My FAVORITE SYRS episode, was when you had your 5 year vow renewal at Disney. In that video; you expressed how you admired Joey for always be so certain about things that you just weren’t. I had the feeling then, that you were unsure about starting a family. I love the way the 2 of you come to agreements together. May God continue to Bless your beautiful family and life!🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
Hi Ashley , I'm a 62 year old mother and grandmother. I do so enjoy your videos ! Raising both of my girls was the best days of my life . You are a delight to watch and a wonderful mother.
I loved this video! Your family is so perfect for you! The main takeaway is that every family is unique, and that is beautiful! As a family of one child by choice (as was our plan all along!), I completely agree with living in the moment and embracing life as it comes. Let tomorrow’s worries come as they may. For us, every first is also our last-first word, first steps, moving to a big girl bed, first day of Kindergarten (which will be later this year!), etc. But that helps us live in the moment and not wish away time. We embrace all of the emotions because they are all part of our life journey! My husband is an only child himself, so we see so many benefits of it and already feel “only child” dynamics with his family and know how beautiful that can be. We are so thankful for our daughter-she is such a gift to us!❤️❤️❤️ I would love to collaborate with you!
I'm a mom of four, born within 6 yrs. They are now starting to graduate and leave my home. For me, the hardest transition has been these last few years- I no longer can fix their problems like when they were little- I can only watch, encourage, advise and hope we have taught them well enough as they start their own new adventures. It's hard realizing I have to let them go and fly on their own. I know they're ready but I still want to scoop them up and hold them in my arms. Enjoy your babies!
I absolutely love your positivity and your transparency. The things you share so openly with us gives me the courage to share more with the people in my life. My hubby and I have followed you guys for years, and seeing your beautiful family grow as been so incredible. Thank you for sharing your world and your experiences with us. My husband, Justin and I are still just the two of us. We've always wanted children, we even have them named already, but because of my anxiety we've held back. I'm so scared I couldn't be the mom they would deserve. Everyday we both struggle with this decision though, and as years go by it's becoming more and more unlikely. So I try to find peace and contentment in being the two of us. Thank you again for such thought provoking questions!! This channel has been such an incredible encouragement, filled with wonderful supportive people. I know I'll personally support you even if you had to drop down to once a month!! Do what you need to do and what's best for your family.. we'll always be here supporting your channels 💜
In this video, when you said “you may never feel 100% done (having kids),” that resonated with me so much. I have a three year old boy, and for a while my husband and I considered having a second, but because of timing, logistics, finances, etc., we decided to keep it to one. I still have a longing some days to have another, even knowing that it’s just not doable for us, and even remembering how jarring and hard it was having him in the first place and how hard it is at times now. Thank you for putting your thoughts into words and reminding me that I’m not alone in my feelings.
I feel like I really needed this today. Thank you for sharing your heart. I feel like so many moms post one side of motherhood and don’t think about other people’s situations and how difficult the journey can be. I love that you really address so many viewpoints. I, like you, always wanted a big family. When I finally got pregnant, I dreamed of what it would be like giving birth, adventures with my baby as he grew up, all of the traditional things parents experience. I ended up having an emergency c-section under general anesthesia and never got to experience his birth. I have a lot of PTSD associated with that experience. He was diagnosed with autism at 2 and our entire lives have changed. He is SO incredible. So smart. So funny. So loving. But there was definitely a grieving process when you put all of these parental expectations on yourself and then they all change. There’s a high chance I won’t be a grandparent. We aren’t able to travel. Every minute is spent as a teaching moment. We spend most of our spare time in speech and occupational therapy. All the little wins have become huge moments for us. I feel so blessed to have him in my life and for everything he has taught me as a human. I worry about him not having a sibling because I know we won’t always be here and I want to make sure someone is there for him. So many things you don’t think you’ll have to consider when you become a parent, but you are so right - you can never be prepared enough!
I loved this! I work full time and am also raising 11yr old twin boys one of which has special needs. I wouldn't mind giving my perspective of raising a child with special needs along with a typical child. Always look forward for your videos. Keep them coming!
Thank you for sharing Ashley. Very nice to hear your perspective and coping mechanisms for decisions. I struggle with excepting choices I've made and often regret things, your point of view is very true, you always miss out so why regret. I will remember that going forward. To answer your question: We had a baby boy March 2020 and before then I had never experienced such a shift in my life. Transitioning from a couple to a family was a HUGE adjustment. We had got very comfortable as a couple, and like you I did not appreciate just how impacting sleep deprivation is, completely through me. We had our own challenges as baby boy was 10weeks premiture and had some feeding complications, which I'd say was the hardest stage of my life to date, and also the hardest to say goodbye to strangely, as because of this I had to stop nursing at 4months and really wish I could have experienced that longer. However things happen for a reason and baby boy is thriving now and not far from turning 1.😢 I'm living every moment like it's the last whether we have another child or not. Currently going through pre-crawling stage and would love to hear how Lee and Dennis developed and figured out how to crawl and then walk. ❤
I have an idea for a future video. I would love if Joe could catch you playing with the boys, cooking, resting, doing an errand, talking on your cell with a friend or family member, eating and doing the thumbs up sign. Just capturing you, Ashley, sister, friend, mom, wife. It would make a beautiful tribute video, (and you can have a break that one day that week of not taping or editing). It would be beautiful if Joe could spotlight Ashley. (Mother's Day is in May - hint hint)!
While we had a very long, bumpy road to becoming parents (5+ years), the transition from 0 to 1 to 2 kids happened in a matter of 60 seconds, so it was pretty intense to say the least. I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about the different stages given that the girls’ 5th birthday is coming up. Each stage was fulfilling, yet each was also challenging in its own way. That said, as challenging as twin parenthood is, I still cannot imagine the dynamic of parenting a toddler and a baby at the same time. As always, thank you for opening up and sharing, Ashley. ❤️
I’ve been a viewer of see ya real soon for at least 5 years now, and seeing you on your new channel makes me so happy! You have made strides in your confidence in front of the camera on your own! Thank you for sharing more family moments behind Disney trips! Love from Texas!
Love these heart to heart videos! I also love how you've built a little community around your kindness and positivity. I am not a mom yet but in the future doing a zoom meet and greet with this little tribe of awesome women could be really fun! Just a passing thought as you talk about collaborating! Sending love and prayers to you and your wonderful family!
