Category: Ashley

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo… How ’bout You, You, You…

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper
We had every intention of making it to the zoo the other day, but a little someone opted instead to nap for FIVE hours. Maybe he was dreaming of zebras, and tigers, and crocodiles, but if you ask me he has no idea what he was missing out on. We went the following day instead and if he wasn’t dreaming of wild animals before, he most certainly is now. Let me re-phrase that, because more specifically he probably has goats on his mind. And juice containers in the shape of dinosaurs. Yes, goats and plastic sugar filled dinosaurs. That is what Hooper was into. 

Adventures in Parenting

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper
I suppose everyone deals with the frustrations of parenting differently. Some turn to discipline while others turn to the bottle. Willy and I turn to humor. When Hooper’s being a “little shit” as we like to call it, we humor ourselves. Most of our frustrations are centered around the dinner table and our frivolous attempts to get Hooper to eat the damn food we so lovingly put on his plate. For a while now, it’s been hard to eat at the same time. As soon as he sees my plate, all he wants to do is touch my food and throw my food on the floor. It’d be one thing if he ate my food, but instead he’ll stop eating his food so he can play with my food. Needless to say, Willy sometimes suggest I eat in the other room. I don’t argue.
And that’s the rough background for this little story. I was eating next to the cozy fire in the other room, Willy was eating with Hooper in the kitchen. Next thing you know Willy says I should come into the kitchen. This is what I find:

 

So the question becomes, how do you deal with a 15 month old that won’t eat his spaghetti? Your answer may be to let him starve. Another parent may just poor themselves a glass of wine. Willy’s answer was to dump the spaghetti on his head. And my response was to photograph it. What’s that you say? We’re not going to win the parents of the year award? Oh shucks. Willy’s dad dumped spaghetti on his head as a small child and one day when karma swings back Hooper’s way, he can dump spaghetti on his kid’s head. All is fair in love and parenting.

21 Weeks

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Pregnancy
Kick-o-rama ought to be the title of this weeks post. Only this time around, the kicks are low. Real low. Like so low Willy has to put his hand down my pants to feel those little thumps and punches. I read that this is fairly typical for second pregnancies. Something with the muscles dropping. What do you know, more sagging. Ha! I’ve also been battling a cold and have been exceptionally tired this week, having to nap when Hooper naps, which is usually when I clean up, blog, do laundry, edit photos… So ya, I feel a bit behind and I’m surrounded by one messy house. But I’m feeling better. Now if only I could get through the night without that post-nasal drip making me hack up a storm. Willy would enjoy the better rest too.
Psst… today is my last chance to find out the sex of our baby. I have my first appointment with our new backup OB (who I don’t plan on seeing past this point) and have opted to have a 20-ish week ultrasound to confirm that all the parts are there and growing and all that good stuff. I have this terrible inner turmoil brewing. I’m dying to know the sex of our baby, but I also LOVE surprises and there really is no greater surprise… rrriiiggghhhhtttt? Oh temptation is horrible. Today I have a love hate relationship with technology.

Bits + Pieces, A Family Getaway

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Bits + Pieces, Travel
We are back from the mountains and had a splendid time indeed. There was lots of nap taking, ice cream and pizza eating, thrift store picking, movie watching, and family memories made. Oh yes, and that fresh air wasn’t too shabby either. Not to mention that on our last morning we stopped for breakfast before making the drive back home and consumed probably the best pancake ever known to man and just as I was biting into that buttermilk goodness, snow started falling. It was like a parting gift with a tag attached that said “come back soon”. And now we can’t wait to return. Here are some snapshots from our extended weekend.

