kt’s baby shower

Posted on August 7, 2019 by tandem in love

i was excited to attend kt’s baby shower! her sisters hosted the event at aurelio’s pizza place in naperville.

the original date was back in june but since the girls {peyton and harper} were born early {26 weeks}, they postponed the shower. now that baby harper was getting bigger, stronger, and healthier, kt’s sisters, bridget and colleen, rescheduled the shower to august and i couldn’t wait to go!

once we arrived, we were greeted by kt. she looked so fabulous in her hot pink jumpsuit! the girls hung around with me for a bit, while i chatted with kt, until someone suggested that they could decorate a onesie for baby harper. their ears perked up and off they went. i grabbed a few onesies for the girls and they got to work! they had so much fun decorating them. i was so impressed by all the girls there who were drawing, they were all so talented! every single onesie was a true work of art!

colleen and bridget did such a great job with the shower. the little details were super cute and francie had brought the festive cake for the party! the shower was perfect and so much fun!

i had a great time mingling with the guests…i love bobby’s mom terri. she’s a sweetheart and we get along so well! of course, i love kt’s mom francie..she’s so darn sweet and loving. i also caught up with kt’s sisters, who are the best {love them!} and overall, it was so fun for the girls and me! drinks were constantly flowing, the girls ate pizza and fries and couldn’t wait to devour the cupcakes!

after food and desserts, we visited some more with the other guests. ellie was having so much fun with colleen and kt! they were being silly to each other and it was too cute to watch!

after a few hours, i was beat. yes…tired! kt invited us over, after the shower but i regretfully declined. my lack of sleep all week was kicking me down! we said our goodbyes and i love you’s to all the beautiful people and went on our merry way home.

kt – you are a tower of strength…your baby girl harper takes right after you! you are so sweet, a true gem, a great friend, and an absolutely genuine person. harper is so lucky to have you as her mama, we are so lucky to have harper in our lives, and so blessed to have had peyton with us earthside for five weeks.

God bless you and your family and your little guardian angel peyton, who will forever be by your side.

[tiny and mighty]

[olive decorating onesies for baby harper]

[ellie so proud of her decorated onesie]

[my sweet babe]

[loving this gal here in the pink]

[lily’s sweet creation..she loves pigs!]

[proud, sweet girl]

[susie with caoimhe]

[when i take pictures, she loves to jump in front of the camera]

[the sweet cake from francie]

[kt’s sister colleen and friend]

[olive’s creation]

[she’s so sweet. i love her]

[ellie popping in front of the camera – again]

[bridget and susie and caoimhe]

[olive was so excited to show everyone her shirt…especially to grammy francie]

[ellie being super silly]

[thinking she’s so funny!]

[kt, terri, and amy]

[coll, kt, and bridget]

xoxo

good friends from seattle

Posted on August 6, 2019 by tandem in love

it was becky’s birthday and i text her to wish her a happy one when she text me back to say that she was coming into town in a couple weeks! yayyyyyyyy!

honestly, we see each other once a year because i rely heavily on her coming home for christmas. the last two years, though, she’s either gone to cali or nyc for christmas and we were super duper sad about it.

well, they were coming into town {the whole an clan was meeting up!} and we had to see them! it was all last minute and i was hoping i could coordinate a whole get together with my sisters too but that idea wasn’t in the cards. we threw dates around and it was slim pickings. the only day open for the both of us was monday and by george it was going to happen no matter what!

we decided to order food in and relax, catch up and just be. they arrived promptly and the festivities began! oh, it was soooooo damn joyous to see them! they are such good people and we love them so much! ruby and wren joined right in with the girls and disappeared immediately.

we laughed, we drank, we ate, we giggled, we shared story after story. the boys hung out. the girls hung out. we hung out all together. the kids put on several plays for us adults and played dress up to their heart’s content.

the night rolled on and time flew by way too fast. we were having too much fun! we were super bummed we had to wrap things up as this was a regular evening for us with a regular next day. unfortunately, we were not on vacation mode like the carlsons. LOL we wish!

we hesitantly said our goodbyes, gave big hugs, and wished them a fabulous rest of their time here. our evening was perfect. we had so much fun catching up and being together. i love it when longtime friends can get together after years and it feels the same but not the same. ya know what i mean?!

we love you becky, james, ruby, and wren! we hope our time together next is not too long in-between.

