the year of the horse

happy chinese new year everyone!

i recall celebrating chinese new year every year with a big party at church! there was always a lot of food {yummy banh mi sandwiches}, decorations, games {gambling, anyone?!}, and generous red envelopes for us kiddies! that was my favorite part…receiving those little red envelopes filled with money. i loved collecting them and would get excited getting a present from anyone! my o vuong would always give me a gift on new years every year…i was always filled with anticipation to see her, knowing i’d receive a pretty little gold and red pouch stuffed with a fun surprise inside! such sweet memories!

may the year of the horse bring y’all good luck, love, happiness, longevity, wealth, and prosperity!

happy spring festival to all!

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xoxo

happy two months!

happy two months baby olive!

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[photos taken on 1.27]

length: 23 1/4″

weight: 11lbs 1 oz.

oh, time is already flying! olive has grown so much in the last month {that face!  it’s so much chunkier}! she is so different {in such a good way, of course} from her first month. she loves to lay around. what?! is this my baby?! in her prior month, she always had to be held. the kind of holding, non-stop, where your arms feel like they will break off or paralyze with pain.

she will now lay there and coo and smile. it’s absolutely fantastic.

olive’s favorites? snuggling in my lap, sitting upright and watching ironman 3. her fave movie! she knows when the movie is on. she’ll just stare and stare at the t.v. uh oh…should i be worried i’m starting her off with too much t.v. already?! hehe, just keeding.

best part of the two month period?! oh em gee. her sleeping throughout the night. hello! it was and is magical. like a dream come true to us new parents. hallelujah.

happy two months baby olive! we love you so much!

xoxo

 

olive’s 1 month loves

month one

these were our first month’s essentials with olive!

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lansinoh nursing pads // gerber diapers as burp cloths // boon tub // moby wrap // carter’s sleepers // lansinoh cream // pbk flannel swaddles // snugapuppy bouncy

***

the lansinoh nursing pads were a lifesaver! so worth it and needed. the first few weeks of breastfeeding are out of control. it protected my clothes and it protected my garments overnight. a must have!

the gerber cloth diapers are great burp cloths. they are absorbent, inexpensive, and it comes in a large pack. you dirty so many of them that having a large quantity is critical!

the boon tub is practical, functional, and so easy to store {city dweller life = small space!}. it fits perfectly over our sink, cleans up well, and we can store it, hung up, inside our closet.

the moby wrap was and is a lifesaver! recommended by my bestie carol, it keeps the babes all snug as a bug while you are hands free! it relieves your tired arms from carrying the baby all day long.

olive lives in sleepers. my sister kim suggested this and i love having o in them. those sleepless nights, having a crying baby; it is so easy and convenient to pull it up, change her and be done! no tugging on pants, no zipping up, no trying to button her in your state of confusion!

lansinoh cream…a must have. need i say more?!

olive being born in the cold season, it was necessary to have a cozy swaddle! i love, love these swaddles from pbk. it created a warm, snug, cocoon for her.

o only slept in her bouncy the first month!  we are so thankful for it. she didn’t like lying down flat {the crib is collecting dust :)}, she loves being curled up in the bouncy. it is soft and cozy and it helps her sleep {can’t fight that!}. she loves it so much!

so, there you have it; olive’s first month loves!

xoxo

cousin love

reagan just loves little olive!

he had this stuffed animal from school, his name is rocket, and he’s supposed to take pictures of rocket with people, places, or things. he requested to snap a photo of rocket and olive for the class book. how sweet!

i love that little olive has these two awesome cousins. we love r n b and i can’t wait for olive to have more playtime with them!

reagan loves little olive…he loves holding her whenever he sees her. even when she is crying but it’s funny when she is. r continues to smile and awkwardly hold her until someone will relieve him from that duty. what a trooper!

i am so curious to see how olive will interact with her big cousins when she’s older. i can’t wait to see them grow up together! those thoughts make me smile!

