A day in the life

...of a stay at home momma.

Let's be real here,  a lot of people have this idea of stay at home moms as some sort of Wisteria Lane where we all drive massive SUV's and are dressed beautifully and wear aprons and bake cookies all day long and gossip all day long. I'm here to tell you what it's really like. for me, at least. the dirty details:

7:30am: Baby cries. Mommy turns off the monitor, rolls over and tells Daddy the baby is crying. Daddy doesn't flinch.

7:35am: Baby is screaming and now Toddler is awake pounding on his door to be let out.
7:40am: Mommy rolls out of bed. Assumes her husband must be dead.

From here, I typically get about 30 seconds to myself and I use it to pee. I always pee first thing in the morning or else I'll wet myself because I won't get an opportunity for another couple of hours, and well...we all know how us moms and our bladder control are.

I somehow manage to get the coffee going, but don't even consider making myself breakfast yet. I stick two waffles in the toaster while my toddler has a melt down that he can't have them right now. While those are cooking, I make a bottle and press the ON button on the TV and whatever DVD was in there starts playing. (This is where being thankful for Disney Fast Play comes in at Thanksgiving). I have about 5 minutes to do this before I want to run far away. If you've ever heard Tristan have a meltdown, you know why. Once the waffles are done, I stick em on a plate and I hand it to him. Yep. I let him eat his waffles in front of the TV. I'm a quality mommy. I pour myself some coffee, and sit down to catch up on my social media while the kids play with cars, roll on the floor, and watch Mickey Mouse. Then when I realize that we're already late for the gym, I go in and yell for the Hubs to wake up. He doesn't move a muscle. Must be dead. The next step of our morning is my least favorite.  The huge ordeal of removing pajamas. I always opt to change Ryan first because he's not very strong so if he tries to put up a fight I can put him in his place. Changing Tristan out of his pajamas is sometimes a 20 minutes process. By this time, our goal of getting to the gym by 945 is shot, but at least the Hubs is vertical. Not moving yet, but vertical.

Slowly but surely we make it to the gym. The getting up and moving, getting dressed and out of the door is the hardest part of my day.

My glamorous Housewife outfit

From here, things vary. For example, today we had the great task of an oil change. However, this was no ordinary oil change. This was my very first GROUPON purchase. We desperately needed new wiper blades and an oil change and this package included those bad boys so I just felt like it was made for me. Oil changes irritate me. I hate paying for things that I can't see. Really, I'm just very frugal I suppose but just like I hate when the Hubs spends the money on fast food (because we have nothing to show for it), I hate spending money on changing my oil. Isn't this what parents are for? These are the boring and tedious parts of becoming an adult and parent that I'd rather not experience. I once complained to my stepmom about how irritating it was for me to buy toilet paper. Yes, I also hate buying toilet paper. For my birthday that year, I recieved a costco pack of toilet paper. Best.gift. ever. Except for my thirty 2 liters of Diet Coke that my arrived at my doorstep on my 23rd birthday, also courtesy of my stepmom.

the great part about having kids is that any errand, is an adventure.
i like adventures.

Next on the agenda, or maybe this was before...? It all starts to run together. I mean, I thought it was Tuesday today. Either way, we made a stop somewhere in there to pick up ink cartridges for the printer. *Exciting* I know. Then, we headed to the bank. Letting my husband go into the bank by himself always worries me. He is too polite. They always try to sucker him in to something and it always takes 20 minutes. 

Oh well, lucky for me the kids fell asleep. 

Now that our alloted errands time is up, it's time to go home for lunch, nap time, and to  let our dogs out. Can't forget about them. I love to order things online for the pure excitement of recieving things in the mail or on my doorstep. I typically get a better price too and I rarely overspend when I shop online too. Today, this is what came:

Martha Stewart fringe scissors, Tristan's birthday cupcake stand and cupcake wrappers...
oh yes. and Catching Fire. So excited.
Thank you Amazon.

This is a hightlight of my day.

