Nana

Moms are the best.  That's why everyone should live within two miles of theirs.  Of course, this isn't my situation.  But it's times like these, with a new baby and a young family, when I really wish it was.

My mom wasn't going to come out after the baby was born.  I told her it was too far and too expensive to come all that way.  Ben and I could manage fine on our own.  But as the pregnancy progressed I had a change of heart.  I knew I wanted my mom!  There was no gettin' around it.

So, I convinced her to come out (it didn't take much).  And I'm SO glad I did.

I don't know where my mom gets all her energy.  During her ten day stay the kitchen was clean, the floors were mopped, the girls were fed, dressed, and entertained, all before noon and without a hair out of place. She makes it seem so effortless. It's both awe-inspiring and slightly annoying at the same time.  I didn't have to do anything.  I just got to feed, cuddle, and sleep with my baby boy.  Mom took care of everything else. 

 I loved having a monopoly on her... she had no other distractions besides me and the kids.  She couldn't even text or call anyone on her cell phone.  Ha!

The best part of having my mom here though was the company.  It's so nice to have another adult in the house to talk with, to confer with, to laugh with, and to seek reassurance from.  It was really hard to see her go.  Maybe I can hire a German frau to be my surrogate mom and move in with us.  

Every time Nana told Em to pick a game out, she picked Twister without fail.  We haven't  played Twister since we were in Poland, so I don't know what got into her head.  But any Nana who willingly plays Twister with their grandkids is a heck of a Nana.

Bonding with James.  

And one day we even ventured out to the nearby Black Forest.  It was awesome. 

We visited a town called Triberg 

Perusing the shops of hand carved wooden items.  We scored.

Taking in the local flavor at a restaurant for lunch

Notice the animal hanging on the wall

Nothing whets the appetite like a stuffed dead boar's head

Shopping for hand carved wooden cuckoo clocks, a regional specialty.  Mom even bought one!

And a very small hike into the Black Forest took us to this waterfall

Mom chatting it up with an Indian in the Black Forest.  She'll make conversation with anyone.

We also went to our ward's 24th of July celebration.  The smores were a hit.

And to the nearby Ludwigsburg Palace.  I love this place.  

Yes, that is a storm coming, and yes, we got caught in it.

Seven

Last week marked 7 years since Benny Boy and I entered into "marital bliss."  And while it hasn't all been blissful, there isn't anyone else in the whole world with whom I'd rather share the ups and downs of life.

Seven years.  It doesn't sound like that long of a time, does it?  And yet it has been the most eventful years of my life.

Never taking ourselves too seriously

Let's do the numbers:

7 years=

2 combat deployments

3 children

4 funerals (one father, one grandmother, and two grandfathers)

7 moves

3 states, 2 countries, 4 time zones

2 master's degrees

300 (give or take) Saturday mornings with banana pancakes (about the only consistent thing in our seven years together).

Mexico, where Ben and I met.  As you can see, he was a total stud and a lady's man.  All the girls there (including me) had crushes on him

Ben training me in the fine art of firing artillery

Don't ask

On top of the "Eiffel Tower" in Las Vegas where Ben proposed

Time to Say Good-bye... after three weeks of proposing to me, Ben deployed to Iraq for 8 months.

Celebrating at a "biergarten" sans le beer.  Our desserts were a little bigger than we anticipated.

   And here we are seven years later... with a few more wrinkles and a few more pounds, but happier than ever... 

Can't wait to see what the next seven years together bring

Smitten

 

We're all pretty much smitten around here

 

 

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The Story

Where do I begin? 

First a few words about the birth. 

The actual labor and delivery I would not wish upon my worst enemy. Thoughts such as, "I am going to DIE" and "I am NEVER doing this again" ran through my mind. And then it's strange. I don't know if its the hormones or the Holy Ghost, but with a little time and chance for reflection, I look back on the whole experience with reverence and awe... almost as if it were sacred. And I think, "Yeah, I could probably do that again."