[me and b]

[james and hc]

[sweet babes playing dress up]

[such a sweet yummy cake]

[she’s so sweet]

[they were all so darling together]

[sundae time]

xoxo

sweet harper

Posted on July 30, 2019 by tandem in love

i was talking to kt about visiting harper, again, in the hospital. we planned for a wednesday and committed to that but then kt got news that harper was going to go home that sunday!!!! oh my gosh!!! i was sooooo excited.

so that meant we would get to visit them at home!!!! such amazing news and i was so proud of harper for making such great progress! she was 1 lb 15 oz {26 weeks} when she was born and within 2.5 months, shot up to 5 lbs 8 oz! wowza! everything fell into place…so much needs to be checked off before a preemie can go home and harper knocked it all out of the ballpark. well done cutie! well done!

ellie was sick, so i had to drop her off at my dad’s house. i was bummed i couldn’t bring her to meet harper but olive was so stinkin’ excited! she looooooves babies and could not wait to see her! she said the cutest thing to me that day. she asked if the baby was still inside and i said no, she’s outside! you can hold her and olive started screaming, “yay! yay! i’m so excited to see the baby!”. how sweet is she??

our morning was a bit nuts with us trying to get ready and out of the house. since ellie was sick…it was so hard doing anything in a timely manner. the moment we woke up, ellie needed care almost every minute. poor babe! her nose was running NONstop and she was coughing, tired, sneezing, and just miserable. i did our usual morning routine and while ellie was on the couch watching t.v. and drinking her milk, i was getting olive up, i heard her coughing and coughing. then i heard her crying and screaming. i ran out to the living room to see what was the matter and she had thrown up on the couch! ughhhhhhhh!

that just snowballed into us getting ready at 10 am to us not walking out of the house until 1 pm. yes…it took us 3 hours to get out of the house. i think that was a record. i had to strip the couch, do laundry, clean up ellie, get olive up, pack a lunch for olive, pack a lunch for ellie, get both girls ready, wipe ellie’s nose 1 million times, feed them breakfast, pack their bags, grab the laundry, put it away, reset the couch, get myself ready on top of attending to ellie every minute. i would be in the bathroom getting ready, run out, wipe her nose, and repeat that 100 times. i can usually get ready in 20 minutes or less but that day, it took me 45 minutes. yikes! i packed the girls stuff up, got them in the car, drove to my dad’s house, dropped off ellie, and of course i had to grab a coffee, THEN olive and i were finally on our way. oh em geeeeeeeee. what a debacle of a morning.

we finally made it to kt and bobby’s place. kt’s mom and sister colleen were already there, and a couple hours later, bobby came home from work. baby harper was soooooo darn tiny and oh so cute! olive was so happy to see her! a few minutes after we arrived, francie and olive snuck away and sat together on the couch. francie got olive to hold the baby and it was precious to see those two together!

i offered to bring lunch but kt said they were good! this bad ass mama cooked up some mac n cheese for the kiddos and then proceeded to make us shrimp tacos and rice! whaaaaaa?? so good!

we all just sat and chatted and had a great relaxing time while we all took turns to hold miss harper. i also gave kt and bobby the baby shower gift early. i’m going to the shower this week but since harper came home early…i knew they would need some of this stuff! i was so excited to give them our ergo 360, the boon lawn drying rack, drying branch, humidifier, crib sheet, bath towels, wash cloths, whale rinser, thermometer, nose frida, and burp cloths. she started using most of it right away! yay!

time literally flew by! before i knew it, it was 3 hours later and we needed to go! i had to get ellie from my dad’s and head home. olive and i had such a wonderful time visiting kt, bobby, and miss harper!

we are so happy you are home baby girl, where you belong. you are a tower of strength and so very, very loved. may your journey ahead be filled with joy, health, love, and growth. we love you so much!

