A Surprise Visit from Papa Don!

On Thursday Morning, I was sitting with Ethan and saw what I thought was the mail truck outside our window... Since Ethan loves seeing trucks outside, I said "Look Ethy, the mailman is here... Let's go see." And took him over to the window. Then I noticed that the 'mail truck' was actually Rita's Airport Shuttle (the transportation shuttle to and from the Frankfurt Airport). My first thought was, I didn't know that our next door neighbors were having visitors come in. And then I saw a man getting out of the back and thought to myself... that looks like my Dad's hair... Wait a second... that is my Dad... And I yelled to my mom, "Did you know that Dad was coming?" 

The kids were so excited to see their Papa and so was I. I am so glad that my Dad was able to make it while Emalina was a baby. 

It was so sweet to see my Dad with his 4th grandchild! He truly does love our kids like no other! 

It was a great surprise and so nice to have you in our home again. 

Thanks for coming Dad. We love you!

Meeting Emalina for the first time...

 Papa playing with Ethan..

Papa and Bella going to play soccer! One of her favorite things to do with Papa!

Gramma Susie Come to Visit!

Gramma Susie came to visit us in Germany. Liz, Bella, Emalina and I drove to Frankfurt to pick up my mom from the airport and take a little tour of downtown Frankfurt. I just love the old European architecture... And downtown Frankfurt didn't disappoint! 

We had a fabulous visit with Gramma Susie! My mom was here for 10 days to meet Emalina and see the rest of us. She was a big help while she was here. She got up every morning with Ethan and fed him breakfast, helped cook, clean and do laundry. And even allowed Liz and I to sneak out alone and do a little shopping and project planning (more to come on that later). Gramma Susie was in heaven having LOTS of cuddle time, holding our sweet Emalina, as she is a very easy baby to hold because she sleeps so much. 

 

Going for a walk with ulterior motives!

Ending up at the Italian Bistro for Cappuccinos and gelato!

Thanks so much for coming over mom and all of your help. We look forward to our next visit. We love you!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween with the kids. Ben's Squadron had a trick or treat event for toddlers on Thursday. Bella was Sleeping Beauty and hasn't taken her costume off since it arrived over a week ago. Ethan got the short end of he stick with his Halloween costume (but it's not like he cared) and went in his Buzz Light Year pj's... that were too small for him LOL. And our little Emalina was a cute little pumpkin! The kids LOVED going from office to office collecting their loot! 

 

On Saturday we went on base to trick or treat with some friends. This time Ethan went as Top Gun in his swanky leather flight jacket. Looking good, just like his daddy! 

 

Ethan was not a happy camper sitting in the stroller... but you would never know it by these photos... probably because every time I looked at them, Ben had given Ethan another piece of candy to keep him quiet! LOL! Ethan was in heaven! And completely WIRED on candy! It was a fun night!

One Month Old

Emalina turned one month old last week. Oh how time flies! She is absolutely the sweetest little girl around. She has such a wonderful demeanor... calm, patient, goes with the flow, likes to eat and LOVES to sleep, and snuggle! Since she was gaining weight so nicely at her 2 weeks apt, I decided that getting her up every 2-3 hours at night was silly and that got tossed out the window. Since then, she only gets up once a night to eat, usually sleeping 6 hours in a row and then I feed her and she goes right back to sleep until the morning. LOVE IT! 

Forgot to post these...

Emalina at 1 week

Emalina at 1 month

Compared to Isabella at 1 month!

Here are some things that our little girl is doing:

• Emalina is a very strong girl, she can hold her head up
• When lying on the floor she can turn her head from side to side
• If I hold her up off the floor, she will push herself up into a standing position... She definitely has some good SMITH legs! 
• She loves her susu
• She like to be swaddled
• She has started smiling 
• She can follow you with her eyes (and occasionally goes a little cross-eyed)
• She fits into 0-3 month clothing
• She is in size 1 diapers
• She still poops every diaper change (probably goes through at least 10 diapers a day)
• She needs to be burped after every feeding... if we forget or can't get one out... she throws up. 
• The only time she really cries is if she is really hungry or if she has a stuck burp
• She still loves her bouncy chair and pretty much hangs out there all day
• Is sleeping 6 hours at night 
• She has BLUE eyes... and I think they just might stay blue
• She did not lose her hair... at one month Bella had lost a bunch of hair
• She has the cutest sad faces EVER!
• She still sleeps in the bassinet right by our bed... because she does lose her susu when falling asleep and it is convenient to just reach over and put it back in.
• Her favorite position is laying on your chest

Litchenberg Castle

Over the weekend we wanted something to do on Saturday afternoon. A friend suggested that we head up to Litchenberg Castle new Kuse. We drove the back roads on the way there. I just LOVE going through the German countryside and through the little town. Ben and I are really excited for the spring and summer to come, so we can hook up the Chariot bike carriers and go road biking with the kids. They path system for biking is absolutely fabulous. Just right outside our house there is a 87 km bike path that goes from town to town. Can't wait! 

Anyway, this castle was built in the 1200's. So, now it is mostly ruins... except for a few parts. It was a little cool out and none of us were dressed for the weather (probably the reason why we all have the sniffles now). There is a little cafe in the castle that Ben and I want to come back and try out. Bella is TOTALLY into princesses right now... So she was intrigued with where Rapunzel and Cinderella lived in the castle. 

Here are some photos and a very funny video of our trip to the castle. 

Be prepared to laugh... This is funny, at least I thought it was!!!