hello olive

Posted on April 30, 2018 by tandem in love

so i thought i’d interview miss olive and ask her a few questions.

i wanted to capture her innocence and sweet personality. i wanted to freeze a brief moment in her, well, our lives. i want to remember her clearly at this age. 4 years and almost 6 months.

she’s grown so much in the last year but lately, each week, each month she grows exponentially. i am surprised and pleasantly shocked at her thought process. her maturity. her emotions. her loving and caring nature. this girl is soooo utterly emotional and sensitive. she can crumble easily but forgives instantly. thank God because i always need to be forgiven. i am too temperamental and rash, i am alway kicking myself for getting too heated but this amazing soul, we call olive, always comes back to this bear of a mother and forgives. she turns my heart into a puddle and my love for her is indescribable and so big, it’s beyond words.

she listens and is so compliant. i am amazed by her inherent abilities to flex with her environment and other people’s personalities. she dotes on her little sister ellie. she is so patient. she is kind. she has a memory like her mama – sharp and clear. her social skills have blossomed so much over thee past few months and i am amazed every time i see her so talkative and receptive to others that she might not know as well.

my ‘interview’ was short and sweet. so, i asked her a few simple questions:

kiki: what’s your favorite color?

olive: purple!

kiki: what’s your favorite thing to do with kiki?

olive: play with a tea party {which we did after this interview!} with my dollies

kiki: what else do like to do with kiki?

olive: to decorate the house

kiki: what’s your favorite food?

olive: hot dogs!

kiki: is there another favorite food?

olive: pancakes!

kiki: who’s your best friend?

olive: grace

kiki: what is your favorite toy?

olive: my dollies for a picnic; bunny unicorn and rockstar

kiki: what is your favorite holiday

olive: shopping

kiki: olive:

kiki: what’s your favorite dessert?

olive: a pancake!

[a 24 hour old olive]

[the only time she took a paci…after that, it was history]

[her sweet baptism]

[ten months old]

[first birthday]

[two years old]

[four years old]

[my sweet baby]

xoxo

reunite

Posted on January 5, 2018 by tandem in love

we were looking forward to our visit from carol, ted, and family! it’s been awhile since we have seen them and we are in dire need to plan a trip out to them! whether it’s to seattle, whistler, or their new abode in breckinridge…we need to travel out to the pnw!

carol and i have been friends for ages. we used to live down the street from each other, 4 houses apart to be exact. we’ve been through thick and thin, our ups and downs, and continue to survive life’s craziness and remain friends. we were inseparable for years…years! we saw each other almost every day. her parent’s practically adopted me as the other daughter. i went to her house every day after school. ate dinner there almost every night. helped her dad with his campaigns. did bad things together. did good things together. we drove around like punks in her sh*tmobile. got drunk together. went shopping together. i was there for her when her uncle aaron passed. when her dogs passed. and one of the saddest moments in my life, i was there with her when her dad passed. literally. we sat in the hospital together, by mr. kagann’s side, when her dear dad took his last breath. he was like a second father to me.

with over 30 years of friendship, i could go on and on and on about the many crazy things we have done, been through, and stuff we should probably never talk about. hahaha! well, we grew up, got married, and had kids. we both have fabulous husbands and beautiful children. carol is blessed with three and me, with two wonderful girls.

her hubby ted is a gem. he is hilarious, {sickly} humorous, and kind. these two crack me up! i love hanging out with them. so, the stars aligned to where we could get a day with them while they were in town. let me tell you…when carol and ted come into town, they are booked every day.

the kids played together…well kenzie and olive played together while shelby moseyed off on her own and travis was deep into some sort of game on his iPad. us adults, drank, laughed, and ate ourselves silly until it was time for them to go home.

we were sad to see them go but we were so happy to have spent a wonderful evening with the whole gang! thanks for stopping carol and fam! we hope to see y’all soon!

