Worst Valentine's Day Ever

I know this sounds dramatic, and considering that I've never really had a bad Feburary 14th and I'm 30 years old, finally having a bad Valentine's Day isn't really such a big deal.  But yesterday, it was a no good, very bad day!

We went over to Fort Worth for a great dinner with the Denmans on Saturday night at Eddie V's.  After dinner, we went to Michael's for a couple of drinks with the Winfreys.  When I called the babysitter to tell her we were on our way home, she said Parker had woken up twice (which he never does) and he felt warm.  He had woken up a third time by the time we got home.  Lucky mom, he was up screaming and feverish every 45 minutes from 2-8am.  Not fun, but we made 10 months without a fever, so I am still counting my blessings.  Fever went away by Monday morning, but we went into the doctor just in case.  Now he's just got a runny nose and drainage and we started antibiotics.  At least its not the flu or an ear infection.

So my Valentine's Day started with a trip to the peditrician. It was great they could see him by 9:30am, but that meant we had to leave the house by 9am, so I didn't get to shower before we left the house.  Parker's morning nap was only 20 minutes in the car. I tried to put him down again at 11 when we got back home, no dice mom, another 20 minute power nap.

Since I thought Parker would be taking a good 2 hour nap, I started to make the Pioneer Woman's meatloaf for Benton for our Valentine's Day dinner.  Took longer than expected since Parker woke up and wanted to open every drawer and cabinet while I was trying to mush together raw meat and wrap it with bacon.  Is it bad that I let him chew on a sponge from underneath the kitchen sink while I worked?!  Meatloaf looked great after an hour, I even took pictures and posted them on Facebook so Benton could get excited about his yummy dinner.

Then we rushed out of the house to take Jack to his checkup with the vet - not a great plan to visit two doctors in one day.  Parker's afternoon nap was - yes, you guessed it - a 20 minute power nap in the car.  We got back home around 4:15 and I did some yard work while Parker tried to eat leaves and fistfulls of potting soil.  Should I be worried that he has pica?

Fast forward, put fussy Parker in the bath, gave him a bottle, got him to bed at 7:15, and we finally sat down to my fabulous looking meatloaf, homemade mashed Yukon gold potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  Then realized that the meatloaf was cooked to "medium" on the inside - even after Benton nuked both of our plates for 2 minutes.  Literally, not salvageable - threw out the whole meatloaf.  I ate the potatoes and asparagus for dinner, while Benton made a chicken salad sandwich.

I'm quite competitive, and it fires me up when I screw up something in the kitchen.  I was hungry, it was supposed to be slightly romantic, and it turned out to be a mangler meatloaf.  Benton, of course, wasn't upset, but I was down on myself and even tried to cry about it.  It took 30 minutes for me to find the humor, and it will now be a Valentine's Day we will probably always remember as new parents.

Since I'm the eternal optimist, I have decided that yesterday didn't really count.  I think we started dating on February 23, 2001.  Even if the date is wrong, Benton won't remember, so we'll say that is the real date.  Which means that next week is out 10-year dating anniversary and we have a fun trip planned for Las Vegas with friends a concert by a guy named Garth Brooks.  So let the nine-day countdown begin for the real Valentine's Day for the Browns...