Monkey See, Monkey Do...

Here's Lillian helping Daddy "Get the Job Done"

Jak is in upper-management, he sipped his after school cocktail and supervised the project.

Surprise Sprinkle for Amy!

Casey and I threw our friend Amy a surprise Sprinkle Shower!  Maybe we wanted to throw Amy a baby shower because Amy is the kind of friend who bends over backward for her friends and everyone loves her or maybe it was because we all really, really don't envy her upcoming reality...Amy is pregnant with her 3rd baby in less than 3 years!  In about a month, Amy & Bryan are welcoming Caroline.  They have 2 rough and tumble boys already and this baby girl is a welcome addition, but I know how hard this last year was for Mike and I, I can't imagine adding a third Kerschen to the mix! 

Casey hosted, we got Amy to come over telling her it was a girls housewarming dinner at Casey's new house.

When she arrived, Amy was shocked to see her mom, aunt & sister there!

It was a great excuse to get the girls together for the evening!

And to shower Amy (and Caroline) with some girly cutesiness!

"New School"

As if Jak and Lillian haven't had enough change in 2013, they are now adjusting to a new school.  Mike and I couldn't be happier with the change, Jak, as usual, is going with the flow and Lillian (also as usual!) required a bit more time to come around.  But here we are in our 4th week at the Wooden Shoe and Lillian is eager to go to school every morning and quick to kiss Daddy goodbye to play with her new friends!  (A welcome change from the 20+ minute drop offs he used to have with her!)

Both kids have Spanish class, Gym class and Music class a couple times a week.  They have an events calendar with real lesson plans and organized art projects.  Jak gets to paint with food and Jell-O, Lillian has Science class with edible experiments. And when Lillian moves up to the 3year old room next week she gets swim lessons twice a week too!  The best part is, it costs the same as what we were paying at Busy Bees! 
Our only complaint is that they didn't put Lillian in the 3 year old room right away.  Some of the other kids in that room aren't quite 3, but they needed to be at least 2 1/2, potty trained and verbal.  I tried to tell them Lillian is potty trained and very verbal, but of course she was acting shy when they met her and didn't show off her language skills.  It wasn't much of a surprise when the director called me to say they want to transition her up to the next room, and here we are moving to another room after only 4 weeks!
Lillian has brought a new tradition home to the Kerschen household, we now pray before we eat.  At the Wooden Shoe they say, "God is great, God is Good and we thank him for our Food, Heyman!"  Of course, they end the prayer with Amen not Heyman but you can't tell Lillian that.  She's adamant about her version and we say it even before we have a snack! 

This week we signed permission slips for Lilian to take a hot air balloon ride (Jak was too young).  Someone at the school has Remax connections and they brought the Remax Balloon to school today for the kids to ride in, FREE!  Lillian was so excited!  She wanted Daddy to ride with her, but Mike explained that the balloon was only for the kids and that Miss Shelley was going to ride up with her.  Lillian and the other kids couldn't wait, they had smiles as big as their face, they skipped all the way down to the baseball field in anticipation, the balloon operator fired up the Hot Air and it let out such a noise, all the smiles turned to looks of trepidation!   They all started crying and not one kid in Lillian's class went up in the balloon... Mike said if the operator had just made it fun for the kids and let them countdown to the big noise, they might have gone.  Oh well...maybe next year!

End Of Summer Fun

I can't believe summer's coming to a close!  I guess we say that every year, but this summer really was so much fun.  After the initial trauma of moving into our "20 Year Home", as Mike likes to call it, we chose not to dive into all the boxes, and immediately start decorating our house.  Instead, we chose to enjoy the summer, the new neighborhood, the pool, the zoo, our friends when we can squeeze them in and of course our family.  Here are some pictures to catch you up on the miscellaneous events of the last couple of weeks:

She may be a little girl now, but kitchen sink baths still make Lillian's day!

 

I love it when they share their toys...not sure if two kids on one Rocking Horse is what I had in mind though!

 

Our friend Zander discovered a great play yard for kids at the Denver Zoo.  Jak loved climbing in the tree house.

And Lillian loved racing the wooden boats in the river.

The Giraffes are a must-see for the kids...

But the elephants have always been Lillian's favorite, the first time I took her to the zoo, Lillian turned to me at the elephant exhibit and sighed, "thank you". 

Grammy & Opa were visiting over the Labor Day Weekend.  They enjoy using their Children's Museum membership with their 5 Denver Grand Kids.  It so hard to get a picture of Jak these days, he's always on the move!

We have unpacked a few boxes since we moved in, they quickly become a boat, space ship or car for the kids to enjoy!

Daddy promised Lillian, "The day the pool closes, I'll fill the hot tub for you." He was true to his word and filled it up this week!

Aunt Casey & Uncle Rob just bought a house in Stapleton.  We love the sand playground down the street from them!

The sand park has all these fun beach toys available for you to play with, and the rock behind Lillian squirts a waterfall every couple of minutes!

Some Day Keira will enjoy it, but for now she just enjoyed a "fresh air" nap in her stroller!

Last outdoor concert of the summer! 

Two tired momma's...sure wish we had the time to go get pedicures like we used to!  We deserve it more now!

Big Joe Comes to Town!

We are so lucky to have seen Grandpa Kerschen 3 times this summer!  First he came out in May, then we went to Michigan in July and now Grandpa was here for Jak's 1st birthday...will he make it back for hunting season?????  He's always welcome and so is Denny.  We had a great visit with them last weekend, despite Jak not feeling 100%. 

Jak's New Push Walker from Aunt Cathy, Johnny and Layla

Lillian helping the Men "Get the Job Done" assembling Jaks new car and walker from Grandpa - thank god they had her help!

Rain Showers moved the birthday dinner indoors....these big kids had no trouble picnicking on the floor!

Birthday cake is yummy but it's hard to smile when you don't feel good.  Teething again!

The next morning, Jak had time to enjoy his new toys all by himself.

Birthday Excursion to Tiny Town

Train Rides,

Benches built just for kids,

And little houses to climb on and in!

But the best part was the ice cream cone Grandpa bought Lillian.  She got her first taste of "Brain Freeze", how can something so yummy, hurt so bad?!?!

Happiest First Year Ever!

Someday I am going to go back and read previous blog posts and count just how many times I stated that Jak is the happiest baby I have ever met!  But for now, I'll just repeat myself and thank god for bringing him into our lives. His first year of life has brought us chronic exhaustion (I blame the exhaustion on the 2 major moves - not the 2 babies we've been raising!).  But already the last few months, Mike and I have begun to feel the cloud lift; we're getting better sleep, Jak is understanding us and the world better, he's finally feeding himself and drinking whole milk (which means no more packing & labeling food for school everyday and no more pumping!!!) and he's feeling more independence now that he's crawling faster than the speed of light! You can't turn your back on Jak, he's so curious and active that if you blink he's unplugging cords from the wall, crawling outside onto the deck through the crack you left open for the dog, splashing in the dog bowls (and yes - once we caught him eating dog food!!!), playing in the toilet (especially Lillian's potty) and crawling upstairs to look around.  It's amazing, but as daring and adventurous as Jak is we haven't had any major accidents!  Lillian keeps a pretty good watch on him and for the most part those two continue to be good friends.  They have a secret way of talking to each other and no one can get Jak to giggle as loud as Lillian can.  I hope they are this close in 30 years.

Jak isn't walking yet, he pulls up on anything and everything and loves to use his new push walkers he got from Aunt Cathy and Grandpa but it won't be long till he learns how to do it on his own.  Jak has 8 teeth currently but I'm pretty sure there's a few more just under the surface.  He weighed 20 pounds 10 ounces at his one year check up and measured 30 inches tall.  The debate continues as to what Joseph Allan Kerschen will prefer to be called when he grows up but for now the Colorado Kerschens have a dozen nicknames for him, here they are..... 

JJ
Jak-attack
Jakaroo
Jakie
Jaka (Lillian's preferred nickname for him)
Jako
Joe-seiphus
Little Joe

Where is Pinky?

My grandpa passed away unexpectedly at the age of 88 last week.  I say unexpectedly, because just the day before Mom and Dad had been over to his house, brought him a couple prepared meals, filled his pill jar and said, "See you soon, Dad", to which he replied, his standard "I love you, doll".  That afternoon he went to his favorite hang out, the 86th Street Pub with his buddies.  But the next morning, when his friends were calling to go pick him up to go to the Antelope Club, he didn't answer.  It looks like he went pretty quick and in his own home, exactly like he wanted and we're all so happy he can finally be with his beloved Carolyn again...she never did like leaving him.

A wonderful picture of Grandpa at our wedding just 4 years ago...he looked great.  Dad used this picture as the signature photo at the funeral, as if he's saying goodbye to us.

 

We were pleasantly surprised at the viewing to find a horse patrol officer standing guard outside the funeral home.  Grandpa was one of the original founders of the Indianapolis Horse Patrol.

Lillian seemed to understand the emotion of the situation.  She walked hand-in-hand with Grammie at the cemetery and sat on her lap during the service, bringing Grammie lots of comfort and strength.  At the viewing, I took Lillian to the bathroom and she began singing "Where is Pinky?, Where is Pinky? like the nursery rhyme says, I had never heard her sing that song before, she must have overheard people talking about Grandpa, most of his friends knew him as "Pinky".

We had several out-of-state visitors; including Mom's best friends Linda & Darrell Smith, mom's cousins Gary & Pat Lerch, their son Gary Lerch, Dad's friends Gary Newan and Alan Freeman and my Uncle John Hanou.  It was really nice of them to make the trip...Grandpa would have appreciated it.

Jak, wanting constantly to be "on the move", found grandpa's coffin to be the perfect climbing gym. 

Dad worked so hard to make sure Grandpa's service was just perfect, creating a great slide show of pictures, writing obituaries for the local newspapers, notifying all family and friends and adding special touches to the service like a Bud Light Toast in honor of Pinky.  Everything went really, really smooth.

After the burial we ate at Zaharako's Restaurant, in business since 1900 this "soda" shop in like walking back in time.  Oma used to love to bring us here as kids.  Lillian and Jak loved the old organ music playing.

We were trying to take a picture of Grandpa's newest great-grand daughters when Lillian snuck in beside them.  Carolyn is 3 1/2 months and Keira is 5 months here. 

A little post - wake party - Lerch Style!!!  Euchre till 2:30 in the morning....I crashed at 1:30!

Jak taking the obligatory kitchen bath at Grammies house!

Lillian trying on Opa's glasses....

Uncle Severin helping the kids get in a little kid time at St. Mary's Catholic Church playground behind Mom and Dad's house.