[bff’s for over 30 years]

[the cutie couple]

[sweet shelby]

[playing together]

[travis in his little world]

[yummy dessert]

[the sweet kiddos]

{expand the screen for optimal viewing}

video by: hc

strobe lights by: kenzie

singing by: olive

xoxo

my ballet birthday

Posted on December 22, 2017 by tandem in love

holy birthday weekend!

in previous years, we’ve gone out for my birthday. we’ve done something fun, with just us {me and hc}. every year we have been together, hc has made it a point to make my birthday special. my birthday is eight days before christmas and it’s so easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

this time around, olive’s first ballet recital fell on my birthday! i was so excited. all season long, she practiced very hard in class and at home and i couldn’t wait to see her performance.

hc and i talked over our plan for that day, to make sure we got olive to the show on time and get everyone else there early enough to nab a front row seat. score! we did both! i drove separately so i could get olive to the dance group before the show and hc drove his mom, dad, and ellie to the school to get in line for a seat. we nabbed a front row section and the location we scored was absolutely perfect!

olive entered the room on our side, so we were able to say hello to her as she waited to get up on stage and the teacher was on our side during the dance, so olive faced us the entire performance! woooo hoooo!

i was a bit nervous for her…only because during her holiday program {from several days ago}, she seemed a bit overwhelmed by the large audience. i couldn’t tell if the runny nose she had really bothered her or if the dozens of people scared her. anyhoo, she froze a bit with her performance, so i was worried that she would freeze up during her ballet show!

well i was sooooo wrong. she nailed it! she did soooo well! i was so proud of her! she was the cutest ballet dancer i ever did see! i couldn’t wait to hug her, congratulate her, and give her a big kiss for doing so well!

after each segment, the kiddos waited in a room across the way. once the entire show was over…one parent was able to retrieve your kiddo and i ran over to get her. i couldn’t wait to bring her back to the family so they could tell her how well she did! everyone congratulated her and gave her flowers! how fun and sweet! seeing her perform was the best birthday present ever!

after the recital, hc’s parents came over to our house to hang out and we had cake to celebrate my birthday. after hc’s parents left, we then headed on over to my parent’s house to have dinner. it was the best birthday yet! hc did such a great job making it wonderful and olive’s ballet recital was the cherry on top of a perfect sundae! no pun intended! haha!

best birthday ever!

[how sweet is she??]

[she spots us!]

[hands on hip and smile!]

[dada giving her flowers for her performance]

[how terrible is this…while i was pulling olive through the crowd, someone knocked her in her head so hard with either a corner of a purse or elbow. poor, poor girl! i didn’t even notice it until a minute later! i felt terrible…just terrible that she was trying to tell me her head hurt but i couldn’t hear her over the noise and i was so excited to get her to our family that it totally flew over my head that she was in pain. i really felt like a bad mom and a bit angry at myself that she was hurt and i didn’t realize it in the moment to comfort her. total mom guilt moment that still really bothers me!!! do you see the shiner on her forehead?! oh, i get so upset looking at it!!!]

[my sweet ballet girl]

*****

[celebrating with my sweet girl]

xoxo

holiday program

Posted on December 18, 2017 by tandem in love

olive’s pre-k holiday program was this past week! the last day of school before winter break. i was looking forward to this for weeks. olive practiced her songs with us, at home, several times. although, at first we didn’t realize all the songs she sang were part of her holiday concert! we just thought she was learning fun songs at school.

well the day had come and i dressed olive up in the cutest, most festive holiday outfit i could rummage out of her closet. she looked so darling in her tutu playsuit and reindeer antlers.

we scurried to her school as early as we could because we wanted to nab a seat as close to the stage as possible. we were close…we scored second row! the kiddos paraded in and olive looked so confused and nervous. the teachers sat the kids down and after an announcement, the concert began.

olive had stage fright! to make matters worse, her nose was runny {we’ve been dealing with a little cold} and she was very bothered that she couldn’t wipe her runny nose and it tooooootally bothered me that i couldn’t get up there to wipe it for her!!! poor olive just stared blankly out at the crowd when they started singing their first song. she stared and stared throughout the first few songs and then finally started to warm up and sing along.

