pool party

Posted on July 8, 2020 by tandem in love

summa time. the livin’ easy.

i tend to veer towards olive’s classmate’s moms socially. we all hit up kindergarten with the knowledge that we were in for the long haul. our kids were going to be in school together for the next 9 years! get togethers come easily and we all rely on each other for support in all areas of our lives, in which i’m so thankful for!

i felt bad for ellie as she truly just hangs out with olive’s friends. just a month ago, she started asking about her friends. oh, baby girl! my bad! i needed to get in touch with her preschool friends!

well, it’s good to have a friend who has a pool as pool time, right now, had been so scarce! i coordinated with this mama as she coordinated with other mamas and boom! we had a full fledge party on the horizon!

i’m so thankful to kelli for opening up her home to all of us! not only is her house gorgeous, her backyard set up is a dream!

as soon as we arrived the girls were game! into the pool they went without looking back! the best part of this whole experience {besides visiting with the mamas?} was ellie becoming 100% comfortable in the water. last year, even with her floatie, she would n o t go into the pool without one of us holding her. she was so scared! while in the pool at kelli’s house, she only would hold onto the ledge and not let go. after a 20 minutes or so, i finally went into the pool and she latched onto me. i was playing around with her and i slowly let her go and she drifted into the pool and discovered that she could ‘swim’!!!!!! she was beyond the moon!!! her excitement was palpable! it was so sweet to see her have that aha moment!

the girls swam, ate, swam some more, continued to snack, swam and finally…hours later {4 hours to be exact}, the girls were exhausted! we said our goodbyes and shimmied on home. they were so tired, they fell asleep in the 10 minute car ride home.

it was a wonderful afternoon spent with the sweetest mamas around!

[splash!]

[olive and her friends]

[she gained her freedom and discovered she could swim in the water with floaties]

[lunch time!]

[olive]

[luisa and emi]

[sweet ava]

[aren’t they the cutest?!]

[popsicle time]

[we love our school community!]

xoxo

post SIP playdate

Posted on July 6, 2020 by tandem in love

the girls did very well staying occupied and entertained during our shelter in place. there were no complaints but only a few questions about what was happening outside our house. i was super grateful they were happy as clams playing together and never truly fighting. there was the occasional bickering but overall…they love playing together!

once phase 3 came about, we slowly inched our way towards socialization outside of our family. it was joyous, satisfying, and exciting to socialize with friends and to see our kids finally play with other kids!

by the time we had this play date shown, we had already had three playdates within the past week!!! crazy. we were on a roll and loving it! the funniest part about this get together was when my girls got out of the car and my friend erica says, ‘annie has the same shirt!’…right when she said that, her daughter came running out wearing the SAME tee shirt! hahahahahaha! i was dyyyyying! it was perfect! the girls were all dressed alike and i couldn’t have been happier or more content!

let me tell ya. if you think you are happy now, having kids creates more joy than you ever thought possible. yes…speaking strictly from my experience. i love my girls so much and seeing them with our friend’s kids fills my heart with joy!

anyhoo, random rant.

erica is someone i met through the girl’s school. she’s a wonderful, sweet, and caring person! we met at the beginning of the school year and we instantly clicked! the best kind of start to a friendship!

erica and i relaxed, drank coffee, the girls played and we had a wonderful time conversing in the sunshine. it was simple, fun and good to be together. we are so blessed to have the community that we have and we’re so thankful the girls go to the school that they do!

