet Theater, and Cirque du Soleil. She began aerial arts while dancing on cruise ships with Royal Caribbean International and has been training specifically for aerial since. She is very passionate about bringing high-level qualities of a trained dancer into the world of circus; in movement, lines and musicality. Joanna currently performs and travels as both a freelance dancer and aerialist, and works as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and dance instructor all over the south Denver area.

You guys, Joanna is INCREDIBLE and super sweet! I can almost guarantee you that you will not only get great workouts in the next few weeks but you’ll also be inspired by her. Her love of dance, movement & really just all things in the area of fitness always spark something in me to want to press in more which is one of the reasons why I wanted Joanna to be a part of the Sparrows Apple Community! I know that you’ll enjoy these and am excited to hear all of your feedback every week. If you live in the Denver area, you should definitely hit her up for some personal training or head to one of her Barre classes. I know I would be be if I lived in that area! 🙂 You can contact Joanna directly here.

Today Joanna has provided for us a follow-along workout for lean, strong, and slim legs! Do this anywhere, no equipment needed, and get a great workout in under 30 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

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Quick Abs in 5 Minutes with Tamara Newell

Ab’s are one of the top 3 body parts clients often want to tone up and Pilates is the perfect way to do it.

This equipment free, quick Pilates mat workout targets all your core muscle plus your back extensors.   Your back is often ignored while trying to get the core in shape, yet strengthening and stretching helps you get a lean, balanced and healthy torso.

In the video below, I’ll take you through a complete, quick 5 minute core workout.  Let’s get started!

5 Min Ab Challenge | Pilates Ab Series Workout with Tamara Newell

5 Min Ab Challenge | Pilates Ab Series Workout

Your ab challenge starts with the Classical Pilates Ab Series.  I’ll show you a few modifications while we workout.

For part two, we’ll flip onto our belly and strengthen those back extensors.  I’ll take you through the Pilates mat Swan Prep and Full Swan Extension.  We’ll finish with a few light stretches for the back and core.

For more free Pilates and Wellness videos subscribe on YouTube.  Be sure to watch the entire video, because there’s a special offer at the end!

I used to think focusing on my health and fitness was a selfish and vain thing, but I now realize it is one of the most selfless things you can do. Don’t get me wrong, I think an unhealthy obsession is possible like it is with anything in life. That was me in my high school and college years – I strived to LOOK skinny and that was it. I didn’t really care about if my body was actually healthy or not.

When I became pregnant, suddenly life became so much more than how I looked or even how I felt. My life was no longer just my own. This little baby in my belly was depending on me and I wanted to be there for her. That is what drove me into researching nutrition and fitness. I realize that we can’t control everything in life, but I decided I wanted to do everything I COULD do to live a long, healthy and thriving life.

As a mom or any busy person, it can be really challenging to find that time to exercise, that time to meal prep, etc. Sometimes it’s way easier to go through the Chic-fil-A drive thru– and hey, sometimes that is exactly what needs to happen! I am still not perfect – I don’t always get to my workout, I don’t always eat perfectly clean, but I focus on making small changes, realizing they will build up into a big lifestyle change.

What might that look like for you? Maybe it’s turning on a 15 minute HIIT workout on Youtube. Maybe it’s joining friends for a weekly Yoga class. Maybe it’s saving those Chic-fil-A drive thru’s for the weekends and choosing to eat more vegetables than you did before. Whatever it is for you, my encouragement is to not strive for perfection, but for progress. When it is getting challenging or you feel like you’ve failed because you ate chocolate cake for breakfast, choose to remember WHY health is important to you. Look at the little faces looking up to you and remind yourself that taking time for your health is important, not only for you but also for those who love and need you.

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I needed something super quick and effective today while Emberleigh was napping (But really… I need that everyday lol) So I chose a quick kettle bell workout. The kettlebell is something I don’t use often but every time I do I’m always reminded of how great it is!

Here’s your workout for this Wednesday.

Kettlebell in 10 min.

12 Kettlebell Swings

10 Squat to a row

20 Split Lunges

10 RDL

20 Russian Twists

20 Rows (10/arm)

Repeat 2-3 times

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Happy first workout wednesday!!! When I first started this workout this morning I got through 1 round and had to stop because Emberleigh was in need of mama really bad. THAT’S OK, life happens! Here I am doing my last round with you.

This is a body weight workout so no need for any equipment.

Workout:

15 Squats

15 Mountain Climbers

15 Burpees (With or without jump)

15 Hip Thrust

15 Lunges

15 Push-ups

15 Crunches

15 Second Plank

15 Jumping Jacks

Repeat x2

Disclaimer: I am NOT a fitness trainer and I am not perfect! My form could always use improvement. With that being said. please make sure that you are listening to your body. If you need to stop, than STOP! 🙂

Enjoy Your Workout!

The comparison curse…We all get faced with it at some point in our lives, right? Comparison can transpire in so many different areas of our lives but today I want to touch on the comparison curse in our body image! Thats right… We are going to go there! Don’t just think that this is just for women either, this topic absolutely effects men too! With everyone getting ready to set their “New Years Resolution’s” I figured this post would be pretty fitting in helping you stay laser focused on yourself and trying not to succumb to the comparison curse!

SIBLING COMPARISON

Let me share a bit of my story with you.. The comparison curse showed its ugly head when I was just a young girl. My sister, Shayla, who is 8 years older than I am, is naturally just really fit. Her body has the capability of forming muscle tone that will for the most part always look  toned with or working out, she has little to no hips so she’s never had to worry about muffin top. In general, she has always carried a great physique. But me… I am built the complete opposite! I am pretty tall, thinner legs that have the tendency to expand rapidly along with my hips, stomach, face.. the list goes on. Basically, I think about eating carbs + sugar and its like my body sends signals to each area and is like “Wahoo, Pack it on friends!!”. Ive always struggled with weight even at a young age. Now, granted… its not like our parents fed us the healthiest of meals either. In fact, more often than not they were definitely not clean. Even still, my sister would always maintain her weight while I was the one who was starting to look like a blimp and I could feel it. It was then that I would look at my sister and the comparison curse would wrap around my mind and whisper awful lies in my head.” Its to bad you’re not like your sister… You’ll never look like your sister in a 2 piece… Your sister doesn’t have to worry about love handles hanging over your pants like you do..” You get the point. I hated it! I could never understand how Shayla and I could come from the same set of parents and be so drastically different! That just started me in a downward spiral of self contiousness + eventually a minor eating disorder.

YOU ARE UNIQUELY MADE

All of those thoughts as a young girl traveled with me into early adulthood. I started comparing myself with friends whose physique I liked better than my own or fitness people who I followed.. Let me tell you friends, It does you no service to fall victim to the comparison curse! It will only derail you from walking in the fullness of who you were created to be. It will cause you to not be fully happy with who you are and how uniquely made you are. Im pretty sure that it took me having our first baby to realize just how uniquely made I am. The way my body births a baby will be different from my sister or anyone else. The rate at which my body decides to shed fat will be different from anyone else. There is only ONE of ME! There is only one pair of Ashleigh’s legs, there’s only one set of Ashleigh’s hips.. there is only ONE uniquely made body like mine. There could be other women who have a similar Physique but ultimately there are still differences.  I spent years falling victim to the comparison curse and it robbed me of finding just how unique my physique is. It robbed me of wanting to learn how MY body works and at the pace it works in. It robbed me of loving me for where i’m at in my current state. I let it rob me of LOVING MYSELF! Just that alone is enough to want to re-evaluate where my head is at, right?!

COMPARISON SAYS YOU’RE NOT ENOUGH

Now, lets be honest.. I still fall victim to the comparison curse but it mostly comes up in other things or it will make its appearance in a different kind of a way. Why am I sharing this with you? Because I feel like its something everyone struggles with at some point in life. Wether it be in the arena of your physical appearance, career or something else. Comparison says that you’re not good enough. Comparison is good at getting your eyes on everything else but yourself. Lisa Bevere says it perfectly: “Comparison will cause you to feel prideful or depressed, but NEVER fulfilled”. That quote couldn’t be more true! Nothing good comes from comparison.. All it does is feed your insecurities making you further insecure.

HOW DO WE OVERCOME COMPARISON IN THE NEW YEAR?!

GREAT QUESTION!!! My biggest advice to you that helps me every time is asking yourself the BIG questions:

A) In what areas do you feel like you’ve fallen victim to the comparison curse?

B) Have you made any moves towards removing comparison and replacing that with fulfillment and contentment as to where you are at right now in your life!?

C) Tell yourself a truth that you can believe in the present until you are able to tell yourself the full truth and believe it! (I.e: Full truth- I am bEAUTIFUL and uniquely made, no ones body is like mine so theres no need to compare myself to anyone else. Present truth- I am Uniquely made. )

THERE IS BEAUTY IN CELEBRATING YOUR PROCESS

The truth is.. None of us are perfect! We are all a work in progress.. but there is most definitely beauty in celebrating our process as we walk through it and being full of gratitude as we do! So as we are setting our New years Resolutions for 2018  lets vow to not weigh our progress to our goal next to someone else who is in a completely different place in life. That woman that has a banging’ physique on the treadmill next to you, I guarantee you also went through SOMETHING to get where she is at! It required dedication, focus, patience + grace in her self! If you’re missing that from the beginning than lets  back up and start with self worth as your new year goal and build it on up!!

Start 2018 out by celebrating your process and blooming right where you are currently at in life!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

When it comes to postpartum anything there are so many different topics that we can talk about! Today though, I just want to strike up a conversation about the number 1 thing that most women (if not all women) struggle with once that gorgeous baby is out of our belly. What is that you ask?! BODY IMAGE! That postpartum body after baby! That’s right ladies, Lets go ahead and talk about that huge mountain, face it, climb it and walk to the other side of it. I’m not gonna lie.. This was a BEAST for me to get over and if I’m being completely honest with myself, I still haven’t made it to the other side of that mountain but I’m getting there!

When I was pregnant with Haven the whole pregnancy was a dream. For the most part it was easy & I felt beautiful. I had only gained 20 lbs and was feeling like a million $$. Then the labor/delivery came and I struggled HARD. I didn’t really retain much water during my pregnancy but afterwards it was awful. Mainly because I had a very long labor (Story for another day) and they had me on an IV drip for days, then I had a C-section and was bound to my bed most of the time. You guys… by the time i got out of the hospital, no joke, my butt was a for real pancake and everything about my legs took form into the whatever I was sitting on at the time. I all the sudden didn’t recognize my feet, fingers, arms… My legs didn’t fit in anything that I owned so I had to make a target run on the way home and buy a pair of pajama pants that I literally wore everyday. I just remember going to the bathroom and looking at myself naked bawling my eyes out because I had never seen my body like this before! The bloat was out of control, I was in pain, I could already see the loose skin, stretch marks around my belly button, etc. The list goes on. Basically to sum this up, I was extremely self conscious about my body even with my husband and friends constantly reminding me that I just had a baby.

At the time, August was working 2 jobs and only had a few days off so I had no other choice than to jump right back in to life as the new normal almost immediately after coming home from the hospital resulting in a very long recovery. I literally didn’t feel even partially ready to jump back in to working out or doing anything active until around 6 months and even then it was like learning my body all over again. Even though no one really knew, I was super discouraged & maybe even slightly depressed. My post part body after baby was NOT the business. (I know this sounds kind of negative so far but I promise you it gets better. Sometimes talking about the real things doesn’t always sound victorious…) At some point I caught some type of stride and started loosing the baby weight. My goal was to be back at a decent weight lbs wise before we started trying again. It took me a while but eventually I got there!

2 Weeks Postpartum with Haven

Now lets talk about baby #2- As soon as I found out we were expecting I set it in my heart that this time I was going to embrace every part of my body changes, ask for help, and have fun watching what my body can do because our bodies are AMAZING and can truly do some incredible things. Thankfully, the delivery the second time around was much more pleasant, the recovery was much easier, and August had an amazing amount of paternity leave..It was great! I gained just about the same amount the second time around as I did the first, so there wasn’t much difference there. A few months postpartum I sought out help from my girl, Brianna, who helped me out TREMENDOUSLY. She created a meal plan for me that would help me not only loose baby weight but it also helped me maintain if not also increase my milk supply, which was my concern and struggle after I had Haven. I was so much more confident this time around. 1 year later and I’m not exactly where I want to be but I’m headed there and giving myself tons of grace throughout my process!

What a difference right?! I feel like the hardest thing to conquer in postpartum after baby is your mentality. It’s hard to remind yourself that you were just carrying & nurturing a growing child for 9 months. Why do we expect our bodies to just adjust back to normal almost immediately after birth? It’s also hard when you see some people walk out of the hospital looking like they legit never just popped out a child! LOL! Then again, it’s all in our mentality! We are all DIFFERENT!! Our bodies don’t react the same way. Heck…our bodies don’t even react the same sometimes to each pregnancy.

SO.. Here is my T.O.D {Tip Of the Day}- Give yourself GRACE, GRACE and more GRACE in your postpartum journey! When you look at that mountain, visualize the victory on the other side of it no matter how long it takes you. No one is putting a time constraint on when you need to be “in shape” except for you! I’ts great to have goals, in fact I highly encourage you to have goals, but not if they are unrealistic and they are at the expense of happiness or self worth. 🙂

PS. As always- please feel free to leave comments, encouraging words and/or your postpartum journey below! I’d love to hear from y’all!!

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Okay, Let’s talk diaper bags, shall we! If you’re anything like me than you want a diaper bag that can serve multiple purposes and doesn’t scream “oh, hey! I’m a DIAPER BAG!!” I love a diaper bag that can go with most of my closet seeing as I am the one who is going to be sporting it most of the time and for a good while it’ll replace my purse. I also feel like there is nothing wrong with having multiple diaper bags! Maybe one that is a bit more on the girly, classier end and then one that has a bit more of a masculine flare to it for August. After I had Emberleigh my best friend gave me an adorable Kate Spade diaper bag which I loved but quickly realized that when August was on daddy duty he didn’t really want to have to carry around a black and white polka dotted bag forcing me to look for something a but more neutral to accommodate moments like that. This time around I knew exactly what I wanted so I am going to share with you 2 of my favorites that I have for baby boy that I feel like are the perfect diaper bags for all occasions and for both you and your spouse! We cant leave the men out can we?!

I recently received the Citi Navigator from Citi Babies and I LOVE it! Its super light weight, has multiple compartments for not just your babies things but also has a very much padded area that could fit a laptop or an IPad. I was especially excited about the design as was my husband. This backpack is so perfect for him to wear when he is out with the babe without cramping his style! It has a really nice masculine touch to it and looks super contemporary. Right up August’s alley!! The Citi Navigator from citi babies is obviously perfect for your man but is also great to use when you’re traveling, taking your babes to the zoo, hiking, etc. Anything that gets you a bit more dressed down, this diaper bag pairs well with! So basically, your day to day grind. We have ours in the heather brown color and its beautiful. Super understated and perfect for any outfit! I also want to point out that this diaper bag WILL NOT break the bank!!! Can I get an AMEN!!!! We are actually going to start out using this backpack, I have packed all of the babies essentials for the hospital which I will share in another blog post but it can definitely hold quite a few things in it and the bag itself is light so you don’t have to worry about the weight after everything is packed.

So if you’re in the market for an affordable, sturdy, good looking diaper backpack pack than head on over to www.citibabies.com to preorder yours today! Just be aware.. Your husband may or may not be claiming this backpack as his own once the baby phase is over.

The second one I bought and it was my very first purchase for the baby (cough cough… for me!) the Freshly picked diaper back pack in ebony black. Y’all now that I had to have this!! It’s so classic and certainly does not look like its a diaper bag! This thing is made SO WELL you guys and its just the right size. You can also change it to become a big purse which is nice. We will get tons of use out of this beauty! However, I will say that this diaper bag, unlike the Citi Navigator, is definitely more on the pricey end.

There you have it! My 2 Diaper bags of choice to use for baby boy and I am pretty excited to use them.

Who ever said that 2 was the most difficult age was most definitely mistaken! Let me tell you that 2 year old Haven was a breeze. Tantrums were short lived and personal opinions weren’t as vocalized. No one warns you about the “Threenager” phase. When your cute little innocent one turns into a highly opinionated, strong willed, challenge you on almost everything 3 year old turned 16! Am I right or am I right?! I am going to share with you our 3 tips to surviving a threenager phase in hopes that it will give you some gems that might help you along in your journey of raising those amazing little ones + give you the back some self confidence you may need in your parenting because lets face it… Sometimes we can get down on ourselves thinking that we are the only ones dealing with this and that is so far from the truth!

LOVING YOUR KIDS ON PURPOSE

Tip #1 on ‘How To Survive The Threenager Phase’ is a book that has CHANGED. MY. LIFE! “Loving your kids on purpose”. I kid you not, just in the first 2 chapters I was in tears. Danny Silk gives the most simple but impactful tools for you to use that help empower your children, understand the power of choice and learn the difference between good and bad choices. When we started implementing some of these tools with Haven, we instantly saw a difference in her reaction! These tools take so much pressure off of the parents in a lot of ways because you learn that your children should actually be responsible for 50% of their relationship with you and have to learn how to control themselves instead of being controlled. On the flip side even you are having to learn how to control YOU. When you are stressed, they are likely to get stressed. When you react to a mistake that your 3 year old has made for the 2nd or 3rd time, they are likely to react in some way to your reaction OR expect a negative vibe from you! Needless to say, Loving your kids on purpose is a must read in my opinion and will not only change the way you parent but in general it will change you.

ONE ON ONE TIME

Tip #2 on ‘How to survive the threenager phase’ is fulfilling that little ones top love language! For Haven, that would be quality time for sure. She thrives off of it! Ever since having Emberleigh, we have found that we have to be more intentional about setting aside some one on one time with Haven.  When she is lacking in some good quality time without her sister she starts to get a little cray cray. She’s at that age where she knows what she’s feeling but not quite sure how to vocalize what she really needs to eliminate the feeling so her translation comes out in her behavior. Usually whenever we set aside time for just her she has the quickest turnaround and is so much more balanced. We are kicking the threenager phase straight in the behind one love language at a time!

COMMUNITY 

Tip #3 on ‘How to survive the threenager phase’ is making sure that you are surrounded by people who can encourage you and give you helpful tips along the way. This one has been huge for me as thankfully, most of our friends have children around the same age as Haven so we act as support for one another on tough days. I’ve said this before in a previous post and I will say it again because I feel like its so important… Community is everything!! Without it you may feel like you and your significant other are alone on an island raising your littles with no one there to cheer you on! Its so vital to have people around you to help lift you up and you do the same for them.

The threenager phase is rough, but we have found these 3 things extremely helpful and are getting us through without loosing our minds. Dare I even say that its also strengthening us and teaching us how to parent better. Hopefully, they will do the same for you! Regardless, I have great news for you my friend, YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS!!!

 Cheers to getting through the threenager phase with flying colors!

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Emberleigh Grace is officially O N E!! It seems like yesterday that we were just at the hospital preparing for her arrival and holding her little 7 lb self. Now she has 6 teeth, crawls and gets into everything, dances to any and every beat she hears, smiles and laughs at everything but her sister being all up in her business and brings joy to every room she goes in. She is such a delight in our little family and might be one of the easiest babies I’ve ever seen!

It’s crazy how even a year of firsts still pertains to the second child for the parents! There have been so many things that Emberleigh does that Haven never did so it feels like we are treading new territory all over again. As much as its been a year of firsts for Ember its been a year of firsts for August + I too. No one can prepare you for having a second child.. No one can ever prepare you enough for any child never mind just a second {haha}. I’m a strong believer of “learn as you go”. As a single woman or even married with no kids I had this idea of what motherhood would be like, how I would discipline my children, how they would be so perfect in public (Let’s all laugh out loud together). Tell me I’m not the only one who thought those things in your life BK “before kids”?! Admit it… We have all thought some crazy unrealistic thought. Even though I have stayed true to some of those things like: Discipline, which is a huge topic for me because of how much it effects you as an adult. That’s a topic for another day! 🙂 I think we can all agree that motherhood changes you in so many ways! Your thoughts, perspectives, motives… EVERYTHING! You can just throw away that BK mindset because as soon as you meet your baby #1 and get to know their personality all of your ideas may or may not work on that little one and you know what… That is OKAY!!! Then once you feel like you’ve gotten the hang of having 1 and you want to have another you yet again face the “Year Of Firsts” all over again! It’s such a wild, crazy but amazing journey becoming parents isn’t it?

So here is my T.O.D “Tip Of the Day”- Throw away those unrealistic expectations of parenthood that either yourself or other people put on you, but hold on to the ones that stay true to your beliefs. Embrace the “Year Of Firsts” with each child and nurture each personality like there is no one else on the earth like it (because there isn’t!). Let the year of firsts not only grow your child but let it also change YOU, GROW you, CHALLENGE you because it will & in the end you get to celebrate one whole year of change. One whole year of climbing up a mountain with 2 babies not knowing what you were going to face and you made it. One whole year of experiencing another tiny human adapt and grow to the world around them!

Its been awhile since I’ve posted daily moments! Getting in the habit of leaving the camera out and being intentional about snapping photos frequently throughout the day is something I have to train myself to be part of our weekly routine. I love capturing the mundane moments, the ones that people rarely see, the kids harassing each other. These are the moments i want to remember always! I hope that you enjoy our daily moments this week.

I just started sharing my makeup routine on the weekly with my favorite brand of makeup, MASKCARA. The girls love to put it on and play with all of my stuff and then started pulling out my old makeup that I was going to throw away. Now I’m thinking I should keep it for play.

The face of someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room…

How’s it goin’ for you Haven?!