Love your positivity and honesty! We just started our family so it was very interesting to hear from someone’s point of view who feels their family is complete. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Ashley! I LOVED this video! I clicked on it so fast after bedtime and enjoyed it as I do most of your videos in the quiet once the boys are asleep :). It was so neat to hear more of you and your families journey to your boys and how your heart got to the places it did. It was so relatable and neat to hear and just your positive outlook as a boy mama was and is exactly how I feel as well! There is something so special about being entrusted with these little lives! I loved how you talked about how we will always long for a baby no matter how many we have because you’re so right! I deff wonder those same things. For us we had babies sooner than we ever planned as we hadn’t even been married two year but we actually got pregnant in Aug 2014 abs unfortunately lost that baby at 7.5 weeks and while the pregnancy was not planned and came as a huge shock as I was working full time and Corey was in grad school and I had planned to go back after he finished we welcomed that baby and shifted plans and when all the sudden those plans had been taken almost and dreams our dreams changed suddenly and we felt the desire very quickly to fill that hole even if it didn’t match our “5 year marriage plan”. Thankfully I was able to conceive hudson shortly after our loss but it deff changed my whole perspective on pregnancy and things being pregnant after miscarriage. Then when it came to having Jude we deff thought about what would be the perfect timing but also knew we wanted them close in age and now they are a little over 2 years apart and we love it! It was much harder than we anticipated having a 2 year and newborn but looking back now 3 years later I wouldn’t change a thing :). We also got a LOT of pressure for him to be a girl and still get those comments of “when are you gonna try for your girl” and sometimes those comments hurt or make me sad because it down plays the amazing aspects of two boys because like you said everyone is missing out on something and if Jude had been a boy we would have never seen the bond of brotherhood! I loved your take on all of that ☺️. We very much thought too we would have 4 kids when we got married and now we aren’t so sure. We don’t feel title or done and would like one more and is something we are working on now as I overcome some hormonal health things and just letting my body have this break which has been nice, but there are some days I do think if we aren’t blessed with another little one I love our family just as is! 💙 Lastly I would love to collaborate on the future with you as you asked in any way! I love you continue to involve us as your subscribers! I am currently taking a little social media break so I am not on Instagram but may email you too! Anyways thanks again, I continue to be so inspired by you and thankful for your real and honest beautiful depiction of motherhood!! You have deff made me feel less alone in it and I am sure many others! Also it’s so so hard to pack away baby clothes ugh 🥺 it’s ripped my heart out now twice! Sending you hugs! Kassandra (or kassandralexis on Instagram! ☺️)
I love your positivity and how close you are with your family and learning how to have a better relationship with everyone from you. Our first was an accident and to be quite honest I was just not ready yet, I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted kids but we’ve always said we’re lucky he happened because we might have put off having kids for too long. It was such a different experience choosing to have our second. As an only child I just really wanted our son to have a sibling and he loves his little sister. And I got lucky to get the girl that I really wanted. I find the clothes transition so cathartic. It’s a good time to clean out all the toys they aren’t playing with any more and nice to not have to stuff the dresser with clothes (grandma, thank you but please stop). I have a very different perspective than most where I’m an engineer and at this point am excited to never have to do the baby phase again. I always try to share my perspective as it’s less common or maybe less shared and it’s important that every mom knows no matter what kind of mom you are as long as you love your kids (most of the time) you’re doing a good job!
As a mom of 10 year old girl/boy twins, and someone who had a complete hysterectomy at 29, I STILL want more kiddos. But, having a family of four is so convenient for our lifestyle and just makes sense for us!
I love the explanation you have for accepting having only boys. We have a one and three year old boy. Our family feels complete for now and we are happy with having two boys. We feel the same way about staying a family of four for vacations and giving them experiences. Being a navy family we feel only having two kids is the best for us. I totally feel you on your one year old being more of a toddler. Mine is the same right now! It’s exhausting. Hang in there!
I just wanted to say thank you Ashley for opening up. This really helped me today. We just had our third child 3 weeks ago and I'm a stay-at-home mom. I have been very overwhelmed and the way you explained how you dealt with the transition helped me find some perspective. These stages will pass and I will figure it out. Thank you for doing this.
Hi! Working from home Mom of 2. 2.5 girl and 7 month boy! I would love to contribute as I feel I have a unique perspective on parenthood. Both my children were conceived via fertility treatments after a long struggle to conceive. So I feel it provides me a different outlook. Your videos bring me joy and community and I thank you for them!!!!!
Oh my goodness, this has been my favorite visit to the lemonade stand so far! I'd love to collaborate! So many things you've said here really resonated with me. Thank you for your honesty and for so eloquently stating what I've been feeling on some level for awhile. I am a mom to one, and currently, am happy with that number 😊
Thank you so much for sharing Ashley! I can definitely relate to always wondering what you may be missing out on, but moving forward anyway. We have decided that becoming parents isn’t the right thing for our little family, and that our energies will be best served as aunt and uncle and as pet parents. However I certainly do have fleeting moments where I wonder if I will feel like I’ve missed out in the future, but you are so right that everyone misses out on something. There are some things we will miss out on, but we will also have wonderful and unique experiences as a couple without children. It can be tough as a woman feeling like having children is what’s expected, and sometimes feeling guilt for straying from that way of life, but everyone has to choose the path that works best for them.
A few questions to add to your questions…did you plan to be a stay at home mom? Are you happy doing that? Do you plan to go back to your career at some point? Do you have to make certain choices as far as things you can do (trips, dinners out, purchases) because you are staying at home? Hopefully that’s not too nosy! Oh and did you ever make the schedule video? I know I’m way behind so maybe I’ll find that out in a few minutes!
Thank you for sharing your experience on these questions. My little one just turned two and I have been nervous lately as we have made the decision to expand our family, your video was exactly what I needed to hear. A great reminder that parenthood is unpredictable, so I should embrace the journey because it could be completely different then the first time around.
You always articulate exactly what I'm feeling so well! Loved this video and am so grateful for any videos you do have time to make, without overwhelming yourself. I would love to see some collaborations and would love to collaborate with you in some capacity. We could bring a military family view if anyone was interested. It has its own set of challenges or gifts. 😊
Thank you for sharing your positivity! Great advice on enjoying your pregnancies! I have 2 beautiful grown daughters. It was always our family plan to have 3. Baby #2 was sick a bunch and initially had some learning disabilities. By the time we worked through all of that our marriage sadly wasn't working anymore. All being said sometimes I look back on pregnancy #2 with a bit of sadness wishing I could have it over again but as you said I may have felt the exact same way with a #3 had there been a #3.
