My little boy is growing up!

By popular demand, I am taking yet another detour from our 'Trip to Northern Italy' blogging to dedicate a blog solely to my little boy. I know I haven't posted many pictures of him since Christmas and he's growing up so fast! Parker is now crawling pretty well and is even able to walk when he has something to push (he practices with his little buggy in the driveway)! He weighs in at about 19.5 lbs, but is still hovering is the 25 in. range (he's short and stout).

The order of his pictures are backwards by the way!

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Lisa, Parker, and Karl on St. Patrick's Day- Parker is gunning for the green beer!

On his buggy in the driveway (this is the one he pushes around). Analisa, Parker, and Rosa (our Italian neighbors)- they breed German Shepards and this is one of the new puppies!

Parker in the tub sporting a new do.

Cute as a button.

Day at Riverview Park in Newport News (Parker is obsessed with swinging now).

Jean, me, and Parker before my mom's funeral- my mom would have LOVED Parker's dino tie :)

Parker and Christina on Valentine's Day.

Crawling around at my parent's house.

Daddy and Parker playing before we went back to the states.

Parker started doing this adorable face (Karl smiles the same way!).

Me and my babe :)

What a ham.

Parker and Karl in Monteveglio, Italy- Parker's first snowball!!!

We stayed at this amazing vineyard in Monteveglio and Parker got to play in the snow for the first time!

In our hotel room in Aviano, Italy.

Playing catch-up: Ferrara, Italy

I know I am a horrible blogger and very behind in my postings, but I'm attempting to play catch-up of our lives recently. Karl and I made it back to Italy safely last Wednesday night, but not without drama...we were delayed 8 hours in Norfolk, Parker and I were sick on the plane, our plane got struck by lightning while trying to land in Naples, we took Parker to the ER the night we got in with a temp of 103.9!, and basically none of us has slept since! We are slowly getting back into the swing of things and that includes getting back to blogging :)

I promised everyone postings from our big trip to Northern Italy in January, so I'm backtracking all the way to January 14th when we went to Ferrara, Italy! Ferrara is a beautiful, yet very small Renaissance city and is referred to in some Shakespearean plays. The town is still surrounded by miles of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th centuries and they are said to be the best preserved Renaissance walls in Italy.

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Parker showing us how to drive (don't worry- we were parked when we tookt his). On the way to Ferrara, we got stuck in a 3 hour back-up on the A1 and also a snow storm...we were ready for a good meal once we finally got into town!

This is the moat around Castello Estense- an amazing castle built in 1385 and right outside our hotel window! A small chapel near the castle and cathedral.

The view from our hotel of Castello Estense- probably one of the best hotels we've stayed in while traveling in Europe (mainly because they had an amazing breakfast which is VERY hard to find in Italy!).

The former cathedral of San Giorgio; according to a now lost inscription the church was built in 1135. The upper part of the main facade, with dozens of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century, while the lower part of the portico and the main portal are from the 1100's. The elaborate reflief sculptures depicting Last Judgement above the second story date from the thirteenth century.

The Loggia dei Notai in Piazza Trento e Trieste.