January 22, 2011
Anika at four months
July 22, 2011
Anika at 10 months
My little pianist!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Visual Evidence
So here are a couple pictures to show how much Anika has grown in the last few months.
January 22, 2011
Anika at four months
July 22, 2011
Anika at 10 months
My little pianist!
January 22, 2011
Anika at four months
July 22, 2011
Anika at 10 months
My little pianist!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Empathy
"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." Romans 12:15
Empathy is a strange thing, the physical sharing of feeling with another person's circumstance. Our pastor challenged us to have more empathy this past Sunday. His challenge was specific to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, how to just say "Jesus died on the cross" is as commonplace among Christians as "i am having a pb & j sandwich". It is hard to feel the reality of what happened on Good Friday without stopping and considering with all of our senses what the crucifixion would have been like. I appreciated this message and would love to embrace this fully. Also, I know that it is incredibly important as a Christian to pause and empathize with our fellow brothers and sisters who suffer here in this world..but...
But...
Empathy Hurts. When you do it properly, it is extremely unpleasant. But...
But...
the empathy that I can summon up will only take a few minutes of my time, while others with whom I am attempting to empathize are struggling with their reality for the rest of their lives.
Example.
I have heard of many people going through the valley of the shadow of death lately, and my heart has been unsure how to respond to the news. Specifically, I recently had a wonderful sister in Christ go through the loss of a baby boy. The part of me that doesn't want to experience pain and suffering, the part that wants to stay calm and collected all the time, did not want to empathize. I resisted pausing to think about what that would feel like with all of my senses and emotions because I KNEW that if I did, I would fall apart. But then I realized that a few moments of my time to attempt to feel the grief and pain and give in to it out of empathy is nothing compared to actually going through that valley. I did give in to my empathy, and cast myself into prayer during those moments of struggling with what those feelings might possibly be. Again, I will NEVER fully know unless I encounter a similar difficulty in my life; but to use my imagination helps me be more sincere in my plea to God for his grace and peace to come to those who so desperately need it.
I need to remember that there is nothing wrong with an emotional, empathizing response to the news of someone's heartache. It is even good for me to cry out to God with them from my own heart, not just responding with a "oh, that's too bad" or the "how sad." But in the quiet of the time I should spend before my Father, I can feel free to let go of the calm collected prayer, and attempt to empathize with my spiritual family.
Empathy is a strange thing, the physical sharing of feeling with another person's circumstance. Our pastor challenged us to have more empathy this past Sunday. His challenge was specific to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, how to just say "Jesus died on the cross" is as commonplace among Christians as "i am having a pb & j sandwich". It is hard to feel the reality of what happened on Good Friday without stopping and considering with all of our senses what the crucifixion would have been like. I appreciated this message and would love to embrace this fully. Also, I know that it is incredibly important as a Christian to pause and empathize with our fellow brothers and sisters who suffer here in this world..but...
But...
Empathy Hurts. When you do it properly, it is extremely unpleasant. But...
But...
the empathy that I can summon up will only take a few minutes of my time, while others with whom I am attempting to empathize are struggling with their reality for the rest of their lives.
Example.
I have heard of many people going through the valley of the shadow of death lately, and my heart has been unsure how to respond to the news. Specifically, I recently had a wonderful sister in Christ go through the loss of a baby boy. The part of me that doesn't want to experience pain and suffering, the part that wants to stay calm and collected all the time, did not want to empathize. I resisted pausing to think about what that would feel like with all of my senses and emotions because I KNEW that if I did, I would fall apart. But then I realized that a few moments of my time to attempt to feel the grief and pain and give in to it out of empathy is nothing compared to actually going through that valley. I did give in to my empathy, and cast myself into prayer during those moments of struggling with what those feelings might possibly be. Again, I will NEVER fully know unless I encounter a similar difficulty in my life; but to use my imagination helps me be more sincere in my plea to God for his grace and peace to come to those who so desperately need it.
I need to remember that there is nothing wrong with an emotional, empathizing response to the news of someone's heartache. It is even good for me to cry out to God with them from my own heart, not just responding with a "oh, that's too bad" or the "how sad." But in the quiet of the time I should spend before my Father, I can feel free to let go of the calm collected prayer, and attempt to empathize with my spiritual family.
Friday, July 22, 2011
And in the Tenth Month...
I decided that having a child makes time accelerate at least 23% faster than if you do not have a child. My professional observation comes through the facts that the last 10 months do not feel like that amount of time has elapsed; rather, it only feels like a little over seven months ago that Anika was born. Ergo, time has accelerated in my life because my attentions are so involved in another person that I do not notice how quickly time is passing.
