and the beat goes on!

14 weeks later and we’re still at home! well, kind of…we’ve enjoyed more playdates, dinners out, and general social distance get togethers {more on that later}. it’s now june and we’re in phase 3 of reopening illinois. my emotions are mixed because there’s so much we don’t know in general and such high emotional energy stirring. there are a lot of questions and not enough answers. this moment in time we are experiencing is unprecedented and ever evolving. we’re doing our best to keep up, keep sane, keep educated, and keep positive!

on a great note, we’ve done so much while at home and i love it. i’m sharing a gazillion pictures with you, as it captures some of the things we were able to do but not everything! there were moments i needed to be and not snap away constantly at the situation but i’m happy with what little snippets i was able to take and share! these are all picutres from phase 2, before we hit phase 3 in june.

the biggest moment we’ve experienced during quarantine was olive learning how to ride a bike!!! she mastered it last month after three tries! she practiced on a balance bike for a few weeks and then boom! she was riding on her own. i introduced the big girl bike and she was nervous practicing on it. i then worked with her another day and she was still scared {the bike is a hand me down from her big sis…so it was an inch or so too high. which didn’t help her fear factor}. i saw her balancing but the multitasking overwhelmed her. a few times she was riding on her own but still afraid. then she asked me to try, for a third time, on another day. this was it!!! she did it! i was so proud of her!!! she was ecstatic and couldn’t believe she was riding a bike! total proud mom moment right there.

i hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed living the moments!

[playing lots of games! this was a spin off of the princess and the pea. we supported our local shop called fair game!]

[supporting their aunt and uncle in their mask making business: miss tashina.com]

[the new way to celebrate – birthday parades. sass not included]

[i was taking a pic, so she decided to do some tricks. LOL]

[getting fancy and ready to decorate cookies]

[yummy yummy cookies!]

[she’s so darn sweet]

[the goodies]

[always so detailed and careful]

[she’s always so proud of her creations]

[she’s really good at eating what she decorates. LOL]

[the final products]

[her riding outfit of choice]

[she loves her balance bike]

[i’m singing in the rain…just singing in the rain. what a glorious feeling, i’m happy again!]

[flower shopping on mother’s day]

[ellie is definitely olive’s shadow]

[give a squeeze…she loves her big sister]

[wash yer hands!]

[fort building every day…she loved her bed one and her toes sticking out couldn’t be cuter!]

[how cute are they and their shirts?! they tie dyed it themselves!]

[i love them so much]

[ughhhh, please don’t mind the artificial light ruining the color of the picture but notice how darn cute these two bakers are!]

[testing out the cookie dough]

[loving the cookie dough]

[proud of their results]

[olive was like, “i don’t like chocolate chip cookies” uhhhh what? she loved it]

[cookie monster]

[i can’t with these shirts]

xoxo