More Book Reviews

I should have done another book review post because I have read quite a few books since the last one!  I'm actually pretty amazed that I have finished so many since the only time that I read is before bed. Michael calls me his little "Weekly Reader."  I'm assuming the name comes from those little paper newspapers that we used to get in elementary school?  Who knows?

 Most nights I read one or two chapters before bed from whatever book I am currently into.  It has allowed me to finish lots of books but that creates my problem of staying up too late!  I guess I need to actually get into the bed earlier so that I'm getting a good night's sleep too.  I just never take the time to read during the day since there seems like there are so many other things that need to get done.

Here are half of the books that I have read since my last book review post in August, and my thoughts on them (I will do another post on the other half soon...there were too many for one post):

Book Summary by www.shelfari.com

Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown.  It has been boarded up for decades, but now the owner has made an incredible discovery:  the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II.  As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American.  While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student.  Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship-and innocent love-that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors.  And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

My Review:  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet taught me a lot about the events happening in the United States during World War II.  This book is not a history book but while telling a wonderful love story, it gives details about what it was like for Japanese families living in the U.S. during a time when the bombing of Pearl Harbor had made everyone terrified of all things Japanese.  I learned very little about the internment camps where all of Japanese people living in the United States were forced out of their homes and sent to live at government controlled "camps."  During my history classes through school, the main focus of our World War II lessons were on the Holocaust and the war going on in Europe.  I remember learning very little about what was going on here in our own country and I learned a lot from this story.

The author does a wonderful job of giving you a sense of the time period and its happenings while telling about the relationship between Henry and Keiko, their struggles living in a country that does not accept them, and how much of an influence their extremely different families make on their lives.

Book Summary by www.shelfari.com

A brilliant and beautiful contemporary novel about love and memory.The events of a December afternoon, during which a father and his daughter find an abandoned infant in the snow, will forever alter the 11-year-old girls understanding of the world and the adults who inhabit it: a father who has taken great pains to remove himself from society in order to put an unthinkable tragedy behind him; a young woman who must live with the consequences of the terrible choices she has made; and a detective whose cleverness is exceeded only by his sense of justice.Written from the point of view of 30-year-old Nicky as she recalls the vivid images of that fateful December, her tale is one of love and courage, of tragedy and redemption, and of the ways in which the human heart always seeks to heal itself.

My Review:  I don't know why I keep reading Anita Shreve books.  I just don't think I am a fan.  I usually enjoy them right up until the end and then either she looses me with a lot of crazy details or the book just seems to end with no real closure.  Light on Snow was the "book just seemed to end with no real closure" type to me.  I liked the story and it kept me into the mystery of where did this baby come from?, how could anyone leave their newborn in the snow?, what is going to happen to Nicky and her father?  But then, just like always, the story started to deteriorate for me and I just wasn't happy with how the ending developed and closed.  Anita Shreve is an extremely popular author so I know it is just my taste and I never seem to give up because I keep reading more and more of her books.

Book Summary by www.shelfari.com

It is a house on the beach. Honora doesn't mind renting - despite its age and all its flaws, the old house is the perfect place for a new marriage. She and Sexton throw themselves into fixing it up, just as they throw themselves into their new life together. Each morning, Honora collects sea glass washed up on the shore, each piece carrying a different story in its muted tones.

Sexton finds a way to buy the house, but his timing is perfectly wrong. The economy takes a sickening plunge, and as financial pressures mount, Honora begins to see how little she knows this man she has married.

There is Vivian, an irreverent Boston socialite who becomes Honora's closest friend even as she rejects every form of convention. McDermott, a man who works in a nearby mill, presses Honora's deepest notions of trust - even as he embroils her in a dangerous dispute. And there's Alphonse, a boy whose openness becomes the bond that holds these people together as their world is flying apart.

My Review:  I enjoyed this one more than most other books by Anita Shreve that I've read.  Although the ending was sad, the story was well written and the way that the characters were developed kept me interested.

Book Review by www.shelfari.com

Set during World War II in Nazi Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing something she can’t resist–-books. With the help of her best friend Rudy, she learns to live on Himmel Street after her brother dies on the train-ride there. She learns to read thanks to her accordion-playing foster father, Hans Hubermann, and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is found and marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul and human spirit. This book will entrance any one, this is a must read.

