unexpected valentine kilig

I guess it's true that you can find love in the most unexpected places.

Or hearts for that matter. Notice the heart-shaped nostrils of my friend B's new baby Noelle?

I didn't expect that my most kilig moment on Valentine's Day would be when Noah held our front door for me and waited for me to step out before going out himself. He even opened my car door for me! It made me tingly all over [kilig] to have been the recipient of this unexpected gentlemanly gesture.

Hope your Valentine's Day was also happier than you expected it to be!

Photos are all from my Facebook news feed.

Postscript: Noelle, I so didn't expect I wouldn't meet you in person. I was anticipating your birth with so much excitement and trooped to your area, the South, so many times that I cannot believe I didn't get to see for myself those heart-shaped nostrils of yours & everything else adorable about you. I hope you are relishing your love-filled home away from home. After all, as your Mama says, home is now also where you are.

Simple Trick: Get Baby to Look at the Cam

Yes, capturing a baby's backside is precious.

Even a baby's feet flailing out of a crib looks adorable.

But eventually, you'll want to capture his face. With Mommy or Daddy trying to catch his attention on the sidelines, you get photos like this.

So how can you get your toddler to look straight at the camera and give you a big happy smile?

This DIY Elmo on your camera will.

Made with a red scrunchie, white & orange felt and two black buttons.

  

Because what kid doesn't love Elmo?

Photos from acupofjo, pinkwallpaper, here and nyctaughtme.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series.

some polka dots i spotted...

It was wonderful to meet you, lil guy. Welcome to this world of polka dots and other beautiful, delightful things - where even crocodiles can look so cute! :)

Congratulations V! Relish your precious bundle of joy! 

Photos from blondiensc.

the things we've handed down

One of my very best friends just gave birth! So I thought of sharing this incredibly touching song that captures everything a new parent is thinking of, wondering about and hoping for - for this new little person in their arms. It is one of my most favorite songs.

The Things We've Handed Down 

Don't know much about you
Don't know who you are
We've been doing fine without you
But, we could only go so far
Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love

Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can
Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down

I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down and curl
Will you be a mama's boy
Or daddy's little girl
Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say

And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
But you can thank us later
For the things we've handed down

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed
By our fathers, and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
Come the things we've handed down

by Marc Cohn. I first heard it on my Mad About You OST.

 L, this post is for you! Love and kisses to Chiara! 

Photo from Space for Thoughts