There will be days

 

 

There are days like this. When Aaron was sick and Logan had to fit in a nap sometime in between the crying and crying. It was nonstop for a while. Poor little guy. That was the day both of us were sick and all I was hoping for was for both to nap at the same time.

 

 

Then there are days like this when all is good. I cherish these days. They make the days like the one above seem more bearable.

Filderkrautfest (Cabbage Fest)

Now this post is way out of order, but I had to put it in. I had so much fun. This was in the fall.

 

My town here hosts the Filderkrautfest. It is amazing and we had so much fun. They have tons of food made with cabbage, and so much stuff has saurkraut on it. Some stuff was yummy some not so much. They have a contest to see who can balance cabbage the longest, as well as a mustache contest. The video below is amazing. Notice the person talking to the Burgermeister (our town mayor). He has a nice looking mustache. ha ha.

 So so many cabbages. The only downfall is the smell of rotten cabbages left. Glad we dont have to deal with the smell, others not so lucky.

There is a tractor parade that goes by two towns and surrounding villages.

 

 

My mother in law came for a visit back in the end of September/early October. It was fun to have her here to help with Logan! The day she arrived I was in the hospital. I had been admitted for back spams and had an infection. Thinking back to those first few weeks and how crazy things were. We did do some fun things while she was here. And Logan especially loved having her here, so much so that one morning he woke her up by spilling her bedside water on her face. Not the best way to be woken up, but he sure was looking to spend another fun day with Grandma.

 At the pumpkin festival in Ludwigsburg Palace. So much fun.

 Gradma taking Logan on his first bumper cars.  This is before crashing....poor Logan.

 Some random big pirate.

 At Oktoberfest in Stuttgart. Having fun with the Grandkids.

 Backing out of our drive way ther was a bit of an accident. Those small cars...

Holding baby Aaron in Rothenburg.

All things AC

AC, What an adventure these past four months have been!

I cannot even begin to describe what it has been like transitioning from one kid to two!

The most difficult thing was that I had some serious post partum depression. Ugh It totally sucked. And though I am feeling almost back to myself, I still have the occasional down day, but I bet that has to do with being a mum of 2. Ha, and not from the post partum depression. One of the biggest blessings was having the bestest of friends here who helped SO SO Much! But that would of never happened had I not finally opened up to them to tell them how I was really feeling. Once I did, I had friends to talk to, who checked up on me, who took Logan or Aaron for a while. 100x worse than with Logan, I think I only had the baby blues with him. Though it has been rough, having him here is such a joy. Those smiles melt my heart everytime. Cuddling him and the baby smell is intoxicating. Logan gets so much fun out of kissing, holding, licking, helping with bruther or bebe. We are blessed.

 

AC:

He know what he wants and will cry UNTIL he gets it.

He fights eating most of the time. This sadly lead to only breastfeeding the little guy for 6 weeks.

Has gone through 3 different brand of formula.

Still fights being bottle fed, ugh.

LOVES baby food!

Loves his brother. Looks for him always..

Rolls over, and can almost sit.

Hates tummy time. Will cry until he either rolls over, or is turned over.

Loves the swing.

Wants to watch whatever is on TV if its on.

He is a talker, and is LOUD.

Does not like the car seat.

Loves sucking on his thumb or hand.

Has the biggest smile, and double dimples. (think AC Slater from Saved by the Bell)

Loves momma, and prefers to be fed by her.

Deep brown eyes and long lashes.

Hair is falling out just like Logan's.

Wants to be in the same room as everyone else.

Pretty good sleeper.

 

At 4 mths:

He is under 10 % for weight.

He is at 30 % for height.

 

 

These pictures were taken at about 1 month old.

 

Choo Choo Lo Turned 2!

We had a wonderful time today with friends gathered to celebrate Lo's Birthday! It took me a bit of work to get this all together. What didn't help the past couple of days were my darn allergies. And Benedryl is the only safe over the counter medicine I can take(um not thanks, did not need anything to slow me down).

 

 Here is the table set up! I think it turned out quite nice, and colorful. We went with a train theme.

 Here is my attempt on a train cake. It turned out nice, but could of been better. Maybe next year. lol

 This was my first attempt with making frosted sugar cookies, its a bit harder than it looks.

 The party favor bags, had a train shaped whistle, stickers, candy, and some other fun stuff.

