Did I tell you the one about Valentines Day?

I know, I know...a little late to be posting about the holiday, right? I was going through my pictures though when I realized I never had so...a little trip down memory lane for all of us!

First of all, having a kid around really does make all of the difference! I put up all of my hearts a month before after taking a little break from the Christmas decorations. Then as I would go to the craft stores I found myself drawn to all of the cute things more than usual. I'm sure this will become a problem as Bean gets older. (PS-did the same thing with Easter decorations, but I probably won't get around to blogging about Easter until June...)

Another great thing about having Bean around this year is that she reminded S (who, if you will remember, is a non-Valentines Day enthusiast) to buy me flowers. I was so surprised to see him come home with these. They were beatiful and graced our table for the remaining weeks of winter.



Since Valentines Day was on a Sunday this year, I was able to dress Bean up in this cute heart dress one last time (she really had outgrown it by then.) I wore my red dress from Shade and felt very festive about the whole occasion.



Another first was my attempt at heart-shaped pancakes. They turned out...funny looking. But they still tasted delicious! And if I'm being technical about things, they actually are shaped more like real human hearts than a traditional Valentines day heart. However, I think I will just buy the pancake mold next year.



One of my favorite things: sugar cookies! I was totally prepared and had the dough mixed Friday night. Baked and frosted by Saturday night. Ready to deliver on Sunday. Problem is the recipe wasn't that good and they turned out to be hard as rocks! I even had to warn my mom (who had some dental work earlier that week) to be careful when she ate them. I hear they were good dunked in milk, though. Oh well. {PS-it was a Martha Stewart recipe which I find kind of funny since she is, after all, the queen of all things homemade.} Anyway, I packaged them up in celophane and delivered them with handmade Valentines. And a warning.

So there you have my first Valentines Day experience as a mommy. As long as I'm at it, let's talk about St. Patrick's Day. I took devils food cupcakes to work, frosted with shamrocks stenciled on top in green sanding sugar. They turned out so cute! Until I realized that, even though my new cupcake carrier does protect cupcakes en route, you still technically have to carry it level. Otherwise all of the cupcakes will fall to one side of the carrier and end up in a green sugary frosting, chocolately mass minutes before you walk in to work. True story. I was a little devastated. And my hair dryer broke that morning in the middle of drying my hair. So apparently St. Patrick's Day isn't the luckiest holiday for me! (Two years ago I sliced the tip of my thumb off on St. Patrick's Day. True story.)

{Afterthought: I had remembered to take a picture of the glorious cupcakes before they met their demise. Here they are...}

I wanted so badly to share my love of music with my little girl as soon as she was born! S and I went and bought a piano when she was less than a week old. At first, I played for her as she laid in her chair and listened. And as she has gotten bigger (and more stable) I have learned to play with her on my lap (though I have to admit that at first they were mostly songs that weren't more than a few octaves apart! Haha, too far of a reach and...well...)

In the last month she has started reaching for the music. And pulling it down in the middle of the song. I managed to grab this picture as she was investigating.


Just this last week she actually figured out she could PLAY the piano. Very primitive, but she did start pushing on the keys. I was so excited!!

I started taking piano lessons when I was 4 after pleading with my mom to let me (I would listen to my big brother play...he's amazing and I wanted to be just like him.) If Bean decides it's just not her thing, I'll understand. But if she does want to play? Well, I'll be thrilled!!