Christmas and more

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had just as wonderful of a day as we did here. No, baby still is not here but at least I got to stay home and be with the family. :)

Just a quick update on baby, before I get into our Christmas pictures and fun. I went in for my next doc appointment today. Even though doc was surprised to see that I didnt have the baby over the holiday, she says everything is progressing still. I guess it's just a super long early labor. LOL She said when time comes and labor does hit, it'll probably be nice and quick - one can hope, right? She says that I'm ready to go, dilated some more even since last time I went in, just waiting on that magical moment for everything to be kicked into gear. She also offered, if I wanted, she would make the call, and I can go into the hospital tomorrow and they'll induce me. As uncomfortable as I am, I really want to avoid all that. I really don't want to be strapped in to the bed being induced. So I have decided to wait until Monday, go in for another appointment and see how things are then. The doctor is also happy with that. She said there's really no reason to induce other than for my own personal sanity (lol). The baby is doing fine, heart beat is perfect and I'm progressing steadily, with any luck the baby will come over the weekend (sigh, heard that before). She did another membrane sweep (again OUCH!!) and sent us on our way. I've been really crampy and contraction-y (is that a word?) since we've been home so.... who knows?!

OK!!! So back to Christmas!

The boys - all of us - had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you all for the gifts you sent! Santa brought them both scooters to ride around outside and brought the family a PS3 to play together. Unfortunately the scooters havent had a chance to be broken in because we've been rained on the past few days and now Ry has a head cold. But maybe tomorrow if Ry's feeling better. Sean's been pre-occupied with his video games (boys!!) and isnt much interested in going outside unless Ryan will be out there.

Sean's also been playing a lot with his WWE Wrestling figures and ring. He just loves those guys. And one of Ryan's favorite toys he got was a Whoopie Cushion from Nana and Pop pop. He is constantly blowing it up and then asking whoever's closest to stand up so he can "do something" (ie put the cushion under your seat).

Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying Christmas! I hope you enjoy them too. Merry Christmas everyone! :D (again, click on the pictures for a bigger, better view)

I love Ryan's face in this one, he REALLY wanted a BumbleBee Transformer!

Sean loves his Wrestling guys!!

Positive thinking

OK! I'm trying to stay positive here so I'm going to make a list of reasons why it's a good thing that I'm still pregnant.

• Looks like I'll be home for Christmas. LOL
• I can take long soaking baths without having to hurry up and get out for baby's (or Dennis's) sake
• I can still enjoy pie, egg nog, and christmas cookies guilt-free
• Laundry has an excuse to pile up- I hate doing laundry!
• I have an excuse for my absent mind - shh there's no need to mention my mind has been absent long before I was pregnant.
• I can sleep in... kind of....
• Dennis and I can have "together" time after shoving the kiddos to bed. And if they wake up we can say "go back to bed!" without 30min feeding and changings. LOL

Well that's all I can think of for now. It's a measly list, especially compared to the "other" side of the argument, but I'm trying to stay positive right?!

Now I'm off to make some dough for Christmas cookies so the boys can come down and help cut. They're both already at each other's throats from being around each other too long.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Today was my doctor's appointment. I'm now supposed to be going to see her everyday until baby arrives (minus Christmas eve and Christmas of course). My next appt will be on the 26th. I told her all about my adventures on Sunday and when she did the exam it seems it was not all for naught. They dont really tell you as much in detail about things in the doc's office over here as much as they do in the states - like how many centimeters, effacement, etc. But she said Sunday made a lot of progress, she can get 2 fingers through, according to what I've read that means anywhere from 2-4 centimeters. She also said she doesnt expect to see me on the 26th - of course, she also said she was surprised that I was there today. LOL She swept my membranes as well, (ouch!!) so hopefully that might move things along. Oh! I also had a few contractions register on the monitor, just little ones ;) but it made me feel better to see them because I was beginning to think I was just imagining things LOL.

I'm at the point now that I dont care if I end up having to be in the hospital on Christmas BUT I dont want the boys to have to spend Christmas morning at their friend's house. At least let them be home for that, even if I'm not here. They're a little concerned about that as well but they've been good sports. They've been so sweet, they keep coming up and hugging my belly and telling baby to come out. HAHA!

So come on baby! You have tonight and some of tomorrow to get things going. Let's GO!

Well I'm fixing Chicken noodle soup tonight... yum! So I better go tend to that. :)

NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry to say, if you read the previous post, that it doesnt look like the baby will be here tonight... and who knows when.

Around 1030 this morning my 5 min apart contractions that I had been having since around 3am suddenly stopped. Of course this was after we had already sent the boys over to our friend's so they could make it to church. They were planned to sing infront of everyone and do a pagent story - Dennis and I missed it.

I'm very upset and not very happy right now but I will keep you informed if there's any changes.

Labor?????

I think I'm actually in labor!!!

It's just after 6am here and I have been up since about 3ish with contractions. I had been having uncomfortableness since last night but just shrugged it off as the normal false labor stuff. But early this morning they were keeping me up big time. I decided to get up and come downstairs around 4am and drink some water and start timing. Found a cool gaget online that you hit the space bar when your contraction starts and stops and it records how long and how far apart they are. They have been 5 mins apart since 4:15am. Still not time to got to the hospital but they are increasing in intensity especially the ones in the last 1/2 hour. I've been laying here on the couch trying to rest and listening to my Enya cds lol. Sleep isnt possible though.

I think I'm going to go take a shower and then go back to laying down. Hopefully by tonight we will have baby here. Of course, if labor stops and I've jynxed myself by posting this, then I'll update you all - probably will have a lot of anger in that post. ROFL! But we will keep you informed regardless!

Yay, thank you Jesus for this labor finally being here!!!

OH!!!!! PS Speaking of Enya. I found they have a new Christmas CD out and they are (or were) giving a free song on iTunes. It's O Come Emmanuel. It's got to be the most beautiful version of that song I've ever heard. It sounds like Angels singing! You have to listen to it, even if you're not a big Enya fan like I am. LOL

Impatient

That's it! I feel like I'm the last pregnant woman left and everyone else has had their babies. Look over at my ticker on the left. See!!! even that has had it's baby!!! Once it clicked over to 41weeks the baby disappeared in the little bubble *sob*.

The Duggers? Do you know who they are? They are a family on a TV reality show with (now) 18 children. SHE had her 18th baby!!!!

Remember the missionaries we had stay with us for Thanksgiving? I just received an email from them saying the 2nd pregnant lady at their church has had her baby. How about us? (if you dont remember the first lady at their church had her baby over that Thanksgiving weekend - they were both due around the same time I am).

I was pretty depressed last night after reading all this news. Though, don't get me wrong, I am happy for them... I just am wallowing in self-pity at the same time. I started thinking about Mary, Jesus's mother, did she have these feelings, anxieties? Of course, she probably handled them much better than I have been. But here she was, 9months pregnant (more or less), and her husband gets notice that he has to travel for some silly census. This isnt just hop in the car and drive a few hours to the next city, this is days on a DONKEY!! Can you imagine? my back hurts just thinking about it. Was she praying, "Lord, can the baby please just come now before we leave?" I'm sure she was fully aware of how hard the trip would be. Here, I complain about making a trip to the commissary. But no, she had to wait, for everything to fall into place perfectly for the perfect time and perfect place. I need to take a lesson from that and stop being so impatient.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Today, our cuddly lil Ryan turned 6 years old! I cant believe it's already been 6 years!!

He had a great day today. It just so happens to be the last day of school before Christmas break and his teacher also threw a party today for all the kids with December Birthdays in his class. They got to watch movies and eat popcorn!

When he got home, he got to open all his pressies. Thank you for all the ones that you sent. He's been having fun all night tonight playing with his new toys with his brother.

Tonight we've been watching Christmas specials that are on tv. The Christmas Story - you know, "You'll shoot your eye out kid" - was one of them. It hit me tonight how much that movie reminds me of the boys. Especially since Sean is around Ralphy's age. HAHA! I guess, boys will be boys!

Anyway, here are some pictures of Ryan and Sean opening presents and blowing out candles. I love the shot of Ryan blowing out the candles on his cake! Puffed out cheeks and all!

