Update on Toby

Toby threw up for about 13 hours yesterday....I lost track of how many times he actually vomited, but it was well over a dozen. Poor baby! I was up with him twice last night and on the third wakening, I nudged James and had him get up with him (he's taken today off to help with Thanksgiving preparation--something he had planned on doing weeks ago). But, throughout the night, we gave him Pedialite which he was able to keep down. So, last night, even though he was up three times, it was more for a drink and comfort at least not vomit control! This morning, he had a wet diaper so I know he's not dehydrated. He had one jar of baby food this morning and so far has kept it down. He's already down for his morning nap. I suspect he'll sleep quite a bit today as long as he doesn't get sick again.

We're going to work on Thanksgiving prep and then load the family up to go to preschool. Thomas' preschool is feeding all the kids and the parents that can join in, their own Thanksgiving dinner right at 1:00. After our Thanksgiving celebration with the kiddies, James, Toby and I will run a few errands to kill time.

Stay tuned, though, I'll be posting some pictures of my inadequate kitchen that I'm working in this year for Thanksgiving! I believe when you see one thing in particular, you will be VERY thankful!

Until later,

Emily

Toby's Terrible Tuesday

Toby has the stomach flu now. I have spent the whole day cleaning him up, cleaning carpets and washing blankets and such when I'm not holding Toby, trying to console him. He can't keep anything down. Let's hope tonight is better.

Until later,

Emily

Conversing with Thomas

Last week, after I had folded a couple loads of laundry, Thomas happened to look down at one of the laundry baskets and noticed some folded socks, as if it were the first time in his life that he had noticed folded socks and the conversation went something like this:

Thomas: Mom, who folds all those socks--one inside a-NOTH-er?

Emily: "Well, I do Thomas."

Thomas: (with eyes opened wide)"Wow, I can't believe you do all that work!"

(Glad to know that my son now thinks I live a purposeful and productive life--I can't wait until he finds out that I also refill the salt and pepper shakers occasionally).


Until later,

Emily

Update on James

James is still not feeling well, but has spent less time in the bathroom this evening. He was able to eat some yogurt and is now asleep on the couch. Before he went to sleep he was complaining that our house is cold...it's 76 degrees and holding, so I conclude that he has a fever.

Toby has gone to bed already, which is pretty early for Toby, so I hope he is OK. Thomas and I will be going to bed within the hour. I am exhausted but he is building a train track at the moment.

Thomas' talk went well in Primary today and so did my lesson in Relief Society. I won't have to teach again for another month, so at least for this week and probably next week I won't worry too much about my lesson.

I didn't get any Thanksgiving food prepared today, as I had hoped. I know I could do some tonight (it's still pretty early) but I am beat!

Until later,

Emily

2:40 AM

The exact minute when James' violent stomach flu began. He has thrown up every hour since and now he's sick coming out both ends. Of course he won't drink or eat anything that I have given him...he's one of those pathetic sick people.

I went to the couch at about 5 AM only to have Thomas join me at 6 AM because he heard his dad being violently sick and was scared. I got him settled by about 6:40 AM only to have Toby wake at 6:50 AM! With very little sleep, today will certainly seem like a LONG day!

James and I were both on schedule to teach this afternoon. I'm going to have to put a call in at 9 AM to let someone know that James won't be coming to church today. I have also been queasy all night but so far, nothing has come of it. Thomas is also talking in Primary.

Until later,

Emily

Holiday Food Shopping

This afternoon, I headed to the commissary to start my Thanksgiving/Holiday season food shopping. I was there along with everyone else with commissary privileges, it seems. You know it's bad when you have to circle the parking lot three times before you can get a parking space! I was in there for over an hour and stopped once the cart was too heavy to push anymore ($215.00 worth). It was crazy there and I was very glad that I left James and the boys at home! I'm going back on Monday to get the things that I didn't get today. Like pie ingredients, because James and I haven't discussed what kind of pies will be made this year...

As far as our Thanksgiving plans go, we are going to have it at our house, for the four of us and I'm going to send all the side dishes (I'll make double) to the family that helped us out so much when we first arrived here. I would have them over, but the wife is going to have her thyroid removed on Tuesday. Truth be told, I suspect that they won't be home on Thursday. But, they can heat up the side dishes on Thursday night or on Friday. The husband it taking care of their turkey.

I will start preparing Sunday night and do a dish or two every day until Thursday. If all goes as planned, I will only have to throw dishes in the oven on Thursday and worry about the pies and rolls on Thursday, which is enough--especially since both of these are crucial to James!

Until later.

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

The Other Car

I have had numerous inquiries about our other new car. More specifically, pictures have been requested! If you live in MD, VA, PA, or you are my mom, then you have most likely already seen the car (technically categorized as a"crossover"). But for those of you who don't already know, we bought a 2007 Kia Rondo in April, a car we selected for a few reasons, it's bigger than our old one to meet the needs of our newly expanded family and also able to fit a guest or a friend for Thomas, if needed (it has a third row seat that folds down, so it can fit 7 (although I say 6 because car seats seem to take up so much room) yet small enough to drive around in Europe. We have been very pleased with this car and it is perfect for this area.

As a side note, this car is sold in Germany as the Kia Carens and it comes in "Mystic Violet" (which is as purple as you are probably picturing!). Darn! If only I had waited until we came to Germany! :)

Here are a few pictures:

Until later,

Emily

A Wacky Obsession

As I am sitting up tonight, waiting for cough medicine to start working, (I've got one of those annoying coughs that feels like you have the tiniest piece of popcorn in your throat) I decided to post.

I have accepted that I have a wacky obsession, one that has taken up lots and lots of my time lately. I am referring to the heat in our house. As you may recall, I had a plumber look at it and he showed me how to adjust it. Since his visit, things have been better but still not optimal. I have spent many evenings, taking out the owner's manual and looking up words in the dictionary in my attempt to figure out the radiant heating. While the main floor has been much better, the upstairs has been entirely too cool especially since we are below freezing at night.

Today, I had planned on dropping Thomas off at preschool and then going to the Four Seasons shop on the base to buy three space heaters, one for each bedroom. This morning, as I was putting away laundry and such, going up and down the stairs 100 times a day like usual, I glanced up and thought about what might be behind the metal door in the middle of the wall. I turned the knob, lifted the door out of the wall, and what did I find? Six valves, one for each room upstairs! And, each valve is labeled in English! It was like I had won the lottery! I immediately turned the main valve and started to get some heat going upstairs! The upstairs is the most comfortable temperature it has been. I was thinking today that it's too bad the main floor doesn't also have a valve control area like the upstairs. And, wouldn't you know it, I discovered it in our house tonight. I have turned that down a couple of notches. I'd like to get the downstairs down to 70 F and not by accident. Right now, it's 76 F--a little too hot in my book.

And so, sadly, I look forward to waking up in the morning and checking my digital thermometers and seeing if I made any progress with my radiant heating adjusting. Sadder (is that a word?) still, is the fact that I have that same anticipation that a child has on Christmas Eve--the "I can't wait" feeling. I told you it's a wacky obsession!

Until later,

Emily

Happy Birthday Grandma Kay!

Today is my Grandma Kay's birthday. She will be 94 today! She has the best birthday ever: 11/12/13! How cool is that?

I have a birthday card in the mail for her, but I'm sure it didn't make it to her since I sent it out last Wednesday. But, the card I selected said exactly the way that I feel about her:

A Grandmothers Love Means So Much.

"Everything she does reflects
her feelings for her family,

The treasures in her life
she's proudest of--

Everything she shares
brings so much happiness

to living...

