Valentine's Galore

Zach really spoiled me this year and wanted to get me a sewing machine AND a kitchen aid before Valentine's even rolled around. So we ordered the kitchen aid through Bed Bath - I got a killer deal with a gift card and 20% off so I basically saved over $100! Then he let me go to Walmart to pick out a sewing machine (some things I just shouldn't do alone...) and hemmed and hawed over which one for a good time and asked him how much he'd rather I spend - he said "It's up to you." Sooooo I got the best one available not sure if I should have splurged when I'm such a beginner and didn't know exactly how much I would get into this. But now that I've used it a few times, I'm soooo glad I did! I love it so much, it's such a good machine and makes sewing quick and fun! So much of it is automated that it makes you feel like anyone can sew! It even ties it's own knots - such a time saver! 

So what did I do with my new sewing machine??? I dragged everyone to SLC to my sister's new pad in the semi-ghetto (haha) and locked us away in the spare room so learn what I could from her! 

She even made us a delicious roast dinner so we didn't have to sew/teach/learn on empty stomachs :) 

Kris is the best, just like my mom, super patient and willing to help. I am not much for manuals, always prefer to be shown first hand, I'm such a visual learner. It really was so exciting just to sew my first baby headband for Georgia:

Thanks Zach for the gifts and thanks Kris for getting me started! 

Valentine's morning started off as a hoot:

Georgia was being extra silly and running around with Daddy's tie he got for Christmas from my parents in Taiwan tied around her and fake laughing for us and clapping her hands. Such a stinker.

Then I spent the next two hours baking a few DOZEN chocolate donuts with my new donut pans:

That actually turned out to be a huge BUST :( and not what I wanted them to taste like... I'll have to play with the recipes until I find what I want. But I glazed them up pretty in pink:

While my little Valentine helper ran around my legs after a good morning nap:

She was soooo happy!! Running around and melting my soul:

Ugh, her little bum and leggies just make me want to eat her! 

Girlfriend figured out how to lockout my oven so it can't be used... didn't even know that was a feature. 

I guess I was feeling extra lovey and generous this morning because I just up and handed her a donut, no bib, or high chair, and let her run rampid through the halls for a bit... if I even came near her donut after that, she would wave it away quick and grunt at me. Hilarious. I finally sat her down on the floor so she could eat and I just loved all her crazy faces. This is what chocolate does to us:

She was such a happy girl!! She looks SO much like Zach here... there was just no part of me in there that day. Love her so much.

Zach loved this picture so much that I had it printed for the cover of the DVD I made for him for Valentine's day.... yes I am oddly way more romantic than Zach is when it comes to Valentine's Day and no matter how much I say I'm just gonna take it easy this year, I can't help but get excited and mushy and gushy with something heartfelt! This year Zach threw out mutliple versions of "Babe, I made reservations for In N Out, k?" and I STILL decided to make a little movie of our life together starting with when we met all the way till now, complete with pictures, video clips, and music set to the background. I spent way too much time after hours, even bringing on a nasty cold from not enough sleep, putting it together but I really love the way it turned out! Here's the link in case you want a peek at the last 5+ years of our life: 

https://vimeo.com/86535170

Zach hates that I can't stop gushing about this moment, but Valentine's 2013 officially became one of my top favorite moments in life...For those of you who know Zach, you know that he's not a mushy guy... I've only ever seen him teary eyed maybe twice in my life and never real tears. He is just a fun loving and strong guy I guess! It would take a real tragedy to move him. So even though I loved this movie so so much and it moved me every time I watched it for editing, I didn't know how Zach would react. I couldn't wait to show him, but truth be told, I didn't know if he would be thrilled, touched, bored, or just serve me up a "that was nice babe.." I was totally shocked to find him choked up and teary at the very end, not able to say much except a hoarse "I love you so much, thank you." And I had nothing to say back, totally choking over myself, it pretty much turned to choking awkward hugging nervous laughter. So we quickly shook it off and got on with our night!! And Zach asked me every 15 minutes who all I was spilling to about his gushy moment and whyyyyy. 