[sweet friends]

[ellie serving them food]

xoxo

kt and harper

Posted on June 9, 2020 by tandem in love

it’s always exciting and always good when your friends come over to visit!

it had been a long time since i had seen kt and harper. we saw each other months pre-covid but then add on another 4 months, it was well over a half year since we last saw each other!

well it was time! kt and harper came over after noon and it was glorious! it was so good to see kt, catch up and have the girls dote on miss harper. she’s so cute! she was such a good baby and my girls could not stop paying attention to her! they sat next to her. played with her. loved her. it was darling to see and i know miss harper loved all the attention!

harper has gotten so big! she’s grown up so much and was sitting up, rolling, and throwing things, i could not get over those baby rolls. so many chunky rolls! so squishy and squeezable!

my time with kt was wonderful. we talked non stop and had so much to discuss! we kept jumping from one subject to the next, get distracted, start another conversation and then try to circle back to the convo that we sidetracked off of. LOL

i ordered lunch for us and everyone ate together. we then hung out some more and chatted our afternoon away. hours and hours passed and before i knew it, hc came home and in a bit, it would be dinnertime! where did the time go?! i asked kt if she wanted to stick around for dinner and she was game! sweet!

i whipped up a quick pasta carbonara and we continued our, what seemed like, endless chats. we ate dinner together and conversed some more! hahahaha! 8 hours later…kt relented and decided to go home. honestly, she could have stayed all night but miss harper needed her bed!

it was an amazing day with a very good friend and her beautiful baby. i love days like that. i love friendships like that. this is where you count your blessing and know life is good.

[sweet baby harper]

[olive loves taking care of harper]

[aren’t they the cutest?!]

[harper is a doll]

[the cutest crew]

[they melt my heart]

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

play time

Posted on May 29, 2018 by tandem in love

my friend, kim and i have been trying to plan a get together for months. literally months!!! our conflicting schedules, cancelled play dates, sick kiddos, and busy months have delayed a get together that has been long overdue!

fiiiiiiinally, we were able to settle on a date and we stuck to our guns. i headed out to kim and mikey’s abode in no time flat. they live far away but not too far away. it may take 50 minutes? sometimes faster, sometimes longer – it all and always depends on traffic and what time of day it is.

i love coming over to their place because it’s so much more kid friendly. mine and hc’s place is more like a museum {kind of…not really. ok, just a wee bit}…plus, once our basement is finished, it will be so much more fun and kid friendly when the playroom downstairs is set up!

anyhoo, olive was quite excited to see brady and play with the plethora of toys! when we arrived, of course ellie needed to be in my arms and get comfortable before she explored on her own {it only took about ten minutes}. i was so excited to see kim! immediately, we started gabbing and gabbing. when kim and i first met {oh…9 years ago??}, we couldn’t stop talking to one another. ha! we went on and on about everything you could imagine! we just instantly clicked. so, when we get together, time just flies by!

i brought over stan’s doughnuts and kim provided lunch! the kids started to warm up to one another and the rest of our time there was relaxing, fun, and filled with lots of cute moments.

we were there for several hours but honestly, i felt like i could have stayed all afternoon! the kids were being silly together and i was having a great time catching up with kim. her hubby, mikey ran out to grab the adults tacos and such, while kim prepared a quick meal for the kids.

after lunch, we yapped, hung out, i nursed ellie, the kids played some more, several diaper changes ensued, and then we ate doughnuts! much to my dismay, i needed to round the kids up to head home. olive didn’t want to go, i wanted to talk more, and ellie needed a nap!

we said our goodbyes and sadly went on our way home. oh, how i love hanging out with kim, see her growing crew, and i love that our kids get to play together! oh, and we got to hang with mikey too…we never get to see the busy guy!

thanks for having us over kim! we always have such a great time seeing everyone and hopefully it’s not months until we see each other again!!! i see pool and zoo dates in our future!

{p.s. picture overload…lots of multiples but i couldn’t narrow it down!}

[sweet girls]

[olive’s face cracks me up. it’s her awkward, not sure face. hahaha!]

[sweet girl was obsessed with brooklyn’s toys!]

[this babe is too much!]

[the cutest kiddos around]

[gnawing on an apple slice]

[ellie eating her mac n cheese!]

[i love her hair]

[ellie baby]

[oh how i love this pic of them!!!]

