bump update

Posted on July 25, 2016 by tandem in love

well, i had written this post a day before ellie decided to make her debut, so i thought why not post it still? i was a day and half shy of hitting my 40 week mark and i think it’s pretty cool to show her in the belly and outside the belly! i was going to make hc take a 40 week pic of me on saturday, but ellie decided it was time to meet everyone on friday night!

so, here is the last ‘bump’ update we will ever see. oh, how bittersweet it is. ellie, you are a dream and we are so beyond ecstatic that you are here. god has blessed us with two beautiful baby girls and i couldn’t be more grateful for these wonderful souls who now give our lives the magic it needs!

how far along? 40 weeks!

who knew i would make it this far?? so many people thought i was going to go early. as early as 37 weeks! i had a feeling a would go between 39 and 40 weeks but baby ellie had other plans!

weight gain: i slowed down in my weight gain since my 36 week update but definitely picked up momentum the last week or so. i still am outweighing olive’s pregnancy but it doesn’t help i haven’t been as active and eating more than usual.

maternity clothes? i literally have three outfits to choose from and pretend some of my dresses are ‘maternity’ dresses. hahaha! for reals though, i have completely outgrown my maternity shirts and tanks and barely fit any of my bottoms with how BIG my belly has gotten!

sleep: i have digressed. ugh. my first trimester i had insomnia and then the last couple weeks have been difficult. i am anxious on when the baby is coming so my sleep isn’t the best. i also am waking up randomly around 4-5 o’clock in the morning and having a hard time falling back asleep. it’s not the belly that is bothering me, it’s really the anxiety. yuck!

physical state: i am pretty much in the same physical state. i haven’t been as bad in the last week or so but still so darn exhausted and still in pain. i am out of breath very easily and sciatic pain is on and off…mostly on but i see the light at the end of the tunnel!! after i give birth…i will be back to my old self. i just know it!

miss anything? i can’t wait to get my energy back. i can’t wait to be able to do everything myself and not rely on anyone. i can’t wait to move at a fast pace. i can’t wait to not be physically exhausted alllllll the time. i can’t wait to eat any type of foods without worrying if it will effect the baby. i just can’t wait to not be bogged down with pregnancy dont’s!

baby movement: after the 36 week post, this babe continued to be crrrrrrrrazy in the belly. she is a mover and a shaker. it was like wrestle mania inside the womb but the last week, she has really slowed down. i assume because she has gotten so big and there is no more room for her to move. i can even tell how she had grown exponentially.

food cravings: i haven’t had any cravings but i haven’t been eating very well. my palette has changed a bit and i am consuming foods that aren’t so healthy. ugh.

bump status: i have the biggest belly everrrrrr. at the last doctor’s visit, the dr. said this baby won’t be much bigger than olive but my, how stretched out and big my belly is! it should have it’s own zip code!

gender reveal: as y’all know, it’s a girl! we cannot wait to meet you!

xoxo

bebe ellie’s nursery

Posted on July 22, 2016 by tandem in love

at first, i wasn’t sure what i was going to do with ellie’s room. like i have said when i was decorating olive’s room, i am not a super pink kind of gal. well, yes. i love pink but just because they are girls doesn’t mean everything has to be pink. aaaaaand i am not a fan of characters. nope. no winnie, no mickey, no monkeys, na da. the only character items i allow around here are her pj’s and toys that are given to her.

anyhoo, back to ellie’s room. i love neutral colors. olive’s room is white, grey, with pops of gold and coral. ellie’s room ended up being black and white with pops of light green and light pink. at first i was going to go with light pink and green but change it to the accent color. i looooooove how it turned out! i love that her room is mainly black and white and everything else, all the decor, just fell into place.

i really enjoyed pulling everything together and finding all the cute items for her room. i shopped big retailers and shopped small as well. i tried my best to shop small for a lot of the items but ended up having a good mix. decorating is so much fun but yet so time consuming and it’s so hard to figure out if an item will go with the room, the whole look, or not.

i love her room so much! i special thank you to dick and jane for the beautiful rug…a baby shower gift for ellie and a big thank you to jane who hemmed the black out curtains for the room! they turned out perfect! i am so happy how the room turned out and can’t wait to enjoy it with our baby ellie!

