we were so excited for the first snow of the season! it’s always exciting…until 3 months from now, then i’ll say that i am soooooo over it! bahhhahahaha!
it was actually the day of her birthday party. i had been so consumed by her party prep, i didn’t even realize it was going to snow! and snow it did. it had started the night before and continued on through the morning and afternoon! oh my! it was expected to hit 6-15″ of snow, depending on the area.
the first snow of the season is always so fun and exciting. we couldn’t wait to get outside and play. it would be olive’s ‘first’ time in the snow. she’s at an age where she would understand it better, be amused, and have fun playing in it.
we still need to get her a snowsuit {tis the season} but we just bundled her up in some gear and she was ready to go. besides, we weren’t out of that long! as soon as we walked outside, she was curious. she definitely didn’t want to step in it right away. she wasn’t quite sure if it was safe yet. she saw her big sis, grace, step in it and that was a signal it was ok to her. so in she went! a huge smile spread across her face. you could tell she was amused by it. it was fluffy, it was white, and it was definitely fun!
while hc and grace worked on our catman, olive walked around and around and around in the snow. she was having a blast walking in it! after we finished the catman, hc and grace started throwing snowballs at each other…it was seriously great packing snow! olive thought it was soooooo funny! she started picking up chunks of snow herself and threw it. too cute.
[loving the pretty snowfall!]
[it’s so pretty]
[she loved to step in it!]
after that, hc wanted to shovel the driveway, i was dunzo and needed to get inside to finish decorating, and olive and grace continued to play outside in the backyard. it was quite the successful first play in the snow, i might say so myself. the girls were having a blast and it was so sweet to see and hear their giggles. it was a great first snow day indeed.
we celebrated olive’s birthday a week before the actual date {her birthday fell on black friday this year!}. so months of planning ensued prior to the actual party date. well, more so, months of idea scheming ensued. i hemmed and hawed back and forth on what colors, what theme, what to do, what to do…
i couldn’t decide. i love summery themes {not like i can’t do it} but somehow, i always veer away from them. i debated flamingos, fun bright colors, but alas i decided to do a kitty theme. it all spurred from an instagramer i adore {@meethaha} and a kitty template she used by lucille michieli.
i handmade all the invites {phew!}, with the help of hc of course! i purchased coordinating envelopes, lined them all, and addressed them. thank goodness it was just immediate family members because i couldn’t imagine doing dozen upon dozens of these! not like our wedding…who has time for that anymore?!
i decided on black, white, and pink as the main colors. i wrapped yarn balls as decorative accents, i ordered balloons, table runners, painted the centerpieces, created the photo booth, the dessert backdrop, and handmade all the favor boxes. eep! that was just the tip top of it. all the other details was just as time consuming and you know me! i can’t leave a stone unturned!
i needed to figure out place settings, dessert, food, favor items, props for the photos, and on and on and on. i know, i am so nutty but i do have a love/hate relationship with my creative craziness. i.can’t.help.it. it’s fun and abusing at the same time. hahaha!
anyhoo, i really did have a great time putting her party together. it was turning out so darn cute! i was super excited when her party day arrived! clueless me, i had no idea it was going to s n o w on her birthday party! like snooooooooow. who knew the area and surrounding areas were going to to 6-15″ of snow?! oops. well that put a damper on her guests coming in. unfortunately, her gramma, papa, auntie, great aunt and cousin could not make it to the party {they were the ones with 15″ of snow!}. such a bummer. we were sad but safety first!
[are you kitten me? invites]
[the invite suite]
[tablescape kitty decor]
[kitty favors]
[kid’s table]
[kitty dessert table]
[mmmmm, favorites]
well, mid-afternoon, the guests started to arrive! yay! we were super excited to celebrate with everyone! olive was being all sheepish at first but she finally did start to warm up and get involved. we served drinks and mingled with our lovely guests as the food was warming up. within the hour, lunch was served and we were noshing on some delicious bites and enjoying each other’s company.
after food and some photo booth fun, we served coffee and dessert! but not without singing happy birthday to this little cutie! it was oh so sweet! i lit the candle and brought the cake over…she had no clue what was going on! we started to sing happy birthday and she became so shy and embarrassed, she tried hiding from everyone. sooooo silly! she actually blew out her candle! yay!
