children’s book bebe shower idea

i love throwing parties and i love hosting people {we need more space!}.  it’s so fun for me!

i’m always thinking of creative ideas for future fêtes. ya never know when you will need to whip up some fun decor!

what has got me thinking of baby showers lately, is the fact that i will be attending several showers in the next few months {whoa}! i’m so excited for my friends, who are having babies, and i love going to a good party!

here are some of my favorite themed showers i have seen of late. watch out! some great inspirations headed your way {aaaaannd, it’s not just for baby showers, these ideas are great for any party!}…it will fill your head with awesome creative ideas!

a children’s book shower:

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[source: katrina louise photography]

book themed baby shower

i absolutely love the onesie clothes string! what a colorful, fun idea. a very creative touch. you can buy inexpensive onesie and have each guest personalize it by decorating each one making it unique and a perfect gift for the mom to be!

the table spread is just darling with the colored glass {i love colored glass…hobnail, milk glass, green, pink…}, you can visit vintage shops, ebay, or etsy to collect fun glassware. or to add to the eclectic look, have your friends, who are helping out with the shower, bring their own collections!

how cool is the book garland?! it’s made out of old children’s books.  just cut up the pages and cover each ‘mini’ book with colored construction paper and hang it up with clothes string/twine/fishing wire and clothes pins. pepper in little paper poms and voila! a themed decor to elevate the ambiance.

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what a yummy table spread! since most showers are mainly during lunch time, make it light bites. whether you are a cook or you will get it catered, make sure you have something sweet and savory. i love a hearty salad, a meat dish, a fresh side of pasta, and some good ‘ol carbs to top it off! depending on where you place the food table, you can easily create an inexpensive backdrop to the table. rummage through your stash and find color coordinating streamers or purchase some at a dollar store, to create a whimsical background. of course, flowers always, always add a perfect finishing touch to any table spread!

get creative with favors by sticking close to the theme of the party or representing the mom to be by giving away something that is so ‘her’! i love these onesie sugar cookies as favors, perfectly tied into the baby shower decor.

the lower right hand corner photo is the invite to the party. how lucky was this lady to have a friend hand draw the invites {like myself, who had a dear friend, darling olivia, create our wedding invites…you can see it here}. if you do have an artistic friend to recreate classic children’s book characters or just print them out, it will make for a unique invitation. bind the pictures accordion style {washi tape would be a perfect accent} with the right wording and font, you will have such a cute invite everyone will rave about [and something special the mom to be can save}!

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[beautiful!]

what a wonderful party, non? i have a few more favorites i will sporadically share soon!

xoxo

happy four months!

happy four months olive!

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[honestly, i had the sticker with us on vacation but got so excited once she was dressed, i forgot to put it on! the pictures were too cute to redo!]

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[photos taken on 3.27]

length: 24 3/4″

weight: 13lbs 14 oz.

i love that you like to lay around. i love that you like to giggle. i love that you smile in the morning. i love that you like to sit in my arms and watch what i do. i love that you can grab onto objets and pull it towards your mouth. i love that you sleep 6-8 hours through the night. i love that you know at your last feeding for the evening, you instantly fall asleep. i love that you have learned to fall asleep on your own. i love that you like to stand up on your chubby little legs as much as possible. i love that you are so strong. i love your extremely chubby cheeks. i love that you like bath time. i love that you have little curly hairs on your head and i can easily clip a barrette in it. i love how curious you have gotten. i love that you can make fun noises. i love that i can dress you up in cute clothes {not just sleepers anymore!}. i love that you wildly kick your legs and flail your arms like you are trying to get somewhere. i love that everywhere we go, everyone stops us so they can coo over you. i love that you are our baby girl and we love you so much.

xoxo

sunny day

on my day off, olive had a doctor’s appointment at noon, so that left some room to meet up with the darling dana for a early afternoon brunch.

we went to olive’s sweet pediatrician, dr. perlman, for her four month check up {best doctor ever}. ugh, i had forgotten that she was due for her immunization! poor babes…she just has a freak out when she gets her shots. but she did good 🙂

after her appointment, we rushed to meet dana. olive’s appointment took longer than expected and dear dana was already waiting for us. we quickly found a parking spot {score!} and ran inside. of course, we decided to brunch at southport grocery! one of our favorite spots!

i had to order the baked oatmeal again. feeling a little obsessed with it of late. dana and i were on a feeding rampage. we were feeling like our stomachs were bottomless pits, so therefor we ate a lot of food and we were still hungry!!! nom.nom.nom.

olive was awake for the beginning of the meal and then decided to doze off and take a little nappy nap for the rest of the dana date.

after brunch, dana and i decided to get ourselves some starbucks. we stopped by my car and assembled the stroller to take a little walk on this beautiful, cool, sunny day. the sun was shining and that was all that mattered. it put a smile on our faces. dana wanted to push the stroller, so that turned into a very slow walking pace! she was worried that the bumps and cracks would disturb olive! ha! that baby can sleep through anything!

after our coffee run, we perused a few more shops and then said our goodbyes. i was a little sad to be going home {i really wanted to walk outside some more, but olive needed to wake up and get a feeding}, i did want to enjoy the beautiful sunshine a little longer, c’est la vie.