[look at mason’t stare down!]

xoxo

catch up

Posted on June 27, 2017 by tandem in love

it was time for another reunion with the s family! we love getting together with kim, brady, brooklyn, and soon to be new addition baby s!

i grabbed a coffee and hit the road. we cruised there, i mean cruised there!!! the kennedy renovations were completed and whoa! what a difference does it make! the roads were open, there wasn’t a construction zone speed limit, and no congestion to fight through.

i arrived in the area so early {for a change!}, i decided to stop for gas and take my sweet time because i always find myself driving like a maniac, hoping i’m not too late {to any engagement}! hahaha!

as i pulled up onto to her driveway, sweet brooklyn was peering out the window! that was so cute and a wonderful first reception. typically, it’s brady looking out the window but on this day, we were graced with brooklyn’s pretty mug.

olive excitedly walked up to the door and we busted through her front entry way! hugs were exchanged and the fun began! brooklyn was obsessed with ellie and olive immediately ran to all the toys. brady was being shy, and kim and i started o catch up with all sorts of life adventures.

let me tell you, kim is so preggo and so darn cute with that baby belly, that it makes me miss mine. well, i still have a bit of leftover pudge from being pregnant but that’s not the same. haha!

i may say this a thousand times but i love hanging out with this mama. she’s a sweetheart, we have so much in common {from similar timelines of life or to our disposition on many subjects} and we truly enjoy each other’s company. brady and olive play together so well and brooklyn is currently obsessed with ellie…it was too darn cute to watch her ‘dote’ on her as ellie cried about brooklyn’s overly affectionate ways. plus, i found out a cute fact: ever since brady had met ellie when she was a newborn {maybe a week old?}, he’s called every baby he’s seen since, ellie. how freakin’ cute is that?!

after many hours of us chatting, the time had come for us to leave. ellie needed a nap and we didn’t want to be in the thick of rush hour traffic. so, we said our goodbyes – my favorite part because it’s so darn cute to watch brady and olive kiss and hug their farewells!

hopefully we can meet up with kim before she has another bundle of joy {due in july!}! cheers to great friends!

[the cutest friends!]

[brooklyn is obsessed with babies]

[cutest sequence of pics]

[my sweet friend]

[hugs and kisses goodbye]

xoxo

play time!

Posted on January 9, 2017 by tandem in love

i love getting together with kim!

it’s always fun to get the kids together and visit with kim. this time around, she and the kids came out to our place. we were so excited to have them over. brady and brooklyn were so cute with ellie…they were loving the baby!

they were running behind, so i decided to dress up olive and snap some fun pics but while we were finishing up – they arrived! i knew i should have gotten ready before i took pics of olive. i kept thinking to myself, get dressed and freshen up before i started the whole pic thing with olive but instead i just went for it, thinking i had time to change. nope…in comes kim and the kids and there i was feeling sloppy. hahaha! c’est la vie!

the kids played, had fun, doted on ellie while kim and i caught up with life. they were having a blast and it was soooooo cute to watch brady and olive together. i was so surprised how receptive olive was to brady. the past few playdates, olive was overwhelmed by brady’s affection and energy. she didn’t know what to do with him, so she would just stare at him from afar. but this time around, she was super excited to see him! while i was dressing olive, i told her brady was here and she excitedly went out to say hi to him and they immediately started playing together. oh so sweet.

we then had lunch and served desserts. the kids had a blast eating their cookies and what not. i can’t tell you how cute it is to watch them! they were all being so darn adorable and sweet! after a few hours of playtime, it was time for them to go. we had such a great time together…kim and i are such mamas! we love spending time with our kids and we love spending time together with our kids! we do agree we need a night out with just us gals – wine and uninterrupted conversations!

i am sure the next time we get together, it will be with the kids but one day we will squeeze in that girl time, one day soon!

[beautiful brooklyn]

[the chaos surrounding ellie]

[sisters…she loves her so]

[they all wanted to entertain ellie]

[beautiful ladies]

[lunch time]

[dessert time!]

