Luke's Baptism

We celebrated Luke's baptism in July.  It was a bit later than we were planning, but life was a little crazier than we anticipated right after he was born.  I feel like I will be saying that same phrase for years to come....

We were so thankful to be joined in NKy by so many great people and the weekend turned out to be a really fun time for everyone.  Luke seemed fairly pleased throughout most of the service until the very end when he just hit the wall.  He showed his frustration at brunch afterward by supplying a blow-out diaper that not only creeped through his diaper, his white outfit, but onto my lovely white skirt as well.  In case you were wondering, I WAS laughing at this point, but did have to rely on my mother-in-law (and Lana!) for immediate help in removing the stain from Luke's outfit, and then my mom for long-term treatment of my skirt and Luke's outfit.  Despite all the craziness, it was a very special weekend for us.

Jane's favorite part of the baptism was the sprinkler

"Hi. My name is Jane.  Could I look any more like my dad?"

The main man is ready for his big day!

A rare photo opp for Evan and I.  My mom hosted a wonderful dinner for everyone the night before and it was great to have everyone in one place visiting!

Lana was the most popular person in the 2 & Under crowd

I promise I only put the bonnet on for a few pictures. It was removed instantly at the request of his father.  (And every other male with a 4-mile radius)

The Godparents, my brother Brian and sister-in-law, Lana.

Luke was mistaking me crossing his forehead with me supplying some sort of food...

July 2011 (still catching up)

I'm still trying to play catch up from a summer that seemed to fly by.  Most normal people would just forgo trying to keep everything in an orderly timeline, however, that would drive me crazy to have a 3-month gap in my postings, so therefore I'm attempting to keep things chronological.  And, of course, there are just too many great pictures to post! 

July was a fun and busy month for us.  We stayed around Rochester for the long July 4th holiday weekend and enjoyed some rest and relaxation.  We spent a lot of time out on the boat and have discovered that our kids (like most I'm sure) love the water!  Luke did exceptionally well with his lifejacket, and it's probably because he's so much bigger than Jane was at this time last year. 

This isn't really the best photo of Luke, but I wanted to illustrate what his hair does on extremely hot and humid days.  Check out those curls!

Learning to smile.  And share.

Living the good life!

Jane channeling her inner Gilligan.

My boys.  Love this picture.

One of my top 3 favorite summertime pictures.  He looks so grown up for being 6-months old in these pictures!

Warm sun, fully belly, gentle rocking of the boat = passed out!

Sunglasses crew.  (Sidenote: Jane is now obsessed with wearing her sunglasses perched right on top of her forehead ALL THE TIME around the house.  We have nicknamed her Amelia Earhart)

6 Months Old

Yes, I know this post is VERY tardy, however, I didn't want to neglect posting a few 6-month pictures of Luke. We actually had to visit the picture studio twice to capture his sweetness, as he was Grumpy Gary for the initial appointment, so luckily we were able to try once again.  We also got Jane's 18-month pictures taken as well, even though she was actually 19 months old in the pictures.  More on what Luke's been up to and his astounding stats in a future post! ENJOY!

We couldn't forget about Jane.....

June

June pretty much came and went for us this year.  Well, it may have been more monumental for Evan who enjoyed his annual fishing trip to Canada, but it flew by for me and the kids.  We got to enjoy a visit from my mom and Aunt Jane, which was highlighted by our A/C going out on what had to have been the hottest day of the summer.  Jane absolutely loved having Nana and Aunt Jane (slight confusion at first on the same-name thing) here to take her on walks, go "swimming" and pretty much do whatever she asked.  Aunt Jane taught Jane how to swim in her little kiddie pool, which pretty much consisted of kicking her feet and just slightly getting her hair wet.

Luke was going through some major changes in June; he was desparately trying to crawl, and showing his frustration when he couldn't quite get it.  However, he did succeed the night before Evan got home from Canada!

Jane was super excited the first night Nana and AJ got here.  Jane was obsessed with AJ's sparkling water (mainly because it had a straw), however, it came out as quickly as it went in.

As always, Nana is feeding Jane and she is loving it.

I love this picture of her.  She put her pants on her head and thought it was hilarious.  Her eyes look so bright in this one!

"Swimming" in her pool.  Look how long those legs are!

Now, this picture is a real treat.  Jellies, striped socks, navy basketball shorts, a fleece, and oversized Cubs' hat.  This is a for real outfit that she wanted on to go on a walk.  Pick your battles, right?

Luke on the night he learned to crawl!  He looks worried, but I assured him he'd love being mobile. 