[olive and sweet harper]

[grammy francie, olive, and harper]

[sisters! kt and colleen]

[i looooooove this picture! look how adoring everyone is to miss harper]

[harper’s faces crack me up! she’s so darn noisy too! all so cute!]

xoxo

a fun afternoon

Posted on July 17, 2019 by tandem in love

it was a very long, long awaited playdate with kim and famille. like way too long! let’s be clear…it was one year since i had seen them last! whaaaaaaaa? kim and i planned 5 different times to see each other but each time, unfortunately, something always came up for kim and we had to cancel every time.

well, the waiting was over and we secured a date and boom! it happened! olive was so excited to see brady! when she woke up in the morning, she said to me she needed to hurry up and brush her teeth cause she wanted to go see brady! hahaha! too damn cute!

we could have left on time but i am at fault for wanting to do one million more things before we walked out the door, then once we did…we literally turned back around cause i forget to get the girls to the bathroom and we had a long car ride ahead of us! arghhhhh. we finally hit the road one hour after we were suppose to leave. like wtf. i am usually not this late but this was probably a record tardy start for me!

we arrived in no time, quite surprisingly and the girls couldn’t not wait to get inside! once they stepped foot inside…i didn’t see them for an hour. just kidding but they literally ran away from me and were outta sight. LOL i hugged kim and we started chatting. as i have said in the past…the girlfriends i have {kim is no different}, we have this tendency to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. no joke…time literally flies by when i am with kim. we can gab about anything and everything!

it was super nice cause the kids are at an age where they are very low maintenance and they all play so well together. so, mikey {kim’s hubby} kept the kids entertained as they ate their lunch and kim and i ate our lunch in another room. that was awesome.

before i knew it, three hours flew by and we needed to go! olive had gymnastics and i knew traffic back home was going to be a nightmare. we quickly said our goodbyes {sadly…no one wanted to leave, including me!} and headed back home.

it was such a fun afternoon and a much needed catch up time with kim! i told her, we cannot have another year go by where we don’t see each other! i don’t think that has ever happened in the 10 years that we’ve known each other! crossing our fingers we can squeeze in a zoo date before school starts.

cheers to good friends!

[olive ellie, brooklyn, brady, and mason]

[so darn cute]

[kim and me]

[such a sweet family]

[brady’s selfie]

[how sweet are they?!! melting]

xoxo

girl and the goat

Posted on July 9, 2019 by tandem in love

my friend andrea invited us to a private dining experience at girl and the goat in chicago. i was super excited to participate because 1 – date night! 2 – great food 3 – a night out in chicago while it’s warm! all great reasons to overeat, over drink, and laugh really hard.

traffic was light and we arrived 15 minutes early! hc and i were escorted downstairs to the underground goat but we weren’t the first ones though! lisa, nick, and kyle were already there. we were warmly welcomed and greeted with smiles. we all immediately kicked off great conversations while our server quickly served us delicious drinks.

slowly, everyone trickled in. many familiar faces and some new ones. i was fortunate to hang out with grace, stephanie, and lisa {andrea and ginger too!} a few weeks back {during our craft night out at papersource} and got the chance to know them a little bit better.

andrea claims she’s anti-social but i’d like to argue that. she’s such a great connector and gets along so well with others! i have met so many wonderful people through her and feel very blessed to call her my friend. she’s genuine, kind, thoughtful, smart, and will bend over backwards for you when you need it. she’s definitely a person you want in your life!

we mingled for quite awhile. i was having so much fun chatting with everyone…that itself was already an amazing start to a more amazing evening. after an hour or so, we finally settled into our assigned seats {thanks to andrea’s crafting abilities}. i sat next to hc and a new friend, jessica. her and i bonded over what we were doing differently to help the environment, how we were raising our kids, and social media! LOL yes…but that was not all we talked about!

as the dishes rolled out, everyone ate, talked, drank, on repeat. the food was delicious and i was wildly hungry! i ate almost everything but as the meat courses started to appear {the last dishes to arrive}, i was at my limit. it was all so savory and divine but i was dunzo.

near the end of our meal, stephanie izard stopped by to say hello! she chatted with andrea and jamie for a bit…she kindly joined in on multiple pics with the guests, thanked us, and wished us a great evening. it was so awesome to see her! a perfect ending to our evening!

hc and i enjoyed our time immensely. we thought our experience would be a bit different. i thought the servers would explain the courses a bit more, letting us know the make up of each dish and for some reason, we had the impression we would have suggested wine pairings with the food. no matter, it was a wonderful experience all around. i throughly enjoyed it all!

thank you andrea for concocting this whole event! it was a fantastic night out with an even better crowd.

{i did not bring my camera. *gasp* i wanted to not lug it around and just enjoy my evening with the hubs and friends! so. all of these pics are andrea’s!}

[andrea and rebecca]

[stephanie, andrea, and lisa]

[grace and kyle]

[nikki and andrea]

[andrea and ginger]

[andrea and jason]

[ginger and jason]

[andrea and jessica]

[andrea and stephanie izard]

[cute little favors we got to take home!]

xoxo

abe’s first birthday party!