Nothing to report

Well the doctor's appointment today was a big ol' let down. LOL Nothing new to report... no progress, nothing new. Baby is healthy and fine though so that's good. And we got to see him/her on the ultrasound. Doc even tried to look for the baby's sex for some ounce of good news but alas, it's still a secret. Sigh! So Dennis and I went to base and I drowned my sorrows in some Pizza hut, which I havent had in months YUM! lol

On a more positive note, Sean is feeling MUCH better and even made it to school today. He almost didnt go because he didnt feel well early this morning still but I knew it was because he basically hasnt had anything in his tummy for days. We kept him home, fed him some bananas and some breakfast and he felt much better. On the way to my doc appointment, we swung by and dropped him off at school. He made it just in time for the cookie decorating. Coincidentally (or not) Sean's 3rd grade class has been partnered up with Ryan's kindergarden class, so they do activities together. For instance, Sean's class goes to Ryan's and they read books together, etc. Today they all decorated gingerbread men.

Forever pregnant

I'm beginning to think I'm never going to have this baby. We all think that at some point, dont we?

What a predicament we are in now though. Sean has been sick since Sunday. He's got some sort of stomach bug. He's acting normal, no fever, no listlessness, no normal signs of sickness other than vomitting and diarrhea (sorry). So now I'm at the point of praying for my contractions to stay away, you can imagine how painful that is to do. Especially since the baby is putting some severe pressure on me. I cant even stay standing up for longer than a few mins without being in tears.

We thought Sean was all better last night. He was bouncing around despite our pleas to for him to sit still. He hadnt been sick since the morning, he was EATING. Sure enough, bedtime comes around and not an hour later he was sick again and this morning too. I just got done bleaching down the bathroom and I'm PRAYING none of the rest of us get this bug, whatever it is.

I really dont know what to do if I go into labor. The lady that is going to watch the boys for us has 4 children that she homeschools, I'm sure she doesnt want this in her house.

Thank God that He gave Dennis the insight to take off this week, despite my protests. I dont know what I'd do trying to do all this by myself.

Pouting...

False labor is the pits!! An evil tease that gets your hopes up and then laughs in your face as it disappears. The only positive I keep trying to hold on to is that hopefully it's making even more progress so that when the real thing comes along, baby will be out quickly. Of course, hopefully not too quickly because we have decided to switch to a different hospital to deliver at, after talking to a few people. Dennis has off next week so we're going to try and arrange a hospital tour so we can see for ourselves. The hospital we were going to go to is closer (by about 20mins closer than the other) but we've been told they put 3 women to a room and there's no privacy curtains at all.

This other hospital that we're going to try and make it to. Though it's a 40-45 min drive through the heart of the city (without traffic), they give a max of 2 people to a room and try and give you your own room. AND if you are sharing a room, there is a privacy curtain. This is the main hospital in the area too so they have the biggest facility and most available. They even have a kids play room your other children. I'm just not overly confident that we can make it to that hospital. Especially as easily as we get lost here. LOL But, over here you dont have to pre-register at a hospital so we can just call it by ear and go to the closer one or try and make it to the further one when the time comes.

We're not going to church today. Sean woke up with a big tummy ache. HEY!! tummy aches are supposed to be OVER HERE!! Not OVER THERE!! LOL

On Friday, we had a Christmas party at church. We did a gift exchange for the children - they loved that and then did a "white elephant" gift exchange for the adults. Basically every adult brings in a gift and anonymously puts the wrapped gift on the table. There is one gift - in our case "the duck" - that is the gag gift and has to be returned next year. You can either choose a gift from the table to open or steal a gift that another person has. It was great fun!! There was a really pretty tea pot that everyone was fighting over. LOL And all the men were fighting over the tools. Dennis came home with a nice set of tools and I got a pretty candle with a lamp top. We had a great time! Took lots of pictures but of course I have misplaced my battery charger and cant get the pictures off the camera. HAHA!! Dont worry though, we arent planning on using that camera when baby decides to make an appearance. :)

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

This snow is REALLY coming down and there's just no sign of it stopping. It's been snowing nonstop since early Weds (yesterday) morning. It looks like we have about 5 inches out there now. It's forecasted that we're going to have about 6in by the end of the day but I think we'll have more than that, it's only just past noon now.

I took these pictures this morning after getting the boys out to school. The sun was only just coming up. We have much more than this out there now.

Yes, you read that right, the boys are in school today. I keep checking the website to see if they'll be released early but no go so far. I'm really not very happy about them traveling on a bus for an hour in this weather. It's supposed to continue snowing through tonight and all day tomorrow too. I'm going to have to seriously think on whether I'm going to send them to school tomorrow, especially if the weather is still this bad.



I have to admit though, as much as I hate the weather being so bad I do love how beautiful it all looks.

Man! and it's only December! I dont really want to think about how Jan/Feb are going to be like. LOL

Progress!!

I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet and then go take a "lay down" before the boys get home. I didnt get any sleep last night thanks to my mind racing a million miles per hour worrying about getting Ry's Birthday and Christmas done before baby arrives.

Just got back from the doctor's appointment. Everything is good! Best news of all, we have dilation!! LOL She said she was actually able to feel the baby's head. :D Of course, we know that it doesnt mean much as far as how soon the baby will arrive but progress is progress! I'm just glad to hear that all that discomfort and nausea was actually doing something.

It's been snowing here all day. Hasnt let up at all. It looks like a winter wonderland. Unfortunately, I think it'd take a blizzard to get the kids out of school but hopefully they got to play in it at recess.

Well, I'm off to close my eyes for a minute before the boys come charging through the house.

Some pictures while we wait...

Still no baby yet. sigh! I thought for sure the other night was going to be the night. I was nauseous and crampy and all around feeling no good, but alas suddenly everything stopped and I was back to my old self again - kinda. What a let down. Two Sundays ago there was a birth from one of the mission churches, yesterday, the other lady at our church gave birth to her baby... so maybe next Sunday is my Sunday?! who knows....

Anyway, to hold us over, I finally got around to uploading the pictures we took of the boys singing on Thanksgiving at church. As you can tell from the picture, they are thrilled to be up there LOL! They had a good time LOL. The little boy that's standing next to Ryan (blonde hair) is their little friend they're always playing with. And the littlest boy in the picture (next to Sean) wasnt technically a part of the "show"but he gave us a very entertaining dance while all the kids were singing. HAHA!




I also wanted to show off some of the things I just finished making for the baby. First is the baby blanket. I'm so happy the way this turned out. It's an Irish Rose crochet pattern I found online.


And this knit sweater I literally just finished a few minutes ago. I haven't decided on whether I'm going to put edging or buttons on it yet but for now, it's done. I actually only had a pattern for the hat but after I made the hat, I loved the way it looked and felt so I adapted the pattern and made it into a matching sweater. If the baby DOES end up being a girl, I'm going to crochet a few pink flowers and put it on the sweater to "girl" it up a bit :)


Oh yah! and that pattern I posted a long while ago. The one I said I wanted to make for the baby... that's not going to happen. After fighting with the double pointed needles and several temper tantrums later, I gave up. HAHA! Knitting is supposed to be my relaxing hobby. :)

Weekly Doctor update...

Well there's not too much to report other than the baby is doing great. Doc did a measurement ultrasound again and NOW baby is measuring on time and at a normal size - 7lbs-ish. She said though that the u/s isnt accurate at this point because the baby is too big to really get a good measurement. And there's no dialation on my part, no real labor progress. :( I was hoping for at least some glimmer of hope that this was coming to an end soon - other than a calendar date. I am so ready to be done. I'm soooo uncomfortable and tired of feeling like I pigged out at a feast and pee'ing every 5 mins. LOL

We're expecting snow tonight and tomorrow. I'm hoping it's not too bad because I'm going to start walking everyday now. I have been walking some but not as regularly as I could be. I just dont want to go through what I did with Sean and him being so late... haha and I'm not even at my due date yet. I'm just demoralized by the "no dialation" news. LOL

Blood pressure was sky high at the doc appointment again today but has been fine at home so she just gave me the same instructions to keep on monitoring at home and record it in my "Mutterpass" (pregnancy record book) so when I go to the hospital on d-day they will see that it's been good at home. All my swelling in my foot is pretty much gone and the blood test they took last week came back fine, no problems.

And so we wait... I'm trying to be patient, I know God has the perfect time and perfect date set up for this baby to arrive. I just wish I knew what it was. LOL

Back to normal?

