Quick Update

My favorite German word...

Geflügel = Poultry
'That which once flew'... but is now on my plate.

The following is some text from Bob's email to family with a few additions/name deletions from me...

Jack had his big "Accelerated Reader Sleepover" last night at the school gym. This was a big night as we had a talent show and picnic beforehand. At the talent show, Jack and his buddy teamed up -- the friend read Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade (!) while Jack played a soft guitar "accompaniment" in front of 100+ parents and other kids. It's really amazing what kids come up with on their own. We were very proud of Jack, especially that he was so insistent on performing, with no fear, and considering that one of the other acts consisted of a young man arm-farting "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

Bob left Jack in his sleeping bag very tired at about 9PM. However, he apparently got out of bed later to participate in flashlight tag, students vs. teachers. Needless to say, he was a very tired little boy today.



I participated in an instructor-led Persian cooking class today at a neighbor's place with some girlfriends. None of us had ever tasted Persian (Iranian) food, so weren't sure what to expect. Oh goodness, I had a hard time keeping myself from licking the plate clean.







As thanks for Bob staying home with the kids and enjoying his 'co-parenting opportunity', I brought him a delicious plate of the results.

Bon Appetit! Or in Farsi... Befarma'id!
















Bailey is 7 months old now and not fully crawling yet, but she low crawls (pulling w/arms, pushing w/feet + knees) all over the living room now, normally to chase Vic. The budding rivalry between those two continues to grow.


I'll have to catch one of their spats on video, they're quite funny - Vic pitches a fit if she comes near one of his toys, grabs it, then screams & runs away with Bailey laughing/low crawling in hot pursuit. The more she laughs, the more angry he gets; the more he stomps & yells, the more Bailey guffaws. It's hysterical, but I'm not supposed to let them see me laugh.. I think that's in the rulebook somewhere.

Vic is a hoot & a half and keeps me on the run. My youngest son is so passionate about whatever it is he's doing, or thinking of, and we have a hard time hiding our laughs when he's having a tantrum. There's a good reason his nickname is "Tank". Though, while he's all rough, strong, and brave on the outside, he still loves to cuddle and snuggle with mom & dad. I'm such a lucky mommy.

More photos to follow.. Bailey's baptism and Vic's 2nd birthday.

Enjoy your weekend!

Echoes

As I sit here, the future is playing and giggling in the living room while the past echoes in my head. I found a lump in my chest and am trying to stay calm and positive. I'm breezy.

This morning I made an appointment with my primary physician who will take a 2 second look, then refer me out to a specialist. I have to wait until the 16th of April before that happens. So. I'm trying not to obsess about it.

..but, the past echoes in my head. My father died in 2001 after about a 6 month battle with cancer. In 2007, my father-in-law died of the *same* type of cancer after a fierce 2 month battle. Most of me believes there's nothing to worry about, but then I remember that neither of these fathers in my life expected this either.

So. I looked at my three children and my husband with new eyes this morning. If nothing else, this whisper of fear has reminded me of what is important in my life. They are a wise-cracking, giggly, goofy, rough & tumble, trains-for-brains, beautiful, crazy-haired (or no haired) lot, and I cherish them.

From 2009 Patch Barracks

Jack dressed as a Polizei at his Scouts Career Day.

From 2009 Patch Barracks

Vic Trains-For-Brains Sims

From 2009 Patch Barracks

Bailey rolls over for the first time.

Lazy snow days...

We had a good weekend, although 3 out of 5 of us were down with a cold. Bob is back home from his stateside trip, Yaayy!! We miss him very much when he's gone, and I have to fight my jealousy about him eating dinner at real restaurants every day. This was his 4th trip in about 6 months to the States. Sigh. He did bring me back 4 boxes of No Pudge Fudge so that makes him a Rock Star in my book!

Here are some photos of what we've been up to...

From 2009 Patch Barracks

Bailey & Mom snapping photos before bathtime.

