T&T

Watching the train wreck that is toddlers and tiaras has confirmed one parenting decision: there is nothing wrong in disciplining your children. If my child trys to cuss, yell, hit or bite me ohh heck no. Not promoting beating your children but I think there is a limit to "talking to them gently." BONUS: very happy that Evelyn got rid of the pacier. Oh and why does everyone seem to give there kid a stripper name?

Also some things have happened this week that reminded me I made the right decision to change my job. My heart goes out to a bad-a** nurse that I used to work with, you are an AMAZING person and fantastic nurse. Don't you dare think for a minute that you are not.

Been A While

My goodness it has been quite a while since I updated. James and I are now the proud parents of an almost 8month old! Evelyn has changed so much lately and each day seems to bring something new. She is sitting up on her own and we are working to prevent "face-plant" when she decides she wants to be on her belly. The last couple of times it has gone much better. She loves to roll and roll and roll and roll some more. I do not think crawling is far off in her repertoire based on how fast she turns around and around while on her belly. James and I have started being mean and putting toys just out of reach, she is able to back-up great, move forward not so much. Evelyn is talking and laughing all the time, such a happy baby; James and I are truly blessed. 


Evelyn is growing right on track, 50% in height, weight and length at each visit. James and I like to joke about our 'average' child. We survived our 1st double ear infection, it was AWFUL for mom, dad and kiddo. Hopefully we will not have to another one for quite a while. Evelyn has her 2 bottom teeth in and we think she is working on the upper 2 now. EVERYTHING goes into her mouth!

Evelyn is eating everything in sight, we tried tortillas last night at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. She likes yogurt, avocado, sweet potatoes, black beans, peas, green beans, bananas, applesauce, puffs, carrots, butternut squash... the list goes on and on. James and I are trying to figure out types of finger foods for her to try. I LOVE making baby food and have created some fun creations for her to try next. Although I think we are going to have to invest in the little self-feeder things, b/c E gets impatient when she can not feed herself. James and I were the last to know that she can hold her bottle on her own, (apparently she has been doing this at daycare for "quite a while" according to her teachers, little sneak!) 

Had a great visit with all the Michigan great-aunties for Ginny's deb ball. Aunt Katy was in town and watched Evelyn A LOT, which helped mom and dad out quite a bit! Evelyn got to play with her cousin Jay and Kat and I took the kiddos out to visit Bamma and Peepa (Jay and Evelyn's great grandparents). It was a really fun visit, got to see Uncle Ted and Aunt Jane. We did get to drive through the big storm that hit Dallas though on the way home, we did not see any tornadoes but it was a little scary for a bit. Jay held Evelyn's hand on the ride home which was super cute. 

Busy times in the Gerstmann household. We have sold our house, set to close on April 27th! We are also in the process of buying a new house, set to close on that one May 7th! In the midst of everything I decided to leave Presbyterian Hospital ICU and start a job in the PACU at Forest Park Medical Center. I think we currently have 4 out 5 of the most stressful things going on in our lives right now!

My oh my

Boy does time fly! Evelyn is 4 1/2 months old now, I can hardly believe it. Our little girl is almost twice the size she was when she was born!! Long and lean is what the doc calls her, totally average for everything but height. Evelyn decided to start sleeping through the night a little before Christmas and has stuck to it, James and I are thrilled. She has yet to catch her 1st cold but we are patiently waiting. She had a great time during her 1st day of daycare, they even had to wake her up to give her one of her feedings. I think she enjoys all the new sights and sounds that daycare provides. I have started walking with her in the stroller so she can look out at things, which she really likes (put the snuzzler in it so she doesn't fall to the side.) Usually when she is cranky she is either tired or hungry, which are both quick fixes. All in all month 4 has been WAY better than months 1-3.

Getting ready for bath time

Given up the pacey for our thumb :/

Sadly James's grandmother passed shortly before Christmas. Even though it is comforting to know she is at peace, it made the holidays a little bittersweet for the Gerstmann family. We all traveled down to Austin for the funeral and I think Evelyn helped lighten the mood at times.It did given James, Evelyn and I the chance to see some family around the holiday season that we had not expected to see, so that was very nice.

We think Evelyn enjoyed her 1st Christmas, she slept through most of it. Christmas day she decided to take almost a 4 hour nap during the gift opening. We are very blessed to have such wonderful families and it was a lovely Christmas. Only minor issue was when Evelyn decided it would be really fun to blow raspberries (a new habit she is perfecting daily) during the church service. We also missed seeing the Gerstmanns and Marcus.

Next month we might be starting rice cereal, YUM! Evelyn seems content with the formula now, so doc said there is no rush to start the feedings. I am sure the photo sessions of those 1st few feedings will be very interesting! Keep posted for details.