potty training 101

Posted on November 18, 2016 by tandem in love

oohhhhhhhh, potty training. i was soooooo dreading it!

soooo many people have told me to train olive when she showed signs that she was ready. um, that never happened. we would read books together, pretend play that her dolls would pee in the toilet. she sat on the potty a few times and sometimes asked to sit on it, with more of a self interest behind it {she wanted to watch cartoons on the iPad and sit on the toilet}. ha! after months of me thinking about potty training her, i thought…forget it! signs or no signs, i was going to do it! i tried to potty train olive a few months ago…around the end of july, early august and that was a disaster!!!

she.was.not.ready. and let me tell ya…training a toddler with a newborn was a killer combination to cause me to go to the mental house. olive pee’d and poop’d all over the place. she did the typical toddler action of hiding behind the couch or hid in a corner and would just do it. yes, she would pee on the floor, poop in her underwear; i would walk away for 30 seconds and that gave her enough time to constantly go in her pants. i almost went insane! i would then have to clean her up, clean up the mess, do another load of laundry, take care of a crying newborn, etc. after a couple days of that, i said nooooo way! i was going to lose my mind so i stopped and little olive was soooo relieved!

well, fast forward to october, i thought – this is it. i am doing this. nothing is going to stop me now! i was determined. olive between then and now showed a bit of interest in it. not much but just a wee bit. by no means did she do a 180 and showed me signs of wanting to potty train…she still did not. we read the same books, played the same way with her dolls, and she rarely asked to sit on the toilet but i knew, in my gut, that it was time. i mentally prepared myself for a week and then bit the bullet.

i cleared out my calendar for 5 days. that was my magic number. 5 days of just sitting around the house and potty training my girl. i also mentally prepared olive and told her for days that we were giving up diapers. i had also gathered a few things that were critical to training her.

1.underwear: i bought a whole bunch. you never know how many you will go through so it’s good that you have quite a few on hand unless you want to do laundry alllllll the time. i probably bought an excessive amount {are 21 underpants too many?!} but i would rather be safe than sorry!

2.a few waterproof pads. i used these on the couch, on her chairs, anywhere she sat to protect whatever furniture you wanted to keep dry and safe.

3.the ipad. it’s a lifesaver when your child is sitting on the toilet f o r e v e rrrrrrrr.

4.the baby bjorn seat cover. ergonomically perfect for my daughter’s bum. it is simple, clean, and portable.

5.i included this potty book because it’s an easy read and really pushes the message through on potty training.

and no, i never rewarded her with candy for actually going pee or poo. she always got a ‘great job’ or high five but never a treat. i never liked the idea of giving your child a treat, like a dog, for doing something she should be doing.

day 1: i would not let olive wear any bottoms. no underwear, no pants. yes, she was naked from the waist down. i turned up the heat a bit so she would be comfortable. i didn’t want her to have the feeling of anything on her bum to remind her of a diaper. we sat around all day. mostly in the kitchen because it was a safe area…no rugs, no couch, just wood chairs and a hardwood floor = easy clean up! we had a few accidents…and that was ok. let me tell you peeps, you have to watch your child like a hawk. no joke. i had to sit next to olive the entire day. i rarely left her side, because if i did, she most likely would pee if i wasn’t around. i also found that 30-45 minutes was the perfect interval time for us. some folks might find that every 20 minutes is good or longer but for us, 30-45 minutes was a perfect cycle for me to put olive on the toilet to ‘pee’. so all day long, every 30-45 minutes, i would put olive on the toilet whether she had to pee or not. i didn’t ask her, i demanded it, “olive, let’s go to the bathroom” and she would follow me to the bathroom. also, i am not a fan of the potty training toilets that they sell in the stores. if a kid is going to use the toilet, let her use the real toilet. not a plastic toilet that you can move anywhere in the house.

day 2: we did the same routine. she woke up in the morning and i took off her diaper and she ran around naked. we sat mostly in the kitchen again. she had a few accidents but it was much less than the day before, which was an awesome sign!

day 3: we did the same but this day, she wanted to sit on the couch which was risky business. i let her and we had an accident. she became too comfortable, she kept refusing to use the toilet, and i gave in and didn’t make her {with much regret and i learned my lesson to not have her dictate it and stick within my time interval of putting her on the toilet}. i used the waterproof pad and had placed it underneath her but the pee ran down the pad and onto our rug. ugh. well at least the couch was untouched! other than that, it was a pretty successful day! i truly believe that if i had made olive go sit on the toilet within the time interval, she wouldn’t have peed on the couch!

day 4: we did the same routine and we had no accidents! she was totally getting it and i was super excited and proud of her! btw, olive still needs naps but i didn’t give her any naps during this time. i was too afraid to put a diaper on her during the day {i was nervous it would confuse her}, so instead we did earlier bedtimes to make up for it. after her potty training success, we resumed with the naps.

