The day before the wedding and day of

So yesterday, we had a chance to meet for breakfast with Nadja, her parents, brother and two of her friends. It was fantastic for a few reasons. They had a high chair for Harry. This was a major relief because most places do not. Ahhh to be able to feed him at the table while he sat independently. Second, it was so so wonderful to see Nadja's parents. I haven't seen Holgar since before Max and I have seen Theresia since before Maggie. She and I both cried which was unexpected. But as Nadja is my German sister, she is my German mom. She is a wonderful lady. Breakfast was super enjoyable. Afterwards we walked to a department store. I love that about here. You walk everywhere or catch the subway or bike. Nadja uses a car sharing program as well.  This place doesn't necessarily rely on cars. It's fantastic.

I found a pair of shoes..... And yes there are ones that I can't get at Zappos. They are Germany and were on sale. And they are comfortable for walking and they have a heel. Does it get much better?  Well yes, yes it does.

Today Friday wedding Day.. Man I am just going to start crying again if I think about it. Early afternoon was the civil ceremony at a little restaurant close to wear the evening ceremony and reception were going to be. There was just a close few. And I felt honored to be there among everyone. The ceremony was in German and there was a lot of humor involved. And then afterwards the brides began making the rounds with hugs. As soon as Nadja hugged me, I cried and cried. It was so wonderful to see her so happy with her life and with the person in her life. Olga is wonderful woman. And then when I hugged Olga, of course, I cried again. Who knew I was such a cry baby at such wonderfully happy events. Thankfully we could let Harry roam around. He was eternally grateful and set about trying to tip over candles, grab champagne glasses and what not. He charmed the whole lot in the room with his smiles. It was wonderful. And then we came back to the apartment and he took a nap. Jules went to the Turkish market and got salads for us and more coffee.  Then she took a nap and I wandered the market.  It is amazing because not only do they sell jewelry, bread, fish, cheese, vegetables and fruit but also bags, beads, bolts of cloth (beautiful cloth) clothes, shoes, all sorts of stuffs. It was fun to wander through and find things.

The evenings festivities began around 7pm on the boat. The ceremony was so meaningful and sweet. There best friends stood up and spoke before they did. They exchanged a ring and a pocket watch. Olga is not the ring type of girl so Nadja's ring has two parts to it for her. Again I cried as they spoke their vows. I think to me, it reaffirmed my own commitment in my marriage. It made me miss Krismon more and wish he was there to see them married. Heck I wish the other two kids could have been there as well. They really loved meeting their Aunties.  It was just fantastic.

And dinner. Can I say that Harry is a monster eater? He ate at least half of what was on my plate. He has enjoyed the food here tremendously. Makes me think I need to rethink the whole breakfast plan and start doing German breakfast at least once a week or something. I think we have both been spoiled a little. 

Traveling with a baby= not easy

I was going to write hard but I don't think that is completely true. Harry is a good kid especially when he gets a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Unfortunately, he has been taking his afternoon naps on the go and they have been more catnaps than good naps. (umm if my grammar is bad, I am making my way through a glass of wine) Harry has been a good traveler. He is getting better about staying in the stroller but just like any other kid once he hits the wall it is pretty well hit and there will only be brief periods of respite. He is not a fan of museums. But keep him walking then he is happy. Give him some people to amuse him and that helps from time to time. But does he want to nurse? nope too much to see and do. It gets in the way for him. Even here where seeing a boob is not out of the ordinary. There were no gasps when I went to feed him. In fact, I don't think anyone was surprised or even trying to catch a glimpse. It is such a non issue.  I digress, again it is the wine.

Today I had high hopes of finding clothes that I could buy and bring home. That just didn't really happen. I found one dress that I really liked that I hope can be worn at home. The weather here is so vastly different. They don't have the sweat filled days that I get to look forward to. People here are just barely starting to pulling out shorts paired with a jacket. It's beautiful and I am envious. But what I want are a pair of Nadja's pants that I had to borrow the first day here because our luggage had not arrived. Did I already write about that. Our luggage did not make it until the next day..... But I got a good job in at Heathrow.  Her pants were fantastic and I wanted to find a pair. I got close but they were just not right. darn. I found a dress. I like it and once I am not nursing or if I want to wear it for date it it is pretty cool. And outside my norm. Maggie will like it, it's purple. I am kind of hoping to convince Nadja to let me buy hers. I told her so she is considering it.