My Review:  I really enjoyed this book. I find the Holocaust and World War II era fascinating and I especially loved that this book was told from the perspective of a German family. It made me see this sad, and horrific time from a new viewpoint.

Book review by www.barnesandnoble.com

'When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down and run it down through my head until it got easy.' So it begins the tale of Ellen Foster, the brave and engaging heroine of Kaye Gibbon's much acclaimed first Novel. The story of an eleven-year-old orphan, driven to desperation by some of the wickedest relatives in literary history, this is the story of her battle for survival. Wise, funny and affectionate.

Having suffered abuse and misfortune for much of her life, a young child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.

My Review:  I am a big fan of books from Oprah's Book Club and this was no exception.  Stories about abused and neglected children always make me emotional but this story, although sad at times, is about such a tough, smart, and inspiring little girl you feel uplifted.  Her honest and innocent thoughts will teach even adults important life lessons.  I have always considered adopting a child and this book made those feelings even stronger.

Book review by www.shelfari.com

A funny, sad, wise, and redeeming first novel about a young girl's battle with a troubling affliction. Rural Kentucky in the 1950s is not an easy place to grow up in, and it's especially hard for 10-year-old Icy Sparks, an orphan who lives with her grandparents. Life becomes even more difficult for Icy when the violent tics and uncontrollable cursing begin. Icy's adolescence is marred by the humiliation brought on by her mysterious condition, and its all-too-visible symptoms are the source of endless hilarity as everyone around her offers an opinion about what's troubling the girl. Eventually, Icy finds solace in the company of an obese woman who knows what it's like to be an outcast in this tightly knit Appalachian community. Narrated by a now-grown Icy, this first novel shimmers with warmth and humor as it recounts a young girl's painful and poignant journey to womanhood--and the many lives she touches and enriches along the way.

My Review:  Another selection from Oprah's Book Club that I really enjoyed...right up until the end. I didn't feel satisfied with how the story ended...I needed a little more closure and wanted to know more about Icy's future.  Although it was a very eye opening read because I knew very little about Tourette's Syndrome.  It is a story that anyone can relate to that has felt like an outsider.

Sleepyhead

I still love to tip-toe into Kellan's room at night and watch him sleep. If he happens to look particularly cute (which is every time) I run out to grab my phone to come back and take a picture.  Here are a few of my favorites over the last few weeks...

He likes to sleep curled up in a ball lately with his arms tucked under him.

He put his hands over his face when my flash came on...lucky for me he didn't wake up :)

Every now and then Kellan will cry and put up a huge fight when we put him in his crib...its not often but it does happen.  Instead of fighting with him, Michael will put him in the bed with him until I come to bed...then mommy has to be the bad guy and move him back to his crib.  He never wakes up so its really not that big of a deal but its so hard to pick him up when he's sleeping so good.  Some nights I am tempted to just leave him with us but this is how he sleeps...sideways.  It is the most uncomfortable night's sleep because he kicks and takes up the majority of our king size bed.  Its just easier to go ahead and move him instead of waking up in the middle of the night with feet in your face and having no where to go because you're already hanging on to the side.

Sweet little boy...always snuggled with a blankie.  He is not difficult to please.  He has always loved the plain old thin receiving blankets as long as they have a long tag.  He won't stay covered up and if you try he will immediately kick it off even if he is sound asleep.

Another favorite pose is completely stretched out with arms up.

Oh how I love those fat little feet and toes :)

Here are some flashback pictures to when Kellan was between 6 and 7 months old and a link to that blog post:

Kellan is 16 Months Old!

Kellan turned 16 months on Wednesday, February 20.  He had his last well baby doctor's visit at 15 months so there is not one this time.  These are his measurements from last month except his weight.  I put him on our scale here and it shows 28.2 pounds.

Height: 33 1/4 inches

Weight: 28.2 pounds

Head Circumference: 19 1/4 inches

A few more statistics for this month:

Sleeping: Kellan's bed time continues to stay around 9-9:30 pm. From time to time it can be even later than that.  He has started to wake up a little bit earlier, sometimes around 7:30-8:00.  Most times he still wakes up between 8-8:30.  If he wakes up while Michael is getting ready for work, we put him in the bed with me and he will sleep for another hour or more. 

Morning naps change day by day.  Some mornings he will eagerly take a nap around 10:30-11:00 am (usually for about an hour) and other mornings he just refuses.  I don't push it because he takes an afternoon nap every day.  His afternoon naps are around 1:00 if there hasn't been a morning nap and around 3:00 if he did take one.  I still mainly just watch his behavior and he lets me know if he needs to lay down.  Most of the time if he is tired, has a paci and a blankie, lay him down in his crib and he will go to sleep easily.

Lately he has started letting me know that he is sleepy by going in search of his paci and blankie by himself, hugging his blankie and laying his head down on any pillow he finds.  Sometimes he even says "nigh-nigh." :)

If you see this...it means its nap time.

Eating: Kellan remains to be a good eater but his preferences change day by day, meal by meal.  One day he may love carrots and the next he may push them away.  At lunch one day he spit out and threw pieces of hard boiled egg.  The next day he gobbled it up.  Everyday is different.  He mainly eats anything that we give him and if not, he has such a wide variety of foods that he WILL eat, its normally easy to prepare his meals.

He has 3 meals a day with breakfast being between 8:30-9 am. He usually eats half of an avocado (that I feed to him) and half of a banana that he now holds and bites.  If I make myself scrambled eggs or grits sometimes he may have a bite of that too. 

Around 12:00-12:30 he has any combination of 3 items for lunch.  Most of the time he has cut up fruit, pieces of cheese/cup of yogurt, and some kind of vegetable or maybe even left over pieces of meat.  

Around 5:30-6:00 he has his "first course" of dinner which is usually something that he can feed himself while I am cooking our dinner:  cheese, cut up fruit, veggies, raisins, hard boiled egg, cut up leftover meat, etc.  Then when we sit down to eat dinner, he goes back in his high chair and eats whatever he might like that we are having.

Kellan continues to try new foods and still loves bread and crackers.  He also has a new found love for bites of mommy and daddy's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  We try to limit his bread intake as much as we can and he mostly only gets it at restaurants.  

We still avoid all processed/boxed foods and always try to make the healthiest choices for him.  I keep eggs, cheese, blueberries, oranges, strawberries, grapes, bananas, baked sweet potatoes, baked butternut squash, etc...always on hand in our kitchen so that he has plenty of healthy options for mealtimes.  

Drinking: Kellan always drinks either whole milk or water, that's it, no matter where we are.  He did have orange juice once when we were somewhere that the only other option was tea.  He loved it but easily went right back to his milk and water.  He loves to drink water out of our glasses and daddy has let him sample sips of Coke and tea from his glass.  Now daddy has to deal with the constant requests for "Daddy's milk" and "Daddy's water."

Clothes: Kellan is wearing almost all 24 months, it really just depends on the brand.  He has pretty much outgrown most of his 18 months clothes.  24 months fit him perfectly although we do sometimes have to cuff the bottoms of his pants so that he doesn't trip.  He is still wearing size 4 diapers and I really think he is outgrowing his size 6 1/2 Stride Ride sneakers.  We are going soon to get his feet measured.  This weekend we bought him a size 7 pair of Nike's to get him through the next few cold weather months.

His Nike's make him look like too much of a big boy :(

Milestones: 

1. I am amazed at how much Kellan's vocabulary has grown.  He is a regular little chatter box.  He uses new words everyday!  He copies most everything that we say but he has learned so many words that he uses correctly and consistently.  New words that he can say and USE:  button, mess, dirty, read, fish, fire, poot, bed, yucky, bread, Mimi, apple, water, egg, berries, cootie (cookie), go, remote, house, cow, funny, up, movie, burp, moose, avocado, blocks, bless you, miss, clock, nose, eyes, brush, phone, hey, bye, horse, train, lotion

Words that he has been using in previous months:  nana (banana), night-night, cheese, shoes, socks, duck, yes, no, mommy, daddy, thanks, you, car, truck, tractor, doggy, ball, paci, Briggs, papa, Elmo, spoon, milk, tootie (cookie), chicken, bath, shoot, this, hat, more, uh-oh, book, hammer, hot, cold, light, and more that I know I am forgetting.  

