i searched and searched for glitter ‘1’ birthday candles. no one sells them in a retail store {at least i couldn’t find one!} and i found a few on etsy but i was not going to pay $10 for a glitter candle!! yes, i will pay for handmade things but it has to be comparable to time + price to push me to buy it. making one costs less than 1/5 of what they were charging for it {including shipping}. so, i decide to makey a candle myself! it’s so easy peasy, that is why i couldn’t bring myself to buy one at that price!
everyone wants to have a little sparkle on their birthday, non? well, olive definitely does. much to hc’s dismay {he hates glitter}. so glitter, sparkle, shine i did.
1. just buy a one candle at the local party store or whatever number you wish to glitter.
2. take the rubber cement wand {tap off the excess glue} and brush it along the outline of the candle. just enough to the edge so the colored outline will be covered. if you want, you can also use a different, smaller brush to help control the glue and be more precise.
3. take gold glitter {or the glitter color of your choice!} and sprinkle it all on top of the candle. be generous! cover the entire top and let it sit for just a bit before you tap off the excess. you want to make sure it has a thick, even coat of glitter.
4. ta da! you have yourself a nifty, cool, homemade glitter candle! let it sit for at least another thirty minutes before you can tap off any excess glitter {again}.
so, there you have it! a lovely, gold glitter candle for olive’s first birthday cake! i’m super excited and can’t wait to see it on her sweet little smash cake.
well, we thought for sure, that olive would be walking by ten months {’cause she was standing up so early!}. but ten months came and went and she did not independently take a step. then came her eleven month mark and holy moly, we got a walker!
oh it was just fantastic. it started out at my parent’s house. hc is away for work and my parents wanted us to come over for dinner.
btw…it’s soooooo cold out! windy, cold, and a low of 7 degrees! yowza! ohmygosh how it reminds me of my maternity leave…we were paralyzed by the polar vortex. i was trapped inside for months, with it being so cold, and almost went out like jack nicholson.
anyhoo, we were over at my parent’s house when this glorious moment occurred. we were all upstairs hanging out when my dad stood olive up and had her walk towards him. walk she did! she took a solid three steps. so we kept it up. my mom sat across from my dad {about five feet apart} and they called for olive to walk. she would take 4-5 steps and fall into their arms! she was so giddy! she was having a blast taking her first sturdy steps. they did it back and forth. we were all giggling and laughing joyfully. it was just so awesome to watch her walk for the first time. olive was so happy! this went on and on for quite a bit of time. i think i recorded a dozen video clips.
after awhile, we called it quits. olive looked a bit tired {she also didn’t nap very well today…she took two very.short.naps}. we wrapped it up and decided to head home. once we settled in, i wanted to see if olive would do some more walking. oh my, she did a lot! this clip you are about to watch was so impromptu, i wished i had better lighting! we had just gotten home and i only flicked on a few lights in the house, so therefore the video footage is so dark {sorry folks!}.
her face is too presh in the video, isn’t is?! she is now officially on the go and we are now officially screwed 😉
hc came home from work and brought home some ingredients for me to make it a mexican meal night {woot, woot}, so cheesy quesadillas it was {does that say cheesy cheesy??!…natch}. i first whipped together some guac to go with our chips and eventually to dollop on our meals! most folks will say gauc should be simple, salt, pepper, a dash of lime but i do like mine to have a touch of tomatoes and onions {preferably red onions}. yuuuuummmmmm.
[ingredients]
we broke open some coronas and lime and cheered our way to some yummy food. i started out cooking the sliced chicken on the skillet {a bit of olive oil…is that mexican?? 😉 }, on high heat. after the chicken was cooked {no pink!}, i scooped it out and threw in sliced onions {i have to always have a kick to it!}. i then threw the chicken back in {medium heat} and threw on some seasoning and water. like i said, it needs a kick, some flavor.
after the chicken was cooked. i threw some mexican rice into a pot of boiling water and started that, so it would be nice and fluffy once the cheesydillas were done. i then took the chicken and folded it into some tortillas. i buttered one side of the tortilla, threw a whole bunch of cheese on top of the chicken and folded the tortilla in half. normally, i would cook the quesadilla on a skillet until the cheese was melted and the shell was a toasty brown but i decided to put it in the oven to see how it would turn out.
um, i definitely prefer the skillet method. the oven did it’s purpose but i didn’t like how the tortillas turned out. a little too crispy for my taste. but all in all it was all so delicious!
