Ancestry

I'm going to try to revive the blog finally, but this time for a different focus. For several years now I've been working on mine & Jef's family trees. I've had a great time on the journey so far and I can't wait to see who else I can meet on our branches. There is one part of my family that has me stuck. I've always known that most of my family have come from Germany. A lot of them have been in the United States long enough that I can find documents on birth, marriage, and several wars. 

The person who has me the most stumped is my Great Grandfather Josef (Joseph) Geis. He was born 26 Feb 1878 in Sandberg, Germany. According to an Ellis Island record he immigrated to the United States 28 June 1893 on a ship called Havel and left from Bremen, Germany. He was 15 years old and bound for Cleveland, Ohio. Eventually he ended up in Evansville, Indiana. 

The earliest record I have found of him is the 1900 Census for Johnson, Gibson County, Indiana. Josef was now spelled Joseph and he was 22 years old. He had a wife named Mary (or Maria) who was 32.  

By 1910, he was remarried to Rosa Schwartz (my Great Grandmother). They has 3 children - Josephine (9 yrs), Emil (7 yrs) and Edward (2 years). Josephine & Emil's mother was Mary (Maria) and I believe she passed away in 1906. In 1904, Josef, Mary (Maria), Josephine & Emil had made a trip to Sandberg to visit family. They left the Port of Bremen and SS Cassel on 11/5/1904. They arrived in Baltimore on 11/21/1904.  

Josef and Rosa were married until his death on 17 Mar 1933. They had a total of 5 children - Edward H, Herbert Elmer (my Grandfather), Marguerite Gladys, Joseph William and Matilda C. 


So here are my questions...
1. Why would a 15 year old boy listed as a Farmer come to the United States by himself?
2. Why didn't his family come with him?
3. Was his family still alive?
4. Did he have brothers or sisters?
5. Did he know the Holzheimer family who was listed beneath him on the same record. I've been able to find records of that family and they are also from Sandberg, Germany. 
6. What did he do from the time he arrived in 1893 until 1900 when he was in Evansville, IN?
7. How did he end up in Indiana and not Cleveland?
  

I'm throwing all of these questions out there to see if someone has answers. 

September 2012

We are slowly, but surely catching up on 2012. Next up: SEPTEMBER! Here is our month summed up in *mostly* Instagram photots...



In desperate need of haircut!

 

We still have a dog. Yay Stewie!!

 

We had Otto's 1 year check up. He is a healty, growing boy!! 

 

 

 

On 9/15/12 Otto got his first haircut. We went to our friend's apartment and he cooperated like a champ!!

 

Before & After

 

 

 

 

Playing in his toybox!!

 

What a silly boy we have!!

 

We went to Downtown Nashville to see SPOKEN (Daddy's old band) play at the Hard Rock Cafe. Otto had a great time playing with his drumsticks and running around. There is a video on Facebook, if we are friends go watch it!

 

We had my niece & nephew's birthday party at the end of the month. It was a Mickey & Minnie themed. Here is Aunt Kika (me) & the birthday girl (Claire)!!! 

 

Otto loved his ears!!

 

 

to be continued to October...

 

August 2012: Birthday Extravaganza

August is always a fun month for us. The month began with a trip to Indiana just for fun (just Otto & I). We got to play with Claire, Owen, Aunt Ashy, Grandma, Grandpa & the "doooegs". 

Otto had his trip to Donut Bank Bakery! He LOVED the donuts!!   

We then went back to play with cousins at the grandparents house. For lunch we made homemade pizzas from Grandpa's recipe. The kids got to put whatever toppings they wanted on a piece of pita bread (I think).



Ashley helping Claire & Owen make their pizzas. Claire was getting into it.


The fun thing about August is that it is FULL of birthdays. Since we live 3 hours away from the family who celebrates (goes out to dinner), we try to do our own celebration at home. This year we stopped at Kroger on August 15 and bought an apple pic for Dad/Grandpa's birthday. He turned 25 this year! :)

Otto was all about celebrating Grandpa's birthday!

A few days later we had some nasty storms roll through our area. The high winds ended up ripping out another chunk of our front tree. Thankfully, we have awesome friends and they came over to lend their chainsaw. Otto was waiting for his turn with it...

Gimme that chainsaw Mr. Rob!

On August 25th, we had our boy's 1st Birthday Circus! Grandma & Grandpa Geis drove down Friday evening & brought him his big present. A brand new toy box, hand-crafted by Grandpa & finished by Grandma! He LOVED it. He still LOVES it. From time to time he likes to get IN it.

Otto & Grandpa checking out the toy box.

The rest of the crew (Uncle Mike, Aunt Ashy, Claire & Owen) drove down Saturday morning to join us. Aunt Ashley made his INCREDIBLE birthday (she borrowed the tiger Raja from her kids Aladdin toys).




We found an awesome circus tent IKEA for the kids to play in



The goodies: Popcorn, Animal Crackers, Chips, Pretzels, Fruit, Veggies,
Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, Candy & Cake!!



