Approaching Advent

The first Advent is this Sunday, and every home in Germany has some variation of an Advent Wreath or a collection of 4 candles that they burn. I really love this tradition and each year, my Advent Wreath is the Christmas decoration that I splurge a little on. A beautiful Advent Wreath is just the thing that sparks my excitement for the Christmas Season and gets me looking forward to spending time with family and celebrating Christ's birth.

So, here is a picture of my Advent Wreath for this year. Typically, I am very traditional and only want red decorations on my wreath, but this one just caught my eye.

One thing that drove me crazy in the beginning (but I am learning to adjust) is how you burn the candles on the Advent Wreath. The first candle is lit on the first Advent Sunday and for that week, you only burn one candle. Do you know the self restraint it takes for me to only light one candle? Then on the second Advent Sunday, you light two candles and those two candles burn that week. I think you get what happens on the third Advent Sunday. Finally on the fourth Advent Sunday, you get to light all four candles.

Clearly, I did not make the Advent Wreath myself, however I did make the wreath for our front door myself. It isn't quite as professional as the one above, but I am quite proud of it. The only thing I didn't do is bind the pine needle clippings to the wreath base, which I actually did do myself last year. Both our Advent Wreath and Front Door Wreath are real needles, which I think is so neat. Of course, that would not be an option in Augusta climate since the things would dry up and turn brown in about 2 days.

Are you getting into the Christmas spirit yet? I would love to see pics of your decorations and hear about your favorite Christmas traditions.

Giving Thanks

I am so excited this year for Christmas, that I just had to go ahead and change the background of the blog. However, that doesn't mean that I am just passing over Thanksgiving. I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for. Here's my top 10 in no particular order:


1. God paired me with a wonderful husband who tolerates my sarcasm and knows my sighs. He knows which sighs mean to get out of bed to turn out the lights, which sighs mean that I am thirsty and want him to get me something to drink, and which sighs mean that I want him to bring me some ice cream. And he does it. I'm a lucky girl.


2. We live in a central part of Europe that has allowed us to see some really beautiful parts of this continent and travel with ease.


3. We also live close enough to Peter's parents and sister which gives Cooper the opportunity to get to know his grandparents and aunt. They all love Cooper and Kayla as much as we do (and given Kayla's rancid gas, that isn't easy!).


4. We have a roof over our head and more room (and stuff, way too much stuff) under that roof than we really need.


5. We have 2 trouble free cars (knock on wood).


6. We have the most loving family and friends in Georgia who call us, e-mail us, care enough for us to come visit if they are able, and are always willing to put up with us for extended periods when we come to visit.


7. Living in Germany this time around, I have some comforts that I didn't have the first time around. I have American TV at the touch of my fingertips which just gives me that comfort of sitting down at the end of the day with Peter and kicking back at home watching our favorite shows. More importantly, I have a great American supportive friend who lives nearby that I can go to when I need help finding things here, when I need to gripe about living in a foreign country, or when I just need a friend to talk about nothing. These things help make my time here less isolating.


8. Despite many instances that my precious boy could have seriously gotten hurt or killed, he is still here, happy and healthy. Each night before I put Cooper in his bed, I wrap my arms around him, stick my nose in his neck, and just take him in. So often it is in this moment that I know just how precious he is and my heart feels like it will explode with love for him. I know that I am lucky to have another day with him.


9. We have more than enough food, and as ya'll know, I love me some food. I can't imagine what it must be like for those mothers who have to look into the eyes of their hungry children and are not able to fill their bellies.


10. God has considered us fit enough parents to bless us with another baby. We are creating a new life, which is the greatest miracle ever.

There is so much more that I am thankful for, but you know me and all the words. I am trying to keep things short enough for all two of you that actually read this. Ok, so I am one of those two. So what?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope your tables are full of turkey (oh, Mr. Loss's fried turkey, there's another craving for the week!) and lots o' fixins and pies!

What I Really Want . . . .

is some pull and peel twizzlers.

There's one reason that I am at week 16 and haven't yet gained any weight. I am not living in the US right now.

Counting Cooper

It feels good to finally have all my backlogged blog posts that I wrote about the pregnancy finally posted. Now, I can get back to my favorite subject to write about, Cooper of course. Here is a funny (insane) story and a new accomplishment.

