Minivan Mommy

YEAH, I'm officially a Minivan Mommy and TOTALLY pooped. First we sold my car yesterday which totally made me emotional with all the memories that I had with this car! My start in the USA all by myself with this car, the road trips etc.! That was very exhausting...

Today we picked up our new Minivan and just nothing went by the book except the financing *lol*. The remote starter installation took longer than planned but we were already on our way, then we waited forever and Frank left already with the baby to go home. Then they thought we transfer the license plate which we didn't and then they had to get me a new one... then by the time I left the lot (4 hrs later!!!) I got stuck in traffic everywhere... I came home and am still pooped but also very happy. Now I'm waiting on Zoe to go to bed so I can load up my minivan with all the 'equipment' and Frank will be happy again that the garage is 'clean' *lol*... Tomorrow I'm gonna make more shots... this is all that I have right now in my totally exhausted situation ;). Selling and Buying cars is very exhausting being pregnant, my hormones went nuts with me the last couple of days.

Officially in the last month of pregnancy!!!

As you can see, little Henry moved into the last flower of his flicker... this is it :(... kind of very happy but also very sad. I'm very looking forward to the birth... hope it will be as great as Zoe's or even better?!

My body is telling me now to relax more... it's actually forcing me to lay down more often or just sit down and relax. Pretty funny... and ok ok... I listen sometimes. I still do my 3 miles every day and it still 'walks' very well. Henry is very active and really tests my skin as he's trying to kick and push as hard as he can. It's getting a little hard now since I still carry Zoe up the stairs since she doesn't wanna get changed when she has to get changed etc. so I'm getting tired of being pregnant slowly but surely :(... even though I really enjoy it as well. I'm still very fit and flexible but my body is starting to slow down, my brain is not working 100% anymore and that just bothers me a little. So I kind of can't wait as well when I have this little bundle of joy outside of me and be able to move around like normal.

Today we got the call... our new car has arrived in Michigan (so funny, they traded it with one in Chicago! How cool is that?)... I'm sooo excited... tomorrow it'll get cleaned and the remote starter will be installed and WED morning we're going to pick it up. I'm so super excited since it's also getting harder now lifting Zoe into the car seat or when I have to change her 'on the road' the whole back seat situation is just not very comfortable with this huge belly... so I CAN'T wait for my new ride :).

Today I went to the library with Zoe and checked out their kids section as they do have story times as well which I might visit with Zoe and later with the two kiddos since it fits perfectly into our schedule (at least I think so)... we'll see...

I think I have to get Zoe her first hair cut since her hair in the back looks pretty weird but I kind of have a hard time actually cutting it... or letting it cut. My little munchkin... she's so sweet. Frank got her a little grocery cart for the house to play with and she LOVES it... she's running around with it like crazy and even when we pick her up to go upstairs to change her... she holds onto it and 'carries' it upstairs with her... crazy little kid. Her communication with us is great, she talks a lot of course (her own language) she understands us in both languages and she knows exactly what she wants and how to tell us *lol*... pretty amazing... and when she's not getting it... oh my!!! You actually have to see it live I guess...
It's still very hot out here... I can't deal with the humidity but luckily our house is cool so it doesn't bother me as much and if I go out I normally make sure I'm in cold environments or I just stay home. It's still in the 30ies (C) for another whole week. I think SAT we'll get some rain though... we just got our water bill!!! We almost have to pay 4 times as much as normally since we watered the grass so much! Pretty sad... overseas in africa people don't have water and food and here we just throw it out like crazy only for a nice looking lawn :(... makes me sad.

Frank is very busy getting some handy work done by some neighbors. They just started their own business and we could need some help with all our work so we got some new cabinets in the laundry room. It looks so much 'homier' with them and the extra storage space is GREAT:

And Frank bought this rubber 'carpet' for the new kids play room (aka the formal dining room). This room is off the kitchen and we have a view into it from the kitchen / dining area and living room with is great for us and the kids:

Zoe loves to take out the letters, numbers and puzzles and every night she puzzles it back in with her Daddy ;)...

Also we got some stairs for the attic (Dachboden) in the garage so we have even more accessible storage space! (The basement is not even loaded up *lol*)... and Frank just ordered new cabinets for the kitchen that will be hung over the office space in the kitchen (which is basically used as 'wardrobe' with all our phone charger, purses and just stuff... but it will look very nice I'm sure.

The heating ventilation will be overworked since we might have some leaks here and there... prep. for the winter. Also our gas fireplace will get a fan installed so we can actually use the heat that will be produced and not just blown out of the house.

Some drywall in the garage has been fixed today as well (the previous owner drove into the drywall!!!

Everything goes smoothly over here as you can see :). Lots of stuff is getting done... oh, yes of course, everything for Henry is setup and ready for usage already as well. We didn't forget him :)... the only thing I still have to do is packing my hospital bag! I made arrangements in case he comes earlier than my mother in law. I don't think he comes earlier though... since I carried Zoe up to 41 weeks... why would he come so much earlier? I think he'll be here in week 39 which is starting Sep. 26 (my mom in law's arrival) and I think he'll be here latest by Oct 4th... that's just my feeling :).

