Introducing Ezekiel James

Baby Boy Ezekiel James Guggenmos was born on Thursday, November 12th 2015 at 1:48am.

Huge Thank you to Emily and Lou for the newborn photos of Ezekiel. I can't stop obsessing over each and every one

Our first impressions:

• He's so tiny!! Probably due to lugging around a 25b toddler around, but our 8lb4oz, 20" bundle seemed so miniature to us. 
• He is BLONDE!? This was almost as shocking to me as Garrick coming out having tons of dark hair. Zeke has the most velvety soft blonde peach fuzz-thus making him look like his brother right away.
• He's amazing. Ten fingers, ten toes. Perfect as can be.
• What a good baby! Unlike Garrick who came out screaming and rarely stopped, Zeke was incredibly calm for the entirety of his first couple weeks.  I was amazed as I looked at my minutes-old baby calmly observing his surroundings and eventually sleeping soundly in 4-hour stretches for the first couple days. 

Garrick's first impressions:

• Baby? Brother? Requests to "hug," "hold," & "kiss" then began and haven't stopped 
• Garrick immediately liked Zeke but gave me the cold shoulder for weeks after Zeke was born. He didn't want me to hold him and wouldn't even say "mom." When asked "do you love mom?" he'd say "no." Lots of daddy time ensued to his delight!

Pumpkin Patch 2015

We took Garrick to Scarecrow Farms outside of Sioux City a few weeks ago and had the blessing of Grandma and Papa joining along. It was a gorgeous fall day.   

G was hesitant of the corn pit at first but quickly warmed up to the idea after watching how the other kids "played"

If you know Garrick you have observed how he tends to look PRETTY SERIOUS even when he is thoroughly enjoying himself. We could barely tear him away from the Tricycles!! He loves his Ybike and forgets he isn't big enough for other bikes like these

Garrick loves animals :) The petting zoo was pretty small--it seriously lacked baby goats!! 

19 Months Old && 8 Months Pregnant

Happy first day of Autumn, Everyone!! As the days grow shorter and the leaves start to fall, we are struck with the realization that our family will be encountering The Big Change before we know it!

Alex and I have been working like mad and collaborating with family members to make home improvements (that's another post entirely!) before the new baby and winter come. This week we are finishing up Garrick's new room (another post as well!) so we can get him switched over, he can become accustomed to his big boy digs, and we can round up tiny baby gear at last in the nursery. Alex and I are both so excited that we have another boy joining us! It will also make it easier to prepare as we have mostly all we need for #2! We have a small registry on Amazon under Alex Guggenmos for anyone wondering what else we might be lacking. Less than 2 months until Due Date!


























Our main man Garrick continues to grow and change as well..it is hard to believe that he will be 2 in less than 1/2 a year!

Some stats about our 19 month old:

• Weighing in at 25.5 pounds, Garrick is in the 50th %ile for weight. For height he is below 25% but we can definitely tell he's shot up since turning one!
• Garrick is very spunky and always full of energy. He is almost always happy & inquisitive.  

• We have a fairly good eater on our hands. He can use a spoon/fork & small cup on his own. He certainly goes through phases of "favorite" foods where he will eat only that food for a period of time and then won't touch it again for weeks or months.  Right now his favorite food is raspberries, steak, and mac and cheese! 
• At 19 months he is suddenly able to get into EVERYTHING. As I mentioned, he is super inquisitive and one of his favorite things to do is open/close things, take stuff apart/put back together. He has figured out how to open doors, ice maker/water dispenser on fridge, bottles, lids on containers of all kinds, windows, and trying to work locks on doors too. 

opened hair gel put lots in hair

• It seems like he is learning a new word every week.  As of the last month he has started to excel verbally and is really trying to say new words daily. This week he started stringing together phrases "bye dad" "hi dad" "mama no no no" "it's a ball" "it's a car" 
• Which brings us to some favorites--balls!! and cars!!! He is very interested in mama cooking and daddy working with tools. He loves animals especially dogs and cats and is constantly giving Remmie big hugs and kisses. He loves baths too
• Favorite playtimes/New Adventures:  
• Garrick got the opportunity to swim at Grandma and Papa Guggenmos's house a few times this summer and absolutely loved it. He would swim and go down the slide for hours. We did go to the "big pool" a handful of times too but had a tendency to be a little timid.
• Going to the park is always a favorite. We have been to practically every park in Morningside and he loves to explore them, swing, and go down the slide. He has lost almost all fear of slides. This summer he has definitely advanced his abilities of climbing, running, etc, he can even climb up a rope ladder on his own to my amazement. 
• He loves to be outdoors and play in the dirt/rocks or gather sticks & leaves.  We have started taking walks down to Cedar St where he recently discovered crunchy fall leaves for the first time. He and I enjoyed kicking them around running through them. 
• He attended his first carnival at Calf Show Days in Schleswig and every ride was a hit!! He enjoyed the carousel, car ride, and monkey maze.   