What a busy weekend!! Yes, I did take it easy, as promised. I didn't go to the Christmas Markets on Friday as painful as that was, but Dennis said that I wouldn't have made it through the whole day. They decided to go to the one in Stuttgart instead of Ludwigsburg. Supposedly the Stuttgart one is the biggest in Germany? or one of the biggest? and it was spread out throughout several areas. They didn't get back until about 7 that night. I think that's the longest I've been alone in about 8 years LOL!! I was so bored at home, I finished a baby blanket and knitting a hat, went for a walk, cleaned the house. HAHA!!

Our Missionary guests left this morning. They were so wonderful. I'm going to miss them. We're hoping to take a trip to Prague, where they work/live, to visit them after the baby comes and we have all our passports in order to travel out of country. They really lead an interesting and blessed life! They had so many wonderful stories to tell. Over on the left column of this blog, I have a list of links "Favorite Links"I put their website in there. It's called Prague Missions, if you want to click on it and are curious. I also put our Church (called "Our Church", I'm so creative LOL) link on there too. I know I talk about it a lot but never shared the link.

We got to meet other missionaries too, most of them from different cities around Germany but a few from other countries too. One of the families is in Romania. These are all American families and their children and them, out of necessity, are completely fluent in their countries language. It's really interesting learning about the lives they lead and how they are serving God. It's an amazing example of self sacrifice. I mean, we're over here with the nice cushion of the military. Have access to the commissary and "American convenience". They had to move over here with nearly anything, a very small, if at all support system, most of them with multiple children, learn the language and for the most part deal with a completely different culture.

Well, I'm left with a quiet house again. Dennis back at work, boys in school, and guests gone. I don't even know what to do with myself today... laundry? I suppose I should enjoy the peace while it lasts because it wont be much longer. Hopefully sooner than later our surprise baby will be here... these last 2 weeks (or so) will be the longest ever!! Every twinge of pain: "gasp! is that it?! Sigh, nope" Every tightening of the belly: "Is that IT!? *pout* nope" I know, when I least expect it and finally forget for a few mins that I'm waiting. :)

Cant Sleep

It's 3:30am here, I've been up since about 1:30 and I just cant sleep. I decided I might as well update you all on our Thanksgiving since I'm up. lol

Our guests didnt actually arrive until Thurs morning, a blessing from God because I was feeling a bit stir crazy on Weds still not being ready for their arrival and not being allowed to do anything about it. They are a wonderful couple, I'm so glad they are staying with us.

Well I made an apple pie - cheated the whole way, roll-out refrigerated dough and canned apples LOL - but that's about all I could manage. Dennis made his mom's potato salad too and we brought those into church.

What an amazing church we have here! I'm telling you! I dont think I can describe how thankful we are to have this place, this refuge. It is really and truely like a family, like having a bunch of brothers and sisters.

There was TONS of food, everything you can think of for Thanksgiving. I even tried Sweet potato pie, can you believe I've never had that before?! haha! YUM! I dont know what took me so long to try it. Unfortunately my appetite, as well as my ability to sleep, have all disappeared lately. All the food was so delicious, I was sad I could only have a few bites.

The boys had a great time! Ryan was eyeing the food (the desserts in particular) from the second we walked into the room, "mama, can we eat now?" lol There were a ton of kids to play with and they opened up the auditorium for all of them to run around and work off all that sugar. OH! and I almost forgot, all the children sang some songs infront of everyone - the boys included. We took pictures but I havent downloaded them from the camera, I'll post them later.

By the end of the evening, everyone was standing around the piano singing hymns. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow (or I guess I should say today), everyone is meeting at the church in the morning for breakfast and then they're all heading out to the Ludwigsburg Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt), which is supposed to be one of the really big and beautiful ones around here - one I've been looking forward to go to. Not only that, but the children are all staying behind at the church so the adults can enjoy themselves. UNFORTUNATELY, I have to miss out on all this fun. I'm SOOOO bummed!! I've been looking forward to these Christmas Markets since... um... I dont know... 1997 or so. LOL (...long story, came to Germany that year to go to a Christmas market and we never found a good big one...) That's ok though, there'll be other years, sigh, baby comes first. Dennis and the boys are going though, hopefully he can get some pictures and some nice stuff there. Maybe, after I get some rest, I'll put up a few Christmas decorations at home while everyone's away. I wont over do it, I promise. There's not much to put up right now anyway, we dont even have a tree yet! lol

Complications again...

Well, doc has put me on her version of "modified take-it-easy" rest. All last night and this morning I was having horrible dizzy spells, even while laying down... especially while laying down. I couldnt sleep last night because the room was spinning as if I had too much to drink or something. At the doctor's office, my blood pressure was over the top high: 165/105. That combined with the dizziness worried both of us. BUT at home, my blood pressure has still been pretty good. It's been slightly more elevated than what it has been in the past but still not above the danger zone of 140/90. I wonder, as does the doctor, that Ive just been over-doing it lately with Thanksgiving and guests coming. So Ive been ordered to rest and take my BP over and over and call if it doesnt settle down. Also, I had some blood work done to see if there isnt some other issues going on that could cause the dizziness.

Over-all everything else is good. I go back in next week to see her again and re-evaluate. I'm not overly worried though. I dont feel well but if anything comes up, baby is offically "full term" now so we should be fine. Only 3 more weeks to go! Hopefully! I dont know how much longer I can waddle around like this and people look at me as if I'm a walking time-bomb as I go by. LOL

Well, we're expecting our guests to arrive any hour now. I dont have everything ready for them yet, which is frustrating but what can you do? Dennis is out trying to get the oil changed in the car - that's been an adventure in itself, trying to get that done over here. He had an appointment for 1:00... funny how 1:00 translates to 4pm with auto mechanics. SIGH! I still have yet to make an apple pie (I'm cheating this year and got the store bought crust and canned apples) for the Thanksgiving thing tomorrow. HA! and the doctor says take it easy! Trust me, I'm trying.... holidays and pregnancy just dont mix very well!

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy lots of turkey and pumpkin pie!

Snow! (part 2)

The boys (that includes Dennis) went outside and played in the snow for a bit. They made a cute little Schneemann (snowman), Guinness hat and pickle nose and all. LOL

(feel free to click on these pictures to make them larger)


These pictures are also what I get for sending out my camera unsupervised. LOL!!

Snow!

This is what we woke up to this morning!! Our first German schnee! LOL Can you hear the music? Everytime it snows I always think of that song from movie White Christmas. I guess the song's called "Snow" - where they're singing on the train anticipating ALL the snow they'll see when they get to Vermont.

It's actually been snowing for the past couple days but just a little here and there. Finally last night it stuck around and it's still coming down.


I took these pictures from our very top window in the house. I love the view looking out from up there.

The boys are excited to get out and go play in the snow so I better get going and get them all layered up. Thankfully their winter jackets FINALLY arrived in the mail (a month later).

This kind of weather makes a girl wanna put up the Christmas lights!

Tag?

Thanks Becky for the tag. LOL!! I think I'll do this right.

You post the rules and answer 8 "8" items. You let the person you are tagging know they have been tagged by leaving "tag" in their comment box. That means they now do it.


8 favorite tv shows
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Heroes (jealous you guys have the new Heroes)
3. Survivor
4. Biggest Loser (once AFN catches up with the seasons sigh)
5. Sponge Bob? lol
6. 24
7. Brothers and Sisters
8. Uhhh... AFN channel guide to listen to the radio - AFN stinks! LOL

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. sneezed... a lot
2. went to the commissary to spread the "love" lol
3. worked on some baby crochet projects
4. made Stir Fry
5. played a computer game
6. drank lots of tea ;)
7. checked the mail hoping the baby stuff I ordered over a month ago has arrived (I lead an exciting life) - it hasnt by the way *angry face*
8. watched some AFN channel guide hoping by some miracle there'd be a show worth watching

8 Things I am Looking Forward To
1. Baby being born!
2. Thanksgiving having a GIANT feast at church
3. Putting up all the Christmas decorations
4. going to a German Christmas Market
5. Sharing Germany with my in-laws this spring
6. being done getting everything set up for baby
7. travelling around Europe
8. getting old an grey with my husband and watching our children grow

8 Favorite Resturants
1. Cracker Barrel (I miss those chicken salad sandwiches)
2. Olive Garden
3. I dont remember the name but that Mexican restaurant in Maryland LOL
4. not a real restaurant but the festival food here in Germany
5. Indian restaurants
6. Diefenbach (not a restaurant but a super yummy bakery up the road)
7. Applebees
8. TGIFridays

8 Things on my wish list
1. Healthy baby
2. Baby girl (lol)
3. Wii Fit hahah!
4. my children's salvation
5. the boys (and baby too) to grow up respectful and responsible
6. a fast and easy labor (yah! keep on wishing, I know...)
7. for me to think of 2 more things to wish for LOL
8. for family to visit! (stole your last one, Becky lol)

8 Pet Peeves
1. Whining!
2. saying, "I cant" when you havent even tried
3. liars
4. kids who talk back/argue with me
5. irresponsibility
6. tardiness - but lately we've not been so good at this ourselves so I'm forgiving on that
7. People who are fake
8. Unforgiving people

8 Things you would like to be remembered for (this is going to be hard)
1. Being a good mom
2. loving
3. caring
4. Raising my kids to believe on Jesus
5. patient (hahah not so good at this one sometimes)
6. being a good wife
7. being a good servant to God
8.

