Oh yeah... EASTER

Easter was a little different this year for a couple of reasons...

All of us but Gabby had come down with a nasty cold, which ended up turning into more for both Rocco and Giuliana. And, it didn't help that the weather was nasty for the Easter holiday. Usually the weather is nice and warm by the time Easter rolls around. But this year we had a torrential downpour on Easter Sunday. Very strange, as I have no memory of it ever raining in April in the 11 years I've lived here. It's almost as if our sadness for Matteo not being with us was visible through the pounding rain. That's how I felt anyway.

Anyway, we still did a little celebrating of the Easter holiday. We went to grandma and grandpa Bailey's house on Saturday night for dinner. And while we were there, the kids did an egg hunt and colored hard-boiled eggs with cousin Courtney and grandma Leo. Gabby did a really good job coloring the eggs and was very focused on making them look spectacular. Rocco was more interested in swiping the eggs off the table and smashing them apart... he was fascinated with how the shell would break off and then the egg was hard inside. When he got over the thrill of making grandma Leo's floor a mess... he moved on to throwing eggs into the egg dye. Thankfully, Courtney was able to somewhat tame the little fella so he didn't make a bigger mess. Giuliana was stuck to me like glue... but even I managed to do a big save as Rocco nearly pulled a cup with dye onto the floor. Sheesh... I nearly had a heart attack.

We all woke up feeling even more sick on Easter Sunday. And, with the heavy rain falling it ended up becoming a pajama and movie day. That is... AFTER the kids hunted for their Easter baskets and all the eggs that the Easter bunny hid around the house. Gabby was SO excited and screamed when she found her basket. Rocco was excited too... but spent a lot of time looking at his sister like "what are you screaming about?" And, I didn't even get a photo of Giuliana with her basket before Gabby and Rocco pulled everything out.

Matteo has been heavy on my mind again lately, causing me to have more "bad" days. Bad days suck and I feel enveloped in a black hole on those days. I finally took a few friends up on their offer to "listen" whenever I need it... and ended up sobbing into the phone.

Still waiting for this grief stuff to get easier.