Why Lions?

 You’ll catch me referring to John as the “Lion King”  because his last name means “lion.”  I refer to the kids as cubs because if John's a lion, then naturally our kids are cubs. You can probably guess why I call myself a “Lion Tamer” and our home a "den."

The Story of this Lion

John and I weren't married when Ethan was born so he was admitted under my last name when he was transferred to the NICU. A night shift NICU nurse created an isolette tag with this sticker on it not knowing that Ethan's legal last name was "de Leon." John and I saw this as a very special sign from Ethan during his last days here on Earth. We like to think that he wanted to make sure everyone knew that he was a "little lion" even though his medical bracelets stated otherwise. This lion was one of the last miracles my son left behind.

What's with the stuffed animal?

"Ethan Lion Lion" is a stuffed lion that we purchased for Boo a few weeks after Ethan passed away. "Epin Lion" was --and still is-- Boo's best buddy. All of the cubs have since aquired their own Epin Lion. Boo's "Epin Lion" has turned into Ethan's "stunt double" of sorts. You'll often see him in our family pictures. He is wearing a hat that Ethan wore in the NICU. For a long time Ethan Lion Lion wore a diaper -- an unused diaper we got from Ethan's opened pack -- but we took it off around the time Ethan would have been potty trained. This lion is very, very special to our family.

Boo used watercolors to paint this lion on October 10, 2010.