Forks, Spoons, and Big Boy Dishes

William has always impressed us with his eating skills.  But in the past couple of months, he has gotten to where he does not even want to eat without having utensil in hand.  Started with fork, and has now moved on to the spoon.  And as of this month he can be trusted with his very own ceramic bowl on his tray.  This is his "special" bowl that was mine at his age... my mom got one for my brother and I on a trip to England.  And he knows not to pick up his bowl with his hands, although he loves to pretend to go for it with a big smirk on his face and mischievous eyes darting from beneath his eyelids.  We are moving up in the world of table manners.  Slowly... :-p

We are still not sure whether he will be a lefty like daddy or righty like momma.  But so far he definitely favors his left hand.

His affections for oatmeal are unmatched.  Prefers it over sugary cereal, toast and jelly, omelets, pancakes....and asks for oatmeal when I try to give him something else (his asking is more of a grunt, but I know what it means :)).

Excited about his new skill.  No more scraping oatmeal with hands off of a tray (yessssss).

Posing for camera

I love his silly side

Tentatively picking up his bowl while I'm saying "no no baby"

"But mom!  Look at my adorable face!"

Helen, Jessi, & Enzo

We have met some new special friends through church and have enjoyed spending lots of quality time with them lately.

With Matthew working late Tuesday nights, sometimes I'll use that to get some girl time in with Helen, sweetest gal from Nigeria with the most beautiful smile, heart for the Lord, and some seriously good fashion sense.  William and I love playing with her two beautiful (and I do mean b e a u t i f u l) kiddos, Jessi (18mo) and Enzo (3).  Since Jessi and Enzo are so close in age they enjoy playing and eating together.  And Enzo loves cars trucks and blocks and all things BOY, which is right up William's alley.  William wants to follow Enzo around and do whatever he is doing... it's adorable.

We recognize and accept our pale-ness as a family.  However, when you spend a lot of time with friends from Nigeria, your paleness starts to hurt your eyes.

Our September beach trip cannot come soon enough!!!!!

Baby Einstein time

Toy time

Sweet girl making towers

At the beach! Well, we can pretend! :)

18 month olds gotta try the sand to see how it tastes.

Three little musketeers

Walking!

Our William is officially walking at 15 months!

July Visit at Mimi and Pop Pop's House

Our last stop before heading home was to Macon to see Mimi and Pop Pop.  We ate (some more delicious food!), visited with more extended fam, napped (me!!), baked, and played tons with William.  He loved taking the cars and trucks and trains around saying "vroom vroom", banging on all the musical instruments, and especially using the rocking chair for climbing.  We have an all-boy on our hands!

Jammin out with Pop Pop

Not sure who's having more fun here :)

Dad showing William how to play Jerry Lee Lewis-style

William loved all the cars and trains

Peek-a-boo with Pop Pop's PE scarves

Peek-a-boo never gets old!

Our climber loved Mimi's rocking chair...it just made the rest of us a little nervous!

Loved crawling into chair and sitting himself down to read books...

...upside-down

He found that he enjoyed sitting sideways the most

Finding more books to read with Mimi

Fun times

Silly boy

Sweet family picture

Cousins and more family came over to hang out... here's Ashley playing William a song... he loved the music AND her iPhone!

Playing with my my dearest Aunt Mary-Anne!

William wanting some daddy love while he hangs out with my cousin Jes

This is a typical family evening with our family after a big meal.... sit around talking and listening to music and eventually doing something very fun but random like dancing or magic tricks :)

Polly and Ashley looking so pretty <3

Will tryin on cousin Jes' flatbill and getting swallowed whole

Piano with Jes

My dad LOVES magic tricks.  So he pulled out some out of a hat (get it?), and so did we!

Matthew surprised us with this awesome card trick

Jes is   s t u m p e d!

Oh and we found this little guy outside.  But he's not poisonous.  Just incredibly creepy.

July Visit to Ya Ya and Pop Pop's House

At Ya Ya and Pop Pop's house we enjoyed spending some quality time together as a family... cookin and eatin meals, playing a couple of board games, napping (me!!!), and of course lots of playtime with William.  It was quite relaxing for all and especially William who loved his crib there more than anything...which is strange because it's basically in a closet!  I guess even some big babies still like their cozy small spaces. :)

William enjoyed snacking with Pop Pop

And "helping" Pop Pop and Ya Ya cook in the kitchen

Mom and I are waiting to eat Paul's delicious smoked ribs and chicken. MMMMMmmmmm.

William loves his Ya Ya... and sleeping in her crib!

Fascinated by Ya Ya's glasses

He kept trying to put them on...

...then put them back on Ya Ya

...then practice his walking skills (getting better!)

...then once he got the glasses he wanted to dash over to me and plow right smack into me with them on his head.  Such a silly boy.

Family Fun at the Lake

We took a week this month to spend some time in Georgia visiting our families.  We had a couple of realizations during this time...

1.  There is no shortage of deep love for our sweet William.
2.  Although I love visiting our families there, I am unfortunately deathly allergic to the entire state.
2.  We are very, very pale.

Here are a few snapshots of our time at the lake with the Hillises.  Aunt Becky was there too but I only got a picture of her toes before I passed out for a long nap and she had to take off for the ATL... next time I will snap more than her toes :p

It was so great to have a family dinner with everyone Sunday night.  My mom and Paul drove over from Kathleen, GA, and my brother, sis-in-law and three adorable nieces - Charlotte, Lily, and Emma - drove over from Athens.  I even got to drive to Madison to check out Christine's beautiful antiques booth at Madison Markets.  We packed a lot into a couple of days!

First boat ride with Grandaddy

Getting situated with Grandmama

Getting sleepy...

Sleepier...

::zzzzzZZZZzzzzzz::

Hangin out in his float lookin like Gulligan

He is so excited

Loving the lake with family

Grandaddy found a mussel that William promptly took to his mouth (gross!)

William LOVED Oliver.  I think Oliver loved William, too.  

View from the lakehouse

Porch

So relaxing!

Did I mention that William L O V E S dogs???

My nieces!!!  Fun in the hammock.

Uncle Russ and William trying to get to know each other better

Emma and Christine looking so summery and pretty

Three sisters in a hammock.. priceless!

Hanging out inside before dinner

William is warming up to my bro a little more here

My three nieces love playing in bubbles

William loved the bubbles, too.  What kid doesn't?

My bro!

Uncle Matthew makin faces with the Lily and Charlotte

Something about those boat rides but babies to sleep!  Emma = gone. :)