turkey day ’16

Posted on December 6, 2016 by tandem in love

it was turkey day! yay! i love thanksgiving! it kicks off the holiday season and i love the holidays!

i took a pretty long break posting on the blog. one, i was soooo busy with thanksgiving coming up, planning olive’s birthday, hosting olive’s birthday party, and just living life. things just got a little hectic but i am finally catching up!

we did our usual routine – hc’s aunt wendy always has turkey ‘dinner’ ready by 1:30pm so we always head over there first to visit with his family. we got there a bit earlier and hung out and visited with everyone. olive was, of course, a bit shy and quiet around everyone but as soon as her sister grace showed up, she was all giggles!

once food was served, we just sat around and chilled. we ate, talked, and caught up with life’s happenings. olive started to warm up with everyone and really took to kait! kait is sooooo darn sweet with the girls and had so much fun playing with olive. olive’s giggles and smiles were proof she adored kait too!

after a few hours at aunt wendy’s house, we had to leave and drop grace off so she could continue on with her festive celebrating with her step dad’s side of the family.

[how adorable is kait with ellie?!]

[chef wendy]

[not yet warmed up to anyone]

[daddy is hungry and ellie is bored]

[trying to hide from the world]

[gramma jane]

[my baby]

[sister besties]

[auntie missy]

[giving thanks to the chicago cubs]

[kait and morgan]

***************************************************************

we then headed to my parent’s house to continue our thanksgiving tradition of eating dinner at 7. we do that every year and our holiday always works out so perfectly. once we got there, i dove into helping my sister with the cooking {as much as i can because i am no cook!} and drinking! thanksgiving would not be complete without a good bottle of wine! yum!

we drank, we cooked, we laughed, and the kids played. it was a cozy, fun, warm evening together. my brother dan decided, this year, to fry a turkey! it would be our first time doing it! it was the highlight of the night…putting a turkey in a deep fryer and boy, that sucker cooks that bird super fast!!

olive was quite spent from a few active days with very little naps that she was totally agreeable to a nap at my parent’s house. baby girl slept for several hours but she so needed it as it would be another late night for her!

more family came by and soon it was a full house {close to 20 people}. it was pretty awesome because i don’t think i held ellie once. all the ladies and gents took turns holding the baby…who doesn’t love a cutie baby like ellie? she’s so darn sweet!

dinner was ready by 7 and we all sat down to eat! my dad said a blessing and we got to chow down. the food was super good, as usual – my sister always does an amazing job with the menu and the delicious dishes!

overall, it was a wonderful, wonderful thanksgiving. the holiday feelings were all there. i love how festive it feels and looks, i love seeing family, i love being together on this special holiday, and i love eating and drinking together…hahaha, who doesn’t?!

i am thankful for our health, our family and friends, our blessings in life, and most of all, thankful for our two beautiful, healthy girls.

happy thanksgiving indeed!

[super auntie thuy]

[yummy turkey stuffing]

[working hard in the kitchen]

[kitchen cooking shenanigans]

[family time]

[face time with huy]

[dad loving the face time with huy]

[olive being grumpy from her nap]

[i love this babe…i know, i say it all the time but she’s amazing]

[these two…so sweet]

[she always has this wide eyed look…]

[our first time frying a turkey…well, dan fried it and it turned out awesome!]

[mama]

[thuy brought home sake from japan]

[yummy chocolate silk pie]

[he’s sooooooooo sweet with her]

[i love these two]

xoxo

happy four months ellie!

