Love is in the Air

Valentines Day...

I wanted to have a fun, special Valentines day so of course I turned to Pinterest for some ideas. The problem with that place is sometimes it can be overwhelming with so many ideas! I decided to do both a special breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast was heart-shaped french toast, strawberries, whipped cream and oj. I am not a huge breakfast maker...well, at least not at breakfast time. It's usually cold cereal before school (or the girls will make oatmeal for themselves).   I love to do breakfast for dinner, though, and we probably have it at least 4 times a month. I bought Valentines paper products from the dollar store and made these cute love birds at a craft night last month.

We had a fancy little dinner with steak, baked potatoes, asparagus, and chocolate dipped strawberries. Oh and we can't forget the bubbly...afterall, you can't have a fancy dinner without a little Martinelli's. I made cute owl Valentines for the kids complete with cheesy sayings...

For Ashlee...

For Brynlee...

For Landon...

And for Trevor...

Ashlee had just walked in the door from ballet when dinner was ready.  Pinkies up...

A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of her daughter licking her elbow.  Apparently, most people can't do it. (go ahead and try...I know you want to)  I was telling the kids about it so of course they all tried and couldn't.  Then Brynlee said, "I can't lick my elbow but I can lick my armpit!"  And yes, she showed us and yes, I got a picture...

I guess we know which one was paying attention at the Manners Tea earlier that day at school.

One thing I found on Pinterest was this idea of little gifts for the hubster. The idea was to do 14 days of Valentines but who thinks of those things 14 days before. Okay, so actually I did think of it but just didn't put that thinking into action (plus he was gone to Atlanta the week before so I would have really had to be sneaky and put them in his already overpacked suitcase)  I used a few of the ideas and put together a basket for him. Again, complete with cheesy sayings...

Rob got me some flowers and a frame with a picture of us from our trip to Hawaii five years ago. Sweet, simple, and thoughtful.

We can't forget about this little love bug.  She even knows how to "say" I love you...

When I was making dinner, the kids were in the other room sorting through their Valentines with Olivia on the floor by them. Every 30 seconds or so, Landon would yell out "Ellie rolled over!" He would roll her back onto her back and again I would hear "Ellie rolled over again!"  Evidently, she did it five times!  But by the time I came in with the camera, she was done performing.

She also likes the Bumbo.  Not a fan of the bouncy seat though.  She always tries to roll over when she is in it so she prefers the ground or the Bumbo.

Anyone else agree that besides the fact that she is the youngest, she will pretty much be getting anything she wants with those big, blue, puppy dog eyes...



Olivia - 4 months old

Olivia had her 4 month check up today and after checking her over, the doctor again confirmed she is perfect (he really does say that!) She weighs 15 lbs. 2 oz. and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is perfectly proportionate....about the 85th percentile for weight, height and head circumference.

She has rolled over 3 times...the first two times she was on the bed so I think it helped having a soft surface and another body (me the first time and Brynlee second time) that she rolled toward. Yesterday, I put her down on her back in the living room and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later Rob asked me if I had put her down on her tummy. Little sneaky girl!

She is a very happy baby and still smiles and squeals when you talk to her. She loves all the attention she gets...even from strangers in the store that tell her how cute she is.

I didn't get it on camera the first time it happened during this little photo shoot but unfortunately she's been doing it often...

Little stinker kept putting her hands in her mouth...

Ah, I'll just hang out here for a moment...

Yep, too cool.

She still does this quite often....

But also does this...

She even does a pinky/ring finger combo. Luckily, when the binky gets put in, she'll take that as well.

(p.s. she even sleeps through the night...yep, like 10-12 hours every night.  i. am. spoiled.)

Ashlee's 11th Birthday

Eleven years ago I became what I had always dreamed of being.  A mother.  My chubby-cheeked baby has grown into a beautiful 11 year old!

We celebrated on Wednesday since she had ballet on the night of her birthday. She chose to go to Texas Roadhouse for her birthday dinner. There were quite a few people in the restaurant celebrating birthdays as well and Ashlee said "I am NOT sitting on the saddle." So we mentioned to the waitress that it was her birthday and lo, and behold, at the end of our meal, they brought over the saddle with her ice cream. The waitress said "Come on, girl! Come get on the saddle." She very hesitantly got on it but was so cute and all smiles. Then when she got off she said, "THAT was EMBARRASSING!"