first celebration for her first!

Posted on November 21, 2014 by tandem in love

we were able to get together with dick, jane, aunt wendy, and their cousin donna for a little birthday celebration! olive’s first birthday! well, her birthday day is still a wee bit aways but we love celebrating all week long here!

it was our typical routine. wake up. nurse. playing around on the bed. she gives me kisses. olive gets bored and now slides off the edge of the bed and scurries away. i get ready. she tears up the house. i run around and pick things up. i brew a pot o coffee. i make her breakfast. she eats. she plays. she rubs her eyes. she nurses. she goes to bed for her morning nap. every. single. morning. that we have together. so trying to predict how long she will sleep is a gamble!

so, i waited and waited and waited. a bit stressed out because we had to leave for our lunch date! so i went in her room to peek on her…i kind of made a ruckus to see if she would stir {i shuffled through her drawers to pick out her outfit of the day}. stir she did! woo!

she nursed again, i got her dressed, and we were off! i had already thrown everything into the car and got myself ready while she was napping. we sped on our way to the restaurant. we had agreed to meet at a halfway point…at the streets of woodfield, where maggiano’s is at. we were already a half an hour late!

they so kindly waited at the bar…a good excuse to have a drink, non? once we arrived, we were seated right away. it was too cute…they had decorated the table with confetti and wrote a sweet note to us. we were celebrating a few birthdays! olive’s and jane’s!

[sitting next to papa]

[they sprinkled our table with confetti!! how cute!]

[jane, donna, and wendy]

we perused the menu and quickly decided on food. how could you not go with their buy a classic pasta and take one home?! um, best deal evah! i ordered the mushroom ravioli and asked for the eggplant parmesan to take home. yum!

we entertained olive and conversed amongst one another. she was having a blast playing with the crayons and having papa feed her pieces of bread. I had a great time talking with the ladies. It was wonderful to finally meet donna! over the summer, while jane was watching olive, donna stopped by to visit…she was able to meet olive but i didn’t get a chance to meet her. so today was the day!

[my babes]

[yummy mushroom ravioli]

after our meal, the sever came by with a birthday cookie cake topped off with a candle. olive wasn’t quite sure what was going on. she stared at it, perplexed. we wished her a happy birthday and i then blew out the candle for the little lady! she then proceeded to throw almost all the cookies onto the floor! hey now, mama will eat those cookies! thank goodness there was another plate…i devoured three! they were so yummy!

[lemon cookies]

[happy birthday olive!]

[make a wish!]

after dessert, we started to pack up to get going. i tried to get olive to walk to show dick and jane but olive wasn’t cooperating. she just wanted to crawl. so, all they got was a little stroll while she held onto jane’s hand. too adorbs.

it was a lovely lunch date with the fam! we had a great time starting out olive’s week long birthday celebration! woo hoo!

xoxo

we got a walker!!

Posted on November 18, 2014 by tandem in love

well, we thought for sure, that olive would be walking by ten months {’cause she was standing up so early!}. but ten months came and went and she did not independently take a step. then came her eleven month mark and holy moly, we got a walker!

oh it was just fantastic. it started out at my parent’s house. hc is away for work and my parents wanted us to come over for dinner.

btw…it’s soooooo cold out! windy, cold, and a low of 7 degrees! yowza! ohmygosh how it reminds me of my maternity leave…we were paralyzed by the polar vortex. i was trapped inside for months, with it being so cold, and almost went out like jack nicholson.

anyhoo, we were over at my parent’s house when this glorious moment occurred. we were all upstairs hanging out when my dad stood olive up and had her walk towards him. walk she did! she took a solid three steps. so we kept it up. my mom sat across from my dad {about five feet apart} and they called for olive to walk. she would take 4-5 steps and fall into their arms! she was so giddy! she was having a blast taking her first sturdy steps. they did it back and forth. we were all giggling and laughing joyfully. it was just so awesome to watch her walk for the first time. olive was so happy! this went on and on for quite a bit of time. i think i recorded a dozen video clips.

after awhile, we called it quits. olive looked a bit tired {she also didn’t nap very well today…she took two very.short.naps}. we wrapped it up and decided to head home. once we settled in, i wanted to see if olive would do some more walking. oh my, she did a lot! this clip you are about to watch was so impromptu, i wished i had better lighting! we had just gotten home and i only flicked on a few lights in the house, so therefore the video footage is so dark {sorry folks!}.