I would love to collaborate with you! I’m a mom of 6 - 5 biological, 1 adopted ❤️ Everything you said about never feeling like you’re done having kids is absolutely true! Love seeing and hearing about your precious family!
I had such a similar experience with my kids! My first came with a slew of issues (preemie, NICU, tongue tie, triple feeding, didn't bond until she was about 6 months old), while my second was so much more relaxed (still supplementing, but that's "my fault" :D) The only problem with #2 is that he isn't a good sleeper and still wakes up multiple times at nearly 2 years old, while #1 was happily sleeping in her own bed at 10 months and rarely wakes :)
Thanks for another great video! Currently pregnant with my second, my first is almost three. Everything you said really speaks to me. I’m a teacher, but off in the summers so I get a little bit of the stay at home mom life. Thanks again!
I (Katie) would love to collaborate with you, and I’m sure Adam would too. We would love to discuss how we came to the decision to have Daisy and keep our unit as 3. Loved the video 😁
Long post alert 🤣..also kind of long winded with responses especially on the topic of kids and life choices/experiences as there is so much that goes into it. I love your honesty in this video. Being a mom is the greatest joy in my life. My daughter means everything to me ❤. All that being said It also comes with a lot of stress. Some people seem to think that having kids is easy. From the decision to have them, how many to have, getting pregnant as well as raising them. All of those can be quite challenging and the decisions behind everything is certainly not black and white. Also just as a lot of things in life, things don't go according to plan sometimes. I agree that nothing can fully prepare you for parenthood no matter how "ready" and "prepared" you are. A lot of parenting is learning as you go. No ones experience is the same. The adjustment to parenthood for us was a weird mix of natural instincts, second guessing what you are doing and a big learning curve. Truely you continue to adjust and learn as your child grows. Each new stage of their life brings new stages of parenthood as well. For us, when getting married we decided to be married for a while and enjoy time with the 2 of us before starting a family. Once ready it ended up taking us a few years to get pregnant with our daughter. It was very emotional and stressful for us. I know our struggle wasn't as hard as others but it was still a very hard road. My pregnancy was rather ok until the 3rd trimester. I was in and out of the hospital with gallbladder problems 🙁(unsure if pregnancy kickstarted it or not). I really needed to get my gallbladder out (but too far along in pregnancy) and no matter how carefully I ate I kept getting major gallbladder attacks. I was so incredibly ill and even had pancreatitis twice (because I am am over-achiever 🤣). Thankfully our daughter and I made it through ok. Our daughter was born at 35 weeks (not induced-water broke naturally). She was small but healthy and didn't need NICU 🙏❤. Me on the otherhand- I ended back up in the hospital twice after being discharged from birth with gallbladder attacks again. I got my gallbladder out 2 weeks post partum. Here I am, healing from having a child, trying to adjust to being a mom and I have to be ripped away from my baby for my own health. It was heartbreaking to be away from her. My poor husband got thrown into adjusting to being a dad partly without me there and was also worried about me. He was burning the candle at both ends working out shifts with his parents to watch our daughter so he could also be able to be with me at the hospital and find time to sleep. It was all a very stressful confusing blur and scary to be honest. We still look back at that time with mixed emotions. Our daughter is the best thing to happen to us but the time leading up to and the first bit after she arrived was emotionally scaring (more of why that is further down). I had a lot of problems with breast feeding and it didn't end up working out for me. I tried different things to help but I think with her being a month early, my milk wasn't ready to come in yet. She had poor suction and was a very sleepy eater also because she was so early- add in all my gallbladder problems it was just not working. I was very sad as it was something I had wanted to do 🙁. Because our daughter was so early and small her pediatrician had her on a rather aggresive eating schedule which left little time for us to sleep at all. It was hard to wake her up to eat (could take up to 30 minutes to actually get her to fully wake up) and then she would keep trying to fall asleep again while drinking her bottle so she ate slow. The feedings were to be close together (2 hours apart if i remember correctly) and because the feeding process took so long between the waking up and the feeding itself we basically had no sleep for a while (which was a challenge while I was trying to recooperate from giving birth and having an organ removed lol). It was hard but we got through it. Also during the first 6 months of being parents came with other adjustments, emotions and sadness (some expected and some not so much) it was certainly a lot to handle. I had some personal changes in other aspects of my life. Which while not all bad changes it was more change on top of everything else that had changed. When I became a mom I became a stay at home mom from my job of 12 years so it was a weird adjustment. One of many more changes was my childhood home sold (it had only been in our family as my grandparents owned it before us). I lived in that house from toddler years to when I moved out and got married. And then heartbreak came, I lost a very close family member when my daughter was almost 5 months old. We found out they were ill only 1 month before. We barely had enough time to process they were sick when they passed 😥. To say I was devastated was an understatement. Then 1 month later we lost our dog suddenly. Our wonderful furbaby that we got a few months after we got married also gone 😥. It is hard to grieve under normal circumstances but 2 deaths so close together while caring for an infant was something else all together. I am not going to lie the first 6 months of our daughters life were the hardest 6 months of mine. My entire world changed and while obviously having a child is life changing mine was not just from becoming a parent. It was very overwhelming. Like I said not all of changes were bad and some things I didn't even mention but I think it was too much in a short period of time. It was hard to adjust. I don't think I will ever fully recover emotionally from all I went through. Although through it all looking down at that beautiful baby and knowing I had to keep it together for her is what kept me going ❤. Our daughter is now 3 1/2 and the toddler stages have been a lot of fun. Watching her learn and grow and come into her own person is a joy 😊. It has been a little rough figuring out how to do things with a growing child during the pandemic for sure. We are also having to figure out how to navigate the whole preschool thing. We had previously decided to wait until this year to do preschool. When Covid started we were so glad we had made that decision. I actually decided to start my own "pre-preschool" of sorts for our daughter. We started in the fall and I am doing it similar to regular school (M-F, broken up into 2 sessions per day, and holiday breaks). We will end for summer break and I am hoping to do actual pre-school this fall but honestly with the state of things I might be doing more of what I am doing now. I have no idea how to teach as that is no where close to the kind of job I had before lol. Our daughter seems to enjoy what I am doing and does seem to be learning to I guess I am doing something right 😜. As far as having more children we are pretty much set with 1 and done. Also of the opinion of if its meant to happen it will but it is not something we are planning for. We had previously kept bouncing between wanting 1 or 2. We took a hard look at what we wanted for our family dynamic (vacations, house, life in general, finances) and decided that 1 made the most sense for what we wanted. Plus I am going to be 37 this year, it was hard for us to get pregnant before and while I know that is not always the case 2nd time around my age is not ideal lol. I know its silly with but with of the craziness that happened surrounding her birth (my sickness, grieving losses, her being premature etc) and while I know besides another baby possibly being premature the other things can't happen again- it does strike anxiety to think of the baby stages again as we had soo much on our plates during those stages. All things considered I really think that 1 child is our sweet spot for our family. Everyone's story with their life in general as well as the road to parenthood (or decision to not be parents) are all different. My story has been a hard one with a lot of challenges along the way. I also know of people with harder stories than mine. I believe that everything I have endured has made me a much stronger person both physically and emotionally even with the scars it has come with ❤. It has impacted who I am as a person, how I feel and think about circumstances in life. I am so grateful for everything I do have in my life and try not to dwell on the harder things in life. Although it is perfectly normal to have previous hardships come to mind and bother you or have a hard time with something you are currently going through I do try (although hard at times) to look at the bright side of situations. Life is a weird mix of ups and downs and you have to embrace it as it comes 😊❤.