Next, the Hubs leaves and is off to work. I get a little ME time to shower, facebook, etc.

Today, I got a nice treat. It's always a more eventful day when I get a friend to come visit, but it's the best when my favorite redhead comes to play. This time, we had big plans. Our favorite pastimes have always included gorging ourselves with delicious treats, gossiping about everyone we know, and watching ridiculous shows such as Teen Mom, Sex and the City, etc. You get the idea. This time, we chose a more healthy route. Although Kristen never shows up without food of some sort (this time = carrot cake cupcakes), we actually had plans to go to the gym together. Originally we were going to test out a Spin class (or Cycle as LA Fitness calls it) but I got the days mixed up, so we're going to test that out on Monday. Working out with friends is so much more fun. It didn't even seem like work. 

Naturally, we stopped at Starbucks on the way home and Kristen treated me and Tristan to some yummy treats. I've gotten Tristan into a terrible habit where he thinks that Starbucks means donuts. He always gets a donut when we go to Starbucks. So, of course he got a donut. These things are half the size of his head. and he's in the 75% percentile!

It's also 7 o clock which means it dinner time. Yep. Like I said, I'm a quality mommy. He also got to share a cupcake with me and scarf down dinonuggets for dinner. Now that's what I call the dinner of a champion. 

Kristen was off and bedtime had arrived. Changing into pj's is the easiest part of my day. Tristan happily and obediently lets me get the pj's on and Ryan is usually half awake during this. By the time I'm done putting Ryan's pj's on, he's struggling to keep his eyes open. Within seconds of being put in his crib, he's asleep. Angel baby.

Next is story time with Tristan. If Ryan is still awake, we like to invite him too. I can practically recite Mr. Brown Can Moo and the Very Hungry Caterpillar, along with several others but I don't even have to recite The Very Hungry Caterpillar tonight because by the time I finish Mr. Brown Can Moo, T is wiping his eyes and laying down. 

Now, is my time to catch up on cleaning, laundry, feed the dogs dinner, ask google all the questions about life I've ever had, and blog.

So there you have it. 

A day in the life of Ashley Thompson, housewife version.

Husband Appreciation Day

Yeah, I made that up. Just go with it...

Last night, I made the executive decision to change my Blogger name from "Ashley and Eric" to Ashley, since we all know that I'm the one writing these things. When I started the blog, I had kind of hoped that Mr. Thompson would make an appearance or two, but I was being silly. It's just not his style. So in honor of cutting out the Hubs from the blog, I'm going to tell you all about Mr. Thompson. Ok and a little about me, because let's face it...we're like two peas in a pod.

Mr. Thompson and I met in Seattle while working at the Downtown Dog Lounge. He was supposed to be showing me the ropes but all I could think about was how awkward it was. This guy is totally cute and he's teaching me how to pick up dog crap? Real romantic. I'd like to say that we took things slow and really got to know each other before we decided that we wanted to start dating. We waited a whole 11 days. Excruciating! You want to know how we became official? Oh yeahhh... facebook relationship change. I mean, we already knew it, but I needed to know...were we "Official official"? And by that, I mean "Facebook Official". So I called him and told him to check his facebook. Yeah, I know. Cute.

Today, while we were coming home from the gym and other silly errands Mr. Thompson was talking with one of his sisters on the phone about some upcoming plans for the weekend. He literally said, "Well, I don't know. I just go where I'm told."

My husband is easy going, that's for sure. He works hard to make me happy. And that my friends, is no easy task. Just ask my mother.

So here's what we already know about Mr. Thompson: He's easy going. He's a hard worker. He's a wife-pleaser (aka happy wife/happy life- that's his motto!). He doesn't like to lead, he'd rather follow- except when it comes to putting IKEA furniture together. Then in that case he just likes to complain, I mean lead, and then refuse to let me help.

