a lot to catch up on....

First I need to catch up on some videos I just downloaded.

The first one is from Jayden's birthday.  This is before he got scared of his cake and ate a cookie.  My favorite part is near the end when almost all of the kids are around him...too cute.

Next is from Jayden's party too.  Amy was showing us all how he started to stand on his own.  I think he loves the attention.

Then last weekend Jayden started taking about 5 steps in a row.  We only got about two steps on video.  We were trying to show Aunt Sarah & Uncle Casey what he could do!

And the final video is from tonight...Jayden loves his push toy...

We have been up to a lot lately.  Two weekends ago we went to visit Nolan Rundle.  He was sooo sweet.  Congrats Ryan & Annie.

Last weekend Jayden, Aunt Sarah and I went to see Sesame Street Live.  This was Jayden's birthday present.  Aunt Sarah and Uncle Casey got him front row tickets and tickets to get photos with the characters.  Well....the night started a little rough.  We walked into the picture area and Jayden was fine.  I went to hand him to Ernie and he let our the loudest scream and didn't stop....

I hope you can see that face...the memories.

The next picture will show you how close our seats were to the stage.  We only lasted for a couple mins in those seats...once the characters were on stage...Jayden got scared...so we moved to the back...then he danced ..danced...danced and danced!

My Favorite!

This weekend we just hung out as a family at home...it was very nice and relaxing.  I started my new job last week...make sure you buy your candles/soy cubes, wall decor, mirrors & lamps from Shopko....

We also got to preview Jayden's year 1 pictures.  Thank you Cara!!  He wasn't in the greatest mood that day but he was a trooper!

http://carazimages.zenfolio.com/

 

Have a great week!!

costume time and more smiles....

last night we put Jayden's costume on....YODA.   I think the two pictures are some of my favorites.  Today he is going trick or treating at my work.

Check out the shoes above...yes those are YODA shoes.  I know we are dorks...but love them!
Also every time I hold up the camera Jayden flashes his smile.  Below are couple from Sunday.

Have a great day!

cherish every moment....

Today I was starting to pack up my desk.  I am off to tackle the world of Home Decor as a Sr Buyer back at Shopko....very excited but very much going to miss seeing some of my favorite ladies everyday.  Back to packing my desk....

I have a bookmark over my phone that I put there to remind me to live my life and celebrate with the ones you love.  This bookmark is in remembrance of an amazing young woman who was taken away from her family too early.  Our neighbors and friends lost their beautiful daughter Kylee about a year and a half ago.  I hope they don't mind me sharing this but today I re-read the bookmark and it made me start to cry thinking about how much we could all use her advice....then I realized...tomorrow is her birthday. 

The bookmark..

These words were from Kylee to Lexi (her younger sister) 6 months before her untimely death. She wrote them in marker on Lexi's dresser.  Truer words were never spoken. Live your life with no regrets and treat everyone like you would want to be treated.  That is Kylee's message to us all.
Fist Bump #5

Kylee's words-
Plan your life like you will live forever and live your life like you will die the next day.

Advice from your sister

• Love your life: even without me
• Never ever give up
• Go with your gut feeling
• Believe me, boys are dumb
• Get as many friends as you can get. They're awesome.
• Work hard; &even though I'm a pain some days, know that I love ya Sis!
• AVOID TROUBLE
• Work hard in school
• Parents will be happy
• it will benefit you
• Love your life again: you only get one!!
• I can't stress it more
• love your family
• make good decisions

Kylee Renee Hyde
10/25/92-2/2/10

We will be thinking of Kylee tomorrow and her wonderful family. 

Catching up....

So what have we been up to..lots of stuff.

First thing.  Joe's sister Becky got married the first weekend in Oct in a beautiful little Chapel.  It was a perfect day.  Congrats Becky & Tim.

Below is a picture with Great Grandpa Teska.  This is the first time he met Jayden.

Below is a picture of the Teska Men

Below is a picture of Joe, his dad, and the groom Tim

Here is a picture of the beautiful Chapel. 

Below is picture of Jayden on the way home after the fun weekend.

The following weekend and week was filled with beautiful weather.  We went on many walks and went to the park multiple times, below is a pic of Jayden on a swing.  This is several mins before Jayden was stung by a bee...happy to report that he is not allergic!  This has a tough couple weeks for the little man, he had a dislocated elbow and then a bee sting.  Nothing that a couple cookies couldn't fix or a doctor :)

  I got to spend the last week with the little J man.  I am not very excited to head back to work tomorrow.  We had lots of fun going for walks, going to multiple parks, hanging out with Rilee and Hope, picking out some plants for the backyard, having lunch with daddy on Wed and then lunch with friends on Friday. It was a great week and I loved every min.