From cleaning her room to harassing her brother

This faaaace!

Emmy legit lives in this Elsa costume on the daily. She was showin AJ her tap dance here.

Also, I never want to forget the constant nursing moments on the floor.

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

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We are trying to get in the habit of starting our day with the girls getting dressed right after breakfast. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. One things for sure is that Emberleigh will always be up for getting dressed and often is the one who initiates it, picks out what she wants to wear and if you know anything about this little girl, you know that she must put on everything HERSELF! It pains us sometimes to watch her all frustrated because she cant get something on but still doesn’t want help or when shes putting something on wrong but doesn’t want the correction. She is by far our most independent, stubborn but oh so sweet child! So here is a sweet little glimpse into our day.

  It literally takes her 5 minutes to put on her socks but boy is she so proud of herself when she finally gets them both on! So proud in fact,  she decided to do a little dance and a few “Model Poses” for me.

I forgot to mention that the pink Hunter boots must go with EVERY outfit, rain or shine!

This one would live in her PJ’s or princess dress’ all day if you let her. That huge mountain at the foot of Embers bed is in fact.. all princess dress’s! Yep, your eyes are not failing you… We need a rack, desperately.

This is the attempt to do a bit of homeschool and cleaning at the same time. We dont have a kitchen table so we do homeschool work anywhere on the floor in the house right now.

Then ofcourse we play some odd game of the spider catches the fairies. That is until someone gets injured by the wooden wand that Havens holding.

Nap break for this guy. I have a really hard time getting him to go down on his own in his crib because of the girls so most of the time we have to wear him in order for his naps to happen. Thank GOD for carriers like Sakura Bloom.

My dinner making buddy giving me all the flirtatious looks with those dreamy eyes of his.

The progression to bed time is always a bit interesting..

The princess giving us a demonstration on how she will hold AJ.

Time for some bedtime stories! Each of the girls got to choose a book for daddy to read.

One of my favorite shots of the whole day right there. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed our daily moments this week! Stay tuned for more.

Looking back at 2018, there were 3 things that I repeatedly had to overcome throughout the year. They might sound silly to you when you read them but for me, they were legit fears! You hear that? Key word: WERE!! They were also all things I never thought that I would overcome. Maybe you will identify with some of these.

3 things i’ve learned In 2018 

1) IF I JUMP,  I JUST MIGHT SUCCEED

Growing up I was always afraid of taking risks because of the thousands of “what if’s”. Truth be told.. that’s one of the main reasons why I had no problem not having sex before marriage. I always had this feeling that I would be that girl who would get pregnant my very first time! Like a 1 and done situation. I know what you’re probably thinking “Oh no, you were one of those Christian girls?!” Yes, yes I was.. and I still carry absolutely no shame in it. I actually 100% stand by & believe in saving yourself for marriage. However, I wish that a fear wouldn’t have been one of the top reasons why I saved my virginity but that’s a topic for another day..

Okay.. now that Ive literally taken a rabbit trail down a different path— let me hop right on back to what I was initially talking about, RISKING. It’s scary. It’s unknown and it can turn into a complete disaster but the reward through risk is strength if nothing else. Even if you’re not victorious after taking a risk, you’ve still gained in some capacity. This past year has taught me some things for sure but I’ve not regretted one decision that I have made!

2) ITS OK TO ASK FOR MORE

In the past, Ive always just settled for whatever was the first thing someone was willing to give or offer me. Even when I felt that I’m worth more than that. From jobs I’ve worked up to even now. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that even writing this makes me uncomfortable because its still very much something that I’m overcoming. I normally leave negotiating up to my husband because it makes me feel weird but I also know that it has a lot to do with your worth & value. Launching Sparrows Apple was all about stepping out of my comfort zone which also meant— my fear of negotiating will have to come to an end. I was about to meet that fear head on and slay it! Launching Sparrows apple meant that I have to show confidence in my worth, ask for more sometimes OR even declining!! {What?!} Like I said, Ive by no means mastered this but I have definitely taken a step in the right direction and over time I know that Ill just get stronger and stronger.

3) THE CAMERA ISNT REALLY THAT SCARY

I used to hate getting pictures taken of me! Once again, all of that changed moment I decided to be a bloggger/influencer where people need to actually see my face and not just my family. I even recently started taking the advice of Jenna Kutcher and posting the majority of all of my posts with my face in them because it challenges me to get more comfortable with being in front of the lens! I went from the picture taker to the “Babe, will you take a photo of me?!” My husband is my camera guy and one of my biggest supporters in breaking free in this area!

So here we are— 2019 — Y’all I feel it in my bones so much MORE personal and business growth this year. It’s kind of scary to even write this out because the little voice that likes to feeds negative thoughts in my ear and says “If you say to everyone its going to be amazing and your business doesn’t grow than you’re going to look stupid”. While that may be true, I’m willing to take the RISK and throw it out there anyways because I believe in it that much!

Here’s to 2019 being a year of declarations fullfilled and fears being crushed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I get asked a lot what its like since becoming a mom of 3— usually my response is “It’s beautifully crazy and oddly enough its easier than I had imagined it would be but also really exhausting”. If that sounds like a whirlwind and a mouthful, that’s because it is. I just try to fit all the things into one sentence and call it quits because who has time to go into detail about all the transitions one is faced with when adding another child to the mix?! The truth is, I have 2 amazing little girls who happen to really love their brother so much and fight more over who gets to hold him or help him. Thank GOD!! I would much rather have this problem than a jealousy issue. I recognize that for some, this may not be your story.. You may have a jealousy issue happening in your home and if that’s the case, I am cheering you on my friend!! You are my hero.

I’m going to be really honest here and tell you that for me, the  HARDEST thing since becoming a mom of 3 babies is A) Not looking like a total disaster from the moment you get up and B) getting out of the house!! It’s the getting everyone dressed, grab all the snacks, diapers, change of clothes, etc. I’m honestly lucky if I get out of the house by noon, without the help of my husband ofcourse. So then because you’ve been running with your head cut off all morning, your teeth aren’t brushed, hair isn’t done— all the sudden its noon and you still look like you just woke up. Meanwhile, everyone else looks awesome!

Here’s the first step to overcoming the newly mom of 3, morning disaster, who just wants to look cute but be cozy.. BUY A NEW PAJAMA SET!!! I swear it changes everything. I recently just got this heather grey pajama set from PinkBlush and they have changed my life. They are currently out of stock but they have plenty of other amazing PJ options here.I now run around my house knowing that at least what I’m wearing is cute and cozy so if all else fails… maybe ill just throw on a solid top, a cute jacket and a hat & head on out the door! You may be laughing.. but.. I actually did do that and I got a compliment on my “Jogger pants”. If that’s not a mom win than I dont know what else is! So that’s step 1. Buy new pajamas PS. These ones in particular work really well for maternity too and feel like I’m wearing a cozy blanket!

Step 2.. well, I’m still figuring this one out on days when August is working mornings. It definitely helps to have things prepped the night before if I know that we have a busy day the next day but I would also be lying if I didn’t say that most of the time I’m just ready to go to bed by the time my kids have finally fallen asleep. Plus, AJ (The newest of the Coryell crew) is just now starting to settle into a groove 3 months in so I think that will help out a lot more with the flow of how everything goes in the morning. Regardless of systems though.. I feel like if you are riding solo and trying to get anywhere out of the house with 3 babies 4 and under— its a challenge, but a challenge we were obviously willing to take on nonetheless.

If you are anything like me— than those morning that you are running around with your head cut off like a chicken, you will try to take a pause.. look at all the mess and noise around you and just take it all in because your have a house full of life. If all else fails.. Guess what?! At least you’ll have some really cute PinkBlush pajamas on that can totally pass as joggers, right?!

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush but all thoughts are my own! 🙂

I am so excited to dive in to “Girl, Wash Your Face“ with you! For every chapter that we read I’m going to open up about some personal things that had crossed my mind while reading it. Feel free to share your thoughts about the chapter in the comments below and we can laugh, maybe even cry together as we get one page closer to realizing just how amazing we truly are and becoming the best version of us that we can be! Are you ready for this, because I am!!

The Lie..

This chapter hit so many deep places in me.. growing up I was QUEEN comparison. When I think back on it now and compare (no pun intended) myself to who I am today, its mind blowing. Im such a different person in all the best ways. Just to give  you an idea of how much of a queen I was — I would compare myself to my sister: Why is she thinner than I am, Why am I taller than her.. I would compare myself to my friends, TV actors.. Heck I would even compare myself to MY MOM!!! Basically, I was a train wreck who tried to pretend like I had it all together when I was outside of my home because that’s what I thought we had to do and typically I would choose to compare myself to someone on their best day. It never even crossed my mind that they could maybe have an off day or that they weren’t perfect.

Here’s a story for you.. when I was younger I was friends with this girl in youth group (Where all the emotions fly sky high) who I thought was perrrrrrfect! She was cute, all the guys thought she was hot and to top it off I literally NEVER saw her upset. You guys.. every time I was around her I was always super annoyed. Not because I didn’t like her but because she was just.. happy— all the time, I had the hardest time wrapping my head around that! When I got older I realized that the reason why I was so upset every time I would see her was because I felt the exact opposite. I wasn’t truly happy. In fact, half of the time I was pretending to be someone who I wasn’t which is a BIG reason why I wasn’t happy. I was playing a person who I thought people wanted to see and be around. How did that work out for me you ask? Well.. it worked out until it didn’t, haha!  It wasn’t until I went into ministry school after graduating high school that I really embraced the saying “You are the only person who can control your thoughts, feelings and actions.” Boy was that season of my life HARD! Let me tell you.. diving in deep into all the hard things in your life isn’t fun, but boy is it so necessary!

Comparison is one of my biggest struggles even to this day— but one thing that I feel like I have owned is the fact that no matter where I am, no matter what I’m doing, I am in charge of my own happiness! I love how Rachel says “Moving doesn’t change who you are. it only changes the view outside your window. You must CHOOSE to be happy, grateful, and fulfilled. If you make that choice every single day, regardless of where you are or what’s happening, you will be happy.”

Here’s how I take a step off the comparison bus anytime I find myself stepping back in it:

1) Sharing with friends or family

When I share with my husband or some friends areas that I’m struggling in, they will always first remind me of who I am! Hearing from an outside perspective of someone who loves you how they see you is encouraging! It’s a reminder that I’m not a failure or any less than.

2) I get face to face with my reason behind WHY I’m comparing myself.

Its not enough to just step off the comparison bus because you feel better in that moment. I want to know all of the reasons why my first reaction towards something is ‘comparison’. When I can fully understand that about myself than I dont need #1 nearly as much because I can recognize it and step off of that bus before I have even found myself all the way in it.

What is that “Lie” in your life that you have been believing? How do you deal with the comparison bus?!

I hope that you are enjoying this book just as much as I am!! Its only the first chapter y’all and its already SO good — mainly because I love talking about the nitty gritty of life.

Xoxo-

In the past month and a half – I have used a few items from brands that I’ve collaborated with that have made my transition to a 3rd baby so much easier. They are so awesome that I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t create a “Mommy Must Have” list. Some of these items I’m not even sure how I survived without with my other 2. Y’all know that I keep it real around here so I’m going to just put it out there now that although these are collaborations – I’ve personally reached out to all of these brands and 100% believe in them and use them!! Are you ready for my mommy must have list!?

NESTING DAYS CARRIER

In the past I have had: The ergo baby, lile’ baby & the moby wrap and non of them have compared to this carrier for the newborn phase. I SWEAR by the nesting days carrier.  If you follow me on social media (which I hope you do!) than you know how obsessed I am with this carrier. I probably talk about it on the weekly. AJ is always so cozy in there and almost always falls in to a deep sleep while I’m wearing him. I love it because its worn like a shirt (it is a shirt, haha) so therefore you never have to take it off. You can do skin to skin without revealing yourself, there isn’t yards and yards of fabric to have to figure out how to wrap yourself before even putting the baby in. This carrier is life!! To give them even more points, they offer a men’s carrier as well that is equally just as amazing as the women’s. As if all of that weren’t already so awesome, one of my absolute favorite things about this company is the family that runs it. Julie, The owner & creator is quite possibly one of the sweetest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking and working with. They are passionate about their product (as they should be) and truly believe in their product! If I could choose only one thing for a mom to splurge on I might put this one on the top of the list because of how much it has made the transition to a 3rd child that much easier!

MUMBELLI BED

The Mumbelli is one of the softest beds I’ve ever felt. Literally when I received it I immediately wanted one for myself. Plus, who doesn’t want to feel all super nestled in?! Okay, maybe as an adult you might not want that but for a newborn… YES! They hands down want that because that’s all they have ever known. It’s great because its adjustable in length so it can grow with your baby and it has a little pillow that you can tuck underneath the bottom of the pad so that they can lay in a bit of an incline. The bed is super light, comes with a bag and travels amazingly.

CITI BABIES DIAPER BAG

Okay… I’m not sure there is a better unisex diaper bag out there! When this arrived to our door my husband, August, literally said “this is mine when we are done with the diaper bag phase”. Even when he is wearing it out with the babe people think its his backpack and not a diaper bag. Now that is the type of bag that I feel every couple should have! Ladies… don’t let your man sport a bag that looks all fru fru! Find something that is gender neutral and something that your significant other feels confident wearing. This is another one of those companies that I love not only because of the product but because of the people behind the product. Citi babies is owned my Maria, who is a WORKING mama doing this as her passion side hustle! WHAT?! So amazing!!! Seriously, its such an incredible bag. If you’d like to read my full review and thoughts you can head to my blog post here!

ECOPIGGY PACIFIER

My other 2 babies weren’t really big on pacifiers but something told me that this little boy would be. With that being said – I wanted to have a pacifier that was eco friendly and looked no further than to the ecopiggy ecopacifier. It was the first pacifier that we used in the hospital and he latched onto it so well! The ecopacifier is plastic free, bra free and is made out of natural rubber. Another benefit to this pacifier is that it actually stays in his mouth. Imagine that! If you’re in the market for a great paci – than check out Ecopiggy for sure.

MILKMAID GOODS

Okay, have you seen the cute prints that Milkmaid goods comes up with?! These swaddles are so soft and adorable – every baby has to have one! Plus they sell them as sets AND you can even purchase a matching robe! HI.. count me in on all the comfy, cozy cute things for my son. Need I say anything more…?

There are a million great products out there for newborns, I just wanted to share the few that I have fallen in love with and use almost religiously. Feel free to share products you’ve used that have made your life a bit easier.

-xoxo-

This is the number one topic of discussion when anyone finds out that they are expecting, right? If you’re anything like my husband and I than this was a huge topic of discussion way before you were even expecting. It has always been super important to us that our kids’ names embody who we feel like they are as a person. Some people have asked us what our process was so I thought I would share the way that we named our kids. However, I should add that for every family it may be different! There is no ABC guide to “How to name your baby”.

As a parent, I feel that this is one of the biggest responsibilities we have been given… To name a human being! A name that they will carry for the rest of their lives, a name that they will more than likely morphe into. Isn’t that crazy!?! We get the privilege of giving THAT name. No pressure, right?! So how do you name your baby? Like I said, there isn’t really a how to guide.. but maybe some of the ways we named our babies will help you in your process of finding a name.

Each child was different for us but I will say that naming our son was THE hardest! First off, Before my husbands dad past away he had shared with August his thoughts on how many kids we were going to have and what their personalities were going to be like. He thought that we were going to have 2 boys and possibly 1 girl. Though he had the genders mixed around, he most certainly got their characteristics spot on! Everything that he thought the first 2 “boys” were going to be like, the girls absolutely have those personalities. The only thing he was unsure about what the 3rd child. I think that because we had some type of incling as to what our first 2 kids were going to be like it made it a bit easier to name the girls. Their names felt like them from day 1! Then came AJ and we were at a loss!

August, naturally wanted to name his son after him but my entire pregnancy when I would refer to him in my mind as an “August” it didn’t feel like his identity. Especially because with the name August came all of my husbands nicknames that he went by as well and as cute as they all are it still felt like my husbands identity, not my sons. Meanwhile, I was just trying to fish for anything that I was feeling while pregnant with him. I tried to be super in tune with certain emotions I would feel.. I came to the conclusion that I was WAY more emotional with this pregnancy! This pregnancy healed some areas in me that made me shut down emotionally, likely stemming from Haven’s birth. This pregnancy was chill and brought me a sense of calm. I wasn’t stressing out about much like I was with the others.  All of those things, I believe, have something to do with the characteristics of your baby! So with that being said, I like to make sure that my child’s name reflects those characteristics.

Long story short, With a lot of conversations, we landed on August Kellen James Coryell.

August means- majestic, prosperous

Kellen- Powerful in battle

James- Doesn’t have a crazy meaning but its my maiden last name and I wanted to pay some homage to my dad seeing as we don’t have any brothers to carry on the name. 🙂

All of these meanings sum up all of the things I was feeling while being pregnant with him. We settled on calling him AJ because its a nickname that is his own. It felt like his name and something that he could go by for the rest of his life if he wanted to or, if at some point, he wants to go by August then we will call him that.

Honestly, No one can really give you a step by step guide as to “How to Name Your Baby”. People can only share with you their process in how they named their child! So I would say to the soon to be mom who is having trouble finding a name, start by paying extra attention to your emotions during this pregnancy that make you different from how you normally are and/or how you’ve been during other pregnancies. You never know, You might connect a name to all of those swirly hormonal emotions that you have and it just might feel like that is the perfect name for your child.

Happy naming your world changer babies!!

I recently got this fun dark blue Swing dress from Pink Blush and thought I’d share a few different ways that you could dress up or dress down a piece that seems super basic. The best part is that you don’t really need much to change up an outfit, so if you’re one of those who just has no clue what to do when it comes to making 1 dress work for 2-3 occasions than this blog post will be perfect for you!

3 WAYS TO WEAR A SWING DRESS

Who knew that you could get so many outfits out of one piece right?! Here’s the kicker… This Pinkblush dress isn’t even maternity so I can totally rock this after this baby boy is born! You all know I am always about that!!

If you’re looking for a great swing dress with pockets, head to pink blush and check this piece out. I promise you, it’ll be a great addition to your summer closet!

Hello, everyone! My name is Tiara Wolfe. I’m a stay at home mommy to two crazy little people who run my life. I’m also married to the dreamiest hunk of man ever. We live in a small, tourist town in Central Pennsylvania where we spend our days hiking, gardening, playing with toy trains, and trying to live a non-toxic, holistic lifestyle. Sometimes, we fail. We’re a family of Jesus followers so failure is okay because every day is a new chance to get it right. I’m very excited to be popping up here on Sparrows Apple with Ashleigh!

I was prepared when I began writing to discuss my first cesarean, the one that started it all. With a whirlwind of emotions in such a high intensity experience, from 16 hours of labor to a failed epidural to uncontrolled bleeding and an emergency surgery, that was what I thought I would want to discuss – the day my body “failed” me and my cries of “I can do this myself” went unheard because it was truly life or death. However, as I’m typing, all I can think about it round two – the time my mind “failed” me.

Cody, my dear, adoring husband, wasn’t there with me for round one. God only blessed Aubrey and I with him later in life. He was there, though, for the meltdown of labor two. I am a planner by nature. I planned the second cesarean. I wanted no risk of what happened the first time happening with my little man. I went into labor early but it was okay. We got to the hospital and everything would be fine. I was calm. I had this. I knew what to expect and I mentally prepared myself for ten months.

The doctor looked at me and in one breath, my planning crashed down around me. “This baby wants to come now. You can labor naturally if you’d like. We can skip surgery.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I didn’t know what to do. Labor is such a natural, beautiful thing I felt robbed of before and now here it was and I wasn’t ready.

“I’ll be in the room. I won’t leave. Everything is going normally. We’ll get you an epidural if you’d like. It’ll all be over within the hour,” she said so softly and confidently. How could she not see that I was incapable? That was all I could think.

My husband stood beside me and encouraged me. Every last inch of me wanted to try but I was having flashbacks to a time when I was in a similar room but it was full of screaming doctors and sprinting nurses and the urgency that comes along with possibly losing a baby before she gets to even come into this world. I thought to myself “I couldn’t that time, how can I this time?”

I was surrounded by calm love and support and then it happened. “I can’t do it! I’ll kill this baby! I can’t do it! I’m weak and he’ll die! Get him out!” I proceeded to just keep screaming this like the sullen mantra that it was to me. I also wept. Oh, did I weep. I wanted to do it but my mind was telling my body no. I prayed, I cried, I argued with myself. I did this all the way back to the O.R. thinking this meant that I would change my mind. However, when they examined me and yelled “We need to start cutting before the baby is just delivered!” I panicked. I somehow couldn’t stop associating my natural delivery with how I would inevitably fail this child in the process.

Yes, I planned a c-section. Yes, that’s what I chose. But only because vaginal delivery didn’t feel like an option. When I could simply say “Oh, no, that didn’t work out. My body obviously isn’t capable”, I had an out. I had a pretty valid excuse. Then labor came and there it was, the elephant in the room that the excuses had been hiding. I was perfectly healthy this pregnancy. I very much so could try for a VBAC. All eyes fell on me when I didn’t have that sheet of my history to hide behind anymore. Suddenly a “regular” delivery was an option and the only thing stopping us from having it was me.

Ryder was delivered via cesarean in a room full of love and support by a caring staff who didn’t judge me but helped me and went into the arms of a father who saw me as a superhero for what I just gave him. They placed him on my chest and he looked up at me and I wept again. Tears of expected joy but also tears of frustration with myself for “not even trying” as I kept saying to myself.