Poor Harry. We did not get home early enough and he is way over tired and refusing to go to sleep. I have a feeling I will be in bed very soon. Just so that he hopefully settles down. I tried being in there and just looking at a magazine but it's getting dark. And leaving just upset him more. argh....

Oh and yesterday we did over 4 miles just for the afternoon walk.

So no photos this week

The photos will have to wait until I get home since I seem to have forgotten any way to upload them to my computer. I can only describe what goes on.

I wish I could say we are on the go from morning to night but with a baby that isn't really feasible or fair.

Luckily enough today. Right outside our door was a Turkish market that will be back on Friday as well! Yay. They had lots of fruit and vege stands and some other fast food stands as well as cheese stands and even a meat stand. They sell cloth by the meter. And then they had some cool jewelry and other items that I picked up for various family members. I am hoping that I find more cool things to bring back as well as clothes. Did I tell you about accidentally not packing enough clothes? It's true, darn so now I need to get some more.....

We, also, decided to explore more yesterday and Harry was good enough to fall asleep. Unfortunately, once we made our decision to visit the Jewish museum.... dun dun dun he woke up. Needless to say,  I ended up hurrying my best friend, Julie, through there. Having taken a class about Jews in Germany and actually learning more about Jews throughout Europe a lot was unsurprising but interesting. There was a lot of info and some interactive areas. The whole building itself is interesting and unsettling. The architecture is cool. The unsettling part is that there are angles. There is a room that is a void. I did not take Harry in there because I heard an older couple say that they did not like the feeling of being in there. No need to scare a baby. I could appreciate what the museum was trying to help patrons to understand just by the feeling of being there regardless of the information given.

We are hoping to go back and see the rest and the special expo that is all about comic books and their heroes. Olga, one of the brides, wants to go so here is hoping she can squeeze some time in for it.

Today.. since I didn't get this posted on Tuesday. The plan is go shopping. I think we are hoping to see some of the touristy things as well today. I feel a lot of walking in our future. Oh and I think I better calculate how much walking we did do yesterday at least on our main jaunt since I didn't wear my nikes.

And this evening, Nadja's, my German sister and the other bride's, parents are getting in. I can not wait to see Theresia and Holgar. They haven't met Harry yet. Actually I don't believe Holgar has gotten to meet any of the kids. And Theresia has only met Max. They are a wonderful people so I am so excited. It has been at least 4 years if not longer since I saw them.

That is today's preview, we will see what comes to pass.

Berlin

No pictures to post yet. We made it. We kind of slept on the plane, barely made our second plane. I got sick right after we got to Berlin. Our luggage was still in London. Thank goodness we were staying at my German sister's place for the night. We now have our little apartment and our luggage. Ahhhh And we did a bit of exploring today.

Things I have learned so far. Harry is a pretty good traveler, though he likes to try and flash my boob. I need to take air sickness medicine. Sprinting through Heathrow is not so fun but the people there were helpful in getting us through security quickly.  And Vietnamese soup and tea really helps settle an upset tummy and make sleep possible.

And I am still getting used to the time difference so I am up late at the moment. So off to bed I must go.

And I am off

Tonight my friend, Harry and I are off on an adventure to Berlin Germany. Maggie is having a hard time dealing with it. She keeps saying that she is going with us. I guess it helps that when we get dropped off, she will still be strapped into her carseat so that she can't run out after us.

The apartment where we are staying has wiifii so hopefully I will get to blog while there and upload pictures. I am super excited. Wish me luck...

Dear Maggie

You are 4! Four, four, four, 4. But yet in your humor, you kept changing your mind and deciding that you would be other ages. I just want to have you be 4 for the next 365 days. It will give me time to get used to you being that age.

You have this great imagination. In the car, you brought up monsters again. I am still trying to convince you that they flew north for the summer. You decided you need to sleep on the bottom bunk, I think it is the cocoon effect. You feel safer nestled in there.

:Last week you were my walking partner. You needed your granola bars to do them but you did it.

You would wear dresses every single one of those days if I let you.  You flip your hair back with your hand. It's kind of funny and oh so girlie to watch. You skip and hop and giggle. You dream about being a mommy. You tell me that I will always be your mommy. I ask that when you are a teenager that you still give me hugs and kisses and cuddles. You say you will... I really hope you will.

