somber day

it started out as just an olive and me day. we got up together, as usual, well actually i get up before olive does so i am ready to go. she ate, we played, she napped, and i cleaned, blogged, and organized our home. after her nap, i got her dressed and we were about to head out when hc had called me. i missed his phone call and called him back to some startling news.

hc used to work for a company called arrowstream for five years and still has friends who work for the company. the ceo of the company was shot by an employee that morning and the employee then committed suicide. such a crazy, sad incident. hc knew the shooter and of course, the ceo. i have met them both and we are both shocked at what has happened.

hc was on his way home. for a bit, we chilled and talked about what had happened. it’s disturbing, you never ever think something so close to home could happen like this. there is a lot of disbelief and confusion. my heart goes out to both their families.

after we spent some time absorbing what had happened, we decided to head out to enjoy the day. enjoy our life, because a grave moment like this really grounds you and you slow down to really appreciate what is around you.

we stopped in downtown downers grove for a late lunch. we spent a lovely time eating alfresco and all the servers and patrons doted on olive. she is such a cutie! after lunch, we strolled around the streets and hit some shops to pick up some things we needed.

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[olive staring at some people coming in]

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[summer skin]

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[cheers!]

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[cheers!]

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[this vegetable boxty kicked my ass]

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[me and my babes]

we did some more errands and then headed back home to relax. hc did some remodeling duties and olive and i played together. the night rolled by, we did a lot of reflecting, we talked a lot about stuff {our life, our relationship, our commitments}, and we cherished the time we get to spend together as a family.

xoxo

cruise night

hc and i were able to check off one of our summer activities: looking at classic cars on a cruise night. it was a wonderful, warm, summer day. earlier in the morning, we had a great brunch with friends and later that evening, we wanted to do something summer fun!

we looked up several options available and decided to check out the lombard cruise night {we definitely want to check out other town’s cruise nights, we have all summer!}. right when we got there, it started to rain…hard. we sat in the car {watching 007} until the rain stopped.

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we got out and started walking towards all the classic cars. we cruised up and down the street and ogled all the fun vehicles. lombard’s cruise night was much smaller than we thought! we’ve done cruise nights at other towns before, so this one was tiny to us.

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there were a few cars that hc really liked. unfortunately, i don’t remember the names of any of them {haha} 😉 i only took pictures of them 🙂 so, go ahead and figure them out!

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[i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream]

after we checked out all the cars, i insisted on ice cream! you can’t go to a cruise night {or any outdoor summer activity} and not get ice cream to eat outside! there was a band playing by the ice cream shop, so we bought our ice cream cones, sat on a ledge, conversed with each other, and listened to the live music.

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bonus part? olive was suppose to go with us but my parent’s insisted on watching her so we kinda had an impromptu date night {even though it was just a few short hours!}.

we really enjoyed ourselves and can’t wait to check more fun stuff off our summer list! oh, warm weather…please stay awhile!

xoxo

little things

with life being so hectic, sometimes you forget to slow down {well, at least i don’t slow down very well} and revel in the moment.

hc and i were running around doing a lot of stuff during the day, as usual. life has been very chaotic for us since before our move. well, hectic ever since olive was born. we are constantly on the go, or working on a project, or trading time with olive so one or the other can get stuff done. if we are together, olive is usually in my arms or hc’s arms. we are always paying attention to the babes or trying, for a short moment, to relax when we get the few minutes to be able to.

it was one of those days where we were constantly on the go. life was just flying by. as we were driving home from being out and about all day, hc and i sat in silence. we were a bit exhausted but happy. it was a great day with family {although we felt like we were driving to all ends of the earth} and we were excited to be on our way home. nothing feels better than being home sweet home, right?

well, hc reached over, in the car, and grabbed my hand and held tightly onto it. it made me realize…wow, it’s been awhile since we have held hands! omg. what? yes, awhile! every time we are out, we are pushing a stroller or one of us is holding olive. we use to hold hands all the time before she was born. nowadays, our hands are holding onto something of olive’s.

this little act made me very happy. it made me realize to not forget the little things in our marriage. to always foster our relationship and take time out to care and love each other because that is the foundation of this family.

i need to remember to slow down and revel in small, special occasions like this. i should pause and give a hug because life is too short. i must stop and tell him how much i love and appreciate him. this little gesture from him made me fall in love with him again. how simple and small an act can be to remind you how fortunate we are and how special this person is in my life.

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i love you to bits hubby charming. thank you so much for being the best husband ever and for always making me a better person with all your kind acts.

xoxo

flashback friday

today takes us back to 2009. on this evening, we met up with a few of hc’s friends in algonquin. they were going to midnight wake surf on the fox river. it was a bright, full moon; enough light to be able to wake surf the calm, quiet water.

it was a chilly night and i always think that hc is crazy for not blinking an eye and getting in that frigid, cold water! ugh. so not me! since it was midnight, it was so serene being out on the river {very quiet}. we went back and forth in the boat riding the river while each person took their turn surfing the wake. it was pretty cool. as close as you can get to surfing in the midwest!

