Trick or Treat

One Cute LION and a Silly PEACOCK

I think Trick or Treating in St. George should be our new tradition. The weather was perfect!

"Im only doing this for the candy mom"

This girl has a sweet tooth just like her mother!

Vacation, vacation, vacation!!

We have been on one vacation after another since we've been home. Im definantly not complaining, but I am glad to finally be home! Im still trying to get my house organized and still havent gotten caught up on the laundry...Yuck! Once we got home from Chicago we took off for Lake Powell. We were supposed to be there a week, but my grandmas cancer was progressing quickly, so we left after 3 days and drove up to Washington to see her. We stayed in Washington for a week and Im really glad we did. I got to spend some time with Grandma and she was able to meet Lou for the first time. After our stay there, we made the 13 hour trek back to turn around the next morning and drive back to Lake Powell! We were a little skeptical about staying in Powell during the middle of October, but it was absolutley perfect. I was able to lounge in my sweats all week! The weather was perfect to curl up on a lounge chair and read a book, and the water was warm enough to ski. Now we are back to our everyday lives, and are fine with not going on another vacation for awhile!

Sorry for the picture overload! Lake Powell just always makes for the prettiest pictures.

Thats my husband! xoxoxxNot quite big enough to ski, but maybe next year!

Going for a ride on grandma and grandpas boat!

Noah and Uncle Jed catching some fish Noah hanging out with Brooks. He thinks the triplets are the greatest! Taitum and Tess being their cute, sassy selfsGrandpa Goeckeritz with the biggest catch of the trip. You should see this guy ski!Noah really wanted to go down the water slide, but didnt want to go again!

Brooks and Chandler jumping off the house boat
Grandma Goeckeritz swimming with her grand kids!

That smile just melts my heart. I just love this girl!

Jamie, Tess and Avery

Yes that is a sweatshirt Im wearing at Lake Powell. It was a bit too cold for a boat ride!

I just cant take enough pictures of this boy. Hopefully one day I will get him to smile in one!

Boat rides just make you so sleepy. Good thing he's holding on tight!Noah could tube and Lou could play in the sand all day long

Fun day with my family at Mt.St.Helens in Washington Just doing a little sight seeingYes, that is the actual big foot!

I always love our trips to Washington because I get to visit with my dearest, oldest friends from High School. I had fun eating tortilla soup and sewing with you girls!

Lou loving on her grandpa and grandma Clark

My little brother Ken showing Troy some fly fishing skills down at the river behind our house

Visiting with my grandma before she passed away is a memory that I will cherish forever. I just love this sweet picture of her holding little Emery. She lost her battle to cancer only weeks after this picture was taken. She was an amazing women I will miss her big lipstick kisses and hugs.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game....

Before leaving Chicago we had to see the cubs play at Wrigley Field. Troy got us some pretty sweet tickets right next to where the pitchers warm up. Noah had his mitt ready to catch anything that came our way. Then right before one of the pitchers went out to pitch, he put his ball right in Noah's mitt!!!! It was so exciting! The whole crowd behind us cheered!!! Im pretty sure this was the best day of Noah's life...so far.

What cute little cubby fans!

So proud of his ball! He would not let it out of his site and showed it off to everyone!!

So Long Chicago....

I cant believe this summer is already over! The sales season ended this last Saturday but Troy decided he wanted to stay and sell one more week! It's been hard watching everyone pack their cars and head home while we stay behind. Of course I only agreed to staying on two small conditions... 1 we can play in Chicago and 2 I can go on one last shopping spree!!! I may have had my occasional complaints, but I actually have really enjoyed our summer here. The weather has been absolutely perfect and we have made so many fun memories. Here are a few of my favorites!!

Family bike ride at Navy Pier

Troys little shadow! Noah is going to love having his daddy home everyday now!

I have loved watching Lou grow so big here. I cant believe she was only 3 weeks old when we got here. She has changed so much!!!!

Its been fun having a beach only 15 minutes away. One hot sunday we were able to go and watch the boat races. It was actually really exciting to watch!!

The guys were able to take a chartered fishing trip on Lake Michigan. As you can see they were quite successful! I had a fridge full of fish!!!

We love sports day!!! Whenever the guys hit their goals we would have sports day the next morning. The guys would play volleyball or basketball while the wives watched. It was just nice having our husbands for a morning!!!! This certain morning the guys dove for $200 in change!!! It was hilarious to watch these guys acting like kids!! They all went to work that day with bloodshot eyes!!!!

My good friend Jenny came to visit me. We did just about everything you could do in the short time she was here! We literally shopped till we dropped!!!!

