Valentine's Weekend

This past weekend, my sister came to visit and John and I got an evening to ourselves, and it was glorious.

Thursday evening, Jeff, Kayla, Jim, Barb, John, Emma, and I all went out to eat at Old Chicago to celebrate Jeff passing his nursing boards. He is officially an RN :)

We also all got some Columbia Fleece jackets for this spring when we are working in the greenhouses. Emma's fits her pretty well!

At Old Chicago celebrating Jeff passing his NCLEX exam

Emma modeling her County Line Nursery Fleece

Friday was Valentine's Day. Emma had a "party" at daycare, so we brought some treats to daycare with her and dressed her up in some red and pink for the holiday. I had to work kind of late, so John and I didn't plan anything for the day. Rachel arrived on Friday, and we spent the evening just hanging out at home and visiting, and drinking some wine of course.

Saturday was a fun day. We started the day by just playing with Emma at home and letting Emma and Rachel have some bonding time. Then we went to Kohl's to do some shopping, and Rachel had a 30% off coupon, so we did some damage. John bought some shirts for work, I found a dressy top I liked, and then we bought Emma a few odds and ends.

After Kohl's we hit up Applebee's for some lunch and then it was time to go back home for some naps (for everyone). After everyone was well rested, we checked into our hotel (John and I planned for an actual night away). Rachel and Emma came along so that we could all enjoy the pool for a while. It took Emma a little time to warm up to the water and all the activity, but once she got used to it, she had a great time :)

Swimming :)

Emma's penguin beach towel

After we wore Emma out at the pool, Rachel took her to Qdoba for some supper and then home to bed and babysat her for the rest of the night, which was awesome for us.

We went out to Grille 26 for a nice supper, and then stopped and bought some wine, and spent a nice evening by ourselves at the hotel. It was so nice to just relax and hangout together without a toddler whining for our attention. It was a much needed evening away, and we had a great time. 

Today has been a typical Sunday. I have spent most of the morning/afternoon cleaning and doing laundry and just getting things in order for the week to come. We also did some grocery shopping and now are thinking about what we are going to put together for supper. 

Emma had a rough night last night with coughing and such, so she is taking a nap right now, hopefully it won't mess up her sleep schedule too bad for tonight. 

I'm going to leave you with a little bit of a photo dump at the end here. I hijacked John's phone and sent some of his photos to my phone, since I never get those photos otherwise. So, here are some cute photos to leave you with...

Actually, I think all these pictures in this blog are from John's phone. Oops... :)

Emma loves to "read" books

New hiding place

Enjoying one of the few nice days this winter

My little Valentine-who loves to Ipad. She calls it a "book"

My Little Valentine

Emma is at such a fun age right now. She's usually in a really good mood, and she's so much fun to play with right now. And she says the cutest things. Her newest words are "Melmo" which mean Elmo, "mama", "dada", "Papa", "Gama", "more"- along with the sign language, "oh-no", "uh-oh", "no-no-no", I know there's more, but I just can't think of them right now.

She also has her favorite games she likes to play. She loves "jumping' and being thrown around on our bed. She also absolutely loves being wrapped up in a blanket and then swung around. Her daddy invented that game, and the crazier you are with her, the more giggles and squeals you get. But watch out when you are ready to stop the game due to exhaustion, because she will throw a fit like no one's business.

Emma really enjoys playing on the Ipad as well, and she is getting really good at running the thing. We don't mind the fact that she likes to use the Ipad, especially in the winter when we are limited to being indoors, but we do limit the amount of time she spends with her face buried in the Ipad.

This past week, I worked call, and I had a rough week, so I really didn't get to see much of Emma or John all week long. I had Thursday off, so after sleeping in some, I went and picked up Emma from daycare and had some quality time with her.

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought it would be fun to bake and decorate some cookies with Emma. She was more interested in just eating the frosting and the cookies. She ate about 3 sugar cookies and a ton of frosting. She was on quite the sugar high for the rest of the evening.

 It was nice to spend some time with her after spending so much time at work all week. I also had Friday off, and spent the day with Emma. We went to the mall and ran some other errands. In the evening we all went out to eat with Jim and Barb for Jim's Birthday at Olive Garden. The food was delicious and the company was great.

Unfortunately, there is some crud going around at daycare, and Emma may have possibly caught some of it. They have said that there is RSV, strep throat, and influenza going around, and yesterday morning Emma was running a temp of 101.2 and she has a very, very runny nose. As of right now, we are just treating with Tylenol and Ibuprofen, and watching her for now.

Today she was about the same. Overall, she has been in a good mood, and her appetite is so-so. She still runs a low-grade temp, so we are still treating that as well. A trip to the doctor may be in order later this week, but at least we made it through the weekend. Of course the nights are always the worst when Emma is sick, so I have my fingers crossed for tonight.

Never a dull moment with a toddler, that is for sure. But, I am hoping that it's just a cold virus, and that she will be back to 100% in no time. I guess time will tell.

Hope everyone has a great week. Stay Healthy :)

Superbowl Sunday

I love me some Superbowl Sunday. I love watching football, I love the fun, crazy commercials, and I love the entertainment at halftime. What more is there? Oh, throw in some beer, and junk food, and I am completely sold.

Unfortunately, it's not much of a football game this year. Right now, the Seattle Seahawks are beating the Denver Broncos 36-0. So, yeah, it's pretty one-sided. But the commercials are good, and the company is even better.

My parents came to visit this weekend. They arrived on Friday at around 1:00pm and they just left here about an hour ago. It was a busy, crazy weekend, but it was fun!

On Friday, my parents watched Emma as I had to work an evening call shift at work, so they enjoyed their time alone with Emma. On Saturday we spent the morning visiting and hanging around the house. After Emma's nap, we headed to the mall to do a little shopping. It was busy, and crowded, but it was nice to get out of the house and allow Emma to burn off some energy.

After the mall, we headed back home to relax a little before heading out to eat. We met up with Jim and Barb and went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet. The food was delicious, but we all ate way too much! It was nice for all the Grandparents to get together, it had been a long time since they were all in the same place at the same time.

Emma had a great time and she got to eat her meal sandwiched between both Grandpas.

After a little more visiting, we headed home again. We eventually got a rambunctious Emma put to bed, and then the rest of the us visited, drank some adult beverages, and played some games.

Sunday started with some sleeping in while Grandpa played with Emma (which was heavenly), then we all went out to eat at Perkins. After breakfast we went to church, and then headed home for some lounging in preparation for the Football Game.

Grandma and Grandpa squeezed in some more playing time with Emma, and then we consumed munchies while watching the Superbowl. It was pretty fun to watch the game with my parents. They left at halftime since it was getting late, and now John and I are enjoying the end of the game toddler-free as an exhausted Emma is finally asleep.

It was a great weekend, but it was busy. I am kind of enjoying the quiet again. Now, I have to prepare myself for another week of call (boo!).

Hope everyone had a great weekend and Go Seahawks :)