Mama Bear Tee + Life Update

These last 3 months have brought us so much joy, exhaustion, happiness and lots of adjustment all at the same time. But, we feel so blessed for every moment of it. I kept hearing people say that every baby is different before Riley was born, and now I fully believe that. When we had Ian, he was never sick and slept pretty well early on. Poor Riley has caught cold after cold and has severe (silent) acid reflux, which has been such an awful combination. He makes terrible coughing/choking sounds that only get worse when he's congested. Honestly, I never knew that a lot of babies suffered from this, so if you are going through this too, know you are not alone! Luckily we have a great pediatrician, and he and his nurses have worked with us to find the right medicine and formula to ease his discomfort. He hasn't been sleeping well (until the last few nights) which has been plain tough to be honest, especially when I'm having to wrangle Ian and alllll of his energy all day as well, but I'm hoping we can get him into a good sleeping routine soon that works for all of us! 

Even with these struggles, I know it is absolutely nothing compared to what some families go through, so I try to remind myself of that and be extra thankful that these are the biggest problems we have right now. Since Thanksgiving just passed, it has made it easier to reflect on things that we are thankful for, but it is SO important to make sure to reflect on those things year round. I am so thankful not only for my sweet little family, but also the tribe of friends we have that support us and help us daily, as well as this community of bloggers and friends who have been so supportive whether they have met me personally or not.

{Outfit details} 

This Mama Bear tee is from Vici Collection (confession: I shop there waay too much!), but it is currently sold out. You can sign up for restock notifications on their website though HERE! I have linked some other cute mama tees below too. This bag is also from there and always sells out super quickly, but you can find a preorder for the tan version HERE. I've linked some similar below as well. 

This exact cardigan is from Hadley Rae Boutique and is not available anymore, but I have linked some almost identical below. I have been wearing it ALL the time. This style is great to pair with graphic tees, plain tees or even cute tunics. You will probably find me in something similar to this on Thanksgiving day! ;) 

xoxo, Ash 

 *All photography by Sam Carbine*

Home + Small Gifts Gift Guide

Hellllo, December and the most wonderful time of the year! I don't know about y'all, but I am loving having out tree up and seeing lights everywhere. It just plain makes me happy. I'm excited to have my first gift guide up for y'all including home gifts, small gifts and a couple more of my favorite items right now. I will have more gift guides coming your way this week, so stay tuned. Enjoy!

Under $100 Gift Guide For Her

Fall Varsity Style Look

Happy Monday! It is so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is THIS week. This year has absolutely flown by, but the holiday season is my favorite because it means a lot of family time. It is such a joyous time of year, and how can you not love all of the Christmas lights and decor?!

This top has seriously been worn way too many times to count since I got it, and I'm totally okay with that. I know I mentioned it before, but I'm obsessed with the varsity style trend right now, so you'll probably be seeing it a lot on here! All the outfit details are below. 

Of course this varsity top and cardigan are both from Vici Collection. There were a few larges left in the top when I looked this week, and you can find it HERE or sign up for a restock email there as well if they don't have your size. I have also linked some similar below. This cardigan is sold out, but Target carries a couple similar and super affordable, and they're linked below as well with the rest of my outfit details. Happy Monday friends and cheers to a short holiday week!

xoxo, Ashley

*All photography by Sam Carbine*

Feminine + Chic Office

My office is definitely still a work in progress, but I've been getting a lot of questions about the rug in our entryway right outside of our office. So, I wanted to share the details so y'all can easily shop it. The exact rug we have is this one HERE {it is the color "nickel" option and we have the runner}. We've only had it a few months, but have really love it! While I'm at it, I wanted to share some of the details of our office decor as well. 

Since I am surrounded by a house full of boys, blue and car toys everywhere, I told Charlie that the office was going to be my "girly" room. ;) We definitely have a budget to stick to, so I have had to work with some of the existing furniture that we have (we are super lucky that we have some really nice pieces of furniture my mom passed along to us to "store" when she moved out of her house a few years ago). It has been a fun little challenge for me though!

We have had this table we use as a desk for a while, but it used to be all brown. It didn't quite have the chic look I was going for, so I decided I wanted to paint it and antique it a bit instead of getting something new. I had to play around to get it to look how I wanted it to, but I am really please with how it turned out! More details to come on this piece, how I did it and what products I used. 

The pillows (and the rug) you see are all from Kirkland's, but are currently sold out/not available on their website. I have linked some that look almost identical to them below though. I have had this chandelier since I was in high school, so I have no clue where we got it, but have linked some similar below as well! I am still trying to figure out what to do on the back wall behind the desk, but I'll know the right decor when I see it. I am definitely open to suggestions too!! 