the concert was a success! olive was too cute and subdued during the whole concert but sang along for a majority of the songs. it was so fun to watch all the kiddos. of course there was a run away boy who circled the stage and the girl sitting next to olive was so excited and animated! it was hilarious to see how reserved olive was and how boisterous her classmate was! total opposites!

once the concert was over, we were able to take photos of our babe and then she was able to join us and we were able to leave for the day. although olive was really bummed there was no school after the concert! she wanted to stay for school and was a bit upset…awwww, that was too cute.

i was so happy to see her first holiday school program. it completely warmed my heart to see my baby girl perform! it was a great moment that filled my soul with joy.

[i forgot that i had left her with her bunny!]

[she was nervous!]

[she’s not quite sure what to do yet]

[finally warming up and joining in!]

[they’re all done! hurray! it was an awesome holiday concert!]

xoxo

oh cubbies!

Posted on October 27, 2017 by tandem in love

i was soooo excited to go to my first NLCS game!

honestly, the cubbies have hit it up the last three years but before that…ummmmm, wasn’t it 2003 when they were last in it?! anyhoo, i was stoked when hc called me and asked if i wanted to go to a game! hells yessssss!

it was a beautiful, cool evening. we left mid afternoon, found a sweet parking spot, and strolled around the city towards the field. we arrived there so early! it wasn’t that crowded down below {yesss, we could walk around without bumping into everyone} and we were first in line at our favorite hot dog stand! score! we walked up to our seats and chowed down on our dogs, drank beer, and people watched. the stadium was very empty but as the hour passed, it became super packed!

i was so nervous. the cubbies were going into this 3-1 and each game was so gut wrenching! as we waited for the game to start, hc spotted our friend linh {there with her guy jim}. he tapped her arm to get her attention and i screamed! it was awesome to see her, if only for a few seconds!

the first inning was awful! the dodgers scored right away and inning after inning, they were shutting out the cubbies and getting ahead run, after run! ugh!!! it was soooooo disappointing. i was so bummed and so was every cubs fan there. hc and i weren’t going to let it get us down. we enjoyed our drinks, ate more food {hello cheesy fries and super loaded nachos}, sang our hearts out in the 7th inning stretch, and stayed to the very last inning {where the dodgers knocked us out 1 2 3 at the bottom of the 9th}.

right before the game ended, our friend scott and his sister joined us! that definitely added to our fun! we were able to hang out and chat with them for a bit. overall, it was a great evening, despite them losing. we had a great time with each other {date night!}, it was a beautiful evening, we saw a few of our friends, ate yummy bad food, and truly enjoyed our time out sans kids!

well, cheers to a great past season and to next year’s world series win!

[best dogs everrrrr. so darn good]

[i love wrigley field]

[we got to meet up with scott and his sister!]

[some cool wall in wrigleyville]

xoxo

dancing baby

Posted on January 8, 2015 by tandem in love

anything a baby does is adorable, right? anything your baby does is out.of.this.world!!! so, watching olive dance almost caused me to explode with joy. olive’s first time dancing was too cute for words {seriously}. she boogied down like a free little spirit. she was with her cousins and aunties, playing in the basement with her new christmas toys {courtesy of the aforementioned}. music was playing and everyone was dancing around; olive watched, took cues and started stepping with the rest of them!

it was so stinkin’ delightful! her chubby little cheeks, her skinny little legs {albeit her thighs}, and her fluffy hair bouncing around was cuteness overload! i die. i couldn’t stop watching it…{well, honestly i can’t ever stop watching any of her videos or her}.

oh, how i love her. she amazes us everyday and brings us so much joy. babies are the best. the first year was so full of big milestones but this past month was just as jam packed! more teeth, more cuddling, more words, more quirky personality traits coming though. it blows my mind how she listens and understands. i’ll tell her to shut the door and she does. i’ll tell her to kiss her daddy goodnight and she will walk right over to him and give him a peck on the lips. i tell her to stop or no and she immediately regresses. i tell her to grab her bunny and she will walk into the next room and come back with her favorite blankie bunny {so cute!}. i tell her to knock on the door and she obliges. now if she would only listen when i tell her to stop crying! ha! 😉

anyhoo, here’s my bebe in full swing. she’s got some moves! please sit back, relax, and enjoy her dancing tootsies!

xoxo

olive’s first time in a pool!

Posted on September 22, 2014 by tandem in love

another fun activity crossed off our summer to do list!

well, we did do this awhile ago, but i’m finally getting around to posting it. life is just so busy sometimes and getting a blog post published can take up so much time and it’s harder since i have the little one! i used to go, go, go but now {ok, now some people might say i’m still like that} but now i slow down and put things to the side because i’d rather have a little more snuggle time with olive, more one on one time with her, and more cuddly moments. the truth is…i know these moments don’t last forever and i am doing my best to cherish her little baby moments.

ok, so this was fantastic! i was so excited for olive and couldn’t wait to see her reaction. after a lovely brunch with my friend andrea and her friends and family, we headed to the hotel {palomar}, that they were staying at, to hang out at the pool.

i, unwillingly, changed into my swimsuit {um, having a baby does cray things to your body and i just ate lunch, hello!} and i dressed olive in her minnie mouse swimsuit {a present from gramma jane!}. we excitedly scurried to the pool, i couldn’t wait to get her into the water! i wasn’t worried she wouldn’t like it, i was sure she would love it! she loves bath time and has become so fascinated by the water.

so there i went, gingerly stepping into the pool {it was cold!}, my feet hit the ground and in olive went. she immediately loved it! yaaay! it was too presh. she cooed, mumbled, and splashed her way all around the pool. she was having the best time evah! annddd so was her momma! i loved watching her and i was super happy to see her love it so much!

[here we go!]

[she’s loving it! or am i loving it more?!]

[look at that face!]

[in the water!]

[honestly, olive really did have a blast, although it looks like i am having more fun]

we actually stayed in the pool for quite some time. maybe 45 minutes? the only reason we got out was because i needed to head home. it was time for another nap for the little one and a car ride home would suffice. so, we got our raisin hands and toes out of the water, changed our clothes, and went on our merry way. baby girl zonked, i mean zonked out in the car! out like a light once we started moving on the road.

it was so fabulous to have experienced olive’s first time in the pool. we both had a blast! we can’t wait for future pool dates together!

here’s a little vimeo of her in action!

xoxo

funny faces

Posted on February 3, 2014 by tandem in love

i love watching olive make funny faces. it’s so cute, all the expressions she makes. i know, there’s no newness here…a mom who just adores her baby.

you have to love seeing a cute, chubby cheek baby make noises and laughable visages.

[bib from aden and anais]

so sweet, right?! love her!

xoxo

our fairytale day

Posted on February 17, 2013 by tandem in love

our wedding day was so amazing {no seriously, i know everyone says that but this is a very, very true statement!!!!}. it was the best day. ever. we worked so hard on all the details; we put all our love into every nuance of that day for all our guests. when i say fairytale, it truly was a magical day.

it turned out exactly how i imagined and could not have asked for a better day/weekend! from our beautiful rehearsal dinner hosted by hubby charming’s parents [at the grill on the alley on michigan avenue], to our beautiful, 70+ degree sun, shiny wedding day at our gorgeous church [st. clement], to our wonderful reception venue [a new leaf…so amaze] to our delicious brunch hosted at our favorite restaurant [roy’s], such jovial moments! it was the most wonderful, perfect time with our friends + family.

the feelings and elated emotions that you experience on that day are indescribable, intangible; if you could bottle that euphoria and share it, the world would be a better place.

i love this video of us on our wedding day. kate headley {our fabulous photographer} did such a magnificent job capturing the magic of our day.

enjoy xoxo

tandem in love

{life is truly beautiful and it should be celebrated + shared.}

Category Archives: movies

hello olive

reunite

my ballet birthday

holiday program

oh cubbies!

dancing baby

olive’s first time in a pool!

funny faces

our fairytale day