Anika's 1st 6 weeks

Crazy to think Anika is already 6 weeks old- and that I haven't blogged at all during that time!! Here is a quick update on our lives. Anika is growing well- gotta love good ole breastmilk!! Last I checked- 2 weeks ago, she was 8 lb 9 oz (only 2 oz under BJ's birth weight) but had gained 26 oz in 2 weeks (for those who don't remember, you want about an ounce a day). She loves to eat- although the last few nights hasn't loved her bottle with her Daddy. She sleeps well and at night varies a lot- anywhere from 4- 7.5 hours (only once did she go that long)- yay for Babywise!

BJ is still loving being a big brother and really hasn't acted jealous at all (maybe I'm just oblivious to it). He is constantly asking about her, hugging, kissing, asking her questions- "You want your door open Anika? . . . Okay" It is super cute. He calls her sweetums, and silly goose, and sister, most of the time, but will use whatever term of endearment we have used lately. In non big brother news, he has become quite the climber- scaling all sorts of things to give me a heart attack, and has started asking upteen questions a day. He loves his new house- and is constantly asking if he can show someone- anyone, his new sister and new home. I think he has loved maternity leave- hanging out with mom all the time. We've tried not to be too boring- countless trips to the park, and we've done playdates, Bible study, Children's museum, Monkey Bizness, etc.

We moved and survived having all life's changes at once!! We had amazing help and have most of the important things unpacked and put away. We love the house- Brandon commented the other day about how great it is to have the garage he has always dreamed of. :) He took a break from traveling, but has started up again and has been loving his job. His hard work has paid off, his boss keeps giving him more responsibility!

I'm back to work parttime- starting this last Monday. I work in the evenings after Brandon gets home (for the next 7 weeks). It's an adjustment- trying to figure out how to be somewhat entertaining to our almost 3 year old, feed the baby, get the housework done, try to unpack, and then get to work with a functioning brain, but we're getting there. I've enjoyed being home, but I'm ready to be back even if just parttime. We've had some changes in childcare, we were so thankful for Stefanie and her amazing care the last year and a half. But starting end of October, we'll have an au pair to help us out. Angie is 20, from Mexico, and we're so excited to have her come! Once she is here and a bit comfortable, I'll head back to work full time in November. Anyway, I'll try to be better blogging more frequently :) Here's the pics!

Sweet sis!

BJ and Grammy and Papa

Pretty typical pic at our house- BJ trying to cuddle, you can see how well it is going over :)

Smiling in her sleep

BJ "riding the motorcycle" at the park near our house

Introducing Anika!

Anika (pronounced Ah-nik-ka, long A, not Anne) Mikaela Workman was born August 13th, 2011 at 10:12 a.m. weighing 6 # 15 oz and 19 inches long, with a 13 inch head. We are so pumped that she has been entrusted to us and can't wait to see what God has in store for her life!! She arrived via VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), and we are so thankful for the relatively uneventful birth. My water broke at a friends house when I was putting BJ down (I had had contractions most of the day and had a hunch we would be doing more exciting things that night). We headed to the hospital (after a quick snack), got checked in, and got an epidural- those things are amazing!! I was able to doze most the night and have the strength to push in the morning! We are all doing well with the adjustment. BJ is loving his role as a big brother, almost too much- at times almost smothering her with love. I'm trying currently to remind myself to speak the positive to him (not "Don't crush your sister" but "We are gentle with Anika") since he truly just wants to love on her. He does have a strong feeling of responsibility and recently has decided he is the only one allowed to burp her. If you try to pat her back he will run over and say "She's not your sister, she's my sister" and move your hand away so he can burp her. He has had a huge milestone amongst this whole addition, and has started wearing underwear to bed and naptimes- and staying dry- and has secured his position as a big boy. We close on both houses a week from today, and have 4 days to be out of the old house. We have been so blessed by friends and family feeding us the last few days, and with all the offers to help us move. It will be crazy, but I think we may just pull it off! In the meantime, we are trying to focus a lot of our energy on BJ, and napping whenever possible (even Brandon took a nap at work in his truck over lunch yesterday!) Now for some quick pics before feeding time again.

