February highlights - part 2 {Valentine's Day, new nephews!!, family visiting}

this post has been languishing in my drafts folder for 3 weeks and what do you know? life just keeps on happening in big and exciting ways. most notably, Cecilia celebrated her First Holy Communion at the end of April -- and literally as I am updating this post on Thursday, May 8, the announcement from the Vatican is Habemus Papam -- the first American pope! February practically feels like last year at this point. 

1) Valentine's Day. on February 13th, I had flights booked to go visit my sister's family in Washington state, so I knew we'd need to celebrate Valentine's Day in advance. I had the kids' Valentine's treats all set up for when the older girls arrived home from school on Tuesday, the 11th. in previous years, I've made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, but that wasn't in the cards this year. my next idea was to make one of the kids' favourite pasta recipes, cheesy beef and shells, using heart-shaped pasta. would you believe I couldn't find heart-shaped pasta available for delivery from any of my usual grocery stores (Aldi, Giant Eagle, and Walmart)? I definitely did not have the time to go searching in a store myself, so, just regular shells it was. 

Costco was selling the adorable jogger/hoodie sets for $10!

Cece has been asking for a "rose globe" for years and this year she finally got one!

someone got into the chocolates before I could take a picture

Costco for the win again with these matching Minnie Mouse sets for $5!

I didn't take a picture of the chocolates I got for Nick -- and his gift to me came on Valentine's Day proper! 

2) Twinapalooza!! my new nephews were born in November, and I couldn't wait to go snuggle them myself! however, this required much logistical juggling to make sure my own brood could manage without me. ultimately, we coordinated so my parents would fly from Washington state to Pittsburgh to help Nick with the kids while I flew out the opposite direction. it was an absolutely wonderful trip -- two travel days and four full days with them. the travel days were like a balm to my little introvert soul. I've always loved flying and while I don't mind flying with kids (we have it pretty much down to a science!), to fly by myself is just a gift. uninterrupted hours to listen to my podcast or audiobook (with one airpod in), or read my physical book, or just watch the crowds of people go by as I sit at the gate? incredible. 

very weird lighting in this bathroom, but this is my general travel uniform: a cardigan (with pockets) over top of a short sleeve shirt, comfortable (read: loose-fitting) jeans (with more pockets!), and my heaviest shoes worn onto the plane (to save room and weight in my checked bag). I want all the pockets to quickly stash my phone, airpods, chapstick, kleenex, etc. my feet always get cold on planes and now that I have TSA precheck, I don't have to stop to take my shoes off while going through security. 

my departing flight from Pittsburgh was delayed and I had to RUN to make it on to my connecting flight. but I made it (and wasn't even the last person on the plane). thank goodness for the friendly flight attendant who let me use the first class bathroom before heading back to my economy seat. I hadn't wanted to stop to use one in the airport before boarding since I knew it was going to be a tight connection, but my poor bladder was not going to make it until the seatbelt sign turned off at 10,000 feet. (note: I don't always mask on flights, but if there's ever a time to do it, it's during the height of flu season going to visit new babies!)

finally, Kelli picked me up at the airport and we had a lovely sister chat on the drive back. I truly hope and pray my own girls have the same closeness to their sisters in adulthood as we do! the twins were just waking up from naps when we arrived at their house, and oh my goodness, I just could not get enough of their squishy cheeks and fuzzy heads!! 

Auntie Kate in her happy place!

the ingenius Boppy set-up! we tried to keep them roughly on the same schedules but they were definitely going through a growth spurt during my visit, so some days they ended up cluster feeding

sweet boy!

bath time!!

I was very proud of this moment I got them both napping at the same time

on Valentine's Day itself, what should arrive but this beautiful bouquet accompanied by a large box of chocolates from a local confectionery shop? Nick spoils me! 

melt my heart!