Okay okay, on to the good stuff about Mr. Thompson, but seriously. This man puts up with a lot from me and I'm pretty thankful for it. We've been through a lot together and quite frankly I just can't imagine my life without him. Who else would allow me to play my favorite songs on repeat, and merely joke "Is this a new song, I've never heard it before"? Nobody, that's who.

My most favorite trait that Mr. Thompson holds is that he is a top-notch Daddy. He's not afraid of a diaper, although sometimes he yells out, "Ashley, Ashley! I need your help!" when things get a little scary, even though I never help. I just stand there and say, "What am I supposed to do?". He makes a mean bottle, and while he's working on the Mac N Cheese, at least we're moving in the right direction. Progress not perfection right? He's also a great horsey and tickle monster. He's an excellent sports coach, and his dressing skills have GREATLY improved. It's rare that I have to re-dress the kids into more aesthetically pleasing outfits these days. It may also help that after Tristan outgrew things, I got rid of things that I loathed but somehow always managed to get on my babies body when Daddy did the dressing.

And last but not least, I'm grateful that my husband once thought he was a "Gangsta" (although he will deny these accusations) and saved a couple of his "Tall Tee's" from back in the day so that I could have a nightgown that came down to my knees when I was preggo.

Tristan's Toddler Room

Before he outgrows this baby, I better post it. I was really attached to the boys old room that they shared so it's still an adjustment to having separate rooms. Their bedding matches, for heavens sake...but we're all in agreeance that until they're both old enough to sleep through the night they're going to have separate rooms. Or until baby Olivia comes along. Then she will get her own room, of course, since she will be a girl and a princess. (I bet you're all praying I won't ever have a girl with that last statement, but please don't. I'm only kidding.)

This is the only picture of their shared room, unfortunately. If you can see what's wrong with this picture, you'll win a prize. To the left (what's not pictured) was Ryan's crib, another book shelf, and a coat rack. Wish I had taken more pics!

So for now, Tristan has a green toddler room; full of chaos and toys and Ryan has a blue nursery with my beloved Glider passed on to me from my Sister-in-Law. The rooms came pre-painted in the perfect colors. Tristan's color is green and Ryan's is blue, but their bedding is both. They have matching twin sized bedding too that gifted to us this Christmas (Thanks Mom & Grandma/pa!) so eventually I am going to give in and purchase bunkbeds for the two, even though I have horrible bunkbed nightmares, thanks to my brother.

I liked both rooms for awhile, but I didn't love them.  Since I took furniture they were previously sharing and split them up into separate rooms, each room felt like something was missing. I figured I would start on Tristan's room since all Ryan does in his is sleep. It's pretty basic. We don't change diapers in their rooms anymore since I moved all their diaper stuff to the living room. Too hard to have separate changing tables, two of everything, etc etc.

Ryan's room is still going to be a bit of a work in progress, but here's what it looks like:

Today, I woke up with a major head cold/ache and a tight chest. I chose to skip the gym (this is my first time ever, so I have no guilt!) and rest up. I've been fighting through this head cold since Saturday and I finally just need to be done with it. We took Tristan to his playgroup this morning and had lunch/nap so we've been at home the rest of the day. So naturally, I did a little rearranging. Duh.

Final product: 

♥ Instagram ♥

About a year or so, I started getting Instagram envy. Due to account changes, I went from being on my mom's plan on Verizon...eagerly awaiting the Iphone for Verizon to getting our own plan. We got stuck with Tmobile because Eric was already on Tmobile and in order to not get the cancellation fee, I had to be added and then we broke away and created our own account. Oy. Do I ever hate Tmobile. Okay, I don't hate them, but I miss Verizon. And I'm really bitter I missed out on the IPhone. Once I got the MyTouch, I realized the only thing I needed from the IPhone was INSTAGRAM. I couldn't understand why they wouldn't make an App for Android! So I checked every now and then for similar apps, and kept going back to Instagram's website when finally. Finally, finally, finally. They had a "Coming Soon to Android!" sign on their site, with a little tiny box underneath where you could be notified by email when this happened. I jumped on that bad boy in a heartbeat but tried not to get too excited, realizing this could be a ways out. This was last week.