Last few belly shots- I think this was 35 or 36 weeks

Then maybe 38?

The boys and Anika

Not sure why this didn't rotate. . .

The doting big brother. . .

Just some quick pics

Setting up blanket time for baby and himself.

Snuggling with baby while he sleeps

Licking the beaters.
Hitting balls with Daddy.

Helping Daddy "fix doors"

"Hi Mommy"

Happenings at the Workman household and how you can help. . .

So, Brandon and I have a history together of doing everything all at once, in the mega stress fashion. My family laughs about the things we have decided to do- graduate from college 2 consecutive weekends, attend a friends wedding the next, get married the next, attend another 2 friends weddings the next and that week move to Iowa City. Or deciding to totally redo a meth house the 2nd semester of medical school and move the day after finals, or that we packed our moving truck for our Denver move at my medical school graduation, or probably the kicker- have a baby in typically the hardest year in residency. Yep, we like to do things complicated! Now is no exception. When we moved to Denver, we found this amazing house, but always planned on moving after 3-5 years to a place where our kids could grow up. We LOVE our house, but in someways, our needs with a family are different, and we knew this house wouldn't be where we would stay. Brandon has been casually looking at houses for the last year waiting for the perfect house, and we found it last week. We put in an offer, it was accepted- so we are moving. For those who are now trying to count how far along I am in my pregnancy- I'll save you the time- I'm 33 weeks along. Our closing date is exactly one week after my due date, and our house is not on the market yet. Add to that a very active 2 year old, and a husband who has recently started traveling for work, and you have a recipe for craziness. The great thing that we have to keep in mind right now is that we truly feel this is God's plan for us right now. So despite the stress, we know God has great plans for us. However, we could use your help.

1st and foremost- prayer- for our stress, getting the house on the market, attempting to sell it for roughly what we spent on it, for our sweet little one who's life is about to be turned upside down in more ways than one, for our marriage- that it is strengthened during this time, for safety with this pregnancy/health of our baby girl, etc. etc. This is the biggest way you can help us!!

Ask us how we are doing/coping and what you can do- we are not good (either one of us) at asking for help, so that is a big step!

Planning ahead some dinners that we can freeze for after the baby comes- to minimize cooking in this crazy time- I fully intend to move my deep freeze and frozen meals- we have to eat!!

Any tips you have on making a house look less full (especially in the storage department)

Moving help- both when we move to the house, and emptying boxes the weeks afterwards- given we will have a newborn and will be trying to figure out how to parent 2, and that I won't be able to lift a lot- we could totally use any help you can offer.

Playdates for BJ- both without us while we get things done, and with us- we want to make this the lowest possible stress for BJ, so diversions would be great!!

I think that is enough requests for now. We feel so blessed in this situation, and by our family and friends- thanks for your love, support, and prayers!!

100th post!!

Evidently life has gotten to the post a month stage right now! I know I always say it is crazy, but it never really changes. So I thought I'd give you a quick photo montage of the last little bit.

Brandon got me a new camera for mother's day (our's has been missing since Feb.), and then we found the old one! (But wanted to get a new one anyway)

BJ and I on Mother's day- he told me the camera was a present from Grammy- B wasn't too thrilled with that!

BJ and his baby- he loves all babies recently, loves to sleep with this baby doll and asks regularly if Kaelynn (our sitter's baby) can come over- the highlight of his day is getting to hold her!

BJ "fixing" his bike

The boys snuggling after a long day

BJ's first real pizza- he has passed his milk challenge! Yay! We will go back sometime later this summer for his egg challenge, but for now, it's great to hear him say "cheese no make BJ sick!!"

Ice cream that same night- we had to celebrate!!

Helping Daddy on the deck- BJ LOVES to help Daddy!

BJ napping in his big boy room- we made the transition last week- and he is doing great. He keeps asking if he sleeps in the Husker room, and tells us it is not scary!

The bump at 29 weeks and 4 days.

Great night. . .

