End of Year 2016

Hi everyone, and Happy Holidays and end of 2016 to you!

I waited a really long time to write this, because our family has been too busy having fun for me to sit down and think of what to write! I think many of us are ready to see the back of this year, and it's been tough in many ways. That said, we are so thankful for many, many special moments throughout the year. We've grown stronger, healthier, and happier in this year, and for that we are grateful. Here are some *relatively* brief updates for you on each member of our family and our year.

ERIC JOSEPH LEO:

Well, Eric has had a gigantic year, to say the least. He graduated from preschool,

played soccer

and baseball,

continued with his piano lessons,

and STARTED KINDERGARTEN!!

He has taken to it just as we expected him to - everyone is his best friend, and he can't learn enough to keep him satisfied. We love his love of learning, and his first conference went very well. His teacher says he's reading at a high level - he is on a big non-fiction kick right now and every Tuesday comes home from the school library with books on anything from how factory robots work to the Underground Railroad. His teacher also just introduced him to the Cam Jansen series, the first of which he couldn't put down and read in one day. The only thing she said he could work on is his flexibility. Anyone who knows him will not be surprised by that statement. We were happy to see that she understood him down to that level. In our opinion, that tells us that she's really taking the time to understand each of the 26 kids in his class. He has his mind made up about how something should be done, and if anyone tries to change the order of things, he's the first to let you know you're "doing it wrong". He keeps bringing me lists he's made, proving he's got Zach blood in his veins, and he loves to hear requests for help in order of proper steps. Once we all got used to Eric being gone all day, (pretty sure I'm the one who took the longest!) we all settled into a new routine and are having a great time.

He has loved all of his extra curricular activities. Soccer with his friends and Coach Luke has continued to be fun and he had several assists and goals this year. Mostly he just loves being outside and running around with his friends.

In coach pitch baseball, he made a ton of new friends this year and just loved playing and having Peter be his team's coach.

He really enjoys being good at piano...a little less so on the practicing new pieces. He would just like to be good without having to practice much (wouldn't we all?). But we've figured out that mornings and weekends tend to be a little easier on that front.

He was just plain adorable at his most recent recital and we look forward to seeing him play with the rest of his studio at the hospital this weekend. I still love singing together with him and we're working on harmony.

He's just a sweet kid and we feel so lucky to see him enjoy the world. I'll end the Eric portion of my yearly update with my recent facebook post from his SIXTH (what?!) birthday.

It kind of sums everything up pretty well.

I've always had this thing I do...unintentionally...where my head makes these mental captures of moments in my life. Not your basic memory. I don't always notice it happening, but it captures the tiniest detail of the way the light in a room looks, or the feel of something brushing up against something else...smells...memories, but SUPER heightened ones. Then, they come back to me at other moments of my life and it's like I'm dreaming, but I'm awake. Hard to explain. Anyway...

Tonight, as Eric and I read together, we were lying under his covers and his feet were kind of pressed up against my tummy because they were cold. In my heightened emotional state, my head went back exactly six years to a moment when his feet were sticking out of his little hospital blanket and were against my tummy as I held him. I felt his feet, learning them. And then covered them with the hospital blanket (appropriately with little blue, pink, and green feet on it) so they wouldn't get cold before moving on to other parts of him...so I could know every inch of him. I smelled his baby breath and kissed his wrinkled head and fingers - every one. I felt his softness and weight and just learned every piece of my child. I still know him and hold him, though he's getting past the point of me being able to physically engulf him in love.

But at least I can still warm his feet for him.

He knows it and feels it, though. Tonight I told him that I felt so lucky to be his mama. He told me without me and daddy, that he and Sam would be doomed. Then - I kid you not - he said, "we are grateful for you."

Grateful doesn't cover it.

Completely unprompted tonight, he said, "I'm only going to ask Santa for one thing - for a telescope - because I have other people who love me who'll give us gifts. I want Santa to give more gifts to kids whose parents can't give them as much. I have enough."

No, Eric. Daddy and I are grateful. More than you can imagine.

***Incidentally, Santa already has a telescope packed in his sleigh, as it were.***



SAMUEL ROBERT LEO:

Oh, goodness Sam-Sam. What a blast it is to be your mama. All classic boy, this kid...he delights in wrestling with Eric,

running as much and as fast as possible, playing baseball in the backyard,

and seeing who can lift the biggest laundry pile. He often tries our patience saying "butt-butt" for no reason and finds all uncouth things hilarious. He had a lot to talk about with Santa...but is a good, spirited boy, whom we love...Santa knows. :)

Sam has also had a really big year. He started preschool,

played soccer for the first time,

and also learned what it's like to have a lot more one on one time with mama.

