Adventure Wear by Anika

We received a Baby Bjorn from some friends Ben and Anika have been breaking it in.

Anika falls asleep pretty quickly in her carriers - we know its not a reflection on the excitement level of our adventures!

I primarily use the moby wrap - its a hugely long piece of fabric that you wrap around yourself.  Its pretty comfortable, albeit a bit cumbersome at times.  I had to watch a ton of YouTube videos to bolster my confidence with tying it before I got the courage to put Anika in it.  Now I wear it often enough that the dogs think that everytime I put it on we're going for a "stroll" (code word for "walk", which they know...not sure why they never figured out "stroll").  When its chilly out (or snowing), I wear my trusty Wells Fargo fleece (gift from my old co-workers in Denver) - its big enough to cover the both of us and long enough to catch Anika's feet. 

Here we are the other day:

Here are a couple of other moby wrap shots - I was also wearing it in the Girl Time post:

And here's one of the many YouTube videos:

Anika also has a snowman bunting - I think its super cute!  She fell asleep in it...I guess that's an approval!

Sleepy baby eyes - so sweet!

Skijor Cam

Long ago when Peli was just a young pup, Malinda and I were scanning the globe for ways to tire that dog out and take the edge off for the evenings.  Well, one of our friends suggested the sport of skijoring - dog(s) pulling you on skis.  Peli was a natural, that whole husky thing.  Biz is a little more timid, but when pull comes to shove (hahaha), he goes just as hard and they run very well together.  Peli, Biz and I even made brief appearances on ABC World News Tonight a few years ago as the Olympic Committee was considering skijoring for an exhibition sport in the Vancouver olympics coming up this year.

Now, since we have a snowmobile and grooming equipment for cross country skiing trails, I am able to tire the dogs out without driving multiple hours in I70 traffic, in fact, all I have to do is go outside! Enjoy the following video entitled,"Dog Butts, They ARE All They're Cracked Up To Be."

And of course, can't do a blog post without a picture of Miss A.

Happy 3 Months to Anika!

Anika is 3 months old today!!! I won't have any updated statistics until next month (her 4 month check-up is Feb. 23rd), but she is certainly growing and exploring and delighting us every day. She's been sleeping from about 10pm to between 4:30am and 6:30am for a few weeks now. After she eats, she's back down until about 10am - we are very happy to have this little sleeper!!! We have discovered that swaddling is awesome for getting and keeping her asleep. She has become a bit of a Houdini with regard to escaping her swaddle, but the other night Ben invented a new containment technique to keep Little Miss A contained. The inspiration came from http://www.miracleblanket.com/. Thanks, Jori, for the tip! As Ben mentioned in the Christmas Eve post, Anika has been a champ with her playset. Here's a video of her showing off her stellar bapping ability and her rock-hard abs - leg lifts are nothing for this kiddo!




And, here is her official 3-month picture on her quilt!

I also had Miss A do a couple of her tricks today...




Here she is doing a modified tummy time with her boppy. She really enjoys looking at the octopus mirror!

Bumbo seat time! Anika has been holding her head up so well and her bumbo time has been getting longer and longer.

For the sake of comparison, here she is right before Christmas...tipping over :-)

I've been trying to take pictures of Anika with her eyes open, but I just had to take this one a few minutes ago - I'm on the couch writing this blog entry, and she is snoozing away next to me. What a peaceful little girl!

Girl Time

Believe it or not, I did get a little bit of "Malinda Time" before the holidays.  Granted, Anika was attached to me, but the mere fact that I went into a scrapbooking store that I've been jonesing to get to for over a year was awesome.  Let alone going to 2 pottery places on top of the scrapbooking store!

After Thanksgiving, Ben's other brother, Chris, and his wife, Carol, came out to visit us.  Ben and Chris set up their computers in the kitchen and were able to work while Carol and I ventured out into the world of the Western Slope.  Carol got on-the-job-Aunt-training while she tried to keep me and Anika together on our first Girls Day Out.  We hit some stores, ate some pizza, and got lasagna makings for when we got home. 

Just look at the variety of papers behind us!  I'm excited just looking at this photo!

The 3 of us painting our pottery...yup, Anika got into the fun, too!

I'm cleaning off Anika's foot - we painted a frame for Ben and Anika put her footprint on it.

I have always thought baby feet are so cute!

Yup - Anika looks like she had fun, too :-)

I think Carol had a good time getting some baby experience, and Anika had a good time getting out and about with us.  I think this last photo sums up our time together pretty well.

Blasting into the New Year

After the Wimsatts made their trek back to the Front Range, the next installment of guests arrived: The Highlands Ranch Linstids.  Ben's brother, Nick, and his fiance, Liz came to celebrate the New Year with us.  The guys had a vendetta with a turkey and a fry pot, and Liz and I had supervisory duty.

Over Thanksgiving, the guys had an unfortunate run-in with a turkey, fry pot, and a football game - here's the link to the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmEjCVYBhg

Ben and Nick got a better plan, a bigger pot, and an...outcome - which was quite tasty!  No videos of this escapade, as it was dark and freezing cold out!

Let's get a closer look at that turkey...

Yup, its split in half - the pot was a little larger than needed, and the oil didn't quite cover the whole turkey, so an axe was retrieved and poof - the turkey fit!

After our feast, the guys went out and set off a ton of fireworks - huge booms and bright colors abounded.  It was quite the show.  Improvising was needed a bit for this part of the evening, too, as it was so cold, the lighters didn't work.  So, Ben came in and got our mini propane torch designed for creme brulee...and evidently fireworks :-)  It worked and much fun was had by all.

