We survived!

Well we have all officially survived one week of me being back at work full time. After having been able to spend almost one whole year at home with Annika I was really anxious about leaving her to FINALLY start my nursing career, BUT the first week went really really well and I am excited to keep going back.

One of the reasons it has been so easy is that I know that she is in the best hands ever. Her nana, grandmama, auntie lyndsay and her daddy are all taking turns watching her while I complete my grueling 5 day a week new graduate training. I can't thank you guys enough for watching my baby girl! I'll say it again THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Another reason it has been so easy to go to work is that for the first time I am loving what I am doing. I have barely even started, but I can just tell that this is going to be a good fit for me. However seeing all those babies being born is only going to increase the number of little ones I want...sorry babe!

After our first full week of work/baby duty Eric, Annika and I headed to Pebble for a night to catch some of the AT&T pro-am. The weather was gorgeous and we even got to go out a couple of times and walk MPCC and Pebble and catch some of "our" favorites... adam scott, sergio, phil...good times.

Needless to say we were exhausted after a fun-filled week.

New Video, Annika is now 1!

Lot's of new video, lot's of good memories. We can't believe our little peanut is already 1, what a great year we have had.

Annika's First Birthday

Its hard to believe that a year has passed since we headed to the hospital in anticipation of the birth of our little girl. We stayed home until about 11 p.m. on Tuesday Jan. 27th 2009 watching recorded episodes of American Idol and trying to decide whether we should actually go to the hospital. I was a stubborn laboring women who didn't want to be sent home from the hospital because she had not progressed enough or was in "false labor." Finally eric convinced me to go and after an exam in triage we were told that we would be staying. That moment was surreal. We knew that we would be leaving the hospital with a real live BABY. We had no idea what we were in for. Parenting has proven to be every bit as difficult AND every bit as rewarding as we could have imagined. When people ask me if being a mom is what I thought it would be I usually respond by saying it is the hardest "job" I have ever had but that it is also the most fun and rewarding. I often ask Eric what we did before we had Annika...how did we fill our days?!

We have been blessed with such a fun-loving happy little girl. Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear from someone what a happy baby we have. She squeals when she sees pictures of the people she loves...aunties, grandmama, grandpa, nana, papa, cousins, friends, and especially herself:). She laughs when her mommy and daddy act like fools to entertain her, but only her cousin ethan can get the really good belly laughs out of her. She says mama and dada and bebe (I think she says it in spanish:)). She loves dogs and cats. She loves to play the piano and sing. Her very favorite activity is rearranging furniture (for some reason she loves pushing our chairs around). The more people that are around her the better. She loves airports...I think its the people watching she loves...BUT when she is done, she's done (just like her mama). She loves blueberries more than anything. She is very ticklish. She is a talker. She is precious and we couldn't have asked for a better first year with her. Annika your mommy and daddy love you very very much and can't believe that God has entrusted us with you.

For Annika's first birthday we decided to make a trip out of it to see friends and family in Arizona and San Diego, which meant two birthday parties. We saw our little girl grow up so much in one week. She knows how big she is (so big), she knows how to say Bella, and she knows how to devour cupcakes! Most importantly, she knows how to walk! Yes, Annika's first steps came in a bunch of 5 and she has been off to the races, but only when she wants to. We are clearly in new territory.

Heather threw Annika a birthday party at her house with some their friends, it was a lot of fun and Annika loved her new outfits and cupcakes. Aunt Heather and Co. made her birthday memorable, thank you!

It took all of 1.2 seconds after blowing out the candle for her to dig into the cupcake, and about 90 second to finish it off.

Ok, so here is a little bit of reality when hanging out with Heather and David, you never know what David will do next, as evidenced by this male stretching exercise, which as you can see, even Annika thinks is a little strange.

I love my new outfit from aunt bam! and sleeping on the couch waaaayyy past my bedtime.