Playdates



One fun spring and summertime activity we have been enjoying are playdates with my girlfriends and their kiddos.  Jane, and Luke now too, have a blast interacting with the other kids, and it's nice to spend some time with my friends as well.  In May, we traveled to my friend Angela's house to see her new son, Leo, and also visit with Heather and her daughter Vada.  A few weeks ago, we spent some time here in Rochester at my friend Ashley's house with her 2 kids, and my friend Alysha and her son Tyson. 

The crew at Angela's house.

Jane reading to a very interested Vada.

Angela, Heather, and I.

Jane trying to give Leo a kiss; apparently he was terrified.

Jane with her friend Ella.  Ella is about 6 weeks younger than Jane.  You would have thought that both gals were being punished by the looks on their faces.  I promise they had a great time playing together!

Another stop at Angela's house.  Angela and I laugh that Leo could easily be my son, and Jane and Luke could be her children.  Funny how genetics work out....

  

Family Reunion 2011

Another fun activity over our Memorial Day weekend was attending the Scheper family reunion . This is the second time in 5 years that all the descendants of John and Elizabeth Scheper (my great-grandparents) got together! It was a massive amount of work on everyone's part, and, in my opinion, well worth the effort. Not only because I'm super geeky and like geneology and such, but also because I'm uber proud to be a part of such a rich heritage, here are some facts about my family history.

John and Elizabeth Scheper had 8 children: Elizabeth (Betty), Margie, Mariam, Bim (Virginia), Patty, Jack, Jerry, and my grandfather, Bill. Of all 8 children, only 2 are still living, however, the Scheper siblings have left behind quite a crew. I may not have my stats 100% here, but bear with me, as I know it's pretty close. If ALL the descendants were able to make the reunion, there would have been 190 people there, and we actually had 162 people come! That is amazing! What is even crazier is that I think we determined that roughly 80% of all the descendants still live within the 20 mile radius that would encompass N. Kentucky! How remarkable!!

So, to continue with the history lesson: my grandfather met the belle of the ball, Marianne, and they had 8 children themselves: Jane, Nancy (mi madre), Bill, Guy, Tim (Re-Run), Steve, Joe, and Louie (Jennifer). What is crazy is that my mom, and her siblings have 36 1st cousins! Insane! I'm sure there were very few fights in that household.

My mom met the BMOC, Paul Kubala, and together they produced 4 lovely children: Brian, Joel, Emily (me!), and Swing (Katie). (NOTE: No one in any of these generations seem to call people by their birth names, if you haven't noticed. Apparently once you get a nickname, it sticks for life). So, there you have it. Whew!

Ok, now, onto the reunion. The way it was organized was nothing short of brilliant, in my opinion. There was a committee (of course there was a committee - did I mention that my Aunt Jane was pseudo-in charge of reunion organization - enough said) of 1 person (delegate) from each family, and they met periodically (once a month?) to organize all the details. Let me tell you, there wasn't a detail left out. Part of me wonders if these same 8 people should begin to work on the current debt crisis, but I'll let them volunteer on their own. The committee thought of everything - food, drinks, games, pictures/slide show, colored shirts for each family, name tags with not only names, but what generation and also what "Scheper" you belonged to, prizes, goodie bags for the little people, professional photographer - you name it, it was done. And it was wonderful.

The day started out with mass at St. Pius in Edgewood, with Scheper family members participating in readings, Eucharistic Ministers, etc. Then the party moved to the Edgewood Senior Center and Park, where a professional photographer was waiting to take family shots. There were introductions of each family, and then we ate. Can you imagine feeding that many people? It was delicious. Then the games began - everything from CornHole, to Free-Throw Contest, it was included. The only slight deterrent on the day was the 90-degree temps, but we all still seemed to manage. It was a culmination of a lot of work, and it was a lot of fun. I didn't have much time for my own picture-taking, but here are few shots:

I'm not sure who's the most-tired in this picture. Yes, my mom was her family's delegate.

Passed-out #1

Passed-out #2

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a wonderful time over Memorial Day weekend visiting with my family in NKy. We had all of my mom's family in town for the Scheper Family Reunion (see above), and it was a great weekend!

Evan, master of the 'bonfire', and his little helper, KeeganI love this picture of Luke with my Grandma. He looks like he's up to something...
But I might love this picture even more!

Uncle Joel helping Luke get ready for bed

Jane loves the swing on my parents' porch, and loves her company in this picture even more!


Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the day's events
Aunt Katie with Jane

Luke LOVES (understatement) the Baby Bjorn carrier, and Uncle Joe loved having him in it just as much. These 2 were inseparable all weekend. There were no complaints here!

Jane with cousin Abby at a cookout at Uncle Joel's house. Jane couldn't get enough of all-things Abby, and I think the feeling was mutual!