Happy 6 Years Baby!!!

On October 8th, 2006, I became Mrs. Lindsay Leone!  It was a beautiful day in sunny California with a sun shower, perfect arc rainbow, and our closest family and friends celebrating us with love.  We danced the night away and made lasting memories....   

 

Today, 6 years later, we celebrate a great life with two wonderful children and family by our side.  We are grateful for all the exciting changes we've had on this journey and look forward to many more.  

This past weekend, we wanted to share our anniversary with the kids and introduced them to our *favorite* spot in NYC ~ Meditteraneo.  This restaurant has great meaning as it is the cornerstone of our marriage; the place where Nick and I met almost 8 years ago.  We sat at the same table, ate the same food and laughed & toasted to the love we have for one another, for our children and for our family and friends.    

 Cheers to 6 X 6 more years together!  Love you Nicky!

XOXO

We're Back ~ Summer Celebrations!

It’s hard to believe a year has gone by since our last post in Massi & Bella’s World!  It's Labor Day, and I have promised myself (and Nick!) to put a bit more effort into writing this blog regularly.  We have family in all parts of the world that ask us for updates, and to my surprise people actually check the blog every week (who would have thought?!).  

Our summer is coming to an end, but was once again filled with fun and many birthday

celebrations!!  In July, we kicked of Daddy's big day, and celebrated the fourth with a few of our 

favorites from Virginia.  We always look forward to the Carnival coming to town and of course

everyday spent at Crestwood is a ball - I don't doubt the kids will be swimming come September.  

Carnival's in Town!

Pixie Sticks @ 10 a.m. only on
 July 4th!

Beach Beauty!

Fun Visit with the Petti's!

Celebrating our favorite Man's birthday!!

Massi and Bella have truly become best friends and share every moment with each other. Massi has added every conceivable instrument to his “marching band concerts” and Bella follows in line with every performance.  We enjoy watching all of their entertaining interactions and pinch ourselves when we see that glimpse of friendship and love!

Throughout the summer we've added a number of milestones to the kids list of fun achievements! Running, bicycling, riding their scooters, and swimming under water!

First Scooter Ride!  She's a pro!

It's official -- Massi can go underwater!

Drag Racing! 

Learning to ride his big boy bike!

First run to Town - 1 Mile!

The Summer is never complete without our annual trip to Cape Cod!  We always love seeing Nick's family and the kids adore their cousins.  Our week was filled with sunny weather, swimming in the ocean, long bike rides and visits to the Leone tomato farm.  Bella turned two during our vacation, so we hit the Chart Room to celebrate!

Queen Island Ferry to Martha's Vineyard!

Happy Birthday Sweet Bella!

Our Summer officially hit an all time high with the kids double birthday celebration in late August!  We had so many of our favorite friends over to toast to a great year.  We're so thankful for a great summer but are somewhat eager for the leaves to start falling and football to begin.  Massi & Bella would tell you they cannot wait for the marching band to start practicing at the High School.  Keep checking in on us & GO PATRIOTS!  XO

Summer Celebrations!

We just got back from a wonderful week on Cape Cod!  And, before I post about the fun we had, I wanted to share the special birthdays we celebrated this summer.

For starters, birthday's are BIG in the Nicholas Leone household.  Between me, Nick, Isabella & Massi we turn one year older across the span of July, August & September.  Which means, we celebrate each other all summer long and eat lots of cake!

We kicked off the celebrations with Daddee!  Can you believe he only turned 30? :)  I have to say my husband does a phenominal job at aging and I've already surpassed him with wrinkles and high blood pressure (I'll blame that on Google!).  We had a low-key celebration at our house, followed by a romantic dinner.  Nick's biggest birthday gift was earning the #1 spot in NJ for Men's Tennis!!

Isabella was next, and we went big!  I mean our princess was turning ONE!  Although she had no idea what was going on, we spent the afternoon with our favorite people and everyone showered our girl with love.  Some of her favorite gifts were a pink kitchen from Juju & Papa, Stella McCartney sneaks from the Cornell's and her purple plush "Isabella" chair from her Jeanne & Brooke!