Posted on July 1, 2019 by tandem in love

my dear friend dana and scott’s baby abe turned one!

“baby shark a doo da doo baby shark a doo da doo!”

yesssss…it was a shark themed first birthday party but before this song became a fad, dana has loved sharks way before it’s current popularity.

boy oh boy did dana do a fabulous job tying this theme all together! and y’all know me, i love a well thought out, executed theme! just check out the pics below! the snack pails, the shark tail cupcakes, the shark fruit bowl, octopus veggie tray…it was all so darn cute and perfect! also, i can’t forget the amazing cake! helloooooo – it was a wondrous sight! the details, colors, and design of the cake was on point and beautiful, and delicious to boot!

the weather was beyond amazing…the most ideal temperature for an outdoor party and it happened to be one of the first nice, sunny days on a weekend in, what felt like, months.

the girls were super excited to attend the party but they were most excited over the rain play-set sitting on the lawn. holy cow…olive was obsessed. she was pretty much consumed by it the whole duration of the party. the only time she broke away from it was when tunes with tim showed up!

she throughly enjoyed the sing alongs, music, and the show’s finale with bubbles! what a great idea to have entertainment for the kids at the party! he was animated, the songs were catchy, and the kids and adults loved him!

after tim’s session, we all gathered around to sing happy birthday to mr. abe. it was so sweet and fun…first birthdays are always the best! the cake was cut and served and our girls ate way, way, way too much sugar! they both had a slice of cake and a cupcake. yowza!

after the hoopla and the guests dwindled down, hc and i were able to relax and mingle with the remaining peeps that were important! i was able to connect with dana too. during the party, she was running around hosting and i let it be. i definitely know what it’s like to host a big party…it can be stressful, hectic, blurry, and nuts. sometimes you almost can’t think or breathe because there’s so much going on. i am so glad we stuck around a bit after quite a few people left because we could finally visit!

it was such a wonderful afternoon celebrating abe. i love dana, scott, her family, friends, and everyone in-between. cheers to you little man. we wish you many years of love, happiness, and laughter.

[the birthday boy]

[they were obsessed with this toy!]

[olive could not pull herself away from this toy!]

[the prettiest beer can]

[my somber looking sweet peas]

[dana did such a great job with the themed food!!!]

[she had so much fun at the party!]

[octopus veggies]

[tunes with tim was a hit!]

[how sweet are these two?]

[scott, abe, dana, and emily]

[she’s so darn innocent, raw, cute, and sweet]

[the coolest cake! it’s so darn cute and perfect!]

[happy birthday to youuuuuu!]

[that unimpressed face. LOL]

[gimme some cake]

[oh they had junk and more junk and more sugar. that’s how we roll at birthday parties!]

[jeff and marcia]

[nom nom nom]

[rawr!]

[bubbles!]

[bubbles are alllllllways fun]

[they were intrigued by tunes with tim….and the bubbles]

[the hubs – scott and hc]

xoxo

under the sea birthday party

Posted on May 2, 2019 by tandem in love

i was looking forward to spending some time with andrea at her kid’s birthday party. one – i don’t see her enough. two – she’s awesome. i mean, she’s hosting, so i knew it wasn’t going to be one on one time kind of chatting but no matter what the circumstance, it’s always good to see a friend.

we arrived there in a flash and it was a beautiful day out! it was hard to believe that it had snowed alllllll day the day before! once inside, andrea greeted us, we settled in and i started snapping away with my camera.

ellie was not happy at first {as usual}. she cried and clung to us. she acted as if we were throwing her to the wolves with this large group of adults. {eye roll} olive on the other hand meshed right in. she was loving it. first thing we walked into, when we arrived, was the dessert spread and that received a thumbs up from miss olive!

we made our way through and said our hello’s to the usual gang – ginger, katheryn, beth, and patrik. it’s always so good to see them and it was great catching up with everyone.

andrea had a slew of entertainment there! i loved it! such great ideas for an indoor kids birthday party that’s not at an activity center! she had a balloon animal artist and a singer called miss jamie’s farm. the kids looooooooooved it! ellie not so much. the balloon guy made ellie a dog and it freaked her out and she threw it on the floor. miss jamie started singing and ellie cowered back in fear. oh em gee…she’s a riot. i finally made some mom moves and coaxed ellie onto the dance floor and slowly but surely, she started loving miss jamie and her singing! it helped 100% that olive was soooo into it and ellie loved that olive loved it too! anything her big sister does, ellie is game.

