Tag: New Years

Rewind, 2013

by Ashley filed under Bits + Pieces, Holiday

JANUARY
We celebrated 60 years of love and dedication between Willy’s grandparents and started potty training Hoop, who was showing signs of being ready. 
FEBRUARY
We dealt with what was in hindsight the worst of the terrible twos (it lasted a few months) and I opened up about how it took me longer to love and bond with Van. 
MARCH
We made what we both decided was the best decision in our lives to date and hired house cleaners. They come every other week and it’s the best money spent ever. I also wrote about falling in love with Van. 
APRIL
We made trips out to both Arizona and Palm Springs. It was the first, of what became many, trips to Palm Springs this year (most always for Willy’s work). We were happy when we got to tag along.
MAY
Potty training continued, with number two proving to be more difficult that number one. We also taught Hooper what a “ghost turd” is. I wrote about our struggles with Hooper’s eating and brought in an Occupational Therapist to help us. And we stayed at The Roosevelt Hotel during one of Willy’s work functions. 
JUNE
Willy and I welcomed our first niece, Zoe. We spent more time in Palm Springs. And I wrote about being wild and free, one of my more meaningful posts – for me – to date.
JULY
The boys pretended that they like each other; it was brief. We celebrated both my birthday and Van’s birthday; it was his first. It was not my first. 
AUGUST
Janet was in town and we hung out at the Huntington Library in Pasadena. I stopped breastfeeding and I wrote about the depression that followed. I also wrote about conquering the day and how hard it is – at times – to get two kids out of the house. If I only knew how difficult that would be after having back surgery…
SEPTEMBER
We drove down to visit my sister and her fiance, which also marks the day Hooper became obsessed with cats. He hasn’t stopped meowing or asking to be pet since then. We also met up with Sisilia Piring and her lovely family, marking the beginning of what has proven to be a beautiful friendship. And I finally got around to posting pics from Janet and I’s adventures to the Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain, and Joshua Tree. 
OCTOBER
I had my surgery this month and spent two weeks in the hospital. Before hand, we made it to the pumpkin patch, spent time with family at the beach, and took another trip to the desert. I also joined the Childhood Unplugged movement. 
NOVEMBER
I posted pics of the boys from Halloween, we celebrated Hooper’s 3rd birthday, and I shared a day in my life series over on Sarah Dyer’s beautiful blog. 
DECEMBER
I finally got around to writing about my surgery and my recovery. I also posted pics from Janet’s November visit.
Wishing everyone the best for 2014. Thank you for all your continued support, I’m so grateful for this little space of mine. 

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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

Old Pics for the New Year

by Ashley filed under Ashley, Holiday, Hooper
Everyone tells you how fast time seems to fly when you get older. The speed seems to pick up somewhere in the mid-twenties and before you know it, you’re thirty and marveling at how fast the last ten years have gone. Childhood doesn’t seem to do us any favors in this category. Doesn’t it seem like childhood moved at snails pace? I remember summer vacations seemingly lasting forever. Now each day rolls into the next and with no distinguishable break, time just keeps on a’ truckin’.
When you have a baby, everyone tells you how fast they grow and change. These same people remind you to enjoy it. To soak it all in. But the truth is, I spent the last year enjoying our family and soaking in all the changes and excitement and well, it just isn’t enough. What they don’t tell is no matter how much you relish in the moment, the moments pass too quickly.
I imagine the sock monster that hides in the dryer and devotes his life to rearranging pairs of cotton booties must also hide behind clocks and play with those little dials when we’re not looking.
Because time moves too fast.
This past year, I’ve watched my baby grow into a boy. He started the year as a googly eyed bobble head and is closing the year out as a bull in a china shop with a mind all his own. See, it’s not only that time goes fast, it’s also that within a short amount of time a lot of change takes place. Imagine learning to roll, sit, crawl, walk, and run all in the same year. Imagine going from breastfeeding to spoon feeding yourself. A child’s development is incredible.
Anyway, here’s some of my favorite Hooper shots from 2011. I better put my running shoes on in 2012 if I have any aspirations of capturing the blur that is to be next year. And trust me, I do have aspirations.
Happy New Year!