It's a GIRL!

I wanted a fun way to tell our families about the sex of the baby and I particularly wanted some cool way to tell my super fun neices and nephew whether they could expect a boy cousin or a little girl cousin. So I decdied to make scratch-off tickets and mail them to our families before our anatomy scan appointment. When we finally found out what we were having, we called our families and told them which circle to scratch to reveal the sex of the baby. I bought scratch off stickers, printed the cards and then placed the stickers over the words, "boy" and "girl" to make a scratch off ticket.

Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum-FIFA

Soccer!  I don't like it, I don't understand and if I am being perfectly honest (and really why wouldn't I be, it is MY blog after all) I equate it to an elementary game of keep away chartered by all the "cool" kids who used to sit around outside the bandhall passing time by playing hacky-sack.  But that is probably an insult to both the game of keep away and hacky sack, both of which I secretly enjoy (and to continue with the honesty thing, I was in the band too).

For the past month I have been stuck in soccer mania, aka....Europe during the World Cup!  For those of you who haven't been following the World Cup (and really I wouldn't know this stuff if I wasn't stuck LIVING amidst the soccer feens) Germany made it to the final four.  Which really calling it the "final four" would be just too cool of terminology for soccer, I belive they call it the "semi-finals"....LAME!  I never watched a single game of the World Cup, a fact in which I am quite proud, but I ALWAYS knew what was going on based on what flags were being waved around my neighborhood, the amount of horn honking, and the triumphant tune of vuvuzela's.  (Vuvuzelas being the obnoxious horns that the soccer fans blow during the ENTIRE game, because yelling for your team enthusiastically isn't enough for soccer fans apparently) 

I have been in Germany for 5 months now (WOW 5 months!) and had yet to see a single German flag flying outside of houses until the World Cup rolls around and suddenly there are red, black and yellow flags EVERYWHERE....on cars, hanging outside every window, on light poles, on tents, they are seriously everywhere!  The majority of German cars even had little sideview mirror covers that looked like little German flags!  It is crazy!

Sadly, Germany lost in the 'semi-finals' last night and thus ends their World Cup dream dashing the hopes and dreams of millions of optimistic Germans.  Although the mood in Germany is somber today, there is one little girl discreetly celebrating that this World Cup mania is finally drawing to an end and the baritone sound of vuvuzelas along with the cold, uncomfortable stares from strangers as I walk the dog while they watch the game under their giant party tents can finally cease!

So as it turns out I am a very bad blogger!  This is me trying to jump back on the blogging bandwagon...

Andrew and I visited Scotland for 10 days, where we met Andrew's family and toured the exceptionally beautiful country of Scotland.  That is another post for another day though.

This post is an update about my new found love and slight addiction to grapefruits!  I have always enjoyed a plump, fresh, juicy grapefruit for breakfast every now and again, but recently its all I want every morning!  Aside from grapefruit, I have always liked most all fruit (minus apples and pears, their texture..yuck!) but since being pregnant I have found the new, healthy habit of caring fruit around with me in my purse for whenever I need a snack.  At the top of my favorite snack fruit list are oranges and nectarines...YUM!  I seriously can not believe how much I crave fruit, this has never happened before.  Up until about a week ago the thought of chocolate, ice cream or other sweet things that were not either fruity or gummy (not to be confused with fruit gum as I hate chewing gum) totally repulsed me.  I still prefer a good Starburst, fruit by the foot, or Fruit Gushers over a candy bar, but the slight gagging sensation whenever I see a KitKat or Snickers bar has seemingly diminshed over the past week.  Hopefully I have reached the 'good' part of the 2nd trimester that I hear so much about.

Since finding out I was pregnant, I have lost 17lbs which my Doctor was none too excited about yesterday at my appointment.  When they weighed me yesterday, I could hear the sound of screeching tires and the Doctors and nurses blood pressure rising as they double and triple verified my weight.  I went into the appointment knowing that I was going to get yelled at about my weight, in fact I called my Mom freaking out about it after weighing myself on the Wii 3 days ago.  Of course my Mom tells me to get to eating, this coming from a lady who ended up not gaining ANY weight with her first born.  I think I come from a family who just loses weight while pregnant, my sister Amy lost 20lbs with her first before starting to gain any weight!  I just seem to be following right in their footsteps.