[my silly girl]
[the calm before the storm…baby olive chillin’ and drawing before the guests arrive]
[meow]
[are you kitten me photo booth]
[it’s all about olive]
[love this guy]
[terry and barbara]
[super silly!]
[silly peeps]
[family first // and please don’t mind the kitchen under remodel!!!!]
[make a wish!]
[she wasn’t sure what was going on!]
[she blew out the candle on her own!]
[cupcake zombie]
[my brother, dan]
[and so they tied all balloons to her!]
[so, this was the tail end of the party…olive was all tied up]
over the next few hours, everyone was just hanging out and relaxing. olive opened some presents, some of us started the clean up, and my siblings decided it would be so cute to tie almost all the balloons to olive. yes, they wrapped her up in balloons to see if she could fly. hahaha! well, no lift off happened but only silliness and a cute, funny look on this little babe!
it was such a great, fun, delightful party! i loved the kitty theme, i loved how everything turned out, and i loved celebrating our girl’s special day with all of our loved ones! happy birthday my little girl! we love you oh so much!!!
oh my oh my! olive is two years old! happy birthday my dear sweet olive!
where do i start?! it’s been an amazing year since her first birthday. she has grown so much and it fills my heart with joy!
[how darling is this picture? so in love]
she’s so quirky. like seriously a funny, goofy gal. she makes the funniest faces. she says the craziest stuff and does the most daring things. i love watching her. she amuses me with the faces she makes, her expressions kill me. i could watch her all day and be so entertained by this little gal.
she’s so dang bossy. that might be an understatement. she loves to tell me or anyone what.to.do. when she does’t want you around, she will say, “go! walk!”. the only way she can articulate for you to go away. when she wants something, she demands it! her one word commands. “draw!”, “eat!”, “book!”. everything is a demand. oh, it cracks me up.
she loves to dance. boogie down. she will say, “dah, dah, dah, dah!” and tap her feet back and forth and wave her arms. when she hears a beat, she will bounce her head back and forth back and forth. oh, it’s so cute to watch. she loves music and gets a big smile on her face when she hears a fun song.
oh my, she’s an eater. i am surprised this babe is not fatter! where are her baby rolls?! she will eat anything. you cannot bring any food around her without her wanting to eat every bite with you. as parents, it makes you very aware that if you are eating something unhealthy, eep, she will jump on it in two seconds. so, we almost have to sneak certain things behind her back because we don’t want her eating it. hahaha! so bad, i know. she loves fruit, yogurt, peanut butter crackers, chips, cheerios, and begs for cookies.
she’s obsessed with the t.v. oh boy. she loves it soooooo much. it’s so difficult to control. we do our best to not have it on during the day and only at night, right before bedtime but it seems like it’s becoming increasingly more difficult as she is getting older. her current favorite programs are kipper the dog, lego friends, legos, and cat in the hat. she will watch these shows over and over and over and over and over again. no joke. we want to strangle ourselves but baby girl loves it so!
this babe still loves her sleep. she’s such a great sleeper. we are pretty consistent with giving her that one nap a day around 3-4pm, it’s only if we have an event or something outside the norm that is happening that will cause her to skip her afternoon nap but it’s very rare. she is quite the night owl, though. it’s so hard to get this baby girl to go to bed before nine. she will fight it every chance she gets but once she goes down, she will be out for at least 9-10 hours straight. we have progressed into reading right before bedtime. she used to love reading in the morning, but now we read a book or two right before bedtime. i really love it and so does she. it’s a lovely, sweet routine i am glad we have formed.
the one thing i have noticed with her turning two is that this past week, she has really turned into a little girl. she looks taller, leaner, and more like a kid than a toddler. her face has matured. her eyebrows have darkened. her attitude has changed. she’s truly becoming a little person with a big personality. it’s so amazing to watch. i am so attentive with little details like that and i love to savor every second, every moment with her. i am literally watching her grow right before my eyes and it’s so flippin bittersweet. i want to cry and squeeze her with so much love and joy at the same time!
well, that is our baby girl in a nutshell. i could go on and on about her and this post would be ridiculously long but i will just give you the highlights!
