Asheville was beautiful.

When mom is away, the boys will play...

I go to Asheville for the weekend and this happens....

Walking Update!

Darren can walk with his push toys! Hopefully this means true walking isn't too far away...

An "Ava Comes to Town" Party

Traci, Jeff and Ava made their way to Atlanta for the weekend - a great excuse to get everyone together! We had a blast - Ava can come back and visit any time.

These shoes were made for walking.

Darren was recently promoted to the toddler room at school - where they require shoes. He's not walking yet - we're hoping the shoes serve as inspiration!

Rainy Day Activity.

Blueberries.

If Darren could only take one food to a deserted island, I'm pretty sure he would take blueberries (I would take peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in case you're wondering.) Fortunately, the old owners of our house left behind an enormous blueberry bush that is blossoming this summer - it's wonderful! If the previous owners had actually left the toilet flusher that goes in the guest bathroom, we'd be in good shape!

Spanos go South Park

If Gary, Darren and I were South Park characters, we would look like this.

Cone Head.

We discovered last week that poor Cloey has an ulcer in her eye. Fortunately, we caught it in time and she will hopefully not lose her eye sight. Since the vet has her wearing a cone (for almost 2 weeks now), I decided to decorate it.

She's a lady...oooh, ooooh, ooh, she's a lady....

It's Raining Men!

I'm so excited to announce that Danny and Cari will be the proud parents of 2 little boys!

July 4 Pics!

We had a great time at Lake Oconee last weekend!!! Darren and Jonah played liked crazy - activities included crawling races, bubble popping and fighting to win Baby Charlotte's love!

July 4 Sneak Peak

I promise to upload my pics tonight - I stole this one from Jamie. It was a great weekend at Lake Oconee with The Beales and The Riggsbys!

In Memory of Cocoa

I'm deeply sad to announce the passing of Cocoa - my canine nephew. He was loved by many. Craig and John said their goodbye's beautifully....


Craig and I are saddened that on Monday Cocoa lost his short fight with leukemia. We both held him and with his head on my arm he passed away peacefully.

This was our family and Cocoa was our little boy - so you know what a loss this is to us.

Cocoa was a gentle soul - with a big bark and even a bit of a bite. He had a lot of personality - and for Craig and I - a lot of love. Cocoa was happiest when he was together with Craig and I - and he would do everything with us if he could. He enjoyed his weekends in Maine - or just doing errands around the city - shopping at Duane Reade, or crowding into a dressing room while I tried on clothes. You will remember if you ever saw him give me a hug - with his paws on my shoulders and his nose pressed into the nook of my neck... and he was never more excited and grateful than when we would come home from a trip - long or short. Cocoa had a special place in his heart for by his Uncle Nat, who cared for him when his dads were away (...and truly regretted the one ugly incident).

He came a long way from his first Christmas sleep-over with his Fitzpatrick-grandparents - trying to take down my father like he was a playmate - to keeping a gentle watch at the side of his Spano-grandparents, with care and concern, during the time they spent with us in NYC.

As a rescue dog - Cocoa's time with us may have been short (we adopted him when he was 4) - but it was full. I know that in time - Cocoa has made room for another rescue in our home.

We're going to miss him - and we were lucky to have him.

Thank you all for the support and concern these last few months.

John and Craig

Sorry!!!!

I "misplaced" the memory card to my camera - hence no pictures nor updates. I know how my blog fans only like to read when pictures are involved.

It's been a busy month for Darren - he crawls SO fast, has 8 teeth, and holds up "1" with his finger when I ask him his age. And I can't leave out that he has a girlfriend at school. His teachers tell me that Darren has been caught kissing Kendell twice - frisky little man! They will soon be torn apart - Darren gets promoted to the toddler room at school starting July 17! My baby is a toddler!

Here are some new pics that I stole off of Ryan's blog - they were taken last weekend during a bbq at Henry's house!

My baby is 1!!!!!

What a difference a year makes.

New this week.

Darren knows how to sign the word "more." So far he has signed "more" for every food that comes his way - just like his mom.

Memorial Day Weekend Slideshow

http://www.webguide.com/DarrenOneYearOldHHI.mov

Happy Early Birthday at the Beach!

We decided that there was no better place to celebrate Darren's first birthday then at the beach with family! It was an amazing weekend and it truly was a celebration of life. Darren is blessed to have such a wonderful family who loves and cares about him and each other.

This has a lot to do with Darren.

For those of you out there who haven't heard the news yet - Darren is getting two little cousins next fall! His Aunt Cari and Uncle Danny are expecting twins!!! Darren can't wait to show them the ropes and hopefully pass along very helpful information like how to poop between the hours of 9 and 5 so their day care provider (and not mom and dad) has to clean the mess.

This has nothing to do with Darren.

Gary just launched the new site design for my mom's business - you can check it out at www.webguide.com.