It has taken a year for me to come to terms with what happened. I have finally seen my “failure” for what it truly was. It was the kind of love that leaves one without reason. I let my self-doubt think I couldn’t do the best thing for my son and that I needed help. And you know what? That is completely and utterly acceptable. I delivered a healthy, beautiful boy the best way I knew how. I recovered once again from a painful surgery so that I could welcome him into our home. I was strong and I was brave and I was enough.

To all the other mommy’s out there struggling with the fact that either your minds or your bodies “failed” you and you couldn’t have the delivery you had hoped for, know this – it was so far from a failure. You braved a mind-blowing procedure to bring that sweet angel into this world. You were so strong. You were so brave. You have always been and will always be enough.

Hello, my name is Lydia Farrar. I am a licensed cosmetologist but currently a stay at home mama to my two boys. Our family just moved to Los Angeles so my husband can pursue directing. I love anything creative and I love getting together with other mama’s to swap birth stories!

My C-Section journey began in January of 2014. I was pregnant with my first son, Eleazar, and had just about a month left of my pregnancy when I found out that I had developed gestational diabetes. I had developed it later in my pregnancy so it went untreated which made for a number of issues to sort through. My baby was measuring over 10lbs with still a month to go and I had excess fluid which caused him to not engage properly. Up until that point I was planning a natural, birth center birth. I was so excited to finally get to be apart of the “I pushed a baby out of my vagina with no meds” group! So I was completely devastated when the doctor looked at me and told me she felt the safest thing for me to do would be to have an elective C-Section. I bawled! All of my dreams of a natural birth, all of my visions of me birthing my baby and immediately pulling him to my chest for skin to skin were gone.

As I began to adjust my birth “plan” I was still so certain that I could birth this baby! I discussed with my doctor that if I went into labor naturally, I wanted to give it a solid try before the C-Section. She agreed to that but warned that laboring and then having to have a C-Section is often more recovery time and more exhausting.

So we scheduled a C-Section for right before my due date and I went home to try every possible thing to go into labor! I ate so many spicy hot wings and walked daily. The day finally came for my scheduled C-Section and I went in and they checked me. I was dilated 1cm. I was so sad! I was really hoping to be dilated at least a bit more so that I could possibly try laboring. As I sat there being monitored I just couldn’t go through with it. I told my doctor that I didn’t want to do it. I just wanted to give my body more time to actually go into labor. I just didn’t want to give up that dream! I agreed to schedule one a week later and THAT would be the day no matter what.

So I went home continuing to try everything to go into labor. But in that week I really began to let my dream go. I couldn’t force it. I couldn’t make it happen. So the day arrived, again. We loaded up our birth bag, our family came to the hospital with us and they prepped me for the OR. Honestly, it was a bit of a blur. I was still dealing with so much sadness over the whole situation. I tried to let it go but to be honest I was so upset. I was sitting on the operating table while they were trying to find the right spot for the spinal and I could not control my tears. I was ugly crying, snot and all! The nurse was so sweet, she wiped my nose and tears. Because they were having such a hard time finding the right spot I just sat there second guessing the whole thing. I wanted to jump off that table and run out! I wanted to have my baby the way I wanted to! But of course I didn’t do that. They finally found the spot and my legs began to go numb. It’s a pretty crazy feeling! They finally allowed my husband to come be in the room with me and they began the surgery. I remember being pretty loopy from the meds but I remember the doctors talking about how huge he was. Eleazar Kadesh Farrar was born February 4th, 2014 weighing 10lbs 13oz!!! They pulled him out and held him over the curtain for me to see him. He was ginormous!!! He was a big, healthy baby!!! I did get to hold him while they stitched me up and I just cried.

In the end, nothing else mattered but that precious baby boy. He was perfect and that was enough! The next few days while in the hospital were a bit emotional but my husband was my rock. He was so loving and changed all the diapers while in the hospital! I felt very blessed to have had such a good recovery after hearing so many horror stories. Eleazar latched and nursed like a champ and we felt so connected! I also felt peace about the fact that my C-Section incision was the kind that you can VBAC with! Even though it didn’t look like I planned, it was such a beautiful experience looking back. And I was able to have an HBAC (home birth after c-section) with my second son, but I’ll have to share that story another time.

Happy C- Section Awareness Month! This week I am Sharing a good friend of mine, Stephanie, Her Second C-section birth with you!

Enjoy.

Some women grow up dreaming of the perfect wedding. I was honestly not one of those girls, but at 24, when I first started attending births as a birth doula, I was given the dream of the perfect birth. Three years (and 15 attended births) later, with my first child, I attempted a planned homebirth that ended in a hospital transfer and later a c section. Though traumatic in many ways, it was also very empowering because every decision was in my hand the entire 56 hours. (I also did some craniosacral therapy with my son as well as some SOZO to heal and prepare to be in the best place emotionally for future births) So once I became pregnant with my second son, I felt completely confident I could try again, and fully confident that dream birth could be obtained.

Trying for a VBAC in Los Angeles is actually much harder than one may think. But once I finally found a doctor who supported my wants (and took my insurance!) we were on the right path. He was laid back and reminded me of my homebirth midwife from Brooklyn. The hospital was so small it didn’t even have a parking garage, just a side parking lot, reminding me a lot of a stand alone birth center. I exercised 4-5 times a week throughout my whole pregnancy, mediated on both spiritual declerations and birth declerations and even dabbled in some hypnobirthing. I also felt blessed to be given and supported in another chance for a vaginal birth.

By the time I started feeling contractions at 41 weeks, I felt so excited to be heading into labor once again. The contractions came flirting with me, coming on and off for a whole day. By the morning of day two, while at the playground with Tim and my son, they came on stronger. I needed to be home. Just after a few hours of laboring at home my contractions were consistently 12 minutes a part. Then quickly 10, lasting 30 seconds to 1 minute. I told my husband he needed to drop our son off at our friend’s house who he was staying at while we would be gone at the birth. In just the 25 minutes he was gone my contractions picked up to 7 minutes a part, lasting 1 minute long. My doula was on her way. Things were actually progressing! As soon as my doula arrived we started timing. 5 minutes a part. 1-1.5 minutes a part. For a whole hour.

Being 4pm in central Los Angeles, we needed to GO. The hospital was 17 miles away and traffic is in full force. So as you can imagine, the car ride was brutal. I labored on my hands and knees on the back seat for the whole hour in traffic on the Hollywood 101 expressway. Once we parked my contractions were coming every 30 seconds lasting at least a minute long. As intense as all this was, we (my husband, doula and I) were extremely excited that this labor could be in full force and we could be meeting our baby soon!

I checked into triage and they checked me right away. Are you ready for this?

1.5 CENTIMETER.

I cussed. I was so embarrassed! I was extremely disappointed. We had to go! I was not going to stay. But I was not going to make that drive again. We decided to check into a hotel five minutes away and labor there until we were confident I was in active labor. My doula picked up some food for us and we ate some dinner, trying to get our head back in the game.

The triage nurse informed us Baby was sitting very high, so we decided to work on bringing baby down. Spinning babies suggests the Abdominal Lift (https://spinningbabies.com/learn-more/techniques/other-techniques/abdominal-lift/ ) and Tuck to help baby engage in the pelvis. This felt like it was helping, as my contractions became more intense every 10 minutes. But this was also VERY uncomfortable! But alas, I was willing to do anything. After some success and intense, consistant contractions we then spent some time with A rebozo (A Mexican shawl used traditionally by midwives during labor.) This helped with my labor pain with my first labor, so we had hope this time around. After an hour my labor picked up significantly, so at 10pm we decided to go back to the hospital.

Ok, second time in triage, totally ready. Are you ready?

2.5 centimeters.

More cussing. More disappointment.

I decided I wanted to stay. My head was already in the game. SO we sent my doula home and would contact her once things picked up.

I was able to spend some time in the shower (thanks to telemetry units!). I sat on the birth ball and let the water hit my back. I just love water in labor. (The birth tub is a best friend in labor!) After 20 minutes or so something in me broke. Doubt flooded my head and I began to wonder if this birth would be 56 long hours of pain too. And I started thinking about how hard recovery was the first time around after pushing my body so hard for so long, loosing so much blood and not eating and sleeping for so long. I shut down and I just did not want to chance it any more. I wanted to be able to relax. My theory was if I could relax, labor would pick up.

So around midnight an epidural was administered. But I was still determined. I had the epidural turned down enough to where I could labor in bed, move around and still feel like an ‘active participant’. I used the birth ballin bed. Labored on my hands and knees. Used an oblong shape yoga ball, titled the ‘Peanut ball’ put in between my legs as I lay on my side to keep everything open. As time went on the contractions were becoming more intense, even with the epidural.

I began having them turn up the dosage until it was at it’s highest. As I would drift off to sleep, I would be awakened by another contraction. Later having to sit up and breathe through each one. As you can imagine, this became exhausting. And disappointing. Wasn’t the epidural supposed to take the pain away?

I really can’t recall that next day and night through labor. I remembering skyping with my son because I missed him so much. I remember some wonderful nurses who helped me and encouraged me tremendously (and of course, that one surley night nurse, but thankfully she was replaced by another splendid nurse.) I remember I stalled at 5 cm, just like my first labor three years before. Then I stalled again at 8 cm, just like my first birth three years before.

That second night, at 1a.m. we gave in. I agreed to another cesarean. It was devesating. My husband and I were full of confusion. We were hurt. We were crying. We tried so hard. We set up everything the best we could. And yet, we had to walk through this pain AGAIN?

My husband sat at my head in surgery. Just like the epidural not working so well during labor, it was not working as well during the surgery either. I was feeling way too much (as I remember being completely numb with my first birth). I was too scared to speak up because I wasn’t sure if they would knock me out completely if I was in too much pain. My husband could see I was in pain and said something. The anastesiologist finally turned up the medicine. The surgery was not, and still isn’t a favorite of mine.

Once it was time for baby to be born, my doctor dropped the drape so we could see my son emerge into this side of the world. I can just remember peering down and seeing those feet! Soon after my husband was able to put him on my chest and we finally could meet each other eye to eye. A nurse helped latch my baby on and we got to spend a lot of his first 20 minutes together.

My husband got to be with Jonah and take him into the recovery room while they finished up my surgery. As they wheeled me into the recovery room it was such a sight to see my husband hold him skin to skin. I too was given a good 2-3 hours of skin to skin time post surgery! I’m so thankful for that time. Especially since pediatrics noticed Jonah’s breathing was off and he was rushed to the NICU.

The next three days was really intense and almost a nightmare for me. I was able to see Jonah once in the NICU when they then quarantined me to my room as I was suspect for CDIFF. I wasn’t allowed into the NICU to visit Jonah until the lab results came back and I was cleared. Anyone coming into my room was required to put scrubs and gloves on. I felt as if I was in a prison.

We don’t have any family here in LA, so Tim would come to the hospital in the morning with Eben and stay all day. He would drop Eben off into my room with toys and a movie and go to the NICU to spend time with Jonah. This now sounds crazy to me as a I write this. Here I am, post surgery in this small postpartum hospital room, with my three year old who has to keep latex gloves on his hands the entire time! But you know what? He was my shining light. Spending that time with Eben playing hotwheels on the hospital bed, cuddling and watching movies and napping beside him was a life savor for me. And knowing Jonah had his dad beside him and he wasn’t alone was so comforting. I was dealing with crazy post birth blues, recovering from another traumatic birth experience and I couldn’t hold my new baby boy. But Eben being in the room with me was my saving grace.

I had been in the hospital 4 days and was so ready to be home. I had not been home with Eben in a whole week now and missed him dearly. But Jonah was still not allowed out of the NICU. It was a very hard decision, but I decided to check out, even though my new baby had to stay. That was the strangest feeling, leaving the hospital without your new baby. Those first few weeks are still such a blur to me.

Tim would go up to the hospital every morning before work and every night around 10pm to spend time with Jonah. I felt there was a huge chasm between me and Jonah. We live on the second floor of a walk up, so getting out post surgery is a huge feat. So I would pump my milk and send it with Tim. And that what we did for a few days. Finally on the sixth morning Tim helped me out of the house and he was determined to bring Jonah home that day. The Nicu nurses were great, but if you’re familiar with the NICU, it’s impossible to leave as they ALWAYS find something new that is alarming enough to keep your baby one more day. Tim had spent enough time at Jonah’s side to know he was doing so much better, his breathing was great, and he knew what nurses were familiar with Jonah and his case. Tim had to be at work so we spent time in the morning in the nicu and I decided to stay while Tim went to work. (did I mention my best friend from KY flew in to help us with Eben? She is a miracle!)

Push comes to shove and at 8a.m. they gave permission to start the process to bring Jonah home! By 4pm I was finally loading Jonah up in the car that Brianne drove with Eben to pick me and Jonah up. It was honestly disappointing. Eben is finally able to meet his brother, and Tim is missing it. He meets him as he’s being put into the back seat of the car. Not our ideal ‘let’s meet your new little brother for the first time moment that has been building up for the entire week since your brother has been born’. But we had to get out of there. This baby had been there for way too long and needed to be home with his mama, and his family!

It’s been 8 months since Jonah has been born. It’s difficult sorting through all the layers of emotion that lie throughout this story. Tears and disappointment weaved all the way through. And it’s covered in the deep love I have for this little baby. This love that just grows so deep even every time I look into this boys eyes. Love that grows for my Eben as he is constantly looking out and loving on and playing with his brother. This whole story seems so much in the distance for me, and so much good has come since. But it’s still tough.

I don’t give it much thought these days. But when I do emotions come flooding. Its been good to sort through as I write. And I want to encourage anyone reading this that has also experienced trauma and disappointment in a birth that healing is there. But it’s only there if you seek it.

I used to fear C-sections and thought that even though my mom had 2 I could totally get away with having my babies naturally! While that may be the story of others, that was definitely NOT mine. I fully embrace the experience that I had during Haven’s birth NOW but that took me a good 2 years to really come to terms with what had happened. I don’t share this to scare you AT ALL because I truly believe that I was surrounded by the most amazing people who supported my every decision and ultimately.. my baby came out happy and healthy and thats really all that matters.

When we got closer to my due date I did what every mother (Or maybe just first time mom) does and drum up a birth plan. I asked one of my good friends, Tana, if she was willing to drive all the way down to LA from Las Vegas to be my Doula!!! You guys…. She said YES!!! haha I still can’t believe it. August and I 100% couldn’t have gotten through that birth without her, NO JOKE! I had my doctor all prepped on my wishes and made sure he had a copy of the birth plan in his files as well as a folder in our hospital bag with the birth plan and all other documents we may need for that day. I was PREPARED! From Snacks for my husband to way to many extra clothes for Haven.. You name it, I had it. Some would say I was over prepared.. I say that I was just being a first time mom. haha

Now are you ready for my 1st C-section story.

May 12, 2014 I was at home resting after just officially going on maternity leave like 2 days prior to that. I want to say that my last shift was a 12 hr one as most of them were, so you could imagine the pure state of exhaustion my body was in being full term and working 12 hour days. Sleep was my best friend in those 2 days! Other than being tired, which was the new normal, I didn’t feel like this baby wanted to come out any time soon. No contractions or any signs of progression and May 12th was my actual due date! August got ready for work that day and gave me the numbers to call just in case anything should happen. (Word to the wise: You should probably get this information way ahead of time! I think we were just so busy it never even crossed our minds that I might need a plethora of numbers to be able to reach him. lol) A friend of ours had called me shortly after August had left for work and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner and surprise August at his restaurant. We joked about my water breaking while in the restaurant and planned on meeting up after I took a nap. Kid you not.. about 20-30 minutes later I went to the restroom, went pee and then all of the sudden when I knew my pee was done water just kept flowing. I FREAKED OUT!! Immediately called my Doula, Tana, who confirmed that was my water that just broke and that she would be gathering her things and headed to LA. She advised me to try to get some rest because it was about to be a very long night. (The excitement and anticipation that my baby girl would soon be in my arms was way to high that theres no way I could sleep.) Now looking back I wish I would’ve been able to sleep because little did I know I was about to not have a solid sleep for 3 days! I immediately text my friend letting him know that dinner isn’t going to happen for obvious reasons and we had a good laugh about that followed by a phone call to August’s Job. We were all so excited but still nothing was really happening. I had to keep a towel in between my legs for a while because the water just kept trickling down but contractions really didn’t start for another hour to 2 hours later. When they started… they STARTED!!! There was no easing into these puppies. It felt like it went from 0 to 60 in 5 minutes and they just were not letting up. With August tracking my contractions and keeping Tana (My Doula) informed on what was happening, a few hours into it she advised us to go into the hospital because they were really close together and it sounded like I was in active labor. I wish I could tell you what was going on in my mind but honestly, I was just trying to focus on getting through the never-ending pain that I was feeling and getting to the car. haha Walking to the car.. it was like I would take 2 steps and have to stop. When I finally got to the car there was NO WAY that I was going to put on a seat belt! I couldn’t stay in 1 place. When we finally got to the hospital all of the nurses attended to me quick as they all thought I was in active labor and getting ready to have this baby any moment now only to find out after they hooked me up to everything and checked me that I was just hitting 1-2 centimeters…. WHAT!?!?!! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and everyone was so confused… All the signs pointed to further progression and it just wasn’t there.

After laboring for 10-12 hours without an epidural and only getting to about 4c in which I stayed there for a while, we decided to get an epidural. The epidural that is supposed to make you numb almost immediately, for me, it basically only took the edge off. The dang thing only numbed a little corner of my hip and nothing else so unfortunately, I was still having to go through all of my contractions. 50 hours later with very close monitoring by my amazing doctor who allowed us to exhaust all of our options, I landed at 7 cm and had plateaued there for a while so we had to prepare for a c-section. My doctor gave me a bit of time to grieve the fact that we were about to have a different birth than we had originally planned which I’m super grateful for! When the nurses had prepared me for surgery and wheeled me out to the OR, all of the other nurses were cheering for me and celebrating with us that we were about to FINALLY meet out baby girl. They knew how hard we fought for days but also knew how exhausted and done we were. We were SO ready to meet this chick already haha.

When I had arrived in the OR I was nervous as all get out. I had been inside of an OR previously having worked for orthopedic surgeons so I knew what it looked like, how sterile it feels and looks.. but nothing and no one can truly prepare you for being in the OR as a patient.. The one who is about to be cut open, exposed, vulnerable and having to trust that everyone around you knows exactly what they are doing because you & your babies life depends on their expertise. My heart was pounding and the emotions where everywhere. To top it off, I am allergic to a ton of medications and the list seems to be ever growing the more that I try different things when the time arrives. I only mention this because they tried giving me a certain medication while I was on the table and I immediately started having a reaction to it which resulted in them having to give me benedryl which I am extremely sensitive too. So naturally I was immediately super lethargic. It felt like I was there but I wasn’t fully present! I remember Haven coming out and everyone making a huge deal about how surprisingly big she was because no one was expecting me to have an almost 10lb baby! From there I unfortunately don’t remember much because the benedryl really took me out. I vaguely remember being in the recovery room and Haven was in the little bed thing they put the babies in, my mom came in and kissed my forehead… Tana(my doula) came in to kiss Haven and myself and had to say bye because she had to get back to her family and then from there I don’t remember the rest of the night.

Even though my story seems crazy, I learned SO much about myself through it all. There was something in me that just wanted to mark off all of the “what if’s” so that if and when I had the c-section I would have zero regrets! I found out about myself just how strong and focused I am when I want to get something that seems larger than me accomplished. I would be lying if I didn’t say that there were some disappointments that I had to process through later on but ultimately, I am so dang proud of myself for fighting, holding out to exhaust all options and for not majorly loosing my mind through it all!

So if you are a mom who is about to have a c-section or have already had one and are in the place of processing your birth I want to say this.. A c- section is not a death sentence, it does not make a birth any less powerful or make you less than. You are just as strong as all the rest of the women who have the priviledge of birthing naturally! You are a fighter, you are bad ass for just going through a major surgery to birth your child and then having to care for that baby at the same capacity as any other mom with a massive incision in your lower abdomen! At the end of the day, you are a rockstar and no birth scenario changes that status!!!

Happy C-section awareness month!

Every woman wants to know how you can turn up your sexy, right?! I mean lets face it.. if your trying to catch the eye of  that perfect guy, you’re going to try to turn up your sexy a bit. If you’re married (Key Note: Without Kids) you’re always trying to find different ways that you can surprise your husband by turning up your sexy in different ways and its fairly easy, right? What about after having had kids? {Radio Silence…} Lets just call out the elephant in the room and be really honest here! Turning up your sexy after having kids is freaking HARD! You may have lost some focus on keeping up with yourself, you might not want to put on that lingerie anymore because your body looks so different, you’re wearing undies from forever ago and/or your wearing the most comfortable underwear you can find which are more than likely not super cute. (My hand is raised on this one FOR SURE!!!) You definitely don’t even want to be bothered getting any new bras because you have no clue what size you are due to the frequent boob fluctuations you face when breastfeeding and then when you’re done breastfeeding you can care less on buying them a new bra so you make the ones you have work. All of your clothes are likely not fitting you correctly or they aren’t fitting the “new you” that your body has become after having those babies. Am I hitting home with any of you yet? Listen.. I get it! I WAS HANDS DOWN THAT WOMAN!!  Thats why I am sharing with you ‘4 Keys to turning up your sexy’! Alright, are you ready to dive in?! here we go…

‘4 KEYS TO TURNING UP YOUR SEXY’

HOW TO ROCK A RED LIP

Rocking a red lip can be a mystery to some. If you are that person, don’t fret, I have a good friend of mine who happens to be a professional Makeup Artist, Lauren Lancaster, jot down a few helpful tips to help you rock a red lip!! Here ya go!