But here's the thing. I'm not doing it to brag. I don't care so much that I got tears out of him and have to tell the world about it. I can't stop beaming about it because I truthfully loved that moment. It's forever special to me and it made me so happy that he felt the same joy as me when watching our life together in playback. It made me so happy that the person I love and share this amazing life with and am sealed to for eternity validated the same love for me and our life. It's not about the tears babe, it's about what that moment means. But for everyone else out there (and don't panic, I have few readers who care about the daily happenings of this blog): HE CRIED!!!! Haha just kidding ;)

Ok I'm done, moving on... or rewinding a tad...

I finally put this stinker in a high chair and grabbed a shot of the chocolate crumby aftermath, complete with crumbs in her eyelashes though you can't see it:

After cleaning up, I got around to hair & make up while she rummaged around our room pulling out the soy sauce dishes my mom gave us for Christmas (just pulling out the Taiwan gifts today I guess) and spent a good chunk of time stacking and unstacking them. Hilarious to me because I'd been trying to find her some good stacking toys to play with when she showed an interest in a friend's set and couldn't find any, but it looks like she found her own!! 

Zach came home early that afternoon from work so after the movie, we had some time to play with Georgia and spend together. Our dinner reservation wasn't until 8:15 so Georgia was in bed by the time I brought the babysitter over. Leaving for our date: 

Nothing special by any means but I realized we don't have any pictures of previous Valentine's or special occasions so I made sure to get one this year. 

Again, I didn't know where we were going and Zach kept the In N Out jokes coming until we pulled into the parking lot of Christopher's Steakhouse! I was THRILLED. He had been listening when I complained about major steak cravings with this pregnancy. We probably hadn't been to a nice steak dinner since our Anniversary a couple years ago before we had even gotten pregnant with Georgia. 

Thank you Love for treating me to such a nice dinner!!!

It was the perfect gift: feed my pregnant body to complete satisfaction!!

They had a special Valentine salad that I ordered - strawberries, grapes, candied pecans in a creamy poppy seed dressing that was pure perfection. We shared some creamy Parmesan potatoes and he really spoiled me by letting me order a huge bone-in ribeye - I love the flavorful steaks the best as opposed to Zach who always opts for a filet mignon. 

My steak was literally 3 times the size of his!! But I gladly shared with him until we were both stuffed :) 

Aside from our waitress being extremely robotic and not looking comfortable in her own shoes, it was a perfect evening. We didn't even leave room for dessert, just headed home and talked about possible baby boy names in which we determined that I don't like actual names for babies - I somehow prefer places, things, colors, or other...weird I know. So Zach spent the entire drive home yelling out different words on any billboard or sign we passed trying to make a name out of it for me. Ridiculous. He makes me laugh. We took the babysitter home quite early and spent the rest of the night quietly snuggling and spending time together. Hands down, one of my most favorite special occasions to date. I love my Valentine! 

By Sunday, I hadn't had my fill of Valentine treats and goodies (and was still left feeling so disappointed with my chocolate donuts flop) so I invited politely pushed Krissy & Matt to come over and have dinner with us and make sugar cookies with my new kitchen aid. Krissy had done so much for me, bringing me lunch when I was sick, making dinner for us, always being so thoughtful. So they willingly obliged with the promise of good old fashioned Valentine sugar cookies! 

Don't let this sneaky little asian fool you... she is RIDICULOUSLY SLOW and kind of a control freak. The slowest person I have ever known. Follows directions and recipes to a T, no, to a FAULT. I could do it all in half the time, but then, it wouldn't be made with so much love, and half my shortcuts result in total failure. So while she took 7,000 years to do each step, I set out to fashion my own heart shaped cookie cutters but I realized something: I do not own cookie cutters.period.