happy birthday my lovely little olive. we love you so much. words cannot describe the love we have for you. we hope that each day, each year we are able to show that to you. we want only the best for you and we hope that you always feel loved, cared for, and grow up to be a strong, confident women that will rule the world.
so, i was able to visit baby asher in the hospital a few days after he was born and then again a few weeks later! that’s what’s so great about maternity leave, i can pretty much visit jodi any time for the three months that she is at home!
we were running so behind. i can’t even remember what it was that caused us to fall so far away from our scheduled departure time but anyhoozle, we finally hit the road! ugh, we were running 45 minutes late! eep.
when we arrived, jett greeted us at the door and we walked inside to jodi sitting on the couch with asher and jett jumping up and down, all excited! olive was scared! she clung onto me for dear life. oh she’s so funny, sweet, and shy. it took quite a few minutes for her to warm up.
we asked jett to bring out a few toys so it would spark olive’s interest and she would start to play with jett. he was so cute! he ran into his room and brought out the most random things, like a card. then a small figurine. and then something else that they couldn’t really share. jodi and i were laughing! we said to jett that he needed to bring out something that they could both play with! so, he finally did and it worked…olive slid off my lap and walked over to the toys jett had brought out!
after jodi fed asher, we all sat down for lunch. jett and olive were too cute together! he was boisterous and fun and olive was stoic and shy. jett ate for two seconds and ran away to play while olive so patiently sat in her chair and ate and ate. she’s an eater. she loves to eat and won’t give up any food that’s offered to her!
[aren’t they just the cutest?]
[she was so into this go fish game!]
[sleeping cutie]
after we ate and cleaned up, we sat on the couch for a bit and chatted. jodi told me that matt was still home, time extended from his paternity leave and i thought that was awesome! how amazing is that? your husband is home for almost all of your maternity leave…such great help! although, jodi jokingly disagreed and rolled her eyes and said matt needs to go back to work! hahaha! she’s so funny!
well, after an hour or so of us being there, matt arrived home {out from doing some errands}. we all then migrated downstairs to the basement to play. oh the kids had a blast. they built blocks, played with little cars, pulled wagons, ran around, drove big cars, and watched t.v. olive was super happy. there were so many fun things to play with and it kept them both busy…although teaching two little toddlers on how to share was a whole ‘nother story!
[oh! love this little cutie pie]
[love these peeps]
[so fuzzy and out of focus but it will do. their hugs goodbye]
after several hours of us hanging out, we finally, reluctantly, decided to leave. we didn’t want to. i was having a great time hanging out with matt and jodi and jett and olive were having fun together. plus, matt is so stinkin’ cute with the kids. he’s so good with them. it was so sweet to see.
we finally gathered our things together and said our goodbyes. we had such a great time hanging out with this beautiful family. oh we love them to bits! it’s so sweet to know this lovely family of four.
it started out as a gloomy, super super windy morning. like howling, screaming wind. it appeared very ominous but i was not worried. we were set to head on over to kim’s house for a lunch play date. as the hour passed in the morning, the day seemed to get brighter and the wind started to die down. yay! like i said, no worries!
we {per usual} were running behind. i just don’t know what it is anymore. well, OK, really it’s a combo of everything. i don’t plan accordingly, manage my time, and olive is always full of surprises that lead into the minutes then the hours being sucked up into a black hole!
well, we got there in no time and the weather had perked up so much! we said our hello’s and began our gab fest. it’s always so nice to hang out at kim’s. it’s comfy cozy and olive loves to explore all of brady’s toys!
[love these two gals!]
[awww, are they being camera shy?]
brady and olive are so funny together. they won’t directly interact with one another but will definitely eye each other from afar. brady loves to run around and scream and olive will just curiously watch him with her stoic expressions. hahaha! the only time they ever ‘play’ with each other is when olive drags the dog pull toy around the house and brady loves to follow her. it’s the cutest thing to watch! soooooo sweet.
of course, there is little brooklyn who just minds her own business! oh i love this baby! she is such a chunker. that is an understatement. she is a brick house. the baby rolls are endless and amazing. oh what a babe!
after visiting for a bit, we sat down for lunch. olive throughly enjoyed eating her meal of cheese, hotdogs, goldfishes, and pears. she loves, loves to eat fruit. of course, us moms just snacked and ate what we could in-between running around after these babes.
