Our first stroll . . .

On Friday, Minnesota's warm weather offered us the opportunity to take Anja on her first stroll to the post office. As you can see, she was all smiles to get out of the house. She managed to conk out as we stepped out the door, but we're sure she probably enjoyed it as much as her parents did.

We are thankful for . . .

Anja! On her way to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson's house for Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Letnes and Uncle Steve. Much to her Grandpa Letnes' delight, she's our newest little Minnesota Viking.

Homecoming

Yesterday, we took our little Anja home. Surreal is a good word to describe the entire experience. Time basically stopped while we were in the hospital and to find ourselves walking into our home with Anja felt like we were stepping into a new world. Nothing will ever be the same!

Despite the last two sleepless nights, we both feel like we're hanging in there. Grandma Erickson was especially kind to watch Anja for a couple hours last night while Shana and I slept. It's amazing what just an hour of sleep can do.

Thanks to everyone for all your wonderful comments and well wishes, they are greatly appreciated!

We'll keep the photos coming and we hope you enjoy these new additions. We're quickly learning that digitial photography and proud parents can be a dangerous combination (how many photos of a sleeping baby do you need? :-).

Vi håper at det bli ikke for langt før vi kan reise til Norge med Anja. Hun må treffer Norske bestemor og bestefar og alle andre familie og venner. Vi håper alt går bra med Mariann og Terje også - sende oss en e-post når dere fikk tid til det. Kanjske en dag Anja og Elise (og andre?) kunne gå på folkehøyskole sammen! Jeg håper alle fra Hedmarktoppen har det bra og har lyst å høre om hva dere drive med nå. Takk for alle beskjed!

Erik and Shana

Say hello to Anja

On Wednesday, November 15th at 05:56 am, Shana gave birth to a beautiful little girl. We named her Anja Letnes Erickson (Anja is pronounced ahn-ya). She was 6 pounds 14 ounces and 19 inches long. Both mom and baby are healthy are doing very well! Shana did an amazing job, delivering naturally with amazing strength and serenity. She is already well on her way to recovery.

Anja has since spent most of the time sleeping and through just about anything. We’ve been trying to do the same, but with all the check ups and excitement, it hasn’t worked as well for us. As can be imagined, the grandparents are especially excited. We’ve also received many congratulatory phone calls from friends and family. Thank you.

We’re gong to try and post fairly regularly over the next couple months with plenty of pictures of Anja and her milestones. Thanks to digital photography, Anja is already well documented. Anja is not even a day old in all of these photos.

The Waiting Game

No baby yet! We've gone from expecting our little girl to be early to wondering if she might be late. We'll keep the updates coming as it could be any day (or any week). We feel as ready as we can be, now it's just keeping our nerves from becoming totally fried.

Winter is starting to make it's way into daily life as the days become shorter and we've even had some flurries. It won't be long now until we can do a little skiing! Although I doubt we'll be putting into too many KMs this year.

Oh, we should mention that we revamped how you can post comments. You no longer need to be a member in order to post comments. Just click the circle next to other or anonymous. Notice how even in 'other' the name and web page field are both optional. Then just fill in the word verification and hit publish your comment, after you have finished typing your comment of course. Hope to hear from all of you.

Still Waiting

No baby yet . . . but we're as ready as we'll ever be. Shana and I have been doing our best to enjoy our last few days of just the two of us. This past weekend we went and saw the movie, "Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." This movie is not for those easily offended. I think the New York Times review did a nice job summing it up. You can check that our here. I would say it's Monty Python meets Jackass, although not quite as witty as Monty Python. I enjoy satire and dark humor, but I could see how it could be harmful, especially for those who don't realize that the biggest joke is on the racist and misogynistic ideas and people themselves. This is especially poignant when Borat meets Americans who basically are the same or worse than he is.

We should also mention that Borat doesn't even come close to resemble someone from Kazakhstan. No wonder the Kazakh president has been angry about Sacha Baron Cohen's (the actor who plays Borat) movie and skits.

We also wanted to pass along a great article on the history of Circle Pines. Stephen Lee wrote an exhaustive history on our unique little hometown, but for those of us who haven't been able to read his book (ourselves included), the aricle by Christy DeSmith gives a nice little snapshot. I've linked the article here. The title, "A People's History of Circle Pines" is apt.