The result was wonderful. Hartly was so pleased with himself. He felt very proud and was super excited to hand his Valentine's Day cards out to his brother and his dad. We started with Frank. I must say, the reaction was beautiful. I do not think that Frank was prepared for such sweetness. It brought me to tears.
 |
| Frank reading it out loud |
 |
| Hartly's Valentine for Daddy |
(For those of you whose eyesight is not super human, this is what it says):
Valentine's Day 2014
To: Papi LOVE: Hartly (3 1/2)
"I love when Daddy tells me stories at anytime. I love when Daddy does with me football. I like playing with him how the Redskins play. And I like gently pulling him down or taking the ball from him. I also like to play squirty in the bathtub with Daddy. I like going to Papi's office and to work with him. And I LOVED going to a house with toys with Daddy because there was a train toy with people that I zoomed all around the house. I love looking for the monkey with Daddy at Trader Joe's.
I love Daddy as much as a carrot. And I love Daddy as much as I love honey. And I love Daddy as much as I love moons. I love Daddy as much as I love bagels. I love him 30 degrees.
I am going to love Daddy forever… (pause) even after he dies I will always love him forever.
Happy Valentine's Day Papi!!"
 |
| Frank was bursting with love |
Needless to say, Frank loved it!
Hartly and I did the same sort of thing when writing Tayo's Valentine. I would like to note, toward the end of Tayo's Valentine, Hart was becoming fidgety and asking if he could go play. But he still managed to produce a sweet piece of writing and lovely drawing for his brother.
Tayo was not as blown away as Frank. He enjoyed it but chose to climb up on a table and play with cars while listening…
 |
| Hartly's Valentine for his baby brother |
Valentine's Day 2014
To: Tayo LOVE: Hartly
" I love roughhousing and doing steamroller with Tayo. I love slurberting and touching his tummy. I love to make Tayo laugh. It makes me laugh when we make each other laugh. When I laugh, Bitty laughs. I love to kiss and cuddle him wile he's drinking his bottle. I like being a big brother. I miss him when he's napping because I like to do jokes with him. My favorite thing is laughing with him. He's
very silly. SOmetimes Bitty fakes me out. It's kinda funny, but kinda not.
I love my Bitty forever. I love him more than zerberts. I love him all the way to Hawaii (and that is far Mom!!)"
Below is them opening my Valentine presents to them (my little super heroes)!
 |
| opening up their Valentine's Gifts from Mommy |
 |
| checking out his Valentine gift in mirror |
 |
| Mommy's little Valentine super hero |
I also wrote some Valentine's to my 3 favorite boys (from littlest, to biggest):
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2014
TO: BITTY (TAYO)
LOVE: MUM-MUH (MOMMY)
I love when I go in your room in the morning and you reach for me. I love how you smack your lips together to sign you are hungry. I love that you love baby dolls. I love how you say, “bay-bee”. I love that you try to feed your brother all your food. I love watching you pick up and drink water all by yourself from a regular cup. I love your smile. I love that you understand how to joke and tease. I love that you are silly. I love when you reach for me and I go to pick you up and you lift your legs up and wrap them around one of my legs tight. I love how you fit perfectly on my hip and in my arms. I love how curious and adventurous you are. I love how independent you are. I love that you always come back into my arms after being away. I love how you hold onto my pant leg as I walk around the kitchen trying to be productive. I love how you use a napkin to wipe your face even though nobody taught you. I love your little voice and how you try to say so many words. I love how your little head snuggles into the crook in my neck when you are tired. I love how social you are and how you will go to complete strangers and let them cuddle you for a moment before demanding to be back in my arms. I love that you demand to be back in my arms. I love that you tolerate your big brother rolling around with you, and you often even enjoy it. I love that you don't hold a grudge when your big brother is jealous or too rough with you. I love playing ball with you. I love splashing in the tub with you. I love watching you climb up everything and watching you carefully climb down. I love watching you follow your big brother everywhere. I love watching you try and play all of the games that he plays. I love that you like to spin and that you like to dance. I love that you love music. I love how when you see the big stuffed doggy or lion you throw yourself onto them and laugh in delight. I love that you love to snuggle. I love how you sign please. I love that when you are tired or upset, I am who you want to be with. I love that even though you didn't come out of my body, I still see myself in you. I love that you made me a Mommy a second time. I love your soft skin. I love how you absentmindedly play with my necklace when I am holding you. I love when you make funny zerbert sounds with your mouth. I love when you do peekaboo with a blanket over your head. I love when you are two steps away from me and you turn your back to me completely and take two steps backward without looking and then just plop down, sometimes making it into my lap and sometimes not. I love that you do this same maneuver with Daddy and with Hartly. I love that when it is time for bed, you lean out of my arms toward Bear-Bear and your crib. I love checking in on you and watching you sleep before I go to bed every night.