Sean and Melanie came on the 1st with their son, Brian, and pup, Ollie.  Yet again Peli and Biz were excited that they got a playmate, too :-)  Ollie was super excited to be running around like a crazy dog with our two pups - here is a picture of a very familiar scene with Ollie in it:

Check out those ears!!!

Ben got to try out the tracks he made with the grooming equipment we got for the snowmobile - both skate and classic cross country lanes were made and well used by Sean, Brian, Ben and Melanie.  Meanwhile, Nick, Liz, Anika, and I all went snowshoeing.  We were all pretty tired by the end of the weekend from our hard playing!

Skiing out the back door...or the front door - whichever you choose, its niiiiice :-)

Peli racing Ben down the track...she's winning!

Brian LOVED the snowmobile!

Brian holding Anika - he totally got into checking on the "Baby!"

The blue-eyed bald triplets at breakfast.

And of course, not to be forgotten, the Legend of the Avenging Narwhal was passed down to Brian by Nick.  Check out: http://www.mcphee.com/shop/products/Avenging-Narwhal-Play-Set.html for more details.  And just know this: get the Linstid boys together and logic is completely replaced by comedy, puns, and tall tales of arctic creatures.

Phew!  I think we've covered the highlights from our Christmas and New Years celebrations!  Now its onto adventures for the rest of the year! 

Holiday Mayhem with the Wimsatts

Since Ben put out a teaser for our next post, the dishes are (mostly) done, and Anika is napping, I guess this would be a prime time to start on the rest of our Christmas/New Years stories.  That way I can start posting current fun!

My brother, Billy, and his family came up the day after Christmas - complete with the Wolfhounds, which Peli and Bismarck were ecstatic over. 

Calvert is curled up next to the wood stove...yup, he's bigger than the stove...but he was toasty warm!

Anika was sufficiently fawned over and loved by her Aunt, Uncle and cousins:

Aunt Beth was awesome - Anika got lots of gas out thanks to her techniques!  (And I learned a little, too!)

Geneveive read to Anika - its a great book - lots of bright pictures that Anika likes to look at.

One of the best memories that I have from their visit is the images and comments related to

Tag-Team Baby Dressing by Teenagers! 

Check this photo series out:

The girls are huddled in close and discussing their mission - change the cloth diaper and put a new outfit on the baby...

The baby is stripped and the diaper is on.

Socks are on and outfit installation is in process....

Just adding the finishing touches...

And the finshed product!  Anika is screaming with delight from the huge amounts of fun she had with her cousins :-)
















Not all was baby time, of course - Ben and Billy got their game faces on, too.  Jenga Max was the game...and it was a blast!

Billy, Ben, and the girls all went snowmobile sledding, too - I'll see if I can get the video from Billy to post, but for now, just know that they had a blast, helmets were eventually worn, and they successfully exhausted all of the dogs :-)

Phew!  Onto the next round of visitors!

Christmas Eve and Other Stories

Yeah, it's worth it to run the generator an extra few minutes to have Christmas lights on the house!

So, its been a while since I've updated this blog.  We're finally coming together and regrouping after lots of visitors and gobs of fun this past Christmas and New Years celebrations.  We started a few family traditions(I guess its not really a "tradition" until we do them again - but the plans are set!), we tore up the snow with gas guzzling implements, there were fireworks of multiple kinds, axes thrown, and Anika wore stockings for the first time...a banner celebration year, I must say! 

Ben and I took Anika to the "Wigglers" service - all of the kids from the congregation participated (well, the mobile ones did!) in all parts of the Christmas story, playing parts from Angels all the way to "Wise Guys"...the finale was a straw fight in the manger.  We definitely went to the right service!

Anika is wearing her Santa dress and her first pair of stockings...I was so excited to put them on her.  She also had patent Mary Janes on, but they didn't make it out of the car...well, one of them did, but we made her match by taking the other one off.  Notice the evidence of the straw fight on the floor!  Also, Anika is holding her reminder of the Light of Jesus - Ben picked green to bring the Christmas color theme together :-)

Here's a closer photo of Miss A back at home:

Here she is before bed...pretty excited for Santa!

Our newest tradtion started at 5:30 Christmas morning (after I fed and got Anika back to bed) with the inaugural baking of Cinnamon Rolls!  I was a bit nervous to be making cinnamon rolls from scratch, but the recipe I found was pretty well written and with a little creativity (I rolled the dough in red and green sugar for a festive touch), they turned out DELICIOUS!!!  Woo-hoo!  Here's a photo of the finished product - notice the ever-vigilant Bismarck in the background :-)

(Switching to Ben Telling the Story) Christmas morning we woke up to a bit of snow and evidently Santa doesn't prorate if you've only been around for part of a year.

Anika has been playing with her playset every day and has started getting the coordination to bap the toys and ball that hang above her.  Of course, Biz and Peli waited patiently for their Christmas treats.  They are well aware that Anika ranks above them in the pack!

After the madness of opening presents we all spent most of the day alternating playing with our new toys and taking naps.

Ben's New Toy:

 

Malinda's New Toy:

Anika's New Toy:

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Since we're behind on our posts, I'll give y'all a preview of the next blog post:

Snowmobiles Dragging Sleds

Teenagers Dressing Babies

Giant Dogs

Fireworks

Fried Turkey Halves

Avenging Narwhals

Piggy Back Cross Country Skiing

and much, much more - I'm tired just typing that.