Love your vlogs thanks for taking time to share your life with us. As a fellow mum of 2 boys I was asked many times if we would have more or try for a girl and it took me a while to realise that my family was how it was meant to be and its perfect for us . Look forward to more vlogs , stay safe lots of love from the 🇬🇧 nicola ❤
Great video Ashley! I also didn’t anticipate this Pandemic - my 6 year old son was supposed to be in 1st grade but instead he’s doing cyber school while I chase around my 2 year old - good times! 😭 If you want any perspective from an “older” mom (I had my kids at 39 and 42) then I would love to contribute. I’ve been watching you since my son was in my belly - almost seven years now! ❤️
Thanks for the great video!! I am also a new mom, so I am loving this content :) Most of my friends have not yet had kids, so it is great to hear this kind of stuff from someone who is also going through it!
Thanks for sharing as always Ashley! Honestly...just create content and share when you can...we will all understand if you can’t get to it and we’ll all be happy when new content does arrive (no matter what frequency). I would love to collaborate and assist. By far the hardest transition in my life was my divorce and living alone for the first time ever in my life. Having every single responsibility be my own and being the only income in my family. But above all else...transitioning to only seeing my daughter for half the time was the most difficult transition. But we are doing it and my daughter and I have the best relationship and are very happy. And I own my own home and am OK financially...so perhaps I can lend some insight on that aspect of life (which is always unexpected events).
Speaking to me. We had serious health problems after having my second and it ended with me having to have a partial hysterectomy so I value these little moments because I know this is it.
I have 3 younger brothers, so I'm the oldest and the only girl. We're all there's 2.5 -4 years age gap between each of us, but we're all 3 years apart in school. I think that age difference worked out really well for us.
Thank you for sharing! We're in the same boat but have two beautiful girls ❤ I definitely feel like 2 is perfect for our family but part of me wants another sweet little bean and never knowing how it would be to have a little boy kinds hurts my heart.
I would love to collaborate with you! Thank you for sharing! We have one 2 1/2 year old, and your thoughts have given me some clarity and have gotten me thinking!
I would love to collaborate on these topics! I have a 9 year gap between my first and second and 2 1/2 years between my second and third. My oldest son is from my first marriage which is why there is such a big gap between them but I honestly love that age difference. I got married again when he was 8 and a year later his brother came along. Then when he was almost 2 I told my husband that I didn't want more kids, not knowing I was already pregnant! I found out a week later and was shocked. It was really quite upset for a good 12 hours after finding out and it took me a bit longer than that to get used to it. Now that my daughter is here though I just can't imagine life without her of course. It's like you were saying, it was meant to be. She's 6 months old now. Looking back I had signs that we weren't done. One of them was that I didn't want to get rid of anything when my younger son outgrew them. This time it's actually quite easy to pass things on. I have a moment of sadness that we don't need them but it's followed by a sense of peace and for that I'm grateful. P.S. I love how much Dennis looks like Joe. Seeing his face always reminds me of the clips of video you guys put in one of your SeeYaReelSoon "music videos." :-)
The sad thing is that from what I can tell both this channel and See ya Reel Soon are over. And the disappointment is they never said goodbye and why they were shutting down.
So far behind in watching the videos (work got in the way), but finally able to catch up. Currently watching this almost halfway through my second pregnancy. I really wanted our kiddos to be 3 years apart too (just feels like the perfect age gap to me) but our son will be just shy of 5 by the time this one is born. It all worked out ok with timing for work, but I was sad about the large age gap for a while. We did ivf for our babies though, and I’m high risk going into it, so I think better to go slow than rush. My biggest transition struggle was with X. We had always planned on having 2, then we had complications where we almost lost X-Man. He’s all good today, but for a while, we didn’t know if we’d have another, but everything that we missed out on as “normal” I figured we would get for the next. Then there was a while where there wasn’t going to be a next and suddenly, I had all these moments where I never appreciated it as the last time we’d see it. I’m nervous going from one kiddo to two, but excited too, because X is such a big helper and he’s so excited. This one will definitely be our last, for multiple reasons. Going into it with that thought, like you said, has been very helpful and I’m just appreciating everything as it comes. Or trying to anyway.
My FAVORITE SYRS episode, was when you had your 5 year vow renewal at Disney. In that video; you expressed how you admired Joey for always be so certain about things that you just weren’t. I had the feeling then, that you were unsure about starting a family.
I love the way the 2 of you come to agreements together. May God continue to Bless your beautiful family and life!🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
Hi Ashley , I'm a 62 year old mother and grandmother. I do so enjoy your videos ! Raising both of my girls was the best days of my life . You are a delight to watch and a wonderful mother.
