Our Last Pre-Jelly Bean Guests

Our very last overnight visitors before the jelly bean arrives have come and gone. We got to spend a very nice, relaxed evening with them in Heidelberg, taking in some of the touristy spots and then getting a yummy beer hall meal. Our last guests before PJ were my cousin and two of her friends who were travelling around Europe; it is fitting that this time it was a lovely family of three from my college days.

On our short walking tour, we stumbled across 3000 plastic pandas that kids could move around, arrange, and just generally use to entertain themselves. I'm pretty positive there was a deeper meaning to the pandas but I'm 38 weeks pregnant, gimme a break, okay?

 

PJ with the pandas. He ended up with quite a group.

Our too cute guests.

Over dinner and then a 'late' (after 8pm) conversation on the couch, I learned so much about personal training, research offices, and the town they call home in Ohio. Wish we had had more time - guess we'll have to drop by when we are in Ohio next time!


xo
 

New Camera - WDYT?

A week ago I realized that I had somehow managed to misplace our camera. I looked everywhere with no success. So, yes, I lost our camera just weeks before I give birth to our second child.

Poor kid. Its a fact that parents take fewer pictures of their second than they did of their first...but, to not have a camera at all? It turns out one other Facebook friend did the exact same thing while expecting her second child, ad she is good people and a great mom, so at least I'm in good company.

Thank goodness for Amazon Prime, right?

After asking around and doing some research on my own, I settled on the Nikon Coolpix s3500. Sunday and last night night we played around with the camera, taking a handful of pictures. We need a simple, reliable camera. This one seems to be both.

Since babies and toddler move like crazy, I want one that also has a super fast shutter speed and can take more than one picture after the other quickly - which this camera doesn't. Or at least I can't figure out how to make it.

 

Any tips/tricks/suggestions out there? What do you think about the pictures? Got a tip about how to take pictures quickly, one after the other?

 Set One: Eating breakfast:

Set Two: Off to vote!

Set Three: PJ goofing around with the cardboard tub that usually holds his wooden train set:

Set Four: Jelly bean and I:

xo

Homemade Pregnancy Portrait

A few days ago I was trying to get a reasonable picture to send to a friend of mine for a project she is working on. Before I started posing, I wanted to see if the lighting was okay. What I got is about the best picture I've ever seen of the last few weeks of pregnancy:

Pregnancy, how glamorous.

Exhausted, uncomfortable, and just overall blah. Yes, I'm still stoked and grateful that jelly bean is baking and that we are doing okay. I'm also exhausted, uncomfortable, and just blah.

Thank goodness, I have my little ham to cheer it all up around here. Recently he found one of daddy's work shirts and insisted on putting it on and that I tuck it in for him. Then he declared he was going to work.

Such a proud little monkey.

xo

35/36 Weeks

Jelly bean and I are rounding the corner into our 36th weeks! Which means we are now about a month away from our estimated due date.

 

Considering all the health problems we've both faced during this pregnancy, and although she remains small for her gestation age, she *could* arrive today and we'd both be (statistically at least) in the clear. I'm hoping for another three weeks - or even more - of pregnancy so that she has more time to grow and develop.

 

Dear readers, we are so, so close to full-term. That's worthy of a celebration, I think.

 

The middle of the 35th week.

PJ wants to celebrate too...or at least he wanted to be a part of the picture through another photo bomb.

xo

Farm Girl Hits Germany

Recently one of my closest buddies - the farm girl - and her fabulous hubby came over to visit us and Germany. We've known each other since freshman year of college, lived together for two years, and despite a 10 year separation with an ocean between us, have managed to remain close. We have one of those friendships: we might not exchange emails or talk on the phone for four (sometimes even six) months and then, when we do, its like we just hung out yesterday.

Her trip over here was like that too, except for my lovely waddle, the rambunctious toddler, and everything in German.

Considering the toddler, the waddle, and the jet lag, we actually saw quite a lot. We ate and drank a hecka lot; one of the advantages of traveling to see a pregnant lady I guess.

 

The day they arrived in our town's brewery with beer.

Our first visit into Heidelberg with apple struedel and wine.

There was a LOT of ice cream and sweets; one of the
advantages of travelling with a toddler.

Of course, PJ ensured he had at least one bite of each scope of ice cream.

We even did a brewery tour. The tour itself was interesting and at the end we all got what appeared to be unlimited top-ups of the local beer. PJ got a soda sort of drink, which we innocently let him enjoy...noticing only hours later that it was PACKED with caffeine. That was good fun, at least for PJ.

PJ assumed his role as tour guide.

There was also a lot of adorable picture taking. For truly adorable pictures, you must check out those made by my very talented friends (also known as Oolaa Designs). Seriously, you must check these out.

In the Heidelberg castle, doing the tourist pose above the city.

In the boat of Strasbourg, checking it all out.

And, of course, there was A LOT of toddler entertainment. For example, 15,000 turns on the carousel in Strasbourg.

And visits to the playground; turns out the kid can already do the zip line at a nearby one.

 

May I remind us all that this kid is just two-years-old? Oh, man, I see skydiving in the future.

 

But most importantly, I got to selfishly spend quality time with farm girl: a friend that shares so many experiences and memories; who has somehow always believed in me; and who (like a fabulous red wine) only gets better and better as our lives stretch through the years. I love you girl.

But, seriously, you must check out their photographs.


xo
 

Care Package: Poptarts Galore

Recently we got a care package from the US! PopTarts galore. And I love me some PopTarts. As soon as the box was opened, PJ claimed them for himself. Of course.

You'll notice we didn't even wait to look through the care package before we opened a box and threw two into toaster.

Mine! All mine!

After we got over the PopTart excitement, PJ wandered off and I got to sort through precious, precious, precious girl baby clothes for Jelly Bean. Its getting real, people. 50 days left! 

xo

Why the British Royal Pregnancy Mattered

In case you failed to hear about it, the future Queen of England was pregnant and had the future King of England a little while back. It wasn't that big of a deal in the news - just hundreds of reports from all over the world sitting around in the blistering sun right in front of a hospital for weeks on end - but it turns out that, for me at least, her pregnancy did matter.

Why, you ask, dear reader?

Because these reasonably-priced dresses exist. Not only are they really cute on a belly but they are also nursing-friendly. These dresses were around when I was pregnant with PJ but they were so not reasonably-priced. At all. And now, not only are they around and cute and nursing-friendly, but they cost less than 60euro each.

Even my sister says so.


xx