Forget just one day, when you have a heart as full as ours we celebrate a whole month of love!
Some people call Valentine's a "hallmark/sales day"...I say bahh humbug! I LOVE celebrating God's greatest gift of all, L-O-V-E.
So, here's a little peek into our month so far.
Valentine's Day 2017 / 2016
My baby is not a baby anymore. Ok, no tears in this post!
Valentine's 2015...what?!
We have plenty of pink to wear this month that's for sure!
My little sass-a-frass.
What better way to celebrate that with hugs...
...and kisses.
And when Maddie is around, always lots of giggles.
A little collage.
One morning I asked Maddie to smile for Mommy...the first picture. The second picture is what I got when I asked her to smile for Nana to make her feel better. Yep, I think that smile could be pretty good medicine for the soul.
Yes, sweet pea, I will be yours forever.
Our card from Maddie. She was very proud of it. We actually get multiple every day with hearts and our names on them. It is the highlight of our night. She comes home, runs to her backpack and digs out our goodies. She loves to go through each one individually to show them.
Opening up her Valentine's from her Abuelita and Abuelito. She loves a good treasure box!
Clearly.
And another from Nana and Papa...this girl loves to be loved!
For Valentine's, my two loves and I went to a little hidden gem in our neighborhood for dinner. We sat down immediately, but ended up waiting a while on our food. But I realized what Junior told us years ago..."a wait is always pleasant with good company" was oh so true. We think of Junior often and are grateful for his love and friendship. We met him in Iowa at our church there. He was such a mentor to us and I am grateful for his words of wisdom on what Christ-like love looks like.
February has been a roller coaster of weather. One day in the 90's, another in the 30's. Today was a cold one, but a good day to wear gloves!
Yes, genius idea, Maddie.
February also came with two little gifts, getting to visit Comanche...AAAAND....
coming home with SNOWFLAKE!
For those who know me well, you know I love this little girl to bring home a dog for her.
In Comanche, Saturday was one of those days in the 90's, so we took advantage.
Maddie give Papa a run for his money.
See Snowflake?!
These two...
A weekend at Nana and Papa's tends to do this afterward!
A girl and 3 dogs. Can you count them?!
Well, we got a new fence and bought out the tractor supply dog supply section, so we thought we were ready for our new little addition.
We then come home from work on Monday (mind you, less than 24 hours of having our very first dog) and Snowflake is GONE! What you say?!...yes, gone.
So, we spend the night searching and no luck. Poor baby, doesn't know her name yet and we only have a plain collar at that point, no ID. So we pretty much are sick with the idea that she is gone.
BUT, thank goodness for social media. I joined a lost and found group in Keller and by the time I was granted approval to the group I saw this on the top of the feed!
We were reunited!
Sooo, the next day we headed and got one of these...
We will work on the fence later, but for now we have her on a very long leash.
She seems to be adjusting.
One day I got home early and we played outside. We wore Snowflake out and then jumped on the trampline. Can you say static electricity?
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Randomness...
I have not been much of a reader, pretty much since college. I feel like any time I read it has been for school/rounds/presentations/work, you name it.
I have recently tried to change that. I still read for education/knowledge and don't tend to gravitate toward fiction, but I am trying to get out of my realm of comfort which now is pretty much only journal articles. I did finish a good book on Lyme, which was pretty technical, and am waiting for the second one to arrive today, but the other night when I could not sleep I read a book given to me by one of my favorite patients. It was the first time I had read an autobiography from someone I know personally. It was a good book, but even better when I realized the girl in the book was now someone I know.
She has heard me speak about adoption before and wanted me to have this. She was adopted herself; the book looks into a life changed by the gift of adoption.
My next venture. This was given to me by another patient. So far so good!
This was one of my New Year's resolutions, so far I am being faithful. Of all books to read and reread, this one takes priority.
I wake early, on the weekdays, I do work, and on most weekends. But, I also carve out a little time for the above.
Robert is in charge of the coffee on the weekdays, some weekends I return the favor. BUT, the best is waking early on a Saturday and realizing it is waiting on me!
Best Valentine ever.
As for my Valentine gift, I chose it myself, I think I did pretty good...
Volume 2 printed!
Speaking of another book I have already read. I guess it is another autobiography. :)
What you may ask did Robert get?? Well, not much on Valentine's day, other than good company and good food. BUT, he made up for it last night, he got an Apple I-watch. Well, we will call that an anniversary gift as well! He is so hard to buy for...he never wants anything but "a new gun"!
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As a parting aside, one of our best recent purchases was an alarm clock for Maddie! It turns green when it is ok for her to wake. Just the other day I recalled that Kaimi told me they got one for Will and it worked wonders. So we ordered it and she caught on within a day. She LOVES it...and so do we!
That girl is a rule-follower (Thank you Jesus for that one!)
No more waking a 5am. It's a win/win...no more irritable baby mid AM and Mommy gets some work done! I owe my sister big for this one!
But, I am not sure she will ever outgrow me going to bed with her. And I think I am ok with that. I did read an article the other about that very topic. And per the article atleast, it builds a sense of security. So the article has to be right, right?! That's what I'll tell myself to sleep at night.
But clearly, we don't have that issue!
Robert snapped this one night as he came to get me out of bed after putting her down. Clearly he used a flash and neither of us had a clue! I am just thankful this picture has Maddie's tummy showing and not mine! :)
Maddie loves to snuggle when we lay in bed. She just hugs and kisses on me, literally. You cannot get a hand between our faces as she loves on me. The night after Valentine's she was doing her usual and then she said,"Will you be my Valentine's?" I mean, really, my heart just about melted. I can hear her say it so clearly still. I pray to lock that moment in my heart for eternity.
I think that is a pretty good note to leave on.
Today is Saturday, we area headed to see Rapunzel tonight at Casa Manana! I'm sure I'll have pictures from that to show next time!