We got nicknamed the Desperate Housewives from a server at the Olive Garden!!! Thats exactly what we felt like so it was nice having a group of fun girls to spend the days with.

Noah made lots of new little friends this summer. It was really nice having our little play group every day.

Cute little Cohen & adorable Ava. Can you believe those beautiful eyes!!!!

I am going to be so sad if these two dont get married. I have so many cute pictures of them to put in their wedding video!!!!

Well this is a quick glance of our summer! We are packing up the car and off to utah saturday morning. Wish us luck on that 24 hour drive! We may get there sometime before halloween!!!!

Emery ??

Our little one will be 4 months old this week and we have been really struggling with her name. These last few months she has gone by Lou or LuLu. It wasnt until after we blessed her that I realized what a hard time I was having with her first name. I think the name is adorable, but Troy and I cant get ourselves to call her Emery. Its totally crazy but we've been contemplating changing it. I have lost sleep trying to think of what her name should be. We will definitely keep her middle name Lou. Troy and I just cant seem to agree on anything for her first name (I been pushing for Hudson, Emerson or Delanie and he wants Gabi)! We are hoping to have a name for her before we return back to our families from summer sales. Any ideas would be most helpful!!!Hopefully this will just be a funny story she can tell her friends when she is older.

3 Months Old

Look who is getting so big! Our little girl is growing so fast!! Lou just turned 3 months old this week. I cant believe how fast it has gone! She is getting to be so smiley and looking more and more like her big brother everyday. She looks just like her daddys baby pictures (just opposite coloring) I just love this age!! I really do think my favorite time of the day is when I get to pick out what she gets to wear. Its just too much fun having this precious girl in the family. Thank you Tish for this cute little outfit you made. Its definantly one of my favorites!!!

Lou's Blessing Day

Lou's blessing day was so special. She has already blessed our home in so many ways. She is such a good, smiley baby and we all just adore her. I still cant believe we are a family of 4!!!!

It meant so much to us to have Troys parents and my mom and sister here.

After church we had a luncheon at the clubhouse and all the apx guys and their wives came. We had to take advantage of the weather so we all visited and played outside afterwards.

Troys parents stayed a couple of extra days so we did all we could fit in. Troy worked and wasnt able to see much of them, so it was a good opportunity for me to spend time with my in laws. We went to Michigan City beach and went downtown Chicago to take the boat tour. I think I really stressed Klaus out with my driving in the big city!!! It was a quick trip for them but we are so glad they were able to make it.

Girls Trip

I have always wanted to take a girls trip with my mom and sister. Since Im living in Chicago this summer, we decided we better take advantage and finally make it happen! We felt like queens
staying at this swanky hotel downtown Chicago. It had the most amazing view of the beach and just blocks away from great shopping! We went to Nauvoo, which is someplace I always wanted to go visit. It was amazing seeing where so much of our church history took place. We made so many memories that I will never forget. Thank you so much mom and sis for making the trip out here. I already miss you!!!
You gotta love H&M

Noah at American Girl

I never realized how big the lake is here. It really feels like you are at the ocean. The water was pretty cold but tempting to jump in since it was so dang HOT!

On our way to Nauvoo we had to make frequent stops so I could feed Lou. At one of the stops my mom got out of the car to play with Noah. They found this birds nest and look what popped out at them! The amazing view from our room in Nauvoo

Boat tour up the Chicago River.

Its always a fight to get this little guy to take a picture... Just like his daddy!!!

I have totally fallin in love with this city!!

The W Hotel downtown Chicago

My Blue Eyed Girl

Right before we had Lou I told Troy that I was sad we would probably never have a child with blue eyes. We were both so surprised when Lou was born with bright blue ones!!! I keep waiting for them to change to brown, but they just get more and more blue! Her little personality is already starting to show. I was so excited yesterday when I captured her cute smile on film. This little face just melts my heart!!! I love this Girl!!!!!

Picture Overload

It is so difficult to blog these days! Whenever I have access to a computer, I feel like I have a limited amount of time. I am literally typing this so fast because Lou is getting fussy and Noah is plotting his next mischievous scheme to steal my attention! I guess thats what I get for having two kids only 18 months apart! (what was I thinking!!) Even though our life has been crazy lately, I wouldnt ask for it any other way. I love my kids and have never felt more happy or blessed. It is such a joy to be their mother.
Lou has changed so much these last couple weeks. She is such a snuggle bug and I am constantly catching myself just staring at her. I have no idea who she looks like. She has beautiful blue eyes and fair skin. (the complete opposite of her big brother) We all just cant get enough of her!

My mom and I made these cute hooded towels right before I came out to Chicago. They turned out so cute! They are even cuter with these two cuties in them!!!!