 Drinks.

 My cardboard boxes turned into trains! The kids loved playing in them.

 Lo playing with his friends in the train. Notice the cool hats I got everyone.

 We played games, I had them toss balls into the mouth of Thomas. They enjoyed it.

 Logan with his future "wing man", Blake, at the party! So glad he came!

 Playing Pin the candle on the cupcake. The kids really enjoyed the game.

 Can't have a party and not have a pinata! We ordered it online, and got here on time.

 Look at that face. Loving the candy that fell out of the pinata. Who knew the pinata had candy!

Having friends help him open presents. He loved the gifts, but kept wanting to play with each one as soon as he saw what it was. It made for a slow process!

Thanks so much for all who made his day! We even opened a present from his uncle Lenny. The hardest part living in Germany, is not having family here for his birthday! WE MISSED YOU ALL! He is one very much loved 2 year old.


Happy Birthday LO! Love Mama, Dada, and Baby#2!

Getting Here

If you have not already heard, Baby #2 is on the way.

We have told Logan the news, and though he really doesn't understand, he will go up to my belly and kiss it, and say baby. Then he will just walk away.( I was sticking out my belly, pushing his finger away, on the picture above. I had set up the self timer to try and kiss him with the doors in the background, but this is what we got. Even better!)

Now that I have happily entered the 4th month of my pregnancy, I can feel a bit of relief. Getting us here to this point has been a blessing. We had a miscarriage in June, and since then I felt that it was time to try for baby #2. With a visit to the doctor, we started with just some pills. He said it should work, it didn't. Then we tried injections, went back, had a positive test, but was flying to America the next day. Got to America, the pregnancy did not stick. This happened a couple of times. The hardest part was seeing all those positive pregnancy tests, only for the pregnancy not to stick. I decided to take a break, and we would try again with the help of fertility in Feb. Well we did not need that, since it happened on its own. I called Mike while he was away in Virgina for work. I told him not to get too excited until I went to the doctor a couple of days later. Things looked good, but the doctor wanted to see me every week, which was fine with me. Once I hit 10 weeks I see the dr just about every two weeks. It is nice that I have been able to see so much of this little one, and the peace it brings each time I see that fluttering little heart! So far this pregnancy has been easier than Logan's. No trips to the hospital yet.

I feel extremely lucky to have such a wonderful German doctor who has a great bedside manner, and a great sense of humor. Things in regard to pregnancy care are pretty similar to the way it was in England, so nothing new there. I am a bit frightened to have to deliver in a hospital where I don't know the language. it has really made me think about taking a couple of classes soon, to be able to understand what is going on!

Baby #2 is Due to arrive Oct 6, 2012!

Cinco Anos

Five years of happiness, of fun, of adventure, of joy, of discovery, of laughter, of miracles, of love, of friendship, of understanding, of self sacrifice, of movement, of affection, of devotion, of appreciation, of fondness, of respect, of passion, of amusement, of cheer, of liveliness, of humor.
(Yes there have been days of sadness, of unhappiness, of hardship, but when I look at the big picture, they are but a blip on the radar. )

It is amazing what 5 years have done to the relationship between Michael and I. We have transformed from a young couple, to parents of 1. The joy this change has brought to us is beyond words. Seeing him grow as a loving, and doting father, only make my love for him grow. We have lived and are living in places I had only dreamed of visiting. I am so blessed to have him by my side. He is the only person that I know who can make me laugh no matter how cross I am with him!

We celebrated by heading downtown for a nice, childless lunch and ice cream. I got 2 sets of flowers, some beautiful tulips and a bouquet of a spring assortment! Just lovely. Our big gift this year, going to Paris! I am so looking forward to doing this, and without Lo in tow. 

Leap Year Day!

Update on the rest of this month.

 The first session of Logan's Parent and Me class is over, but we are enrolling him for the Spring session since he loves it so much. They taught how to play Duck Duck goose in the class, now Logan goes up to his daddy and hits him, saying Duck Duck Duck. It is entertaining to see how much he loves his daddy to play with him. Definitely prefers him over me. But that is okay for right now.

 We (Logan) got a really late Christmas present in the mail, from grandma Bowerbank. Logan was in heaven, having his own seat, and Very Important, soccer ball on it. He will push off his friends from his chair, if they sit on it. Teaching him how to share.

