Cafe Latte

A co-worker has been "bumped," and today her lunch bunch bought her a couple of cakes. We have pretty great lunch bunches here, and that first bunch is AWESOME! The people in it are super fun, and they really know how to make someone feel special!

The cakes they got were from Cafe Latte, here in St. Paul. For those of you who don't know the area - the cakes are fantastic!! I had a piece of their Turtle cake and am still eating it two hours later, it is so rich. They also had a Raspberry Torte that was amazing and lite. No, I didn't have a piece from both cakes, but a friend of mine had the torte and really enjoyed it. The pictures really don't do them justice!


As for the person who was "bumped," I will miss her a great deal. She is fun, sweet, smart and I have really liked working with her. It's a great thing she still lives close to school and that her kids are still here!!

Good luck S!

Memorial Day

Both Brian and I are family people. We love our families, we value our families, and we support our families. We are also unending supporters of our brave men and women who fight, have fought, and will fight for our country. THEY gave us the freedoms we cherish today.

We passed the Leavenworth National Cemetery while on a drive to help Adelle sleep when we were in Kansas. She ended up sleeping for two hours while we visited the beautiful grounds of the cemetery and also passed by, I think, 4 penitentiaries. The cemetery was beautiful - rolling hills, each headstone decorated with a flag (that is how it SHOULD be), beautiful monuments and buildings, as well as neat sayings throughout the grounds. While we didn't visit Leavenworth National Cemetery ON Memorial Day, it was still powerful. Here are some pictures.





On our way out we saw the sign at the VA out in Leavenworth and we really enjoyed what they said, take a look:





On Memorial Day, we met up with Nana Dottie and Papi at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. There, we visited the graves of my grandparents: Gram and Grandpa Volpe, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Gamboni. We miss you and will love you always!




Take another look at the Heritage Flight from the Duluth Air Show a couple of years ago. It brings tears to our eyes every time we watch it (or listen to the clip) because if it wasn't for the soldiers, who knows what life would be like today!

Adelle and the Swing

Here is a video of Adelle swinging for the first time. Her cousin Isabelle is pushing her. Neither one looks like they're having a great time, but I think it's cute anyway!

First Family Vacation

We took the plunge and went on our first family vacation. We went to Kansas to visit Brian's sister and her family. We've wanted to visit for some time and finally had the opportunity.


We left for Kansas right after Adelle's fever had dropped. The doctor said that if she had it for longer than 24 hours to call and it went away before we left. It didn't hurt that she would have the opportunity to sleep all the way down there either!


Anyway, while we were down there Adelle had many firsts! The obvious one would be the car ride down there - it was the first time Adelle had been in a car for longer than 2 hours. She did really well!


She got to swing for the first time.


She got to go swimming for the first time.


She even watched her first minor league baseball game. BTW - the stadium was awesome! The seats were huge with lots of leg room, and the seats we had were perfect! I am very happy no one fouled in our direction!!


The one first I could have lived without though, would be her first trip to the ER. When we got to Kansas, I picked her up and she was burning up. I took her temperature and it was 101.5! WTF!?! The next day, around the same time, we took her temp again and it was 101.8. We called the nurse line and the doctor on call told us to take her in just to be safe. So, we took her to the ER in Kansas. She was enamored with the doctor and didn't fuss when he was listening to her heart or when he was looking in her ears. She was awesome! I even asked her if that meant she was going to be a doctor when she gets older. She smiled! He said to keep giving her acetaminophen and follow up with our doctor at home. We left soon after we returned from the ER because we thought it would help being at home when things that are familiar to her. Say and think what you want, but I believe that she knows she isn't at home!!


Our trip was very short, but it was wonderful to see everyone! Isabelle was adorable with Addie and called her, "Baby Dell." Baby Gabe is super cute - squeaky and so tiny! I can't even remember when Adelle was that teeny!! And, as usual, Danielle and Mike were wonderful hosts. Thank you for letting us stay. You are wonderful!!

First Fever

Well, Adelle got her first fever. We didn't really think anything of it because it was 100.1 and we're not supposed to call the doctor until it hits 100.4. We ended up giving her acetaminophen and calling the doctor a couple of times.

I was very distraught because I didn't know how to help her. I mean, I changed her, let her sleep, fed her, but it felt awful not to be able to make her, "all better."

Now that she has gotten her first fever though, I feel comforted to know that we did everything in our power to make her feel better. I am also happy to know what she is like when she is sick. I know that babies (and adults) act differently depending on what is wrong, but I am happy to know a little about what comforts her when she is sick. This is something I never wanted to know, but am happy I know it now.

Addie Talking

Adelle is so sweet! The other day, while we were waiting for Daddy to wake up, we went downstairs and started making breakfast. While I was mixing pancake batter, Adelle decided to chat away. Every time I got the camera out and started taping, she stopped. Is she my girl or what?! Anyway, I was able to get a little video. Sorry about the auto focus - I need to remember to turn that off before shooting because it makes me a tad dizzy when I'm watching the videos.

Visiting Friends

Friday we were able to visit with friends who moved to Florida. They came up for a wedding and had a little get together at a local place they don't have where they live - Buffalo Wild Wings. We were very excited to see them and to introduce them to Adelle.

We miss you Laura and Matt! It was fantastic seeing you!!

4 Months and 4 Weeks

Adelle is getting so big!! She is eating solids - the Gerber 1st foods. We have given her rice cereal, but she only ate it one time. Then she just spit it out the other times we've given it to her. All of it. Then we gave her prunes. She devoured them!! When it was time to give her more, we were curious; would she eat them, or would she spit them out? Well, she ate them! She even leaned in to eat them!!


Prunes, yummy!

Some other things Adelle has been doing lately include grabbing things around her. She likes to grab earrings, hair, shirts, necklaces, collarbones, and toys. If what she has managed to grab is loose (not tied down or connected to something else) she pulls it to her mouth. She will even do that to some things that are stationary and she will lean in and pull at it with all of her might. It really is adorable.


Speaking of her mouth... she is drooling more than ever. I hope this means that she will be getting teeth soon. Well, let me clarify. I hope she stops drooling so much and if that means she has teeth, or a single tooth, to show off, then I will be happy. To top it off, she soaks a bib every day! By the time she and Brian make it home, her bib is pretty wet. Ish! While she is drooling like mad, she also likes to suck on her fingers. I don't think it's helping the situation either!


Another milestone our Sweet Girl has checked off, is rolling over! She is able to roll from her stomach to her back AND from her back to her stomach!! She does it rolling to the right, but has also accomplished this feat from the left. In fact, the other day she rolled over so many times she rolled right off of her blanket! The picture below is how Brian found her one afternoon after her nap. BTW - we ALWAYS put her on her back when she sleeps.


The thing I love the most though, are her giggles. Now, Adelle has been doing this for a while, but she is doing it more often now. She has the sweetest giggles that simply make you smile and giggle yourself. Her whole face lights up and my heart swells to 10 times its size!