-Don’t line your lips!! Blot out the edges with the warmth of your finger tips
-Make it more modern and choose a matte formula
-Keep your eyes super simple
-Set with a touch of powder around the edges to keep on through the night

Okay ladies… How many of those tips did you actually know?! haha I feel like I’ve been doing it all wrong but not anymore!! If you take on Lauren’s advice and rock that red lip, send us some pictures and tag us on instagram! We would love to see.

GET RID OF THOSE GRANNY PANTIES

You guys… I shamefully have to admit that I was definitely riding the struggle bus with this one. However, I was determined to change that the moment I heard of Bootaybag. First off, I already despise undergarment shopping. My husband can attest to this statement! Every time I went to buy undergarments, even before having kids I hated it. In my mind, Id really much rather be spending this money on a cute shirt or a pair of shoes. So needless to say… My undergarments were long-lasting and my husband HATED it! Heres what I didn’t understand… There is So much power in in putting on some cute underwear & bra that actually fit you correctly. Ill never forget the day I decided to surprise my husband for his birthday with a sexy but comfortable bra and undies from Victoria secret. I kid you not.. I put them on and it instantly made feel sexy, strong, refreshed! Who doesn’t want to feel like that right?! In just a moment I felt like a new woman. What was supposed to be just a surprise for my husband, turned out to be more of a surprise for me! haha. So, Throw away those nasty granny panties! If you’re anything like me and can’t stand going out shopping for undergarments than you need to sign up for Bootaybag immediately. You are guaranteed 2 pairs of cute underwear in your mailbox every month. My suggestion to you is for every pair you receive, throw away 2 pairs of your old! Its sounds so funny, but something as small as new underwear can really do something to your confidence and your level of sexy. Not only that but I’m sure your significant other might be doing the happy dance that he doesn’t have to see those grannies anymore!

WAX YO’ SELF

I feel like there are 2 types of women out there… 1 being the kind that are terrified of even the word “wax” and don’t want anything to do with it so they decide to shave everything. Then there is the other woman who goes to those hard waxing places and always leaves feeling like they just took a beating to their lady parts all for the sake of maintenance. I personally have done both and nothing compares to what I am getting ready to share with you! When I first got married, I was a shaver.. I shaved everything (or so I thought). Listen ladies, in my experience its just damn near impossible to shave EVERYTHING yourself. You’re bound to have those hairs somewhere in a place that you probably dont see on a consistent basis that your significant other probably DOES see and they may or may not tell you that its there! Not only that but if you’re like me, you have a hard enough time trying to find the time to have a decent shower let alone having to add that whole crazy shaving circus routine, right?! Than once I was over being the shaver I turned to waxing. “Go to brazillian wax center” they said, “It doesn’t hurt that bad” they said…. okay, I have a pretty high pain tolerance and even I felt like my hoo ha was taking a beating. In the end I just felt bruised and on top of it my hairs weren’t even completely gone! Um, Hi, I don’t want to feel like I’m being abused and then discover that my hairs are only half gone after that process! But somehow you keep going all for the sake of  beauty I guess.. that it of course until I was introduced to SugaringLA. Im not joking you guys.. I will never turn back to shaving or waxing ever again. Sugaring is like a gentle ball of wax if you will, with all natural ingredients. It exfoliates your skin while ripping out the hair follicle, is a much gentler process on your skin and do you want to know what the best part about it is? Its way less painful and your skin feels like a babies bottom afterwards! Ladies, you MUST try sugaring & give your men something they can’t resist! You will 100% feel like a new woman, walking in confidence that you don’t have spontaneous hairs peeking out in places you don’t know about and/or you’re not having to pretend like your not in pain from your waxing experience. If you’re a Socal local you definitely need to hit up SugaringLA. They currently have 5 locations: Santa monica, Manhattan Beach, W. Hollywood, Encinitas & Carlsbad. Find the one nearest to you and pay them a visit. I promise they will not disappoint! Also if you’re signed up in my email list there may be a special discount to SugaringLA waiting for you in there. 🙂

STYLING

Last but certainly not least is my favorite topic… SHOPPING!!! This key is just as important to turning up your sexy as buying new undies! What a new outfit can do for your sexy meter is amazing and beats wearing the same leggings and t-shirt everyday, right?! If you’re a mom than you may struggle with what I like to call the “selfless syndrome”. Most of us have been there where its few and far between that you’re buying anything for yourself  because you keep getting sucked into the world of cute children’s clothes. Well ladies.. Its time to focus on YOU right now!! Thats why I am running a Valentines giveaway on my instagram and Facebook with a gift card to one of my FAVORITE places… Target! Let me help you contribute to turning up your sexy with adding something new to your closet! After all, we should be allowed to be selfish once in a while, right?!

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite car has been Volvo. I remember my parents getting the Volvo S70 when I was around 7-8 years old after having gone through a terrible accident that totaled our previous car. As little girl, I remember my number one feeling of why I loved that car so much was because of how safe and secure I felt. That will forever be engrained in my mind until this day! It has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite cars!

I know what you’re thinking.. This is so random, Ashleigh.. Why are you telling me about Volvo?! Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry! I am about to list my top 5 reasons why I believe ALL moms need a Volvo. When I’m done, I’m almost certain you will want to head on over to our friends at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica and purchase this family dream car! Have I got your full attention yet?! Good!!!

Recently, I had the pleasure of driving a brand new 2018 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription courtesy of Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Let me tell you my friends… It did not disappoint and all of my 8 yr old sweet memories of the Volvo S70 came flooding to the forefront of my mind as I was once again reminded why I love this beautiful, insanely safe car! So without further ado let me share with you why all moms need a Volvo.

‘Top 5 reasons Why All Moms Need A Volvo’

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!!!

I mean, I cannot express enough how crazy safe these cars are! You certainly don’t need someone to tell you how safe they are because you can actually feel it the moment you get in the car and close the door. The best way to describe it is like when you have a comfort blanket on and instantly you feel like all is right in the world. The doors are soft closing yet strong like you know that you are about to be driving a tank on the road. Also, Here is a fun fact: Did you know that Volvo were the ones that came up with the 3 point harness seatbelt?! They felt it was so important and such a vital part of safety that they opened up their patent & shared the design allowing other  car manufacturers to benefit from their creation because they believe that safety is of utmost importance. Crazy right?! When we put the girls car seats in the backseat, I felt like they were more secure into the car than they are in our Honda! Even Haven was loving the level of comfort that the car itself was bringing and that is saying something HUGE seeing as she is only 3 1/2. I like to believe that our children remember things like that! One of my other favorite things about this car is the fact that the numerical speedometer shows up in the window so that you never have to really look down at your actual speedometer to know what speed you’re going! Some may put this in the “Special Features” category but I am putting it in the Safety category because I never have to take my eyes off of the road. I loved seeing my speed in the window and would repeatedly say in my mind “Why don’t ALL cars have this?!”. It also will show you in the same window what the speed limit is on every street you are driving on as well as alert you when you are at a cross walk, School zone, driving to close to the person next to you, driving a certain amount over the speed limit… You guys, This “Safety feature” for me was EVERYTHING!!!

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE FEATURES

Lets be honest… We all know that the FIRST thing we think of when deciding on a new car is how awesome the center column of the car is and all the features, right? Well, The Volvo XC60 has quite a stand out from other cars I’ve seen. As a mother and frankly just not the most tech savvy person I’ve ever met, the functionality of all all the buttons and gadgets in a car have got to be easy to use because I don’t have time to fool around with those little things when I’m trying to drive, so I love that the features in this car are equivalent to using your iPhone. Its so straight forward: Swipe right, swipe left, apps easily accessible with just with the touch of your finger, etc. One of my favorite features was that it has apple car play in the car! Anything that allows me to access my most used and important apps on my phone on the road has got 2 thumbs up in my book! The car gives you an option to heat up the seats &  steering wheel on cold days, adjust how much you want the seat to hug your body and get this… It even gives you an option in BOTH the driver & passenger seats to give a massage (What?!) Tell me that is not every moms dream! You better believe I put that baby to good use during our time together. Another feature I found to be helpful was the back up camera with the navigating tire lines & alerts when your too close to an object . Living in LA there are a lot of tight spots you’re parking in, lots of parallel parking and if I’m being honest… just some really insane drivers, so this feature was really great to have!

INTERNAL SPACE

When you have kids and you’re in the market for a car to fit your lifestyle, your likely going to search for the most spacious car you can find, right? Seeing as we are currently van drivers and have ample space in our car I was fully expecting to feel a bit packed into this car. I was definitely wrong!! Never once did I feel like we were cramped inside! As a matter of fact it makes you feel the opposite. You feel like you have your own space for each passenger in the car, even my girls in the back seat! The trunk is extremely spacious as well leaving more than enough room for: Stroller, groceries and all the other gadgets and things that us moms feel the need to have in the trunks of our cars. Needless to say, Space is not an issue with the Volvo XC60.

EASY HANDLING OF THE CAR

Nothing bugs me more than a car that is hard to steer, am I alone?! It may sound like since the car is so strong and I’ve described it as being a tank, that it would be hard to steer and have a friction in the steering wheel.. WRONG! Its actually the exact opposite! I decided to make this one of my main top reasons why moms need a Volvo because I feel like anything that makes your life easier and more enjoyable with the amount of time that we spend in our cars with kids is worth highlighting. When you pair the safety features with the ease of driving and handling the car, you have gold my friends! Like you literally just hit the jackpot in cars. I thought I had it made in my Honda Odyssey until my hands got on that Volvo XC60.. Mind. BLOWN! I loved driving through the Los Angeles hills because it almost created a different friction in the steering wheel with different whips and turns just out of safety but never once gave me the feeling of being out of control. It always gave me the feeling of ease and (again) safety.

COMPANY HONESTY

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to support companies and business’ who value honesty and support of people above all else. Any company that can show those things without having to overly emphasize that those are their values has my full backing and support! With that being said, I have 100% seen those qualities in Volvo and Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Who doesn’t want to purchase from someone who is honest, passionate, knowledgable and supportive about their product?! When I learned about the released patent of the 3 part harness and that one of their mottos at Volvo is that they are more concerned of the safety of the people than the money… Guys, That says a TON about a company! That is a company I want to stand behind and have their product. You don’t see many (if any) other companies doing the same! They are vocal about the fact that they are more about the quality of the car than upgrading it to a new style every few years. They are confident in the cars that they produce so much so that they don’t feel the need to have to keep upgrading them. When it comes down to it, they really are the safest cars on the road and fly under the radar as a discrete luxury vehicle.

Have I got you at the edge of your seat because you want to run to the Volvo dealership?! Good, You should!! 🙂  Every family needs a safe car and I truly believe with all of my heart that Volvo should be your #1 top choice. Thank you Volvo Cars of Santa Monica for giving me the full Volvo XC60 Inscription experience, You guys are the best!

PS. I have to give a HUGE shout out to one of the salesman, Christopher White over at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica. He is probably one of the most knowledgeable people and knows all the ins and outs of volvo. The amount of information he was sharing with us both about the company and also the car I was driving was astonishing. Yet again, Passion was shinning through and not in an overbearing way but rather an inspiring  & excited for what your about to experience type of way. You rock Christopher!

I am on a journey of strengthening my belief that the voice within me is enough! Really when it comes to anything but especially choices we have to make for our kids! No website, book, article, or person can fully prepare you for parenthood. The sheer amount of choices that we have to make for our kids is insane & the pressure to make the right choice can be overwhelming. People don’t talk enough about the importance of listening & believing in the voice within you. The one that guides you, gives you that gut wrenching feeling that something is wrong or off, the one that puts butterflies in your stomach when you feel like something great is about to happen.. That voice! I like to call it my “Knower”. Maybe people don’t talk too much about it because we are all to busy relaying our own opinions or unintentionally throwing our own fears and convictions on others. The world is way to chaotic, opinionated, broken and LOUD for those voices to be louder than your knower. The voice within you is enough! Finding the balance between hearing out with honor what others have to say, their concerns, successes and failures can be challenging because ultimately what works for one may not work for another.. What convicts one set of parents may not even be on the radar for another couple and you know what, that’s ok!! That doesn’t make either party any more right or wrong. Obviously, if there was a right or wrong way to raise children than upon delivering your child they would hand over a guidebook titled “How to not screw up your kid” and it would be way to big for anyone to go through so everyone would be winging it anyways. Its so easy to forget that we have an inner voice inside of us that helps us make the best decision you feel is right for you and your family! That is why strengthening your belief in your knower is so important.

Lets face it.. I WILL MAKE MISTAKES!! YOU my friend… will make mistakes!!  I have to constantly break down that wall of expecting to be the PERFECT mom because the truth is that I have faults and they will see them. We ALL have faults. Its inevitable that my kids will remember me making maybe not the greatest choice I’ve ever made or having a not so awesome moment. Why? Because I’m human!  If there is someone on this earth who has nailed parenthood and every decision they have ever made with their kids was perfect than I want to meet that person haha! I HAVE to believe that the voice within me that helps my husband and I say yes or no to any and all things is enough. I have to go back to my main questions when faced with a challenge, which is: How does it serve me by reading these articles? How does it make me feel after certain conversations? Did that leave me feeling fear, questioning my knower and being weighed down or does it leave me feeling uplifted, encouraged, loved, fine tuned and educated. The latter is the feeling I’m looking for when proceeding in my decision-making. The voice within you is enough!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good ol’ constructive critisizm and I am in NO WAY saying that you shouldn’t listen to others because it truly takes a village to raise kids! What I am saying is make sure that constructive criticism doesn’t leave you questioning yourself because in the end, the voice within you is enough!

So to the mom who has felt judged, criticized or questioned about your mothering in any way.. THE VOICE WITHIN IS ENOUGH! To the first time mom who is googling up the wazoo and leaves you feeling even more confused.. THE VOICE WITHIN YOU IS ENOUGH! To the Women who just needs to be reminded of the insane amount of wisdom and greatness inside of you.. THE VOICE WITHIN YOU IS ENOUGH!!

YOU are ENOUGH!!

Let’s get real… Being a stay at home mom isn’t always cupcakes & rainbows, Arts & Crafts, I just hang with my kids all day amazingness. The truth is, at least for me, The “Stay At Home Mom Blues” is a thing! As amazing as it is being a stay at home mom, it’s quite possibly one of  the hardest jobs I’ve ever had + also one of the most emotionally exhausting! Of course we could talk about all of the fun + amazing things that staying at home with your littles brings but then we wouldn’t be truthful to the Stay At Home Mom Blues that we also face and how we can conquer them, right?! By no means do I have it all down! In fact, I believe that as our girls get older and the more children we have I’m constantly having to change things around, think differently and give myself grace in different areas.

So here are my top 6 ways to overcome the Stay At Home Mom Blues:

1. GET YOUR BUTT OUTSIDE- There is nothing more refreshing for the stay at home mom mind more than getting out of your environment, smelling the fresh air and enjoying nature. Sometimes being cooped up in the house even without kids is depressing let alone with kids. This gives you a perfect opportunity to teach your kids about nature, insects, exercise or even just to play on the playground and expel some of that never-ending energy that they seem to all have! The benefits of stepping outside your home doors are endless really…
2. WHAT’S YOUR LOVE LANGUAGE- Here’s the deal… Everyone as a different way of giving and receiving love and  when  you become a mom I swear it forever changes! For example: I used to be 1) Quality Time 2) Physical Touch (BK- Before Kids) but now after having had children my #1 stays the same but my secondary is always different on the weekly basis. I’m not so much physical touch anymore because I’m being touched all day long. That physical touch tank is more than full. Sometimes when I’m having a moment of the stay at home mom blues I stop to think what my secondary love language is at that very moment and more often than not it’s something that I’m lacking in. {If you have never heard of the 5 love languages than do not skip a beat! click HERE and purchase the book. It’ll change your life forever, I promise!}
3. EXERCISE- This is one that I feel like the majority of mothers struggle with. One being because of “time”. Ladies…When you have kids, when is it EVER convenient to do anything for yourself? Do you really have “time” to eat? Sleep? Binge watch fixer upper? Have uninterrupted Sex? (Thats right, I just went there!) The answer is… a -big-fat-NO!! No you don’t, but I am a huge believer that you will make time for anything you truly value and/or believe in. With that being said, I know that it’s extremely difficult to workout with your children, however, I also know the extreme benefits that come out of exercise when I push myself to do it. Not only does it help you reach physical goals but it’s a stress reliever! Many people instantly associate working out with cardio & weights, Thankfully,  there are so many more options out there for you. Lets help you find one that best suits you, your lifestyle and one that you can connect most with. We will  be exploring different workouts and ways to workout with your children up on the blog so keep a look out for those blog posts! I’d love to you have join me.
4. MUSIC/PODCASTS- Music is everything for me! It’s what gives me a sense of calm, a few moments to escape… I don’t have to think, I can sing along or not and it just does something for my heart. Podcasts …. I really only like on days when I haven’t been overly talked to if you know what I mean. {haha} Sometimes being a stay at home mom, the last thing I want is to listen to in the background is someone speaking when literally from sun up to sun down I’ve had to listen and respond back to little voices. For me, that’s a lot of chatter and I just need some instruments hitting these ears of mine even if there is a screaming baby in the car while driving! It’s almost like the music helps me tune everything else out for a minute and helps me center. My personal fav would have to be this killer couple right here! {Johnnyswim}
5. COMMUNITY- Okay.. This is a HUGE one for me! Being surrounded by people who love me no matter what, support me, challenge me in times when I need to be challenged, can hear me out on days when I just need to vent, etc. Not ONE PERSON needs to go a day in their life without.. COMMUNITY! Stay at home mom or not, do not lie to yourself, you absolutely need genuine people around you to do life with. When I need a moment to myself or a date night, they pitch in to help. When I feel alone and need some adult interaction they are there. You guys… If you haven’t found your tribe of people who you can trust, rely on, do life with– than I urge you to make this one of your main focus’. Whether you are single or married everyone needs some type of community (and I’m not just talking about your spouse or significant other although that is magnificent too). I really can’t stress that enough! -GO FIND YOUR TRIBE-
6. LAUGHTER- Laughter can pull me out of almost any and all stay at home mom blues. It helps that I’m married to an actor who always has something on hand he can say to me that’ll make me laugh or even semi laugh. Really though, laughter is one of the best medicines. Even after a long rough day with the girls, if I’m feeling down I will make it a point to not do anything else after they go to bed and maybe start watching a comedy movie that’ll make me laugh or something that’ll help me smile.

I hope that these ‘Top 6 ways to overcome the Stay At Home Mom Blues’ help you and maybe puts some extra tools in your mommy needs tool belt! As always, please feel free to leave some comments + share ideas of what helps you overcome the stay at home mom blues! We always love to hear from our Sparrow’s Apple community!

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I think that many of us would love to have a weekly awesome date, where money is no issue, right?! Truth be told.. whose life is that? haha while there may be some out there who can make that awesomeness happen every week or month, theres a big majority of us couples who unfortunately just do not have the budget for that. Add childcare to that too if you have littles and you can just forget about it! So I am here to share with you some of our date on a dime ideas.

I don’t know about you but I grew up with it modeled to me that dates happened when the bank account was on the higher end and you could pull off some fine dining, a brand new outfit, etc. Because of that dates were extremely rare! When I got older and started dating my now husband, I realized.. Im a huge quality time person! If the only quality time that I get to spend with the love of my life is when we can most afford it than my relationship is not only going to suffer but my love language is going to start feeling super neglected. I think it was then that I realized that dates don’t have to look like how it was originally modeled to me. Dates don’t have to mean $$$… It does however mean that you have to be more INTENTIONAL and CREATIVE.

Don’t get me wrong.. I LOVE an extravagant date night! I love to dress up and get all sexy, go to a really nice dinner, see a movie or maybe just sit and drink cocktails enjoying each others company the rest of the night but thats not always realistic. We have to budget for a date like that and I’m just trying to get regular time with my man! Ya know?! Im not trying to wait for my bank account to tell me when I can spend some quality time with my husband!! So I wanted to share with you our most recent affordable (to us) date. Mind you, even this might be a little much for some but I will definitely be sharing some other dates that cost even less than this if any cost at all in some other blog posts.

The most expensive part about this date was lunch. Again, this might not be in your budget and thats OK! you don’t have to eat lunch out. This is a date on a dime so don’t be ashamed to just make a lunch and bring it to a park!! Heck, that might be even more romantic. Use this meal as your special treat day and go to your favorite burger place. (Our burger place of choice would either be between the Habit or In-n-out) on this date in particular we decided we wanted to try a new to us restaurant on Ventura Blvd called On The Thirty and Oh. My. Goodness… It did not disappoint!!! The truffle fries… we literally had to force ourselves to stop eating them because they were pretty dangerous. My pregnant self couldn’t handle all of the goodness.

It was so good that I forgot to take a photo of my meal because I just couldn’t wait.. So this is a random photo of someone else’s plate off of yelp with the same thing that I had. YUMMMY is an understatement for real!

Okay, back down off of food land. The next thing we did after lunch was head to The Getty Museum which is FREE.com, you only have to pay for parking which is $15 from open to 3pm and then its $10. We were kind of riding the late train that day and got there right at 3 so we paid $10 for parking and while in the museum we got a coffee because it was pretty chilly out and we started going downhill after that lunch. Tired eyes were happening! (And all the parents say, AMEN!) All in all I think we spent around $15 with parking and coffee’s, not bad right?

And… that’s IT!!! DATE ON A DIME COMPLETE! Quality time was had, bellies were full, good food + coffee were consumed and we still had the night to spend with our girls. Easy right?!

So get out there and have yourself a good time with your significant other!!!