the kids ate {lots of pizza, pastas, cheese curds, salads, beef sandwiches, and so much more! there was a copious amount of food!}, they played, they were entertained and super happy!

we sang happy birthday to the kiddos and ginger cut the cake while i passed her the plates. we made a good assembly line although, she was quite swift in cutting the cake and i was a bit slow with handing her fresh plates! i received some coaching on my lack of skills and sped up! LOL. i yelled at andrea for some forks and after that, we were on a roll divvying up the cake to the ravenous kids in front of us.

we were some of the last guests to leave…as we were having so much fun! it was such a great party! i had so much fun and i know the girls did too! thanks andrea and jamie for throwing a fabulous birthday party! many blessings to all the years ahead for annabelle and sebastian! happy birthday kiddos! we love you all!

[andrea – always the consummate host]

[olive had to have any cupcake with a mermaid tail]

[always attached one way or another]

[yum yum macarons]

[mesmerized by the balloon artist]

[olive was so excited!]

[they’re so sweet. oh they melt my heart]

[unicorn]

[colin and katheryn]

[someone really likes to gamble. LOL]

[oh that face]

[y’all. we took, hmmm, maybe 10 pics?? in EVERY pic, ellie literally made a different face. she’s my freakin’ emoji face kid]

[the kids enjoying miss jamie’s farm]

[the sweet birthday girl]

[i love her outfit]

[ellie bullying this poor girl in front of her, who is smaller than her!]

[sebastian and grandma]

[jamie]

[how fun is this cake?!!]

[the birthday girl, ready to make a wish and blow out her candles!]

[ginger, the cake cutter extraordinaire]

xoxo

brunch with o + e’s guncles!

Posted on March 26, 2019 by tandem in love

we’re partial to hanging out in the city than the ‘burbs but we have the rare moments where we just don’t want to go far. we’re fortunate to have friends {the ones who live in the city} that are willing to alternate our meeting destinations. well, this past weekend, we were feeling it and matt and johann gladly came out our way.

we met at our current favorite place, pierce tavern. we love the vibe, the food, drinks, the staff. there was a bit of a wait, so we all walked to starbucks for coffee. our table became ready at the perfect time and we all made the short walk back to the restaurant, ready to eat!

they seated us at the first bar table by the door. imo, the worst table ever. one, when people are waiting by the host stand for their table, they literally sit on top of you. two. the chairs are so high, ellie would most likely plummet off of it and probably hurt herself, and three…it was right by their two way entrance – which meant high traffic and people constantly brushing past you. yuck.

anyhow, no matter. we made the most of it and we were most definitely not going to wait again for a lower table further in the restaurant. we squished the girls in-between the adults and first things first…drinks! we started ordering drinks, apps, drinks, food, drinks, and more drinks. these dudes are like fishes, then there’s me who nursed her spicy bloody mary the entire time because miss ellie could.not.be.apart.from.me. she let hc hold her for 7 minutes {so i had enough time to eat my food} and then it was back to kiki’s arms again and pretty much for the rest of the duration of our restaurant stint {and we weren’t there for a short period of time either!}.

as always, we had a great experience at pierce! once we finished up, we invited matt and johann back to our place to hang out some more. what started at noon, ended at 7? mannnnnn, we can totally hang with them! the girls were super good and low key…i loved that we were able to spend time with matt an johann allllllll day and the girls just flowed with it!

we had such a good time with them {always} and hc worked hard on trying to convince matt to move close to our area. johann is sold on that idea but not matt. he was steadfast in his opinions and even the libations weren’t swaying him! we also tried to convince them to sleep over but that was a no go either. LOL.

we reluctantly agreed to end the evening, we seriously have so much fun with them! thanks guys, for coming our way! it was so much fun and we love you two oh so much!!!

[olive, moi, and matt]

[extra spicy bloody mary]

[the best thing a restaurant can do for your kids!]