[they are so cute! olive loved pulling the toy and brady loved following!]
[eating in unison]
[hey brady! take a selfie with me!]
[my girls in grey!]
[hugs goodbye]
as usual, the hours passed so quickly and it was getting so close to rush hour. i am always saying, ok we are going to leave, we are going to leave and kim and i will keep on chatting! i love it. it’s so us to gab and gab. ten minutes, twenty minutes, or a half hour or so will go by and i am still gathering our things to leave! haha!
well, we finally did get our stuff together and said our sweet goodbyes. i love seeing this lady and her beautiful babes! it’s always a great time when we are together!
we invited olivia and aaron over for some football chili. we debated on the idea of going to their place in the city but decided to invite them over to our abode.
the morning started out slow, haha, well at least for me! hc was already busting his hump getting the meal ready for lunch. we bustled around cleaning, getting ready, and just tying up loose ends before our guests arrived. noon rolled around and we were set. the food was almost done, the house was clean, the odds and ends were competed, we were dressed and ready to go!
arron and olivia arrived only fifteen minutes late! not bad…especially when olivia is involved. this lady is infamously late, always. hahaha! once they settled, hc and aaron went on a beer run while olivia and i chitchatted until they came back and i made sure the cornbread was done. once drinks were in hand, hc and i prepared the final touches to the meal and we were set!
hc whipped together a chili and cornbread meal for our lunch. it was sooooo flippin’ delicious! sooooo yummy! i could have eaten the cornbread in dozens. we had avocado, green peppers, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and oyster crackers as our toppings. mmmmmmm. everybody had seconds and the food was almost gone! a good sign of a great meal!
olivia and i sat in the kitchen while the boys sat in the living room to eat and watch football. no matter. i love my time with olivia. we talked about all sorts of good stuff. life, friends, family, kids, and everything in-between. i love this sweet girl, she is such a dear friend. we always have a blast whenever we are together. it’s so funny when the four of us do get together…hc and aaron get all guy and bromantic and olivia and i get all girly and gossipy. and not the bad, wicked, mean gossipy…we just love talking and talking and talking. it’s more about life’s happenings versus demeaning, catty talk. ya know what i mean? i hope y’all do.
[my girl…don’t mind the under remodel kitchen]
[toppings]
[these peeps…]
[oh my goodness. so yummy]
[love this babe]
anyhoo, after a few hours together, olivia and aaron decided to hit the road. it was fun, as usual. we love hanging out with these two. such good people, they always say to surround yourself with the great people and keep the good ones close, right?!
i am not sure if y’all know that olive is a brand rep for many shops.
what does that mean? well, she is sent free clothes and i pretty much take pics of her in these gifted garments and post it on our instagram account. easy peasy! we are also brand enthusiasts for a bunch of shops too! it’s where we receive a steep discount on their merchandise and do that same, post pics of olive sporting their gear!
it all started way back in january. one of my favorite shops was hosting a brand rep search. i had noooooooo clue what it entailed and nor did i have any skills in photo taking. my instagram account was mainly of our lives and every day activities. i loved posting pics of her #ootd but i never knew that the BR world even existed.
i was on vacation in l.a. for my sister’s birthday when i looked at my ig account and i was tagged by the shop owner {@stichesandsoles} on a pic of olive, notifying me that she was chosen as a BR for her shop! i was over the moon! how awesome was that?? olive was chosen out of hundreds of applicants and we felt so honored! besides the fact that the photos i had submitted were so poorly taken or not even taken by me!
then it became an addiction. oh my. i began entering all sorts of searches in hopes that they saw something in olive and would choose her! i went overboard {who me?!} and entered soooooo many searches, i was in over my head. at one point, we were repping for over 30 shops! oh my goodness. it became a job versus something fun {which it was fun in the beginning} and it should only be fun!
after tapering off on some shops, we were finally in a groove that felt right. we were having fun again and it became more like dress up time together versus a demand. we also surpassed a few weeks where olive completely boycotted head wraps. that was a tough few weeks where this mama sweated a bit but olive eventually got over it and became a champion head wrap wearer!
