Happy 4th of July!

We've had an eventful 4th of July weekend!

On Wednesday last week, we went to my dad's country club for a buffet dinner outside on the lawn and fireworks show at dark. They do a really nice job with entertainment and activities for the kids - hopefully next year Will will be old enough to enjoy them. The food was good, but unfortunately it started storming heavily around 8 p.m. and they postponed the fireworks show for the following night. It was already a late evening for Will and we didn't want to do that to him 2 nights in a row, so we never got to see a big show this year. I was a little bummed because Will slept through the whole thing last year and I would have liked to see his reaction this year.

Friday (July 4th) would have been my Grandpa Skees's 78th birthday. He passed away on April 25th this year and we miss him very much. Both my Grandpa & Grandma were fun-loving entertainers - the life of the party - and neither would have wanted a sorrowful mourning. So in lieu of something more traditional, the family hosted a Celebration of Life party for friends and family to honor grandpa on his birthday. It's a little different than the norm, but we did the same for grandma almost 6 years ago and everyone agreed it was the perfect memorial for them.

So we spent most of the afternoon and evening at my aunt and uncle's house for the party and popped over to Craig's sister's for an hour or so to visit with Craig's family too.

On Saturday, I got to take part in my cousin Molly's daughter Cora's baptism. Molly asked me to be a Godmother for Cora and I told her I'd be honored. So the ceremony took place at 2 p.m. and then we went back to Molly's home for an amazing meal catered by her dad.

Here's a few pictures:






Sunday was a perfect weather day. So we spent the afternoon outside by my parent's pool. Will napped when we arrived so I got to lay out and relax. And when he awoke, we played in the pool and floated along on rafts.

Here's a BUNCH of pictures from Sunday:





















Will updates:

While we were in Traverse City, my father in-law taught Will the "How big is baby?" game. So we say: "How big is Will?" He raises one arm up and we say: "Soooo BIG!" It's very entertaining... for us.

Will understands/associates a lot more words lately. He waves at everything now and especially when we say "bye bye". He's starting to "find baby" in one of our favorite picture books and will occasionally pat his belly when you ask him where his belly is. Uncle Wes taught him "Where's your tongue?" - he sticks it out. It's too cute.

He's started signing "all done" at meal times, but hasn't caught on to "more" yet.

And, randomly, he's started cross crawling instead of commando crawling over the weekend. Still no walking on his own yet.

I swear he's had a growth spurt this month. He's eating soooo much food! Between meals and snacks, I feel like I'm cleaning up the high chair ALL the time!