first, look at how little grace was! awwwww! so cute.
we were at chuck e. cheese for a birthday party. hc and i had only been dating for 11 months here…in less than three months from this moment, we were engaged! cray. we were fast tracked towards happiness!
it was a typical kids birthday party…lots of pizza, lots of pop, lots of screaming, and running around. we had a blast playing all sorts of games. my goal was to win as many tickets as possible so i could give them to grace so she could pick out a cool prize by the end of the party. woo hoo!
it was a great time with two very wonderful people in my life.
we were very excited to have carol come over to visit us at our new house!
but before carol came over…hc and olive were hanging out at the grandparent’s house. they enjoyed the morning and afternoon over at dick and jane’s place.
it was the first time olive rode in a swing! she loved it! you can see it in the picture below. what a cutie. hc reported that olive had a great time hanging out with gramma and papa! duh…of course she did!
[looking cute in her new sun hat]
[super smiley with papa]
[how adorbs are these two?!]
***
carol and famille came into town for a week and we had planned on her and the kids to visit us at our new abode. they came over on a sunday afternoon to hang out and eat dinner with us. hc was able to walk carol around our place while she gladly held olive in her arms. kenzie and travis gleefully ran around the property while carol received the tour.
[carol and olive loving each other]
[mackenzie being cute]
hc cooked a delicious meal for us and the kids {he’s seriously so awesome}. carol caught us up on all the latest of life’s happenings. every time she comes into town, she has such a crazy, busy week! she meets up with everyone and is booked solid every day!
we casually hung out, while the kids ran around and played {well, played as much as they could…our house does lack in the toy department}. olive let carol hold her a few times without having a grumpy moment to be back into mommy’s arms {miraculous…although each time she held her, it was short lived}.
travis did have a very, very cute moment with olive. he actually held her and sang to her! how freakin’ cute! it was such a sweet moment!
[travis being so loving with olive]
[my favorite peeps // olive’s current thing…talking while she waves her thumb around in her mouth]
carol had to get back home to her mom’s house…motherly duties called {giving the kids baths and getting them down}. it was a perfect evening together. we were able to show her our new house, eat some yummy food prepared by hc, and spend some good moments together. it was a great start to a upcoming great week!
andrea and i were finally able to set a date for lunch. oh em gee…it was way, way too long overdue for a girly gab session with her!
hc and the gals headed to the grandparent’s house, so i had the morning and early afternoon to myself! that is such a rare thing for me! when I am at home, i always have olive, so to not have her is an odd thing for me. i’ve got to learn to appreciate my time without her {i mean, i do enjoy it but it’s not often so it’s not easy to acclimate}! i do love being with that little gal all the time!
i headed out and quickly cruised to the city. i met andrea at her house. we needed to go over some event planning {some future fun stuff in store} and fine tune some of the details involved. after our gab session and hashing out some great ideas, we headed out to brunch.
our choice to manger? the savoy. it was a beautiful day and we traipsed our way to the restaurant. none of us had ever tried this place so we were quite curious about it. we walked into some cool decor and we were seated right away.
[the menu]
[love the barstools]
[fresh daisies]
andrea and i ordered the same plate…the granola pancakes {yum}. of course we ordered a side of bacon with it {i love bacon!}! annndddd, to wash down all that food, i requested coffee and orange juice as well. a perfect brunch combination.
we conversed, caught up, and had a really good time. i love hanging out with these two! after brunch, we walked back to andrea’s place and then headed out to do some fun errands together.
[the wonderful couple]
[granola pancakes and bacon]
[my girl]
[coffee and juice…i love the juice glass it was served in]
after a few fabulous hours together, i headed back home. it was a wonderful time spent with these two wonderful people. i’m so happy we were finally able to catch up and spend some quality time together.
here are a few of some of my favorite may moments…
i usually keep the pics separate {keep it fresh!} but i included some of my instagram ones from may…if you would like, please follow me on instagram here 🙂
of course my may loves revolve around food, desserts, hc, and olive. in no particular order 🙂
[olive flipping over in her crib for the first time]
[such a funny gal]
[olive being cute // trying out the thai place by our house on a beautiful sunny day]
[my lanky little girl and her sophie]
[eating some healthy stuff]
[my cutie, stylish nephews]
[yummy, fluffy, sweet cake]
[enjoying a cozy nap in my arms]
[mini burgers // playing peekaboo]
[baby girl really enjoying her daddy’s beer]
[just being too cute]
[olive’s fabulous godparents]
[morning cuteness]
[nice look, nice hair miss olive // cousin love]
it was a beautiful month. sunny, warm, and bright. we were fully settled in our home, i loved the warm weather we were experiencing, and i was so excited olive was baptized in our gorgeous church.