I loved this video! Your family is so perfect for you! The main takeaway is that every family is unique, and that is beautiful! As a family of one child by choice (as was our plan all along!), I completely agree with living in the moment and embracing life as it comes. Let tomorrow’s worries come as they may.
For us, every first is also our last-first word, first steps, moving to a big girl bed, first day of Kindergarten (which will be later this year!), etc. But that helps us live in the moment and not wish away time. We embrace all of the emotions because they are all part of our life journey! My husband is an only child himself, so we see so many benefits of it and already feel “only child” dynamics with his family and know how beautiful that can be. We are so thankful for our daughter-she is such a gift to us!❤️❤️❤️
I would love to collaborate with you!
I'm a mom of four, born within 6 yrs. They are now starting to graduate and leave my home. For me, the hardest transition has been these last few years- I no longer can fix their problems like when they were little- I can only watch, encourage, advise and hope we have taught them well enough as they start their own new adventures. It's hard realizing I have to let them go and fly on their own. I know they're ready but I still want to scoop them up and hold them in my arms. Enjoy your babies!
I absolutely love your positivity and your transparency. The things you share so openly with us gives me the courage to share more with the people in my life. My hubby and I have followed you guys for years, and seeing your beautiful family grow as been so incredible. Thank you for sharing your world and your experiences with us. My husband, Justin and I are still just the two of us. We've always wanted children, we even have them named already, but because of my anxiety we've held back. I'm so scared I couldn't be the mom they would deserve. Everyday we both struggle with this decision though, and as years go by it's becoming more and more unlikely. So I try to find peace and contentment in being the two of us. Thank you again for such thought provoking questions!! This channel has been such an incredible encouragement, filled with wonderful supportive people. I know I'll personally support you even if you had to drop down to once a month!! Do what you need to do and what's best for your family.. we'll always be here supporting your channels 💜
In this video, when you said “you may never feel 100% done (having kids),” that resonated with me so much. I have a three year old boy, and for a while my husband and I considered having a second, but because of timing, logistics, finances, etc., we decided to keep it to one. I still have a longing some days to have another, even knowing that it’s just not doable for us, and even remembering how jarring and hard it was having him in the first place and how hard it is at times now. Thank you for putting your thoughts into words and reminding me that I’m not alone in my feelings.
I feel like I really needed this today. Thank you for sharing your heart. I feel like so many moms post one side of motherhood and don’t think about other people’s situations and how difficult the journey can be. I love that you really address so many viewpoints. I, like you, always wanted a big family. When I finally got pregnant, I dreamed of what it would be like giving birth, adventures with my baby as he grew up, all of the traditional things parents experience. I ended up having an emergency c-section under general anesthesia and never got to experience his birth. I have a lot of PTSD associated with that experience. He was diagnosed with autism at 2 and our entire lives have changed. He is SO incredible. So smart. So funny. So loving. But there was definitely a grieving process when you put all of these parental expectations on yourself and then they all change. There’s a high chance I won’t be a grandparent. We aren’t able to travel. Every minute is spent as a teaching moment. We spend most of our spare time in speech and occupational therapy. All the little wins have become huge moments for us. I feel so blessed to have him in my life and for everything he has taught me as a human. I worry about him not having a sibling because I know we won’t always be here and I want to make sure someone is there for him. So many things you don’t think you’ll have to consider when you become a parent, but you are so right - you can never be prepared enough!
I loved this! I work full time and am also raising 11yr old twin boys one of which has special needs. I wouldn't mind giving my perspective of raising a child with special needs along with a typical child. Always look forward for your videos. Keep them coming!
Thanks for always being positive. I love watching you and learn so much!!
You're so positive and I love it! Thank you so much for this. It gave me some peace with how I view my family unit. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing Ashley. Very nice to hear your perspective and coping mechanisms for decisions. I struggle with excepting choices I've made and often regret things, your point of view is very true, you always miss out so why regret. I will remember that going forward.
To answer your question: We had a baby boy March 2020 and before then I had never experienced such a shift in my life. Transitioning from a couple to a family was a HUGE adjustment. We had got very comfortable as a couple, and like you I did not appreciate just how impacting sleep deprivation is, completely through me.
We had our own challenges as baby boy was 10weeks premiture and had some feeding complications, which I'd say was the hardest stage of my life to date, and also the hardest to say goodbye to strangely, as because of this I had to stop nursing at 4months and really wish I could have experienced that longer.
However things happen for a reason and baby boy is thriving now and not far from turning 1.😢
I'm living every moment like it's the last whether we have another child or not.
Currently going through pre-crawling stage and would love to hear how Lee and Dennis developed and figured out how to crawl and then walk. ❤
I have an idea for a future video. I would love if Joe could catch you playing with the boys, cooking, resting, doing an errand, talking on your cell with a friend or family member, eating and doing the thumbs up sign. Just capturing you, Ashley, sister, friend, mom, wife. It would make a beautiful tribute video, (and you can have a break that one day that week of not taping or editing). It would be beautiful if Joe could spotlight Ashley. (Mother's Day is in May - hint hint)!
While we had a very long, bumpy road to becoming parents (5+ years), the transition from 0 to 1 to 2 kids happened in a matter of 60 seconds, so it was pretty intense to say the least. I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about the different stages given that the girls’ 5th birthday is coming up. Each stage was fulfilling, yet each was also challenging in its own way.
That said, as challenging as twin parenthood is, I still cannot imagine the dynamic of parenting a toddler and a baby at the same time. As always, thank you for opening up and sharing, Ashley. ❤️
I’ve been a viewer of see ya real soon for at least 5 years now, and seeing you on your new channel makes me so happy! You have made strides in your confidence in front of the camera on your own! Thank you for sharing more family moments behind Disney trips! Love from Texas!
Love these heart to heart videos! I also love how you've built a little community around your kindness and positivity. I am not a mom yet but in the future doing a zoom meet and greet with this little tribe of awesome women could be really fun! Just a passing thought as you talk about collaborating! Sending love and prayers to you and your wonderful family!
If collaborating is still on the table I’d love to be a part of it too.
