It was that time of year again! celebrating thuy’s birthday. always on a cold, january day. it typically snows, has snow on the ground or is really cold out {just like mine, being in december!}. this year, it was a little blizzard of snow.
the snow kept on falling throughout the day. a very pretty sight but not so pretty driving conditions. hc and i spent the morning looking at house(s) for sale {that’s a whole other story}, after that, we pit stopped at starbucks for some tasty treats.
[decaf americano and a chocolate croissant // perfect]
after house hunting and reenergizing at starbucks, we spent the afternoon at my parent’s house. as the day wore on, the snow kept falling and we decided to leave a bit early from the p’s to give us time to travel and do a bunch of errands at home before thuy’s soiree that evening.
oy…traffic was bad! we finally arrived home and we scurried around getting stuff done. i had to wrap thuy’s gift, do baby stuff, figure out what to wear {such a daunting event every time since i’ve had this beautiful baby, the game of what fits…what doesn’t fit – sad}, get ready, etc. ugh, time was flying by! hc was preoccupied with ‘house’ stuff, so this was causing us to run behind! yuck. i hate being late {although, it’s always the case personally! i’m not extremely late all the time but i never truly feel stressed about being on time…if i am, i am…if i’m not…c’est la vie, non? but that doesn’t mean i still don’t like it!} 😛
so, there we were, running late to our dinner commitments! we tried to nab a cab but that wasn’t going to happen! we jumped into our car and finally sped off to the restaurant, henri. hc dropped me off while he parked the car. i traipsed on in and joined the celebration going on inside for miss thuy!
[birthday lady]
they had ordered oysters as an app. so yummy good. you can down a half dozen if you didn’t force limit yourself or just be plain piggish in everyone else’s eyes!
[oyster apps]
[hello world!]
during desserts, thuy opened up her gifts!
[love your sweater sis!]
[packaging]
[birthday goodies]
[thuy and lan, such chic ladies]
[opening her gift from lan]
[first round of birthday wishes at henri]
after dinner and before desserts, the boys decided to go to the gage for drinks. that was their dessert! so, they left us and headed over to the gage as we were ordering some decadent desserts and cafe at henri.
[henri]
after henri, we headed to the gage to meet up with our husbands. having dinner doesn’t ever stop these gals from ordering more food! kim, thuy, and lan then ordered poutine and bone marrow as an extension to this evening’s noshing. i could only taste…it was all so delicious but my belly couldn’t consume any more morsels of these tasty treats…that is, until the dessert came! the server brought over another birthday treat for thuy! a glass filled with sweet, light, chocolate mousse. it was so good!!!
[hb squared. second round of birthday wishes // at the gage]
it was a fun, snowy evening celebrating thuy! i hope it was a good one! happy birthday to my lovely sister!
olive is so popular [with those chubby cheeks, how could she not be?!}! kt came to visit! kt came to visit! yay!
we were excited for kt to come over to meet little olive. it was a busy holiday for the both of us, so we planned on her to visit us in january. she came over in the early afternoon to our place. we just chilled and caught up on all the happenings. we gab, we gossiped, we giggled. kt is such a sweet person! a really good friend and a great person all around.
i love hanging out with her, it’s always a good time. whether we are out to lunch, at a bar {ooohhhh, those were the days}, or watching a movie together, we just mesh. i’ve known kt for about seven years; we clicked from the get go and have been friends ever since!
[getting olive started early with the selfies!]
kt brought over a lovely gift for little o. how sweet! so thoughtful and kind…i absolutely loved the bag and tissue paper {i’m such a detail oriented kind of gal!} aaannnddd how adorbs is the onsie? i love paareehhh!
[i love pretty packaging]
[the cute little gift from kt]
today was a total lazy day. we hung out until hc came home from work. we talked and talked the afternoon away {so much to catch up on!}. hc and i then invited her to stay for dinner! hc whipped up a very delicious meal: bread encrusted fish, buttery mashed potatoes, and savory seasoned brussel sprouts. it was so delish! he’s such an amazing cook!
kt was procrastinating on doing some work at home {ha!}, so she stuck around for a little bit longer after dinner. hey, we don’t mind! we love having people over!
awhile later, she finally acceded to going home. we totally enjoyed hosting her the whole afternoon! thanks kt for coming over and spending the afternoon and evening with your new bestie, olive!