You say you want to be a dentist when you grow up and work with kids. You want to help keep their mouths clean and healthy.

Right now you love Curious George. I think it is because you are like curious just like him. You want to try and try and try some more.

You like dance right now because you feel like the teacher depends on you to be a good example for the other kids.  You like violin but you really want to play your own stuff instead of what they ask you to play.

I lose my patience because it takes you longer to memorize. For this I am sorry. I am not sure what to do to help you remember faster. But sometimes it is hard to tell if you know and are just messing with us or if you are struggling with something.

Tonight was nice to read to you. A flower for Maggie.... I love you lots, lots, lots and lots.

Mom

Last Friday In door picnic

Abort abort abort now. Indoor picnic gone awry he is off the blanket. Oh well it was fun to try.

Tired

I swear Mondays are really like my weekends because it is then that I can relax. What a weekend!

We had the usual busy Saturday morning which included getting my eyebrows done so I look like I have some. Trying to get the last minute things ready for Maggie's Birthday Party on Sunday. Max and I went to Michaels and founds some nifty journals and pens or pencils to give out. As we pulled up, we saw that his friend had come for his first ever sleepover. The kids started playing right away running all over the place. Harry was just excited by all the action.

We went the easy route for dinner and got pizza! Then we got Karate Kid! Oh my goodness both Krismon and I got sucked into with the kids. Krismon made popcorn and they enjoyed themselves. Getting them to bed and asleep was a whole other ballgame. It was crazy. They went to sleep around 9:30 after coming in and out of the room half a dozen times. And then we went to sleep a half hour later tired. Or at least I did.  Krismon started the smoking meat process during the movie and then at some point it all went in the oven to roast over night.

Maggie was up at her normal time and then woke the boys up! Ugh. They really needed some sleep. It made the day a little tougher than needed. The bounce house got delivered around 9. I took the dog for a short run but it was so hot hot hot already that I came home before doing more than that.

They would bounce, fight, play wii, bounce, fight, eat, play wii, watch some movie, bounce, fight, bounce, play a board game, fight, bounce.

Harry did not enjoy the bounce house.

I think I was thinking. Please let 4 happen soon so there are more kids for them to play with..... I don't know what I was thinking. It ended up being our biggest party yet. We had playgroup kids, school kids, our friends, and co workers of Krismon's and their kids. It was a huge affair with kids all over the place. It was a bit overwhelming but shhh don't tell anyone. We had one pregnant friend who kept saying she was fine because we seemed so fine. lol I kept wanting to say appearances can be deceiving. I was glad to have enough food. And Maggie's cake was fabulous.

Maggie all of a sudden got shy when they sang to her so she curled into me. It was a sweet moment for me.

A cool birdhouse that she gets to paint.

Pretty much everyone was gone by 6:30 except for our oldest and closest of friends (and the ones who don't have kids or their kids didn't need to go to bed.) The older kids (meaning the single guys) played with the kids in the bounce house until the bounce house guys came at 7. Then Maggie opened her presents.  Harry went to bed late, the older two went around 8. They were fighting it and super duper exhausted. It was an excellent day and generally speaking the party went well and wasn't too hard to clean up after.

A Tinker Bell doll. Oh yes she was happy!

Harry and Maggie fighting over her princess and the frog tea set. lol

hmmm

Today was good. I mean we did a small walk with out playgroup that was different and interesting. Then we sat and chatted while the kids ran all around. It was fun to see the kids play and play and play and at one time these were the little kids. And now they are bigger kids. And they were interacting and giggling and lifting rocks to look underneath. And the babies giggled and smiled and we had a good time.

I wanted to run errands afterwards but that was not to be. Harry started getting down right grouchy in the car on the way home so I chose the path of least resistance knowing he wanted some milk and regular food. Thankfully both kids napped. Then we had to hurry to get Max from school.

Max gave me a moment today that reminded me of childhood. I was watching Oprah and he came in and watched with me. This reminded me of when I used to watch Phil Donahue with my mom as I was growing up. I still have fond memories of Phil in the pregnant lady suit with things shoved in odd places so he would get the effect of having a foot or elbow or something pushing into your bladder and what not. Good times!

