Gift Guide {For Your Littles}

Support the makers and shop small for your little. Invest in quality and you'll have heirloom pieces you'll love for generations! Here are some of my very favorite small businesses for baby! and here's one more that polyvore wasn't letting me add for some reason!

Shop Small for Baby by ashleyanielson featuring plaid christmas stockings

Old Navy On Point For the Whole Fam!

I had some Old Navy Cash that just MADE me stop in the store and look around for some Fall goodies and I was blown away with how much good stuff they have right now for the whole family! I must say, it's a good thing I don't have a little girl, because I was DYING at all the cute things they have--I blew up my sisters phone with all the sweet tops and dresses she needed for her new little lady baby. Here are my favorite things (and of course, pretty much everything is on major sale, because, it's old navy, and that's always the case!)--too many of them are happily hanging in my closet...

Just click on any items that catch your eye to shop!

“She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world.”

i shot these this morning of my big sister just few minutes before she headed off to the hospital.

i'm so excited to meet my new nephew--i've been pestering her to have this baby for weeks (as if i'm the one who should be complaining about how long pregnancy is...)

the baby has had some heart problems that could have been pretty serious, so we're all really grateful that the medications are working well and everything seems to be okay.

it was my first experience with indoor maternity and i thought the pictures turned out beautifully--of course when you have a beautiful home and a beautiful sister to work with, it makes my job pretty easy.

 wish her luck today!

xo, ashley

a princess animal party--they happen.

mama deer and baby deerest.

My sweet niece was having a birthday and when she was asked what kind it should be, "animal princess" was her reply.

There is only one woman I know who could take a little girls request and turn it into a true magical fairyland--my sister-in-law Reachel. She's basically Wonderwoman, and i'm so glad i get to attend her parties.

the spread

{i'm hoping she'll do a post on her blog with more detailed pictures...}

all the woodland creatures playing hot potato

 the sparkler candle was pretty exciting, 

 until she realized her lung capacity was no match for its powerful sparks.

two little deers, one is turning three.

i think it was at this moment that Coco finally realized that everyone was dressed like an animal princess, and it was awesome. 

Cold-Hearted Woman

Poppy got her 3rd round of shots today and she's been super snuggly because of it. 

She won't let me put her down at all--and when she's being this sweet, i don't really want to. 

I feel like i've learned so much from this little deer. 

i'm going to admit something that is probably going to sound really coldhearted, but for the past few years of my life i didn't know if i was going love being a mom, or even like it for that matter. and i was more than certain i wasn't going to have that  

 'i can't stand to be away from my child' 'i have to capture every moment' feeling for my babies.
When mothers talked about it, i thought it was great that they felt that way, but i couldn't comprend it happening to me.

here comes another kicker:

i've never been a baby person. 

i grew up with my two best girl friends being obsessed with babies. we would go to the mall in jr. high and high school and they wanted to go into baby gap to look at the tiny clothes.
i, on the other hand, wanted to go to forever21. 
someone close to them would have a baby and all they could think about was meeting it, and holding it and babysitting it.
i was good after one hold. 

being the very youngest of 8 children i grew up with tons of nieces and nephews. i was always the favorite aunt and i loved them. i love toddlers and i get along with older kids easily.
but babies--that's another story. 
all they do is lay there, and cry, and poop, and demand to be held and for what seems like too long in my book, they can't even smile or make eye-contact.
i crave my own time and time with marcus and the thought of having someone who literally needs me every moment, frankly, freaks me out.

But i also didn't want a dog. i had them growing up and they were adorable and sweet and they made me laugh, but i can not say i was a dog person. for along with their cuteness, comes their stink and shed and special ability to go to the bathroom in places they shouldn't--i knew they were a lot of work. 

marcus wanted one so bad and i felt bad, but there was no way i was allowing one in our house--because i knew, like my mom once knew with me, that i would be the one home with it all day, and i would in turn be the one who took care of it.

so, when one spontaneous labor day this year we found ourselves driving out to phoenix to look at puppies, i was surely off my game. and when after only 2 hours of contemplation we came home with a dog in our arms, i must have been slipped a drug...but since that moment, i have been utterly in love with this thing.

after a couple weeks of having her, i told ashley i would like to volunteer with the shine project, i had to leave her for 4 hours and i almost had a panic attack on the drive there.
i thought my heart might actually break.
and i had to set up her own instagram account because i knew if i didn't my entire feed would be taken up by every move she made. each move cuter than the last.

while i still feel i like i'm not ready to take the baby plunge, poppy reh has given me hope that when the time comes, i will become the doting mother i want to be. because even i, the coldhearted one, know that humans are probably even more special than puppies.
(but don't tell poppy i said so)

outfit details:

white v-neck//american apparel

army green trench//c.o. oasap

gold necklaces//nordstrom and stella&dot

skinnies//downeast

cain flats//c.o. blowfish shoes

beach wave//tutorial here

More Urban Outfitters...

day one, logged.

we've embarked on a grand adventure we've accurately dubbed, Practice Parenthood.

my brother and sister-in-law needed a little break so off to Mexico they flew, leaving us with a gorgeous new house and two of the most perfect specimens on the planet to tend to.

day one:

hours of cartoons//1

child meltdowns//0

adult meltdowns//1

diapers changed//9

minor injuries//1

major injuries//0

everything about day one was perfect. except for my poor decision to take both the kids to the grocery store during the hottest/most humid part of the day. ya, that was when the adult meltdown went down. i'm pretty sure if i was a parent in arizona in the summer i would NEVER leave the house. Never.

coco trying to communicate something to marcus... 

 coco feeling frustrated that marcus doesn't understand...

 message finally received.

 Woohoo!

and levi wants a turn!

 notice the slobber, snot stains on marcus' shirt!

wish me luck, i'm sure it will get harder as the week goes on!

life lessons from the littles.

indoor skydiving experience with all my brothers, but at the point this picture was taken, he had no idea why i had given him this toy...

This year we woke up casually around 7AM and exchanged a few gifts with marcus' parents, but it sure didn't feel like christmas until we got to andrew and reachel's house and the little ones were in their christmas jammies with smiles on their faces. it seems christmas isn't christmas without kiddies.

we ate breakfast and visited a bit before andrew and reachel announced that today was the day they could unwrap the gifts under the tree! coco was giddy and because coco was excited levi was too.

once we started unwrapping, the kids opened a toy or two and then when andrew asked if coco wanted to open her next present, her simple reply was, "No."

she was thoroughly content with her homemade swing and levi was sitting pretty with a bottle of milk in hand. they had something they liked, and that was quite enough.

sometimes it takes the contentment of a child to teach us a lesson in simplicity.

(and sometimes it takes watching older siblings spend a lot of time and money on presents for little ones to realize that you're never buying your kids anything for at least the first few years...)

Hope your Christmas was lovely! 

Send links to your recaps so I can see!