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[olive, reagan, and rocket]

i love these pics!  how cute are they?! it’s so much cuteness, you just might explode from it!

cheers to family!

xoxo

selfie

olive and i have gotten very good at the selfies! i love taking them with her. it’s what we do when we are just sitting around watching tv or really, she’s the one watching tv…i love watching baby o! i love this one of her…’nuff said.

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[look at those cheeks!]

xoxo

hb thuy

It was that time of year again!  celebrating thuy’s birthday.  always on a cold, january day.  it typically snows, has snow on the ground or is really cold out {just like mine, being in december!}.  this year, it was a little blizzard of snow.

the snow kept on falling throughout the day.  a very pretty sight but not so pretty driving conditions.  hc and i spent the morning looking at house(s) for sale {that’s a whole other story}, after that, we pit stopped at starbucks for some tasty treats.

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[decaf americano and a chocolate croissant  // perfect]

after house hunting and reenergizing at starbucks, we spent the afternoon at my parent’s house.  as the day wore on, the snow kept falling and we decided to leave a bit early from the p’s to give us time to travel and do a bunch of errands at home before thuy’s soiree that evening.

oy…traffic was bad!  we finally arrived home and we scurried around getting stuff done.  i had to wrap thuy’s gift, do baby stuff, figure out what to wear {such a daunting event every time since i’ve had this beautiful baby, the game of what fits…what doesn’t fit – sad}, get ready, etc.  ugh, time was flying by!  hc was preoccupied with ‘house’ stuff, so this was causing us to run behind!  yuck.  i hate being late {although, it’s always the case personally!  i’m not extremely late all the time but i never truly feel stressed about being on time…if i am, i am…if i’m not…c’est la vie, non?  but that doesn’t mean i still don’t like it!}  😛

so, there we were, running late to our dinner commitments!  we tried to nab a cab but that wasn’t going to happen!  we jumped into our car and finally sped off to the restaurant, henri.  hc dropped me off while he parked the car.  i traipsed on in and joined the celebration going on inside for miss thuy!

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[birthday lady]

they had ordered oysters as an app.  so yummy good.  you can down a half dozen if you didn’t force limit yourself or just be plain piggish in everyone else’s eyes!

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[oyster apps]

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[hello world!]

during desserts, thuy opened up her gifts!

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[love your sweater sis!]

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[packaging]

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[birthday goodies]

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[thuy and lan, such chic ladies]

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[opening her gift from lan]

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[first round of birthday wishes at henri]

after dinner and before desserts, the boys decided to go to the gage for drinks.  that was their dessert!  so, they left us and headed over to the gage as we were ordering some decadent desserts and cafe at henri.

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[henri]

after henri, we headed to the gage to meet up with our husbands.  having dinner doesn’t ever stop these gals from ordering more food!  kim, thuy, and lan then ordered poutine and bone marrow as an extension to this evening’s noshing.  i could only taste…it was all so delicious but my belly couldn’t consume any more morsels of these tasty treats…that is, until the dessert came!  the server brought over another birthday treat for thuy!  a glass filled with sweet, light, chocolate mousse.  it was so good!!!

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[hb squared.  second round of birthday wishes // at the gage]

it was a fun, snowy evening celebrating thuy!  i hope it was a good one!  happy birthday to my lovely sister!

xoxo

kt’s visit

olive is so popular [with those chubby cheeks, how could she not be?!}!  kt came to visit!  kt came to visit!  yay!

we were excited for kt to come over to meet little olive.  it was a busy holiday for the both of us, so we planned on her to visit us in january.  she came over in the early afternoon to our place.  we just chilled and caught up on all the happenings.  we gab, we gossiped, we giggled.  kt is such a sweet person!  a really good friend and a great person all around.

i love hanging out with her, it’s always a good time.  whether we are out to lunch, at a bar {ooohhhh, those were the days}, or watching a movie together, we just mesh.  i’ve known kt for about seven years; we clicked from the get go and have been friends ever since!

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[getting olive started early with the selfies!]

kt brought over a lovely gift for little o. how sweet!  so thoughtful and kind…i absolutely loved the bag and tissue paper {i’m such a detail oriented kind of gal!} aaannnddd how adorbs is the onsie?  i love paareehhh!