Dinner was nice. Krismon brought home lobster tails a few days ago, that were frozen and prepared them with some garlic and butter for everyone. We did a little primavera to some fresh veggies and away we went. I enjoyed it, Max enjoyed it, Krismon enjoyed it. Maggie... not so much. Ah well 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

The kids got to go outside and ride their bikes around for a while. They enjoyed themselves and saw some other kids in a house that backs onto our neighborhood. Of course, there were the usual assortment of feral cats and then 2 rabbits (pet ones) that have freedom to roam our neighborhood now as well.  I keep thinking that I would love to catch one of the rabbits as a pet. They are pretty. But I think Juno would terrorize the rabbit.

And that's all she wrote.

My walking week

My week started with the hike at Red Rocks. It ended with a bit of disappointment for the kids, Maggie especially. She really wanted to see the waterfall.  Okay so I got lost in that moment and went off and searched for the hike again.

I believe I got a run in this week, though maybe not. I took Monday off and was going to go running Tuesday. I announced that I was going and Maggie wanted to go. How could I say no? I couldn't. I grabbed a granola bar and some water and we walked over 2 miles. Yesterday, I asked if she wanted to go again. Yes, but a shorter walk was the answer. I asked again today and she wanted to go longer and have the better granola bar (go lean crunch bar vs honey and oats granola bar). We walked another 2 miles. She did pretty well. I just need to work on Juno walking better on leash and Maggie keeping up with the pace. And I got to say I don't think we walk very fast so I am not sure how to get her to go better. And she did get a blister from her shoe. Only one pair of shoes seem to work well for walking. Her pink maryjane keens. lol

We'll see what happens tomorrow or if I will get to run 3 miles.

Solution or Mixture Science Experiment

Max learned about solutions and mixtures at school today. He needed to come home and do an experiment or two of course that turned into many but what fun!

Maggie stirring the food color and water solution

Max stirring the red food coloring solution.

I think one is salt or sugar, then milk, and oil. There was also the seeds from some plant outside and dirt.

And obligatory cute Maggie photo..... Can you tell that pink is her favorite color?

Max was so excited to come home and conduct this experiment. Maggie was so excited to help her older brother. Then they wanted to play with the water table that degenerated into them throwing water on each other. Good times. I think their clothes are still outside. But before they got completely wet, they did the float or sink experiment with a few things. No pictures of that though.

I do love this time when science is so fun and exciting and tactile. I like that this was something that they could do all on their own.

Mother's Day Recap

My children let me sleep until 7am. Then they gave me flowers that they had made themselves while I was still in bed. My lovely husband made french toast. Max started my coffee and got it on the table. They poured me a bowl of cereal because all that lovely french toast was surely not enough. lol. It was really nice. Really nice.
I decided because the weather was nice that I wanted to go hiking. We haven't hiked at this park since Max was a baby. It is just on the other side of town so it is kind of sad that it has been so long. Hopefully we can get a few more hikes in before it gets toooo hot. We were trying to go see a waterfall. Not sure if we just didn't go far enough or what. Maggie wore the wrong shoes and Harry fell asleep with his head sticking out the back pack. It was kind of a comedy of errors. Not enough food to keep them going or water and Maggie doesn't know how to cop a squat. I get to teach her that this week.... (Max thinks I say funny things sometimes.)

This is the start of the walk up towards the red rocks.

Still smiling at this point.

The kids enjoying a little rock climb

Max looking all outdoorsy and model like. 

Kids enjoying some granola bar. This was a turn around point.

The fun part of the hike came when we were walking back to the car. We passed people going up and down during the hike but one of the last groups had two dogs. One dog on a leash the other not. Yeah, a chow. I had Maggie and Juno with me. The chow came up to us and then started growling. Luckily with no Harry, I could do the Dog Whisperer thing and show that I was the one in charge. Which meant that I went into I will get you away from me and mine. The family apologized after we had walked past.  Krismon told me that the Dad yelled at the others for not having the dog on the leash.  And I was glad I was holding Juno's leash at the time. We let Juno walk for quite a bit of it off leash and saw a bunch of other dogs that way. And he was dead tired by the time we were done.
After we got back to the car, we called our friend Nick. He lives kind of in between us and where we were. We dropped off Juno at his house, grabbed him and went to a diner. It's called "Cheeburger Cheeburger". After such a good workout, I did not worry about stuffing my face. It was cheeseburger, a shared basket of fries and onion rings and a shared oreo cheesecake shake (I didn't taste the cheesecake part.) It was Harry's first time having ice cream and he really enjoyed that shake. I think he out ate everyone, grilled cheese, french fries, apple sauce. It was a good time.
After that we were all pretty toasted. Maggie, Harry and Krismon napped. Max did his thing. I went and got a pedicure. AHHH she took pity on my poor feet and rubbed them for quite a while. I could have sat there with her rubbing them all afternoon. The rest of the day was that the rest of the day. The kids did well and it was just a good day overall.