Love your positivity and honesty! We just started our family so it was very interesting to hear from someone’s point of view who feels their family is complete. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Ashley! I LOVED this video! I clicked on it so fast after bedtime and enjoyed it as I do most of your videos in the quiet once the boys are asleep :). It was so neat to hear more of you and your families journey to your boys and how your heart got to the places it did. It was so relatable and neat to hear and just your positive outlook as a boy mama was and is exactly how I feel as well! There is something so special about being entrusted with these little lives! I loved how you talked about how we will always long for a baby no matter how many we have because you’re so right! I deff wonder those same things. For us we had babies sooner than we ever planned as we hadn’t even been married two year but we actually got pregnant in Aug 2014 abs unfortunately lost that baby at 7.5 weeks and while the pregnancy was not planned and came as a huge shock as I was working full time and Corey was in grad school and I had planned to go back after he finished we welcomed that baby and shifted plans and when all the sudden those plans had been taken almost and dreams our dreams changed suddenly and we felt the desire very quickly to fill that hole even if it didn’t match our “5 year marriage plan”. Thankfully I was able to conceive hudson shortly after our loss but it deff changed my whole perspective on pregnancy and things being pregnant after miscarriage.
Then when it came to having Jude we deff thought about what would be the perfect timing but also knew we wanted them close in age and now they are a little over 2 years apart and we love it! It was much harder than we anticipated having a 2 year and newborn but looking back now 3 years later I wouldn’t change a thing :). We also got a LOT of pressure for him to be a girl and still get those comments of “when are you gonna try for your girl” and sometimes those comments hurt or make me sad because it down plays the amazing aspects of two boys because like you said everyone is missing out on something and if Jude had been a boy we would have never seen the bond of brotherhood! I loved your take on all of that ☺️. We very much thought too we would have 4 kids when we got married and now we aren’t so sure. We don’t feel title or done and would like one more and is something we are working on now as I overcome some hormonal health things and just letting my body have this break which has been nice, but there are some days I do think if we aren’t blessed with another little one I love our family just as is! 💙
Lastly I would love to collaborate on the future with you as you asked in any way! I love you continue to involve us as your subscribers! I am currently taking a little social media break so I am not on Instagram but may email you too!
Anyways thanks again, I continue to be so inspired by you and thankful for your real and honest beautiful depiction of motherhood!! You have deff made me feel less alone in it and I am sure many others! Also it’s so so hard to pack away baby clothes ugh 🥺 it’s ripped my heart out now twice! Sending you hugs!
Kassandra (or kassandralexis on Instagram! ☺️)
I love your positivity and how close you are with your family and learning how to have a better relationship with everyone from you. Our first was an accident and to be quite honest I was just not ready yet, I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted kids but we’ve always said we’re lucky he happened because we might have put off having kids for too long. It was such a different experience choosing to have our second. As an only child I just really wanted our son to have a sibling and he loves his little sister. And I got lucky to get the girl that I really wanted. I find the clothes transition so cathartic. It’s a good time to clean out all the toys they aren’t playing with any more and nice to not have to stuff the dresser with clothes (grandma, thank you but please stop). I have a very different perspective than most where I’m an engineer and at this point am excited to never have to do the baby phase again. I always try to share my perspective as it’s less common or maybe less shared and it’s important that every mom knows no matter what kind of mom you are as long as you love your kids (most of the time) you’re doing a good job!
As a mom of 10 year old girl/boy twins, and someone who had a complete hysterectomy at 29, I STILL want more kiddos. But, having a family of four is so convenient for our lifestyle and just makes sense for us!
I love the explanation you have for accepting having only boys. We have a one and three year old boy. Our family feels complete for now and we are happy with having two boys. We feel the same way about staying a family of four for vacations and giving them experiences. Being a navy family we feel only having two kids is the best for us. I totally feel you on your one year old being more of a toddler. Mine is the same right now! It’s exhausting. Hang in there!
I just wanted to say thank you Ashley for opening up. This really helped me today. We just had our third child 3 weeks ago and I'm a stay-at-home mom. I have been very overwhelmed and the way you explained how you dealt with the transition helped me find some perspective. These stages will pass and I will figure it out. Thank you for doing this.
Fun video! Very much enjoy these chats!
Hi! Working from home Mom of 2. 2.5 girl and 7 month boy! I would love to contribute as I feel I have a unique perspective on parenthood. Both my children were conceived via fertility treatments after a long struggle to conceive. So I feel it provides me a different outlook.
Your videos bring me joy and community and I thank you for them!!!!!
We had to do this too! Combined total of 8 years worth. I always love meeting other mommas with this view point. Makes me feel less alone.
Oh my goodness, this has been my favorite visit to the lemonade stand so far! I'd love to collaborate! So many things you've said here really resonated with me. Thank you for your honesty and for so eloquently stating what I've been feeling on some level for awhile. I am a mom to one, and currently, am happy with that number 😊
Thank you so much for sharing Ashley! I can definitely relate to always wondering what you may be missing out on, but moving forward anyway. We have decided that becoming parents isn’t the right thing for our little family, and that our energies will be best served as aunt and uncle and as pet parents. However I certainly do have fleeting moments where I wonder if I will feel like I’ve missed out in the future, but you are so right that everyone misses out on something. There are some things we will miss out on, but we will also have wonderful and unique experiences as a couple without children. It can be tough as a woman feeling like having children is what’s expected, and sometimes feeling guilt for straying from that way of life, but everyone has to choose the path that works best for them.
A few questions to add to your questions…did you plan to be a stay at home mom? Are you happy doing that? Do you plan to go back to your career at some point? Do you have to make certain choices as far as things you can do (trips, dinners out, purchases) because you are staying at home? Hopefully that’s not too nosy! Oh and did you ever make the schedule video? I know I’m way behind so maybe I’ll find that out in a few minutes!
Thank you for sharing your experience on these questions. My little one just turned two and I have been nervous lately as we have made the decision to expand our family, your video was exactly what I needed to hear. A great reminder that parenthood is unpredictable, so I should embrace the journey because it could be completely different then the first time around.
You always articulate exactly what I'm feeling so well! Loved this video and am so grateful for any videos you do have time to make, without overwhelming yourself. I would love to see some collaborations and would love to collaborate with you in some capacity. We could bring a military family view if anyone was interested. It has its own set of challenges or gifts. 😊
Thank you for sharing your positivity! Great advice on enjoying your pregnancies! I have 2 beautiful grown daughters. It was always our family plan to have 3. Baby #2 was sick a bunch and initially had some learning disabilities. By the time we worked through all of that our marriage sadly wasn't working anymore. All being said sometimes I look back on pregnancy #2 with a bit of sadness wishing I could have it over again but as you said I may have felt the exact same way with a #3 had there been a #3.