-xoxo-

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You are about to be invited into the most epic love stories ever. Although, I think that everyone thinks that their love story is awesome so i’ll just draft ours into the epic love story book along side everyone else’s. Who knew that May 7, 2010 would mark the beginning of when our love story began?! I know one thing is for sure, I had NO clue!

First off, I want to start out by saying that I was in a place of contentment in my young 21 year old life. I was never into the dating scene. As a matter of fact, I would always get teased my whole life that I was too picky when it came to a future spouse and that I would never fins someone who would fit my list of must haves. Still, I stuck to my guns and never dated around because I personally felt like it was a waste of my time and the other persons time if I knew right off that bat that I couldn’t see myself being with this person. I also oddly enough always got turned off by being overly pursued by men, it always felt super overwhelming, pushy and fake. Again, this was just a personal thing. I am in NO WAY saying that the dating scene shouldn’t exist.. it just wasn’t for me and I 100% embraced that.

When I had met August he was a true gentlemen and really kind of business like. When he got my number he asked for it exactly like this “I don’t even have your INFORMATION.” I thought, “information? ok, he’s definitely not trying to pick me up!” So the obvious choice was to give him my cell phone number and work email right?! haha I still laugh at that. Even when he texted or called me I never got the impression that he was trying to hit on me, I legitimately roped him into the friend zone right along with all of my other guy friends until that one day… May 7, 2010.. I still remember so vividly standing in my kitchen wearing my favorite Hollister jeans and orange tank top with a white tank underneath, my hair was super curly then and was worn in a side pony that day. I was doing something at the kitchen counter when he called and asked me if I was hungry because he had just gotten off of work and wanted to hang out with someone. (Sly move- yet again, riding under the radar in the pursuit of wanting to get to know me more.) I immediately said “yea, sure, where should I meet you?” He proceeded by asking me if I liked mediterranean food and that he would swoop me up from my house. The minute I hung up the phone I literally said to myself.. “Why did I just say yes to dinner? I JUST ate!!” But of course I just shrugged my shoulders and went with it. When he got to my house he knocked on my door, My dad answered and they immediately hit it off talking about the sports jacket that August was wearing. My dad is heavily into menswear and oddly enough, so is August. (Check #1 on my want list- Be able to connect with my dad on some level because he’s a hard one to connect to on a personal level.) So we all chatted a bit and headed out to go eat or try to eat Mediterranean.

So here I am sitting at the table with this man who I really had just met maybe a week prior, still no clue that he even had the slightest bit of interest in me until he had asked me what I was passionate about. I listed off a the top things that I was passionate about and his response to that was “A woman after my own heart!” as he leans back in his chair with a smile. It wasn’t until that moment that I knew he was interested in me and that this was actually a DATE! Shortly after that moment was when I almost zoned out for a second and said to myself  “OH. MY. GOD… I am sitting at a table with the man I am going to be spending the rest of my life with.” You guys, people talk about how you can have moments like that and I wouldn’t say that I never believed it…but I’m not sure I could wrap my head around how you could just know in an instant until it happened to me! I literally just just knew! Like it was an unwavering, no questions asked, The light bulb just went off and is shining bright, this guy is everything I had been praying for since I knew how to pray, I can’t believe this is happening to me moment. Of course I DID NOT share this with him and was just as calm, cool and collected as I was when our date first started when I was completely oblivious so he had no idea. That night we were the last people out of the restaurant. It felt like we were in some sort of a bubble and we finally stepped out of it and realized.. oh , No one is in here anymore and everyone is cleaning up! lol We left there and continued talked for another few hours. By the time he dropped me off it was probably around 1am. I wanted so badly to wake my mom up and tell her all about my night but I settled for just jumping up and down in my room (literally) in pure J O Y that I had just met my future husband! You can only imagine how much sleep I got that night. 🙂 The next morning August text me and asked me how my night was, to which I replied that I didn’t sleep to much. Just from that response he knew that I was into him! I can’t make this stuff up y’all.

This day 8 years ago changed my life! Meeting August was literally one of the biggest enhancements to life that God has given me. So we celebrate this day because it was the day that started our journey, Its the day that I was reminded that God knows the desire of my heart and heard all of my prayers & in spite of all of the jokes that were thrown at me for years about how my standards were too high and unrealistic he decided to gift me with exactly what I wanted in a spouse and more.

So if you’re single, I am here to tell you that IT IS POSSIBLE! Know what you’re looking for and be unwavering in it so that when it comes you’ll never have to question if this is it. If you’re already in a relationship: Dating, engaged or married.. CELEBRATE!! Love deserves to be celebrated and I don’t know about you but I am a firm believer that celebration is one of many things that helps keep love alive!

Cheers to all you lovers out there!!

Recently, August and I were asked how we establish household responsibility in our marriage. Both of us just kind of looked at each other and thought.. “That’s a great question!” Later on that day it got me thinking of the list of unknowns that I had as an unmarried woman getting ready to step into marriage. These are legit questions! I mean.. Id go as far to say that household responsibility could go right on up there with the topic of finances. (That of course is just my own opinion) with that being said, Here’s my “HOW TO” on Household responsibility in a marriage.

COMMUNICATE…. COMMUNICATE…. COMMUNICATE

Did I say that enough times? I am a firm believer that clear, honest communication is a huge key to maintaining ANY relationship but especially in a marriage! I can’t tell you how many times I have to check myself in thinking “Why can’t he just {Fill in the Blank}”. If I haven’t made him aware of something that bugs me, something that I need help with or my feelings of being overwhelmed than I shouldn’t expect him to just magically know and deliver! That would be like if there was something that I wanted as a birthday present but never vocalized it and expected that to be my gift. Sounds kinda silly, right? Trust me, I am not ashamed of asking August to help me out a bit more in picking up the insane amount toys that get spread throughout the house on the daily. If I do my part in communicating a bugger that gives him an opportunity to be able to assist me in a way that he knows I need.

PICK UP THE SLACK

In our home, I am usually the main one cooking, cleaning and straightening up and August likes his clothes washed and ironed a certain way and he knows thats not one of my strengths so he typically does all of our laundry. HOWEVER, If theres ever a week where his schedule just gets crazy I willingly pick up the slack & vice versa. If I’m ever feeling overwhelmed, tired, or honesty just need a break he will always step up his game to relieve me from some of  the everyday routines. If you’re reading this and thinking “I would fall into the category of liking things done a certain way” I have an idea for you! If theres ever a time when you’re so busy and can’t get to the things that you like done a certain way, How about teaching your significant other how you like it done so that they can help pick up the slack?! After all, marriage is all about GIVING just as much as it is receiving.

THERE IS NO “I” IN TEAM

We run our home together! By not having an “assigned” household responsibility we eliminate any possible arguments that could arise as well as having no more expectation for August as I do myself because we are both responsible for everything! With that being said we also keep in mind what our strengths and weaknesses are. We both typically gravitate towards the things that we might be stronger in than the other. For example: August is pretty BOMB at managing our finances. (Which at some point I will have him do a blog series on that.) Finances isn’t one of my strengths.. just anything that has to do with number is really not one of my strengths so he spearheads that. However, that doesn’t mean that I walk in the dark about our finances! Im very well aware of all of our Income, Spending, How we do things and why. Like I mentioned earlier, we run our home together but that doesn’t mean that out of the 2 of us I should be the one to sit down & create a budget when I know that August is 100 times better at it than I am!

In my opinion, the best way to establish household responsibility in a marriage is summed up in one word: TOGETHERNESS. If you aren’t doing life together and/or sharing in responsibility than I would propose to you to ask yourself the why questions as to why one or both of you have chosen to do that and then re-evaluate how that is working out for you. Side note: if you are one of those that falls in the category of both of you making a decision to divide responsibility amongst yourselves, that IS togetherness!!  If that works for the both of you than keep doing that but if not, I encourage you to try something new! Being in relationship is all about trial and error, GRACE, Trial and error, then more GRACE until you arrive at your sweet spot. 🙂

Wether you are an engaged couple, Newly-wed, Already married or maybe just a single person trying to gain some more insight or ideas, I hope that this helps you in some way! We are all just trying to figure out this thing called life so rest assured.. NO ONE has nailed it!

<3- Ashleigh

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Who doesn’t love some good ol’ Family holiday traditions that get carried on throughout the years? To think that you could start a tradition in your family that has a strong possibility of surviving decades in the family line blows my mind! Growing up my family didn’t really have to many traditions but the ones we did have I hold really dear to my heart. Seeing as its the first week of christmas season I figured that I would conjure up my top 5 Holiday traditions I can’t live without!

CHRISTMAS CARDS

This is one of the holiday traditions that I am just starting in my own little family. Even before August and I started having kids this was something I insisted that we do. First off, I love taking family photos because it allows you to: a)Have an excuse to buy cute clothes, b)Have some fun family time and lastly c) Capture the ever growing faces of your little ones each year. Those are moments you’ll never get back! I like to think that by people receiving our christmas card, seeing the joy in our expression + the love in our eyes it in return brings Joy and love into their home and its not just another card placed of the fridge. Photo credit: Norina Leyde

ORNAMENT PICKING

 This holiday tradition started when I was little. Every year my mom would take us girls out to this store called Paddock (which I don’t even think they are in business anymore) which was technically a pool & spa store but they had INCREDIBLE christmas decor when November/December came around. So we would go there to pick out our ornament for the year, something that was symbolic of the year that we just had. To this day I could pick up most of those ornaments and remember why I picked them out. So naturally after years of us doing this my moms tree is packed with ornaments and it is beautiful!! Its a conversation starter. No 1 ornament is the same as the other, they are all unique and have a story behind them and thats why I love this tradition so much. Of course when you move away from home and you start your own family you have no choice but to start from scratch, right? So we started this tradition the first year of our marriage and have continued on to this day. Now the girls look forward to picking out their individual ornaments for the year. Our “go to” for ornaments is hands down Cost plus. They are always so beautiful, unique and affordable.

Emberleigh’s ornament this year is a cute little dog because she is currently obsessed with “Goggie’s”  She points them out wherever we are and if its a stuffed dog than she MUST hold it! 

Haven’s ornament is a ballerina. This girl LOVES to dance + will be a fairy ballerina any chance that she gets.

OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE, YOU MUST GO UP AFTER THANKSGIVING 

I cannot get myself to put up the christmas tree until after Thanksgiving! Another holiday tradition that my mom started was turning over the sweet fall decorations to christmas decor the morning after Thanksgiving with my sister and I. No matter what time of the day it was we all did it together while dancing and blasting christmas music throughout the house (Shout out to N’sync’s christmas album for contributing to some of my fondest holiday memories haha). We adore Christmas + all its beauty, the joy it brings +the memories it gives so we like to soak it all in for as long as we can! I have rolled this holiday tradition right on in to my little family and let me tell you… Haven gets SO excited every year to take out all the christmas decor and help us decorate the house. Emberleigh doesn’t quite get it yet but she definitely loved getting into all of our fragile ornaments! That little rugrat haha. I have a strong feeling that she will love it just as much as the rest of us within the next year or so.

CHRISTMAS DAY CINNAMON ROLLS 

I mean, who doesn’t love cinnamon rolls?! The sweet smell that fills your home when they are in the oven teasing your tastebuds because they aren’t ready to be eaten yet.. the cream cheese frosting.. You guys, I’m literally drooling over here! We started this holiday tradition in our first year of marriage because we share a mutual love for cinnamon rolls and Christmas so clearly they should be put together then, right?! Now that we have kids its even more fun because Haven loves to “help” me make the dough, which really means.. make a huge mess but it is really fun! We prep them on christmas eve and then that way you can easily pop them in the oven Christmas day and fill your home with the ultimate sweet christmas aroma. Your tastebuds will definitely be in full christmas cheer mode!

DREAM LIST FOR THE UPCOMING NEW YEAR

This might be one of my favorite holiday traditions that my husband and I have started. Each year we write down a list of things that we would like to see come to pass in the approaching new year. We roll the paper up and we stick it in a designated ornament. If you are just starting out than obviously you won’t have anything  to read from the year that is passing. This is a fun way for August and I to really reach for dreams, gain prospective and for us, truly see how God honors the desire of our hearts. I love sitting down with August each year both reading what we wrote last year and also making a new list for the year to come.

Thanks to Hearth & Hand with Magnolia for supplying us with out new designated ornament! {Shop here} for this ornament

I LOVE traditions both new + old! They spice up a holiday and make it that much more special. Maybe some of our family holiday traditions will strike a chord for you and you’ll want to incorporate that into your own little family! Please share with us if you do adopt some of our family holiday traditions or if you have some of your own we would love to hear them!

Merry Christmas!!

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June 25th, 2011 I made the best decision of my life when I said ‘I DO’ to this hilarious, kind and sexy husband of mine, August Coryell! I mean… I just have to take a moment to brag on him before I even go on! Not only is he an amazing husband but he’s also literally the BEST daddy to our little girls. I often tell people that he was made to have girls! Let’s face it… girls are dramatic and our emotions are crazy sometimes! I’m convinced that it takes a very gracious, patient and loving man to have a ton of girls in the home, August is 150% that man! Okay, back to the point. The day of our anniversary I was thinking of ‘3 Marriage Truths I’d Tell My Younger Engaged Self’ + these 3 immediately came to mind:

1. Life happens the moment you say ‘I DO’:                                                                                                                                                           Many times people have this idea that your first year of marriage or even the first few years is pure “bliss”. It’s all vacations, nesting with furniture and other things that you didn’t pick out on your own (haha) and lots and lots of joyous sex. Oh younger engaged self… little did you know. I’m going to be quite honest… that was NOT us! Without going into a ton of detail, a little over a month after we got married, August’s dad passed away suddenly and just like that my vows that I just spoken a little over a month ago became reality. I was still trying to figure out how to be a wife and right then I had to learn how to become a wife of a grieving husband. That was a wild ride for us!  Life happened to us after ‘I DO’. Im not sharing this so that you can feel bad for us, I’m sharing this because I learned that no matter what, our ‘I DO’ meant that if and when life throws its curve balls we will strive to be forever patient and give each other grace to process. I learned that you can’t stop life from happening so you have to adjust to life accordingly. Lastly, I learned to become a really great listener and am constantly striving to become an even better one. Although our first year of marriage threw so many curve balls… it strengthened us, it pulled us closer and more than ever before made us feel like we CAN and WILL conquer life’s adventures without letting go of each others hand. The marriage truth i’d tell my younger engaged self: Remind yourself of those vows that you’ve made when you are faced with life challenges. Those words aren’t just fluff words.. they are a declaration of commitment for your significant other.
2. Love means taking risks:                                                                                                                                                        When August and I first started dating he expressed his desire to move to LA so it had always been in the cards for us to move here. However… When it was actually time to pack up our things, say goodbye to friends, church and all that I have ever known my entire life and head to LA, I was a hot mess! August drove the Uhaul and I drove our car (which by the way- the AC decided not to work just days before our journey and it was like driving through Hell in the desert it was so hot!). Shedding tears the entire way {Not even exagurating} all I could repeat in my head was “his dream is worth risking my comfort” and “I trust him”. When we got to our tiny 500 sq ft apartment we signed our lease agreement and that was it! There was no turning back now.. I learned SO much about myself during our first 2 years here in LA. It was hard! LA was not kind to this Las Vegas native. Tears were shed almost on the daily, the longing for friends and community were great. I mean the list just goes on.. But I look back now and realize that had I never taken the risk to move here for the sake of my husbands dream I wouldn’t have gained the same foundation of trust in August as I have now. He had everything weighing on his shoulders: the pressure to provide, my daily emotions, trying to navigate through the film industry… Yet my taking the risk on his dream created some type of high respect and trust between us. Risk is something we naturally don’t like to do often but the reward that comes from it whether it ends successfully or in a learning curve is always great! So the marriage truth id tell my younger engaged self is to expect that taking risk on your significant others dream or passion to be so uncomfortable that you’ll want to run, but your LOVE for each other will grow so much stronger if you allow yourself to go there and not be resentful of the risk that was taken! Risk, and risk hard!
3. Keeping laughter alive is always a good idea:                                                                                                                        We say often to each other “I’m so glad that we can laugh with each other!”.  No joke, Laughter can get us out of almost any funk! We strive to keep the laughter alive in our home on the daily. Even when it comes to our kids! I feel like I used to be a pretty serious person before I met August… Then when I married into the Coryell family I quickly realized that I needed to loosen up! They were all jokesters and making me uncomfortable almost every 20 minutes, but it was a good discomfort. Laugh about things that go wrong during sex or words that you say wrong when you are talking intensely about something! JUST LAUGH!!! The marriage truth id tell my younger engaged self is to let go of the “perfect wife” mentality. I don’t have to be super perfect with my husband all the time nor does he expect that from me, so any expectations are removed allowing us to just be ourselves and laugh about our weirdness with each other.

6 beautiful years of marriage have brought us crazy J O Y, Laughter, T E A R S, 2 amazing little girls and a L O V E worth fighting every minute for!

{Tip of the Day}: Celebrate the things in your relationship that strengthen, stretch and challenge you. Lastly.. find something to L A U G H about together on the daily!!

This is it!! I cant believe it, I am at the end! Officially 39 weeks and I  am feeling all the feels: I’m thankful that this pregnancy has been another healthy one, trying to embrace the fact that this is my last preggo belly but then I’m also feeling very much overweight-bloated-HOT and over it. Does anyone really think about what it will feel like when you’re about to have your last baby the moment that you start your family? I know that I didn’t.. and now here I am! One season is about to end and another is beginning.

I love being pregnant! Feeling the baby move is my favorite, dressing the bump,etc.. but on the other hand I’m so ready to get back into shape and have my body back,  I’m looking forward to enjoying the next phase of life! The reality is that when one season is coming to a close you almost have to grieve it and its a necessary grief because that’s how you can fully embrace the next season. We cant expect to constantly relive the same season over and over, right? Nor do we want to! In this situation if I wanted to constantly relive it then we would end up having a million kids. Haha! Truthfully though, we wouldn’t grow without leaving one season completely behind, holding on to the beautiful memories and looking forward to the memories that soon await us just around the corner. That’s how I feel today as I write this. It’s a bittersweet moment to know that this is the last day with my baby belly, the last night I’ll feel uncomfortable, the last baby I will ever feel moving around and yet tomorrow can’t come soon enough!

Pregnancy in these last days for me have been filled with just trying to spend as much quality time with my babies as possible. Since naps happen rarely around here anyways its easy to to just push through all the tiredness and try to soak up all the girl time with them. Pregnancy in these last days for me have been both wonderful but sometimes grueling with the heat. Most of the time when people ask me how I’m feeling my answer will almost always be “I’d be even better if I wasn’t so hot and swollen.” 🙂

Really though, This pregnancy has been a dream and although this season of my life is coming to a close, I am so grateful to have carried 3 beautiful, healthy babies and have had the easiest, most enjoyable pregnancies that most women don’t get the pleasure of having! I’ve had so much fun blogging and sharing all of the maternity clothes that I’ve received and/or bought from different companies that have helped me dress this ever growing bump along the way! Now my friends, its time for the journey back to my body and mama is ready for it!! The question is… Are YOU ready for it?! I hope so because it’s comin at you ready or not. 🙂

Enjoy your week my friends!!

The past 2 times I think I failed my Husband in this department. Now I know exactly how to pack a hospital bag for your husband, Especially if you know that your stay after birth will be a few days. So I’m here to share all the good deets with you!

My husband, August, is convinced that after a wife gives birth the husband experiences some type of chemical imbalance that causes them to be super tired and leaves them with a ton of cravings that they MUST satisfy. (Cue the rolling of the eyes! Lol) Let me give you a little bit of a back story! With our first daughter he sort of gets a pass because we both didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. Active labor lasted for days… we were all tired, yet somehow, August got way more sleep than myself & my doula and it was still hard to get him it out of the bed after Haven was born haha!! I give him a pass though because it was very, VERY long and exhausting. If I had the opportunity to sleep I would’ve too. BUT THEN came our second daughter who was a scheduled c-section. You guys… I kid you not, August packed his resistance bands in with rest of our things because he was determined in his mind beforehand that things were going to be different. Therefore, My expectation was so much higher! I was excited that at least one of our energy levels would be up and that one of us would be extremely mobile. Fast forward to the second day in the hospital… Let’s just say no one ever even saw those resistance bands and I had to call his name a few times to wake him up! By NO means saying that my husband wasn’t helpful because he was, I just had to adjust my expectations of him. I never even considered that he might be going through a change too or feeling something that he wasn’t sharing. Talking it through after the fact, he expressed that he felt like he couldn’t leave me and being in the hospital room 24/7 made him a bit depressed which then resulted in a ton of sleep and indulging in all kinds of unhealthy things.

What can you do to help your man be the most successful, energetic and helpful partner during your hospital stay so that you don’t have to experience the.. What do we even call this? Post Partum man depression?! Lol

A) Have a chat with your significant other BEFOREHAND and give him permission to walk around outside, get some fresh air & sun, grab a healthy snack and then come back to you in the room recharged so that he can be 100% there for you and isn’t riding the struggle bus!

B) Hook a brotha up in his hospital bag!! If your anything like me than you like to try to cover all of the little details that your husband probably wont think of but are necessities, right?! Here are a few essentials I have packed for August:

• Disposable Toothebrush/ toothebrush cap/ Onguard travel toothepaste
• Flushable wipes
• Shampoo & Conditioner
• Loofa
• Deodarant
• Pajamas
• Clothes
• Resistance bands
• Kind bars/ granola/ Chomp Sticks: Our hospital is right in front of a Ralph’s so I’m not going to pack too many snacks seeing as he can walk over and grab some fruit and other things.
• Water
• Starbucks Double Shot Espresso
• Flip flops

When August and I relive those days in the hospital, thankfully, we are able to just laugh about it because it was slightly ridiculous but also.. its real life! Knowing that this has happened twice we now have to be more intentional about it not happening again so that he can better assist me!

