first mother’s day ~ part two

Posted on May 20, 2014 by tandem in love

soooo on sunday funday mother’s day celebration…olive and i started the day lazily lounging in bed. i love this little peanut. hc got this momma another starbucks start! we relaxed together, that morning, before we headed to parker’s for a mother’s day brunch.

[morning selfie]

[watching videos together]

[morning pick me up]

we got ready and merrily went on our way to the restaurant. we pit stopped for some beautiful flowers for the famille at the grocery store. on our way there, the babes decided to take a little nap. how cute is she?!

[nap time before brunch]

[beautiful flowers for some beautiful ladies]

we arrived at our destination. it was a madhouse inside! whoa. dan was the first to get there and then boom…everyone was there, the whole family literally trickled in within seconds! we were seated right away and ready to eat! it was a brunch buffet, so we literally sat for a minute while the server took our drink orders and then we all scurried to the buffet tables, ready to fill up our little plates.

[kir royale…favorite drink]

[our coordinating outfits // olive is in little tots long sleeve onesie, gapkids pants, and hair clip by etsy]

[buttercream topped cupcakes, it was really good!]

[olive having a moment with uncle dan]

[olive having a smiley moment with her cousin]

[celebrating moms]

after brunch, we trekked our way home for a just a second to then head back out. we took my mom to a pretty little garden center so she could pick out flowers for the yard!

[flower shopping]

after that, we headed back home to my parent’s. we relaxed for a bit there before we headed back out to our home {ya know…that long car ride home we have}! of course, more work had to be done on our house, so wasting the day away is never an option!

[coffee break with my chunker munker]

overall, it was quite an amazing mother’s day. i am thankful for my beautiful mom, my wonderful husband, and my amazing daughter.

my first mother’s day could not have been better. i am so blessed to be a mom. i am so blessed to have such a loving mother. i am amazed that it was my first mother’s day and i am in awe that this little baby is ours…making it quite a special day for me. i still cannot believe that i am mom, it’s a milestone in my life that is a dream come true.

i know that i just rambled a bit. i wish i was more eloquent about it. i have so many thoughts and wonderful feelings around this…it’s hard to capture it all in words without spewing a lot of random phrases!

God bless all the mother’s out there!

xoxo

first mother’s day ~ part one

Posted on May 19, 2014 by tandem in love

mother’s day celebrations started on saturday. i woke up to a very relaxing morning. hc and grace went out and purchased starbucks coffee for us {bonus points!}. they also arrived home with a beautiful bouquet of lilies for me {extra credit}! what a great start to my mother’s day weekend.

i was very excited for my first mother’s day! after all these years of celebrating my mom and other moms, it was my turn to revel in this day! how special and exciting. being a mom is amazing and i am in so in love with it…having had olive has changed my life completely in every positive way! so celebrating that fact was delightful in itself. it’s taken on a whole new meaning and i was feeling quite loved and blessed.

[lovely lilies]

[my gorgeous mother’s day bouquet picked out by grace and olive]

[selfies while we wait for breakfast]

continuing on with my mother’s day celebration, hc started to whip up a delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and eggs. yummy! he’s such a perfect partner…always so caring and loving.

[hc starting on a yummy breakfast for this momma]

[seasoned eggs, maple sausage, and buttery rich pancakes]

after breakfast, we had a very relaxing day of doing much of nothing…ok, well i did much of nothing while hc manicured our lawn {ummmmm, that took 3 1/2 hours! whaaaaa? damn yard}.

so, relaxing i did with little miss olive by my side. we sat around, we played, she slept, and i chilled. it was quite a beautiful day…sunny and warm. my dad also made a pit stop by the house to say hi to the babes. my parents miss little olive so much all the time. thank goodness we are right around the corner! they are able to stop by anytime and pinch her cheeks!

that afternoon, miss grace so lovingly gave me a sweet mother’s day card. she’s such a doll…it was a very thoughtful card and it had the best words written inside from her. how splendid.

later on in the evening, hc made a tasty dinner of burgers and sautéed brussel sprouts. he was happily grilling our organic burgers and assembling a wonderful dinner while i downed cold, crisp, thirst quenching coronitas…ahhhh.

[my summer drink]

[onion and gorgonzola burger on a brioche bun with sautéed brussel sprouts]

after finishing up dinner and with it being a beautiful night out, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood! our first walk together since we have moved in. it was so awesome. the night was perfect, the sky was clear, the temperature was just right. we explored our delightful neighborhood…it is such a cute little area.

[a perfect evening for nighttime stroll]

after 40 minutes of walking, it was time to return back home so we could put little olive down for the night.

once we settled in, i had a nightcap of refreshing, cold, creamy coffee ice-cream! a well deserved treat for my hard day of work…being a mom is tough 😉

[a perfect nightcap…coffee ice-cream]

well, that was my first day of my mother’s day celebration. it couldn’t have been any better, i love that my husband is so kind, caring, considerate, and thoughtful. he really is the best. i am a lucky gal. i love him to bits.

he always makes every day feel like it’s mother’s day.

xoxo

liam’s baby shower

Posted on May 13, 2014 by tandem in love

our friend jaime and sean prematurely had their little baby liam on st. patrick’s day! he was delivered at 30 weeks and he came out a fighter!

j’s shower was prescheduled for that saturday, following the delivery of liam on that monday! so, that was unexpected! her shower was then rescheduled for the end april. it turned out great for me because i couldn’t attend her first original shower date and now i was able to attend the latter.

pampers drove over to our house and we were able to tour her through our new home. after hc did the full walk through and talked in detail about all the changes we were going to make to our place, we finally went on our way to go pick up marina at her house.

then, onto burr ridge we drove. it was such a beautiful day…the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. it just makes me so happy to have such great weather.

the party was already in full swing. i settled in with olive’s stuff and walked into the mix with my little bebe. oh! she was a hit! everyone just adored her! the only problem?? olive didn’t adore anyone! it was so loud, there were so many people, and all these unfamiliar faces were freaking her out! yikes! olive only wanted to stay in my arms. she would not let anyone hold her! poor babes. she kept crying if anyone got too close to her face. omg. it was comical.

so, there i was…just holding my precious baby making sure she stayed clam. everyone ooh’d and ahh’d over her cheeks, her hair, her outfit, her cuteness. i know, she’s my little girl…she is so flippin’ cute!

[j, rina, preggo pampers, moi and o]

[champagne libations // gifts]

after some mingling…darling hostess with the mostess, amber, offered us some drinks. yes, please. champagne with fresh raspberries…gulp, gulp.

[red velvet cake favors // scratch off cards to win a prize]

the decor/theme was so sweet! i loved all the details of the party! the pastel blue hues, the pretty lanterns, the personalized napkins, the chevron design…definitely my kind of party planning! they also had hired help; so servers came around and offered us savory hor d’oeuvres and sparkling refreshments. we socialized for awhile before lunch, it was great seeing all the familiar faces…gals from high school i don’t get to see often but always have a great time catching up when we do get together!

[drink bar + cuteness]

[i love the animal decor and personalized water bottles]

[how fabulous is this decor?]

[me, amber {hostess with the mostess}, and jaime]

[personalized cocktail napkins]

we were then summoned for lunch, we all chose our seats and then went to grab our food at the buffet table. i was able to connect with some new faces at our table and had an absolutely swell time chatting it up with them! i met lauren’s mom {sister in law’s mum} and amanda {cousin’s wife}, they were such sweet, sweet ladies!

while we were eating, olive was getting cranky…it was around 1 which is her nap time. amber directed me to an empty room, so i fed her upstairs and then put her down for a nap. baby girl was out. i went back downstairs and they had served the delicious looking cake and j was about to open gifts. i bit into my slice of the cake and was in heaven! it was so scrumptious! i could have eaten at least four slices! delish.

[sugar + balloons]

[how amaze is this cake? i loved all the details]

[candy favors]

jaime continued to open up all her wonderful gifts {so many great items} and we yakked it up in the background. after all the present time, we stayed a bit longer to hang out with the crowd. it was honestly a great time and we didn’t want to leave right away! besides that, olive was having herself quite a good nap!

[jaime opening up all her wonderful gifts]

[the most delicious cake ever!]

we finally wrapped it up and i gathered my luggage to get ready to go. i went upstairs to transfer olive from the bed to the carseat, hoping she would stay asleep…unsuccessful! but she was in great spirits! she said goodbye to everyone and off pampers, rina, o, and i went.

what a beautiful shower for baby liam! amber and randi did an amazing job! baby liam is one lucky boy!!

xoxo

olive’s 5 month loves

Posted on May 8, 2014 by tandem in love

month five.

vulli sophie natural soother // pbk bunny thumbie // feel and learn book // hair flower clips from etsy // angel dear muslin swaddle // easter bunny softie rabbit from etsy

everyone who sees olive tells me she must be teething. annddd she might be. i felt her gums the other day and no teeth yet but they could be slicing in. she’s drooling, jamming her fist in her mouth, and gnawing like a crazy baby on anything sophie right now! i love all the products this line offers and the rubber soother is a must right now for little o to chomp her gums on to ease her discomfort! we initially received ours from buybuybaby but they are sold out right now, so i found a site that offers it there!

olive is a bit young right now to really love her thumbie but she is starting to like the softness. she pulls it up against her face and rubs the plush fabric on her skin. we have both the rattle and the thumbie, olive loves them both! the rattle keeps her occupied and the thumbie soothes her.

she absolutely loves her crinkle book! she is so into noises and textures right now. she loves to feel the softness of materials and loves, loves the sound of crinkly plastic. she likes to touch the book and explores each page you show her. she is so very curious.

now the flower clips are more so my love but olive truly doesn’t mind! she is totally fine having little flower clips and headbands on her beautiful head of hair! i love how it totally dresses up a boring outfit and adds total pizazz to her do. i have the flower hair clips {the ones you see olive wearing in previous pictures} from buybuybaby, they aren’t available right now, but found these cute ones from a seller on etsy!

i found this angel dear swaddle at a boutique while we were on vacation in florida. i fell in love with the print. it’s so stinkin’ cute! it’s perfect right now for olive because it’s so large, breathable, and muti-functional for anything. i like to wrap her in it at night, i like to use it as a blanket for her cold tootsies, i like to cover her stroller with it, i like to use it as soft pad for her head. the uses go on and on with this one! i am a fan of the different lines of products they have for this brand.

this last love is all me…i absolutely love this stuffed bunny! it was perfect for easter and it will be a great toy for her year round. it is so darling and unique. a beautiful hand made doll that will be cherished for years. it is on the pricey side but so worth it. i hope olive grows to love this little bunny toy as much as i do!

xoxo

chirp chirp…hoppy easter

Posted on May 6, 2014 by tandem in love

soooo…i’m finally getting my easter post up! woo. woo.

easter definitely was a whirlwind. being smack dab in the middle of our move, it was a much needed, forced break for us. to make it even more amazing was the fact that it was 70 degrees outside!!! so beautiful! the sunshine was wonderful and always puts me in an even better mood!

we traipsed our way downtown to zed451 to meet up with the fam for a delicious easter brunch {ah, missing the city life already}. it was the immediate famille and terry’s sister, lynne, her son patrick, and their mom barbara who joined us for this fabulous holiday!

[getting the goodies together]

[olive’s basket]

[easter bunny shoes from etsy]

[easter basket chaos // first easter bunny rattle from aunt missy]

[ta da! the final products for the kiddos!]

[my little lamb]

[ready to go!]

i really enjoyed the brunch at the restaurant, it was tasty, and very diverse in their selection of foods. their kale salad was amaze {i could have taken the whole plate to our table and eaten only that}. the cinnamon roll was sweet, fresh, and gooey. the offerings of meats were endless {brazilian steak house style}. there were lots and lots of decadent choices of accrouments to nosh on.

i love food. it makes me happy…i dislike being hungry and i will always try something new and different. i am so perplexed by people who are so steadfast in their limited, narrow choices of food. for me, life revolves around eating {savor the flavors of the earth!}, drinking, and family! there should be no limitations on ingredients, just personal exploration to really take it all in and enjoy all of your senses.

[chambray world]

[my little easter bunny]

[awesome cinnamon roll // olive with the boys, she’s staring adoringly at her uncle terry]

[sister love // bloody mary loving]

[thuy and dan]

[kim and olive // mini boden dress and tights]

[the beautiful sunshine]

[drinking beer with daddy]

after a wonderful brunch with the famille, we headed back to our house before we drove that long car ride over to my parent’s {hehe…it’s like a one minute & thirty second drive 😉 so, before we did that, we pit stopped at the home depot {we were surprised that they were open on easter}, our new favorite store, and purchased some house goods. during that field trip, our little sweet olive fell asleep…what doll.

[since we were in the middle of a move, we did a pit stop at the home depot before heading to the p’s. olive decided to nap 🙂 ]

we did an outfit change, when we arrived home, {comfy clothes, here we come} and sped our way to my parent’s house. there we had a wonderful dinner together and the kiddies received their easter baskets.

[reagan and olive]

[gift basket exchange]

[olive’s basket from kim, thuy, r + b]

[her adorbs doll // her cutie outfits]

[how cute?!]

[the aftermath]

the entire day was just wonderful. we had such a great time celebrating easter with our families! blessed be this day of love.

xoxo

happy five months!

Posted on April 28, 2014 by tandem in love

happy five months olive!

[photos taken on 4.27]

height: 25 3/4″

weight: 15lbs 13 oz.

well, well, well. baby olive has had an eventful month! so many wonderful changes in her behavior! she loves to babble…oh boy, she loves to gurgle, screech, make noises like she’s having a full conversation with you. it was so much more consistent and clear this past month than before. it’s so endearing to listen to her sounds! i love ‘talking’ to her.

this past month, she has really latched onto objects with her eyes and hands. she really focuses her eyes onto things and looks very perplexed or intrigued by them. her grasp has gotten even stronger; she loves to hold onto her toys or reach for her playthings, touching or feeling the texture. she loves anything crinkly! that sound and texture just delights her. her favorite objects to grab right now? grabbing her toes…so adorbs! i love seeing her awareness and attention to details become so much more acute.

she’s still sleeping through the night {thank the Lord!}. she had graduated into 8-10 hours a night! yowza! sometimes she hits it at 7 1/2 hours but we’re not complaining! she does go to bed kinda late {typically around 9-10pm at night}, she gets a little cranky around 8pm and then she’s out.

she’s a sometimes napper, we try to keep a regular nap time schedule for her but there are times olive has her own agenda. even though her schedule isn’t always on track, she typically pulls in three to four hours of nap time a day. I feel so lucky to have a solid sleeping baby at night.

she is still a breastfed babes! we are almost on the verge of solid foods! she is so interested in me or anyone around her when they are eating! she loves watching me eat or even drink water, it’s like the most fascinating thing to her! she gazes in wonderment and i love watching her curious facial expressions as i’m eating.

the next event to happen is the best yet! olive can sit up on her own! yes, she did it the other day while in my lap. we were enjoying a very, very inexpensive breakfast at ikea when little miss olive decided to sit up by herself! we watched in joy as she confidently sat upright! it was amazing! i was so excited for her…what a strong little lady! now, she does need us to watch her while in act because she is still wobbly but she can most definitely sit there on her own for sometime! how cool is that?!

now the next fabulous event can be argued by hc and myself, although we have jane {my mother in law} as a witness. on a thursday evening, as i was carrying olive in the kitchen, she cried out mama! i swear she said it! jane believes she said it too! now whether olive realizes she said it or not, it definitely was distinct! hc is adamant she just made a noise that sounds like mama 😉 i beg to differ. she has done it a few more times since! so…we’ll see how she progresses next month!

onward to six months of goodness! i can’t wait to share all the wonderful milestones olive hits next month!

xoxo

hoppy easter peeps!

Posted on April 20, 2014 by tandem in love

it’s a beautiful, sunny, perfect easter day!!! i hope you are enjoying this holiday, whether it be a lovely service at church, a fun easter egg hunt with the kiddos, a charming morning with the family and your little ones, who get so excited that the easter bunny has paid them a visit!

although olive is too young and wasn’t quite sure what the easter bunny is or what to do with her basket of goodies {daddy sure does know what to do with her basket…nom, nom, nom!}. i’m sure she was super excited for it all! just look at that expression on my little lamb down below!

[hoppy easter everyone!!!! from baby lamb olive]

anyhoo, we’re off to celebrate with the famille! woo hoo! can’t wait for easter brunch!

more to come of this beautiful day in a future blog my lovies!

“Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again”

xoxo

cousins

Posted on April 16, 2014 by tandem in love

i love family. i am so excited to have olive grow up with her wonderful cousins r + b. on a beautiful sunday afternoon, we were able to get together and hang out. reagan just loves little olive. he loves holding her! whether she’s calm or crying, he just smiles contently to have olive in his arms!

on this particular day, i dressed olive in her pink ralph lauren dress that auntie kim and thuy had given her {at one of the baby showers in honor of olive}. r + b came on over to grandma and grandpa’s house dressed in ralph lauren themselves! how adorbs…coordinating cousin outfits!

[bennett, reagan, and olive all in ralph lauren]

[reagan loves olive!]

we couldn’t resist a little photo sesh with these cuties! cousin bonds…you can’t beat that true love!

xoxo

pammy’s beautiful baby shower

Posted on April 14, 2014 by tandem in love

i was so excited to be celebrating pam & baby d at her wonderful baby shower!

it was held at d.o.c. wine bar in lombard! i headed out to the burbs to drop off olive at my parent’s house. my sister thuy so kindly volunteered to watch her. after dropping her off, i was off to the shower! silly me, i must still have baby brain ’cause i totally thought the shower started at noon! nope, it was 11:30! whoops! i walked in and lunch was already being served! i thought…wow, they were quick to serve the food. little did i know that i was totally late!

anyhoo, i was delighted to see all the girls! i said hello to pam and greeted all the ladies! i grabbed some grub and sat down to mingle with some peeps i haven’t seen in awhile. once i noshed on some tasty morsels, i walked around to take in all the decor. it was so cute! carol couldn’t make the shower but she helped out by making a majority of the decor!

[the cute decor // carol, you did a marvelous job!]

[the glowing mom to be! // photo by becky g]

[the wonderful decor by carol // left photo by becky g]

i loved the color scheme and the diy glitter mason jars were so fun. everything tied in together so well!

[jenny, me, pampers, jaime, and marina // photo by becky g]

[guests get to guess if baby d is a boy or a girl! i guessed a boy!]

[gifts – left photo by becky g // guessing game]

[rina and me…we love selfies]

[photo by becky g]

[pam and her bestie becky]

[delicious eats – left photo by becky g // yummy animal cracker favors]

after lunch, pam started to open up all the beautiful gifts. baby stuff is always so cute. every ooh’d and ahh’d over all the cuteness! while she was opening up all her wonderful gifts, they served the delicious cake. i have only have one complaint…my slice was not big enough! i could have eaten the whole top layer. 😉

[marina and pampers // photo by becky g]

[the sweet cake // photo by becky g]

[muma and me]

[the super cute growth chart from pbk // photo by becky g]

during the opening of gifts, ryan, the hubby, made his appearance. the braun always has to come near the end to muscle all the gifts to the car!

after pampers was done opening all her presents, i mingled some more with the other guests. caught up with some folks i haven’t seen in a bit and finally decided it was time to go. as usual, i always want to get home to the babes! i’m always missing her!

[ryan, pam, her mom and dad // photo by becky g]

thank you pam for letting me celebrate such a joyous occasion with you! we love you and ryan and can’t wait to meet baby d!

xoxo

olive’s 4 month loves

Posted on April 3, 2014 by tandem in love

month four.

infantino gogo trio toys // sophie the giraffe // skip hop portable changer // aden and anais swaddling blankets // baby bjorn // mustela stelatopia

we kept these toys off of her carseat for the first few months. she actually hated her carseat, she cried non-stop while she was in it and nothing seemed to console her. she was also too young to have her eyes focused on anything for too long. but nowwwww, she loves looking at anything and gazes curiously at everything. so, we finally attached the gogo trio toys to the handle of the carseat to entertain her! although hc says she can only see their butts, i think the bright colors and sounds amuse her!

olive loves sophie the giraffe. it draws her attention away from her grumpiness, she loves to gnaw on it, she loves to nibble on it, and she loves to hold onto it and put it in her mouth. the squeaky noise distracts her and she loves to grip sophie’s legs or neck and nibble on the giraffe’s nose.

the skip hop changer is so essential! olive doesn’t mind the material against her skin. she knows it’s diaper changing time when she’s on it and it is so easy to clean up if any accidents happen! i love how chic it looks {love the grey chevron print} and it stores everything you need for a quick diaper change anywhere. you know it’s a clean and sterile surface you trust if there is a baby changing table available or not.

as olive is getting bigger, these swaddle blankets are perfect! they are oversized and give enough material to tightly wrap your bebe into a deep sleep. they are also versatile as a stroller cover, blanket, or nursing wrap {if needed!}. i love the prints that it comes in {so whimsical and pretty} and i love how soft, lightweight, and organic the material is. such a perfect blanket to transition into from the winter flannel swaddles we were using.

the baby bjorn didn’t serve much of a purpose when olive was born because 1. it was so darn cold, we didn’t casually walk anywhere 2. she loved the moby wrap better because it was more of a snug fit. well, now we all love it! it’s perfect for hubby charming because it’s 1. black {it’s more manly…grrrr} 2. it’s very easy 3. olive loves it! we have used it around the house casually, we have used it for walks on the beach, we have used it when we have decided to not use the stroller for random events and need to walk around with her.

during this past harsh, harsh winter, olive’s skin had gotten sooooo dry. poor thing. it was rough and a bit scaly. i was using the mustela hydra bebe lotion {which would and will be perfect for her skin in warmer climate…helloooo summer!} but it wasn’t doing her skin any justice during this cold season. so, i bought the mustela stelatopia lotion, which was a lifesaver for her beautiful skin! it instantly smoothed out her skin and made it all so baby soft! it’s very moisturizing and her skin just drinks it up. it smells great and is great for her skin. i highly recommend this wonderful product to any moms out there who’s baby skin needs a little tlc.

bonus love: truly it’s my love for olive – our bebe au lait nursing cover.

[i have the navy quatrefoil print…very nautical, neutral, and modern]

i had been breastfeeding olive and it was going so well. during my maternity leave, since i was trapped inside almost all the time and she was brand spanking new, i didn’t venture out much. so, it was easy to feed olive in the comfort of our home or my parent’s house. as olive became more active and we became more active with her, i realized i needed a feeding cover!

i looked into a few covers and totally fell in love with this print from bebe au lait! i honestly felt a lot of these types of covers were very unattractive! ugh. not the prettiest prints out there. i love simple, modern, clean prints and a lot of them were wild and fussy.

this cover is perfectly sized and sturdy. it has a flexible top wire so it’s ventilated and you can easily see your baby while she is feeding. you feel completely covered and safe to feed your baby anywhere. it has little terry cloth corner pockets, where you can store small necessities. it folds and wraps up very compact to fit inside our diaper bag. a definite must have for any nursing moms out there!! we love it!

well, there are olive’s four month loves! we are loving our stuff for her, loving life, loving our little olive!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: baby

first mother’s day ~ part two

first mother’s day ~ part one

liam’s baby shower

olive’s 5 month loves

chirp chirp…hoppy easter

happy five months!

hoppy easter peeps!

cousins

pammy’s beautiful baby shower

olive’s 4 month loves