Day of Love

Sometimes I think that Valentine's Day is overrated. Why do we need a special day to celebrate the ones we love? Shouldn't we do that every day? But, regardless, I have found it to be a good excuse to do something fun and out of the ordinary.

Since we had already celebrated last weekend we opted for a yummy dinner and dessert at home on the actual holiday. I warmed up the last pizza we had from Chicago (hopefully we can get more soon!) and made an eclair cake for dessert. Mitch LOVED the dessert. I tried to pick something that he would like, and I was glad that he enjoyed it so much. I decided to decorate and busted out our pink tablecloth from Layla's 1st birthday party and set the table really nice, including the candy I had bought Mitch (Pepto Bismal mints and conversation hearts, two of his faves. I'm not sure what the Pepto Bismal mints are really called, I just know that's what they taste like. I think they're nasty, but he and my mom both love them.)

Of course my sweet hubby brought home some flowers — he bought me yellow tulips and a little flower/tree thing that is really pretty. He was extra sweet and even thought of Layla; she got a single, pink rose. She kept telling us to smell her flower, while making the most hilarious face by scrunching up her nose.  I wish I could have got a picture of it! Taking good pics with/of Layla (where she is actually looking a the camera, let alone smiling) is nearly impossible these days. But she's cute no matter what, right?

Layla and I spent a few minutes that day making Daddy a homemade Valentine.  Layla scribbled on colored the heart and thought it was super fun while she was doing it. She was so very excited to give it to Daddy when he got home. It was adorable to see her run to him and hand him the Valentine with a big smile on her face. She gets excited when Daddy comes home anyways; she always laughs and squeals and says, "Hi, Daddy!" but this time she was extra excited since she had something to give him. So cute.

Random side note: If you click on this picture and make it bigger, you can see the dimple in Layla's left cheek. It's becoming more noticeable lately, and it may be the only physical characteristic she got from my side of the family, besides being tall. My mom has 3 siblings, and 3 out of 4 of them have dimples. Of course, the tall gene and the dimple gene both skipped me, but maybe I passed them on to my kid ...

I feel so blessed to celebrate a day of love with my two Valentines! I told Mitch today that I feel like our home is a little sanctuary away from the world — no matter what's going on around me, and even on days when it seems like everything is going wrong, I know that I have a loving husband and daughter; a nice, warm home; and all the love I could ever need. And that is worth celebrating. Happy Valentine's Day!