we had a very low key start to our anniversary day. it was calm, relaxing, and sweet. my hc is the best. he got up early to grab groceries for breakfast, let us sleep in, made me endless amounts of yummy coffee, and surprised me with beautiful flowers. i love him.
i can’t believe it’s been five years! what a milestone. i can’t believe it’s been five years since we had the best day everrrrrr! it feels like it just happened last week. wow, five years later, we now have two kids, a house, and so much more love around us. i feel so fortunate to be blessed with so much goodness, i feel like i need to pinch myself.
we’ve had our ups and downs like any relationship. we have had some awful fights. we have had high moments and tough ones. we have dealt with sick parents, the birth of our children, and so many obstacles and celebrations that have happened within the five years since we have said our i do’s. i couldn’t imagine another person to live this life with. to ride this wonderful journey of marriage with anyone other than hc. he is my rock. i might be stubborn, hot headed, and sometimes an ass but he is always there for me and i am truly thankful.
he teaches me to be patient, kind, loving, and appreciate the simple moments in life. i am very grateful for that because i sure need that in my life! he definitely balances me out. happy five years my love and cheers to many, many more wonderful happy years to come!
it was a lovely day…on the warmer side but no matter, we couldn’t wait to see my girls! of course, i was on time and i am usually late with juggling these two girls! karen and kt were a half hour late…thank goodness my dollies are well behaved! a half hour is an eternity when you have kids.
when they arrived, lots of hugs and squealing ensued. we ordered our food and sat down. it’s always a challenge for me to keep my thoughts straight when the kids are around. you feel so discombobulated. i had to keep ellie calm and keep olive entertained or basically, make sure both girls are well behaved and not screaming inside the restaurant. hahaha!
karen and kt are soooooo stinkin’ good with kids and they kept olive going. she was so enamored with karen but karen is soooo good with olive. she loves kids and it totally shows. she was olive’s bestie and olive just adored her.
we yapped and yapped and yapped non stop. i was so beyond excited that kt is engaged. i am so proud that i had set them up! who knew?! i was beyond persistent in setting bobby and kt together. something just told me it was right and now look! one year later they are engaged to be married and i couldn’t be happier for them!
we talked about life, relationships, weddings, kids, babies, work, you name it. we were there for a few hours but time seemed like it flew by! while we were visiting, bobby and his partner katie stopped by to say hi! it was great to see them! i was so glad i was able to see bobby and see the happy couple together.
it was such a great afternoon! i had a wonderful time, i am happy we were able to meet up, and i was glad that they were able to see olive and ellie. i love these two sweet ladies…definite staples in my life.
happy day lovelies!
[waiting patiently for her pink aunties to show up]
last time kim and i met up, it was at the zoo, and it was a bit of a debacle. well, we decided this time around to head on up to kim’s abode to chill.
i made a few wrong turns driving up there {helloooo, so silly}, and it took freakin’ 20 more minutes to get to her house than it should have but alas, we made it. olive fell asleep five minutes before we got there but i was surprised she pleasantly woke up and willingly came inside the house. of course ellie was out! she was on a sleeping marathon.
once inside, i see the little people play set and knew olive would only play with that the entire time! and i was right. she did. brady was being energetic and it overwhelmed olive. awwww, poor girl. she kept staring at brady like he was entertainment and she was super intrigued. brooklyn was napping but when she woke up, she was just super cute {as usual} and minded her own business. these two kids are so stinkin’ cute and they seriously are twinsies! they soooo look like one another…so handsome and beautiful!
well, the kids played and kim and i became engrossed in our conversations…we eventually had lunch and continued on with our play date in fun fashion. i love hanging out there, it’s fun, relaxing, and always a great time. it’s always a hit or miss with these toddlers. near the end of our visit, olive became possessive over the little people toys and didn’t want brooklyn to play with them. oh my goodness…it’s so hard to get toddlers to understand that they need to share…it’s so hard to get toddlers to understand a lot! olive kept crying and i tried telling her that they were not her toys and that brooklyn was letting her play with them. tears and meltdowns ensued. ugh.
it was finally time to leave {without a few meltdowns, ellie waking up right when i was about to walk out the door, the dog barking like crazy, and kim’s brother in laws popping in right then} and after a few glitches, we finally got out the door and headed on our way home.
we had a really great time…the hiccups and craziness make it all the more fun being moms of two kiddos each. i still can’t believe our personal journeys have been so parallel and i am so fortunate kim has become such a great friend to me. love this girl! well, until next time…i always look forward to our play dates!
