Leo enjoys his dinner

Spring has certainly sprung!

Check out what we found on our back porch light!



How sweet!

I'm a little worried that since the nest is right by our back door, our normal daily life is going to disturb the parents and cause them to abandon the nest. We'll have to be very quiet for the next couple of weeks!

Happy Mother's Day!

Despite the cold, rainy weather, we went to our Zoo Members Mother's Day brunch and enjoyed a tasty, hasty breakfast.




After the zoo, Leo was dedicated at our church. The ceremony was very nice. He was presented with a red rose with the thorns removed, to symbolize his innocence. The congregation promised to protect him on his spiritual journey, and the minister dipped the rose into water and touched it to his forehead while presenting him to the church. He was given a certificate and a book, and the children's choir sang "What a Wonderful World." It was so touching.

Take 1...


Take 2...


Third time's a charm!


We had some lunch, and Leo and I took a nap while Vinny prepared dinner. Leo had cereal and a bath and we put him to bed, and then we enjoyed shrimp and scallop scampi and strawberry shortcake.

Leo and his daddy got me a spa treatment - all in all, a lovely day.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is from an email my mom sent me. Happy Mother's Day!

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt!
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.

Send this to someone who you think is an awesome Mom .

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life.

A day at the farm

We spent our morning in Keenesburg at a farm with Leo and E. Neither boy had ever been to a farm! We got to see goats and horses, and enjoyed a nice barbeque.





E made a friend and they fed goats together.


Leo was VERY interested in Daddy's lunch!



E relaxing after a dog and a burger.



E holds a 2 week old baby goat...

And a 5 month old baby human!


E's first time on a horse! Bareback, no less!




Both the boys passed out on the way home. Long day for them!



PS - Mark Ludy, the author of one of my favorites The Flowerman, came to E's school and that's his autograph on E's arms.

Adventures in Babysitting

Last night Rene & Bill went to a wedding so we babysat Ella. It was a lot of fun! It's so interesting to hang out with a little boy and a little girl, only 4 days apart (Ella's the older woman, though we all know by now that I'm just slightly bitter because Leo was supposed to be a week older). Developmentally, they are on the same page. But whether or not its personality differences, or gender differences, there are many. Leo moves faster, stronger, rougher, more. Ella smiles sweetly and coos softly. Leo...yells. We had fun playing with them on the gorgeous quilt Aunt Roselyn made for Leo. I think their personality differences are pretty evident in these photos.









We had some pizza, and then put them down for the night. Or...tried. Leo went down easily in his room. We set up the monitor in the Jack & Jill bathroom, and set up a Pack-n-Play in the office for Ella. She went down after a bottle, and slept for 2 hours, but woke up suddenly, very unsure of her surroundings and, well, let's just say she was no longer quiet. Ever empathetic to his friends, Leo woke up and soon there was tandem fussing. It made for an interesting couple of hours. Leo was kind of bent out of shape the rest of the night, and we were up more often than we have been in a long while. Needless to say, Vinny gave in at around 6:00 this morning, and the three of us slept together in our bed until 8:00.

Satisfied customer

Leo, Thursday, post-cereal. Yes, my son hangs out shirtless. Yes I fed him shirtless. Yes I think this is cute, funny, and brings out the Italian in him.



Also, I realize I haven't done much to the blog other than add photos lately. I have been very busy, mostly in a good way, and the poor blog is often an afterthought.

Here's our life in a nutshell:

1. I'm looking for part-time Kindergarten jobs. I've had 3 interviews, been "runner-up" (which in this case, sad to say is 1st loser) and don't want the third job, but haven't officially heard back.

2. Me: 38 pounds down, 11 to go!

3. Vin: 17 pounds down!

4. A robin family has taken up residence (read: built a beautiful little nest) on our backyard lamp. Every time we go outside, the mama robin freaks out and leaves her eggs, sits on a roof or the fence and squawks at us until we leave. I want to get up on a ladder and take a picture of her gorgeous blue eggs, but I'm afraid of causing her to abandon her family.