Valentine's

We had such a great Valentine's weekend. We switched off babysitting with our friends, the Gowdy's, and took each other's kids for the night. Jessica had the idea of doing that for her husband for Christmas and I thought it would be the perfect gift for Scott as well. We had been looking forward to our entire night alone for weeks! We realized that we haven't left the girls overnight since they were born so that means it had been 2 1/2 years since Scott and I were completely away and alone together for that long. With baby #3 on the way soon we had to take advantage of this little window of time before I begin all the newborn/nursing etc.

Friday morning we dropped the girls off at Jessica's and headed to the West Side market in Cleveland. It was a fun experience to walk around and see all the different vendors from meat to pastries to falafel. We decided to try a little of lots of things so by the end we had gotten an empanada and enchilada, falafel, a ham and gouda cheese crepe, 2 packs of blackberries, a chocolate covered strawberry, and a gigantic apple fritter (Scott's favorite!). It was definitely fun. There was a little area you could sit up above the market and watch it so we sat and ate and enjoyed having each other's full attention. It is inside this historic building and was a fun experience. Our camera is still broken so still none of our own pictures! We even tried to get it fixed or get a new card for our old one before we left, but neither option worked out!

After the market we went to the Art Museum but it turned out that the majority of it was closed for construction. There were only a few exhibits open because they are doing some major renovations, but we still enjoyed walking around and just being together. We stayed at a hotel downtown and went and relaxed for a few minutes before our show that night. We went to Lord of the Dance at the Palace Theater and it was such a treat. It brought back a flood of memories from my Irish dancing days, and it was so fun to see. All day it felt like Scott and I had stepped back in time 5 years to our BYU dating days with folk dance, museums, going out to eat anytime without kids etc. The palace theater is a beautiful old theater in Playhouse Square. We loved it. We headed to the Star Restaurant next to the theater for dinner after the show. It is one of those restaurants that is fancy enough you wouldn't normally try, but we enjoyed it. Have you all heard of restaurant.com? You can get $25 gift certificates to various restaurants with online codes for only a few dollars. Anyway, we had such a fun day together and it was a welcome treat to be alone with Scott and out doing something fun together. There is no one I'd rather spend my time with! Thanks so much Jessica and John!!

The next morning the girls came home and we took Ellie and Cade for that day and night so John and Jessica could have their night out. The kids all had fun together and the girls thought it was exciting to have their first real sleepovers! We went to the library, ate pizza, and rented some princess movies (picked by Ellie and the twins of course) Cade was a good sport! Scott kept saying, "Cade is my kind of guy. He's so chill you know?" I think he is very excited for a little boy, and hopefully one that won't add to all the girl drama at our house! We took all four kids to sacrament meeting in the morning and I have to say that I felt pretty good about getting everyone up, dressed, and out the door on time! Though we were all a bit exhausted by the end of the meeting, it was a success. We had fun hanging out with the Gowdy kids and are grateful that we were all able to enjoy some couple time as well.

The girls were spoiled with Valentine's this year as they got packages and cards from lots of their family. They get so so excited when something comes in the mail. They jump up and down and scream excitedly until we open up the package to find what surprise has come for them! They were really into Valentines day because they truly love anything that has to do with PINK (especially Bella), hearts or anything else girly. Dad gave them each a pink rose and they are still telling everyone we see about it. They are really into the whole concept of princesses and princes lately, so all day long we talk about when "the prince" (dad) will be home and how they want to put on their dresses and dance with him. Dad has to sing the "Once Upon a Dream" song from Sleeping Beauty while he dances with them. It is definitley cute.

It has been a bit of a long week because the girls have been sick. They have had fevers and coughs and runny noses and aren't very happy! They have literally been laying on the couch for days and all they want to do is watch movies. They are up every few minutes coughing in the night so they are totally exhausted as well. I'm going a little stir crazy in this house and am hoping they will get over this soon! It has been long enough!

Scott is taking his Pediatric exam today and then he begins a new internal medicine rotation on monday. I'm starting to feel anxious about the baby coming soon so I think I've hit that whole nesting stage and am trying to clean and organize our house and everything else. After a couple day reprieve from snow and freezing temperatures last week we are back to the cold. If we can just hang on a few more months this winter will pass right?