Christmas and the New Year

Wow...ok, so it seems like forever since I've posted. Between 5 family Christmas's we found ourselves to be quite busy over the past couple weeks. We had such a wonderful time though...it was great getting to see all of our family and celebrating the real meaning of CHRISTmas with loved ones!

This was Kaden's first Christmas which was pretty special. Many of our relatives had not met him yet, so that was fun. This was also the first Christmas that Kaelyn really got into opening gifts. The excitement on her face as she opened each one was priceless! She woke up yesterday morning and said "I'm happy. Time to open presents, Santa's here". We had to explain to her that "Santa" already came and would not be back until next year. I'm glad she enjoyed the holiday so much though, that she's still talking about it. :) She and Kaden both received many wonderful gifts. Here are several pics from our time spent with family.

Going outside to play in the snow at Grammy and Grampa's

Kaelyn and her cousin Emry on the sled together

Kaelyn and Emry with their brothers (Kaden and Israel)
Israel and Kaden (cousins just 12 days apart in age)
My Family
My parents with the kids
Emry and Kaelyn waiting to open gifts
She was so excited!
Gift from Uncle Jake
She was thrilled about her new Minnie Mouse underwear :)The best Christmas present this year!!

Our BlessingsKaden

Our Family
She loves anything and everything to do with dolls...so this stroller was a HUGE hit!
One happy girl
Daddy's little Vikings Fan
One last picture. For those who know me, and/or follow this blog, you know that my twin brother and his wife have two sons....Emry who is 12 days younger than Kaelyn and Israel who is 12 days younger than Kaden. They were all born around the same time of year...so I thought this comparison of pictures was kind of fun. This is Emry and Kaelyn at Christmas 2007 and Israel and Kaden at Christmas this year.

This week also marked Kaden's 5 week birthday. I can't believe he's already over a month old! Even though Kaelyn was this age just two years ago....I forgot how fast the time goes. We had his one month appointment on Monday and I could not believe how big he is already. He went from 7 1bs 14 oz and 21 inches at birth to now 11 lbs 7 oz and 22 1/4 inches!! WOW! Our little boy is growing right before our eyes. I'm glad he's growing and such a healthy little guy...but part of me was a little sad to know that he's no longer that 'newborn' we brought home from the hospital. That stage goes SO fast! I already have put away all his newborn clothes and he no longer fits in newborn diapers. Where does the time go?! At three weeks he rolled over from his tummy to his back and is now working on mastering rolling from his back to his tummy. He's already a little boy on the move. It's been fun watching him as he becomes more attentive, we've even gotten a little smirk here and there and it makes my heart melt. Big sister is still loving her little brother and is always asking to hold him. Here is a pic of our growing little peanut....


Tomorrow we will be ringing in the new year with my parents and brother. They are coming up to stay and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm sure we'll eat lots of yummy food and play some really fun games! Speaking of which, a little side note here...one game I received for Christmas was Marble Pursuit. It's a super fun game we've played as a family for a few years now at family get-togethers and now I have my very own board. I can't wait to play it tomorrow. If you've never heard of it, or are looking for a fun family game, you can check it out here. Anyways...as 2009 comes to an end and I reflect on it...I have to say the one word that comes to mind is blessed. I feel incredibly blessed and have so much to be thankful for. This time last year we did not know that we would be adding a fourth member to our family. That in itself has made our year truly amazing. Kaden is so wonderful. He's such a sweet little guy and we feel so lucky to have been chosen as his parents. Kaelyn is our little sweetie and to have her as our daughter is pure joy! We look forward to 2010 and all that the Lord has for us.

I doubt I will be back to post before the New Year....so to all who read here, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year!

Catching up...

It's been a little while since I posted, so I thought I'd catch you up on what's been going on with the Gaskill's.... :)

After all the snow last week and being confined to the house for the most part, the kids and I were more than ready to get out and do something this weekend. Scott and I had a little more Christmas shopping to do, so we decided to take the day on Saturday and head up to Mankato. It was cold, but a beautiful day to be out and about. We had a wonderful time and finally finished up our shopping. One thing we are realizing more and more each time we go out with the kids is how much longer everything takes...haha. :) I remember when we had Kaelyn we always said how much longer it took us to get from one place to another now that we had a third person to get ready in the morning. Now...having a fourth has made things even more interesting. Just getting in and out of the car and everyone situated is quite time consuming. It was a great day though, and the kids did fantastic! :)

Here's a pic of me with my babies before we left to go shopping....

Other than that we took it easy this weekend. It will be the last weekend for the next three weeks or so that we had nothing going on. Next weekend begins our many Christmas get togethers with family which I'm really excited about. :) Many of them have not met Kaden yet, so that will be fun to introduce him to them as well.

I'll leave you with a couple of pics from the past week (including our Christmas picture of the kids for 2009)....

Christmas Pic 2009

Our New Nephew

Time has kind of gotten away from me over the past couple of weeks. We have been so busy adjusting to life as a family of four and falling more and more in love with the newest addition to our family. :)

I wanted to update quick with a fun addition to what some would consider kind of a crazy story regarding my twin brother and I. :) As many of you know, I have a twin brother Josh. Obviously we have had to share a lot of things over the years...birthdays, high school graduation, even friends. Most would consider this to be fairly normal, but over the years our story becomes more and more unique. Once graduating high school we both ended up going to the same college...graduating the same year. Our weddings were just 8 days apart and our first children were born just 12 days apart. Like most, we thought the chances of having our children that close together again would be rare. However, back in March when Josh and his wife called to tell us they were pregnant again...we had the very same news. The story got even crazier this past weekend when their second baby was born...get this...just 12 days after Kaden!! We thought that was pretty neat. :)

Josh with his son Israel, and me with Kaden

Me and Israel

We had the chance to go down to Cedar Falls and meet our new little nephew. Israel Michael Sankey is such a sweetie. I can't wait for he and Kaden to grow up together...I know they will be great friends, just like Emry and Kaelyn are. :)