[three amigos]

[delicious pork ramen]

[this crusty mouth, booger nosed cutie is the best. the best at being high maintenance. LOL]

xoxo

pump it up

Posted on March 20, 2019 by tandem in love

birthday parties, birthday parties!

we were invited to our neighbor’s grandson’s birthday party. it was at a place called pump it up. i had never heard of it and i truly had no idea what kind of place it was for kids. LOL. once we arrived and walked into the first room, i was like, “ohhhhhhhhhh” a lot of bouncy houses. alright.

we chatted with our neighbor mary and her kids. hc and i found a game where you throw the football into the hole {football bags. hahaha!} and i smoked him. yeahhhhhhh, i got more hole in ones than him. booyah!!

we did our best to get ellie to want to go on one of the bouncy’s but we were failing miserably. fiiiinally though, we sparked an interest in one of the bouncy’s and ellie was enjoying herself although she wouldn’t go further than the ‘stairs’.

olive was gone. she was soooo into the bouncy houses and we hardly ever saw her! hahaha! she’s so good with acclimating into new environments. well, then there was ellie – she cried and screamed and was unhappy in every room we went into. once she liked one bouncy house, it was time to move to another room. we started all over again to get her comfortable with a new bouncy house. then it was time to move onto another room and that girl threw a fit. she screamed and cried every time!

well, the final room was the party room, they were serving juice drinks and cake. they had picnic style benches and olive and ellie were trying to figure out where to sit. i directed them to an area and olive climbed up and ellie followed suit. as she settled her tush onto the bench, she lost her balance and fell straight back onto her back flat on the floor. oh my goodness. that just added onto how irritable she was that afternoon. she started shrieking. like SHRIEKING. i picked her up and ran out into the hallway to calm her down. oh, poor babe was having the worst {yet best time} ever!

once she calmed down, she sipped her juice drink and ate her cake. she was a happy camper. we mingled a bit more with the family as the guests trickled out. after the group had dwindled, hc and i decided to leave and the girls said their goodbyes. it was a great place to throw a party – quick, convenient, and easy clean up! she had such a great time with everyone!

we’re so fortunate to have become such great friends with our neighbors and their kids. we’re so lucky to be surrounded by such good people! thanks kristin and chris for inviting us to brett’s party! we had such a wonderful time!

[always skeptical]

[doing some incredibles 2 moves]

[she was having so much fun]

[on the first bouncy, she wouldn’t go up any further than this point]

[she was constantly bothered and upset…LOL]

[she was having a blast]

[she cried and vied for this pink mobile and when she finally got a chance to ride it, she was on it for 5 seconds. wtf]

[trying to appease the babe]

[finally, finally realizing that these bouncy houses are fun!]

[it was so cute. i couldn’t see her go down the slide but within a few seconds, her head popped up at the bottom! hahaha!]

[there she goes!]

[there goes olive!]

[they were having sooooo much together!]

[oh ellie. she was having a meltdown before this picture and olive was trying to console her]

[the birthday boy and his sister]

[incredibles baby jack jack]

xoxo

down the rabbit hole

Posted on March 12, 2019 by tandem in love

an old friend pam, who i met through my friend carol, when we were – maybe 8-9 years old, hosted a first birthday party for her sweet babe leighton! the theme was alice in wonderland and it was so darn cute and cuuuuuute!

pam went all out. there were fun, festive themed decorations everywhere! an easel greeted us on the walkway. there were decorations on the front door, in the hallway, she made a photo booth, a tea party table…i felt like pam was my long lost sister in the party throwing/hosting department! i loved all the details! it was all so cute and perfect!

olive disappeared as soon as we walked inside. she spied the playroom and was gone forever. i chatted with pam’s bestie becky for a bit and made my rounds saying hello to people i knew. i was able to chat with pam’s mom, carol, for awhile, which was really nice because i don’t get to see her very much! i nibbled on some food, checked up on olive, and mingled a bit with some guests.

i convinced olive to sit down for some fruit and pbj, in which she obliged. she was having so much fun with the other kids! i love that she can mold into the new environments and feel comfortable befriending new people. she tends to play a lot by herself {which is ok} but i love that she can entertain herself and be fine or blend into a group.

after we sang happy birthday to leighton, we snapped some pics in the photo booth, and then later, pam opened up the presents given to leighton. olive was sooooo excited to help! i had to tell her a few times to back down and not prematurely open up gifts that were not hers! hahaha!

olive was very sad to leave. she was having so much fun! it fills my heart with joy that my girl was having a good time! i was a bit sad to pull her away but we needed to get home to the hubs and ellie.

thanks pam and ryan for throwing a wonderful, beautiful birthday party for leighton! it was perfectly done and you two are the best hosts!

[sweet pam!]