i was super excited to have plans with kim and brady! i was even more excited to get out of our place. i’m feeling a lot more confident and better about olive’s behavior, needs, and schedule. she is also growing and maturing week by week, so her habits are a lot more recognizable and easy to console. so, taking her out feels less and less stressful. i’m getting to the point where i’m realizing, ‘i have a kid’, so if she melts down or not…it is what it is! although, when she wakes up…it’s a scream fest! she, at this point, doesn’t just wake up and oogle and coo. she belts it out. she wants you to know she’s up and hungry. or has a dirty diaper. or just because!
kim and i planned on meeting up at nordstrom’s restaurant, cafe bistro. it’s a quick and easy place to eat and very kid friendly! now as a mom, the world is a different place. i was that single gal that really didn’t understand kids, being a mom, or that it mattered that it was a kid friendly eatery. it just wasn’t my world and i didn’t fully understand it. not that it completely bothered me but just not my thing. now, it’s a whole other level of understanding. i get it. boy, do i get it.
[the little mouse was so quiet and sleepy]
as i was leaving the city, she zonked out. she was tired and grumpy all morning but wouldn’t really nap. she took a little cat nap but that was it. she screamed and screamed when i put her in the car seat. as soon as i walked out of our place she calmed down and then fell asleep, and sleep she did! she slept through our whole time at nordstrom!
[cutest gift wrap from kim!]
i’ll leave out the awful part where i struggled with our bugaboo stroller! it was my first time using it {yes, it makes me sad to say that because that is how little we go out or go for walks…sad. sad. sad.}! all the other times we’ve gone out with her, it’s been me and the hubs and usually it’s a shopping trip with a cart. so, it’s easy to take her carseat out and throw it on a shopping cart and so forth. in the end, i had the employees at nordstrom help me with the bugaboo! they were better rehearsed in it then me! so, needless to say, stroller – 1, thu – 0. i will overcome and win over this stroller next time!
i finally got the stroller going and galloped my way to our destination. i felt so bad being so late! anyhoo, i was so, so excited to see kim and brady! it had been a few months {too long! and some cancelled plans along the way} and i was glad to finally secure some time and catch up with the wonderful lady!
we have known each other for over four years now! just like jodi, kim and i got engaged a few months apart, we got married two months and one day apart, and got pregnant just less than three months apart but our babies were born exactly three months apart! cray, right?! it’s amazing we have journeyed together on these big life milestones.
[moi, kim, and handsome brady]
we chitchatted, ate {i had the citrus turkey sandwich – yum!}, and watched over our babes. we were so excited to share stories! i was so excited, i think i was a bit ADD! my mind was scattered, overwhelmed with a ton of thoughts i wanted to share! when kim and i get together, we can talk and talk and talk. unfortunately, our time was limited today. we usually can converse for hours! it was not enough time spent together. i had so much more to talk about, to say, to ask, to share! i am thankful we have become good friends, she is such a sweet lady!
kim brought us a gift! it was so beautifully wrapped {that’s how we roll, kim and i love wrapping up our gifts all purrty!}. i absolutely loved every item inside! the cutie outfit is so adorable {olive will look so purty in it!}. i read the books, they are so fun and cute and i absolutely loved the flannel swaddle blanket she gave us! i am all about flannel. stella had given us the flannel swaddle blankets we registered for from pbk and it’s what olive lives in! so warm, soft, and cuddly!
[awesome gifts from the lovely kimberly // her owl themed gift was so stinkin’ cute]
time really flew by. before we knew it, it had been a couple hours! although, olive was knocked out, i knew if she woke…she would demand a feeding. as we were walking out, we were in awe over the fact that we have little kiddies together. such a fun time for us! we promised each other that we would get together soon and have play dates with the kiddos! so, sadly, we said our goodbyes and parted our separate ways.
it was such a good thing to be able to spend some time with the lovely kim and beautiful brady!
it was a great day because we were blessed with a visit from jodi and jett!
they came over on an early thursday afternoon. jett is so adorable! he was so intrigued by olive. especially when she cried! he seemed more concerned than anything. jodi had to tell him olive was ok, that babies cry. his look was so presh.
jett loved our place; he loved our window blinds, my slippers, t.v. remotes, and our garbage can! who cares about all the toys jodi had brought with her. those other items were more interesting for jett! he’s a happy baby! kids are so sweet, fun, and curious.
