Burg Berwartstein

Liz and I happened on one of my new favorite castle... Burg Berwartstein located near Dahn, Germany just over an hour from here. 

It is one of the only inhabitable castles in Western Germany and its beautiful! There is a tour through parts of the castle, but Liz and I decided to skip it with all the kids and explore around the castle instead (to save for another KIDLESS date). There was the cutest little quaint chapel (pictured below) attached to the castle. It is easy to let your mind try and think what it was like back in the day when people actually sat in those church pews on Sunday's... I just wanted to get my hands on one of those church benches. lol.

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

We are so fortunate to live in such close proximity to other countries in Europe. It only took us an hour and a half to drive to this beautiful city. I can't wait to go back there in the summer and explore more of its culture, sights, architecture, people and yes of course... food! We had a few stops in mind when we looked up the sights prior to going... but the day was a little cool (and Liz and I weren't dressed very warm) and well... with kids, I guess one has to improvise and be flexible. We walked through old Luxembourg, visited the castle, saw some churches, went to the caverns carved out of rock that were apart of an old fort and ate the best cheese fondue I've ever had! Between Liz and I, we pretty much finished the whole fondue, It was pretty much divine! Lol! Luxembourg is definitely one of those places we could go back a few times and never see it all. 

I adored the architecture, the cobble stone streets and the fact that people spoke french! And I can't wait to get one of those giant sized meringues next time! Love how everything I do is centered around food! lol!

Flickr Stream This week

I'm going to post my Flickr photos weekly. Here are the ones from this week.

Friends: Bella playing outside with her friends... What a Trio!

 Beautiful German Countryside. On our way back from picking up Liz from Frankfurt Hahn airport.

 Peek a Boo: Bella playing peekaboo with Auntie Liz

Garden Gate: Burg Berwarstein near Dahan, Germany

 Graffiti Beauties: Auntie Liz and Emalina on our trip to Luxembourg

 A Beautiful Sight: Jaimee Summers' fabulous cookie recipe! Cookies for dinner anyone?

Emalina is 5 Months Old!

5 months already... WOW! 

This little girl is the sweetest thing ever! We love her so much! Can't believe in less then a month, Emalina will be half a year old. CRAZY!

Compare: Bella & Ethan  Emalina Shrinking Bear

Here are some things Emalina is doing these days:

• EVERYTHING goes in her mouth... Especially her fingers, hand, fist. 
• She loves playing with her susu. She is now a pro a taking it out and putting it back in
• She FOUND HER VOICE this month... She makes sounds, talks and screeches at the top of her lungs when she wants something
• She doesn't like when she is left in a room alone. She is totally aware when I leave the room.
• When she lays on the floor, she pulls up her legs... and drops them to the side... making her
•  Close to rolling from back to front. 
• Her hair is TOTALLY falling out off the top of her head
• SHe has a bald patch on the back of her head, surrounded by lots of thick brown hair... so it looks funny
• Ever since we arrived back from Austria, Emalina has been a little fussy at night. Maybe it was the TRAUMATIC experience of Ben trying to feed her from a bottle... LOL!  Ben thinks it's him... because she's perfect until he comes home from work (obviously that's just the time she starts to fuss). 
• She has also been getting up around 3-4am to eat in the night. It doesn't bother me too much though.
• She is our first child who nurses and falls asleep when I put her to bed at night (said I'd never do it... But by the third, my philosophy has changed to... whatever works) Haha!
• Still LOVES her swing, she is getting a little big for her bouncy seat. 
• Just like her mama, her nose gets pink when cold. It's pink a lot.
• In 3-6 month clothing. She's growing out of her onzies though
• in size 2 diapers, but next pack I buy will be size 3
• Loves grabbing at things
• She likes holding on to the draw strings of my sweatshirt when she nurses
• SHe still nurses every 2-3 hours during the day
• She doesn't really like being left in the nursery (only tried a few times and I had to rescue her and the nursery workers from a screaming baby)
• Loves watching Bella and Ethan play
• Likes her exersaucer and playing on the floor
• is a TOTAL DROOLER!

23 and 1/2 hours:

I think this video is great! And as a firm believer in staying active to be healthy... it is a good reminder that it doesn't take much. 

Speaking of being active, I'm heading into my last week of Insanity... It's been hard core... and I LOVE it! I can't wait to post after pics. 

Emalina Talking

A cute little video of Emalina "talking" tonight.

She's so sweet!