Posted on November 15, 2016 by tandem in love

[pics taken on 11.15.16]

height: 24.25″

weight: 13 lbs 10 oz

this babe is the best. the best! she is just sooooo darn sweet, happy, chunky and fun! i love hanging out with her and seeing her beautiful face look at me with always a big smile!

it seems like the amount of milk she consumes has decreased, sadly. she still nurses every 2-3 hours when she’s with me. she has become so distracted and more interested in the environment around her than nursing. i now find that i have to feed her in a quiet room with minimal noise and no t.v. on. if olive is around, forget it! she wants to watch olive rather than feed and try not having your toddler in your face and not excitedly jumping, screaming around you! that’s the impossible! if i go into another room, this little gremlin will come find me! well, it is what it is…ellie is still chunking up quite nicely, so no complaints on those chubby thighs of hers or fatty cheeks!

she’s super solid with her night sleeping but not so much with her naps. i really think ellie sleeps less than everyone in this house! she typically goes down around 9-10pm and will wake up once {maybe twice during a growth spurt} for a feeding. sometimes she will wake at 3am or 5am…it depends on how’s she feeling and then again around 6am or 7am. i am hoping she breaks that one nightly feeding she is so strongly clinging on to. she nurses for maybe 5-7 minutes in the middle of the night and falls back asleep…so, i am like, “girl, why do you bother to eat…you can barely keep your eyes open?!!! haha!} so, she’ll sleep for 8-9 hours at nigt and maybe, maybe nap for 2-3 hours during the day. sometimes she doesn’t nap much at all. olive did and definitely sleeps more than this babe! it’s amazing how much ellie doesn’t sleep for a little baby but i am most thankful that she is quite the solid sleeper at night. no complaints here! as long as she keeps up those long nightly stretches, we are super happy in this house!

she is completely aware of her surroundings. she will lock eyes with me from across the room. she will perk up and coo when she hears my voice. she just started to giggle in the last few weeks and it’s the most darling sound i currently hear. she recently discovered her toes! she loves to grab at them! she loves to lay around and observe, she especially loves to look at olive. she can watch her for hours. plus, the sweet smiles that ellie gives is priceless! she loves to smile, smile, smile. she’s such a happy baby! seeing her beautiful grins completely brightens my mornings, days, and nights. i love this smiley babe so much!!

she’s been pretty true to size but oh is she chunky! i love her fat little cheeks and chubby, chubby thighs. those rolls get me every time. she’s balding in the back of her head and i blame it on the fact that i have a toddler and don’t hold ellie as much, so she is always laying on her back. olive didn’t get a bald spot because we held her allllllll the time! so poor ellie…she’s has a big circle patch of hairlessness going on back there.

she is such a happy, calm baby. i am soaking in every moment, every second of this baby stage. i can’t get enough. she’s so sweet, loving, precious, and oh so squeezable! i love holding her, nursing her, playing with her, and spending all my days with this darling babe. i love you to pieces oh baby ellie…you are such a light in my life.

xoxo

happy halloween

Posted on November 10, 2016 by tandem in love

oh, i was sooooo excited for halloween!

i couldn’t wait to match the girls! i was so stumped for quite awhile on what i was going to dress them as. i hemmed and hawed over so many ideas but alas, i chose fairies. olive loves tinker bell, so i thought it was fitting for her to be a fairy princess and ellie as well!

i ended up curating their costume pieces. i shopped only small {meaning small businesses that were handmade} and quickly put together their sweet, whimsical costumes. i loved every single piece i purchased. the best part? olive can and still wears all the pieces after halloween! it ended up being her most favorite outfit to date!

we dressed up both girls and went outside to take pictures {the weather was amazing!! not cold or rainy! it typically is every year!}. that was a complete debacle. olive couldn’t hold ellie upright {her costume was too slippery} and by the time i decided to lay both girls down on the blanket on top of the grass, they were both in sour moods and wouldn’t stop crying. seriously?! fml trying to take a decent picture! ha!

after pics {i needed a shower because these girls stress me out sometimes!}, we started our trick or treat journey. it was the cuuuuuuutest thing to watch olive! i did a few a examples for her but after that, she got it! i loved watching her be so independent and sweet! she would quietly knock on people’s doors and not move so it was difficult for them to open the door. ha! she would quietly say, ‘twick o tweet’ and ‘dank you!’ to every person who gave her candy. man did she get brownie points for her cuteness…so many folks gave in and would dump candy into her basket or give extra because they say ellie. olive made out like a bandit for only hitting a few houses!