we spent the entire afternoon together. it was awesome to just chill and relax with a good friend and her little one. olive didn’t sleep one bit that afternoon {i don’t count her five minute cat naps}…and she was only slightly grumpy 🙂
we talked, caught up, and constantly watched over our little ones. i’ve known jodi for over ten years and have gotten to know her really well the last five years! we sat there, still in awe over the fact that we both have kids! we got engaged a few months apart, we got married a little over a year apart, and had gotten pregnant under a year apart! how cool is that?! totally experiencing some major milestones together, that’s quite amazing.
after a few hours of hanging out, playing, & many feedings {both jett with his bottle, crackers & avocado slices & olive with her momma’s milk}, jodi and jett were ready to go. it was wonderful to be able to catch up with the pretty lady. we can’t wait for olive to get bigger and get together with jett for more interactive play dates in the near future!
olive isn’t a sleeper like most babies {or what most magazines and articles say how babies sleep}. she’s a total cat napper, as in she will sleep for 15-20 minutes; maybe a few times during the day. she might power nap for an hour and a half but that is rare! the fortunate thing about that is, she will sleep through the night now! woo! thank goodness! so, i’ll take the rare naps she does have during the day to keep her tuckered out at night!
[snuggled up on mommy’s lap]
so our day started early, and momma pretty much carries her around constantly. sometimes she likes to sit in my lap and watch iron man 3…it’s, so far, her favorite movie. she went down for only two little naps today…whoa! i get to work out my biceps. i get to do my squats and leg lifts while i hold her. not bad, at least i get somewhat of a workout {ugh…i hate being so cooped up in this apartment with this cold, cold weather!}. i totally miss going outside for walks {insert sad face}.
[love, love this cutie pie // 5 weeks]
i pretty much walk around and around in our place looking for something to do. looking for something to clean. looking for something to organize while i hold the babes. it’s usually a quiet and calm day.
i love watching her and i can’t get enough of her chubby cheeks! i just want to squeeze her so hard…she is so cute! i love seeing her make new noises and new expressions. it’s amazing to see her grow before my eyes and i get excited to see her personality come through. i really can’t wait for her to grow up and yet not grow up. do ya know what i mean?! she’s so adorbs the way she is but i’m so curious to see her grow into a cute little gal {until the day she really has an opinion, then i’ll be eating my words!}.
[olive and her punk rock hair]
little olive: i want you to know that we love you SO much and can’t wait to see the beautiful lady you will become! we want to encourage you to become a strong, confident, smart lady. be creative, always do good, be kind, and love.
we had our families come over. our moms, dads, sisters, and brothers. i sadly missed a photo op with the darling dana! she did visit us within the first week!
my nephew reagan just loved olive! he was totally smitten. he wanted to hold her repeatedly, it was so sweet. he loves watching her and seems so fascinated! it’s so adorable to see.
unfortunately, i missed the photo op with dana and the biondo’s! lori, jay, aj, and jake came to visit us the first week. lori did snapped a photo with me and olive but not vice versa {wah wah}!
[15 day old olive // she even has bangs like me!]
we had andrea and frank visit us. it was a double whammy. they came around the second week of us being home and blessed us with a second visit the third week on a saturday! the second time around, frank finally held olive lovingly…not so much like the football hold he had on her the first time! it was so funny to see him awkwardly hold her like he was running for a touchdown!
then her auntie missy {who was on vacation and then sick} was finally able to visit! she’s a natural with her {being a mommy herself!} and just loved little olive! already such a great bonding relationship between them. so adorbs.
yay! carol was in town for the holidays and she came over in the afternoon on friday to come see the little peanut. she spent the entire afternoon and early evening at our place. it was so nice to relax and catch up with my bestie. plus, it was cute to see her with baby olive…she totally adored her. i loved watching them together!
later on, ted came over and we hung out for a bit before they headed off to a christmas party that evening. it was fabulous to be able to spend some time with them! we love them to bits!
matt and johann joined us on sunday. johann was a natural!!! i was pleasantly surprised. i notice all of my mommy friends are so good with olive {duh!} and those who are not moms are a bit awkward…not johann! he was so good with olive, he rocked her, he changed her diaper, he calmed her down. i was very impressed.
thank you to everyone who has paid olive a special visit. she appreciates it 🙂 much love to our friends and family!