Finally..Do your kids ever do weird things? I suppose the answer to that question is a resounding "yes;" but sometimes you wonder!! Even as I sit here typing, Garrick is eating peanut butter toast. Suddenly he starts to throw a fit because he's realized his hands are covered in PB and doesn't relax until I get him a napkin to wipe his hands periodically as he eats.  Odd, indeed...made moreso by the fact that this is the 4th time in a week he's done this while eating. So I google "does my one year old have OCD"...oh boy. Any of your kiddos act strangely at this age?

New Blog Website

I made another blog in which to incorporate a bit more of our life in a more share-able manner as opposed to a family-only photo share blog. Check out the first post at:

https://messykitchenmamablog.wordpress.com

You also may have noticed we re-named this blog page. "The life of a [singular] (baby) G" is no longer really applicable as that baby is growing up and another one is entering the picture shortly...So our blog has been renamed GuggenMinnies as a tribute to our two Miniature Guggenmos boys.

How I Accomplish Anything

Surviving the day-to-every-day with a one year old means there is a good chance I will accomplish capital "N" nothing. Which equates to piles of dirty dishes and clothes, dog hair everywhere, and bills unpaid. While some days, these tasks remain unaccomplished, there are a few tricks I employ to achieve a (mostly) clean house, thus maintaining (a semblance of) sanity.

1.) Put The Shadow to Work
Garrick follows me into every room (even the bathroom) so if I am trying to do any various task, I employ his capabilities. "Throw the diaper in the garbage," "Hold the watering can," "Wipe the table," "Put the toys in the basket," "Turn off the light," "Turn the vacuum on," "Open the box," "Close the door," etc.

2.) Snacks
Often when this tactic is used, it feels like taking 1/2 step back to gain 1 step forward, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I absolutely cannot get the computer out to pay bills or order diapers, without Garrick acting like a moth to the flame and trying to press smack every key on the keyboard. Occasionally this means getting out the cheerios or crackers and letting him snack in the living room while I quickly get down to business...& then we vacuum. again.

3.) Allow for Little Messes (sensory exploration)
Lately, Garrick has been very interested in water play. Last week I managed to get completely ready (including makeup and hair curled!) once and make brunch a second time (hash browns, bacon, fried chicken, eggs, even homemade cream sauce!!) while he stood on a step stool at the sink and ran his hands through the water stream.  In the kitchen we added two plastic serving spoons to the mix and in the bathroom, two clean contact cases. Wiping up a little water was worthwhile to have a fabulous hairdo/brunch.

4.) Rocks, Trash, and Other Bits
Garrick does like his toys but prefers for me me to interact with or near him while he plays.  In order for him to be fully engaged independently, the experience must be new. A few medium sized rocks, some clean food containers, plastic cups, toilet paper rolls, etc can make interesting playthings that he will sometimes sort and fiddle with for a period of time long enough for me to get through an entire task, like folding laundry, with little interruption.

Any tips/tricks that you used at this age to occupy a demanding busy body?

June Happenings 2015

Strawberry Picking Adventure

We headed to Sanborn, IA to Getting's Gardens to pick fresh strawberries with my parents. We ended up picking about 24 pounds of berries! Garrick liked to help his Grandma Sailer throw strawberries into the box and try to pick the stems off, resulting in very juicy hands!! They also had a petting zoo at the facility, and after viewing the animals we traveled to visit my Grandmother Joyce. 

Very juicy hands

Sheep!

Grandpa Sailer reading Garrick his favorite book

Snuggling with Grandma Joyce after an outfit change

Visit from Addie

Garrick was excited for his cousin Addie to come over and play all day. The two of them snuggled on the couch, played with so many toys, colored, and read every book. Garrick loved having a big kid to chase him, "share" toys with, and tackle! 

Gender Reveal...Almost!!

On Monday we discovered the gender of Baby G2! Coming to a mailbox near you:

The guesses have been overwhelmingly in favor of "little lady" with the majority of people assuming we will be having a girl! Cast your final votes and soon the answer will be revealed! Isn't this fun?!