Warning: LONG post!

My cousin Sarah got married Saturday night in Atlanta. She was such a beautiful bride. Here are a few pictures from the night. I'm usually the one behind the camera but somehow most of our pictures ended up with me in them - I'm not sure how that happened! The reception was at the Druid Hills Golf Club and was SO much fun - I don't think I've ever danced that much at a wedding! Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of their reception because the lighting wasn't great (I don't use a flash).

The beautiful bride right before the ceremony

The new Mr. and Mrs. Dalton Melnyk! (See what I mean about bad lighting?)

Matt's mom made their grooms cake. Dalton had joked so many times that instead of a reception he just wanted a big low country boil, so Sarah asked Mrs. Dart to make a low country boil cake to surprise him with! I think she did an AMAZING job!

We stayed with Matt's sister Jessica in Atlanta and she watched Will during all of the wedding festivities. We are SO thankful to her for being such a good aunt and a wonderful host! Since the little guy didn't make it to the wedding, my family was eager to see him during the day on Saturday...

Will's new face - he apparently learned how to scrunch his nose!

Sunday morning we met at J. Christopher's for breakfast with aunt Faye, Chrissy and Mike, so that they could see Will...

After breakfast Matt and I went to our old church in Atlanta, St. Paul's Presbyterian, and then flew back to Chicago Sunday afternoon. We had a great spring break in Georgia over the last few weeks, but there is no place like home!

Bridesmaids luncheon

My mom and my aunt Karen gave Sarah's bridesmaids luncheon at The Swan Coach House in Atlanta Friday. It was really beautiful and the food was delicious! Here are a few pictures I took...

Christine (Chrissy to me!) and Sarah

We had chicken salad, muffins, cheese straws, and a frozen fruit salad...yumm!

Everyone opening their bridesmaids gifts

Pearls to wear during the wedding!

Sarah and her bridesmaids

Aunt Faye, Sarah, and Chrissy

Last week

I have some catching up to do on here! We spent last week in St. Simons (the second week of Matt's spring break) and then we went to Atlanta this past weekend for my cousin Sarah's wedding. I have TONS of pictures to go through, so other posts will be coming soon!

First though, are a couple of pictures from last week in St. Simons.

At the beach

Will loves his grandmama!

He liked floating around in his "baby pool" boat filled with warm water!

With my parents in front of Barbara Jeans!

Cousins

Matt's sister Casey and her husband Eric brought their 3 month old, Otto, to St. Simons this weekend to see Will! They were so cute together!

Yesterday we drove to Savannah to hear our friend Craig preach! He did a great job, and it was good to catch up with him and Ashley. And Will got to play in the nursery with their son Benjamin, who is only 2 weeks older than Will! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them.

After church we went to downtown Savannah and had lunch at Huey's on the river! We had a view of the river and had a great time. I had french toast and Matt had eggs sardou.

Last night we went to see Crazy Heart with Beau and Kate. It's the story of an older, alcoholic country music star who eventually cleans himself up. I thought Jeff Bridges did a great job, but I thought the story was unbelievably slow (maybe I'm just used to the speed of 24??). I also thought the romance between the two main characters was creepy, and the way he just quit drinking so easily was laughable. My opinion: wait until it is out on dvd.

Swimming

Will went swimming for the first time today! The weather in St. Simons has been wonderful - in the upper 70's, and Matt's dad heated their pool for us. Will had a great time - he loves to splash! Not too long before we'll have a little swimmer on our hands!

8 months

Will is 8 months old today!

We had lunch at the Beach Club with my mom today, and afterwards I got a few pictures of the little man...

My sweet little boy:

• Your two bottom teeth have broken through! We noticed them 2 days ago, and we can see and feel a little bit more of them every day!
• You love to stand up! You look like such a big guy when you stand up and bounce or dance (with your mom or dad holding your hands of course)!
• I don't know how much you weigh, but I think you've had a growth spurt because you seem so much bigger to me now than you did a month ago! You have 5 8oz bottles a day.
• You smile SO much, and you have started laughing a lot too! You can be ticklish, but not always. And you show emotion in your gibberish now!
• You sleep from around 7:30-8:30 at night until about 8:30 in the morning. You take a 1-2 hour morning nap and a 2-3 hour afternoon nap.
• You sit in a highchair when we go out to eat, and you have the best time playing while we eat.
• You are curious about everything. You grab anything within your reach...keeping your mom and dad on their toes!

We love you SO much!

Sunny St. Simons

We have made it to sunny and WARM St. Simons! Will did great traveling - better than I expected.

The grandparents have all had a great time loving on Will. Here's a few pictures of our day today:

Max is terrified of Will!

And here's a little sampling of Will's emerging personality: