Summer Fun!

Father's Day
Golfing with daddy (just driving range)
playing in the sand with chase

Family picture taken by Lang

Summer is flying by and we are oh so enjoying it! I find myself appreciating each day here in Louisville. We celebrated Father's Day and Liam and I went with my family to South Carolina to visit my sister. Liam loved the ocean and sand. I have been taking Liam to the pool ALOT because it has been very hot. It works out well for Will to golf while we are at the pool. We also have been going to the park after Will gets off work to get some of this toddler energy of Liam's out :) Will and I have been running and playing tennis a lot too. Just the two of us have gotten to enjoy some time alone, but we are always happy to see Liam when we return! We went to Cincinnati with some friends, Chelsea, Jonathan, Lang and Kate, to go to Kings Island, we ended up only riding 4 rides because we are all old and it was 100 degrees and we felt sick. (2 of us even got sick once we made it to Ikea!!!) But Ikea and P.F. Chang's and good friendship made it worth it.) We also went to Sarah and Andy's wedding which was so beautiful! I love when weddings really encourage you in your walk with Christ and your marriage and this one certainly did! That night we saw HP and it was awesome!

Liam is 15 months- going on 16 months. Whew. where. does. time. go.

At his 15 month check up he was 23 pounds and 32 inches. 50th percentile and 75th percentile. He stood on the big boy scale to get weighed- It was so cute- the nurse told him to go up there and up he went!

He had fluid in his ear which we expected to happen, he goes back to the ear specialist in August.

He is really into exploring right now, he can reach the counters and door knobs, but he can't turn the door knobs, yet, thank goodness! We aren't into baby proofing every little thing, only enough to keep him safe and me sane.

He is still into cars and trucks, little ones, big ones, books about them and real ones. Will pulls up in the driveway and Liam drives the car into the garage.

We have allowed him to watch a few little things here and there and he really likes Elmo's World, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Toy Story.

He is really the sweetest baby, he is very good at entertaining himself, he has always been independent but he is getting more so. He comes over when he wants some lovin', his kisses are the sweetest- you know that open mouth right at your face.

He is saying a few words- but only once or twice. thank you, all done, again, that, go, car.

BOYS

Ashley and Troy were excited to announce yesterday that Chase will have a little brother. We are so excited to welcome another sweet Maciaszek boy into the family in October. If he looks anything like Ashley, Troy and Chase he will be a cutie ;) Praise the Lord for new life!

Fun In The Sun

Will had a half day today so we were able to enjoy some time at the pool this afternoon! Will and Liam had a blast in the pool!!! I loved watching them. Liam likes to go under, like he goes completely under on his own and comes back up and holds his breath the whole time. And he cried when he had to get out and we had to hold him back because he wanted to get back in.

More Pictures From This Weekend

We got our car back after it got towed! Yay!
Date night in Chicago!
At Carmine's
Seriously! My husband is hott!
Oooh Jimmy Choo
We had to let Liam play with his daddy's truck one last time and document it :(
One day, hopefully, we will get a 4 door truck for the boys!
In the reflection of the bean at Millennium Park
Will in front of more art at the park

3 year wedding anniversary

Our fam's new car, Liam is perched in the backseat

The family room in our hotel for the weekend
My cutie husband getting ready for dinner

Me on the Riverwalk
Will on our balcony
The bedroom in our hotel

On our way back from dinner this huge fountain had a light display to music.

Shirt and hat we got for Liam

One mirror in the bathroom had a tv in it! So cool!

Will driving into the city

Will has been working so hard and so much lately, I wanted to do something special for him! Since we can't go on a vacation for an entire week this year (because of vacation time being used for classes) I planned a long weekend in Chicago. We were sad to leave Liam but he did great at my mom and bobster's and we left without tears! yay!

We arrived at our hotel Friday late morning (the drive was so quick!) We were able to stay at the Elyisan Hotel (we booked with luxuryhotelsofchicago.com and got a GREAT deal!) Our suite was beautiful and huge and super modern. I would totally recommend this hotel, they had wine and chocolates and hand written notes for our us upon on arrival. The staff also doesn't accept gratuity.

We walked around and shopped and got a couple little things we had been wanting (Will a northface hat and shoes) and myself a trench coat and perfume- will's pick from Barney's)

We went to dinner Friday night at Carmine's- delicious Italian food!