[cheers!]
olive enjoyed her snacks and eating bits of my rice and chicken in-between. she loves eating! hc and i noshed on our food, drank our beer, and reveled in olive’s antics.
[eating her cereal puffs]
it was quite a chill night. i had a great time making dinner and relaxing with my darling family. we were stuffed, satisfied, and ready to hit the couch and put on a movie after dinner. cheers to simple meal nights!
warm, cold, outstanding october has passed us by! it was a great month full of changes and fun. it was olive’s first halloween! the leaves changed, the weather changed, the ’tis the season’ is starting to creep up on us!
we had a fabulous time soaking in october’s glorious offerings. i loved the days when the sun was shining bright on cool temperature days. we had the best time doing fun activities such as apple picking with the family for reagan’s birthday, doing seasonal baking, carving pumpkins, and trick or treating.
olive and i spent a lot of time together. hc pretty much spent the entire month of october traveling for work, so we had a lot of girly time! she’s getting so big and developing a big girl personality!
i love october for it’s change of leaves, the vibrant colors are so beautiful. i love how it’s the start of the best holidays. i get so excited to decorate for the season. there’s something warm and inviting about this months {albeit the temperature change!}. maybe it’s because mother earth starts to shut down for the cold winter and we begin our indoor hibernation, where we get to spend a little more time being closer together, warming ourselves up with burning fireplaces and hot chocolate.
[her new thing…putting sticks and such in her mouth like a cigar]
[date night]
[cheeeese!]
[first time falling asleep outside of her scheduled nap times]
[how she likes to drink her bottle…swinging her legs back and forth]
[learning to walk with papa]
[playing around // sign language for more]
[my halloween outfit]
olive’s first halloween was pretty cool, we loved her little lamb costume and she did collect a whopping three pieces of candy in her awesome black cat treat bag. i tried my best to outfit her in cute little festive outfits and she was the best apple picker of us all! so many wonderful firsts for miss olive this past month!
anyhoozle, we seriously had the best time this past october with all the fun things we did! i think novembers snapshot are going to be just as swell! 😉
olive is really loving any push toys right now. she will grab anything on wheels and roll it all around the floor. well, it doesn’t have to have wheels. she will just push it across the floor if she can. so, this little wooden taxi is a favorite. it’s actually a substantial size. it’s sturdy, bright, and easy to play with. it’s so cute to watch her roll it across the floor while she does her gimp crawl {it’s an interesting combo of moves that gets her across the room}. annndddd, like i have said before, i love wooden toys. i love the texture of them. i love that they are environment friendly. i love that they are made with non-toxic paint {cuz everything goes into her mouth!}. i love that they are so aesthetically pleasing as well!
i love, love these moccasins from stitches and soles. they are too cute and so easy to put on olive. they have elastic hidden bands and they totally stay on her feet! her shoes are top notch in quality and design. these shoes add total oomph to any of olive’s outfits. they come in lots of fun colors and she offers two cute styles in ’em. i can’t wait to add more colors into her collection and dress her up in my love {all over, all over}. yeah, madonna fans…ya got that one?
hats. hats are a must right now. i think my problem is finding hats that fit olive’s noggin. okay, she doesn’t have a huge head but it’s near the 80th percentile on her chart {so, she has outgrown some cute hats i have gotten her a few months ago!}. i love fun little hats like this babygap one. it’s good to have a few neutral ones available that can go with any outfit she has or any coat. the weather is so unpredictable, so it’s imperative to have warm hats on hand to protect her little, presh noggin.
this push car is one of olive’s favorite. it’s at my parent’s house and olive loves to push it around. she is such a strong little girl that she can push it when her cousin reagan or auntie kim is sitting on it {or both at the same time!}. it is hilarious to watch…and ya kinda feel bad for her at the same time. olive loves to push people around on the car {so cute} but yet, it melts your heart she is working so hard at it. a determined little gal.
she’s such a snuggle bunny now. she loves her little blankies or anything soft, so she can rub her little cheeks and lips onto them. she loves this soft owl blankie {courtesy of auntie carol} and has become so attached to it. she loves to sleep with it. she loves to watch tv with it. she loves to crawl around the house with it. it comforts her. it calms her down and i’m totally into it. it’s so endearing and heartwarming to watch her snuggle her blankie {her new bestie}.
boogie wipes are a lifesaver. seriously. olive went through a week where she had a bit of a runny nose {poor babes!} and she did. not. like. it when i tried wiping her nose. it finally dawned on me that i had a stash of boogie wipes in her diaper bag! hallelujah. it saved me. she totally let me wipe those icky boogs off her face with these wipes! no problem. no fussing. no tears. i just pulled out a wipe, cleaned up her nose, and she would hardly flinch. thank goodness! she didn’t have to look like a kid whose parents would let their boogies run down their face {yeahs right…like i would ever let that happen!}.