day 5: my sisters wanted us to meet them out at the mall and go shopping. i was very hesitant. olive wasn’t a pro yet but i also wanted to try an outing with her. i wasn’t prepared, so i made hc go to the store and pick up some pull up’s {which i am not a fan of either…it’s too much like a diaper but it was better than nothing!} and my sister picked up toilet seat covers for us. i made olive go the bathroom before we left and when we got there, we all wanted to eat lunch. olive decided to slam a huge lemonade and i thought oh dang, this girl is going to pee in her pants! after lunch, i insisted that she go to the bathroom and she refused. she absolutely hates public toilets but who really loves them?! she freaked out and would not go to the bathroom…um, that made me nervous! i tried 2 more times and each time, she almost had a meltdown. after being at the mall for a bit, i told my sisters that i was going to go home. they understood and off we went, me praying that olive wouldn’t pee in the car! we safely arrived home and this girl didn’t wet her pants once! we were out for 2.5 hours!!! i was sooooo proud of her! we ran inside and she peed on the toilet in the comfort of her own home.

after the 5 straight days of potty training at home, we had total success! olive was a pro after that. she had some nervous accidents after the fact but she has pretty much been on point with peeing and pooping in the toilet!

my next battle to tackle was going to be night training…i was so dreading that. from what i had read, it was pretty much the idea of having a newborn again. it was suggested that you get up a couple times a night and wake your child to use the toilet. whaaaaa?! are you kidding me? ugh. no thank you. well, the most fabulous news i can share is that olive pretty much self-taught herself how to not pee in the bed at night. how awesome was that?! seriously! i put olive in a diaper at night, every night, right before bed. like the minute she was about to lay down, a diaper went on. after about {less than} two weeks of her being potty trained, she pretty much stopped wetting her diaper at night! i couldn’t believe it. morning after morning, she would wake up with a dry diaper. not flick of wetness and would pee in the toilet once she woke up. then soon, she didn’t want to wear a diaper at night and only her underwear! no accidents! i was amazed and so proud!

so, there ya go my friends. my potty training adventure with my sweet girl! i was so proud of her and was so happy that she kicked it this time around. i honestly thought we would never get to this point! it seemed like i wasn’t going to get it and either would olive but we did it! it took a lot of patience, tenacity, and determination but resulted in success! she is now diaper free and we couldn’t be more excited or more proud of her!

[essentials: a waterproof pad, ipad, the potty book, bjorn potty seat, and fun undies]

xoxo

happy four months ellie!

Posted on November 15, 2016 by tandem in love

[pics taken on 11.15.16]

height: 24.25″

weight: 13 lbs 10 oz

this babe is the best. the best! she is just sooooo darn sweet, happy, chunky and fun! i love hanging out with her and seeing her beautiful face look at me with always a big smile!

it seems like the amount of milk she consumes has decreased, sadly. she still nurses every 2-3 hours when she’s with me. she has become so distracted and more interested in the environment around her than nursing. i now find that i have to feed her in a quiet room with minimal noise and no t.v. on. if olive is around, forget it! she wants to watch olive rather than feed and try not having your toddler in your face and not excitedly jumping, screaming around you! that’s the impossible! if i go into another room, this little gremlin will come find me! well, it is what it is…ellie is still chunking up quite nicely, so no complaints on those chubby thighs of hers or fatty cheeks!

she’s super solid with her night sleeping but not so much with her naps. i really think ellie sleeps less than everyone in this house! she typically goes down around 9-10pm and will wake up once {maybe twice during a growth spurt} for a feeding. sometimes she will wake at 3am or 5am…it depends on how’s she feeling and then again around 6am or 7am. i am hoping she breaks that one nightly feeding she is so strongly clinging on to. she nurses for maybe 5-7 minutes in the middle of the night and falls back asleep…so, i am like, “girl, why do you bother to eat…you can barely keep your eyes open?!!! haha!} so, she’ll sleep for 8-9 hours at nigt and maybe, maybe nap for 2-3 hours during the day. sometimes she doesn’t nap much at all. olive did and definitely sleeps more than this babe! it’s amazing how much ellie doesn’t sleep for a little baby but i am most thankful that she is quite the solid sleeper at night. no complaints here! as long as she keeps up those long nightly stretches, we are super happy in this house!

she is completely aware of her surroundings. she will lock eyes with me from across the room. she will perk up and coo when she hears my voice. she just started to giggle in the last few weeks and it’s the most darling sound i currently hear. she recently discovered her toes! she loves to grab at them! she loves to lay around and observe, she especially loves to look at olive. she can watch her for hours. plus, the sweet smiles that ellie gives is priceless! she loves to smile, smile, smile. she’s such a happy baby! seeing her beautiful grins completely brightens my mornings, days, and nights. i love this smiley babe so much!!

she’s been pretty true to size but oh is she chunky! i love her fat little cheeks and chubby, chubby thighs. those rolls get me every time. she’s balding in the back of her head and i blame it on the fact that i have a toddler and don’t hold ellie as much, so she is always laying on her back. olive didn’t get a bald spot because we held her allllllll the time! so poor ellie…she’s has a big circle patch of hairlessness going on back there.

she is such a happy, calm baby. i am soaking in every moment, every second of this baby stage. i can’t get enough. she’s so sweet, loving, precious, and oh so squeezable! i love holding her, nursing her, playing with her, and spending all my days with this darling babe. i love you to pieces oh baby ellie…you are such a light in my life.

xoxo

happy three months ellie!