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[go cubs go]

midnight wake surfing was definitely a night to remember. it is something that doesn’t happen often for us, so it was quite a fun memory!

happy friday y’all!

xoxo

our best day ever on refinery29

i am so excited to have our wedding featured on refinery29!

almost three years later and it’s pretty awesome to have our wedding still talked about. it was, seriously, the best day ever. without that wonderful, euphoric, romantic, amazing, whimsical, lively, dynamic, exciting day…there wouldn’t have been the next best day ever…giving birth to miss olive!

our wedding was like a dream come true. so cliche right?! but it was. everything was perfect. celebrating our union with our friends and family was a recipe for unparalleled goodness. hc and i had the best time reveling in the love and joy of our guests…how could it not be fabulous when everyone is celebrating, eating, and drinking? best combos ever.

from our rehearsal, to our rehearsal dinner, to the wedding day, the sunday brunch, and then onto an alfresco dinner at my parent’s with our family’s out of town guest, it was a whirlwind of delight. the next morning we sped off on our honeymoon floating on cloud nine, full of happiness.

via tandeminlove.com[photo by kate headley // bouquet by justanns]

i am always so thankful to everyone who helped make our day so magical, from our amazing, prompt, creative vendors to our friends and family who helped make this moment so special. i am forever grateful because i will always claim this day to be the best day ever!

xoxo

oh em gee! we are homeowners!

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!

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[a very proud pic of us at our new house! thanks jane for taking the photo!]

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[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!

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[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.

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[‘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!

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[the last night at our place in chicago before we moved out on saturday]

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[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.

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[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. 

flashback friday

 on a friday several years ago, 9.9.11 to be exact, hc and i started our celebratory wedding weekend with our friends and family!

it was a start of, still hands down, the best weekend of our lives!

i absolutely love this photo of us at our rehearsal dinner. we were having the best time and we were looking forward to the next day…getting hitched in style {best day ever!}!

i am still thankful and grateful to dick and jane for hosting this memorable, wonderful event! they are the best in laws anyone could ever ask for!

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with that fun walk down memory lane, happy friday and good friday everyone!!!

xoxo

secret world

“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.”

Frances Ha

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[photo by jen huang]

xoxo

birthing story

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!

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[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!

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[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!

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[in the delivery room]

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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!

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[a few hours new]

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[grandma jane, grandpa dick, and sister grace]

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[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.

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[auntie kim and the precious bundle]

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[a favorite photo of the 15 hour old olive]

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[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!

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[jodi visited us on thanksgiving day!]

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[turkey dinner!]

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[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.

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[in daddy’s arms, waiting to leave]

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[not happy with the hat on her head!  but cute going home outfit from kim and thuy! // from baby gap]

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[the little nugget in her car seat!]

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[our feeding and dirty diaper board…we were so into it!  drawing by hc]

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[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!

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[the little babes is one week old in this photo…chubby cheeks]

xoxo

deck the halls

we decided to deck the halls a weekend earlier than usual because we weren’t sure when the babes would come {she kept us in suspense}!  little did we know we did the right thing!

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[coffee, quiche, fruit, and juice]

we started out the morning with hc’s homemade quiche!  so delish!  i’m so spoiled by him! it was a very relaxing morning.  we agreed to have a totally lazy day!

hc did all the leg work.  he brought up all the holiday decor from the storage room and we were ready to go right after brunch {actually right after our very long nap!}  ha!  i was tired! yes, even though i just woke up, i was still tired so a nap was in order…it was super comfy sleeping in the nook of hc’s arm.

so, finally, we got up and started on the decorating!  we blasted the christmas music to get ourselves into the festive mood!

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[a holiday must!]

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[unwrapping all the fun ornaments]

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[hc doing his best fluffing the garland…he wouldn’t let the preggo wifey do it]

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[ornaments housed in bird cake stands]

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[i love festive pillows!  it just adds a holiday pop to the room]

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[bar wear :)]

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[ooohhhh, pretty]

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[my hand made card holder from last year!]

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[my hand made snow globes, holly, and silver mercury votive holders]

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[ho ho ho, welcome in!]

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[i love fresh pine!]

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[tree topping!  uh, this year, i was in no condition to be carried or picked up by hc to put the star on the tree!]

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[oh, christmas tree!  how pretty!!!!]

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[the delicious meal hc whipped up after a hard day of decorating!  love him!]

i love decorating for the holidays!  it’s been a joy of mine since i was a child.  decking the halls so gets me in the festive mood!  it’s so pretty, fun, and brings back so many fond memories of holidays past.

i still have a bit of final touches to do but overall, i’m feeling the holiday spirit!

happy holidays everyone!

xoxo