Of course at my appointment yesterday, which pretty much revolved around my weight, minus the brief break in weight discourse to listen to my little ones heartbeat, the Doctor told me since I have finally started feeling better I should expect to gain 25lbs from my start weight.  I do the math in my head and ask, "So you want me to gain 42lbs by December???!!!!"  And my Doctory quite calmly looks at me and says, "No, I want you to gain 42lbs by December 16th!"  How kind of you to give me those extra 2 weeks! 

Can anybody please explain to me why, if normally they want you to gain 25lbs while pregnant, if you lose weight they want you to gain back to your original weight before gaining the 25 pounds?  It just does not make any sense to me.  Either way, I am on an all-you-can-eat diet so I can start chipping away at those 42 lbs!  Now if only meat would start sounding, smelling, and tasting good again!

The Theory of Relativity

According to weather.com the expected high in Austin, Texas today is 97 degrees, the high in Birkenfeld, Germany is 78 degrees.

I spent 26 consecutive summers residing in the HOT Texas summer heat and never once did I feel that 78 degrees was hot, in fact, to say such a thing would be probably get you exiled from Texas.  So I feel somewhat guilty in confessing that 78 degrees in Germany is wearing me out!  It is flippin' HOT today and no amount of open windows can help!  I know, I know, cry me a river its 78 whole degrees but in Germany that really does feel hot!  I guess heat adaptability really is relative.  If you live a place that cools off significantly in the evenings the temperature differentials really can seem extreme, it's all relative!  And I better brace myself because tomorrow the high is supposed to be....*gulp*.....82!  I am beginning to think that there is just no way we'll make it through summer without buying an A/C unit, the $400 just might be worth it after all!

Now, go forth all you Texans and enjoy your A/C while I sit in front of my fan!

Monday was a big day for me.  I think I have already mentioned before that I am unusually cheap, I am pretty sure that I actually may very well be allergic to spending money.  So my husband has come to learn that whenever there is a decision that requires spending money, I will generally (ok, always) get cold feet.  Case in point: you may remember from a previous post that the nasty 220 electricity here and a cruddy transformer blew my KitchenAid a few weeks back.  I loved that kitchenaid!  So I instantly knew that I had to have another one, I was so certain that I had to have another one that I called Andrew, who was at training at the time, to proudly announce that I was going to go buy myself a new one!  I made the 25 minute drive to the giant PX/mall at Ramstein with the sole intention of buying a new Kitchen Aid mixer.  I picked up a buggy, briskly walked directly to where the mixers were, fully knowing the EXACT price of the mixer, I was on a mission!  My mission however, got derailed when I reached the row of KitchenAid's, saw the price (which I knew before I made the 25 minute drive) and proceeded to stand in the aisle glaring at the price as though if I stood there long enough the price would magically reduce, or maybe a coupon would drop from the heavens.  So I left that Ramstein mall KitchenAid less, with cold feet and a bottle of Lysol disenfectant. 

This leads me to this past Monday, when my husband bought me this sweet gadget!  We bought it from that same PX that I previously visited and left empty-handed, my husband is prepared for my frugal antics and has generally learned to tune out my, "but it costs......, but there are so many other things we could buy..." and just do it!

We also picked up this sweet ride.

It's definitely the nicest car I have ever had; though I should probably mention that both Claire and Grace were great cars and I loved them!  I am so excited to have a car again, sweet freedom, sweet, sweet freedom!  No more waking up at 0530 to drop Andrew off, work out while he's at PT just to wait around for another 2 hours for anything to open.  I am so excited, I can go anywhere, whenever I want....SAWEET!