as we walked along the block, we chit chatted with neighbors and got to know quite a few people on my parent’s street. olive did such a great job and really enjoyed the whole process! after a eight houses {which probably took more than a half hour}, we asked if she wasted to go home and she said, “yes! go home!” and go home we did!

once we arrived home, olive loved checking out all the trick or treaters at the door. she’s finally starting to break out of her shy shell. granted, she still doesn’t really talk around others but she was quite brave with the strangers while trick or treating and loved peeking at all the kids coming to the door and would actually walk downstairs to say hi!

we waited for the trick or treating curfew to end and then packed up our stuff to go home. we tried to get olive’s costume off and that turned out to be the biggest debacle of all time. i mean major meltdown…she flipped out. how dare we tell her to take off her wings and skirt?! we were the devil in her eyes. she screamed and cried and went completely bonker hysterical on us. that was a loooooooooong process that we soooo regretted. ugh.

anyhoo, once we got the little bugger into the car…we finally made it home. phew! that was a knock down dragged out fight but we kind of won. hc stuffed her into the car seat with the compromise of her holding her wings instead of sitting with them on. oy.

overall, it was an awesome halloween. the weather was so fantastic, soooo many people complimented her on the costume, and she had the best time! i love halloween, i always have but now i love it more with our kids in it! it’s so fun and delightful to see such joy in her eyes!

[such a beautiful fairy princess]

[i looooooooved their costumes]

[walking house to house, trick or treating!]

[her trick or treat bag…collecting goodies]

[me and my girl]

[walking towards the cool halloween house]

[soooooo pretty]

[hitting up a house for candy…knocking on the door. oh how i loved watching her do this!]

[her loot]

xoxo

matt + panda

Posted on November 2, 2016 by tandem in love

we finally had guncle johann and matt come visit ellie + famille!

we had a date set up over a month ago but those plans fell through and we were finally able to meet up! it was going to be a real relaxed casual night. the cubs game was on and we were too busy to put the effort in to cooking a gourmet meal.

hc and i {leading up to johann and matt arriving} were running around like crazy to get last minute things done. it’s always such a challenge when you have multiple young kids! one person has to watch the baby {especially if she’s fussy} and it’s like playing hot potato! pass the baby, pass the baby, you got the baby? can you take the baby? can you hold her for just five minutes while i quickly do something? hahaha!!!!

once matt and johann arrived, we just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. matt is always hilarious and johann always cracks me up with his take on things…i love hanging out with these two fun dudes. they walked through our door with so many presents. it was like christmas for the babes! there were presents from matt’s mom & the guncles. olive was being so shy {ellie was sleeping} and didn’t want to open her presents so i decided to do it for her!

after presents, libations were flowing, and dinner was on the grill. i love our conversations. they are always lively, animated, and full of laughter. time really flies when were hanging out with these two! after we ate dinner, we settled into the living room to watch the game. johann is strongly a sox fan, matt is neutral, and hc and i are the biggest cubs fan! it was quite the intense game but the cubs did it! they made it into the world series! we were sooooooo elated! what a fantastic night! great company and the cubs did it!

after hours of eating, drinking, and lounging – matt and johann decided to call it quits and head home. it was so fabulous to have had them over and finally meet miss ellie baby! oh, she’s just the best! johann is such a natural with babies…oh he’ll be a great dad someday! well, we said our goodbyes to matt and johann and wished them safe travels and then did a dance of joy that the cubs won the pennant and were headed to the world series!

[ellie, johann, and matt]

[it was like christmas]

[the cutest little card and box of panda socks!]

[oh these two…johann is so good with kids!]

[glazed pumpkin cake]

[the boys watching the game]

[ellie saying, “go cubs go!!!!”]