Posted on October 15, 2016 by tandem in love

happy three months!

[pic taken on 10.15]

height: n/a

weight: n/a

oh ellie. she’s the sweetest little baby. we are seriously so blessed with this happy little babe. i will say it over and over again…i can’t believe it’s been three months already. they aren’t kidding when others tell you time with the second baby flies by!

she’s such a fabulous sleeper. now she is such a light sleeper…who does she gets it from? hmmmmm, my dad? hc’s mom? ’cause the both of us are NOT light sleepers. ok, well before the babies, i wasn’t but now i wake up at a sigh coming out of theses kid’s mouths! ellie will wake up at a creak in our floors and that is no bueno because our floors are so darn creaky! she’s solid at night though. she still wakes up at 5am for a quick feeding…and i mean quick. she might eat for 5 minutes and fall back asleep and sleep for another 2-3 hours. she sleeps for about 8-9 hours a night but her naps are sporadic. she might hit a four hour nap during the day or not nap much at all. it just depends on her mood, growth, and day.

she’s an eater still. she’s getting quite chunky for a skinny baby. she will still feed every two to three hours. i still try to pump every two hours to store away milk but she’s doing very well every few hours and she’s has gotten better with her regurgitation. she always lets out a juicy burp and then i expect her to puke right after. every time. her trend of late is to throw up about a half hour before she has to eat again. it’s like clockwork but now she doesn’t spew vomit like she did the first few months…she is a little more routine and regimented so i know when she’s about to puke. hahaha!

she is so active! she is a wiggle worm and can hold her head up like a champ. she can see further now and notices her mama, dada, olive, grandparents, etc. she is so sweet and smiley! when she wakes up in the morning or after her nap, she gives me the biggest smiles. it totally makes my day! she loves to coo, squeal, and shriek! it’s too cute to see her want to communicate and ‘talk’ back to me. i am waiting for her to roll and giggle but that hasn’t happen yet. i love watching her grow!

her hair is falling out a bit but her chunkiness is getting better. i love her leg rolls and chubby, chubby cheeks but her belly takes the cake. her double chin is the best and i love her cute, little pointy nose. she has the biggest belly! it’s ginormous! it’s like she has her head,legs, and arms attached to a watermelon tummy. hahaha!

she loves to watch olive and olive is so darn sweet to her. she is such a great big sister and is so gentle and thoughtful towards her. she always has to see her in the morning and say good morning. she will always let me know baby ellie is crying…even though i can hear her. ha! olive loves to show her her toys, she loves to help me change her diaper, and when olive is in the mood, she will totally entertain ellie by dancing, singing, or just being goofy to her.

i am still so amazed by her. i can’t believe we made such a sweet little baby girl. it blows my mind i have two darling little ladies. they are so sweet, cute, amazing, and precious! ellie is such a blessing…i can’t get over how much she is like hc. she looks like him, acts like him, and is chill like him. we lucked out to get such a calm loving little lady!

ellie, we love watching you grow and you are an amazing little baby. we love you sooooo much and can’t wait to see what milestones you will hit next month!

xoxo

ellie’s baptism

Posted on September 26, 2016 by tandem in love

we had the craziest start to our day…ugh, not in a good way. we poorly planned our time and ended up running sooooooo behind getting to the church for ellie’s baptism. how bad was that?! oh so bad. getting out the door is such a project, a circus, and so much of it depends on me and i always get the sh*t end of the stick on getting ready. yes, i am controlling but during times like this, i wish hc took the reigns on helping out with girls!! i have to get myself dressed, i had to prepare all their outfits, i had to style olive’s hair, i have to feed ellie {which of course hc can’t do}, i have to remember the camera, the baptism dress & accessories, dress the girls, and hc was the one who got ready first and left me with barely 40 minutes to get everything else done and feeding ellie takes at least 15 minutes of that time…soooo, therefore we were LATE.

we arrived at the church in record time. i think it took us 37 minutes or so…it was redic how fast hc was driving. we won’t mention the warp speed he was driving at. anyhoo, we arrived right at 9:30am…the music just started playing and the procession started. we were suppose to walk up with fr. ken but instead we were sitting in the pew. i was fretting over the fact that ellie wasn’t in her baptism gown. hc kept brushing it off to not change her until we got to the church. well, fr. ken nodded at us to step up to the altar in front of the parish and there was ellie…wearing a green dress. yup, my daughter for her baptism was wearing a green dress in front of everyone. there goes the symbolic white garment the baby is supposed to wear.

