First Steps

Jayce has really been cruising around on the furniture, etc. He just started using his walker and took his first steps! It won't be long until he's walking all by himself!

Snowmobiling

Uncle Shawn bought some snowmobiles last summer, and with our first big snow, he and Uncle Casey rode them over to our house to show Eli. Eli and Daddy got to ride around in our neighborhood! Eli loved it! Mommy was a little nervous about the whole thing....I'm just going to have to get used to this boys loving fast toys....maybe just a little.

Birthday Parties!

For Jayce's 1st Birthday we had two small parties...one with Scott's family and one with mine. On the day of Jayce's Birthday we went to dinner at Heinies then went to Grandma & Paw Paw's house for cake and ice cream. Grandma had a cake made that was exactly like Scott's cake for his first birthday! It was so special! Grandma also got a cupcake for Jayce to eat. He was hesitant at first, but once he got a taste of that frosting, he LOVED it! It was so cute how he would use his pointer finger to touch the frosting! We cleaned him up and it was present time! Eli's friend, Drew, got to join us for the party and after Jayce opened his presents (with lots of help) the boys all loved playing with them! It was a fun evening!
The next evening we headed to my Dad's house for dinner. My Dad & Joey and the Rodriguez family were able to join us. Scott and I brought over pizzas from Columbo's...yum! After dinner we enjoyed the cake! Joey made an awesome Mickey Mouse cake! (She's so creative!) After cake and ice cream the boys all enjoyed some play time and Jayce opened his gift from Grandpa and Grandma. We had a great time being with the whole family & the cousins!Thank you so much to both Grandmas for making Jayce's cakes so special! And thank you all for all the gifts and opening your homes to us! We love you!

Scott's 35th Birthday

For Scott's 35th Birthday I surprised him by taking him to Indianapolis. We met Jared & Meg Johnson and went to the Zac Brown Band concert! Scott was so excited! He kind of had an idea about the concert....at least that was what he was hoping was his surprise.....but, he had no idea that Jared & Meg were involved! We had such a fun time and I'm soooo glad Scott enjoyed his birthday surprise!

Happy Birthday, honey! I love you!

Trick-or-Treat

We had so much fun for Halloween this year! Eli couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating! I love seeing the excitement in his eyes! Jayce dressed as a Dalmatian (Eli's past costume) and Eli was a Fireman! They looked so cute together!

We started the evening by heading to Grandma and Paw Paw's house. Of course Grandma spoiled the boys with presents and lots of treats! They had so much fun!

We then headed back to our neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. We invited our friends, the Goods, to join us. Cole also dressed as a fireman! The boys looked so cute together! Jayce got to ride in a wagon, which he loved! He was too cute! We only hit about 10 houses in the neighborhood, then headed back to our house for pizza. The boys loved handing out the candy to the other trick-or-treaters. The boys had so much fun & it was a great Halloween!

Jayce is 1!!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful boy! Jayce is 1 year old today!

We love you, Jayce, and are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Notre Dame Photo Shoot

Our good friend, Jen Marr, has been taking pictures for a side business. I've looked at some of her work and just had to call her and see if she could get some pictures of the boys. We headed out to Notre Dame on a perfect fall day. The boys did really well for being there so long and Eli loved seeing the Notre Dame campus. I'm so happy with the pictures! We're just so blessed with our beautiful boys! Here are some of my favorites!

Preschool Field Trip to Kercher's

Our preschool had a field trip to Kercher's Apple Orchard. It was fun for me to go as a teacher and also as a Mommy. Eli chose to hang with his class when they went on a hayride and picked out a gourd, but then I joined him when they picked apples. Eli enjoyed finding apples that didn't have any "goobers" on them and, of course, he loved eating one! Yum! It was such a beautiful day and we had a great time!

Yum! Now that's a good apple!

Amazing Acres

A few weeks ago we headed to Amazing Acres in Michigan! This place was awesome! Eli loved all the fun activities....and there were a lot!....feeding goats, (plastic) duck races, the Miner's Line (Zip-Line), the slides, playing in the corn sandbox, the hayride to the pumpkin patch, small tractor races, a corn-maze, and mining for gems! You could have spent many hours there! What a fun place...we will definitely make this a yearly thing!

Welcome Benjamin Kidder!

A few weeks ago we got to meet Benjamin (Ben) Kidder for the first time! He is just absolutely precious! I'm so mad I didn't get any pictures, but I did use a picture that was sent to us. Eli also was excited to see Grace...I did get a picture of them. Aren't they an adorable little couple!

Congratulations Scott, Micki and Grace Kidder on the birth of little Ben! We love you!

Football!

Daddy's favorite sport is football (played in high school), so I think it will probably be something our boys do, too. Scott has been working with Eli on how to throw and catch a football and he has gotten pretty good! Notre Dame....here we come!

Our Boys

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Nappanee Apple Festival

Last weekend we went to the Nappanee Apple Festival. Eli had such a fun time riding all the rides and we enjoyed trying all the food! Yum! It was a beautiful day and a perfect afternoon for a festival!

Eli thought this guy was hilarious!

He had his hands up the whole time on the boat!

Eli made a new friend. They rode the boat together, then rode this roller coaster. So cute!

Our Little Cherub...Eli's First Day of Preschool

Preschool has started again and this year Eli is in the Cherub's Class! He goes to class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is doing really well! He's one of three boys in his classroom (14 students) and his teachers have told me what a fun boy he is! They love his friendly outgoing personality!

Another exciting tidbit of news is that I am now a teacher at Eli's preschool! I am a teacher in the Duck's Class (4/5 year olds) from Tuesday through Thursday. This is totally the ideal situation for me! I am only teaching 1/2 days 3 days a week, Jayce is in the free daycare offered to the teachers (Eli is in there on Wednesday's), and I get to teach again!!! (It's also been fun seeing Eli playing outside each day!) I'm really enjoying it! I have a wonderful class of 16 students and they are adorable! I team-teach with another teacher and she's so much fun (however, she's a Michigan fan...ugh!)! I'm so excited about my new job and love being at the preschool!