I just looked at my blog tracker for the first time in ages, and I still have people checking us out! Wa waaaaaaaa. Also, as of 10 minutes ago, my blog was STILL titled, "Eric, Jill, and Leo". That blew my mind. Really? No Naomi? This past Saturday, I just reconnected with an old friend Erin Lane, now Erin Butler, and the last time we had seen each other, I was pregnant with Leo. She had never met my two kids and I had never met her now husband Louis and stepson Sam, but it didn't feel like it. We all got along so well. Louis and Eric talked the whole time (2 HOURS!) while Erin and I laughed and covered all of the bases we could! For a long time, Sam watched Leo play Angry Birds on Eric's phone. He never acted bored stiff or like he didn't care. What a sweet 10-year-old! Isn't it great to have friends like that? Filled my well for a while!

A Short Tribute for my Special Grandma

I've never felt so grateful in all of my life. With the passing of my grandmother just a few short months after Eric's grandmother left us, I want to now, more than ever, take in life the way Peggy did. Gram and my grandma had a lot in common, come to think of it.

My favorite words that describe my grandma are fun (the life of every party), warm, spiritual, funny, spunky, engaging, quick-witted, wise, energetic, and she also had the coziest lap where I'd fall asleep on many occasions. We'd pop some Act popcorn and watch movies like Ghost and shows like Star Search late into the night (for me, anyways). She'd lay next to me in bed (the latest National Enquirer tightly in hand) and later sneak out, leaving me with the squeals of piglets right outside my window (scariest sound known to man). I'd wake up (again) to the smell of bacon and there was no better place in the world than Grandma's house. I'd draw her pictures and just as quickly as I drew them, she'd find a frame and hang them up around her house. I want to be like her to my grandchildren. Soft, cozy, loving. Although I'm afraid I don't have the pillowy chest that she had, I'll try my best in other ways.

When Leo saw her one last time, he wished her "Night, night."

Goodnight, Grandma, thanks for always letting me pat your soft hair, the fluffiest hair I've ever had the pleasure of patting. I'll never forget you.

Babies really are the best medicine

Leo, we are so lucky to have you always, but especially during this tough weekend, you helped everyone to heal faster and better. Pop, Grandpa Rory, Grandma Shar, Uncle Brian, Uncle Dave, Aunt Dana, Uncle Reid, Aunt JoAnn, and cousins Jessica and Kelly all love you TONS and even better, were able to show you just how much. In return, you reminded us all about what's important.

Kelly and Jessica would scoop you up, and read you books. They'd get simply giddy over you, and Kelly actually pinched your cheeks! Jessica was enamored with your soft, thick hair and kept petting the top of your head. Uncle Reid rough-housed with you and you (mostly) loved it. Aunt JoAnn held you on her lap while you played with water bottles and plastic cups. Uncle Brian let you watch Elmo on his phone. Aunt Dana observed and laughed at how your cheeks jiggle with every step you take; she also kept her eye on you while we all got ready. Uncle Dave would try to pick you up but is still doing the newborn football hold. Someday. Grandpa tickled you every chance he got, and Grandma fed you kolache, teaching you to say "please" before each bite. Pop kept saying "I love you so much, Leo. Oh Leo, you're my boy." You sat on his lap during Curious George. He also said we need to have a million more babies just like you.

All you had to do was be yourself and we were all happier. Our ray of sunshine when the sun was hiding, you smiled, said new things like "W" and walked up to Grandma for a hug. At Gram's visitation, you ran up to her picture (as how you recognized her), lit up with a huge grin and said either "Gram!!!" or "Grandma!" We couldn't decipher which one, but you definitely said one of the two. And I'm sure she heard and saw you and it tickled her pink. You loved Gram as much as we did. She held and hugged you lots and you showed us right then and there that you remembered her love.

You gave Mommy and Daddy kisses in front of Gram's best friends. They couldn't get over how adorable you are. You sat through Gram's service and made it the whole way through - albeit with the help of your Sesame Street books, fishies, paci and mommy's purse, but you did it! I almost took you out of the room when you got too loud, but that just didn't feel right. Good thing I didn't, because Pop later said you were so good and he wanted you there no matter what. We all loved having you there. Thank you for making a sad weekend wonderful in so many ways.

XOXO, Mommy

Little Treasures

A few weeks ago, we were sitting at the dinner table at Eric's grandparents' home in Cleveland (Gram and Pop's). Gram always has some kind of interesting tableware. She lives for that kind of stuff. So I like to admire and point out things that I find beautiful. For instance, a 60's era glassware orange salt and pepper shaker caught my eye and luckily for me, she had more where that came from (A LOT MORE) and in my favorite color: GREEN! Gram told me she didn't think that anyone much cared for the pieces so she had already given away all of her blue (sigh!), but still had orange, green and red sets. In the 60's, she bought them at glass factories along the Ohio River. I was like a kid in a candy store. We didn't have room in our car to take everything (much to Eric's chagrin), but next time, honey, next time! More photos to come. Jealous much?

I can see the light?!

I was just looking back at my old blogposts. I'm such a sporadic blogger that if you click "older posts" at the bottom of this page, you'll find posts from over a year ago. This one struck me because first off, Leo was conceived that night (sorry, don't want to gross any of you out), and I had ironically titled it "I can see the light". Wow, kind of gives me chills; I had no idea how much my life was going to change. In a good way, of course. Isn't looking back so fun sometimes? Makes me want to check in here more. Out of all the random times I post, I wrote on the day that, unbeknownst to me, started the best thing ever.

Chicken noodle soup really is good for the soul

And so is....

My mom who drove an hour to take care of us for the day and make me said chicken noodle soup

A clean home

Fall light shining through the windows illuminating my clean home

Beautiful inherited green and red and orange glassware (more on that later!)

Planning 1st birthday parties

My grandma's meatballs which I can hopefully talk her into making for the party!

Leo resting his head on my shoulder and grabbing my finger with his tiny, soft hand

The colors blue, green, red, orange, and yellow - the best colors on the planet!

What's good for your soul?

Oh, and this dude:

Ohio

If there's one thing I've remained loyal to, it's the state of Ohio. I haven't lived anywhere else, and I don't plan on leaving. My family's here, and they better not leave either.

In eighth grade, I wrote a speech about how great Ohio is, and I wholeheartedly believed every word of it.

But you know what? From December-March, I don't really care for the place all that much. Without any leaves on the trees and the lack of vitamin D and the shorter grey days, I sort of get depressed.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to fill these upcoming winter days so that my lack of enthusiasm doesn't rub off on my offspring. I sure will miss you in the morning, front porch swing.

Mornings with Leo

Leo's sitting on the floor concentrating on his toys as I admire his cheeky profile. Cheeky as in all cheeks. He loves making noise on the hardwood with his toys. Yesterday afternoon when I scooped him up from his crib, he gave me three deliberate kisses in a row. He does the familiar open mouthed baby kiss. My niece Kyra would give kisses the same way. It's so endearing.

These past few days, I can't believe how much energy and strength he's gained. Yesterday, he kept standing on his own without support and would twist himself out of my arms while discovering he could use my you know whats as handles. OUCH!

Leo also gets REALLY excited to play with Eric at the end of the day. He and I were sitting on the porch swing when he quickly turned to see Daddy waving from his car in the driveway. The boy just gets so tickled, giggling and smiling and clapping his arms up and down.

I also feel better today; I'm that much closer to an organized home. I cleaned out a huge bag of papers. I also requested that the bank start sending paper statements again. I thought I was doing the environment a favor, but I need to hold onto documents (5-7 years, eh? It's true! I've accepted this rule as fact with the rug scenario) for sanity.

These are boring tidbits of my life with no images. We took some of Leo in the beautiful evening sun playing in the leaves yesterday. The next order of blog bizness is putting these pictures up in real time and of course beautifying and updating this ugly plain green template. But I'm writing again and it feels good. Practice makes perfect right? Which today I'm going to practice the piano for the first time in a looooong while.