Month: January 2012

Arizona, Part Two

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Photography
My father-in-law is a dairy veterinarian. Engage with Willy in a 10 minute conversation and he’ll probably mention this fact. That’s how proud he is. And he has every right to be.
We tagged along last Saturday morning to watch Niles perform two eye operations: one to remove cancer on one of the layers of the eye and another to remove the entire eye that was also infected with cancer.
We saved the eyeball. Willy has plans to trade it for some more tattoo work.
Be forewarned, graphic images follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arizona, Part One

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper, Travel
We spent this past weekend in Arizona, visiting Willy’s family. It was a beautiful weekend with warm weather, great company, and even some Goodwill and consignment shop hunting. What more could a girl ask for? Oh ya, the flight wasn’t full going or coming so Hooper was able to have his own seat. Score! He also fell asleep for most of the flight home. Double score! I have loads of pics, but here’s what I captured with my iPhone.

Arigato Tokyo

by Janet filed under Travel, Videos
We’re back from Japan! It was our honeymoon turned babymoon. Tokyo was a magical place, and the Japanese were some of the kindest people we’ve met. Here’s a little video from our trip: a postcard of a time when it was just the two of us. Thank you Japan for being so generous and saving us from getting lost, for playing charades because we couldn’t say “water” and for laughing at us because the only word we did know was “Arigato!”

Here’s some additional links you might like:
A beautiful video on getting lost in Tokyo
An inspiring article by Pico Iyer on why we travel
“And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed…” – Pico Iyer

Then & Now, A Vintage Teddy

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper, Then & Now
For Christmas, I unwrapped the most special gift. I’ve been eyeing this teddy bear since I was pregnant with Hooper. It was my moms as a baby and she’s held on to it all these years. Thus, she was reluctant to hand it over. It took a special holiday for this beauty to land in my lap and I’m oh so glad it has. It will either go in Hooper’s new room or in the new nursery. I haven’t decided yet. Thanks mom, I’ll treat er’ good.

New Years Resolutions

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Holiday
…In no particular order.
1. Start a stretch/workout routine. And by routine I mean stretching and working out routinely. Not a today I have the energy but tomorrow I won’t kinda thing… I mean a real dedicated I don’t feel like it but I’m do it anyway kinda routine. When I was pregnant with Hooper I started a prenatal yoga class at 9 weeks and went all the way through to 38 weeks or so, until I was just humiliated that I hadn’t given birth yet and had no ounce of desire to show up with a still pregnant belly week after week. Now I have Hooper and no way of making it to a class with this little rascal running around. So yes, perhaps a stretching and working out routine during nap time.

2. Eat healthier. Are these already sounding like cliche resolutions? I mean doesn’t 24 hour fitness make like 80% of their years profit in January. Okay, I’m making things up, but yes, I am fully aware that these first two resolutions are probably 90% of the general populations goals. With the absence of nausea and the days of food aversions behind me, I really have no excuse to hold on to. In fact, I have the best excuse to fully commit myself: I’m growing a human. What better reason than that to trade in french fries for some whole wheat something or other?

3. Buy a new home. A bigger one. With room to grow. To raise kids and live happily ever after. We’re constantly working toward and saving for and figuring out some way to make this a reality. I hope this year it comes to fruition. There’s actually one home in particular we’ve been eyeing… But it relies on many things falling in place.

4. Visualize a healthy home birth and seek support from positive, educated, and encouraging individuals.

5. Keep the house cleaner. I swear I try. I swear I clean constantly. I also swear because this place is always messy. I should also resolve to swear less. Hooper is quite the mimic these days.

6. Continue blogging. I love documentation in all forms. I have a couple old journals and thousands of photographs that tell a broken story and I have a detailed baby book documenting Hooper’s first year. I want something that continues the story without collecting dust in a cluttered closet.

7. Take more small trips. This kinda contradicts #3, right? I’ve thrown out propositions for impromptu trips to Nicaragua or another vacation to Hawaii. Then we think of resolution #3. And I put my backpack back in the closet. But that’s not to say we can’t take a weekend drive and stop along the way or pull that tent out of the garage. We camped a lot before Hooper was born and have yet to return to the woods for fear it’ll be more work than play. But I think Hooper’s just getting to the age where he will enjoy frolicking about. Better squeeze in as much as we can until July, when our camping days will once again be numbered.

8. Find new recipes for dinners. Mostly because Willy will love the fact that this requires me to try something new. I’m a picky eater, you see. And I hate things mixed. I was that kid that whined when my chicken touched my potato. I try harder each year to resolve this. And I am better. I swear.

9. Do something different with my hair. Dye it? New style? Bangs? Anyone have any ideas? I’m bored to all hell with these strands hanging from my head.

10. I saved my most cliche resolution for last. To love and live as much as possible because in the whole scheme of things, life is pretty short. I had the privilege of caring for a patient yesterday that reminded me of this.

What are some of your resolutions?
source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, source 7, source 8, source 9, source 10, source 11, source 12, source 13

Confessions Of…

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper

You guessed it, another post about my adventures with puree. Here’s what I made Hooper the other morning. This mixture lasted for four servings and he loved it. It included: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two kiwis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cherries, Strawberries, Raspberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bowl of Spinach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butternut Squash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cauliflower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Bananas
And, as always, the result:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Hooper giving me an ovation