Birthday Boy!!! (yesterday)

Wow, yesterday was the big day. Baby William, is now a big 1 year old! I couldn't help myself but reminisce about the morning he was born and the night I went into labor. Sunday night I kept watching the clock thinking "(8:30p)this time last year, I started having contractions... this time last year AJ said 'OK, you're saying ouch like every 5 minutes, it's time to call the doctor...' this time last year the epidural kicked in finally :-)," and at 6:57 yesterday morning I went into William's room and said "this time last year Mommy pushed you out of her tummy and the most beautiful baby boy was born! Happy Birthday!" We celebrated his birthday with an intimate little dinner with AJ, Annette (Ma Mere,) Auntie Debbie, and myself. We had pizza (which William gobbled up so quick) and left over cake. He had a bigger party with friends on Saturday. I have pictures and hopefully some video to post so you can see how much fun it was. William had a blast with his friends and received a lot of great toys. He loves all of them. We've just left his new toys out and he just bounces around from one to another.

Well after the guests cleared and it was just us. Debbie and Annette were playing with William on the floor and got him to take his first steps all by himself!!!! We all screamed with delight and that made William want to do it more! He would walk from one person to another and would get so excited every time he made it. The most he went was about 10 steps that day! We got some video of it that I will try to post on here as well. He did it about the same on Sunday and Monday - only going from person to person. And if we try to get him to walk and he doesn't want to, well... he tells us! He's doing great though. Such a smart little boy with the best personality. He's just so silly and loves to laugh. Tomorrow, we take him to the doctor for his 1 year check-up. We'll find out how big our little man got... I can't wait!

Thanks to Debbie and Annette for all your help and coming to see William on his first birthday. It means a lot to us that you came here this weekend. And geesh - who knows when William would have taken his first steps had it not been for them ;-) (JUST KIDDING!)

Pictures from the party and actual birthday are below. I will also update you guys with his latest stats from the doctor! It's strange because I'm sad that William is no longer a baby, but I'm so excited to see all that he can learn and achieve in his second year of life!

Less than one week...

Oh my goodness! My baby is almost not a baby anymore. It didn't hit me until this morning when AJ, Di, and I were watching him drink his bottle. Not sure why I chose that moment to reminisce, but I had such a momentary sadness that his baby-hood is gone. Almost one year ago I gave birth to the most magical little boy in the world. Go Me! Ha ha!

What else is new? Hmm... well AJ and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary last week. Di stayed late so we could go to dinner so it was nice. AJ bought me a sewing machine. I was so excited. I can't wait to use it. I hope I'm a good sewer... hmmmm, I don't think that's a word. It looks like the word meaning underground pipes where sewage goes :-(. Well anyway, it was the year for leather according to traditional anniversary gifts, so in addition to that AJ bought me a leather toiletry case and I got him a leather wallet with his name engraved on it. And as an anniversary tradition that we started on year 1, we watched the video of our wedding. What a great day it was! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was the starting point our story of a new family.



Last weekend we went back to Auburn for Tina's Wedding. It was a beautiful day and wedding. I was remembering our wedding day then since it was the same time of year. We had done our pictures at the same location, Hoope's Park, used the same florist, and DJ. We had a great time. Also, It was so great to meet my little nephew and soon to be godson, Braedan. Those pictures don't do him justice - he's so cute! I've finally posted pictures of the wedding and Braedan. See below. Ciao!

What's Up!

Hello! Well we had such a nice Labor Day weekend. It was pretty low key for the most part. Saturday, I went out with Whitney (Addyson's Mom) for her bachelorette party, while the boys stayed home. It's been a long time since I went out with a big group of girls like that and it was a weird realization when midnight rolled around and I decided that the most responsible thing to do at that time was to go home - so I did. I guess those crazy party days are gone - at least for a while ;-) Sunday, I planted some mums and a rose bush - not the smartest time of the year I know, but I had the itch. And Saturday, we had Samantha, Heath and little Cailin and Hudson over for Chef AJ's grilled Mahi Mahi burgers with pineapple for our Labor Day festivities. It was the first time that William and Cailin have really interacted and played together - it was so cute. You'll see in the slideshow that Thomas the Train was a big hit with them.

And in other William news... he is now finding an interest in walking. He holds onto our hands and toddles along. He used to just squat and want to crawl when we'd hold his hands. On Saturday, he even started walking around with his little push car, toy thing all on his own! I guess he'll be walking before we know it.

Also, today I made and ordered William's first birthday invitations. I just can't believe he is almost a year old! It can't be possible!