I would love to collaborate with you! I’m a mom of 6 - 5 biological, 1 adopted ❤️ Everything you said about never feeling like you’re done having kids is absolutely true! Love seeing and hearing about your precious family!
Thank you for sharing these thoughts and answers with us on such big topics! I always appreciate your words, you’re like a big sister 😊💜
I had such a similar experience with my kids! My first came with a slew of issues (preemie, NICU, tongue tie, triple feeding, didn't bond until she was about 6 months old), while my second was so much more relaxed (still supplementing, but that's "my fault" :D) The only problem with #2 is that he isn't a good sleeper and still wakes up multiple times at nearly 2 years old, while #1 was happily sleeping in her own bed at 10 months and rarely wakes :)
Thanks for another great video! Currently pregnant with my second, my first is almost three. Everything you said really speaks to me. I’m a teacher, but off in the summers so I get a little bit of the stay at home mom life. Thanks again!
I (Katie) would love to collaborate with you, and I’m sure Adam would too. We would love to discuss how we came to the decision to have Daisy and keep our unit as 3.
Loved the video 😁
Long post alert 🤣..also kind of long winded with responses especially on the topic of kids and life choices/experiences as there is so much that goes into it.
I love your honesty in this video. Being a mom is the greatest joy in my life. My daughter means everything to me ❤. All that being said It also comes with a lot of stress. Some people seem to think that having kids is easy. From the decision to have them, how many to have, getting pregnant as well as raising them. All of those can be quite challenging and the decisions behind everything is certainly not black and white. Also just as a lot of things in life, things don't go according to plan sometimes.
I agree that nothing can fully prepare you for parenthood no matter how "ready" and "prepared" you are. A lot of parenting is learning as you go. No ones experience is the same. The adjustment to parenthood for us was a weird mix of natural instincts, second guessing what you are doing and a big learning curve. Truely you continue to adjust and learn as your child grows. Each new stage of their life brings new stages of parenthood as well.
For us, when getting married we decided to be married for a while and enjoy time with the 2 of us before starting a family. Once ready it ended up taking us a few years to get pregnant with our daughter. It was very emotional and stressful for us. I know our struggle wasn't as hard as others but it was still a very hard road.
My pregnancy was rather ok until the 3rd trimester. I was in and out of the hospital with gallbladder problems 🙁(unsure if pregnancy kickstarted it or not). I really needed to get my gallbladder out (but too far along in pregnancy) and no matter how carefully I ate I kept getting major gallbladder attacks. I was so incredibly ill and even had pancreatitis twice (because I am am over-achiever 🤣). Thankfully our daughter and I made it through ok. Our daughter was born at 35 weeks (not induced-water broke naturally). She was small but healthy and didn't need NICU 🙏❤. Me on the otherhand- I ended back up in the hospital twice after being discharged from birth with gallbladder attacks again. I got my gallbladder out 2 weeks post partum. Here I am, healing from having a child, trying to adjust to being a mom and I have to be ripped away from my baby for my own health. It was heartbreaking to be away from her. My poor husband got thrown into adjusting to being a dad partly without me there and was also worried about me. He was burning the candle at both ends working out shifts with his parents to watch our daughter so he could also be able to be with me at the hospital and find time to sleep. It was all a very stressful confusing blur and scary to be honest. We still look back at that time with mixed emotions. Our daughter is the best thing to happen to us but the time leading up to and the first bit after she arrived was emotionally scaring (more of why that is further down).
I had a lot of problems with breast feeding and it didn't end up working out for me. I tried different things to help but I think with her being a month early, my milk wasn't ready to come in yet. She had poor suction and was a very sleepy eater also because she was so early- add in all my gallbladder problems it was just not working. I was very sad as it was something I had wanted to do 🙁. Because our daughter was so early and small her pediatrician had her on a rather aggresive eating schedule which left little time for us to sleep at all. It was hard to wake her up to eat (could take up to 30 minutes to actually get her to fully wake up) and then she would keep trying to fall asleep again while drinking her bottle so she ate slow. The feedings were to be close together (2 hours apart if i remember correctly) and because the feeding process took so long between the waking up and the feeding itself we basically had no sleep for a while (which was a challenge while I was trying to recooperate from giving birth and having an organ removed lol). It was hard but we got through it.
Also during the first 6 months of being parents came with other adjustments, emotions and sadness (some expected and some not so much) it was certainly a lot to handle. I had some personal changes in other aspects of my life. Which while not all bad changes it was more change on top of everything else that had changed. When I became a mom I became a stay at home mom from my job of 12 years so it was a weird adjustment. One of many more changes was my childhood home sold (it had only been in our family as my grandparents owned it before us). I lived in that house from toddler years to when I moved out and got married. And then heartbreak came, I lost a very close family member when my daughter was almost 5 months old. We found out they were ill only 1 month before. We barely had enough time to process they were sick when they passed 😥. To say I was devastated was an understatement. Then 1 month later we lost our dog suddenly. Our wonderful furbaby that we got a few months after we got married also gone 😥. It is hard to grieve under normal circumstances but 2 deaths so close together while caring for an infant was something else all together. I am not going to lie the first 6 months of our daughters life were the hardest 6 months of mine. My entire world changed and while obviously having a child is life changing mine was not just from becoming a parent. It was very overwhelming. Like I said not all of changes were bad and some things I didn't even mention but I think it was too much in a short period of time. It was hard to adjust. I don't think I will ever fully recover emotionally from all I went through. Although through it all looking down at that beautiful baby and knowing I had to keep it together for her is what kept me going ❤.
Our daughter is now 3 1/2 and the toddler stages have been a lot of fun. Watching her learn and grow and come into her own person is a joy 😊. It has been a little rough figuring out how to do things with a growing child during the pandemic for sure. We are also having to figure out how to navigate the whole preschool thing. We had previously decided to wait until this year to do preschool. When Covid started we were so glad we had made that decision. I actually decided to start my own "pre-preschool" of sorts for our daughter. We started in the fall and I am doing it similar to regular school (M-F, broken up into 2 sessions per day, and holiday breaks). We will end for summer break and I am hoping to do actual pre-school this fall but honestly with the state of things I might be doing more of what I am doing now. I have no idea how to teach as that is no where close to the kind of job I had before lol. Our daughter seems to enjoy what I am doing and does seem to be learning to I guess I am doing something right 😜.
