A Family Valentine's Day

 

Normally for Valentine's Day, Chip has flowers and candy sent to me at work normally followed by some sort of quiet dinner,  so I was not sure what was in store for this year since I am no longer employed outside the home. We decided it would be nice to have a family lunch since we wanted to include Elijah in our Valentine's Day celebration and restaurants are just crazy on that night. Well the day turned into an amazing and unexpected family day!

I woke up to a tulip plan, Valentine's Day movie and a balloon and card on our kitchen table.  Waking up at 5:30am is never a bummer when you have a smiling baby and a table of thoughtfulness! Elijah was especially excited about the balloon and we played with it together while we waited for Chip to wake up.

After I got Elijah down for his nap and Chip left for work, I was able t assemble my gift to him.  I had seen this on Pinterest and wanted to make one for us. It is a frame with "I love you because...." printed on pretty paper. The idea is that you write on the glass with a dry erase marker different reasons why you love your mate. It could be something sweet they did that day, or just something that inspired you that day or any day. I thought this would be a cool way for us to share love and show each other appreciation, which I think we are good at doing anyway but it will be nice to have something visual.

After Elijah woke up from him nap, we had a little photo shoot. I had envisioned a cherub photo shoot for him for over a month and had found angel wings....not exactly what I was looking for but close. We had fun getting some cute shots of my little cherub and then I got him dressed in our matching Valentine's Day outfits and took some more photos with the bib from Grandmother. 

After our photo shoot, it was time to go see Daddy, but first we made a quick stop and picked him up some chocolate covered strawberries as a special treat! When we got to Daddy's work....SURPRISE!....he told us he had taken the rest of the day off to take us to the zoo! What a great surprise and it had been on my wish list of things to do as a family! First we made a stop for a quick lunch at Willie's and then we headed downtown!

It was the perfect day for a zoo adventure! We had the stroller Grandmama and Pop recently gave us for these sorts of adventures, although we did end up carrying Elijah through most of the day so he could see better and I wished I had thought to bring one of my carriers from the car. All the fences and walls in the zoo make it hard to see the animals from down low. But we had a great day! The weather was amazing! It was cool and brisk but very sunny and no crowds. Elijah loved the monkeys of course and was mesmerized by the lion that got SO CLOSE to us!  He also loved the birds.....not the exotic birds mind you but the PIGEONS and BLACK BIRDS that just naturally inhabit the zoo area.  It was the perfect, relaxing family day!

What was waiting for me on Valentine's Day morning.

Elijah's favorite part of my gift.

"I like balloons, Mama"

 

Flowers and a movie......

 

Chip calls me "Barbie" :)

Elijah enjoyed opening his card from Grandmother and Granddad

 

 

The card was made of felt!

My gift to Chip

 

My little cherub

"I stole your heart, Mama"

My ANGEL baby!

Look at that cute little butter ball!

I had a little editing fun with Lightroom....an gift from my Feminine Mystique!

 

"If I could, I would give you wings......"A quote from a favorite lullaby.

"What is this thing on my head"

Grandmama and Pop sent Elijah a cowboy hat to match his mustache and so we grabbed it and got a few shots with that as well.

 

All ready for Rodeo!

<3

I love that sweet face!

All dressed in his St. Valentine's best!

Mama and Elijah!

Sweet kisses for the baby!

Ready to go see Daddy!

My two Valentine's dates!

Chip is eyeing his strawberries! YUM!

Elijah snacked on some O's while we waited for our lunch!

First things first...Daddy got in the map to figure out our route.

Mr and Mrs. P!

We loved watching the elephants take a bath. There were some cute babies!

But this was the cutest baby at the zoo!

So awesome.

Loved this shot of our little family.

Mama and Elijah checking out the big elephant!

This one's for you Aunt Virginia!

Silly Daddy.

 

Being silly with my baby....it was Daddy's idea.

They guys.

Monkeying around.

This baby had a blast!

Elijah got up close and personal with some rhinos.

Snuggles with Mama

It was so cool that the lion got so close to us!

Elijah enjoyed gently petting the goats. Mama enjoyed the rigorous handwashing that followed.

We stopped to take a ride on Joshua Giraffe!

I spotted some gofers!

Apparently you have to crawl through a tunnel to get to the bubble...I did not realize this when sent the boys in there together for a photo opp!

My little monkey

We knew Grandmama would like this pic!