19 + 20 Weeks

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Pregnancy
What do you know… these weeks are going by so fast that I’m behind. I meant to prepare my 19 week post before we left for the mountains… but, it just didn’t end up that way. So here we go, two birds one stone. 
I had a little handsome fellow join me on my 19 and 20 week shoot. What a cutie. So, what’s new in pregnancy land you ask? Well, they’re creepy. They’re crawly. They ruin the daisy duke look. They’re dun dun dun (dramatic music, please) spider veins. I wish there were a way of writing that so all the letters were a bit squiggly. But whatever, you get the idea. Yup, just another fun thing us pregnant women must endure. First pregnancies almost seem easier because these things are more easily overlooked. But the second time around… it’s like an allergic reaction; it gets worse with each occurrence. It’s not that this pregnancy is so drastically different, but rather my reserves to deal with all these bodily changes is less. With that said, I feel  fantastic. This second trimester has been a breeze thus far. Oh ya, and maybe it’s that mountain air I keep coming back to, but my skin is clearing up. Wahoo. Now that’s a reason to smile. With no further adieu, here’s my little helper and I at 20 weeks…

Hooper Eats

by Ashley filed under Ashley
Here’s one of Hooper’s all time favorites. Well, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a favorite but it’s definitely gone on a good run with no recent rejections.

Sweet potato

 

Brocoli

 

Blended together with cheese and volia, there you have it.
I added some avocado on a whole wheat cracker as a side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…And he loved it. He even went on to eat a handful of strawberries. Here he is enjoying his meal o’ food with Sarah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hhmmmm… what do we have here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finger taste test (mama has her fingers crossed).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mama always says it’s nice to share, so I share with Sarah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at me use my spoon mama…

…and get my food all over my face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See that tongue just peekin’ out of Sarah’s mouth. She’s salivating for that food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh ya, lick those chops Sarah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haha Sarah, I have what you want. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I don’t mind sharing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some for you, some for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tag team effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just threw my spoon on the floor, that means I’m done mom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to clean up.

 

