A very happy Valentines Day

In our house, Valentines Day is typically no different than any other. I am a hopeless romantic, but don't feel any let down in our approach to this particular holiday (I'm sure much of this has to do with the fact that I am adored, respected, and loved unconditionally by an amazing husband all throughout the year so one day of pampering is not going to make or break my feelings towards him).

This year was a break from the usual. Nick branched out and made it into nothing short of a little Christmas in February and while it was completely unnecessary, it was absolutely wonderful to see the time and thought he put into making the day wonderful. Nick's love language when it comes to showing love is probably shown best in quality time and he's hardly known to give gifts or bring home surprises, so it was a shocker that he went as all-out as he did.

On Friday night Nick babysat Luke while I went up to St. Joe to watch my mom perform in a community theater showing of Peter Pan. I was away for a good eight hours (came back around midnight)... I don't know that I've been away that long by myself since Luke's been born. While I'm confident in Nick's abilities to take care of a baby by himself, he seldom has opportunity to take care of him on his own so I was interested in hearing how things went. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Nick felt at ease taking care of our little one... and the next day, I found out that he even took Luke with him to the local Target to do a little Valentine's Day shopping while I was away!

Saturday morning, I awoke to find a beautiful card (with a long handwritten note on the inside) on the nightstand and Nick had put a few presents in Luke's hands to "give" to me.

I got this...


And this...

And this....

Contrary to what you may be thinking, I was not offended by the fitness DVD at all (in fact, every time we walked by that particular DVD in Target I always commented on how it would be fun to try it). So, the boy was listening to my shopping commentary! Unbelievable!

I also got cute, ultra soft chenille socks with hearts on them and a Gueradelli chocolate bar. What more could a girl ask for than warm feet and chocolate, right?

Later that afternoon, Nick's mom watched Luke for us so we could slip away for a few hours to grab a bite to eat. Nick is more than accomidating when it comes to making decisions (could be that he's highly indecisive, though he's also a gentleman and likes to consult whoever is with him when making decisions). He asked "where to" and I told him anywhere but a Chinese buffet would be great by me. I know that left tons of options on the table since we are in the heart of KC and was afraid we might possibly end up driving in circles for quite a while 'til he finally found a place he could settle on. I was pretty shocked when he immediately hopped on to the highway and drove us right on up to Cheesecake Factory. Can we just say I was pretty happy with da man?! ;) Being that it was noon on a weekend and a holiday, I was afraid we might have had to wait a long time to be seated but we got a perfect little booth within 10 minutes. It was a little unusual for us to be alone while eating; we seldom ever get child care for Luke and are so accustomed to having him with us, it was weird not having him there. We did really enjoy the time together, though. We reminisced on how we first met, how much more we've grown to love and respect each other through the years. This year's for sure been a doozy and when things get hard, you tend to see a person's true colors. It's so awesome that I've grown to respect Nick all the more for handling hard times with as much dignity as he did.

Anyways, we acted like newly weds the whole time... holding hands, looking all googly-eyed at each other. We were definitely twitter-paitted (as they say in Bambi). Our waitress took a picture of us right before we left:


I definitely felt like a dodo for not having anything for Nick for Valentines Day (like I said, we typically don't do anything so I didn't think to get a card or make a purchase) but I'm pretty sure that it rocked his socks off that I made a commitment to wearing a nightgown from now on (we even went out and purchased one since I don't even own one). Over time, I've gotten into the habit of wearing Nick's oversized flannel (need I mention, plaid) pj pants with one of his old T shirts to bed and I'm sure it's the farthest from flattering. ;)

When Nick and I sat in our booth at Cheesecake Factory, it dawned on us both that we will have been together five years as of the March (when we started dating in college). In the best of ways it has flown by so fast. Where does time go? I am so thankful for the man God placed in my life. So thankful for the husband he is to me, the father he is to Luke, and the leader he is in our home.