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[olive looking up at her momma]

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[baby gear and food choices]

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[decisions, decisions, decisions]

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[yum oh yumminess // baked oatmeal and bacon]

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[hiiiii…just chillin’ with my girls]

overall, it was a wonderful day with my baby girl. we had a swell time together on this lovely day! cheers to sunny days off!

xoxo

hb jod!

happy birthday to dear sweet jodi!

we celebrated jodi’s birthday at a restaurant called hutch. it happened to be st. patrick’s day weekend, so it was in fact a madhouse of an evening {the streets and sidewalks were littered with drunken wannabe irish species}.

i scurried home from work, rushing to feed olive, and then get ready myself, with very little time to spare. we were already running behind and with it being a holiday weekend, there was a lot of traffic. we finally got to our destination {being very late!} and joined the already engaged group of peeps.

i was very excited to spend some time with this lovely group, it’s very rare that we get to see all of them at once. i love jodi and her friends, they are a great bunch of people.

we jubilantly conversed, imbibed a slew of alcohol, and mingled with one another. after a bit {and a few drinks}, we finally ordered our entrees. we had a lot of fun; sharing stories, laughing over silly things, and doting over our children! jodi, myself, sarah, and kim all have children that are one year or younger! so, it’s a lot of fun to compare notes and show each other tons of pictures!

i sat next to matt, jodi’s husband…i love the guy, a really great dude. i love how comical he is and what a sweetie he is to his family. jodi and matt are probably the most calm, docile, happy go lucky couple i know! i feel very blessed to have them in our lives!

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[oh…the whoas of picture taking. jodi closes her eyes and i last minute avoid that darn flash]

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[hutch…american classics]

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[jodi, sarah, and kim]

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[oh so good // burger and fries]

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[jon, nikki, and jodi]

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[hc, moi, and matt]

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[snickers pie]

after consuming a lot of fries {thanks for sharing jod!} and my delicious burger, we ordered dessert {totally unnecessary but in order for the birthday celebration}. the snickers pie was to die for. decadent, rich, and sweet as can be! yum. yum.

we wrapped up with our tab and said our goodbyes to trek out in the snowy night {yes, a lot of snow, again}. it was a good time with everyone…a much needed evening out for hc and me {our first time leaving olive with the nanny for a date night! yay!}. we relished in being baby free for the evening but of course, we rushed home and couldn’t wait to see our sweet baby girl!

xoxo

happy sprinter!

spring is here! spring is here! well, sort of…

it did snow quite a bit this morning {nice wake up call!} but it eventually evolved into a beautiful, spring like day {a whopping high of 46 degrees!}!

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[pinterest]

ahhhh, spring…where flowers bloom & everything is warmer and brighter. here are my top ten favorites of spring. i can’t wait!

1. warmer weather {hurry up!}

2. longer, sunny, brighter days

3. colorful, pretty flowers blooming

4. sprouting trees

5. spring vacation {anna maria island, here we come!}

6. being outdoors {without freezing to the bone}

7. less layers {yay to that!}

8. easter celebration

9. no heavy coats

10. playing outside with olive

what’s on your top ten list for spring?! i hope it inspires you to look forward to some good things this season!

xoxo

baby laughs

so, baby olive laughed out loud before her third month birthday. it was quite a special moment we all shared together. since then, her lol’s have been far and few in-between. she laughs when she feels like it and you never know what will make her giggle.

the other day, sister grace spent the weekend with us. while i was away, daddy and grace played away the day. grace has become quite fond and comfortable with little miss olive. grace was sitting on the couch, holding her, saying funny things, and it was making olive giggle a lot!! the adorbs moment was captured by grace herself! what a precious moment between them two! i love this!

i love the very end of the vimeo, where olive is just dunzo. her look is too precious…she’s like ‘ok, grace…i’m done. like now’.

what a cute vimeo of these two wonderful kids! sisters are the best!

xoxo

irina’s baby shower

my friend irina is having a baby girl!

irina and i met through work years ago. she has a son, alex, and for years, i always bugged her about having another child. she constantly retorted with ‘only when you have a baby!’. well, we ran into each other last summer at dana’s birthday party and i was pregnant with olive. i then finally got to harass her about having her second child!

little did we know she got pregnant right after that with a baby girl! so, now we are going to have little baby girls together and some fun play dates in the near future!

i was quite excited to receive her french themed baby shower invite in the mail. i couldn’t wait to see the beautiful momma in her full glorious pregnant state.

dana picked me up and off we went to revel in the festivities of girly goodness. she had her baby shower held at eiffel bistro in barrington. the decor was precious…lots of tulle, pink, paris, and sweetness all around the private party room.