[love her starry wall, executed by hc]

[fun bright pillows to liven up the room]

[cat hamper]

[how amazing is this wood name sign and felt flower garland?!!]

[custom made crib sheet]

[a lot of flower crowns]

[custom made changing pad cover]

[we changed out the drawers knobs to coordinate with her room]

[cat pillows from pottery barn kids]

[custom initial by felt flower shop]

xoxo

apprehensions of baby number two

Posted on July 14, 2016 by tandem in love

ok, ok, i know this is nothing new. billions of women have more than one kid but i must confess that i am quite nervous to bring another little one into the world. mainly and mostly because of me. i am a bit neurotic, too type a, wayyyyy too much of a control & neat freak, and just plain crazy. haha! just ask hc. i run on structure, on timelines, and always do way too much more than i need to.

sure, you can say to me…that’s not going to last. or you have to give something up. or whatever you want to say to get me to understand that how i behave is going to have to change but that is easier said then done, isn’t it? how many of you have completely change your ways after being who you are for soooooo many years? not easy, huh? i know i definitely have to pick and choose my battles. i did with olive but not too drastically because, honestly…she was and still is a great babe!

that is why i am worried about how i will handle the second addition. lots of people are scaring me. they keep on saying how having two kids isn’t like having one and then doubling the work and time. they are saying that having two kids is like having five kids. whaaaa? one to five kids?! yikes! i already feel like i have no time ever and now everyone is saying you will have zero time for anything! now, i hope they are just exaggerating…really, they must be, right?! i have already cut down on things that i do {creatively and personally} and i can’t imagine not being able to have an outlet through my blog or insta or even having the time to take care of myself! i will not be a ‘mom’…that’s my new mantra. haha!

don’t get me wrong. raising my girls to be kind, smart, loving human beings is my number one goal. natch. butttttt, it’s not about that right now…it’s about me in this blog post. ha! i pray that i will learn how to balance everything. i hope that getting out the door is not going to take an hour because this mama ain’t got no time for that {how’s that for proper english and grammar?}.

i kind of had the same fears with olive entering into our lives and i did acclimate well. i was able to keep up with the things that i personally love doing and still spend my time with olive. i guess it comes down to time, learning, and balancing it all without too much sacrifice. my babies will always be my number one priority but i don’t want to lose myself, my creative outlet, who i am, and the wife i need to be for my hc. those factors are very important to me, so naturally i worry that i might not be able to handle it. but like i said in the beginning of this post, billions of women have made the transition from one to two/three/four kids effortlessly and i just know i will be able to as well {and not lose my mind along the way}. bahhhahahahaha!

[i know this pic might risqué to some but it’s just me and my belly in all it’s glory!]

xoxo

independence day

Posted on July 13, 2016 by tandem in love

it was a perfect morning, weather wise. it wasn’t too hot like it usually is on the fourth of july. it was a bit humid but cool.

olive had slept over at her grandparent’s house the night before on a fluke. we had a wedding the night prior and my sisters took olive to eyes in the sky festival with her cousins. we were coming home late and olive didn’t have a nap during the afternoon and had such a fun time that she was completely worn out. i think that was an understatement. she was pooooooooped. she fell asleep at my parent’s house when she got home after the festival and continued to sleep into the morning, waking up at 11:30 am. yup! she was exhausted. so, needless to say…she missed the parade. i was a bit bummed because i really wanted her to be there. she’s at an age where i know she would enjoy it!