8 Things to Ask and Tag People About
1. What's for Dinner this week?
2. Favorite things to do at the computer
3. Favorite memories from your childhood
4. 8 things you'd do if money/time weren't an issue
5. 8 fears
6. .......
7. ........
8. ...........

8 people i tag
1. Peggy
2. ..............

I dont know what to call this....

I couldn't think of a title for this entry so... there ya go! LOL My brain is too fried for all that. ;) Plus I've developed a wonderful head cold to help me with the whole "being uncomfortable" package. Thankfully, it's just mild but enough to make you feel miserable all day, ya know?

Dennis took leave all this week so we could manage to get the house in order for our incoming guests (ref. several posts ago that we'll be hosting some Missionaries for Thanksgiving holiday). Also getting the baby's stuff all set up - everything is still in boxes LOL. Unfortunately, so far we've only managed to make it to the commissary. LOL Oh! But I did finally get my hospital bag packed. Gosh! but I cant wait for the day I'll need that. These next 4 (or more *sob*) weeks are going to be torture. (as I glare at the clock, swearing I just saw the hand go backwards)

Of course, I'm conflicted because I don't know why I would want this pregnancy to hurry up and be over. No more just getting in the car and going somewhere... no more sleep (pfft, like I get any now)... no more long showers and silent house... what am I thinking?! LOL BUT then again, once baby is here, it wont take me 5 mins to get from the basement to the top floor of our house... I can sit in a chair for more than 5mins without my right (yes, only my right) foot swelling up like a balloon... and I can reach down and pick up what I've dropped on the floor. Not to mention the sweet baby that will be here to hold! :) Dennis snickered at me the other night because I dropped a notebook on the floor and after attempting and failing miserably at picking it up, I gave up and said "aww forget it, it can stay there!" LOL (yes, he did come and pick it up for me :) of course he did)

I wanted to say thank you to you guys leaving comments. I don't know how to respond to those other than writing it here (or sending personal emails) but please know that I LOVE reading your comments! It's too funny about 140bpm heart rate being the cut off for either boy or girl (>140 a girl, <140 a boy). So typical!! LOL That's ok! I like surprises. I'll just have to listen very closely for the words mädchen (girl) or junge (boy) on delivery day! LOL

Well, there was more I wanted to say but the fried brain attacks again. I'm off to shove the kiddos in bed and search a nice hot cup of apple cider! Good night!

Baby, that was probably your last chance....

Yep, another doctor's appointment today and another day the baby decided to be shy. We went to see the other doctor in the practice this week (my doc is on vacation) and BOY DO I FEEL GYPPED!!! HE, the other doc in the practice, is the one with COOL 3D ultrasound and all the cool gadgets! We were wondering where this supposed 3D ultrasound they advertise was this whole time, apparently it's only in his office... sigh. We actually got to see the baby - well his or her hand - in 3D lol! Probably if he was actually my doctor we would have seen the whole baby in 3d... sigh... oh well. It's too late to change docs now, plus I feel more comfortable having the woman doctor anyway. but... Sigh...

Yes, even with all his gadgets, 3D doctor couldnt find the baby's sex. Can you believe it? He said that the baby is laying with his/her back toward the front of my stomach so the "bits" are all hidden. All I can do is laugh.

Everything is still good with baby. We got stuck on the heartbeat monitor. Nice strong Heartbeat sitting at 140bpm (quick!! what's the ol'wive's tale concerning HB and sex? LOL). Last appointment (2 weeks ago) I actually managed to gain a whole 2lbs for the first time... but this time, the scale says I lost it. LOL So still no weight gain for me - doc is not worried and is happy about it (me too). I'm just a little shocked considering the way I've been eating lately, Copper and I could be twins! LOL

Oh! speaking of eating like a pig: Copper the yarn eating maniac. He is doing ok, we are watching him. His attitude and appetite hasn't changed, trust me, he's still a hoover and after he cleans his bowl, looks at you like, "is that it?!" Dennis has been trying to call the vet for advice but their working hours are worse than a bankers!

What is WRONG with our dog?!!?!?

I am so... just... I dont know how to explain it in words.... upset? shocked? amazed? scared? mad? I dont know, right now.

To catch you up: A coupled days ago, Dennis found a bag with a giant skein of yarn hidden in one of our many boxes we've been going through. When I say giant, I mean GIANT, it was one of those budget skeins of acrylic yarn that you can get from Walmart. Huge! Not your normal size of yarn! It's like an entire pound of yarn. I was happy because I thought yay I can definitely make something useful for the baby with that. So I set the bag down on the floor next to me and proceeded to forget about it for the last week or so. lol

Well tonight we come home from church pretty late. We scoot the boys off to bed and then both Dennis and I come down here to the basement where Copper is and the computers are. There's Copper laying in the middle of the floor on his blanket and I notice a wad of yarn laying next to him. A few broken strings mangled with fur. As soon as I pick it up he tucks he head and tail and starts to move away from me. "WHAT is THIS!?!"I say. Noticing it's the same color as the yarn I had left, I look in the bag and my giant pound of yarn is no where to be seen. I checked other places where the yarn might be but it's no where. I think Copper ATE an ENTIRE pound of yarn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What in the world is wrong with him?!!?!?!??!? How could he... how did he he... WHA.....?!?!?!?! I mean, he eats EVERYTHING. He sits outside and munches on Hazelnuts that drop off our tree. He munches on some prickly, thorny bush we have too and then constantly laps at his tongue because it hurts... bonehead! His favorite spot in the entire house is under the dining room table. But it never ever occurred to me that he would have a fine dinner on my yarn. And acrylic yarn at that... it's not like it was wool and it smelled like an animal or something.... it's PLASTIC made into STRING!! Watch out world, dont leave your sweaters laying around! Our dog, who apparently must be starving to death, might just eat them! BTW, if you're reading this and dont know, our dog is FAR from starving to death, he only acts like he is. My big fear is one of the boys forgets to close his food container one night and he eats until he explodes.

So not only am I mad but I'm also conflictingly worried about him eating ALL that YARN. I do a quick google about "dog eating yarn". The first page I find, go figure, someone writing in their blog about their BASSETT HOUND eating their ball of yarn. BIG SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quirks of living in town

I love living out in town here! I just had the funniest thing happen to me. The doorbell just rang and usually when that happens, it means some random worker is coming over sent by the landlord. I open the door and there is an older German gentleman standing there looking so very picturesque of a typical country farmer. He starts speaking in German, all out full speed ahead. My first thought it, he's definitely not a worker, (the landlord usually warns them we're German language impaired lol) oh no! this means he's probably selling something. I interrupt him with an "entschuldigen, spreche ich English." (I'm sorry, I speak English) He tells me that he speaks a little bit of English so we continue our conversation in Germ-glish. He's holding in his hands a small knife and a half apple and before he starts explaining himself he slices off a hunk of apfel (apple) and hands it to me to try. I start having Disney flash-backs of the old witch giving Snow White an apple. LOL I tell myself to stop being paranoid and take the apple and try a bite - admittedly still thinking of Snow White. LOL No fainting and I havent seen any little dwarves yet, so far.

So anyway, he tells me that he's selling fruit and asks if I want any. Also managing to pat my belly and remind me how good it all is for the baby. LOL I mean, seriously, how can you turn these people down. They are just so nice and charming. So I ask him how much for apples and Clementines (yum!) and he tells me such and such per kilo... then says "how much you want? 5? 10? 20? kilo" *GASP* My mind begins to race... I still get confused, which is more a pound or a kilo so I just say 5 kilos each. So he comes back with 2 GIANT packed bags full of clementines and Apples and tells me I need to make sure they're taken out of the bags or they'll go bad. All I can think is OMGoodness what am I going to do with all this fruit!?!?! HAHA Apple pie anyone?!

