Crazy month

Yes, I realize I have not posted in a month. It seems like we've been going non-stop. I will post more details soon but here are some highlights since my last post and recent pics of Evie.

1. We visited family in south Texas while Mat's family was here.
2. Evie started solids - cereal and fruit.
3. Mat's family left on September 2.
4. Mat went back to work and Evie started "school" on September 7.
5. Our sewer line backed up - moved in with some friends.

Yeah, #5 has not been fun. We are still dealing with it. Hopefully it will all be resolved by Monday. We are so thankful for our sweet friends, the Halls, for taking us in!

I think she was trying to grab the camera in this one.

This was at the park after her Baby Dedication at church.

This was last Saturday playing with Uncle Shane while we watched UT play Wyoming.

4 months old

Evie had her 4 month check up and shots today. Both of us took her this time so we could get the low down on introducing solids to her. Personally, I'm looking forward to it. The doctor was very pleased with her development and told her to stop growing so fast. She said, "You're doing things that some of my 6 month olds won't do." We are very proud of her.

In the last two months she gained almost 2 lbs and grew 2 inches. She is now 12 lbs 15 oz and 24 1/4 inches. Still petite but very strong. She is rolling all over the place. She can grab her toys and put them in her mouth. She likes it when we help her to stand up and is sitting up pretty well with support. She loves to sleep on her tummy and suck her thumb. Evie is very smiley and talkative. She likes to spit bubbles too. Such a joy to be with!

The many faces of Evie...





I know it has been a while since my last post. We have been very busy with some very important visitors. Nanny and Poppy (Mat's parents) arrived from Australia on August 2. Uncle Danny and Cousin Oscar arrived on the 6th. We have a house full! And we're having a ball! Aside from many trips to Walmart (Poppy's favorite store) and visits with our cousins in Richland Hills, the boys have been working very hard on retiling our bathroom. It looks wonderful. I'll post a photo when it is finished. Until then, enjoy these pics of our time together so far.


A Dusza Christmas


Evie loves her cousin Oscar

Random pics

Learning to hold her bottle

Laughing at Daddy

She isn't quite crawling but scoots herself along somehow.


(If you turn up the volume you can hear her talking to her toys)

At Home with Daddy

Now that I am back at work, Mat is taking paternity leave and staying at home with Evie. They have been having a great time. I asked Mat to share with everyone two of their recent activities.

Shredda! To introduce Evie to a unique experience, and to do some much needed shredding of papers, I filled Evie’s splash pool full of shredded paper with her in it. I placed Evie on her stomach, and placed handfuls of shredded paper in front of her. At first, she looked at it, then reached out to investigate the material before her. Before long she was scrunching it in her hands and trying to put it in her mouth but didn’t do that much after the first time. To further stimulate her senses, I "rained" the shredded paper on her head. Upon doing this, Evie would screw her face up in a pose that she was going to sneeze and then shake her head from side to side. It seemed like it was tickling her, but she didn’t mind it too much. This experience introduced her to a different material she had not investigated before. It enabled her to touch, taste and see further developing her sensory skills, creating awareness of sense of self, concreting a foundation for hand eye coordination and having fun doing it all at the same time.

Cold Spaghetti! Cold Spaghetti! We introduced Evie to a unique sensory experience. We placed Evie in her splash pool dressed down to the nappy, then filled her splash pool with spaghetti. This experience felt really weird to her and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Most of the activity was spent in quiet contemplation, watching all of us (mum, dad and friends Steve and Christie) watch her. We placed the spaghetti on her body and let her feel it on her hands and head. It weighed heavy on her head, that worked her neck and back muscles to keep her head up. It didn’t take long for the spaghetti to get cold so when we placed it on her back she became a little upset with that. When she was placed on her back, Evie’s attention was focused when I would compress the spaghetti on my hand, hold my hand above her and the spaghetti would slowly wiggle off. This playful activity stimulated Evie’s sensory discovery, sense of self, gross, fine motor and language development with the cold, squishy, wiggly and slimy spaghetti.

Back to work

Maternity leave ended last week. I started back to work last Wednesday. I was a bit weepy the night before and on my way to work, but the transition has gone well. I am plenty busy so that has helped a great deal. Evie is now staying home with Daddy while he is on paternity leave. Yep, he is taking leave until September. His parents, brother and nephew are coming to visit us next month so it works out nicely.

The last week of my maternity leave we took a trip to San Antonio and Victoria. Mat had a meeting in SA so Evie and I went with him. We did some shopping, had lunch with cousin Laura, and all of us had dinner on the Riverwalk. We visited my parents over the weekend and had a good visit. Evie had her first experience in a "big" pool. We went to Aunt Linda and Uncle Gary's house to go swimming. She loves the water but hates to get out and dry off.

Some new things Evie is doing at 3 months old:

She is a WILD sleeper. She is all over her bed. Recently she has started rolling over onto her tummy to sleep...with thumb in her mouth.

She smiles and "talks" alot. I think she has the prettiest smile in the whole world. Complete with two dimples like her Daddy.

We have cut back to 5 feedings in a day. She usually takes about 5 oz. Her last meal is around 7:45pm and usually goes to bed by 9:00pm and sleeps until 6-ish. She then patiently waits for her breakfast at 7am. This child is pretty laid back...definitely has some Aussie in her!


Dinner on the Riverwalk with our friends the Valadez family
(Michelle used to be Mat's boss and her daughter Sammy LOVES Mr. Mat)



Enjoying a swim at Aunt Linda and Uncle Gary's pool. We caught her trying to drink the water.

Evie the jet boat




Lounging in her splash pool in the backyard

She has also started grabbing and pulling things to her mouth

Pic of the week

I just love this picture! She is looking up at Daddy while in the splash pool at cousin Austin's house for 4th of July. She seems to enjoy the water especially when Daddy pours the water on her.

Just some pics

Taking a rest during tummy time


Representin' !!!