well, hc and i made it to the parade without our daughter…whaaaa?! yes, we enjoyed going but it wasn’t the same without olive. afterwards, we picked olive up at my parent’s and headed home to prep a bit because my family was coming over to celebrate the fourth with some grilling. it was a very low key day. kim, terry, and the boys picked up the food and we hosted and grilled. it was fun, relaxing, and very laid back.

it was just my parent’s, kim, thuy, terry, the boys, olive, and my brother dan made an appearance. everyone stayed until about 5-6 o’clock and trickled out after that so we had the rest of the evening to relax. we didn’t see any fireworks…it really wasn’t in our plans {plus, i don’t know if olive would really enjoy it…i find most kids her age are just plain scared at the loud noises!}. we really just enjoyed winding down for the rest of the evening!

overall, it was a fantastic fourth weekend! we had such a great time and loved our low key afternoon with the family! we love celebrating america’s birthday!!

[the start of the parade]

[veterans]

[revolution reenactment]

[kind of being shy]

[omg, these kids. love them]

[checking out the chipmunk dad caught]

[oh bennett]

[yummmmmm]

[38 weeks pregnant]

xoxo

a quick lunch

Posted on July 12, 2016 by tandem in love

i was super excited to have made lunch plans with ande. i last saw her at her cancer free party in february so it was awesome we could coordinate our schedules to meet up before this baby makes it debut!

i was super stoked that matt could join us! just knowing how busy he is unil the end of summer, i was surprised he was able to make it but it happen to be a window of time that worked out for everyone! unfortunately, last minute, our hvac broke and my dad {who was going to watch olive} had to come to our house to be around for the repair man and watch olive. so, naturally i was a bit stressed about it all and couldn’t stay out to lunch for very long but it just so happened to be the case for everyone else! ande needed to get back to work for a conference call and matt needed to go home to let his little peanut dog out for a bathroom break.

we decided to go to a bagel joint a block or two down from ande’s work. one, it was difficult for me to walk for…i get out of breath soooooo easily and two, ande was just worried overall because i was so pregnant! ha!

it was great, though. we were all able to connect, catch up, talk about life’s current happenings, and ande really wanted to hear all the baby news going on with me. i love this group of peeps. ande is such a doll! she is seriously one sweet lady! well, i just love my friends. they are all such great people for fabulous reasons. i am one lucky gal to have the best friends and family around me.

our get together was short and sweet. of course i could spend hours upon hours with these people but it’s always a good thing even if it’s a short meeting, nevertheless. well, i can’t wait to see them again soon! we agreed it would be a visit to me when the new babe arrives!!! yay! i can’t wait for them to meet our newest addition!

[chicago bagel authority lincoln park]

[love these peeps!]

xoxo

dana and scott’s gorgeous wedding

Posted on July 9, 2016 by tandem in love

the day had finally come! dana and scott got married!

gosh, i have known dana for a long time and i just absolutely love this girl. i recall dana saying something like it’s been almost 10 years since we’ve met; we totally clicked instantly! i love dana for her quirky nature, her love of sharks, unicorns, rainbows, and the most outrageous, cheesy movies. she is kind, oh so funny, and a complete sweetheart. she is such a laid back girl and because i am so crazy and type a…we have a wonderfully balanced relationship! ha!

we were asked to be there early because i was a chuppah holder. i was beyond honored when dana asked me to be a part of the ceremony. it meant so much to me when she asked me to hold the chuppah. i love weddings, i love dana, and i loved that i was able to be involved in such an important part of her day. i just waited around until i was summoned…it was her uncle david that came up to me and asked me to step up to get ready to hold the chuppah.

it was a circus trying to figure out where i fit in on the holding part of the chuppah. very comical. first, no one let me pick it up {being nine months pregnant}, then there was an issue with me standing in the sunlight, so they moved me from the left side to the right side. then the wedding coordinator thought that me being up front would hinder the bride and groom from getting around my belly, so then they moved me to the back left and that was my final position. hahaha!

