Settled

We are finally settled in our house and back on track with life. Our house is not the most glamorous house, but it meets all of our needs: big yard, plenty of space, a playroom, guest quarters, and close to Mike’s work. Plus with a 2 year old, Mike, and soon an infant I’m more comfortable in a house that is not so fancy with marble and glass doors and everything new. I don’t have to worry as much about what the boys may do. :) It is a pretty big house, but the layout is very different. So different it is indescribable. We have 4 (could be 6 but we made a play room and a prayer room) bedrooms, 3 kitchens, 5 bathrooms, 4 entrances to our backyard, and a fenced backyard big enough to let 2 big dogs chase a ball and a 2 year old to get lost. When we get around to the video we will post it.

It has been awhile since I’ve written so there is a lot to catch up on. I will let you know what we have been up to the last month and a half from youngest to oldest.

Daniel:
He is growing, but should be a smaller baby than Joseph (8lb 4 oz). Thank goodness!!! They measure him at every appointment via ultrasound and they say he should be in the 6-7lb (2.5-3 kg) range.

I’m starting to get the baby room in order. Joseph had so many baby clothes I don’t know what to do with them all. I’ve started to wash the infant clothes and baby linens. I’m sure he will be sleeping in our room for a few months, but then we will transition him upstairs. Eventually, before we move back, we will be moving Daniel and Joseph in one room together as they will share a room at home.

Joseph:
We think Joseph will be right handed. There are days he still surprises us and uses his left hand, but for the most part he is right hand dominant.

This kid is learning like crazy. He can now count to 5 and sometimes he will say a few numbers on the way to 10. He also knows the letter A and all of his colors. He knows animal noises and names. I was recently impressed with his version of an elephant noise.
We put him in school for about a month and he loved it. But, we have decided that this school was not for him. We did not have a peace about it and to be honest I had taught him more at home than he learned in school. So, I will continue to look for other social outlets for him.
I’ve joined another home school group and we're enjoying it. The home school group went on a field trip to the, “flight line.” This is where the aircrafts take off, land, and get maintained. They had a C5 that was in for some maintenance, so we got to tour it. This is the biggest plane in the sky. It can hold 6 helicopters and 4 tanks. This plane also takes passengers. When you climb in you think you are in a warehouse of some sort. Joseph loved it. I don’t think he stopped jumping up and down. The interesting tid-bit for me was all passenger seats are backward facing (facing the rear of the plane) because it is the safest way to travel. Then, why don’t commercial flights face the seats the other way if it is safer?

Joseph is talking up a storm. I think his favorite words these days are, “EAT,” “Popsicle Please!” and “My shef” (myself). He is becoming very independent. And when he wants to do it by himself he will not give in, as he has to do it without any help at all. He will let you know if he needs help. The only thing he is not allowed to do by him self is cross the street. He has to hold Mommy or Daddy’s hand. If there is a car he will hold his hand out and tell it to “bop” (stop).

We have put potty training off until after Daniel is born. We figure with all the changes we should just give him a break and not try to keep pushing him. I think he is ready though. He will tell us when he has a dirty diaper and he likes to sit on his potty chair while mommy goes potty. We encourage it, but have not done any training.

He is cutting his two-year-old molars. They are taking a long time to come in. I only hope they get here before Daniel is born. Lots of Popsicles and frozen yogurts.

We’ve had another nose incident with Joseph. Yes, another nose incident. We were sitting at the dinner table and we had corn as our veggie. Mike and I were just talking, sitting right next to him. I look over and I think I see him shove corn in his nose. So we got the flashlight and the suction bulb out and sure enough! Four pieces of corn come out!!! Goodness this child has hard time learning! At least this time we did not need to go to the ER.
Then the typical scraps and bruises, his right knee seems to get it the worst. But, band-aids and kisses fix everything.