This weekend we got to visit Aunt Debbi and her new Condo.  It looks great and we were very excited for the visit.  Then today we got visit with Vanessa, Jeff, Caleb and Maggie....thanks for stopping by and thank you for the car for Jayden!  We also spent the day with Cindy Wrezca and her daughter Addie (she was born just one month before Jayden).  Joe Wrezca and my hubs Joe went to the Packer game.  Below is a picture of our two little Packer fans (Jayden & Addie).

I will leave you with one of my favorite smiles.  Have a great week!

1st birthday!

We just spent Friday and Saturday celebrating Jayden's First Birthday...we have enough cake to last at least 2 more weeks...  The fun all started on Friday morning.  Once we heard Jayden talking in the morning, we both went into his room with a bunch of balloons....he was very excited, you can see below.

 Ignore Joe's hair...he just woke up...

Saturday was the big party day...I don't know who was more excited, me or Jayden!  Joe and I gave him his presents before the party started. 

Then it was 3 pm and the party was going to start!!

The monkey cake for all of us.

 This is the monkey cake for Jayden.

These cakes were amazing.  Once I finally tried it, I looked at Joe and said they were better than our wedding cake and I loved our wedding cake.  Delicious Designs in Sherwood...awesome!

We also had a bounce house for the kids.  They looked like they were having so much fun!

Opening presents was the best...we had a whole monkey clan helping us. 

We learned Jayden likes cookies better than cake.  Below are pictures of Jayden with his cake...he had an opportunity to eat the whole thing but didn't want to. 

Thank you to everyone who joined in Jayden's party and who sent birthday wishes. We are very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you for the great memories. 

Can't wait for year 2!



Remembering the past year....

I can't believe tomorrow is Jayden's first birthday, this year went by so fast. I just sit and watch how much he has changed and grown over the past year and it just makes me so excited to watch him grow over the next years. I remember one year ago today...our house was spotless, I was sitting around all day waiting for 5 pm to arrive.  That was the time we were going to the hospital to be induced. I spent most of the day thinking about the years Joe & I tried for a baby...there were many sad days wondering why we couldn't get pregnant and then finally meeting a great doctor who just asked the right questions...then finally a positive pregnancy test.  I took 4 of them...they laughed at me at the doctor's office because they said most women stop at 3...I just couldn't believe it!  Another great day was when we found out we were having a boy....we took an envelope to dinner and opened it there...as we left the restaurant, Joe screamed "I having a boy", we were so excited!  Then nine months later...we are at the hospital. I have seen so many woman on TV arrive at the hospital in labor, for me I was relaxed and ready for something to begin.  Well, that didn't happen at least not for probably 15 hours...finally my water broke....I thought something else would start happening...and nothing for several hours...then contractions started, got worse and then the doctor kept telling me I was still only at 3 cm....really I thought...is this baby ever coming out....finally around 8:30 pm or so the doctor came in and said it was time to take him out....I cried...I took my classes on childbirth but none of them prepare you for this...about an hour later.. later ...we had Jayden....I remember every min, I couldn't feel a thing but I felt so awake.  Sadly, I didn't get to see Jayden being born but I got to watch Joe's face...I will remember that forever and that made me cry. It makes me cry just writing about it again..  Our little boy was here! Below is his first (cleaned up) picture....eyes wide open!

We are so grateful for this amazing little boy and we can't wait to celebrate this weekend!


Below are some updates from the recent weeks.

We had our patio poured and Jayden was very excited to watch the big truck in the backyard.

Two weeks ago Jayden went with Grandma & Grandpa Geniesse to the NEW Zoo in Green Bay.  I haven't downloaded the pictures yet but I will share.  Jayden was able to feed the giraffe...one thing about Jayden is that he doesn't like to share his crackers, so he didn't want to let go of it.....imagine a little boys arm in a giraffe's mouth..Good thing they don't let you feed the bears.

Last weekend we went to the Little Farmer with the Wallace Family.  Sarah Wallace and I worked together at Kohls in Milwaukee and we now work together in Appleton at School Specialty. Below are some picture of the fun.

Jayden enjoyed his first Hayride

Below are pictures of Jayden with his two best friends...Blue and his thumb.

Finally..I will leave you with a smile...

Have a great day!