Baby Braden

Here's Braden Steven Jay Schutte.

Born at 9:05pm on Dec. 9th. 8lbs 6oz, 19 1/2in.







Gioia loves to be around Braden. Here a short video of her holding him.

Halloween/Thanksgiving Update

Finally, I got a chance to update this blog. Sorry for not doing it for a few months. Kim decided to go back to school to become a nurse, so she has been busy with that. She has been doing great with the pregnancy, up until this past week. The baby is starting to get her a little uncomfortable, which only means that it is getting really close for the big day (Dec. 15 is the due date). Gioia knows what a baby is from her dolls (and baby Austin). She will point to Kim's belly and say "Baby," so who knows if she really understands what is happening. We weren't too concerned about her being nice to the new baby up until this past week when she started to drag her dolls around the house by the leg and putting them in the car seat upside down. Hopefully she will be a little nicer when the real one comes......Here are some pictures and videos from the past couple months. Enjoy!


We went to a pumpkin patch that had a petting zoo. Gioia hated the big goats and chickens, but loved the bunnies and baby goat.




Gioia's Halloween outfit. She painted the one pumpkin with Mom and carved the other one with Dad. (It is pretty scary that anyone would wear anything with "Vikings" on it.)


Trick-or-Treat'n with Jon & Marti's Boys (Zach-Spiderman, Noah-Werewolf, Luke-Cowboy)




This is Andre Agassi's house. He decorated the front of his house like the ship from "Pirates of the Caribbean."




Gioia help cleaning the house to get ready for Christmas decorations.


We went to a park on Saturday that had a Christmas decorations, Santa Claus, and rides. She is not too enthused about Santa this year, so this statue was the best we could.




Gioia had concerns about riding the carousel, but feel in love with it by the time it by the end.


On Sunday, we went up to the mountains to go sledding for the first time.


She hated every second of it.


We hope all is going well you everyone. You'll definately be getting an update in the next few weeks when the new kid arrives. We are sad that we won't be able to make it back to Minnesota for Christmas this year. Kim's mom and dad will be coming to Vegas when the kid is born and Jay's whole family (mom, brothers, sister-in-laws, nieces & nephews) will be in Las Vegas between Christmas and New Years, so we will still be able to see most of our family for Christmas.

Baby update:)

Getting ready for the pool...

Summer time is here!!! Gioia loves being in the water. She'll start swimming lessons in August when we get back from MN!

And now...the first look at Baby Schutte #2...we had a 1st trimester screening on Friday and were able to see baby flipping and moving all around! The sonographer said the baby is a 'wild one.'

This picture is the baby looking at you (sideways) and waving:)

Profile picture...you can see the fingers and one leg if you look really close!

We go back for another screening to make sure things keep going well in August. See you all soon!

We went camping this past weekend up in the mountains with Jon, Marti, the boys and 3 other families. It was quite the weekend! With cold temperatures (35 degrees the first night) and Gioia and Jay getting sick, it made it a rough weekend for some of us.


Gioia and Kim got to head up to the campsite much earlier before anyone else could come up.


We hiked a trail leading to caves where the theives use to hide out in the old days after riding into Vegas to rob people.

Mommy wouldn't let Daddy climb any farther with Gioia on his back.

The boys playing in a snow pile between two rock walls. There were rock climbers climbing the wall on the right.

July 13th is when Gioia and Jay fly into Minnesota and will be there until August 1st. Kim will only be there the last few days of the trip, just in time for Jon and Marti's wedding.

Can't wait to see everyone!

Gioia's Birthday

We were discussing wedding plans!

From Aunt Jacqui & Uncle Jon R.

Swimming at Marti's house

Cousin Alayna and Grandma Schutte made a surprise visit for Gioia's Birthday weekend.

From Shelby & Mari Buhr

Checking out the new potty chair from Grandma & Grandpa Ruzicka.

Kim has been feeling good with the pregnancy. She is really enjoying taking long naps with Gioia on her days off....I have about 2-weeks left of school, then Daddy Daycare starts....All three of us can't wait to make our trip to MN in July. It looks like Gioia & I will be back for a couple weeks before Jon's wedding. We haven't figured out the exact dates yet, but looks like it will be a longer visit than normal....We are going camping in the mountains over Memorial Weekend. We'll see how long Gioia lasts sleeping in the tent.

Good News!!!

December 15th!!!

We are having Gioia's 1st Birthday Party on Sunday. We'll post more pictures next week.

Valpo Trip and Easter

We took a little trip to Indiana for my basketball team to participate in the National Lutheran Tournament at Valparaiso University the last weekend in March. This year, Kim was able to come along for the first time. My Mom and Tyler (nephew) met us there. Here are some pictures of the trip as well as some from Easter.

Tyler during our first game against a school from Wisconsin. We went 2-2 in the tournament, with our last game against Trinity - Waconia, MN.

Tyler and Gioia had a great time playing with each other for 4 days.

Grandma and the kids hanging out in the hotel room. Kim and Grandma got Gioia to take her first couple steps in the hotel room.

Once the games were done, it was time to wrestle.

Gioia eventually won by taking down Tyler.

This is one of the few moments Gioia was in a good mood during the week of Easter. She is having a real tough time with her top front teeth coming in.

In April, my Uncle Mark & Aunt Kari are visiting during the middle of the month. We are planning on going with them to the Grand Canyon. We will be wrapping up the month with Gioia's birthday......I am not coaching baseball this year, so I'll be having a pretty relaxing spring.

March 2010

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since we've updated Gioia's blog! We've been busy with Jay's basketball team, saying bon voyage to the Vikings super bowl hopes, and enjoying family visiting! Phil came out for his annual golf trip February 19-22nd. We were able to enjoy some time with him when he wasn't busy on the course. February 26th, we drove out to San Diego to visit some MN Schutte's! Great-Grandma Schutte, Gloria, Paul and LuAnn were there visiting. We viewed the new school and celebrated Connie and Joanna's birthday with Oliver and Pat's family who are always fun! Paul and LuAnn traveled back with us to Las Vegas to spend some time at the tables...at least that was the plan.

Grandma Ruzicka and Aunt Jacqui visited for a week during their spring break. Jacqui got her 1st experience with Vegas and can't wait to come back while Grandma 'pushed' mom and dad out of the way and got her fun with Gioia:)

Can't wait to be back to MN this summer (a new baby to meet and wedding to celebrate)!!!

We're traveling to Indiana on March 25th for Jay's basketball tournament. We are going to meet Grandma Schutte & Cousin Tyler there.

Gioia is 10 months old now and of course wanting to learn about everything! She is very attentive and active! Although it dosen't show by her petite body, she is very strong, trying to get out of her crib, into/out of the bathtub and pulling herself up to stand. Soon, she'll be taking off with out help. Enjoy these pictures and the video at the end...Gioia's newest milestone!!!


I really like walking up the steps...not so much down though.




Grandma Ruzicka and Jacqui can't believe how big I've gotten.

We took a drive down to the Hoover Dam. The new bridge is almost complete....yes there is a window behind her:)

Gioia not really into pictures today.

I'm eating all normal food now. Enjoying some pasta with mom and dad. It always tastes better when they eat some first. I'm more interested in wearing this particular dish:)