now that i am a new mom, enjoying my first mother’s day with my little olive,…it is such a different perspective. going through this journey has been such a life changing experience in so many wonderful ways. it is a miracle to have brought such a precious life into this world. the love you feel is immeasurable. the joy you feel is out of this world. your protective nature is in overdrive. you never realized a smile could melt your heart in an instant.
you have such great respect for all the moms out there…especially your own. i love my mom so much. i love that she raised five children, working so hard at her job, to give us a better life than hers, growing up.
i remember on those warm summer nights as a little kid, waiting up for her to come home from work. i would watch elvis movies with her while she ate her late night snack. i remember giggling and asking my mom who was cuter…elvis or dad?! my mom would smile, between her bites of white rice, and say elvis!
[my mom in vietnam, pregnant with kim!]
my mom did so much for us, sacrificed a lot to raise her children the best she could. i am so thankful for her and love her so much!
this one takes us back to 2011. this is such a fun, sweet picture of r+ b!
we were celebrating hc’s birthday over at his parent’s house {in crystal lake} and r+ b insisted on celebrating with us as well {with them being in clarendon hills}! hey, a few miles doesn’t stop a family from missing a joyous occasion together!
so, kim pulled out some party hats, bought cake, and we tech connected via facetime and sang happy birthday to hc! it was a success!
the boys were super happy {yay!} and so was hc…he was delighted to be celebrating his birthday cross towns! how special!!! and everyone got cake…score!
this was literally a sweet memory! happy friday y’all! cheers to a fabulous weekend!
everyone who sees olive tells me she must be teething. annddd she might be. i felt her gums the other day and no teeth yet but they could be slicing in. she’s drooling, jamming her fist in her mouth, and gnawing like a crazy baby on anything sophie right now! i love all the products this line offers and the rubber soother is a must right now for little o to chomp her gums on to ease her discomfort! we initially received ours from buybuybaby but they are sold out right now, so i found a site that offers it there!
olive is a bit young right now to really love her thumbie but she is starting to like the softness. she pulls it up against her face and rubs the plush fabric on her skin. we have both the rattle and the thumbie, olive loves them both! the rattle keeps her occupied and the thumbie soothes her.
she absolutely loves her crinkle book! she is so into noises and textures right now. she loves to feel the softness of materials and loves, loves the sound of crinkly plastic. she likes to touch the book and explores each page you show her. she is so very curious.
now the flower clips are more so my love but olive truly doesn’t mind! she is totally fine having little flower clips and headbands on her beautiful head of hair! i love how it totally dresses up a boring outfit and adds total pizazz to her do. i have the flower hair clips {the ones you see olive wearing in previous pictures} from buybuybaby, they aren’t available right now, but found these cute ones from a seller on etsy!
i found this angel dear swaddle at a boutique while we were on vacation in florida. i fell in love with the print. it’s so stinkin’ cute! it’s perfect right now for olive because it’s so large, breathable, and muti-functional for anything. i like to wrap her in it at night, i like to use it as a blanket for her cold tootsies, i like to cover her stroller with it, i like to use it as soft pad for her head. the uses go on and on with this one! i am a fan of the different lines of products they have for this brand.
this last love is all me…i absolutely love this stuffed bunny! it was perfect for easter and it will be a great toy for her year round. it is so darling and unique. a beautiful hand made doll that will be cherished for years. it is on the pricey side but so worth it. i hope olive grows to love this little bunny toy as much as i do!
soooo…i’m finally getting my easter post up! woo. woo.
easter definitely was a whirlwind. being smack dab in the middle of our move, it was a much needed, forced break for us. to make it even more amazing was the fact that it was 70 degrees outside!!! so beautiful! the sunshine was wonderful and always puts me in an even better mood!
we traipsed our way downtown to zed451 to meet up with the fam for a delicious easter brunch {ah, missing the city life already}. it was the immediate famille and terry’s sister, lynne, her son patrick, and their mom barbara who joined us for this fabulous holiday!
[easter basket chaos // first easter bunny rattle from aunt missy]
[ta da! the final products for the kiddos!]
[my little lamb]
[ready to go!]
i really enjoyed the brunch at the restaurant, it was tasty, and very diverse in their selection of foods. their kale salad was amaze {i could have taken the whole plate to our table and eaten only that}. the cinnamon roll was sweet, fresh, and gooey. the offerings of meats were endless {brazilian steak house style}. there were lots and lots of decadent choices of accrouments to nosh on.
i love food. it makes me happy…i dislike being hungry and i will always try something new and different. i am so perplexed by people who are so steadfast in their limited, narrow choices of food. for me, life revolves around eating {savor the flavors of the earth!}, drinking, and family! there should be no limitations on ingredients, just personal exploration to really take it all in and enjoy all of your senses.