anyhoo, the service was amazing. fr. ken is so great and everything went smoothly thereafter. once we sat down the first time, we changed ellie into her gown and everything was just fine. fr. ken called us and we went through the ritual of denouncing satan, believing in God, dunking ellie in the holy water, anointing her forehead with the sacred oil, and lighting the candle as the light of christ. it was a beautiful ceremony!

after mass, we all lingered and took pictures. thank goodness for ellie’s godfather, huy, being a photographer! fr. ken came back down to join us and i was so happy to have connected with him a bit. i love that man…he’s such a inspiration. we took pics with fr. ken, the godparents ~ thuy and huy, and i was utterly grateful and thankful that huy took some amazing pics of the service. i am the one always taking pics and i was worried no one else would snap any good pics to remember!

we headed back home and soon everyone came over and we served lunch and had a great, great time with our friends and family. our luncheon turned into a causal dinner party! after most of the guests left, it was just my family lingering behind and we decided to have dinner together as well {plus, huy is rarely in town & we need to spend that time all together!}. everyone left to change their clothes and came back all comfy and casual. we ordered portillos {yum!} and hung out all night.

it was such a fabulous day! it started out super crazy and stressful and ended up being such a beautiful event. ellie being baptized was so moving and meaningful. she is now welcomed into the catholic faith and is truly a child of God.

[ellie’s gown, originally olive’s. custom made by miss tashina]

[the dress is made out of french chantilly lace, silk charmeuse, and silk chiffon]

[in her auntie’s arms]

[there she goes! *dunk*]

[she is like…what happened??}

[anointing of the oil]

[ellie with her godmother]

[with olivia and aaron]

[ellie’s godparents ~ huy & thuy, and with my favorite priest…fr. ken!]

[ellie with her grandparents and godmother]

[my heart…minus olive having a meltdown]

[hydrangeas + baby’s breath]

[i love this banner!]

[i am a child of god]

[dessert table]

[my diy decor]

[ubiquitous shot of macarons]

[a gift from her godfather]

[a gift from her godmother]

xoxo

happy two months ellie

Posted on September 15, 2016 by tandem in love

happy two months!

[photos taken on 9.15]

height: 22.75″

weight: 10lbs 14oz

oh girl! you’re two months already?! where is the time going? you are growing up so fast! i can’t believe how different you are, already. be still my heart.

you’re sleep digressed a bit after one month but picked back up to a regular routine in the last two weeks. thank the Lord because we are so spoiled and i don’t think i could handle all those sleepless nights like other parents {olive was terrible the first four weeks and got into her routine after that!}. gah! you are solid throughout the night. you will pull in a good 6-8 hours straight! woo hoo! we try to keep you awake from 6 pm and on. we try really, really hard to get you to sleep by 10-11pm and you will be sound for the rest of the night. sometimes you will wake around 4, feed, and sleep until 7-8 o’clock. let’s pray that you continue to be so consistent every night until you’re an adult!

one thing i forgot to mention last month was the fact that you don’t like to be swaddled. probably from the second week here and on. you slept just fine & have ever since you were home, not being wrapped up all tight! i think we swaddled olive every night up to 4 months, hoping she’d stay fast asleep but you’re a rock star sleeper with not being wrapped up like a cocoon .

you pretty much eat every 2-3 hours still. i think i said this before but nursing the second time around is so different. you know so much more, you are more comfortable, you understand your body better, and i am so much more relaxed. i wish i could say that you stopped upchucking your milk but alas, that is still your thing. oh em gee. after you eat, it’s like…wait, wait, wait for it…puuuuuuuuke. there are days i hope i can catch it with the burp cloth and there are days where you are so stinkin’ sneaky and it throw it at me when i am not looking. i have never done so much laundry in my life. i change my clothes constantly, i change you constantly, and i always think i never have enough burp cloths. they are always drenched in milk and other fabulous body fluids. yuck.

you are starting to ‘talk’ back. it’s the cuuuuuutest thing! you recognize people, you perk up when you hear familiar voices, you smile at your mama alllllllll the time! i am so in love. i can’t even take it when you coo back and respond to me! it’s the best feeling in the world, it makes me so happy to see you growing! your smiles and facial expressions are so fun to watch and i can just stare at you for hours…well, actually i do. hahaha!

it means so much to her to have us around. if we leave her in her swing or dock a tot and walk away, it makes her very upset. she loves it when we are sitting right next to her, she loves it even more when she is by her sister. she loves looking and listening to olive. it makes you happy. ditto for olive…she is so in love, overprotective, and oh so sweet towards you. you love to be held, you love to be touched, and you love having your sweet little family right by your side. it’s so apparent in your reactions…i hope that is how you will always feel.

