7 months ago...

Anika was born. Can you believe it? I can't.

Life has been crazy since she came around. We are now 3 weeks away from the end of Karl's 2nd quarter. 2 down, 1 to go. That fact makes the husbandless nights and weekends a *little* easier to handle.

Soren is still the sweetest little man I know. Making conversation with complete strangers, making up his own lyrics to songs (that are actually quite good), making his sister laugh...no matter what it takes. He's doing a fantastic job of being an older brother. I have some pretty incredible children.

I realized that Soren and I have hardly had any time together just the two of us since Ani came. Sad, but true. I decided that we needed a Mama/Soren date, so yesterday we hit the town. I let Soren decide what we were going to do, what we were going to eat, where we going to do. Everything. I feel like most of the time I am telling him to stop doing something as I take care of Ani. Yesterday he got to call the shots.

Here is what we did:

Read books, looked at fish, played with puzzles...all at the library.

Ate lunch at a pizza place. He picked his own toppings too - olives and pineapple.

Went to a coffee shop and drank hot chocolate and shared a scone. We drank and ate and talked for an hour. It was wonderful, and he got so many compliments for being so sweet.

We went into a few shops and impressed some more people.

I'm not sure which one of us had more fun.

Anika Jane is still the sweetest little lady (how did I get such sweet children??) in the world.

She is currently on a *major* sleep strike, while is tiring and frustrating. We try everything to make her comfortable and sleepy, but when it comes down to it, I think she is just very social and it stresses her out not to party with us. Hoping tonight will be different. I don't know if I can take another 3 hours of screaming.

Besides the sleep issue, she is generally very chill. Just hangs out on my hip or on the floor all day, without complaining at all. Still has the best scowl I've ever seen, but she also has the best smile. She is one happy little lady, just doesn't like to show it to everyone.

7 months old is a pretty great age. She is not really the most advanced child but that is fine with me. It's nice to have a baby who still hangs out most of the day and isn't in a hurry to get around. She is getting really good at rolling to her destination and reaching up to grab things. She is eating solid food and can drink out of cup. Her newborn hair has pretty much all fallen out and is getting replaced by some incredibly cute fuzzy blonde hair. She still looks pretty bald though. I love it.

Well, that concludes the end of this post. Soren just walked in with his pants down to his knees and needs some potty help. Anika is trying to eat the keys. Such is my life right now. I may or may not get a shower today. I did get breakfast though...can't ask for too much.