[yasssssssssss!]

xoxo

fabulous zoo date

Posted on October 18, 2016 by tandem in love

kim and i met up for a zoo date take two. the first time we went to the zoo with them, it was such a personal disaster. i was so unprepared and a lot of meltdowns happened, including me. hahaha!

well, this time around…we were ready! we had the right attachment to the stroller, we had snacks, we had lunch, we had drinks, and it wasn’t steaming hot {that is always a recipe for a disaster!}.

we both arrived at the zoo at the same time and we parked right next to each other! we strolled on in…it was so darn perfect out! we did our usual walk and there were a lot of animals out. olive warmed up to brady a lot quicker than what she usually does! it was so cute to watch them, olive at times would call brady’s name and ask him to, ‘come here!’ to see certain animals and brady always wanted to hold olive’s hand! awwwww!

kim’s mom joined us as well and it was awesome to see her! she’s such a sweet, sweet lady! we leisurely strolled the zoo, saw the animals, went into certain houses, and eventually stopped for lunch. the temperature started to drop but it still felt great overall. it was so nice, this time around, to be able to see almost all the animals, walk at a slow pace, and the zoo was kind of empty – which makes it great for us! {less congestion and more animal face time!}

once we got near the end, we brought the kids over to the carousel for a ride. it was olive’s first time on a carousel! i was sooooo excited for her! the only bump in the road that we ran into was that we were a minute too late for the next ride! they cut off the line right before us and poor brady and olive thought we weren’t going to take them on the ride and they both yelled and cried the entire time the ride ran and honestly, it felt like an eternity! haha! finallyyyyyyy, it was our turn and tears turned into sweet smiles! it was sooooo heartwarming to see her so happy! she told me she wanted to sit on the giraffe and the giraffe she got! kim’s sweet mom took on the challenge of snapping a pic of us and she did a fabulous job!

i love spending my time kim and her kids {and mom!}. i feel so lucky that we have become so close! i love this sweet mama! we get along so well, have a lot in common, and it seems like even when we spend hours and hours together, we never have enough time to talk about all the things we want to talk about. well, that’s having kids around for ya, right?!

anyhoo, it was a fabulous second zoo date and i can’t wait until we meet up again! cheers to great friendships!

[the cutest kiddos]

[she’s so cool]

[snow leopards]

[twinning at it’s best]

[it’s such a challenge to get all the kids to look at the camera]

[isn’t brady so sweet?]

[me and my girls]

[not one child looking at the camera…hahaha!!! olive’s shirt by @cocoaandheart]

[mesmerized by the polar bear]

[her first carousel ride! she had so much fun!]

[sweet hugs goodbye]

xoxo

happy three months ellie!

Posted on October 15, 2016 by tandem in love

happy three months!

[pic taken on 10.15]

height: n/a

weight: n/a

oh ellie. she’s the sweetest little baby. we are seriously so blessed with this happy little babe. i will say it over and over again…i can’t believe it’s been three months already. they aren’t kidding when others tell you time with the second baby flies by!

she’s such a fabulous sleeper. now she is such a light sleeper…who does she gets it from? hmmmmm, my dad? hc’s mom? ’cause the both of us are NOT light sleepers. ok, well before the babies, i wasn’t but now i wake up at a sigh coming out of theses kid’s mouths! ellie will wake up at a creak in our floors and that is no bueno because our floors are so darn creaky! she’s solid at night though. she still wakes up at 5am for a quick feeding…and i mean quick. she might eat for 5 minutes and fall back asleep and sleep for another 2-3 hours. she sleeps for about 8-9 hours a night but her naps are sporadic. she might hit a four hour nap during the day or not nap much at all. it just depends on her mood, growth, and day.

she’s an eater still. she’s getting quite chunky for a skinny baby. she will still feed every two to three hours. i still try to pump every two hours to store away milk but she’s doing very well every few hours and she’s has gotten better with her regurgitation. she always lets out a juicy burp and then i expect her to puke right after. every time. her trend of late is to throw up about a half hour before she has to eat again. it’s like clockwork but now she doesn’t spew vomit like she did the first few months…she is a little more routine and regimented so i know when she’s about to puke. hahaha!