Happy Mothers Day to all you fabulous ladies out there.

PS I did take the dog for a walk later and had weird crazy drunk person we had to cross the street to get away from and then scary truck that yelled at me sounding like Howard Dean's yell from a few years ago....

Mother's Day Tea

The kids got to celebrate Mother's Day at school today. Er I mean I got to celebrate being a mom at their school today. They fed us a wonderful lunch but I held Harry the whole time and fed him. And then we went to Max's class after having been in Maggie's class. I let Harry down and he was off like a shot . The kids love him so they played with him.

The games were our undoing. I couldn't help like I would have liked to in the fashion show creations made with toilet paper. And then the guess who belongs to the baby photo. I ended up just having to abort since Harry was into everything and cranky.

It was so nice to see so many moms there and I adopted one little friend whose Mom couldn't come. Sweet kid. I need to call his mom and set up a playdate for him and Max.

And somehow I feel like every kid in school is going to end up invited to Maggie's party. Howdidthathappen? ummm let's see Max keeps making invites and then giving them to Maggie and telling her to invite his friends. He knows how to work her....

I brought all the kids home from school after the tea. Only Harry napped but the other two rested on their own or played quietly for at least an hour. What a concept. It was actually pretty awesome and relaxing for that hour. I think I am finally getting used to the fact that Max just won't nap anymore (um yeah I know 3 years later, and I am finally accepting it.) Now it looks like I will have to start accepting that Maggie won't nap everyday but every few days instead. Thankfully she does a better job playing by herself or resting by herself.

Then Maggie got to watch 'The Little Mermaid'. She loves her disney movies. She still likes Tinker Bell the best.

I think I need to introduce her to shrek, where the princess can save herself.

Picture Overload

I just like this. She is an expressive kid.

Maggie is in front row, Max is behind the girl not playing.

Max playing with the orchestra

Harry and I just playing

The season for waterplay has started.

Cold water, happy smiles

Yesterday morning

So we got dressed. I got Harry in the backpack and on my back. Hooked Juno to me. We all had water. We got out the door and down the street. And then we started our walk, and less than .2 miles into the walk.... Max complained that his leg hurt. #$%^&*(($W$%^&U&***TRTYH^&%DGYUE^TUCVGJYT (that sums up my feelings)

We turned around, not happily and went home. Not such a good morning after that. I took the kids to school. Around the time that I was going to pick Maggie up from school before Max's lunch, I thought I would sneak a note into his lunch box.  I apologized for the rough morning and expressed my desire for him to have a good day.  I did not get to sneak it in because his lunchbox was in his room, darn. So I handed it to him when he was heading outside to eat after getting Maggie from her class.

He liked the note. He didn't end up having a great day but he really liked the note so much so that he asked me this morning to write him another note.

And I am hoping to add that to my repertoire of things. We have had some hard spells, Max and I, and I hope, really hope, that  maybe these letters cane help us get past the hard spell. Maybe reading nice things and suggestions will get us to a point of better communication.

The last Few Days

Saturday morning was the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure. It went well. My friend and I kept each other going. She is a little taller so she ran a few steps ahead which kept me moving faster than normal. And the fact that I was there kept her running the whole time. It was a good way to start the weekend.
Krismon took care of getting kids to  activities and then I got Harry home and fed and down for a nap. He slept 3 hours. Maggie had two birthday parties to go to. One for a school friend and the other for a playgroup friend. Max went to the second.  Krismon had to come out again and bring swimsuits for the kids so they could play in the water. One of the Dads at the party had a great time holding Harry. That was a nice break. Maggie, unfortuntely, bit it in the playground steps. That led to us to visiting the dentist yesterday. So it is soft foods for a while and another check up in 2 weeks.
Sunday was violin concert day. Maggie played 2 songs while Max played with the Orchestra and got his certificate for completing Book 1.I would have photos but I mistakenly plugged in the photo card on Krismon's side so now iphoto is open on his side and not mine.