Baptism Day

Lily Ann was baptized on November 12th at Nativity of Our Lord parish in Green Bay. She was one of eight babies being baptised and we thought she was the cutest :)

Lily was great during mass and didn't cry once during the baptism. She was a little startled when some strange man poured water over her head, but she didn't shed a tear. We're so proud to bring our daughter into the church, and we're excited to raise her to know God.

Solid Foods?

We started Lily on her very first solid food last Saturday: Rice Cereal. For those of you who are like my brother, let me clear up some confusion: rice cereal is not like Rice Krispies. It's a box of flakes made from rice. When those flakes are mixed with milk it becomes like a very runny oatmeal.

When we first put Lily in the highchair and put the bib on, she began to protest and we thought that we'd have to put the cereal away and try again in a week or two. But once we started feeding her, she couldn't seem to get enough! She's been eating cereal once a day ever since. Enjoy the cute pictures of her first try at solids.

Lily's First Halloween

We didn't do much trick-or-treating this year, but Lily looked great! If you can't tell, Geoff and I are Black Eyed Peas. :)

Lily and Grandpa: Two Packer Fans! Bill's costume even scared me!

A Trip to MN

I know I'm really behind, but our friends Nick and Karin got married over Halloween weekend. We left De Pere late Thursday night and got to Dave's around midnight, and on Friday we stopped at General Mills and Oak Grove Middle to see some old friends.

About an hour before we needed to leave for the wedding on Saturday, Geoff decided he wanted to buy a car. In typical Geoff style he waited until the last minute, but still got the best deal around. We drove our new Saturn Ion to the wedding and made it just in time.

After the ceremony we dropped Lily off with a babysitter: Deacon Darrel and his wife Chris. We partied it up at the wedding for a few hours, got to see all our old friends in one place, and danced a little before we picked Lily up around 11:00.

Sunday morning we got to go to our old church again. Deacon Murphy is doing much better and was even in church! We miss St. John's so much and we're still searching for that type of parish here in De Pere. After church we had brunch with the General Mills crowd and headed home. It was a great weekend, but I think we're still trying to catch up on sleep!

Mad-Town

This weekend we took Lily on her first weekend away. On Friday night we drive to Madison and stayed in a hotel. We took Lily swimming for the first time and she seemed to love it! She was kicking and splashing and smiling a lot. On Satuday morning we got up and headed out to Lathrop Street (right across from the stadium) to hang out with Geoff's friends before the Badger game. Lily was great the whole time, not even a whimper! We didn't actually go to the game, but we got to see Weiss, Wyatt, and Paul and eat some really good hot dogs. Lily was also offered her first glass of beer :(

After meeting up with Geoff's friends we stopped by to see Brooke and then visited with Hank and Cindy. We left Madison late Saturday afternoon and got home just in time to put Lily to bed. All-in-all a great trip.

A New Packer Fan

Casino Night

Last Friday night Melodie and I set the guys to work setting up the projector in our basement while we hung signs, set out food, and laid out the cards. We had been planning for Casino Night at the "Lucky Lady Casino" for about three days, so it only took us about half an hour to get everything ready. Once we had JL and Mel's dining room looking like a real casino, we put on the casino uniforms we had designed ourselves and called the guys to "help us move a couch." They were completely surprised!

After the guys hit the buffet, bought their chips, and were seated at the table the drink cart came around. For the rest of the night we switched between Black Jack, Hold 'Em, Pai Gow, Seven Card Stud, Guts, and Screw Your Neighbor. The casino finally closed down around 12:30 am and both staff members went home with customers :)

Lily got a new mobile recently and absolutely loves it. We caught this adorable picture of her watching it, so we decided to submit it to photo contest.

If you have time, vote for Lily to win.

http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photocontest/vote?entry=148888

Thanks!Kristen and Geoff

Back To School...

Life just seems stranger and stranger as everyone gets ready to go back to school...except me. It's feeling pretty weird not setting up a classroom or mentally preparing for a new group of students. Sometimes I feel really sad about it, but all it takes to cheer me up is thinking about my new job.

Speaking of my new job: Lily is now a little over 2 months old. At her 2 month checkup she weighed in at 11 lbs., 15 oz. Sometimes I think she gets bigger overnight. We think she might be intolerant to dairy and so I've had absolutely no diary products for over a week now. She seems to be doing much better which is great, but I am craving milk and cheese. Do you have any idea how tough it is to cut cheese out in Wisconsin?


Lily turned two months on Geoff's 25th birthday, and for Geoff's birthday I had a surprise party planned. It wasn't going to be big, but he had NO idea it was coming. Then, the day before the party, he called from work to say that he got free tickets to the Packer game. He also wanted to tell me that they were for the Birdseye Foods SKYBOX!! His final piece of news: the game was the next night (his surprise party). Of course I said I would go with him, but I had to tell him the plans for the party. All-in-all I don't think either of us were too disappointed. We got to watch the Packers CREAM the Falcons 38-10 from a skybox and we had a non-surprise party for Geoff the next day.

Last but not least: JL and Mel and all three girls are happily residing next door. We love having them as neighbors. My brother, Kevin, started school this week and we couldn't be more excited for him. Finally, my friend Christine started teaching in Columbia (the country) after only a minor passport mishap :)

Well, that's all for this posting. Hopefully I'll get the next one out a little sooner!

Finally Settled!

Well, we survived the packers (no, not the football team), the movers, the drive to Green Bay with Lily strapped in for a five hour ride, and the movers again, and we are now settling in to our new house.

We were a little anxious to actually see the new place as we hadn't seen it in person until we moved in. J.L. and Melodie did the house hunting for us and they did an amazing job. We live in a duplex in East De Pere (the murder side as Geoff's dad says), and JL and Melodie and their three girls will be moving into the other side in September.

Lily is already a month old and is doing great! We just had her one month doctor visit and she weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz. She is in the 90th percentile for weight! We may not always know what's wrong when she cries, but at least we know she's getting enough to eat!

The grandparents and great grandparents have all gotten to meet her now. Jordan, Maya, and Emily (JL and Mel's girls) have gotten to meet her too. Jordan wants to know when Lily can come out and play :)

Lily Ann Zoeckler is Born!

Welcome the newest Zoeckler into the world!

Her name is Lily Ann Zoeckler and she was born in Minneapolis, MN on Tuesday, June 20th at 2:49pm. She weighed in at 8lbs 5oz and 20.5" long.

Everything has been going great so far. Kristen is feeling very well and I have been doing my part to change as many diapers as possible.

We truly feel blessed to have such a heathy, beautiful baby. Please keep Lily in your thoughts as we figure out this whole parenting thing.

Check it out!

I created a Blog site for us to host info about our new baby to share with everyone. We can add pictures too!