The LaGreca Family

He has been my Valentine for almost 15 years…wow…it doesn’t feel like it could be that long!

Not only did he put together these awesome Valentines for the boys…

But he also got me flowers, unexpectedly!! And he cooked my two favorite things…filet and shrimp.

What in the WORLD did I do to deserve this?? I will never know…

Today, as I was driving to work, I was thinking about my fondest Valentine memory. It had nothing to do with a boy that liked me. But it made me feel so incredibly special.

My Grammy (who died of lung cancer right after my wedding, in 2004) was such a fun Grandma. It was ALWAYS so special when we got to spend the night at my grandparents’ house. Once, I spent the night on Valentine’s Eve…and I woke up in the AM and went downstairs…there were two GIANT Valetines cards (1 for me and 1 for Grampy)…handmade. I felt so special and so loved.

As much as I dislike the “commercialism” that comes with this “holiday” — I do LOVE to take every opportunity to think about the people I love most. And honestly, there are SO many of them — it would take than one day to reach them all.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I hope you felt LOVED in a special way today.

Thursday was our 9th Wedding Anniversary.

I hadn’t been home for dinner the whole week — and I walked in the door at 6pm…and was handed these…

He is amazing. And always surprises me. And I don’t deserve it.

I had booked our sitter weeks ago…for tonight. Joe made reservations at Flemmings.

We enjoyed a bottle of wine and some yummy steaks (“surf” added to mine).

The restaurant manager came out to wish us ‘Happy Anniversary’ and gave us some chocolates as a gift. It was really nice.

Then Joe took me down to the cliffs in LaJolla and we walked along the ocean — listening to the sea lions bark and waves crash. A true perk to life in San Diego. Another fabulous evening.

We are home — AND, the BIG news of the night. Joe’s sister is in labor!! We will be an Aunt & Uncle sometime tomorrow!! Yahoo.

For Joe & I, DATE NIGHT never gets old. If anything, I think we appreciate and LOVE ‘date night’ more now than when we were first dating.

After the past few weeks/months — it was MUCH appreciated that a friend offered to take Nicholas for the night (on a Saturday–NCL had a blast with his friends!). Then, Joe had the idea to ask his parents if they would take AJ for a few hours so we could go out to dinner.

We didn’t have a plan — but we ALWAYS like to go to sushi when we have a date night. Joe found a new place for us to try — downtown!! (That is BIG time for us — ha ha).

I thoroughly enjoyed the train/trolley going by every 4-6 minutes. It reminded me of our days in San Francisco (I mentioned that to Joe and he immediately had flashbacks of life in the City — I am pretty sure he is scarred for life from those 2 years).

We enjoyed a bottle of wine and some yummy sushi. But – we mostly just enjoyed each other’s company. We talked and laughed and ate. It was fabulous.

Whenever we go out, I always think about married couples that NEVER go on Date Nights….and I feel bad for them Years ago (beginning of 2007, to be exact) we decided to make ‘date night’ a very important part of our marriage. At the time, we had been trying to get pregnant for years — and we were frustrated that it wasn’t working out. It was in the frustration (and desperation) that we decided we had to try something else.

Being that it was just the two of us, we could easily make ‘date night’ a weekly occurance. Joe was in charge one week and the next week, I was the ‘planner’. It didn’t have to be expensive — it didn’t even have to be outside of our house. It just had to be time for each other — and it had to include dinner (since it was during the work week and always during the dinner hour).

Pretty amazing that after a month of weekly date nights – we found out that we were FINALLY pregnant (with Nicholas)!! We continued our weekly date nights for my entire pregnancy — and we LOVED that time together.

Needless to say, weekly date nights ceased to exist after October 29, 2007. BUT – that doesn’t mean we don’t try still! Every time we get away for a dinner (no matter where we go) Joe always says “we should do this more often…like…once a week….once a month..?” I always laugh because its such a sweet thought — but nearly impossible for us right now.

We are about to celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary (14 1/2 years together) — and we still both LOVE to date each other I am glad. I hope I always want to go on dates with Joe. I don’t want them EVER to get old.

(After sushi – we walked to Extraordinary Desserts for a pastry & coffee. It was a lovely, PERFECT, yummy way to end our date)

I had no idea this picture would come out so good. I love that Joe & Nicholas are standing in the water. And the reflection of the mountains — beautiful!

Six days late, I know. Better late than never??

Nicholas made a special gift for his Daddy. And of course, there was a card — that is always the BEST part.

I am happy that Joe weighs “a lot” of pounds, just like me. And NCL was right on with his Daddy liking his computers. But the best part has to be Joe’s job

On Father’s day afternoon (after getting the bunk bed together) we went to the Moreno house for dinner and swimming.

The little LG’s have an amazing Daddy. Amazing.