If you know me, you know I don't like to spend a lot of money on any one item. So I absolutely LOVE Kirklands, Target, Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx for the best home decor finds at affordable prices. They always have items that look like they're really expensive, but they are only a fraction of the price. Those are all wins in my book!

The 5-piece art collection on the back wall is from The Iron Gate in downtown Franklin, TN,  but you could easily achieve this look with white/silver frames with family pictures or art in them. Confession: they are also currently on loan from my mom since they don't fit in her condo anywhere right now, but I'm hoping I get to keep them a while since I love how they look in this room! 

We have been in our house about 7 months now, and I can tell it is going to take plenty of time for it to all be decorated the way I would like. It can be a super expensive and time consuming task, but I love getting to be creative and search for the perfect affordable pieces. I can't wait to share more home projects with y'all soon!

xoxo, Ash

Riley's Birth Story

As my little man Riley sleeps and big brother Ian is in school, I thought it would be a great time to put to paper Riley's birth story. I'm not sure if I was more nervous about this delivery since I already knew what was coming, or if it put me more at ease since Ian's birth went so smoothly, but I was still scared nonetheless. 

I carried Riley super low the whole pregnancy. Ian was low too, but something was just even more uncomfortable with Riley. The first half of my pregnancy was extremely rough. I threw up day and night for almost 23 weeks. Without medicine, it was hard for me to even function. Thank goodness for my doctors office and helping me find the right medicine that worked for me and made sure I had access to it even when my insurance wouldn't cover it. Once that went away, I felt pretty well. I continued crossfitting 3 days per week once I found the medicine that controlled my morning sickness.  I am so glad that I did because I think it made huge difference in my delivery. With all of that being said, we planned to induce at 39 weeks on September 1st. 

As the evening approached, we had family lined up to watch Ian and family coming in town to meet out little man. We were supposed to be at the hospital at 5AM that morning, but got the call at 4AM that they had tons of people come into triage that night and didn't have a room for us and to check back at 7:30AM. We called in at 7:30 and the story was still the same. We checked in again at 9:30AM and nothing had changed at this time either. We were so anxious because I just wanted to know that Riley was going to be a healthy little baby boy. 

We ended up being on call until midnight that night with no luck in getting a room. Luckily my doctor had called another hospital for us and scheduled an induction there for the next morning at 7AM to make sure we were able to deliver that weekend. We got up that morning and headed to the hospital, and we were literally the only patients on the labor and delivery floor. So crazy considering they said they were swamped the day before too! But we were thrilled with the quality of service we received during our stay, so it definitely made up for the stress of the day before. 

Anyways, at 8AM when they checked me, I was only 2cm dilated. They started my pitocin drip on a very low dosage and monitored me and Riley for the next 30 minutes before upping the dosage. We both took to it well, and when they checked me an hour later, I was already 4/5cm dilated. As we had already known from my weekly doctors appointments, his head was extremely low, so he was already in great position. Around 9:30AM they came in and broke my water, and you better believe that shortly after I requested my epidural. ;) I got sick once when I was in labor with Ian, but this time I got sick multiple times before (and after) delivery.

Before we knew it I was already 8cm dilated and they were calling my doctor to head over to the hospital. I didn't really have to push that long, but his heart rate did keep dropping with I was pushing. So thankfully, he came pretty quickly and there were no issues when he was delivered, which was a huge relief. At 12:47PM, we welcome Riley Merritt into the world. It was just as beautiful of an experience as I remember it being with Ian. I cried tears of joy when I saw him for the first time and watched Charlie cut the umbilical chord. I will always remember Charlie kissing my forehead and telling me how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. It chokes me up a bit just thinking about it. I could not be more blessed to have him as my partner daily on this parenting journey. 

Riley was a perfect 8 pounds 8 ounces and 21.5 inches long. My doctor couldn't believe how big of a boy he was and neither could we (although I joked the last month of pregnancy that he was going to be big based on how much pressure I was feeling!). We were just so happy that he was finally with us and was as healthy as could be. His head full of dark hair got him a lot of attention the whole weekend at the hospital, just like his big brother Ian's did when he was born.

Thank you so much to our doctors, nurses, family and friends for the wonderful care, calls, texts, prayers, meals and words of encouragement throughout our pregnancy and since he's been born. It truly takes a village, and we couldn't be more thankful for ours. 

xoxo, Ash

*All photography by Sam Carbine*

Favorite Bomber Jackets for Fall

Bomber jackets are the perfect transition piece for fall. It's definitely an added bonus that they are super comfortable. The one is from last year, but I have linked some of my current favorites + one super similar below.  I can't wait to shoot some new fall looks for y'all once we get in more of a routine as a family of four, but I still plan to post favorites like this over the next few weeks until then. Have a great week my friends!

{all photography above by Sam Carbine}

xoxo, Ash

Life Update + Maternity Shoot #2

It is so hard to believe that Riley is here and has already been home with us now for a few days now. I feel like we just found out that we were pregnant with him! Even though Ian loves his little brother, it has been a tough adjustment for him (and us) attitude-wise around here. I guess it doesn't help that he's just in that terrible 2 phase either. Today was the first day Charlie has been back at work, but Ian was in school most of the day so that has helped ease the transition. Prayers are much needed for next week though when I have both boys by myself all day. We couldn't be more in love with out little family though. I just feel so blessed and thankful that Riley is here and healthy, and we're starting to get in a new groove as a family of 4. I am 100% open to any tips from my fellow mamas with two though. ;)

Even though I am no longer pregnant, I did want to share a project I had the pleasure of working on a few weeks before we had Riley. I was contacted by the talented photographer Josh Carty to "model" (I use that term loosely because I am nothing close to that!) some maternity pieces that his wife sewed herself. The first was a modest maternity swimsuit, and the second was a beautiful lilac colored maternity gown. And, y'all, they are both so talented! He was so nice to snag some stunning photos in my own outfit right as the sun was setting too.

The swimsuit was extremely comfortable and such high quality. The ruching detailing that she included is so pretty! The gown was equally as high quality and SO gorgeous. You can see these pieces below and find more information here on how to purchase one for yourself. I am just so thrilled to have these beautiful shots from Josh to cherish and remember this time in our lives. I encourage all you pregnant mommas to check out Savannah's shop here + be sure to head here to see more of Josh's work too. Happy Friday Eve friends!

xoxo, Ash

*All photography by Josh Carty Portraiture*

Hospital Bag for Baby #2

When I was pregnant with Ian, I wasn't too sure what all I would need in my hospital bag. I tend to be an over-packer anyways, which is never good when you're not sure what to take. I definitely did not use a lot of the items I packed with him, so I wanted to share what I will be packing this time around. 

What to Pack for Momma

ROBE
I got one from Victoria's Secret (similar to THIS one) that was great when I had Ian. I like these three HERE, HERE and HERE that are all in stock now. Having a cute robe was so comfortable and easy to nurse when I had the robe on which was great. I've been tempted to buy a new one, but since my old one is in great condition, I've been trying to talk myself out of it. Ha!

LEGGINGS
Since you probably aren't going to want to get your nice yoga pants nasty after delivery, I opted for super cheap (under $4) leggings from Forever 21. The ones I had from a couple of years ago are pretty faded now, so I order a two new pairs of THIS black legging, and one pair of THIS gray legging for postpartum. They are actually really comfortable and since they're so cheap, I don't worry about them getting dirty or anything.

NURSING TANK TOP/BRAS
I wore THIS nursing tank under my robe in the hospital, and a lot when I got home. I had originally bought a nursing bra that had an underwire, but I ended up getting mastitis and got one like THIS without an underwire, which was SO much more comfortable. I highly recommend no underwire when you're breastfeeding, which I wish I had known sooner. 

TWO COMFORTABLE/LOOSE TOPS
I liked to have one cute loose fitting top for the second day I was in the hospital for visitors, although I did end up staying in my robe most of the time anyways. But, I want to have that option this time around. I also packed a second comfortable top to have for when we go home. I plan to wear them with the leggings I mentioned above, since I know I probably won't feel like wearing jeans or shorts so soon after delivery. 

NURSING PILLOW
Since I plan to try to breast feed, this is definitely a must have on my list. It makes it so much easier to get comfortable nursing with the pillow you know you'll be using at home. (I have THIS nursing pillow).

PILLOW FROM HOME
I remember not really being a big fan of the pillows at the hospital, so this time around I will definitely take one of my own. Just make sure you have it in a pillow case that you know is yours so it doesn't get mixed in with the pillows there!

 MAKE-UP/TOILETRIES
I plan to just pack make-up basics, dry shampoo and any toiletries I need this time. I'll be completely honest, I didn't wash my hair at the hospital last time since it was chore enough just to rinse off in the shower. I may throw a curling wand in there, just in case I decide to do something with my second//third day hair. 

BREAST PUMP
I didn't take this with me last time, but I plan to this time. Since I had such a hard time breast feeding with Ian, I want to have it on hand in case I have issues with this baby too. I may not even end up using it, but I want to have it there in case I do need it! (I have THIS pump, and it is really great).

What to Pack for Baby

TWO OUTFITS
I quickly realized I packed way to much for Ian shortly after we had him. The hospital has all the supplies you need (including diapers/wipes, alcohol, vaseline, etc.) besides any cute outfits, so this is about all I plan to pack this time around. 

PERSONALIZED BLANKET/HAT
I just ordered Baby Boy a personalized blanket, and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. I have toyed with getting him a personalized hat as well, but Ian was born with a head full of hair, so if his brother is too, I'd hate to cover it up!

What to Pack for Hubby

SNACK/GOODIE BAG
I always let Charlie pack his own bags because he's very particular about what he wants to wear, but I did pack him a little goodie bag for the hospital. It included snacks, magazines, change for the vending machines, and I think our iPad is what I packed last time around, but I may just pack our laptop this time. Depending on when I go into labor, Charlie may be staying at home at night with Ian to ease the transition since there will be so many changes for him (definitely a game time decision since we have no idea when he'll come unless we're induced!). He'll still be spending plenty of time with me at the hospital no matter what, so I plan to do this little snack bag for him again.

Ian's Birth Story

As we are nearing closer and closer to Baby Boy #2's anticipated arrival date, it has really gotten me reminiscing about when Ian was born. It also makes me sad to think that our oldest has grown up so much already, but I wanted to take the time to document Ian's birth story. I can't believe its been over two years, and I haven't written it down yet.

Ian was due on April 24, 2015. It was a pretty good pregnancy for me. I was really sick in the first trimester, but once that passed about week 13, I truly felt great and enjoyed being pregnant. I carried Ian pretty low most of the pregnancy and didn't really have many issues, but once the last month rolled around the back pain became pretty bad. I gained an average amount of weight (well from where I started before I got sick the first trimester...I lost about 8 pounds when I was sick), but my back was absolutely killing me from the pressure. We talked to our doctor about the options of waiting it out or being induced, and we decided that if he didn't come naturally, I would be induced on his due date that Friday. 

Well, April 22nd rolls around and Charlie hadn't even packed his bags yet, but I told him to pack them after he got back from lifting class that night, just to be safe. I went to bed pretty early around 9PM that night since I hadn't been sleeping well, and Charlie followed not too long after. I woke up around 11PM having some serious contractions. I bounced around on a big exercise ball since it was about the only way I could relieve the pain for hours just counting my contractions. At right around 2AM, my contractions had been consistent, and I decided it was time to head to the hospital. So I woke Charlie up and we headed to St. Thomas Midtown to see if it was go time.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The nurses were so nice and calm (I mean I know they see this everyday, but it made me feel so much more comfortable), got us through our paperwork extremely quickly, and they had me in a room to be examined in no time. They checked me, and I was a little bit dilated, I can't remember exactly how much, but said they would check back in an hour. Well, an hour rolled around, they checked me again and nothing had changed. I was so afraid they were going to give me some sleeping pills and just send me home. Thankfully, they called our doctor, and since we were scheduled to be induced the next day anyways, they told us they were going to keep me and admit me. I cannot tell you how relieved I was, especially knowing that I didn't have to go home and be in pain for another 24 hours.

They got us up to a room and told me to try and rest, and that they would give me pitocin to induce around 7AM if I hadn't made any progress. I did end up having to be induced and have my water broken, and then the waiting game began (of course, after I got my epidural--those things are the bomb!). So, we got to hang out and wait around for a little bit, and around 2:15PM, the nurse came in to check me and said I was fully dilated, and it was time to start pushing. She had to do a little lobbying to get our doctor in my room instead of rushing to a C-Section first since Ian was not waiting around, but nonetheless, about 30 minutes later our little man came out with his full head of dark hair (it was the first thing the nurse told us she saw)!

Our little miracle Ian Charles was born at 2:43PM, weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces, and was 19 inches long. Talk about love at first sight! I couldn't control my emotions, it truly was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced (I'm tearing up right now just thinking about it...silly pregnancy hormones!). Charlie was a champ through the whole thing too, although I thankfully couldn't feel too much, I couldn't have done it without him. He truly is my rock.

{our first picture as a family of three!}

After he was born, they monitored Ian pretty closely because he wasn't as vocal as I guess they wanted him to be, but he really was the picture perfect healthy little baby, and that was honestly what we had been praying for the whole pregnancy.

You always hear the saying "it goes too fast," and it really does. Although some days may be tough, and I may be exhausted a lot of the time, I am so thankful that we have a healthy and active 2 year old running around. I wouldn't trade being his momma for the world. I cannot wait to see what adventures Baby Boy #2 brings to our little family.

xoxo, Ash