[studying her dessert]

[hugs and kisses goodbye]

xoxo

oh kids

Posted on September 13, 2016 by tandem in love

last time kim and i met up, it was at the zoo, and it was a bit of a debacle. well, we decided this time around to head on up to kim’s abode to chill.

i made a few wrong turns driving up there {helloooo, so silly}, and it took freakin’ 20 more minutes to get to her house than it should have but alas, we made it. olive fell asleep five minutes before we got there but i was surprised she pleasantly woke up and willingly came inside the house. of course ellie was out! she was on a sleeping marathon.

once inside, i see the little people play set and knew olive would only play with that the entire time! and i was right. she did. brady was being energetic and it overwhelmed olive. awwww, poor girl. she kept staring at brady like he was entertainment and she was super intrigued. brooklyn was napping but when she woke up, she was just super cute {as usual} and minded her own business. these two kids are so stinkin’ cute and they seriously are twinsies! they soooo look like one another…so handsome and beautiful!

well, the kids played and kim and i became engrossed in our conversations…we eventually had lunch and continued on with our play date in fun fashion. i love hanging out there, it’s fun, relaxing, and always a great time. it’s always a hit or miss with these toddlers. near the end of our visit, olive became possessive over the little people toys and didn’t want brooklyn to play with them. oh my goodness…it’s so hard to get toddlers to understand that they need to share…it’s so hard to get toddlers to understand a lot! olive kept crying and i tried telling her that they were not her toys and that brooklyn was letting her play with them. tears and meltdowns ensued. ugh.

it was finally time to leave {without a few meltdowns, ellie waking up right when i was about to walk out the door, the dog barking like crazy, and kim’s brother in laws popping in right then} and after a few glitches, we finally got out the door and headed on our way home.

we had a really great time…the hiccups and craziness make it all the more fun being moms of two kiddos each. i still can’t believe our personal journeys have been so parallel and i am so fortunate kim has become such a great friend to me. love this girl! well, until next time…i always look forward to our play dates!

[yes, quite the odd pic…brady and olive were playing ‘doctor’. hahaha!]

[she’s such a doll]

[yummy caesar salad for lunch]

[she was content playing by herself…eep!]

[i was seriously stupid taking this selfie. i couldn’t look at the camera…hahaha!]

xoxo

lunch time date

Posted on September 9, 2016 by tandem in love

it had been forever since i last saw jodi. there were a few times we tried to get together but those dates fell through but not this time!

we started our morning in the backyard on the play set. olive wasn’t so keen with jett yet but then again, she’s kind of like that overall. she likes to observe first and then interact. it only took ten minutes or so for her to finally play with jett! they both started on the swings but jett and olive wanted to play kick, so that is when they starting to talk and play! woo hoo! after that, they were non-stop and it was so stinkin’ cute.

after a half hour or so, we headed inside. jodi and i talked, caught up, and the kids played and baby ellie slept and slept and slept! she was tired! i prepared lunch for the kids and then had lunch delivered for me and jodi. unfortunately, our fridge recently broke and i couldn’t store any food in the house for our get together, i had potbelly deliver their tasty sandwiches, chips, and cookies! yum!

the kids tore up all the toys and had such a blast playing in olive’s room. they were jumping on the bed like monkeys and being so darn cute with one another. it was so sweet to watch. jett is a sweetie and olive was having fun with him! i wanted to take a million pictures of their cuteness together!

after a few hours, it was encroaching on nap time for everyone, so we gave hugs and kisses and said our goodbyes. jett gave olive a sweet little kiss and her look was priceless. you’ll have to scroll down to see the capture. it’s hilarious. jett is so happy and proud of himself and olive is like, whatevs. haha!

anyhoo, it was awesome to see all of them! we were just missing matt! love that hubby of jodi too! we had such a great time hanging out {i just needed to chillax and let the kids be messy…ugh, my ocd is terrible}. i hope that it’s not too long before we see them all again! love this family!