I was just thinking this morning that I need to get some fruit in this house because I keep attacking the boys' Halloween bags, I think God heard me. LOL

Ugh!

What a week this is going to be! Dennis is out of town for the week, hanging out in jolly ol' England. (yes I'm jealous) Here I sit, exhausted, cranky and hormonal. He left yesterday and since the trains operate on a slower schedule on Sundays, I had to drive him to the airport. Yes, my very first Autobahn driving experience. Oh joy!! At least the boys were cooperative and were silent as little mice as mom prayed her way home.

Last night I was so exhausted when I went to bed. I must have slept HARD because I woke up around 3am bright-eyed and bushy tailed and couldnt get back to sleep.... well not until 5:40 that is... alarm goes off at 5:45. After getting the boys up and out of the house and on the bus, I came home to sleep on the couch. That didnt work either. I was flying off the couch every 5 mins thinking that I forgot to wake up and get the boys off to school this morning. Well, "flying"is a funny word to use about me waking up suddenly off the couch. It's best described as arms and legs flailing wildly trying to get this body to move up off the couch, usually resulting in me just rolling off the couch onto the floor. LOL Have you ever seen the Cosby show episode where Cliff (the dad) has a nightmare about all the men being pregnant? There's a part when it shows all of them getting up and down from the couch in hilarious ways. I think of that episode a lot these days. LOL

Ive been getting plenty of those extremely uncomfortable Braxton Hicks contractions today. I'm sure mostly because of my exhaustion and from two little boys who want to choose today, of all days, to test their boundries and see how close they can get to sending mommy to the looney bin. They can be a little scary sometimes though, the contractions, not the boys LOL. I can definitely see how some people could construe them as labor. Thankfully, I know they are not, no worries. I just only hope they are actually doing some work. If I have to be uncomfortable then they better be doing their job to make "the real thing" quicker when it does happen. LOL

Well I'm off to bed to *try* and get some rest tonight. It'd be real nice to actually have some energy to drive *gasp* to a baby store or something. LOL

Happy Halloween

The boys had a great night of trick or treat and fun with friends! Unfortunately this is the only picture I got of the night. HAHA! Half the battle for me is remembering to bring the camera... the other half, remembering to USE IT!

We had a great night though. We took a ride to base, traffic was horrendous! Mainly because cars were parked all along the street outside of the base gate from the Germans trying to get on base so they can trick or treat too! O.O Once we were on base, it wasnt so bad. We found parking right away, shocker because on a normal workday you dont find parking that fast LOL. We told the boys we were only going to go down one set of houses because we needed to get to church for the Family night party - they were fine with that, I think they were more excited about getting to church. LOL Funny thing was, about half way through, Sean was already done, he wanted to go. LOL

I was so curious about how they were going to do Halloween in housing here. I know I've mentioned it before but they houses here are more apartment type buildings, there are about three rows of apartments that all share a common stairwell. We werent sure if we'd have to go up into the buildings and knock on doors individually or would people just be sitting outside handing out candy. Thankfully, it was the latter. At each stairwell opening there was a communal table set up and one or several people handing out candy. Basically you walk up to a table get into a candy assembly line. LOL The whole time, I'm thinking, thank you God for not getting us into base housing. I can just imagine what this would be like:

Neighbor A to Neighbor B: "Are you giving out candy tonight?"
Neighbor B: (unknowingly walking into a trap - this would be me LOL) "Yah! You too?"
Neighbor A: "Oh! no! I cant but here's about 5 bags, can you hand these out for me."
Neighbors C, D, E, and F: "and for us too?"
Neighbor A: "Uhhhh....."

LOL

Anyway, the boys got plenty of candy. Then we headed over to church and woofed down dinner and cake and candy and commenced bouncing off the walls. The pastor prepared a giant bag of candy for each of the kids to bring home too.

Oh! and off the subject, I always have to add a baby tid bit in here. Here's baby and I at about 33-35weeks... depends on which date you're going by, mine or the doc's lol.

Broken Record...

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but just incase you're still holding out hope to find out the baby's sex, like we are, still nothing to report. We had another doc appointment today - we're at the stage that the appointments are every 2 weeks now. Baby STILL did not cooperate on showing off his or her "goods". Even our doctor is surprised we still do not know. LOL You know what, though, as frustrating as it is, if our biggest problem this pregnancy is that the baby insists on modesty, then I'm fine with waiting. After the blood pressure roller coaster last pregnancy and Sean waiting until the final minute before he wants to arrive, this is a cake-walk.

Everything is good and healthy. Baby is growing well. Still measuring a couple weeks ahead but I'm beginning to think that's ok. I've already told the doc that the original Last Monthly Period date I told her was wrong by about 10 days, which would put the baby at just about the right size. She wants to continue using the "wrong" date though and I'm not arguing with her on it because if the baby decides to be late, I dont want her pushing me for induction or worse c-section.

I just got a phone call from them, apparently I was supposed to stick around for a heart rate monitor on the baby - oops! I misunderstood and thought I was done at the end of the appointment. No biggie, they said. I will get it done next appointment. I'm actually going to be seeing the other doctor in the office next appointment (my doc's going to be out of town) so fingers crossed - maybe he'll have better luck with the ultrasound?! LOL

In other news (lol): we might be having extra company for Thanksgiving this year. We should be finding out for sure on this soon but right now it's a little up in the air. Our church hosts a bunch of missionaries on Thanksgiving and they stay for a few days for conferences, touring, fellowship, etc. Well a few of the families still dont have a place to stay. We offered up our house since we have an extra bed and a few air mattresses. The family that would be staying with us is just husband and wife and their bringing an older daughter with them. I think it'll be great fun to have them stay with us but we live pretty far out from Stuttgart and the church so the Pastor is going to make sure it's fine with them and let us know. :)

Sean has a field trip coming up this week to a pumpkin fest. I wish I could go with him but I can barely walk around in a store for an hour let alone be on my feet all day with a bunch of 3rd graders. LOL I got him a disposable camera today, though, so he can HOPEFULLY take some pictures. I just hope he remembers to use it LOL.

Well that's all for now. The weather is getting colder and rainier here. I even think we're expecting a rain/snow mix to show up this week. O.O eek!

P.I.N.

Yep, P.I.N. (Pregnancy Induced Narcolepsy), that's my excuse for falling away from writing lately. I am just having the worst time staying awake lately. I sit down in the recliner, laptop in lap ready to write and SNORE!!!!!!!!

Nothing too exciting has been going on lately anyway. It's been dark and dreary, rainy weather, which isnt helping the snore-fest going on here.

My newest craving has surfaced and it's taking some real effort to keep this one in control. LOL All I want is CREAM!! Last night, after fixing dinner for the boys (left-overs night), I made guacamole for me... well not your traditional guacamole, I also threw in an entire tub of sour cream with it HAHAH! So basically sour cream dip with some avacado in it. That was my dinner. (and had some ice cream for dessert) Then today for lunch, I could not get cornbread off my mind so I made some cornbread muffins slavered in butter, lots and lots of butter. Oh! and dont even get me started on the Eggnog I managed to get my hands on the other day. O.O

The boys are getting ready for Halloween next weekend. Sean says he wants to be Spiderman again and Ryan wants to be a Ninja Turtle, both costumes we already have. We're trying to figure out how this is going to work though. We're guessing that we'll just go to base and trick or treat for a little bit there. We "hear" that they trick or treat in town but we're not so sure how it works over here, yet. LOL

Well I better get off the computer before P.I.N. strikes again! Enjoy your weekend!

Knitting projects

I've been searching and searching for the perfect "coming home" outfit for baby and I think I finally found it! I just hope it's not too late for me to get it finished in time... *slow knitter alert*

Here's some pictures of it. I discovered this website with tons of gorgeous baby patterns today of course all the ones I want arent available yet but hopefully soon. But this one I found that I've started is from the same "people".


If you click HERE you can see the picture better and up close... and see the pattern too if you're a knitter ;). Isnt that just gorgeous? It's a bit lacy for a boy but meh! at least it's not pink! LOL The gown part is optional too... it's more like a back-opening jacket that goes over the jumper.

This first part is a killer though. I hate hate hate knitting on double pointed needles (basically knitting with 4 needles at a time) and the pattern is calling for it to do at least the legs so far.