Cake made by Aunt Ashley

Otto got his own smash cake



I think he liked it!


 

Our happy little Ring Master!

 

Otto & Daddy

 


Otto & Mommy

Out of chronological order

I know I said I'd start posting updates from August-December, BUT I have to make a small detour to follow up my last post. Today my company (Provident Distribution) hosted a private screening for The Bible at the historic Franklin Theatre. Mark Burnett and Roma Downey came to Franklin for the event to talk through the making and thanked everyone for coming. So I FINALLY got my picture taken with them!!!

July 2012

We had a pretty fun July. Otto got to go swimming for the first time. My boss invited us to her community pool at her new house! We all had a really fun time and Otto seemed to enjoy himself. As soon as we left he zonked out in his car seat.



At home, preparing to leave for the pool. He was a bit nervous.

Cool dude in his shades

 

One of the hardest parts of being a Mommy came with a work trip I took. One of my responsibilities at work is organizing my company's trip to the International Christian Retail Show each year. The 2012 show was held in Orlando. I really didn't like the idea of being away from my 10 month old & husband for 5 days, but I knew I would be really busy and hoped to just be distracted.

 

Otto helped me back before my trip.
He enjoyed throwing everything out of my suitcase.

 

I flew down to Orlando on Saturday to get our booth & hotel rooms situated.
I had a little fun reading on the plane. This was a Book Club pick and was actually pretty good.

 

Leaving the boys at the airport was really tough and I approached it like ripping a band aid off. I didn't want Otto to see me upset so I just kissed them and headed off to security. Jef and Otto's teacher made sure to keep me updated with photos and stories while I was away. One of the coolest parts of my week was getting to have dinner with TV producer Mark Burnett and his wife, actress Roma Downey. They are some of the nicest people I have ever met and definitely the most famous. They came to the show to share information and clips of their upcoming TV series for The History Channel called The Bible that begins airing March 3. I didn't get any photos with them, but I wish I had.

 

I did however get my picture taken with George W. Bush again. JUST KIDDING, he really a G.W. impersonator named John C. Morgan. Pretty convincing isn't he!

 

 

 

On July 21st we celebrated our friend Liam's 1st Birthday!! Jef had to work that Saturday so Otto and I went alone. We had a great time celebrating his accomplishments! It was a Mustache Bash. Amy made all of the kids little shirts or onesies with mustaches on them. They were adorable!



The kiddos & their Mommy's



Otto & Mommy

 

Amy, Liam, Mike

That pretty much sums up July. Now on to August - our BIRTHDAYSSSSSSS!!
 



So far behind!!

I am so sorry that I am PAINFULLY behind on  blog posts. To say we have been busy would only be about 75% truthful. To say we are completely exhausted would be 100% truthful.

My goal for this week is to catch you up on what has been happening since JUNE of 2012. Stay tuned for more posts (or emails if you are family).





Erika

We are International!!

I love that I can see what kind of audience we get and how many times someone from that country has visited our blog. Here are the countires we have been seen in. Cool or Weird? I'm not sure yet.

Australia
Brazil
Canada
Ecuador
France
Germany
Honduras
Latvia
Netherlands
Norway
Panama
Russia
South Africa
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States

Thanks for visiting!!

9 months old

Otto turned 9 months old on May 30,2012. A lot has happened since his last update (6 months). It's amazing to watch him hit new milestones and to watch his face as he realizes he learned something new.

He is a champ at eating solid foods now - mostly puréed fruits & veggies from a jar. He has SIX teeth now so we've started giving him puffs/small table foods. At first we would break them up because they were so big and he would gag. Now we are able to give him the whole piece and he will gnaw on it.



The bigger the mess, the less he liked what he was eating



Jef and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary on May 22. We had our friend watch Otto during the day so we could hit a movie. We ended up seeing 'What To Expect When You're Expecting'. Funny since we left our baby to go watch a movie about a bunch of other people having babies. Later that night we went to dinner and took Otto along. Here he is enjoying the rice at Tito's Mexican Restaurant. He also enjoyed the huslte & bustle of the wait staff.



Cheese!

9 Months Old

                                              

On May 31, he started showing signs of Hand, Footh & Mouth Disease (I hate calling it a disease because its actually a virus). It started with a fever & breaking out in red bumps & blisters. We kept him home over the Memorial Day Weekend. On Saturday his fever went away and he started eating solid foods again, but up until then he was pathetic. Poor guy!  



Snuggling with his favorite toy!!

 

Daddy tried to sleep with his polar bear.
He wasn't going to let that happen.



Sleeping with his butt in the air

     

Wearing them Castle colors!!



Growth Chart & Milestones....  