 This was the extent of my Valentine Holiday Decor. But I really liked it, and Logan had fun helping me make a homemade gift for Daddy.

 So much fun. The picture above is of Rose Monday, Fashingsdienstag. They have a parade, and people dress up in costumes, some scary, others not, and they toss candy into the crowds. It was cold that day, but we went out there and had some fun. It's a holiday here, and I look forward to going next year.

 We took a short trip to Trier Germany. It had some very old Roman ruins, all over the city. We explored for a while. And stayed close by, to make our trip into Belgium much shorter.

 This picture above is of the roman coliseum. It was very grand, and we enjoyed the walk.

 We then drove to the country of Luxembourg, where we visited an America cemetery. I got a bit emotional seeing all the crosses. After a walk around the memorial, and seeing Gen. Patton's grave, we drove to see a castle.

 It was a steep walk especially with a tot in tow in a stroller. It was nice, but both of us thought the cost was not worth it. We still enjoyed ourselves, and enjoyed the scenery. My favorite part was getting to the castle. Our GPS took us the scenic route. We hit so many small towns. Let me just say, Luxembourg was extremely clean. Very nice country.

 The following day we drove to Tongeren, Belgium. They had a wonderful antiques market. It was huge! Indoors, outdoors, along the streets, it was everywhere. We were unprepared at the vast amount of stuff there was. We will need to make a trip back, especially since I did not have Belgium Waffles. But we did manage to find some Belgium Chocolate. The smell of chocolate was so strong outside, it made my mouth water. Once we walked into the shop, I was so overwhelmed by the scent. They make their chocolates in their shop. Oh yeah, you know I had fun in there.

The drive home was not bad. I drove most of the way back, after we got back in Germany. I will say that I love driving on the Autobahn. I don't miss DC traffic, not one bit.

The weather here is warming up, tomorrow,s forecast to be in the low 60's. It will definitely feel warm. In other things, I am counting down to just about everything it seems.

• Hubby's Birthday- 13 Days
• Girls Weekend in Ireland- 15 Days to go.
• 5 Year anniversary- 24 days
• Logan's 2nd Birthday- 6 weeks and counting
• The McCarthy's visit- 7 weeks + a couple of days
• Trip to England- 2 months and counting
• Mom and Pop Bowerbank visit - 2 months and counting

We have a busy couple of months ahead of us. I love spring, and can't help but feel excited to have family close by!  Something I am not looking forward to this year, my birthday.

Reverently Lost

I love Sundays. I love the time I get to spend with my family. I love going to church, and seeing friendly faces. I love the feeling of peace, and time to ponder about things that are worth pondering. I love the music and church hymns. I love my church ward, and that it is English speaking. I love coming home and cooking dinner (most of the time), and I love hanging out with friends for Sunday dinner. I love to Skype family members on Sunday. I just love that almost every store is closed on Sundays, here in Germany, and people take the day off to be with family and friends.

Today is Sunday, and I lost my mind. Right after Sacrament, as we were getting ready to go into Sunday school LOGAN GOT LOST! We turned our back for a minute and he was gone. Both Mike and I search each and every class in the church, and found nothing. We looked was seemed for long and endless minutes. Countless amount of people started to help, and look outside. I just shut down and started to cry. This has been the first time this have ever happened, and from the comments of other parents, probably not the last. We all looked and looked and nothing. Mike took off in the car to search nearby streets in case he had escaped from the building. Nothing.
 Then.

A wonderful, young woman  walked into the gym, where I was crying, holding him. Logan looks at me, seeing tears in my eyes, his smile disappears. I reach for Logan, and he hugs me patting my back, as if to let me know that everything was okay.

So where was he found?

He was reverently sitting in primary with the 7-8 yr old class. When asked if there was someone new, he raised his hand.  We had looked in there more than several time, several different people, and never saw him. Had I been sitting with the class I teach my 9-10 yr old, and not looking for him, I would of seen him.

It is such a horrid feeling and hope that this does not happen again. So grateful for all the help of people who didn't know me, and search and searched.  Now family time, with my hubby, and son.

Blessings.

My dear husband has been in Virginia for over a week now. He still has one more to go, and Logan is missing his daddy. I have felt so blessed with the friends I have made here, and am continuing to make. They have made the time go by fast. I have had dinners, play dates, and just plain fun this week. The Lord has known my fears and worries, being alone with my little tot at home. He has showered me with blessings, through so many people.

