Love is in the Air

Love is in the air here at the Jansen house. And so is the flu. 

It has been two weeks of sickness for us; Douglas all of last week and all three kids this week (I am holding strong because Moms don't get sick). These two weeks could have gotten us down, but when I look back through the pictures, I find smiles and lots of reasons to feel all the love. 

My love list for the week of Valentine's Day goes a little something like this: 

I love new experiences (and gap-tooth grins). I am always a first time mom with this one, and this week we got to experience a first--Em's first lost tooth! She is way behind most kids her age (thats what you get when you don't get any teeth until you are one). She actually surprised me with the whole tooth pulling thing. The girl has zero tolerance for pain (you should hear her when I brush her hair or change her earrings), so I figured once she found out her tooth was loose she wouldn't want anyone to come near it. The opposite happened! She wiggled her little tooth non-stop, and we spent a few evenings taking turns trying to get it out. When I picked her up last Wednesday, she hoped in the van and started talking non-stop like normal. As I looked in the rear-view mirror, I realized something was different. "Wait! Did you lose your tooth!?!?" To which she just grinned the biggest grin. The tooth fairy came that night; she elected to put it in a glass on her dresser like Daddy did when he was little instead of under her pillow like Mom. In the morning she was two dollars in quarters richer. It won't be long now until she is missing all of her teeth and I can't wait for the era of goofy Em grins. 

 

I love that I get to hang out with my kiddos even when I am "working". We had a weekend full of ballgames, and my big kids helped me cheer on the bulldogs and coach my cheerleaders.  I was just reminded of how happy I am to work in a place that is so family focused. Emery now sits with friends (because she is six going on sixteen) and Auggie can be found sitting on my lap asking a million questions. Basketball season is coming to a close, and while I will love the free time, I will miss this. And my senior cheerleaders. Don't even get me started on the upcoming senior night.

I love the look of concentration on Auggie's face and his perfect letter "g's". Auggie and Emery both worked hard on their Valentines for school. We picked to give our friends yo-yo's with a tag that read "Yo--be my Valentine?". (I also love Pinterest and Amazon. Non-candy Valentine for the win!)

I have already written about my love for their handwriting. I never want it to change. Auggie sadly had to miss his Valentine's Day party at school (dang fever), but he will get to pass these out to his friends next week. 

I love these two. I love their relationship. I love that Doug always formally asks her to the Daddy Daughter Dance and lets her pick out his tie. Emery looks forward to this dance every year because it is a mix of friend time and one on one time with her Daddy. She loves me and all, but really she is the definition of a Daddy's girl. 

Is it me or does she look exactly like him in this picture? She also has a math mind like him, loves the same foods as him...she basically is him. I love it. 

This crazy. I love every thing he says and does (minus his crazy toddler meltdown rampages). I don't know what to do with him and yet I would take ten of him. I love his recent explosion of words and phrases. I love his obsession with "Wi-a-ni" clothes and his desire to copy cat every single thing Em and Aug do. He makes me laugh (and sometimes want to cry).

I love little holidays, fun family traditions and I really, really love my Valentine this year. At our house you have to ask someone to be your Valentine. For the second year in a row, Auggie asked me first. How could I say no!?! On Valentine's Day Eve (because we also never wait until the actual right day to give a gift), I gifted him some chocolate, some play-doh and a pair of handcuffs. Very random, but I know my Valentine. He was soooo excited about the $2 handcuffs. It ends up that he is not the greatest of valentines because he got me nothing....but he tells me he loves me a million times a day, and that is all I ever wanted anyway. 

I love the love between these two. Emery usually asks Doug or vice versa but this year Emery asked Bennett. She was super serious about it with a handwritten "Will you be my Valentine?" note and all. B's answer: "No...unt Momma." Em was "heart broken" and continued to ask Bennett everyday for a week; he finally said yes to "En".  Bennett helped me pick out a craft and chocolate for Em, and she picked out a puppy puppet for him. Everyone felt very loved. Well except for Douglas. No one asked him. When we were talking about Valentine's Day earlier in the week and the fact that Daddy didn't have one, Auggie was quick with a suggestion; "You can ask your Mom..." So Susie....will you be Doug's Valentine?

I love doctors that can get you right in and medicine that brings relief and grandparents (thank you Nana, Grandma and Grandpa) that come to the rescue. It is not lost on me how good we have had it this sick season.  Douglas had a week of influenza b, Bennett had double ear infection and a ruptured eardrum, Emery and Auggie had lasting fevers that only sleep and fluids seem to fix. I spent the week feeling foreheads, kissing rosy fever cheeks and praying for quick relief, but I also found myself thanking God for our overall good health and praying for those who are in the middle of hospital stays or fighting life threatening illnesses. 

Auggie wasn't the only one who had to miss a school party. Emery had to miss four days this week including her big Valentines Day Fun Day. In good news, she still got a box unicorn full of valentines from friends. Her and I had worked hard on this fabulous Valentines Day Unicorn (Bennett thinks it is a dog and barks at it), and she couldn't not go to school and be shown off. I dropped the unicorn off at school, and Em was so excited to look through all the notes from her classmates when I brought them home. And right now I love that our household is fever-free for 24 hours. 

There are a million other things I could put here on my love list. A million. And when I look back on this 2020 Valentine's Day post I will remember all of these little moments and much more from this day of love. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

XOXO