Happy Birthday, Phil!

On Saturday we celebrated Phil's 29th year on this earth! In the Gocke household, our favorite way to celebrate any occasion is by eating good food! So our morning started out with homemade Biscuits and Gravy. I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe and they turned out great! I'm not much of a pork eater, but I really enjoyed this gravy, even ate some of the leftovers the next day.

Here's the link to her recipe if you're interested: PW's Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

After breakfast, I needed to rest! Watching a 16 month old while trying to make a big breakfast really takes the energy out of a little prego! That's one thing that I've been doing a lot of lately, resting! There's plenty I could be doing around here, but I have just been getting so tired, especially in the afternoons. If I don't nap every day, then I'm at least laying down next to Evie while she watches a show on my iPad. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to rest during this pregnancy! Phil is so sweet, he's always encouraging me to rest and gets excited when I tell him that I napped earlier in the day... I've got a keeper!

So anyhoo... after we were rested and ready to go, we were hungry again and headed out to Famous Dave's for some BBQ, Phil's choice. It's funny the stark contrast between the restaurants that we go to for our birthdays: for Phil's birthday it's usually BBQ or a steak house, for my birthday it's sushi or a tea room!

The Birthday Boy with his feast

After lunch, we dropped our little munchkin off to her Aunt Dee's house so Phil and I could go see a movie together. We watched "42." It was the story of Jackie Robinson's first year in Major League Baseball in 1947. The movie itself was a bit on the cheesy side, but Robinson's story is so inspiring. He really did so much for our country during that awful time. Also, a side note, Harrison Ford played an old man in that movie and it was just plain weird. I'm not ready for Harrison to be old. Where's Hans?

At the Palace Theatre

After our movie we picked up our little pumpkin and headed to Andy's. You can't have a birthday in Springfield, MO without some Andy's! (I know... food again!) If you've come to visit us, chances are we've taken you to Andy's. Truth is, we're always looking for an excuse to go to Andy's. It's a locally owned frozen custard joint that is extremely popular here in the Ozarks. Toward the end of my pregnancy with Evie, we were eating Andy's at least once a week and Phil never complained about that!

That was our day of celebrating! Phil is such a wonderful man, I am so thankful that I married him... one of the best things I've ever done! I hope this year is a year of growth, blessing, and fulfillment for you, Phil! I love you!

Here are some pictures of our little cutie with her daddy. They're pretty special buddies.

 



Evie's always happier outside

 



 Oh, and before I sign off, I thought I'd post a prego picture. I'm 16 weeks in this shot. I'm definitely showing a lot sooner with this pregnancy... hopefully that doesn't mean I'll surpass my belly size from my first pregnancy... I was sooo big! I can't imagine being any bigger!

Week 16 with baby #2

This was week 16 of my pregnancy with Evie.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Happy Fourth!

Happy 4th of July! We hope you all had a wonderful day enjoying our freedom!

Today Phil had the day off, so he let me sleep in... unfortunately, Evie didn't get that memo! But, I was able to stay in bed as long as I wanted and Phil took care of breakfast duty, too. We had a really nice day of family time... we went "thrifting" in the morning, looking for a new dresser and a dryer, with no success, but it's always fun to look. Then we came home and ate lunch and rested! I was hoping to get a real nap in, but a few hours in comfy clothes just hanging out was sufficient. Then we went to our friends house, the Vigil's, for dinner. It was kind of like a work reunion, most of the members from our Student Development Department were there. They really are like family to us and it was so refreshing to see them! We decided against going to the fireworks since it's so late for Evie, but our house is very close to downtown, so we'll see if we can hear/see them from here... hopefully Evie will sleep right through them!

Evie's friends, Devon and Demi at the BBQ

The open air, Evie's favorite

Moving Day Evie

A water bottle was a great distraction for Evie on moving day

Without the cushions, Evie could easily climb on the couch


 

Moving into our new home was a lot of work! I think we're almost recovered... We moved in on Saturday and thank God it was a beautiful day, high in the mid-70s! Which is miraculous for Springfield this time of year! It was a looong day of loading and unpacking, (God bless the guys that helped us!) but by mid-afternoon all of our belongings were at our new home. Evie's room was the first to be unpacked (thanks to her Aunt Dee) and it was pretty much done that night. On Wednesday I mopped the floors, which to me meant our house was clean and finished (mostly!). Evie had a fever on Monday and Tuesday, so she spent most of the day in my arms. It was nice to snuggle her, but definitely wore on us both. She's getting used to our new house and today started playing independently again. She was pretty clingy, not wanting to be in a room by herself, but today she was getting into everything, which meant the old Evie was coming back! Here are some pictures of the progress on the new home:

Bathroom

Hallway from Dining Area

Kitchen! Cleaned and organized!!!

Dining Area

Our new washing machine!

Guest Bedroom... all ready for YOU!

Our front door, complete with a wreath from my Gram

View of far wall in Living room, my office area

Our Bedroom

Evie's room in progress

Living Room

We also received some great news this week from our Gocke family... Phil's brother, Steve, and his wife, Maria, will be able to pick up their son from Taiwan in two weeks! Steve and Maria have been walking (maybe felt like crawling at some points) through the adoption process for well over a year. At Thanksgiving they told us all that they had been matched with a sweet  little guy from Taiwan. In the spring they went over to Taiwan to meet Silas and now they're finally able to bring him home. We couldn't be more thrilled for them and cannot wait to snuggle that precious buddy!

Sweet Silas, 9 months old

Steve and Maria have worked so hard to go through this adoption debt free and Phil and I are so proud of their efforts and sacrifices. They have set up a "wishing quilt" where a virtual quilt square can be purchased and the purchaser can customize the square with good wishes to the baby and family. All of the proceeds will go toward bringing Silas home. There's certainly no pressure to contribute, but if you are interested, click on the link below to donate to Steve and Maria and sweet Silas: Wishing Quilt

Maria, Silas and Steve

Above all, please keep them in your prayers these next few weeks and months. Thank you!

 

I think I'm going to go snuggle next to my husband and watch a movie tonight! What a wonderful day and an exciting week! Again, Happy Fourth!

 


June at the Gocke's

Well hello and welcome to my blog! How fun is this?! My goal in starting this blog is that we (my friends and family) can feel more connected. What I miss most about living close to friends and family is the everyday, sharing life stuff. So, I'm going to share our lives here and will hopefully hear about you and your lives in the comments, an email, or even a phone call.
Before I get to the fun stuff (Evie pictures!) let's talk about commitment. I only plan on posting about once or twice a week, anything beyond that will be bonus and should not be expected as normal. :)

Our household is in a bit of disarray right now... we're moving! We are renting a house that is right across the street from where Phil works, which will make our one car situation much more workable. We have a truck reserved for this Saturday and a team of guys ready to help. Here are some pictures of our new place:

                                          Living Room

                                          Kitchen

                                                   Dining Area

                                                   Evie's Bedroom (ours looks identical, but slightly bigger)

                                                    Bathroom, pink tub included!

 

Bonus room above the garage

 



This house was really a gift from God. It met all of our criteria, plus had a lot of extras. We're so thankful! I will post "after" pictures as soon as we reach "after!"

 

Last week, Evie and I and my friend, Nicky, went to the zoo. It was free admission that day and was crazy (a zoo, literally and figuratively)! Not to mention very hot, so we didn't last too long. But we had a nice time and Evie enjoyed herself.

                                                   Hello Sunshine!

                                                    Ev trying to feed the donkey...She really liked him.

                                          Nicky and Evie

                                         The Giraffes... the best part of the zoo!

                                       

 

 

Let's see... On Father's Day we had a great time celebrating Phil! Evie helped him open his presents before church

And then after church we went to Adobe Restaurant... Phil's favorite place for wings! Then, we came home and we all took naps! It was beautiful! Then we went to a Springfield Cardinals Game that ended up being cancelled two hours after we got there due to the field being soaked from recent storms. (we left about an hour and a half after we got there to put someone to bed, but are able to use our ticket for a future game, so no loss). But, we still had the "baseball experience." We got ice cream, fried foods, got to people-watch, and hung out on the lawn. Even though there was no game, we still had a lot of fun!

For Father's Day, Evie also painted a special card for her Grandpas... She surprisingly did not enjoy the paint, but cooperated with mom and dad by plopping her painted hand onto the cards (and other places, too).

 

 

Well, that's all for now. In less than three weeks we'll be headed back to our native lands! We can't wait to see all of you! You'll definitely be hearing from me before then!