My hope is that you get a good laugh out of our own personal experience but also that you feel better equipped for preparing your spouse for your new upcoming arrival and aware of the Post Partum Man Depression that can occur!

My husband and I have never taken a babymoon until now! Crazy right?! I would always see people going on these awesome trips and think “Man… We need to do that!” Well… I’m proud to say that we set out a time for my mom to come down and watch the girls for a couple of nights and we FINALLY did it!!!  We celebrated our baby making phase with one last Hoorah in Santa Monica and it was glorious!!

When you have kids, especially more than one and you get a chance to experience silence or uninterrupted sleep, it feels like the largest gift anyone could ever give you! I could take as many quiet showers as I wanted.. I could go to bed late, sleep in, walk out of the hotel room dressed and ready to go within minutes! I mean, you guys… it was only 2 days but it was pretty amazing!

One of the things I have always wanted to do but for one reason or another we’ve never made it happen, was to ride a bike along the water. Since we had no kids, tons of time and we could fully enjoy ourselves, we decided to do it and watch the sun go down while riding. At this stage in pregnancy, I wanted the most comfortable outfit to ride in, so naturally, I wore my favorite dress to date from Shop Pink Blush! I’m not kidding… This halter dress is a dream for all expecting mothers and to be quite honest, It’s not leaving my closet after this belly is gone. I couldn’t have chosen a better outfit to wear to give me all the airflow I needed. It was perfect for being on the beach and it just looks so stinking cute on!!

What I love about this striped halter dress is the fact that it looks super adorable with some cute white tennis shoes! I never thought I would say this but wearing heels in this stage of pregnancy does NOT sound appealing to me. Not even my small heeled clogs!! I think its mainly because of the heat because my feet and legs swell within minutes of being outside on the daily. So buh-bye heels and hello tennis shoes! If you’re pregnant and looking for a great comfy dress to get you through till the end, definitely Shop PinkBlush!

Needless to say that even though our baby moon was only 2 days, it was wonderfully uninterrupted, peaceful and fun! All the things you can ever hope for to celebrate one last hoorah, right?! We came back home to hug our sweet babes fully ready to kick our booties back into full gear and are now 100% ready for this little mans arrival, or at least we are as soon as my bags are packed! Eek!

Collaboration with PinkBlush

I recently got this fun dark blue Swing dress from Pink Blush and thought I’d share a few different ways that you could dress up or dress down a piece that seems super basic. The best part is that you don’t really need much to change up an outfit, so if you’re one of those who just has no clue what to do when it comes to making 1 dress work for 2-3 occasions than this blog post will be perfect for you!

3 WAYS TO WEAR A SWING DRESS

Who knew that you could get so many outfits out of one piece right?! Here’s the kicker… This Pinkblush dress isn’t even maternity so I can totally rock this after this baby boy is born! You all know I am always about that!!

If you’re looking for a great swing dress with pockets, head to pink blush and check this piece out. I promise you, it’ll be a great addition to your summer closet!

So you got pregnant and instantly hit baby excitement until you realized… Crap! Im going to be pregnant all summer long, how in the world am I going to survive!? At least that was the process I went through after realizing that this baby and I are going to share the hottest birthday month of the year. AUGUST! I quickly made a mental list of all of my must haves to survive this pregnancy and I’m about to share one with you. Introducing the perfect maternity summer outfit that is sure to keep you cool + comfortable – even with your growing belly and CUTE Thanks to Pink blush maternity!

If there is one thing that I have learned 2 now 3 pregnancies in, its that “if its tight, it ain’t right!”. That is sort of a joke… but not really. There is nothing more uncomfortable than tight clothes, really in general but especially when you’re pregnant, let alone pregnant in the middle of summer! Having pieces that make up the perfect maternity summer outfit that you can mix and match is a must have. So lets get down to the details shall we?! Pink Blush Maternity is always a go to for me when I’m pregnant. They are really reasonable in price and always offer cute comfortable pieces. One of my go to’s this summer that included in the perfect summer maternity outfit are these Blue linen foldover waistband maternity shorts. The waistband is super stretchy and just lays on your belly or waist making it easy to move around and just all around super comfy, while the linen short gives enough airflow (Cause you know you need that), structure and did I mention that they are super soft?! These shorts are so good and can be dressed up or dressed down.

I paired the Linen foldover waistband short with a simple blush ruched tank maternity top that is also super soft, comfy and versatile. Versatility is key when building your perfect summer maternity outfit. I typically gravitate towards simple tops that can be worn with several different ways, this blush top would fall into that  category. Throw a simple hat and some accessories, some clogs or white tennis shoes and you are good to go!!

Like I said earlier, Versatility is key when building your maternity capsule. 2 pieces should turn into 3 outfits in stead of just 1. At least, thats how I love to shop! Here’s a few ways that I styled these two pieces…

Thank you Pink Blush maternity for providing me with one of the perfect summer maternity outfits! Now go out and get yours!!

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I cannot believe that I am already 26 weeks into this pregnancy! The time sure is speeding by much faster than my other 2 and i’ve definitely got some pregnancy confessions to make. Its amazing how after chasing 2 toddlers all day long you don’t really have time to focus on the fact that you have a growing baby in my belly. Let alone a baby BOY!!! Surely, some of you moms of multiple children can relate, right?!

So here’s my 26 week pregnancy confessions with baby BOY Coryell..

1. How do I feel?
   • Always, always, ALWAYS tired! I mean, I fake it pretty well but lets just be honest.. there is nothing energetic about putting on more lbs weekly and besides the weight… These dark circles under my eyes don’t lie! Concealer has been my BFF & if you know me, I don’t even wear makeup a lot. Other than those things, I feel golden!!
2. Do you have a name for the baby?
   • We have decided on the first name for the baby but have not landed on a middle name. We thought we knew his name but after discussing it and not agreeing with each other (which has never happened) we decided to go back to the drawing board and start all over again. We are pretty big on the names of our kids and want to make sure that we get it right! Im not exactly sure why baby boys name is SO much harder to agree on than the girls..
3. CONFESSION:
   • There was a moment of slight panic when my doctor was only 80% sure that we were having a boy. He has ALWAYS been 100% confident with the girls so this one was new for me and sent me into a bit of anxiety. I would dream of me having a c-section and him puling the baby out and laughing saying… Well Ash, heres your baby GIRL! Seriously, Worst nightmare for a planner like me.
4. Weight Gain:
   • In the beginning I was barely showing, then all of the sudden it was like I woke up and the baby decided to say hello to the world with a vengeance! I felt like I was packing it on super quick. Although, everyone around me would reassure me that I was “small” only your fellow pregnant woman could understand the feeling. Now I feel like the weight has slowed down a bit, thank GOD. I still think that this baby might end up like Haven, Almost a 10lb’er. Only time will tell! One things for sure is that this baby has some looooong legs and loves to use em’.
5. Nesting:
   1. Im going to be really honest.. we are so NOT prepared for this baby yet! However, I am determined to change that and have created a solid plan to start going through our home, getting rid of things, organizing and start welcoming all things baby again because of course I got rid of pretty much everything like I always do. Thankfully, after having had 2 babies I know that you don’t need a ton of “stuff”. No matter what, I know we will survive even if nothing really changes at the moment. However, with that being said, seeing as this is my last baby, there is something in me that wants to splurge and have all the nice things & I don’t know… maybe replace the Britax carseat thats seen 2 babies through that phase of life and get a newer one that doesn’t look like its 4 years old? Thats not horrible, right?!

Seeing as I am a little more than halfway through this pregnancy and I still have a ton to do, I am still trying to soak in every little kick that he gives (He’s a pretty quiet baby just like his sister Emberleigh), Embrace the body changes and all that the season of pregnancy gives you because this is more than likely our last baby! Just typing that makes it a little more real. THIS IS THE LAST CHILD I WILL EVER BIRTH?! wow… Im not even going to go into that right now because it will send me into a whole other emotional state haha.

Cheers to being 26 weeks pregnant, super emotional, having my one and only son AND having a ton of confessions to make!

-xoxo-

Happy Workout Wednesday! I thought I would share some workouts that I’ve been loving from other bloggers  since being pregnant. Today I’m going to share one of my favorite mommy fitness bloggers @Nourishmovelove that I love to follow who has a 20 min. pregnancy cardio barre workout. There are a few things that I love about this. One being, its quick! The other being that its effective. Give me a quick effective workout any day of the week and I will love you forever! This girl is most certainly not a fan of working out for hours on end. Anyone else with me?! Lindsey, over at Nourish Move Love is doing her thing and if you haven’t heard of her yet, You will thank me later for introducing you to her amazing content. 🙂

I hope that you guys enjoy this Pregnancy Cardio Barre workout as much as I did this morning!

Ps. I used 5lb dumbells for this cardio barre workout

www.Nourishmovelove.com

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Everyone has a pregnancy truth, right? Im about to get real honest with you but before I do let me start off by saying that i’ve always been one who has enjoyed being pregnant. I know that some if not most women loathe it.. but I legitimately find so much beauty in it! A lot of that comes from the fact that I have had fairly easy pregnancies with little to no sickness just a LOT of tiredness that almost never lets up. Trust me, I am forever grateful for that and will literally be putting easy pregnancies on my list of “Thank you’s” to Jesus when I go to heaven! haha

This pregnancy is trending to be equally the same as my last 2 but heres my pregnancy truth… I’m showing WAY faster this time around than I was with the others. If I am being super honest with you.. That has been such a hurdle to jump over mentally! {Before I proceed in my truth.. I should say that I don’t need an “aww Ashleigh, you look great! Don’t worry about it” talk. Although those are WONDERFUL and I could take compliments all day long.. the truth is that it ultimately is a shift in my mentality and that comes with work on my end. I will survive! Its just another mountain I obviously need to conquer and guess what? I will!! First step to conquering anything is recognizing it and nipping it in the butt.} So here I am, welcoming you into my mental process of embracing ALL of the changes that baby #3 is bringing me: The good, the bad and the ugly in hopes that it encourages other mamas struggling with the same thing during or even after your pregnancy! I promise you, I will never leave out or sugar coat anything in this process.

Here’s to following me on my baby #3 Pregnancy journey, are you ready for this?! 🙂

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

You know the saying “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend”? Well— In my case “Bags Are A Girls Best Friend”! This Lassig green label diaper bag is speaking all of my handbag love languages. I’m not sure that there is one box that is unchecked when it comes to all of the things that a bag needs for me to use it more than once. Allow me to share with you all the amazing qualities of this bag.

QUALITY

Honestly, I’m not sure photos can do this bag justice. It’s beautiful! The fabric on the outside is nice and thick but really soft. The logo details are extremely subtle. The bag is made really well in that I dont feel like I can’t put too many things in it because it might not hold up.

OPTIONS

If you have been following me for a while than you would know that I LOVE to have options and/or a few ways to wear one thing. The Lassig Diaper bag has that quality! It felt like Christmas with the amount of strap options I was pulling out when I first got it.

SPACE

Even though I try to not carry my entire house in my diaper bag, I do love a good bag with a ton of space. Again— Lassig wins in this area. In fact, they give you so many pockets (options) to hide things in discreetly, its amazing!!

Lastly, The bonus of this bag that 100% takes the cake is the fact that it’s ECO-friendly!! So if you are an Eco-friendly conscious person than this Lassig Green Label Diaper Bag is for you!

**This post is Sponsored but all opionions are my own**

Sickness is not welcomed in my house BUT should one of us come down with with something like a cold I try to turn to as many clean but effective medicines as possible! This is why I am a huge fan of Hylands 4 kid’s cold n’ mucus! I’ve been using Hylands since Haven, my youngest, was a baby and have zero complaints. It has proven time and time again to be tremendously helpful. To know that we are walking into this winter season fully stocked and prepared with Hyland’s 4 kids Cold n’ mucus Fay & night is a relief. Both because I know that it will be helpful should symptoms arise but also because I know Hylands uses all natural active ingredients! Hyland’s 4 Kids Cold ‘n Mucus-syrup is sugar-free, dye-free, and provides non-invasive relief to work with your child’s natural defenses and immune system.

I don’t know about you but there’s nothing worse than one of my kids being full of congestion, going to sleep and having a hard time breathing.. it breaks my heart! With Hylands 4 kid’s cold n’ mucus day & night they have us covered— literally day & night!! With the daytime formula breaking up the mucus and easing congestion to the nighttime formula relaxing their bodies to have a more restful night to break down the mucus. You can rest assured that Hylands pulled out all the stops to help your little babe on those sick days!

HI, THAT IS AMAZING and the Coryell home is definitely a fan of Hyland’s 4 Kid’s cold n’ mucus!!

Sponsored Post

I am a huge fan of wearing compression undies & belly girdles post baby! I started wearing them after having Emberleigh, my now middle child and I’m not sure how I did without it after having my first child. The worst thing in the world to me is feeling my lack of muscle and loose skin post baby, flopping around and feeling weak when I pick things up. Wearing a belly girdle or postpartum compression underwear helps to make you feel put together, it helps your muscles remember that they were once all put together and that’s what we want, right?

I had the opportunity to do a collaboration with Bellefit and give my very honest opinion about the Bellefit girdle. First and foremost, right before ordering, they had me answer a few questions so that they could be sure to find the right size for you. With all of my measurements and everything, we landed on a size medium. They put in the order and shipped it right away. They say that the sooner that you can start wearing it the better and more affective it will be and I couldn’t agree more.

The quality of the Bellefit girdle is amazing! It beats the ones from motherhood and amazon by like 90% haha. Just like anything clothes related that I receive in the mail, I put this on immediately and was super excited. The fit was incredible and when I put clothes over it you couldn’t even tell that I was wearing a girdle underneath which to me is the biggest thing when wearing one. Want to know the best part?! It has a few hook and eye clips in the crotch area so when you have to go to the bathroom you don’t have to take the whole thing off! (Lifting all the praise )

I wholeheartedly believe and support Bellefit! I feel like it’s well worth spending the money on and would (and have) refer Bellefit to every mommy!

Use promo code: SPARROW for $20 off

It’s been a while since I’ve laid the camera out and to be honest… I had to force myself to do it this week because I’m still getting back into the groove of life after having the worst round of colds hitting our household and even then… I felt sort of uninspired by our daily life. Is it even worth taking photos of? Is it even worth sharing? I mean, honestly.. the reason why I love the daily moments is because of how real and not perfect they are… The whole point is to remember how precious my daily moments are and MAYBE just maybe, it will spark something in someone else. So.. here it is— Our Daily moments.

1) First off, This little guy turned 6 months old the other day— Secondly, I finally decided to stop being in denial and buy him the larger sized bed because lets face it… We make some pretty long babies and he is probably our longest.

2) Playing on the floor with him is the best! And I’m pretty sure that this photo needs to be framed because I want to cherish it forever.

3) Lunch time with the princess and the goofball. Haha

4) Time spent with chalk would definitely not be spent correctly without getting it all over the place, right?!

5) Channeling her inner artist— you will soon see what she was drawing in her mind.

6) Meanwhile— Haven is trying to protect her art from her sister who is trying to destroy it. Lol She is actually really phenomenal at drawing all the things.

7) Annnnnd she is demonstrating what her monster that she drew does.

8) She has one goal… The monster must destroy her sisters mermaid

9) All done mommy!

10) Eyeing her masterpiece

11) I had a little assistant helping me with my Cassava flour crust quiche.

I hope you enjoyed our daily moments!

I’m not going to lie, this idea was not my own BUT its genius and also a challenge! So many times over social media we share the clean, perfected, staged version of our lives but not many get to see the “daily moments”. The ones that are full of unfolded laundry, teaching your babies, doing crafts with them, etc. When I started Sparrows Apple I was determined to share those raw moments in my life with you in hopes that there would be a nugget of inspiration or encouragement that you would be able to take away. If nothing else, documenting my daily moments will only help me remember these baby days even more. So without further a due, I welcome you to “The Daily Moments”.

I started out my day feeling super overwhelmed by all of the laundry that we had accumulated. So to combat my feelings.. I completed a workout, made a cup of tea and decided to share the hot mess that is my house because I cant be the only one feeling like this today.. right?! Just in case you were wondering… It actually didn’t take that long for me to put everything away!

After we cleaned the house I was determined to do some type of craft to get them working together and to just be creative. Not only that but I almost never do any type of tedious craft with them since AJ has joined us. As you can see, the girls were eager to get everything out of the box

This Little cute foam gingerbread airstream I quickly learned is definitely more for older kids..  I finally had to resort to giving Haven the job of decorating the little tree and putting the stickers on the people. Meanwhile Ember moved on to…

Playing Doctor!

Then we moved on to some learning and snack time.

Haven is starting to learn her sight words and learning how to spell with Marcopolo World School. We do more stuff with her that doesn’t include screens but to be honest, mama needed a moment. Plus I was prepping their next activity.

Stickers are their favorite! I had Haven spell out ”sticker” with them and Ember just got to be creative with it.

Towards the end of the day we start prepping for daddy to come home. Dinner gets made, the girls play and get all amped up for when he walks through the door. I captured a few sweet moments with Haven and AJ that I HAD to share with you.

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite car has been Volvo. I remember my parents getting the Volvo S70 when I was around 7-8 years old after having gone through a terrible accident that totaled our previous car. As little girl, I remember my number one feeling of why I loved that car so much was because of how safe and secure I felt. That will forever be engrained in my mind until this day! It has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite cars!

I know what you’re thinking.. This is so random, Ashleigh.. Why are you telling me about Volvo?! Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry! I am about to list my top 5 reasons why I believe ALL moms need a Volvo. When I’m done, I’m almost certain you will want to head on over to our friends at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica and purchase this family dream car! Have I got your full attention yet?! Good!!!

Recently, I had the pleasure of driving a brand new 2018 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription courtesy of Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Let me tell you my friends… It did not disappoint and all of my 8 yr old sweet memories of the Volvo S70 came flooding to the forefront of my mind as I was once again reminded why I love this beautiful, insanely safe car! So without further ado let me share with you why all moms need a Volvo.

‘Top 5 reasons Why All Moms Need A Volvo’

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!!!

I mean, I cannot express enough how crazy safe these cars are! You certainly don’t need someone to tell you how safe they are because you can actually feel it the moment you get in the car and close the door. The best way to describe it is like when you have a comfort blanket on and instantly you feel like all is right in the world. The doors are soft closing yet strong like you know that you are about to be driving a tank on the road. Also, Here is a fun fact: Did you know that Volvo were the ones that came up with the 3 point harness seatbelt?! They felt it was so important and such a vital part of safety that they opened up their patent & shared the design allowing other  car manufacturers to benefit from their creation because they believe that safety is of utmost importance. Crazy right?! When we put the girls car seats in the backseat, I felt like they were more secure into the car than they are in our Honda! Even Haven was loving the level of comfort that the car itself was bringing and that is saying something HUGE seeing as she is only 3 1/2. I like to believe that our children remember things like that! One of my other favorite things about this car is the fact that the numerical speedometer shows up in the window so that you never have to really look down at your actual speedometer to know what speed you’re going! Some may put this in the “Special Features” category but I am putting it in the Safety category because I never have to take my eyes off of the road. I loved seeing my speed in the window and would repeatedly say in my mind “Why don’t ALL cars have this?!”. It also will show you in the same window what the speed limit is on every street you are driving on as well as alert you when you are at a cross walk, School zone, driving to close to the person next to you, driving a certain amount over the speed limit… You guys, This “Safety feature” for me was EVERYTHING!!!

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE FEATURES

Lets be honest… We all know that the FIRST thing we think of when deciding on a new car is how awesome the center column of the car is and all the features, right? Well, The Volvo XC60 has quite a stand out from other cars I’ve seen. As a mother and frankly just not the most tech savvy person I’ve ever met, the functionality of all all the buttons and gadgets in a car have got to be easy to use because I don’t have time to fool around with those little things when I’m trying to drive, so I love that the features in this car are equivalent to using your iPhone. Its so straight forward: Swipe right, swipe left, apps easily accessible with just with the touch of your finger, etc. One of my favorite features was that it has apple car play in the car! Anything that allows me to access my most used and important apps on my phone on the road has got 2 thumbs up in my book! The car gives you an option to heat up the seats &  steering wheel on cold days, adjust how much you want the seat to hug your body and get this… It even gives you an option in BOTH the driver & passenger seats to give a massage (What?!) Tell me that is not every moms dream! You better believe I put that baby to good use during our time together. Another feature I found to be helpful was the back up camera with the navigating tire lines & alerts when your too close to an object . Living in LA there are a lot of tight spots you’re parking in, lots of parallel parking and if I’m being honest… just some really insane drivers, so this feature was really great to have!

INTERNAL SPACE

When you have kids and you’re in the market for a car to fit your lifestyle, your likely going to search for the most spacious car you can find, right? Seeing as we are currently van drivers and have ample space in our car I was fully expecting to feel a bit packed into this car. I was definitely wrong!! Never once did I feel like we were cramped inside! As a matter of fact it makes you feel the opposite. You feel like you have your own space for each passenger in the car, even my girls in the back seat! The trunk is extremely spacious as well leaving more than enough room for: Stroller, groceries and all the other gadgets and things that us moms feel the need to have in the trunks of our cars. Needless to say, Space is not an issue with the Volvo XC60.

