Evan and Emily

Monday, June 14, 2010

What We've Been Up To

I haven't been able to blog as much recently as I would like, but want to thank everyone for their positive comments and feedback on how much you are enjoying our family blog! It keeps me motivated to keep sharing...which isn't too tough!

Like everyone, we have had a busy last couple of months, but definitely some memorable and noteworthy things to share. This post will be a bit of a potpourri of events and stories, so hopefully you enjoy!

April seemed to come and go in a fury, but definitely highlighted for Evan and I with our short get-away to Dallas. Evan had to attend a work conference there and graciously invited me to attend with him, and I eagerly obliged. Grandma and Papa Chocolate (the Forman girls had trouble saying "Gottschalk", to them it sounded more like "chocolate", hence the moniker) willingly agreed to keep Jane for a couple of days. We headed to Dallas and were met with thunderstorms and rain for nearly the entire time we were there! Not quite what we were expecting, but we still enjoyed ourselves; we went to a couple of movies, did some shopping, relaxed, went out to eat, and enjoyed the break for a little a bit. Of course, we were ready to come home to see how everyone survived. Jane seemed well rested....but I'm not sure about her caretakers!

May came and we were very excited for Grandma and Grandpa Gottschalk to head back to Rochester from their winter spent in Florida. I think they, too, were a little excited to come back and meet their newest little Rochester neighbor!

I also enjoyed my very 1st Mother's Day this year! Even though we had to spend some time on water damage control in our basement, I still enjoyed being with Evan and Jane. I was also invited to a Mother/Daughter banquet at Grace Church with Grandma Gottschalk, Mom Gottschalk, Leslie, and Jane - 4 generations of Gottschalk women in one space! We had a Gottschalk mini-reunion as well, men included, for dinner on Saturday evening before Mother's Day. It was great to see everyone and spend some time visiting.

Jane is obviously having a great time with her dance partner (Aunt Lana) who got cut out of this picture...sorry!

Dancing, again, but this time with Uncle Kyle. I mean, who dresses this chick?!

Still wanting to eat/gnaw on everything she comes in contact with...

The last few months we have been introducing Jane to all sorts of fun foods; watching her slowly test the taste, make faces, grunt for more, and of course, spit some out. So far, it is unanimous amongst all feeders that our little gal loves to eat from a spoon. She sees it coming and I think her jaw nearly unhinges and stays open. She also (like her mother) loves to comment on each bite....lots of "mmm's" and excited grunts (well, I don't actually grunt). It's been a lot of fun to try new things and continue to watch her grow!

A very big girl in her very big high chair. Very cool.

A lot of concentration and enjoyment when it comes to eating...in true Kubala/Gottschalk fashion

"Dad...you're embarassing me!"

Friday, May 28, 2010

1st Day on the Job

The Gottschalk family has been very busy lately, especially the littlest member. Jane decided she was ready for a part-time job, and wanted to try her hand at sales. Although it wasn't officially "Take Your Daughter to Work Day", Jane accompanied me on her 1st sales call last week. Perhaps I should provide some context....

I've been back to work now for a few months and have been enjoying showing off pictures and bragging about Jane with all my friends and customers. Specifically, I had sent an email to one of my surgeons, letting him know I was back from maternity leave and interested in connecting with him to show him some new products. As I was hoping, he was eager to meet with me and wrote back with instructions to set up a lunch meeting, and also bring Jane. Huh? Surely he meant bring pictures of Jane. So, I wrote him back and wanted to clarify that I would be there, but sans my little peanut. When I asked if he really wanted me to bring Jane, his only response was "Of course!"

So I consulted a few colleagues (and of course Evan) to see what I should do, and the decision was unanimous that I should take Jane with me. This might not seem like a big deal to brave mothers out there, but I was definitely a little gun-shy for a couple of reasons: 1. the hospital is over an hour away 2. Jane has been a "spitty" baby, and like other babies, somewhat unpredictable in new surroundings and 3. how would I ever manage carrying Jane, a diaper bag, and all my gear for showing my products. Whew.