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[i love pretty packaging]

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[the cute little gift from kt]

today was a total lazy day.  we hung out until hc came home from work.  we talked and talked the afternoon away {so much to catch up on!}.  hc and i then invited her to stay for dinner!  hc whipped up a very delicious meal: bread encrusted fish, buttery mashed potatoes, and savory seasoned brussel sprouts.  it was so delish!  he’s such an amazing cook!

kt was procrastinating on doing some work at home {ha!}, so she stuck around for a little bit longer after dinner.  hey, we don’t mind!  we love having people over!

awhile later, she finally acceded to going home.  we totally enjoyed hosting her the whole afternoon!  thanks kt for coming over and spending the afternoon and evening with your new bestie, olive!

love, from your leg, i miss you forehead! 😉

xoxo

getting out

i was super excited to have plans with kim and brady!  i was even more excited to get out of our place.  i’m feeling a lot more confident and better about olive’s behavior, needs, and schedule.  she is also growing and maturing week by week, so her habits are a lot more recognizable and easy to console.  so, taking her out feels less and less stressful.  i’m getting to the point where i’m realizing, ‘i have a kid’, so if she melts down or not…it is what it is!  although, when she wakes up…it’s a scream fest!  she, at this point, doesn’t just wake up and oogle and coo.  she belts it out.  she wants you to know she’s up and hungry.  or has a dirty diaper.  or just because!

kim and i planned on meeting up at nordstrom’s restaurant, cafe bistro.  it’s a quick and easy place to eat and very kid friendly!  now as a mom, the world is a different place.  i was that single gal that really didn’t understand kids, being a mom, or that it mattered that it was a kid friendly eatery.  it just wasn’t my world and i didn’t fully understand it.  not that it completely bothered me but just not my thing.  now, it’s a whole other level of understanding.  i get it.  boy, do i get it.

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[the little mouse was so quiet and sleepy]

as i was leaving the city, she zonked out.  she was tired and grumpy all morning but wouldn’t really nap.  she took a little cat nap but that was it.  she screamed and screamed when i put her in the car seat.  as soon as i walked out of our place she calmed down and then fell asleep, and sleep she did!  she slept through our whole time at nordstrom!

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[cutest gift wrap from kim!]

i’ll leave out the awful part where i struggled with our bugaboo stroller!  it was my first time using it {yes, it makes me sad to say that because that is how little we go out or go for walks…sad. sad. sad.}!  all the other times we’ve gone out with her, it’s been me and the hubs and usually it’s a shopping trip with a cart.  so, it’s easy to take her carseat out and throw it on a shopping cart and so forth.  in the end, i had the employees at nordstrom help me with the bugaboo!  they were better rehearsed in it then me!  so, needless to say, stroller – 1, thu – 0.  i will overcome and win over this stroller next time!

i finally got the stroller going and galloped my way to our destination.  i felt so bad being so late!  anyhoo, i was so, so excited to see kim and brady!  it had been a few months {too long!  and some cancelled plans along the way} and i was glad to finally secure some time and catch up with the wonderful lady!

we have known each other for over four years now!  just like jodi, kim and i got engaged a few months apart, we got married two months and one day apart, and got pregnant just less than three months apart but our babies were born exactly three months apart!  cray, right?!  it’s amazing we have journeyed together on these big life milestones.

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[moi, kim, and handsome brady]

we chitchatted, ate {i had the citrus turkey sandwich – yum!}, and watched over our babes.  we were so excited to share stories!  i was so excited, i think i was a bit ADD!  my mind was scattered, overwhelmed with a ton of thoughts i wanted to share!  when kim and i get together, we can talk and talk and talk.  unfortunately, our time was limited today.  we usually can converse for hours!  it was not enough time spent together.  i had so much more to talk about, to say, to ask, to share!  i am thankful we have become good friends, she is such a sweet lady!

kim brought us a gift!  it was so beautifully wrapped {that’s how we roll, kim and i love wrapping up our gifts all purrty!}.  i absolutely loved every item inside!  the cutie outfit is so adorable {olive will look so purty in it!}.  i read the books, they are so fun and cute and i absolutely loved the flannel swaddle blanket she gave us!  i am all about flannel.  stella had given us the flannel swaddle blankets we registered for from pbk and it’s what olive lives in!  so warm, soft, and cuddly!

