That's why I get paid the big bucks

As the dark circles under my eyes will attest to, this has not been the easiest week. I can't even believe it is only Wednesday, it feels more like next Friday to me. Leo has been sick for the past few days, something that started while we were away. I think the first clue was when he fell asleep *sitting up* on me while everyone was at the water park. He did this "falling asleep" thing two days in a row, something he hasn't done in several months. We visited Dr. Sherri on Monday, followed by a number of viewings of "Arthur" in my bed because noone had the energy to move. It was only yesterday that I realized that the reason I was feeling so terrible was due to the amount of nursing Leo had been doing since he started feeling ucky. While I am willing to share with the little guy, I keep forgetting that if I don't replenish my fluids, it's kind of hard to function. Today we spent two hours at Dr. Sherri's office, having more blood tests and a urine test. Amelia has learned all about what goes on in the lab..."Mommy, what was that on Leo's pisher?" Turns out, Leo has a pretty pesky virus and the only medicine that works is lots of snuggles and nursing with Mommy. After his nap today, he finally perked up to the old Leo. "Now he's happy!", Amelia kept noting. There hasn't been any playing in our house since we got back from WI. Even though half of the pantry is (again) on the kitchen floor, I am happy to have my Leo back. Of course, the night is young...

Thank you, Bubbie and Zadie

Thanks to Bubbie and Zadie, we spent Thanksgiving weekend in Sheboygan, WI at the Blue Harbor Resort. Complete with a water park and separate rooms for all, this is turning into a favorite vacaion spot. We visited the local children's museum, did a good deal of splashing around, and had enough food to feed a small nation.

Getting ready for bed...




Stairs - hours of fun for the kids...Leo only fell down one time!



The Children's Museum...



Bath time...



It took Amelia some time, but she ended up having a great time on the water slides (as did her Daddy)

Amelia...in her Zadie's eyes

Before and After

For the last few days, Leo has had a few minutes of smiling and lots of hours of crying - that is, unless I am holding him. As you can tell by the pools of drool on his shirt, I think he is getting some new teeth. Let me rephrase that - he *better* be getting some new teeth.

Happy Birthday Zadie!

For Zadie's BIG birthday, we sat a BIG table at Buca Di Pepo and had lots of BIG platters of food around us. It was yummy!

Here are a few new statues as you enter the restaurant:



The Pope's table and the traditional candelabra. I wish you could all hear the beautiful singing that goes with it....



Just beautiful...

Little Miss Belvidere

Before bed tonight, Leo and Amelia were playing with Legos in Leo's room. I pulled some flannel pj's from Leo's drawer and set them on top of his dresser. I wanted to see if it was going to get super cold in the middle of the night so I went into the kitchen to check weather.com. Amelia and I passed in the hallway on my way back to Leo's room. The pj's were gone. I knew who the culprit was right away. "Did you move the dinosaur pajamas or am I losing my mind?". Before she could answer, I noticed a new set of pajamas layed out on my bed. "What are those on my bed?". "Those are for Leo, I put the others back in his drawer." We compromised, Leo wore Amelia's short sleeved choice under the flannel set I chose. With such a caring sister looking after him, Leo is one lucky "mister".

Morning Ritual

Every morning, we have some snuggle time and then Amelia settles in to watch Hi-5 and eat breakfast. Leo is starting to settle into the same routine. I put Leo down next to Amelia and her hand went around him right away. That is really the sweetness of the picture for me.

Pascetti

Leo definitely found a new favorite food tonight and we all loved watching him in action.

Enjoying the weather

As Amelia will tell you, the first thing we do each morning is "see what Andy (Avalos) says" about the weather. This morning Andy must have been sleeping, but someone very nice told us that it was going to be 55F and sunny. Without hesitation, I screamed to Danny in the next room that they should pick me up from Sunday School so we could go walk around downtown Long Grove. We weren't there long, but we took in the sun and had fun just being together. I couldn't have asked for a better Sunday afternoon.