Troy saw this motorcycle on the way home from church and had to pull over! How fun would this be to cruise around town???

We took the train into Chicago to do a little shopping on saturday. On the way back Marli gave Noah a little smooch over the seat. These two are constantly keeping us entertained!

We all had anxiety thinking about riding the train into the city but it ended up being just fine. The kids loved singing with Melanie the whole 2 hour ride!

Marli, Noah and Ava. Troys cousin Chelsea came out to visit her husband who she hadnt seen in 6 weeks!!! (i dont know how they do it) It was so fun hanging out with her while the guys were at work. Thanks chels for all of your help with the kids! We cant wait to see you in another 6 weeks!!!

We finally had a nice day and decided it would be fun to go play on the beach. Our time there didnt last long because it was so much cooler once we got there. I dont think summer is ever going to start here!!!!

Here is the little gang of trouble makers! Noah is loving all his new friends!!!

When did he get big enough to climb stuff like this????

Chicago

I know I have been the worst at blogging lately. Having two kiddos is keeping me busy! We are alive and starting to really enjoy it here. We have only been to the city once for the famous deep dish pizza, but plan on going back to hit up all the hot spots soon. We just discovered that we are only 10 minutes from the beach and a huge outlet mall. Im just glad that there are so many cute wives to hang out with since I literally see Troy maybe 30 minutes each day. We keep each other company and have fun watching our kids play together. I promised my family that I will be better at updating. Lou has grown so much in the last month and getting to be so alert. I will post some more pictures soon! Love and miss you all!!!

Sweet Little Lou

Our good friend Stephanie was sweet enough to take these adorable pictures of Lou. I love every single one of them! I still cant believe we have this precious little girl in our family. I get overwhelmed with emotion when I think about how much I already love her. Thank you Steph for all the time you spent on these. We will forever cherish these pictures of our daughter.

We Miss You

We all really miss you Troy! I thought you would want some new pictures of your kids so you dont forget what they look like. We will see you in Chicago next week! Get ready for lots of hugs and kisses from us!!!!!XXXXOOOOXXXOOXOXOO

We cant get enough of this girl!

Does this look, look familiar? I think she is going to have some of the same facial expressions as her older brother.
Noah loves his sissyThe girls trying to get some much needed sun while Troy does yard work.
Lou left her dad a "surprise" right when we were taking this picture!

Our Little Arrival

Emery "Lou" Goeckeritz
4/16/2008 12:38 am.

6 lbs. 8 oz.

19 1/2 inches

Our little Lou had a dramatic arrival early thursday morning. I started having contractions Wednesday night around 8 ish. At 9:15 when they were still coming pretty strong and 3 minutes apart I told Troy we better get grandma over to watch Noah and head to the hospital. We left the house around 10:15 and by the time we got to the hospital and registered it was around 11. I was only dilated to a 4.5 when I got there which was fine because I decided I wanted to try a natural childbirth, but thought I had plenty of time to change my mind if it got too painful. We were bummed when we soon realized we left our camera at home because we of course wanted pictures once she arrived. I was in labor 12 hours with Noah so I thought Troy would have plenty of time to run home and grab the camera. Before sending him home the nurse checked me one more time and I was dilated to a 6. We decided Troy better not run home just to be safe. The nurse called my dr. to let him know to be ready since I was progressing pretty quickly and Troy ran across the street to grab a disposable camera. Troy was gone probably 15 minutes and when he got back I had the biggest contraction. At this point I was begging for an epidural!!!!! The nurse checked me and I had gone from a 6 to a 8 with that contraction. The next minute was a blurr! The nurse paged for the anesthesiologist just as I started another contraction. With this contraction my water broke and the baby came right out onto the bed!!! Troy pretty much delivered her himself! It was so neat but scary at the same time. The doctor got there 5 minutes later and was surprised to see the baby was already delivered. She is perfectly healthy and so cute. My recovery has been so easy this time around. Im guessing thats because I didnt have to do any pushing. We are so happy and feel so blessed to have this precious little girl in our family.

Baby Update

No baby today!!! Im so disappointed. I thought for sure I would be dialated enough to be sent down to labor & delivery. Im still at a 2.5...same as last week. Dr. Later is going to check me again friday morning and if Im a 3 he said we are good to go!!! If not then we are still scheduled for an induction monday. Im just hoping she comes this weekend so Troy has more time with her before he takes off to Chicago next Saturday.

Easter

This may be the last picture of just the 3 of us! We had a great Easter Sunday with Troys family. We had a blast looking for eggs and watching the boys play hoops.

The easter bunny found Noah! He was so excited to get his baseball easter basket. He now thinks its okay to eat candy every morning.

Noah with his uncle Jed looking for eggs. I dont know how many eggs he broke thinking he could throw them and candy would come out.

Me and Shade are both due around the same time so we thought it would be funny to get belly shots of the both of us. After seeing this picture of me I think I now know why Ive been SO emotional and crying non-stop.... Im as BIG as a horse!!!!!!!!!! ha ha!!!

Sleep???

Well its 4 am and I am blogging. I woke up with the worst heartburn to realize I am all out of tums!!!! I went to the kitchen and choked down a glass of whole milk and it finally went away. The minute I layed down to go back to sleep the baby got the hiccups (which totally jolt my whole body these days)!!!! I guess nights like this will only prepare me for the sleepless nights I have to look forward to with a newborn. We are hoping that I will be progressed enough to get me started at my next dr. appt this wednesday. Troy and I are so anxious to meet our baby girl! We still dont have a name for the cutie, so any suggestions would be most helpful!!!

Well Im slowly turning into an icecube, which means its really cold in our house since Im always hot. I think Ill go cuddle up to my warm hubby and try this sleep thing one more time. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!

Zions Getaway

We've been in desperate need of a family vacation, so we decided to take off to So. Utah for Troys spring break. Troy has been so busy with school and getting the office ready for the summer that we really havent seen much of him lately! We had so much fun that we decided to make this trip a yearly tradition.

We spent 2 days at the Majestic View Lodge in Zions. The weather was perfect for hiking (low 80's) Noah just hung out in the pack with his dad taking in the view!

We were able to catch the triplets game in Mesquite where it was a bit warmer. Sitting in the 95 degree heat made me thankful that I will be spending my last month of pregnancy in the mild Utah weather. Noah was in heaven watching his cousins play ball. He found a bat & ball in the dugout and would not put it down the rest of the day.

We went to the coolest park in St. George! Why didnt they make parks like these when I was little? Noah loved climbing and playing with Taitum and Tess.

Nesting

It seems like all I feel like doing lately is hang out at home in my sweats. I figured I might as well make some things for the baby so I dont feel like a complete waste! I borrowed my sisters sewing machine and this is what Ive put together so far. Im hoping to get my own sewing machine for my birthday next month (TROY THIS IS A HINT) . Im so excited we are having a girl because Im addicted to buying cute girly fabric. I have a few more projects in the making that I will post later.

Hope you are all having a nice day! Love Jodi & Noah

p.s. hope this picture doesnt give you nightmares!!!!

Our Little Monkey

I cant keep up with this kid anymore!!!! Noah is constantly climbing and getting into EVERYTHING! He has become such a little trouble maker but I cant get mad at him. Those dimples get me everytime!!!!

One Rough Day

This morning started out pretty rough. I was in a rush to get myself and Noah ready so we could go pick Troy up from the airport. I usually like to give Noah a bath but for the sake of time just threw him in the shower with me. He was sitting on the bottom of the shower playing with his toys. Little did I know he had found a way to slip his index finger in one of the small holes of the drain. When I went to grab him and dry him off his poor little finger got sliced pretty good. It was quite the scene. I usually have a pretty strong stomach but didnt do so hot since it was my little boy bleeding all over. I made a frantic call to my sister and she flew over and rushed us to the peds office. We then got sent to Primary childrens where they stitched him up and put a splint on. Once they semi-sedated him he was good to go. He was laughing and talking while they stitched him up! What a little trooper! The splint didnt last long and came off on the car ride home. Of course this stuff has to happen when Troys gone. Thanks sis for being there for us!!!!

Here we come.....CHICAGO!!

We have been anxiously anticipating the APX draft to find out where we be living this summer. It has been decided that we will be going to the big city of CHICAGO! We will be leaving sometime towards the end of April. It will be a crazy time for us with the new baby being due April 27th and Troys finals that same week. Im hoping for lots of visitors (hint, hint)!!! We are excited for another adventure and hope Chicago treats us as well as Texas did.

HELP!!!

Now that its February its probably time to start thinking about how Im going to decorate the nursery. I've been putting it off but I have a feeling that April will be here before we know it! The only thing I have is the crib bedding. I actually bought it before I was even pregnant in hopes that someday I would have a GIRL! I would APPRECIATE any ideas on what color to paint the room, what color crib to buy, ect. I usually LOVE to do this kind of stuff but this pregnancy has left me exhausted, achy, and NOT CREATIVE! I know that all you girls will have tons of ideas. Thanks!!!

These are pictures of the crib bedding

Okay...these pictures are really embarrassing! This UGLY room is the soon to be nursery. I also have this old dresser I thought I might refinish. I was thinking about painting it and putting new hardware on it. Again, ANY ideas would be most helpful!