Walking

Aanika's a certified 'walker' now and is making up for lost time! The other day she walked around the dining room table for 2 hours while we talked with a realtor. At the end of the two hours she was literally stumbling and falling down but simply refused to stop. I was getting tired just watching her!

Well there's big news in our family as many of you know. We're on the move again and heading south to the hot and steamy land of Houston, TX. Kevin is taking a new position with Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston so that we can get out of the cold! We're not looking forward to another long, cold winter here in Michigan - we got very spoiled living in North Carolina! We both love the hot and hate the cold so we're pulling up stakes and hitting the road.

We're looking forward to "vacationers" looking for somewhere fun and warm to visit. Apparently the winters there are great so we'll plan on seeing some of you next winter!

Baby Dedication

Well, we have a ham. Aanika was dedicated to the Lord on Sunday, March 7th and brought down the house! She and her "cousin" Hannah (also from China) were up front with Pastor Tim when Aanika decided to be funny and start flirting and making faces at everyone in the audience. Wouldn't you know it, it's a very serious moment and nobody can keep a straight face (laughing out loud), I'm hiding behind Kevin's shoulder because I was laughing so hard and Kev's doing his best not to look at her (he was holding her). Yup, you guessed it - the more we laughed the more she did it! All in all it turned out wonderfully and we have some great video to show her later.

The newest thing is that she's very aware that she's funny. A couple of days ago she was showing off, covered her mouth with her hand and doubled over at the waist with laughter. Let's just say that it's gonna be an interesting ride! She's an absolute riot.

Our other big hurdles are finally coming together. It used to be that we couldn't get her to put things in her mouth to eat and now we can't stop her! Oh the joy of Cheerios and Cheddar Gold Fish from Peppridge Farms. The other thing we had trouble with has now been solved with something as simple as a straw. Aanika simply would not drink from a sippie cup and was a disaster without a lid so out of desperation I tried a straw. I've never seen a one year old able to master a straw but hey, yeah for us!

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....