I loved spending some uninterrupted time with my oldest nephew, too. whenever we see each other, it's been with all of my own kids, which is delightful in its own way (and watching the cousins play together is so special). but it was great to build our relationship in a way that just isn't possible when I'm also being Mommy to my own crew! 

playing make-believe. I never do this at home with my own kids, haha.

 one night I made sheet pan sausages for dinner and could not believe how much mustard he consumed! those German roots run deep! 

a sleeping baby, a good book, and a glass of wine -- what else could I possibly want?

the last day of my trip, Kelli arranged for us to have a "couples" massage and get breakfast afterwards (while my brother-in-law watched the twins). we giggled over the fact that the only available time slot was 8 AM -- but honestly, it was a great way to begin the day (and I had actually been up since 5 AM anyway to take over from the "night time shift" with the babies!). my masseuse had a background in sports medicine and his massage style reminded me almost more of physical therapy -- it was very soothing, but he would put pressure on certain trigger points in my upper arm or leg and I could feel my hand or my lower leg release, which was very cool. this was the first time I've had a male masseuse and I think I might have felt a little weird about it if I was in a room by myself, but since Kelli and her (female) masseuse were there too, I didn't feel like I needed to be on alert (and I didn't get any strange vibes from him either). towards the end of the massage, he slid both hands under my shoulder blades and lifted my upper torso off the table completely, letting my head and shoulders relax back, and working into my rhomboids and around the shoulderblade area. it felt so good to let all that tension go!

about to settle in for 60 minutes of relaxation!

and of course, mimosas afterwards

3) family visiting. my flight left Pittsburgh on a Thursday morning and Mom and Dad arrived Thursday evening. it was a bit hectic preparing for my own trip as well as getting everything ready for their visit in advance! I did my best to have the fridge and freezer stocked with the essentials, and posted some ideas for easy dinners (including prepared freezer meals) on the menu board.

it was very strange to be trying to "host" when I wasn't even going to be there for the first part of their visit! a whole other layer to untangle (and which my therapist and I have already discussed) is WHY I was so concerned things would fall to pieces without me when there were three able-bodied adults there (make that four, once Auntie Kris arrived to join the fun). be that as it may, I didn't want anyone to stress about food!

of course we FaceTimed a few times while I was gone, and lots of pictures were shared back and forth on our family message thread. ultimately, everyone survived (imagine that!) and I'm just so grateful that I was able to take the time for a proper visit with my sister's family! unfortunately, both Mom and Dad ended up getting sick while they were here, but Mom bounced back pretty quickly and Dad was feeling better by the time they needed to fly home (nothing worse than being sick on a plane). 

Dad sent me this photo on the first morning after they arrived. Kapla blocks are the best.

my flight back to Pittsburgh arrived on Wednesday evening and Auntie Kris picked me up from the airport.  we celebrated Mom's birthday on Thursday, and cheered Cece on at her basketball tournament that weekend. 

Elizabeth loved playing the Baby Bird Game that Grammie brought from home

Happy Birthday, Mom!

singing Happy Birthday gets a little more elaborate when you have three professional (and a few amateur) musicians in the house:

Cece with the ball

cutest spectator award

she's caught the basketball bug! they were up against predominantly 4th grade teams so they didn't make it very far in the tournament, but they sure played hard.

on Saturday night, there was a gala fundraiser dinner at the Oratory where Nick works. we took advantage of our built-in babysitters and got all gussied up! Mom had just bought Greta a curling wand and she was very happy to be my hair stylist (no way I would have taken the time to do it myself). 

the ubiquitous tween outfit of flannel PJ pants

the shoes came from my coworker (they didn't fit her and were past the online return window so she passed them on to me). I used to wear heels like this all the time and can't do it often anymore, but loved the pop of color with this outfit!

finally, we said goodbye to my parents as we left for another basketball game (they would need to leave for the airport before we got back). they were giving us their best impression of American Gothic. pay no mind to the winter decorations and lights still up...

Your turn: Do you have any Valentine's Day traditions? If you have nieces and nephews, do you see them often? (I really don't like the term "niblings"; it makes me think of someone actually biting chunks out of babies.)