Valentine's Perfection

The day was pretty much perfect.  Devin got up with Calvin and told me to sleep in.  We spent time together as a family.  Devin cooked for me and cleaned up the kitchen.  Devin gave me a great gift with the best card ever, and I did a pretty good job with gift giving, too.

The very very best part of it all, though, was the eating.  Devin had promised me swordfish, but Publix wasn't carrying any fresh that week.  So, we upped it to ahi tuna.  Devin prepared it rare with a bacon crumble and cherry ginger soy reduction on top.  He also made fresh broccoli, jalapeno cheese grits, and spicy diced sweet potatoes.  It was heavenly.

Valentine's day at home every year?  Yes please!!

When Devin was Away

We survived Devin's away rotation!  Some of the highlights (and low lights) include:

* Frequent walks with a friend.  Of course, one time we accidentally went seven miles.
* We took a trip to see my family!  We flew on a buddy pass, and I decided to never fly standby with a baby again.  But, the trip itself was a lot of fun.  I dodged a cold spell in Georgia for warm Arizona weather, too!
* Actually making fun food!  I started out the first night with tilapia and coconut jasmine rice.  Of course, this tapered towards the end and I started eating like a single person again.
* I had a pretty fun evening where my nurse friend helped my nursing student friend practice needle sticks on me.  Honestly, it was more fun than it sounds...I promise.
* I created a ben and jerry's ration.  I learned to enjoy my quite alone time in the evening with the help of a little ice cream.
* To make things even better, I bought a giant box of rice crispy treats at Costco.  Don't worry, I've limited myself to one (or occasionally two) a day.
* Calvin and I tried out the infants library story time.  Unfortunately, while it was designated as the 2 & under time (as opposed to 2 & up) there were only a few other kids there.  And, they all were at least a year older than Calvin.
* Sleep wasn't ideal.  There was a night where a neighbor's dog barked literally for a least four hours.  Calvin also had a little bit of the sniffles, so that affected his sleep.  And, he was jet lagged and teething after our trip to Arizona.  In short, it wasn't a great month for sleep.
* Calvin started crawling this month!  For a couple weeks, he would only go a foot at most.  But, while skyping with Devin one afternoon, he took off!  Then, he did it over and over and over again for us!
* Speaking of which, Skype was amazing.  We didn't anticipate it, but Calvin was actually able to interact with Devin.  And, Devin caught some important moments.  In addition to crawling, he got to see Calvin pulling up for only the second or third time.

In short, we wouldn't want to do this again but it could have been much, much worse!