Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We're having our third sick day in a row over here, a don't-leave-the-house, stay-in-pajamas, crackers-and-Ginger Ale, keep-the-puke-bowl-close, movie-marathon kind of day, although we seem to be on the mend. We got back from Mexico Monday night and I haven't gone outside since. We had coughs and runny noses while we were there, but luckily the stomach bug didn't hit until we got home. So after a lovely vacation in the sun, we're having a vacation from everything else in our little condo. We've watched Wreck It Ralph (twice), Peter Pan, Kung Fu Panda, Bolt, Horton Hears a Who, two episodes of Downton Abbey on DVR, I've redesigned my blog, made two Valentine's cards, did meal planning and grocery shopped online, picked up the living room, cleaned the kitchen, unpacked our suitcases… What else can I do?

Mexico was great, but there were a few things that would have made it even better: 1) I didn't find tortillas at the buffet until the second to last day. For being in Mexico, we didn't eat much Mexican food, and I could eat tacos breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 2) I didn't realize we had access to an espresso machine until the second to last day. I would have been latte-ing it up earlier if I'd known. 3) I wish I had brought the Ergo to carry John in. We were right up against a beautiful jungle that would have been fun to explore, but he's too heavy to carry. 4) I wish we had thought ahead and carried pocketfuls of dollar bills to tip the staff. The website said tips were included in our all-inclusive package, but I think the staff expected and deserved to be tipped. We got it sorted eventually.

Now that we're back I'm dreaming of home improvement projects. My first one will be to paint one of our small walls with chalkboard paint. I know that's old news by now, but I think it would be fun for Amelia (and Bryan) to draw and write on it, and it's a quick, easy project. I asked my dad if we could schedule a father/daughter home improvement date for sometime in the next few months. I want to get our baseboards installed and the kickboards beneath our kitchen cabinets and some painting done, and he knows how to do that stuff, what to buy, how to measure everything, etc. I'm hoping to be in a house in the next couple of years, but whether we sell or rent out our condo there are things that will need to be fixed up, so we might as well enjoy having it nice now rather than doing it all at the last minute.

Amelia lost her pacifier this week and has been going to naps and bedtime without it with no tears. I'm amazed. She has been addicted to that thing and now she seems like she might survive without it. She even said she was ready to send it to her cousin, baby Elliot. I'll be excited to be done with it. 

John is crawling and cruising like crazy. He can even stand on his own for a few seconds without falling over. He has four teeth, the two middle ones on the bottom and his two eye teeth on top. He looks like a baby vampire. He's started giving me big, wet open-mouthed kisses on my cheek. I'm smitten. 

Our first Valentine's Day, when we were engaged, I had told Bryan that I didn't want to do anything because it was a dumb Hallmark holiday, but when the day came around I was sad that we had no plans. The only thing we could think of that didn't require reservations was going out for Chinese food. That was our tradition for the last couple of years, but we're changing it up this time. We have a hot date lined up tonight: We're going shooting together at the gun range and then out to dinner at a tiny Latin American place in Lake City called Mojito that my friend Marissa recommended. It should be fun!

That's what's going on in our world. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!