olive’s big girl room

Posted on June 28, 2016 by tandem in love

it was time! olive transitioned into her big girl bed! it had been a long time coming…she never complained, she never climbed out of her crib, she was always so good about sleeping in it but she definitely showed signs of being ready for a big bed!

there were a few times she really wanted to lay in our bed at night. she liked laying in our bed, to relax, and when she was ready – she wanted to be put into her crib to sleep. she has only slept in our bed twice. each time was her choice. she really wanted to be in our bed and was so good about sleeping in it! she’s the most still kid sleeper ever! i mean, this toddler hardly moves. she typically stays in one place and wakes up in the same position she fell asleep in. it’s quite amazing.

we probably would have put olive into a twin bed a bit earlier but we had plans to transition her once we got started on the nursery, so we waited just a bit because we needed to figure out what we were doing from a decor standpoint {on both ends…the nursery and what bed frame were we going to get olive!}. we finally decided {after much research!} to go with the jenny lind bed frame from the land of nod.

i love how it looks. i love that it is made out of wood and really like the aesthetic of it. the only unfortunate thing was that it is on back order until august! what?! hc and i put in our order but what were we going to do?? so, we decided to take grace’s old bed…which we were trying to sell, and use it until the bed frame arrived.

i was pleasantly surprised how nice the bed frame looked in olive’s room! i wasn’t a fan of it and i really wanted to get rid of it but it has so many upsides once we put it into the room. i love how the head board isn’t really high and we were able to position it under the window, what we really wanted because it would look best and most balanced in the room there. i love how low the bed is, a perfect height for little miss olive to get in and out of on her own. the bed frame is clean and simple and it doesn’t have a high end board, where i feel that something high would cut off the space. with the bed frame having a low profile overall, it really opens up her room and it feels so much larger!

we chose sheets from land of nod, her duvet and sham are from pottery barn kids and most of her pillows are handmade from independent shops. we kept with her cloud/sky theme and i really love how we incorporated it into her new bed appearance.

we decided to not go with guardrails because olive is such a still sleeper. she pretty much lays down for the night and wakes up in the same spot, so were aren’t too worried about her falling off. plus, the bed is so low that she wouldn’t get hurt. so far, she’s been sleeping in it for a month without any troubles!

she was so excited to have a big girl bed! she loves to jump on it, into it, and lay in it. i was so relieved because being almost 9 months pregnant, it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to get her in and out of her crib and reading her a bedtime story at night was absolutely uncomfortable. now, i can lay in bed with her, snuggle with her, and read her a book without straining to see the words, or not hold the book in the right positions for her to see, or even put pressure on my belly or pain in my back!

we both love it and we love how her bedroom turned out! we didn’t change too much of her decor but what a difference it makes in her room putting in a twin bed! it really does change her room and makes it so much more grown up!

it’s always so darn bittersweet to see her hit these wonderful milestones. i cry a little bit inside with joy and sadness watching her go through this. she seriously makes my world go round. we love your room miss olive and we really think you love it just as much as we do! sweet dreams my love!

[cheeeeeese! she loves her big girl bed!]

[paper tassels]

[collection of pillows]

[she’s so silly!]

[we changed out the knobs of the dresser and repainted the front drawers]

[jonathan adler giraffe]

[cloud shelf]

[cloud banners]

[sheep rocker]

[star pillow]

[handmade doll from england]

[the cutest little red piano]

[handmade cloud stool by hc]

xoxo

mommy and me hairdo’s!

Posted on May 5, 2016 by tandem in love

to celebrate mother’s day week, olive and i went to the salon and got matching hairstyles! we were so excited to get coordinating looks and this would be olive’s first time ever at a salon! yes, i have never had her hair cut and honestly, i am not sure when i will have that happen…

we went to the hair cuttery right down the street from us. it was only a few minutes away. if you need to find one closest to you, you can find a location here. they have locations throughout the midwest and east coast. what i love about this place is that it’s clean, close by, and it offers great prices for quick, stylish looks! if you are looking for a full service salon, they offer that too! as i waited to get our hair done, i noticed that they offer cuts, color, waxing, and texturing services. i also noticed a wide range of styling products on their shelf. they sell so many great salon brands! we were only there to get a cute style but i love that you don’t even have to make an appointment! our wait was minimal and when we walked in, there were several people ahead of us but it was quick to see a stylist!

