Happy Halloween

Welcome to our pumpkin carving adventure for Halloween. In five easy steps we were well on our way to our lovely Halloween pumpkin.

Step one: family outing to market to pick the perfect pumpkin. (sorry, no picture of that one...)

Step two: Wash the pumpkin and prepare your work space.

Step three: Plan your design.

Atticus had a certain affinity to the Jack-o-lantern in one of his books, so we went with that design.

Step four: Have a supervisor (Milayla) and a photographer (Mommy) nearby to capture the moment and make sure things don't get too out of hand.

 Step five: Get to work!

The following series of Atticus really sums up his gradual warming to the idea of pumpkin guts...

"What's that you're doing, Daddy?"

"ewwwwww"

"I will stick to eating the pumpkin. Thank you very much."

 Atticus did warm up to the whole idea and loved jumping in to help Daddy dutifully separate the seeds so that we could roast them.

"Want to try, Daddy?"

Then, of course, we took a family photo with the finished masterpiece. The boys did a great job. Of course, the expert supervision and photography helped ;).

Halloween isn't really celebrated here, but between pumpkin carving, pumpkin soup, Halloween activities, and a Halloween themed family movie night ('It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' was this year's pick) I think we definitely got our fill. (and that means it is nearly time to start playing the Christmas tunes!!!)

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Sibling Time

Following afternoon nap the kids are always so eager to play with one another. Whichever one wakes up first gets very excited when they hear the other one wake. Atticus has now started running to Milayla's room to climb into her crib as soon as he hears her and begins getting her out of her sleep sack (apparently, Mommy doesn't do it quick enough). 

Atticus is dangling a rattle-sock over Milayla to make her laugh

The two will giggle away happily until Mommy mentions snack time, at which point Atticus gladly relocates to the table.

It is so much fun to see these two interact so positively.

We don't remember getting older...when did he?

Our kids are still very young, but there are moments when we look at them and cannot believe how much they have grown already.

The lyrics to 'Sunrise, Sunset' from Fiddler on the Roof seem to play in our heads far too often.

"I don't remember getting older, when did they?"

We had one of those moments the other day when Atticus asked to have his photo taken and we looked at the camera to see this....

That's our little two-year-old already starting to shed his toddler-ness and becoming a little boy.

Or what about the moments when he points out all the letters he sees on the pages of a book or starts asking for Mommy to read Harry Potter books instead of his picture books?

Or there are the moments when he carries his role as Big Brother with such maturity as he cuddles up to Milayla on the floor to tell her all about his day and ask if he can read her books. He is truly concerned every time she sneezes, coughs or spits up and wants to help with everything involving her. 

It is so fun and rewarding to see Atticus growing and learning so much, but we often catch ourselves saying..."When did he grow older?"

Freimarktumzug (Free Market Parade)

Freimarkt is here!

Freimarkt is essentially the 2-week German version of Stampede Midway, except that it is quite a bit older; it's been around since 1035 (the oldest in northern Germany).

We've been told that Freimarkt is really it's own season here (thanks, Dennis). We are still making up our mind on Freimarkt itself but, as a season, at least it hasn't been too cold or too rainy.

The Freimarktumzug (parade) was held last weekend so we invited some friends, bundled up the kids and headed down. And it was looooooooooong.

With 148 entries, we only lasted until about number 90 (which had already been an hour and a half). Even the kids were tired of catching candy by that point; probably partly because their bags were getting full and so were the back up stashes - the parents' pockets.

Not the most flattering photo of us all - but we are all accounted for (Milayla is warm and cozy in the wrap....the white spot...)

There weren't a lot of floats in the parade but rather large, decorated, flatbed trucks, blasting music and full of people in various costumes tossing candy (that stuff kind of hurts when you get smacked in the head). There were also plenty of marching bands - they were really, quite good. Some entries were better than others though we were all rather partial to the marching bands. Atticus did get pretty excited about the entry that gave him a sausage though. Yes, there was an entry handing out Wurst. We do live in Germany after all...

Despite the parade being on the long side, we had gorgeous weather and great company so we certainly cannot complain. We were really glad to have had the Lorenz family join us for the outing.

Taking a photo looking into the sun may not have been the best idea....but at least we are all there, squinty-eyed and all!

In the afternoon we ventured with the kids to check out Freimarkt, but more on that later (with pictures!)

Big Boy Bed

We decided that since we were moving and things were going to be changing all over the place that we would transition Atticus into a big bed at the same time. Well, once we moved the setting up of his big bed was little delayed due to all the work that needed to be done on the apartment and our inability to start  unpacking until it was finished. So, Atticus was shuffled into the travel cot while Milayla shared our mattress on the floor with us. It was luxury accommodations around here, no doubts about that!

After many weeks, the big day finally came – Milayla moved into the crib, we moved our mattress on to a bed frame and Atticus moved into his big bed. After Atticus helped Daddy set it up and make the bed he climbed right on in. When he realized how much extra space there was he figured Milayla should be in there with him.

They look so tiny in that big bed!