i’m so excited to celebrate this special day together with our presh daughter, olive! i know hc is a fantastic father to grace but it’s awesome to celebrate him being an amazing dad to our olive.
thank you for being a strong partner in raising her. you love her, play with her, dress her in cute outfits, and completely dote on her in so many ways. there are many, many moments you guys share that are too cute for words, i love watching you both interact! it makes my heart melt!
***
[photo by kate headley]
happy father’s day to my dad. the most amazing, loving father anyone could ever ask for. he has given so much to us as a family, i am forever grateful for all his sacrifices and all the love he has given. i am so fortunate to be surrounded by such terrific, kind, loving men!
happy father’s day to all the wonderful dads out there!
may 2008. hilarious. this picture. it was back in the days when i actually toted around an inexpensive, little, digital camera {and it’s so blurry}!! lol. my how times have changed.
well, this pic was taken at one of my favorite brunch spots, mhenry. it’s such a yummy eatery up in andersonville. it was the first time matt actually ate a breakfast item {every time, prior, when we would meet for brunch, matt would always order a lunch entree}, this time he actually ordered the blackberry bliss pancakes {what?!}!
annddddd…this was the first time i went out with olivia! we had become pretty close from work and would walk home/towards the bus together but it was our first official make plans outside of work outing. two special firsts with two special peeps!
it was quite a fun time together. we enjoyed a delicious brunch, as usual {you can’t go wrong at this place}, and terrific conversations between the three of us. the perfect combination of life…great friends and tasty food!
i’ve compiled a list of gifts {with the help of hc’s hints}, that are a possibility of giving for this upcoming dad’s day!
how cool is this driftwood dock? it’s woodsy {anything wood is a fan favorite of the hubs}, simple, and would look very nice out and about in your home. a wonderful way to charge your techy toys without it looking cumbersome or junky!
my hubs is a beer loving kind of guy. so, i think this lovely beerholder is a great gift to give because one: it’s really cool looking…loving the grey wood finish. two: it’s perfect to be able to tote several beers out to the back yard to your guests. three: it has the bottle opener right there! how convenient 😉
hc is a fabulous chef. he makes the greatest meals, i am a lucky gal! i found this awesome tandem bike cutting board that can be personalized. it would be a fun gift to give and a special reminder that he is an awesome dad every time we are in the kitchen together cooking {or i’m in the kitchen and he’s doing the cooking!}.
i die over these bbq sugar cookies from oh sugar events! i love the novelty and i think it’s a great add on, delicious, sweet treat to any father’s day gift you do end up giving. on a personal note, i think i’d be the one who ends up eating all these tasty cookies anyways!
what dad doesn’t want a really cool shaving set? years ago, i bought hc a set like this. he loves it. it looks awesome and is pretty cool looking sitting out on the sink. it’s classic, old fashioned, and practical.
a hc request. he hinted about this lovely tent to me a couple weeks ago. since he enjoys camping with grace and now we have a huge, spacious backyard…it’s the perfect gift to give to him! he needs to replace the old tent he has and whether they go to a camping ground or set up shop in our backyard, this is a great compact tent to tote around!
these watches are marvelous. hc was eyeing a watch like this at a men’s boutique we were shopping at on southport last summer. so, i am suggesting this as a gift to any dad out there who loves wood, watches, and a fun conversation piece!
well, there you go! a few ideas to help out or inspire you to get your dad or your husband a fantastic gift for this special day. hurry up, lovies…father’s day is coming up quick. get that hard working dad something wonderful to show him that you care and let him know he’s the greatest dad in the world!
it was a beautiful, sunny day. we had a very relaxing morning. we stayed in, had coffee and breakfast, and chilled. olive took a nap mid morning and we planned on heading to the zoo after her siesta.
you can never predict what olive will do and we were hoping we would get out to the zoo earlier {we wanted to get out late morning but instead, we left early afternoon}, her nap was for quite a long time. once she got up, i had to feed her, get her ready, get myself ready, make sure grace got herself ready, and then we could finally head out the door!
when we arrived at the zoo, it was a madhouse! there were at least 25 buses leaving the grounds. kids were leaving the zoo in herds! good timing on our part, that meant it wouldn’t be as crowded. we bought our tickets and trekked inside, ready to explore.
