MAJOR UPDATE!!!

To say that I am "a little behind" is an understatement! My poor children have missed out on numerous blog-worthy posts : ) I will try my best to show many things that have occurred since JULY!!









Starting back in AUGUST: Family vaca to IL and MI : ) My Aunt Cindy and Uncle Gary have a cabin in MI and we spent a few days with the Rauchs and Bacinos. Will had fun swimming, making bonfires and getting ice cream at Gino's. I will admit that the car ride from NE to MI was more than 10 hours!! Next time we won't need to make as many stops I hope.

Then at the end of August Sam's cousin Danielle married Franklin. Will and Caroline were part of the big day. It was a beautiful wedding and reception!

SEPTEMBER:
Caroline had two ear infections within a two weeks of each other : ( And we hope she isn't going to have ear problems like Will.

We spent Labor Day in Columbus with all of Sam's family. Will loves the water and jumping off the dock. Caroline enjoyed laying in the grass and sleeping : )

On Monday, Grandpa Tim took all of the grandkids on a train ride. The little boys loved it.

The Hellers and Gutzs attended the Waterloo Harvest Festival. It was quite the carnival!

OCTOBER: We had our 2nd Annual Pooley's Pumpkin Patch trip. The weather was beautiful and Will loved the animals again!

Halloween

As for Halloween costumes, Will was not happy. His choices were a fireman and a cheetah. He wouldn't wear either one of them for more than 5 minutes. On Halloween night he wore the cheetah costume, but didn't want to go trick-or-treating!! Caroline was asleep after our first house : )

On October 30th, we celebrated with Great Grandpa and Grandma Heller for their 55th Anniversary. Each child received a different t-shirt color to represent their family. It was fun seeing everyone again.

We also decided to sell our house and move to Bennington. Our new home will be right by my school : ) The plan is to start building in the spring!

Goodbye, Elkhorn!

No Camera : (

Ever since Caroline's baptism our camera has not worked properly. It has a few tricks . . . you have to replace the batteries every time you turn it off and on (so I'm better off leaving it turned on if I want to "catch" a good pic) and the screen is cracked so I can't see exactly if the picture is centered or if the picture turned out. To see the pictures I have to download them and keep the good ones! Needless to say I am getting a new camera today!!! Will's birthday is Thursday and his party is Saturday : ) There will be new pics up hopefully early next week.

We had a great time visiting Sam in Kansas City two weeks ago. We stayed with Greg and Mindy Hellbusch (their boys are soooo cute). Wednesday night we ate at the T-Rex Cafe and now Will loves dinosaurs! On Thursday we went to Deanna Rose Children's Farm with the Hellbuschs and Heather and Grant Sutko. Since my camera wouldn't work at all . . . I have no pictures! After the farm we let the boys play over at the Sutkos. They had a blast : ) On Friday we took the kids to check out Sam's job site. Currently there is a trailer in a field of dirt/mud. Let's hope the project sticks with its original timeline (April 2011).

Caroline's two month appointment went well: 12 lb 1 oz (73%) 22 in (30%) and head 49%. Dr. Dek told us everything is lookin' good! But when we went home poor Caroline hurt soooo much from her immunizations : ( She never cries and Grandpa Heller may think twice before watching her again!! After Tylenol she felt better and slept a long time. She will go back in about a month and I will give her Tylenol right after the appointment.

Anyway, I can't wait to get our new camera today!! I'm sure it will be quite the adventure at Rockbrook today!

Baptism and Father's Day

Well we have a lot going on this month! Caroline was baptized on June 6th. Her Godparents are Sara Heller and Seth and Emily Gutz. After the service we had the family over for lunch and the kids went swimming. It was a beautiful day : )

Looking back at her newborn pictures (2 weeks old) I can't believe how much Caroline has changed. She goes in for her 2 month appointment next week . . . that means shots : ( She's such a good baby and Will continues to love her more and more each day! Caroline sleeps through the night and takes a good morning and afternoon nap. She's more alert and observant of everything around her too. It's so fun to see her smile and coo.

She's so CUTE : )

Will goes to daycare on Mondays and stays home with the girls the rest of the week. He has put some interest into potty training and goes 3-4 times a day on his potty (as long as he is sans diaper) He watches an Elmo potty song on YouTube, you should listen to it!!

