Red, White, Pink & Hearts

We have really been celebrating the Valentine's holiday approaching.  Not only have did we send out some valentine's to Kate's and Maya's Grandparents and cousins, we received yet another Valentine's package (this one from Gramma and Pop Pop), we made Valentine's cookies with Mimi and Papaw and, we hosted two cupcake decorating playdates - one on Saturday and one on Sunday!  That emoji with the heart eyes is us, literally.

A box full of Wockenfuss?!  Yes, please!!!

Yummy fruit slices!

Valentine cookies and Mim's and Pap's house!

Our first cupcake decorating was with one of Kate's good friends,
Sammy.

There was lots of sprinkle tasting!

And a little cupcake decorating!

And of course indulging!

And our second cupcake decorating was with another good friend,
Libby!

These two!

We've had lots of sweet treats and may or may not be sweeping up sprinkles for days!  We definitely enjoyed our extra time with these two favorite friends this Valentine's Day weekend, in addition to all the other Vday related things we received and did, and hope you enjoyed yours as well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Winter Woods

I wasn't sure if we were going to see snow this Winter.  Like, real snow, not just a dusting here and there.  We had gone all of November, December, and January without any real snow.  But today we got some, and there's even more in the forecast in a few days!

Since it was snowing, we thought it only fitting to watch Tinkerbell's Secret of the Wings movie, since it's all about finding Periwinkle in the Winter Woods, and enjoy the snow day!

Snow outside and snow on TV!  Yes, it's a snow day!

We played inside for a bit and then headed over to Walgreen's to pick up some photos for Kate's and Maya's Grands to include with the little Valentines's were sending.  Ever since the warm day we had at the beginning of the month, Kate has been super excited for Spring and for it to be warmer so she can wear dresses "without pants".  Her words.  As long as she is warm, I'm ok if she dresses herself in Spring dresses, and she looked absolutely adorable in her ensemble today.

Maya is nearly crawling...

She can easily get to where she wants to go.

And she loves Kate's stuff...

What a cutie!

Winter hat, penguin hoodie, spring dress, leggings,
snow boots, and a Tiana doll.  The only way I got her
to look at the camera was with this doll.  She is still
all about the princesses and she wanted to be sure I
remembered which one she DOES NOT yet have.

Part of the Valentine packages that we're sending
to all of the Grandparents.

It's been such a mild winter that it hardly feels like Spring is right around the corner.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but it's just been a really strange season.  It was wonderful to see some of the white stuff before it is officially Spring!

Pancake Breakfast

Brian's Aunt Judy is an incredible person.  She is so loving and caring.  She loves to laugh and crack jokes, she adores her grandnieces, and she is beautiful inside and out.  She is also deaf.  She was born unable to hear and has accustomed herself extremely well in an otherwise hearing world.  She can lip read like nobody's business, and she can communicate back to you easily.  I know that being deaf isn't easy, but, for the most part, Aunt Judy makes it seem like it is.

Brian's other Aunt, Aunt Kathy, is fluent in sign language and has always had a very big part in communicating with the deaf community.  She also taught at a deaf preschool for many, many years!  This past weekend, Aunt Kathy hosted a pancake breakfast for 15-20 people from the deaf community at her church and we were more than happy to attend.

It truly is incredible to be a part of such a wonderful group of people.  It's not everyday that you, as a hearing person, are the minority.  It's a real eye opener, and I enjoy the opportunity that it gives us to a.) meet wonderful new people, b.) support Aunt Judy and her friends, c.) introduce Kate to the differences that make us all unique, and d.) learn some of a new language.

Kate has been working on signing the 'I love you' sign and has finally got it down.  She was SO EXCITED to show Aunt Judy!

Aunt Judy and Maya!

Kate and Aunt Judy signing 'I love you' to each other!

Aunt Judy being her silly self with Kate.

We love you too, Aunt Judy!

Thank you, Aunt Kathy, for hosting such a wonderful breakfast, and thank you, Aunt Judy, for being the amazing person you are!  We love you both.

The Windows Are Open

Well, they were open, for about 3 hours today!  It's February 3rd...in central Ohio!  It was AMAZING!  The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, the temperature was around 60 degrees F and I opened all of the windows in the house.  Seriously.  All of them.  The fresh air was amazing and it smelled so good!  The thermostat didn't go below 65, and even though it was a tad brisk, the fresh air smell made it all worth it.

