Happy Halloween!

As some of you might know already, Halloween has always been a holiday that hasn't received much "HOORAH!" in my mind.  My earliest Halloween memory is from preschool- mom desperately trying to get me to wear a mask and witch's hat-  I wasn't havin' it.  (Perhaps I knew it was inappropriate at a Catholic school?)  Since then, Halloween hasn't been much more than a benchmark signaling the more important arrival of Fall, Thanksgiving, and the short time before Christmas.

However, now that I have kids, I feel I have the (awkward) responsibility to try to make my own children dress in costume and enjoy it.  I'll share some pics of the two parties we went to.  The first at church with our friend Angela (mom) and her kids Delaney (the strawberry) and Bryce (the army man).  The second was a party at the YMCA with Dad.

Halloween & Football

As you can see, Jonah was a very willing participant, even though he acted embarrassed to even look in a mirror.  I feel your pain, son.

Hope you all have a very Happy Halloween!  Can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Where did September go?

My, how time flies!  I have been very neglectful and haven't updated our family blog in over a month and have started to get hate mail from the Grandmas.

Maybe this will go a long way to smooth things over.

Click to view more pics!

I promise to get more pics taken and uploaded from now on.  I just have to figure out how to negotiate camera time from a two-year-old.  Jonah tends to take over as photographer as soon as the camera comes out.

Happy Birthday, Jonah!

Jonah has officially turned 2! I know, it's a few days late, but everyone knows birthdays aren't my strong suit.  Technically we've been celebrating Jonah's birthday for the entire month of August, starting when my family (sister and future brother-in-law included- back for a visit from Guam) came to see us.

I even made a cake for the occasion which Jonah helped me decorate.

We continued celebrating this past weekend when Grandma MomG and Uncle Brian came for a visit. We once again indulged with cake (brownies actually) and presents once again!  Thanks to MomG and Papa, Jonah now has everything he needs to become a world-class artist, easel and all! :)

Click on this photo to see more bday party pics!

We spent Jonah's actual birthday (Aug 27th) outside at the beautifully quaint Deanna Rose Farmstead.  I have to tell you, this adorable mini-zoo has been one of my favorite places in all of KC and it's just down the road!  It was hot, but Jonah really had a great time feeding the goats and petting the cows; we, of course, had a fantastic time watching him!

Happy Birthday, Jonah!

Milestones

It's officially August 1 which marks the ONE MONTH birthday of our new baby, Lucas!  Can you believe it? I sure can't!  I think the blistering heat of Oklahoma and Kansas has fried parts of my memory lately.  Perhaps that's just how parenting works.  The days go by slowly, diapers get changed, we lose sleep, but suddenly there are thirty-one days right out the window.  Can I have a few of them back?

I did manage to get some good pics of the Gaeddert clan this month.  Here are few gems!

Great Grandpa "Poppop" with Lucas James
(James is his name- that's why we chose it!)

My boys in orange!

Did you smell that?

"Aunt" Paige with her "nephews"

A couple of other noteworthy milestones this month:  Jonah said his first official more-than-two-word sentence.  What was it, you say?  Well he was outside on the porch looking intently on the ground when he says, "Momma, I got a bug!"  So cute. 

Also, you can mark it on your calendar- Lucas gave me a lovely smile yesterday.  I don't care what any of you say, it was an honest to goodness grin.  Again, so cute!

And to round it off, was a fabulous birthday conversation I had with Jonah.  It goes something like this:

Mom- Jonah let's talk about what you would like for your birthday.  Would you like a bike?

Jonah- Yeah

Mom- Would you like a camera?

Jonah- Yeah

Mom- Would you like more choo choos (trains)?

Jonah- No

Mom- Well what would you like?

Jonah- CAKE! 

Again, SO. CUTE.  For more cuteness, check out Jonah in this video!  

New Toy

Babies require a lot of gear.  Add another baby into the mix and you need almost twice the amount of gear.  Our most recent acquisition -aside from the baby swing which is AWESOME- is this monstrosity.

A double Sit-n-stand Stroller.  I found a great deal on Craigslist (always scary) and thought Jonah might like to ride along behind the baby for some extra excitement.  Our first outing took us to Target.  Bad idea.  The minute we stopped on an aisle, Jonah hopped right off and decided to do some of his own shopping.  Plus it's HUGE, even collapsed.  We won't be able to take it on vacations, which bums me out, unless we rent a bigger vehicle.  No big deal though, I still love our first stroller better (pictured in orange above), and am patiently waiting until the day when neither are needed.

As an added bonus, check out Jonah's all new Photo Gallery.  All his own shots...no editing needed! :)

Cheers!

Catchin' some ZZZZZ's

I've been told that I need to 'sleep when baby sleeps', however I would have missed this beautiful sight today.  All my babies sleeping....

Bubba snoozin'- he's taking up the entire bed

Jonah also taking up the bed- just like Daddy.

Lucas sleeping like a baby.
Gaining 6 ounces in two days is tough work!

Okay, now I'm tired.  I'm going to sleep some too.  On the couch of course! :)

Our Newest Addition

Say Hello to Lucas James Gaeddert!

The newest member of the Gaeddert finally arrived on July 1 at 9:06 am.  Thanks to the extra week (and a few days) he spent hanging out, he packed on the pounds and was born weighing in at 9 lbs, 6 oz, but perfectly healthy!  I also came away feeling great and having lots of energy when I came home on Sunday. 

