Flower Girl and Ring Bearer of the Year

As previously mentioned, Jane and Luke were asked last year to be the flower girl and ring bearer in our friend's wedding in June.  Joe and Kristen frequently babysit for us, and Evan has known Kristen all his life as she is the little sister of a friend of his.  Our kids love when they babysit and we couldn't wait to share in this special day with them!

We weren't exactly sure how things would go, or even if they would understand what was going on, but yet again our kids prove us wrong!  Once we began talking to Jane (a few months ahead of the big day) about wearing a pretty dress and dropping flower petals, it was all over from there.  From thence forward, she was all about all things wedding!  She loved trying on her pretty dress and getting new fancy shoes to go with it (which she wears constantly around the house), but her brother still wasn't sure what to make of everything.  Getting fitted for his suit was a bit more anti-climatic for him.

We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner and suprisingly the kids were both well behaved.  The next morning was a real treat for Jane as she was invited to join all the other bridesmaids to get her hair done at the salon.  This was a HUGE deal for Jane and she loved all the attention.  She even sat perfectly still the entire time the crew (at one point there were 4 ladies working on her hair....how is that even possible?!) sprayed, combed, braided, tweaked and styled her 'do.  She loved it and I also enjoyed seeing her so happy!

We then left to head to the wedding location (ceremony and reception in one place) for pictures, and the real fun began.  We quickly arrived, dressed both kiddos and waited patiently for their turn for pictures.  But, of course, nothing is that simple. What do you get when you add 1 mischievous little boy + wide open spaces + lots of attention from people?!  An over-excited and curious Luke, who wondered what would happen if he pulled a red gadget from the wall!  Yep, right before his turn for pictures, Luke pulled the fire alarm and set off the loudest noise ever, that scared the dickens out of him and sent him crying for the next 10 minutes...right before getting his picture taken.  Lovely!

With the fire alarm crisis behind us, they both cooperated fabulously for the outdoor pictures (it was a hot muggy day - just ask this 6-month pregnant lady!), and we scurried off to "borrow" the bride's room for an hour or so to decompress before the wedding actually started.  All was well, until Luke had to go to the bathroom (not potty)....and then go again...then go again.  Not our finest parenting moment realizing we gave him applesauce for lunch, then apples for a snack, then apple juice while waiting.  We narrowly avoided ruining his entire suit before showtime.  With stress at an all-time high, we made our way back to the wedding location and tried to entertain a 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old who hadn't napped and very excited to go bolting down the aisle.  I had to find my seat at the front so Evan stayed back with them.  Right before it was their turn, Luke turned to Evan and stated he needed to go to the bathroom again.  Evan, in sheer brilliance, rushed both kiddos off to the bathroom, and quickly "took care of things" in just enough time to send them down the aisle.  

And the result?  They were perfect!  Luke carried his pillow like he owned the place and Jane diligently dropped rose petals (with lots of finesse) along the aisle.  They even sat still during the ceremony (thanks to the help of snacks) and didn't cause a ruckus, something that was petrifying to me!  

The ceremony concluded and we were off to enjoy the reception...and enjoy we did!  We ate, drank, danced, took silly pictures in the photo booth, danced some more, stayed up waaay too late, and pretty much had an amazing time!!  Great memories for us and the kids!

A dapper young man.

Getting ready to head out for pictures

I love this picture.  They actually both did really well for the pictures.

The smirk on Luke's face here is priceless!

If we look tired, we were.  Especially the one on the left!

Luke turned around to pick up the 1st rose petal that Jane dropped.  Evan had to tell him to keep going although he was very confused why Jane was dropping things.

Charging down the aisle without a care in the world

Same smirk.  He owns the place.

Yes, Luke, we feel the same way about you pulling the fire alarm.

A very happy family!

Already has a way with the ladies. 

Nearing the end of the evening...slowing down for sure...

Mini-milkshakes and cheeseburgers were served at the end of the wedding.  Our kids didn't pass on either.

Milkshake mustache just to prove he hung on until the end!

June 2013

Well, June proved to be the busiest month for us yet in 2013!  It was full of exciting and fun things, but it definitely wore us out!  We enjoyed going to a friend's house for a cook-out and to watch the annual Round Barn Festival parade; had Aunt Katie, soon-to-be-Uncle Andy, and Uncle Joel here for a visit; got excited about Jane and Luke being in our friend's wedding on the 22nd; and last but certainly not least, I enjoyed wedding dress shopping with my mom and sister for her wedding next May!  We absolutely stayed busy this month but it was a wonderful time as you can see below.  

**Pictures from the wedding in another post as there were so many good ones, and any proud mom would want to dedicate an entire post to showing off her cute kiddos all dolled up!

Enjoy!

Mommy giving clear instructions:  wave to everyone, run and grab candy, and then bring it back for Mommy to eat!

Looking like real pros!

The real reason Jane loves when Aunt Tatie comes to visit: there is always a pedicure on tap.  Who wouldn't enjoy this?

Someone looks right at home on the water

Grumpy Gary would not smile for the picture.  Apparently he wasn't as excited about carrots as Jane was.

Getting the gear all ready for fishing.  Clearly, it wasn't the ideal day to be on the water (yes, it did rain on us), but the kids were very excited to learn how to fish.

"Now, what's that you said Andy about catching the biggest fish?"....

..."Oh, nevermind, I can do it without even looking!"

Jane being Jane.

Such concentration.  Her daddy was very proud.