On Atticus’ first night in the bed, we were talking about if we should try to find a railing to put on his bed when suddenly we heard a big thud – Atticus had fallen out. Thankfully, it was a quick recovery and he was back to dream land while we located any extra pillows and put them on the floor next to his bed. He has not fallen out again so we’re (hopefully) safe without the railing (although we have not yet ruled it out).

We have only had a few incidents of him getting out of bed, which we counts ourselves pretty fortunate for (we had a "three-strikes-your-out-penalty" which meant he had to sleep in the play pen for the night and that seemed to do the trick). 

After nearly two months of sleeping in the bed he is finally discovering that he can jump on the bed. Perhaps 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed' will make its way into our book collection soon...let's just hope this Momma won't be needing to call the doctor.

All things considered, it has been a great change that we were all ready for!

The happiest place on earth

If you thought the happiest place on earth was Disneyland, you'd be wrong - at least in our kids' eyes.

When bedtime comes and they want us to think they aren't tired their bedroom becomes the funnest place ever. We'll close the door and hear the loudest laughs and giggles of the entire day and they aren't even getting out of bed. 

Milayla will last about five minutes before she surrenders to sleep. Atticus manages to go a good twenty minutes when he is really dedicated.

Of all the things that the kids could do to try to convince us they aren't ready for bed yet, this is a pretty enjoyable one so we'll take it while we have it. 

5 Months - Milayla

Has another month already come and gone? We keep trying to hold on to all these moments, but Milayla is growing and learning so quickly that we may not keep up if we hold on too long. 

We are always so impressed with how patient and determined she is. No matter how many times she flops over while trying to sit up, she keeps at it. She is making progress in her pursuit of crawling and now looks like a cute little inchworm as she tucks her knees under her and pushes off. The face still slides across the floor...she'll coordinate the upper body one day and in the mean time she still has a pretty sunny disposition about the whole thing. 

Her laugh is becoming more distinct and reactive. She is incredibly ticklish. She laughs when she hears others laughing. Both her laugh and smile are completely contagious. 

Her personality is so much fun to watch develop. When we tuck her in for naps or bed time she will use one hand to grab tightly to our fingers and rest her other hand on the side of our faces while she 'coo's her little heart out with her eyes open as wide as they'll go. It is amazing to see the conversationalist that she turns into when bedtime is looming. Not surprisingly, we frequently give in and soak up any extra cuddles we can get. We will need to learn to say 'no' to her one day...

In the mean time we'll enjoy those precious moments while we have them. She is still so tiny.

Don't let those gorgeous blue eyes fool you though. This girl is a strategist and a good one at that. When we place toys just out of her reach to encourage her to get moving she plans her route/movements first and then with rolling and forward inching she has those toys in seconds. 

Her and Atticus are becoming quite the dou and get so excited for play time together. As Milayla becomes more interactive, Atticus is trying to include her in more of his activities like puzzles, books and building blocks and she loves it. They manage to get some good laughs out of each other by making faces - the faces are so simple but they just love to laugh.

There are so many things that I wish I could capture on film/picture but have failed to do so (the magical moment seems to slip away whenever I pull the camera out). I wish I could capture Atticus trying to explain to Milayla that you are supposed to sit still when you cuddle as he tries to "read" her a book. I wish I could capture her single eyelash on her left eye that is nearly twice the length of her other, already very long, eye lashes. I wish I could capture her complete intrigue as she sits on Daddy's lap at dinner time watching every bite that goes into his mouth; all the while smiling because it's the greatest entertainment ever. I wish I  could capture the way she lunges for things with all of her might with her mouth, especially fingers. I wish I could capture the softness of her cuddles that make her 3 am feeds worth every minute of lost sleep...

Of course, Milayla isn't always smiles, laughs, and happy moments. When Mommy tries to take one too many pictures we do get quite the pout.

Smiles or frowns though, we love her and she has very intricately woven herself into our hearts.

Science Centre

After several weeks and weekends dedicated to various components on settling in to our new home we decided it was time to do something together, purely for the fun of it. We decided to head to the Science Centre. Sorry about the poor quality photos (our point and shoot camera finally quit on us and we don't typically carry around our big camera so these were taken on our phones)

The exterior of the building is pretty cool, but we forgot to snap a photo so this one from the official website will have to suffice. Rather fitting for it to be in a giant spaceship. (**update** since posting we have learned that the Science Centre was modled after a clam. Still looks like a spaceship though...)

Atticus wasn't too happy about being at the Science Centre (at least not to begin with), and insisted that he get to sit in the stroller with his banana and pout.

It didn't take long for all the interactive exhibits to entice him out of the stroller though.

Which meant that Milayla got to take up residence in the stroller, very happily too. She loved seeing all the lights overhead and enjoyed some serious giggling with Mommy. Can we please freeze these moments in time so that they are never forgotten so that that little baby giggle will always ring freshly in our ears? We have tried to do our best with pictures and videos, but they just cannot do these moments the justice that they deserve. What about all those drool-covered hugs and kisses? Or that little baby smell (not the one from the diapers...)? Is there a way to document those? *sigh* I digress...