[yes, quite the odd pic…brady and olive were playing ‘doctor’. hahaha!]
[she’s such a doll]
[yummy caesar salad for lunch]
[she was content playing by herself…eep!]
[i was seriously stupid taking this selfie. i couldn’t look at the camera…hahaha!]
it had been forever since i last saw jodi. there were a few times we tried to get together but those dates fell through but not this time!
we started our morning in the backyard on the play set. olive wasn’t so keen with jett yet but then again, she’s kind of like that overall. she likes to observe first and then interact. it only took ten minutes or so for her to finally play with jett! they both started on the swings but jett and olive wanted to play kick, so that is when they starting to talk and play! woo hoo! after that, they were non-stop and it was so stinkin’ cute.
after a half hour or so, we headed inside. jodi and i talked, caught up, and the kids played and baby ellie slept and slept and slept! she was tired! i prepared lunch for the kids and then had lunch delivered for me and jodi. unfortunately, our fridge recently broke and i couldn’t store any food in the house for our get together, i had potbelly deliver their tasty sandwiches, chips, and cookies! yum!
the kids tore up all the toys and had such a blast playing in olive’s room. they were jumping on the bed like monkeys and being so darn cute with one another. it was so sweet to watch. jett is a sweetie and olive was having fun with him! i wanted to take a million pictures of their cuteness together!
after a few hours, it was encroaching on nap time for everyone, so we gave hugs and kisses and said our goodbyes. jett gave olive a sweet little kiss and her look was priceless. you’ll have to scroll down to see the capture. it’s hilarious. jett is so happy and proud of himself and olive is like, whatevs. haha!
anyhoo, it was awesome to see all of them! we were just missing matt! love that hubby of jodi too! we had such a great time hanging out {i just needed to chillax and let the kids be messy…ugh, my ocd is terrible}. i hope that it’s not too long before we see them all again! love this family!
we were so excited to have aaron and olivia come out to visit! i always love my time with these two beautiful people. it’s always fun and entertaining.
they came over early afternoon for a late lunch. hc and i just came home from shopping and we bought a few good eats from our local grocery store and decided to make it a casual lunch.
as soon as they arrived, of course hc had to show off the new car to aaron and olivia went straight inside to say hello. i was running around, doing my typical br stuff, when she walked in. she greeted olive first and then i came running around the corner to let her know i was just putting stuff away and i would be right out.
we hung out in the kitchen and immediately started chatting up a storm. that’s a big connection between me and olivia…we talk like it’s going out of style. we can gab like there is not tomorrow. i love that about us, our friendship. of course we didn’t even notice how long the boys were gone or when they even came in, we were too engrossed in our conversations.
we offered them some tasty libations from our stash & olivia brought over champagne as a baby gift. that cracks me up. it’s sooooo olivia to give me champagne as a baby gift. i love her. i love how quirky she is in the most awesome way. her gift giving is always so unique and thoughtful. of course we had to pop it open and imbibe it! it was absolutely dry and delicious!
we served lunch, we sat around, we talked, laughed, and enjoyed our silly subjects that were grotesquely funny and very non pc…mainly coming from mr. aaron himself. his creative mind cracks me up!
anyhoo, their main purpose was to see baby ellie…well, that little nugget slept up until they left! the little baby woke up right when they were about to leave and we were able to squeeze in a quick crying pic before they walked out the door!
well, nevertheless, it was an amazing visit as usual. i love hanging out with these two! it was a lovely afternoon indeed!
