Things I love

There are a few things in life that I completely, totally enjoy. I thought that I'd share them with all of you and maybe you'd love them too!

1.) Real Maple Syrup

I feel sorry for you if you've never tasted real maple syrup. It has a silky texture and its flavor really puts Aunt Jemima and Hungry Jack to shame. Here is a picture of the last buttermilk pancake from the mix Julie sent us for Christmas, as well as the last of the maple syrup. It's been my treat every Saturday or Sunday morning since Christmas to enjoy it with french toast or chocolate-chip pancakes. MMmmm.

2.) Hyland's Teething Tablets

I think if miracles happened nowaday's, one of them would have to be these teething tablets. There's been many an hour of sleep saved by these little babies and in my opinion they are worth their weight in gold. Plus, they're homeopathic and made of all-natural ingredients so I don't have any feelings of guilt from accidentally drugging my child with Tylenol when teeth really weren't the problem. AND - they work instantly. LOVE THEM.

3.) Lipton's White Tea w/ Island Mango and Peach Flavor I have one to two cups of this tea or green tea each day. It smells fruity and delicious, warms me up and calms me down. Plus, the pyramid bags look really cool.

4.) Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred DVD

Super challenging 23-minute workouts in 3 difficulty levels on this DVD. I do this when I don't feel like going to the gym (which is always). All you need are 2 3-5 pound hand weights. Plus, the DVD is less than $10 on Amazon. Definitely the best piece of workout junk that I've ever bought. It's been a lifesaver since I can't bring the baby to the weight room. I no longer use the mother's room at the gym as there are just too many +2 children running around making noise. I like to get in a zone when I do exercise and it's impossible for me with so many distractions. I should've added jogging stroller to the list, since it's allowed me to get some running in.

5.) Fit Bottomed Girls Blog

http://fitbottomedgirls.blogspot.com/

The two women that write this blog remind me that working out should be fun. They're funny, post every day, and write excellent reviews on workout DVD's and equipment. One of them is also traning for a half-marathon! Ours got pushed back to May 9th, but she's running hers in 2 weeks.

Well, these are several things that are part of my regular routine. Hope you decide to check them out!

I'm going to add a part 2 in a little bit. I've remembered some things that should go on this list. :)

8 Months Old

My boy is getting sooo big. Luke is 8 Months old now and as wonderful as ever. I can say that 'cause I'm his mom. I take him out and about and every German comments on how friendly and smiley he is. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how blessed we've been with Lukas.

Luke hardly stays on his back anymore now that he's figured out that it is possible to move around. It's making diaper changes tough, since he arches his back to roll over and ends up getting a leg or foot covered in poop. I think it's worth it though, especially seeing how excited Justin was by it. He's really been wanting a BOY boy, one that'll want to move around alot, but Luke is really chill and is more of a social talk-y kind of baby.

Well, I finally took Luke for his very first haircut today. His hair was getting ridiculously long and hard to control, so I brought him to a German salon (the same one I go to). The male owner of the place ended up cutting Luke's hair and he was really fantastic. I think that he did a great job. One of the other employees ended up grabbing a stuffed Ernie doll and distracting Luke by playing with it. We both got alot of laughs :) She commented on how Luke is already looking like a boy. Both she and the gentleman that cut Luke's hair wanted to hold him and I always appreciate that kind of help. Germans L-O-V-E babies. They aren't so common here as in the States and everywhere you go, everyone will smile at your baby, try to talk to him or her, and even sometimes want to hold them.

Here are the before and after pictures of Luke. Enjoy!

Justin is an old fart!

Justin turned 25 on Friday, and he's already started acting his age. I asked him to help out with something or other around the house and he said that he was too old to be doing physical labor. We celebrated early.. I think on Tuesday, because I received Justin's last gift in the mail. I gifted him a new motorcycle jacket, vest, cd, and a couple of books. Needless to say, the jacket was his favorite gift. Though, he did very much enjoy his new Scent Blocker T-shirt and paraphernalia from Jess and Nate. To celebrate we had ice cream cake; I was able to eat it for the next four days.. MMMmm.

Justin showing off his Ass-ets


In other news:
We attended the Annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday night. Justin didn't take home the award, but we had a decent free dinner. We left our cell phones at home, so had no way to contact Luke's babysitter and vice versa. I was anxious the entire evening and left without Justin as soon as I got the chance. So anxious that I got caught in security force's Saturday night drunk-driver speed trap. The damage wasn't bad, just got a little pink slip from the cops for doing 50km in a 40km. That's going 31mph in a 24mph zone. So, Justin has to go in front of his first shirt to atone for his wife's gross traffic violation. There aren't any fines for speeding on base, in case you were wondering.