Everything she touches
turns to love."


Grandmother, you have been
and always will be
the heart and soul
of a very special family,
a family that admires you,
appreciates you, and loves you.

Life brings many changes,
but nothing will ever undo
the wonderful legacy of your love
that goes on and on for us.

Happy Birthday & Many More!

Love, James, Emily, Thomas & Toby

Slow Day Sunday

Yesterday, James had to work. Actually, it was a travel & work day but it was more travel than anything. He left the house at 6 AM and got home at 6 PM. From here until the New Year is supposed to be "slow" meaning no travel. There is one week in December that I'm not holding my breath on, though...

So, that meant the boys and I spent Sunday together. It would almost seem like a regular day except that we didn't go anywhere except for church. We leave for church at 1 PM and get home around 5 PM. I really don't like this time slot. I was happy to find out yesterday that with the turn of the New Year we will switch to 9:30 for a year. Starting that early will have it's own challenges but it will be better than 1:30.

James got home just in time for us to eat leftovers from the day before. We hung out with our kids for a while, Toby was wasted because he won't sleep at church, therefore he didn't get an afternoon nap. We had them both in bed by 8:30 PM and then James and I just vegged out in the living room for a while. I was exhausted and went to bed by 10 PM. I don't often go to bed that early, so you know I was tired!

Until later,

Emily

Happy Birthday James!

Today is James' 39th birthday. This weekend, James is actually preparing for an upcoming business trip, so we are staying local for his birthday, and keeping it low-key. Since we have been less-then-inpressed by German cuisine, I am making him a yummy dinner instead.

On the menu:

Beef Pot Roast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Yorkshire Puddings
Broccoli

and the birthday cake (homemade by me):

Buttery white cake with a raspberry filling and white chocolate cream cheese frosting. I hope it tastes as good as it looks! (see picture below)

Happy Birthday James!--We love you!

Until later,

Emily

First Snow!

We got our first snow today. It wasn't even in the weather forcast. I was driving home from grocery shopping this afternoon at about 4:30 PM as it was almost dark and raining hard when the hard rain turned to slush and then to snow all within two minutes. I don't know if it will stick around tomorrow or not. Thomas wanted to go out and play in it but I was a mean mom and told him it was too dark outside and I have no idea where his snow clothes are (truth be told I'm not sure they will fit--when I do find them).

The other excitement of our evening is that we have no water. At first, I was worried that my tampering with the heat downstairs might have blown up something but then my friend that lives around the corner called to see if we had water. After some more phone calls, we have found out that at least half the town is out. I am very interested to see how fast this will be fixed. Hopefully, we'll have water by tomorrow morning. We have enough bottled and gallon water to get us through for quite a while, but we certainly can't bathe or shower in it!

I'll keep you posted on our water situation!

Until later,

Emily

UPDATE: Our water came back on tonight!

A Little Bit Depressed...

10 Day Forecast for the Wiesbaden, Germany area


Today, Nov 09, Rain, 41°/39°

Sat, Nov 10, Rain, 43°/42°

Sun, Nov 11, Rain, 48°/39°

Mon, Nov 12, Partly Cloudy, 44°/39°

Tue, Nov 13, Light Rain, 44°/39°

Wed, Nov 14, Rain, 46°/38°

Thu, Nov 15, Light Rain, 42°/38°

Fri , Nov 16, Rain / Snow, 42°/37°

Sat, Nov 17, Rain, 42°/37°

Sun, Nov 18, Mostly Cloudy, 43°/37°


Until later,

Emily

Three Months Ago...

Three months ago tomorrow, we arrived in Germany. In some ways, I can’t believe it’s already been three months, in other ways, it’s been a long three months!

James came home (late) from work last night and announced that, “Well, I think I can do this job”. I commented that three months must be the magic number…it was last week that I thought to myself that I can “do this” also.

James’ job is very demanding, much more so than we were expecting. The traveling part we were aware of. It was “the rest” that has been a surprise. Like, the fact that when he returns from a trip it is expected of him to go in on the weekend and work which stinks because usually he leaves the weekend before. Or, that he’ll be working late often, especially when he’s recently been on a trip or is gearing up to go on one soon. And, of course, sometimes he has to work late just to catch up. Getting a lot of time off at once is tricky because there are so few people that do what he does. Our hopes of touring Europe have been diminished to “maybe we’ll get to see some of Germany”. But, maybe that will change as well.

We are very thankful that we have base privileges. Our commissary, the grocery store, is quite nice, it's like a decent-sized Giant or Smith's. The PX (similar to a Kmart) has quite a bit. I recently tried to purchase something cute and unique “on the economy” for a good friend that just had a baby, only to decide that their clothes are UGLY and went back to the PX! Our PX has a good selection of drugstore makeup as well as department store makeup (such as Clinique). They also have a limited selection of Victoria Secret and Bath & Body Works lotions and scented products!

We’re thankful that we can buy our gas on base and get the US price. We do not know how the Germans afford their gas, it’s almost double what we pay!

The nicest surprise that I have found is how friendly the Americans are on the bases. Everyone smiles and seems to be looking out for one another even if we are strangers. Like the other night, I was there and discovered that I had left my diaper bag on the ground outside of my car, instead of hanging it on my stroller. We were heading out of the food court, to retrieve it, when a woman approached me and asked me if I had a brown and blue diaper bag and if so I had left it outside. I got out there and another man was guarding it. And, you get and give those “this is hard living over here” glances all of the time. We’re all going through it. And, I have to remind myself that a lot of these people will do it over and over again or that their spouse is currently “down range”.

The German people that I have come in contact have been very friendly. Some of my American friends have not had the same experience… but my experience with them has been great. In fact, I have found that they go “above and beyond” what they need to. An example I can give is the plumber that came over yesterday morning. He was here 20 minutes and I thought that was the end of it. Five hours later, I heard a knock on my door only to find the plumber again with a bunch of bathroom gear in his arms. He then told me that “when I was in your bathroom, I noticed some other things that needed to be fixed”. So now I have a new toilet seat and new hoses for the shower heads in the tub and shower. These were things that I thought were “fine” but obviously not up to his standard. So, he called the woman that had arranged the original visit, she called the landlord, and they got it all worked out before I even knew it was an issue.

Until later,

Emily

Sit Toby, Sit!

I have been increasingly concerned with the fact that Toby has been unable sit up. I have practiced with him with absolutely no progress made. I became very nervous when he started crawling. How can a baby crawl and not be able to sit up? That's not how it's supposed to happen!

Yesterday, it was like some kind of imaginary button was switched on Toby. He sits! He's great at it! Just like that!

Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

The Weak Dollar This Week

As of Tuesday, the US dollar will buy you .6729 euro. Or another way of looking at it, it takes approximately $1.33 in dollars to equal $1 in euros.

Until later,

Emily

Heat Relief!

While it has turned quite cold outside, and we bundle up in coats and scarfs, scurrying off to the car my house has remained hot! When you have the windows opened and the fans going and it is that cold outside, you know you have a problem.

Downstairs, on the furnace, the owner's manual is taped. Which is great, but it's all in German. This morning, I had a plumber come to fix a problem with our one and only tub. You know, the one that I use daily and the kids use every other day, at least. It turned out not to be a big problem (he fixed it in 5 min) but it was the kind of a problem that you need a special plumber tool for! Anyhow, the plumber was also nice enough to take a look at the furnace. He adjusted it, and told me how to adjust it further but the biggest problem was the clock was set wrong. You see, the thermostat I have in the dining room has a day and a night setting. When I did on occasion, want it warmer, it didn't seem to work and then I'd completely turn it off, and it would seem to get hotter. I guess day and night don't quite work out when your clock is completely wrong! Radiant heating takes almost a day to totally adjust, so it will probably be tomorrow until I can tell a big difference. But, I am hoping this is the solution! It does leave me wondering--how did the previous tenants live with it this way?

