Florence.

Brian wants to see all the American cemeteries in Europe; we only have two left to see.  This was the one outside of Florence.

So with all the sickness in the house, I've gotten a little distracted and forgot that I never finished "catching up."  We did some other things with Michael, Krista, and Tristan around Naples (i.e. downtown Naples, the Amalfi Coast yet again : ), and Herculaneum).  After that, we headed up north for a week.  It was sooooo nice up there and very different.  Florence probably had the most tourists out of any town we've been to since getting here and people spoke the most English, so that was a surprise.  The city was beautiful though and was a great walking town.  We'll definitely be going back sometime with future visitors : )  

Sick.

The boys both felt pretty horrible this morning and JJ refused to even look at me.

I got out this old baby toy of JJ's today for Owen, so of course JJ decided it's HIS, not Owen's, new favorite toy.

We're pretty sick in this household and it's no fun.  Last week both the boys had colds and I took them to the doctor.  JJ's hasn't really gotten better or worse, but Owen got a lot worse.  He had a fever for a few days and a horrible cough, so I took him back in this week and it turns out he has pneumonia. They put him on meds and hopefully he'll improve soon, but it's been a pretty bad week.  Owen really likes the doctor though and was smiling at him through the whole appointment.  The doctor always says we can come back anytime, but hopefully we won't have to go back soon.  

He's such a tough little baby already.  He had an ear infection a few months ago and now pneumonia, but he's still smiley almost all the time and of course JJ can always cheer him up.  The only time he got upset at the doctor was when they put him in a torture device, aka the infant chest x-ray machine.  It was pretty scary looking and super uncomfortable for poor little Owen.  JJ was with me and he also got really upset because Owen was crying and was scared in the device.  JJ is definitely sensitive when it comes to his little brother, so that's really sweet.

On a side note, Brian went to Athens, Greece this week.  He called me when he was there and said, "Don't feel bad about not being here.  It's basically just like Naples with lots of ruins, shopping, and places to eat."  Apparently Brian has been traveling around the world soooo much that he can now be bored in ancient and historical places!  What a hard life he leads ; )

5 Months Old.

Owen is ALWAYS chewing on something, mostly his hands.

JJ gets a little jealous of Owen's "month" stickers, so he wants to be in all the pictures : )

Owen is now five months old.  He can now roll in both directions, front to back and back to front.  Our house has tile flooring with some area rugs, so he gets a little upset when he rolls off the rug onto the tile, but hopefully he'll learn to hold his head up while rolling.  He's also sitting for longer periods of time unassisted.  Sitting independently is my favorite milestone, so hopefully he'll reach it soon : )  He's also teething pretty badly.  He's drooling a lot and always wants to chew on things from his hands, to my hair (one of his favorites), to his toys.  We learned from JJ's horrible teething that teething tablets work well and this is proving true with Owen too.  He will literally be crying uncontrollably and refusing to suck on his pacifier because it hurts, then you put two teething tablets under his tongue and shove the pacifier in and he will instantly fall asleep.  Truly baby crack.  Hopefully he'll get some teeth soon.  

Catching Up Part II, Naples.

Italians LOVE babies and Owen is a huge hit in this hat : )

The first week that Michael, Krista, and Tristan were here we showed them some sights around Naples.  The pictures above are from Cuma and Pompeii.

Catching Up Part I, Christmas.

Owen could hardly contain his excitement over his huge stocking : )

Look, it really is a Spiderman rocket, just like I asked for!! Thanks Aunt Krista!

We have been VERY busy the last few weeks, so I'll be updating with the happenings around here.  First, Michael, Krista, and Tristan got here on Christmas Eve!  Yay!  They got in really late, after JJ had already gone to sleep, so here was the conversation that I had on Christmas morning with him:

Me:  Do you know who got here last night?

JJ (very excitedly):  Jesus!

Me:  Well, yes, but who else?

JJ:  Santa!

Me:  Yes, I think he came last night, but who else?

JJ:  Ummm, Michael, Krista, and Tristan!!!  Yay!!! Can I go wake them up?!?!?

Me:  Yes, let's go!  

JJ and Tristan were so excited to play together that we finally had to convince them to open presents about 2.5 hours after they woke up!  It was so fun to watch them play.  We had a great Christmas and everyone got what they asked for : )