[my cheerleader pose]
[love these two]
[nuts in a cup…]
[baby ellie was not a happy camper…she was HUNGRY, but we had to squeeze in a pic before they left!]
it was a casual afternoon spent at the in laws. we had grace for the weekend and i asked hc if he wanted to visit his folks since we had to drop grace off on sunday. so, we headed on up to dick and jane’s place for an afternoon of fun.
his sister missy, nephew daniel, and aunt wendy were over as well. aunt wendy grilled burgers and hot dogs and we all just chillax’d and hung out. nothing special, nothing over the top, just good ol’ relaxing. we sat around, talked, did nothing, hung out, doted on the baby, and chilled. a perfect, simple sunday afternoon.
olive had a blast hanging out with daniel and his girl rachel. rachel is so sweet to olive and olive felt very comfortable with them. she hung out with them quite a bit downstairs while everyone was watching t.v. it’s always cute to see other people be so sweet to your kid…you always are {obvs} but it is very heartwarming to see people do the same. maybe i am saying this because most people don’t take to kids or other people’s kids and it’s refreshing to see the opposite. especially when it’s genuine, you can definitely tell when someone really likes kids because as a parent, you always think your kid is da bomb and it’s sweet when someone else thinks the same.
of course we had to take a zillion pictures of olive and ellie. how can you not?! i bring my camera everywhere and have become a total mamarazzi! i can’t help it. i have always wanted a fancy camera to capture moments like these. i think it’s been the greatest gift to date…or at least the most used!
i love casual days like these and i feel like we never have enough of them! cheers to many more sunday fundays!
our friend jaime is a teacher and she reached out to me and pam on when we could get together before she started school again. we finally settled on a date but it was not without obstacles. one, we wanted to go the arboretum but there was rain in the forecast. two, pam and i had the worst nights before our scheduled get together.
pam was up all night with chase as i was with ellie. plus, i wasn’t feeling well at all. i had the shivers and my breast were feeling unbelievably painful. i was worried it was possible mastitis but it ended up fading away the next day…phew! we struggled through and ended up at my house for our date {we threw out options like kid town and lunch somewhere but pam and i felt best if our get together was low key and easy}.
i ordered lunch, the kids played, and pam, j, and i chit chatted about life. i was pleasantly surprised by olive. she really took to the boys…wild and all. hmmmmm, she really took to liam. she really loved his wild side. they ran around, screamed, jumped their way throughout the house. it was really cute to see. i love watching her grow, mature, and become more socially open to others! it’s the best thing to see as a parent…seeing your kids developing certain skills is really heartwarming.
pam and jaime were amusing. they were so worried about the boys destroying the house but i was not. they are such good parents and they didn’t let them go crazy in our house and it was too cute to see them interact with one another when it came to food, toys, and personal space. after a few hours…i think jaime and pam had enough…they packed up their belongings and we said our goodbyes. they kept apologizing for their kids tearing up the place but it was too easy and quick to clean up, i was not worried. i was just super happy to have had them over and they were able to see ellie and i was able to see chase!
although our playdate was short, it was a very good time! i had a blast with my girls and olive had a grand ol’ time with boys! it was great seeing everyone and hopefully we can make it to the arboretum on our next meeting and enjoy the great outdoors!
time is precious. time is a blessing and an enemy. i love my time with my friends and family. the moments where you get to make and create wonderful memories. the moments where you love where you are, what you’re doing, and savor the minutes, seconds that pass because life is so good. ya know what i mean? like when you are out to dinner somewhere in the city and the food is delicious, the libations are flowing, the conversations are fabulous and you are surrounded by such great people. those are joyous moments in time.
then there are the moments when you wish time would stand still. you look at your children and want them to stay little forever because they are so darn cute, innocent, and sweet. you want to preserve those interactions that are so full of love. when your daughter reaches for you to hold your hand, leans in for unsolicited amounts of kisses, and insists that you cuddle her on the couch.
