Love Day

Richard is always so sweet on Valentine's Day. I hope that Taylor watches him and learns from him - and remembers, one of these days, that it doesn't take much to make your wife happy on Valentine's Day. Show her that you care about her, show her that you value her, show her that you love her. And however you choose to show her, as long as you convey the message, you've given her all she needs. 

I say that to say that this year was no exception. Instead of getting someone else to put together a floral arrangement, Richard went to the store and bought craft supplies, decorated a vase himself, bought a few calla lilies (because he knew they were my favorite from our wedding), and then went outside and picked a giant bunch of daffodils to fill out the rest of the vase. [The only thing that would've made it more perfect would have been if I'd been able to sneak a peek of him picking those daffodils. I don't know that there's a more perfect image to a woman than to think of her man going to pick her flowers - and in the cold, no less!]

So, yeah - I'm gushing. But he is really sweet.

More sweetness: During our Valentine's Day lunch today, Richard let me babble on about a million different things - and, believe me, I babbled. (So, Taylor, another tidbit to tuck away for future reference: Let her talk - and listen.)

For the second half of the day, I had a short list of things I wanted to accomplish:

(1) Take a photo of Taylor and Madelyn with their Valentine's Day balloons. (Yeah, I have a thing for balloons - but the photo was primarily for my grandmother, who had been so thoughtful to buy the balloons for them.)

* Result: For once, Taylor was happy to comply with my request for a photo. Hooray! (I'd started with "Now, I know you're not a fan of pictures..." but he'd interrupted me and said, much to my delight, "No, it's okay. It's Valentine's Day. You're supposed to be sweet on Valentine's Day.")

(2) Make a super-simple valentine for Richard from Taylor and Madelyn.

* Result: I really didn't think this one through. Of course, Taylor's handprint was a piece of cake, but I forgot that, when you put something slimy on a baby's hand, that baby is gonna want to squish it around and rub it onto the other hand - and onto anything else that is close by. So. We did Madelyn's handprint, and then she rubbed pink paint on her opposite hand - and, as I realized my mistake and ran with her to the kitchen sink, she managed to get it on her shirt, her pants, and her socks. Mom fail. Needless to say, the clothes went straight into the washer - we'll see soon enough if I got them there quickly enough! (Of course, Madelyn was tickled pink [no pun intended] that she got to shed her clothes for the rest of the evening.) 

All that being said, though, I still don't think there's a more precious valentine than a piece of paper with a couple of handprints on it - so - still worth it.

(3) Make pretty pink pancakes for dinner.

* Result: Well, although my plan was to make the easiest thing that I could for dinner without ignoring the fact that it was Valentine's Day, preparing it ended up being a much more tiring process than I'd expected (due to Madelyn's shrieks of anticipation). She was - to put it mildly - very, very impatient (to be more specific, she was clinging to my leg and wailing as I made the pancakes). Everyone did eventually get their fill, though, and they were pretty and pink, just as I'd hoped they would be. 

[I don't have a picture of the finished product - I was trying

to avoid a Madelyn meltdown! Isn't the batter pretty, though?]

Bonus: Taylor actually came up to me as I was about to take Madelyn to bed and said, "I feel like you just need a hug" - and gave me one. Really, that made my Valentine's Day. He's always so attentive to me when he can tell that I'm tired. 

In Madelyn's defense, though, heaven knows that I'm not the happiest camper when I'm hungry! I should know better than to expect anything other than shrieks when she's ready to eat. So, for the sake of sharing, here's a photo that I took this morning:

[She's always happy in the morning!]

So, this Valentine's Day, summed-up: full of simple and sweet little delights. 

And if you're reading this, I hope yours was full of those, too.