you have kept your hair, your double chin is out of this world, your cheeks have grown exponentially but it’s all not as big as your belly. your belly is so beyond ginormous! it’s sooooo stinkin’ cute! i love your little thigh rolls, your pointy little nose, and your sweet. sweet eyes. i try my best to soak in all your features, reactions, & sweetness because i don’t want to forget, take for granted, and miss out on all your baby goodness.

those moments are so so precious and that is truly what life is about right now. my family, the moments together, my girls, my husband, and life in the moment because you can’t take back that time and should savor every moment God has given to us. life is too beautiful to waste it.

happy two months my baby girl. it’s been the most fabulous two months since your debut and we are so blessed to have you here.

xoxo

happy one month ellie!

Posted on August 16, 2016 by tandem in love

happy one month ellie!

[photos taken on 8.15]

height: 21.5″

weight: 9lbs 7 oz

oh my goodness! i can’t believe ellie is one month old. whaaaaaa! it’s already flying by too fast! i am so sad…really i am. i want to savor every single moment with this precious babe. i love looking at her, smelling her, holding her, and thinking about her future. it’s all so overwhelming for me because she is our last babe and so i am highly emotional over everything.

well, she’s an eater! i am doing much better this time around with nursing and producing milk. i know so much more and i am more comfortable…so it is more relaxing for me! i loooooove her chubby cheeks…they have gotten chubbier by the week so she is gaining weight quite nicely. ellie eats every 2-3 hours but unlike olive, ellie is a spit-er! she has reflux and vomits everywhere, all day long. this girl is very gassy! she toots and spits like it’s her full time job. olive rarely spit up or vomited {therefore we didn’t do a ton of laundry with olive like we do loads with ellie!}, ellie acts like linda blair from the exorcist! hahaha! i pretty much do laundry every other day.

ellie is a great sleeper. she is pretty solid. she’s pretty calm and docile until she needs a diaper change, a feeding, or is struggling to fall asleep {since babies can’t fall asleep on their own…it’s a learned behavior!}. otherwise, she will sit around and look cute! she is still waking up one or twice in a night for a feeding…it depends on last feeding and her sleep pattern before we hit the sack. when she wakes up to feed, she usually will go back to sleep. there are certain nights where i have to rock her back to sleep but that is usually an hour or less…although i absolutely dread it when i am beyond exhausted. overall, this babe will sleep for 2-4 hours, be awake for an hour or two, then fall back asleep. that is pretty much her routine…eat, sleep, poop, throw up and repeat.

let me also say that she is such a noisy sleeper! holy cow! it’s like a noisy train laying by our side. she loves to grunt, holler, cry, snore, you name it…ellie does it! it’s soooo funny to listen and watch her. she is so stinkin’ loud.

just in the last week, ellie has become very alert. you can see it in her eyes. instead of a glazed over look, you can tell that she notices you and becomes attentive to what she is looking at. she is starting to mimic my facial expressions and is slightly, just slightly cooing. so that is a great sign that she is wanting to ‘talk’!

you can already tell that she is becoming mesmerized by her big sister. whenever olive is around, ellie is fixated on her and loves to watch her big sister, olive, do the crazy things she loves to do! it’s so sweet to watch! i can’t wait until they can really interact!

happy one month baby girl! we are so excited to see you grow and can’t wait to see what millstones you will hit next month!

xoxo

ellie’s newborn pics

Posted on August 15, 2016 by tandem in love

oh my goodness! i am in love with ellie’s newborn pics! tricia always does the best job!

tricia has been our photographer since olive has been in my womb. we love her work and we love her! she is so easy going and fun to work with, plus she captures our family in the most delightful way.

we got to tricia’s house bright and early. we were given instructions on how to prep ellie for her photos…um, better read then done! a 45 minute car ride with a newborn and trying to keep her awake was almost impossible! you want a baby to be sleepy for her photos because you get those cute pics that way! so, i tried my best to keep her awake {fail} but ellie was a pro regardless!

the day was so darn hot and humid. very humid. tricia keeps her studio warm because it keeps the baby sleepy but combined with the humidity, we were dying. i, honestly, never really sweat and i was sweating! the first part of the session, tricia likes to get the sibling and family photos done {so the parents and kids can relax after that and she goes full force into the newborn pics}.

of course, olive was resistant and uncooperative. she didn’t want to lay down with ellie and take pics. she didn’t want to do anything. gahhhhhhhhh, i was like, really olive?! c’mon! after a bit of coaxing, tricia actually won her over! i was shocked! olive cooperated, giggled, and did what tricia wanted her to do! oh my goodness! i couldn’t believe it!

the photo session just flew by after that {even though it was three hours long and add in that we got there 15 minutes late, and i fed ellie when we got there, so we were there for over three hours}. it didn’t feel long at all! hc, olive, and i just relaxed and had a great time hanging out in tricia’s awesome child friendly wait room while she did her magic with ellie. plus, we love tricia…i love talking with her and she is a great person and easy to get along with. i highly recommend her if you are in the chicago area…she is so great at what she does!

as you can see, ellie’s pics turned out fantastic! we are always so, so, so pleased with her work! she captured us, olive, and ellie so wonderfully! thank you tricia for always producing the most wonderful pictures of our family.