Dogs:
I think they wish they were back on 5 acres, but they are enjoying the extra one-on-one attention they get. Kenya enjoys the walks around the village and Robi enjoys the runs with Mike. If is a bit hot and they enjoy the indoors during the day, but LOVE the evenings and nights.
Kenya’s back is 100% We have not given him medicine in a month and he is in no pain. He doesn’t even squirm when Joseph comes by him. I think his back has fused. We contribute this to the controlled environment of a yard and not running around in the woods.

There is a bird in our yard that sounds like an Atari game. Mike and I can’t quite figure out the exact game, but once you hear it you will agree. It is almost the sound you hear when Pac-Man dies or some battle galactic game I’ve never heard of but Mike knows. We don’t even know what the bird looks like, but we can hear it. We think it is mimicking someone who lived here before and was playing Atari. It gives us a little giggle all the time.

Mommy:
I am doing well. I feel like I am finally back on target and back on routine. I have not done much exploring of our neighborhood until recently. Joseph and I found a nice, shaded, park 3 blocks away. There is also a Kaffe Meister (coffee master) a few blocks away. I have not visited him as coffee does not sound good on a hot day, and they do not do caffeine free coffee in Europe. It is mostly instant coffee and that is not the same. Then I found a local butcher. We are going to try him out this weekend. There is a also a pretzel shop down the street that looks inviting. We have not tried it yet as I can find it with the car, but then get turned around when I’m walking. It is exciting for me to find new and different things. If any of you are coming to visit, get your walking shoes on. We enjoy a good walk.
Funny story. One day I decided to walk up the street a ways and take a look at this store I’ve driven past a few times. I kept thinking it was a furniture store. This day I was not looking particularly good, but did not care. I was pregnant; my hair was a mess, no make-up and needed to be comfortable. I walk into this store and I instantly think it looks a bit bare for a furniture store. The sales man comes up and asks if he can help me, but has to take the time to look at me and looks at me more like do I need help. Again…not looking so great that day. I ask if he speaks English and he says, “ya.” I ask if they sell furniture and now he looks at me as if I am crazy. Maybe I should have taken a hint from their delivery trucks with FIRE all over them and the fact that there is fire places all over. He says no and I just look at him saying I am just looking! What else do you say other than the fact that you have “placenta brain.” The furniture is just there to simulate a dining room or living room and to accent the FIRE PLACES!!! Oh well, I guess this is how you learn.

We went to Trier again last weekend. It was fun. We saw the church Constantine built for his mother. Then there was a playground out back and we let Joseph play until it was naptime. On the way to the church we found a typical German toy store. Lots of wooden toys, even their books are wooden. We have board books this store has wooden books. It was fun to look at everything.

I am feeling well. I still have days that I don’t feel pregnant at all; rare, but it does happen. I am now about 36 weeks and have gained 26lbs. With Joseph I gain 35-40lbs. I think I weigh less this time because I’m chasing a very active boy all day. Joseph knows his, “brover” or “Nanyell” is in mommy belly, but he does not know what that means. He also knows the word baby, but anything small is a baby. So we will see how he really reacts when Daniel is here. We are excited.

I wish I was picking up German better and taking more time to learn the language. Mike is doing much better with it than I am. We are just having too much fun exploring.

Daddy:
Mike is doing well. He has been enjoying all of the running trails around here. Robi gets a good run in when it is not too hot. I can’t wait to start running myself.

Mike has also enjoyed living so close to work. This makes it easy for us to share one car. Soon Mike will be riding his bike to work. There are certain things your bike needs for you to be able to ride on base or the side of the road…like a thumb bell…ring…ring. Hahahaha! I think the bell is weird as who is going to hear this??? Once it is German street legal he will start the ride to work.

Mike is also starting a family fellowship group. So far it is going to be 4 families. It will be a time for our kids to get together to play and for us to fellowship and build relationships. Our first meeting is in July.

This weekend we are busy with more exploring, but you will have to wait for the next blog entry. So far we have had a lot of fun. Happy 4th of July to all of you.

To see more pictures for this month go to the following link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=evu1dtf.b6i2ljn3&x=0&y=ar4683&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_album