Here's a couple of slide shows for your enjoyment. Have a nice week!

Who does he look like?

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree charts - Family tree software

It's been a while!

Well it's been about 2 weeks since I've written - my how time flies! So, we'll have to backtrack a bit. The weekend we were in NY was so much fun! We had my high school reunion and it was so great to see everyone... well about 50 or so showed... but it was fun. Then we had Tina's shower which was really nice. All the babies were there so it made it interesting and William was happy to show off his new crawling skills. Sunday was the Great Race. Our team did good, but I was a little disappointed in my time on the 5k. I ran just shy of 2 minutes slower (30 min. exactly) than the last time I ran it 4 years ago. Yes, I had a baby, but I really thought I was in better shape now. Oh well, harsh reality... Getting old is a you-know-what! I'll shoot for being faster next time. The rest of the time we just hung out and visited with family. NY weather was just fantastic and I didn't want to leave!

So now we are at the end of August! I can't believe it. I've been planning William's first birthday party. I'm going to try to make the invitations, but I need to get a specific picture of William that he's not wanting to pose for - go figure! Baby William (I can't call him that much longer) is doing real good though. He had a little fever the other day and either has a cold or is teething, but his little nose is working over time right now and I have to chase him around with tissues. I stayed home with him on Tuesday and I can't say that I minded. I love being with William and if it meant skipping work to care for my sick baby - then I'm up for the challenge!

We've been pretty low key the last couple of weekends. It's amazing what you can get done on a weekend when you're not traveling - even though they still seem so short. Addyson turned one and Cailin turned 2 last weekend and both parties were on the same day, back to back! William was a trooper though! For Cailin's party we went to this place called Monkey's Treehouse, which is an indoor playground and they have a room for babies to crawl around in and climb on things. He just loved being there and it was a blast to watch him go!

I'm including a couple slideshows - one of William being silly and swimming with Addyson, and the other of our trip to Auburn. As soon as I get the pictures up from the parties I'll add that too. Okay, that's all for now!


(Not sure if you all know this, but you can click on the slideshow and it will bring you another page where you can see them better)

Happy Birthday Braedan! BREAKING NEWS!

Well last night (August 13th, 2008) my first nephew and Godson, Braedan John Bilak, was born at 9:19 p.m. at 7lbs 7.5 oz and 20 in. long! It was a long labor, but Meghan did great and Mama and baby are both doing well! Jeffrey seems to be in awe and is very emotional - but of course he is - who wouldn't be? I'm so sad I missed being there, but I can't wait to meet him. Jeffrey sent me some pictures from his cell phone that I've posted here. Congratulations Jeffrey and Meghan! He's a beautiful baby boy! You did good!

I Love NY

Today, we are flying up to NY for the weekend. This nears the end of our weekend flights for 2008 - just one more for Tina's wedding! I am so excited to be going home. I absolutely LOVE summertime in New York. I love the way it smells, feels, looks, just everything about it! It doesn't hurt that it's been 95º+ here lately with humidity in the "oppressive" category for weeks now and we need a little break from it. We have a jam packed weekend, but it should be a lot of fun. We don't get in until midnight tonight (Booo!) and then tomorrow we start going right away with Tina's Bridal shower. Then it's off to my reunion which is a picnic type thing at the lake during the day. Yes, my class is weird, but that's what they wanted. I assume it will go into the evening hours and then there will be the nightlife afterward. Sunday is the Great Race. AJ is going to be on our team this year since we were a person short. Now we're a person tall! Ha Ha, okay stupid joke... moving along... so he's going to canoe with Wendy, Debbie's biking, and I'm running. It will be so fun. And in the midst of all this, Jeffrey and Meghan's baby is due soon. They are inducing her on Tuesday, which is such a bummer because we leave on Monday, but hopefully she'll have him this weekend!

I am so excited for my family to see William! He's gotten so big and is just adorable. I think Uncle Kevin and Grampa are going to be so amused just watching him and Jeffrey's going to try to learn some things as a daddy to be :-) Baba and Auntie Debbie have seen him more recently, but are still going just eat him up! William is going to love NY! He'll actually get to spend some time outside without sweating his little head off. AJ and I want to take him to the pier at some point while we're there to show him the place where it all started with us. The first date, first kiss, wedding proposal... and now a baby! I will take lots of pictures and I will post them next week. In the meantime, I'll be praying that little baby Bilak arrives this weekend and that Meghan has an easy and healthy delivery.