Sam has been working in Kansas City now for 3 weeks and comes home once or twice a week. The kids and I visit my parents pretty much every night that Sam doesn't come home!! If you are free on Wednesday nights we are ALWAYS looking for company : )

For Father's Day we went back to Columbus and after a few thunderstorms the boys were able to get in the lake. The kids made Sam a photobook from Snapfish for him to take to KC, they even wrote him letters. Will loves the boat and jet ski. The next trip we have planned for the lake is the 4th, let's hope for SUN!!

The First Few Weeks

We are adjusting well to our new lifestyle! It's definitely busy around the house, but we enjoy every minute and love having people over to visit. Caroline has met a lot of friends and family.
Will loves Caroline and is jealous of other people holding her! He is staying busy watching home videos and taking vacations with Grandpa and Grandma Heller (he is in Chicago visiting the Rauchs and Uncle David). It's nice spending time with Caroline, but we miss William!!

Last week, I took the kids to the salon. This wasn't Will's first trip, but it was fun to bring a girl in!!! Caroline had more fun than Will : )

Back at home with our new hair cuts!

We made our way with the Barcels to Syracuse for Tony's graduation party! Will loved the golf cart and playing outside.

On May 18th we celebrated with Seth and Emily at Evangeline's baptism. Seth and Emily will be Caroline's Godparents.

Grandpa Mike stops by frequently to say hello : )

Introducing Caroline Jean Gutz

It's a GIRL : )
On April 26th at 10:54 pm, Caroline Jean Gutz was born at Methodist Hospital in Omaha. She weighed 7 lb 5 oz and was 20 inches long. Thank you for all of our visitors and gifts. Now we have a healthy baby girl and a healthy little boy!! I'm looking forward to staying home until mid-August!!! It's going to be a fun summer!

One cute story- My parents were watching William during our stay at the hospital. By the time we picked him up, he had mastered the song "Sweet Caroline." If you start singing, "Sweet Caroline" . . . he will say "bomp, bomp, bom" It is adorable! Sometimes you can hear him call her "bomp, bomp, bom" instead of "baby." When we were at church he also was bobbing his head and singing "bomp, bomp, bom" when the organ was playing. He is quite the entertainer.

Here are a few pics:
Dr. Scott is amazing! We love her : )


Our Family


Will holding Caroline for the first time!

Caroline (4-26) Evangeline (4-7) Julia (3-7) AKA- "The Triplets"

Caroline and cousin, Evangeline

We're going to get big brother, William! She doesn't know what she's getting herself into!!

At home with dad, I was trying to get a good picture of her red hair : )

My two babies: Will is busy texting, while Caroline sleeps in the "wee." Will's trying to convince us that he can go in the "wee." He loves going to the park and he calls anything at the park a "wee." So we are pretty mean because we tell Will that the swing is only for the baby.

Will gets a little jealous when you hold Caroline too long. But not because he wants you to hold him, he gets mad because he wants to hold her!! Caroline doesn't mind Will always bothering her or touching her : ) They are both so much fun!

Will and Caroline (She's covering her ears)

New Years in Arizona & Random Christmas Pics

My parents took our family to Arizona for New Years. We stayed at a fun hotel in Scottsdale. During our trip we went to Taliesin West (one of Frank Llyod Wright's homes), an African safari, downtown Scottsdale, a Cardinals' game, and SHOPPING! The weather was beautiful and we are looking forward to more trips down South!!

We ate at the Pinnacle Peak Patio our last night in Arizona. Sam bought William a cowboy hat and a pair of six-shooters! He says, "pa-choo pa-choo" when he holds them : ) All he needs now are cowboy boots.

He didn't mind sitting on the horse without putting in $.50, but after GRANDPA let him "giddy up" one time it was all over! We went through a lot of quarters!

Will's favorite part of Arizona was the "Out of Africa" trip we took. He saw lions, zebras, tigers, giraffes, and camels. After hearing Will bark at all the animals we are working on other animals sounds.

This year for Christmas we were able to see our families despite the unpleasant weather. Will had fun opening presents this year and I'm sure next year he will enjoy it even more! Christmas with the Skovsende side (minus Amy and the girls) at the Creighton game.

Will might follow in Grandpa Timmy's footsteps and work for UP. Whoo- Whoo is another sound he likes to make! Thanks for my train set Grampy and Grammy!

Family Christmas Eve picture at Reggie's steakhouse. Will's sucker entertained him for quite some time.

Will didn't know what to think about his sugar cookie : ) Later he tried a chocolate chip cookie!