Part two of our trip was to San Diego, where Annika got to wake up seeing her best friend Harper. It took a second to sink in, but once they realized who they were seeing it was like old times. Audi threw a great party, from food to decorations. It was a great memory and fun to see everyone.

"I have this cupcake thing down!" "Bath time is a party!"

Helping mom on the Wii and letting us know how big she is.

And finally, a lovely little sunset from our backyard. This time of year is mostly foggy, but when the fog clears the views are great. Yes the valley can be very pretty:)

Food

I love cooking. I come from a family of cooks and I definitely caught the bug. My grandmother had the most amazing garden with every kind of fresh fruit and vegetable you could imagine and she took full advantage of all of those fresh offerings by putting together the most delicious meals for our family every Sunday afternoon. My mother is an amazing cook as well. She doesn't use many recipes. She just gets a general idea of what ingredients to use and then creates amazing dishes that I haven't quite figured out how to replicate, though not for lack of trying! My sister also loves to cook and is so good at trying new recipes and finding meals that appeal both to little ones and big ones.

It is only natural that I would find comfort in the kitchen. Before we left San Diego I was a little sad in anticipation of having to say goodbye to all of our friends so I prepared lots of meals that reminded me of northern California to help me to get excited about our move. Artichokes, asparagus, sour dough bread, yummy cheeses, good wine and lots and lots of garlic.

It took me a while to get used to my new kitchen here, but I finally feel like I'm back. We had our neighbors over the other night for dinner and it got me excited about cooking again. In my book there are few things better than dinner parties. It all started with a delicious glass of Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay which provided inspiration for a yummy shrimp pasta. A good glass of wine...or any beverage you happen to enjoy...can be a great source of inspiration in the kitchen. Pour yourself one and lose yourself in the joy of cooking!

p.s. I could give you a million excuses for why I did NOT get up early the other morning (or all subsequent mornings) like I said I would...but bottom line is I am still fully enjoying my morning sleep-ins. That will soon come to an end so I decided I might as well take advantage right?

Sleep

So I am probably the most spoiled mommy in the world. I know that. My husband gets up at 7 pretty much every morning with our baby and lets me sleep until 8/8:30...sometimes 9. In fact, on Sundays when we used to go to the 11 o'clock church service, Eric would often let me sleep all the way through Annika's morning nap and we wouldn't wake up until 10 when it was time to get ready for church. Yep, spoiled. As a result I toss and turn until at least 12 every night trying to fall asleep. Being that I will be starting work in about a month and will be working days for at least the first few months I have decided that I need to retrain myself to be a morning person. Incidentally, I used to have no trouble getting up early...during my pregnancy my best hours of sleep were from 4 am on, so I got used to sleeping later in the morning. My goal is to be out of the house tomorrow morning by 7:30 for my morning run. There, now that I've said it to all of you I may actually be motivated to get my butt out of bed!

Too long needing an update!!!

Hello from Ripon!!!! We can't believe how long it has been since our last post, but we have officially made it up north and have moved in to our new place. It is definitely an adjustment but we are slowly getting accustomed to our new life up here. Annika likes the extra space to roam, she has found the stairs a new adventure and loves seeing her cousins almost everyday. More on our move later, now we need to catch up on the last 4 weeks!

Thanksgiving was our first in SD and we spent it and Jon and Ang's house. It was a great time and Sienna and Annika made it through most of the day. Ryan and BJ schooled Jon and me in corn hole, really just me and Jon had to endure it. Corn hole is one thing I will not miss about SD.

Annika had some hard days adjusting to her house being boxed up, but she also got into the spirit of it as well. The day we moved out Tatum took her to the park for two hours and when she came back, all her furniture was gone. She looked around and started to cry because none of her stuff was there! Proof we are creatures of habit.

One of the coolest things Kara did with Annika was take her to Glenner, an Alzheimer's day center that Kara worked at during nursing school. Every week Annika would hang out with the group and they all would light up. One man in particular was always pretty grumpy but would light up when Annika showed up.

So this is my tball shirt from when I was 4 years old. It is a little big but she fits!



So we left SD on Saturday the 5th and moved our stuff into the garage of our house on the 8th. We couldn't move in until the 19th so we took the time for a family vacation to the coast at Kara's parent's place in Pebble Beach. Her parents came down for 2 days to bring her cousin from out of town. We love Pebble, the weather, the peace and quiet, the golf, Carmel, coffee at Il Fornaio by the fireplace, the bag piper at sunset at Spanish Bay... needless to say it was a great vacation, and the first for us as a family of three!


We went to Los Lobos state park one day, it is just south of Carmel. We walked about a mile in and after about 30 minutes of being there the rain and wind caught up with us. A brisk walk back in the wind and a short drive with some visitors from Colorado made it a memorable day, and thankfully Kara didn't kill me for convincing her not to bring another blanket on the walk. Always trust a mother's intuition!

You can't really see it from this picture, but the coastline across from here is the 18th Hole of Pebble Beach. Beautiful!



Another day we went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. Annika enjoyed it but it probably will be more enjoyable for her in another few months, which is cool because Kara's parents got us passes for the year for Christmas. We look forward to coming back, especially with Ethan and Morgan.

At the park in Dublin, we spent a few days with my parents before moving in.

"I luv medicine."

Annika has become a great traveler. As long as music is playing in the car she is happy.

I went to give Annika a bath one night at Kara's parent's house. I told Ethan what I was doing and before I could grab Annika Ethan was already in the tub. It was the first time I bathed three kids by myself, but it worked and Ethan kept the girls in line. They all had a fun time.


Annika's first Christmas present. She didn't really get into this one, but by the fourth or fifth present over a few day period she figured out how presents work. I was proud of Kara's wrapping job personally.

Annika's first gift. She figured it out more after this... I promise!

Ok that's it, thanks for being patient and reading all the way through. For those of you in SD, we definitely miss you, and probably will more so in the upcoming weeks as the holidays come to an end. With that said, even though it isn't always easy, we know each day that being up here is the right thing for us. Happy New Year to everyone, we hope you all have had a great holiday season!

Found Art Party

During this stage of life we find ourselves each year celebrating fewer weddings and more babies. Last month we were privileged to celebrate in a birth of different sorts, the release of Leeana Tankersley's book, Found Art.



The book was released in November and is a memoir of the first year of Steve and Leeana's marriage which they spent in Bahrain as Steve was deployed with the Navy. It focuses on the tough lessons learned, the areas of her life (which we all have) that were exposed during that year, and the way in which God transformed her in that desert oasis.



Two separate thoughts stand out to me about Leeana's book. The first is the process Leeana went through to write it. I would often times see Leeana during the day as Steve and I were working together a lot during this time, and I can say the process she went through was grueling. The idea of writing a memoir is terrifying enough, yet to have an outside third party rip revisions to shreds and tell you to tell your life story differently... all I can say is she handled that experience better than I ever would. We often ask her which was worse, birthing the book or the twins... it is usually a toss up. Her perseverance, dedication, and commitment to the process is truly something that will always speak of Leeana's character.

Then her book was released, and I have to admit, as a friend it is a little unnerving opening your friend's work and being able to read the final print. Yet in true Leeana fashion, her blend of wit, self humor, introspection, and vulnerability are a delight to read and speaks of who she is. The conclusions she comes to about life, God, and our relationship with him are profound and applicable.



Kara and I both recommend purchasing a copy (yes, even a woman's memoir is a solid read for a guy), and the link for the book on Amazon is below. You can also check out her blog, Gypsy Ink (http://www.gypsyink.com/) where her latest post is about Kara, and always gets me choked up when I read it.

Lee, thanks for allowing us to celebrate the birth of your book with you! We love you!

EJ, KJ, and AJ

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=found+art+tankersley&x=0&y=0&sprefix=found+art+tan