[the crazy, busy zoo]
[waiting to see the animals]
[excited to explore]
[a very warm day]
we were excited to see the new baby bison! it was so adorable to see, the baby was side by side with her momma. she was like her shadow, nuzzling and following her mom…it was so sweet to see. brookfield zoo hasn’t seen a newborn of this species since the 70’s! what a cool moment to experience.
[bison // can you see the baby bison that was born on may 31st?]
[my pensive girl]
[can you spot grace?!]
as we were walking through the zoo, they had little stations set up to give temp tattoos. i asked grace if she wanted one! we looked at the examples and she decided upon the wolf. it’s a pretty cool process, she airbrushed it on and then sealed it with a powder. it turned out great!
[grace getting a wolf tattoo]
while we were at the zoo, i totally regretted that i had not found a sun hat for olive yet. honestly, i had been shopping around for the past month looking for a hat. boutique after kid’s boutique, i still hadn’t found a hat i loved. so now when push comes to shove, i’m out and about with olive in the direct sun and i needed a hat! so, i had to buy one there! i was glad to have found a plain, white, cotton canvas hat. it was really what i was looking for {most kids sun hats have crazy prints and patterns all over it, and i’m not a fan}, i wanted a plain white hat for olive so it could match with all her outfits. voila! it was meant to be!
[a fishy world // olive in her new sun hat]
grace and i had a wonderful time watching the penguins. one of our favorite spots. they were so cute. waddling around, peeking out from the little caves, and there was one penguin that kept on showing off! he would swim around in the water, do flips, turns, and swirl around in the water.
[humboldt penguins]
[heading our way to the big cats]
as we were heading our way to see the big cats, we saw a pop up shop where you can pet stingrays. so cool. grace was hesitant because we had to buy tickets but i insisted! it was something fun and interactive for grace. she had such a great time! she said they were slimy and smooth…ewww, gross.
[pit stopping at the stingray petting pool]
[defending herself against this attack cat!]
[snow leopard]
we were able to see the bisons, aquarium house, african safari, the big cats, and a lot of animals in-between! it was a fun, relaxing afternoon with just us gals. what a fantastic time spent together. i had so much fun with my girls.
the next one on my mind is an animal themed baby shower. you can go so many ways with this one! my girlfriend, jodi, had an animal themed shower the prior year. it was so cute, the favors were beautifully packaged animal crackers and fun little animal sign holders. the invites, the table signs, and the games were all cutely tied together.
the shower below inspired me with my gender reveal party from this past summer! the colors scheme and the little animal topped jars started my imagination and ended up with this final result here! it was a great party…look how a colorful baby shower inspiration led into a marvelous gender reveal fête!
here are some fabulous ideas for an animal themed bebe shower:
i am a big fan of backdrops, any type of fun decor you want to whip up will always be a do! i love the streamer style background for this dessert table. the strung wooden animals add a perfect fun element to the decor. you can find some similar one here.
for the desserts, you can’t go wrong with cupcakes! this shower has fruit tartlets, vanilla cupcakes, and strawberry shortcakes on a stick. yum!
[beautiful floral arrangements…i love roses, especially garden roses!]
i like the wooden drink stirrers, a very festive touch. how fun! depending on the season, pink lemonade is a perfect, fresh drink for a baby shower. otherwise, choosing a seasonal drink is easy…there are so many fun recipes out there. like for an autumn shower, an apple cider, cranberry, and ginger punch would be delicious!
i love how romantic the ribbon streamers look, a pretty walkway entrance for your guests. if the party is outside, you can use a tree limb to complete the look or over a doorway, if indoors.
of course, flowers always complete a party. i love soft, warm colors. my favorite flowers? garden roses, ranunculus, peonies, and anemones!
i love the little animal wooden cutout straws. so easy to do! you can find similar straws here.
i love the soft, pretty pastel colors of this party and how whimsical and romantic the decor is! such great ideas to use at the next baby shower you throw or any fete to be had!