or…and yes, i will go there; when you want time to freeze because you are getting older. you see your face with a few more wrinkles, lines, and spots. you notice a few more grey hairs. you notice your elbows are a bit more aged and your hands are not so smooth. that is when you want time to slow down and not take such a toll on your physic!
on a glass half full outlook {which i prefer}, time can be against us but really, it is giving us a life full of memories, children who will grow and continue a legacy, time gives you grandchildren whom you will love more than anything, time gives you more of life that you will appreciate and cherish. that’s what i love about the time given to us. what do we do with it and how to do we make the most of it? it’s precious, short, and i appreciate every second i am given.
what evokes these thoughts stem from my awesome new watch from JORD watches. timepieces can be beautiful, beautifully made, and are powerful symbols. i believe those descriptive words fit my gorgeous watch…the wood, the coloring, the craftsmanship. i am so excited to wear this pretty little piece on my wrist and have it remind me of life’s special moments every time i look at it!
when i discovered JORD watches…i thought about how all these beautiful timepieces would also make great gifts! a very unique gift for that special someone. i know, i know…it’s only august, almost september, but christmas will be here before you know it and we all know what it is like to try to buy for someone in your life where you feel like they have everything! JORD has women and men’s watches {click on the links to see!}…so you will find something special and unique for anyone on your list!
i love my watch for many reasons…it’s aesthetically pleasing through the color, the face, and the design. it’s such a unique women’s wooden watch and i love that it runs on automatic movement! i am excited to have discovered this brand because i now have unique gift ideas for upcoming special occasions or gifts for this holiday season…especially for those who you think might have everything! these watches will be a perfect gift!
so here’s even better news!! i have partnered with JORD watches to give away some shop credits {contest runs from 8.23.16 – 9.18.16}! a $75 voucher and $20 e-gift cards that expire 1/1/17…plenty of time to use to either treat yourself or someone special in your life! it’s simple and easy, just click on the link below!
i was super excited for our zoo date with kim, brady, and brooklyn. it had been awhile since i have gone with olive and she is now at an age where she would really enjoy it!
it was a really tough morning…ellie was suuuuuper fussy {very unlike her} and i was having a rough morning getting things done with a crying baby. she was not happy. i was a bit stressed and i was running behind. kim said i could cancel but that would sooo be unlike me to do such a thing! i just told her i would be 15 minutes later than expected.
we finally arrived and it was buuuusy! kim and i had no idea it was a kid’s free admission day…oy! there were droves of people there! i was secretly hoping kids were in school and it would be quiet and easy for us to navigate around. ha! not the case that day!
well, our morning started off right. the animals were out and olive and brady were warming up to each other and having fun looking at the animals. we walked around and it was great. kim and i did our best to watch our kids and catch up with one another. brady was too cute…he so wanted to hold olive’s hand but she was not having it! hahaha! it was too cute.
we were able to see the lions, cheetahs, gorillas, giraffes, sea lions, walruses, and more! we were walking around for a couple hours and during that span, we sat down for a quick lunch. it was after lunch when everything spiraled down hill for me. ugh. and i mean UGH. i won the worst mom of the year award for being so absolutely unprepared! welcome to the world of having two kids and learning a few big lesson along the way!
like i said, it had been awhile since i had been to the zoo and when i did go to the zoo with olive, she was just a baby in a stroller. well, now she is a walking toddler and i didn’t think about how long we would be walking and how tired she would get, on top of how hot it was! i didn’t think it was going to be that hot, so the heat factor killed us!
so, not only was it steaming hot, olive was exhausted and i didn’t have a wagon or a double stroller to put her in. she had to walk and i felt like the worst mom in the world. she cried for me to pick her up but i could only do that for a minute or two before i had to put her down. i mean, carry a toddler and try to push a stroller with one hand?! i was not super women! olive would cry out of frustration that i couldn’t carry her. i felt soooooo bad because she was so tired.