[this…is.my.favorite.]

[i love this one…but i will say that about every pic during this session]

[dem cheeks…in love]

[how precious is this?!]

[that sweet smile]

[are you kidding me? so in love]

[i love her]

[she was so darn smiley for her pictures]

[oh my heart]

[precious babe]

[oh those rolls]

xoxo

fresh48 sesh

Posted on August 10, 2016 by tandem in love

fresh48: it’s something i thought about doing with olive but didn’t but i decided to do this with ellie. i love the idea of capturing the baby right after she was born, hence the name fresh48! our photographer, tricia, used to offer fresh48 sessions but decided to drop that option due to her kids and schedule.

i decided to book our fresh48 with lemonade stand photography, a photographer i was originally interested in when i was pregnant with olive. i had researched several photographers for Olive’s newborn pics and couldn’t decided on who to go with…a friend recommended stephanie and another friend recommended tricia. i loved both their work but it only made sense to book with tricia with her being in chicago and us being in chicago {stephanie’s studio was too far away}!

anyhoo, with tricia not doing fresh48 sessions anymore, i contacted stephanie and she was available! i was very excited! i couldn’t wait to work with her. well, the day had come. i went into labor and contacted both my photographers…one for the fresh48 and the other for the newborn pics, i get so darn excited over pics!

stephanie confirmed she would be out to the hospital on sunday {36 hours after ellie was born} to capture the sweet pictures of our newest baby girl. i was so excited and nervous…again, over olive cooperating! who knows how this babe reacts in these situations. usually she becomes very stubborn and fussy…

well, stephanie arrived right at 10am. the rain and darkness had cleared and it became a much brighter, sunny day! phew! just in time for pictures! of course, as i had thought, olive was soooooo fussy. she was not having it.at.all. she didn’t cooperate, screamed, fussed, and didn’t want to take any pictures with ellie. ugh. i was sweating. she has been this way since her freakin’ newborn pics! she still holds the record for being the longest newborn session with tricia!

anyhoo, stephanie was so patient and great to work with {no surprise, since they deal with kids as their profession}. she was calm and tried her best with olive, although olive totally gave her a run for her money, i was so incredibly pleased with our pics! she captured so many great moments between all of us and managed to snap some sweet pics of olive and ellie.

i absolutely loved that we were able to document our newest addition to our family, sweet little ellie, just being 36 hours new! memories captured that we will cherish forever. welcome to our world beautiful baby girl!

[name banner by hooray everyday]

[sweetest babe]

[sisters]

[that smile]

[i love this family pic]

[another favorite]

[she’s so sweet]

xoxo

ellie’s visitors

Posted on August 2, 2016 by tandem in love

we were so blessed to have our friends and family visit little baby ellie!

first off, in the hospital, we had my family come say hi. kim, terry, and the boys stopped by to see miss ellie {although the boys couldn’t come in}, terry and kim said hi to the new babe! they brought little miss olive with them {they watched her all weekend while we were in the hospital} and she got to say hello for the first time to her new baby sister! it was the sweetest thing to watch! it totally melted my heart to see her intrigued, excited, & shy about the whole thing! you can see it in her face. my favorite picture is of her holding miss ellie! too precious!

we then had dana and scott {fresh from their honeymoon!} come to the hospital and visit us! we were so excited to see them. they stayed for awhile and brought the cutest gift for the girls. i laughed because it was so dana to get me a balloon that said ‘you did it!’…she seriously cracks me up with her quirky humor. she bought olive a cute little teddy bear, one for ellie, and flowers for me! how sweet are they?! love these two so much!

while dana and scott were visiting us, my sister thuy showed up! we all hung out in the hospital room together, talking about the baby, their honeymoon, the wedding, future vacation spots, etc. it was pretty awesome to have them all there.

once we got home on sunday, my family came over and reagan and bennett were able to meet their new cousin ellie. it was so sweet to see them excited to hold her! my parents were over, along with my sisters and terry.

the following day, we had rich’s parents, dick and jane along with grace come say hi. grace brought me flowers and dick and jane brought ellie a cute little gift. it was so sweet to see them with ellie! their new granddaughter and grace’s new sister!

