For Jordan...

We miss you Jordan!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! For the second year in a row, our #1 blessing for whom we are grateful is Will! He is truely the center of our lives.
Our day was filled: Turkey Bowl in the morning, my mom's house for lunch and Jordan's Grandpa's house for dinner. We got home around 9 pm, and put Will right to bed. He fell asleep on the way home! This year, I actually had to learn how to prepare a turkey. Under normal circumstances, I would not have to learn this for decades to come. Snce we are moving across the country, there will not be family to make this traditional feast for us :(
I had a hard time. While I am definitely not a vegetarian, I do not like to eat meat that resembles the actual animal it is made from. Obviously, turkey is as close to the real thing as it gets. My mom taught me how to clean out (read: disgusting!!) a whole turkey as well as just a turkey breast. The breast is what I will only be able to stomach in the future. We had the traditional foods: turkey, stuffing, pots, mulitple veggies, pies, and a whole ton of extras. My mom goes all out. It was all very delicious.
After, my sisters and Laura's new man, Danny, played dominos with my mom. It was very fun. I think dominos is one of my all time favorite games!
We also had a great time at the Monk's house. We did not eat much dinner since we were more stuffed than our turkey, but enjoyed visiting everyone. Will loves to see other kids, especially his cousin Emma. It was a nice relaxing night.
We love to reflect on all of our blessings on Thanksgiving. We truely have so much to be thankful for. We hope you all enjoyed the holiday with your families, too!

Christmas Quick Step

Tonight Jordan and Will broke into dance while listening to Christmas music. Most kids bounce up and down to dance, but my boy likes the quick step! Enjoy!

Will and Daddy's Fun Game!

Will and Jordan playing on the slide.

Will just went down the slide...he loves it! Check out the molars!

Jordan chasing Will. Jordan hides behind the work bench until Will comes down the slide and then chases him until the stairs. They do this over and over and over again!

Turkey Bowl 2008

Every year, Jordan and a bunch of guys from church and their friends participate in the Turkey Bowl. They play football for few hours in the morning while the wives try to prepare the meal and get the kids ready all by ourselves! Okay, so it really isn't that bad...
I always go to take pictures. This year, Will wanted to come and see Daddy. He was hoping to be the secret weapon since Auntie Laura didn't play this year.

When we finally arrived, the boys were on the last play. Will missed his chance. I am sure Will was disappointed. He just sat in the snow with Daddy's football, waiting to play.

Here are my boys. Jordan had a lot of fun! It will probably (sadly) be his last WI Turkey Bowl unless we visit on Thanksgiving :(

Lil Buckaroo!

Will loves the rocking horse that Great Grandpa Mazur made for Grandpa Mazur when he was a child. Great Grandpa gave it to Will for his first birthday, but Will is finally tall enough to get on and off.

Here is video of Will riding the horse. He actually can get on and off, but he is obsessed with the camera where he won't smile or do anything super cute when he sees it. Notice the serious face in the above pictures?

PS. You also get a peek at Will's cool dance moves. The boy has quick feet!

All bundled up!

Here is Will all bundled up! I found the cutest jacket, hat and mittens for him at Lots for Tots, my favorite children's clothes consignment shop! This is Will's winter coat this year. He also has a cute blue hat.

Our Birthdays

So this post is a bit late...our birthdays were a month ago! We had a nice few days of celebration! On Saturday, Nov. 1st, we had family over for dinner and ice cream pies. On Sunday, my actual birthday, we relaxed. On Monday, Jordan's actual birthday, we worked for his mom. As you can see, nothing worth blogging about immediately!

A little Will update...

After 15 1/2 long months...Will is FINALLY getting a little bit more snuggly! It has been torture for Jordan and me to have a son that pushes away every hug and slaps away every kiss. We are like the snuggle Queen and King, and having an offspring that is NOTHING like us in that way is really hard and slightly ruins our self esteem! We have been inticing him with a weekly Schaefer Family Movie Night. We make smoothies in our VitaMixer and pop popcorn. We curl up to a good movie with Jordan's childhood car blanket, and Will is learning that it is indeed a very snuggly blanket! He comes right over and plops in our laps and indulges in as much popcorn as he can grab in his fist. When he wants some smoothie, he comes over to our laps and opens his mouth like a little bird. It is adorable! He LOVES Schaefer Family Movie Night. As a result, he is learning to sit in our laps without us chasing him and putting him there! He is also learning to sit! He normally prefers standing while watching movies or playing with his toys.
His 15 month check-up went well. He weighs 26 lbs, 6 oz (75%) and is 32.25 inches (82%). His favorite things to do now are: turn light switches on and off while climbing on his rocking chair, go "rocky rocky rock" on his rocking chair, stack cans into a tower, play downstairs on his equipment, "dance dance dance" with his feet (it is so dang cute...we are attempting to get a video), read books in his room, hit the blue copy bottom on our printer so paper moves through the machine, walk with our backscratcher all over the house, put himself in his baby swing, put shapes in his tupperware ball, play with my sizzix machine handle, and get chased all over the house.
He is so fun at this age and actually does stuff to make us laugh. He is adorable. He is started to talk more after about a month strike. His favorite words right now are "no" and "all done". I was hoping his "no no no" phase would have been over since he always said that before the strike, but "no no no" I was wrong!
I can't believe it is almost two years to the day (Nov. 20) that we found out we were pregnant with Will. What a life changing day. We are so grateful for our little treasure. He is growing into an adorable little boy!

Surprise for Will!

