Holiday Festivity Before and After Kids

Happy Valentines Day from the "cast" of CCE!

 Just the other day, I was looking through old photos and I found some pictures of Christmas 2007 and I couldn't help but giggle about how holidays have changed.  Back in 2007, we didn't have kids, nor had we had an inclination to have children yet.  Our dog was our child.  'What dog,?' you ask?  Oh yeah, we have a dog.  I never told you about her?  She's a 12 year-old Maltese named Lillian.  Back in 2007, she had her own Christmas stocking and she opened presents wrapped in paw-printed tissue paper.  Times are different now.  She currently spends the waking part of her days cleaning up crumbs under the kitchen table  (although she's not so great at that anymore; I'm thinking about getting a "Roomba" and naming it Lillian 2.0).  The rest of the time, she remains hidden from the children; desperately trying to catch some shuteye and refuge from the chaos.  

But back to Christmas 2007...we exchanged really life-changing gifts like spatulas and new laptop batteries.  I'm surprised that we even bothered to photograph it.

In 2007, even on the celebration of Christ's birthday, we had no idea what holiday festivity was.  

Fast forward to Valentines Day 2016...weeks beforehand, I found myself at Gymboree on a Friday night (a far cry from 2007, in which our Friday nights may or may not have consisted of one too many margaritas at our favorite local Mexican restaurant because, why not?  We could sleep in the next day).  Gymboree had this huge display of Valentines Day attire and I knew Merryn would FLIP OUT when she saw the bright red hearts all over EVERYTHING!  And matching shoes?!  Of course you have to have matching shoes that you will outgrow in 6 weeks to commemorate a cheesy Hallmark holiday that only comes around once a year.  

Would Travis (who was out of town on business at the time) get mad at me for blowing some bank on these gaudy, heart-infested outfits that expire February 15th?  Nah.  Because he's a sucker for these dimples, too...

 And the beauty of having 3 girls is that I can justify the purchase of holiday clothes because they will be worn again by Josie (who is a whole size smaller than Merryn is now) and again by this little munchkin...

 But seriously - these faces!!!!

 Okay, maybe not those particular faces.  They were just high on hearts.  It happens.

Indulge me for a moment...

 ...my baby!!!!

 Roses are red.

Violets are blue.

Biddy Boo,

Oh how I love you.

 And I can't believe I did this and I further can't believe I am publicly admitting that I did this but I forwent the perforated Walgreens Valentines Day cards in favor of the crafty route.  Seriously, you have no idea how enormous my Pinterest Inadequacy Complex is.  Wandering around Michael's is not inspiring for me; it makes me break out in a cold sweat, heart pounding, frantically searching for the nearest exit.  Creativity and I are not exactly friends. 

But I saw something that caught my eye and it was such a perfect fit for our Josie JoJo that I HAD to do it.   It's amazing how having kids changes you into this festive, holiday-loving person.  Cheesiness now fills places in my heart where eye rolls once existed.  So I sent Travis to the party supply store (that's why you get married, right?  To make your spouse run errands that you don't want to do?  Just kidding, Travis.  I'd love you even if you weren't "Crafty Dad").  He came home with these 59 cent plastic, heart shaped glasses. 

  I printed out some cards (Travis fixed my margins) and voilà!

 The hardest part was convincing Josie to neatly print her name 16 times.  You have to know how to deflect a LOT of attitude.  It's a good thing I have experience with this.  Every morning, I wake up and I strap on my attitude-proof fest.  Go ahead, try and "No please absolutely not NO!" me.  I'll "Yes please absolutely YES!" you all. Day. Long!

Happy Valentines Day!