Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Likely the last second before a pacifier was warranted!

Happy Thanksgiving! So much to be thankful for this year……especially our two little miracles, Jaden and Evan. This weekend both sets of Grandparents and both of the boys’ Aunts and Uncle came to visit from South Dakota. It was great to have everyone here to celebrate Thanksgiving…..and to watch the boys while I shopped!

I made a gratitude tree for the table center piece, but had to make a rule that Nathan and I would write Evan and Jaden on a leaf and everyone else had to think of other things…….they argued that others things did not compare. How true! We are blessed!

We all went to the Turkey Trot Thursday morning!

The boys with their new bibs- ready for the race!!

Come on brother! Let's go play outside!!

What's in a Name?

Evan John and Jaden Edward.

Picking out names….what a big responsibility! For many years, we liked the name “Ethan.” But a couple years ago, many close family and friends also liked that name and named their boys Ethan. So Nathan gave it the twist, and Evan evolved and stuck as our ‘boy’ name. When we found out we were having two boys, it was a challenge to pick the second boy’s name. We could be all rhymey-rhymey like Fred and Ted or same first letters like Bob and Bill. But we decided we wanted two individual names. I searched on online lists of boy’s names. After coming up with a list of my top five, my first choice was Aiden. Nathan had a friend who’s girl is named Aiden, so he was not as certain. After some brainstorming, Jaden was decided.

The boys’ middle names are their Grandpas’ middle names. John for Grandpa Chris John Schumacher and Edward for Grandpa Al Edward Raeder. John is also Nathan’s middle name and Julie’s Grandpa Manus’ name. Without knowing it, we had selected initials ‘E’ and ‘J’ for both boys!

Today I couldn’t imagine Evan and Jaden being named anything else! The names are perfect!

These nutrition facts onesies were a gift from my dietetic interns – snips, snails, and puppy dog tails…….that’s what little boys are made of! Too cute!!

Wedding Weekend!

The boys have been such great travelers the past two weeks. With their Aunt Rachel getting married last Saturday, it was a big weekend! They got to meet so many second cousins, Great Aunts and Uncles, and take a four-generation picture with Great Grandma Remmele! Since Nathan and I were in the wedding party, the boys had their own personal attendants at the wedding….Aunt Laurie and Grandma Pam! Thanks to our friends Tyler & Michelle in Rochester, MN, we were able to split up the drive home. Again, the boys slept for most of the time in the car. The laundry and bottles were piled up this morning, but I think we are finally unpacked and back to our routine……if we ever really did have one!

Evan and Jaden

had to include both these pictures - their expressions change every second!

Thanks Nancy Slostad for the super-cute hats!

Jaden with Aunt Rachel

Four Generations

Evan and Jaden with their Grandparents

Evan, cuddling the morning after the wedding......

enjoying his first breakfast at Perkins!

Evan's Adventures with Grandma and Grandpa Raeder

“My name is Evan.” Grandpa Al has been teaching me to say that for the past week. My lips move when he talks, but nothing comes out yet. I just grunt back and forth with Jaden instead. We have been so lucky that for the past week we have been spoiled at Grandma Pam and Grandpa Al’s house. Jaden and I found out that if we just let go of our pacifiers, start to fuss a little, someone will come rushing to us and give us attention! It works so well if you ever want to be held and rocked. I hope it works next week, too, with Mom and Dad.

Grandma and Grandpa made sure we got our exercise in every day. Tummy time was a game they liked to play. It’s a lot of work, though. Jaden does a better job at moving his head up and side to side on his tummy. But I win every time we kick and push off Grandpa’s hands. Pretty sure I am going to be faster than Jaden when we start running!

Jaden was often last-picked to be fed because he is a really slow eater. Grandma Pam was really good at multi-tasking when feeding him. Jaden liked to help her read the newspaper. I spit up a little after eating, so everyone was really cautious with me. I got extra cuddle time to make sure I stayed upright after I ate.

My favorite part of the day was when Grandpa read to me! We read Bubbles Bubbles like 10 times every day and the animal book. The animal book took a lot longer to read than when Mom reads it because Grandpa would tell me a story about every animal as he turned the page. He thinks that maybe someday me and my brother could have our very own rabbit, because daddy probably won’t let us get a doggy. Jaden got to read the books, too, but he fell asleep during story time whereas I would mouth the words with Grandpa. Can’t wait til I can read to him!

We had such a fun time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Watertown. They kept it so nice and warm for us, and if we were ever upstairs, Grandpa made sure we had blankets to keep us warm. Looking forward to having them visit us for Thanksgiving. Today we are off to visit Grandma and Grandpa Schumacher in Volga. Aunt Rachel is getting married on Saturday. I bet we’ll have to get all dressed up and take more pictures for Mom!

A Cow Says Mooo!

Evan is sleeping again…..it’s opposite day today! But I have to tell you about our adventures at the farm! Mom got to ride the 4-wheeler out to the pasture where all the baby cows and their moms were. She found my baby cow #075, but not Evans, #26.

This is mom’s cow which has a silly upside-down ‘J’ on it’s head!

Grandpa took us to see the John Deere tractor. It was soooo much bigger than it looks in my farm book back home.

Then we got to sit in the 4-wheeler, too! When Evan and I can sit up by ourselves, that will be so fun to ride around the pasture in. I suppose we’ll have to take turns driving it.

We got to see the kitty cats too. We counted 7 of them. Evan and I stayed nice and warm with our fleece jackets that Aunt Laurie got us. We can’t wait to go back in the summer!

Jaden's South Dakota Adventures

My brother and I finally made it to this far away land called South Dakota. I don’t remember the 710 mile drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s house because I slept for all of it and Evan was up for just 30 miles. I am guessing in another 2 years that drive is going to seem very very long!

Aunt Laurie came to stay the weekend with us and I made sure to get up really really early so mom would have to bring me upstairs so I could make coffee with Aunt Laurie and enjoy lots of attention. She watched us all day Saturday and I made sure Evan and I were really good while mom was in Sioux Falls.

Sunday was a busy day. We got to see our friend Grant again and his parents. Also we met Heather and we can’t wait for her to visit us in just two weeks! We got to meet Ethan too in church. Looking forward to playing with him and Grant next summer.

In the afternoon Great Aunt Bondell and Great Uncle Chuck came to meet us. Evan and I decided to switch rolls a little this week so he slept almost the entire time during their visit and then I was the fussy one at night! Kind of fun to get all that extra evening attention!

Although our friend Nora didn’t want to play with boys, she did come over to meet us and got to ride in a red wagon all the way from her Grandma and Grandpa’s house on the other side of Harper Park. We walked with Nora and her sister Madeline to Lincoln Park. Can’t wait until Evan and I are old enough to play there. The side-by-side slides look like so much fun. I am sure I could beat Evan down them!

Looking forward to more South Dakota adventures this week! I heard we may even get to meet the cows!

2 Month Birthday!

Evan & Jaden turn 2 months old!

Evan

Jaden

This month was filled with lots of visitors which made the weeks go so fast!! Everyday I could tell the boys were growing and filling out their newborn outfits. They interact with us and each other more and more. Sleeping well at night has also been a big improvement during month two. They sleep for longer stretches, do a great job of putting themselves back to sleep (unless they have company to impress by staying up!), and they are awake a lot more during the day.....especially Evan:)