[chambray world]
[my little easter bunny]
[awesome cinnamon roll // olive with the boys, she’s staring adoringly at her uncle terry]
[sister love // bloody mary loving]
[thuy and dan]
[kim and olive // mini boden dress and tights]
[the beautiful sunshine]
[drinking beer with daddy]
after a wonderful brunch with the famille, we headed back to our house before we drove that long car ride over to my parent’s {hehe…it’s like a one minute & thirty second drive 😉 so, before we did that, we pit stopped at the home depot {we were surprised that they were open on easter}, our new favorite store, and purchased some house goods. during that field trip, our little sweet olive fell asleep…what doll.
[since we were in the middle of a move, we did a pit stop at the home depot before heading to the p’s. olive decided to nap 🙂 ]
we did an outfit change, when we arrived home, {comfy clothes, here we come} and sped our way to my parent’s house. there we had a wonderful dinner together and the kiddies received their easter baskets.
[reagan and olive]
[gift basket exchange]
[olive’s basket from kim, thuy, r + b]
[her adorbs doll // her cutie outfits]
[how cute?!]
[the aftermath]
the entire day was just wonderful. we had such a great time celebrating easter with our families! blessed be this day of love.
we are beyond excited to be homeowners! it happened on tuesday, april 15, and it was quite the whirlwind week for us. i have been so delayed with blogging due to the fact that we didn’t have wi-fi set up in our house yet {or the fact that we moved and that was crazy in itself!}, so blogging bigger blogs was a no go but we are all set up now! yay!
[a very proud pic of us at our new house! thanks jane for taking the photo!]
[our house status updated on redfin…woo hoo!]
april 15 was not only tax day but also hc’s birthday. we closed on the house that morning, we went to the banks to change our info, hauled a bunch of stuff into the house, had hc’s parents come over to check out the new abode, we drove back to chicago that evening, and continued to pack up our place to get ready for the movers on friday!
[already doing the suburban thing…eating lunch at a mall, we had to grab a quick bite to eat after we closed on the house and before we started our long day!]
i worked on wednesday and hc worked on thursday, taking a day away from us to pack and get organized for the move. we continued to box up our place and take care of little olive in between everything we were doing {huge thank you to jane for totally helping us out!! not only did she help take care of o, she helped us pack too!}. from the moment we closed on the house, hc had been slowly moving our stuff to it every single day. what a start to a crazy week.
[‘last’ time being downtown before we moved]
then friday finally came! the day our movers were coming to transplant the rest of our stuff to our new house! as we were packing, the movers finally showed up {after being a bit delayed} and took one look at our place and decided they could not move us!!! oh em gee. are you kidding me?!
our place was 90% packed up and already moved. no joke. all we had left in the apartment were about 12 boxed up boxes, and stripped furniture {such as our couch, beds, dining room table, a book shelf, dressers, a crib, and my closet. that was it. the company was all my sons moving {don’t use them! awful, awful, awful service…or lack thereof} and they only sent two men {shady looking characters} on a friday afternoon {good friday, mind you! and they had already mixed up our set moving times twice!} to move us. they literally walked out on us! they said there wasn’t enough man power {um, hc was very clear on what was being moved and how many rooms} and they couldn’t get a third guy, so they left us stranded. it was horrible. we couldn’t believe that they left us high and dry. the two shady dudes had someone on the phone from their company and hc got on to speak with him. the man was so boorish! hc argued with their dispatcher and he so rudely called hc a liar about the whole situation and all that was going on! unbelievable!
anyhoo, after some terrible encounters and experiences {and a big complaint to the illinois movers association}, we were connected to bernard movers and they were amazing!! we ended up moving everything on saturday morning. we couldn’t have been happier with the moving company…they were professional, quick, gentle with our stuff, and literally moved our place from the city into our house exactly how it was originally set up {how it should be!}! we were so happy!
[the last night at our place in chicago before we moved out on saturday]
[our house getting a little more homey]
hc is itchin’ to update the interior and eventually the exterior! we are excited to modernize the inside of the house to our taste and style. there is a lot of work ahead of us to get this place to our aesthetics. we can’t wait until the little touch ups are done {painting, trim, new doors, a carpeted basement for the kids, an updated kitchen, etc.} that will really give the house a facelift and freshen it up.
