Strike and Ike

I had to tell Isaac at least three or four times this morning to not step on the cat. It is partly Striker's fault for putting himself in harms way, but Isaac is in the process of learning to be "gentle." We use the word often with him and the animals and us and even though there is definitely progress, there are still times when hitting or stepping on them creates such a fun reaction!

On the plus side, Isaac is beginning to truly enjoy and appreciate the animals lately. He smiles, says hi to them and does interact (not always negatively). Striker has always been the best with Ike and tonight I got a few pictures of Isaac hugging and head butting my cat...

Being an animal lover, it warms my heart to see Ike interact with my kitty like I do. And many times Striker seems to enjoy it as well. :)

Valentine's Day

Today was a food day, which means more to me than it would normally because I was feeling well enough to cook! For the last two months I've been exhausted and feeling crummy pretty much all the time, so preparing food has become my enemy. :( That's probably one of the reasons I feel like pregnancy robs me of who I really am; one of the downsides to growing a human. Thankfully, it seems like it's on it's way out when I have days like today! Granted, if given the opportunity I would have laid down and rested, but it wasn't like I had to rest, which has been the case MANY times.

So lunch was more like a breakfast lunch with scrambled eggs and bell peppers and onions and chicken sausage.

Dinner was the main meal I spent the day preparing for. I was really looking forward to having a Valentine's meal with Jake. He was scheduled to arrive in Sacramento at 5:30pm. Then a mechanical on the plane he was flying happened and they had to deice in Minneapolis. :( This meant Jake was going to miss his connecting flight and consequently not arrive to SMF until 8:30pm. I was so bummed. To lighten the blow, I shared some of the left over chocolate mousse (I had made for dessert) with Isaac. He was very happy to be part of my coping.

I didn't realize it at the time, but Jake had ordered me flowers AND chocolate (what a splurge)! He clued me to check the front door and there was the gift. So sweet.

Even though I'd like to be, Jake and I aren't naturally very festive, so doing anything special on holidays is pretty exciting. The flowers were beautiful and the chocolates surprisingly good! (I'm always a little weary of chocolates not purchased from See's or another reputable chocolate shop.) Sadly, as my life would have it, when I left to get Jake from the airport, my animals worked together to get the chocolates off the counter and ate about two-thirds of the box. Thankfully, no throw up and everyone is acting normal. I'm still bummed not to have the chocolates, but better for my health, right?

So before Jake got home I prepared salmon from a grilled salmon recipe, fingerling potatoes, and green beans. As soon as we got home from the airport, I put Isaac down and Jake put the food on the grill. Even though it doesn't look super pretty, it sure tasted good! Success!

Then for dessert, we had and a small red velvet bundt cake (mmmmm) and chocolate mousse with strawberries and whipped cream. YUM!

So it might have ended up being a late night, but it was wonderful to end it with my forever Valentine. :)