He surprises me all the time with words that he knows and is able to use.  He talks all the time and there are plenty of words that he says that we just can't understand yet.  He still calls most foods nana but is beginning to use the names of foods that he knows.  Whenever you hand him something he almost always says thank you.

2. We are now up to (at least) 10 teeth. He has 4 on the bottom and 
4 on the top and two molars that we know about.  It is getting more difficult to check because he bites down when you try to feel around in his mouth. The only reason we know about the 2 molars is from Michael holding him upside down and making him laugh so that we can see into his mouth!

3. Kellan can point or find the following objects when you ask for them by name:  his ears, nose, mouth, cheeks, hands, hair, head, belly, foot, socks, shoes, shirt, ball, mommy's glasses, button, ...and a world of other things that I just haven't figured out yet!  He just recently began to show us his cheeks.  He will put the palms of both hands on his cheeks and squeeze.

4.  We have finally taught him to say "up" when Kellan wants to get up on the sofa, chair or bed.  He used to pat it and say "mommy"...now he pats where he wants us to put him and says "up" or "mommy, up."   

5.  Yep, I still sometimes lay down and take naps with Kellan.  He's such a good snuggle buddy.  Lucky for me he takes naps in his crib just as easily.

6. This child continues to adore music!  He loves his xylophone, electronic drum, hand drum, and keyboard...he constantly keeps the music going whenever he can.  

Here he is playing the drums...I'm telling you, he's WILD...I have to take the drum sticks away from him a lot because he drums on everything...including people...

He loves to "sing" along with daddy.  Right now he tries to sing to all kinds of songs but he doesn't know the words.  We have caught him singing "fi-yuh! fi-yuh! fi-yuh!" around the house and in the car.  After a while we realized that he is singing "This Girl is on Fire" by Alicia Keys.  Fire is just the only word that he can say :)  

Playing the piano at Great grandma and papa's house.

7.  He still loves books and will often sit on his sofa and read to himself.  He has also started to bring us books and asks us to read them.  I keep his books with paper pages, flaps, or pop up pieces on the top shelf in his new room because he will tear the pages and parts.  He somehow managed to get one off of the shelf that I hadn't read to him in a while.  He came running down the hall as fast as his little chubby legs would carry him yelling "read! read! read!"  This is a video of him after he made it down the hall and sat down at my feet.

He has names for certain books that we read often.  When he wants to read The Napping House for instance, he will bring it to you, hold it up, and say "house!"  If you ask for the "monkey book" he will bring you Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  He has become a little too smart lately.  When it is bedtime, he will stop you in the middle of a book, get down from your lap, choose another book and bring it to you.  He knows that he has to go to sleep when you get to the end so he just keeps requesting new ones.  "Books!" is usually the last thing he says/pleads before bed, even though you have already read three of them.

8.  Kellan is into everything.  Seriously nothing is safe from his exploring.  He notices EVERYTHING and he does not leave a crack or crevice untouched.  Nothing within his reach is safe.  His favorite toys are anything that he can find inside of kitchen and bathroom drawers and cabinets and he is obsessed with the dishwasher.  This month he has begun to explore the water in the toilet.  I thought we had bypassed this but I've caught him splashing a couple of times this month.

9.  I am still letting Kellan practice feeding himself with a toddler fork and spoon but let me tell you...it is so hard because he makes such a mess!  I know it must be done in order for him to learn.  He loves it and sometimes will pick up food with his hands, stick it on the fork, and then eat it :)

10.  He still loves a bath and his bath toys and can be found digging in them at all times of the day.

11.  Kellan has become such an affectionate little boy.  He will hug and kiss his stuffed animals when you ask him too and sometimes just out of the blue...especially if he's getting sleepy.  Every now and then he will snuggle with a stuffed animal and has even started to walk up to me and give me a hug for no reason.  

12.  Kellan is going through a hitting stage.  He will hit me in the face and will even just walk up to someone and hit them out of nowhere.  We are trying to work on stopping this really annoying behavior but I think its developmental too.  I hope.

13.  I know that developmentally toddlers are not supposed to have empathy for other people's feelings yet but Kellan is definitely noticing other people's feelings lately.  If he hits me and I say "No! No! Kellan, we don't hit!"  He immediately looks so sad and will hug me and put his head on my shoulder.  He even does it if we just say "Ohhhh, no!" or "Kellan that is not nice."  