“It’s a party, and you’re both talking to other people, and you’re laughing and shining, and you look across the room and catch each other’s eyes but not because you’re possessive or it’s precisely sexual, but because that is your person in this life. And it’s funny and sad but only because this life will end, and it’s this secret world that exists right there in public, unnoticed, that no one else knows about. It’s sort of like how they say that other dimensions exist all around us, but we don’t have the ability to perceive them. That’s what I want out of a relationship. Or just life, I guess.”
it started in the wee hours of tuesday morning {11.26}.
i was super bummed on monday {olive’s due date}, after my doctor’s appointment because it didn’t look like there was going to be a baby anytime soon. i had lost my mucus plug that morning {i know, gross, right?! tmi??}. i thought maybe my water broke! during breakfast with hc, before my dr.’s appointment, something started leaking but I didn’t think it was enough to be my water breaking. dr. stock confirmed it was my mucus plug. good sign but not enough to think I would be in labor soon! i wasn’t one bit dilated and that wasn’t a good sign in my eyes.
another indicator i took notice of, i was freakishly ocd about cleaning and organization {less than 2 weeks prior to her appearance}, more so than usual. i was told that it is a nesting instinct, that your body knows the baby is coming and you are getting ready for her!
in my appointment with dr. stock, we discussed bi-weekly check ups because I had hit my 40 week mark, to make sure the placenta was in tact. she did another ultrasound on us and that was super exciting to see because i hadn’t experience one since the five month appointment {it was so cool to see baby olive so developed!}! she wanted to make sure the placenta was solid for the baby’s survival. after that, we talked about scheduling a date to induce. no!!!! i did not want to be induced!! i wanted baby olive to come when she was ready. that fact compounded into my already frustrated state.
i was upset due to the fact that i had planned out my maternity leave exactly on olive’s due date {i know, how many babies actually arrive on their due date?? it’s a very slim chance}. i knew i could go back to work if i needed to but who really wants to work black friday at almost 41 weeks pregnant?! not moi! i was hoping she would be a few days early {here’s to wishing!}!
anyhoo…there i was…bummed, bummed that baby olive was cozy in the belly. i emailed dr. stock that we decided to set the induction date for next monday. so, i set my alarm at 5 am for tuesday morning so i could go to work.
the next day, i woke up to some cramping at 4:45 am. i laid there wondering what it was. i also thought, maybe i want her to come so badly i was imagining contractions?!
i must also credit my sister kim. she was the only person who nailed it on the head on when olive was going to make her debut! lots of people threw out due dates but my sister kim insisted it was going to be tuesday {hello!}!
so, there i was laying in bed paying close attention to my belly. the first cramp hit me at 4:45 am, the next one close to 5 am. the next one near 5:15 am. hc’s alarm went off at 5:15 am and i told him about what i was feeling! it was exciting, scary, and nerve wracking! we laid in bed {obviously, there was no way either of us were going to work!} and timed the contractions. slowly they were getting a little bit closer together. we laid in bed for quite awhile, in awe over what was happening. my sister suggested that i call my doctor’s office to let them know i was in labor. after 8 am {contractions were about 10-12 minutes apart} i called them to let them know what was happening and they contacted the triage department and had a nurse contact me.
the triage nurse, nikki, occasionally checked in on me to see how i was doing and how my contractions were trending. after hours of sitting around our place, the contractions started to become closer in time elapses. they were now becoming 5 minutes apart. i called the triage nurse and she said it was more about the intensity of the contractions, that they needed to be pretty painful {to a point where you can’t talk or walk?!}. so i decided to not go in yet.
hc was not happy. he felt like i was being a tough girl {’cause i usually am…i have a high threshold for pain} and felt that we needed to head to the hospital. after a few minutes of discussion, i gave in {hc usually doesn’t get upset} and we grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital, by that time it was about 1:00 pm. that’s when it started to get really bad. the contractions were coming on strong and the car ride to the hospital was the worst car ride i ever experienced!!!! every bump and crack on the road vibrated horrible pains through my body as i experienced each contractions {thank goodness it was only a 12 minute car ride!}. he sped up to the valet and i ran out of the car. as i pushed through the revolving door, a contraction came on full force and i bent over in pain in the foyer of the hospital, clutching the inside handle of one of the doors. the door man helped me through it…once it was over, he said. “don’t worry, i go through this all day!”
