Where did February go?

February was a flash!  I can't believe it's March and almost time to celebrate  Brandon's birthday!  We had a fun Valentine's Day!  We took played around the house, and then took a drive to get a delicious Chicago pizza (YUM!), then back home for bath time for the babe, and a movie night!

This-n-That

Oh, we've had fun since the new year!  It's gone by too quickly for our liking, but we're sure enjoying ourselves and our BEAUTIFUL girl!  Life can't get any better than this!

9 month check-up in January - Dr. reports that she's "Perfect, as always."

Maya and Lucy - best friends. 

Maya has 8 teeth - they all decided to come at once, it seems!

This girl is ALWAYS on her feet!  She walked before she crawled!
She took her very first steps on January 1st - great way to start the year!
She cruises furniture and walks short distances between furniture and people!

Did I mention that she's unstoppable?  Her and the cat love climbing the stairs together!
See the video below.

Our little Valentine enjoyed her first Valentine's Day!
She even got her very first rose -- from her daddy. 

Here she is with most of her Valentine loot!

And for your viewing pleasure - a little "I love you!"

The Love Day

We hope you had a fun loving Valentine's Day!  

We had a great Valentine's day - which actually started the night before Valentine's with two fun visits!

Our first visitor was an anonymous one who left hearts on our door and goodies on our doorstep!  What a fun surprise!

Our second visitors were my cousin and his adorable girlfriend  (I set them up by-the-way)!  They brought us delicious cupcakes and we had a great visit!

Then, the LOVE DAY itself!  The night before I wait until Brandon hops in the shower and I get to work hiding treats and surprises with cheezy love notes around the house and in his car.

Some of Brandon's surprises - I love hearing him laugh as he finds each one in the morning.

And he sent me a dozen long stem roses and balloons!  So sweet!  He sure does spoil me, and I love every bit of it!

I've gotten to be quite the pro at bringing home a huge vase of flowers over the years, thanks to Brandon!

Me, my flowers, and yes holiday hair clips - my preschool kids love it. :-)

My valentine decorations - a "Love" sign I already had and my flowers!

Last year we started the tradition of making chocolate fondue on Valentine's Day - and I continued the tradition last night!  We wanted to start a fun tradition that we can carry on when we have kids some day!

Happy LOVE Day to you!  I hope you had a fun day!

Happy LOVE Day!

We sure do love Valentine's Day at our house!  It holds a special place in our hearts.  Our first Valentine's was spent apart.  We had just started dating and I was getting ready to take a girls trip to New York City, which would be during the week of Valentine's, so Brandon and I decided to celebrate early.  We exchanged little gifts and he bought me 2 dozen roses -- but the thing that made it so special for us is that it was the first time we expressed our love for each other.  So, there I was a few days later on Valentine's Day, standing on top of the Empire State Building ... thinking of the man I had just fallen head-over-heels in love with!  And he was home ... wating for me to get back.  That's what makes the holiday so special for us.

I never really know what to do for Brandon for THE LOVE DAY, but this year I got him some treats, wrote cheezy love notes on them, and left them in spots for him to find as he got ready for work that morning.

Brandon spoiled me rotten!  I got a dozen long stem roses delivered to me, some of my favorite treats and he bought 'Breaking Dawn' on DVD and said he'd watch it with me!  Wahoo!

We ordered out for pizza and for dessert I made yummy fondue!

What a great day!  Happy Valentine's Day to you too!!

The Happiest Place on Earth!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Rachael went to

Disneyland with her family!!!

Brandon wasn't able to go, that poor boy! But it was so much fun! The weather was perfect, no waiting in lines, time with family -- the only bummer was missing Brandon terribly, but being in Disneyland helped make up for it!

Heres' some of my favorite pics of the trip:

Ready to go in on the first day!

My mom, my nephew, and me

Waiting for Toy Story Mania ride

Me and my sis in front of the HUGE Christmas tree

Best CornDogs in the world!

A wonderful trip! 

Can't wait to go back!