There have been a few times this month that Briggs has been crying and missing her mom.  Kellan will whimper and point to her.  One time she dropped her paci and he went over, picked it up, and handed it back to her.  One day I could tell that he was really upset that she was sad.  He went back in his room, got his blankie, and laid in the floor at my feet.

14.  My sister got Kellan an indoor basketball goal and Michael plays with him all the time.  In fact, they play so much that when basketball is on TV Kellan will sit on his couch watching the game and yelling "shoot, shoot!  shoot, shoot!!"  He says the same thing while he's playing basketball with daddy.  Now Michael has taught him to say "Miss!" when he doesn't make the basket.  He never lets an opportunity pass to let someone know when they've missed. :)

15.  Kellan came running out of his playroom wearing this and saying "hat! hat!"  It was the bowl/hat from the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game that our nachos came in.

16.  My child has gone from liking Elmo to being obsessed.  He asks for Elmo videos constantly throughout the day.  In fact I have to practically hide my phone from him because as soon as he sees it, he expects to watch Elmo.  He woke up one morning and the first thing he asked for was Elmo and da-dee.  The videos do help when we have to wait in the car or at restaurants.  I try not to play them too often during the day.

17.  He did get his first movie (All Day With Elmo) for Valentine's Day after he fell in love with it in Target.  It was not on my list of things to get but Michael said we had to when his little eyes lit up on the video aisle.

18.  Kellan still loves to play different apps on mommy's iPhone and the iPad.  I feel like I have to constantly reset the apps for him because he clicks around so much that he ends up somewhere that he doesn't want to be and he brings the iPad over to me countless times.  I have downloaded several more apps for him but Elmo's ABC is still his favorite along with Old McDonald Had a Farm...but mainly he just likes the Elmo videos now.

19.  I know it is his developmental level but Kellan is not very good at sharing.  Whenever someone picks up one toy, Kellan immediately has to have it.  The other kids that he plays with are exactly the same so I know its normal.

20.  Our house is near train tracks and the train goes by several times a day.  Kellan notices EVERY SINGLE time.  When he hears it, he completely stops what he is doing, points his finger in the air, and says "train, choo-choo."

21.  Kellan does the same thing when he hears a dog barking.  When we were on a walk one day last week every time he heard barking, he would point in the direction of the sound and say "doggy."

He also loves to turn around in his seat and point out everything that we pass on our walks.

22.  This month was my first time leaving Kellan overnight.  I was gone for 4 nights to see my friend Jenni in Florida.  I don't think Kellan even noticed I was gone.  When I went his room the next morning after I came home, he looked around and asked for daddy.  Um...excuse me?

23.  Kellan got his 2nd haircut on his 2nd Valentine's Day.  We love his new big boy look.

24.  When Kellan enters a room now he says "HEY!"

25.  He walks up to a picture of my mom and dad that is on a bookshelf in our room, points, and says "Papa, Mimi."  He also points out "Mommy" and "Daddy" in other pictures around the house.

26.  Kellan has a new favorite food.  Butterbeans.  I think he would eat his weight in them if we would let him.

27.  He has started dancing to music by twirling in circles, bouncing his fists in the air, and twisting his waist.

28.  Kellan has been doing this for months but I don't know if I have ever included it in his monthly posts.  He always sleeps with a blankie, he has several, not a particular one, but it must have a tag.  He rubs the tag between his fingers until he goes to sleep.  As soon as you lay him down he immediately turns the blankie around, feeling the edges, until he finds the tag.

29.  Kellan loves to go up and down the steps at Great grandma and papa's house.  They have a sunken living room with brick steps so he likes to scare everyone and climb up and down, and sometimes he just likes to sit on a step and tap his feet.

30.  This has been going on for the last couple of months but Kellan does not like diaper changes or to have his clothes taken off or put on.  He wriggles and bucks and kicks his legs.  He also wants to sit up or stand up on the changing table when I'm trying to change him.  He runs away every time you try to put on clothes, shoes, or socks.

31.  Kellan has 2 toy hammers, a soft, cloth one and a wooden one.  He loves to go around "hammah"-ing on everything...walls, people, furniture, etc.