EASY HANDLING OF THE CAR

Nothing bugs me more than a car that is hard to steer, am I alone?! It may sound like since the car is so strong and I’ve described it as being a tank, that it would be hard to steer and have a friction in the steering wheel.. WRONG! Its actually the exact opposite! I decided to make this one of my main top reasons why moms need a Volvo because I feel like anything that makes your life easier and more enjoyable with the amount of time that we spend in our cars with kids is worth highlighting. When you pair the safety features with the ease of driving and handling the car, you have gold my friends! Like you literally just hit the jackpot in cars. I thought I had it made in my Honda Odyssey until my hands got on that Volvo XC60.. Mind. BLOWN! I loved driving through the Los Angeles hills because it almost created a different friction in the steering wheel with different whips and turns just out of safety but never once gave me the feeling of being out of control. It always gave me the feeling of ease and (again) safety.

COMPANY HONESTY

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to support companies and business’ who value honesty and support of people above all else. Any company that can show those things without having to overly emphasize that those are their values has my full backing and support! With that being said, I have 100% seen those qualities in Volvo and Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Who doesn’t want to purchase from someone who is honest, passionate, knowledgable and supportive about their product?! When I learned about the released patent of the 3 part harness and that one of their mottos at Volvo is that they are more concerned of the safety of the people than the money… Guys, That says a TON about a company! That is a company I want to stand behind and have their product. You don’t see many (if any) other companies doing the same! They are vocal about the fact that they are more about the quality of the car than upgrading it to a new style every few years. They are confident in the cars that they produce so much so that they don’t feel the need to have to keep upgrading them. When it comes down to it, they really are the safest cars on the road and fly under the radar as a discrete luxury vehicle.

Have I got you at the edge of your seat because you want to run to the Volvo dealership?! Good, You should!! 🙂  Every family needs a safe car and I truly believe with all of my heart that Volvo should be your #1 top choice. Thank you Volvo Cars of Santa Monica for giving me the full Volvo XC60 Inscription experience, You guys are the best!

PS. I have to give a HUGE shout out to one of the salesman, Christopher White over at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica. He is probably one of the most knowledgeable people and knows all the ins and outs of volvo. The amount of information he was sharing with us both about the company and also the car I was driving was astonishing. Yet again, Passion was shinning through and not in an overbearing way but rather an inspiring  & excited for what your about to experience type of way. You rock Christopher!

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

Its been awhile since I’ve posted daily moments! Getting in the habit of leaving the camera out and being intentional about snapping photos frequently throughout the day is something I have to train myself to be part of our weekly routine. I love capturing the mundane moments, the ones that people rarely see, the kids harassing each other. These are the moments i want to remember always! I hope that you enjoy our daily moments this week.

I just started sharing my makeup routine on the weekly with my favorite brand of makeup, MASKCARA. The girls love to put it on and play with all of my stuff and then started pulling out my old makeup that I was going to throw away. Now I’m thinking I should keep it for play.

The face of someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room…

How’s it goin’ for you Haven?!

From cleaning her room to harassing her brother

This faaaace!

Emmy legit lives in this Elsa costume on the daily. She was showin AJ her tap dance here.

Also, I never want to forget the constant nursing moments on the floor.

You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

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I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

Its been awhile since I’ve posted daily moments! Getting in the habit of leaving the camera out and being intentional about snapping photos frequently throughout the day is something I have to train myself to be part of our weekly routine. I love capturing the mundane moments, the ones that people rarely see, the kids harassing each other. These are the moments i want to remember always! I hope that you enjoy our daily moments this week.

I just started sharing my makeup routine on the weekly with my favorite brand of makeup, MASKCARA. The girls love to put it on and play with all of my stuff and then started pulling out my old makeup that I was going to throw away. Now I’m thinking I should keep it for play.

The face of someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room…

How’s it goin’ for you Haven?!

From cleaning her room to harassing her brother

This faaaace!

Emmy legit lives in this Elsa costume on the daily. She was showin AJ her tap dance here.

Also, I never want to forget the constant nursing moments on the floor.

Its been awhile since I’ve posted daily moments! Getting in the habit of leaving the camera out and being intentional about snapping photos frequently throughout the day is something I have to train myself to be part of our weekly routine. I love capturing the mundane moments, the ones that people rarely see, the kids harassing each other. These are the moments i want to remember always! I hope that you enjoy our daily moments this week.

I just started sharing my makeup routine on the weekly with my favorite brand of makeup, MASKCARA. The girls love to put it on and play with all of my stuff and then started pulling out my old makeup that I was going to throw away. Now I’m thinking I should keep it for play.

The face of someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room…

How’s it goin’ for you Haven?!

From cleaning her room to harassing her brother

This faaaace!

Emmy legit lives in this Elsa costume on the daily. She was showin AJ her tap dance here.

Also, I never want to forget the constant nursing moments on the floor.

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite car has been Volvo. I remember my parents getting the Volvo S70 when I was around 7-8 years old after having gone through a terrible accident that totaled our previous car. As little girl, I remember my number one feeling of why I loved that car so much was because of how safe and secure I felt. That will forever be engrained in my mind until this day! It has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite cars!

I know what you’re thinking.. This is so random, Ashleigh.. Why are you telling me about Volvo?! Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry! I am about to list my top 5 reasons why I believe ALL moms need a Volvo. When I’m done, I’m almost certain you will want to head on over to our friends at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica and purchase this family dream car! Have I got your full attention yet?! Good!!!

Recently, I had the pleasure of driving a brand new 2018 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription courtesy of Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Let me tell you my friends… It did not disappoint and all of my 8 yr old sweet memories of the Volvo S70 came flooding to the forefront of my mind as I was once again reminded why I love this beautiful, insanely safe car! So without further ado let me share with you why all moms need a Volvo.

‘Top 5 reasons Why All Moms Need A Volvo’

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!!!

I mean, I cannot express enough how crazy safe these cars are! You certainly don’t need someone to tell you how safe they are because you can actually feel it the moment you get in the car and close the door. The best way to describe it is like when you have a comfort blanket on and instantly you feel like all is right in the world. The doors are soft closing yet strong like you know that you are about to be driving a tank on the road. Also, Here is a fun fact: Did you know that Volvo were the ones that came up with the 3 point harness seatbelt?! They felt it was so important and such a vital part of safety that they opened up their patent & shared the design allowing other  car manufacturers to benefit from their creation because they believe that safety is of utmost importance. Crazy right?! When we put the girls car seats in the backseat, I felt like they were more secure into the car than they are in our Honda! Even Haven was loving the level of comfort that the car itself was bringing and that is saying something HUGE seeing as she is only 3 1/2. I like to believe that our children remember things like that! One of my other favorite things about this car is the fact that the numerical speedometer shows up in the window so that you never have to really look down at your actual speedometer to know what speed you’re going! Some may put this in the “Special Features” category but I am putting it in the Safety category because I never have to take my eyes off of the road. I loved seeing my speed in the window and would repeatedly say in my mind “Why don’t ALL cars have this?!”. It also will show you in the same window what the speed limit is on every street you are driving on as well as alert you when you are at a cross walk, School zone, driving to close to the person next to you, driving a certain amount over the speed limit… You guys, This “Safety feature” for me was EVERYTHING!!!

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE FEATURES

Lets be honest… We all know that the FIRST thing we think of when deciding on a new car is how awesome the center column of the car is and all the features, right? Well, The Volvo XC60 has quite a stand out from other cars I’ve seen. As a mother and frankly just not the most tech savvy person I’ve ever met, the functionality of all all the buttons and gadgets in a car have got to be easy to use because I don’t have time to fool around with those little things when I’m trying to drive, so I love that the features in this car are equivalent to using your iPhone. Its so straight forward: Swipe right, swipe left, apps easily accessible with just with the touch of your finger, etc. One of my favorite features was that it has apple car play in the car! Anything that allows me to access my most used and important apps on my phone on the road has got 2 thumbs up in my book! The car gives you an option to heat up the seats &  steering wheel on cold days, adjust how much you want the seat to hug your body and get this… It even gives you an option in BOTH the driver & passenger seats to give a massage (What?!) Tell me that is not every moms dream! You better believe I put that baby to good use during our time together. Another feature I found to be helpful was the back up camera with the navigating tire lines & alerts when your too close to an object . Living in LA there are a lot of tight spots you’re parking in, lots of parallel parking and if I’m being honest… just some really insane drivers, so this feature was really great to have!

INTERNAL SPACE

When you have kids and you’re in the market for a car to fit your lifestyle, your likely going to search for the most spacious car you can find, right? Seeing as we are currently van drivers and have ample space in our car I was fully expecting to feel a bit packed into this car. I was definitely wrong!! Never once did I feel like we were cramped inside! As a matter of fact it makes you feel the opposite. You feel like you have your own space for each passenger in the car, even my girls in the back seat! The trunk is extremely spacious as well leaving more than enough room for: Stroller, groceries and all the other gadgets and things that us moms feel the need to have in the trunks of our cars. Needless to say, Space is not an issue with the Volvo XC60.

EASY HANDLING OF THE CAR

Nothing bugs me more than a car that is hard to steer, am I alone?! It may sound like since the car is so strong and I’ve described it as being a tank, that it would be hard to steer and have a friction in the steering wheel.. WRONG! Its actually the exact opposite! I decided to make this one of my main top reasons why moms need a Volvo because I feel like anything that makes your life easier and more enjoyable with the amount of time that we spend in our cars with kids is worth highlighting. When you pair the safety features with the ease of driving and handling the car, you have gold my friends! Like you literally just hit the jackpot in cars. I thought I had it made in my Honda Odyssey until my hands got on that Volvo XC60.. Mind. BLOWN! I loved driving through the Los Angeles hills because it almost created a different friction in the steering wheel with different whips and turns just out of safety but never once gave me the feeling of being out of control. It always gave me the feeling of ease and (again) safety.

COMPANY HONESTY

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to support companies and business’ who value honesty and support of people above all else. Any company that can show those things without having to overly emphasize that those are their values has my full backing and support! With that being said, I have 100% seen those qualities in Volvo and Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Who doesn’t want to purchase from someone who is honest, passionate, knowledgable and supportive about their product?! When I learned about the released patent of the 3 part harness and that one of their mottos at Volvo is that they are more concerned of the safety of the people than the money… Guys, That says a TON about a company! That is a company I want to stand behind and have their product. You don’t see many (if any) other companies doing the same! They are vocal about the fact that they are more about the quality of the car than upgrading it to a new style every few years. They are confident in the cars that they produce so much so that they don’t feel the need to have to keep upgrading them. When it comes down to it, they really are the safest cars on the road and fly under the radar as a discrete luxury vehicle.

Have I got you at the edge of your seat because you want to run to the Volvo dealership?! Good, You should!! 🙂  Every family needs a safe car and I truly believe with all of my heart that Volvo should be your #1 top choice. Thank you Volvo Cars of Santa Monica for giving me the full Volvo XC60 Inscription experience, You guys are the best!

PS. I have to give a HUGE shout out to one of the salesman, Christopher White over at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica. He is probably one of the most knowledgeable people and knows all the ins and outs of volvo. The amount of information he was sharing with us both about the company and also the car I was driving was astonishing. Yet again, Passion was shinning through and not in an overbearing way but rather an inspiring  & excited for what your about to experience type of way. You rock Christopher!

Its been awhile since I’ve posted daily moments! Getting in the habit of leaving the camera out and being intentional about snapping photos frequently throughout the day is something I have to train myself to be part of our weekly routine. I love capturing the mundane moments, the ones that people rarely see, the kids harassing each other. These are the moments i want to remember always! I hope that you enjoy our daily moments this week.

I just started sharing my makeup routine on the weekly with my favorite brand of makeup, MASKCARA. The girls love to put it on and play with all of my stuff and then started pulling out my old makeup that I was going to throw away. Now I’m thinking I should keep it for play.

The face of someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room…

How’s it goin’ for you Haven?!

From cleaning her room to harassing her brother

This faaaace!

Emmy legit lives in this Elsa costume on the daily. She was showin AJ her tap dance here.

Also, I never want to forget the constant nursing moments on the floor.

You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

Comment on Post

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

Comment on Post

You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

Comment on Post

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite car has been Volvo. I remember my parents getting the Volvo S70 when I was around 7-8 years old after having gone through a terrible accident that totaled our previous car. As little girl, I remember my number one feeling of why I loved that car so much was because of how safe and secure I felt. That will forever be engrained in my mind until this day! It has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite cars!

I know what you’re thinking.. This is so random, Ashleigh.. Why are you telling me about Volvo?! Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry! I am about to list my top 5 reasons why I believe ALL moms need a Volvo. When I’m done, I’m almost certain you will want to head on over to our friends at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica and purchase this family dream car! Have I got your full attention yet?! Good!!!

Recently, I had the pleasure of driving a brand new 2018 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription courtesy of Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Let me tell you my friends… It did not disappoint and all of my 8 yr old sweet memories of the Volvo S70 came flooding to the forefront of my mind as I was once again reminded why I love this beautiful, insanely safe car! So without further ado let me share with you why all moms need a Volvo.

‘Top 5 reasons Why All Moms Need A Volvo’

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!!!

I mean, I cannot express enough how crazy safe these cars are! You certainly don’t need someone to tell you how safe they are because you can actually feel it the moment you get in the car and close the door. The best way to describe it is like when you have a comfort blanket on and instantly you feel like all is right in the world. The doors are soft closing yet strong like you know that you are about to be driving a tank on the road. Also, Here is a fun fact: Did you know that Volvo were the ones that came up with the 3 point harness seatbelt?! They felt it was so important and such a vital part of safety that they opened up their patent & shared the design allowing other  car manufacturers to benefit from their creation because they believe that safety is of utmost importance. Crazy right?! When we put the girls car seats in the backseat, I felt like they were more secure into the car than they are in our Honda! Even Haven was loving the level of comfort that the car itself was bringing and that is saying something HUGE seeing as she is only 3 1/2. I like to believe that our children remember things like that! One of my other favorite things about this car is the fact that the numerical speedometer shows up in the window so that you never have to really look down at your actual speedometer to know what speed you’re going! Some may put this in the “Special Features” category but I am putting it in the Safety category because I never have to take my eyes off of the road. I loved seeing my speed in the window and would repeatedly say in my mind “Why don’t ALL cars have this?!”. It also will show you in the same window what the speed limit is on every street you are driving on as well as alert you when you are at a cross walk, School zone, driving to close to the person next to you, driving a certain amount over the speed limit… You guys, This “Safety feature” for me was EVERYTHING!!!

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE FEATURES

Lets be honest… We all know that the FIRST thing we think of when deciding on a new car is how awesome the center column of the car is and all the features, right? Well, The Volvo XC60 has quite a stand out from other cars I’ve seen. As a mother and frankly just not the most tech savvy person I’ve ever met, the functionality of all all the buttons and gadgets in a car have got to be easy to use because I don’t have time to fool around with those little things when I’m trying to drive, so I love that the features in this car are equivalent to using your iPhone. Its so straight forward: Swipe right, swipe left, apps easily accessible with just with the touch of your finger, etc. One of my favorite features was that it has apple car play in the car! Anything that allows me to access my most used and important apps on my phone on the road has got 2 thumbs up in my book! The car gives you an option to heat up the seats &  steering wheel on cold days, adjust how much you want the seat to hug your body and get this… It even gives you an option in BOTH the driver & passenger seats to give a massage (What?!) Tell me that is not every moms dream! You better believe I put that baby to good use during our time together. Another feature I found to be helpful was the back up camera with the navigating tire lines & alerts when your too close to an object . Living in LA there are a lot of tight spots you’re parking in, lots of parallel parking and if I’m being honest… just some really insane drivers, so this feature was really great to have!

INTERNAL SPACE

When you have kids and you’re in the market for a car to fit your lifestyle, your likely going to search for the most spacious car you can find, right? Seeing as we are currently van drivers and have ample space in our car I was fully expecting to feel a bit packed into this car. I was definitely wrong!! Never once did I feel like we were cramped inside! As a matter of fact it makes you feel the opposite. You feel like you have your own space for each passenger in the car, even my girls in the back seat! The trunk is extremely spacious as well leaving more than enough room for: Stroller, groceries and all the other gadgets and things that us moms feel the need to have in the trunks of our cars. Needless to say, Space is not an issue with the Volvo XC60.

EASY HANDLING OF THE CAR

Nothing bugs me more than a car that is hard to steer, am I alone?! It may sound like since the car is so strong and I’ve described it as being a tank, that it would be hard to steer and have a friction in the steering wheel.. WRONG! Its actually the exact opposite! I decided to make this one of my main top reasons why moms need a Volvo because I feel like anything that makes your life easier and more enjoyable with the amount of time that we spend in our cars with kids is worth highlighting. When you pair the safety features with the ease of driving and handling the car, you have gold my friends! Like you literally just hit the jackpot in cars. I thought I had it made in my Honda Odyssey until my hands got on that Volvo XC60.. Mind. BLOWN! I loved driving through the Los Angeles hills because it almost created a different friction in the steering wheel with different whips and turns just out of safety but never once gave me the feeling of being out of control. It always gave me the feeling of ease and (again) safety.

COMPANY HONESTY

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to support companies and business’ who value honesty and support of people above all else. Any company that can show those things without having to overly emphasize that those are their values has my full backing and support! With that being said, I have 100% seen those qualities in Volvo and Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Who doesn’t want to purchase from someone who is honest, passionate, knowledgable and supportive about their product?! When I learned about the released patent of the 3 part harness and that one of their mottos at Volvo is that they are more concerned of the safety of the people than the money… Guys, That says a TON about a company! That is a company I want to stand behind and have their product. You don’t see many (if any) other companies doing the same! They are vocal about the fact that they are more about the quality of the car than upgrading it to a new style every few years. They are confident in the cars that they produce so much so that they don’t feel the need to have to keep upgrading them. When it comes down to it, they really are the safest cars on the road and fly under the radar as a discrete luxury vehicle.

Have I got you at the edge of your seat because you want to run to the Volvo dealership?! Good, You should!! 🙂  Every family needs a safe car and I truly believe with all of my heart that Volvo should be your #1 top choice. Thank you Volvo Cars of Santa Monica for giving me the full Volvo XC60 Inscription experience, You guys are the best!

PS. I have to give a HUGE shout out to one of the salesman, Christopher White over at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica. He is probably one of the most knowledgeable people and knows all the ins and outs of volvo. The amount of information he was sharing with us both about the company and also the car I was driving was astonishing. Yet again, Passion was shinning through and not in an overbearing way but rather an inspiring  & excited for what your about to experience type of way. You rock Christopher!

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush

Its been awhile since I’ve posted daily moments! Getting in the habit of leaving the camera out and being intentional about snapping photos frequently throughout the day is something I have to train myself to be part of our weekly routine. I love capturing the mundane moments, the ones that people rarely see, the kids harassing each other. These are the moments i want to remember always! I hope that you enjoy our daily moments this week.

I just started sharing my makeup routine on the weekly with my favorite brand of makeup, MASKCARA. The girls love to put it on and play with all of my stuff and then started pulling out my old makeup that I was going to throw away. Now I’m thinking I should keep it for play.

The face of someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room…

How’s it goin’ for you Haven?!

From cleaning her room to harassing her brother

This faaaace!

Emmy legit lives in this Elsa costume on the daily. She was showin AJ her tap dance here.

Also, I never want to forget the constant nursing moments on the floor.

You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

Comment on Post

I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

I have been on a hunt trying to figure out all the realistic ways that can help me reduce stress and I think that I’ve come up with my top 3 that I’ve found helpful thus far. Seeing that I am now in my 3rd trimester and things can be a bit more stressful to manage just because of all the extra weight I’m carrying and tack on the heat to that. Lord Jesus help me… this is one of the top things I’m trying to focus on.

Here are my 3 Ways To Reduce Stress:

1. Petite bead Essential Oils bracelet from 100 graces: I was sent this cute little petite essential oil bracelet from 100 graces at just the right time! I had just ordered young living essential oils around the same time that this was sent to me so naturally I immediately wanted to put it to use! One of the first oils I tried on this bracelet was ‘Stress Away’.  We have been in a really great but busy season of life lately so that fact that I could put a drop of stress away on the bead and not only smell the aroma but feel the effects of it for most of the day was incredible. Its almost like the bead is constantly rubbing on your wrist in the most gentle way continuing to distribute the oils to you. In any case, I have grown to really love it and call it my secret weapon to wear on days when I just need to have an extra diffusing boost. As a mom, re-applying oils on your wrist throughout the day isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world and to be honest, half the time I will just forget to re-apply. Having this little bracelet handy has been a great way for me to benefit all day from my essential oils. So if you’re looking for a good, affordable piece of diffusing jewelry for yourself or your kiddos than look no further than to 100 Graces! I will say, these bracelets are very dainty, so if your child is a little rough houser than you may want to find them a more durable piece. So far Haven has done really well with hers though. 
2. Early Bed Time: This one has been a hard one for me. My kids don’t normally fall asleep until around 9pm and require quite a bit of assistance to fall asleep (Specifically my older one, Haven) which then doesn’t leave me with much “alone time” if I go to bed early. I know, the struggle is real, right?! With that being said, I’ve been trying to force myself to just head to bed at the latest 10:30pm and it’s proven to work out so well! I wake up feeling more alert, way less stressed and rushed. I’m still very much in the beginner phase of this new habit so I don’t have it all nailed down just yet but we will get there! Plus, a ton is going to change once baby boy gets here so I’m sure what I’m doing right now may have to be finagled a bit in a few weeks.
3. A clean home: Man, for me.. a clean home means a clear mind and I don’t just mean your normal  “sweep the floor, wipe down counters…”. What I mean by a clean home is decluttering & organizing partnered with your usual. There is something to be said when I go to get dressed in the morning and don’t have a million and 1 clothing options to choose from especially when I you haven’t and will probably never wear half of those things again! I find myself constantly cleaning out my closet at the most random times because I just don’t like that feeling of sifting through things that are cute but I know I’ll never wear. For me, it gives a sense of relief to have those things out of my living space and helps me think a bit clearer.

