Sweet William

We went to the doctor on Tuesday for William's four month checkup, and of course, he's perfect!

Weighing in at 13 lbs 1 oz (Lauren was 14.5 lbs) and he is 24 inches long.

His eyes still haven't decided what color they want to be and his hair is still crazy.

I still haven't purchased a double stroller, so when needed we get by with the baby bjorn. I think the double stroller would make life easier so I've been searching Craigslist daily for a good deal. But for now, he loves looking around and taking it all in and I get a workout!

He went in the pool for the first time this week...though you can't tell from this picture. Grandma thought she was taking pictures, only she was really taking twenty, five second videos. Its ok Grandma, we'll use the video footage.

He is all smiles and boy, does he love his mama! So much so he refuses to take a bottle. I blame myself because there really hasn't been a reason to get him to take a bottle like there was with Lauren, but now I could really use more than a three hour break. The doctor said we need to try everyday, in a quiet place and it needs to be someone besides me. So far, he still won't take it, but Billy said progress is being made.

But listen here for some serious talking and laughing. I could watch over and over, Wills is so expressive!

You've got a friend in me

Over the last few weeks Lauren has gotten to see a lot of her friends and even meet a few new ones. The camera wasn't in hand for all the playdates and get togethers we've had, but its amazing to watch her interact with other kids. It seems that new friends take some getting use to and mainly because if she has to choose between hanging out with a new friend or swimming in the pool, she's gonna choose the pool.

But an old friend like Emma...well, that's a different story.

These two hung out a couple of weeks ago on Friday night and again on Saturday. Having some popsicles and doing sparklers together for the first time. In the last six months Emma and Lauren have really started to play together and I'm not sure if its the gap closing in on their ages or just because they've actually gotten to know each other, but we have fun just watching and eaves dropping on what they say to each other.

Here they are attempting to pose for the camera in their butterfly bathing suits.

Uncle Brandon visited us too! Not to discount all the fun Lauren had with Emma, but Uncle Brandon takes the cake. She was pretty glued to him the rest of the day, wanting nothing to do with me. Which I was ok with:)

Last Saturday we celebrated Giuliana's first birthday. This was the best shot I got of the three girls, but Emma and Lauren looked adorable in their rompers and of course so did G in her first birthday ensemble!

I even managed to get myself in a picture...too bad the girls wouldn't cooperate:)

Lauren has been enjoying her party favor of candy all week...and William's too.

I love this picture because G just wanted to see William and Lauren actually got a little protective of her brother...a first and was rather endearing.

The jury is still out on whether or not these two will find friendship or not. Lately, Lauren has been grabbing Sydney's tail or chasing around with the house with her shopping cart. The poor dog just takes it thankfully, and we're trying to teach her you can't tease Sydney like that.

And then Lauren will surprise me and ask me to take her picture with Sydney...this was the best one.

A Lauren original.

If this isn't a kodak moment, I don't know what is?

Time

I know I've been a slacker on posting this month, but finding the time for blogging has been tough. Its not just the sunny days that are taking us outside or weekend bbq's or birthday parties, it's the kids!

Lauren wants my attention ALL THE TIME. And I try not to complain because soon enough I will be kicked to the curb and replaced with best friends. But when she isn't insisting I play coffee shop or color and William is content playing or napping I start tackling the usual to do list. Laundry, cooking, dusting, etc, etc.

It's the stuff beyond the must completes that we have such a hard time getting to. The 2010 family photobook, the endless pile I've created in the office of "I'll look at that later," or the winter coats that haven't been put away for the summer.

Time. I. Need. More.

Well, over the last few weeks we've tackled some projects that had been lingering like updating baby books and sending out thank yous. We even spent a Sunday tackling our basement that was looking like a serious candidate for Hoarders.

Please don't judge the picture above, but after some water damage our basement went from bad to worse. I'm surprised Billy even allowed me to photograph this mess, but I really wanted to document the before and after. Our basement is just that, a basement, but after a little TLC and a serious discussion on what can stay and what can go..."Billy, when we are entertaining we aren't standing around doing shots. We can 86 the shot glasses."

While its not pretty, its way more organized than before and we plan to keep it that way.

I also found the time this past weekend to do a project I found online for all the little things that you don't have a place for. Because space is limited we had these little things that just didn't have a home. Now they do.

There are even extra pockets left. And we are using it, just yesterday we needed matches to light the grill. Ahh, the matches have a home vs at the bottom of the junk drawer.

