One Sick Family

In a house with children, sometimes germs rule. We had everything all set to visit Peter's grandparents in the northern part of Germany. The trip had been scheduled since before our visit to Augusta and we knew we wanted to see them before Christmas. Peter was just loading the last bags into the car for the 7 hour drive and we had organized care for Kayla with Peter's parents. It was dinner time, so I didn't think much about it when Cooper got a little whiny. I picked him up, he laid his head on my shoulder and then there is just no way to describe in words the sound that comes from vomit hurled all over an individual's body. Hurl, splatter, chunkage, odor, sour . . . all seems to come to mind. I screamed and Peter ran upstairs to see what all the commotion was.


Cooper seemed to be just fine and even gave a little smile (devilish in my mind). Peter admitted that he had been tossing Cooper around and turning him upside down, so we thought that was the culprit. I ran to change clothes and Peter brought Cooper up to the bathroom so that I could get him cleaned up and as fresh as possible. All clean, all good and we thought we would be on our way. REPEAT! Yet again, REPEAT! Again, REPEAT! You would have thought that I would have caught on after 3 new outfits for both Cooper and me. After that, I resigned to a smelly t-shirt and Cooper stayed in a diaper wrapped in a couple of towels. Then, each time we just had to change the towel.


So, clearly a 7 hour drive was out of the question. We rescheduled with the grands and settled in for the night. Well, Peter went out to play poker with the boys, actually. Us moms sure do get the short end of the stick sometimes.

Saturday morning Cooper was all good again, but Saturday evening the stomach bug wave hit me. All I can say is violent. Then early Sunday morning Peter joined in on the festivities. Sunday afternoon, Peter and I were in dire need of a babysitter so we did the only thing we could think of to do . . . break out some of the Christmas gifts. Cooper wouldn't be able to tell anyone on Christmas morning that he had actually seen a few of these before, right?

So, here is a picture of the sick kid before the rest of us got it.

We did make it to Soltau the next weekend and had a wonderful time visiting with Peter's grandparents. They were very sweet and really seemed to enjoy their time with Cooper.

Bittersweet Returns

It's really good to no longer be living out of a suitcase. I unpacked those suckers in record time, which is a pretty significant thing since Peter and I tend to leave them out to wait for them to unpack themselves or at least until we wear everything in the suitcases till they are empty. The house wasn't quite as orderly as I'd hoped and all the plants were dead, but what can I expect with a man here by himself for 6 weeks? I've finally gotten everything cleaned up and back to normal.

I know that many of you have asked me about the flight. I am both happy and a little disappointed to announce that it actually went pretty good. Cooper slept quite a bit and when he didn't sleep he was either snacking or playing with the window shade (up, down SLAM, up, down SLAM, etc.)or kicking the seat in front of him and trying to unlatch the tray (again, woman in front of Cooper not the happiest). There were LOTS of kids on this flight. I am guessing about 10 kids under 3. It is disconcerting for us to have direct comparison of other kids' language skills with Cooper's. One German woman with a 2 year old talked with us as we were waiting to board while her son rattled on in perfect pronunciation. She asked us about Cooper and how old he was. We told her, but admitted that he didn't talk much yet. "Oh, but surely he can say several words now, right?" she insisted. "Oh, of course!" I lied, with a stiff grin. Then on the plane was another 2 year old boy. He talked about his toys and everything he recognized outside of the window, the wing, the trees, land, other planes, clouds, etc. During the flight he asked his mom about Oma. His mom explained that they would see Oma when the plane landed on the ground. Hours later, the moment the wheels touched the groud, the child threw his hands in the air and yelled "OMA!!". I am not sure that Cooper really noticed anything out the window and he may not know where his Oma is, but I can attest that my child can open and close an airplane window shade with more precision and persistence than any kid on that plane!

I do have to admit that I was a little disappointed that Peter didn't get to have the same experience as I did on the flight to the US, but I guess he needed the sleep. There are just some things that only mommies are blessed with, right?

Being settled back in here is bittersweet. I love our life here and am really enjoying this experience. But it is hard to be away from family and friends. Miss you all so much already.

Too little sand in the hour glass

While Cooper and I were in Augusta, we were constantly busy (both a good and bad thing). We had play dates, spent time with friends and family, watched Sesame Street, and thanks mostly to Ms. Daisy, my brother and sister-in-law, and my aunt we got a lot of work done. I have no idea how 7 weeks can't be enough, but it just wasn't. There were several people that we didn't get to see at all that we were really disappointed about and lots of people we only got to see once.

Peter finally joined us for the last 2 weeks, but there was a lot of conflict since pretty much every minute of each day was packed full. During his 2 weeks, we spent three days in Richmond, VA at the Weekend To Remember marriage retreat. This was really a fantastic conference that both Peter and I would recommend to anyone. My only regret would be that given all the things that we had packed into Peter's time in the US we really didn't feel that we had the time to relax and enjoy that weekend and that took away from our experience. One funny thing did come out of it, though. On the flight to Richmond, I looked down and saw that I forgot to put on my wedding rings and from that point on I knew that I would just feel really uncomfortable at a marriage conference without a wedding ring. I look while we rush through airports to see if I can find an inexpensive substitute and had no luck. When we arrived at the hotel we saw that we had a few hours to spare before the festivities began, so we headed down to the taxi stand with the intention of finding a mall or something similar to accomplish the task at hand. Here is our actual conversation with the taxi driver. Keep in mind we are in downtown Richmond, VA where there are lots of businesses and stores around.

Peter: We would like to go to a shopping area or mall. Is there something close by?
Driver: The big mall is about 45 minutes from here.
Me: We don't want to go that far. Is there a shopping area closer?
Driver: I know! I take you to Wal-Marts.
Me: Are there any nicer shops around?
Driver: You can find everything you need at the Wal-Marts. I always shop at the Wal-Marts.

After some thought, I figured that I could actually find a simple band at Wal-Mart and so we agreed and hopped in the van. The "Wal-Marts" was actually still a 25 minute drive away and we weren't convinced that this rackety van would make it that far, but we did make it and I did find a simple band. Peter and I even picked out an engagement ring knock-off to finish off the act. I was really hoping that Peter would get down on one knee and propose in the "Wal-Marts", but it didn't happen. Maybe for our 10 year anniversary?

The next weekend we went to Charleston, SC for Thanksgiving with my sister-in-law's family. We really had a great time there. We stayed in a really nice house right on the beach. Cooper got to see the ocean and walk on the beach for the first time (albeit it was pretty windy and chilly), Peter and Cooper flew a kite together, and Peter even got a few holes of golf in. April's dad brought along a little Craig Cat boat to take out into the intercoastal water areas. This little boat was great, and to give you an idea, when April and I were on the water we both said that we felt as if this little thing was the equivalent of a "golf cart". But let me tell you, it was the most amazing place to be that close to the water when we spotted a dolphin and it circled around and played right next to us. Pretty cool!

In all, Peter only had 5 days actually in Augusta and it just wasn't nearly enough time to pack everything in. So, I am really sorry to those of you that we didn't get to see much or that we didn't get to see at all. But mostly, I am sorry to Peter who just didn't get the vacation that he so desperately needed.

Pictures will be posted soon!