I know that everyone has their own ways of relieving stress OR maybe you’re still on that journey of still trying to figure it out like I am. I’d love for you to share in the comments your strategies and/or areas of your life that could use A bit of tweaking! Let’s be a community of people who build one another up and strive to live a whole lot more stress free!!

Let’s get real… Being a stay at home mom isn’t always cupcakes & rainbows, Arts & Crafts, I just hang with my kids all day amazingness. The truth is, at least for me, The “Stay At Home Mom Blues” is a thing! As amazing as it is being a stay at home mom, it’s quite possibly one of  the hardest jobs I’ve ever had + also one of the most emotionally exhausting! Of course we could talk about all of the fun + amazing things that staying at home with your littles brings but then we wouldn’t be truthful to the Stay At Home Mom Blues that we also face and how we can conquer them, right?! By no means do I have it all down! In fact, I believe that as our girls get older and the more children we have I’m constantly having to change things around, think differently and give myself grace in different areas.

So here are my top 6 ways to overcome the Stay At Home Mom Blues:

1. GET YOUR BUTT OUTSIDE- There is nothing more refreshing for the stay at home mom mind more than getting out of your environment, smelling the fresh air and enjoying nature. Sometimes being cooped up in the house even without kids is depressing let alone with kids. This gives you a perfect opportunity to teach your kids about nature, insects, exercise or even just to play on the playground and expel some of that never-ending energy that they seem to all have! The benefits of stepping outside your home doors are endless really…
2. WHAT’S YOUR LOVE LANGUAGE- Here’s the deal… Everyone as a different way of giving and receiving love and  when  you become a mom I swear it forever changes! For example: I used to be 1) Quality Time 2) Physical Touch (BK- Before Kids) but now after having had children my #1 stays the same but my secondary is always different on the weekly basis. I’m not so much physical touch anymore because I’m being touched all day long. That physical touch tank is more than full. Sometimes when I’m having a moment of the stay at home mom blues I stop to think what my secondary love language is at that very moment and more often than not it’s something that I’m lacking in. {If you have never heard of the 5 love languages than do not skip a beat! click HERE and purchase the book. It’ll change your life forever, I promise!}
3. EXERCISE- This is one that I feel like the majority of mothers struggle with. One being because of “time”. Ladies…When you have kids, when is it EVER convenient to do anything for yourself? Do you really have “time” to eat? Sleep? Binge watch fixer upper? Have uninterrupted Sex? (Thats right, I just went there!) The answer is… a -big-fat-NO!! No you don’t, but I am a huge believer that you will make time for anything you truly value and/or believe in. With that being said, I know that it’s extremely difficult to workout with your children, however, I also know the extreme benefits that come out of exercise when I push myself to do it. Not only does it help you reach physical goals but it’s a stress reliever! Many people instantly associate working out with cardio & weights, Thankfully,  there are so many more options out there for you. Lets help you find one that best suits you, your lifestyle and one that you can connect most with. We will  be exploring different workouts and ways to workout with your children up on the blog so keep a look out for those blog posts! I’d love to you have join me.
4. MUSIC/PODCASTS- Music is everything for me! It’s what gives me a sense of calm, a few moments to escape… I don’t have to think, I can sing along or not and it just does something for my heart. Podcasts …. I really only like on days when I haven’t been overly talked to if you know what I mean. {haha} Sometimes being a stay at home mom, the last thing I want is to listen to in the background is someone speaking when literally from sun up to sun down I’ve had to listen and respond back to little voices. For me, that’s a lot of chatter and I just need some instruments hitting these ears of mine even if there is a screaming baby in the car while driving! It’s almost like the music helps me tune everything else out for a minute and helps me center. My personal fav would have to be this killer couple right here! {Johnnyswim}
5. COMMUNITY- Okay.. This is a HUGE one for me! Being surrounded by people who love me no matter what, support me, challenge me in times when I need to be challenged, can hear me out on days when I just need to vent, etc. Not ONE PERSON needs to go a day in their life without.. COMMUNITY! Stay at home mom or not, do not lie to yourself, you absolutely need genuine people around you to do life with. When I need a moment to myself or a date night, they pitch in to help. When I feel alone and need some adult interaction they are there. You guys… If you haven’t found your tribe of people who you can trust, rely on, do life with– than I urge you to make this one of your main focus’. Whether you are single or married everyone needs some type of community (and I’m not just talking about your spouse or significant other although that is magnificent too). I really can’t stress that enough! -GO FIND YOUR TRIBE-
6. LAUGHTER- Laughter can pull me out of almost any and all stay at home mom blues. It helps that I’m married to an actor who always has something on hand he can say to me that’ll make me laugh or even semi laugh. Really though, laughter is one of the best medicines. Even after a long rough day with the girls, if I’m feeling down I will make it a point to not do anything else after they go to bed and maybe start watching a comedy movie that’ll make me laugh or something that’ll help me smile.

I hope that these ‘Top 6 ways to overcome the Stay At Home Mom Blues’ help you and maybe puts some extra tools in your mommy needs tool belt! As always, please feel free to leave some comments + share ideas of what helps you overcome the stay at home mom blues! We always love to hear from our Sparrow’s Apple community!

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You know those days when there seems to be more demand and your energy just doesn’t seem to match?! That was me yesterday! At the end of the night though, when all the kids were down for the count, I was looking back at the photos I had snapped of the day— as exhausted as I was I thought to myself.. “They had SO much fun today!!”.  We spent hours playing, got a nap in (well 2 of them did anyways) they had a bit of screen time, played again and then went to bed. Such a great day! Enjoy our daily moments.

1) It all started with the excitement for a morning waffle! (FYI- we tried a new brand of waffles made with Cassava flour by a brand called Kitchfix. They were surpringly really good! Kind of like a smaller Belgian waffle consistency)

2) A little bit of play time for AJ in his new play center by Oribel

3) Heading out the door with a bag of snacks for the car ofcourse.

The question is… are they fighting here or are they playing?! you decide, I wont spoil it with the truth! Lol

4) A little joy ride while the other 2 take a nap. 

5) The face of a little girl who is V excited to play at her favorite play spot, The green Chataeu 

6) We spent a few hours at this sweet spot and they were enjoying every moment. 

Even AJ was lovin’ it! 

Then theres Emberleigh and her love for the slides

7) After a few hours of playing— Let’s be honest, mama was tired. soooo I busted out the pads at home. I needed some down time!

8) Ended the day kissing on this guy before his nap time and our night routine.

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Ever since I was a little girl my favorite car has been Volvo. I remember my parents getting the Volvo S70 when I was around 7-8 years old after having gone through a terrible accident that totaled our previous car. As little girl, I remember my number one feeling of why I loved that car so much was because of how safe and secure I felt. That will forever be engrained in my mind until this day! It has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite cars!

I know what you’re thinking.. This is so random, Ashleigh.. Why are you telling me about Volvo?! Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry! I am about to list my top 5 reasons why I believe ALL moms need a Volvo. When I’m done, I’m almost certain you will want to head on over to our friends at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica and purchase this family dream car! Have I got your full attention yet?! Good!!!

Recently, I had the pleasure of driving a brand new 2018 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription courtesy of Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Let me tell you my friends… It did not disappoint and all of my 8 yr old sweet memories of the Volvo S70 came flooding to the forefront of my mind as I was once again reminded why I love this beautiful, insanely safe car! So without further ado let me share with you why all moms need a Volvo.

‘Top 5 reasons Why All Moms Need A Volvo’

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!!!

I mean, I cannot express enough how crazy safe these cars are! You certainly don’t need someone to tell you how safe they are because you can actually feel it the moment you get in the car and close the door. The best way to describe it is like when you have a comfort blanket on and instantly you feel like all is right in the world. The doors are soft closing yet strong like you know that you are about to be driving a tank on the road. Also, Here is a fun fact: Did you know that Volvo were the ones that came up with the 3 point harness seatbelt?! They felt it was so important and such a vital part of safety that they opened up their patent & shared the design allowing other  car manufacturers to benefit from their creation because they believe that safety is of utmost importance. Crazy right?! When we put the girls car seats in the backseat, I felt like they were more secure into the car than they are in our Honda! Even Haven was loving the level of comfort that the car itself was bringing and that is saying something HUGE seeing as she is only 3 1/2. I like to believe that our children remember things like that! One of my other favorite things about this car is the fact that the numerical speedometer shows up in the window so that you never have to really look down at your actual speedometer to know what speed you’re going! Some may put this in the “Special Features” category but I am putting it in the Safety category because I never have to take my eyes off of the road. I loved seeing my speed in the window and would repeatedly say in my mind “Why don’t ALL cars have this?!”. It also will show you in the same window what the speed limit is on every street you are driving on as well as alert you when you are at a cross walk, School zone, driving to close to the person next to you, driving a certain amount over the speed limit… You guys, This “Safety feature” for me was EVERYTHING!!!

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE FEATURES

Lets be honest… We all know that the FIRST thing we think of when deciding on a new car is how awesome the center column of the car is and all the features, right? Well, The Volvo XC60 has quite a stand out from other cars I’ve seen. As a mother and frankly just not the most tech savvy person I’ve ever met, the functionality of all all the buttons and gadgets in a car have got to be easy to use because I don’t have time to fool around with those little things when I’m trying to drive, so I love that the features in this car are equivalent to using your iPhone. Its so straight forward: Swipe right, swipe left, apps easily accessible with just with the touch of your finger, etc. One of my favorite features was that it has apple car play in the car! Anything that allows me to access my most used and important apps on my phone on the road has got 2 thumbs up in my book! The car gives you an option to heat up the seats &  steering wheel on cold days, adjust how much you want the seat to hug your body and get this… It even gives you an option in BOTH the driver & passenger seats to give a massage (What?!) Tell me that is not every moms dream! You better believe I put that baby to good use during our time together. Another feature I found to be helpful was the back up camera with the navigating tire lines & alerts when your too close to an object . Living in LA there are a lot of tight spots you’re parking in, lots of parallel parking and if I’m being honest… just some really insane drivers, so this feature was really great to have!

INTERNAL SPACE

When you have kids and you’re in the market for a car to fit your lifestyle, your likely going to search for the most spacious car you can find, right? Seeing as we are currently van drivers and have ample space in our car I was fully expecting to feel a bit packed into this car. I was definitely wrong!! Never once did I feel like we were cramped inside! As a matter of fact it makes you feel the opposite. You feel like you have your own space for each passenger in the car, even my girls in the back seat! The trunk is extremely spacious as well leaving more than enough room for: Stroller, groceries and all the other gadgets and things that us moms feel the need to have in the trunks of our cars. Needless to say, Space is not an issue with the Volvo XC60.

EASY HANDLING OF THE CAR

Nothing bugs me more than a car that is hard to steer, am I alone?! It may sound like since the car is so strong and I’ve described it as being a tank, that it would be hard to steer and have a friction in the steering wheel.. WRONG! Its actually the exact opposite! I decided to make this one of my main top reasons why moms need a Volvo because I feel like anything that makes your life easier and more enjoyable with the amount of time that we spend in our cars with kids is worth highlighting. When you pair the safety features with the ease of driving and handling the car, you have gold my friends! Like you literally just hit the jackpot in cars. I thought I had it made in my Honda Odyssey until my hands got on that Volvo XC60.. Mind. BLOWN! I loved driving through the Los Angeles hills because it almost created a different friction in the steering wheel with different whips and turns just out of safety but never once gave me the feeling of being out of control. It always gave me the feeling of ease and (again) safety.

COMPANY HONESTY

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to support companies and business’ who value honesty and support of people above all else. Any company that can show those things without having to overly emphasize that those are their values has my full backing and support! With that being said, I have 100% seen those qualities in Volvo and Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Who doesn’t want to purchase from someone who is honest, passionate, knowledgable and supportive about their product?! When I learned about the released patent of the 3 part harness and that one of their mottos at Volvo is that they are more concerned of the safety of the people than the money… Guys, That says a TON about a company! That is a company I want to stand behind and have their product. You don’t see many (if any) other companies doing the same! They are vocal about the fact that they are more about the quality of the car than upgrading it to a new style every few years. They are confident in the cars that they produce so much so that they don’t feel the need to have to keep upgrading them. When it comes down to it, they really are the safest cars on the road and fly under the radar as a discrete luxury vehicle.

Have I got you at the edge of your seat because you want to run to the Volvo dealership?! Good, You should!! 🙂  Every family needs a safe car and I truly believe with all of my heart that Volvo should be your #1 top choice. Thank you Volvo Cars of Santa Monica for giving me the full Volvo XC60 Inscription experience, You guys are the best!

PS. I have to give a HUGE shout out to one of the salesman, Christopher White over at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica. He is probably one of the most knowledgeable people and knows all the ins and outs of volvo. The amount of information he was sharing with us both about the company and also the car I was driving was astonishing. Yet again, Passion was shinning through and not in an overbearing way but rather an inspiring  & excited for what your about to experience type of way. You rock Christopher!

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite car has been Volvo. I remember my parents getting the Volvo S70 when I was around 7-8 years old after having gone through a terrible accident that totaled our previous car. As little girl, I remember my number one feeling of why I loved that car so much was because of how safe and secure I felt. That will forever be engrained in my mind until this day! It has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite cars!

I know what you’re thinking.. This is so random, Ashleigh.. Why are you telling me about Volvo?! Don’t worry, I won’t leave you high and dry! I am about to list my top 5 reasons why I believe ALL moms need a Volvo. When I’m done, I’m almost certain you will want to head on over to our friends at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica and purchase this family dream car! Have I got your full attention yet?! Good!!!

Recently, I had the pleasure of driving a brand new 2018 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription courtesy of Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Let me tell you my friends… It did not disappoint and all of my 8 yr old sweet memories of the Volvo S70 came flooding to the forefront of my mind as I was once again reminded why I love this beautiful, insanely safe car! So without further ado let me share with you why all moms need a Volvo.

‘Top 5 reasons Why All Moms Need A Volvo’

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!!!

I mean, I cannot express enough how crazy safe these cars are! You certainly don’t need someone to tell you how safe they are because you can actually feel it the moment you get in the car and close the door. The best way to describe it is like when you have a comfort blanket on and instantly you feel like all is right in the world. The doors are soft closing yet strong like you know that you are about to be driving a tank on the road. Also, Here is a fun fact: Did you know that Volvo were the ones that came up with the 3 point harness seatbelt?! They felt it was so important and such a vital part of safety that they opened up their patent & shared the design allowing other  car manufacturers to benefit from their creation because they believe that safety is of utmost importance. Crazy right?! When we put the girls car seats in the backseat, I felt like they were more secure into the car than they are in our Honda! Even Haven was loving the level of comfort that the car itself was bringing and that is saying something HUGE seeing as she is only 3 1/2. I like to believe that our children remember things like that! One of my other favorite things about this car is the fact that the numerical speedometer shows up in the window so that you never have to really look down at your actual speedometer to know what speed you’re going! Some may put this in the “Special Features” category but I am putting it in the Safety category because I never have to take my eyes off of the road. I loved seeing my speed in the window and would repeatedly say in my mind “Why don’t ALL cars have this?!”. It also will show you in the same window what the speed limit is on every street you are driving on as well as alert you when you are at a cross walk, School zone, driving to close to the person next to you, driving a certain amount over the speed limit… You guys, This “Safety feature” for me was EVERYTHING!!!

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE FEATURES

Lets be honest… We all know that the FIRST thing we think of when deciding on a new car is how awesome the center column of the car is and all the features, right? Well, The Volvo XC60 has quite a stand out from other cars I’ve seen. As a mother and frankly just not the most tech savvy person I’ve ever met, the functionality of all all the buttons and gadgets in a car have got to be easy to use because I don’t have time to fool around with those little things when I’m trying to drive, so I love that the features in this car are equivalent to using your iPhone. Its so straight forward: Swipe right, swipe left, apps easily accessible with just with the touch of your finger, etc. One of my favorite features was that it has apple car play in the car! Anything that allows me to access my most used and important apps on my phone on the road has got 2 thumbs up in my book! The car gives you an option to heat up the seats &  steering wheel on cold days, adjust how much you want the seat to hug your body and get this… It even gives you an option in BOTH the driver & passenger seats to give a massage (What?!) Tell me that is not every moms dream! You better believe I put that baby to good use during our time together. Another feature I found to be helpful was the back up camera with the navigating tire lines & alerts when your too close to an object . Living in LA there are a lot of tight spots you’re parking in, lots of parallel parking and if I’m being honest… just some really insane drivers, so this feature was really great to have!

INTERNAL SPACE

When you have kids and you’re in the market for a car to fit your lifestyle, your likely going to search for the most spacious car you can find, right? Seeing as we are currently van drivers and have ample space in our car I was fully expecting to feel a bit packed into this car. I was definitely wrong!! Never once did I feel like we were cramped inside! As a matter of fact it makes you feel the opposite. You feel like you have your own space for each passenger in the car, even my girls in the back seat! The trunk is extremely spacious as well leaving more than enough room for: Stroller, groceries and all the other gadgets and things that us moms feel the need to have in the trunks of our cars. Needless to say, Space is not an issue with the Volvo XC60.

EASY HANDLING OF THE CAR

Nothing bugs me more than a car that is hard to steer, am I alone?! It may sound like since the car is so strong and I’ve described it as being a tank, that it would be hard to steer and have a friction in the steering wheel.. WRONG! Its actually the exact opposite! I decided to make this one of my main top reasons why moms need a Volvo because I feel like anything that makes your life easier and more enjoyable with the amount of time that we spend in our cars with kids is worth highlighting. When you pair the safety features with the ease of driving and handling the car, you have gold my friends! Like you literally just hit the jackpot in cars. I thought I had it made in my Honda Odyssey until my hands got on that Volvo XC60.. Mind. BLOWN! I loved driving through the Los Angeles hills because it almost created a different friction in the steering wheel with different whips and turns just out of safety but never once gave me the feeling of being out of control. It always gave me the feeling of ease and (again) safety.

COMPANY HONESTY

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to support companies and business’ who value honesty and support of people above all else. Any company that can show those things without having to overly emphasize that those are their values has my full backing and support! With that being said, I have 100% seen those qualities in Volvo and Volvo Cars of Santa Monica! Who doesn’t want to purchase from someone who is honest, passionate, knowledgable and supportive about their product?! When I learned about the released patent of the 3 part harness and that one of their mottos at Volvo is that they are more concerned of the safety of the people than the money… Guys, That says a TON about a company! That is a company I want to stand behind and have their product. You don’t see many (if any) other companies doing the same! They are vocal about the fact that they are more about the quality of the car than upgrading it to a new style every few years. They are confident in the cars that they produce so much so that they don’t feel the need to have to keep upgrading them. When it comes down to it, they really are the safest cars on the road and fly under the radar as a discrete luxury vehicle.

Have I got you at the edge of your seat because you want to run to the Volvo dealership?! Good, You should!! 🙂  Every family needs a safe car and I truly believe with all of my heart that Volvo should be your #1 top choice. Thank you Volvo Cars of Santa Monica for giving me the full Volvo XC60 Inscription experience, You guys are the best!

PS. I have to give a HUGE shout out to one of the salesman, Christopher White over at Volvo Cars of Santa Monica. He is probably one of the most knowledgeable people and knows all the ins and outs of volvo. The amount of information he was sharing with us both about the company and also the car I was driving was astonishing. Yet again, Passion was shinning through and not in an overbearing way but rather an inspiring  & excited for what your about to experience type of way. You rock Christopher!

I’m about to enter you into my new road to a basic wardrobe— are you ready? Capsule clothing is all the rage right now it feels like. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word capsule so much in my life until now! It’s easy to think of a capsule wardrobe as minimalism, which to some degree it could definitely be the case but not all the time! I for one am by no means a minimalist nor a hoarder— So what’s the name for the the person who is in between those two? It’s almost like you’re the ‘middle class’ of society but in a fashion sense.

I’m not going to lie.. Im no Rachel Zoe when it comes to fashion, but what I do know is that I’ve always loved it and will never turn down an opportunity to go shopping. Who DOESN’T like to shop?! Lol

After becoming a mom I struggled HARD with my closet.  Between weight fluctuations, hormonal changes and just straight up not taking time out for myself, I fell into this pit of not knowing what I liked anymore. Has that happended to any one else?! its awful.. That’s when you know that you need to start acting on some major self care, right? I’m happy to report that I am WAY past that stage and now moving towards the stage of capsulizing my wardrobe. Having things in my closet that (as Marie Kondo put it) bring me JOY! Right now I’m focusing on having all of the basics and then build the rest from there.

Welcome to my Road to a Basic Wardrobe.

Talking about basics- I recently received this adorable white button down tie top from PinkBlush and I love it! It’s a basic that can be worn a couple different ways and it pairs really well with, well… almost everything! It’s just the piece I needed to add to my capsule.

Something that I love about any basic clothing is that you can spice it up and make it fun &  sexy or you can just fly under the radar as the cute & simple woman with just a hand of shoes and/or accessories. Here, I paired the tie top with my favorite high waisted jeans to hide the mom pooch a bit and leapord print shoes. I like to think I met somewhere in between sexy and simple just because I put on the sassy red lip!

For size reference on this Tie top from PinkBlush: I am wearing a small. It’s supposed to be more of a loose fitting top so if you like more of a flowy, way oversized look than I would size up.

This post is sponsored by PinkBlush