Hello Spring!

It's springtime in Indiana and that means that Sunday it was so sunny and warm that I couldn't resist uncovering the flowerbeds from their leaf-laiden winter blankets, but Monday it SNOWED!!!

Monday 8 AM

(and we are not talking about a fleck or two of flurries;

the ground was once again covered in a coat of white)

Monday 6 PM

It's springtime in Indiana and that means the crocuses are blooming

Monday 8 AM

and the birds sing every morning as the sun peaks up over the horizon. 

Monday 6 PM

It's springtime in Indiana and that means the temperatures are slated to soar up to 60 later in the week and people are already sporting flip-flops and shorts in anticipation. 

It's springtime in Indiana and that means hearts are lighter,
smiles are brighter...garages are being cleaned,
cars vacuumed,
 windows are open to let in the fresh breeze,
 and motivation is at its peak. 

It's springtime in Indiana and and that means this is the last bit of snow,

centered smack dab in the middle of the cul de sac. 

Thank your winter for another lovely season, but it's springtime in Indiana 

and we are so happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

  

hello flowers! 

can't wait for this years daffis!

hello new life!

  hello spring!

It's a great time to be Irish...

For the last several years, we've had a little surprise on our doorstep on or around St. Patrick's day.

It's quite the mystery; there's a group of Eric's pals who all receive the treats.

Last night Paddy stopped by with an Irish Blessing for our Leo:

 May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

He also brought a Guinness for Daddy...

Thank you for another year of your treats!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.

Fantastic Five Months

Five fabulous months of life with our Leonardo...how can that be true?!  

So many blessings in such a short time...

Much to Great Grandma Marge's delight, our Leo has started giving high fives!

He's been practicing his vocals that now include screechy squeals, coos, ah-goos and my personal favorite, GIGGLES!

His eyes are STILL blue...

(oh please say they'll stay that sparkly and blue like his Papa's)

 Leo is finally making friends with our Mykadog.  He tracks her every move, and when he can get close enough, he loves to do this...

  so, Myka has a pretty quick dart these days.

We are fairly certain that Leonardo recognizes his name...

he gets super smiley if you say it,

well, to be honest, he smiles if you say anything to him...

or look at him...

or sing to him...okay pretty much ANY attention from just about ANYONE will make him smile.

(but I still think he's learning his name)

Leo's "real" hair has started growing in and it's soft and fuzzy like goose down and I cannot stop rubbing it.

He's also become a drool machine!

His hand-eye coordination improves daily.

He's learned to take out his pacifier and play with it

and chew on it and even hit it on his carseat clips to make noise. 

Leonardo likes to have his hands on your face or mouth or pinching your cheeks as he's drifting off...

and he likes to suck on his toes

ALOT.

...it often leaves me wondering when he'll loose the flexibility required to pull that off...

and he has the most tender swirly eye rub...hard to describe, but so sweet...and when he wakes up in the morning he'll always stretch his feet out perfectly straight...

REAL men sleep in floral sheets

He still loves his pacifier (but a finger or thumb will do in a pinch)

and almost NEEDS it to calm down before sleeping.  

Speaking of sleeping...much to Mamma's disappointment, little man outgrew his bassinet

and is now sleeping in his crib.  How bitter sweet to move him into his own room (ok really mostly bitter for Mamma). Some nights he'll pull a stretch of 8 or 9 hours, and just when I think it's going to be the new trend, he'll throw in a night where he wakes up 3 times...just to keep me guessing. 

We love our little duffers. 

Around this house, he's the best thing since sliced bread,
and we are just delighted with all his new developments
...keep them coming Leo, but could you slow down a tad and be my baby just a little longer?!

The Ones That Got Away

We took our very first family vacation...yeah! 

It was very low-key 

(we were not sure how things would go with our little one, and we wanted to take ease in)

 so we headed to Frankenmuth, Michigan. 

It was a lovely little town with Bavarian-style store fronts. 

Our favorite little shop was the clock store.

Lucky for us, the change of the hour happened while we stopped in and we were in for a treat. There were coo coo clocks with charming little scenes...

young fellas sneaking a kiss,

hearty chaps slugging a beer,

and men chopping wood with saw mills whirling in the background.

It was all we could do to keep from taking one home with us. 

One of the trip's highlights was a pretzel rolling class...

really more appropriate for the 10 and under crowd, but we had a ball!

We ate at a wonderful place called Tony's with a BLT that had a beautiful pound of bacon between it's delicious toasted sourdough...

Leo cooed and screeched a loud ode to the bacon all of lunch...

God put him in the right family, didn't He?!

My absolute favorite of the weekend was watching Leonardo in the pool

(and joining in on the swimming too!)

He stayed in until his little feet were wrinkled prunes!

Leo is going to be a little waterbug this summer.

Out trip was filled with time together just relaxing

and eating and enjoying the company of those we love; it was something to cherish. 

I only hope this is the first of many family trips to come.