Finally Here and Settling

Oh my, has it been a long time. Sorry for the delay. Since December our lives have changed dramatically. This pregnancy I got morning sickness. I was sick through the holidays. All the yummy food was not so yummy this year…it didn’t even smell yummy. Thank goodness Mike had 2 ½ weeks off for Christmas/New Years. Plus, he was able to work from home and help me on some of the bad days. Then in January, I was starting to feel better and I got the flu. Believe it or not I was thankful for the flu as once I was over the flu my morning sickness was gone! Thank goodness!!! Then Mike was in Germany 1 week in January and then 2 weeks in February. While he was in Germany the 2nd time I shipped the dogs to him. That way I could see them off from the US and he could greet them in Germany. It worked out perfect. March we did our tour of good byes and now we are here in Germany.

That is everything in a nutshell. There is a lot to catch up on. I thought I would write it for each of us in the family. We will go youngest to oldest.

Daniel John

- Yes, we finally agreed on a name.

- He is doing really well and growing. I’m starting to have a hard time bending over without feeling like I have to hold my breath. I am into my 6th month. I know it is all down hill from here. Here he comes! J
- My first German OB experience will be on May 4th. I have an “American Tour” of the German hospital, Labor and Delivery on April 21st.
- There is a coworker of Mike’s that is due a month before Daniel and she has not had any problems with the German healthcare. She is in the same boat as us where she is an American that does not speak any German. We’ll see how it goes.

Joseph
- He had tubes put in his ears. He had fluid behind his ears and an ear infection that would not go away. My mom came to support and in the waiting room she said we would see him start eating like crazy and gain a couple pounds in the next couple weeks. Sure enough, she was right, he ate like a horse and gained 2 pounds. He went from the 8 percentile to the 26 percentile in two weeks.

- We have started doing a bit of potty training with Joseph. He has been really interested in the potty, so we encourage it. If he sits on the potty and goes he gets a, “treat,” a single M&M. It is funny to watch him push as hard as he can just to get a single drop out for a treat!
- Joseph did great on the plane ride. We were a bit nervous about it. We did make one mistake that we wish we had rethought. He fell asleep right when the plane took off. We let him sleep, but thought we should wake him up to eat some dinner. Bad mistake. He cried for about an hour and then we finally got some of the medicine in him and that took the edge off. He finally fell back asleep and did not wake again until the plane was landing. It was smooth sailing once he was sleeping.
- The dogs were in a kennel for about a month between their arrival in Germany and us getting to Germany. Joseph missed his dogs a lot, especially Robi. When we picked them up from the kennel I think he was so excited he about cried. He was jumping up and down and clapping and trying to kiss them and hug them. It was really cute.

- He has been growing up by leaps and bounds since we have been in Germany. He is now drinking out of cups, no lids, when we eat dinner. And, He decided he did not like his crib anymore and he is sleeping in a bed. He even stays in bed when we put him down. But, in the mornings we are woken up to him running down the hall to greet the dogs good morning. He then brings the dogs in our room to wake us up. It’s a new routine that has us waking up with smiles on our face…unless it is 5:30am. It’s cute!
- For music in Germany, a lot of the stations are techno or worse 80’s techno. There is a station we found that is a good compromise. But, they play the song Poker Face by Lady Gaga constantly. The funny part is Joseph started to sing the song when it comes on. He sings when she says Poker Face. I only wish I could videotape when I’m driving! If you want to hear the song just go to youtube.com and search on Lady Gaga, Poker Face. Just imagine a two year old dancing and singing to this song.
- Joseph is learning new words every day. We are trying to get him to speak a bit of German. It is a little difficult for him and he tends to get shy. He has started to put 3-4 words of English together. I would even go as far as saying this boy does not stop talking. Call here some time, you’ll see.
- Joseph is now starting to get that there is a baby in Mommy’s belly. He likes to give my belly kisses. His favorite is to give Daniel “Cookie Monster kisses.” It is a lot of growling while his mouth is pressed up against my belly. I warn Daniel to get ready for Joseph.

Kenya and Robi
- They are doing really well. Especially going from 5 acres to maybe ¼ of an acre. We do a lot of leash walking. They enjoy all the cats in the neighborhood. No more cats visit our back yard.
- They have been very well behaved. I have taken both Kenya and Robi into Ramstein village and they lay at the front door and wait for us to come out of a shop. Plus, there is a dog that barks upstairs and they dogs just ignore it and they don’t even bark. Not a peep. I’m very surprised I thought they would bark with new people and noises, but they are doing really well.
- Kenya’s back is doing ok. He still has some healing to do, but once his spine fuses he should be much, much better. I believe the controlled environment has done some good for him.

Anne
- I’m doing well. I’m starting to feel a bit round. But, then there are days like today that I don’t feel pregnant at all. It’s different being pregnant here because EVERYONE (that is American, married, and female) is pregnant or just had a baby. Literally, you cannot walk anywhere on base and not see at least 2 or three pregnant ladies. In my MOPS group there are 3 newborns and about 5 or 6 of us are pregnant.
- I love it here. I love that Germans are active and love to be outside. Even if it means that they sit on their bench and enjoy the company of neighbors. They all like to come and talk to us. Even if we don’t speak each other’s language it is nice to exchange a smile.

- My favorite parts about being here so far: walking everywhere (even to dinner), the yogurt is super yummy (like ice cream good), the vegetables seems more fresh, watching spring bloom and being able to smell the flowers in the air, everyone is very nice and very helpful, finding new places and just going into shops just to see what they are like (I found a SBK that is like a Wal-Mart), walking the dogs, the way they drive and have their roads set up (it is all logical once you know what the signs mean), and I really enjoy hearing all the church bells.
- Things that confuse me about Germany: Their driers for their clothes don’t really dry their clothes. Why have a drier at all when you have to hang them to dry anyhow? You can find some cute German kids shops here, but it is really hard to find kids shoes. Why do they have cigarette vending machines in the middle of neighborhoods? Literally, there will be one outside of someone’s house and you just put your coins in and get a pack of cigarettes.
- My favorite word here is AUSFAHRT. It is basically like a sign from an interstate staying EXIT. This sign is specific for the Audubon meaning an exit from the Audubon. I just think the word is funny.
- Nothing else is new with me. I’m just getting bigger by the day.

Mike
- This year I would almost say Mike has been in Germany more than Colorado. While he was out here in January and in February he was able to get a few things settled for us. He was able to secure our furnished apartment and get food in the apartment for us. He was able to research the medical and how this works. He was able to get the dogs from the German customs at the airport and put them in a kennel. It was really nice to have all of this done so when we moved here we could just be here. It made a huge difference.
- Mike has a project that is coming to an end. This means a lot of different hours. Some working hours on Germany time and some working hours on Colorado time.
- Mike also got a really bad cold and even lost his voice. Yes, I know Mike not being able to talk for 5 days!!! He went to a German Dr and loved him. It is the first doctor appointment he did not come home and complained about the doctor. So, he has found a primary care physician that he likes.
- Mike took Joseph and I to Trier for Easter. It is a city build by the Romans. It is beautiful!!! It is only 45 minutes away. But, on the way you see vineyard after vineyard after vineyard. They even have a vineyard growing grapes up the side of a steep hill. It’s awesome. So, when we find a babysitter we are going to go tour some vineyards!!! When we were in Trier we walk the main market are and played at a fountain. We stopped at one market and bought some super yummy French cheese. I would have bought these cookies I tasted, but it was Easter and we had enough chocolate at home. Mike was so excited for the cheese the lady gave him a bit extra with some bread and he ate it on the way home. The church bells were ringing like crazy. One church would stop ringing and another one would start. We walked into one Catholic Church that was old and beautiful! Paintings on the ceiling, gold, old rustic pews, and Joseph going “ah ah ah” to hear his echo (it was empty). It was a nice day…church in the morning…the Easter bunny…Trier in the afternoon… and beautiful spring weather.

I think this enough writing. I will try to keep the blog up to date from here on out. I hope this finds you all well. We would love to hear from any of you. Please keep us posted on what you are up to as we will keep you posted.

We went to Euro Disney last weekend. Once we get the pictures uploaded I will send out the details of Euro Disney.

For more pictures with details click on the link below:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=evu1dtf.3ga2fvsn&x=0&y=sz8xqj&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_album