Ladies Man

A few weeks ago, my good friend Kari needed my help watching the girls. I was so excited because 1) Cooper loves spending time with her girls E and G and 2) Kari never seems to need or ask for help so I was thrilled to be able to lend a hand to her for once.

We had a great night of playing, coloring, watching videos, eating popcorn, playing hide and seek, and even a little excercising.

Here are the little Picasso's producing their masterpieces on a giant sheet of paper.

Often Kari and I will get together and do a workout video in my living room, and the girls like to join in. At E's request, I put on "6 Round Slim Down" for them and both E and G were very excited to each have their own workout mat. As you can see, neither Cooper nor Kayla share their committment to physical fitness.

And this is what a guy looks like after spending the day with two high maintenance girls.

Random Pictures You Don't Want To See

The hubs bought me a little hand held camera for Christmas to replace the one that we used to have which mysteriously broke in the hands of said hubs who claims that it most certainly was not dropped. I, for one, am still skeptical regarding series of events surrouding the camera breaking incident. Regardless, we now have a new one. And while the picture quality is not as good as my last one, I am enjoying the candid shots that we are able to capture with a smaller camera. So, here are a few terrible pictures we have taken lately.

What chu talkin' 'bout Willis?

My Cute Hubby

My cute Coopi

Proof that I am allergic to ironing.

CHEESE!

Kayla on her sofa

Morning pictures of me before shower and make-up are ABSOLUTELY NOT allowed!

But this? Surprise shower pictures of Peter are TOTALLY allowed!

But not all the pictures from this camera are terrible. Here are a couple of shots from 2 weeks ago when Cooper went sledding with the little boys next door.

Cooper is on the middle sled in the light blue jacket and red cap.

Here's a little closer with his good pal Otto in the driver's seat. They are both having a blast!

On The Mend

(WARNING: The following post contains images which clearly demonstrate that I am a total and complete failure when it comes to altering any type of photographic image. However, it has been proven on many previous occasions that I have no shame so view at your own risk.)

I was determined not to write about my brutal cold, but after more than a week I am starting to feel better, and I couldn't feel more relieved. Cooper came down with a nasty sounding cough about a week and a half ago. Then, a few days later I was hit with about 2000 lbs of sinus pressure and sore throat. Over the course of the week, things got progressively worse and I ended up with Laryngitis, crazy sinus issues, and a throat that was so sore and swollen it felt as if I was breathing through a straw. Being prego and all means that girlfriend here ain't allowed any serious medication.



Peter took Cooper and I to the doctor on Tuesday in the hopes of some relief. You know that great feeling when you are sick, finally go to the doctor and that doctor prescribes you hefty doses of wonderful meds? Then you rush to the pharmacy to fill those prescriptions because you can't take another minute of misery, scurry home and curl up in bed with the drugs that bring the promise of clear nasal passages and an end to coughing up your toenails. Yeah, well I didn't get that.


Germany is the land of homeopathic medical practices, so I was instructed to breathe in some steam, drink some herbal tea, and maybe even suck on a sage throat lozenge when the situation is really dire. All of which, I was already doing. Cooper didn't fare any better either. So, instead of the whole scurry home scenario, we all scurried to McD's for some comfort food and hit the grocery store for popsicles and ice cream. Now that is my form of homeopathy!


I must say that this guy here makes a great nurse.





Oops, that isn't quite right. Let's try that again:
Well, that's a little better if we can overlook the fact that Peter the hunky doctor is missing a neck. But seriously, the sweet hubs took wonderful care of me, staying home from work, and putting Cooper to bed at night. I really got lots of time to rest and am thrilled to finally be getting better.

A few days ago, though, Peter started in with his own symptoms and just the thought of all the great drugs that he could partake in was like living out a fantasy. I swear, talk of pharmaceuticals could have been an aphrodisiac! Just mention things like Tylenol PM (oh my), Nyquil (yes, that's good), Sudafed (that's really hot), and Mucinex (don't stop), and suddenly I am like Meg Ryan in that diner in When Harry Met Sally. That is how badly I was craving cold medicine.


Hey, maybe making it through all this without medication means that I am ready for natural child birth without an epidural!


Just kidding. I would never even think of something so ridiculous. I mean, that's just crazy talk!



Hope you all are healthy or at least heavily medicated.