well, those are olive’s eleven month loves! can you believe she is eleven months?! oh em gee…it’s cray to think about it. she is so amazing. i love her sooooo much and every minute i have with her just melts my heart to a mushy, puddled mess. she brightens up our world and sometimes i think my heart might explode with love. *sigh*
ohhhh. how i love this baby girl. one night, it was just me and o, we were playing around on the floor and having fun {in our coordinating pajamas]. i decided to plop down in her chair. she found it so amusing! she wanted to crawl up onto my lap, and so she did. oh my goodness. we had the best time snuggling. the best. she sat in my lap and watched her favorite sing along songs by baby genius.
[pj tiiiiime]
we chilled and cuddled together. we were loving life. little o kept on leaning back and giving me little hugs. i was in heaven. she is so sweet and adorbs. so, i said to her, “kisses!” and she would turn around and give me a peck on the lips! she would actually pucker her lips and give me sweet kisses every time i said kisses. i was loving it!
[this was the best. each frame was a separate time olive would lean back and give me a bisou]
we sat there contently, watched her favorite sing along nursery rhymes, and had the best momma daughter time together. just me and o, all alone. missing daddy, being away on a work trip. although, moments like these makes it all so much better.
i love her to bits. i absolutely have the best time with her. life is so much sweeter with this cutie around.
olive received another gift in the mail! the beautiful carol, ted, and kids sent olive such a cool gift! we were super excited to open the package when it arrived and it was…a little push van! the toy is from plan toys…a wonderful company that manufactures sustainable wood toys. they use organic rubber wood and non toxic paint {safe for baby, since they put their mouths on everything!}.
i have mentioned this before and again, i love wooden toys for miss olive. this van is so stinkin’ adorbs. hc immediately put it together for her and she stood up and started rolling the van along. she was a bit wobbly {she fairs better with heavier items} but nonetheless, she wibble wobbled her way across the floor with the van. it was too cute to see.
my girl carol is obsessed with vw’s. obsessed. so anything in a form of a vw van, is game. i chuckled when we opened the package, it seriously put a smile on my face to see the present. now every time i look at it, i think of my dear friend carol and that’s a very good thing. it was the perfect present…a combo of my love for wood toys, olive’s love for pushing things, and carol’s love for vw’s.
[amazon’s quirky gift wrap]
[i got super excited when we unwrapped the gift!!]
[so stinkin’ cute]
[olive checking out her new toy]
[annnddd there she goes!]
well, as you see above, olive was loving it. success! plus, it’s like a cart, so little o can put stuff inside and push it around. and lemme tell ya, the little babes loves to put things in bags, boxes, crates, you name it! she puts stuff in, she takes them out, she leaves toys everywhere she goes. the joys of having a little one and a messy place {well, we keep neat here in the household…natch!}.
thanks carol and famille! we love you guys, we miss you and we hope to see y’all soon!
we were sooooo delighted one day to see the ups man walk up to our doorstep and drop off a large package. i wasn’t sure what it was…i knew i hadn’t ordered something recently and something so large!
i pulled the package inside and we were delighted to see it addressed to miss olive! it was her first birthday gift!!! we love packages. we love gifts. we love surprises! we knew dick and jane wanted to get this for olive but didn’t expect it so soon.
gramma and papa gifted olive with a pottery barn kids chair! sooooo awesome! it’s the washed grainsack anywhere chair. olive loves it, i love it, we love it so!
[ooohhhhh, a package!]
[oh my gosh! olive is my name]
jane had it personalize with olive’s name. even better. i assembled the chair {oh my, i broke a sweat doing so}, you wouldn’t think putting a chair like this together is hard but it kinda was! i smushed it, pushed it, and finally wrestled the zipper shut. wowza. the chair almost won but i conquered it. i plopped it down in the living room and olive immediately beelined for it.
oh, just watch her in the play by play down below. it’s too adorbs. she is so amused. she crawled up onto the chair and started to jump up and down {so excited}!
[here we go]
[jump! jump! jump!]
[cheeeeese]
although, she was unsure of how to get off the chair! so head first she dove. she made it down just fine. hey, whatever works for her right now!