With the cold weather hitting Wisconsin pretty hard last week (of course, as I write this, it is 65* today!), Jordan and I decided we had to do something with our finished basement for Will to keep busy this winter. He is a pretty high-energy kid and keeping him couped up in our house all winter is sure to make him stir-crazy. What to do...what to do?
We decided to move Will's outdoor play toys into our basement! While he was napping, we hard-core cleaned these three toys before bringing them in the house. When he woke up, we took down the baby gate and took video of him finding his basement surprise!
He LOVED it! Will gave a little laugh when he saw his playground and went running for it right away!

Video of Will seeing his surprise!



Here is what the basement looks like.

Will going down the slide! He is sooo happy!

Our super excited Will!

Will and Mommy playing together.

Will loves his new play area. For the first few days, whenever we couldn't find Will right away, we knew he went downstairs. He spent every waking hour down there! He is a great independant player, so this is perfect for him. He can play in his room by reading books, in the living room with his toys, in the kitchen with my pantry or kitchen utensils (and unfortunately, dishwasher buttons), or now in his very own play room in the basement! Everytime he slides down the stairs to go into the basement, we can hear him give a little laugh when he sees his toys!
He loves playing with his tool set, climbing on top of the picnic table and shaking it with his dancing feet, and especially, playing with Daddy. Jordan hides behind the tool set while Will slides down the slide, and then chases him until Will can climb back up the slide stairs. They do this over and over again. Will laughs hysterically. I am sure each time he pees his pants laughing. I am surprised he does not hyperventilate!

Super Grandparents!

Will with Grandma and Grandpa Mazur.

Will with Grandma and Grandpa Schaefer.

Halloween: Super Will!

Here is our Super Will! His super hero specialities include: melting hearts, putting smiles on frowning faces, saving candy treats from greedy neighbors, and overall being a super son!

Here is Super Will in his Willmobile on his way to save candy treats from neighbors. He really liked being outside even though it snowed a little in the morning! It was FREEZING!

Will's loot. He only needed to go to three neighbors' houses. He did not really get into Trick or Treating!

Super Will on his way to save the day at Grandma Mazur's house.

See more pictures of Halloween in our family photo album!

I made the news! Video link included!

UPDATED WITH VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM!
I went shopping with my littlest sister and Channel 12 news asked me about why I was undecided about the election. I am the last sentence!

http://www.wisn.com/politics/17851113/detail.html

MILWAUKEE -- The election is just days away, and five percent of Wisconsin voters are still undecided.
The reasons voters are undecided vary, but the most common thread is that they’re not satisfied with either candidate.
Despite all the candidates’ rallies, speeches and debates, voters are still waiting for more information, according to Jon Carrico, who is with working America.
"Other people don't particularly like either candidate and are trying to decide which one they might like the least,” said Carrico.
One voter said she’s still stuck in the middle.
“There's so many issues out there. They both have good points and they both have bad points,” Schultz said.
But some voters said that they have a clear favorite, however, recent events are changing their opinions.
"Every other week they kind of go back and forth. A lot of voters like Palin now. She's been talking more about different ideas so it's kind of swaying stuff again,” said Ryan Ronk.
Other voters are tuning out campaign ads and news articles and intend to rely on their instincts.
"I guess when I get there, I'm just going to go with whatever my heart tells me,” said LeAnn Schaefer.

VIDEO:
http://www.wisn.com/video/17852957/
Be fore-warned: it is not the most flattering video :(
I did talk to them for about 8 minutes about what I like/dislike about both and how I am really split. I am conservative views in terms of abortion/marriage issues, but democratic views with healthcare, education, etc. She asked how will I decide when I go vote, and that is what I am quoted on. I sound quite dumb :(.

Last Halloween!

It is hard to believe these pictures were almost one year ago! Will was just about three months old and could not even sit up by himself and now it is climbing and running! We are looking forward to this Halloween! Will is going as Super Will (superman costume) and Jordan and are probably won't dress up. We'll be busy helping Super Will fly around to his theme song...dunnnn dun dun dun dunnnn...dun...dun..dun...dunnnn dun dun dun dunnnnnn....Super Will! Do you think it is too tacky to take Will Trick-or-Treating this year?

Family Fun!

On Sunday night, we had a super fun night! We carved pumpkins and made caramel apples! It was Jordan's first time carving pumpkins (seriously)! Jordan, Laura, Andrew and I carved pumpkins while Will watched and ate snacks. He did get to feel pumpkin seeds and guts, but really did not like it! Sassy Katie didn't want to carve pumpkins so she also just watched.
We *attempted* to make caramel apples, too. They did not look very pretty, but they sure tasted great! We forgot to roll them in nuts while the caramel was still hot so the nuts barely stuck to each apple. In the morning, all of the caramel slipped down the apple and was on the plate :(
Which pumpkin is your favorite??
Check out our family photo album for more pics...they are under William 14 months!

Meadowbrook Pumpkin Farm!

We took Will to his first pumpkin farm last weekend. He had fun trying to escape from being placed in the middle of all the pumpkins. I wanted a picture of Will surrounded by all pumpkins, but we did not get the shot I was hoping for. He is not as cooperative as a scrapbooker's son should be!
His favorite thing to do was pull the wagons. We would carry him to look at something else, but as soon as those little feet touched the ground, he ran off to the wagons again. Needless to say, it was pretty tense to enjoy the pumpkin farm! We wanted to do a hayride, but it seemed there was no one else at the farm the time of day we went, and we thought it was closed until the evening hours :( Oh well, there's always next year!
In the picture of Jordan with Will, you can see one of his molars! Just click the picture to make it bigger!

Katelyn's homecoming

My baby sister had homecoming this past weekend. Here is Katie with her boyfriend Andrew. Don't they look cute?