Tori loves her cousin Levi!

Tori loves her baby cousin Levi so much. She loves to share her toys and dolls and loves to give him all kinds of hugs and kisses and lots of love. Here she is sharing her doll with him along with one of her pink blankets.

The next couple of pictures she is sharing some pictures with him on a digital frame on a Christmas ornament.

Cooking and Baking

We have been busy in the Schrock and Fernau households. Last Thursday Mom and I spent all day making freezer meals to fill our deep freeze before I go back to work. We had a great time and ended up making close to 16 meals. Some of these meals included Lasagna, Beef Stew, BBQ Beef, Hashbrown Casserole, and many other things. It will be great to not have to think about what to make for dinner before going to work this winter!

Mom, April, and I (with the help of Tori) had a big day last Saturday baking Christmas cookies. Dad went deer hunting with some guys from church and Joe and Aaron were both working so we decided it was the perfect day to take over the kitchen. We made all kinds of cookies and Christmas treats but I think our favorite were the cut-out cookies.

Tori was a huge help in cutting out the cookies!

Here we are mixing the frosting!

Miss Tori is busy frosting her cookies. She did a great job and got a few extra tastes of the frosting here and there :)

April and Tori did most of the decorating....the did a great job!

Here are Tori's cookies that she frosted and decorated!

Maybe we have our own Santa's Helper! Such a cutie!

Great Grandma Dorothy

Sorry for all the posts today (3 of them I know...geesh) but we had so much going on this last weekend and I wanted to share so much of it with you. Here are some pictures of Great Grandma Dorothy with Tori, Kenna, and Levi.

Looks like she might have her hands full but I'm sure she can handle it!

Here is Grandma Joyce to help out with the kiddos!

Our 4 generation photo! Great Grandma Dorothy, Levi, Grandma Joyce and Carmen!

Everyone is Thankful for Me!

Great Aunt Brenda sent these cute bibs to Levi and Kenna for Thanksgiving. They were so fun and so cute and we had a ton of fun taking pictures with the kids. We are so very thankful for Levi, Kenna and Tori!

Thanksgiving Activities

On Thanksgiving day we gathered at Norman and Joyce's house with the Schrock's, Grandma Dorothy, and Joe's parents Matt and Marie. We had a great time together eating amazing food, playing games and scanning the many advertisements from the morning paper. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Here is a preview of our family christmas card!

Tori couldn't wait to hold baby Levi!

Great Uncle Dallas with Levi

Planning their strategy for Black Friday!

Great Aunt Norma with Levi

Cardinal Uno

Its Puzzle time!



On Sunday we headed to Waterloo to celebrate at Michelle and Michael's house. The kids were very excited to see Levi. He has grown so much since the last time they have seen him. Megan and Emma are a huge help with him when we are there! We had a great day and again, some awesome food!

Here is the whole family!

The kids were entertaining Levi during lunch.

Aunt Michelle

Joe, Marie and Levi....love this picture!

Joe and Tye

2 months old!

Levi is 2 months old today! At his doctors appointment last week he weighed 9 lbs 14.5 oz and was almost 22 inches long! The doctor was very happy with how he is growing and how interactive he is. Levi likes to show off his smiles and has been finding his voice these days. Sometimes he will let out a huge squawk and will startle himself. He is changing so much everyday. He is so much fun and Joe and I are loving this time in our lives.

Busy November!

Joe, Levi and I have been super busy this month. We have had several baby showers this month and they have all been a ton of fun! Grandma Marie and Aunt Michelle had a baby shower in Waterloo earlier this month, then Joe's co-workers had one in Cedar Rapids and then my co-workers had one in Iowa City. Levi had fun meeting all of his family and his parents friends and co-workers and of course Joe and I had fun showing him off! He is growing so much, so fast and we are amazed everyday by the things he does. We are so blessed and so in love with our precious little boy! Here are a few pictures from the month of November!

Tucker is a very protective puppy. He loves to sit beside Levi and make sure he is ok. When Levi is crying Tucker will rush right over to him, lick his foot and then come and find us. He is very good with Levi and we can't wait to see Levi play with him when he gets bigger!

We took our first trip to Waterloo to see Grandma and Grandpa Fernau. Levi did pretty well in the car but was definitely glad to get out of his car seat and play with Grandma Marie!

Levi and Grandpa Matt played on the floor for a long time. Levi loved it and I'm sure Grandpa Matt did too!

We finally got Levi his new swing! He loves it so much. He loves to look at the toys on the mobile above the swing and to listen to the music it plays.

Levi also loves to lay on the floor and play with his toy gym. He can reach up and hit the toys and then gets a huge smile on his face. Occasionally we even hear a little giggle out of him!

Levi and I went to Aaron and Aprils last week to get Levi used to being around some of the daycare kids. Here is a picture of the 3 Schrock cousins....Levi, Kenna, and Tori!

Cousin Kenna....always happy and smiling!

Cousin Tori.....such a big help and very talkative!

Levi loves his bath time! He kicks his legs and splashes in the water.

Such a big boy sitting in his whale tub!

More bath time!

Then of course we need to get some giggle and smile pictures in here. Levi is such a happy baby!

The many faces of Levi