What has Lo been up to? This little guy is keeping me on my toes. Good thing my healthy workout habit is still in full force, giving me so much energy to keep up with him. He is a shaker and mover, and is starting to use the word No, but understands that he shouldn't respond to mom that way. He blushes when he says No. It is important for me to let him know that it is okay to voice your opinion, but to use manners. Example, No Thank you. What I got in the car the other day, NO you. The good think he is trying.

I have a treat bag for my primary class in a big tote bag, and Logan knows that there is candy in the treat bag. While driving on the Autobahn this morning I hear a familiar crinkling sound. I adjust my mirror to get a glimpse at the boy, and he has 5 Hersey's hugs in his hand. He had managed to take off all the wrappers, and was getting ready to eat them. I tell him Logan can you wait until after lunch, he says, "No ,you." and proceeds to shove them all in his mouth. There was nothing I could do.

Favorite of the week: Movie Despicable Me

Lately

With the start of the new year, I started to work out. Usually I only think about it, but these last two weeks I have actually gotten into a nice routine. My goal this week and last was to work out. I feel happy that I have accomplished me goal. I worked out a total of 5 times this week, in four days. And last week I worked out 4 times as well. It has been keeping me and Logan busy. There are a couple of classes I have tried and liked, and some I will not go back to again. One I will not go back to will be the Zumba class, which is so sad. I really love Zumba, but the class was not what I thought it would be. Everything seemed very slow, and though, yes I did feel like I worked out, I did not end up leaving the class tired. The nice thing was that I did not have to pay for the class since it was my first time doing it.

Last week Logan started tumbling class which he loves. They do the same stuff each week, but he really is enjoying himself. Other than that things has slowed down a bit, and we don't mind it one bit. Looking forward to a long weekend, nice that the hubby has Monday off. Lets see what we can get ourselves into.

The weather lately has been nice. We have had some sunny days, and it is warmer than usual. Everyone is saying it is a mild winter.  I am just glad we are still getting ourselves out of the house.

Happy New Year 2012

Hope you have a wonderful New Year! We look forward to all the things that 2012 will bring. Its like the 4th of July on CRACK around here, and we are loving it. From all our windows we see fireworks going off. May we all be blessed in all that lies ahead for each and every one of us.

To Texas and then Across the Atlantic again.

UGH! I cant believe that November is just about done. Where did fall go? I spent most of November in Texas. We left Cali on a very early flight the 4th of Nov. My poor mother in law drove Logan and I to the San Fran airport, we had to be there by 5 am. Yes that is right 5 AM! So grateful for all she and my father in law did for us while we stayed there. Once in Texas we just hung out and enjoyed some time with my family and friends. My mom took Logan after work a couple of times so that I could get some Me time. I was able to finish a book that I wanted and hung out with friends. It was so nice to catch up with great friends.

After about 10 days, I drove down to where I grew up. It had been more the 7 yrs since I had been down there. The main reason being that it is 5-6 hr car ride. At least I had my little brother Len with me to help me with the drive and with Logan. I seriously could not have done this trip without my brother. Not only was he helping me but he had to put up with all my moods (By this part of my trip I was tired, missing my husband, anxious, stressed, sick, etc.). I am so thankful for him. My childhood bff Laura was getting married and I was the matron of honor. There was much to do, and many things seemed to get in the way of me doing some things I wanted to do. I got to see my Grandpa and Grandma. Funny story: My grandparents are divorced, but very competitive with each other. Logan is their first Great grand baby. Well my grandpa wanted to take pictures with him, which we did. My grandmother found out and she just needed to do the same. When she got her pictures, she was like, "Logan and I look better than Logan and your grandpa. So much better!" Fun times. The best part of this, Logan now has professional pictures with his great grandparents.