i was the talk of the ceremony and reception. it was hilarious. everyone was so concerned, rightfully so…i guess. i am very pregnant but it wasn’t a big deal to me to hold up the chuppah! i was so grateful and excited to do so! dana’s aunt laurie came up to me to make sure i was ok and told me if i needed to sit down, all i needed to do was to wave her down and she would take my place. everyone was so sweet about it, though.

the ceremony was absolutely beautiful. i cried, dana cried, and i loved all the jewish traditions within the ceremony! i had the best seat in the house. front row, right next to them. i couldn’t have been more blessed to have witnessed them joining together as husband and wife.

after the ceremony, we headed back to the building for drinks and apps. after an hour, we were summoned inside and i loved all the decor. dana had succulents everywhere. it was so darn pretty! it was simple but impactful. i loved the classy simplicity of her decorations and details. dana has such a love for bright rainbow colors, i loved how neutral and muted everything was at the reception!

we seriously had such a great time! we sat at the best table with the best guests and enjoyed every minute of her wedding. we took advantage of the photo booth, we ate way too much food, and scarfed up the amazing dessert table! their dessert bar was heaven on earth. there was a plethora of choices and they had a freakin’ smokes bar! you roasted your own marshmallows and an attendant assembled it for you! whaaaaaa? amazeballs.

dana and scott, we wish for your marriage lots of love, honesty, laughter, love, silliness, discovery, forgiveness, love, and a lifetime of friendship. we love you both and we are so excited to see you both begin your life long journey together as husband and wife!

[loved their cute, modern program]

[it explained some jewish traditions within a wedding]

[chuppah holding diva]

[scott and his parents, gail and derek]

[the beautiful bride with her parents, marcia and jeff]

[oh so beautiful]

[first kiss as husband and wife!]

[the happy couple]

[independence grove]

[38 weeks pregnant and fabulous]

[the cutest little cheeseburger ]

[irina and patrick]

[gorgeous succulents on the card table]

[gift table]

[welcoming the bridal party]

[the happy couple…mr. and mrs.!]

[how gorgeous is this cake?? love!]

[cutting of the cake]

[dying over the centerpieces…so beautiful!]

[my name is finally right!]

[love this girl!]

[how cute is this pic? love her dad!]

[mini milkshake…seriously so yummy]

[with the handsome groom, scott]

[the horah]

[the s’mores table was divine! we roasted our own marshmallows!]

[the gorgeous bride and with her friends, lindsey, alyssa, and lashawn]

[dana and irina]

xoxo

grace and daniel’s grad party

Posted on July 6, 2016 by tandem in love

i can’t believe grace is headed to high school this fall. what?! what happened? i remember when she was barely six years old. i met her 4 months into being six, so i could almost say since she was five years old just to be more dramatic!

well, it was a hot day and the party was held at gramma and papa’s house. hc and olive went up the night before to help them set up and such. i drove up with my sister and parents the next day. i got so car sick from the ride {i really think it’s because i am pregnant, because normally i don’t get that way}, that when we arrived, i had to go downstairs and lay down for awhile to get myself together before i could go to meet and greet all the guests! the car sickness dissipated, i put some food in my belly, and after 15 mins or so of laying down, i was ready to go!

olive was in great spirits and she was the most social i have ever seen her! she was giddy and open to others, which is something i rarely see when she is around people she doesn’t know. she was playful and super smiley…i was loving it!

i made my rounds and said my hello’s to everyone. it was so great to catch up with friends and family! grace had her group of friends and daniel had his group of friends and it was so interesting how they never intermingled! grace and daniel aren’t just cousins, but more like brother and sister. they are both almost the same age and in the same grade but different schools so, it was fascinating to see how, now socially, they weren’t meshing…???

olive was a tired, sweaty mess and by the time everyone left…this poor girl was dunzo. she didn’t have a nap and was having a complete meltdown. this babe was zonked out in the car ride home and pretty much slept for 13 hours from that evening until the next morning. a much needed sleep!

anyhoo, i had a great time hanging out with everyone and it was nice to see my family there too! i can’t believe grace is heading into high school! wow! my how time flies! she has grown into such a beautiful young lady. hc and i are so proud of her! she has done remarkably well in school, is such a sweet girl when she’s with us, and is the best big sister to miss olive. she is so good with her and it’s the sweetest thing to watch. we love you grace and can’t wait to see you flourish in high school!