Well, always up for a challenge, I scheduled the appointment and prayed for the best. I packed my car that morning, got myself ready, got Jane ready, and headed north. Jane slept the whole way there, and thanks to some clever packing, I was able to carry everything in myself. The receptionist led me to the hospital OR break room, and I walk in to a lot of blank stares and curious glances. I'm fairly certain most of the folks in there were wondering why a 5-month old baby was visiting today. I just kinda shyly chuckled and looked around for a familar face. After about 10 minutes of waiting, and Jane waking up wondering where she was, all of the heart team (Dr. Halloran is a heart surgeon) nurses walked in and immediately came over to see the baby. Forever the charmer with her huge eyes and long eyelashes, all the nurses were so excited to see Jane. Dr. Halloran was still operating, but apparently had been talking all morning about his expected visitor! I couldn't believe it - I asked one his assistants if he was a grandpa and just enjoyed babies, and she responded "Heavens no, he just absolutely loves babies"! I really started praying at that point that Jane would behave (she started getting fussy) and that he would enjoy her company.

Well, I need not worry any longer. Dr. Halloran walked in, eyes seeking his littlest visitor and stopped dead in his tracks. This was his response (in the most dramatic way you can possibly imagine): "Wow. Wow. Let me have her". No joke! And he proceeds to take Jane out of a nurse's arms and immediately starts hugging her, playing with her, throwing her in the air, etc. He squeezed her what seemed like a million times, and said over and over how much he loved babies and begged his wife to have more kids! It was so fun and refreshing to see him in this different light, and to show Jane off to everyone! When it was time to actually talk about business, Jane newest best friend Sue, snatched her from me and walked her all around the OR while I spoke with Dr. Halloran. She came back in after about 10 minutes, with a fussy Jane, and stated "I think Jane is tired of Sue". It was perfect timing because we were finished talking and I was ready to make the trek home. All in all, the day went great, and for those that were wondering, yes, Jane did "make the sale" and is considering a career in her mother's footsteps, although she is still waiting for her commission check! :)

Here are some pictures of her first day

Jane with her #1 fan, Sue

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

4 Months Old

We are happy to report that Jane received a clean bill of health on her 4-month doctor's visit on Monday! She continues to be "off the charts" in her length, measuring a tad shy of 26 inches long, and maintains a steady weight of 13 lbs 6 oz. The doctor just scratches his head when showing us her height to weight ratio chart, as Jane's stats are literally nowhere to be found on any chart. He just laughs and tells us she is growing in the length direction instead of the width direction!

We are happy that Jane is healthy and seems to be developing well. She loves to move around and we anticipate a crawler here shortly, if she can just figure out how to get those elbows moving! We are going to try to introduce cereal soon, which I'm sure will result in some potentially funny pictures as well.

In honor of her 4-month birthday, I thought I would post some pictures of Jane's favorite things...

Jane loves sitting in her Bumbo seat; although she tries to squirm out of it at times

With the nicer weather recently, we took Jane on her first stroller ride. Clearly, she enjoyed herself thoroughly.

She loves this star play thingy; it has paper inside so it makes a crunching noise every time she touches it. Who knew babies loved tissue paper so much?

Jane just chilling in her bath. She enjoys all things spa-like; bathing, lotioning, massaging, etc. Greeeeeaaat.

She LOVES this horse blanket thingy. She chews on it's ears and waves her arms around whenever she sees it. Its amazing what can occupy a baby's attention. And, if you look closely, you can start to see a slight roll on her inner thigh. I said slight.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter here in Rochester last weekend. We only snapped a few photos, but they sure were cute!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Overdue Posts

Well, much to our dismay, it has been over a month since we have last posted! However, we have been continuing to take pictures and enjoying watching Jane learn all sorts of new things. We have been very busy as well - we traveled down to Nky the last weekend of February for Jane's baptism. It was a great day and we were so thankful for everyone who attended to make Jane's special day even more memorable. A few short weeks later, we got a surprise call from the Forman family who informed us they were coming into town for a few days for Spring Break! We were so excited, of course, to see all of them, but especially to meet our new nephew Jackson for the 1st time. He was only about a month old and absolutely adorable. It was fun to have them around Rochester for a few days and we can't wait to see them again. Jane is so lucky to be "sandwiched" between 2 cousins - we hope Keegan and Jackson will take care of her!

We have recently been enjoying the warmer weather and are eager for more time outside. Hopefully things will slow down a bit and we'll be able to post on a more consistent basis....but I wouldn't hold your breath!

All the pictures from end of February and beginning of March are below - ENJOY!