Well Saturday morning we decided to grab Chipotle for lunch and go to Navy Pier. Since we walked like 7 miles on Friday, and navy pier was 1.5 miles away Will wanted to drive. Well we parked in a 15 minute stop to run in and get our food and apparently you must have your flashers on while in a 15 minute spot so our car got towed! It was not funny then but after about an hour we were laughing about it! pretty quick turn around for me. Here we are pounding the streets of Chicago looking for the impound lot. We never made it to Navy Pier... haha!

Well our parents are so sweet and my car was techincally my dad's and the same with Will's truck. So everything in my car looked like Craig Perkins was the owner and everything in my wallet says my name is Alyssa Laing...so we had to pay for the tow and Dad had to fax a notarized letter saying we had permission to have the car for them to release it! Dad was so quick- way to go Dad!

We went to Dinner at Tavern on Rush Saturday Night and to this awesome theater to see the new Pirates movie and to Ghirdelli for dessert! Yum!

Sunday morning I was able to get a massage which was wonderful and we headed home to get Liam. We were so excited to him and likewise!

Liam had an ear infection which we think he is pretty much recovered from but I'll take him for an ear check this week.

Well we have been wanting an SUV for sometime and planned on getting one anytime. So after the parking fiasco in Chicago Will decided we needed our own car! So Monday morning we went to Honda (I call the whole place Honda Pilot) and the Lord was totally with us because Will used to work there (Enterprise is inside of the building) so we got such a good deal! Praise the Lord! He has been so gracious to us. Marriage and Life and Parenthood has it's struggles and Will and I are just so blessed by each other's care for each other and support of those around us! The Lord is so good!

We are super thankful for this exciting time in our lives.

Monday afternoon we celebrated our purchase at the pool and we grilled out and cooked, just the three of us Monday night.

Better Late Than Never

Mother's Day 2011 (Liam 13 months old)

Mother's Day 2010 (Liam 3 weeks old)

We have been enjoying life too much to have time to blog about it. I seriously considered just stopping because once you take a break it is hard to catch up, but I am thankful I have recorded events so far so I know I need to just power through. I am not super sentimental or anything- meaning I have no journal or diary or book of things Liam does, so this blog better keep going :)

Liam's first birthday party went really well, we really enjoyed it and think everyone else did too!

A highlight of his birthday was that Will's parents, sister and our nephew Jack were able to come visit, as well as my sister and our nephew Chase.

We will be welcoming another nephew or our first niece in October! Which we are super excited and thankful for! Chase will be such a great big brother.

My mom, sister and I were able to go to New York for a girls weekend. We had a wonderful time, we all enjoy doing the same things so the trip was perfect. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria which was beautiful and right on 5th Avenue, we pretty much stayed in the box of 5th, Madison and Park, with the exception of going to Grand Central Station, The Empire State Building and Broadway to see Wicked. I've been there twice before, so this was the first time I felt like really comfortable, knew exactly where we were going, etc.

The food was amazing, so was the shopping and walking around Central Park. I would live there in a heartbeat!

I got to celebrate my 2nd Mother's Day with Liam. We went to church, the boys took me to J. Alexander's for a yummy lunch, we took a 2 hour nap and Will worked on school the rest of the day. Mom and Bobster came by and then we headed to a big family dinner at my dad's. It was a wonderful day- the perfect balance of busy and relaxing; and of time with just the three of us and extended family.

Our anniversary is right around the corner. I tried to plan a surprise trip to Chicago but Will got a promotion and I had to end up telling him the dates so he doesn't plan any meetings or anything.

Will is taking a class this next week Wednesday- Saturday, then he has one more summer class, then 3 classes in the fall and will graduate this December. We are really enjoying this season of life but to think he won't have to study anymore in just 6 months is amazing! You would be surprised at how much family time sacrificed and money goes into a Seminary degree. We are praying God will provide a full time ministry position for Will.

Liam is the best little thing! He occasionally disobeys but for the most part listens to what we say, he never cries anymore, he is very content to play on his own, so much so that sometimes he will shut the door to his room on his own! He walks now always, almost never crawling, he hasn't had any major falls but I almost always hold his hand on the drive way, etc. He loves his momma, but him and dad are pretty tight too. I think it's a toss up which one of us he prefers right now.

He isn't talking clearly but, I believe he thinks he is, he babbles all day long. He also brushes his hair with my hair brush, talks on his pretend phone, helping take his clothes on and off, washes his rubber ducky in the bath- basically imitating the things we do.

We hope everyone had a great easter and mother's day and enjoying the spring!

smile

this sweet, sweet boy is 11 months old today.