Seriously people, I was not a homemaker until this last year of my life!! I did not ever spend 45 minutes frosting each Valentine heart to perfection: 

Because I never bothered to make them. But even now, I would not spend such a ridiculous amount of time frosting a cookie that would only be shoved into my mouth in a matter of days. Krissy. You have OCD issues. They were really beautiful: 

And I loved making them with you:

But you seriously have OCD issues. MOM. :) Love you much, xoxo, thanks for making my Valentine's weekend so much sweeter! Sisters are forever. 

Ps. I saw that you took two baggies home: 3 for Matt and 4 for yourself. Nice. You did that last time too. Matt, you are too good for her :) she doesn't appreciate you enough to give you equal amounts of sugar. But maybe that's because you buy $500 snakes on facebook for your reptile repertoire. 

This is the face of a reptile addict. 

Happy Valentine's y'all!! That's a wrap.

Georgie's One Year Pictures

My good friend Amanda, who I love so much and often makes me feel as though we are carved from the same soul, took these beautiful pictures of my Georgia bean a few weeks after she turned one. This shoot was particularly difficult because G was crankier than usual due to a fever that was coming on. Poor girl worked through it and Amanda was able to capture so much of her beauty. 

Playing with Momma's sunnies, look at that chunky chin :)

 Playing on my kitchen table:

 Holding my hand around the house - these were taken a few days before she started walking! 

  

 She seriously melts my heart with her little face.

 Notice the kid's table before I refinished it :) 

I love this perfect silly babe of mine! And thank you Amanda for taking such beautiful shots despite the circumstances. I'm so lucky to be Georgia's mama! 

Toddler Trouble

What my life looks like with a toddler:

That's my make up bag. Most days, spilled out all over the floor. 

My kitchen cabinets... I find things in all the wrong places! Little puzzle pieces in the shelves of my refrigerator door & measuring cups all over the floor.

She loves to take the tupperware lids out and step on them so they stick to her feet and when she walks around... it never ends. And most of the time, I just laugh at whatever contraption she comes up with that gives her so much joy for the following 15 minutes.

Today, it was stepping in a small cardboard box and trying to walk. And stepping on my sewing measure tape so it sticks to the bottom of her feet... it cracked her up to walk around with it stuck to her. So random, it makes me laugh! When she's not getting into every cupboard she can open, she's running through the house like someone is chasing her:

Love this face:

 Such a happy girl:

 She's getting so fast!! This face makes me laugh (eyebrows Kell):

 This day was particularly cold and ugly outside so I dressed her up yellow to add some personal sunshine to my soul. Oh how I'm missing that CA sunshine these days...

Some sooooometimes when I actually want to get something done, we do this:

Yes, I will admit, Disney Junior saves my life on quite a regular basis. It's hard to come up with new things to do INSIDE with this bitter cold weather! But don't worry, we get our exercise... walking downstairs to watch shows in the basement haha.

Pathetic, I know - go ahead and judge me, but soon I'll have 2 babies under two and then who knows what kind of mom fails will be on this blog... as Zach comforted me: just do what you gotta do! It's all gonna be ok! :) 

I love this crazy toddler of mine so much, no matter HOW exhausting she is!! Most days, I can barely walk to the bedroom at night my legs are so tired, but I guess half of that accounts to the growing gremlin inside me... I keep wanting to fast forward time until I don't have to be pregnant anymore, but really, I guess I should prepare for how tired I will be AFTER this baby comes! Yikes. Wish me luck...

Just Lately...

In the last couple of weeks, we've had time to visit Zach at work (crazy bed hair an all!)...

Play with his "work toys":

Taste them:

Love these two!

It was such a long day, she even crashed on the way home - she never does that! 

I hit 25 weeks and officially said goodbye to the last of my non-maternity clothes :( no more squeezing in without ruining them later... 

Thankfully, a good friend lent me a bag of cute maternity clothes to hold me over! I've been so fortunate to always have handmedowns because maternity clothes are expensive! And what seem to me like a waste of money... 