Lucas (also being called Luke) looks so much like Jonah it's making it even more difficult to remember his name!  I call him Jonah all the time! :) I am sure I'll get the hang of it soon enough. 

Jonah still doesn't quite know what to think about the baby coming home.  He's helpful and loves to give Lucas kisses, but also hasn't shown much interest in Lucas except when it keeps Mommy from paying attention to him.  Jonah is being very patient though, and I am sure he will grow into the big brother role very well. 

If you'd like to view more pics of Lucas and family, check out Bubba's facebook page, or Flickr.  Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers we've been getting from friends and family.  We miss you all dearly!

Love, the Gaeddert Family

Ready to Pop!

I have officially decided that Cashew is going to be our difficult child.  He must know that he is not the first born, and has resigned to being stubborn and uncooperative.  He is now three days overdue and not giving me any indication that he'll be making an appearance soon.  I've tried everything... eating spicy Mexican food, taking long walks daily, I even "ran" (more like an exaggerated waddle) out into the middle of a t-ball field to investigate a forgotten hat.  My wonderful mother-in-law made the trek up here this week with the hope of helping coax the little guy out.  While that hasn't happened, having her here sure makes the waiting more bearable!  :) Thanks, MomG!

With all that said, here is what we've been doing to pass the time....

Attempting to potty train... yeah, right!
Someday he'll pay me back for putting this in cyberspace.

Celebrate Dad's 29th Birthday!
As you can see we made it a big party.  Sorry, honey!

Play with Daddy's new train set!  Happy Father's Day!

Take family walks around the "lake" at our apartment complex.

Picnic in the park.  Enjoying the 75 degree weather! 

See our Father's Day and playing at the park videos too! 

We have been having fun, but if you all could offer any suggestions to encourage Cashew to join us, please pass them along!  I'm ready!

Shakin' Things Up

In an attempt to distract myself from the looming labor/delivery of "Cashew," I've decided to make some changes to our blog. Necessary? No.  Fun? Sure!  I've learned that not only am I not very tech savvy, but my visual creativity is lacking as well.  Who knew picking a background color would be so hard?

There are only a couple of noteworthy changes that apply to my avid (I use this word lightly) readers.
1.) you will notice that there is a "follow us by email" link to your right.  Simply type your email address there, and you should receive automatic updates as I post them.
2.) From now on, I'm going to start posting the entire post on a single page, so no more "read more" links to see pics and such. Just seemed silly.  So in case you need to revisit a previous post, simply use the links under the "Archive" section.

I am anxiously anticipating our next family member so that I can officially finish the "Who" page link that has been blank for weeks. You all have been polite enough not to comment on there being a lack of information on that page (or perhaps none of you have visited it yet?). Thank you.

Enjoy the new and slightly improved Gaeddert Family blog!

New Videos

I've uploaded a couple of new videos of Jonah.  Check them out here! http://gaeddertsyellowbrickroad.blogspot.com/p/pics.html

Thanks for everyone who has commented on the name.  I can't wait to see what we pick! :)

XOXO- Jenna

The Dilemma

As many of you know, Cashew is due to arrive somewhere around June 20th, just a few shorts weeks from now.  While we are super excited and seem to have just about everything we need to welcome him home, we are lacking one important detail... THE NAME.  So here is a sneak peek at some of our options.

Home Sweet Home

And I'm not yet talking about Kansas.  Bubba, Jonah, and I recently loaded up and headed south to the sweetness of Oklahoma.  There were several reasons (as if we need to have one) for this trip, the first of which was to see my sister, Kelli, before she left for her fantastic 2-year journey to Guam, USA.  She and her new fiancée (yeah!) left almost two weeks ago for the sunny and humid beaches of the Pacific island.  We will certainly miss having her so close here in the states, but sure do hope that she and Chris will have a wonderful time!  You can follow her adventures at  http://kcbigadventures.blogspot.com/. Warning... you WILL be jealous! 

Best Mom's Day!

I couldn't help but to be reminded on Sunday just how lucky I am to be Jonah's mom and Bubba's wife.  On Mother's Day, not only did I get a wonderful bouquet of flowers from my own mom and dad, but Bubba and Jonah got me some wonderfully thoughtful gifts as well.  Though, they wouldn't have to buy my anything for me to feel like the luckiest mom ever.  Here are a few reasons why...

Easter 2011

Happy Easter!  We are back to normal life after an exciting Easter weekend!  On Saturday, we took Jonah to Blue Springs, MO for a big Easter EGG-stravaganza! This event featured live music, hot dogs, and 35,000 Easter Eggs to "hunt."  Jonah was in the 0-2 age group, so we thought that since he was one of the older kids and we've been practicing our egg finding skills that we would certainly take home a lot of loot.  Much to our dismay (or relief), Jonah hasn't quite learned how to be "greedy" yet.  He picked up the first egg he found and didn't want to let it go!

Our Life In Boxes

Well it's official!  After 3 months of waiting, we are now Kansans (or Kansanites?).  We packed up "Grapes of Wrath" style and headed north to the golden fields of Kansas City.  Though, more of the local landscape is actually green pastures and rolling hills.  We live in a thriving suburb, yet literally have cow pastures on two sides of our apartment complex!