My baby is getting closer to NOT being a baby anymore, which I cannot consider for too long at one moment or I become depressed. On the other hand, my little girl is growing and learning at such an exciting rate that I cannot wait until we can communicate better and play together even more than we do now.
Anika's milestones at TEN MONTHS:
* has gained 12 ounces since last month! Hooray! Now she weighs a whopping 17 pounds!
* has added a couple words to her vocabulary like banana or "nanana" and Jake or "dake"; the grand list of words is "mama" "dada" "all done" "kitty" "mih-mih" (milk)
* can drink out of a sippy cup all by herself
* understands questions like "where's ____?" and will look at the person; also knows how to respond to "can you splash?" "can you bang on that?" "can you dance?"
* has been able to hover-stand for a couple seconds without holding on to anything
* loves loves loves to dance
* loves to play the piano. she is tall enough now to reach the keys when she stands up so she likes to play the bottom notes to make louder sounds
* has fully embraced her nightly routine and rarely fusses to go to bed and sleeps a solid 10-12 hours every night. Bath time, play a little, nurse, brush teeth, read books, sing songs, pray and goodnight!
* has mastered going up AND down the little stairs
* continues to keep her gracious, sweet and mellow demeanor which I pray will stay with her above anything else.
We went on a recent trip to the zoo with Tante Rachelle (Garry's sister) who is visiting from California. Afterwards we went to Jones Bros. Cupcakes (yum) and Anika tasted some cake to start practicing for her first birthday in only two months.
My baby is getting closer to NOT being a baby anymore, which I cannot consider for too long at one moment or I become depressed. On the other hand, my little girl is growing and learning at such an exciting rate that I cannot wait until we can communicate better and play together even more than we do now.
Anika's milestones at TEN MONTHS:
* has gained 12 ounces since last month! Hooray! Now she weighs a whopping 17 pounds!
* has added a couple words to her vocabulary like banana or "nanana" and Jake or "dake"; the grand list of words is "mama" "dada" "all done" "kitty" "mih-mih" (milk)
* can drink out of a sippy cup all by herself
* understands questions like "where's ____?" and will look at the person; also knows how to respond to "can you splash?" "can you bang on that?" "can you dance?"
* has been able to hover-stand for a couple seconds without holding on to anything
* loves loves loves to dance
* loves to play the piano. she is tall enough now to reach the keys when she stands up so she likes to play the bottom notes to make louder sounds
* has fully embraced her nightly routine and rarely fusses to go to bed and sleeps a solid 10-12 hours every night. Bath time, play a little, nurse, brush teeth, read books, sing songs, pray and goodnight!
* has mastered going up AND down the little stairs
* continues to keep her gracious, sweet and mellow demeanor which I pray will stay with her above anything else.
We went on a recent trip to the zoo with Tante Rachelle (Garry's sister) who is visiting from California. Afterwards we went to Jones Bros. Cupcakes (yum) and Anika tasted some cake to start practicing for her first birthday in only two months.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Blessed Summer Travels
The beginning of July we were blessed to be able to visit my Grandma Sparks and my Uncle John, Aunt Beth, and cousins John and Christina and their spouses in Tampa, Florida. Anika had been able to visit all of her great-grandmas so far except for Grandma Sparks, so this was a great time to go to Florida.
We left July 2nd and flew through Atlanta to Tampa where our carseat failed to arrive with us. Thankfully there was one more flight coming in, so we just had to wait another 45 minutes. They at least included some meal vouchers, so we did a 9:30 PM Starbucks visit since it was the only store in the terminal still serving...but we indulged in $18 worth of pastries and decaffeinated drinks.
Sunday we worshiped with the family and then enjoyed time visiting. We went to see Grandma's little assisted living apartment and Anika had a great time playing with Great Grandma.
Grandma will turn 90 years old in August. What an amazing gift from our Lord!
On the Fourth of July we went to a local parade with Uncle John and I decked out Anika in her new patriotic shirt. We also walked down to the pier over the ocean and I got to see one of my favorite creatures: a manatee! Hooray!
It was extremely extremely hot, so we found some shade and Anika found a friend, Emily, who was only a week younger than her!
The rest of the visit was spent taking a trip to Busch Gardens sans Anika (my first full day away from my baby), a trip to Clearwater Beach, and playing oodles of Dominion. Awesome.
