The joy of the plug

Nikki has discovered that nuks are not all that bad. She used to get mad at us for even offering her one, now she seems to like them.

And Growing... 15 weeks

Nikki is getting so big! She is right around 16 lbs. The first picture is in a 9 mo jumper and the second she's in a 24 mo sleeper. That is Kota's paw in the lower part of the picture. He was rudely kicked off the white blanket so I could take the picture. He is inching his way back on to it.

We now have full conversations every morning while getting clean diapers. She is cooing and talking in her own language and starting to get much more vocal...even starting to screech much to my dismay. :)

Hello from Vail

Well we just wrapped up 4 great days of skiing at Vail.
The snow was unreal and we can't wait to get back there.

Here is some pics and video of the fun.

The headlines say it all

All these goods and no one to share it with... "yes!!"

Our tracks from the first run

Jen, trecking through the pow.

Jen, owning the pow

Mike's turn...

Jumper is up!

Since we have no door jams or trim, we don't have a great place to hang the jumper. I got a shelving bracket and screwed a 2x4 chunk on the top to hook it. It's a little high, so she is standing on Kota's toy tub. It's secure and she seems to like it! She it turning around like a champ and is slowly starting to jump up and down more. If she is anything like Mike, I expect her to be jumping off the walls shortly.

New Lens

After playing with the current camera set up for a while, it's time to move to the next stage... the wide angle lens. Below is the first picture of me playing Friday night.

Yes, we were at home on a Friday night... we are now officially boring parents...

Here's looking at you Dad...

Cute shot of a very tired Nikki...

Thank you, Bruckbauer's!!

Bruckbauer's, our family friends from Germany, sent Nikki an early Christmas gift. The little bear pillow warms in the microwave and the pink wool jacket is just about the cutest thing she has! She's got a little growing to do yet, but I'm sure we will get LOTS of use out of them!

Thank you Monika, Peter, Valentin, Paula, Leni, Andreas, Claudia, Quirin, Friedl and Franziska!!!! We absolutely love them both...and the Kinder Uberraschung too!

We are still planning to return to Germany next year. Can't wait to see you guys again and meet all the kids! Hugs and kisses from Minnesota!

Mike Hunting over Thanksgiving

Mike took Kota and went hunting with our friend Ted and Shawn (Mike's sister Shelley's boyfriend).

Talking with Dad

Nikki must be going through a growth spurt because for the past 2 days, she has slept about about 20 hours per day. This was a rare awake moment when she and Dad were talking. She is starting to coo and babble a lot more; it's really fun to talk to her! She digs her little red cardinal too... :)

Fun with the camera...

Grandma Rita, Mike's mom, has graceously allowed us to borrow her old camera. It is a digital SLR (I'm slowly learning photography lingo :) ) with a couple of different lenses and a big flash. The big thing I wanted to be able to do is take pictures with something in the foreground in focus and the background blurry (I'm pretty sure that's the "f stop" setting, or maybe the apiture setting...whatever). We are not able to do that with our little point and shoot. We've been having a really good time playing. I'm also channeling my inner Jan Vokal and trying to learn Photoshop. She is an amazing photographer and extremely creative (http://www.vokalphotography.com/).

Here are some recent shots... Nikki is actually sound asleep in this one. She goes from frowning to smiling, it's pretty cute...

This is after we came back inside after hanging Christmas lights. She was all bundled up still...

Me messing around with Photoshop...

Hopefully as I get better, I can do these a little faster! This one took the better part of a morning!

Thanksgiving Adventure!

Thanksgiving turned out to be a little chaotic this year! Amy went in for a routine doctor's appointment on Wednesday the 26th after doing some shopping in the morning with Mom. The baby's heart beat was not as fast as they like to see it (it was around 109 bpm, normally it's in the 130-160 range). Doctors monitored it for a while, then decided to do a c-section instead of waiting for her scheduled c-section on Friday. We got a call from Amy around 11:30 telling us we may have to reschedule Thanksgiving! Little Heidi Ring Sundberg was born around 1:25 PM on 11/26/08. I was estatic when I heard it was a girl; I think everyone was expecting a boy! Mom, Dad and baby are all doing well, they are actually heading home from the hospital today (11/29). No pictures yet, I'll post some in a few days. Heidi has a ton of hair! We're not exactly sure where it all came from, Amy was bald until she was 3 and Craig didn't have much either when he was born.

We decided to have Thanksgiving anyway. We brought leftovers to the hospital that night so Amy and Craig could enjoy too! Getting ready for Thanksgiving...

Nikki is now able to sit up in her Bumbo seat. Aunt Amy got her a cute Thanksgiving sleeper.

We did a turkey brine this year. I've never even heard of the word before Mike's sister, Shelley said it was the best way to make a turkey. It's super easy. We just soaked the turkey in a cooler overnight with a lot of water, salt and herbs, then cooked it in an oven bag like normal. It was fantastic! Definitely going to do it the same way next year!

Black Friday was a pretty lazy day for us! We munched on leftovers, took naps and hung Christmas lights - I love lazy days! Today, Saturday, Mike and Kota are hunting. I love my puppy, but it's nice to have a break from him following me around all the time and begging me to play with him. I'm not a huge fan of hunting but since Kota loves it and it gives him and Mike some time together away from the house, I'm all for it!

Here he is playing with Mike on Thanksgiving...

And keeping Nikki entertained... it's amazing how quickly she can go from happy to sad!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Light Show

Recently, Nikki has really started to enjoy her Baby Einstein activity mat (this thing). She's mesmerized by the lights. Normally, when the camera comes out, the smile hides, but I managed to snap a picture of her enjoying the show. Check out those chubby cheeks!

Her video debut...

Hanging Out...

Just hanging out in the little red sleep sack!

Future Champion

Obligatory shameless advertising for General Mills... :)
Here is our future Champion! She is free to do whatever she wants as long as it involves skis, basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls or softballs... :)

And Growing... 10 weeks

I changed outfits. It doesn't do any good if you can't see arms and legs! This is a 9 month jumper...

9 weeks!

Just a few pictures of a day in the life of a 9 week old! Lots of smiles...

November Update

Happy Halloween!

We went out trick-or-treating with our neighbor's, Joe and Regan Duffy and their 2 girls. After, we went to our first "kid-friendly" Halloween party. It was extremely chaotic with a ton of little munchkins running around. Maybe someday we'll get used to all of the excitement, but it was tiring just watching them!

The Duffy Family...

Nikki's First Halloween...

Nikki is growing so quickly! We just had our 2 month check up on Tuesday. She is 13 lbs, 5 oz and 23 1/4 inches. We survived the first round of vaccination shots. It was pretty tough on me and she didn't have an fun either; she was a very sad little girl.

Here are some shots of Tummy Time...

Don't forget about Kota!

Some random pictures...
Bath time...

Just hanging out one night...

Thanks for checking in! More later!

First Night in the Crib

The Pack 'n Play in our bedroom has been put away. Nikki slept in her crib for the first time last night. All 3 of us had a very restful night's sleep.

And Growing... 6 Weeks

The first picture of many. Nikki is in a 24 month sleeper. Every month we'll take a picture and watch her grow into it...

Nikki meets Mya and Ava Werner

Nikki had her first play date with Mya and Ava Werner on Oct. 21st. Someday they will probably do more than just lay on the floor and look at each other.

Triple trouble...

First trip to the bar!

After watching our friends win their flag football game, we made the obligatory trip to Schullers Bar and Grill...

Fall in Plymouth

Some pics of Nikki "enjoying" a beautiful Fall day in Plymouth...