Hooper @ 15 Months

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper
Growth: You weigh 22lbs 15oz (25%), up two pounds since your last appointment at twelve months. While I do pay close attention to what you eat and how much you drink, how much you weigh no longer holds my interest. It’s funny to hear the doctor say, “the only thing he’s below average in now is weight”. It sounds so harsh, like average is something one should be striving toward. You’ll be long and lanky like your parents, sorry. With that said you are above average in head circumference, 60%, and height, 60%. At this rate, you are predicted to be 5’11 and 160. Papa is about 6’1 and 175. I think you’ll hit quite a few more spurts along the way. You have 9 teeth, four top, four bottom, and one first molar on the top left.
Feeding: We started what I refer to as Operation Feed Hooper Different Foods and it’s worked. Mama had to redefine her goals and settle for a mere taste as a designated success, but at the end of the month I can say you have tasted and tried many new foods and several were even enjoyed. The happiness it brings to put together a meal and then have you enjoy it is indescribable. I think it’s innate, a transfer of the fulfillment from breastfeeding to filling you up with other good nutrients. I suppose that’s why woman are typically putting the food on the table. Whatever the case, you’ve tried new things. It’s the small victories…
You’ve taken to holding your own bottle. I’m not sure how, it seemed to happen overnight. It’s much easier now to hand you a bottle of milk and let you roam around leisurely with your cocktail as opposed to having to sit down and feed you. You are, however, quite keen on dumping your bottle upside down and leaving a milk trail wherever you go. You enjoy this even more when you notice Sarah following oh so close behind in anticipation of your spillage. At some point the bottle just becomes a toy and then I start to miss the days where I cradled you on the sofa as you gulped down your bottle. These days I have to follow you around and clean up and remind you “milk for Hooper, not Sarah” and prompt you to “put it in your mouth”, which are just the words sons want to hear from their mothers. Just as I’m writing this I had to get up and retrieve your bottle from the drawer of DVD’s you hid it in. You have me questioning if this bottle training was really a good idea and worrying about what the future of using a cup is going to be like. Not sure what we’d do without Sarah. Her attention to things on the floor is very much appreciated. 
Sleeping: You’re still the sleep champion. You go to bed about 9pm, wake up about 7:30am. Then you nap from about 10am-12pm and again from about 3pm-5pm. You refuse to take much of a nap when you’re at your Nina’s house. Not sure why. All I know is that you conk right out as soon as you get home and we usually have to wake you for dinner. We still have the monitor in your room, I can’t seem to part with it. It feels like a life line. 
Talking: Life just isn’t like the movies where things happen and there’s no debate or doubt about it. First steps are clearly first steps and first words are practically used in sentence form with the perfect meaning attached. With that said, you’ve said a lot of things. Not consistently and not always coherently. You said what we thought was “doggie” a while back, but I have yet to hear that again. Your Nina said she heard you say “cookie”a long time ago. I think I heard a version of cookie a couple days ago. You say baby and point to your belly. Baby is your first two syllable word. You also say “boom”. Sometimes I think you’re saying “broom”. It’s hard to know. But you did fall on your bum the other day and then proclaimed “boom”. You also took the broom out of the closet and said “broom” repeatedly, rolling your “r” like someone south of the boarder. So maybe you are saying both boom and broom. You refer to Sarah’s food dishes as “nay nay”. The only sense I can make of this is that every time you run toward that food dish we say “no no”. Any phone is referred to as “ma-ma”. Not sure if this is because you recognize me as ma ma and associate the phone with hearing my voice or if you just like to call the phone ma-ma. You say “papa”, but it’s pronounced as both a secret and a question. You try to repeat “Nina” when I mention you are going to Nina’s house. It comes out as “Nay Nay”, so I’m not sure you are trying to say Nina or if the dog bowl is all that’s on your mind. Maybe you can explain all your gibber gabber later. When I can tell you are poopin’ your pants I say “ca-ca” and you repeat “ca-ca” and grab your diaper. Perhaps potty training is in the not too distant future. You also say “ball”, “ca” for “calm”, “gone” after you throw things on the floor, and I swear you say “Was dis?” when you hear a strange noise, like the garbage man coming (Lisa, maybe you were right about Evan… haha). 
Development: You have quite the sense of humor. You’re finding more things funny and are starting to repeat the things you get a kick out of. You like teasing Sarah and having her chase you. You break out into a big ol’ giggle session when she nips your little butt playfully. Not sure how this will pan out when you don’t wear diapers anymore. That may turn your giggles to tears. The difference between now and before is that before you found us funny, now you find yourself funny. You’re able to easily entertain yourself these days. You personality has grown exponentially. I was fairly certain you were right handed, but as of late, you’ve been using your spoon quite often with the left hand. You throw a ball with whatever hand has the ball in it. Again, more ambiguity. You are good at following direction. Your new trick is turning around. You think it’s funny when we say “turn around” and you make a 360 degree turn. You also like doing rolls. Yes, I’m teaching you forward rolls. You do so many in succession that you come up a little dizzy and I worry about you holding your food down. You can climb up your high chair like it’s a latter and love climbing onto my desk chair to move the mouse around and stare at the computer screen. 
On Becoming a Big Brother: Clearly you have no ability to conceptualize the meaning of a baby growing inside me. What you do understand is that mama has a belly we refer to as “baby”. You like to pat your “baby” as well. You may not understand it all, but you certainly are intrigued by my belly and like to lift up my shirt and poke my belly button. Multiple times a day you prompt me to show you my belly and you proceed to give the baby unsolicited hugs and kisses which melt my heart instantly and make me think that while you are not old enough to “get it”, on some subconscious level the wheels are spinning. Your behavior appears totally innate and makes me question my overpowering logical side. 

Chairs Galore

by Ashley filed under Ashley
I have a long laundry list of things I have my eye out for when thinking about Hooper’s new room AND the new nursery. It’s so fun to have nesting energy and get to design two rooms.
Anyway, one thing on that long list is a chair. A child-sized chair. Or two. And maybe a desk. I’ll keep you posted as to what I find. Here’s some I’m swooning over:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

I ♥ William Eggleston

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Photography, Uncategorized
Being that photography is very dear to my heart, I thought I’d share some photography that inspires me. I could start telling you about William Eggleston, but then it would just be hard to stop. This guys work is incredible. He’s known as the father of color photography, bringing color to the forefront when people were only interested in black and white. Here’s some of his work:
Sources: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve

A Quiet Place

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Travel
Willy and I are up in the mountains this weekend and I couldn’t be more pleased. These last few weeks at work have been incredibly stressful and every time I’m home I feel like I just can’t get a handle on the dishes, the yard work, the laundry, the dust… You get the idea. This mama needs some fresh air. And I know just the place.
My Grandma has owned a cabin up in the mountains for much of my existence. I have fond memories of making snow angels, painting pine cones and selling them on the corner, having snow ball fights, walking to the nearest gas station with my dad to use the phone in a winter storm (yes, there were storms back before there was global warming and no, cell phones did not exist), sleeping on the closet shelves pretending they were bunk beds, playing pin ball on the vintage pin ball machine where the coolest effect is the horse kicking it’s butt up in the air every time you score a hundred points, and oh yes, that fresh mountain air. 