Until later,

Emily

Neighborhood Gossip

I figured out this afternoon that the neighbors are gossiping about my backyard. News travels fast about what I have out there...and how I add to it every morning. It's all good, though! Actually, I'm talking about my feline neighbors because now, four cats are better than one! That's right, I've added another cat!

Thomas was outside playing this afternoon when I heard him tapping at the back door. I went to the back door to see what he needed when he showed me the kitty. Because Thomas was no more then two feet away, I knew she was tame. I went out, scooped her up and she was, indeed, very friendly. She reminds me of my mom's Porter and my friend, mlk's Sam. (She's kind of tabby with white paws). Except that she is a petite tiny thing and is a girl. The name that immediately came to me as I scooped her up is Sabrina. So, now we have Tailer, Gypsy, Jasmine and Sabrina.

One thing is for sure, I'm going out tomorrow to buy cheaper cat food for those outdoor cats. I can't feed four cats Iams!

Until later,

Emily

The Spit Report...

Spit happens. More specifically, spit-up happens. And, unfortunately, it happened to both of my children. Thomas' spit-up issues were abundent but all but resolved by the time he was six months old. Toby, well, Toby has been another story. Compared to Toby, Thomas's issues were mild.

I put Toby on Enfamil AR formula which is a thicker formula which I then thickened some more with rice cereal. He was on Zantac three times a day. I propped him for 30 minutes after each feeding. He slept propped up. It all helped, but it did not solve. Sometimes, I would go through six bibs, three outfits and I don't know how many burp towels (but I can tell you that I have over 40 of them in my house) in a given day! Doctors have never been concerned because he hasn't seemed bothered by it and obviously managed to gain weight. I was told "he'll eventually grow out of it". As the months have gone by, I have wondered "When?"...

Well, I am happy to report that 9 months seemed to be Toby's magic number! While he still occasionally spits up, it's usually just a tiny bit, he no longer has to wear bibs and I'm not doing near as much laundry. He's on regular formula and I've quit the Zantac. Hallelueah!

Until later,

Emily

Progress Report

I am happy to report that the main floor of our house is almost entirely unpacked! (I know you all are probably saying, "it's about time!") I spent a couple hours Friday night cleaning and straightening up the living room, dining room, and kitchen, pretending (as I had for a while) that the large boxes that lined the perimeter of our living room and dining room did not exist...I went to bed happy that we could start the weekend off with at least a clean main area. James got up Saturday morning and I figured it was OK if I slept in an hour since I had cleaned the night before. Unbeknownst to me, James had other plans... to my horror, when I came down the stairs James had emptied--I don't know how many boxes! There wasn't an inch of space unoccupied...the table and all of the chairs, the kitchen counters, he had even thrown a box of coats and jackets on the living room floor, oh, I don't know exactly why...but I was not happy in the least! At this point, I was feeling so angry and overwhelmed at the same time, I just wanted to flee for the day...but I had no where to go so I had to face the mess that was before me.

After the argument that of course he knew would be a result of his actions, James went outside to start trimming the tall shrubs behind and to the side of our house. These needed to be trimmed since the day we moved here. The landlord should have had it done before we moved in. This past week, I went as far as getting a quote to have the work done. Which we would pay for, not the landlord. I realize that we have been busy and that James has been out of town and very busy at work but I am getting fed up and embarassed by how it looks. So, he went out to trim the overgrown shrubs only to come in about twenty minutes later...the trimmer battery was dead. Let me clarify--he didn't charge it beforehand (and he knew he was going to trim on Saturday). And, it's not the type of trimmer that you can plug into an extension cord and keep going. So much for getting that done this weekend! Even if James wanted to do it today (Sunday) he couldn't because Germans do not do noisy work on Sundays, including trimming trees or mowing lawns. It is dark here by 5 PM but James says he'll try to do it a little at a time this week and try to go to work earlier and come home earlier this week and it not he'll do it next Saturday. I really hope so.

But, like I said, the main floor of the house is unpacked. Even though he has frustrated me with his tactics (Saturday is not the first time that he has done this), I do have to credit James with moving it along. We don't have a single decoration on the wall yet and everything is still in a disaray, but it is better. Upstairs, Thomas' room is unpacked and then there are a few boxes in the other rooms but much progress has been made. When the movers brought our things, we could barely turn around in most of the rooms, there were so many boxes! Seriously. This past week, I was even able to go through Thomas' and Toby's rooms and put away their outgrown clothing. All the the 5T stuff is boxed away as well as all of the 6-9 and 6-12 stuff. The basement is still very scary but the basement is only for storage and laundry so I'm not that concerned about it. One day we might have an office again, but since we have a laptop now it's not all that pressing. We found the printer, we plug the laptop into it when we need to.

This week, we are going to call the moving company and have them come and get the boxes and packing paper that we have in the backyard. Due to the recycling laws here, it is very hard to get rid of mass amounts of cardboard and paper so I am glad that they gave us the option of a "one time" pickup. We'll have to deal with the rest on our own but that's OK.

Until later,

Emily

Here is a picture of our front door (to give you a little better idea of our new surroundings) and a picture of the Halloween sugar cookies that I made on Thursday night. I only made a half batch which is really a full batch because my normal "batch" is actually a double batch. I bet that sounds confusing. If so, back up, read it again and you'll probably understand! Regardless, it felt good to take time to do something like this that I enjoy. I took most of them to a Halloween party hosted by my neighbor across the street on Friday. She couldn't have it on Wednesday because she had a conflict. My cookies were a hit by kids and moms alike!


Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

I know some of my blog readers already know this...but some of you don't...

In case you've been wondering, we finally got a renter in our home. He moved in on October 16. He's a single guy, the only one on the contract. However, we quickly found out (it's good to have neighbors) that his mom and girlfriend will be there too. I don't really care, just as long as the rent is paid and they don't destroy the house, but I find it a bit shady that he didn't disclose the information (technically everyone 18 and over is supposed to have a credit check).

Anyways, it will feel good to not make our mortgage payment for a while (he's only signed until June when he can either re-sign or we'll put it back up on the rental market again) and bounce back from the financial drain that moving here has been on our bank account.

Until later,

Emily

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is wrapping up for us. It was a great day. It was sunny and slightly warm. Thomas had a fun-filled day at preschool complete with a pumpkin hunt and lots of candy to bring home, in fact, his pumpkin bag was already full by the time we got home. Toby was good-natured all day long and wore his costume from noon-7:30PM and managed to not spit up on his costume at all. James was working late tonight (same old story, new country)so I bundled the kids up and went with some of the other American kids (and parents) trick-or-treating. I was surprised at how many Germans participate. We walked around the neighborhood for about an hour, until we could no longer feel our fingers and came home. Thomas came home with another half-filled bag of candy. We also got quite a few trick-or-treaters except they say, "Suss oder sauer" (sweet or sour).

Until later,

Emily

Halloween is in the Air!

We carved our pumpkins last night after I realized that I didn't in fact, know "right where the pumpkin carving kits were". We also have not found our sharp knives so we had to resort to using two of the knives in our "welcome kit" which I might add are two of the dullest knives ever, if they were any duller, we would have had more success using a butter knife...no--a plastic knife!

Until later,

Emily

Conversing with Thomas

Thomas: "Mom, can you help me find my blue eraser? I can't find it anywhere."