We left July 2nd and flew through Atlanta to Tampa where our carseat failed to arrive with us. Thankfully there was one more flight coming in, so we just had to wait another 45 minutes. They at least included some meal vouchers, so we did a 9:30 PM Starbucks visit since it was the only store in the terminal still serving...but we indulged in $18 worth of pastries and decaffeinated drinks.
Sunday we worshiped with the family and then enjoyed time visiting. We went to see Grandma's little assisted living apartment and Anika had a great time playing with Great Grandma.
Grandma will turn 90 years old in August. What an amazing gift from our Lord!
On the Fourth of July we went to a local parade with Uncle John and I decked out Anika in her new patriotic shirt. We also walked down to the pier over the ocean and I got to see one of my favorite creatures: a manatee! Hooray!
It was extremely extremely hot, so we found some shade and Anika found a friend, Emily, who was only a week younger than her!
The rest of the visit was spent taking a trip to Busch Gardens sans Anika (my first full day away from my baby), a trip to Clearwater Beach, and playing oodles of Dominion. Awesome.
Monday, June 27, 2011
My Little Mermaid
Anika took her first trip to the swimming pool! We were invited to hang out by the water's edge by friend Stephanie who was awesome and helped me take pictures of this monumental occasion.
The water was really cold because the weather hasn't been super warm yet, and the rain has been persistant, which leads to colder swimming pools. But Anika was a trooper and didn't mind the chilly water at all; in fact she kept trying to get more in the water.
The water was really cold because the weather hasn't been super warm yet, and the rain has been persistant, which leads to colder swimming pools. But Anika was a trooper and didn't mind the chilly water at all; in fact she kept trying to get more in the water.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Nine Months!
Anika has officially been out in the world as long as she was growing inside her mommy!
We had Anika's checkup on Tuesday to get her stats from the pediatrician. She is 16 lbs, 4 oz (ninth percentile li27 little skinny girl), 27.5 inches long (44th percentile), and her head size is in the 47th percentile! Good news is that her head has grown, but she is staying low in the weight. I think mostly because she is constantly moving unless she's sleeping. Our doctor wasn't worried about it at this point, but hopefully she can gain some weight in the next three months before her ONE YEAR checkup.
Here are Anika's wonderful accomplishments!
* sleeping through the night! (most nights)
* babbling repeated syllables--she's a pro at da-da and ma-ma and knows who we are
* knows her name, knows who Jake and Mimi are, and knows what a lion says
* crawls on all fours now
* can wave to say "hi" and "Bye"
* pulls herself up to stand on EVERYTHING
* lowers herself down from standing with few wobbles
* has two beautiful teeth
* puts pieces of solid food in her mouth and sometimes swallows them all :)
* loves to dance, bang to make music, and read books
* enjoys watching Blues Clues
My baby is amazing! I fall in love with her more and more every day!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
70.3
My husband is amazing, just so everyone knows. I have known this for quite some time, but he proved himself amazing in a whole new way this weekend. He did a triathlon, which is impressive since it requires training to master THREE ways of exercising in one race. However, however. This was not just a little triathlon of say, oh, 5 miles or 10 miles total. Nope. This was 70.3 miles.
We embarked for our journey to the High Cliff Triathlon in Wisconsin on Wendesday evening to get in a few hours of driving and to break up our 9 hour trip. This was the longest road trip Anika has been on, so I was a bit nervous. Thankfully we were able to stay with my cousin Carissa and her husband Peter and their ENORMOUS dogs Beau and Echo. Anika was a bit nervous about the size of these dogs at first, but got over her fears eventually.
We arrived in Wisconsin later on Thursday and joined the other two families of amazing athletes, Olson's and Dexters. We set up our homey campsite quickly and settled into the relaxed pace of the great outdoors.
The men began to prepare for the race, which included a test run of the wetsuits and swimming in Lake Winnebago on Friday afternoon. Anika and I went to watch Garry practice and took pictures of the beach on an ordinary day. Anika decided it was a good time to take a nap.
Saturday morning came early with getting the men ready at 5:30 AM to head down to get ready for the race and set up their transitions. So that we wouldn't have to worry about finding a parking spot, we all walked down the hill a mile to the start of the racecourse at 6:30 AM because the first wave started at 7:00. Eric was in the third wave, and Garry and Brad were in the 11th wave, which happened to be the last one of the half ironman. There were two triathlons going on that day: the sprint triathlon, which includes a 1/4 mile swim, 22 mile bike ride, and a 5k run, and the half ironman, which our men did which is 1 mile swim, 50 mile bike ride, and a 13 mile run. The green caps meant a sprint and the silver caps meant a half. Here is the excitement of the start of the event.