Ok, time to go to bed... need some rest. Good Night

New Board Member - ME!!!

Yes, that's right! Yesterday evening we had our yearly neighborhood/ subdivision Meeting with all the owners + our board. The topic was to re-elect/ elect two new members to the board (which exists of 5 people). The two members that were up for re-election wanted to go for another round... so you might think they'll just get re-elected and that's it. But hey, I was thinking about running for a while already and neighbors asked me left and right if I'll run so finally I went ahead and raised my hand first thing :).... ME :)... with me three more new people wanted to run as well so we had a total of 6 people we had to select two from. And guess who won? Well, I took all the fun out of it already with the title of this post!!! One person got re-elected and I'm now a new member of the board :). I was sooo excited that I could barely sleep with all the ideas running through my head. Right after the meeting we had a quick startup meeting to elect who's going to do what. We have the President/ Vice President/ Treasurer/ Officer of Communication and Secretary. Well since the crowd wasn't as pleased with the president as I thought it should've been and also another board member wanted to be president (the three others are up for re-election next year). We now have a new president and I took the job of the Officer of Communication since that was anyways my topic to begin with which I promised our neighbors that I'd like to improve for sure since there wasn't much last year which I didn't like at all.

I'm a very good fit for our neighbors :) and I'm thrilled about my new task and have already lots and lots of ideas.

Frank said this morning to me (he couldn't sleep well either): I can't believe I'm sleeping next to a board member... Now I have connections :) *lol*... we were cracking up!

35 week pregnant - 1st and 2nd pregnancy

Just for the fun of it... here you can 'compare' the pregnancies... I remember exactly when I took it... it was Christmas and we were ready to have a very fancy meal out :) at 35 weeks with Zoe:

And here we have 35 weeks pregnant with Henry (same shirt *lol*) this morning:

35 weeks

*sing* It's the final countdown... *sing*

Yes people!!! Only 5ish more weeks to go and that'll be it... I can't wait to meet this little guy and have another wonderful experience of giving birth. The greatest exercise our body is able to do that is combined with so much joy and excitement and a overloading feeling of love... *woot woot*... I'm as fit as can be. Today at my midwife appt. she did an exam and everything looks very good :)... My belly measured only 34cm today which is 1cm less than it should've... because normally it measures on the week so it should've been 35cm today but nothing to worry about. My blood pressure was the BEST ever 110/62 *woot woot*... well, I didn't have Zoe with me so I was probably way more relaxed than normally when I have to watch her while I'm there. But since she had to exam me today I made Frank stay home with Zoe so I don't have to worry about anything or 'entertain' Zoe while having my appt.!

While first pregnancies are normally easier because you don't have to watch a toddler all the time *lol*... I kind of feel that my second pregnancy is so much easier and healthier... probably also because I'm so good in shape etc.

Here I am at 35 weeks... don't mention how big I am, I don't wanna hear it ;). I feel great and sexy and love every pound of it (even though I don't like the scale right now *lol*... but I know I'll get rid of every pound of it quickly after delivery) and if you compare pics from Zoe's pregnancy to Henry's pregnancy... there is not much of a difference...

Marshmellow Drop in the Park

Yesterday for dinner we packed up the whole family :) and went up north to a 'marshmellow drop' event in the park. They had of course food that you could purchase but I made us three some sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, brought Orange Juice. We had a great time and it was fun to do something different for dinner. They had a fire truck where a guy went up the ladder and dropped marshmallows and the kids had to run and get them. Since they were laying in the grass they could go to a station where they 'collected' all the marshmellows and the kids could get a treat for it.

Zoe was more into all the airplanes she saw in the sky *lol*... she loves them! Every time she hears an airplane flying by she immediately points and looks in the sky locating the airplane and is happy as can be! She's so cute!
Oh, and I finally had my FIRST smoares!!! Cracker with hot marshmellow (roasted over the open fire) and melted chocolate! Not bad, not bad :)...

Detroit Zoo

Since the weather was so very nice today (not as hot as the last couple of week - 30C but only 26C) I decided it's time to do something fun again... not that we don't do fun stuff every day, but a treat for both of us by skipping the nap/work time at home and leave for the zoo after Zoe woke up in the morning. I'm very strict with not going out in the morning since her nap time gives me some great time to get work in. But since I worked on the WE in her nap time we had to treat ourselves today big times :).