i was a bit nervous over olive letting a stylist near her! she’s sooooo shy! i wanted to get my hair done first so she could see that it was ok. our stylist was so sweet and nice, actually everyone at the salon was! once my hair was done, we attempted to style olive’s hair. oooohhhhhhh, she was not having it.at.all. she screamed and cried. i coaxed her and reassured her it was ok. well, hc came to the rescue!!! he found a lollipop at the front desk and handed it to olive. yup, that did it! she stopped crying and let the stylist braid her hair with no complaints. woo hoo!

i loooooved how our hair turned out! we both had cute braided hair and it was so fun to get matching mommy and me hairdo’s! we had the best time spending it together and loved that we did something special in lieu of mother’s day. a definite special treat and bonding moment to be cherished!

of course we are posting some fun pics on our instagram account as well! if you aren’t following us yet, please do so! our ig handle is @tandeminlove! also, if you happen to head to your local hair cuttery for a fun mommy and me style {for mother’s day or any day you want to make special with your daughter{s}, make sure you hashtag your pics with #MyHCLook for a chance to be featured on hair cuttery’s blog gallery!

[pre-style]

[i love this little babe]

[getting my hair styled while olive waits patiently!]

[loving my look! i love braids!]

[my finished look]

[she finally let our stylist braid her hair! daddy came to the rescue with a lollipop!]

[so proud of my super shy girl getting her hair done]

[getting the final touches]

[our final looks!]

[all content]

[she’s so funny!]

[looooove her]

{this post was sponsored by hair cuttery ~ all opinions and stories are my own. muwah!}

xoxo

hc’s birthday!

Posted on April 22, 2016 by tandem in love

happy birthday to the best husband everrrrrrrrrrr!

we had a very low key celebration on his actual birthday but we had a very chill weekend as well. hc requested it so i obliged. we just ordered in and relaxed. of course i decorated and got him the cuuuuutest cake ever!

the night before his birthday, i had snuck home balloons and left them out in the garage. i know he falls asleep so early every single night so i took advantage of that and decorated the kitchen with banners and balloons so he would wake up to a festive, fun kitchen in honor of his day! i wrote him a card and had made him a cutesy crown because he is king on this day!

when hc came home from work…his choice of food was pizza! so, we ordered in and just sat around enjoying each other’s company. olive was very pleased at the idea of pizza! she was so hungry that when the pizza man came and delivered our meal, she ran around screaming, “pizza! mmmmm, pizza!” hahahaha. she’s become such a funny gal! we loooooove her so much.

after dinner, we lit a birthday candle and sang happy birthday to hc. although, olive thought we were singing happy birthday to her! ha! we tried to get her to blow out the candle with hc but she wanted nothing to do with it. of course, after hc blew out the candle and i was about to throw it away, she yelled that she wanted to blow out the candle. so i relit it and she did an excellent job blowing it out on her own! that’s olive for you…she will tell you one thing and then change her mind in two seconds or it’s just a toddler thing. eep!

anyhoo, we had such a wonderful time celebrating hc’s birthday! it was filled with love and laughter, just the way it should be.

happy birthday to the best husband, father, and man in this entire world. you are the kindest, most loving, caring, sweet, and giving man. life is truly complete with you in my world.

[very true]

[best babe]

[cupcake cake indeed]

[going in for the kiss]

[she didn’t want to blow out the candle, but as soon as i said that dada could, she was like yeah! and pushed him towards it! ha!]

xoxo

brunch with my girls

Posted on April 19, 2016 by tandem in love

gosh. it’s been awhile since i have posted. i have been so tired. olive digressed in her sleeping patterns last week and i was wiped out. but per typical preggo fashion, i do post less when i am with child. i did the same thing with olive and now history repeats itself! i have been very low key overall and not going out much, but i have no energy or time to write many if any posts of late! eep!

well, i was super excited to have finally made plans with kt and karen. i love these two ladies. they are two peas in a pod and the sweetest ladies around. i have know these two beauties for quite some time now. karen and i have know each other for a ridiculous amount of time and i have know kt for 10+ years now? well, i always say, keep the good peeps around, it definitely makes life fuller!

our get together almost turned into a debacle. we had planned on meeting up for a bit now but then all sorts of things came up. karen and her mom had plans to visit their friend annie and her new baby girl and kt had a last minute doctor’s appointment that she had to schedule and then there was me, who couldn’t go out in the late afternoon because that would interfere with olive’s nap. haha! oh life. you’re so complicated sometimes!

we ended up agreeing and meeting up for brunch! yay! so, in the end, it all worked out. we had such a great time catching up. i love these two gals! it’s amazing where life had taken us and where we are going. what i love most about our relationships is that no matter how much time comes between us, we always feel like no time has passed.