So here's the story. If you don't want to read all of it, just skip down to the labor part. You'll get a few good laughs.

Because of our not so fun last birth experience, Ben and I had been praying that I could go into labor on my own, without having to be medically induced. Having been overdue with both girls, I was induced both times and wound up with an emergency c-section with Caroline. So you can imagine how thrilled and excited we were on Tuesday, when at 39 weeks and two days, I started to have natural labor pains!

I had mild ones all through Monday night but once I got up Tuesday and started the day, they disappeared. I took the girls to the pool with some other friends from RB. We picnicked and swam and had a great time even though it was pretty cold. This is Germany. I think I've finally come to terms with it.

Taken July 2, the same day Baby Brother was born

About 6:00 I went to the commissary and the contractions came back. I met Ben back at home, started frying some bacon for BLT's and then had to go lay down with the bacon still on the skillet because I just didn't feel well. Ben started timing them, they were five minutes apart and grew stronger. I started packing a bag and called our upstairs neighbor to come stay with the girls. Ben gave me a blessing and we were off to the German hospital just down he street shortly after 9:00. I was in pain, but excited. 

Imagine our dismay when we arrived at the l&d unit and they told us they were at full capacity and had no rooms available! They scrambled to find room for us. I sat in the waiting room for close to a half an hour as the contractions became stronger and closer together.

Finally they found space for us. The birthing room was very nice... I wish I had a picture to show you. It was much more of an intimate setting than my experiences in the states. There weren't a lot of machines or medical equipment. The lights were dim, it was quiet, there were all sorts of contraptions like birthing balls, a big bathtub, different stools, etc. I wound up on this big saucer like throne, I guess is the best way to describe it, and that's where the miracle took place.

About two and a half hours after our arrival at the hospital, a 9 lb. 6 oz. baby boy was born at 11:45 p.m.

The actual labor and delivery was complete HELL. I went in with lots of confidence, thinking I was all that because I had read a book on hypnobirthing and had practiced all of these relaxation and breathing techniques to get me through the contractions. These techniques were supposed to bring about a natural, calm, and "gentle" birth. Well, they went right out the window along with my dignity and pride. My experience was the ANTITHESIS of calm, gentle or relaxing. I know it's birth, but I was seriously extra pathetic. There was much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. I discovered my vocal cord capacity to be impressively deafening. I BEGGED for an epidural, and they kept telling me the anesthesiologist was very busy but would get there ASAP. When he finally arrived I was already fully dilated. He was still willing to administer it, but my body was in such turmoil, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to sit still long enough so I declined. It was too late and I kind of panicked when I realized I would be doing this on my own. 

Let me tell you I felt every ounce of pain and sensation that accompanies delivering a 9 lb.+ baby

Of course faithful Benny Boy was by my side the entire time. He has his own little battle scar to prove it. I may or may not have mauled him.

These are just a few of the things I remember yelling:

I AM GOING TO DIE!!!

HELP ME!!!

WHERE IS THE BABY?!? GET HIM OUT!!! (To which they replied, "no that's your job. You have to get him out.")

WHY ISN'T HE HERE YET?!?

HE'S STUCK!!!

The midwife and doctor were trying their best to help me, but between them and Benny Boy yelling instructions at me, I couldn't process it all. Especially since they were using English as a second language. It just didn't translate right.

When he finally did come relief and exhaustion enveloped me, and of course I lived to tell about it.
And now we're home and happy and I can't believe how fast the body can bounce back after something like that. So without further ado, here are pics of the little guy.

It's July, the hospital has no a/c, and the Germans saw fit to wrap him like this. No wonder he's making that face. BTW, that was my exact expression during labor

Em has been beyond excited about having a little brother. I feel like she's sharing in some of my euphoria,

Getting ready to go home

So happy to be home

Tuckered out Dad. He's been Superman the past week

Oh, and you want a name, right? Ha, well too bad. We've decided about three different times now and it's still up in the air. Who knew it would be so hard?