Oh but so far I did actually finish another baby item. And it only took me about a week *shocker*. This is a wool baby soaker I just finished. I like to use these over their cloth diapers at night... they've got to be so much more comfier than those plastic covers. It's wool, but it's not the itchy kind, plus I lanolize it to make it super soft and water resistant.

The Results Are In....

I PASSED!!! I called the doctor today for the results of the glucose test I took on Weds and she said it all looks normal, no problems at all. She did warn me to stay away from too many sweets, soft drinks, etc... no problem. I really haven't had an overly huge desire for that stuff anyway - well except for the occasional bowl of ice cream ;). What would have REALLY bothered me though, and I was fretting about it this morning, is if the results were bad and I would have had to give up my orange juice and oranges. It would have been a very painful 2 months LOL.

Well I just wanted to give a quick update and now I'm going to go celebrate by enjoying a nice cold glass orange juice.

Tchüss!

Doctor update

Just giving a quick update from my doctor's appointment yesterday. I had to go back in for that Glucose test - blek!! It was just as terrible as I remember! The doc told me last week that "oh you'll just drink a cup of a sweet drink," holding up her fingers showing the size of the cup around about the size of a Dixi cup. WRONG!! I go into the lab yesterday and she slides me a bottle about the size of coke bottle. *whimper*

"I have to drink ALL THIS?!" I say.

"Yes," the lab tech says very matter of factly.

"This is going to stink!"

Lab tech *laughs*

They put me in a room so I could lay down, after choking down the solution, and they also put the baby on a monitor to watch the heartbeat. It was nice to lay down during the test.

As for the other issue of why I was there, my blood pressure, the doc says she's not worried. My week long 3 times a day record looked good to her.... AND because I got to actually RELAX during this appointment, my BP was even fine while I was in her office. :) So no worries there! YAY!!! I was just asked to continue to monitor it once a day and record it for her to see but no need to do anything more.

I was so sick yesterday after the test. Thankfully I have a supportive husband to stay with me. :) I am supposed to call tomorrow (Friday) for my glucose test results. Hopefully everything turns out ok and we can go back to a happy worry-free pregnancy... if that's possible. ;) The doc was staying positive and for the first time mentioned my weight (bless her)... in a positive way. And said the fact that I havent gained any weight this pregnancy should help the results a lot. As much as I lament over my Frosty cravings, I'm sure glad fast food isnt so easy to find over here. :)

Much Ado About Nothing

The boys had a super long weekend. They had both Friday and Monday off but, as always, it just seemed to go by so fast. Dennis still had to work on Friday so the boys and I pretty much just stuck around the house. Super exciting! ;)

Saturday, we took a drive out to Robinson (one of the 4 or so bases in Stuttgart) on a mission to get a new bed. We decided to explore and try and take a different route. We must be getting better at these roads because I think we only had to turn around twice. lol The bad thing about Robinson is it's the only base with the furniture store AND it's so far away on top of being smack dab in the center of the city which means traffic, traffic, traffic. Well traffic is terrible everywhere here but going through the city traffic is a nightmare. And with the furniture store being a PX, well, most of us know, you cant count on anything being in stock or what you're going to get when you get there. It's a big gamble, you can drive all that way and come back empty handed - which we've already experienced with our last attempt at getting a bed.

Anyway, we got out there and to our surprise they were having a bed clearance! AND they had king size (box spring too) in stock. yay!! So we have a bed, due to arrive on Thurs, now we just have to pray that it fits through our doorways. ROFL!

Sunday was a pretty exhausting day and I'm not quite sure why. We did our usually Sunday thing, Dennis got up and fixed breakfast :) and we all got ready and headed out to church. For ONCE we were on time and not late. It was a good thing too because the pastor spoke all about being on time and coming to services more than just Sunday morning. So, we decide we should try and make church Sunday night, especially since the boys dont have school on Monday. Normally night church is out for us because the boys need to get up so early in the morning to catch the bus and we're a good 1/2 hour away drive to church. So, time comes to start heading out for the evening service and low and behold, we're LATE!! UGH!

Monday, most of the day was spent working on Sean's science project. He had to collect 10 different leaves, identify them and then fill in a chart asking for color, how many veins, size, etc. It was due today (Tuesday) yay for the family of procrastinators. The real pain in the butt wasn't finding the leaves or filling in the chart and making a display; the problem was identifying these things. What a pain!! A third grader doesn't know how to search leaf characteristics and identify trees online.... well our third grader doesn't at least. He knows how to use the computer, in basics, but heck, we even had problems figuring out what these leaves were. So the heart of the project essentially became the parent's job. Sure, Sean helped (ie watched) us search online but there's no way he could have done that on his own. Don't get me wrong, I love helping him with his homework/projects but that is also project number 2 of 3 due in a weeks time.

It didn't help that I was going through the pregnancy emotional roller coaster this weekend either. Poor Dennis, I think every time he looked at me I was crying over something. He was a good sport though, gave me lots of hugs and kisses and helped out with the things that needed to be done.

By the way...

After all the moaning and groaning the other day about my doc appointment, I forgot to mention some good stuff that has happened this week. I *believe*, apart from clothes, I'm actually finished getting all the baby gear we need. On Tuesday, after the appointment Dennis had some running around to do on one of the bases so I tagged along to hit up the thrift store. Shockingly they had a baby crib there for $75!! (We also got a dresser and some end tables but those werent for baby! hehe) That was the final piece of furniture I need for the baby... I think... I wasnt even planning on buying a crib for a few months after the baby comes since he/she'll be mostly be sleeping with us or in the bassinet.

I finally broke down and bought an infant carseat online. I struggled with whether I wanted to get one or just get a convertable carseat that would grow with the baby but stay permanently in the car. I dont like lugging those infant seat things around, I rarely did but they are useful on cold days to get the baby bundled up in the house and then carry the seat to the car.

I also got a swing on the way. Did you know, it's near impossible to find wind-up swings?! *sob* Call me old fashion but I miss those. I hate eating through batteries constantly. BUT!!! I found an actual swing that comes with a plug in adaptor.. WOO HOO! Now I just need to find another transformer LOL

I'm not planning on getting a stroller, we'll see but I'd probably never use it if we did. It's just easier to use a sling. I do have my eye on a "new fangled" wrap sling. I already have a pocket sling that I loved with Ryan but there were times, especially when he was super young that I didnt feel as secure with it. This one, it's basically a giant piece of cloth that you tie around and it not only secures the baby in real good but it also distributes the weight of the baby so it's not as much strain on your neck like the sling I have now gives. You can also tie it in a bunch of different ways and position the baby facing in or out (when they get older) or laying down for Breastfeeding. I like this color in particular ;)

The boys are both doing well. They have an extra long weekend. They have Friday and Monday off so I need to think of things we can do to keep them busy and my blood pressure from hitting the roof. Sean has a project due on Monday where he has to collect leaves and record them in a book so maybe we'll go out and do some trail walking.

Tschüss for now!

Baby Update: Here we go again!!

Yesterday was another doctor's appointment and unfortunately things didnt go very well. I get up to the office, do the whole "pee in the cup" thing and no sooner to I get to sit down and their calling me into the lab to do weight/BP. For normal people, that's a good thing to get seen right away. For crazy nervous freak-out-in-the-doc-office people like me, not so good. My BP was elevated at 155/90. Normally it's elevated when I go into the office but it doesnt get over 140/90ish so my doc has never worried. But since it's even MORE elevated this time, now I get "the talk".

Of course, I'm my worst enemy when it comes to this stuff. I saw that number and my mind starts racing. The doc decides to test my pressure again this time it's worse 160/115!!!! So I go on to tell her my history (for the billionth time) and how my BP was all over the chart with Ryan and we're not even sure if this was because of real hypertension or the doctor freaking me out. Because of this I always keep a record of my BP in my "Mutterpass" (it's a little booklet you keep on you that has your complete pregnancy record incase you need to go to the hospital). I take my BP at home and it's always around 125/80 something. She really seems to be understanding and is definately putting my doctor anxiety into account. I have to take my BP three times a day now (oh the joy of hearing a BP machine all day long) and keep a record for this week. I have another appointment to see her next week to review this all.

OH!!! but I'm not done.... OOH NO NO NO! Let the bad news just keep on rolling in, all to help my blood pressure, you know. We also had scheduled to do a "measurement" ultrasound. I asked her if she would mind also trying to find out the baby's sex, she really gave a true and honest try this time. Unfortunately (you're going to laugh) AGAIN baby is not cooperating *insert temper tantrum*. The baby's legs were together and straight out almost like she was saying, "not uh! no peeking." But you could definately make out those cute little legs! ;) Oh but that's not the bad news I was speaking about. Nope!

