Dad's Race

Here is Cassidy at two months! She had a doctor's appointment on her two month birthday...ugh shots! She did very well with shots, just a little screaming and out of it that day, but tylenol helped. We are happy to report that she gained another pound and a half and grew 2 and 1/4 inches. Which puts her at 10 pounds 8 ounces and 22 3/4 inches long. She remains in the 50th percentile for weight but went up to the 75th percentile for height (looks like she might be taking after daddy in that department).
Brian has been enjoying running and this last weekend completed his first race a 5K to support St. Anne's School. He's now preparing for his first 10K at the end of October. Here is pre-race with a sleepy Cassidy (her shirt says Daddy's Team).
Being the scrapbooking wife I am I got some pictures at the starting line, then found a spot along the route to get some more pics and finally made it to the finish line to capture those moments too. Cassidy slept while I took pictures, it was just too much for her.
Finishing the race strong. It was a yucky, drizzly day, but Brian assured me that was good running weather. Brian ran it in 24 minutes and 15 seconds. Not bad for his first race.
Cassidy was able to see her cousins over the weekend as well since we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law Chris who is expecting the end of October. We'll have to take another picture once the new baby comes. Ellie (age 12) is holding Cassidy. Isaac (4) is sitting in the middle and Carly (16 months) is on the right. It was difficult to get the middle two to cooperate, as Ellie and Cassidy sat nicely we snapped as many pictures as we could to get a good one of the other two mover and shakers.
Today, Cassidy and I went to visit our day care lady, Ms. Keisha. They had not yet met, so we figured with only a week and half before my return to work full-time we better go visit. We got to meet the other kids too. Cassidy is going to be one of only 2 girls in the entire day care, with many little boys around a year older....oh no here come the boyfriends! We're excited for Cassidy to be going there and we'll be stopping by again next week to take her supplies over there before the big first day! I was glad she was happy and gave Ms. Keisha lots of smiles and enjoyed checking out the other little kids, who of course all loved her, especially the only other girl, Emily a 5 year old. She thought Cassidy was very cool.
Well that's it for now!

Cassidy's Baptism

We are happy to report we successfully made it through Baptism. There was a bit of confusion at the beginning. They only had down that three were being baptized and of course Cassidy was the one left out. It all worked out and in the end she got baptized, we just need to get her certificate later, not a big deal at all. So yesterday Cassidy along with three other little girls got baptized.
We are thankful so many friends and family could make it to the day especially since everyone had to drive to DeKalb. Cassidy was baptized at our church, Christ the Teacher Parish (it's the church on the university campus)

The family after Cassidy's Baptism (she wore the same gown I wore that has been in the family for generations)
Grandma and Granpa Gerken with a not so happy Cassidy (she was great throughout mass, then Baptism was another story, she was a little hungry and a lot tired-not a good combination)
Gram and Baka Kitson
The Godparents-Brett (Brian's brother) and Jenni (my sister)
Fr. Godwin wasd the priest, he's one of our favorites. Moments before this picture she was sleeping so I said as I handed her to him that I hoped she wouldn't cry since she cried through most of the Baptism. He said well if she does I'll just pour some more water on her head. He's such a funny guy.
This was her look most of Baptism-both parents trying to calm her. The pacifier did help some.


After the Baptism we headed back to our house for some lunch, fun and the Bears game. Cassidy did not have a good nap all day, but Ellie and Allison definitely tried. They read her several books in her room. I see a definite possibility of babysitters in these two. She was so tired after her big day that she went to bed at 7:00 p.m. and with only one middle of the night wake-up at 12:45 for food we feel blessed.

This week we have the dreaded 2 month appointment and shots, then we're headed to Dixon for the weekend.