I love you to forever and beyond and then more. I love you from here to there and everywhere. I love you always and always and infinity. I love you more than every breath I have ever taken or will ever take. I love you beyond time and space. You are my world.
 |
| First time I held my 2nd born |
 |
| My Bitty, My love |
 |
| We fit perfectly from the start |
 |
| My sweet boy |
 |
| My sleeping baby, feels so perfect in my arms |
 |
| sharing with mama |
And to my Bigger one:
TO: STINK BUG (HARTLY)
LOVE: CHRISTMAS TREE (MOMMY)
I love hearing your little feet running down the hallway toward my bedroom when you first wake up in the morning. I love when you tell me that you love me randomly during the day for no apparent reason. I love when you climb into my lap and lean your whole body against me. I love when you ask me questions and when we try and discover the answers together. I love your giggle. I love when I catch you whispering or talking kindly to your brother when you do not know that I am watching you. I love when you and dad play chess together and you always tell him, “but Dad, don't get my queen.” I love the ways that you remind me of me – your auburn hair, how you like all your food separate, how you do not like the cold, how you love roughhousing and cuddling... I love the ways that you are not like me – how you are interested in time and space, how you have a great number sense, how you are interested in building and putting things together. I love that we get to spend almost all day, every day together. I love watching you grow. I love seeing you problem solve. I love that you have your own ideas and an amazing imagination. I love listening to you tell stories. I love talking about faeries with you. I love that we always tell each other the truth, no matter what. I love your jokes, even when I don't understand them, they make me laugh. I love that you forgive me when I mess up or hurt your feelings. I love that we talk about everything. I love watching you play. I love seeing you with friends and cousins. I love that you love so many people. I love that you are kind. I love you even when you make mistakes or bad choices. I love you even when you are grumpy or not nice. I love that we never stay mad at each other long. I love your hugs. I love when you hold my hand. I love that you love to collect rocks everywhere we go. I love reading to you and I love that you love books. I love how you eat an apple until there is almost nothing left of it. I love that it makes you sad if animals or people are hurt or sad. I love that you are sensitive. I love that you try new things. I love your big brown eyes. I love watching you swim and play in the water. I love that you made me a Mommy. I love that I will love you forever, even when we are in different worlds and lands. I love lying in bed next to you as I listen to you fall asleep. I love checking in on you and seeing your sleeping face before I go to bed every night. I love who you are. I love everything about you.
I love you more than all the raindrops and water droplets in the whole wide world. I love you more than this lifetime and last lifetime and next lifetime. I love you bigger than the biggest planet and further than a rocketship could blast off to. I love you more than you love trains. I love you more than any food or any thing. I love you more than sparkles and faeries and the sun. I love you 80 million degrees and 42 billion zillion pounds. I love you 8980. I love you every yesterday, every today, and every tomorrow. Forever and ever and ever always. I just really, really love you.