From 2009 Patch Barracks

Bailey's skin is the perfect color of pink!

From 2009 Patch Barracks

My little sunshine and the evidence of his nose-dive on a gravel parking lot.

Jack's Lego themed car at the Boy Scout derby races. His car is in track #3, the furthest from the camera.

That's all we have time for now! More to come later.

The little old lady who lived in a shoe...

had so many kids that she kissed and hugged and loved them all. OK, that doesn't rhyme.. I'm ok with that. Besides I'm not little and old yet. My "I'm old now" date keeps getting pushed out.

We feel pretty guilty about not keeping up with the blog, especially now that our family is ginormous by our standards. Today is a teacher work day so Jack is home. Vic & I are still in our jammies and Bailey is in a formula induced haze on my shoulder... How about a post full of photos to catch us up? Works for me!


Jack's favorite after school & homework activity. These are mostly spaceship creations. He is in first grade now and his class is a multi-age/German immersion room.


Bailey is all round where I'm long and angular. I love it!!


Jack feeding bailey on Christmas day. He usually asks to feed Bailey during his bedtime story. :o) I've got *awesome* kids.

Good ol' Santa knew how much Jack likes cucumber and gave him one in his stocking.
My favorite Xmas morning photo of Jack, Aunt Cookie, Grandma, Bailey, Vic and the remote control. Vic is a boy obsessed with all gadgets and technical doo-dads. Here he is pausing The Christmas Story so we can take a family photo. Helpful, yes?


Vic getting help from mom while opening presents. Hey, who shrunk my jeans?

Mom, Jack & Vic riding the Dampfbahn (Streamtrain).

Mom, Jack, and Vic riding the Ferris Wheel.

Vic was decidedly not happy with his cost per thrill ratio.


Crazy subway riding!!


Aunt Cookie, Jack, Vic, and Bailey (back of double stroller) head to downtown Stuttgart with mom & dad to visit the Christmas Market.



The early morning hours of December 9th brought Bailey to the emergency room with spiking high temperatures. Bailey was only 5 weeks old and they admitted her immediately; we were given a room in the pediatric ward. Bob was in the states on business, and started flying back to Germany the same day. In the interim, my awesome, incredible friends and neighbors watched Jack and Vic and kept our home going while I was with little Bailey. I'm not sure how hospitals work in the States, but here the parent is required to stay with a young child as the nurses are not able to care for each kiddo individually. Not sure you could have pried me away from her anyway. Bailey and I ended up staying in the hospital for just over a week.


My friends and church friends stepped in and brought meals for Bob and the kids once he was at home. We're very, very lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.

Bailey ended up having bacteria in her blood, specifically E. Coli, with infection in her kidneys & urinary tract, and was close to "multiple organ failure". Everything happened sooo fast. I thought she was coming down with something the previous afternoon, then by 4am of the 9th, I was racing her to the ER. My limbs went numb and felt incredibly heavy when the doctors told me the diagnosis, and what would have happened if I had delayed the ER visit until business hours. I kept thinking that we waited so long and worked so hard to have a family, and have lost so many pregnancies, that I don't think I could live through this kind of loss. How does one go on breathing with a child gone? I hope to never, ever find out.

The staff at Boeblingen Hospital was amazing, and Bailey has no lasting effects from her illness. The good Professor & Chief Doctor Manfred Teufel was on the case and saved the day!
Course, this guy might have had something to do with it too. Good thing Bailey was in his book of good little girls & boys.



Bailey getting ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Happy Vic with oatmeal gook on his chin.

Bailey a week before Thanksgiving... About 3 weeks old.


My good friend Julie baked this carrot cake for us and I'm ashamed at how much I ate all by myself. This was the best cake I've ever tasted.

Grandma feeding Bailey. We were so lucky that she could stay for about 2 weeks after Bailey was born.

Okay, that's all I've got for now. Hopefully I'll keep some sort of weekly post going. Off to take care of the kiddos!

