Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Happy Dance

We fly to America today!  I am so so happy!  If I had more time I would compose a little jig so you could actually imagine me doing a happy dance, but it's 6am and we've got to wake the kids up and hit the road!  We've got a looooong day in front of us involving lots of flying and lots of driving (and lots of coffee) so wish us well!  Can't wait to be on the OTHER side of the Atlantic when my head hits the bed tonight.  I love my country.

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Flashback Friday:Stranded at Zurich Airport

Yes, I know it says Flashback FRIDAY and today is Saturday.  That's the name of Emily's link-up, but it is really an all weekend type thing, ok?? :)



It's about a blast from the past that you either didn't blog about or didn't have a blog to blog about.  This was pre-blog days.  I'm taking it all the way back to 2004 when me and some of the coolest people ever got stranded in the Zurich airport.  We weren't just going to SLEEP like the boys...how boring!!  No, we went exploring and documented our fun :)

We got stranded in the first place because my bag didn't make it on our plane so of course we missed our train that was taking us to our ultimate destination.  It would have been too convenient if we had been on a early morning flight and just caught the next train.  No, we missed the last train of the day so had to spend the entire night in the airport!

Oh, and it was a couple days before Christmas.

Here goes:


This is almost the whole group: L-R Chris (my future husband), Helton, my bestie Karole, me, and Karole's husband Blair.  It looks like me and Blair are a couple, but we were actually digging through his bag looking for his hackey sack and we just stood up real quick for the picture ;)  Also, don't mind my very red hair.  I was in Europe and doing as the Europeans do :)


This is Stacy who is missing from the above picture.  I'm pretty sure delirium has set in at this point ;)

This might be my favorite picture of Karole.  Ever. 

Clearly, I don't fit in there.  I don't even remember why that was there.  Is it a toy for kids?  I'm pretty sure most airports don't have play areas. Maybe it was a display of some sort?

Definitely losing her cool at this point!! She is so funny.  I mean, was she cold?  What is she wearing?

What the boring old boys did...

Ha, I made this one bigger so you could see the look on my face.  I swear they said, "make a funny face", but they are both smiling so nicely!  It's really quite comical close up.  

Another one of our friends is really scared of mannequins so of course we had to take this to freak him out!  Oh, these memories make me smile :)

The next morning we had time to go to a coffee shop before we caught our train.  Everyone is good spirits at least, sleep or no sleep!
My hair is so red, it blends in with the upholstery.  Lovely.  

See, they really are a couple ;) 


You know Helton is super delirious when he cheeses for the camera.

Stacy and I were super impressed with her caramel flower on her coffee :)


Yes, this is my Chris.  Before I knew he was mine mind you.  He has learned that that pose is no longer acceptable for pictures ;)

At last, we reached our Winter Wonderland...Wengen, Switzerland


So beautiful it takes my breath away.  I'd say it was worth the wait ;)

Friday, October 05, 2012

Mr. Man 10 Months

2 Months away from being one?!  That is crazy insane.  It has truly gone by so fast!  The first 6 months were hard and slow, but since we got to Germany, I can't really keep up with him!  He is doing so much and changing so quickly these monthly posts barely do him justice.


The basics:

Sleeping
Same as last month.  Naps from 10-12 and 2-4 and sleeps 7p-7a.

Eating
He still loves to eat although lately he hasn't been finishing his bottles?!?  He was getting 4 8oz bottles a day and after 2 or 3 days of him not finishing them, we cut it back to 7 oz a feeding.  I have no idea if this is normal??  I don't like it, but there's no dang doctors to ask around here.  There is a nurse line you can call and I have called it before but they don't know my son and he doesn't have a regular doctor (has never seen the same one twice!) so I don't like calling them unless it's super urgent.  Can't wait until we are back with normal pediatricians in America!
As far as solids, he still seems to be eating the same amount, but not with the same urgency.  He used to get real mad if you didn't feed him continually but he's a lot more chill about it so I don't know if he's "maturing" or not as hungry.
He still cries when I wipe off his face.  Such a baby ;)

Playing
He has finally started to "play" with books.  He loves looking at them and chewing on them of course.  He likes doing it by himself.  If I put him in my lap all he does is try to grab the book and eat it or something.  Today I sat on the floor for "reading time" with both of the kids.  Autumn loved it, Caleb ignored me.  Hmmm...















Other Things of Note:
I don't know if I've mentioned these before, but he gives kisses on demand, claps his hand, says "mama" and "dada" but without purpose, pulls up to a standing position all the time, but doesn't stand on his own yet, and "yells" happily a lot.  He's quite loud!!

He hates changing clothes.  He acts like it is awful!  He also will not ride in the grocery cart or stroller without screaming.  I don't mean whining, I mean screaming like he's on fire.  We have tried to let him cry a bit but it is really hard when your child is screaming in the middle of a store and all you have to do is hold him to make him stop.  So we just hold him.  This, too, shall pass I tell myself.

Despite the hating of the stroller/grocery cart, he is getting much more independent.  He does great at home now.  He will happily crawl into another room away from me.  He will also let Chris hold him while we are walking through the store, etc.  These are big accomplishments :)  Even though he is more independent, he would still be happily be carried around by mama 24/7 :) AND, last night we went to a military ball and left him with a sitter for the first time and he did great.  When we got home, my jaw hit the floor.  He didn't cry (except when she changed his clothes!) and he went to sleep just fine! 



I know his shirt says 9 months, but I never take those pictures on time and I didn't get it last month's post!  Maybe I'll get the 10 month picture in the 11 months post ;)