Lucky Girl!

I am such a lucky girl! First because I'm blessed with such a wonderful little baby, but also because of my husband.

Steve is great with Miss Mia. He's wonderful as a stay-at-home daddy. He and Miss Mia have bonded so well. At first, I was afraid he would be like so many other daddies I know. You know, the ones that have a picture of the baby on their desk, but don't know how to interact with the little one???? That is SO not the case with Steve! He's on the floor playing with her. He's first to change a diaper. He's more than ready to sit at the table and feed Miss Mia her dinner.

Last night, while the two were playing a little before Miss Mia's bedtime, I snapped this photo. I love it. Look at her wide eyes and huge grin. And look at Daddy just laughing away as well!

What Happens When Mommy is Gone . . .

These were on my camera one night when I was looking for a picture . . . they made me laugh.

Valentine's Day

For anyone who knows me, they know that Valentine's Day is not my favorite holiday. In fact, I could safely say that was a huge understatement as I do not have good luck on Valentine's Day. Long history, and most of it actually doesn't have to do with guys!

This year was different. I had a sweet little Valentine all of my own! How cute is she?

We spent Valentine's Evening at my Gram Gregonis' where we had a nice meatloaf dinner. Mom and Dad, John and Marilyn and Gram G and Steve were all there. It was a nice, simple way to spend a holiday. Miss Mia showed off her moves by making my mom and John walk her back and forth, as fast as those little tootsies would carry her.

Steve gave us some sweet gifts. Miss Mia got trucks as she loves the one truck we already had. I received Smurfs DVDs :)

UGH

I have an entire list of entries I was going to do. Yep, I was going to get all caught up. Unfortunately, that just ain't happening! So, I'll see what I can do now.

Steelers won the Superbowl. That made Steve happy. It was a very close game. No being able to go to sleep early that night!

Grandad "Russ"

With all of the snow, we knew a time would come when it would start to melt. This meant that, the first nice day, it was a good idea to knock some of that snow off of the roof. Sunday was just such a day. Russ decided to not wait for John and climbed up on his roof. He died up there.

I try to comfort myself in knowing that it was a beautiful, sunny day. He would have died with the sun kissing his skin. Unfortunately, I can only think that he died alone, being so mule-headed and not waiting for his son to help with the chore.

A few days have gone by. It's now Thursday. We had his viewing yesterday and his funeral today. I was torn. On one hand, I was sad as he has left us behind. On the other, I felt guilty with each laugh, hug and smile. It was nice to see many of Russ' siblings. They're all getting "up there" in age, and many are in very poor health. It feels like you're dishonoring the dead when you smile in encouragement at another family member as they slowly walk by, each step a small victory against old age and arthritis.

It was Tia's first Funeral and Wake. Shayne even attended the funeral. Dave went to the viewing. My aunts all behaved themselves. Gram Surrena went to the funeral.

I'm still having a few emotional outbursts. I'll just start thinking about his being alone, Pat's being alone, that kinda stuff. So, it'll make me sad and I'll start to cry. Then, I move on.

I'm just sad he never got to meet Amelia. When I had first heard he'd had a heart attack, I thought, we'll get Amelia and go to the hospital. We'll get some pics of him with her so she'll at least have those of her Great-Grandfather. Unfortunately, it was too late for all of that.

If nothing else, his death is to teach me to quit putting off the important stuff. To suck up my pride, to just do IT. Be humble. Quit being lazy. All that jazz.