a few things i love about this whole brand repping gig: one, i love documenting olive growing up. i love seeing her pics from earlier this year to now and how different she looks! it’s amazing to see her changes {from super chubby cheeks to not so much anymore…waaahhhhh}, to see her grow, and to capture such sweet moments of her!
two, i love the relationships i have built with these amazing shop owners. these women behind these gorgeous babes or the women behind these amazing shops are just the best. they are my instafriends and such wonderful, supportive people. we believe in positivity, spreading love, and lifting each other up.
three, we believe in supporting handmade! so many of these women put their blood, sweat, and tears into the beautiful pieces they make. it’s pretty cool that so many women or stay at home moms can create a business for themselves and i definitely love supporting their craft, art, and cause!
scroll down below to see the list of shop owners we rep{ped} for! check them out and remember to shop small this holiday season!
oh, toddler tales. toddler woes. toddler antics. baby olive is twenty-three months young and full of spunk.
a favorite statement i saw on fb recently was this:
toddler – emotionally unstable pint-sized dictator, with the uncanny ability to know exactly how far to push you towards utter insanity, before reverting to a lovable cuddle monster.
how accurate. my oh my. she is a trip. for the most part, she is so sweet, kind, cuddly, loving, funny, goofy, silly, and darling. then she has these moments where nothing makes sense. she is deliriously emotional and i can’t get any sort of reasoning across to her. i know she {obviously} does not communicate very well {yet} and when she gets upset, nothing soothes her, consoles her, or calms her down.
i must admit, it is extremely hard for me to deal with her outbursts. it pushes me to the edge. it makes me want to scream soooo loud. her tantrums drive me crazy and i react in {sometimes} a not so nice way. it gets the best of me and it makes me very, very sad when that happens. i feel like i have failed as a mom and failed as a teacher to my child.
my upbringing was very different and very unique. my anger issues stem from not being able to channel my emotions correctly and think straight. it’s easier for me to fly off the handle then it is to think calmly and channel my energy into a more positive light when i get upset. so, as you can tell…olive can get just as upset as her mommy, so it’s like i am staring at my mini me {staring in the mirror}…literally. oh, has it come full circle and it’s totally biting me in my ass! ugh.
the worst part about it is that i have to learn new ways and change my behavior and that is the hardest part. try living like your whole life the way you are and then bam! you have to change the way you operate. much easier said then done. so, with that…olive’s tantrums and nonsensical ways put me on edge. i get anxiety when we are out because i worry about her having a meltdown or causing a scene. i do. i can’t stop it but i try to deflate it. i am very conscious of it and try my best to overcome it and realize that she is a toddler and that other people out there have kids too and they understand. again, easier said then done.
my emotions and ways are too deep rooted to change over night. my driving force is my baby. i try so hard to become more patient, more kind, more understanding, less angry and temperamental all for my girl. i don’t want her to learn my tart ways and i believe i can influence it if i step back and calm down before i react in a way that is not appropriate. again, easier said then done.
but i am learning. i am changing. i am s l o w l y getting better. i have my freak out moments when she gets cray cray but i am much more cognizant in the moment than i was in the past. olive’s mood swings and temperamental ways as a toddler has given me my biggest challenge to date. i only strive to be the best possible mom, example, role model, and foundation for her. i hope that i, in turn when she has a tantrum, love her, console her, hug her, kiss her, show her, and guide her how to channel her emotions, thoughts, and anger in the right direction and always have her come out in the end, feeling peace, happiness, and serenity.
i was super excited for olive to go trick or treating this year! last year she was eleven months old and didn’t have a clue what was happening. this year, she was much more aware and i couldn’t wait to see her reactions.
we started off our morning with some pumpkin carving! hc cleared out the garage and set up a table for us to do our carving. olive wasn’t quite sure what we were up to and she was a bit upset we were inside when it was raining outside only because she loves to jump in puddles. that silly girl.
once we started carving, she was so perplexed. she thought it was a bit gross when she saw the pumpkin guts and was confused on why we were chopping up the pumpkin. she kept on saying,”pumpkin?” and pointing to it as we carved. we set her up with some markers, her white pumpkin, and she was a happy clam drawing away.
[her favorite thing at the moment, the pumpkin pez dispenser in her hand from her sitter mary]
[getting her draw on!]