[aren’t they the prettiest?!]

[love this babe]

[working hard]

xoxo

momfessions

Posted on April 6, 2016 by tandem in love

well, well, well. i am pregnant with our second babe and it’s been an interesting journey thus far. there are a lot of questions and thoughts floating around this house and inside my head.

what will this new babe be like? will she rambunctious? calm? wild? will she be like olive…most likely not! what will she look like? according to the ultrasound, her profile already looks so different than olive’s. will olive take to her? how will it be balancing two babes? will i be able to keep up with all the crazy things i already do? will olive get jealous? will i lose my mind?! hahaha!

i get how curious i am…i was totally that way with olive. so many questions and the complete unknown. i totally thought i would stop everything having a new babe but i didn’t. i do go out less because i enjoy spending my time with olive and hc but i do definitely add too much to my plate and don’t know when to say no to myself. i know i will probably have to slow down while this second babe is brand spankin’ new but i am excited.

it’s really hit me hard that my time with olive is coming to an end. i think all first time moms go through this journey and it’s been extra hard for me because i am so darn emotional being pregnant. i mean, like reallllllllly emotional. i cry at the idea that it’s not going to be just olive. i love her. i, of course, only know of her and no other child and, of course, everyone says that you adjust, your love just grows exponentially, and you never look back but i am not there yet. so i am going to wallow in my own sadness that i won’t have just olive time. i won’t get to just snuggle just her and not worry about anything else. i mean…i love her so much and i kind of want that time to slow down and stretch out before this other babe comes along. can that please happen?! pretty please?!

so many moms say you will be in awe over their bond and relationship and i cannot wait to see their love together. i definitely look forward to that! yes, they will fight, yes they will probably drive me crazy, and yes they will test my patience to it’s limits but i look forward to the good, the bad, and the cray!

i really cannot wait to meet our second daughter! life is going to change dramatically and i look to forward to the immense love i will feel all over again. children are absolutely amazing and my world is so full of happiness because of them. it’s definitely a love so full, so overwhelming, and a love you never realized existed. having children is the most amazing gift in this world and we are so blessed!

xoxo

hoppy easter

Posted on April 1, 2016 by tandem in love

it turned out to be a really nice morning and afternoon. we were expecting rain all day, well at least in my mind i was. i didn’t check the weather report what so ever and i only remembered seeing rain in the forecast and thinking, ‘bummer…it’s going to rain on sunday and we can’t do an easter egg hunt outside’. well, i was wrong and i should have checked the weather report again! eep!

my morning was way too chaotic and it shouldn’t have been. it definitely should have been more relaxing but i am a glutton for punishment, aren’t i? i cram in too much stuff and it could have been a lot more low key and chill. thank goodness hc is so understanding of my madness and puts up with my shenanigans, as always.

we finally got ready and over the river and through the woods, off to grandmother’s house we go {literally}! we arrived to a full house and olive was grumper mcgrumps, just waking up from a nap. she looked so stinkin’ adorable in her easter outfit and i was excited for her to show it off! so cute! i held the babes for awhile, until she became comfortable to venture out on her own.well, thank goodness aunt missy lured her in with a gift and distracted her!

aunt missy presented olive with her easter basket and she was smitten. olive was loving all the goodies aunt missy had given her and that really lifted her spirits. olive also really loved staying in papa’s room. she loved all the ‘toys’, the choo choo train, and watching t.v. on his bed!

we mingled and visited with everyone. we had lunch and continued to socialize with the family until it was time to leave. we had to head out to our second engagement of the day, dinner with my famille!

[my little babe enjoying her easter basket from aunt missy]

[i can’t get enough of this cutie in her easter outfit]

[the ubiquitous jello mold]

[happy easter!]