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[awesome gifts from the lovely kimberly // her owl themed gift was so stinkin’ cute]

time really flew by.  before we knew it, it had been a couple hours!  although, olive was knocked out, i knew if she woke…she would demand a feeding.  as we were walking out, we were in awe over the fact that we have little kiddies together.  such a fun time for us!  we promised each other that we would get together soon and have play dates with the kiddos!  so, sadly, we said our goodbyes and parted our separate ways.

it was such a good thing to be able to spend some time with the lovely kim and beautiful brady!

xoxo

jodi and jett

it was a great day because we were blessed with a visit from jodi and jett!

they came over on an early thursday afternoon.  jett is so adorable!  he was so intrigued by olive.  especially when she cried!  he seemed more concerned than anything.  jodi had to tell him olive was ok, that babies cry.  his look was so presh.

jett loved our place; he loved our window blinds, my slippers, t.v. remotes, and our garbage can!  who cares about all the toys jodi had brought with her.  those other items were more interesting for jett!  he’s a happy baby!  kids are so sweet, fun, and curious.

we spent the entire afternoon together.  it was awesome to just chill and relax with a good friend and her little one.  olive didn’t sleep one bit that afternoon {i don’t count her five minute cat naps}…and she was only slightly grumpy 🙂

we talked, caught up, and constantly watched over our little ones.  i’ve known jodi for over ten years and have gotten to know her really well the last five years!  we sat there, still in awe over the fact that we both have kids!  we got engaged a few months apart, we got married a little over a year apart, and had gotten pregnant under a year apart!  how cool is that?!  totally experiencing some major milestones together, that’s quite amazing.

after a few hours of hanging out, playing, & many feedings {both jett with his bottle, crackers & avocado slices & olive with her momma’s milk}, jodi and jett were ready to go. it was wonderful to be able to catch up with the pretty lady.  we can’t wait for olive to get bigger and get together with jett for more interactive play dates in the near future!

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[how cute are they?!]

see you guys soon!

xoxo

lazy day

olive isn’t a sleeper like most babies {or what most magazines and articles say how babies sleep}.  she’s a total cat napper, as in she will sleep for 15-20 minutes; maybe a few times during the day.  she might power nap for an hour and a half but that is rare!  the fortunate thing about that is, she will sleep through the night now!  woo!  thank goodness!  so, i’ll take the rare naps she does have during the day to keep her tuckered out at night!

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[snuggled up on mommy’s lap]

so our day started early, and momma pretty much carries her around constantly.  sometimes she likes to sit in my lap and watch iron man 3…it’s, so far, her favorite movie.   she went down for only two little naps today…whoa!  i get to work out my biceps.  i get to do my squats and leg lifts while i hold her.  not bad, at least i get somewhat of a workout {ugh…i hate being so cooped up in this apartment with this cold, cold weather!}.  i totally miss going outside for walks {insert sad face}.

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[love, love this cutie pie // 5 weeks]

i pretty much walk around and around in our place looking for something to do.  looking for something to clean.  looking for something to organize while i hold the babes.  it’s usually a quiet and calm day.

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i love watching her and i can’t get enough of her chubby cheeks!  i just want to squeeze her so hard…she is so cute!  i love seeing her make new noises and new expressions.  it’s amazing to see her grow before my eyes and i get excited to see her personality come through.  i really can’t wait for her to grow up and yet not grow up.  do ya know what i mean?!  she’s so adorbs the way she is but i’m so curious to see her grow into a cute little gal {until the day she really has an opinion, then i’ll be eating my words!}.

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[olive and her punk rock hair]

little olive:  i want you to know that we love you SO much and can’t wait to see the beautiful lady you will become!  we want to encourage you to become a strong, confident, smart lady.  be creative, always do good, be kind, and love.

xoxo