[the graduate! such a pretty girl]

[some fun decor]

[dick and jane]

[ready to eat cake]

[ice cream scoops]

[yummy cake]

[mom and dad]

[love this babe]

[daniel and friends]

[love this babe so much!]

[having fun with anabelle]

[hc and me]

xoxo

dreamy maternity pics

Posted on July 1, 2016 by tandem in love

i was a bit anxious over our maternity pics for the new babe because i haven’t done professional photos with olive before! i wasn’t sure what to expect. she is great one on one with me but i didn’t know how she would react to someone else taking her pics! she is usually fussy, shy, and stubborn around people she doesn’t know.

well, our day had come and we were ready to go. we met tricia at a place called gomper’s park in chicago. tricia has been our photographer for awhile now. she took olive’s maternity pics and all of her first year photos. we were so excited to have her onboard with our second babe’s journey into this world!

it was a cool, humid evening. it was funny because i had curled my hair and olive’s was just a bit wavy…as the photo session ensued, my hair became straighter and olive’s hair got super curly! her hair looks so darn cute in the pictures that way!

we started out, right away, taking some shots in front of the lagoon area and then moved onto the bridge and area by the water. i was right, olive was super fussy and uncooperative! ugh! she eventually subsided her stubbornness and became a bit more comfortable and relaxed as the session wore on.

i was distracted by olive and felt a bit discombobulated, so i was a bit nervous on how i would look or how the pictures would turn out but i shouldn’t have worried! i know tricia takes amazing pics and boy, all that worrying was wasted energy because the pics turned out amazing! i was so happy with everything!

olive looked so darn cute and she captured her so perfectly! i love all the family pics, individual pics, and the all the bump pics. so many, many great ones…i can’t choose a favorite!

i really wanted this photos session to be romantic, dreamy, and surreal. like a midsummer’s night dream and my dream definitely became reality through these amazing pics!

[custom dress by leah maria couture]

[could this be any more dreamy?!]

[gah! i think this my favorite but i think i’d be lying!]

[flower crowns by czarina’s project]

[my love]

[custom dress by stella maris]

[my world]

xoxo

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

baby sprinkle

Posted on June 23, 2016 by tandem in love

it was such a perfect day. i was so excited for my baby sprinkle, hosted by dana and olivia.

the weather and temps were amazing. it was so hot the days before the sprinkle and pretty hot the next day, so we lucked out with it being sunny and temps in the mid seventies!

olivia and dana came over to prep for the party. it was a very small, intimate gathering. i was so excited when dana offered to throw me a shower! we wanted it to be small and intimate. obviously, it’s our second baby and it’s a girl and we pretty much have everything we need for her! we didn’t register anywhere and i was happy to have a little get together to celebrate this new babe. i believe every baby first or third or whatever number should be celebrated!

the guests slowly arrived and we met and greeted with everyone. mimosas were served and soon was brunch. we sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather and conversations. the kids played…it was cute to watch them interact. reagan and grace get along so well and olive kind of did her own thing. she’s such a funny, quirky gal. i love her for it.

after brunch, cake was served and presents were given. baby gifts and cards are always so darn cute! i can’t believe we are going to have a little baby soon. a tiny little cute baby girl. it was surreal to see all the little things…how tiny the clothes are, how small the booties are, i remember olive being that small and now she’s such a big girl. wahhhhhhhh.

we lingered a bit longer, soaking in the sun and enjoying the wonderful company. i was so happy! my heart was so full being surrounded by such great friends and family. it definitely was a glorious afternoon celebrating our baby to be!