And more firsts...

In addition to Annika's first tooth, she also had a lot more first this last week. She had her first taste of cereal which she seemed to enjoy very much. She also rolled over from her tummy to her back (as seen in this video), she is also very close to rolling from her back to her tummy (maybe by the end of the week). She also had her first real bath in the bathtub...no more sink baths for her (I'm not so sure she liked the idea she has a pretty serious face in the pictures)! :) Here are some pictures of her first feeding and her first bath and a video of her rolling over.

Go figure I cannot find the cord to put the rest of the pics onto our computer (mainly the bathtub pictures and the rolling over video). So I'll just post the cereal pictures for now and the other ones will be posted shortly (hopefully)....so stay tuned! :)

4th of July

What a fun week of the 4th we had. Elizabeth and Justin Fain (David's sister and bro-in-law) came to visit us this week. They have been in Saipan for the last year teaching. They just got back in May and came to see Annika. We have been having a blast!! Annika has been one busy little girl! These photos are specifically from the 4th of July we will post other photos from our week with Justin and Elizabeth later.

On the 4th we went to the Manske's house for a cookout (our neighbors). We then went tubing down the Sunrise River (Annika got to stay back with Jolene, Dorthy, and her new little friend Elliott, he's 2 1/2 months younger than Annika). After we were finished tubing we went to the fireworks. We thought for sure Annika would cry because of the noise, so we are borrowed the Manske's noise reduction headphones for her. She did not end up wearing them. In fact the noise did not bother her at all! She sat on mom's lap and watched the fireworks. During the grand finale Elizabeth looked over and said that Annika was smiling! On the way home in the car Annika "konked out" it was a busy day for her.

Here is a slide show from the fireworks. At the end are a few candid shots of Annika I took to put in her baby book.

Almost 4 months...

Okay so Annika is almost 4 months old and I was going to wait to write a new post, but I decided to do it along with another big mile stone in her life. Annika will be 4 months old on July 6th (her daddy's birthday)!

Annika went into the doctor on Monday and she is at 12 pounds 8 ounces and is 24 inches long. She has gained only one pound and 1/2 inch in two months.

Along with the doctor's appointment she has met another mile stone in her life. Her first tooth came through last night. She has been soo fussy lately and I did not know why. I have checked her gums many times in the last week and did not notice anything. Today at our annual 4th of July church picnic a nurse was holding her and informed me that her first tooth broke through. So almost 4 months old and her first tooth. She has been "slobbering" all over...we are happy that we have found some plastic lined bibs! :o) Here are a few picture of her from today! As you can see she enjoys posing for the camera. :)



*Outfit courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Stertz, Aunt Kathryn, Uncle Benjamin, and Uncle Bryan*

Swim Time Fun

The neighbor lady and I decided to take our kids for a swim. She has 4 boys, David 7, Matthew 5, Joshua 2, and Timmy 2 months. And I took Annika we had a fun time with not to many "no splashing" comments! :) Here is a slide of us in the pool with the boys and Annika. :) However, I did not get a picture of Matthew....sorry Matty!

Annika usually likes the water, but she wasn't too happy when I put her in it today, the water was a little cold, she did start to get use to it, then it was time to go home. We'll try again later. The last few pictures are of Annika wrapped in a snuggly towel (my grandma, Annika's great-grandma) made it for her and we love it!!

Please Pray...

On Wednesday evening before church Chisago County (the county which we live in) had tornado watches out. A family from a nearby town shared that on their way to church the "alarm" started to sound. All was calm at church. David was in the middle of giving a short devotional before prayer time when all of a sudden you could hear these little "ting" noises here and there and eventually they got louder and louder. When we looked out the window we saw hail. It started out as little pieces about dime or nickel size and then eventually got to be about the size of golf balls (as shown in the picture). A nearby town reported that they had baseball and softball size hail, which caused some serious damage. A few families showed up late for church, including a lady who farms. She came in and asked that we pray for their family at this time because the hail had ruined much of their crop. She said in all the years in which she has been farming (she has lived on this farm since she was born, so around 40 years) she has never seen it this bad. So if you have a few minutes please pray specifically for the Wilcox family and also the Sellman Family. These are two families in which farming is their main source of income for their families.

I have included a slide show of some pictures that were taken by a family in our church while at home during and after the storm (they were running late b/c of miscommunication on when church started...not their fault. We were transitioning from our Wed. evening K4T program to our summer Bible Study). :) So here are their boys outside with some of the hail after the storm. Also included is pictures from the morning after the storm...

Swimsuit Model?!?

I bought Annika her first swimsuit. It's a little big now, but will fit her perfectly when we go on vacation this fall. It was a GREAT garage sale buy. It was brand new with the tags still on and I only paid a $1!

Is there anything cuter than a baby in a swimsuit?!?

Annika thought she'd do a little pose for you!

Annika and Casey's trip to New Lisbon

Annika and I took the train to New Lisbon to visit my family. Annika did really well on the trip (she slept most of the time). My sister Sheila and her fiance Ben came from Virginia, this was the first time they have seen Annika. We had a family get together and we went and visited my dad and Bonnie. It was a fun trip we both enjoyed! Here are some pictures from our trip (just click on the picture).

Annika's train ride to N.L.