February was pretty cold and gloomy for the most part, so we spent all the time we could indoors, trying to find adventure in the little things.

But first, we kicked it off with a trip to Shriners.

It was a frustrating visit — there were some policy changes in the new year and we can no longer have new boots shipped to us when he grows out of them, meaning we have to make the trip to the hospital to get them. He went through five pairs of boots in the first year of his life, so it’s a lot of superfluous trips assuming he continues to grow as fast (which, I guess he won’t now that he’s not a newborn anymore… let’s hope!) and the hospital was SWAMPED when we went, so many families waiting to be seen hours after their appointment time, traveling from far away.. and here we were, taking up TWO appointments (doctor + orthotics tech) just to get the next shoe size up. It’s such a waste of their time and resources. The poor providers seemed really frustrated about it too, I’m guessing it’s an insurance-imposed decision… in the meantime, I guess people who travel from really far (some come from Mexico to this clinic!) will have to resort to buying the boots cash or something? So tough. Anyway, the plus side is Jonas’ feet look fantastic and we made it out of there in a reasonable amount of time, so I can’t complain — we have it pretty darn good compared to so many other families. But that’s what makes me mad: we were sitting in a patient room with another family who had to drive from far away, take off work, get their daughter molded for a scoliosis brace, then COME BACK to personally pick it up, etc. It’s expensive and difficult for these families.

All that to say, if you know a family whose child has a medical concern, remember that: they’re probably stretched really thin. Give them a break, maybe offer to help babysit kids or bring a meal on the days they have to travel. And if you’re their employer: find a way to make it work. Believe me, they’re acutely aware of the time they’re missing and guilty for having to take it off. They are sacrificing so much to give their child bright futures.

February is a big month birthday-wise: my mother, grandfather, aunt and husband all have birthdays! So the kids loved hiding in the dark and shouting “surprise” when Andrew came home the night before his birthday (he had to leave town for a few days) and baking (and eating) a fabulous Texas sheet cake.

They sure do love their papa! Jonas especially is becoming such a little daddy’s boy, it’s cute. He loves it when Adelina and Andrew play tag or horsey or whatever other active game and he follows them around giggling and trying to join in the action.

He also loves following Adelina around and imitating anything she does. (And vice versa sometimes, ha!) These two have gotten really good at playing together and I just love it!

(What a fun igloo they made at the library! Adelina didn’t want to leave it…)

They’re also really good at being naughty together… sigh. This day really made me mad — I had asked Adelina to serve him A LITTLE BIT and instead they decided it would be fun to dump the whole container on the floor and swim around in goldfish… oh boy.

Luckily I forgave them… eventually. Not before getting pretty mad though.

I read a good article on the studies surrounding gratitude and how we can teach it to our children — good stuff. (And also, based on her references I’m preeeetty sure the author is LDS, ha!)

We celebrated Valentine’s Day, and Adelina especially loved the bouquet of flowers Andrew snuck in the house while we were out 🙂

And the cute valentines we made for everybody!

We had a fun date night thanks to our Unbox Love subscription — highly recommend it!

(Ignore my crazy hair… ha)

Early in the month it was relatively warm, so we explored our backyard and found a fun hideout behind a clump of trees and the fence. Adelina loved playing hide and seek — we played that game a LOT this month.

Jonas loves playing hide and seek too, and it’s so funny watching him try to find his sister! Oh, and he’s really into “reading,” especially this cute book my dad sent when Adelina was little:

We had that one good snow day, and then we hunkered down into a deep freeze… which is finally starting to lift thank goodness!

We celebrated a very low-key Mardi Gras because I couldn’t find a single necklace or face paint kit or anything, so I just got some silly string and we played with it outside (I remember my dad doing that with me when I was about Adelina’s age), then had jambalaya for dinner and that was that. Oh, and the first week of the month was Chandeleur (French Groundhog Day) so we made crêpes (here’s more about the tradition + my recipe if you want to make some too!) — that’s a lot of February holidays including President’s Day!

This is me at about Adelina’s age celebrating Carnaval/Mardi Gras in Nice — they have a huge parade with floats covered in flowers, it’s pretty cool! I actually have memories of it, it was such a fun day 🙂

And then, I started my social media fast for Lent which has been… a bit of a challenge. But it’s good for me to push myself.

I’ve been practicing my photography a lot — participating in challenges, pushing myself to get creative, seeking out light in a dark month… It’s been good! And resulted in adorable pictures of Jonas 🙂

Here are more photos about “love” that I took around Valentine’s Day 🙂

By the way, this came as a surprise to my sister the other day who hasn’t seen him in a bit, but Jonas is for real walking everywhere now! It’s so fun to watch kids this age toddle about, and this cute kid is no exception… see?!

This is me trying to get ready by myself with the kids on a Sunday morning… it’s an adventure, and sometimes they ruin my makeup because I can’t keep it out of their hands fast enough…

One morning, Jonas managed to get hold of my hair styling product (which is a very goopy, sticky mess) and had taken two fistfuls of it and stuck one hand in his mouth, which made him gag and throw it up… in the matter of about a minute. That kid! But he’s also super cute and the sweetest cuddle bug, so I always end up forgiving him.

We had a bunch of quiet days at home — but that didn’t mean the kids didn’t have plenty of fun! Jonas loves to go into his sister’s room in the morning, and climb into her bed with her when he can. It’s pretty cute!

Adelina took a nap one afternoon, which was a pretty monumental occasion since she NEVER naps. She wasn’t feeling so hot and sure enough I paid for it later when she refused to go to sleep until 10pm, but she sure was cute and peaceful… at first she had cuddled up with me, and how can I refuse that?!

More indoor magic… Adelina’s room gets such great afternoon sunlight, it’s the best!

She had her end of year dance recital too (her teacher/dance school director is having a baby any day now so she decided to end the year early), and she loved it of course.

So did Jonas 😉 AND he was really good during the recital, thankfully.

She loved spending time with her little friends on playdates and at a birthday party, she has a few little girls close in age to her that she just ADORES and asks me to go visit every day… poor girl, she can’t get enough!

I know she’s going to just love school when the time comes in the fall. I’m not sure how I feel about her starting preschool though, it feels so odd to imagine her being gone part of the day!

We had a yummy raclette night — as you can see, it involves lots of cheese… much to everyone’s delight!

Oh and also in February… I cute my hair!!! It’s the shortest it’s ever been — and I LOVE it.

I have to make sure I style it — I prefer it with some wave to it than straight — but I’m really enjoying it and I think it looks great. We’ll see how long it lasts but so far I’m really enjoying it!

We got thank you cards from our friends’ lovely wedding we attended this summer, complete with prints from their photo booth… (What a nice touch, by the way!)

Ha ha. I’m so funny.

And there you have it — just like that, February is over! I’m definitely ready for spring!