As any parent knows, there are bad nights and there are great nights. Hopefully the great nights outnumber the bad ones :) Living with a two year old, things can be fairly volatile. One minute things are great, the next, he's throwing himself on the ground because he wanted the yellow cup. But tonight was a truly great night. When I came home, he shared with me that he played with a tent at Stefanie, Papa, Kirina, Kaelynn's house and that it was a good day. Then he "helped" Daddy with the Nova outside- I think he actually had a leg into the trunk at one point before Brandon pulled him out, but he did run around in the front yard some. He came inside and said "Yay, chicken" (not always the reaction to dinner around our house- generally it is "no dinner, snack!!"). He ate great! And almost made me cry when he actually ate his steamed broccoli!! Not joking, he has never eaten broccoli and he ate it tonight (both with hummus dip and alone)!!! AND multiple "trees." It did this Dr. Mom proud after talking about childhood obesity at work for quite a while today :) Plus he ate his cucumber (another one he doesn't always like)!! And he ate a lot- chicken, tortilla, berries, cucumber, broccoli, hummus, milk, and a little decaf iced tea (we have to splurge sometimes right?!?). Then we had bathtime complete with puffer fish wars- and rare tears with hair washing. He read himself some books, let me read him some. He prayed both at dinner and at bedtime- "Dear God, thank for food" both times :) Makes a mom's heart smile. Even disciplining he was sweet tonight. The rules at bedtime: "No talking, no jumping, or Mommy take baby" (his favorite nighttime buddy at the moment). So few minutes after going to bed I heard quite the ruckus upstairs. I was so bummed after such a great night, I didn't want to follow through, but knew I had to. I walked in and he was sitting up, stopped talking and grabbed Baby to pull her closer. He pouted when I asked what happens when he is talking. He rolled over onto baby. Then mumbled, "Take baby." I asked him to give mommy the baby- and he reluctantly handed her over- no crying, and laid back down. Unbelievable- is this even my child? So I guess some days, the work you put in does pay off (not expecting a repeat tomorrow though!) The other thing that had us cracking up tonight, he somehow started saying "Holy cow." And saying it almost appropriately- so hysterical to see a 2.5 year old saying "Holy cow" to most things tonight. Thanks BJ for such a sweet night! I love being your mom, and nights like tonight make it even better :) Love you!

I really do mean to blog more :)

Seriously, I do mean to blog more, I can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged. So sorry! So updates:

Brandon started his new job and is really excited about the new opportunities and challenges in getting back into engineering. He definitely likes the people which is a definite positive. We will still have some adjusting to do when he starts traveling, but I think we have some good ideas about scheduling that.

BJ continues to grow- amazing, I know. He's actually growing out of his winter clothes, but we just keep putting him in them since the season is almost over. He's doing really well with potty training- rare accidents! He's scheduled for our 2nd try at a food challenge next week- hoping to clear him to eat baked goods with eggs and milk! Last time we weren't able to do the challenge due to his asthma wheezing at the time. Hoping he can be healthy by then (he has a cold now) so we can do the challenge. It was such a bummer to have to tell him we had to go bye-bye last time and couldn't stay to have "muppins with the special doctor, Dr. Dan."

My mom came out a couple weeks ago and spent the week helping us out- she basically single-handedly painted BJ's big boy room (Husker red with white and a black stripe)- and it looks really nice! Plus, it gave BJ and she more time to hang out- which I think they both loved. Plus, Brandon and I were able to sneak out for a night out- even overnight at a hotel while she was here- it was so refreshing- sleeping in (at least as much as we can now that we're old and parents!)

As far as pregnancy goes, BJ is going to have a baby sister! We're still working on names, but do have one we both like- amazingly. We're just letting it simmer for now :) I'm 24 weeks along- which is a nice place to reach- the age of viability (basically, if she was born now, she could survive- although we'd rather she cook for at least 13 more weeks :))

Here are some quick pics- we have officially lost our camera- so until we get a new one, you get cell phone pics, sorry!

The boys playing in a fort today:

BJ lounging while working on his "puter" at his aunt's house.

Grammy and BJ at the Children's museum

Older pic- 20 weeks.