February Recap

February has been about as uneventful as January was, which was great for us in light of what is now public knowledge: I'm expecting our second child at the end of August!

Here is what we were up to this month!

Meeting Baby Ruthie (February 2)

We got to meet my little brother's new baby girl Ruthie Marie the first Saturday in February. What a little doll she is! It's hard to imagine that babies come so small! Congratulations to Josh and Tiffany on your beautiful baby girl!

Click here for a full recap with pictures!

Sioux Falls Weekend (February 8-9)

We finally left Cashel overnight for the first time with Grandpa and Grandma in Worthington while we had a nice overnight in Sioux Falls together. We ate out a lot, shopped, checked out a car show, and took advantage of the hot tub, not to mention rested up!

Click here for a full recap with pictures!

Valentine's Day (February 14)

We had a low-key Valentine's Day this year with dinner at home and lots of snuggles.

Click here for a full recap with pictures!

Breaking the big news to family and close friends (February 14)

Other than the members of my immediate family who flat out guessed that I was pregnant, the rest of our families didn't know, so we sent out Valentines' Day announcements to let the cat out of the bag to the rest of our immediate family and close friends.

We let everyone else know on February 21st with a Facebook announcement.

Cashel's 1 Year Pictures and Catching up with Friends (February 16)

We had Cashel's 1 year pictures taken with Heidi Swanson in Marshall (who did a great job!), and afterwards caught up with the Walerius family over lunch (delicious, Erin!) and visited through the afternoon. It was a great, full day :)

Catching up with the Breukers (February 17)

We had a fun day in Worthington catching up with our friends the Breukers after church with lunch at their home. It seems we never can find the time to get together with toddlers and busy schedules, so it was nice to catch up and see how they were doing! Thanks for the great meal, Jed and Kristina!

Afternoon in Worthington (February 23)

We had a nice visit with Great Grandma Vi over lunch at Hardee's in Worthington, followed by a nice afternoon visit with Grandpa and Grandma at their home in Worthington. I also got the chance to get some shopping done without tagalongs, and then we enjoyed supper at Taco John's before heading home.

It's always so fun to watch Grandma Vi interact with Cashel, and he seems to just adore her.

Click here for a full recap of lunch with Great Grandma Vi with pictures!

Fun in the Snow (February 25)

With such a beautiful light, fluffy snow (and nothing for wind) the night before, we decided to get bundled up and play in the snow after work :) I think it's safe to say that Cashel had a good time :)

Click here for a full recap with pictures!

What's Coming Up!

March is looking like it will overall be a bit like our January and February, lacking too many plans for the most part; however, towards the middle and end of the month, things will pick up a bit. Highlights will include a (very very seriously belated) Christmas celebration with Mark's Dad, Pam and the kids, my second prenatal appointment on the 11th, an upcoming trip to Humboldt to meet yet another new Vinsand niece or nephew (expected to arrive March 11) as well as our big trip to Hawaii at the end of the month.

As always, we have our sights set on Spring and it can't come soon enough!!! It's funny how much more grateful we are for the nicer weather once we've seen how dreary it can get: I suppose God plans it that way, huh? I'm antsy to get a little herb garden going this year (one that I really really would like to NOT ruin), to hit up the farmers market for some fresh produce, and to finally let our little man wander outside and explore a bit without all of us being cooped up in the house so much!

My Latest Obsession

I have been eyeing this baby since I saw it in Sioux Falls at Target about a month ago. I just LOVE how tiny it is compared to my monster Nikon D40. ::le sigh:: Perhaps one day :)

Fun in the Snow (February 25)

Monday afternoon when we got home from work and daycare, we decided to take advantage of the fluffy white snow that had fallen overnight. It was a tad chilly out, but there was no wind, and we figured Cashel might get a kick out of it.

He was in awe!

In fact it almost looked like he was having FUN!!

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before he wandered off into the yard and took a dive flat onto the snow, which made his little face a tad bit cold.

We didn't last too much longer after that, but I think he definitely had fun while it lasted!

I've been keeping something from you... (February 21)

That's right...

We're expecting another baby in late August/early September!

The due date is officially August 31st. I got to hear the heartbeat last Monday at my first appointment, and the baby is doing great! I am feeling very good overall as well (with the occasional food aversions, bloating and mild fatigue) and am very much looking forward to meeting this new little one in 6ish more months!