her face is too presh in the video, isn’t is?! she is now officially on the go and we are now officially screwed 😉

xoxo

olive’s 11 month loves

Posted on November 13, 2014 by tandem in love

month eleven.

wooden taxi // stitches and soles moccasins // bear hat // plasma car // angel dear blankie // boogie wipes

olive is really loving any push toys right now. she will grab anything on wheels and roll it all around the floor. well, it doesn’t have to have wheels. she will just push it across the floor if she can. so, this little wooden taxi is a favorite. it’s actually a substantial size. it’s sturdy, bright, and easy to play with. it’s so cute to watch her roll it across the floor while she does her gimp crawl {it’s an interesting combo of moves that gets her across the room}. annndddd, like i have said before, i love wooden toys. i love the texture of them. i love that they are environment friendly. i love that they are made with non-toxic paint {cuz everything goes into her mouth!}. i love that they are so aesthetically pleasing as well!

i love, love these moccasins from stitches and soles. they are too cute and so easy to put on olive. they have elastic hidden bands and they totally stay on her feet! her shoes are top notch in quality and design. these shoes add total oomph to any of olive’s outfits. they come in lots of fun colors and she offers two cute styles in ’em. i can’t wait to add more colors into her collection and dress her up in my love {all over, all over}. yeah, madonna fans…ya got that one?

hats. hats are a must right now. i think my problem is finding hats that fit olive’s noggin. okay, she doesn’t have a huge head but it’s near the 80th percentile on her chart {so, she has outgrown some cute hats i have gotten her a few months ago!}. i love fun little hats like this babygap one. it’s good to have a few neutral ones available that can go with any outfit she has or any coat. the weather is so unpredictable, so it’s imperative to have warm hats on hand to protect her little, presh noggin.

this push car is one of olive’s favorite. it’s at my parent’s house and olive loves to push it around. she is such a strong little girl that she can push it when her cousin reagan or auntie kim is sitting on it {or both at the same time!}. it is hilarious to watch…and ya kinda feel bad for her at the same time. olive loves to push people around on the car {so cute} but yet, it melts your heart she is working so hard at it. a determined little gal.

she’s such a snuggle bunny now. she loves her little blankies or anything soft, so she can rub her little cheeks and lips onto them. she loves this soft owl blankie {courtesy of auntie carol} and has become so attached to it. she loves to sleep with it. she loves to watch tv with it. she loves to crawl around the house with it. it comforts her. it calms her down and i’m totally into it. it’s so endearing and heartwarming to watch her snuggle her blankie {her new bestie}.

boogie wipes are a lifesaver. seriously. olive went through a week where she had a bit of a runny nose {poor babes!} and she did. not. like. it when i tried wiping her nose. it finally dawned on me that i had a stash of boogie wipes in her diaper bag! hallelujah. it saved me. she totally let me wipe those icky boogs off her face with these wipes! no problem. no fussing. no tears. i just pulled out a wipe, cleaned up her nose, and she would hardly flinch. thank goodness! she didn’t have to look like a kid whose parents would let their boogies run down their face {yeahs right…like i would ever let that happen!}.

well, those are olive’s eleven month loves! can you believe she is eleven months?! oh em gee…it’s cray to think about it. she is so amazing. i love her sooooo much and every minute i have with her just melts my heart to a mushy, puddled mess. she brightens up our world and sometimes i think my heart might explode with love. *sigh*

xoxo

moccasins

Posted on November 12, 2014 by tandem in love

i’m a bit obsessed with baby moccasins. yes. yes i am. i am loving those cute little shoes for miss olive. i’ve seen a few brands around {some that are really expensive!} and have fallen in love with these cute, little, sweet shoes for miss olive.

they are from this etsy seller, stitches and soles. they are well made, constructed, and sturdy. i am in love with them! they come in so many different colors and she makes them with hidden elastic sides, so it’s easy to put on and take off. plus, they stay on her feet {even when the little bugger tugs and tugs at her toes}! bonus. that’s why i love them so much!

i have already complied a list of colors to purchase for olive. a girl’s gotta have a slew of choices to match her wardrobe! natch. the leather is buttery soft and the platinum color goes with everything. it also comes with the cutest little muslin bag to store it in.

our first run with the shoes was a trip to ikea to pick up some knick knacks. hc was like…”what are those?!” i said, “her new shoes!”. he was not impressed. psh. men…what do they know about baby style?