I've also entered the stage of "nesting". Something I never had the chance to experience with Georgia as we were in temporary housing when she was born. In this case, nesting means spending money on a crap load of Target and Ikea organization goods and apparently mint is mandatory as well. No one can beat their prices!! 

I really did get so excited to finally organize all the paperwork and keepsakes from Georgia's pregnancy & birth that had been sitting around in piles for the last year! As well as get squared away for all the new baby's paperwork and even our household bills & receipts were all filed neatly away into the cutest file folders ever! I never thought I'd see the day when I would get organized... thank you Pinterest! Found this awesome pin that inspired me, down to the very file folders: http://www.unoriginalmom.com/best-baby-shower-gift-ever/

I also kept on my "pregnancy diet".... ugh I really just don't hold back. Ever. We waited in this ridiculously long line for the infamous Waffle Love food truck in the crazy freezing cold weather only to get to front of the line and find out they had RUN OUT of dough. Uuuuuugh. No waffles & biscoff for me. 

But it's ok because we hit up Sweet Toothfairy to satisfy our need for sweets where I ended up with chocolate cookie ice cream allllll down the front of my belly. Classt. Then we went to Waffle Love the next week at TEN AM when it opened, in even more freezing cold weather. But I didn't even care because it was AMAZING!! Here is my crystal sugar encrusted waffle with Biscoff cookie cream smothered on it and loaded with strawberries and a mound of whip cream:

I love that they don't skimp at all! It was covered in berried and whip cream. No need to spread and portion!

This lady has started feeding herself: 

And has endless adorable handmedowns from her Auntie Kell Bell, complete with matching tights:

She actually barfed all down the front of this and smelt SO bad the entire 3 hours of church that Zach was asking to take her home for an outfit change, but she looked so dang cute, we just left her stinky!! Everyone wanted to know where they could get this cute outfit but sadly, it's no longer on the market. Thanks again Target & Kell!

We picked a sunny day to meet up with friends at the park but again, it was relentlessly COLD! No snow but bone dry and COLD! So I bundled her up in the warmest outfit I could find: 

Her faux fur P coat from Nana!! She belongs in the streets of New York with this outfit people!! 

It was hilarious and adorable at the same time. She looked like a mini grown up in the huge coat with little legs sticking out. Seriously cracked me up especially being a new walker and stumbling around in those cowgirl boots. 

Charlie, Georgie, and a random photobomber:

I forgot how much she loves the swings!! 

It is such a shame I am a wusse and have no idea how long it will be before I can brave the cold again...

Seriously, a million smiles just like this even though her hands were icicles: 

Made me so happy!!

This park is awesome. It has several separate playgrounds within it, two sets of swings, and even this weird outdoor game center where you can play games with friends, touch the lights, and dance to music! She loved it.

Daddy left us for a long work trip - FOUR days!! He never travels that long. It was just us two:

 This face: 

After we finished FaceTiming ignoring daddy... ah my little ginger :) 

Eventally, Daddy came home and resumed saving my life. I can't imagine what life without him would be like!! We tried to find fun things to do... Scheels.... 

 (any new ideas are welcome)

And despite some pretty consistent two naps a day, she still woke up like this:

Crazy bed hair and extremely grumpy!!

Haha I can't resist smiling at it either...

She looks like such a little boy....

Nothing a quick play date can't solve:

Our friends have the coolest toys!! Ours always pale in comparison... she cried when I had to drag her out.

 Socks. Zach's socks. 

They are overtaking my house. They can be found everywhere! But mostly in front of the sofa and by the bed. He may be a life saver but he definitely leaves a messy trail. :)

We had more time for baking and experimenting: 

Lemon tarts! They were amazing :)

Made this delish and easy peasy fajitas dinner for the first time and loved it so much, it might become a regular!

We are filling our home with warmth and yummy food and silly nights together... Georgia is cracking us up on a daily basis now, learning new tricks and providing us endless entertainment now that she is up, walking, and always on the go! But we sure miss sunny CA, beach days in January, and family & friends back home. Sure wish May would come a little faster...