 |
| Holding my first born minutes after birth |
 |
| My little love |
 |
| cuddle bug |
 |
| My beach baby |
 |
| Birthday Boy |
 |
| My love |
And, for my Biggest:
 |
| Photo taken on our anniversary (August 16th) |
Valentine's Day 2014
To: MyLLosa
Love: Your Noodle
I love that in the middle of the night I will often wake up and you are snuggled into me. I love how when you hear the babies cry in the middle of the night, you almost always go to them and tell me to go back to sleep. I love hearing you, from the other room, shushing, comforting, and loving our children. I love when we all pile into bed together in the morning, recalling dreams, snuggling and discussing the day to come. I love that you periodically and randomly kiss me. I love that I get to share in the joy of so many little moments with our children throughout the day with you. I love that you make me laugh... a lot. I love how playful you are. I love how creative you are. I love that you hold my hand still. I love that you say thank you to me for little things I do that don't go unnoticed. I love pillow talk. I love that you are fiercely protective of me. I love that I know you will love me forever. I love that when we fight, our fights don't last long. I love that when we fight, I always know, no matter how bad it is, we will be okay. I love that you cook for us a lot, even when you are busy or don't really feel like it. I love that you open up to me. I love that I trust you completely. I love that you take baths with our boys. I love that I know you love our children unconditionally. I love that you trust my parenting ideas, even when they often don't, at first, appear to make sense. I love that you always feed Bitty at dinner because you know I can't eat and feed him at the same time. I love that you think of things that would never occur to me. I love that you come to me when you have issues at work or problems you are trying to solve. I love that you think I am the best Mommy. I love that you go to all my family functions with me without ever complaining. I love that you give me Reiki. I love that you still can make me blush with just a look. I love that you are my forever. I love that you will be by my side long after our babies have grown and no longer are sleeping under the same roof. I love that you believe. I love that you are so good with babies – not just ours, but all babies. I love that you are so smart. I love that you care so deeply when things are not fair. I love that you are open to continuing to grow and learn and discover. I love that you are stable but also ever changing and growing. I love that thoughts of your father bring you to tears and you don't hide them from me. I love that you are silly. I love that you are unique. I love that you look at our children in their eyes when you talk to them. I love that you would never hurt our children. I love that even though it drives me nuts, I also admire how much you research. I love that you are passionate about the things in your life that are important to you. I love that you are having a glow-in-the-dark dance party downstairs right now with our boys as I write this. I love that when I wanted to become vegan, you also became vegan. I love that you value how sensitive I am. I love that you held my hand on our first date. I love that you texted your marriage proposal to me. I love that you have four dimples when you are really happy. I love that you are often in awe of our children. I love that pretty much almost everything you do is for me and for our family. I love overhearing you speaking spanish to our children. I love that you sometimes do things that you don't want to because you know it is what I want. I love that you listen to me. I love that you work so hard so that we can do all the things we want to. I love that you drive at night because you know that I don't feel as comfortable driving in the dark. I love that you often watch (babysit) our boys so I can have some time to myself to do whatever I need to do. I love that you really, really want to be a good Daddy. I love that you really, really are a good Daddy. I love that you are very handsome. I love that both of our boys have your eye color. I love that you hug and kiss our boys all the time and always say I love you to them. I love watching them look at you with love. I love that when you mess up or make a mistake with our children, you go to them and apologize. I love that you spend so much time with us. I love that you make so many sacrifices for us but they don't feel like sacrifices to you because it is for us. I love that I am completely me with you. I love that you are more than my best friend. You are MyLLosa.
I love you more than a hot bath. I love you more than the sound of a summer thunderstorm. I love you more than the feel of the sun on my face on a crisp Fall day. I love you more than the feel of waves swaying me gently along in the ocean. I love you more than the feel of a puppy asleep in my arms. I love you more than a glass of cool water on a hot summer day after a run. I love you more than I love the adrenaline rush from a fighting class. I love you more than the feel of soft warm sand between my toes. I love you more than a Madonna song from the '80s. I love you more than you will ever be able to realize or comprehend. I love you, at least, as much as you love me. I have loved you forever and I will love you for always.
 |
| Our very first date (and already smitten with each other) |
 |
| The look in my eyes says it all |
 |
| My rock, my stability, my comfort… My head fits perfectly on his shoulder |
 |
| Yup. He proposed via text |
 |
| The day after we were engaged |
 |
| Our wedding day |
 |
| I made the right choice |
 |
| Laughter and joy |
 |
| date night |
 |
| Still my love. Always. |