32.  Kellan has started saying "bess you!" every time someone coughs or sneezes.  He rarely misses an opportunity.  He even "besses" himself when he sneezes.  When Michael sneezed in the shower the other night, Kellan stuck his head in the bathroom, said "bess you!" and then went back to playing with his toys in the other room.

33.  He can say and point to several different animals.  He can recognize horse, cow, frog, fish, dog, duck and sometimes turtle and elephant.  When anyone (including himself) says cow he almost always says "Moo! Moo!"

Here are a few more pictures from this month:

This is what he did one day when I told him to go get his shoes.  He just decided to borrow a pair of mommy's.

One morning Kellan grabbed Michael's lotion off of his nightstand and started tapping it on his feet.  Michael puts this lotion on his feet every night...someone has obviously been watching.

This was before his last hair cut...he definitely has bed-head some mornings.

He loves to play with his toys at Great-grandma and papa's house.

Someone made a huge mess with his blueberries.  Once he was finished, he squished the remaining ones until the juice came out.

When you ask Kellan to show you he's a strong boy he puts his arms up like this :)

Kellan loves the vacuum so for Christmas we got him one of his own.  He has finally learned how to use it...

Mad because no one would play an Elmo video for him at Logan's Diner.

Eating lunch at Prince George Barbecue

Eating raisins that he stole from Mason

These monthly posts are beginning to get so long because he is learning so much, so quickly.  I am amazed by something new that he says or does everyday.

All You Need is Love!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day whether it was spent with friends, family, significant others, kids, or all of the above!  I've always loved Valentine's Day but I know that everyone does not agree with me.  I know that it has become a commercial holiday pushing cards, stuffed animals, balloons, candy, and anything else red, pink, or heart shaped.  But when you really think about it, hasn't everything in our society turned to that?  

Everyone is selling or pushing something depending on the season or holiday.  You just can't let that become how you define your celebration.  I love Valentine's Day, however I don't really care for stuffed animals, balloons, candy, and I'm not even really a big card person.  I just like what it stands for...love...for anyone :)  I think a lot of people feel like you have to be "in love" to enjoy and appreciate Valentine's Day, while instead it should just be about celebrating the love for the people you have in your life.  And I know the "single person's" response to that would be, "Well yeah, that's easy for you to say, you have a husband!"  

However my Valentine's Day didn't involve a card, flowers, candy, or presents of any kind from Michael...and I still thoroughly enjoyed my day!  I get pure joy and happiness from picking out little gifts for Kellan, baking red velvet cheesecake brownies, decorating around the house in pink and red, and picking out cards to send to the grandparents and nieces and nephews.  

The other argument against Valentine's Day is "You should show your loved ones that they are important everyday, not just on one day a year!"  While yes, I agree, this is true...but do you?  Do you always take the time to write a note, buy a little gift, or send a card?  I don't think having one day set aside to remind us to do these things is bad.  Yes...stores have gone overboard with the amount of Valentines products that are available but that is true of every holiday and season.  You can't enjoy one holiday before the store displays are taken down and the next holiday's products go up.

Valentine's Day should be more about celebrating whoever it is in your life that you love.  Just because someone has a significant other doesn't mean that they are any more happy than someone that is single.  I have definitely had my fair share of Valentine's Days where I was "alone" a.k.a. "single."  But I wasn't really alone, there have always been people in my life that I love and that love me.  There were even years that I was happier being single than I was when I was actually dating someone...now THAT says a lot about the boyfriend!  I can even remember one particular year when all of my single friends were going out to a Mexican restaurant together and I was sad that I had to miss it to spend the day with my boyfriend!  

Life is what you make of it and this should be true of all holidays and how you choose to celebrate them.  No one is forcing you to wear red or eat a chocolate heart, so don't take away someone else's happiness if heart shaped balloons or huge gaudy stuffed animals makes their day.  You can still celebrate without indulging in all of the commercial-ness that this day brings...or you can choose to be unhappy and complain about everyone else's enjoyment.

OK, I'm done with voicing my opinion :)  Now here is how we spent our glamorous day...

I love to decorate for any occasion so of course this one was no different...

I love holiday dish towels....even though I pick them up off the floor a million times a day when Kellan pulls them down.  And see...I even enjoyed the day with a dirty floor!  Making homemade brownies is messy business.