(After I had warned him not to let Toby get any of them because he could choke and die)

Emily: "Well, where did you look?"

Thomas: "Well...I looked in the living room, the toy box, the table, my room... I even looked at Toby and he wasn't dying, so that means he doesn't have it--it's not anywhere!"

(in case you're wondering, I found it on my bed!)

And this is a day of my life....

Until later,

Emily

Daylight Savings Time

This Sunday morning, we switched over to Daylight Savings Time. I don't like how quickly it gets dark at night, but I do quite like the feeling of sleeping in! I usually feel this "sleeping in" for about a week.

James and I had to speak in church yesterday. It's kind of a "right of passage" when you move into a new ward (congregation). Our ward is so small that I guess we'll get the "opportunity" about every 10-12 months. We spent the entire day on Saturday preparing. I think we both did well and I'm glad it's over.

We are still trying to figure out how to work our radiant heating. It was set on "automatic" which ended up being entirely too hot. It was 77 degrees constantly with our windows open and fans going while people outside are wearing hats and coats! We do have the instruction manual attached to the side, but it is all in German. I've managed to get it off manual and turn it down to about 71 but the problem is that while our downstairs is now comfortable, our upstairs is about 10 degrees cooler. Some of my friends have controls for each individual room, but it doesn't appear that we do. I think we're going to have to buy space heaters for each room and call it good.

I came down with a strain of the flu last night. The aches and pains kind of flu. I got the flu nasal mist vaccine last week, and they warned me that I might come down with a mild flu. I ache all over, have a mild sore throat and am SOOO tired. I could crawl up in bed and sleep all day if only I didn't have two little ones to worry about. Actually, I could probably put Thomas in front of the TV all day if I had to, but Toby is another story all together! Needless to say, we still all in our pajamas this morning!

We are gearing up for Halloween. Toby's costume arrived on Friday. He's going to be a lion, I ordered his costume from Old Navy. He is absolutely adorable and of course, I'll post pictures later on in the week. I planned on ordering Thomas a costume off the internet also, but Thomas couldn't find anything that he liked except the "Thomas" costume that he wore last year. We agreed that he could wear it again this year. That was easy enough! I was crossing my fingers Friday night as we were unboxing Toby's costume that Thomas wouldn't all of the sudden want a new costume, because of course, it would be too late, but he was fine! We are going to carve our pumpkins on Tuesday night. We're going to go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood on Wednesday. I guess our town has had an"American" influence for so long that there are plenty of homes that give out candy.

Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

Three cats are better than one?

I have been a bit suspicious of our "new" wandering outdoor cat, Gypsy. At first, I thought she had a round head and a mostly black face and didn't seem too scared of us. Other days, she would bolt as soon as she heard us come downstairs and I swore she was sporting a white face. After some careful observation, I can confirm that there are two black and white neighborhood cats and they've both found our little feeding dish. So, the black faced kitty will remain Gypsy and the white faced kitty is Jasmine. Tailer will remain Tailer (as always).

Until later,

Emily

Birthday Pictures

I thought I did so great tonight in that I remembered to get out the camera and take a couple of pictures, one with Thomas and the cake and one of a close-up of the cake. Then I realized that his cake has his real name on it. So, I cropped away at both pictures and this is what we have left, but I think you still get the idea!

Well, blog-friends, this birthday boy's mom is totally and completely wiped out. The house is a disaster but it will all wait until tomorrow!

Until later,

Emily

Thomas Turned Five Today!

At 1:23 this morning Thomas turned five! I can't believe our firstborn is already this old! And, I can't believe James and I have been parents for five years, it seems like we are so "new" to parenthood still. Anyways, I don't know why, but I feel like "5" is an important birthday...

I found a loose picture in one of our boxes Monday night, perfectly enough it was of James holding only hours-old Thomas. Thomas was tightly swaddled in what we refer to as the "baby burrito" and James was holding the newspaper that was printed that day, which was titled, "Thank God It's Over". Great title to refer to when any pregnancy is over, I think. But, you see, this title and picture will always hold two meanings for us because Thomas was born the very same day and in the very same county that the "DC Sniper Shooters" were finally caught. I will never forget this. And I will always be thankful that nothing happened to me during those last days of my pregnancy, because they later admitted that a pregnant woman was one of their next planned victims.

Well, fast forward five years later--Thomas ran into our bedroom this morning at 6:30. James was showering so I was able to hold him off until about 7:10. We got him a Kettcar which is like a go-cart that you peddle. Both grandparents gave him "Cars" race tracks. I got the privilege of setting up the "Radiator Springs Mountain Challenge" track this morning for about two hours. It has far too many pieces and I can only blame myself because I am the one that physically purchased the track! He got some new brown loafers and a deluxe set of wonder colors art supplies. I suspect that there will be some sweatpants arriving from Old Navy today as well.

We are leaving for preschool in just minutes where he will have a small celebration during snack time. After I drop him off, and before I go back to help with the celebration, I have to run to the bakery to pick up his birthday cake for tonight. I ordered him a Lightening McQueen cake and he has no idea. Although, he does seem a bit worried today that I haven't baked his cake yet. He's going to be surprised and he loves "bakery" cake just as much as I do (and my mom does!) so he's going to love it. We're having another family over tonight for cake and ice cream at 7:00.

I will try to post pictures later on. I used the camcorder this morning, but I can't post any of that because we use our real names on that.

Until later,

Emily

Our Mini Delivery

We picked up our Mini Cooper this morning! Isn't it S-WEET?

Until later,

Emily

Toby's 9-month Well-Baby Visit

Toby had his 9-month well-baby visit today. Going in, I would have guessed that he weighed 20 pounds, but I would have been off--he weighed in at 22 pounds and was 29 inches long! That means he gained over five pounds in three months and grew 5 inches! He is in the 75% for both weight and height. If you're interested, if you look at his adjusted age (how old he should be if he weren't born prematurely) he would be in the 95% for his height and 90% for his weight! Either way, he's a big boy! Everything else went well also--only one shot and that one was optional, the flu shot. He'll get a whole slew of shots at 12 months but, it turned out that 9 months was an easy one.

Until later,

Emily

The Way My Four Year Old Thinks....

Thomas: "Mom, I can understand what Mrs. Miller (his preschool teacher) says but she speaks English."

Me: "That's because you also speak English, Thomas."

Thomas: "No, I don't speak English, but I can still understand what she is talking about."

Me: "Thomas, the words you speak with are called English, you speak English sweetie!"

Thomas: "NO, I DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH!" (arms folded, giving me a dirty look)

Me: "Well, then what do you think you speak?"

Thomas: "I speak 'Maryland-talk.'"

(and I try one more time...)

Me: "Thomas, this Maryland-talk is actually called English."

Thomas: "Mom, let's not talk about it anymore."

Until later,

Emily

Snapshot Sunday

Question: Will I like Krispie Kreme doughnuts as much as my big brother?

Answer: Only time will tell!

We found some Krispie Kreme hats today while unpacking one of the "kitchen" boxes. Thomas put it on Toby's head and he looked so cute wearing it, I had to take a picture!

Speaking of Toby, he cut his third tooth this past week. I know it might seem like I blog about his teeth a lot, but they really do effect my life. I have been up with him every night since Tuesday. And, I can now safely mention that James has been gone since last Sunday morning, traveling to Poland and then on to Russia, but he returned home last night (thanks to my wonderful Aunt Barbie for suggesting that I wasn't being too safe about blogging that James was gone--now those in "blogworld" will hear of James' travels only after his return). Not that me getting up with Toby at night would involve James anyway...he doesn't get up with the kids unless things get really, really, really bad. But, not getting a good nights' sleep for most of the time that he was away added to the long, hard week.

Unfortunately, I don't suspect that the sleeping or Toby's fussiness will improve much because tomorrow is check-up day which will most certainly involve numerous shots in his chunky thighs. I'll blog tomorrow and let you know how that goes and how much our tiny preemie weighs now!

Until later

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

I have had several inquiries about my driving experiences in Germany. First,
because I think it is a general thing to wonder about when an American moves to Germany with it's wonderful autobahns and secondly, because I have had a bit of a phobia to driving in new places at times.

Question #1: Do I drive on the autobahn? Before I answer this, I want to clarify something here, there is no such thing as one autobahn. There are different autobahns. The word autobahn is like our word for freeway. And, I drive on the A3 and the A66 regularly, in my weekly driving. I was driving on the A5 this past weekend.

Question #2: How fast do I usually go? I average between 80 and 90 mph on the autobahns, even when the speed limits are "unlimited". I have been up to 100 mph, but since I always have my kids, I don't really feel very safe going that fast for much more than to pass a car and get back over in one of the slower lanes. We are definitely glad that last April, when we bought our Kia Rondo, that we went with the V6 engine rather than the 4-cylinder option. Our car has plenty of get up and go and we still haven't pushed it as fast as it can go (James has driven it at 110 with still more behind the pedal).

Speaking of accelerated speeds, I quickly became accustomed to 80-90 mph and now, when I have to get in the far right lane, to exit off of the autobahn and end up behind the trucks (who are supposed to only travel in the far right lane) I feel like I am barely c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g, only to look down and realize that I'm still going 65 mph!

In general, driving in Germany hasn't been all that bad. I don't like driving on the narrow roads that you will sometimes find in some of the towns and parking can be tricky, especially because there is a lot of parallel parking and I've never been all that great at parallel parking!

James bought us a GPS (our British-accent-lady-voiced GPS) almost immediately, so I have that, for the most part, with me always. I particularly love the "Take Me Home" button, where, when all else fails, you simply press that button and it will take you home no matter how far off the beaten path you are! We kind of refer to the GPS as a real person and yell and call "her" names when she doesn't give us quick enough directions! But, it comforts me that as long as I remember to throw the GPS in my bag, I can never truly be lost!(except when it's like the other day when the reception wasn't strong enough and I had to go by my instincts--luckily, I still made it!).

Until later,

Emily

Goal Accomplished!

I like to set goals. Some goals I write down, some goals I tell people about and other goals are in the back of my mind waiting to be accomplished. Today, I accomplished a goal! After living in Germany for two months and then some, I found the post office! James picks up our mail on the base at his work. This is called a CMR. We can only pick up our mail and any packages that might come to our CMR box. There are drop boxes all over all of the American bases that we can drop letters (and bills) in but we hadn't found the APO where we could send out packages. Until today.

I knew there was one on the Airfield base, where Thomas attends preschool. I have driven around many times, figuring I would have to stumble across it. Never did. I referred to a little map that I had, but it was obviously outdated or wrong from the start because the post office definitely wasn't where the map said it was. This afternoon, after driving around a bit, I stopped and asked a soldier for guidance. He told me it was right next to the fitness center and "you can't miss it", which, of course, I did. However, after another 10 minutes of driving around in circles, I finally came across it! It was, indeed, next to the fitness center and it is also pink in color like I had been told in the past. I was also relieved to find that it is one of the buildings that is handicapped accessible which means I can put Toby in the stroller and not have to deal with lifting the stroller up some steps.

I know most "ordinary" goals, for me and my kind, are to lose 5-10 pounds, get a room or a closet (or a house!) organized, clean out the fridge, get caught up with scrapbooking (OK, so not me but maybe my kind since I have not scrapbooked in over seven years and do not plan on ever catching up!) or get the checkbook balanced so my goal may seem a little odd. All the same, it still feels good to finally reach it!

Until later,

Emily

Toby the Crawler

Toby is now crawling--a full two and a half months before his big brother, mind you. And, if he were born full-term, it could have been four months ahead of what I considered an all right baby schedule. I was in no hurry, let me tell you that! He still kind of drags his right leg a little but if he sees somewhere that he wants to be (or something that he wants to get) he makes it there in a straight line and it doesn't take him too long either. We need to get baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Luckily, I have a door that I can close my living room and dining room off with and I also have pressurized gates that I can use in doorways. We brought our old gates from MD with us, but I don't know if they will work. Our railing is metal so I'm not quite sure how we can attach a baby gate...I wish my friend EJS was here, she did all the baby gate homework for me with Thomas and I didn't have to do anything except have James stop at Buy Buy Baby in Rockville one night, coming home from work!

Now that Toby is crawling, he is also into everything! Thomas has been more than a little distraught lately because of this, but I laugh it off. Today, Toby climbed up to our entertainment center and helped himself to some of the tractors and trucks stored in the bottom shelf. It's so cute to see a 9-month old baby pushing a tractor--and he was pushing it back and forth like he really knew what he should do with it too!

Until later,

Emily

A Stitch is Not Always a Stitch...

On Friday, I arrived home, just as my neighbor across the street was getting ready to leave. She has two boys as well, hers being almost 5 and almost 3. I noticed that she was more dressed up than normal and I complimented her and how nice she looked. She then explained to me that she had taken the youngest boy to the doctor because "He has a few stitches" (she speaks great English but every once in a while it doesn't flow quite right). Of course, I was immediately concerned and asked if he was OK. She went on to say that she was worried because he had these "stitches" on his body and face and she had heard that there was someone in the neighborhood that has recently had the chicken pox so she took him in just to be sure. So she kept talking about the stitches and I was still kind of confused, wondering what stitches and the chicken pox had to do with one another, until she motioned that something was zooming in and hitting his face. Then it occurred to me; she was talking about bug bites! I then said, "Oh, he has bug bites?" then she says, "Yes, yes!" and had me come look at Artus. Toby also has a few bug bites on his body (but his are bright maraschino cherry red), two on his face and one on his hand, so I mentioned that to her. She said I could save my money for a trip to the doctor now. Thanks, Simone!

Until later,

Emily

A Bob, A Birthday, and A Beautiful Day

This past 3-day weekend can be summarized as such:

A Bob (Saturday): You can call me Victoria Beckham, if you want to, I don't mind! (mimicking Flower from "Bambi"). I got my first German haircut Saturday morning. I now have a stacked, A-line bob. I've had this sort of cut many, many times over the past 10 years, if a head of hair can like a cut, mine likes the stacked, A-line bob. Besides, I needed some help since it is still recovering from having a baby! Anyways as the hairstylist and I were trying to communicate with each other about what I wanted, she said, "like Victoria Beckham?". I felt like that was a great visual so I said, "Yes, only longer!" She did a great job and I spent the rest of the day with a little extra bounce in my step as I imagined everyone I passed might mistake me for a celebrity! (I know, I know, I need help!)

A Birthday (Sunday): I turned 33 on Sunday. It was a nice, relaxing day which started out with me getting up with the kids at 7:30 AM until 8:00 AM when I nudged James out of his blissful slumber and declared, "Um, I think I get a sleep-in today!" He rolled out of bed, took the kids downstairs and kept them quiet. I slept until 11 AM and it felt wonderful! We spent the afternoon unpacking some more and then enjoyed Cajun soup with German baguettes and birthday cake. Later on that evening, we listened to General Conference live from Salt Lake City. We also got to Skype our families, which is always fun!