we checked into triage and i sat in the waiting room going through contractions. one of the nurses took me before another pregnant lady waiting, saying i was more uncomfortable than her {hells yes}. they weighed me {i was currently going through a contraction and couldn’t even pay attention} and then put us in a room where another nurse checked my status and said i was not dilated!!! what?!?! i was devastated. how could i not be dilated? it didn’t make sense. i was going on my 9th hour of labor and i was befuddled that i was not dilated! i thought, impossible!
the nurse, kylie {who was a bit jaded}, gave us two options. she could give me some pain medication and go home, then come back to the hospital to see if i had dilated or walk the circle of death {what i call it, the hallway where women in labor walk around during their contractions} for two hours and then she could check back to see if i had dilated at all. we chose the latter. so, there i was, walking in circles, gripping the bar as if my life depended on it. the contractions were so bad! on a scale of 1-10, i would have rated them at a 15!
after 40 minutes of walking the hallway of death, i had to go back to the room…i couldn’t be out there any more. for the next hour and twenty minutes, i pretty much stood up and gripped the arms of a chair inside our room {i thought i would either break my hands or break the arms of the chair}. i was delirious, sweating, in serious pain, and inconsolable. i couldn’t stand, walk, talk, sit, lay…nothing was comforting. my contractions were back to back to back with no resting period. i would have several contractions in a row and maybe a two minute or less resting period. finally after an hour and forty minutes or so, i had to lay down. i couldn’t stand on my own anymore, the contractions were overpowering.
at the 2 hour mark, the nurse came back in to check to see if i was dilated. i was not! i felt devastated again! at that point, i was thinking…give me a c-section! i was desperate and didn’t care anymore, i wanted the pain to stop! kylie then had a second nurse come in to double check me. she said i wasn’t dilated and was wondering if there was possibly scar tissue around my cervix. i was in a daze…scar tissue?! i don’t know! i was just desperate for some pain medication! they decided to call dr. foley to come see what he could do and do for me.
around 6:00 pm, dr. foley came into the triage room to check out what was going on. at that point, i couldn’t even talk. he said that there was possibly scar tissue around my cervix and that he would have to break it so i could properly dilate. he said it was going to hurt but not hurt as much as my contractions. i didn’t care! whatever he could do so i could get admitted and get a freakin’ epidural! he pulled out his tools and flipped me to my back so he could execute the tiny operation. he took one look at me and said, “you are 3-4 cm dilated, you are being admitted and you’re having a baby tonight.” it was the most wonderful statement i had ever heard!!! i didn’t care that the nurses were wrong, i didn’t care i had been there in triage, to me, what seemed like forever, i just wanted to be on my way to having a baby and having someone help me with being in less pain.
another half hour goes by {an eternity for someone who is in labor}, a nurse finally comes in to bring me up to the delivery room. she brought with her a wheelchair. i looked at the wheelchair like it was the wheelchair of death. she looked at my graphs and stated how intense and strong my contractions were. no kidding! she took one look at me {i looked a mess and miserable} and decided to roll me up on the cot. thank goodness! i couldn’t move…it hurt so much.
i was finally up in the delivery room! my nurse there was so awesome, she truly helped me through the awful contractions. then i received more bad news: the anesthesiologists were backed up. there were over 20 deliveries going on and they still had a few patients in front of me and each epdiural {with wait, walking, getting supplies, and administering, they were taking at least 20-30 minutes or so with each patient. i thought i was going to die. i was dilating so fast. from when dr. foley checked me out to the time i got upstairs into the delivery room, i had dilated a few more cm!! there was so much blood from the intense contractions and dilation!
finally, the anesthesiologist came into the room, probably close to an hour of time had elapsed {by that time, i had been in labor for 15 hours}. he came in with a light shining on him, i was so relieved! then more bad news, he said i needed to sit up and sit still while he administered the epidural…are you effin kidding me?!?! sit still through these contractions?! i cried. i said i couldn’t do it. the anesthesiologist and the nurse encouraged me on. they had to lift and pull me up, i couldn’t get up on my own. they made me put my feet on a tall wooden box and hunch my back out and slope my shoulders. the nurse had to force me to hunch down, she kept pushing on my shoulders while the dr. was administering the epidural. it was so hard to keep still through the pain but i knew there would be relief once this was over.