The doc does the measurements and the baby is measuring in a whopping 5lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is average if you're around 34-35weeks pregnant but I'm only 29. So now here comes the Gestational Diabetes talk. I have no history of GD but while I was pregnant with Ryan I got tested about a 100 times for it because he was so big, everytime I passed. I've never been tested this pregnancy for it (though they do check your urine for sugar and have tested glucose in blood tests) but my doc said they didnt test me for GD because I had no history and had been tested in the past. BUT because the baby is measuring so large, when I come back in next week, I get the joy of having the "oh-so-yummy" glucose test. I'm telling you, I hate, despise, loathe this test!! It makes me so sick and I feel like garbage the whole day, but I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. At least this time Dennis will be with me, I wont have a 2yr old that I have to entertain in the waiting room and I wont have to drive home feeling like I'm going to faint the entire time.

You can imagine, though, how all this is helping my blood pressure. So here I sit, mind racing a million miles an hour, trying to relax and use this blog as therapy and about to throw my BP machine out the window because I cant get a good reading on Day 1 of the 3x's a day, week long BP record. ARRRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just need to relax right? stop thinking about everything? HAHAHAH!! yah, tell my hormones that! Ive been trying all day, they're not listening.

I did it!! Finally!!!

I've been going stir crazy the past week or so worrying about running out of time to have everything I need ready for when the baby comes (nesting instinct I think it's called ;) ). I know, I know, I have 3 months to go yet but over here that's not a whole lot of time. Any of the local stores are over the top expensive, not just because of the exchange rate either. 400 euros for a stroller is expensive no matter what exchange rate it is. I said "400 euros?!! that thing better push itself!!" The PX, of course, is absolutely useless they have one carseat and it's pink and not a cute pink either. LOL Everything else is either pink or blue in there... that'd be great IF I KNEW WHAT I WAS HAVING!!!!!!!! HAHA! Anyway, so that only leaves me with buying things online and hoping they are what I'm expecting when I order them. So that's why I've been going stir crazy.

I did something about it, I finally made my first smallish "major" baby purchase last night. Well, technically our second, we bought a soothing chair and Boppy (nursing pillow) at a Fleamarket last month but those are nice-to-haves not necessaries like what I need to be buying.

I'm a cloth diaper fanatic (ask Dennis) I think they are fantastic! I know, weirdo.. but they are WAY cuter on a baby's bottom than those papery disposables, especially when you get those cutesy adorable printed covers. I already have a supply from when Ryan was baby but I needed to replace some that the elastic had worn down. Plus, when I bought Ryan's diapers I was "new" to that world so all I bought were boring white and one or two printed or colored ones. This time I'm going for the cute ones. I got a Dr Seuess pattern like One Fish, Two Fish and another that's little froggy pond and a few others with some neutral patterns. It's killing me not knowing if our baby is a girl or boy. She also had an ADORABLE pink camo pattern one. I almost bought it anyway but... sigh... I'll wait and see.

I know, how can someone get so excited over something that's going to get pooped on? I just cant wait to see that little bottom in soft fleece and cute patterns. Now to start working on finding a car seat and a swing... yes, a swing is considered a necessary item LOL!!!

Pictures!!

Finally!! I found my USB cable to download these pictures from the camera. Do you know where it was?! Right under my nose, sitting on top of the dining room table... sigh.

Ok, first up are pictures of Sean opening some of his birthday presents (with Ryan's willing assistance). He got a few action figures and 2 Wii games.

He was pretty excited about the wrestling game.

And here he is putting his reading skills to good use, reading his birthday card.

Ryan, of course was just as excited as Sean over the pressies.

These next pictures are the very few that turned out from the fest we went to over the weekend. I got a few of them bouncing around on the bouncey castle. (they're hard to see in this size but you can click on them to make them larger)

Here's Copper posing infront of the camera in our new livingroom. Apparently he's under the impression that I layed this rug down for his own personal use.

No, we did not get a new dog!! This is DeeDee with Ryan. We were doggy sitting her for a friend that needed to leave the country for a few days. She was such a sweetie and loved to cuddle.

UGH! and here I am at 25weeks pregnant and very round. What do you think? I dress as a pumpkin for Halloween? LOL

Busy Weekend

Oh boy! what a weekend but we had fun. On Friday, as you know, that was Sean's birthday. While he was at school, I tried to get his birthday cake and dinner baked and ready. Unfortunately, baking and pregnancy dont mix LOL. I had one of those devil's food box cakes and accidently put a cup and a half of oil in. SIGH! And it's not exactly like I can just run down the street and get another one. It turned out alright though, I fixed it the best I could and just poured the batter in a bunt mold and baked it up. We had a backup plan anyway.

After opening pressies (I'll have to post pictures later) we all hopped in the car and headed to our church. Once a month they have "game night" where everyone gets together, they set out ping pong table and the pool table for the kids mostly and all the adults sit down and just, mostly, chat and ate. The pastor's wife made a cake for the birthday boys (there was another boy who had a birthday this month too). We all sang "Happy Birthday" and then the kids ran around like banshees on sugar rushes. The biggest hit for the kids was putting marshmellows in the microwave to watch how big they got and then eat the gooey mess. We all had a great time and before we knew it, it was 11 oclock at night and we had to get home.

Saturday was mostly a "sleep in" day. Sean got a WWE wrestling game for the Wii for one of his pressies so he and his brother mostly played that off and on through the day. They just bounce around and flail the controllers wildly hoping a wrestling move results and they get a "cool move" out of it. LOL

Sunday, after church, we hurried home and got changed into something more comfortable and then headed to the Altstadt (old town) in our little village. There was a big fest going on this weekend and I had been looking forward to it all week. It was a medieval/cuisine fest. Up near the big church was the medieval portion, which was so fitting. The buildings up there are the oldest in the town and just set the tone. They had a huge rotisserie with chicken and lamb smoking away adding the smells to take you back in time. There was a blacksmith and stone sculptor, wood worker, etc etc etc. They even had bread baking in old stone ovens. I tried to take pictures but unfortunately none of them turned out because of all the people. I pretty much got a bunch of pictures of peoples' heads LOL.

Then in the market square they had the cuisine fest. There was live music and around the perimeter were different booths selling food from all over the world. I was looking forward to this most because they said in the newspaper they were going to have Indian food. We stopped at the Crepe booth and got the boys both a banana and nutella (a chocolate hazelnut sauce, if you didnt know) crepe. We sat them down on one of the many long tables they have set up at every fest then I went on my search for Indian food while Dennis stayed with the boys. Unfortunately, I couldnt find Indian food anywhere (cry). But I did find an African food booth which looked interesting. I got the vegitarian dish (having another bout of nausea with eating meat again) and it was pretty good. It was served over rice and had a peanut sauce with cooked bananas. The bananas didnt taste like bananas at all though, they tasted more like potatoes that looked like dried banana lol.

On our way out we stopped at a candy shop for the boys and they got to go bounce around in a bouncey castle for a little while. That, of course, was the highlight of their day. :)

The fest has a website, unfortunately all in German, but you can look at the pictures and see what it all was like. http://www.kulinarischer-marktplatz-wds.de/ These were obviously pictures taken from previous years because everyone is bundled up and look cold. It was gorgeous out when we went.

On the front page, in the center of the page (between the rows of pictures) there's a link that says BILDERGALERIE, that means picture galery and there are a ton of pictures through that link. I'm going to try and post a few directly from that site onto here but I'm not sure how long they will stay around.

8 Years Ago Today...

About this time today, 8 years ago, my life was about to be changed for good. I would learn, in about 16hours or so, what true, unconditional love really means. Our first son was born into this world and I would find out what all the fuss was about - both good and bad - with having a child.

I was clueless and scared. I didn't even like babysitting as a teenager and here I was about to be almost entirely responsible for an entire human being, what was I thinking?! But God knew better, He gave me the perfect husband, who knew how to change a diaper and didn't completely lose his mind when the umbilical cord fell off (unlike mommy who went spastic). The son He gave us is perfect in every way, so easy going and patient and never failed to give a shining smile to cheer up your day.

