See our little tyke slide

Wow, two posts in one day... I forgot that I've been wanting to show you this short video of Zach on the slide at playgroup. It has quickly become one of his favorite things there, and he can almost get all the way up and back down by himself.

Documenting this pregnancy

With yet-to-be-born Zach, we took belly photos nearly every week, in front of a white door in our apartment. It was the only blank space we really had, and it seemed to work. Occasionally I was disappointed by shots out of focus, or a big shadow behind me and my growing belly, but I had many more things to be concerned with at that point.

Now, this second time around, I don't have quite as much to do, and I know more about photography. We started out pretty much the same, picking a blank spot in the house and shooting away. But the results just aren't doin' it for me. Such as this one at the six-week mark:

So we've been trying to take advantage of nature and light to take my belly pictures. And no, I'm not lifting my shirt up outdoors, but I am much happier with the results. Here are the photos from the last two weeks (13 and 14)-one at a park in Brussels and one in our backyard.

I'm happy to have the spring and summer weather and the backdrop of some travels to look forward to...we should have a pretty interesting collection of belly photos by the end!

Eventful yesterday

First of all, the most exciting event yesterday was the birth of Jen and Andy's twins! They were delivered by C-section at 12:24/25 pm, Maggie first at 4.5 lb. and 17 inches, and Ben weighing 5.5 lb. and 18 inches. Last we were updated they are spending time in the special care nursery, but everyone is doing fine. I'm sure pictures will be up on Jen's blog soon!

We had a day of errands, but we ended up taking lots of photos, so I thought I'd post some.

We had a bunch of things to do at the garrison. First was Zach's haircut. I had trimmed the front once since his cut in January, but it was difficult and the back was getting really long.


After the haircut we had to wait a bit for the food court to open, so we enjoyed the sunshine and the 70-degree weather. A couple of kids had fun running around with Zach.


Our lunch was messy, messy (well, just for Zach) pizza.


After lunch we looked around the consignment shop at the garrison, and bought a few clothing items, a pregnancy yoga DVD, and a Fisher-Price popper for Zach. Here he is this morning in the new pjs.

Our last stop was the shoppette for a few groceries, mainly milk since we go through so much. I bought a Germany travel book--so excited for our upcoming trip with the Paulicks!

Zach napped when we got home, and I was able to catch Jen on Skype before she left for the hospital. She had seen her doctor the day before and they had scheduled the delivery, so she had the evening to prepare and finish packing. Lucky duck! You can read more about it in her recent blog post.

After dinner we took a walk around our neighborhood. I wanted to practice for another photography class I'm taking. Zach enjoyed running around some more.

When we got home Jen called from the hospital and told us all about the babies. We are traveling to see them soon and I can't wait!

Me and the baby

At 12 weeks and three days of pregnancy, here's your first glimse at the new little one.

We don't know if this is a boy or girl, but we do know that little baby is very active! We got to see lots of arm and leg movement and just general squirminess on the monitor during the ultrasound. We also saw the heart beating (and heard it-160 bpm), the brain, and the spine. Everything is looking very normal.

They gave us half a dozen pictures, but only a couple are easy to see:


This one is a closeup of the head:


And this one looks kinda like a skull and crossbones to me, but I think it is the head in the bottom right, the arms up to the head, and the big blob is part of the body. But don't hold me to it.


As for me, I found some decently flattering new maternity jeans, so I thought it was about time to put a photo up:

Everyday life in pictures

I've had a couple of feeling-better days this week, so I finally got more photos off the camera and into the blog.

Last week we had a few days of sun and slightly warmer weather, and the flowers are starting to come up. Last summer this place was so beautiful with flowers, so I can't wait. Our gardener, who is our neighbor and the brother of our landlady, cut everything way back in January, but it's growing quite a bit. I'm anxious to see what that means for our rose bushes and hydrangeas.


Evenings have become pretty routine around here, but sometimes Zach gets a second wind and can be really funny. He especially likes for Frank to hang out and play with him. And while he never stays focused on any one toy or game for too long, this phone has been a great distraction at times. Thanks, Emily!


One thing that has changed our dinner routine a bit was the purchase of a little BBQ grill. In the past week we have grilled (and greatly enjoyed!) hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks.

Something quite unexpected happened last weekend: Zach took a late-afternoon nap with me on the couch. To be able to relax on the couch, with a quiet toddler, for over an hour, and surf on the computer, AND watch American Idol on TV was definitely a highlight of my weekend.

And how could I leave out our playgroup adventures? Those outings are chaotic, to say the least, but he seems to enjoy going.

Out for a walk

Last week we decided to go for a walk since the weather was nice. And we decided to let Zach walk and see how far he got. Not far, it turns out, but here's a video of him exploring our street.

Daddy carried him to the end of our street to see some farm animals, but he was getting kind of tired at that point:

And I couldn't resist taking a couple of photos of that cute pouty face.

I have more photos to post, hopefully tomorrow, just of us around the house recently. I am starting to feel a little more like myself, but I'm still trying to rest as much as possible.

a short story, but a big deal

I'm sick. I'm tired (an extreme understatement). I'm two months pregnant.

We are very excited about becoming a family of four in mid-October, or maybe September if Baby #2 takes after Zach.

Oh, he's got no idea what's coming!