A Beautiful Day (Monday): On Monday, James had the day off of work. Although we certainly could have spent the day unpacking we decided it was time to do something fun! We've been told it will turn cold very soon so we should use these last warm fall days wisely! We went on a scenic drive along the Rhine River. We saw so many old castles, we lost count. Finally, we stopped in St. Goar, bought some pretzels (by the way, James & I have found German food less than desirable but we do love their bread!), grabbed lunch and then drove up to the St. Goar castle. It was really cool and the whole family had a great time. The view was also spectacular! (I am including some pictures underneath this post).

Until later,

Emily

St. Goar Pictures

Snapshot Sunday

This snapshot was taken this afternoon.

Until later,

Emily

P.S.

Here is a close-up of Toby's mouth (check out those two teeth), he's working on two more right now and has been m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e the past two days.

Two Cats Are Better Than One...

As Toby is settling down for his morning nap, I thought I'd sit down and post. He is turning out to be more and more like Thomas in that Thomas was just about nine months old when he settled into two structured naps rather than cat-napping all day long. Consequently, James and I are hoping that he will not adopt his brother's attitude towards eating in three more months (it's the last thing on Thomas' mind).

Oh, about the two cats: we have a new cat, her name is Gypsy the German cat. Which I think is the "purr-fect" name! (I think I'm comical today). She is black and white and very pretty. To be honest, Gypsy is not really our cat. But only one of the neighborhood roaming cats. We have seen her many times in our back yard snooping around. I thought it might be interesting to set out some food for her and see what happened. Well, it turns out she rather appreciates the free meal (just so you know, I'm not surprised) and now feels comfortable enough to curl up on our patio, give herself a bath, and take a nap. It adds interest to mine and Thomas' morning and also gives Tailer (our real cat) something to fret about and puff up and pretend that she's tough. Which, sadly, adds even more interest to our morning!

Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

I have been a fan of Gap jeans for almost a decade. My devotion started out with the Boyfriend jean. I spent 2 or 3 years living in those in various washes. Then, to my horror, they were discontinued. But, I painfully moved onto the Flare jean, which I actually loved even more than the Boyfriend. I have had so many Flare jeans I couldn't even begin to count. I tried the Long and Lean but the rise was too low and I never felt very confident in them. A couple years ago, it even looked like they were going to discontinue the Flare, but I guess they changed their minds. And for this, I am very glad.

This summer, I felt the urgency to go out and buy a couple pair of jeans. This was before I found out that gap.com will ship to APO boxes, but that's beyond the point. I bought a pair of Flares in a great wash and then I tried a new cut. I really don't know how "new" this cut is because last year, I had to buy my jeans at Motherhood Maternity and Old Navy (because while I will drop the money for regular jeans at Gap, I refuse to pay the price for maternity jeans). But, I came across a great fit called the Essential and it was new to me! It has a higher rise than the Flare and not quite as tight in the leg as the Flare but still really stylish and v-e-r-y comfortable. Kind of like the Sassy Mom mom jean (don't worry, this has wide legs--not tapered).

Until later,

Emily

P.S. Happy Birthday to my one-and-only brother, Kurt! I hope it's a great one!

Happy Holiday!

Today is an official German holiday. It seems strange to be living in a country where they are celebrating a day that really doesn't mean anything to me. It is relatively early in the day and it is raining (big surprise) so I haven't seen much "celebrating" but I have noticed that all my neighbor's cars are still here. However, last night, I noticed that the park located next to our house was hopping. Like on a Sunday. Then, late last night there were plenty of screaming teenagers living it up and having a great time at the park. I had to laugh last week while attending the "Welcome to Germany" workshop when we were told the legal age for drinking here is 16 but the legal smoking age is 18. Seriously. I suspect there might be a 11 PM curfew though because the screaming and laughing ended promptly at that time.

I searched the web , and cut-n-pasted, a short explanation of the holiday for all of you. Whoever thought that I would attempt a history lesson (this is usually James' territory). Of course, my explanation is much shorter and simpler than his would be, I am sure.

Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) - October 3 This official German holiday commemorates Germany's reunification in 1990, when East and West Germany once again became one country known as die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (the Federal Republic of Germany). The date reflects the signing of the reunification treaty rather than the actual date of the 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall(November 9). Unfortunately, November 9th is also the date of another event in German history, Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish synagogues and shops were attacked and store windows of Jewish-owned stores were smashed in 1938. So now October 3 is Germany's national holiday.

But, today is basically a normal day for us in the Snow household. Thomas has preschool this afternoon (but not on Friday or next Monday because Friday is a DOD "training day" which is conveniently next to the weekend and Columbus Day) and I will be shopping at the PX and commissary with Toby while Thomas is at school.

Until later,

Emily

Taking a Break...

I'm taking a break from unpacking. We received our HHE shipment on Friday. We were ready by 8 AM, thinking that they would surely arrive sometime between 8-10 AM. Well, 10:30 AM arrived, and James got on the phone to find out what was going on, they then told him it would be about noon. So we were a little irritated about wasting the whole morning (and wishing that James could have gone into work for at least half a day since they only give him 16 hours off to take care of unpacking) but we waited, until 3 PM! Now, as I mentioned last week, our shipment is HUGE. We knew we were in for a long night. It took four guys 6 1/2 hours to unload our shipment and assemble the furniture. Technically, they were supposed to stay and unpack the boxes but there was no way that was happening.

After the moving crew left, we discovered that they hooked our bed frame onto Thomas' headboard and footboard. However, that couldn't be remedied easily because we couldn't find our tool box! We slept on mattresses that night, which was much better than the hardwood floors that we slept on the night before (and I could devote quite a few postings to the fact that I ABSOLUTELY HATE the hardwood floors and tile in my house--more than I EVER imagined--but I won't). We already knew our bed couldn't be put together because we were missing parts. The crew back in MD kindly put all the "parts" in one box so it would be easy to assemble our furniture again but, you guessed it--that box is missing. We have looked and looked and it is nowhere! I have a strong suspicion that it's with our long-term storage now in Virginia. So, we have gone on a couple of shopping trips to find new parts, and luckily everything is together now.

Now we have boxes and boxes to go through. I know people who say they actually like moving. I do not belong to this club! Unpacking our things is a nightmare to me! It's going to take a long while before we can go through everything. German homes do not have closets. We are glad to have a fairly large basement and will probably be buying lots of storage shelving to go down there.

And, my natural instinct to just start throwing away things doesn't work either! Recycle! Recycle! Recycle! I often wonder if we will recycle when we return to the states--after living here, we will certainly be proficient! And for any of you that might be wondering what we're going to do with the 200 boxes in our house--the moving company will come out ONE TIME and get them so for now, our back yard is filled with broken down boxes and many others that are filled with packing paper. I hope my neighbors remain patient.

Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

When we arrived in Germany, and to be more specific, when we arrived at our home, I was dismayed to see all the weeds in the front of the house. You see, it is German law that landlords are to turn their homes and yards over in immaculate condition and then we, as renters, are to turn them back in the same condition. But, unfortunately, I have an old, grumpy German landlord who thinks he is above some of the laws--so the weeds were left up to me. I thought, no problem, I needed some weedkiller, there were many weeds with sharp, prickly thorns and I wasn't about to start pulling. Turns out, that was a problem, weed killers here aren't very popular and they certainly aren't very strong. I asked two of my neighbors what I could do (they are German) and both of them kind of gave me the same answer. "Oh, yes, the weeds have been very bad this year and they are hard to kill."