[having fun with gramma!]

we headed out to meet up with famille and now, it was raining. yuck. we made decent time and of course, olive did her famous – i will fall asleep 10-15 minutes before we get to our destination and wake up to be super grumpy. as usual, she met her end of the deal and was crazy grumpy. ugh. my poor family always gets the bad end of the stick with this gal. we usually meet my parents or family for dinner and it is always right after a nap. olive is no happy camper when she wakes up and acts like a mad little person for at least an hour. gah!

anyhoo, we really enjoyed our time together. it was nice because the restaurant was quiet and we literally had our own little nook in the corner. it almost felt like we were in a private space. we ate, imbibed tasty beverages, and enjoyed our relaxing dinner together on this cozy easter evening.

it was a perfect way to end the day. it was a bit hectic and exhausting but always so worth it to see both sides of our family! it was a happy easter indeed!

[thuy and reagan]

[so typical]

[mom and dad]

[thuy and olive]

[oh these bro’s]

[olive is too busy texting to say cheese]

[mr. bennett can sleep anywhere]

[nobody puts baby in a corner]

[i love this face]

[i had to squeeze in a few photos of olive opening up her easter basket from auntie thuy]

[her face lit up when she saw the tinker bell toy!]

[she loved, loved, loved her tinker bell toy from auntie thuy!]

xoxo

we do love target

Posted on March 25, 2016 by tandem in love

i love my days with olive. the days that are lazy, relaxing, and we don’t have an agenda. these are the best kind of days. we love making trips to target; olive has become so keen on going. it’s too cute!

she loves to visit the target dog every.single.time. she knows exactly where he is and when we are heading in that direction. the funny thing is, she won’t sit on the bench with him. nope. not her jam but she definitely loves to say hello and touch his paws. when i tell her it’s time to go, she says, “bye doggie, bye!”.

we love to walk all the aisles, see what’s new, and definitely buy stuff we don’t need. isn’t that what everyone does when they go to target? you go in for milk and come out with too many things you think you need!

i am so loving olive right now. her personality is shining through and i love how funny, quirky, and comical she is. she completely entertains me! i love watching her and the new and funny things she does and says. her movements just melt my heart!

we frequent target so much that many of the workers know olive and know her by name. we spend way too much time there, it’s just so much fun! especially now, because she loves to play and play and play. that is what takes so long! she will explore, play hide and seek, and go ‘shopping’. she loves to look at everything but so far {’cause mama doesn’t buy her anything} she is so good at putting everything back when i tell her to. gosh…how long with that last?! i hope awhile!!!!

anyhoo, we love our lazy days together. i just love spending my time with this little lady! she is so much fun. cheers to silly, quality time together!

[i am really sad that target just got rid of these open carts and replaced it with with really high, bulky seats. olive loved these carts]

[her usual routine, saying hit to the target dog]

[she loves to play hide and seek in the clothes racks]

[peek a boo]

[she was having so much fun!]

[she’s so sweet]

xoxo

happy st. patty’s day

Posted on March 22, 2016 by tandem in love

we are not much of a st. patrick’s day kind of family, although, hc is 15% irish. well, hc wanted to make corned beef and cabbage in celebration of st. patty’s day! so, we invited family over to enjoy a simple dinner and some beer, natch!

of course, i can’t have people over without some sort of fun decor in lieu of a holiday! nothing crazy though, because ain’t nobody got time for that. hahaha! i bought some balloons, green plates, i dug out some old decor, and decorated a sweets table and ta da! that was it. very simple.

my sister kim brought over the beer and dessert and we were set! everyone came over close to 7 and we served food right away and just chilled. it was a very calm, relaxing evening with some great food and drinks.

the kids had so much fun playing around. they ran around and screamed and did silly things. i love watching and listening to them play together. it’s so sweet that they are cousins and are so close to one another. they’re so silly and i love them being just that, giddy little kids having a blast playing together with no limitations.

well, it was a really lovely evening. hc and i had such a great time having them over {as usual}. the food was so good {thank you so much hc! you’re amazing!} and the company even better.

[ya always have to get some festive balloons!]

[we are so lucky to have one another!]

[i must always have matching straws…just my thing. 🙂 ]

[just waiting for the dessert to show up! mmmm]

[she really wanted her toy on the table]

[and she won. haha!]