As far as having more children we are pretty much set with 1 and done. Also of the opinion of if its meant to happen it will but it is not something we are planning for. We had previously kept bouncing between wanting 1 or 2. We took a hard look at what we wanted for our family dynamic (vacations, house, life in general, finances) and decided that 1 made the most sense for what we wanted. Plus I am going to be 37 this year, it was hard for us to get pregnant before and while I know that is not always the case 2nd time around my age is not ideal lol. I know its silly with but with of the craziness that happened surrounding her birth (my sickness, grieving losses, her being premature etc) and while I know besides another baby possibly being premature the other things can't happen again- it does strike anxiety to think of the baby stages again as we had soo much on our plates during those stages. All things considered I really think that 1 child is our sweet spot for our family.
Everyone's story with their life in general as well as the road to parenthood (or decision to not be parents) are all different. My story has been a hard one with a lot of challenges along the way. I also know of people with harder stories than mine. I believe that everything I have endured has made me a much stronger person both physically and emotionally even with the scars it has come with ❤. It has impacted who I am as a person, how I feel and think about circumstances in life. I am so grateful for everything I do have in my life and try not to dwell on the harder things in life. Although it is perfectly normal to have previous hardships come to mind and bother you or have a hard time with something you are currently going through I do try (although hard at times) to look at the bright side of situations. Life is a weird mix of ups and downs and you have to embrace it as it comes 😊❤.
Love your vlogs thanks for taking time to share your life with us. As a fellow mum of 2 boys I was asked many times if we would have more or try for a girl and it took me a while to realise that my family was how it was meant to be and its perfect for us . Look forward to more vlogs , stay safe lots of love from the 🇬🇧 nicola ❤
Great video Ashley! I also didn’t anticipate this Pandemic - my 6 year old son was supposed to be in 1st grade but instead he’s doing cyber school while I chase around my 2 year old - good times! 😭 If you want any perspective from an “older” mom (I had my kids at 39 and 42) then I would love to contribute. I’ve been watching you since my son was in my belly - almost seven years now! ❤️
I love your transparency and willing to share your life. I would love to collaborate!
Thanks for the great video!! I am also a new mom, so I am loving this content :) Most of my friends have not yet had kids, so it is great to hear this kind of stuff from someone who is also going through it!
Thanks for sharing as always Ashley! Honestly...just create content and share when you can...we will all understand if you can’t get to it and we’ll all be happy when new content does arrive (no matter what frequency).
I would love to collaborate and assist. By far the hardest transition in my life was my divorce and living alone for the first time ever in my life. Having every single responsibility be my own and being the only income in my family. But above all else...transitioning to only seeing my daughter for half the time was the most difficult transition. But we are doing it and my daughter and I have the best relationship and are very happy. And I own my own home and am OK financially...so perhaps I can lend some insight on that aspect of life (which is always unexpected events).
I love watching this video..thank you
Speaking to me. We had serious health problems after having my second and it ended with me having to have a partial hysterectomy so I value these little moments because I know this is it.
,Great video ! I always enjoy getting to hang with you and family anytime. Even folding laundry ! I love A+J .. Bring back Spectromagic!!
I loved this video❤️ thanks for being so open. 😁
I have 3 younger brothers, so I'm the oldest and the only girl. We're all there's 2.5 -4 years age gap between each of us, but we're all 3 years apart in school. I think that age difference worked out really well for us.
Thank you for sharing! We're in the same boat but have two beautiful girls ❤ I definitely feel like 2 is perfect for our family but part of me wants another sweet little bean and never knowing how it would be to have a little boy kinds hurts my heart.
I love being a mom of two boys!!! ❤️😎❤️
Transitioning clothes is always a hard thing!
I would love to collaborate with you!
Thank you for sharing! We have one 2 1/2 year old, and your thoughts have given me some clarity and have gotten me thinking!
I would love to collaborate on these topics! I have a 9 year gap between my first and second and 2 1/2 years between my second and third. My oldest son is from my first marriage which is why there is such a big gap between them but I honestly love that age difference. I got married again when he was 8 and a year later his brother came along. Then when he was almost 2 I told my husband that I didn't want more kids, not knowing I was already pregnant! I found out a week later and was shocked. It was really quite upset for a good 12 hours after finding out and it took me a bit longer than that to get used to it. Now that my daughter is here though I just can't imagine life without her of course. It's like you were saying, it was meant to be. She's 6 months old now. Looking back I had signs that we weren't done. One of them was that I didn't want to get rid of anything when my younger son outgrew them. This time it's actually quite easy to pass things on. I have a moment of sadness that we don't need them but it's followed by a sense of peace and for that I'm grateful.
P.S. I love how much Dennis looks like Joe. Seeing his face always reminds me of the clips of video you guys put in one of your SeeYaReelSoon "music videos." :-)
I’d love to collaborate with you. I can really relate to a lot of what you’ve said and just the overall in and outs of being a mom.
YES, would love to collaborate :-)
❤❤❤❤❤❤
The sad thing is that from what I can tell both this channel and See ya Reel Soon are over. And the disappointment is they never said goodbye and why they were shutting down.
I would love to talk with you for a video. I came from it from an infertility standpoint.
So far behind in watching the videos (work got in the way), but finally able to catch up. Currently watching this almost halfway through my second pregnancy. I really wanted our kiddos to be 3 years apart too (just feels like the perfect age gap to me) but our son will be just shy of 5 by the time this one is born. It all worked out ok with timing for work, but I was sad about the large age gap for a while. We did ivf for our babies though, and I’m high risk going into it, so I think better to go slow than rush.
My biggest transition struggle was with X. We had always planned on having 2, then we had complications where we almost lost X-Man. He’s all good today, but for a while, we didn’t know if we’d have another, but everything that we missed out on as “normal” I figured we would get for the next. Then there was a while where there wasn’t going to be a next and suddenly, I had all these moments where I never appreciated it as the last time we’d see it. I’m nervous going from one kiddo to two, but excited too, because X is such a big helper and he’s so excited. This one will definitely be our last, for multiple reasons. Going into it with that thought, like you said, has been very helpful and I’m just appreciating everything as it comes. Or trying to anyway.