To head off a few questions so I'm not constantly repeating myself:

• We aren't sure at this time if we'll find out the gender.
• We'd be more than happy with a boy or a girl.
• While I was 99.9999% sure Cashel was going to be a boy, I have not even the slightest inkling with this one.
• We were a little surprised that I was pregnant, but immediately thrilled!
• This makes me 13 weeks today.
• Cashel has absolutely no idea what's going on.
• We're not really sure how we'll work out the bedroom situation in our current house, but the baby will sleep in the rock & play in our bedroom for a few months anyway, until Cashel is ready for a big boy bed.

You can keep up with the pregnancy journey if you wish by clicking here!

Valentine's Day (February 14)

We had quite the interesting morning for Valentine's, as it began at 3:30am with Cashel in desperate need of a bath. Needless to say, we all woke up a little on the sleepy side.

As I was curling my hair, my sweet hubby surprised me with a beautiful rose, balloon and card :) What a sweetheart :)

For supper I decided to go a little out of my comfort zone and try something I hadn't tried before: Beef Wellingtons with lobster mashed potatoes, stuffed mushrooms (that I didn't make, just warmed) and fresh steamed broccoli.

The Beef Wellingtons were VERY good (although I think I would prefer it without the puff pastry), as were the stuffed mushrooms and broccoli. However the lobster mashed potatoes were just "eh". I wouldn't make them again, and I felt like it was a waste of delicious (and expensive!) lobster. Lesson learned, I guess.

I had intentions of making some heart-shaped brownies for dessert, but we were so stuffed that we weren't hungry at all, so we went dessert-less.

Cashel's Valentine's Day dinner was slightly different than ours, as he had heart-shaped grilled cheese and some milk :)

He also got a cute balloon, puppy dog and some fun books from Mama and Dada :)

We had a nice day together and I sure enjoyed snuggling my Valentines :)

Weekend in Sioux Falls (February 8-9)

Mark and I did something that we haven't done before: We let our 1 year old son stay overnight with Grandpa and Grandma while we spent a relaxing, romantic evening in Sioux Falls together. We had an absolutely wonderful time, and it sounds like they did as well :)

We started out with an out of this world dinner at Cherry Creek Grill - their ribs are outstanding!

Of course, after that delicious dinner, we had to swing by Dairy Queen for a couple mini blizzards :)

After our indulgent evening out on the town, we checked into our hotel (the Sheraton) for the night and lounged until our tummies weren't feeling quite so terribly full. We watched a couple episodes of Law & Order SVU (that's how long it took to feel normal again - we ate way too much!)

After a while, we decided to head on down to the hot tub and relax a bit more. We ended up running into another couple doing the exact same thing as us (haha) so we did what any normal parents would do on their first night away from their babies: talked about our kids! :)

The Next Day...

We started our morning with breakfast at The Rollin' Pin.

We then decided to take in the Winterfest car show that we found out was going on right next to our hotel at the Convention Center. Lots of very cool cars, as well as some fun vendors for the ladies to entertain themselves with. (But who am I kidding: I was more interested in the sweet cars!)

These were the ones that made Mark's mouth water:


And these were the two that made my heart skip a beat:

We decided not to stick around long enough to meet Frank from American Pickers, but rather to head on over to HuHot to find ourselves some lunch. HuHot has become the one place we always must eat when we go to Sioux Falls. It's where we had our first date (and pretty much every subsequent date in Sioux Falls since we got married). The food is always good, fresh, and you get to make whatever you want. Yummmmm!!!!

After HuHot, we hobbled around Scheels with full bellies for a while (Mark got himself some downhill skis and boots and we picked up a child carrier for Cashel for our big trip in 6 weeks...which we ended up returning after getting a better deal at Once Upon a Child). The rest of the day was a crazy blur. I know we shopped way too much (Kohl's, Target, Once Upon a Child), spent too much money, and were there much longer than either of us had hoped to be, but before long we grabbed some BWW on the way home and found our little buddy eager for some mama and dada hugs :)

We had a wonderful night and next day as a couple and certainly enjoyed the time to recharge, but we absolutely missed our little man so much! Many many thanks to Mark's Dad and Step-Mom for watching our little man for the night. I know he had a great time :)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today my Dad is celebrating his 64th birthday in Heaven. It has been 5 years since we celebrated a birthday with him, and while we miss him so dearly, we are so encouraged to know that we will see him again one day!

So to honor my Dad for the day, here is a little photo montage of some of my favorite times with him :)

Love you, Dad!