The Buerglers

It's been about six weeks since I seriously blogged. I am okay with it. I needed a break. I needed to spend time laying on the floor playing with my baby. I needed to spend time NOT reading other people's blogs and comparing myself to them. I needed to spend time building a website for our youth group. I needed to spend time preparing myself for the up coming Confirmation season. I needed to spend time supporting my husband through a systematic company staff reduction (aka he's getting laid off in November). I've also been taking care of me.  Setting a bed time and sticking to it. Sneaking in bits of cardio here and there.  Being more intentional in what and how much I eat.  Not taking naps.  Not spending the whole day surfing the internet, but reading books. I've been battling a bit of "back to Confirmation" anxiety.  Sleepless nights.  Heart palpitations. Happens every year as I get the year rolling.  New parents. New kids.  New drama...

Measurements: Weight: ~ 24 lbs Length/Height: ~28 inches   Eats: 3 solid meals & a snack each day:   purees, finger foods, 30-32oz forumla Diapers: no change Clothes: 12 and 12-18 months, 18 months in sleepers Firsts for Evie new foods: cottage cheese, mac & cheese, pork, whole peas, combination purees July 12 - Johnny Jump Up! July 16 - bought big kid toys July 20-21 - Full weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's August 2 - Trip to Catch Air Milestones Out grown many of her "baby" toys - took a trip to Toys R Us to get a few carefully chosen toys for Evie to play with Graduated to stage 3 purees and does really well feeding herself solids Does great in the bath tub and would play for hours if we'd let her Still not crawling but she gets around sideways, backways, reaching Super chatty, talks to her self, her toys, or us all the time Spent a day or two clicking her tongue Blows raspberries Says things like, ...

Measurements: Weight: My Dad and I both weighed in with her at 22lbs Length/Height: 28+ (guessing) Eats: about the same as last month Diapers: Size 3 disposables, unsnapped in all cloth Clothes: a solid 12 months in everything Firsts for Evie new foods: mangos, avocados peaches, plums, chicken, egg yolks, puffs, cheerios June 10 - New Carseat, though she can technically still fit in her old one June 12 - laughed at someone without being tickled June 13 - started experimenting with going from sitting to laying June 17 - Father's Day June 23 - first bike ride   June 29 - first sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa B (aka G. Daddy) June 30 - met the last of my cousins on my mom's side July 4 - First Fourth of July! and first Waffle House! July 6 - crawled off our bed *sad face* Milestones This girl has a pincer grasp like no other. And can self feed a variety of solids.   Puts together syllables of things, like "jajajaja"...

Some of you  know that after I had Evie I had terrible post partum depression and anxiety.  I took my medicine for the prescribed 5 months and took the sixth month to ween off of it.  As anyone who truly has depression will tell you, the medicine just helps you get back to life, not be euphoric or on a high all the time.  It certainly did it's job.  I was back to exercising, enjoying work, out and about, and focused on getting things done around the house.  I had even stopped having the horrible nightmares about epic  tragedies. The weening process was rough, and I did it the same time I stopped pumping.  I am still not sure why I did that at the same time. Talk about a horrible chemical / hormonal mess.  It was.  There were some days I was so dizzy I couldn't get out of bed. Anyway, that was three months ago.  Things were fine, or so I thought.   All of the sudden I got on the scale and I had gained about 8 pounds. ...

A mom in my playgroup occasionally reads my blog, or sees pictures on Facebook or something.  Her sister was looking for something a little better than point-and-shoot pictures of her two month old, her fourth boy.  Somehow they thought of me. I was both scared and excited at the opportunity. I decided to jump on the chance. Practice makes perfect, right? Baby T. was adorable, though two month olds are particularly challenging to photograph.  They aren't the scrunchy, soft, brand-new newborns, and they're not full of smiles like a four month old.  But I did my best. The mom's simple request: photos for the birth announcement, Facebook, and the baby book.  Nothing too fancy. Here are a few of my favorites. What do you think?