Jane's 2nd Birthday

It is very hard for us to believe that Jane is already 2 years old!  It truly doesn't seem that long ago we were coming home from the hospital with our itty-bitty 6lb baby with the biggest brightest eyes we had ever seen.  We have watched her grow and change, and of course stay the same in some regards (her knees are still the fattest part of her legs, and she still has more idiosyncrasies than anyone you'll meet) and we cannot imagine our lives without her.  Even in her worst moments, spared normally just for us, we still find ourselves in awe of how wonderful she is. 

Jane is incredibly kind-hearted, always wanting to help us and her brother.  She offers him toys when we change his diaper, stops what she's doing to get his pacifier if she hears him crying, wants to see him first thing every morning, and offers him hugs and kisses on a whim.  I fully recognize this may change in the coming years, but for now, I'm cherishing every moment of her love and tenderness towards him. 

She is incredibly bright and picks up things very quickly, her particular favorite right now is jigsaw puzzles.  She loves to sit on the floor (demanding that you join her as well, of course) and put them together and she actually can do them by herself.  It amazes me.  She also LOVES stickers and has graduated from adorning her shirt with them to actually putting them in sticker activity books which can consume her for hours. 

She has some new obsessions as of late - including hand sanitizer, lip gloss, chapstick, and her stepstool.  She will re-apply, re-sanitize, and re-place her step stool all day long.  If she learns one new thing, she continually has to repeat the same action in exact sequence the next time.  While semi-cute, and semi-remarkable the first time it happens, it can lead to a battle of wills the 2nd and 3rd and 4th time.  I'm afraid to admit that sometimes she wins. 

We enjoyed celebrating her birthday with her - we made cupcakes while Luke napped, and enjoyed her favorite meal for dinner - meatloaf!  Grandma and Papa G. came over to help unwrap gifts and enjoy cupcakes and ice cream.  It was a wonderful day and we love her very much!

The birthday girl in the morning having breakfast -  an English muffin with cinnamon and sugar.  Notice how she pretty much just scraped off the sweet stuff.

Helping mommy bake cupcakes.  She did great putting the liners in the tray!

Carefully and precisely adding sprinkles - no cupcake complete without sprinkles!

A pause to smile.  Please notice the plethora of stickers on her shirt....

Reading a card from Grandma while cozy in her pink slippers from Great-Grandma and Grandpa

The most adorable rain suit ever from G-G Aunt Lil!  This came with matching boots and we cannot wait for a rainy day!

A snowsuit from mommy and daddy.  She loves putting her hands in pockets

At first, very afraid of the candle....

...but then very excited to about it once we told her she could eat it

Gently holding it while diving right in

Not to be outdone, Luke offering his puff to the camera

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma!

The month of November afforded us the opportunity to travel to Nky for a long weekend to visit with family and participate in a surprise 90th birthday for my Grandma Kubala.  We were all semi-concerned that a "surprise" party might lead to some sort of cardiac event for my Grandma, but the quite the opposite happened - I don't think I've ever seen my Grandma happier in her life!!

We had a great time that weekend visiting with all of my family.  As per usual, this trip to Nky was a whirlwind of activity, with visitors coming and going, lots of food, and lot of play time for the kids! 

I shared a long blog a few months ago for the Scheper Family Reunion in May, and wanted to do a similar posting here with my dad's side of the family.  I am forever in awe of my rich heritage and amazed at what a blessing a large family can be.  My grandma's suprise party consisted mainly of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but also was attended by some of her friends and nieces and nephews as well.

My grandma, Dorothy Jane (known as Dot in most circles), was born in Columbus, OH on Dec. 4th 1921 and had 1 brother, Jack (known as Bud).  My grandma grew up in Columbus and stayed there until she met my grandpa at the USO Club.  My grandpa, Bill, was 1 of 12 children (yes, 12!!), born to parents who had immigrated to Youngstown, OH from Czechoslavakia.  Together my grandparents had 9 children themselves - Michael, David, Stephen, Barbara, Paul (my dad!), Anne, Nancy, Carole, and Bill - and moved around a few times before settling in to Ft. Thomas, Ky. where they lived for 30 years before my grandpa passed away in 1982.  I simply cannot fathom all these children and wonder how anyone maintained a household of 7, 9, or 12 children!  I struggle most days with TWO!!