Luke is sick! I took him to the doctor today and he's got a minor viral respiratory infection that we won't be treating with medicine. I thought Luke surely had croup or bronchitis, but guess that's just the mom in me overreacting.

Side Note:

Everyone says Luke's a big boy. Now I've had a doctor confirm it. The first thing the doctor said after I undressed Luke was that it was a good thing Luke was so big, as he could easily survive 3-4 days on his fat stores should he be too ill to eat. NOW, I don't know if that was a compliment, but then the doctor went ahead and told me that it'll be a problem when he gets over two and that Americans have difficulties with obesity. Then he went into a weird story about how Russians like fat babies because of all the food problems they've had historically. And that they need to make sure not to stuff their babies like turkeys. Comments and stories like these are typical of German doctors. It's funny and I think they like to show off their English skills. My OB/GYN did the same sort of thing when I was pregnant.

Sick Lutas


Have a great week!

It's hard being awesome.

The Tainted Puppies (any time you'd like a good laugh, ask Nate to explain how we came to that) have won the Rock Band 2 Tournament! Let me know if you need my autograph.

Where to begin..

I suppose this should start with what I'm doing right now. I think I'll do a list format.. feeling a bit too lazy today to do paragraph transitions.

1. I ordered a few nursery letters for Lukas in January that arrived a couple days ago. They didn't turn out at all like I wanted them to, so I'm currently covering them up with paper and re-doing them myself. I requested an airplane theme and they came with little cut-out contruction shapes of airplanes that still had pencil marks on them. I figure that I have enough artsy talent to fix them, and I'll post pictures as soon as they are finished as I've already ruined them by ripping all of those planes off :) Moral of the story, don't purchase scrapbooked letters for your nursery from this seller. If you're planning on buying from ebay, send me a note and I'll let you know who I ordered from.

2. Last night Jess showed me her friend's new blog, which details one-two weeks of menu plans with recipes. I think it's great and really saves me alot of time trying to figure out what to feed Justin. Here's a link:
http://delovelydinners.blogspot.com/
Yes, I know, you're welcome.

3. Justin's been going through ALS, which is a mandatory 4-5 week program sort of like school. The participants do not go to regular work, but they attend a seminar style class Monday through Friday on base. It's a long day for Justin, as he gets up at 5, leaves around 6 and doesn't come back home until 5:30-6:30. Luke goes to bed at 7, so Justin has been taking over the pre-bedtime playing and changing. Justin seems to enjoy everything except for the homework and is working toward receiving special recognition for his quality of participation. Depending on how well you do, lead, etc., you are awarded a title. Kind of like Most-Likely-To-____ from high school.

4. We're planning several trips for March and April, and I'm really excited to get to all of these places before we leave Europe for good! The ones we're looking at are for Prague, London, Spain, Rome, and a trip to the Keukenhof (which is a HUGE flower garden in the Netherlands) with Jess. I'll post as soon as we've actually booked travel.

5. Lukas is starting to realize that there is fun to be had when he scoots himself around! He's loving flipping from back to front (which is making diaper changes tough) and has crawled backwards a few times now. Yesterday, I had Luke's poopy diaper opened and was just about to take it off when he decided that it was no fun to lie still. He arched his back to get away and managed to slam one of his legs down into the diaper - covering himself in poop from heel to cheek. Luckily Justin was there to help with cleanup.
Lukas also manages to keep himself pretty well occupied when I'm busy with chores or cooking. He spends time talking and cooing to things and trying to pick up small things. When sitting in front of his basket of toys, Luke always chooses the "I Love You Through and Through" book from the pile to pat and chew on. One of his favorite things is to be sitting in our rocker, cuddling and reading. We've been reading chapters our of the Beginner's Bible from Grandma Debbie before bed each day, and he seems to really enjoy that. Otherwise we'll read "Time for Bed" or "The Going to Bed Book."
Just a few days ago Reese was over clapping with Jess, so I thought it'd be fun to try with Luke and after a few times he copied me! I was shocked! Other than that, he's been doing alot of horse-like noises, ba-ba's (that I think sound like Blah-Blah's now.. hope that's not saying something about his mom :) ), ma-ma's and wow's.

6? 7?.
I'll post again later.. this one's getting wayyy to long!