Rocking Chairs, Rocking Babies...

...Rock-a-bye, Rock of ages.

I hear this Dolly Parton song in my head around 2am when we're changing diapers & feeding the baby. We do have two rocking chairs in the house and they're frequently both in use in the evening.

From 2008 Patch Barracks

From 2008 Patch Barracks

From 2008 Patch Barracks

From 2008 Patch Barracks

Bob will be gone for over two weeks for work, and I'll admit I'm a bit apprehensive. Well, I'm only nervous about the two rough parts of the day.. The morning routine/breakfast/walk to school and the evening routine/dinner prep, eating, bathtime, bedtime. Evenings are especially rough as the littles (Vic, 18 mo. & Bailey, 1 mo.) tend to need to eat, bathe, and bedtime at the same time. When I tend to one, the other is crying. Both need one-on-one time for either bottle feeding (bailey) or story time (Vic), and typically the other one is wailing in the background. It's nuts I tell you. I keep telling myself.. Just keep smiling! Or rather, kick, paddle, breathe until you're swimming like a champ.

We spent Thanksgiving with good friends who insisted we not cook anything. Thank God! We're still getting our feet grounded with our newest Sims, so this was a great gift. My friend is an especially good cook, and tried out a bunch of yummy recipes on us. Yum! My waistline suffered a setback with all the good eats, but it'll come off in due time. I'll get the okay at month's end from my doctor to go back to the gym - can't wait!

Bailey is getting more cute, smiley, giggly and plump every day. I wasn't sure what to do with this little girl when I heard what we were having. Now, however, I'm really loving how different she is from her brothers... and that I get to dress her in cute outfits! Poor girl is losing her newborn hair, but only on the front half of her head. It takes away from her beauty, so when the camera comes out or we go outside, I try to keep a hat on her.

This past week I got in contact with another adoptive parent from Vic's Baby House. She was there adopting her son in Oct/Nov of '07 from the same room that Vic was in at the time. I emailed her asking if she happened to have any photos of Vic and boy were we lucky. Vic was good buddies with her son, and she had about 15 photos of Vic at around 6 or 7 months old. For an international adoptive parent, this is a treasured gift that we wouldn't normally have. These photos will most likely be the earliest photos we have of our beautiful little boy, and I am so very grateful.

Nicknames

We've come up with some good nicknames for the kids over the past few months. I always wanted a cool nickname when I was young, and I guess I had one, but it was only suitable for my immediate family. So when I realized that our kids each had nicknames I got excited and thought I would share them with y'all.

From 2008 Patch Barracks

Jack, the oldest, is our Squad Leader for obvious reasons - his Uncle Jim gave him this nickname a while ago. It fits him well as he prefers his friends and siblings to willingly follow his lead, though this doesn't always happen. :o) I've also called him Cowboy for the longest time, but I have no idea why.. it just came out when he was a toddler.

From 2008 Patch Barracks

Vic is our Tank... He's built tough and rugged and lets nothing stand in his way - you should see how he walks! Chest puffed out, shoulders back, arms at the ready to clear a path. I need to get this kid on a soccer or football team pronto.

From 2008 Patch Barracks

Our littlest one, Bailey, is nicknamed Stretch. I have never known a baby, or grown adult for that matter, that stretches as much as she does. My word, no wonder why the last month of my pregnancy was so painful.. she was wiggling and stretching, rolling her head and arching her back the whole time. I really need to get a better photo of young Bailey. We have lots of video of her, but not many good photos of just her. Something to work on today!

From 2008 Patch Barracks

Here's a photo of the boys before our building's halloween party. Jack was Indiana Jones and Vic was a fuzzy bear. Both boys were very cute, and Vic loved wearing the bear hat - adorable!

More Milestones

First haircut.



Handsome, well-groomed young gentleman, with his Grandmother.



A leisurely stroll in the German countryside.