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[milk chocolate eiffel tower favors // gifts galore!]

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[melon baby creation by irina’s mom…how sweet!]

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[pretty pom and paper decor // cake pops]

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[selfie]

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[the delicious french menu // the pretty centerpiece]

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[the weird baby pin i found really cute]

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[part of the baby games, wearing pearls…if you said the word baby or crossed your legs, you had to give up your pin or pearls]

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[dana at her second baby shower ever…her first was mine!]

we ate delicious food, drank a lot of sparkly pink lemonade, and noshed on decadent morsels of desserts. it was a fabulous time; we had a lot of fun with all the games, getting to know her other friends, and spending some quality time with the lovely irina.

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[macarons and creme brûlée]

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[with the girl of the hour…irina!]

we are so excited for your new addtion to the family! we can’t wait to meet the beautiful baby girl!

{not even one week after irina’s shower, she gave birth to emma nicole!! congrats to her and her family!}

xoxo

favorite books

i love well illustrated children’s books. i love classic stories. i love simple, modern, vintage, and clean books.

i’m excited to build a library of fun and educational books for little o. here are some of my favourite books that baby olive already has on her bookshelf!

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this is paris

this book is so cute and fun. plus, you get to teach your little one about the most romantic place on earth, pareeee!

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where the wild things are

classic. classic. classic.

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olivia

i love olivia the pig. she’s so adorable.

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potty animals

funny, cute book about teaching your child about bathroom time!

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le petit prince

this is a beautiful, dreamy book. it’s even better as a pop up book {which olive has}! so lovely.

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not a box

a very simple, modern style book that is creative and imaginative.

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madeline

i love madeline and madeleines {yummy!}.

such good books, non? i am looking forward to story time with little olive.

these books are classic and fun. i’m very excited that little o has these books in her collection and can’t wait to collect a whole bunch more!

xoxo

olive’s 3 month loves

month three.

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ikea crib // fisher price musical gym // bears paci’s // bb waterproof sheet savers // boudreaux’s butt paste // avent natural bottles

olive finally started to sleep in her crib during the end of her third month. we were so happy! it was great to have her in the bouncy and in our room but we really wanted her to acclimate to her crib. we were reading her sleep signs and finally decided to give the crib a try and voila! she slept in it and through the night! woo hoo!

near the end of her three month stint, olive really started to love her snugabunny musical gym! she had become so entertained by it. she loves to lay there and stare up at the lights and fun charms that hang all around her. it’s so perfect for tummy time too. she loves to look at herself in the mirror while she does her push ups!

the first few months, olive did not take the paci. oh no. she cried and cried and cried if you tried to stick a paci in her mouth. now, she’s not completely fond of it but she does randomly take it, so i would say that is a win! plus, it was a gift from aunt missy and you can’t go wrong with anything that has the bears logo.

i love these sheet savers. not only do i have one in the crib, i put one on top of her changer. with as many accidents that happen when you change your baby’s diaper, it really does save you from washing and washing your changer cover from all the number one’s and two’s that spray around {literally} everywhere!

baby girl, this past month, started to have a bit of redness in the nether regions. i love this butt paste because it’s smooth and gentle on her skin. it immediately remedies the sensitivity of her trouble spots and calms down the irritation. besides that, i just love the name of the product!

now, i wouldn’t say olive loves these avent bottles. she was not happy with mommy leaving her to go back to work. offering her the bottle {which we did sporadically the last two months} was not fun for anyone who was watching her {i.e. my mum in law and mom}. she fussed and fussed and fussed, she would cry and refuse the nipple. but we finally broke through and baby girl took the bottle. i like the natural nipples the best for her and the 4 oz. bottles are the perfect size for her belly right now.

xoxo

rifle paper obsessed

i love my iPhone cover. i received this as a gift from my lovely brother, dan. it’s so fabulous. i have been rifle paper obsessed for years now. i can’t get enough of their products. i love their cards, accessories, and all the knick knacks that they offer through their line. so much so, i ordered another phone case just to have. crazy, i know, but i will definitely use it!

having new iPhone cases is an addiction; like having new shoes or buying a new lipstick color! they always say you can never have too many!

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[isn’t it so fun and whimsical?! tres chic, non?]

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[my back up case ;)]

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[my back up, back up case. hehe]

so fun, non?! their products are so whimsical, cute, and darling!

xoxo