anyhoozle, as we were cruising around the store, olive received plenty of compliments on her awesome shoes. customers were loving her and loving her fun shoes. hmph. that showed hc up! ha! he knows better than to question mine or olive’s choice in fashion {she’s a fashionista in training}! snap. 😉

[a shopping trip to ikea…the other consumers would compliment her on her ‘fancy’ shoes. olive was like “yeah, i know”]

so, these are my current obsession. i am soooo loving these chic little moccasins for our baby girl. such a cute addition to any outfit she sports! yay!

xoxo

my sweet olive

Posted on November 7, 2014 by tandem in love

ohhhh. how i love this baby girl. one night, it was just me and o, we were playing around on the floor and having fun {in our coordinating pajamas]. i decided to plop down in her chair. she found it so amusing! she wanted to crawl up onto my lap, and so she did. oh my goodness. we had the best time snuggling. the best. she sat in my lap and watched her favorite sing along songs by baby genius.

[pj tiiiiime]

we chilled and cuddled together. we were loving life. little o kept on leaning back and giving me little hugs. i was in heaven. she is so sweet and adorbs. so, i said to her, “kisses!” and she would turn around and give me a peck on the lips! she would actually pucker her lips and give me sweet kisses every time i said kisses. i was loving it!

[this was the best. each frame was a separate time olive would lean back and give me a bisou]

we sat there contently, watched her favorite sing along nursery rhymes, and had the best momma daughter time together. just me and o, all alone. missing daddy, being away on a work trip. although, moments like these makes it all so much better.

i love her to bits. i absolutely have the best time with her. life is so much sweeter with this cutie around.

xoxo

olive’s first beurffday present!

Posted on November 3, 2014 by tandem in love

we were sooooo delighted one day to see the ups man walk up to our doorstep and drop off a large package. i wasn’t sure what it was…i knew i hadn’t ordered something recently and something so large!

i pulled the package inside and we were delighted to see it addressed to miss olive! it was her first birthday gift!!! we love packages. we love gifts. we love surprises! we knew dick and jane wanted to get this for olive but didn’t expect it so soon.

gramma and papa gifted olive with a pottery barn kids chair! sooooo awesome! it’s the washed grainsack anywhere chair. olive loves it, i love it, we love it so!

[ooohhhhh, a package!]

[oh my gosh! olive is my name]

jane had it personalize with olive’s name. even better. i assembled the chair {oh my, i broke a sweat doing so}, you wouldn’t think putting a chair like this together is hard but it kinda was! i smushed it, pushed it, and finally wrestled the zipper shut. wowza. the chair almost won but i conquered it. i plopped it down in the living room and olive immediately beelined for it.

oh, just watch her in the play by play down below. it’s too adorbs. she is so amused. she crawled up onto the chair and started to jump up and down {so excited}!

[here we go]

[jump! jump! jump!]

[cheeeeese]

although, she was unsure of how to get off the chair! so head first she dove. she made it down just fine. hey, whatever works for her right now!

[annndd this is how i get off the chair // still learning]

***

the sweetest part of the day/evening?? when we came home from my parent’s house, i placed her down on the ground. she crawled over to her chair, settled in, snuggled her bear(s), and was mesmerized by the tele. it was the cutest moment. i was so in love with it all.

dick and jane, thank you soooo much for olive’s birthday gift {we love you guys so!}. it is her favorite item. she loves to sit in it everyday and we love watching her sit in her chair. she is way too cute when she does. seriously, best present ever! she is such a little girl now with her big girl chair.

xoxo

happy eleven months!

Posted on October 28, 2014 by tandem in love

happy eleven months olive!

[photos taken on 10.27]

weight: she’s probably more than 20lbs

height: baby girl needs some height though!

ah! we are one month away from her first birthday! where did the time go?! i can’t believe our little baby olive is getting so big. this past month has brought us many wonderful memories and milestones.

no walking yet. i really thought she was going to take her first step around the ten month mark. only because she is standing by herself, she was walking everywhere {albeit holding onto something}, and everything was pointing in that direction but nope. don’t get me wrong…i am aaaa okaaaay with her not walking yet. i hear all bets are off when the little nub starts a walking! then the real trouble starts! 😉

she is such an eater. this girl loves her food. she is still eating purees but has graduated to eating solid, solids {like mac n cheese, fish, beef, chicken, salmon, rice}. she doesn’t refuse anything but she loves to eat whatever we are eating. she will eat 3-4x a day with snacks in-between. breakfast is usually something like bananas and cereal. lunch is typically fruit and cereal, and dinner is usually something heartier…like salmon and carrots. we gotta keep those chubby cheeks fat!