Jason tried out the rowing machine to study the way his bone structure functions while using it.

We all thought the sensory booths were pretty cool. There were five or six of them all from different places. When you stepped into the booth it filled with the sounds and smell of whatever the pictures was. It's incredible (and a little scary) how easily things like smells can be created.

And the outing would not have been complete without a couple cheesy photos in an oversized chair. Jason loved hamming it up.

It was a much needed break from the norm.

Mini-Golfing

Before the weather turned unfavorably chilly we enjoyed a morning of mini-golfing in Burgerpark. It was Atticus' first time and boy, did he love it.

Burgerpark is beautiful. We sure do love living so close to it.

The golf club was nearly the same size as Atticus, but that did not deter him.

Milayla opted to snooze away in the shade of her wrap.

Both Mommy and Daddy did their best to share their incredible wisdom about mini-golf techniques and Atticus soaked it all in...until he realized that he could pick the ball up and place it in the elusive hole much easier than hitting it in...perhaps we'll work a little more on the rules of the game the next time!

Our little pumpkin patch

We have started digging out the fall/winter wear (a fact I am not so happy about) and stumbled upon a favorite item of ours - the pumpkin patch hat (a fact I am a little happier about).  For the future embarrassment of Atticus and Milayla, especially in their teenage years, I felt I should post photos of both of them in the little pumpkin patch hat. They'll thank me later ;).

First, here's Atticus at 3 months...

(My goodness, it feels like it has been a long time since Atticus was that tiny.)

And here is Milayla at nearly 5 months in the same hat...

(please excuse the phone photo quality...)

They both look pleased as punch about it, don't they?

At least they both learned the drill early - keep the hat on, look at the camera and it's over much quicker.

Getting his daily greens

We have been pretty fortunate that Atticus loves food - anything and everything. So it probably shouldn't be any surprise to us that he asked if he could have frozen spinach to snack on. He seemed to be a little confused that we wanted to snap a picture of him eating it because he thought it was pretty normal stuff. He'll get it one day. In the mean time this picture will sure put a smile on our faces.

I’ll love you forever…

‘I’ll Love You Forever’ written by Robert Munsch is in permanent book rotation in our home. The kids love it and I love it. For those who are unfamiliar with the book, it is about a mother who sneaks into her son’s bedroom after he is asleep and rocks him back and forth while singing:

I’ll love you forever
I’ll like you for always
As long as I’m living
My baby you’ll be


This mother continues doing this as the boy grows older and older and eventually moves out to start a family of his own. Admittedly, it seems a little creepy when the mother starts driving across town with a ladder so that she can climb into her son’s bedroom in his new home, but the sentiment is still there.

As cheesy as the story is, I always have to work to keep myself from tearing up because, well, I finally get it. I finally understand to some degree why the mother is sneaking into her son’s bedroom and I think it’s a rather brilliant idea. And this is why:

It’s because there are moments as a mother that are harder than others. There are moments when lunchtime rolls around and you realize you still have not had breakfast. There are moments when you go grocery shopping with two tired, young children and get to the check out (with everything on your list) thinking “I did it, I actually did it!’ only to discover you forgot your wallet. There are moments that you pray your son will start looking where he is going so he’ll stop running into walls and doors…then you do it yourself. There are moments the laundry piles up. Moments you have more bodily fluids on you than you care to think about. Moments where you can’t remember that last time you washed your hair. Moments where the screaming begins to turn into white noise. And moments where you remember that silence means trouble and “Uh oh, Mommy!” means it’s already too late. But at the end of those days, once the kids are asleep if you sneak into their room to see them sound asleep you get it.

(these photos were taken during nap time, which is why the kiddos are not in pyjamas)

It is right there in those quiet moments where you remember what matters most. You remember with vivid detail the first moment you held them in your arms. You remember how perfect and innocent they are. You remember the numberless days where they have blessed your life with more joy than you ever thought possible. The days where you stay in your pyjamas all morning – on purpose – to curl up on the couch and read books together. The days where you hurt yourself only to have them kiss it better. The days where you get to be a part of helping them discover something new.  The days you realize that there has never been a day that lacked in the department of hugs and kisses. The continuous days they do something that amazes you and your face glows with pride. The days that are never short on adventures or laughter. And the days that are always full of love.

It is during this flood of emotions that your heart swells with so much love for that one person that it feels as though it may burst out of your chest. It is this love and these emotions that refuel you and leave you waiting in anticipation for the moment they wake and you get to be “Mommy” again. This is when all those "hard" moments are put into perspective and the grand picture is put into view.

Being “Mommy” may not be glamorous, but I am continuously overwhelmed with gratitude that I get to be Mommy to these kids. When they were born I signed on to partnership with God that I would do everything in my power to raise them so that they will return to their Heavenly Father again some day and even with all the inevitable bumps in the road, I would never trade that role for anything. I love these kids and I love being their “Mommy”.