A trip to the apple orchard

We have taken more cute pictures so we figured we'd share. Cassidy is beginning to like the Bumbo seat a little bit more. She looks very into her television program here.
Every year we go to a wonderful apple orchard and pumpkin farm in a small town a few miles from us called Jonomac Orchard. It's a great place and we were so excited to introduce Cassidy to a family tradition. We had great plans to have Brian carry her in the baby Bjorn, but go figure we forgot a hat and it was very sunny out. We decided to brave the grass with the stroller and it worked out just fine especially since she really wanted to sleep. We were able to find a Cassidy sized apple and she even woke up for one picture with it.
Brian is studying the apple orchard picking chart so we knew which apples were good for baking and which for snacking. He enjoys making homemade applesauce and it is yummy. We'll be serving some at Cassidy's baptism for any of you reading this that will be coming.
Here I am with Cassidy and our half peck of picked apples. I'm thinking next year she'll enjoy this family tradition a little bit more.
After a particularly crabby day (Cassidy's not ours) Cassidy did decide to have a better evening. She even laid in her crib and just relaxed for awhile. We had fun getting her to smile and it's nice to see she can enjoy laying in her crib and entertaining herself. She keeps lifting up her hips trying to figure out how to roll over. We think it's a long time coming, but it doesn't stop her from trying. She absolutely does not like being still Notice the receding hairline on our precious baby. Perhaps someday she'll get her hair back and if not, well we probably don't have to worry too much about boys coming around (hmmm this might not be bad).
Finally Cassidy has done something that looks like her mom. She has taken to sucking her thumb and occasionally her thumb and first finger (that's what I sucked as a child) while rubbing her hair. We believe she will be a thumb sucker and hair twirler just like me. It's absolutely adorable to see her find her thumb, suck it and rub her hair.

We hope you enjoyed the picture update and we'll have more after the Baptism on Sunday, it's Cassidy's big party. Let's cross our fingers she has a good day and gets enough sleep the night before.

Milestones

Well a lot has been happening here at the Gerken household since we last posted. Cassidy is now 6 weeks old (7 tomorrow) and is growing like a weed. We are happy to report that last week Wednesday we saw her first "social" smile. We are so excited because now it feels like we're performing for a captive audience rather than just being goofballs. She can be stingy with her smiles, but when you get one it's totally worth it. Last night my mom and dad came to babysit while we went to Baptism preparation class and again Cassidy was very stingy with her smiles. In fact Gram and Bakka didn't get one the whole time they watched her, but when we got back she started to half smile and then she did a little laugh (her first one). We all heard it and decided it was even better than a smile alone. Cassidy also did her first sleepover, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gerken's for Labor Day weekend. She is also doing very well at tummy time and can hold her head up remarkably well and is very alert when she's awake. Of course we think she's a genius!

We are still not getting too much sleep, but we're down to 2 nighttime wakeups which is ok and we're adjusting to less sleep. Last night we even got a 5 hour stretch (not normal) which we really appreciated. Brian is keeping busy with work and his running program, he's preparing for his first race a 10K the end of October. I am back to work one day a week and will return full-time on Columbus day. I also was given the ok to resume normal activity and even did a short run the other day and am doing workout videos-who knew it would feel so good to sweat!

And what you've all been waiting for.....more pictures!

Cassidy had such a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Gerken. They got to see lots of her smiles and they worked her hard during tummy time each day. While we were there we got to see Brian's baby book. Once I get a scanner I'll get pictures of his up here next to hers and there will be no question who she looks like.

Gram and Bakka came to babysit last night so we could go to Baptism class. We had dinner and then they spent quality time with Cassidy. It gave them the baby fix they needed.Great Grandma got to spend some time with Cassidy as well and she even got to see her awake for once.
Here is Cassidy at 6 weeks..note the same hat that she wore in the hospital on her beach vacation...now she looks a little less yellow than she did then.
Brian had his friends over for their monthly gaming session and Cassidy was introduced to the world of gaming and dice. As Brian says if he raises her right she's going to make some little nerd boy very happy someday.This same weekend she also got introduced to fantasy football drafts. What a weekend she had. All the gaming guys love her and take a turn holding her.
Brian took this great picture so he could have a picture of his girls for his desk at work. What a great shot!