we then had rich’s sister missy, nephew daniel, and rich’s aunt wendy come say hello! missy always brings the best gifts, especially for olive! she brought her a peppa pig set and she absolutely loved it! or loves it…because she still loves playing with it! well, if anyone knows olive, they know that her most prized possession in this world is her bunny blankie. a gift from her aunt missy. well, missy found another one and gifted it to miss ellie! i really hope she loves it just as much as olive does!

we also had lan, pete, and avery come visit! i really didn’t get a good pic of them holding ellie but nevertheless, it was pretty awesome to have them come by to say hello. they were over along with my family, again, and my brother dan finally made it over to see ellie. thank you so much for the awesome gift you gave olive! we call her dr. olive now! she absolutely looooooooves it!!!!

we then were blessed to have kim come visit us. we were so excited to see her! i love catching up with this lovely lady. she is just the sweetest and it always feels like there is never enough time between us! we always have so much to talk about and before we know it, it’s time to do something else, get somewhere, or time is just plain up! she also brought the cutest gift for ellie’s room. thank you so much for such thoughtfulness!

well, there ya have it. ellie’s first week and a half of visitors. we were so happy to have so many special people come by and say hello to our new baby girl in this world. thank you to our friends and family who were able to make the trip out to us!

[she wasn’t sure what was going on]

[look at her cheeky look]

[how precious is this? my heart is melting!]

[how beautiful, my sister kim with her niece ellie]

[dana {and scott in the background} and ellie]

[cutie pie on her way home]

[having fun with the presents]

[dying over the balloon dana and scott got me…plus flowers and a gift for olive, so thoughtful!]

[olive loves the song, ‘the wheels on the bus’ so naturally she said, ‘shhhhh, shhhhh, shhhhh’ to baby ellie as she cried!]

[cousin reagan and ellie]

[sweet bennett really wanted to hold ellie]

[grace and baby ellie]

[love the laughter and love shared between these two]

[papa and gramma loving ellie]

[flowers from grace]

[as usual…the baby is crying in auntie missy’s arms]

[vera bradley bunny lovie…hoping ellie loves hers just as much as olive does!]

[she was totally into the peppa gift from aunt missy]

[a gift from aunt wendy]

[cousin daniel with ellie]

[lan, pete, dan, and family visiting ellie & each other!]

[beautiful kim saying hello to miss ellie]

xoxo

ellie’s birth story

Posted on August 1, 2016 by tandem in love

it was early in the morning. not as early as olive’s journey {4:45am} but it was right before 7am. i was feeling very strong braxton hicks all morning but i couldn’t tell if they were actually contractions or really strong braxton hicks {my braxton hicks had gotten progressively stronger the last couple weeks}. hc kissed me goodbye right before 7am before he left for work. shortly thereafter, i felt a really strong contraction. again, it felt different but i wasn’t sure! i text hc to let him know that i had a feeling and he insisted on working from home, so he turned around to head back.

while i was lying in bed…i wasn’t sure if my water had broken or something else was going on! let me just preface this by saying i never experienced my water breaking with olive or anything else. her contractions were very, very, very consistent though! olive’s labor was very different than ellie’s!

well, for those of you faint of heart…my mucus plug had left it’s premises, that was the ‘water’ i was feeling between my legs {or aka the bloody show}. i got up to get ready for the day and waited for hc to come back home. i finished packing my hospital bag, grabbed olive’s suitcase, and waited. the contractions were soooooo inconsistent. 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 16 minutes, 12 minutes. i remembered olive’s contraction being very consistent and continuously dropping in time whereas ellie’s was all over the board.

i contacted my sisters to let them know and called my obyn’s office to let them know that i was possibly in labor. they wanted me to come in just to make sure i wasn’t leaking any amniotic fluids and just to double check that everything was ok. mine and hc’s plan has always been to head into the city if i started to feel any labor pains and that is exactly what we did. although we joked non stop that we were hoping it wasn’t on a friday at 3:00 in the afternoon! well, it was a friday…but at least it was in the morning!

we headed down, traffic was light, and made it to our appointment on time. the head nurse didn’t detect any amniotic fluids and told us just to track and gauge how i was feeling throughout the day {i was dilated 3.5 cm}. hc and walked around a bit and decided to eat breakfast. the contractions were there but not in any timely fashion. i would have them here or there so, we just decided to eat and then walk around until i felt it was time.

we checked into the hotel right next door to prentice and decided to wait it out in the hotel room. the contractions were getting stronger and i didn’t want to walk around anymore…i was so tired! the front desk lady was so kind, she upgraded us to a really nice suite and gave us a discount! fabulous! the room was great although we weren’t in there for long! we checked in around noon? i can’t remember and only stayed til about 4:30 pm. my contractions got progressively worse. they were so incredibly painful but i am so stubborn and have a high threshold for pain…i waited way too long again {i did the same with olive}. i told hc it was time and we walked the half block over to the hospital. on the way there, i went through a contraction and had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk to bear down the pain. i am sure people and cars going by were like, whoa! that women is in labor!

