Cheerios!

All smiles after the Cheerio eating lesson!

Aanika is now a whopping 24 pounds and growing like a weed! She's generally happy and cheerful but, unfortunately, the girls of the household (even the cat) have been battling a cold these last two weeks. I think our bodies are rebelling against us for being cooped up for way too long! I can hardly wait for Spring to get here so we can get out and play.

I think we're going to have a 'talker' in the family. Already she can say Kitty, Daddy, good job and a variation of it's all gone and I'm all done. She's also been learning some sign language so that we can have a two-sided conversation. Her comprehension of what you say to her just amazes us. It's great to see her react in positive ways when you mention something that she enjoys. Seeing that big grin is a great payoff!

We've also (thanks to Holly) finally gotten her to start putting things in her mouth. She's still working on letting GO of the Cheerio, but at least she's understanding that there's a benefit to it. I don't know how she learned NOT to put things in her mouth, but I must say, it's been a challenge assuring her that it can be a good thing when it comes to eating.Sounds like someone's waking from her nap - gotta go.

First Birthday

Today is Aanika's 1st birthday! We had a little celebration - just the 3 of us. She didn't seem to interested in her cupcake but we had fun nonetheless and got some cute video and pictures.



What a sweetheart of a child. We've been so blessed by having this little one in our lives. Our days are spent playing, sleeping and eating but boy, do we have fun in the process! What did we do with our time before? She's growing so fast it's just amazing. Her hair is becoming very thick and dark, her skin is soooo soft, and she's really becoming a beauty.

Christmas was spent in Missouri with Oma and Opa. It was a wonderful trip and we really enjoyed our time with them. They will be making a northward trip in March for Aanika's dedication. We've got the basement finished (finally) and have really made a great space for ourselves and visitors - it's quite cozy.

First Week Home

Well, it's been a few days since we've posted. Things have settled down nicely and we seem to finally getting into a family groove. Mom and Aanika had their first full week alone while Daddy went to work (dad didn't want to go). With both of us learning schedules it was pretty interesting but we were able to go out on a couple of adventures together! (very successfully we might add!)

The sickness is finally making it's way out the house and we're all pretty excited about how things will be with all of us well! We think Aanika is cutting another tooth because the drooling has started. We've been pretty fortunate not to have gone through the previous 8! With all that she puts out, she's gonna be drenched by noon.

We're making plans for a trip to Oma and Opa's (Grandma and Grandpa Sprecher) house in Missouri for Christmas. We'll be driving over the course of 2 days with a stop in the Benton Harbor area to see relatives - oughta be interesting. Aanika did great on planes when she wasn't strapped down...I don't think we'll have as much luck with the car seat. She hates being sedentary AND strapped in!

HOME!!

Wow, what a trip! We've made it home finally though a little worse for wear. I'm fine (surprisingly), Aanika has a cough and the sniffles and Kevin has taken a beating! To start, his wife (ME) is to blame for his first injury. As we were waiting in one of many lines at an airport I decided to sit on a luggage cart while Kev was holding Aanika - well, after sitting for quite some time, I had forgotten that Kevin too was sitting/leaning on the same luggage cart up near the handle bar. Did I mention that he was holding Aanika? Leave it to the blonde to stand up which in turn sent Kevin crashing to the floor! Luckily for us one of our travel partners helped to break his fall as he landed on his backside... Did you ever have someone give you a look like 'I can't believe you just did that' as something awful was happening? Yup, I got THAT look. Soon after this incident, while wandering around Nanjing and carrying Aanika in the Snuggli, he managed to throw his back out and put himself out of commission for a bit. Sheesh....to top it all off, after worrying and fretting that someone was going to get sick and possibly prevent our group from leaving China, guess who gets violently sick? KEVIN. Needless to say, Aanika didn't get to spend much time with her daddy on the way home to America. But, we're home safe and sound and simply thrilled to be in our own beds!

Thank you everyone for praying for us while we went through this process and during our trip - it's truly been amazing!

(Pictured are Auntie Sue, Uncle Matt, and Aunt Chrissy with the panda bear)

Stranded in Hong Kong

Well, it's November 21st and we're delayed in Hong Kong (in the hotel lobby because we already checked out) because a flight issue from Chicago (again). We're trying to remain positive but it's really hard when you only want to get home! Hopefully, we'll only be delayed about 5 hours....

Guangzhou - Hot and Steamy

Well, we're in day 2 in Guangzhou and boy, is it STEAMY! We're very glad that this is a November trip - just can't imagine how hot it truly gets in the summer...

Medical's and visa pictures were done on our first day here and most of the paperwork is finished. We'll going later today to take "the oath" where we promise to take care of her etc.Shopping is underway, plenty of exploring to be done still and just some general relaxing until we fly out tomorrow to Hong Kong. It appears that we'll be arriving relatively early in HK and will be able to take the express train into the city - we hear it's just amazing and we're looking forward to it.

On another side of this trip, we just found out today that another group is under quarantine because of chicken pox that put one child in the hospital. We're under strict orders to keep to ourselves and to keep the anti-bacterial hand cleaner with us at all times. Unfortunately for them, they have to remain for another 10 days....lucky us.

Aanika is making great strides. She's finally decided to start crawling for us and is just an hysterically funny kid. She has such a ready smile and is so mild natured, we just can't believe how blessed we are!

Nanjing - first business day

Well, it's our first official business day in Nanjing. First thing this morning we were off to sign papers and give our thumb prints for the province officials. After a very brief questioning of why we were there and would we truly accept Aanika, we were sent on our way. It was a bit stressful, but otherwise painless. At the moment, we're waiting for the Notary Officials to arrive from Aanika's home town to sign some other documents. I believe that this is all of the paperwork that needs to be done in this area.

Tomorrow is a touring day....it ought to be wonderful. It's a very lovely area with much to be seen.