First the accomplishment - Cooper is counting! He can count clearly from 1 through 10. It sounds something like this:

Won, Doo, Dwee, Fow, Fie, Sick, Sege, Ade, Nigh, Te

And his sweet little voice just curves up as he said each number and number 10 is usually said with excitement. It is so sweet. Now he doesn't count any object except sometimes the stairs as we go up, and he doesn't recognize numbers, so he doesn't really get what the counting is all about but the fact that he remembers words in a sequence and says them on his own is such a huge thing for us! Now, I still would love to hear him call for mommy when he wants me or say juice when he is thirsty, but we are still trying to stay optimistic about the baby steps here. COUNTING!!!!

Now to the story. Last week, Cooper was in the basement.

(Side note: The basement is also our entry area into our house and another big room with the washing machine and large cabinets for tools and such.)

Cooper spends a great deal of time in the basement by himself because as anyone who knows Cooper well, knows that there is a magnetic attraction and borderline obsession between Cooper and a front loading washing machine and dryer. My little curious monkey can literally hang out in the basement for an hour or more completely happy to his heart's content. Anyway, he was down there as usual and it was getting close to dinner time, plus it was pretty quiet down there so I decided to go down and bring him up. When I opened the door to the washroom, my eyes must have popped out of my head. There was Cooper, dancing around, laughing, arms waving and thrashing wildly overhead, with a large item in one hand.

Just what was that item, you ask?

A . . . SAW!!!!

Um, yeah. That's not such a great toy. While a picture would have been nice, I felt it more appropriate to scream frantically and take the dangerous weapon away from my 2 year old crazy kid before he gauged his head wide open or cut off one of his adorable appendages. Because clearly I am all about good parenting here.

I believe it was Peter's mother who said that Cooper has several guardian angels watching out for him to have made it this far. Sounds about right to me. Hey, how come I don't read in other parents' and friends' blogs about their kids running alone down the street, standing in the window sill of the third story open window, and playing with heavy construction equipment? Oh, I guess that's just me.

Pregnancy Update - 15 weeks

It is certainly time for an update on our little Gummy Bear in there. I did go to the Doctor (I think that was at about 8 weeks), and everything checked out fine with the baby. One interesting thing on the ultrasound was TWO amnio sacs. Luckily, only one baby. It appears that it started out early on with possibly 2 babies, but for whatever reason one didn't develop. The doctor said it shouldn't cause any problems and most likely my body would just absorb that other sac or it would come out on its own. (Sorry if that is too much info) Another check-up 2 weeks later and all looked normal with the baby continuing to do well.

Now we are up to 15 weeks, and so far this baby has already travelled to the US and visited Disney World, as well as Salzburg with Christina and Dwayne and Oktoberfest in Munich. A world travelor at the tender age of - embryo. I am feeling pretty good, but still often tired especially in the evenings. I have had one more ultrasound since the last post and all looked good.

The sex of the baby will remain top secret material until he or she is born. Actually, only I will be privvy to that information since Peter is adamant that he wants to be surprised. This will be a very hard thing for me as I am not known to be the best keeper of secrets or surprises, but I am determined to let Peter have the experience he wants to have from this. So, no pressure from you all. My lips are sealed. Well, right now it is pretty easy since I don't know yet and probably won't find out myself until the next scan around Christmas.

Having said all that, I definitely have a very strong feeling that this is another boy. I am starting to see some belly poking out, and it seems to be sitting right where Cooper was which is typical for boys. And other than that, just a feeling. I am happy with whatever comes as long as he or she is healthy.

Today, I am craving Chinese again. And it is only 10am, with no chinese restaurants here.

Cravings

This pregnancy has been very different from the first one with Cooper. I am much more sick feeling and have cravings which I didn't have with Cooper. Except that one time that I went to the store for butter, just butter, and came out with a dozen donuts, a bag of smarties, and no butter. But that was only once. This time I have had very specific cravings.


A couple of weeks ago, I wanted white sandwich bread. That just doesn't exist here. You know, the really soft, stick to the top of your mouth, spongey, cloud-like white bread that makes peanut butter and jelly perfection. What I really wanted was tuna salad on that white bread. I settled for a french crusty bread that is soft in the middle, and my friend, Kari, came over to make a batch of tuna salad for me. Just because I wanted to eat it doesn't mean that I can stomach making it. The tuna salad was delicious. I had it that day for lunch, dinner, and even a small snack in between. Then I woke up in the middle of the night with major nausea. After a while I went downstairs to watch TV as a destraction. Wouldn't you know it, there is now a tuna commercial advertising lemon pepper tuna. I thought I would upchuck all over myself. And that has been the end of tuna. Tuna, you are now dead to me.


Then, our friends Christina and Dwayne came over and brought with them some Zax sauce. Random, I know, but there is no secret that I have a love affair with Zaxby's. Well, of course, that sparked a craving for some chicken fingers. Again, not a commodity that one will find in Germany (are we noticing a pattern?). So, my sweet hubby went out, bought some supplies, and made me chicken fingers himself. They weren't Zaxby's, but they were actually pretty good.


While Peter was in London last week, I decided that I wanted chocolate cupcakes. So, I made them. I ate 2, and threw 16 away. I was so over the chocolate cupcake thing.

The next week, I wanted Mexican food. Not just Mexican, but specifically cheese dip and refried beans. Ya'll, I never eat refried beans. But that is what I wanted. I planned to meet my friend Kelly later that week for lunch and when she mentioned Mexican, I nearly yelled into the phone how perfect that was and I think I scared her a little. She called me the next day to say that the Mexican place isn't open for lunch, but she made us a great Mexican themed salad and while it wasn't cheese dip and beans, it was really good. (Note: She sent me the attached picture later of Cooper. This is him going head to head with the curtain, and surprisingly the curtain is still standing. I had my doubts.)

Then there is the hankering for Chinese. Again, not here or at least not anywhere within 30 miles and not American Chinese. Specifically, Sho Chin. Ok, Sho Chin's Sesame Chicken with fried rice, some vegetable lo mein, and the sweet tea that is always so good at a Chinese establishment. I'm torturing myself here.

I am excited about my trip to the US in October to be able to easily fulfill all of my craving whims. However, it is highly possible that while I am there, I may just get an inkling for a German pretzel or some schnitzel. We'll see.

At 7.5 weeks, I am still feeling sick. In fact, it is 1:26 in the morning as I type this. The nausea is there in the morning and definitely has an impact on the quality of breakfast that I am able to make for Cooper. It softens mid morning which is the only time that I am going to get something done, if it will happen at all. After a light lunch, indigestion sets in and I burp my way through the afternoon while the nausea rears its ugly head and gets its most feisty just before bed.


Yes, did I mention that I don't make the most pleasant pregnant person? Feel free to offer Peter some words of support as he tries to cope.

6 Weeks

So, according to online calculations, I should be at about 6 weeks now. My doctor's appointment is another 2 weeks out, so I will know more specifics then and also know if everything is A-OK in there. After finding out last Sunday, I was feeling great and just convinced that this pregnancy was going to be a breeze. I started working in the yard that morning and tore it up all day out there.

Then, a few days later it hit. And it hit hard. The nausea. Now, I remember my pregnancy with Cooper. I said it then, and I will say it now. I am not a good pregnant woman. I do believe that the birth of a child is a miracle. And I am honored and thankful that I am one of those people that seems to be able to have a baby quite easily with healthy delivery and all that. I think pregnant women are so adorable. But that is where the rainbows and roses end. I don't like being sick, I don't like gaining weight, I don't like not sleeping, I don't like peeing all the time, I despise indigestion. All these women who say they love being pregnant . . . I envy them. Yes, it is an incredible feeling when you can feel your baby move inside your belly, but for me it was always really uncomfortable, kind of like I ate something bad or have a nervous stomach.


Still, I am so excited and happy to be on this journey and that God made it happen. Looking forward to the end of this first trimester!

Here We Go Again

(Originally written 9/18/09)

So, I am writing this, but not going to post it for a while yet. These things need time. Time to enjoy something just as a family. And, of course, time to make sure that nothing unexpected happens. But in the meantime, until we make it public, I didn't want to miss out writing about this experience.


We are expecting a baby!


We set out to expand our family, and it was much quicker than we ever thought it would be. Peter's reaction, "Man, I'm good!" I was more expecting a hug, a kiss, a squeal of excitement, and maybe some flowers for the mother-to-be or a special dinner. But instead, "Man, I'm good" and then off to breakfast in his underwear. What can I say? He is the man I married and the father of my children. Oh yeah, and I guess the love of my life.


We officially found out with a positive test on Sunday morning, August 30, although I suspected during my stay in Augusta earlier that month. I am excited and feeling really good. From the online calculations, Cooper will be a big brother in early May!

The Rest of Our Time in Augusta

Before our trip to Augusta, I was so excited for Christina (Peter's sister) to arrive at our house. She was going to help me on the flight over with Cooper and join us at Disney. Man, it was so nice to have her on that plane and just have someone else take over entertaining my little monster for a few hours. Even more so, it felt good to have someone recognize what a journey that trip is with Cooper and gear in tow. She said it before we left and also in the Paris airport that she could not imagine how I can do it by myself. As mom's we all know that we just do what we have to do and hope that we make it out alive, but it sure does feel good to hear somebody recognize those challenges. Thank you so much, Christina, for all your help. Every meal that I didn't have to feed Cooper, every diaper I didn't have to change, every bath I didn't have to give was such a relief for me. You are so greatly appreciated!

