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.