[annndd this is how i get off the chair // still learning]
***
the sweetest part of the day/evening?? when we came home from my parent’s house, i placed her down on the ground. she crawled over to her chair, settled in, snuggled her bear(s), and was mesmerized by the tele. it was the cutest moment. i was so in love with it all.
dick and jane, thank you soooo much for olive’s birthday gift {we love you guys so!}. it is her favorite item. she loves to sit in it everyday and we love watching her sit in her chair. she is way too cute when she does. seriously, best present ever! she is such a little girl now with her big girl chair.
ah! we are one month away from her first birthday! where did the time go?! i can’t believe our little baby olive is getting so big. this past month has brought us many wonderful memories and milestones.
no walking yet. i really thought she was going to take her first step around the ten month mark. only because she is standing by herself, she was walking everywhere {albeit holding onto something}, and everything was pointing in that direction but nope. don’t get me wrong…i am aaaa okaaaay with her not walking yet. i hear all bets are off when the little nub starts a walking! then the real trouble starts! 😉
she is such an eater. this girl loves her food. she is still eating purees but has graduated to eating solid, solids {like mac n cheese, fish, beef, chicken, salmon, rice}. she doesn’t refuse anything but she loves to eat whatever we are eating. she will eat 3-4x a day with snacks in-between. breakfast is usually something like bananas and cereal. lunch is typically fruit and cereal, and dinner is usually something heartier…like salmon and carrots. we gotta keep those chubby cheeks fat!
sleep is her best friend. it’s the same as it has been since almost the beginning. baby girl will go down around 9:30 and sleep until 8am. her morning naps are like clockwork but her second nap is unpredictable. she typically goes down for the second nap around 4 but it could be 3 or it could be 5. it’s all based on her morning nap and how long she sleeps for that first round. sometimes she won’t get that second nap in but overall, she sleeps at night and that is what matters!
olive loves to play by herself {sometimes}. she loves to explore. she is getting stronger and wiser and funnier. her humor is silly, her looks are so sweet, and her giggles are too presh. it is so awesome to see her personality develop. she loves to copy you. she intently stares and will copy what sounds you make and what movements you do. she’s becoming a little girl and i love her to bits.
omg. she is crawling up the stairs! um, we need to get a gate pronto! of course, like any babes, she knows how to get up the stairs but has no clue how to get down the stairs. typical. she thinks crawling head first down the stairs is the right way. nope baby girl, no. we’ll learn the right way later {well, hopefully sooner than later}.
officially, her first word was bye. it comes with a hand wave and a meek ‘byyyyyeeee’. you walk towards the door, she waves her hand and says “bye”. she sees you grab your purse, she will wave her hand and say “bye”. you put her in her car seat and she will wave her hand and say “bye”. way too adorbs. the second words? ‘uh oh’. everything she drops on the ground comes with an “uh oh”. so stinkin’ cute.
this past month, you have totally developed an affinity for your stuffed animals. you love your teddy bears {the little one and the big one} and your kiki doll. it is so sweet to see you snuggle with them. it melts my heart when you give them kisses and hold them close.
well, those are her ten month milestones in a nutshell. wow. again, i can’t believe she will be one next month! eeeekkkkk! we are all so excited for this. olive continues to amaze us and our love for her is growing and growing beyond capacity. how can all that love fit inside my body?? sometimes i feel like i might explode! i can’t wait to share some great moments from this coming month!
i can’t wait for halloween! it will be olive’s first one and she will be trick or treating! of course, i got the little one a lovely little trick or treat bag. i couldn’t refuse a cute little black felt treat bag with her name emblazoned on it!
i spied this treat bag on pbk. i thought the black kitty cat was adorable and i loved the idea of personalizing it. i stopped by the store to check out the bag. i was sold! i purchased the bag and left it there to get embroidered. i was excited i could choose from a variety of colored thread and whether i wanted to place her name on the front of the bag or the back. i felt the back of the treat bag looked better. i didn’t want it to interfere with the cute cat face in front.
i was super excited when they called me and told me the bag was ready! yay! i swung on by and picked up the cute bag. i was totally happy. the pink thread was perfect and her name looked so cute on the back of the bag. i couldn’t wait to show little olive. to commemorate the showing of the bag, i dressed her up in an adorbs halloween outfit and presented her first treat bag. she was quite happy and you can see in the photos down below!
we played around for a bit, i snapped a ton of photos, then we decided to move on. or at least miss olive made that choice! i hung her bag up on her dresser; i’m sure the kitty cat is eagerly awaiting to be used and abused this upcoming halloween! bring on the sweet treats or tricks 😉