We even indulged in Valentine's window clings...don't judge me...they were $1.

Michael's card from me...I love this quote.  Now you probably noticed that I bought Michael a card but he did not get me one.  This is because he tells me all the time how much he loves me.  I'm the one that needs the special holiday to remind me to do the same!

Michael's card from Kellan.

I love to bake so Kellan and I made red velvet cheesecake brownies one night while Michael was working late.  I used the natural plant based dye so the red color wasn't as vibrant but they tasted good :)  Here is the recipe for anyone interested.

My littlest Valentine was being very difficult that morning and kept running from me every time I tried to put his clothes on.  I just took his picture as he was and called him "My Little Cupid."

I finally managed to wrestle him into a red shirt and this is him after he refused a nap.

Michael has been working A LOT over the last few weeks.  If he is not actually on a job site, he is working at his desk at home, on the phone with customers, or meeting with customers.  He has had a lot of late nights lately so he took Kellan and I along for lunch with one of his salesman and Papa Mike.  Kellan making silly faces at Logan's Diner :)

This child loves butter beans!

Next we went and got a hair cut because it was getting in his eyes!  I didn't take any pictures at the salon because I was standing beside him with my phone playing an Elmo video so that he would stay in the chair.  

Afterwards we made a quick trip to the grocery store...did I not tell you that we had a glamorous day?

When we checked the mail we had all kinds of cards waiting for us from family :) Kellan even got $15!

Over the last few weeks I've been picking up things here and there for Kellan (mainly things that I wanted him to have) so I arranged it all for him to find when he woke up from his nap.  I order him new books regularly but I'm particularly excited about Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping,  Five Little Monkeys Jump in the Bath, and Gossie and Gertie!  I saw this really cute (and SO soft) blanket at Target and this wagon to hold his Mega Bloks.  Daddy insisted on getting him the golf set and Kellan insisted on the Elmo video when we accidentally went down the kids video aisle.  The best part of the day was seeing him run straight over to the loveseat, pick up his video, carrying it around saying "Melmo!  Melmo!"  Pointing and saying "Books!!", "Car!!", and then just poking at his golf clubs.  He didn't know what they were at first but he has been whacking golf balls (and other things) all over the house.

Daddy and Kellan totally engrossed in the Elmo movie.

The 5 Love Languages was my gift to myself.  I've heard lots of great reviews from friends that have read it so as soon as I am finished with my current book, I'm starting this one. 

We debated on whether or not to brave dinner out on Valentine's Day and decided to take our chances.  Michael suggested that we go to the Kennon House, a locally owned restaurant near Lake Gaston.  We had been before but it was a long time ago.  He made a 7:00 reservation and we figured we were going to escape the chaos of a bigger restaurant in Richmond.

They had a pre-set 4 course menu so we only had to decide on an entree and dessert.  The restaurant was definitely busy but not overwhelmingly so.  We are not sure if they were understaffed or didn't expect to be so busy...but dinner went on...and on...and on...

My big Valentine and my little copy cat Valentine entertaining themselves while we waited...

Mommy and her little cutie pants :)

My battery was already in the red but by some miracle it lasted all through dinner.  Thank goodness for Elmo You Tube videos and Apps for children!

I had almost eaten all of my appetizer before I remembered to take a picture.  It was shaved beef tenderloin with horseradish and chive cream cheese, on a crusty bread...delicious!  At this point Kellan didn't have anything to eat, so we were sharing with him too.

Our wedge salads were SOOO good!  Kellan ate some of this too.

Next came his own special treat.  He thoroughly enjoyed his own bowl of macaroni and cheese and even made several attempts at feeding himself.  He did a pretty good job of keeping the mess to a minimum.

We both chose the rib eye for our entrees...

However for dessert we are always different.  Michael chose the creme brulee and I got the chocolate torte.

Kellan eating the fruit off of Michael's dessert.

We had a fun but regular 'ole day that happened to end with a nice dinner with us wearing red :)  Maybe next year Kellan will be old enough to add some fun Valentine crafts to our day!  I will enjoy my Valentine's decorations until the end of the month and then it will be time to pull out my St. Patrick's Day dish towels and door hanging...

Here are a few Flashback pictures of last year on Kellan's First Valentine's Day: