May!

This picture cost me 2 donuts

MAY! I give it an exclamation point because this has been hands-down the busiest E3 I've ever worked. Absolute madness...but thankfully still captured a few memories.

 

How do you know when you've been working too much? Judge from the reaction at pick-up. So sad I didn't have a camera crew behind me to capture Matteo when I yelled "hey pal!" and he looked up, flung his shovel in the air while simultaneously yelling "MOMMY!" and running towards me at top speed. If everyone greeted me with this much love and enthusiasm I would either explode from joy or have to hide. Maybe both.

 

Despite the workload, Chris did make sure I had a lovely Mother's Day. Only downer was missing the last table at Blue C by mere minutes. The wait wasn't too bad, but waiting isn't Lily's strong suit. About 10 minutes in she looked at me and asked "is this karma?" That actually made the wait well worth it.

And as if my workload weren't enough, Chris doubled down on parental duty AND has made major headway on the yard reclamation project, both installing an envirotile patio as well as clearing out the back half for planter boxes and what will one day be a fire pit. 

View of the yard from our room. When prepping for the
boxes, Chris had to shovel A LOT of dirt over the fence.
With each toss, Matteo would say "Phew!" in encouragement.

Lily has also been hard at work in gymnastics and recently started competing. It hasn't gone well as while she has steadily improved, her team has not and consistently gets 3rd place every meet (we receive her individual scores via email, but awards are based on a team average). After the 3rd time getting 3rd place I found her ribbons in the trash. Equal parts funny and sad....and my inner competitor completely empathizes.

And of course the month wouldn't be complete without Matteo's birthday! Yep, our little dude is now 4, which I find both amazing and difficult to believe. Toilet belligerence aside, he's grown into quite the little man. He's sweet, funny, a builder and creator, lover of all vehicles and capable of endless mischief. A true Gemini, he's mercurial but also such a lovey mama's boy he turns me to mush every day. His birthday was a mellow affair with a few friends over for pizza, cake and transformers - exactly what he wanted a sweet way to start his new year.

Birthday boy

Last but not least, a few quotes and a video to sum up the month:

Me: Matteo, who would you like to read stories tonight?

Matteo: MOMMY!
Me: Which book? (Matteo points, I pull out his favorite train book)
Matteo: Wait! Daddy has to read that one because he's smart!
Okay, not sure how to take that....

Chris, observing Lily: Were those jazz hands?
Lily: Yes!  They make everything better!

(They really do!)

 



Matteo chattering at Lily, Lily trying hard
to ignore. Yes, this sums up the dynamic well.