Lucia's Baptism Party

After the baptism we had everyone over (at Sandra and Jeri's!) to celebrate. It was a pretty hot night- so most of us jumped in the pool to cool off! As you can see from the middle picture, Lucia has been standing w/o support for about a week now- she'll be walking before we know it!

Lucia's Baptism con't

Lucia with her Godparents- Francesca and Alex. The gown that Lucia was baptized in has been in our family for 38 years. All of the "American" grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been baptized in this gown. My mom explained to me that her grandmother- my great-grandmother- bought this gown in Italy when my cousin Alex was born to be used in her baptism- and any other baptisms that followed. Children that have been baptized in this gown include: Alex, James, Chiara, Alessia, Nicholas, Francesca, Mark, Matthew, Emily, Christopher, Norah, Luke, Ethan, and Lucia!

Lucia did very well during the service- though she was a bit of a handful at times!

Lucia and her parents.

She didn't cry when Father John baptized her- she did very well.

Group Shot- Francesca, Alex, Father John and Lucia, Alessia, and Jim.

Lucia's Baptism

Lucia was baptized a last weekend- July 16th- at Holy Spirit Church. It was a great day and Lucia did very well during the service and during her baptism.

Nonna's "cool" con't

It has been hot here the past few days, so we have been spending a lot of time at Nonna's pool. Here are some pictures from today. I sure do love summer- and I love how much energy the pool drains from my kids- bed time has been so easy lately- today Ethan was in bed at 7:30 and we barely heard a peep out of him :-)

Nonna's "cool"

Lucia and Daddy- Lucia was a little under the weather these past few days- so she was pretty fussy while in the pool and didn't seem to enjoy herself- we'll try again next week!

Nerdy family photo!

Ethan sporting some goggles- hopefully he will be a swimmer when he grows up- just like his mom!

At the beach

Earlier this week we joined Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dave in Muskegon for an afternoon at the beach. Unfortunately, Grandpa Dave was not able to join us because he had had an allergic reaction to something! Here's Lucia enjoying the beautiful weather. She only lasted about an hour before we had to pack up and go.

"What is this stuff??"

Ethan found a hole . . . and some pieces of dune grass- they were having a conversation.

Ethan laying in the hole- getting all sandy. After the beach we stopped by Nonna's to jump in the pool and get all the sand off- just like when I was growing up :-)

Cousins

Ethan, Ivana, and Lucia hanging out.

Ethan and I

I love my baby!

Lucia and a Lime

Lucia loved sucking on this wedge of lime tonight- I was waiting there with the camera ready to capture the funny face that all babies make when they suck on a lime or lemon- but she never gave it to me.

This is her funny face- it's not so funny- she's actually a little pissed off because she sucked all the juice out of the lime wedge so we took it away!

4th of July Weekend

Ethan and Jim went camping with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dave this weekend. Lucia and I dropped them off at the campground and hung out for a bit. We put both kids in the bike trailer so we could ride around the campground- they enjoyed the ride- despite Ethan's expression in the top picture! It was so fun riding around the Hoffmaster campground- it brought back so many memories of camping when we were kids- we used to run all over that campground like we owned it! It was fun to see so many kids doing that very same thing today!

Ethan enjoying his first . . . Arnold Palmer! I'm sure it's full of sugar and probably some caffeine- but I didn't care- he was spending the night at the campground w/ his dad!