My grandma is fun-loving, always up for a great time, always ready for a trip of any sort, and continually grateful for whatever life throws her way.  I think you'll see some of these qualities in the pictures below!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

Jane really wanted to wear Aunt Katie's boots.  I have no idea why her hands are like that, but it's so cute!

Keegan and Jane with Aunt Katie

Relaxing with Nana

Luke trying to impress the ladies with his one-hand ability on the trike.  Jane is, of course, telling him how to do it.  He's not listening.

My grandma was all smiles on her birthday.  And she wore her princess hat for the whole party!!

I love this picture even if Luke was preferring to be held by someone else.  I think Luke looks a lot like my dad with his light blue eyes, which he gets from my grandma.

Jane and Grandpaul, putting out the vibe

Grandma with all of her grandchildren, minus 1 who lives in Seattle and couldn't make it.  19 in total.

Grandma with all of her great-grandchildren.  12 so far

Grandma with all her children.  All of them still live in Nky, with the exception of 2.

Our family enjoying the party.  An exceptionally warm evening allowed us to be outside for awhile!

I don't even know how to comment on this picture.  We asked them both to smile for the camera and this is what we got.

My mom, sister, and I

Luke was ready to go by the end of the evening.  He gets completely stoic when in front of the camera.  And still looks nothing like me...

I Love This Picture

6 Years

I thought I would take a small break from daily life updates, and post a short bit about a very special occasion - our 6 year wedding anniversary!  Even though 6 IS my favorite number, this particular anniversary traditionally does not quite receive the fanfare of the other multiple-of-5 anniversaries, but nonetheless, still exciting for us!

It's hard for both of us to believe that we have already been married for 6 years - the time has gone by so fast!  We can look back and remember so many great memories already and LOTS of laughing, namely at the expense of our differences.  We can (vaguely) remember sitting in our house on Sweetgum and pondering what movie to watch, or what magazine/books to reads, or even where to go for the weekend.  Fast forward a few years and the decisions have centered around who gets what sippy cup, when should we give the kids a bath, and whose turn it is to read bedtime stories.

Even though our anniversary is actually November 19th, we were able to get away for a few nights and celebrate early, thanks to my parents for watching the kids!  We spent some time in Indy doing some shopping and relaxing, then headed to Brown County (my first time!), on yet again another gorgeous fall weekend!  We just missed the leaves on the trees by 1 week or so, but we still enjoyed the time away - getting to sleep in (a rare treat!), eat at restaurants that had neither a kid menu nor a playground, read books, take in an IU basketball game, and just have some time to ourselves.  It was a great way to celebrate our marriage!

We have been so blessed throughout our marriage and thankful to God for all the wonderful things/people/situations He has brought into our lives, and we are eagerly anticipating what else He may have in store for us!

Dinner out while on our Honeymoon, Nov 2005

Still smiling 6 years later! (not quite as tan...)

 

Halloween

Although I'm over a week behind, I of course did not want to waste too much time in posting our Halloween pictures this year!  We actually were able to get the kids dressed and ready to go trick-or-treating with relatively no issues.  Jane is very much into dressing up these days so the concept of dressing up AND getting treats really set her over the edge!  Luke was a little more passive about the whole program, however, he impressed both Evan and I by keeping his "hood" on longer than we both expected. 

So...here they are - our little Dorothy (plus Toto in tow) and Cowardly Lion!

This was the 9th time I tried to take this picture - again, having to instruct her to keep her hand on something so she doesn't come charging at me

She very much loved that Toto had a matching ribbon like her.  Jane was portraying "80's style" Dorothy with her side-ponytail.  (The other pigtail was hidden in the back - did I mention I was a bit rushed?!)

Full ensemble here - ruby red slippers and all

A first glimpse of our cowardly lion...

True to character, Jane is trying to protect the Cowardly Lion, although something in his face looks more similar to "Back off, lady...."