here’s another reason why i win worst mom of the year award, i ran out of the house in a rush and i forgot her water bottle…so she didn’t have water. yes, i bought a bottle of water for her to drink but there was not straw so she didn’t gulp as much as she usually does and of course, i felt terrible! i also didn’t bring enough snacks. yes…who am i?! this behavior is sooooo unlike me!!!
then ellie needed a feeding but i couldn’t bring myself to feed her…it was too hot! i couldn’t fathom putting my baby under a hot cover and feeding her in this heat! i was stressed about that and to top it all off…ellie started to turn into a tomato. yes, it was so hot outside, she started to overheat. argh! i freaked out.
i told kim i had to leave. i needed to get both my girls out of the heat! i felt bad and told her she could stay but she insisted on leaving as well. it was the worst walk back to the car…olive wanted me to hold her the whole way back and i couldn’t. she had mini meltdowns along the way and a few times ellie cried out in hunger. this mama was sweating. we finally made it back to the car and i loaded my girls in and blasted the air. phew! we drove through a starbucks, got drinks for everyone and i fed my little ellie and we were all happy campers! woo hoo!
after this crazy escapade, hc purchased an attachment to our stroller that allows olive to sit down or stand up on it! woo hoo! so, next time we hit up the zoo, {after learning some valuable lessons} i will totally be ready and prepared to be there for a few hours and really enjoy our total experience!!
[me and my girl]
[these two cuties!]
[all the animals were out!]
[cutie brooklyn]
[beautiful kim and handsome brady]
[our little monkeys]
[look at that chunk! she was dancing to the music…she is so cute!]
our friends andrea and jamie just recently closed on their beautiful house in chicago. andrea had contacted me about seeing the baby and i told her i wanted to see her new house, so to kill two birds with one stone, we settled on us coming out there with the girls. we get to see their new house and they get to see ellie! win win!
we pulled up and easily found a parking spot right in front of their house. we rang the door bell and andrea answered & greeted us. we walked into such a gorgeous home! oh my! it is so lovely, spacious, and fabulous! i was obsessed! the dark wood, the crown moulding…swoon! it’s so darn big! the house boasts 5 bedrooms and, i am probably wrong with this number, but it something like 4300 square feet in size. wow! plus, their backyard is amazing as well. they have a small back patio and an additional patio up above their garage. loooooove it!
they invited us over with jamie’s intention to cook. um, i never knew jamie was such a fantastic cook! he made the most delicious shrimp, risotto, salad, pulled pork, so many good eats and everything was so darn savory and good! i ate so much…i couldn’t stop because it was so tasty! they had also the most perfect cheese plate as an appetizer and plenty of libations to go around.
andrea and jamie’s neighbor stopped by, their real estate agent, kathryn, rebecca and her son julian, beth and patrik with their cute little baby boy, and few other folks stopped by to hang out. i loved meeting some new faces and catching up with the familiar ones. it was a great, great evening. olive had a blast playing downstairs in the play room and ellie pretty much slept most of the time there.
we ate, drank, and really enjoyed each other’s company. it was cozy, relaxing, and always so fun visiting with some really good people. i absolutely enjoyed my time there but alas, we had to get going. it was getting a bit late and olive didn’t have a nap that day and that, typical, resulted in a meltdown. poor girl. she didn’t want to leave all the wonderful toys downstairs in the playroom. she was soooooo stinkin’ upset. a bit hysterical, delirious, and in toddler fashion, made no sense in her rage whatsoever. hahaha! we finally pried her away, not without a lot of screaming, and got her to the car. whew!
anyhoo, thank you jamie and andrea for being the hostess with the mostess! it was fabulous to see you both and annabelle, and all your wonderful friends. we love, love your beautiful house and again, congrats on the new home!
[hi cutie!]
[cutest little baby gift for ellie]
[delicious cheese plate]
[love these babes]
[beth and her babe colin]
[look at that drool!]
[dinner alfresco]
[the happy toddler moments before her meltdown due to not napping. eep!]
[awesome lighting…a serene, quiet morning]
