We spent the month of April at home! It was not easy to keep a constant set of eyes on little Leo while trying to work from home and home school but we did our best! Good thing that we have a big brother and sister to help us out in this department. Leo was walking and running like a champ by April and his vocabulary was certainly growing. This guy knows his people - sometimes I would find him just chanting everyone's names - Dada! Mama! Lala! Roro!
He loves eating yogurt and can make a huge, adorable mess while self-feeding. :)
He is a very good natured guy so we are lucky!
Here is some evidence of Lucy's babysitting abilities. She is our responsible girl, making sure that these boys don't cross the road. ;)
Leo enjoys splashing around in the tub. Roman insists that he have many toys at his fingertips.
Leo is just stable enough that we are now letting him take a bath with his crazy brother. He looks a little concerned - LOL!
Lucy officially got an account in Messenger Kids so she had all kinds of fun with filters and games.
Lucy and Roman imagined how fun it would be if they were both sets of identical twins! Lord help me! Hah!
The big kids continued their homework with Grammy Nola and read every day with Grammy Sharon. I still cannot fully express my gratitude to the grandmas for their help during this time. Around mid to late April it was becoming very clear that the kids' schooling would be disrupted for quite a while. Sigh. We did get emails from our teachers with proposed lesson plans /ideas and the children loved the little videos from our principal saying the pledge of allegiance and giving announcements but everyone was really just winging it through quarantine. Very grateful for the technology that allowed daily lessons with grandparents and access to sites like Art Hub but it was still a challenge to keep the kiddos occupied and learning each day.
Roman discovered and Daniel re-discovered the wonderful world of Waldo.
Unfortunately we had to cancel our beloved girls weekend so my mom, sisters-in-law, and I drank wine from our respective homes and had a Zoom session that was interrupted several times by various children. Haha! Definitely not the same as our in person weekend away but still fun to do mani/pedis, drink wine, talk and laugh together.
As part of the ladies weekend events, Grandma Sharon ordered food delivery for everyone. The Storm family got food from Silly Serrano on this evening; the big kids give it a big thumbs up. We did our best to keep our local restaurants in business during the quarantine!
Our kids were pretty happy to have each other as playmates during this weird time at home. Gotta love sibling snuggles in a fort doing quizzes from a Girls' World Magazine... and yes, we did wear pajamas 80% of the month.
The weather finally started turning at the end of the month so we tried to get outside as much as possible! Football hat - check, Pacifier - check, Ready for adventure - check.
Can't stop, won't stop dressing Leon in lion clothing.
You can't beat the view from Dad's shoulders.
We visited Lake Wissota State Park on a bright and sunny April afternoon.
We enjoyed the fresh air and blue sky.
The children love climbing trees.
I snapped this picture of Leo who at 15 months was definitely channeling all of our quarantine feelings. Haha! I for sure had a few moments of collapsing on the couch to binge Tiger King or the latest Netflix feature after a day of chasing a toddler, managing school, and trying to work.
One benefit of our time at home was that Lucy started to become quite the baker/chef. Check out these egg muffins that she made for us.
We had Leo's 15 month well child check in April. It was a telephone visit which was kind of ridiculous if I am being honest. Leo did need to have some vaccines so I scheduled a time to take him into a clinic for his shots. The clinics pretty much shut down for routine visits during April so when we arrived it was a ghost town. It was actually really eerie to pop in the office, get our temperatures taken and get registered and literally not see a single patient on our walk to the peds department. We sat all by ourselves in a waiting room that would normally be packed and waited for a nurse that was all masked and gowned to come find us. It felt like we were breaking and entering!
Our sweet baby boy was measured and weighed before getting vaccinated - he weighed 27 lbs 14 oz at 15 months and measured 33 inches tall. It still seems strange to think that medical facilities were so empty during this time, my clinic back in Forest County was forced to make some really difficult decisions during this time as many people were furloughed. I was very fortunate that my work was considered essential and that I was able to hold onto my job.
Conan pretty much summed it up for the month of April 2020!
We were very thankful for spring - the kids broke out the sidewalk chalk and drew things like mermaids.
We started seeing signs of life around our yard.
We took advantage of an unseasonably warm day to visit Carson Park. As you can see, we broke out the tanks and shorts like any good Midwestern family.
Carson Park is home to the Eau Claire Express baseball team. Hank Aaron used to play for them years ago so there is a statue/tribute to him outside of the stadium.
It is so good to feel the sunshine on your back after a long winter and a very long stretch at home.
It was almost too bright for our baby boy!
We went on a little hike and socially distanced along the banks of the mighty Chippewa River.
Roman kept asking for photos on this day. This guy is so full of energy and creativity. He is not easy to home school but he sure does bring joy and life to our family!
Love this family of mine! The days may be crazy but there are no other people I would rather quarantine with during a pandemic! ;)
We rounded out the month of April with movie nights (and, yes - we do wear our Christmas jammies in April!)
We read books.
Lucy wore matching jammies with her dolly.
We ate snacks.
We chilled.
We did lots of Zoom Calls. ;)
Happy April everyone!