 Part of being the MOH was to throw a party. So I went with a Last Fling theme: Twilight Saga "Bitten by LOVE". Just some appetizers and cocktails, thought I left that part to the bride since I don't drink. I did have my bottle of Martinelli's Apple Cider to join in on the games and fun. We ended the night with the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn. The wedding was fun, I was actually also asked to talk in front of everyone. It was my first time taking part of a Catholic wedding. They looked so happy, and tears were shed for my dear friend. After the wedding we drove back very early the following morning, by early I am talking about 330am. We got back to H town by 930 am. We drove to my mom's house which was filled with my cousins and aunts. (why?) Well my cousin Kim had gotten married! Well tired to anyway. She was late to her own wedding, so late, that the judge left. Everyone was late. In a way I am kinda glad I had to be at my friends wedding, rather than Kim's. I don't think I could of taken all the disorder and tardiness that happened. It was nice to see my aunt Martha, and sad I missed seeing my Aunt Julissa.

The best part of my trip! We left H town and boarded a plane THE STU! I was so happy knowing that I would be home soon, and this very long journey was at its end. I was ready to see my hubby, and Logan was ready to see his daddy, and play with his toys. We had just one stop in Newark, a short layover. Well to my great surprise, but who would you think was there to meet us! My dear, sweet husband. Logan was running  ahead of me out of the airport, and ran right into his arms. At first, I wanted to tell this man to put my child down, until I realized it was him! I was so happy that I started to cry. My little family was together again, and sooner than expected. He was here to help make my trip across the Atlantic easy. And easy it was. Watched movies, relaxed, and slept. Once we landed we took a cab, and we made it home.

I don't think I could make a trip alone that long again. Glad to be back home.

Where did October Go?

October just flew by. We stayed busy and did much traveling. Loggie and I took a flight from Houston to San Francisco, only to jump on to another flight 2 days later bound for Seattle. It was nice having my in laws help out with Loggie on that flight. We stayed with my sudo brother 15 minutes away from downtown Seattle. It was a nice area, with views to the lake. Logan loved hanging out with uncle clay.

 Loggie with his Grandpa hanging out at the hotel. Just being spoiled and enjoying all the attention.

 My hubby arrived a day later! I was excited to see him, it had been 10 since I had left home. It was nice to have him around and well Loggie just missed his daddy! We walked around Pikes Place! So much fun.

 The main reason for our trip to Seattle was for  my sister in law wedding. It was a perfect day, with no rain. Loggie had fun being pulled in a wagon as part of the wedding.

 This is Loggie and his cousin right before they made their appearance. Such cuties!

 Just loved Amanda's dress. The wedding was nice!

 My family! WE had fun.

 Loggie had so much fun, and danced the night away. Though that was nothing compared to the moves his little cousin had. She was the dancing queen. Just so cute to see them interact.

 Loggie had all the bridesmaid loving on him. He was such a big flirt.

We hung out with family. My hubby and his brother. After a week in Seattle we flew back to Cali, this time with hubby in tow.

 We did some sight seeing after we came back to Cali. With the hubby here we headed to Sacramento. I had never been so it was a nice trip. While there we went to the Railroad museum. Loggie had so much fun as he is into trains right now. He just kept saying Choo Choo.

 With the hubby back in Germany, Loggie and I spent some quality time with his grandma. We went to a pumpkin patch, where Lo got to feed animals, pet goats, run around, and just have fun.

 This is my favorite fall pic of Lo this year. What do you think? Isn't he handsome.

 So after spending the day at the pumpkin patch we headed home and got ready for our big race. It was fun and exciting. My mother in law is into doing 5k's and she signed us up to do a fun run with her. I thought it would be fun just to jog a bit and enjoy the evening but once they honked the horn the inner runner in me took off too. Now let me be very honest, I have not run in over 5 yrs, run. I ran the whole thing, only because I kept seeing my mother in law in front of me. Yes, she did beat me, but I only came in some seconds behind her. I thought I was going to DIE! My favorite quote of that night, "Come on MOM (fans cheering at me) your son is beating you!" Loggie was in a non jogging stroller, pushed by me.

 There was a Trunk or Treat at our church, along with a Chili Cookoff that I help coordinate. So that kept me pretty busy as well.

 There was a costume parade in my mother in laws town, at it was a bit hot for Loggie to be a monkey, so I dressed him up as a tourist. Too bad I forgot to give him his camera for the picture.

Then on Halloween we went to a shopping area for trick o treating. Loggie finally got the hang of it. So that was neat. He didn't want to be handed a candy, the boy wanted to choose. Later that evening we walked around the neighborhood with his grandma. He kept trying to go into peoples home. But on a positive note, he did not get scared, even when we went up to the scary homes.