[hc’s most favorite current activity…mowing the lawn and drinking a beer in his brand spanking new john deere lawnmower! thank you to dick and jane for gifting us with this wonderful housewarming present!]
needless to say, we are so excited to have our own house, our own place, our own property, with no neighbors above or below us! i could go on and on about the benefits of having a house but my true love is still the city. i love chicago, i love the craziness of it, the diversity, the convenience of the restaurants and shops…but i am truly happy to have a place to call home sweet home with my beautiful family. ♥
today takes us back to easter 2009 {ahhh, to be almost five years younger would be fantastic, but not less the wiser!}. hc and i had just started dating {five months prior} and kim was pregnant with little bennett. hc and i had just come back from vegas, hence the über tan i got going on {i love me a good tan but totally dislike the aging results…*sigh*}. we all had a lovely morning brunch at bin 36, a place we celebrated past easters at a few years in a row. the tradition still continues for us but at different food locales of choice.
look at us! i feel like we look the same {wishful thinking?} but different. not older but just altered styling {am i trying to say we look dated?}. ya know what i mean?!
i love hanging out with the fam. there’s nothing more comforting, relaxing, fun, and amusing than family itself.
doesn’t little r look so cute in his dapper outfit {what a handsome dude}? cheers to fun family get togethers!
well, well, well. baby olive has had an eventful month! so many wonderful changes in her behavior! she loves to babble…oh boy, she loves to gurgle, screech, make noises like she’s having a full conversation with you. it was so much more consistent and clear this past month than before. it’s so endearing to listen to her sounds! i love ‘talking’ to her.
this past month, she has really latched onto objects with her eyes and hands. she really focuses her eyes onto things and looks very perplexed or intrigued by them. her grasp has gotten even stronger; she loves to hold onto her toys or reach for her playthings, touching or feeling the texture. she loves anything crinkly! that sound and texture just delights her. her favorite objects to grab right now? grabbing her toes…so adorbs! i love seeing her awareness and attention to details become so much more acute.
she’s still sleeping through the night {thank the Lord!}. she had graduated into 8-10 hours a night! yowza! sometimes she hits it at 7 1/2 hours but we’re not complaining! she does go to bed kinda late {typically around 9-10pm at night}, she gets a little cranky around 8pm and then she’s out.
she’s a sometimes napper, we try to keep a regular nap time schedule for her but there are times olive has her own agenda. even though her schedule isn’t always on track, she typically pulls in three to four hours of nap time a day. I feel so lucky to have a solid sleeping baby at night.
she is still a breastfed babes! we are almost on the verge of solid foods! she is so interested in me or anyone around her when they are eating! she loves watching me eat or even drink water, it’s like the most fascinating thing to her! she gazes in wonderment and i love watching her curious facial expressions as i’m eating.
the next event to happen is the best yet! olive can sit up on her own! yes, she did it the other day while in my lap. we were enjoying a very, very inexpensive breakfast at ikea when little miss olive decided to sit up by herself! we watched in joy as she confidently sat upright! it was amazing! i was so excited for her…what a strong little lady! now, she does need us to watch her while in act because she is still wobbly but she can most definitely sit there on her own for sometime! how cool is that?!
now the next fabulous event can be argued by hc and myself, although we have jane {my mother in law} as a witness. on a thursday evening, as i was carrying olive in the kitchen, she cried out mama! i swear she said it! jane believes she said it too! now whether olive realizes she said it or not, it definitely was distinct! hc is adamant she just made a noise that sounds like mama 😉 i beg to differ. she has done it a few more times since! so…we’ll see how she progresses next month!
onward to six months of goodness! i can’t wait to share all the wonderful milestones olive hits next month!
i love this photo of us! can you believe it was olivia’s first cubs/baseball game?!
this was taken four years ago {almost exactly four years ago!}. unfortunately, it was quite a cold day for a game {bummer because it’s so much more fun when it’s warm!}.
albeit, we had a grand ol time! we drank beer, ate hot dogs, and cheered on the cubbies!!! annndddd, they did win! woo!
afterwards, we hit up the bars around wrigleyville {of course!}. we hung out for a bit, reveling in the all american acts of excessive indulgences and finally went on our merrily beer filled belly ways!
i chose this flashback because it was also olivia’a birthday yesterday! happy beurffday o, love you lots! another year older, another year wiser, and cheers to many more years of friendship!
it’s a beautiful, sunny, perfect easter day!!! i hope you are enjoying this holiday, whether it be a lovely service at church, a fun easter egg hunt with the kiddos, a charming morning with the family and your little ones, who get so excited that the easter bunny has paid them a visit!
although olive is too young and wasn’t quite sure what the easter bunny is or what to do with her basket of goodies {daddy sure does know what to do with her basket…nom, nom, nom!}. i’m sure she was super excited for it all! just look at that expression on my little lamb down below!
[hoppy easter everyone!!!! from baby lamb olive]
anyhoo, we’re off to celebrate with the famille! woo hoo! can’t wait for easter brunch!
more to come of this beautiful day in a future blog my lovies!
“Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again”