I get the sense that preschool is going well based on what I can get out of him. He has begun preemptively stating that he does not remember what they did in school, before I can even get the question out in the car. "Hi Mama. I don't remember what we did. What's for lunch today?" (Yes, he's still primarily food motivated.) After meeting with his lovely teacher, though, I know he's doing fine with his curriculum and generally is very friendly and fun with his new classmates. At first he would tell me he didn't have any friends in his class, because he already had friends; what a preposterous question, mama! Since the start of the year, though, he's talked more about those in his class he likes to play with most. He takes a little longer to warm up, maybe...but his humor and creative mind make him a fun kid to be around, for adults or kids! He loved playing soccer and had lots of ideas for his coach on how it should go. He says he wants to play again, so we'll see where he goes from here! Sam is also good at music and ALSO has a good singing voice! That's been one of this year's revelations! He's honed his pitch a lot and sings - for the most part - on pitch, so mama's a happy camper!

His favorite song is Led Zeppelin's Heartbreaker. As in, we have to play it 40 times a day and when we're not playing it he's singing the main guitar riff. ALL. THE. TIME. He wants to be a fireman someday so he can "come put out fires and help people". His second favorite song is Iris Dement's "Let the Mystery Be" - he really enjoys singing along with that one, and I learned it on the autoharp, just so he could come and sing with me whenever he felt like it. I recommend it, too! :) Sam's favorite show is Blaze and the Monster Machines. He really likes to eat. I have pretty much thought he was basically in a year long growth spurt, and he HAS grown a lot. But I think he just enjoys food, too. :) He's always willing to try new things, and I think his favorite food is bell peppers! He will just keep on eating those! He also loves being helpful if it's framed right, or just his idea.

Bosley is SAMS's dog. They really snuggle a lot and Sam just loves to make him happy by scratching in just the right spot. I'll often find him sitting or lying right up close to Bos, giving him all of his attention. He is happy to have the daily job of feeding him, too. Between these two lovely attentions, I'm pretty sure Sam has become Bosley's favorite of his humans.

He's definitely one of our favorite humans, too. ;-)



ELIZABETH ROSE LEO:

I won't pretend that this year was an easy one for me. My trigeminal neuralgia caused me to have several months' worth of pain, anxiety, and just plain not being myself. I have increased my medications (the dosage of which had already been getting me freaked-out side-eyes from pharmacists and nurses) and continue to live in a mind-fog of inarticulate mush. I've had a couple very painful procedures that normally work for others, but didn't do anything for me. As I write this, I have 7 days and counting until my next procedure, a rhizotomy to kill the nerve with heat so that I am completely numb on the bottom right side of my face. The numbness will be permanent like novocaine, (until the nerve repairs itself, which generally takes years) but will replace any ability the nerve has to shock me. No more pain. No more anxiety. No more fear. No more large flareups during which I stop eating, talking, singing, washing my face, brushing my teeth, playing with and kissing my kids, or participating in life for two weeks or more. NO MORE MIND NUMBING MEDICATIONS.

These are my hopes, anyway.

All of this said, I can't begin to count my blessings, for the wonderful reason that there are just too many. I have had people reach out to me in all ways. Food brought, children looked after and played with, financial assistance...the list goes on. While I don't recommend getting a chronic pain condition, dealing with something like this is a really good way to be reminded of how many loving and generous people are in your life.

Some of my favorite moments from 2016 are (in no particular order, and of course this list does not include every favorite moment):

* starting my It Works business! It Works is a natural health and wellness network marketing business. We have products from skincare to essential oils, and supplements to tackle many different issues, and natural body wraps and an amazing Cleanse. I have had to put it on the back burner, but I am so excited to get going with this again as I enter the new year. I really believe in the products and the business, and enjoy doing this! elizabethroseleo.myitworks.com can show you what it's all about! short plug over. :)

* seeing SOLAS!!! in Lincoln with Eric and my mom. It was such a perfect first concert for him, and he even got to meet each and every one of them!!!

* Eric's piano lessons, and watching that part of his brain and personality develop. He looked and was so adorable at each recital this year! He was so proud of himself at his first "Piano Olympics" as well. He played his song very well and won a trophy!

