The Young and the Restless

A LOVEly love day

Traditional valentine's gifts on their plates....

 Traditional valentine's breakfast with THE best pink hot chocolate (I can't find what blog I got this off of to give credit, but here's the recipe: 1 C white chocolate chips, 1 C heavy cream, 4 C half&half, vanilla, red food coloring, whipped cream- melt chocolate chips in saucepan with cream, stir until smooth. Add the half&half, vanilla and food coloring, about 7 drops. Heat through and serve with whipped cream)

 New tradition-heart attacking their bedroom doors and packing a v-day lunch with everything red (red juice, strawberries, doritos in a red bag, little Debbie heart cupcakes, red jello and a heart strawberry jelly sandwich)....

Then jetting off to what I would love to be our annual tradition...Valentine's in Vegas.

I was feeling sorry for myself after we had our fabulous Vegas v-day last year while my dad watched the kids and this year my valentine would be there without me.  Jason kept trying to convince me to find somebody to watch the kids so I could go with him, but please, who would want to watch 3 extra kids on valentines day??  This is where my friend Melissa swoops in to save the day and insists on watching them (I didn't ask, but I didn't put up a fight either), so I booked a last minute flight (thanks to the free flight with the companion pass) and we were off at 7am that morning (which made for a hectic morning with the kids, hence the staged day after pics, but I'm glad we got to spend some time with the kids before we left so that they know how much we love them too!) Jason had to work and I spent the morning meandering around the outdoor mall, cozying up on the couch at Borders with a stack of magazines and doing whatever my little heart desired. Jason was worried I was going to be bored. Pssshhh, as if. I met up with my cute sister-in-laws for lunch, got caught up on the latest gossip and loved on my new little nephew.

Then I was faced with the impossible decision...more shopping or napping. Life is so rough. The nap won out and I awoke from my blissful slumber right before Jason got off.  We wanted to fit in as much as we could that night and had a huge agenda, but as the night got progressively later and we got progressively more tired, the list got progressively smaller.  We did enjoy a quiet and delicious dinner where I think I ate myself into my third trimester (if I get stretch marks during this pregnancy, I'm blaming it on the food). We even considered the hour and a half wait a priviledge, because when was the last time we got to wait for that long without kids? Parenting gives you a whole new perspective on life. After that we walked around Aria and City Center where I was wishing I was Showntell on the Bachelor with her limitless shopping spree.  We finally ended the night with a dip in the rooftop hot tub at our hotel.  I ignored Jason's concerns that I was boiling the baby in-utero and instead just basked in the romance of it all...a hot tub. on the rooftop. at night. in Vegas. on Valentines day. with my man. I could almost hear the echo of the tolling bells from Elvis' Wedding Chapel of Love.  And then the security came two minutes later and killed the moment when they told us the pool was closed. It was short, but atleast I had my moment where I realized life is good.  Life is really good.  We called it a night after that since we had to wake up at 4:30 am to catch a flight back, it was a harsh reality check, but we soaked up every minute of our quick romantic getaway. Happy Valentine's day to all my loves....