I managed to get a few pictures of Garry competing in the swim, but failed to take other pictures of the bike or the run. I was too busy walking up and down the mile long hill from the transition site back up to our camp. (even though Garry went 70.3 miles, I walked over 5 miles with a baby in a carrier on my back, uphill. just saying) Just imagine Garry very tired and sweaty wearing a red baseball hat and red shirt.
*
When Garry signed up for the triathlon, he had hoped to have a lot of time to train. However, work was extremely busy for him this tax season, which meant he was putting in 80 hour weeks, so basically working nonstop, which left little to no time to train as he had wanted. He only started seriously training at the very end of April, and even then had to take a couple trips out of town which meant no riding bike. So going into this our goal was for him to finish the race in under 8 hours. He did it in 7 hours and 51 minutes. Hooray!
Anika did amazigly well on the camping trip. Having many hands to help hold her was a huge blessing, and God has simply blessed us with an amazing daughter. She would get frustrated that she didn't have free reign to crawl wherever she wanted since the campsite was all dirt/mud, and anytime I put her on the grass she tried to eat everything she could touch. So on Sunday morning we had a Father's Day picture at the campsite and then packed everything up and headed to the hotel in Iowa city.
Garry was working there the next week, so we dropped him off and waiting til Monday to continue our journey. Needless to say, Anika was thrilled to be able to crawl all over our room.
Happy First Father's Day to a wonderful, amazing Husband!
We embarked for our journey to the High Cliff Triathlon in Wisconsin on Wendesday evening to get in a few hours of driving and to break up our 9 hour trip. This was the longest road trip Anika has been on, so I was a bit nervous. Thankfully we were able to stay with my cousin Carissa and her husband Peter and their ENORMOUS dogs Beau and Echo. Anika was a bit nervous about the size of these dogs at first, but got over her fears eventually.
We arrived in Wisconsin later on Thursday and joined the other two families of amazing athletes, Olson's and Dexters. We set up our homey campsite quickly and settled into the relaxed pace of the great outdoors.
The men began to prepare for the race, which included a test run of the wetsuits and swimming in Lake Winnebago on Friday afternoon. Anika and I went to watch Garry practice and took pictures of the beach on an ordinary day. Anika decided it was a good time to take a nap.
Saturday morning came early with getting the men ready at 5:30 AM to head down to get ready for the race and set up their transitions. So that we wouldn't have to worry about finding a parking spot, we all walked down the hill a mile to the start of the racecourse at 6:30 AM because the first wave started at 7:00. Eric was in the third wave, and Garry and Brad were in the 11th wave, which happened to be the last one of the half ironman. There were two triathlons going on that day: the sprint triathlon, which includes a 1/4 mile swim, 22 mile bike ride, and a 5k run, and the half ironman, which our men did which is 1 mile swim, 50 mile bike ride, and a 13 mile run. The green caps meant a sprint and the silver caps meant a half. Here is the excitement of the start of the event.
I managed to get a few pictures of Garry competing in the swim, but failed to take other pictures of the bike or the run. I was too busy walking up and down the mile long hill from the transition site back up to our camp. (even though Garry went 70.3 miles, I walked over 5 miles with a baby in a carrier on my back, uphill. just saying) Just imagine Garry very tired and sweaty wearing a red baseball hat and red shirt.
*
When Garry signed up for the triathlon, he had hoped to have a lot of time to train. However, work was extremely busy for him this tax season, which meant he was putting in 80 hour weeks, so basically working nonstop, which left little to no time to train as he had wanted. He only started seriously training at the very end of April, and even then had to take a couple trips out of town which meant no riding bike. So going into this our goal was for him to finish the race in under 8 hours. He did it in 7 hours and 51 minutes. Hooray!
Anika did amazigly well on the camping trip. Having many hands to help hold her was a huge blessing, and God has simply blessed us with an amazing daughter. She would get frustrated that she didn't have free reign to crawl wherever she wanted since the campsite was all dirt/mud, and anytime I put her on the grass she tried to eat everything she could touch. So on Sunday morning we had a Father's Day picture at the campsite and then packed everything up and headed to the hotel in Iowa city.
Garry was working there the next week, so we dropped him off and waiting til Monday to continue our journey. Needless to say, Anika was thrilled to be able to crawl all over our room.
Happy First Father's Day to a wonderful, amazing Husband!
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