[pumpkin carving complete! yay!]
***
after our pumpkin carving fun, we relaxed a bit inside, and then got ready to head on over to my parent’s house for some trick or treating. i didn’t try the costume on olive for i knew it was going to work! duh! i put her in and i was in loooooove! it was so darn cute! like soooo cute! i was dying. oh how i love her and want to squeeze her all the time! everything was so on point!
after a mini photo sesh, we drove {one minute travel time} over to my parent’s house to hand candy out to the trick or treaters and to take olive out on stroll later. we waited for the rain to stop and got olive ready for her trick or treat jaunt. oh how i loved this costume! it was sooooo flippin’ cute on her. we walked outside and debated on which direction to head…we decided to go left because we definitely wanted to hit the kagann’s house to say hi to laurie {carol’s mom}. we only wanted to hit a few houses because she’s only a toddler!
[her amazing princess leia costume! so in love with it!]
[thaaaaaat face! i die]
[this face. oh how i love her]
[we were like, “which way? which way should we go?”]
[she’s too much.]
[she was storing about 6 cashews in her cheeks. not lying]
we strolled from house to house, saying hello to the neighbors and making small talk. everyone just loved her costume! it was so fun! we got to the kagann’s and laurie pulled out a stuffed animal. olive was smitten. she saw the bear and immediately grunted for it! she knew what it was! we chit chatted with laurie for a few minutes and then went along our merry way. by that time, olive got the hang of what we were doing. she was probably thinking…hmmmm, you knock on people’s doors and they give you candy? heck yeah. so she asked if she could walk. i pulled her out of the wagon and she happily walked up to people’s door, knocked, and shyly said, “twick tweet”. it was soooooo cute! she would then say, “dank you” and “bye, see ya!”. oh how i love this girl!
[loving the stuffed animal bear from mrs. kagann]
[independent and on her own!]
[olive’s work of art is the scribbled on white pumpkin!]
it was a blast taking olive out. i loooooved seeing her become so independent. what a sweetie. her costume was awesome, the trick or treating was fun, and she for sure ate waaaaaaayyyyy too much candy! eep! she definitely loved trick or treating and i can’t wait to see her really love it next year!
so yay for my brother huy and his fiancé tashina visiting us here in the chi. they had come into town {from l.a.} the days prior and attended a friend’s wedding, so this night, we had them over for dinner and fun!
please don’t mind the kitchen under construction. that’s a whole ‘nother chapter. anyhoo, everyone came over and we hemmed and hawed over what food to order. in the mean time, i had my two little nephews running around, my brothers, tashina, and my mother in law hanging out in the kitchen, deciding on food, and then olive just waking up {crying} in her crib. all of a sudden i was in the middle of trying to place an order for food, consoling miss olive, and appeasing everyone else. it started to get a wee bit crazy for me! olive was grumpy but everyone wanted her attention {huy wanted to play, reagan wanted to play} and this only caused her to cry even more! i couldn’t place the food order because i was trying to console olive, then hc calls me on the phone trying to talk to me, and the boys kept asking me if they could eat ramen noodles with sriracha because they didn’t want to eat chinese food! hahahah!
ohmygawd. it was only until after the food arrived did the craziness seem to settle down! the boys didn’t mind eating hot dogs and chips {my speciality}, so it saved me from making an easy meal to making an easier meal! woo! we all actually sat down to eat, relax, and converse. it was great. we had such a wonderful time talking, eating, and enjoying each other’s company. it was so nice. in-between us ordering food and eating, tashina helped us out by sewing olive’s halloween costume. i was so ready to do it myself but with her coming into town, i thought, why not ask? she made olive’s baptism gown, so why not another white gown for miss olive?! yay!
[setting up the sewing machine]
[watching the action going down]
[being curious]
[bestie cousins eating together]
[chillin’ and having a really good time]
[someone is wiped out and someone isn’t. haha]
we had a wonderful time together as a family. slowly, everyone trickled out. dan left, jane went to bed, and then huy and tashina said their good nights. i had the boys until my sister came home from her event that evening. it was too cute. R + B fell asleep while olive stayed w i d e awake! she is such a nigh owl!
it was a great evening with family, those are always the best moments in life.