But, the car itself is pretty cool to have too.  It has leather automatic seats...a real novelty in my mind, and bluetooth compatability so when I want to use the phone it calls through the car and you hear the phonecall through the speakers.  I don't even ever have to get my key out of my purse to unlock the doors or to start the car, the car recognizes that I have the key in my purse and unlocks/starts upon touch......I mean really, who comes up with this stuff???? 

Child Rearing

I have been thinking alot about how I am going to raise my children lately, for obvious reasons but also because I saw this bizarro couple on an HGTV show called Clean Sweep.  The minimal choice of television shows aired on AFN leads, Andrew and myself to watch shows that I may or may not have watch back in the states.  Last Saturday morning, the AFN tv show lineup was particularly lacking which lead me to watch a show about an incredibly interesting couple who were border line hoarders.  To make a long story short the husband refused to get ready of anything leading to a ridiculously dirty (I mean disgusting!) house.  After four years of marriage he refused to share half of the closet and  left all of her clothes/things just lying around the house.  The couple had an 18 month old son, the Mom slept with the son and made her husband sleep on the couch.  The kid had a "nursery" which was filthy, it did have a crib but they claimed he didn't like the crib.  To make a longstory short this couple got me thinking at great lenghts about what I plan to do and not do in the rearing of our children. 

I will start this by saying that everybody is free to raise their children as they please and the choices you make are well....your own chocies.  These are a few of my own thoughts, not intended to offend anybody who is choosing to raise a child/already raised a child/ or was raised differently than I plan to.  With that said, I would also like to say that these are my plans and do hope that through great prayer and with an open heart the Lord will help show me the way He intends me to raise His children.

First and foremost, I intend to put my husband first!  I know that it is probably so easy to put every need of your child above those of your husband.  I simply can not fathom the great love and bond that is between a Mother and her child and I can see how it would be easy to put the child first in all things and your marriage second.  I personally believe that there is no greater gift you can give a child than a happy, healthy home life and marriage.  Marriage is hard work and just because you have kids doesn't mean that the work on your marriage should cease.  I simply can not imagine sleeping with your child and not your husband!  If kids are always in your bed, how are you supposed to keep the intimate relationship that is so important in marriage alive?  I don't get it.  So with that, my first pledge is to keep our marriage bed, just that OUR marriage bed, no kiddos allowed!  Beyond, the 3-4 month point when the baby outgrows the bassinet and is sleeping through most of the night, it is my plan to keep the baby in the nursery! 

Secondly, I pledge not to be too overprotective.  Now, this is the one I will probably need help with!  I am seriously protective of my dog, so I can hardly imagine what it is going to be like when I have a real, life child!  People have been raising children for years!  Years and years, without books, manuals, studies, and monthly Doctor appointments.  I think it is going to be ok if you give the baby rice cereal before 4 months of age!  And it is probably not necessary to check what books say before doing every little thing.  Somebody, please remind me that I said this in a year!

I don't want to be that crazy parent who won't do things that are beneficial for the development of the child simply because I want to keep them a baby.  I am sure the time they are little is precious and expeditious but the cycle of life is for the child to grow and become big and strong...why would you wish them to stay a baby?  That is unnatural!

Finally, breastfeeding.  I definitely want to breastfeed.  I will probably need some encouragement, because I am sure that the idea of formula will seem quite convenient, especially when going to public places.  I am a private person and I just can not picture myself breastfeeding in public, so some encouragement to pump and plan ahead will likely be needed.  My goal is to make it to 6 months, but if I make it to 12 months (and I hope I do) somebody please remind me that is old enough to quit!  Breastfeeding an 18 month old like on the TV show I watched this weekend, just seems for lack of a better word....gross.  At 12 months you can switch to whole milk and so somebody please remind me! 

Fair Family Update!

SURPRISE (to us all!)  we are expecting a new addition to our family!  After a couple of long weeks filled with days and days of prayer we are happy to annouce that we are expecting a baby sometime around December 16.  This is how we told our family: we compiled the pictures into a PowerPoint slideshow and sent it in an e-mail attachment....I think they were a little shocked!

 

OK, four counting the dog!