Although blurry, this picture is my favorite of him!  He actually walked really well in the huge "paws"

Luke was over the hood by the time we got to Grandma and Papa's house, but this picture is still so cute!

How adorable is this picture?!

Papa finally agreed to open a chocolate mint for Jane, and this was exactly how excited she was about it!

Fall Fun

We have been enjoying a very full and festive fall so far!  We had a lot of weekends here in Rochester in September and October and took full advantage of it by taking the kids on a bunch of outings!  Each one turned out better than the last and it's exciting for us to see our kids enjoying things outside of the house.  Here are some of the things, with accompanying pictures of course, we have been up to!

Chuck E Cheese's:
We hadn't originally planned to go, however, the day we had picked to go to a Fall Festival in a town nearby ended up being a torrential downpour, so we re-routed ourselves down to Chuck E Cheese's and were SO glad we did!  I hadn't been there in awhile (ok, more like since I was 9) and both Evan and I were impressed with how clean, fun, and enjoyable it was!  Both kids absolutely loved it, particularly all the motorized "rides" and all the other kids running around.  We will definitely go back during the winter doldrums...

Although timid at first, Jane went all in with the hug for Chuck.

I know they're not looking at the camera, but I thought this was so cute.  I couldn't compete with the lighted buttons and sirens in this car.

Undoubtedly Jane's favorite "ride" the whole day. She lovers Barney.

Luke really figured out all the ins and outs of this car - and he was only 8 months old here!

Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo:
We have heard so many great things about the FWCZ, that on an unusually warm (near 80!) and sunny day, we decided to finally take the kids to the zoo, after we had talked about doing it all summer!  We could not believe how wonderful this zoo was and how great the kids did!  They have a lot of animals, as well as some rides, a petting zoo, a station for feeding ducks/fish/etc.  We actually stayed there almost 4 hours and I don't think either child complained once.  We are so thankful to have a nice zoo nearby and are eager for it to open back up next Spring!

Jane and I pretending we're "camping" at the zoo.  She was more interested in the popcorn stand than obtaining the perfect picture.

I love this picture of Jane.  Evan let her take her sandals off and splash around in the fountain (this was a permissable activity, not illegal).  I think she just embodies a little girl in this picture.

Still not looking at the camera, but love this picture anyway.

Thistleberry Farm Pumpkin Patch:
This was such a fun outing for us!  We didn't get to do a pumpkin patch last year, and I really wanted to do one this year.  Luckily, we found one (thanks for our friend Ashley F. for the suggestion) that was only about 30 minutes away and it was wonderful!  I don't think they lacked for anything you could possibly want/imagine from a pumpkin patch - they had a huge, homemade slide, large trampoline-esque thingy, tricycle course, 3 different corn mazes, pony rides, hay rides, "cow" rides, pigs, and of course, pumpkins!  It was a beautiful day (slightly chilly) and we had a great time!

Luke was stationary in his stroller a majority of the time, but didn't complain at all

This trike was a bit big for her, physically.  Mentally - she overpowered it again and again.

Jane and I wanted to see just how many different shades of pink we could get in one shot...

"Cow" rides - the kids LOVED these!

Neither kid looking at camera, but still think this is a great one

I included this picture of look for the background - look at all the activities on this HUGE farm!

Jane loved her first pony ride.  She knew exactly where to place her hands and how to sit on the pony.  She even let go to give daddy a little wave!

She liked the bigger pumpkins initially....

...but we did settle on one just her size.  She loved picking out pumpkins for everyone. (How about that Donald Trump hair?!  We just pulled off her hat, I promise...)

Although we don't have any pictures to account for the trip, we did enjoy a jaunt down to Indianapolis to take the kids to the Children's Museum!  I am forever amazed at that place and can't wait to go back again.  Both kids loved being there, particularly the Barbie exhibit (Jane) and the Playscapes area that has things to do for kids of all ages.  Luke loved rolling and playing around in the section designated for his age group, and had a special affinity for pressing a button that made a wall light up.  I think he pressed it nearly 284 times. 

All in all - we have been busy creating memories and enjoying quality time with our kids!