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Buoyancy

I'll be 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Anyone who has been pregnant knows firsthand how extremely uncomfortable those last few weeks are. And anyone who knows this secondhand (i.e. hubbies), well, bless their souls. Although I gotta say my Benny Boy has it pretty good... between being half deaf and a spaced out listener, he's been pretty much spared from my unrelenting complaints. (He's welcome to refute that if he'd like ;)

I've found this time around that nothing brings more relief than being weightless in a pool. All the heaviness, pressure, and discomfort literally float away. I took the girls swimming one day and was in heaven, I didn't want to get out.

So lately we've been hitting the pool whenever possible, weather permitting or not. 

We found this great kids pool just a five minute drive from our house. We had it pretty much to ourselves since the temp was in the sixties and it was sprinkling rain. Ah well.

And just a little anecdote to illustrate the girls' different personalities:

I put them on top of this big red styrofoam mat and pushed them back and forth across the pool.

Me: Girls! We were just flying over the Pacific Ocean and our plane crashed. Now we are stranded on this board in the middle of the ocean. We have to watch out for sharks!

Em: We were not in an airplane! This isn't the Pacific Ocean! This is the swimming pool!

C: Gasp! Look! I see a tiger shark!!!

Em: That's not a tiger shark! That's the bottom of the pool!

C: Look! I see octopuses!

And so on and so forth until she had spotted jellyfish, penguins, killer whales, and seahorses.

Em finally got into it when she got to pick which ocean we swam across each time, picking the Indian and the Arctic and the Baltic Sea.

And last weekend Ben and I got a babysitter and went to a mineral spa. It was heaven. The Germans know what they're doing when it comes to their pools. This place had several pools, indoor and out, all different temperatures, but none too hot. The hottest one was like a warm bath. I even participated in the water aerobics class with a bunch of elderly German fraus. Didn't understand a word, but just went with the flow. I could have stayed there all day, and I pretty much did.

Living the dream

And there was a crazy heat wave for three days where it was above 90 degrees. The pools were PACKED so we stuck to the good ole slip'n slide in the "backyard" with the neighbor kids.  The girls loved it.

 

And no, I did not attempt it.  Although I seriously considered it being so hot.  That would have made an awesome picture.

  

Living the Dream

So now I'm seriously considering a water birth.

 I might actually enjoy labor and delivery.

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Untitled

Sorry I've been MIA the past few weeks. No, I didn't have my baby... Still large and in charge going at 38 weeks strong. My computer broke. Yep, good ole Apple. When we finally made it to one of the handful of Apple stores In Germany they told us there was nothing they could do, Apple no longer makes the part they need to repair it because my computer is "vintage." Yep, 2008 is vintage. I guess according to Apple our 5 year old Em qualifies as vintage since we acquired her the same year.

So in the meantime I'm trying out this app for the iPad, called Blogsy. We'll see how she works. I've had no luck in the past blogging from my iPad... So this is a trial run. Here goes and PUBLISH!

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Graduation

Today Emily graduated from preschool.  Yes, that's right, PRESCHOOL.  I'm not sure she met all the rigorous requirements. After all, she only attended two months out of the nine month course. And she was about 45 minutes late every day (she is the slowest breakfast eater on the planet). But she still got the same "diploma" as the rest of the kids. 

I admit I think a graduation ceremony is a little over the top. If you think about it the term "preschool graduation" is a total oxymoron.  How can you graduate when you're not even in school yet? 

 I never went to preschool as a kid. And the first "graduation" I ever remember attending was my HIGH-SCHOOL  graduation. 

But whatever. Emily didn't even know what was going on. 

We still got really cute pictures and she had a good time eating cake. 

                                     As you can see the world's future is in good hands.

With her friend and neighbor Bridger.

And here I am in all my pregnancy glory. 

The after graduation party, well chaperoned by all the parents. Nothing too crazy happened except a kid got poked in the eye with a stick by another kid.  WILD.  

                                 And the blue frosting was out of control. Scary pic.