Yesterday morning, I'm hopping on my eliptical when my phone vibrates (I only get service in the Cardio section so this was even more exciting). Email. Check email... and there it was. The most glorious email I have ever recieved. I clicked on the download button before I even got to :30 on my time on the eliptical. Unfortunately, I had to exercise longer than I planned because I only got service in that spot and it took FOREVER to download. Yes, the whole 25 minutes on the Eliptical, and I was only at 58%! Eric was getting impatient and we were kind of in a hurry due to story time being at 11:10 and it was already 10:25.

Finally, my time came, and Instagram was fully downloaded. My life was finally complete. I had a husband, two beautiful little boys, two obnoxious but cute dogs, a nice home and neighborhood, and Instagram. What more could I want in life? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing.

My first 24 hours on Instagram: 

Blog Guilt + some good ole fashion feelers ;)

Do you ever feel guilty that you haven't updated your blog in awhile, so instead of just hopping on and updating, you avoid it...for even longer.

Well that's what's been going on lately. Life in Covington is full speed ahead. Yes, now we have two cars, and now I have 1.5 mobile babies (Yes, Ryan is the .5... he's inching and rolling and scooting around but not quite mobile)  so naturally I'd be a bit busier but I definitely think it's just me and Covington. This place reminds me so much of Issaquah that I really feel at home here and I'm starting to reach my goal of trying new things/experiencing things that may be uncomfortable at first aka REACHING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE. For a long time, I wanted to move back to Issaquah and eventually lay down some roots there but I'm starting to really love everything that Covington has to offer and I think I may have found my home. Not making any promises...but we'll see :) Anyway, the point is that we've been "On the Go"-- which is good!

The last 2 years have been an amazing ride. That's really the only way to describe it. But it was definitely a ride. I had a lot of extremely high highs and a lot of low lows. I started to really resent being in Renton; how could I not? We basically packed up our party kids lifestyle, left Seattle and all the culture and diversity that I loved-- ok fine, and all the hippies that I loved and Eric hated-- and moved to Renton to become boring old parents overnight. My life went from "Where's the party at?" to "Who pooped" instantly. I lost a lot of friends along the way and it was hard. Probably the hardest part of becoming a parent. Harder than getting up 5 times in one night, harder than labor, feeding a child with my body and all that pain that comes with it. Hard, hard, hard. I haven't talked much about it publicly because I tend to feel a little hostile and bitter...and a whole lot of resentment starts to boil but I think I've just accepted it now. My true friends have stuck around and that's all that matters to me now.

The adjustment was hard on me because not only was I adjusting my life as a new mom and the demands of having a baby- oh yes, and then just when things started to get a bit easier with Tristan, the demands of being pregnant, and then the demands of Toddlerhood...and then TWO babies. We were also dealing with one car, and a swing shift. Worst combo ever. If Eric had had a day shift, having one car = not so bad. But when you have a baby/pregnant/two babies...it's just not possible to get up at 3,4,5,6 AM (when you yourself got to bed around midnight) to go pick up your husband, and then come home and try to put those babies back to sleep, fall asleep yourself, and then get up in 2-3 hours...for the day. Can you tell we tried it? Anyway, it was a bit depressing being cooped up in house all day. I started to get cabin fever. Now, it's nice to be able to have my own schedule- one that can coincide with Eric's work schedule but does not revolve around it, and be able to attend classes I would have never been able to attend, ETC. You get the idea. Freedom = Happy Mama.

Anyway, we are busier than ever but I am lovin' it! We had a non-stop month of March and the trend seems to be continuing...with Conference last weekend, and now Easter and Tristan's 2nd birthday, my Mom coming up for a visit, my little brother home from College before he's off on his mission...it's going to be a busy month! I'll try to stay more on top of the blogging. I really truly wish to blog every day but sometimes my heart just isn't in it and I just want to go to bed :)

Here's some highlights:

Until next time!