[mmmmm delicious]

[yeahhhhh, that’s a very irish name. pshhh]

[love these two]

[love this one too]

[hc’s corned beef was soooooo delicious]

[i love vegetables]

[such silly kids…we tried to get a good pic…]

[olive was having a blast with all the balloons tangled on her but obviously auntie kim was not. haha!]

[hc chill in with my dad // we are alllllllmost done with our kitchen remode! yay!]

[sisters. oh my belly button is an outie. ugh]

[hc had to get in on the picture! can see olive photo bombing too? ha! plus, don’t mind the torn apart fireplace we are redoing]

xoxo

february snapshots

Posted on March 15, 2016 by tandem in love

february was a great month. we had a lot of fun doing festive activities. i must admit, i was glad valentine’s day was mid-month because it meant the last of the holiday creativity was coming to an end. don’t get me wrong. i love getting festive, creative, and doing fun things with olive but i felt like it was non-stop since before halloween. we aren’t huge st. patrick’s day fans so it is nice to coast through this past month and not worry about deadlines, creating stuff, and just have fun together regardless of occasions!

anyhoo, we loved this past month for many great reasons. we had our gender reveal with our family and friends! we had so much fun creating boxes for everyone and sending them out through snail mail as a special surprise.

olive finally had her one year check up and it was a good one! she was toooooo cute and it was pretty cool to see her so grown up and very understanding of what was happening!

we also did a fun set up for the gender reveal through social media! it was great and oh so cute! we had balloons, festive outfits, banners, and each other! the pics turned out so stinkin cute! i loved every single picture we took!

well, those were some highlights of this past month. it was fabulous, fun, and filled with lots of love and laughter. i really am blessed. i am always thankful for mine and everyone’s health. i am so grateful for my wonderful husband who is the most fantastic partner and father. i am so thankful to God for my little olive and her, soon to be here, little sister. i am surrounded by friends and family who love us. life couldn’t get any better than this. truly.

[she’s so silly]

[bath time with this silly girl]

[love this sweet pea]

[sticky little fingers]

[she’s a riot]

[gender reveal]

[family outing]

[it’s a girl!]

[she’s a lovely doll]

[she’s the sweetest]

[my favorite salon]

[making her own valentine’s day cards]

[yummy treats]

[peek a boo!]

[my favorite macarons]

[super bowl sunday]

[i love her]

[valentine’s day breakfast]

xoxo

brady and olive date

Posted on March 1, 2016 by tandem in love

we had planned a date and i was totally looking forward to kim, brady, and brooklyn coming over to our house.

in typical fashion, i crammed too many things into the morning. kim and i agreed on 11am but i thought she was going to text me when she left but instead, she text me when she was twenty minutes away! eep! i was totally in the middle of taking pictures with olive and we had so many outfits lined up and i didn’t want to cut it short. so, we sped through all the outfits {she’s become really accommodating, cooperative, and cute with taking pics}, i put away all her supplies {snacks, lollipops, pretzels, etc.}, folded and hung away all her clothes, cleaned up the props, re-set her room {yes, i do all this work for photos}, cleaned up everything, redressed olive, got myself spruced up, started prepping food, and i still beat kim before she got to my house! to give her credit…she did get a little lost, which favored on my side with time!

once she arrived, the gabbing began and never stops until she leaves. olive was still in her room and was being shy and didn’t want to come out. brady ran into her room, screamed, and ran out. olive was probably like wtf? hahaha! we then joined olive in her room to hang out. she was so intrigued with brady but slightly scared. it was oh so funny and cute. of course, miss brooklyn was as chill as can be. she’s such a great baby and so quiet and calm.

after we hung out in her room, we transferred out into the kitchen and living room. i started to set the table while the clan hung out in the living room. we sat down to eat, we chit chatted, and brady and olive were still trying to adjust to one another. they did finally start to get along and ran around, screaming, together. olive was just a bit overwhelmed with brady’s boisterous personality that she kept screaming at him to ‘stop right now!’. hahaha! they were seriously too cute together.

after a few hours of hanging out upstairs, downstairs, and everywhere, it was time for kim and the kids to head out. we were sad to see them go but had such a great time together! we looooove seeing this group of fab people. we love them so much! we will definitely squeeze in a few dates before the second babe arrives!