he was finally done and told me i would feel a warming sensation from my waist down to my legs. he said i would feel the medication kicking in within the minute. it was a miracle! i could not believe how different i felt!! i was on cloud 9! i wasn’t in severe pain anymore. i wasn’t gasping for air. i wasn’t sweating. i wasn’t shaking so hard. i wasn’t delirious. i could finally talk and focus. my blood pressure at my worst pain was 120/87 and after the epidural, it went down to 87/45. that freaked them out a little but it was very normal for me {i have always had very low blood pressure!}. rich came back into the room and he said it was like he walked into a different space. my demeanor was a 180 from before. i was so much happier!
after that, it seemed like a piece of cake…until the pushing began! anyhoo, the nurse said i needed to nap to save my energy for the pushing later {huh?}. rich left me to meet up with his family for a quick dinner while i took a little nap. i awoke to dr. garvey standing by my bed. he wanted to check my dilation and let me know what my status was. he said i was just above 6cm and he expected me to dilate 1 cm per hour and predicted that i would start pushing around midnight.
so nap i did. hc came back after dinner and took a little nap as well. right after midnight, dr. garvey checked in on me and said i was almost at 10 cm! woo! after that, it was a lot of waiting around. he wanted me to wait a little bit more to reach the full 10 cm and then start the pushing. he was back and forth between patients so i waited for him to come back to give me and the nurse the ok.
the nurse, toya {my third nurse that night in the delivery room!}, was fantastic. she was a fabulous cheerleader. when dr. garvey gave the ok, oh em gee! i thought i was going to break every blood vessel in my face and that my head might explode off my body! yes, that is what pushing feels like! it really, really did take a lot of energy and strength! let alone, i threw up during the process as well! dr. garvey said most new moms can push a baby out in two hours {two hours?!!} or more, i was {of course} determined to do it in less time {in which i did! in less than an hour and a half}! i had been in labor for too long and i wanted to see our baby girl!
wow…pushing out a baby is a whole ‘nother level! of course, toya did all the motivating and dr. garvey checked in once in awhile. finally, after much gusto, olive was on her way! the nurses are so funny, they were like, “we see her head! she has so much hair! do you want a mirror to see or do you want to touch it?”, um, i said i’ll just touch her head and yup, she had a head full of hair! toya paged dr. garvey and he was in the room within 30 seconds. it was comical to watch him. he’s done it thousands of times, yes, but to see him in action was humorous. he was almost robotic in prepping for the baby’s delivery. down to a science. i was about to have another contraction and asked dr. garvey if i should push…he came over to look and said, “no! i’m not ready yet!” so i just wavered through this contraction and when the next one was coming, i asked if i should push, he said yes and push i did! with all my might i pushed little olive out as hard as i could. dr. garvey grabbed her and she just popped right out!! as she was coming out, he said she might cry or she might not and for me to not be concerned if she doesn’t. nope, olive let out a shrieking wail! i started crying! i was so happy! i was overwhelmed with so much emotions! there was our baby girl. after all these wonderful months, after so much pain, so much labor, so much time…here she was, finally!
[fresh out of the oven]
in typical fashion, they put little olive on my chest. she was all bloody and crying, momma was crying too. well, i knew this was my baby girl because the next thing she does is bloody bitch slaps me in the face with her tiny hand and poops all over my chest! yes, that’s my girl!
[her tiny footsies]
they pulled her away to get her cleaned up, weigh her, and all that good stuff. wow, child birth is amazing. high fives to all the moms out there who go through this. it truly is a miracle and it’s amazing what women can do!!! this whole process has been life changing and i truly believe, that unless you go through it, there is no way to explain it without experiencing it!
[in the delivery room]
as soon as little olive was born, i then realized how thirsty & hungry i was! seriously! i asked for water and chugged it down. bad news, i then threw up again! ugh! no good.
we stayed in the delivery room for two hours and then we were transported up into our room. by that time, it was just after 6 am. the nurse brought in a wheel chair and i was able to hold little olive. my left leg was so much more numb than my right leg! hc grabbed all our stuff and away we went. the nurse was rolling me right along. we got inside the elevator and i wasn’t feeling so hot. as the doors were opening, she pushed the wheel chair out and i said, “wait, stop! i’m going to throw up!” she grabbed the garbage can lid right next to the elevator and i started to throw up! there i was, holding little baby olive in my arms and leaning over in a garbage bin yacking!! the nurse was like, someone needs to grab the baby! another nurse came running over and grabbed little olive so i could freely throw up. what a scene!