So, what does any girl with a problem that she can't solve on her own do? I called my mom, of course! Mom worked on a package to be sent out to me from the States but in the meantime, found a "homemade" weed killer recipe. It works! And, it works fast! The other great thing about using this kind of weed killer, is that I can have Thomas "help" using a spray bottle of his own and know that he's going to be OK. Of course, he knows he can't put his fingers near his eyes while doing this job, but other than that, it is safe.

So here is the recipe:

Homemade Weed Killer

1 gallon white vinegar
1 cup table salt
1 Tablespoon dishsoap

Directions: remove two cups vinegar from the gallon, add salt and soap, mix gently. Add back in removed two cups of vinegar.

Until later,

Emily

4:04 AM

4:04 AM. The exact minute that my good nights sleep ended. Thomas came into our room and I thought, "oh, no James' illness has spread". But, not yet. Thomas has a bad head cold and was complaining of not being able to breathe out of his nose. Before rolling over, James was so very helpful in suggesting that I give Thomas some medicine(do ya think?!). It took about 30 minutes for the medicine to kick in but by that time Thomas was awake. It took about two hours for him to go back to sleep. He went from our bed, to his bed, to the rug in our room many times before sleep finally kicked in.

Our HHE delivery has been rescheduled for Friday. Our shipment "is too large" to be delivered today. If I have to be reminded one more time that we shipped out too much stuff I think I am going to scream. I know, I know, OK? But, all in all, I think a Friday delivery is going to work out fine. The army furniture will be picked up on Thursday so our house will be nearly empty on Friday when our things from the States are delivered. Which means, we're going to have our own "sleepover adventure" Thursday night when James, Thomas and I get to sleep on the floor (Toby has been sleeping in a pack-n-play, which is ours, so it's not going anywhere).

Until later,

Emily

Happy Fall!

Fall is officially here! Although, it has felt like Fall to me almost from the first day that we arrived in Germany. It is beautiful here with all the trees and the foliage. I take Thomas to preschool on the autobahn but each day as we come home, I choose to take the "scenic route" and look at the leaves (it's only five minutes longer).

James is back from his trip to Russia. He will travel again on October 14 and will be gone for a week. He has been very sick all weekend long. He has to stay close to a bathroom, if you get what I mean. For all our sakes, we hope it is from something he ate while traveling. I will be cleaning bathrooms and disinfecting like crazy today in effort to keep the rest of the family healthy, in case it is a virus.

On a positive note, I had the wonderful Hans and Helga over last Thursday to hang curtains in the house. They were here for 4 1/2 hours and hung all that I had. I was short a few curtain rods, (I thought there were multiples in a box, but there weren't and the next day, they came in the mail!) but the place seems better now that we have some curtains.

We also got the spectacular news that our HHE (our goods that came by ship) have arrived!! I found out this morning that it will be delivered tomorrow (Tuesday). James will be given Tuesday and Thursday off to unpack and organize all of our belongings... but I think it will take at least a month to get organized. We brought out too much stuff, we just know it. And, it always seems to take forever to get things hung up on the walls. And, unfortunately, we will have our stuff and the army stuff here in our little house for a few days which should prove to be tons of fun!

Yesterday, was the Primary program in our ward. Primary is the children's organization in our church. Last year, Thomas wouldn't even sit up in the front and sing the songs, not to mention do his little part. We were very proud this year, when he happily went up front and fully participated. When it came to the individual parts--he even went first!! Way to go Thomas!

This Wednesday, James and I will be taking a "Welcome to Germany" course along with the two other "new couples" at James' work. It is an eight-hour class. Day-care has been arranged on-site that we have to pay for, but at least we didn't have to come up with our own arrangements. Then, that night I have a meeting at our church house, as I have been asked to be a Relief Society teacher, which means I will lead the topic of discussion once a month, on Sunday, to the other women who aren't serving either the young children or the teenagers in our church.

So, as you can tell, we are going to be very busy this week!

Until later,

Emily

Random Thought Thursday...

A Hairy Situation:

Eight months after giving birth to Toby, I am happy to announce that my hair has stopped falling out in near clumps each day. Some of you may know that I was starting to get worried in May-June when this didn't seem to be slowing down and my pathetic pony tail was getting tinier by the week. I had some blood tests done in June and was hoping that something would show up--but no, it was just the body adjusting! So, now, I have about a ba-jillion (it's my blog--I can make up words if I want to!) 1/2 inch to 2 inch strands shooting out from my head. My hair's still pretty lifeless but it will get better over time.

Until later,

Emily

Not Quite the Day I had Planned...

James is in Russia this week, gone on his first assignment for DTRA since moving here. He will be back late Thursday night. To break up the monotony of the days, and because Thomas doesn't have preschool on Tuesdays, I had planned to get out the door hopefully by 10 AM to do some shopping at the local IKEA and perhaps check out the Toys-R-Us next door. The whole family shopped at IKEA a couple of weekends ago, but since James was with us and we had other things to do, we didn't get to stay nearly long enough! I had told Thomas of the plan and he was excited because, for some strange reason, he loved our IKEA experience. He was all for shopping, eating lunch there and shopping some more. We drive by there every day on our way to the preschool and he always asks to go there.

Alas, the shopping "on the economy" was not meant to be today. Either Toby is coming down with another cold, or his teeth are bothering him or more teeth are coming--or a combination of all--but he was not happy at all this morning! There was no way I was taking the screaming baby out if I could help it. To top it off, it rained all day long.

I ended up just cleaning the house when Toby was having a good moment or when he was asleep. His mood got better after 4 PM and then I was really able to get a lot done. Thomas was a good sport about not going out today. I was also able to cut his hair. He's had three haircuts since we moved here! I cut it a little shorter today in hopes that I won't have to do it again for at least a month.

Until later,

Emily

P.S. Thomas' face is not dirty. His lips are chapped.

A First...

So, this morning, at about 10:45 there was a ring at my door. I opened the door to a dark-haired woman dressed in robes, every other tooth capped in gold, big gold hoop earrings and she was holding a plastic sack. She started speaking to me in a foreign language, but that's not uncommon these days. She handed me a card that was in German. I had no idea who she was, what she wanted or what she was selling. Luckily, my friend, Ute, who works for the relocation service that works for us (Koenig Relocation Services)had dropped by to give me a replacement to the broken knob on my oven. Ute stepped right in, started yelling at her and started shutting the door. The woman started pleading, "Please, oh please" and Ute kept shutting the door. Initially I thought Ute was being rather rude, but I let her do her thing because I was clueless.

Once the door was closed, Ute informed me that I had just had my first encounter with a Romanian beggar! She was pleading for money! She asked for 10 euro then 5 euro then change. And Ute said more than likely she (the beggar)had parked her Mercedes around the corner! Ute told me it is completely illegal and we could call the police and that if the woman were to hang out in the neighborhood for long, Ute was sure the police would be called by someone. She told me that she never answers the door when she sees someone like this. Sometimes they can get violent even though this woman did not. Lesson learned.

Until later,

Emily

Saturday Shopping

For the most part, we have spent every Saturday since we arrived here, shopping. Mainly, we have done regular shopping--grocery shopping and gathering things for our empty house. But, since I now have wheels (and dare to use them) my goal has been to get us out of that rut! I am happy to tell you all that we didn't do any regular shopping at all yesterday! And yet, we still spent a good portion of the day....shopping. But, it's OK because this was fun! We went to a big bazaar at the Ramstein Airforce Base. We got to see all kinds of foreign goods. We came home with quite a few bags and lots of ideas about "next year" and "the next time we go to one of these things". The weather was wonderful--in the 70's and sunny. Thomas had a great time, we bought him a toy dog that is hooked to a pole that has flappy feet and he walked the darn thing the rest of the day. The only downside was that strollers weren't allowed. So, we had to carry Toby all day long. He is a 20-pound lug (I'm guessing)! Fortunately, we knew this ahead of time, so I brought my Hotslings baby carrier. They allowed strollers on Thursday and Friday so I told James to make a mental note that next year we will go on one of those days because there is no way we're not putting Toby (as a 20-monther)in a stroller--that would be a total nightmare!