Uncle Joel trying to keep Luke warm.  This always involves some sort of torment as well.

Painting pictures for daddy for Father's Day.  Luke has about a 3.7 second attention span, but I was proud of this picture he did and Evan enjoyed it as well!

I know I won't hear the end of this, however, in my defense, Luke loves doing whatever Jane does and he was insisting that he wear a bathing suit like Jane.  Just to clarify, he only had it on for about 10 minutes and ran around the house.  On another note, check out the muscle tone on that kid.  He is one solid dude!

  

May 2013

May turned out to be a fairly  uneventful  month for us, as we began to get excited about the weather warming up and eventually turning into Summer!  I had a few work trips as things got a bit hectic for me around this time of the year, but the true highlight of the month was getting to spend the long Memorial Day holiday down in NKy with my family.  Having that extra day off really made a difference and made us wonder if every trip should include an extra Friday/Monday work reprieve.

We were able to enjoy so many fun things, including "Riding the Duck" (a motorized bus/boat that tours N. Kentucky/Cincinnati, including going into the Ohio River for a river-view tour), time at the park with Nana, golfing for the guys, a fun visit with high school friends, and capped with a party for the whole Scheper clan on Sunday evening.  It was a wonderful trip and rolled us nicely into June!

Evan learned quicklly that when he's not around, we definitely allow Luke to fully participate in the Princess games.  At least he picks blue...

Kids are LOVING playing games together these days, and surprisingly they get along 85% of the time.  No one's perfect, right?

Fun morning at the park with Nana; Jane was excited for the photo opp...

....and I can't say the same for Luke. 

I love this picture.

And maybe this one too.

A good picture with Uncle Joel, considering the 9 before this was all of him tormenting her.  He's lucky she's still smiling!

Nana on the Duck Ride, complete with the obnoxious 'quackers' for everyone.

"Uncle" Matt teaching Luke the fine art of football.

Grandkids - all born within 15 months of one another!

"So, you want me to put down this cookie and catch that balloon full of water?  No thanks."

I think we know where Luke gets  his classics "looks" from.

One of the many ridiculous games my parents come up with to entertain (read: embarrass) the family

Enjoying time with Grandmas Kubala & Scheper

Watch out Jane, looks like Keegan is gunning for your lollipop!

Buds

Grandma Kubala!

Grandma Scheper!

 

April 2013

We gently eased our way into April this year, as we sloooowly put our basement back together, in awe of how amazing it turned out.  We are in love with the finished product and find ourselves spending a majority of our time down there, wondering how we ever survived without it "complete" like it is now.  

Evan had his annual bank conference in Vegas and I definitely made sure I found my way onto that trip somehow.  It was great getting to spend some time together, even if he was working for a few days.  I took advantage of the down time to read a lot and relax by the pool, shocking to no one.  We did enjoyed fabulous dinners out, and even went to an incredible Cirque De Soleil (spelling is completely wrong there, I think you get what I mean) show.  

We also started potty training Luke this month and were amazed at how well he did.  I think he only had a few "accidents" in the first few days and very quickly caught the hang of it.  After only a few nights, he was completely pull-up free!  I may have mentioned it once or twice before, but Luke loves listening to music and playing DJ in our house.  We have a CD-player alarm clock, and he can be found constantly shuffling CD's in and out of it and playing them over and over.  He is genuinely occupied by this for hours.  His favorites are the storytime audio books, with Finding Nemo taking the top spot.  He also loves the Beatles, but only because his daddy does too.  We used this passion for music to our advantage to aid in our potty training efforts as you'll see below.  Hard to believe that we're out of diapers (more like ecstatic)....and just in time, as we revealed in April our exciting news:  we're going to have another baby in October!  We are over the moon thrilled, and even more grateful to be sharing the news as this pregnancy has taken a terrible toll on me this first trimester - my tiredness, naseau, acne, heartburn, food aversion whatnot can now finally be linked to the best news of all - we will be a family of 5 this fall!!

Working on an art project from Aunt Katie

Rebel painter

Luke is actually very excited about his baby sister, despite the look on his face

He will hate me for putting this out there....

....and this one is just as bad.  I mean, DJ Potty Trainer

We can't wait to meet you Baby Gottschalk #3 (due on Halloween!)

 

March 2013

After a whirlwind February, we were glad to slow things down a bit in March.  Evan wrapped up his bank conversion by mid-March and we were all thankful to have him back in normal-life mode again.  Our basement was still in remodel mode (but nearly complete) so we looked for more fun activities outside the house to cure our stir-craziness!  We enjoyed a evening away with the kids in Shipshewanna, IN (Amish country), a town that hosts an indoor water park!  The kids loved getting to play and splash around, and especially loved their bunk beds in the hotel room.  We loved getting to do something different and Jane still talks about going back to Shipshewanna, pronouncing it near perfectly.  

Evan was able to get away again this March for basketball season March Madness with his friends and I was happy he could do something fun after working for what seemed like months on end.  Before we knew it, Easter had arrived and we found ourselves back at Mimi and Papa's house for an Easter egg hunt.  The sun came out for all of us on Easter, and tempted us with visions of Spring!

Loving life in Shipshewanna

Smiling for daddy while he's away

A special trip to the all-time favorite, Chuck E Cheese's

Just relaxing with a good book

The hunters

Jane's Easter dress that she wants to wear every single day.  No joke.  Every. Day.

Not thrilled to be in front of the camera