* taking a trip to St. Louis to celebrate my cousin Tim's graduation with our family and his friends. It was an exciting trip with all of the crazy weather and Eric getting sick, but it was definitely memorable for a lot of good reasons, too! :) I love my family!

* watching Peter coach Eric's baseball team, and Eric and Sam play with him outside.

* Mom's weekend away to Perry, IA with dear friend, Carla.

* watching Sam enjoy his first organized sport, and watching his personality just explode.

* camping with the boys and the dog at Indian Cave State Park.

* singing with my two best and oldest friends, Carla and Mara, my dad and my mom and stepdad, as well as my sister, Don and Danielle Wirth, and my boys at our driveway house concert this summer. That was actually a pretty magical night. It was an opportunity to see so many people come out and support us on a beautiful night.

* singing with friends at church.

* sister Sophie's visit in July, followed by Dad and Trina and my grandparents. ALSO cousin Tom's visit and our dear friend, and first babysitter, Amanda and her fiance Tucker's visit, as well! We love visitors!

* learning basic autoharp and discovering a method of anxiety reduction in practicing, singing, and figuring out chord progressions for that.

* did I mention I like singing?
* teaching my boys about basic harmony and so many other things.
* taking the Leo kids and the Olson kids to Ledges state park (one of my favorites) and watching them explore nature together.

* watching the boys start to get excited about which birds came to our feeders. ALSO SEEING THE RED BREASTED NUTHATCH WITH MY MAMA!

* one-on-one time with my Sam, as we handled Eric's kindergarten transition.

* reading chapter books with Eric.

* baking with Sam.

* Peter enjoying his new firepit and making smores for the boys.

* Peter's Aunt Teresa and Uncle Ted coming to visit and the family day at Vala's.

* Peter's reaction when the bag of the bag of pumpkin guts broke all over the kitchen floor...it was pretty great.

* Thanksgiving with the Baileys and Olsons, and seeing our children grow together generally.

* the pumpkin farm and Christmas tree farm with my family.

* watching Peter put up all the Christmas lights in the middle of a snowstorm because he insists on waiting until Christmas Decorating Day.

* the "Corse".

* being with my husband when the CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!

* finally - the combined moments of all of you who provided love, prayers, support, food, childcare, and positive energy. thank you so much. If I hadn't had you and Peter by my side, I don't know how I'd have gotten through all of this with my sanity and emotional health. Sincere thanks.

PETER JOSEPH LEO:

There's always the least to say about Peter, not because he is uninteresting, but because Peter does his absolute best to be the rock for the rest of us. He works hard, and worries about all of us to excess. He is - as a result - a good dad, husband, brother, son, and friend. He allows time for himself last, but did a few things this year to turn that around a little.

Peter's year included a LOT of taking care of me, but I would guess that many of his favorite moments mirror mine. :)

Peter played in the church golf league this year, which was great, because it gave him some time to do something he enjoys, outside, and provided a way for him to meet and interact with a new set of people. He enjoyed it, I believe and even had some of his best rounds ever while out there.

If it was possible, Peter Leo watched baseball even more avidly than previously, and for a lifelong Cubs fan who comes from generations of Cubs fans, it is safe to say that the shock and awe of the Chicago Cubs postseason was indescribable. Coaching his firstborn's baseball team and watching his and Sam's natural abilities in the backyard and the park proved to be an immeasurable joy to him and thus the cycle continues.

I know Peter's shining accomplishment of 2016 is probably the "Corse" (half cow, half horse - resulting from an argument the boys began after seeing a palamino horse, and being unable to decide what animal they were looking at) drawing he completed, as well as the detailed understanding of its background, capabilities, and even the sound it makes - "moigh", but he is also responsible for drawing Trogdor on the calendar (as in the picture at the top of his section).

Joking and pain issues aside, I know Peter tends to not like talking about, or lauding himself, so I'll leave it at that. This Christmas season has been a wonderful one for our family, and I know we both look forward to starting 2017 with a refreshed sense of self and an excitement for all the things to come with our main supporter, best friend, and love, and these two wonderful boys we get to call our own.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all our truly best wishes for a peaceful 2017!!

Elizabeth, Peter, Eric, and Samuel Leo



P.S. As I do every year, I'm going to post random pictures from 2016 below, mainly for the sake of our family's posterity. :)