Another highlight for me in Augusta (and also for Christina) was shopping with my Aunt Brenda. This woman is bargain shopper extraordinaire. She can find the good stuff, she can find the deals, and she always has a coupon for everything. The only hard part is getting her to stop spoiling me! But so much better than all the deals and great stuff we walked away with, was the feeling of being around my Aunt Brenda. She has so many characteristics of my mother that it is often like having a piece of her again with me. I feel so cared for with her, and she makes me feel like walking around countless hours with me and spending time with Cooper are her favorite things to do. I think she makes everybody feel that way. What other people would find to be huge sacrifices, she finds to be complete joy. There aren't many people who can make you feel that way, but my mom and Aunt Brenda are two of them.

What else did we do? Playgrounds, play dates, ate a lot, held fresh new babies, visited old friends, had a girls dinner out, ate amazing foods, hugged people we love, spoke lots of English, helped my dad move, held my precious nephew, ate tasty food, relaxed at my sister-in-law's parent's lakehouse, attended a pirate party in lederhosen, had family portraits . . . oh, and did I mention the food? It all made me so darn happy that it was really hard to come back. I don't know if my heart will ever be able to call Germany home. It just so loves the South!

A huge highlight of my trip was being present for Samuel's baptism. Sam is my incredible little nephew and it was such an honor to be up there holding him during this holy sacrament. And the biggest honor of all? Peter and I being asked to be Sam's Godparents. Huge deal for us!!!! I love Alan and April to death, and it sounds weird to say, but I adore Sam so much and just feel like he belongs to me in some way. And now he really does. Thank you guys so much for choosing us. We are thrilled and promise to be there for Sam as he grows and experiences life.

Gosh, that's it. I will be posting a few more things in the next week that you really won't want to miss. So, keep checking in!

Cooper does Disney

Our week at Disney was really great. The house was exactly as we had hoped, with great features, really close to the parks, and a perfect fit for all 3 families. We had a wonderful time with the Vasquez and Sosebee families, enjoyed some outlet shopping, and of course, had a memorable time in the parks.

And it never fails, a trip to the US with Cooper is always an accident waiting to happen. This one occurred within 25 minutes of our first day in the park. As Cooper broke into an excited run coming out of Mickey Mouse's House, he tripped and fell headfirst into the curb. It was a bloody sight at first, and two thoughts ran into my mind . . . 1. My poor baby! and 2. Our pictures are going to be ruined! I know, not the most reasonable thought, but whatever. We rushed Cooper to first aid, they verified that he did not have a concussion (funny, that didn't enter my mind rather than our gorgeous family photos), applied ice, some Motrin, and after about 20minutes, the little guy was smiling again. Granted he had what we dubbed as the "unicorn horn", which he would proudly sport for the rest of the week, but he was smiling. The boy sure knows how to make memories! After an air-conditioned lunch, we were ready to continue attacking the park.

Since we had limited tickets into the park and three families to divide them between for the week, it soon became clear that we would need a schedule. Let me paint a little picture here for those who were not in the living room for this particular conversation. As soon as the thought of a schedule was formulated into words, Peter started squirming in his seat, breathing hard, and breaking out in a cold sweat. His agitation over this lasted for a good 2.5 days, and it was only after much prodding and heated discussion, that I was able to come to the realization that the "schedule" had in that very instant absolutely ruined Peter's vacation. Now this may sound a little over reactive to some, but Peter was dead serious about this. I finally got it out of Peter that he finds the idea of a schedule on vacation absolutely repulsive, robbing the fun out of everything. While he accepted the need for said schedule and despite the fact that the Claus family had a few days with nothing planned on the schedule, Peter was completely convinced that all chances of relaxing were off now that things were on paper.

I hate to break it to anyone who is not yet married with kids, but life after marriage and kids is the end of spontaneity. Deal with it.

After it was all said and done, in our 7 days in Orlando, we went into the Disney parks for 3 half days, Peter played golf twice and took multiple naps, I went to the outlet mall 2 afternoons, and we saw Cirque du Soleil one evening. And sadly for Peter, in the end, he still stands by his opinion that he did not have enough down time. Down time for Peter is sitting on the couch Ted Bundy style with his hand in his pants, and if that is what he needed, then we could have saved over a thousand dollars and sat in my aunt Brenda's living room in front of the big screen all dang day. Somehow, I think that pictures of Cooper marveling at It's a Small World with a unicorn horn trump pics of Peter asleep on the couch, but what do I know?

Anywho, here's the pics!