I’ve even driven up to the cabin with nothing more than the family dog and a pen and paper. There’s something special about that cabin; it’s a mix of nostalgia and home that only a creaky floored cabin can embody. John Muir once said, “Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find that going to the mountains IS going home”. I couldn’t agree more. And I can’t help but share these images from Cabin Porn, “Inspiration for your quite place somewhere”. The last cabin is my absolute mid century wooden dream cabin.

 

Style de Hooper

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Hooper
I had another post planned today that I will share later because Hooper is being featured on one of my favorite blogs, Modern Kiddo and it is the cutest post ever. Sure, I’m totally biased, but I do want to extend a warm thank you to Dottie and Alix for the love. So instead, I’ll throw a little Style de Hooper your way. You can click here to view Hooper on Modern Kiddo. 
These posts are honestly some of the hardest. Trying to get Hooper to stand still is almost impossible. I think he’s starting to understand to the concept, as every now and again he’ll stand so deliberately against the wall… for two seconds. Literally two seconds. And I usually have the camera down by my side because I’m pleading with my eyes to get him to stand there. By the time he listens and I get the camera up to eye level, he’s on the move. See the picture above? There you see him…
…and now you don’t.
Sitting nicely…
…and now preparing for his escape.
Steamboat Overalls: from Etsy seller Lishyloo
Undershirt: Gerber plain white
Shoes: Saucony hand-me-downs

18 Weeks

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Pregnancy
For a day my face was relatively clear. And by clear I mean all I had were some scars that were relatively easy to cover up. No new bumps begging to be popped. I thought this pimple stuff was nearing an end. I thought I could finally stop hanging out at pool joints or sneaking into movies I didn’t pay for or going to punk rock concerts. For that smidgen of time, I finally didn’t feel 17 again. For the past few months it seems like just as I get rid of one pimple another one sprouts. I mean really? Isn’t the weight gain enough for a woman to deal with? I won’t even mention the wonderful thickened hair that’s followed only by hair that’s as stringy and thin as an elderly woman. No offense to elderly woman. But now I know why many mom’s opt for the “bob” look postpartum. It’s just what works. Elderly woman have been doing it for years. Only they don’t have pimples all over their chins. Am I saying I’m jealous of the elderly now? What’s wrong with me? I also won’t mention the sensitivity, the resentment associated with watching as your husband enjoys the same body he had when you got married despite the fact that you can beat him in a push up contest (yes, this is true. Ask Willy. He won’t deny it.), and I certainly won’t mention the fact that yes, this growing thing inside you has to come out at some point and it exits through a small, very small hole. The same hole you were worried about inserting a tampon in. No, no, no, I won’t mention any of these things. What’s that you say? I just mentioned all those things? Well I can’t just go back on what I’ve already said…
But I can leave you with a positive thought for this wonderful week in pregnancy. There is nothing, seriously nothing, as sweet as being a mother. Love became better defined the day I birthed Hooper. People can bitch all they want about pregnancy and lack of free time and sleepless nights and how it sucks worse to be a woman and how your kids turn on you when their teenagers… and all of that can be true. But the sum of all the negative doesn’t even begin to compete with sum of the positive. It really doesn’t. My meaning, my purpose, my joy wakes me every morning with a little whine that reminds me I am the luckiest mom in the world. And there’s no feeling that good.
That little kick Willy got to feel with his hand cusped over my belly felt pretty good this week too.

