February was a packed month for our family! Keilah turned ONE and cut her first two teeth, I learned how to ski, we celebrated Valentine's Day and I got to see Mariah Carey live in concert with my sister!

 

I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass."

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of our family's favorite moments!  So here it is for February 2020!

February was a packed month for our family! Keilah turned ONE and cut her first two teeth, I learned how to ski, we celebrated Valentine's Day and I got to see Mariah Carey live in concert with my sister!

A few of my favorite things...

Here are a few products and other things I have loved in February!

Travel toiletry bag: 

We have a few trips coming up, and I got tired of packing my toiletries, makeup, etc. in many different bags. So I got this travel toiletry bag and I LOVE it so much! It made traveling so easy!

Vitamix A2500

The reconditioned Vitamix A2500 is on SALE this month (Until 3/14) for $299 (originally 499)! That is an amazing deal on one of the best blenders on the market! If buying reconditioned makes you a little concerned, check out my Vitamix buying guide to see why I bought my first Vitamix reconditioned - spoiler alert - they still come with a 5 year full warranty!

Recipes I'm Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in February!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

We made these a few times this month, per our usual. One day B had two friends over and the three of them baked this batch together. I loved watching them divide up the ingredients and take turns doing the steps. They worked so well together and made some amazing cookies!

Breakfast Bars

Still my #1 recipe of all time. Still eat one every day! 

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Life with my tribe

February was a busy and full month for our family! My baby girl turned ONE, I learned how to ski AND had the experience of a lifetime seeing Mariah Carey live in Vegas! 

Keilah turns ONE!

I can't believe I just wrote that. My baby is ONE. I can’t even remember my life without her in it, and yet it feels like she was freshly in my arms only yesterday. I vividly remember the day I first saw her face, knowing she was perfectly made just for our family.

I’m convinced she is the most loved baby in the entirety of history, with 4 doting siblings, the best daddy in the world, and me - a mom who can’t bear to be away from her for any length of time. As she becomes more her own tiny person and less an extension of me, I mourn the loss of our oneness, while joyfully watching in wonder as her unique personality materializes and she blossoms into herself. I have cherished every snuggly second of the last 365 days, and am forever grateful for the gift of my beautiful baby girl.

On her birthday I made her this chocolate cake with pink frosting. When I put a slice of it on her high chair she was so afraid of it that she physically tried to get away from it! Until I fed her a bite...then she went to town!  

Keilah finally cut her two bottom teeth a few days after her first birthday. And her hair is so long I have to put it up to keep it out of her eyes! Look at that squishy baby! I can't even handle it! 

She still isn't really talking, but she has mastered a very pointed squeal/scream to express her dissatisfaction. She can walk around holding onto furniture, but hasn't really tried taking steps yet. This month we switched her from 2 naps/day down to 1 nap in the afternoon and it has made our days so much easier! 

I learned how to SKI!

My friends at Deer Valley Resort gifted me a private ski lesson with a +1 and I was so excited to learn! My mom flew in to watch the kids so Ritch and I could go spend a night at DV and then ski the next morning and all day! 

I had SO much fun! I am still very much a beginner, but I went from NEVER skiing before to going down a green run (Ontario), all in one day! I even went out and bought myself skis so that I can get up in the mountains and practice more this season. We are officially hooked on skiing as a family, and I can't wait to make years worth of memories! 

Valentine's Day

We had a sweet Valentine's Day. Ritch got all of his ladies flowers, and Gabe a multi-tool that he is now obsessed with. We had a chill celebration which included homemade, heart-shaped pizza (see our dough and sauce recipes) and these molten lava cakes! 

We tried to be good parents and do something sweet the first two weeks of February. Every day we wrote something we loved about each kid on a foam heart and put it on their doors. They loved it, and I appreciated that it was a non-materialistic way to show them lots of love!

Well, these stickers must've been made from some crazy  material that adhered to the doors. It took a total of 10 hours to remove all 56 stickers, and in the end Ritch had to sand and repaint the doors. Lesson learned. Next time we will stick them on a poster or something! 

Naomi's Broken Arm

Naomi is officially out of her brace! YAY! However I still feel uneasy without a followup appointment. One day this week she asked if she could wear her brace again because her arm hurt. I'm not sure if it's just sore because she hasn't used it fully in 6 weeks, or if the fractures are still present enough to cause pain. I plan on making an appointment with her orthopedic doctor soon! She did get back in the water for swim lessons with no pain, so that was great!

Mariah Carey!

You guys, this was the highlight of my month (year, LIFE). When I learned that Mariah Carey was performing in Vegas I had to go. The timing was perfect - I knew Keilah would be weaned and I'd be able to go without pumping. As I was trying to decide who to ask to go with me, I knew the only person I would want to go with was my little sister. However, Vegas isn't a place either one of us would ever choose to visit willingly LOL, so I wasn't sure if she'd be on board. Well she was, so we planned a trip I looked forward to it for months. 

The trip was amazing. Literally every person we ran into was over-the-top nice and helpful and everything went better than we could've dreamed. From flights landing early, to a rental car upgrade to perfect 70 degree and sunny weather the whole time we were there, it was like a dream. 

I had bought pretty great seats (8th row), and when we arrived at the show the person who checked our tickets said we had to go to guest services because we had been relocated. I freaked out inside (I bought these tickets SO long ago), but when we walked up they said don't worry you've been upgraded to row D. That is FOURTH ROW. I was so close to Mariah and when we sat down I majorly freaked out. 

There were times during the show that there was nothing but her body guard standing between us and Mariah! And I swear she made eye contact with me at least 3 times (not that I was counting or anything...)! The last time I saw her was when I was 14 - 20 years ago - and she still sounds exactly  the same. Her live performance was even better than the pre-recorded CDs, and she still hits those high notes perfectly. The only thing that I didn't love was that the show was a little short (just over 1 hour) and I felt like it only lasted 5 minutes because it was so amazing! 

Hives update: 

For those of you who have been keeping up with my allergic reaction to an antibiotic back in November (that I had to take because of a cough I got in October), it's still here. I'm still getting hives daily - or every time an antihistamine wears off. I'm actually headed to yet another allergist appointment today, this time they will be testing for autoimmune illnesses, among other things.

I thought that maybe once my cycle returned and hormones balanced out things would go back to normal, but no such luck. I feel so discouraged I'm not even sure what to do about it anymore. The hives are debilitating, I get so itchy I can't function without breaking down and taking an antihistamine. The antihistamines are giving me some not great side effects, so I'm hoping to find a different way to manage the symptoms until we can find out why my body won't shut down this reaction. 

My PSA: if you're sick stay home. An illness might only last for a few days or weeks for you, but for others the ramifications could last for months - or a lifetime. So be courteous and stay home if you're sick. I abide by this which means we are home a lot - with 5 kids and all - and it's far better than knowing I was the reason for someone else's suffering! 

Moments to remember: