Just chillin'

So lately, Joshua is into eating and relaxing at the same time. He'll lean back and put one foot on top of the high chair tray. If you try to force his leg down and constrain him to the high chair, you better believe you're going to hear his disapproval. For now...it's a cute thing, let's hope it's a phase and not a bad habit!

Joshua turned 1!

My little man is now one. I can't believe that is has been a year. I've learned to appreciate every moment that I have with my children, life goes too quickly and I need to slow down and take it in. We had a party on Saturday for him. Unfortunately, we had many family members that were sick and could not make it, we sure did miss them here.

Mark and I took on the task of trying to make a fireman's hat cake. Ann so graciously, being very sick but wanting to take part in the event, made all the cake pieces for us, we had to put it together. Thank you Ann! Actually, Mark did all of the work and I think he did a great job. Joshua loved the cake and Grammy LOVED watching him eat it.

We are so blessed to have all of our family around us and to be a part of the milestones in our families lives.

Thank you to all of you for the wonderful gifts, Joshua and Emma love them :)

Emma's first day of pre school

Emma started pre-school on Tuesday. I decided to put her in the community center pre-school and I feel that it was a good decision. Her teacher, Ms. Linda is wonderful and she really likes her. She's also made a friend already, Lillie. Amazing enough, Lillie lives in our town home development, we look forward to many play dates. I had to make it special, so she had Portillo's for lunch (she wanted a hot dog) and she wanted me to take a picture of her eating it. Here are a couple of pictures of her first day and of her friend Lillie.

Chicago Half Marathon

I'm a little behind, but a week ago today, Mark ran in the Chicago half marathon. For 8 weeks Mark trained for this big event and I'm happy and proud to say that he finished! One of the reasons in doing the race was the cause. BP chose to support Juvenile diabetes, which Mark has. We felt that the cause was the main reason in doing the run. We hope that eventually, there will be a cure for this disease.

It was a very eventful day, we woke up at 4 a.m. so that we would leave at 5 a.m. The race started at 7:30 and we wanted to be there in enough time to settle and prepare for the race. Luckily, BP had a tent there, so it was a great meeting spot for the family, if ever we didn't know where the others were, head to the tent and wait there. It was a lot of fun being a part of the thousands of people cheering the runners on. I've never been to anything like it before...it was a little convicting though, 99% of the people there were physically fit. It definitely made me want to go to the gym to workout. It must not have motivated me too much, I still haven't made it there yet.

Anyway, a cute story. The spectator's are very encouraging to all runners. On their bib, which is the paper thing that they attach to their clothes, has their number and name on it. As Mark is running he can hear people encouraging him saying "Good job Mark," "Let's go Mark" He thought to himself, wow, it's amazing how many people know me! Later, he realized that the bib has his name on it and that the people didn't actually know him, they were just encouraging him on. I was able to see Mark at three different spots, one spot ( forgive me, I can't remember the name of the street), was right by the BP tent, so that was nice, the second was off of Lake Shore drive and the third was the finish line. He finished in 2 hours 20 minutes, and he was absolutely thrilled to be done! We are all extremely proud of this event in his life, it has helped, both him and I to be more watchful of what we eat and to try to lead a more healthy lifestyle. He is going to join a runners group at BP, so he will keep up with the exercise, now it's my turn to commit to working out.

The rest of the day was restful...somewhat. Doug and Ann rented a hotel room downtown for their anniversary, so we were able to take advantage of their room. We all went back there for a bit so the kids could roam free, meanwhile Mark took a shower. Afterwards, we walked around, went to a couple of shops, ate, went back to the room, picked up Doug and Ann, went to the American Girl store, ate and then headed home. It was a long day, but a fun one. Here are some photos of the half marathon.

FINALLY

Finally...I am able to post. For awhile now we've had some computer issues. It seemed to get worse and worse so we took it in to get fixed, now everything works like a champ! (That's for Mark). This past weekend, we visited the Brookfield zoo with some friends of ours. It was a perfect day, surprisingly cool, but in the midst of the hot and humid weather, a little cloudy, cool weather was welcomed with open arms. Emma enjoyed it all and we did too. We decided that we need to join, not only because it's cheaper, but because Emma had such a wonderful time. Here are some pictures of our trip to the zoo.

Happy Golden Birthday Jared

The 23rd will be my brother-in-laws golden birthday, but we celebrated it this past weekend. We had a great time visiting with Jared, even if it was just for a day. Emma always looks forward to seeing her Uncle Jared. She loves him so much, but is very shy with him at the same time. Anytime we have with Jared is a blessing. We always have wonderful memories banked away in our hearts that keep us anticipating the next visit. Here are some pictures of the party.

Luke Donald Leone is here

It's been awhile since I've blogged...my Internet has not been working, so today is the first day that I was able to get on. Well...on August 8, 2007, Luke Donald Leone was born. Everything went very well, Tara (my sister) did not feel a thing. Within 3 hours of being there, he was born. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by, but we finally got to meet the new addition and we are so delighted to have him here. He weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz, 20 inches long. Their big brothers (mostly Sam) is in love with him... Jonah is very sweet with him also. Every once in awhile when Luke is crying, Jonah will say, "baby sad." Overall, the arrival of Luke into the Leone home has been accepted with ease, thank you Lord. Everyone keeps asking me, does this make you want to have another baby? Without hesitation I answer...No. I'm still in that baby phase with Joshua and I want to enjoy him growing up a little bit more.

Luke, we are so blessed to have you here and I feel blessed to be a part of your life! Thank you Tara and Dan for allowing me to be a part of this miracle.