Big Family Reunion

I am a little late in posting about what happened this weekend but it took me a few days just to recover. Saturday was Logan's 7 months!  I actually took these pictures a day ahead because of all the festivities planned for the weekend.  He just started really sitting up on his own about a week ago and here he is not even leaning against the chair.  What a big boy he is getting to be!

 I LOVE this smile

Saturday was filled with a baby shower, a lunch, and a dinner with Bill's family.  

Sunday was a much anticipated event as it only happens every three years---our family reunion.  The reunion is my dad's side of the family.  I have two brothers and two sisters which today would be considered a big family in itself, but my dad was one of 13 kids!  That blessed me with 12 aunt and uncles and 31 first cousins just on one side alone!  But it doesn't stop there- the reunion actually starts with my Great Grandparents and down for a total of about 350+ people attending it this year.  I have always felt so lucky to be part of a big family.      

Just to give you an idea- here is our immediate family, my mom, brothers, sisters, brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, nieces and nephews.

The next step up and here are the 13 kids (My Uncle Wally and my dad watching from heaven), my first cousins, and their children.  Crazy huh?! That's one big family reunion.

 But there's more- a couple hundred more!  When you start with my Great Grandparents this is our family!  They had to take this picture in two sections and put them together just to create this photo.  

Like I said this only happens every three years so when it does it is a whole day event.  We eat, catch up, play games and our favorite--POLKA!  I had the best partner and Logan loved it!

Here he is dancing with Aunt Julie too!

And a good Polka means Uncle Jim is playing the accordion.  

But the best part is just spending time together.  And these two did a great job at that.  Look at these cute cousins.  I think Logan is wondering what is on his cousin's head.  Don't worry buddy, you'll grow some hair soon.  

Poor cousin- I think Logan thought he was a toy.

So Sweet!

Just lounging with dad.

And after all that fresh air and fun comes one tuckered out little guy.  

Finalization

Our final court date was on July 11th and we received word yesterday July 16th that the adoption is final.  It was a happy day to have everything legal even though we have been a family long before!  I remember sending in our initial application with the agency on Jan 1, 2011 with so many steps still ahead of us.  And now here we are a family of three!  We were meant for each other!

Our biggest dream come true...to be a Mommy and Daddy to this little guy.  He is the love of our lives and was worth the wait!  

Vacation Time

We were on vacation last week and had a great time!  We decided to take Logan to Door County, WI where we could relax and spend some quality family time together.  It was perfect for our first vacation as a family of three.  We stayed in Sturgeon Bay at a great hotel right on the water.  

This was the view from our balcony.  We talked to a few people there and they have been coming to this hotel for years.  I can see that it is a little treasure.  

The first thing we needed to do was plan out what we wanted to see.  Logan really helped me plan out our itinerary. 

We did some shopping and Logan found this police car that has lights and sounds.  

We did some hiking at the state parks. Here is Bill with a little monkey on his back :) Hehe  

Logan just loved this backpack.  Thanks to our friends for loaning it to us for this trip!  It was awesome.  

At the Peninsula State park there was a look out tower.  We only made it to the second big platform before the height got to us.  Even on the ground you are already looking over the water so climbing the tower made it feel even higher.  

We went to the beach on Lake Michigan.  

But as much as Logan likes the pool he was not to sure of the waves at the beach.  His face says it all.  He did not like it.  I think the sound scared him and when we dipped his toes in the water and he saw the water rolling in he did not enjoy it.  Maybe next time.  

And in the evenings we got to enjoy some beautiful sunsets on Green Bay right from our balcony.  

We loved it so much here that we are hoping to come back over time and experience it in all the different seasons too.  

We had so much fun taking Logan on his first family vacation!

Mega Swagbucks Friday

Just a reminder that today is Mega Swagbucks.  The day that you can potentially earn more for your searches.  As I promised I wanted to continue to share more tips that I have discovered.  One VERY easy way to earn a quick Swagbuck a day is to answer the daily poll.  They include a fun polleach day that you can vote on to earn one Swagbuck.  On your main page it can be found under the "Earn" tab.  Once day= an average of 30 Swagbucks a month!

If you haven't signed up for Swagbucks yet click on the banner to the right to register!

6 Months Old

I can't believe Logan is 6 months old already!  Even he was surprised when I told him.

He has been rolling over, laughing, playing with his toys more, starting to eat cereal and veggies and just started to really have this little boy look to him vs baby.  It is amazing to me how much he has changed in 6 months.  And when I asked him why he is growing so fast he just looked at me like "Oh mom, that's what I am supposed to do silly."

And then I said ok but you are going to stay this size now right?  And Logan just laughed. 

I am savoring every moment and each new stage but I sure wish I could bottle it up somehow too! That's why I love scrapbooking because it is a way to keep precious memories.  Hopefully I can find some time to work on those soon:)

Hanging out with Daddy

I know I am a few days late for my Father's Day post.  It has been busy around here but we hope everyone had a great day.  We had a nice and relaxing day with Logan and that is just what Bill wanted for his first Father's Day.  Well relaxing except for all the pictures.

We started out with a Logan photo shoot.  And I say photo shoot because seriously check out this pose. One knee bent, hand on knee, smile...  I swear that was not the crazy lady behind the camera - he did that all on his own.

I found this outfit on clearance at Crazy 8 already a couple weeks ago and thought it was perfect for Father's Day.  

Then Daddy and Logan

So by the time Mommy said let's take some outside too I think the boys were over it.  But I got this shot in before any crying began...well before Logan anyway :)

Our weekend in review

What a busy but fun weekend!

First, Logan thought he better kick back and relax before all the festivities:)

On Fri night our friends Cayte and Matt and their daughter Lucy invited us to the game.  It was fun to take the kids to their first baseball game.  I think Daddy was the most excited to take Logan.  Don't worry fellow Cubs fans- even though we are at a Cardinals game Logan was wearing his Cubs socks!

Logan had a great time taking in all the new sights and sounds.  But when he tuckered out, not even the  cheers from the crowd woke this guy.  

Then on Sat evening Bill and I had our first date night since we became a family of three.  We enjoyed a sunset dinner at the wineries.  As much as it was nice to have an evening together it was even nicer to pick up Logan at the end of the night.  We missed our little guy!

When my cousin Kris contacted me that she was going to be in the area I was so excited to meet her at the zoo with the kids.  It was such beautiful weather and I am so glad we had the chance to meet up.  This pic was taken as we were leaving so you can see that the kids had a good time as some of them were falling asleep:)

Logan enjoyed his first train ride around the zoo.  

I wish the weekend could have been just a little longer.  Who knows what we could have fit in then!