Miscellaneous Pictures

First blow out...

...need I say more?

Bears Fans Commiserate

Ben and Annika commiserated today during the Packers vs. Seahawks playoff game. She doesn't know it yet, but Annika is a Bears fan! She's going to have a rough time growing up in Packer country. Good thing she'll be able to beat the crap out of anyone who teases her!

Annika is now 22.5 inches and a whopping 11.5 pounds! She likes baths, bouncing on the red bouncy ball, rocking in Grandma Sullivan's old rocking chair, grunting lyrics to Dad's guitar, her pacifier, being held, and of course, eating. Grandma Godard was here last week so we got to eat well and sleep well too (thank you Mom!).

We spend much of our day going back and forth between the red bouncy ball, the rocking chair, walking around, the sling, and repeating it all over again. My Grandma Sullivan said much of life with babies is just passing the time...she is certainly right.

Future Troublemakers of America

Annika had her first play date today with Eden Selah Rosensteel. They had quite the burping contest! Eden's parents have informed us that Annika will be responsible for keeping Eden out of trouble since she is the older one (by 13 days)..haha.

Overall Annika is doing quite well. We are adjusting a bit more to life as parents and feel like we are getting to know her better too. Although I would like to be up at midnight drinking champagne to celebrate the New Year, it is more likely I'll be changing a poopy diaper and wiping up puke off the couch. Ahh, parenthood...

1-800-GRANDMA'S

Annika has now met 3 of her 6 Grandma's and is anxious to meet her other 3! Grandma Godard came to the rescue last week when Ben went back to work (thank you Mom!). Grandma and Grandpa Headington came to meet her on Saturday. And Grandma Sullivan was here today. She also got to meet her Aunt Trisha and Uncle Seth today when my family came for Christmas. My family brought our traditional Christmas Eve meal and we just sat around and talked and laughed. It has been great to have so many visits from family for Christmas! We look forward to Grandma and Grandpa Zimmerman's visit next weekend.

Star Baby Weighing Her Options

After days of non-stop phone calls from local modeling agencies, star baby Annika Zimmerman has decided to take some time off and spend the holidays with her parents. The local heart throb has been in the lime light ever since her birth last week. At only 7 days old, Annika becomes the first female super model in history to have a cat named Meso.
"Annika has done a great job trying to reach out to her fans," her spokesperson and father stated this afternoon. "She just needs a few days to recenter and focus on her future."
You know what they say... "the future is so bright, I've gotta wear shades."

Night Shift

Life in our house has gone from relatively peaceful and quiet to utter chaos since the arrival of Annika. Although the adjustment has been REALLY hard at times, it is equally as wonderful and joyous. Ben and I are continually amazed at how beautiful she is and that she is our flesh and blood. We just simply love her in ways we both have never experienced. God is good.

The first 2 days were great because she slept several hours at night and was pretty happy most of the time. The last few days have been much more challenging because she wants to sleep all day and be awake all night, she will not sleep by herself (on her back as is suggested), and breastfeeding has been quite challenging. Ben and I were both getting pretty frustrated but we took some time today to pray, regroup, and come up with a plan. So...I slept from 6pm-1am while he took care of her, and now I'm taking over for the night. We meet with the Lactation Consultant tomorrow and I'm hoping we will walk away with a better plan for feeding as the current is a bit too stressful.

I have to give kudos to Ben...he has been the calming force in our house during this chaos and I feel so blessed to share this journey with him. Life is good...