I mentioned in my latest Lifestyle Favorites post that I wanted to try out a different kind of monthly round-up on the blog. Today I am sharing a recap of some of my favorite moments from February. This reminds me a bit of the Week In Review posts I used to write. I’m excited to talk about a few memories from February, including several birthday celebrations with loved ones and our first trip to Disney World with our daughter, Charlotte (CC).
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My husband, Don’s birthday was the kick-off to a couple of weeks of back-to-back celebrations with family and friends. We had our own little party at home on the actual day complete with Chinese takeout (Don’s favorite) and a homemade birthday cake (recipe from Baked Occasions). I love this photo I snapped while I sang to Don and CC looked at the cake in wonder. It captures the joy that accompanies happy celebrations. Is there anything better than seeing your nearest and dearest so content?
The next weekend we drove down to Indiana for the first birthday celebration of the son of one of our closest friends from high school (yes, Don and I met in high school, but we didn’t start dating until we were in college…and not the same one, at that! That’s a story for another day). A couple of our other high school friends, who are actually a couple as well, were there with their little girl. Even though we all live in different states now, we make a point of trying to get together as often as we can. It’s so much fun to see our kids interact, especially since we’ve all known each other since we were kids ourselves. I look so forward to watching our kids grow up having each other in their lives. I can only hope they provide each other with the same kind of long term support that we have for each other over the years and across the miles.
The birthday celebrations didn’t stop there! The next weekend we celebrated our nephew, Theo’s first birthday. Theo is the son of Don’s sister and her husband and is just six weeks younger than our Charlotte. How fun is it to have cousins so close in age! Theo’s party was teddy bear themed and oh-so cute. Watching Theo happily feed his mama his smash cake before trying it himself was the sweetest thing. Just look at that happy face!
We are so fortunate to have a loving family that welcomes our friends into the fold as their own. They joined us at Theo’s party and then we continued the fun afterwards at our house, hanging out with the girls, pulling out every single toy and book, and generally having a merry ol’ time. Charlotte’s really into books right now and it was so sweet to watch her little buddy join in for reading time with us.
We spent an evening at Don’s folks house for supper and family time right before Valentine’s Day. Don’s dad has a really neat custom putting green in his basement, which my golf-fanatic husband loves to practice his short game on. He’s taken CC over there a couple of times recently to “play” as well. We like to joke that she’s “Daddy’s Caddy” as she likes to hover near him and watch as he putts. How cute is that!
I had the pleasure of working with Hello Fresh, a weekly meal subscription service that provides ingredients and detailed instructions for recipes to make at home. I’ve considered trying this service for months now and their interest in collaborating was just the push I needed to take the plunge. They sent our first box for free and I made my first sponsored video (ever!) about my experience. It was a milestone for me as a creator to work with a brand in this way and a very positive experience. I quickly subscribed (we pay for this ourselves) and have so enjoyed the service. It has completely changed cooking for me from a daily task I didn’t enjoy to something I actually look forward to now. That’s a big milestone in my personal life as a reluctant home cook!
We spent five days at Disney World with Don’s family at the end of the month. To say it was filled with favorite moments of the month is an understatement; the trip was a highlight of my life! Disney World has been my very favorite place on this earth ever since Don took me there for the first time when we were just kids in college. It is pure magic to me. I have longed to share that magic with my own children for many years but was uncertain how my sensitive 14 month old would react to such an overstimulating environment. Any uncertainty I had going into the trip vanished on our very first stop to meet Mickey Mouse on day one. She was delighted! The rest of the trip was more of the same: pure delight from all three of us. I snapped this “us-ie” (as opposed to a selfie) on the Dumbo ride. Please excuse the horrific angle and our double chins and focus on that happy little girl’s face. That face says it all. My Disney-loving mama heart couldn’t have been more full than it was during our stay. I can’t wait to start planning our next Disney adventure!
February was a month filled with celebrations and firsts for our family. I will treasure the memories we made, especially from our Disney World trip (more to come on that soon!). I hope you enjoyed this new kind of round-up post. I’d love to hear your thoughts and input as to whether I should make it a regular thing. I love sharing these special moments with you! Please feel free to share your favorite moment from the month if you feel so inclined. Let’s spread the joy!
See ya real soon! 😉
* Post contains affiliate links. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are genuinely my own. *