she is so active! she is a wiggle worm and can hold her head up like a champ. she can see further now and notices her mama, dada, olive, grandparents, etc. she is so sweet and smiley! when she wakes up in the morning or after her nap, she gives me the biggest smiles. it totally makes my day! she loves to coo, squeal, and shriek! it’s too cute to see her want to communicate and ‘talk’ back to me. i am waiting for her to roll and giggle but that hasn’t happen yet. i love watching her grow!

her hair is falling out a bit but her chunkiness is getting better. i love her leg rolls and chubby, chubby cheeks but her belly takes the cake. her double chin is the best and i love her cute, little pointy nose. she has the biggest belly! it’s ginormous! it’s like she has her head,legs, and arms attached to a watermelon tummy. hahaha!

she loves to watch olive and olive is so darn sweet to her. she is such a great big sister and is so gentle and thoughtful towards her. she always has to see her in the morning and say good morning. she will always let me know baby ellie is crying…even though i can hear her. ha! olive loves to show her her toys, she loves to help me change her diaper, and when olive is in the mood, she will totally entertain ellie by dancing, singing, or just being goofy to her.

i am still so amazed by her. i can’t believe we made such a sweet little baby girl. it blows my mind i have two darling little ladies. they are so sweet, cute, amazing, and precious! ellie is such a blessing…i can’t get over how much she is like hc. she looks like him, acts like him, and is chill like him. we lucked out to get such a calm loving little lady!

ellie, we love watching you grow and you are an amazing little baby. we love you sooooo much and can’t wait to see what milestones you will hit next month!

xoxo

morton arboretum

Posted on October 11, 2016 by tandem in love

it was a perfect day to go to the morton arboretum. there was a slight chill in the air but the sun was shining and there was no rain! it had rained all week and it’s always such a bummer when the temperature isn’t so hot but you can’t get outside to enjoy it! we weren’t sure what we wanted to do at first but i knew i wanted to do something! i never want to waste a good day of lovely weather! so, we packed up the kids and went our merry way to the arboretum!

it was early and we found a great parking spot. we decided to eat breakfast there first. i was super bummed because we got there 10 minutes too late for them to serve us breakfast! whaaaaaa? it, literally, was sitting in front of us and a bunch of the kitchen workers came over and pulled it to the back. huhhhhhh? for reals? i thought, you seriously can’t serve me this food?! what a waste! so instead, i ordered a bacon and sausage quiche. at least i got a brunch item! we sat in their restaurant area and enjoyed our food. their dining area has such a beautiful, scenic view!

once we finished, we immediately walked towards the children’s play area. i love that olive is at an age where she is confident playing on her own and isn’t so afraid to be near other kids. i also love that every play area is pretty much enclosed and you can’t lose your kid! we hit play area after play area and olive was having a blast! it was so adorable to see her so excited, curious, and having so much fun! we explored most of the children’s area and finally made our way out after a few hours.

as we walked towards the exit, they had a fall festival going on where they were selling food, beer, kettle corn, cotton candy, and other goodies! we purchased a bag of kettle corn and sat down at one of the outdoor tables and enjoyed our treat. olive loves, loves popcorn! i was super cautious about her eating it when she was younger. i would either break off the kernels or buy “popcorn” that wasn’t really kernel popped but now she’s a pro! we had so much fun just simply eating our popcorn and being silly. just for the record…ellie slept the entire time!

oh, we had such a marvelous time! it was awesome to have such fun family time and pretty cool to see my baby girl have so much fun! we didn’t get to explore everything there this time so we can’t wait to go back again, hopefully in a few weeks before it gets too cold!

happy fall y’all!

[she thought it was funny that she had water on her finger and it was extra funny she put that said finger into her mouth]

[ellie bear all snuggled up in her stroller]

[she was actually standing in front of glass…you can see the reflection]

[going into the children’s garden]

[she loves tunnels]

[nothing can stop this child from being near any water!]

[peek a boo!]