Under my bathroom sink was this before.

The after. $2.50 bins at Target. It felt good to find the time and to get a little more organized.

The party bow. She has been letting me do bows since Saturday night and I'm loving it. Her hair is out of her face and for the most part she is leaving them in. Some negotiation is required, but isn't she cute?

I'm hoping to post some family fun for the last few weeks over the next few days and get all caught up.

Hope you are enjoying July, we are!

XOXO

Aubrey

Last Friday Night

It was epic. Not in the reunion of old friends kind of way or so much fun you can't remember kind of night, but in the we knew we made her week kind of way. We had been wanting to do pizza and a movie night for awhile and finally the stars aligned, along with Netflix delivering Tangled in time.

We made pizza, which is one of Lauren's favorite things and an exercise for me in patience. Her idea of helping is really just sampling ALL the ingredients.

The pizza was enjoyed outside...our first cocktail hour/dinner since May. We cheers'd to that!

It was some much needed Crawford family time at home.

Well, hello there Wills:)

And our feature presentation did not disappoint. Lauren was decked out in her matching princess dress and sat just like this throughout the entire movie. The writing was funny, songs were catchy and the plot is perfect for anyone.

Her reaction once it ended. Not happy it was over. I'd give Tangled a B+. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But the **SPOILER ALERT** stabbing scene...yeah, not really feeling that for a two year old. There is something about Disney and wanting to kill people that I will never understand. And stepmoms, fuhgeddaboudit. It's over before you even walked in the door. Thanks Disney.

XOXO

Aubrey

Chicago

We spent the July 4th holiday in Chicago visiting our friends Regan and Ryan. This was the second time we made the trip with kids (we went when Lauren was 9 months old) and the trip was so much fun!

We arrived Saturday just in time for a bbq at their house with some of their friends and some of ours. Lauren enjoyed playing in the sprinkler, eating corn,

and feeding this little boy jello!

We also spent a lot of the weekend with Jean...she loves William almost as much as she loves hotdogs:)

The reason for the bbq was to celebrate Regan's 31st birthday...the cake was gorgeous and delish!

On Sunday, we headed to the beach. It wasn't as warm as we hoped and the wind picked up so we only lasted a few hours. This picture makes me laugh. Ryan is freezing, Lauren is eating and I think its a photo shoot!

The adults enjoyed playing a little corn hole pre-dinner on Sunday and to make sure Lauren was included we paused for a little hide n seek...do you think Lauren found Billy?

Lauren fell in love with Regan and Ryan...mostly Ryan. She woke up asking Where Ryan was?

Lauren also made sure to cover his eyes (more specifically, his nose) when the scary parts came on Beauty and the Beast.

When we asked her where they lived? She said "vacation." And yesterday we asked her where she wanted to go on her next vacation and she said "Regan and Ryan's"

(watch out Regan:) )

Thanks for an wonderful weekend! Can't wait to see you guys in October!

XOXO

Aubrey

We all scream for ice cream!

It was distant, but we could hear the music. And as it got closer, it got louder we knew it was coming down our street. We quick give a look to each other "should we, should'nt we" and since she was already stripped down to her diaper, we went for it.

The ice cream truck experience...check!

I was inside finishing up some dishes and Billy yells for me to get the camera...she couldn't have made more of a mess, but she was lickin' up this spiderman popsicle like it was going out of style!

And here is the last bit before it fell on the grass....

Its cool...she just picked it up, grass and all.

Game over. Bath time.

XOXO

Aubrey

Perfectly Holy

Sweet Wills was baptized on Sunday, June 26th. We celebrated small with just immediate family and the godparents. We couldn't have asked for a better day, a perfectly behaved Lauren during church (the baptism is another story), and William couldn't have been more alert and expressive during his ceremony.

William wore a family baptismal gown that has been passed down to now a third generation. Everyone pictured has worn it.

Sean was thrilled to be "The Godfather"....taking his role, quite literally.

Thanks to Aunt Colleen and Uncle Sean for being William's wonderful godparents.

The oil they used is STILL lingering on William. He has had more than five baths since the baptism and we can still smell it. Jesus really leaves a lasting impression, and if William decides to become a priest, I'll have a good story.

It was a very beautiful day and we managed to get some great shots after the baptism. Lauren was a little crazy during the post-ceremony photo shoot, but you can't tell by these shots!

(Our Lion King pose:) )

I've been a bit behind on posting and I'm hoping to catch up this weekend...stay tuned!

XOXO

Aubrey