sleep is her best friend. it’s the same as it has been since almost the beginning. baby girl will go down around 9:30 and sleep until 8am. her morning naps are like clockwork but her second nap is unpredictable. she typically goes down for the second nap around 4 but it could be 3 or it could be 5. it’s all based on her morning nap and how long she sleeps for that first round. sometimes she won’t get that second nap in but overall, she sleeps at night and that is what matters!

olive loves to play by herself {sometimes}. she loves to explore. she is getting stronger and wiser and funnier. her humor is silly, her looks are so sweet, and her giggles are too presh. it is so awesome to see her personality develop. she loves to copy you. she intently stares and will copy what sounds you make and what movements you do. she’s becoming a little girl and i love her to bits.

omg. she is crawling up the stairs! um, we need to get a gate pronto! of course, like any babes, she knows how to get up the stairs but has no clue how to get down the stairs. typical. she thinks crawling head first down the stairs is the right way. nope baby girl, no. we’ll learn the right way later {well, hopefully sooner than later}.

officially, her first word was bye. it comes with a hand wave and a meek ‘byyyyyeeee’. you walk towards the door, she waves her hand and says “bye”. she sees you grab your purse, she will wave her hand and say “bye”. you put her in her car seat and she will wave her hand and say “bye”. way too adorbs. the second words? ‘uh oh’. everything she drops on the ground comes with an “uh oh”. so stinkin’ cute.

this past month, you have totally developed an affinity for your stuffed animals. you love your teddy bears {the little one and the big one} and your kiki doll. it is so sweet to see you snuggle with them. it melts my heart when you give them kisses and hold them close.

well, those are her ten month milestones in a nutshell. wow. again, i can’t believe she will be one next month! eeeekkkkk! we are all so excited for this. olive continues to amaze us and our love for her is growing and growing beyond capacity. how can all that love fit inside my body?? sometimes i feel like i might explode! i can’t wait to share some great moments from this coming month!

xoxo

olive’s 10 month loves

Posted on October 14, 2014 by tandem in love

month ten.

skip hop animal pull toy // kiki doll // foam alphabet letters & numbers // maileg rose bear // dvd boxes // fischer price smart phone

olive has really taken to this pull toy. when she received this gift over a month ago, she was more interested in pulling off the animal parts and throwing them on the ground. that was the extent of her entertainment. but nowwww, she actually loves to pull this fun toy around. she will crawl and drag the pull toy across the floor, dropping the animal’s heads along the way. of course, i’m chasing all the flying parts and putting them back onto the toy as she, simultaneously & gleefully, pulls the animal heads off again. off with their heads!

she has grown very fond of miss kiki. most mornings, she likes to hug and give her kisses. sometimes she will hold onto her hand and drag her along for fun. i love this doll because it reminds me of…me! ha! when we registered for this doll, hc was not fond of them. he didn’t think they were the cutest of dolls. psh. i was totes in love with kiki ’cause she had bangs and rosy cheeks like me. i secretly think that is why olive is so fond of her! heehee.

these alphabet letters were a gift from carol..i can’t remember if they were sent before or after she was born. anyhoo. they pretty much sat on her bookcase for months and months. just recently, olive has been loving them. they have been stored in a ziplock bag and she loves to open up the bag and take out one. letter. at. a. time. she will toss them anywhere. on the shelf, on the floor, on the rug, on her rocker, in-between the bookcases. it’s her favorite go to when she is in her room. it can actually entertain her for awhile, which makes this momma happy!

just like kiki, olive has taken to this cuddly bear. it was a gift from our dear friend becky. i love, love the maileg collection. they have the cutest dolls! olive loves to hold onto this bear and give it kisses too! she holds the bear close and snuggles her presh lil’ face to it. i usually take this rose bear with us when we go out. it is so beyond cute to see her cling onto it, especially when she falls asleep in her carseat holding tight onto the bear. so sweet.

so, it’s not really this movie she is into. it’s the movie cases she has a thing for. oh baby olive. we have a t.v. console that has two drawers. the bottom drawer has all our dvd cases stacked inside. she has discovered them, oh yes she has! she will crawl over to the drawer, pull it open, and proceed to throw every single dvd case onto the floor. one. by. one. pink, ponk, bang, clank, goes all the dvd cases onto our wooden floor. sometimes she will pause {in-between throwing}, turn around and give us a sly smile before she continues to throw all the movie cases onto the floor. what a little punk diva.