Mamma Leone was just a week later!  I must say, as much as I love parties, a beach get-away beats any backyard bbq.  With my parents in tow, we made our way down the Jersey Parkway to a quaint little town, Spring Lake.  The weather was perfect and my birthday dinner was everything I could ask for!   My favorite birthday surprise -- an Elliptical!  I have no excuse to not workout now...

3 was a big birthday for Massimo, as this year is filled with new milestones such as pre-school, potty training, alphabets and more!  We celebrated with a small family gathering, which included a cake of Massi playing the drums.  The big adventure was a train ride to the pancake house in Ridgewood (a total of 9 minutes on the train!).  His eyes were full of amazement!  

Cheers to a another great year full of health, love & happiness!

XO

10 Months!

Our sweet Bella Bean is 10 Months old today!  Where has the time gone?  It was like yesterday you had black hair, a small frame, and fit into my arms.  Now you are golden blonde, a dead ringer for miss piggy and are breaking my back (sorry, I had to tell it how it is).  You are such a gift to us and we love watching you grow into a little lady everyday.

Some of your ways we just go crazy over... 

• Your cheeks & thighs are delicious
• You smile after everything we say
• You love your brother so much that he can't even take it :)
• You are a late teether, one of your bottom teeth is just starting to pop at 10 mths
• You are a cruiser, walking is in your immediate future and I'm scared
• You have mastered saying UH-OH
• Your eyes are so blue that we question who's child you are
• You love to dance and quickly catch on to any tune
• You are 20 lbs of pure LOVE

Overall, you are a dream child.... minus your sleep habits.  After 9 long months of thinking you were "teething" and putting off sleep training we finally caved in and made you cry for 2 weeks straight.  You lost your voice but have mastered the art of sleeping and we are so proud of you.  Mommy & Daddy are looking great and I thank you for allowing me to be a nicer & a smarter person at work.  I also look forward to that 6 a.m. "squeal" every single morning!  

Lastly, you and I have so much in common Bella... 

 You have a passion for shoes... 

You are super woman... 

You are so COOL and FUN! :)

You love your daddy "almost" as much as I do... 

Isabella you are our sweet little girl and we love you so much!

Spring!

In our 5 years of living in Los Angeles, I almost forgot how beautiful Spring on the East Coast is.  It might just be the hope we hang on to for winter to end, but something about the flowers budding, birds chirping and cool warm air makes you feel alive!  April brought on new excitement for us; trips to the park, bella's first swing ride, visits to Abmas farm, and the joy of gardening!

The kids are growing up fast, which is fun but unbelievable!  Massi speaks in sentences, Bella is climbing up stairs and Nick and l always seem want more date nights.  Life is good here in little ole' Allendale.

I feel very behind in blogging and just wish I had more time.  I have visions of the day when Bella asks me, "Mommy why did you have a blog for Massi and not for me"?  So, with that, I am going to give my heart to documenting her life more and highlighting the fun we're having together as a family of four!

April was a month of celebrations...

Red Sox Season Began!
*these are matching sweaters from Mrs. Brady up in Boston

 Our friends from South Africa came to see us... 

Bella turned 8 Months, learned to crawl... 

... and stand on everything!

We Dedicated Isabella at Church!

... and of course, ending the month with Easter!

May means summer's around the corner!  In fact, it's been so hot here over the last week that Spring seems like it came and went too quickly.  Regardless, we're anxious for Crestwood to open and the feeling that summer brings.

Some of my favorite May memories...

Hanging in our pj's early one morning on the front stoop

Massi loves to read... 

Pretty blue eyed Bella!

Memorial Day is tomorrow and we plan to celebrate early with the annual Allendale Parade followed by a fun day at Crestwood and a bbq with the family.  We are blessed to live in such a wonderful place with so much love around us.

XO