We took this wonderful weather opportunity and enjoyed some time outside snapping some photos, running around, and picking up dog poo from the yard.  Such a glamorous life, right?!  When Kate awoke from her nap, and was playing with her dolls on the couch she said, "Mommy, I'm so chilly in this house.".  In my defense, girlfriend only had a dress on, no leggings, and I even asked if she thought I should close the windows to which she replied, "No.".  Yes!  I get to keep them open just a little bit longer!

This weather isn't going to stick around.  It's going to get a lot closer to average tomorrow but we sure enjoyed it while it was here.  Spring is right around the corner!  We can almost taste it, and I imagine we are going to be spending a lot of time outdoors!

First up on the agenda: opening a little Valentine package that
we received from GG & Grampy!

Maya loved the red paper strips that the Valentine lovies were
packaged in!

So we played with them for a little bit too!

And tasted them!

Outside for some Valentine photos and Maya was
so intrigued with the mulch and Kate was way
more interested in running around.  I took a gazillion
photos and they all look like this.

So I opted for some individual shots!

I love her!

Oooohhh, mulch!  Yum!

This is the saddest face, but for some reason it
makes me smile.  She was all tears because I
wouldn't let her eat the mulch.  #mamassomean

Two seconds later she was back to being her
happy self and was looking for the right moment to
snag another bit of mulch.

But how adorable is she in her navy and red hearts
ensemble?  I mean, seriously.  I can't even with the
cuteness.

Maya cannot take her eyes off of Kate, so this
was the best I got of her beautiful smile!

Maya couldn't take her eyes off of Kate because
she was running wild around the yard.

Windows open and loving it!

My snoozing little love.  That little striped tush
has my heart!

Spoiler Alert

There are no groundhogs at the zoo.

I was hoping that there would be some fuzzy little guys there since it is Groundhog Day, but low and behold there are none.  There were some prairie dogs which I was willing to compromise with but we didn't see any of them so it was a groundhog type of animal fail for me.  Kate and I talked about groundhogs and we sang a little groundhog song, but that was our extent of celebrating this little holiday.

Note that Punxsatawney Phil did NOT see his shadow, indicating an early spring, but Buckeye Chuck (Phil's Ohio counterpart) DID see his shadow indicating six more weeks of winter... Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and because I am perpetually cold I'm going to have to side with Phil on this one.  Fingers crossed!

Fortunately, we were able to see a bunch of other animals and explore some other areas of the zoo we had not visited before.  There were hardly any people at the zoo today so we got to get up close and personal to all of the exhibits with animals present.  It was nice.  And, speaking of animals, we got a great glimpse of the lions and the lion cubs!  They were all outside in an area that is "closed" for the winter but a zoo employee told Kate, Maya, and I that the lions might still be out so we decided to check them out.  I was amazed at how many cubs there were!  I thought there were only three but we counted five!  We also got to hear the lions roar which was pretty cool, if I do say so myself!

Maya was just darling throughout our zoo adventure.  We bundled her up in the stroller and shortly after we started walking around she fell asleep and slept for the rest of the time we were there.

It was nice to get outside again and even better to see some animals!

Happy Groundhog Day to you and hopefully we'll see that early Spring weather sooner rather than later!

When I asked Kate what animals she wanted to
see she said, "Lions!".  Thankfully they were out!
#momwin

Three adult lions and five lion cubs!

Our bundled one!

This picture just melts me.

And 10 minutes later, after being snug as a bug in
a rug, she was snoozing!

Checking out the aquarium!

And Manatee Bay!

It was feeding time so we got to see the manatees munching on
lettuce and watch the turtles and fish swimming by!

A Stop at the Park

We went to the park on the way home from running a few errands today and Maya got to enjoy her first real outdoor swing!  We had a blast playing together and got some much needed outdoor time!

It was a wonderful day!

I'd say she liked it!

My girls intrigued at the recess whistle!

Rolling down the street...

Attempting to slide but waiting for Kate!

Kate was saying, "Heellp mmeeeee!", at this point but I
insisted on taking a picture.

She eventually got all the way up and took off
running so I couldn't take her picture.

But I zoomed in on the one below and kind of
got one of her!

She has not been interested in photos recently.

Me and my littlest and her cute, cold, little red nose!

When we got home, we got out the heart craft supplies that Mimi
dropped off and got to work making some Valentine's...since the
others didn't work out so well...