I truly believe you can look and see the face of God in babies. They love you without condition. You don't have to earn it, you don't have to do any special activity or ceremony. You just have to hold them in your arms, look at their face, and the most radiant, toothless smile will reward you. Your heart swells so much, you feel like it might just burst. Until this day, 8 years ago, I never knew that it was possible to love someone that much. Without you Sean, I would have never known. For 8 years, that seem like just a blink of an eye, you have taught me so much more than I could have thought to have learned in a unimaginable lifetime without you. The name Sean means "Gift from God" and there is no better description of what you mean to me.

Market Day

Today, nothing exciting is going on. We are just going to take it easy around the house and get some stuff unpacked along with conquering "laundry mountain".

Yesterday was market day, as I mentioned at the end of my last post. OH! how I love market day!! I know I've mentioned the market before and the old town but I'm going to try and paint a picture so you can get a taste of why we love it so much.

You walk down the old cobblestone roads, barely big enough to fit a car going in one direction. The roads are lined with buildings that were constructed before the U.S. was a glimmer in anyone's eye. Some of them are people's houses with flower boxes in the windows and the old wooden shutters and some of them are little shops and cafes. As you come to the end of the road, the cobblestone opens up to a giant square, here they hold their festivals and of course the market. In the center is a large statue of Johannes Kepler himself - one the village's claims to fame and a beautiful fountain. The backdrop, you're surrounded with the old buildings of its time along each side of the square with the village church higher than all overseeing everything.

Booths are set up everywhere with all the local farmers' produce. I challenge you to find a cranky person in the bunch. You're always greeted with a smile and, in my case, lots and lots of patience with my broken German. You have the chicken farmer with his fresh eggs, chicken and noodles (egg noodles ;) ). There are the butchers with every kind of meat and sausages you can imagine - and even some you cant imagine. There's the cheeses and olives in all sorts of varieties. Then of course, you have the vegetables and fruits, everything that's in season: nuts, apples, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, I could go on and on. This stuff isn't brown or bruised or have to be covered in wax to make itself appealing. Everything is just bursting with color and smells and flavor. Yesterday one of the farmers had walnuts, I'm a sucker for walnuts. These, I promise, they were the biggest walnuts I've ever seen!! They are so big that when we got them home I couldn't even open them because my nutcracker couldn't get around. We also got a bunch of grapes (on top of everything else). These grapes are so dark and perfect looking, they look plastic, like the ones you buy in a craft store for a display. If you squeeze one, they stain your fingers purple and they are sooooo good!!! The farmer also kindly gave the boys a few extra white grapes he broke off from another bunch for free. They really enjoyed that! Of course, I think it was the first time they encountered seeds in grapes LOL. Going to the market really is a highlight of our weekend.

We're back online

I cant believe how internet dependant we are these days. It's like when you lose electricity then you realize how many things you can't do without it. Ok, well it's not quite that bad but it's close. HAHA!

Yes! we're back!! and I'll do my best to fill you in on everything without writing a novel thicker than War and Peace.

Ok, first things first, the boys: they are both doing great. They started school a couple weeks ago and so far so good. S. is doing MUCH better this year coping. I think the school system here seems to be much better ran. They get a snack time and a short morning recess on top of the regular lunch/recess which just seems to make everything ALL better in his mind. haha!

R. being in school all day long is going well too. He's made lots of new friends and seems to enjoy his class. They're also both being real troopers about having to get up at 6 in the morning to catch the bus by 6:50. We expected lots of crankiness and overtiredness from such a long day (they dont get back home until about 3:40pm) but they are coping really well.

Speaking of the bus, here's a funny story. One afternoon the bus was running a little late dropping the boys off. When they finally get home, they come running off the bus all excited and bursting to tell me what happened. Apparently, just up the road before they got home, there was a lady with her 2 dogs and a pig (yes, I said PIG) crossing the road. The bus tried to stop and was honking her horn to warn them to get out of the way. Thankfully the lady and her dogs made it safely across, unfortunately piggy didnt make it. The bus hit the pig, the police had to come out and get a report, etc etc. The boys just thought this was the neatest thing. They were talking about it all night. HAHA!! R.I.P. Piggy.

The baby is growing well. I know this because I can barely breathe anymore and get woken up in the middle of the night with kicking and squirming. Oh! I'm not complaining, I love it! I do! At least I have an excuse for being breathless when I walk up a flight of stairs and a reason why I cant reach my shoelaces to tie them. ;)

We are settling into the house pretty well. We still have a few boxes to make it through. Our biggest challenge is where to store things. You see, there are no, zero, nada closets in this house. We got a couple armoires from base but they barely fit our clothes. IKEA has become our new friend. Eventually we'll get everything in place, hopefully at least a few months before our 3 years are up here. Haha!

I'll go more into the house and village later in another post (with pictures). Unfortunately I've seemed to misplace my USB cable for my camera or I'd post some pictures now.

Well I think I'll leave it at that for now. Tomorrow morning is market day in the Stadtmitte (town center) and I dont want to miss all those fresh veggies and eggs plus the chance to work on my German. ;) --- Good night!

News...news...news...

First off, the baby news. Well this isnt new news to most of you but in case I missed telling anyone I'm posting it here anyway. We had our doctor appointment on Monday and unfortunately little squirmy didnt want to cooperate and show off his or her "goods". So the baby is still a mystery. But on the good side lil' he or she looks to be healthy. We saw a heartbeat and the spine and all the important parts. The doc measured and we're still on time for around Christmas for he or she to be born.

In other news, this should be real news to most of you, we have finally received a date to move into our new house. *does the happy dance* D. is going in for a contract review with housing on Thursday and we should be good to move in on Friday. We're trying to get a hold of TMO and everything to get the ball rolling on getting our stuff over there soon than later. It's going to be very painful sleeping on hard wood floors. I need to hit the thrift store to start collecting area rugs and curtains for all these windows. LOL

But pretty much that's it in the news over here. We are losing the internet on the 14th. (The clear to move in the house came just in time... what is the saying? "God is never late, never early but always just in time.") So you wont be hearing from us until we get all that stuff set up at the house. Hopefully that wont take too long.

Venting the Exhaustion

I'm so exhausted right now. You can probably chalk this all up to pregnancy hormones but have you ever had one of those days where you just want to say "I give up" and crawl into a cave? Forgive me, but I'm going to let these pregnancy hormones come loose.

I could never be one of those people that spends their entire life living out of a hotel. As nice as this place is, I hate it here now. Did I say hate? I mean despise, loathe, detest...LOL Yes, there is too much of a good thing. I'm sick and tired of depending on housekeeping to clean up. Yes, you read that right! haha I could tell her not to come in but then I have dust and dog hair floating around all day *gag*. I'm sick and tired of having to get dressed every morning to go to breakfast. Sometimes a girl just wants to sit around in her pjs. Worst of all, the boys are bouncing off the walls. I try to get them out but, really, there's just nothing to do outside either. And I cant just say "go outside, get out of my hair" when they're going bonkers.

The outlook for us to get out of here? still unknown, even though we do have a house. The landlord is out of town this week so there wont be a contract reveiw for at least another week. I guess we should maybe count that as a blessing because somehow we need to come up with $8k to put down on this house. The military hasnt been exactly faithful to paying us back the money we need for the hotel - which is over $2k every 8-10 days, mind you. Not to mention all the other things that we need to buy/pay for. Our savings is quickly becoming a memory.

Money worries are probably another contributer to my exhaustion. I know "worry" is a sin. I shouldnt worry, I'm trying not to worry - though D. probably would say otherwise. lol It's taking a real mental effort on my part not to worry over this... haha which that effort is probably exhausting me as well. Darn those double-edged swords!

And probably the number one reason for all of this exhaustion and worry is lack of sleep. I love being pregnant, I really do. I love being able to feel the baby kicking and moving, which is happening very frequently now. I love the unexplainable feeling you have while your pregnant. The only thing I dont like is not being able to sleep. I know, I know, it's God's way of getting us ready for "things to come" but I wanna sleep!! *throws a tantrum like a 2year old* I have dreams that are something out of some wierd psychotic sci-fi movie. My dreams have gotten so bad that I actually dread going to bed at night. *song from Nightmare on Elm Street begins to play* No, no, dont think about that, that's not helping.

So that's the jist of what's going on here now. Mom frazzled and kids bouncing off hotel walls. LOL I will keep you updated as things change. Also, Monday is the "big day". I have my next doctor's appointment then and hopefully this time the baby will show his or herself off so we know to decorate in blue or pink ;).