Otto's Growth Record
Age	Weight	Height
Born	8 lbs 12 oz	20 1/2 inches
5 days	7 lbs 15 oz	20 1/2 inches
10 days	8 lbs 14.6 oz	20 1/2 inches
5 1/7 weeks	10 lbs 9 oz	21 3/4 inches
2 months	14 lbs 2 oz	23 1/4 inches
4 months	17 lbs 2.6 oz	25 1/4 inches
6 months	19 1/2 lbs	27 inches
7 3/4 months	21 lbs 4 oz	28 1/4 inches
9 months	21 lbs 6 oz	29 1/4 inches

*Sits up all by himself

*Pushes himself to sitting position

*Army Crawls

*Rocks back & forth on hands & knees - Once he starts to really crawl he gives up and goes back to army style

*Monkey Crawls (?) - has only done this at school so far - Hands & feet only

*Pulls himself up onto ANYTHING he can & walks around it

*Likes to walk around while holding Mommy & Daddy's hands

*Takes baths in the big tub now

*Likes to chase Stewie around the living room

*Says "Dada" and "Mama" to whichever parent has him at the time

*Claps his hands and says "Aaaaaaaaaaa"



Desktop Plaque

  Desktop Plaque

Modern shower invitations and holiday cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Otto's Story In The Newspaper

The article sort of explains how this came to be, but maybe I could elaborate. After reading my last blog post about Otto being a blessing, my Dad thought it sounded like a story one of the writers at the Evansville Courier & Press would be interested in. The story was printed in today's paper (4-10-12), but it has not made it online. I wonder if they run some of those a day behind or not at all. Just in case they don't put it online or if you don't have access to the paper, here is the story...

  

What a blessing

Today Jef went to get the oil changed and decided to take Otto with him. It was like any other time we take him out on public. We hear whispers & yells of "oh my goodness, look at that hair!". Today was no different.... sort of. Jef went to pay and the older woman working at the counter started the conversation like so many do. "Oh, look at the red hair. I bet you get that all of the time". She told Otto how cute he was and then asked if Jef minded if she held him. She told Jef she was having a bad day and holding a cute baby would lift her spirits. He said sure and passed him over to her. Once the woman was holding Otto she informed Jef as to why she was having a bad day. Today is the 4th anniversary of her teenage grandson's death.

Most new parents would probably have second thoughts about letting a stranger hold their child. I don't know if Jef did and I'm not sure how I would react. How often do we just cut ourselves off from the people around us (strangers)? How often do we ignore how other people are doing because we are so focused on our own silly problems. I'm so glad our son was able to be a blessing to someone outside of his family and friends today. What a great lesson to learn by just getting an oil change.

Half way to 1 year

This week we celebrate Otto's 6 month birthday. Since there is no February 30th, does that mean he gets to skip month 6 and move straight to 7? Or just stay at 5 months until March 30th? :) These are just some of the silly questions we have been asking ourselves lately.
(This would also mean I never celebrated a 6 month birthday either)


Otto had his next check up & round of shots Wednesday morning. Our "little" boy is up to 19.5lbs and 27 inches long!!!!!

Shots seem to be getting harder & harder for me to watch as he gets holder. He is much more aware of what is going on around him and took a lot longer to comfort this time around. He was fussy at school all day and right before bed. We ended up giving him some Tylenol to help with the pain in his legs.

Everything at the check up looked great. He is developing at normal rate & we have a new set off goals to work on for his 9 month visit. The next tough thing to get through are tubes for his ears. He has consistently had ear infections since he started daycare in December. He has rotated through 3 or 4 antibiotics to clear them up, but they just aren't cutting it.

Otto's milestones & tricks:

*Rolling from back to belly, belly to back, back to belly. He rolls himself right off of his blanket when he is playing. 

*He has started sleeping on his belly because he rolls over in his crib. We put him down in one spot and he ALWAYS wakes up in a different spot.

*He does push ups & tries to pull his legs underneath him. It won't be long until he figures out how to crawl to his favorite toys... or the dog! 

*Giving high-5 - then he takes your hand and stuffs it in his mouth.

*Teething: He bites down on knuckles and growls. Yes! Growls!

*Sitting in his high chair to eat cereal!!

*Says "Ba, ba", "Da, da", "Doooooo" and spits raspberries.

*He smiles ALL of the time, but we still have to work really hard to get a good laugh out of him.

And on that note I will leave you with a video of the latest giggle we got out of him.

Otto laughing at Daddy & Stinky socks: YouTube Video



Video Testing

Hey Everyone! It's been way too long since we've posted anything. Sorry about that. I'm working on getting some video's posted for you all to see. These are "unlisted" videos on YouTube. We are doing this for a little extra privacy, but still available to those who don't have YouTube accounts.

Some of these videos were taken back in November & December. As always, please forgive Jef & I for sounding like idiots.

Erika 

A video for Grandma & Grandpa

A conversation with Otto & Stewie

Serious conversation. He was sick this day.

Otto's Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

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Baby Erika vs. Baby Otto

Ever since Otto has arrived people have made comment as to which parent they think he looks like. A majority of them think he looks like Mommy and there are a small handful that think he looks like Daddy. As of right now I only have a couple of my baby pictures to compare him to. I'm going to have to get some of Jef from his Mom. Until then, here are some Mommy comparison pictures. 

Baby Erika - August 30, 1979

Baby Otto - August 30, 2011

Baby Erika 1979

Baby Otto - Dec 2011