"I love you when you're human!"

Gotta chalk it up to Modern Family...love that show.

Life is good, and we are blessed. It's been so important to remember this as schedules get hectic and semesters get hard and decisions get bigger.

I remember hearing in church as a teenager that i'd be making the biggest decisions of my life in the next ten years...where to go to college, what to get a degree in, who to marry, when to have kids, etc. (Obviously they haven't happened exactly in that order!)

I want this blog to be more of a journal, so i'm trying to write about everyday things, too, not just life's milestones.

My mom and I were in a store when I was visiting KC and we found this mirror for sale. Nathan smiled and smiled at "the baby" in the mirror. It was hilarious! He didn't know it was him--self-awareness doesn't hit until about 6 months old--but it was still hilarious! I pulled my little camera out of my bag and snapped away. It was awesome. I love having a camera on me all the time! He hasn't done it since (another reason i'm glad I got pictures!), but he's very interested in the baby in the mirror. He loves to study his face and is amazed with his expressions! :o)

Nathan's getting on a schedule a bit better, but still sleeps like a teenager. However, he now stays up from about 8 to 1 am, not napping at all in between, so hopefully he'll slowly start moving up his bedtime to at least 10:30 when Mitch heads to bed.

This week my goal is to vacuum, get ready for Valentine's Day, and cook 2-3 new meals. I have the time to experiment with new recipes, so why not? This is going to be the semester where I have the most time, even if Nathan tries to take up most of it. From now on, kids will always be taking my time, so I might as well learn while there's only one in the "little people hogging my time" club!

Speaking of Valentine's Day, i'm going to try and make a really nice dinner for us on Feb. 13th. It'll be Sunday, so a great day for a nice roast or something that can cook for awhile (we get out of church at 4:30 and are completely starved...and our oven doesn't have a timer!). I want to use our nice china that we've never gotten to use, and get out my nice red tablecloth. At my house growing up we dyed everything pink or red, but I don't know that we'll go that far this time! I want to make the famous Dooley woman caramel-bottom rolls (that's what I call them anyway), so we'll see if that works. I want to have sparkling cider, even though we don't have nice glasses, just nice dishes. Oh well! :o) I put Mitch in charge of what to have for the main course; all he has to do is tell me what he wants and I'll do it. I'm not picky, and I know he has more preferences than me! I'm excited, and i'll be sure to post pictures.

Here's a little "subway art" to celebrate Valentine's Day. I want to take some nice pictures of Nathan as well. He has a cute red polo that would work perfectly!

Happy pre-Valentine's Day! :o)