[she loved every play area]

xoxo

apple pickin’

Posted on September 30, 2016 by tandem in love

we had a wonderful day planned! we were getting up early to go apple picking at a fun orchard up north. well, who knew it would be sooooooo dang warm? that was a recipe for disaster!

we had been to royal oak farm a couple years ago and really enjoyed our time there. this time was such a sweet disaster! haha! one, we weren’t dressed right for the oh so hot temperatures. two, olive had multiple meltdowns. three, hc refused to wear the ergo, so he was carrying ellie {not having your hands free when you have two kids is not a smart thing, especially if you are able to avoid it}.

we ate lunch first but the food they offered was very fried, sugary, and limited. the flies and bees were ridiculous. i mean RI-diculous! they were all over us and the food. my mom didn’t want to eat, thuy didn’t want to eat and was a bit grumpy, and we were ready to just go pick apples. although, olive was hilarious about the bugs. she kept giggling, screaming, and saying, “shoo, shoo bug! shoo!”. it was very, very cute!

we got into line to purchase our bags and we all herded onto the hayride towards the orchard. olive thought it was fun and really enjoyed being in the wagon being pulled by the john deere tractor! we arrived at our destination and began apple picking. oh my goodness, it was so hot! it was 90 degrees and the sun was beating down on us! my mom and sister wanted green apples but they weren’t ripe yet, so we kept walking around trying to find green apples. hc didn’t want to hold ellie anymore so he left to go get the stroller. while hc was gone, olive had a few meltdowns and wanted me to do this, that, hold her, she cried, mumbled, and did a bunch of things i couldn’t really help her with because i was holding ellie…sweating in the sun!

he finally made it back to help but olive was on a roll. every time the hayride came by, she wanted to get on it and we told her no and she cried and cried and cried. she didn’t want to pick apples, although i did, we were super hot and sticky, and it was just a bit crazy.

well, in the end, we got our apples, we took some marvelous pictures, and we were ready to go home! i know, what you just read probably sounded like a disaster of an outing but it was a great day despite the hot temps and the tantrums displayed by olive and her mama! ha! yes, if it was cooler, it wouldn’t have been so intense but i still loved that we did it and spent some crazy time together. we were soooooooo ready to go home and shower though!

well, next year we will make sure the temps are low so we don’t melt in the sun when we go apple picking! i am super excited to use the apples to make apple pie and candied apples this coming month! more fun activities to look forward to!

[sweet girl who’s ready to have a few meltdowns. eep]

[having lunch with grandma]

[apples available to pick!]

[wagon riding to the apple orchard]

[ellie’s first wagon ride]

[thuy and mom on the wagon ride]

[thanks auntie thuy for the cute family pic]

[it was sooooo stinkin’ hot]

[ba with ellie]

[olive apple picking]

[auntie thuy chillin’ while we pick apples]

[mom and dad]

xoxo

ellie’s baptism

Posted on September 26, 2016 by tandem in love

we had the craziest start to our day…ugh, not in a good way. we poorly planned our time and ended up running sooooooo behind getting to the church for ellie’s baptism. how bad was that?! oh so bad. getting out the door is such a project, a circus, and so much of it depends on me and i always get the sh*t end of the stick on getting ready. yes, i am controlling but during times like this, i wish hc took the reigns on helping out with girls!! i have to get myself dressed, i had to prepare all their outfits, i had to style olive’s hair, i have to feed ellie {which of course hc can’t do}, i have to remember the camera, the baptism dress & accessories, dress the girls, and hc was the one who got ready first and left me with barely 40 minutes to get everything else done and feeding ellie takes at least 15 minutes of that time…soooo, therefore we were LATE.

we arrived at the church in record time. i think it took us 37 minutes or so…it was redic how fast hc was driving. we won’t mention the warp speed he was driving at. anyhoo, we arrived right at 9:30am…the music just started playing and the procession started. we were suppose to walk up with fr. ken but instead we were sitting in the pew. i was fretting over the fact that ellie wasn’t in her baptism gown. hc kept brushing it off to not change her until we got to the church. well, fr. ken nodded at us to step up to the altar in front of the parish and there was ellie…wearing a green dress. yup, my daughter for her baptism was wearing a green dress in front of everyone. there goes the symbolic white garment the baby is supposed to wear.

anyhoo, the service was amazing. fr. ken is so great and everything went smoothly thereafter. once we sat down the first time, we changed ellie into her gown and everything was just fine. fr. ken called us and we went through the ritual of denouncing satan, believing in God, dunking ellie in the holy water, anointing her forehead with the sacred oil, and lighting the candle as the light of christ. it was a beautiful ceremony!

after mass, we all lingered and took pictures. thank goodness for ellie’s godfather, huy, being a photographer! fr. ken came back down to join us and i was so happy to have connected with him a bit. i love that man…he’s such a inspiration. we took pics with fr. ken, the godparents ~ thuy and huy, and i was utterly grateful and thankful that huy took some amazing pics of the service. i am the one always taking pics and i was worried no one else would snap any good pics to remember!

we headed back home and soon everyone came over and we served lunch and had a great, great time with our friends and family. our luncheon turned into a causal dinner party! after most of the guests left, it was just my family lingering behind and we decided to have dinner together as well {plus, huy is rarely in town & we need to spend that time all together!}. everyone left to change their clothes and came back all comfy and casual. we ordered portillos {yum!} and hung out all night.

it was such a fabulous day! it started out super crazy and stressful and ended up being such a beautiful event. ellie being baptized was so moving and meaningful. she is now welcomed into the catholic faith and is truly a child of God.

[ellie’s gown, originally olive’s. custom made by miss tashina]

[the dress is made out of french chantilly lace, silk charmeuse, and silk chiffon]

[in her auntie’s arms]

[there she goes! *dunk*]

[she is like…what happened??}

[anointing of the oil]

[ellie with her godmother]

[with olivia and aaron]

[ellie’s godparents ~ huy & thuy, and with my favorite priest…fr. ken!]

[ellie with her grandparents and godmother]

[my heart…minus olive having a meltdown]

[hydrangeas + baby’s breath]

[i love this banner!]

[i am a child of god]

[dessert table]

[my diy decor]

[ubiquitous shot of macarons]

[a gift from her godfather]

[a gift from her godmother]

xoxo

bouncy birthday party

Posted on September 23, 2016 by tandem in love

we were invited to mila and nolan’s birthday party!

it was a beautiful, perfect day ~ weather wise. as we were walking towards their house, kevin happen to be outside to greet us and olive immediately laid eyes on a paw patrol bouncy house!!! whoa! she looooooves paw patrol!

the party was in full swing when we arrived. hc’s family was already there and we joined in of the fun. olive immediately ran towards the swing set…she had to get comfortable with the idea of getting into that bouncy house first. she really took to a little blonde girl there and it was so sweet to see her interested and wanting to play with her.

it was great visiting with everyone…i said hello to kevin and ryan’s mom, hc’s parents, sister missy, nephew daniel, girlfriend rachel, grace, and a few other folks. we just hung out, had drinks, and i took a gazillion pics of olive.

after an hour or so, olive asked to go inside the bouncy. no wayyyyyyy! i was excited that she wanted to. she can be a bit afraid of other kids and especially, boys. boys tend to be too loud, crazy, and rough for olive’s taste and she’d prefer not to interact…she’s too demure! i asked her again and she said she wanted to go inside! jane decided to take her; she took off her shoes, and helped her inside the bouncy house and boom! olive took off! she giggled, screamed, and had the time of her life! i was in love! my heart was so full watching her have so much fun! she was a pro…she bounced, fell, bounced, giggled, fell, and repeated every step. we couldn’t get her out! it was such a joy to see her so happy!

after a few hours, we ate, they served cake, and we continued to mingle. honestly, we thought we would be there for an hour or so but we ended up being there for over four hours! we had such a great time. we loved catching up with everyone, especially ryan…hc’s cousin who recently moved out of town. olive had a blast and by the end of the party, we were all tuckered out!

we said our goodbyes and headed out. both girls were zonked out in the back seat and we were all happy campers heading to our home sweet home.