Valentines

By The Red Tent, February 14, 2017

You gotta hand it to Hallmark for creating a day just for love. I had two options: Feel sick and miserable and sorry for myself, or feel sick and miserable and sorry for myself while also cutting out felt hearts to make my house pretty. The latter won, thank you Valentine’s Day, because if there is one motivator for getting me to do anything, it’s when my calendar shines a great big Hallmark holiday my way. Easter wreaths? I’m on that, sister. Valentine’s cupcakes? Out of my way, vomit bag. You have no place in my life right now.

My baby app tells me I’m 13 weeks pregnant as of yesterday, so I’m (we’re all) (Joel certainly) hoping I’m all the tail end of this pretty awful time. It’s been no fun.

However – Hallmark.

And with that, a few things we’ve been loving lately, in the spirit of Valentine’s day.

Heart pancakes.

“Mum, I love Valentine’s Day,” she says. Which is based on her experience of Valentine’s Day consisting of pancakes for breakfast and cupcakes in the afternoon.

Who wouldn’t love it?

Fresh roses.

Bought by myself for today.

Romance is alive and strong in our house, folks.

Valentines crafts.

Baby’s first photograph.

Where I sit there thinking, ‘I can’t believe we get to do all this again.’

Family games.

Our go-to. Before school, after school, before bed.

We got a new printer recently.

Billy asks for us to print out whale pictures 20 times a day.

The novelty is high. Our ink cartridge low.

Valentine’s Day cupcakes.

Big sister evidence.

And lastly, may I introduce you to Spencer and Isabelle.

Spencer and Isabelle were stolen from Oma and Poppy’s garden and now eat with us, sleep with us and breathe with us.

They can be found in the most inconvenient of places like, say, sleeping in the middle of the hallway when I need the bathroom at night. Those toe things of theirs? They’re sharp. They can make a woman curse in the dark and nearly throw the goddamn things out the window.

Still, my animal-loving girl loves them…and I love her. So for now, they stay.

Happy Valentine’s day, friends. Go buy yourself some roses. Self-love is always the best kind.