Congrats Kayla and Eric!

Congratulations to Kayla and Eric (this is a belated post, as they were married July 25th). The wedding was a blast, and the pictures that we just got are great! Griffin was the official ringbearer, though mommy carried him down the aisle with the rings in her pocket. :) He was such a good boy all weekend, save for the massive amount of spit up all over he and I right before we went down the aisle, and right after I removed the bib that protected his [white] shirt.

Kayla & Eric just recently returned from their honeymoon in Ireland and are preparing to move mountains of "stuff" out East (we do not envy them in that task)! Good luck you two!On a side note, G is turning four months old tomorrow (unbelievable as it may be). He is SUCH a happy baby and is always laughing, smiling, and making new noises. G is still not a great sleeper, and every night is a new adventure. Perhaps he just wants to spend as much time as possible with his mommy and daddy, so he feels that he must see one of us [multiple] times each night, or perhaps he just looooves to eat...who knows. It's certainly a challenge...but he HAS slept through the night (once) without a peep so I know it is possible. I honestly believe that when G is 10 years old I will have to get up at 2 am, nightly, to fix him a peanut butter and jelly.

One of his newest tricks is making raspberries, which is easy and fun to do considering the gallons of drool coming out of his little mouth each day. We assume that teeth are in the works.

No Caption Necessary

As per a previous post, we recently attended Chad and Adriana's wedding in Rhode Island. Their photographer, Joshua Behan, has a blog where he posts snippets of his work. Chad's mom, Cathy, sent Ben the link. There are only a few pics from Chad's wedding posted...one of which is the above. This pic pretty much sums up our night (and the fun we had). The sunglasses are Ben's, the wrap is mine (we traded and I wore Ben's tie) and the beers are likely both of ours. Hey, it had been a while since we had a babysitter and a ride home!

Three Months Old...

Griffin turned three months old this past week. He is changing so much so quickly, and apparently decided that since he's three months old now, he'd better try out some new tricks...so he rolled over this week. And rolled over. And rolled some more. In fact, he is so over lying on his back that he rolls over the second you put him down. He had an upset tummy after his Rhode Island trip so we went to the doctor this week, and he's 14 lbs 14 oz !

Working Hard

Griffin went into work with me recently. He felt that he was now old enough to dress the part in order to be taken seriously by our clients.

Thanks Auntie Honey for my cute outfit!

A lot of catching up to do....

Griffin has had quite a bit going on lately...he is now a big boy and is using his Bumbo seat as well as his jumperoo (and loves both). He had a great 4th of July...we went to the parade, the Taste of Crystal Lake, and the fireworks. He watched the fireworks bundled up in my hoodie (to keep the bugs off) and quietly watched them all while sucking his pacifier. I covered his ears on the big ones but he watched the colors intently. And, he had his first airplane ride...to Rhode Island to visit the Pucci family...he was a little under the weather for the second half of the trip but was very good on the plane rides. Below are a few pictures from all of the above...and there will probably be more (better shots, I'm sure) as I am not the best at remembering to take pics and we will hopefully get more from others who are better at snapping!

By the way, I weigh 14 lbs, 14 oz. and today is my 3 month birthday! Pictures of me in my "3 Month" onesie to come!

The jumperoo is a hit (though he can't quite touch 100% yet)

Ready for the Taste on the 4th!

Decked out in red, white & blue!

Mommy and Griffin before the parade on the 5th. I am smiling but not looking at the camera yet...we are trying!

Shirt says it all (thanks Auntie Deanna, Uncle Pat and Connor!)

Watching the parade. It was LOUD!

Hanging out in the Bumbo

Daddy and I at the airport right before my very first plane ride

Meeting Great Grandma Pucci in my Red Sox gear!

Patio Progress

When we moved in to our house last year, we made a long list of "to-do's". We got a LOT done last summer, but, one of the projects we waited on was a backyard entertaining space...after sorting through different options (deck, patio, stamped concrete, pavers) we decided on pavers. After Ben negotiated a great price (I was very proud of him) they began to dig. Then, we got a call that there was a problem and that there were big drainage pipes under the dirt -- great for basement drainage (and likely why our sump pump never runs) but bad for patio putting-in. So, we are going to have to plunk down a bigger chunk of change for our much-desired patio, as they are now going to have to add a retaining wall.

The drainage pipes were our latest discovery of random home improvements taken on by the past owners. As we work on and add more of our own personality to the house, we find more and more half-finished and harebrained projects that the prior owner began, but didn't finish (the house is half-wired for sound and speakers...the backyard trees were wired for sound...he installed almost all of a sprinkler system...we have so many wires (not live) in the basement that we don't know what to do with...the house was two colors on the outside when we bought it...and many more that we've found and I'm sure we will continue to discover). It has become a bit of a game...what will we find next?!?

Below are some pictures of the patio progress. Ben thought it would be finished today...which did not seem plausible when the guys left at 1:00 and didn't return! :)

View from above

Ben really wanted the keys...it's still sitting right outside the sliders and I cannot promise that he won't attempt to start it before the guys come back Monday

I know they are going to fix this, but I can't help feeling a bit sad about our poor, mangled grass. Who knew a few pallets of pavers and a bobcat could do so much damage?

Showers!

This past weekend Griffin, Kris and I headed to central Illinois to my parents' for a "Griffin Shower" (which had to be cancelled in March due to Griffin's stubborn attempts to come early) and my sister's wedding shower. Though Griffin was not a huge fan of the long car ride, I was very thankful for Kris's long and bendable arms so she could replace pacifiers to keep him

calm[er]. We were both very glad to have Grandma Kris with us!

Both showers were a lot of fun (thanks to my mom, sister and Grandma Lea for their hard work). Griffin got a lot of cute (and useful) "stuff" and he loved meeting everyone. He was SO good all weekend long -- we could not have asked for more!

Mommy thought my tractor shirt was appropriate for the farm!

The crowd at the shower (held at my mom's house)


Auntie Kayla opening gifts at her shower (held at the local library)