Belly Dancer's Nightcap

Random Collage in Deutschland

Arriving

If I had been able to post an entry about how I finally got to Germany with Jack and what it took to pull it off it would have been long. My brother in-law and sister received the 11 page letter on that one. Here are some brief tidbits.

*Right before my flight to Denver in a NC airport I met Kristen from This Classical Life. I was stepping onto the elevator to walk to my gate and she stepped on with her two beautiful children. She recognized Jack and I from my blog and introduced herself. I had heard of hers and we have friends in common. What are the odds? Pretty crazy. It made the airport that I'd been dreading somehow seem friendlier.

*It was hard, just as hard as I expected but for every difficult thing that happened God matched it with a blessing.

*On the nine hour flight to Germany every single seat was taken so my hope for having a little room to spread out was dashed. My poor pregnant body was squished between a car seat and a large pastor from France the entire flight. Talk about claustrophobic. It hurt. The good part was that they played lots of great movies to take my mind off of it, served delicious food and the pastor was kind enough to hold Jack for me and stand right outside the bathroom door when I had to go so Jack wouldn't freak out.

*The worst part of the entire trip was when I was in the Frankfurt airport and couldn't find baggage claim. I followed the signs but then at one point there were no more elevators. When I tried to get help from the airport staff about finding an elevator no one could help me. I asked so many people and most of them just shrugged there shoulders and smiled at me. Most of you know I'm directionally challenged and for once it wasn't my fault. I wheeled my stroller around exhausted from getting zero sleep and bawled audibly. I wasn't even looking for help or attention at that point I just didn't know what else to do but cry. I didn't even know how to use the phones to call my husband whose cell phone number didn't make sense to me. I was invisible as I walked around crying because it was the first day of the World Cup and very crowded. My husband and I eventually found each other which was a miracle.

And it's over, thank the Lord that's over.

Since We've Arrived...

Alrighty, this is really random and there are some dull pictures just trying to show my family things like "the other toilet" but bear with me. Besides some big life changes coming up like giving birth and having a brand new kiddo I'll hopefully get caught up and the pictures will get better and more organized. So here goes...

The Square

I like the idea of having a square in a neighborhood. It brings everyone together and promotes community. Ours gets a lot of use despite the fact that it looks a bit sparse with only two pieces of playground equipment. The kids don't mind and I never hear them fighting over the few things to play on. They bring their ball over to play soccer or just use their imagination. Babies play in the sandbox and women gather on the benches to talk. I've noticed it's more common over here for people to spend a good amount of time outside - taking walks, hanging out in their yards and riding bikes.

Jack starts squealing like a monkey and yelling,"Oh!Oh!" whenever he sees the flowers on the swing. He must touch them and turn them so Erik takes him like a good Papa.

Thank the Lord for transformers

You have to either plug your things into a transformer or buy new ones that fit the European electrical outlet. Two important things we wanted to plug in right away - the coffee maker and the stereo.

must have good coffee and musik!

When in Germany...

...Grill Brats

our groovy, new picnic table with a rectangle umbrella (we thought we were getting a circle one but hey, rectangles are cool - guess that's what happens when you're shopping in a german store and you can't read everything)

Patio Daddy-O

On one of my walks...

I've only taken a few pictures of the area right around our little neighborhood. These are taken right around the corner after crossing over the rail tracks.

these last two are walking back into our neighborhood

Master Bedroom, Etc.

When we left Colorado we decided to get rid of our small amount of college looking furniture and to start fresh in Germany. The plan was to get everything we needed upon our arrival on our credit card and pay it off immediately with a chunk of money the military owes us. Then we got here and found out most businesses in Germany do not take credit card, including large franchises like Ikea. So we are buying one piece at a time as we can afford it until our chunk of money arrives in the bank account. It certainly makes us grateful for each little thing as we are needing so much and having to get it slowly. With my poor pregnant body the bed and recent chair were a huge relief.

Our new Malm king size from Ikea with the Sultan Hamno mattress (that was highly recommended by my sister Amy and she was right, it's comfy) is so much better than the blow-up mattress we were sleeping on when we first arrived.

The other side of the master bedroom - we have to buy wardrobes because there aren't any closets in the house. This is common over here.

This window is what you see when you walk in the door of the master bedroom. It looks down on the square full of children so Jack likes it when we put his pack n play in this window.

I think he's ready to get out.

This is the half bath downstairs to the left when you walk in the front door. Exciting huh?

We finally got the boxes cleared out of the living room. Now we just need some furniture.

We open these four doors every morning and its so nice with that 8 am breeze coming in. That is, until afternoon when we have to lower the metal blinds because the sun starts coming in and heating up the house.

The stairs going down in this picture lead to the basement which feels like a refridgerator. On hot days I want to just hang out down there. It's the least scary basement I've ever been in. I'm not a fan of basements. The floors are white tile, the ceiling and walls are white so also it's not a dark, creepy basement. I'm also SO grateful for our washer and dryer after using the laundry mat for two years in CO.

First Pancake Breakfast

Erik has always made blueberry pancakes, eggs and organic sausage on Saturdays. I love this tradition and I really love sitting, drinking my coffee and not having to cook.

The World Cup

We experienced our neighborhood's excitement during the World Cup since we don't watch TV. On game days people would come home early from work, kids would be running through the streets with flags, you could here horns honking for miles and when Germany scored we could hear a roar of cheering coming from the open windows of all the house around us.

a little girl spelling Deutschland with flowers in the square on a game day

Random Jack Snaps

those are Papa's eyebrows for sure

Chris Farley baby says, No pictures please.

He's pretty close to walking these days and has great balance even on the blow-up mattress.

Zoo in Koln (Cologne)

Outdoor cafe at the Zoo

Finding the monkeys with Papa

This was like the baboons with their own little city and reminded me of the monkey city in The Jungle Book.

Jack was very happy to watch them, especially when a fight would break out.

The area where the elephants came to eat was one of my favorites. The design for this building was well thought out and beautiful.

I'd never seen a baby elephant this small.

The owl cloister was enchanting. I love owls.

On the ride home we stopped for a break and let the baby drive.

What's on my fridge

*a picture of a skinny girl ripped out of a magazine with my head stuck on it to remind myself that after almost two years in maternity clothes I won't be uncomfortable forever

*a picture drawn by cousin Mason

*photos from home

*ultra sound of the new baby

*an invitation to my sister Jamie's wedding (this coming Saturday) that I'm missing out on (sniff, sniff)

*our Mama and Papa word magnets

12 more days

The swelling in my feet, ankles and calves never goes down now. Today they look like two throw pillows attached to my legs. Not much longer to go though - I'm full of relief and terrified at the same time. I guess elephant baby must exit, he can't stay in there forever.

Posted by M. of the Gypsies at July 30, 2006 10:38 AM | TrackBack