we checked into triage and while we were in there, i went through two more contractions. they checked us in and told us we could get checked in to the delivery room anytime {i was over 4 cm dilated by then}. well, things are so slow and it took over an hour for us to finally get scooted upstairs {it was near 6 o’clock by then}. my contractions were ridiculous. so darn painful. i cried, shook, and sweated through each one. they wheel chaired me up and i thought i was going to break the wheelchair going through such awful contractions.

once i got into the delivery room, it was smooth sailing and the nurses were great! they had to iv me but it was awful going through a contraction while they were poking a hole in my vein. i was trying hard not to look but blood was seriously squirting a half foot into the air as i clenched my fists going through the pain! so bananas! they had the anethesiologist on the way and i couldn’t wait! omg…my contractions were absolutely numbing. the anesthesiologist was hilarious. he looked barely 30 and was so funny! they made it so much more bearable as i had to sit still during the whole process and going through body shaking contractions isn’t easy when they want to put a foot long needle into your spine! once the epidural was administered {that was around 7pm…12 hours after the first contractions}, life was fantastic. i was relaxed, i couldn’t feel the contractions anymore {hallelujah}, and now it was just a waiting game.

i settled in, thinking i might nap but everything went faster than i thought it would. while i was waiting around to get dilated, one contraction i felt was really, really strong. i, obviously, didn’t feel the pain but the pressure was absolutely uncomfortable. i said something to the nurse and she came over to analyze the monitors. they all seem to become very concerned. they thought maybe i had already hit 10cm and the baby needed to come out. i was like whaaaaaa?! it had only been 45 minutes or so since the epidural was given. the nurse checked me and i was only a bit over 5 cm so that wasn’t the case. she then said to me, “the baby’s heartbeat has dropped and i am going to press a button, once i do…there will be a dozen people in the room within the next minute, so don’t get worried, they are here to help”. i started crying. all i could think about was the baby ok, was the baby ok.

she was right. within a minute, a dozen people filled the room. i was crying and kept mumbling if the baby was going to be ok. they asked me to get on all fours…holy cow, are you kidding me?! i am flippin’ numb from the the waist down! and not only that, i had wires and plugs attached everywhere on my body {epidural, blood pressure arm band, catheter, iv}. i needed the nurses to help me flip my body over to get on my knees and elbows. they wanted me in that position so oxygen could circulate better for the babe. they threw a cap on my head {for possible emergency c-section}, threw a pill in my mouth, and then an oxygen mask on my face {all the while i am still crying, worried about the baby being ok}. there was a nurse who had her hand up me to see how far i had dilated while i was on all fours and a dozen people standing around waiting to react. it was the worst few minutes of my life. i was scared the baby wasn’t breathing, i was scared that i would have to have an emergency c-section, and i was just scared because i wanted everything to be ok.

after 10 minutes or so, the baby’s heart rate climbed back up and everything was ok. they took off the mask, the hair cap, and let me lay back down on my back. every time i went through a contraction, i strained to see where the baby’s heart rate was at. i could not relax after that! i was so worried every contraction would cause the baby to freak out. they explained to me that the really strong contraction i had caused the baby to become disoriented. they gave me an example as if you were dunked in cold water and weren’t sure what was going on…the baby got confused {shocked} and was ‘gasping’ for air and that is why her heart rate had dropped.

so, after that i just waited and everything was just fine. it was near 9 o’clock when i felt immense pressure with every contraction. like intense pressure. it was constant. i paged the nurse and told her about it. she came in and checked my stats to analyze my situation. within minutes, both nurses were back in and said i was 10 cm dilated. it was so fast! just a little over an hour ago, i was just a smidge over 5! they said the doctor {auger} was paged and that the baby was coming! i didn’t expect it to be so fast! one, my labor was still a long time…everyone said it would be so quick, nope, still a loooooong labor but once ellie decided to come, it was super speedy!

dr. auger came to the delivery room and we were ready to go. legs were up and i was ready to push. i went through 3 contractions, 9 pushes, just a little over 10 minutes, and ellie made her debut!! omg. i can’t believe how fast it was! 14 hours of labor and less than 13 minutes of pushing and here she was! she came out just staring…maybe for 5-10 seconds and then she started crying.

i was sooooooo happy! there was my healthy girl! she was incredibly beautiful. they placed her on me right away. oh, i was so elated to see her. she was finally here. after a very long, tough pregnancy, ellie was finally by our side. words can’t describe the joy and love you feel meeting your baby for the first time. my heart was beyond full…i now have two beautiful girls to call my own. i was relieved, joyous, in love, happy, and content to finally have her in our world.

welcome ellie harlow heintz | 7.15.16 | 9:13pm | 7 lbs. 9 oz. | 20.5 inches and a beautiful head of hair just like her sister olive. our family is now complete. we are truly blessed.