Movin' On Up

This past spring I ran into a little issue with Cooper after he discovered that he could crawl out of his crib on his own. A skill to be expected from a 2 year old, and at that time most parents derive that their little one is ready to move up to a big kid bed. The problem was that Cooper didn't understand at the time what we meant when we would tell him that he had to stay in his bed. Our bedtime routine, which had always been pleasant, successful, and relatively short, was getting longer and longer. On average we were spending about an hour reading, rocking, and singing till our little guy was sleepy enough to lay down. Then we would put him in his crib and leave the room. That was his cue to climb on out and party, party, party! It would take at least another hour of repeatedly putting him back in his crib before he would finally fall asleep. Each night we would count the number of times we had to put him back in bed, and each night that number climbed higher. We reached an average of over 60 times in the evening and Peter and I were just worn down. To make matters worse, he would than wake up at some point in the middle of the night and the whole thing would ensue again. I found it easier to spend about an hour rocking him back to sleep than 2 hours chasing him back to bed.

Then we did some research, and had my Aunt Brenda bring this peace of heaven with her from the States.

Ahhh . . . the crib tent. It was the answer to all our prayers and sleepy time woes. It worked perfectly and Cooper just loved it. In fact, when I would go to wake him up in the mornings and unzip his tent, he would stand up, re-zip it and fall back down into his bed to enjoy more sleepy time.

When we found out we were expecting baby #2, we knew that we would have to make the transition soon. Plus, our tall little boy would soon be much to long to stretch out in his crib. So, just after Christmas we brought in the big boy bed. Here's Cooper's new bed, and it even has a tent!

We didn't know what to expect with this transition, but given our previous experience we were prepared for a battle at night. Surprisingly, it was so much easier than we ever thought. Proof that our last attempt was only unsuccessful because Cooper wasn't ready yet.

The first night he cried and was a little scared. After a few tries, I put him back in his crib. The second night he was content for about 20 minutes and then got scared again. Peter soothed him and left him in his big bed. Then he climbed out and Peter and I traded off putting him back in. It was only a few times over the course of an hour, but he finally fell asleep in the new bed. Each night got better, and I have to credit Peter for really taking over the project and getting Cooper accustomed to the new arrangement. Each night got shorter and shorter, and after just a couple weeks, he goes to bed like a champ and typically does not get out of bed at all anymore. Nap times didn't happen for a while, and Cooper would just stay awake. However, he now goes down easy for naps as well.

I would love to show you an adorable picture of my sweet little angel soundly sleeping in his new big boy bed, however we have a very strict policy in this house that we fully adhere to at all times. It is called "DO NOT WAKE IT!!"

We are so happy the transition was as easy as it was. I didn't want to write about it too soon and jinx it. We are now one step closer to welcoming the new baby into our home with an empty crib!

It's Time to Check-In

That's the e-mail I received today from Delta. You see, I have this whole screwy system with my flights between the US and Germany. Since I moved here from the US, I of course bought a round trip ticket with the return as far out as I could book it which is 6 months. Therefore, after 6 months, every time I would use my return flight to the US I would have to book another flight to get myself and Cooper back to Germany. And since round trip tickets are significantly cheaper than one-way (I will never understand that logic), I would end up with another flight back to the US every 6 months. While this cycle has been an expensive one to maintain, it has done wonders for my psyche always knowing when I would get to return home to Georgia.

The last trip to Augusta in October required yet another purchase of a ticket. I booked the round-trip (because again . . . it's cheaper) and scheduled the return for a time when I knew it would still be safe for me to fly considering the pregnancy. At the time, I knew that unless there was a major event or need, I would not be using that return trip to Augusta. I was fine with that. I really didn't give it a whole lot of thought, until last weekend. Peter, Cooper, and I were in the car on a Saturday morning and I just had a bluesy feeling that I couldn't shake. The best way I could describe it to Peter was that I felt as if there was something I was supposed to be doing, but I couldn't remember what it was. Turns out, that something was preparing for a trip back home that I wouldn't actually take. And this leaves me with the uneasy feeling of not knowing when I will go back. Ick.

You would think that I would have enough to look forward to what with the baby coming in May and possible visitors within a few months after that. But that trip back home was always my security blanket and now I don't have that anymore.

On the bright side, we are covered in snow here and I don't have to shovel a single bit of it this winter! And there is another great accomplishment in our household which I will write about later.

Just know that I am missing all my homies and hope that you all are having a wonderful start to the New Year!

A Tragic Predicament

It is a tragedy in a Southerner's life when sweet tea, cheddar cheese, and grits are uncommon luxury items only to be enjoyed once every few months when I'm lucky. Can I get an AMEN?

Today I have all three. It's a good day.

And Cooper just had his 4th massive stinky diaper of the day and I haven't changed a single one. It is a very good day, indeed.

Amen.