Steps to Obtain Insurance Coverage for a Home Birth

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Home Birth
1. Speak with different midwives in the area. All the midwives I spoke to seemed to offer different types of advice for getting insurance coverage and were extremely helpful and hopeful. Ask your midwife for specific information like their license number, EIN and NPI number, and even the CPT code. These are all helpful to have on hand and eventually necessary when finally getting through to your insurance company.
2. Call the member services 800 number on your insurance card and explore exactly what your benefits are.
3. Get transferred to the medical management department and explain that you are in need of pre-authorization or pre-certification for midwife services.
sidenote: It is my understanding that all midwifery care is considered out-of-network. In other words, no midwives operate as in-network providers. This does not, however, mean that they won’t cover it. It simply means that they need to agree to cover it before they are billed for such services in order to guarantee payment.
4. Get connected with a nurse case manager. This person is your best friend. Be nice, but be painfully persistant. This person is the one that actually applies for the pre-certification. You want this person on your team. This person will also be in close contact with your midwife, as they need information from both ends to make it all happen.
5. Your nurse case manager will initially try to explain that you need to stick to in-network providers. They will do their own search of in-network midwifery services and tell you to start with that list of providers first. My case manager prompted me to search through what she described as “2 pages of in-network providers”. When I ran the same search, there certainly were two pages. All the providers had the same address and phone number, however. When I called, they explained that they worked out of a hospital in downtown Los Angeles and did not offer home birth services. For those that are familiar with the LA area, you know that trying to get to downtown LA, depending on the time of day, could be insane. Especially for a laboring woman. This prompts the next step…
6. Explain why their list of in-network providers will not work. I explained that not only do they not offer the care I’m looking for, but that I’d also run the risk of delivering on the side of the road as navigating through LA traffic while in active labor wasn’t the safest plan. They will then proceed with obtaining what they call “in for out” coverage or in-network benefits for out-of-network providers.
7. Call daily for updates.
8. Obtain your pre-authorization number.
Wow, I can’t believe it can all be summed up in 8 steps. The entire process took about a week. Here are some additional tips I had found in my research:
-Keep notes of dates, times, people, and departments that you speak with.
-If you feel like you are coming up against a bump in the road, explain that you are trying to save them money. If the person you are talking to doesn’t seem thankful for the fact that a home birth is much more affordable for the insurance company than a hospital birth, then ask to speak to their supervisor. If the supervisor is a carbon copy of the idiot you were just speaking with, ask to speak to their manager. Eventually you will speak with someone who appreciates the save in cost.
-If they deny the pre-authorization, ask for details regarding the appeal process. I fortunately know nothing about this process other than it exists and others have successfully appealed, so if you are in this position, do not give up!
Here are three links I found useful in my research: one, two, three
…And now, some inspirational birthing images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo sources: 1, 2, 3

Bits + Pieces

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Bits + Pieces, Hooper
Snapshots from our week…

Hooper has started making teeth indentations on his crib rail. I saw our crib used on craigslist a while back and it looked like a little wood pecker slept in it. Now I know why // Hooper worked on perfecting his fork usage. If only he’d be more agreeable to what went on the fork // We broke it down to Jiminy Cricket tunes… again and again. Seriously, this record is the cutest // Sarah had what we refer to as a “bim bom” day. You know, those days when you lounge around and if you get up at all you choose to skip instead of walk because the world is just that jolly // Hooper’s first molar finally made it’s presence. It was preceded by a weeks worth of snot. A lot of snot. The thought of dehydration crossed my mind. Okay, I’m teasing, but really, there was a lot of snot // Hooper ate a full plate of healthy food. And yes, he picked the cheese off first before he really chowed down. (Hooper, I like your style) // I tried mixing strawberries (one of his favorite) with cottage cheese. He didn’t like it. But he did like playing with it between his fingers. And then rubbing it on his belly. And ultimately Sarah was one the one who really scored. She usually does // I found these mushroom canisters and fell in love instantly // Still obsessed with my banana pancakes // And Sarah’s still obsessed with watching any of us eat just about anything // Some vintage books came in a package in the mail for Hooper from Grandma Vickie (thanks!!) // Hooper finally sat down in his bath. He usually stands up. And eventually tries to climb out. He also learned how to make his bath toys squirt water. I got wet // And lastly, Hooper made some important phone calls. For all those mother’s with cute daughters out there, be forewarned.
Happy Friday! And a special thanks to Bleubird for inviting her readers to participate in this post series.