Until later,

Emily

A Few Pictures...

Here are a few pics taken on August 18th. This was when it was still somewhat warm. This is in a different region of Eppstein, about 10 minutes away from our home. We spent the afternoon walking around the town, touring the castle and having lunch.

Until later,

Emily

The Air Freight is Here!

It's here...it's in our house! It came on Monday. It's been like Christmas here. Literally, it had left our presence so long ago that we had forgotten what exactly we had packed. Mainly, it was clothes and jackets which were much, much needed. Our linens. Toby's exersaucer was in it. It's been so nice to have something else for him to "do". Luckily, I've had the Johny Jumper for a while, but if any of you noticed in the pictures, even that has had to be tweaked. Our doorways in this house are much shorter than our home in Maryland. I had to knot up the johny jumper for it to work. I packed my drying rack, my laundry baskets and my hampers--hooray I think it's hard not having those things. I didn't pack bathroom rugs which I wish I had. Some of our kitchen things came and I packed cookbooks. I never thought I'd actually say I missed cooking but after eating frozen food and box-kits for over a month, I'm ready to cook a meal or two!

Onto a different subject, I had a rough night last night with Toby. He has a head cold. :( Prematurity set aside, he has been a really easy baby and I have had so few sleepless nights--so when I do have a sleepless night, it hits me hard. Also, I feel like I'm getting the same cold, so getting no sleep isn't going to help. I think it will be an early Diet Coke morning!

Until later,

Emily

Toby's 8-month birthday

Happy 8-month Birthday Toby!

Poor, Poor Toby!

Toby woke up this morning with a second tooth. So now, he has the two bottom teeth in the front. Poor baby!

Until later,

Emily

Milestone Moment...

Today I discovered that Toby got his first tooth!

Until later,

Emily

Toby and the Magic Carpet

Here is Toby on one of the four Turkish rugs that we purchased on Monday. Our house has all tile floors/hardwood floors so we have a lot to cover. As I've mentioned before, Toby is just about ready to crawl. He has been so happy since we got these rugs. This one and it's twin pretty much cover our living room. And yet, he still manages to find the few areas that don't have rug covering and that's when I hear the cry. . . I must "rescue" him 100 times a day.

Until later,

Emily

First Day of Preschool

After all the worrying, Thomas was able to start preschool yesterday--just as planned. Yesterday morning was hectic, with his health assessment appointment which resulted in him having to begin a Hepatitis A shot series (I felt REALLY bad because I promised him that he wouldn't have to have any shots), then we went over and had the preschool orientation, which was helpful but a little long. By the time we finished up with that, we had 45 minutes until the start of preschool. I loaded the kids up in the car and drove to the food court for a quick bite to eat. And when I say quick, I mean quick. I should also mention that the food court isn't handicap accessible so I have to pick of the stroller with Toby in it (it's not too fun but I am getting strong) We had 12 minutes to scarf down lunch so that I could again, load up the kids, park and unload them yet again.

I walked Thomas into the classroom and he was a little nervous. One of the teachers asked him if he would be her helper today and that seemed to do the trick. I stuck around for another couple of minutes, but I don't think he even noticed me leaving. When I returned three hours later, he had a smile on his face and I knew everything had gone well.

When we got in the car and I had a chance to talk to Thomas, he reported that he liked his new preschool and was excited to go back tomorrow. Too bad I only signed him up for three days a week, he can't go back until Friday! Perhaps I'll consider signing him up for five days a week in the spring(it is an option).

I am also happy to report that I believe we have solved most of our voicemail problems. The relocation service that we work closely with called the phone company and they, in turn called me so that I could request that our voicemail service be switched to English. Now it sounds like Morgan Freeman is answering our phone!* We also have the number to check our voicemail so--to our parents (you are the only ones that have called us so far)but also to anyone else, if you call us, and we don't answer, you can leave a message and we will receive it!

Until later,

Emily

*Since originally posting this, I have been able to change the automated message and leave my own message.

The Feeling of Frustration is Slowly Taking Over My Body!

Thomas was supposed to start preschool tomorrow afternoon. I got him on "the list" over two weeks ago. I thought it was a little strange that I never heard anything from the preschool last week about the first day of school, especially when the head person had mentioned that she was going to have an open house sort of thing. Today, I thought I'd make a phone call myself to find out what was going on.

Well, they did have the open house last week and apparently, we missed it. And we missed it because we didn't know anything about it! He's now not on the list and we have to start over with the whole process! I am supposed to call tomorrow morning at 6 AM and talk to Miss Ginny about making an appointment. If there are any openings, he may start tomorrow but not before we meet with them first.

Now, I bet you all think I'm frustrated at the preschool. But, no, I'm actually not. They tried to call, they might have even left a message, which I may or may not receive today, tomorrow or sometime this month!

We still do not have our fancy-shmancy phones from the phone company and our voicemail is set up in German. We have discovered that some people are leaving messages and then, to their frustration, we don't call back. Or, like with the preschool, I am sure they assumed that we were no longer interested and that we didn't even bother to call them and let them know. But,
we don't know how to access our voicemail, not to mention switch the language to English. I'm going to try to contact someone at our relocation service (German) to help us with the phones. Enough is enough!

Adding to my frustration is trying to get in touch with James while he is at work. He doesn't have voicemail at all at his work and a lot of times, when he is away from his desk, it will ring a few times at his desk and then be re-routed to one of his coworkers that works on the same team. His co-workers seem very nice, but when I am trying to get in touch with James, I don't want to make small talk with his workmate and then leave a message for James to call home! What is worse is when everyone is away from their desk! I don't like the feeling of "what if this were an emergency? I have been calling every 10 minutes for the past 30 minutes and I can't get a hold of anyone!"

Gee. . . this is great therapy!

Until later,

Emily

Second Car Update

It looks like we will be renting a car for quite a while, more like seven weeks. Because, apparently, that's how long it takes for a custom-ordered Mini Cooper to be delivered!

Pentagon Sales offers a pretty good deal on BMW's and Mini's. Our Mini Cooper will be Pepper White (cream) with black bonnet stripes and a black top with many extras that we wanted but without some things that we felt we could live without too. I guess that's what custom-ordered means, right? It will have American specs and part of the deal is that Pentagon Sales will ship it to the states when we move back.

Until later,

Emily

Similarities. . .

Yesterday we attended church. We attended the military ward again. This is most likely the ward that we will attend regularly. It is very small. It takes about 30 minutes to drive there. As we sat down during Sacrament Meeting, I took a look at the congregation. I think it's so funny that you can find people that remind you of people that you already know. For instance, when we moved to Frederick, I immediately thought Guyanna S. reminded me of my Aunt Barbie, except Guyanna is blonde. When I was introduced to Leah L., I immediately associated her with my childhood friend, Heather L.

There is a woman in the military ward that could be Maren V.'s sister. But she also reminds me a little bit of Lynette S. There is a blonde family that could rival the Lund family, there are even three kids in that family! Something about the Bishop reminded me of Bishop Duke, I think it was his voice. Another girl reminded me a lot of my cousin Monica. And, I've made a friend, Amy, who reminds me of my two cousin-in-law's, Taleesha and Tiffany put together.

Until later,

Emily