last but not least, she is loving this fun smart phone, given to her by gramma and papa h. she especially loves the camera button. she will snap, snap, snap photos like she is a professional photographer. it’s too cute to see her play around with it. she loves pressing all the buttons and smiles when the phone talks to her {like siri!}. it’s almost as good as my iphone. almost. but this phone is extra special because it came from gramma and papa…gifts with love. that’s our favorite kind!

there ya go my lovies! olive’s ten month loves. a month filled with crazy good milestones; olive’s mind and body becoming stronger, smarter, and cuter. we loved discovering her favorite things this past month and can’t wait to share what she’s been loving this month!

xoxo

meow

Posted on October 6, 2014 by tandem in love

so, to get into the spirit of things for halloween, i purchased olive some fun, festive pj’s! oh, i do love holidays and halloween is the start of the holiday season! it’s spooky, scary, and fun! there’s a chill in the air, it’s time for pumpkin fun, the leaves change into vibrant colors, and it’s a perfect time to watch one of my favorite movies! sleepy hollow by tim burton, my fav, fav, favvvve director! yes. a must see. yes, you must see it!

anyhoo, one day i was shopping with my olive and i stumbled into pbteen. i saw this adorable, sequin cat pillow and fell in love! how cuuuute! i had to have it for miss olive. i thought, it would be so cute in her room and perfect for halloween; a fun, festive update to her abode. so, the kitty cat came home with us.

well, as i was shopping around some more, i found the cutest halloween kitty pj’s from baby gap. how fitting! so, those kitty cats came home with us too! ta da! olive was getting a head start on her festive attire for this upcoming holiday!

now i did go picture crazy with her {c’mon…i’m a momma, it’s in our job description}. i couldn’t stop snapping pics because it was such an adorable combination. her fun sequin pillow and her adorbs cat pajamas! aaand her fluffy, crazy hair. aaand her cute, chubby cheeks. aaand her adorable, little pot belly. yesss, d: all of the above got me snap happy!

i’ve snuck in a few more cute outfits for miss o for halloweeenie. a girl has gotta have several outfit changes for any special occasion {as her momma did for her own wedding day…duh! like mother, like daughter} but we’ll show those off another time! right now, i’m relishing in all the cuteness right here.

[holding on to her favorite carrot rattle from land of nod]

[look at that hair!]

[showing off her bootyliciousness]

love her. love her show. i’ll watch it anytime.

yup, we’re kicking off this october with sass and sweetness. sparkly pillows, cutesy pj’s, and my darling olive. it’s looking like a spooky start already! muwhahahaha!

xoxo

my little rock star

Posted on October 5, 2014 by tandem in love

once olive started crawling, a few months ago, she has been so curious! she is learning and playing with all sorts of stuff {um, some stuff she shouldn’t be playing with!}.

my parents have a piano and olive love, loves to crawl over to it. she stands on her tippee toes, stretches her whole body up so that the tips of her little itty bitty fingers can slightly touch the keys and play the piano!

so, with that…i have had my eye on a cute little piano from land of nod. olive showing interest in my parent’s piano, i had to have the wolfgang amadeus red piano! once it was purchased, i couldn’t wait for olive to see it! i knew she would be so into it, and right i was!

she loooves to play with it. she bangs on it, she hits the individual keys, she giggles, she smiles. it probably brings her as much joy playing with it as i have watching her play with it! let alone, it’s the cutest little piano evah! and it perfectly matches her room {not even on purpose, natch!}.

a few days after she was gifted with this cute piano, we were sitting in her room together {me in the process of dressing her}, when she crawled over to the piano and started playing. the best part of this moment?! her totally rocking out on it! she started out playing with it by sitting and the next thing you know, she is standing up, banging on the keys and then, all of a sudden, she kicks her leg up and just started playing with the keys like a little mad pianist! i was in love!!!! it was tooooo stinkin’ cute!!! seriously, i die! i was freakin’ excited i was able to snapped the cutest photos of her in the act. what a presh moment.

i am thinking, seriously, it was the best gift for her so far. music, singing, creativity…a perfect ‘toy’ to help develop the musical genius inside of her. oh, i love my little rock star!!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Category Archives: bebe

first celebration for her first!

we got a walker!!

olive’s 11 month loves

moccasins

my sweet olive

olive’s first beurffday present!

happy eleven months!

olive’s 10 month loves

meow

my little rock star