[a few hours new]
[grandma jane, grandpa dick, and sister grace]
[aunt thuy and the bebe]
we finally got to our room and we were ready for food! we settled in and ordered breakfast and finally closed our eyes! a couple hours later, we had our first visitors. dick, jane, and grace were knocking at our door. oh, i was so tired! they were so excited to see little baby olive. later on that evening, my family stopped by to visit the baby. it was so nice for everyone to stop by to see our freshy fresh baby girl.
[auntie kim and the precious bundle]
[a favorite photo of the 15 hour old olive]
[uncle dan and olive]
we stayed at the hospital through thanksgiving. it was serene and quiet throughout the day. i was quite surprised how delicious the food was! although, it was not as tasty as a meal cooked by my sister kim but it felt like a home cooked meal was served versus ‘hospital’ food!
[jodi visited us on thanksgiving day!]
[turkey dinner!]
[lovely gift from kim]
the very next day, we were able to check out! yay! we got the ok from our doctor, the ok from the pediatrician, and off we went.
[in daddy’s arms, waiting to leave]
[not happy with the hat on her head! but cute going home outfit from kim and thuy! // from baby gap]
[the little nugget in her car seat!]
[our feeding and dirty diaper board…we were so into it! drawing by hc]
[home sweet home in her bouncy]
what a crazy, surreal, amazing journey. i feel so blessed to have experienced such a fantastic miracle. after all these months of growing and protecting this baby girl in my belly, here she was…a precious little turkey baby on this very thankful occasion!
[the little babes is one week old in this photo…chubby cheeks]
yes, i’m gonna do it. i’m going to post something about this deep freeze today like everyone else.
[my favorite part? the windchill]
[the start of the snow…]
yowza, was it cold! the only way I know this was:
1. sitting by the windows, i could feel the cold, cold air penetrating through…yuck. so uncomfortable, i can’t imagine actually being outside!
2. the endless posts by my friends on fb about the weather being so extreme!
3. hubby charming layering up like we live in antarctica.
4. wondering how anyone would recognize their car? if you forgot where you’re parked, you might be screwed. let alone, you might not even make it out of your parking spot {the endless wheels a spinning that i keep on hearing from our place}.
[hc…it that you?! rockin’ his winter gear from head to toe. scary serial killer look]
[the peanut sleeping after a full belly on this cold winter day]
it was a very low key day for us, although it totally flew by for me and olive {the way this bebe spits up, projectile vomits, poops and pees everywhere keeps this momma busy!}. before we knew it, the evening snuck up on us and daddy was home! yay!
it was my birthday this past 17.12! my, what a difference a year makes. last year’s celebration was non-stop. this year’s celebration was non-stop with the babes! it was low key and cozy.
obviously, this post if very delayed but nevertheless an occasion. i had some other vip things to talk about that superceded this post. don’t get me wrong…i love my birthday! ever since i have been with hc, he’s always made it important and that means a lot to me. here’s a blast from the past…some photos from last year’s celebration:
we had dinner at an italian restaurant, la luce, set up by my darling friend andrea and hc. i was blessed to have some wonderful friends {matt, johann, danielle, dana, andrea, frank, & kip} and family {kim, thuy, dan, & terry} celebrate with me on that special occasion!
hc commissioned a cake from alliance bakery in the form of a lv gift box! how adorbs! i loved the cake…and it was sooo delish.
[birthday bash from 2012 – coat, vintage burberry]
***
here’s to my wonderful birthday celebration with our newest, adorable addition – baby olive!
[this is my current look at home nowadays]
i definitely wanted to break out my tiara but it was buried downstairs in the basement 🙁 {i mean, pj’s aren’t quite the tiara ensemble but i’ll rock one for any occasion!}. oh well, it can always make it’s appearance next year. a girl’s birthday always deserves a tiara!
we celebrated at home with just the three of us. hc made a delicious dinner [it’s called order out at mana…so delish] and i made my wish when i blew out my birthday cake candles! shhh…wishes are always kept secret so they can come true! hubby charming so thoughtfully gave me a gift from jcrew {a fav store o mine}! a buffalo check coat…loves! so outdoorsy chic!
[mana… a modge podge of goodness]
[happy beurffday!!!]
[make a wish]
[jcrew boxes are always filled with wonderful surprises]
