happy three months!

happy three months olive!

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[photos taken on 2.27]

length: 23 1/2″

weight: 12lbs 6 oz.

oh baby olive, my how you have grown and changed {and that crazy hair of yours!}. you love to sit upright on the couch, you started to like tummy time, you still love watching t.v., you love ‘talking’ back, you love bath time, you love flailing your arms, kicking your legs, and smiling!

the first officials for this past month? a few days before her three month mark, she laughed out loud! yes…it was amazing! grace was sitting on the couch and hc was in the bathroom at the time. i had put olive in the swing and we were playing peekaboo and the next thing i know, she giggles out loud! grace jumped off the couch and asked, “was that her first laugh out loud?!”. i said yes! hc came out of the bathroom and asked if that was olive laughing out loud…why yes it was! that was pretty cool.

another wonderful first? olive sleeping in her crib {hallelujah}! it was absolutely fantastic. for a long time, that crib was collecting dust and she was quite cozy in her bouncy next to our bed. so, we started to notice that is was getting easier and easier for her to fall asleep flat on the couch or our bed {after a feeding in the morning she was would just fall asleep on the bed}. we then decided to try a run at the crib one night. lo and behold, she slept beautifully through the night {all swaddled snug as a bug}! it’s been amazing ever since.

now this first really did happen. i’m not sure if it will happen again very soon but the proof is through the video footage i took of it. so, i put olive on her tummy for some time to do her push ups {she’s gotta work those arms, neck, and back muscles!}. she was very much enjoying her time on her tummy and staring and smiling at herself in the mirror {very cute}. it was so adorbs that i whipped out my phone and started to record the cuteness when out of nowhere, she rolled over!!!! yes, she pushed herself up with her right arm and rolled to her side! now, granted it was a half roll because she was stopped by her left arm and the bunny pillow that got in her way of a complete roll over but darn it, she rolled over! i couldn’t believe it and i actually caught it on video! that was super exciting!

well, those are some highlights of olive’s third month. we are looking forward and so excited to see the wonderful things our baby girl will do within her fourth month! we love you so much baby olive!

xoxo

i love you book

hc and i had a love book personalized for our baby girl olive.

it is such a delightful book by paper hat press. they customize the story to your child’s favorite items! olive received the christmas mouse book from her aunties kim and thuy this past holiday {you can see it here}. it definitely was my favorite christmas gift for olive.

so, i as was surfing the web, i stumbled upon a valentine’s day themed book through pbk. of course, i couldn’t pass it up!

we received the final product the day before valentine’s day. how perfect! so, we were able to read olive’s book to her on this past wonderful vday.

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[i was super, duper excited to see this package in the mail!]

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[how sweet! isn’t it just adorbs?!]

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[awwwwwwww]

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[i love the illustrations]

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[aaanndd we do love our pasta!]

via tandeminlove.comhow sweet is this book?!

sweeter than this cupcake ↓ i voraciously consumed from previous weeks!

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xoxo

foto fun

the other snowy day, we ventured out to the land of nod to take some vday pics! here’s a sample of pics from the photo shoot from this past post!

the store had created a fetching backdrop for the pictures; patterned chairs, heart pillows, and darling stuffed animals to pose around with for the photos! katherine salvatori was the photographer who captured the fun pics for valentine’s day! the photo shoot was quick {the store was quite quiet, making it even better for us to play and shop!} and our afternoon evolved into a great time together.

the pictures turned out quite festive. here are a couple of the charming snapshots:

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ya gotta love all of the festive stuff going on here. hearts, dogs, red, pink, oh my!

via tandeminlove.comi love this one of grace. so precious!

happy love day to all! i hope everyone had a wonderful february 14!

xoxo

is it christmas?

i ventured out to my sister’s house this past week to celebrate a little love with the nephews.

i hit the roads during rush hour {ugh}; it was congested but not so bad! i was constantly moving and it didn’t take that long to get there. i was, at first, hesitant to travel out there because it was suppose to snow during the late afternoon, which is a recipe for a driving disaster!

i brought over valentine’s day cupcakes and i set the boy’s presents on the console as i walk in. it was too cute, they kept asking who those presents were for. i told them it was for two boys named reagan and bennett, i asked them if they knew who these two boys were. bennett looked confused but reagan blurted out, “that’s us!”. i told them there are more little boys out there name reagan and bennett, which made them giggle. 🙂

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[it’s fat free…yum]

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[olive chillin’ while we ate our dinner]

after a healthy dinner of portillo’s, we exchanged presents! it was so fun! i gave the boys their gifts, and they gave olive her gift. thuy had brought the boys and olive presents too! there was a lot of exchanging and gifting going on, the boys screamed out, “is it christmas?!”. lol.

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[the boys with their vday presents // s’mores // alien pom growth on r’s face]

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[the cute stuffed animal // olive’s vday fashion // r + o]

kim, r n b, had gotten olive the cutest stuffed animal that came with the most adorable tutu and headband! we dressed her in it and we were just delighted on how darling she looked! it was so precious.

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[r + b decorated olive in valentine’s day stickers! // baby’s first valentine // wooden animal blocks]

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[love her first valentine’s day card]

thuy had bought olive awesome wooden toys and a lovely outfit {so cozy and cute}. i love wooden toys. i want to stay as close as possible to just buying wooden toys {quite a feat but i’ll try my best!} for olive.

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[thuy’s stenciled clutch gift for me! // auntie kim and olive {look at her face and skinny legs!} // adorbs outfit from thuy]

it was a very sweet evening with the family. we had a blast celebrating valentine’s day together. it was filled with lots of love, giggles, and charming fun.

xoxo

valentine’s day treats

finally, i made valentine’s day treats for my darling nephews!

first, i made s’more packages for them. i created labels on craft paper that said, ‘everyday i love you s’more’. i had purchased hershey’s bars, peeps pink marshmallows hearts, and organic graham crackers for the fun contents inside.

i filled each bag with lip and heart sprinkles {fun element}, placed the ingredients inside, and sealed the bags with the labels. i then placed felt hearts on each label as final touches to the festive packages!  ta-da…valentine’s day s’more treats. a yummy, festive, edible gift anyone would love!

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[lovely tasty ingredients]

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[voila! final product ]

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[awww, everyday i love you s’more too!]

next treat? a box full of goodies! i purchased these precious boxes from the dollar section at target {love that area!}, found a few fun toys to fill the present up with, and stuffed the bottom of the box with soft pink tissue paper to add to the festive packaging. i love all the bright colors and fun patterns.

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i filled the colored patterned glassine bags full of conversation hearts and wrapped each bag with twine to seal it shut. each box contained a fuzzy pom alien, a squeeze toy, tattoos {they are nutty about tattoos!}, silly putty, candies {nut free, of course}, and their bag of s’mores!

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[aerial view!]

i had so much fun making these little gifts for the boys. it’s always a joy for me to have time to create and get crafty!

i’ll add a few more surprise trinkets and voila! valentine’s day gifts for r + b! yay!

i hope you are scheming up some great ideas for valentine’s day. i have a dozen more creative things i want to do! there’s never enough time in the day or week! whether it’s a yummy dinner recipe, a crafty gift, or a sweet treat surprise! happy day to creativity!

xoxo

lovely cupcakes

so, valentine cupcakes were next up on the list!

cupcakes. moist, yummy, delicious, sweet cupcakes! just your typical mix, festive liners, sprinkles, and trimmings.

i wanted the cupcakes to be trimmed with sweet fluffy frosting, fun heart sprinkles, and cute festive adornments! i truly desired to pipe the frosting {looks more professional, non?} but unfortunately, i did not have enough frosting to do so. boo. so i used a small spatula to spread the frosting on each cupcake instead. i sprinkled each cupcake with the most adorable heart sprinkles {they are so cute!} and topped off each one with a sugar candy heart envelope or a conversation heart! voila! my fun, sweet, festive, holiday cupcakes.

i couldn’t wait to devour them once i was done decorating!

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[mix it up]

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[decorating]

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[milk and cupcakes]

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[eat up!]

next up? sweet treats for my nephews!

stay tuned!

xoxo

top ten vday loves

reasons why i love valentine’s day.

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[my pinterest board]

1. it’s such a fun, bright holiday in the middle of a dreary season.

2. the occasion is a great reason to dress up!

3. there are so, so many yummy treats to eat.

4. i can make fun crafty things.

5. dressing olive up in cute garbs.

6. making fun gifts for my nephews.

7. decorating our place.

8. baking sweet festive cupcakes.

9. watching romantic movies.

10. celebrating love!

what are your sweet reasons to love on this valentine’s day?!

xoxo

my valentine

valentine is a sweet holiday . either you love or hate it…and i have never hated it. it’s not just about being in a relationship with a significant other {i’m gonna say it, but a lot of single people run with this idea about v-day, which makes it such a bitter holiday for some!} but it’s about love. we always have people around us that we love, so why not celebrate it?? don’t fall into the idea that it’s only about couples! use this day to express to others how much they mean to you and how much you care about them!

i wanted to get festive but not expend too much energy into it, ya know…with a little one, it’s a bit difficult to have spare time or even spare hands! so, first things first, i bought baby girl her first valentine’s day book! it’s called, ‘olive, my love‘. how sweet is that?! i absolutely love this series…it all started years ago, here’s a short story:

christmas 2000 {yes, that long ago}. i was shopping at oakbrook one evening, as i set foot into the nordstrom there…i was instantly delighted by their holiday decor!! i was in love!  the strung lights, the little dog reindeer…what was this?! i wanted it all! i thought their decor was so darling and whimsical! i then inquired an employee about it, i wanted to know where i could buy the lights and all the fun decorations they had out, and i wanted to know more about the ‘other reindeer’. she was so stinkin’ cute! so there it was, the beginning of my obsession around ‘olive the other reindeer’ and any other book with her cute little character in it.  🙂

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i decided to make a fun garland for our windows. very easy and plenty festive. i purchased lace doilies and crochet shaped flowers. i then rummaged through my craft bins and found my red twine. i strung the doily hearts right side up and upside down, every 3-4 hearts, i placed a crocheted flower.  i just repeated it until i achieved the length i desired.

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voila! so easy peasy!

i also made a ‘kiss me’ banner out of construction paper. i just free-hand drew the words out with pencil and cut out all the lettering and the heart. i then affixed it all to my red and white twine.

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next up: a fun, bright garland!

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i then made a valentine garland out of scalloped circles to add to the festive ambience in our place. using my valentine construction paper, my trusty hole punch {um, for some reason it took a lot of energy to hole punch!  my palms hurt!}, and twine. ta-da! a fun, bright garland to lighten our moods! love how it looks!

next up? cupcakes!  moist, yummy, delicious, sweet cupcakes!

stay tuned!

xoxo

i can’t get enough

typical of any new mom…i can’t get enough of her adorable face!! i could just stare at her f.o.r.e.v.e.r. those eyes, chubby cheeks, her cute little chin…

her soft skin, her clean breath, her rosy cheeks, her fluffy hair, her big pouty lips, her well groomed eyebrows, her tiny little toes, her funny expressions, i could go on and on. kids are so stinkin’ cute, especially your own! 🙂 it takes all of my self control to not squeeze her so hard! so instead, i just shriek “i love you soooooo much!!!”, she probably already thinks i’m a crazy mom. oh, olive…be still my heart .

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[aden and anais owl bib]

i just love her to bits!

xoxo