We had a friend that was going to the zoo as well and met up with her and her daughter plus her nanny kids (she's a nanny). The kids had a blast:
Posing for the cameras:
Zoe loved the tiger a lot:
The Rino's... too lazy now to look up how they're getting written *lol*
Giraffes:
Talking to the animals *lol*...
She enjoyed it a lot:
The best part the 'train ride' back to the entrance... Missy threw a fit when we had to get off the train and wanted to get back onto the train *sight*...
Somebody was tired after this day... well... she 'missed' her nap so she smuggled one in on the car ride home. She hasn't slept in the car for months now...
We had a GREAT day :). We really have a great life... this week is another busy one ;). Well even if my weeks start out without anything planned, I can fill up my days fairly quickly and we're on the go every afternoon. There is just sooo much you can do with kids. Oh one very funny thing. When I entered the parking garage from the zoo... 80% minivans *lol*. BTW, we'll get our minivan by the end of this month :)... We buy it in another state since it's not available here... Frank will drive my car down and trade it into the new one *YEAH*...

Shopping with a driving Toddler

Found a random pic in my phone... very serious look:

This is what we've tried out yesterday for the first time. Thought it was a fun idea! However first of all you can't take this shopping cart with you to the car unless you wanna go back into the store and drop it off after loading the car since the cars are only available in the store after you pay 1$! (By the way, here in the USA you can just leave shopping cars in the parking lot, there are sections where you can leave them... we don't have to pay anything to get a shopping cart either except at Aldi *lol*... but unfortunately most people just drop carts off next to their cars and not care any further)

So... the whole kidfriendly shopping cart is a cool idea but somewhat uncool. I mean I didn't have to shop that much so I just brought my big IKEA bag and let them fill that one up so I can 'carry' it to the car... and the next uncool thing... while I was getting a DVD for the night from the 'redbox' (a vending machine in the super market where you can rent DVD's for 1$ per day... don't know if that's known in Germany either)... the cart went 'dead' and locked in position so I couldn't drive it anymore! So unfortunately I had to just let it sit there without being able to bring it back! I hope Zoe won't 'locate' the car next time since she really liked it a lot... she knows already where the fishes are *lol*... she's such a smart kiddo. So it was a fun ride but not made for my 'long' shopping trips *lol*
So now the next question comes up... how to decorate Henry's room? It's so difficult since it has to be boyish and I'm so not used to that. I really like this set plus I found a great sticker thing with notes and a song: 'Music is my life' that I could stick on the wall over the changing table

Or Frank thinks a sporting set would be really good (not exactly this one but I couldn't find the nicer one quick enough):Any other ideas that we should look into? I really want it to look great and boyish but I guess I need some help with that *lol*... decorating Zoe's new room I won't have any problems at all but I could use some boy help here though... hihi...

We won't buy anything until he's here since first off he really has to come out as a boy ;)... and then maybe getting to know him for a couple of weeks we might get a good idea what kind of theme might suit him well *lol*... over all he's just a baby!!! But anyways... he should get a very nice decorated room like his sister got :).

Our new awesome Ride :)

Woot Woot... I finally ordered the toddler seat for our new stroller addition: Bumbleride Queen B

When I bought the stroller months ago ;)... I tried to put Zoe in there for a test ride and she just wouldn't let me sit her in there. So I was a little worried about her accepting the toddler seat but somehow... I put in on and sit her in it today and she wouldn't wanna get out of there!!! We had to stroll her around in the house forever and even now being out of it she wants to go back into the seat... SHE LOVES IT... soooo cool. I can't wait to load it up with our two kiddos and take my strolls. Hope Zoe will enjoy her current Bumbleride Indie until Henry arrives, otherwise I'll confuse my neighbors with a 'double' stroller and only one kid in it *lol*... check it out... even Frank loves driving it :)...
the position with two kids sitting up. The toddler seat goes until 35 lbs and even when Zoe is that big we can switch them around so Henry uses the toddler seat and Zoe has to sit in the back... so this will last us for a while :).

33 week checkup with Henry

Today I went to the midwife and she's probably closing on their house (in our neighborhood) next FR... hope it all works out since she's already 24 weeks pregnant as well! It's so cool that she's going to be our neighbor soon :). Somehow everybody is having girls! My Midwife is having a girl, three of the girls I know from the meetup.com group that we hang out with every now and then are having girls (two are due in Sept and one is due in Nov). Henry is going to be the rooster in the basket!!! It seems to me that I've written this already before!!! Oh my... I just read my other posts... I double my entries already!!! Pregnancy-brain I guess!!!

Ok, back to activities from today! Henry is doing great or better I'm doing great *lol*... all my numbers are perfect and we're coming closer to the home stretch! I have to go back in two weeks and from then on it'll be a weekly visit until delivery!!! He's already located with his head down and is so active! He's keeping me up quite good... don't like that at all since I need my sleep in order to keep up with my schedule and not fall off my feet :(... but I guess that's what I have to live with for the next couple of months... my body better has to get used to it now!

After Zoe's nap we went again to a splash park (another one this time) fun fun fun. And on the way home we stopped at a new 'bakery' I got mail from which reminded me of panera bread just for pies! Wasn't thrilled at all but nice to have I guess! The pie tastes pretty good... had already a piece *lol*... I'm still looking for a cute little bakery with rolls, bread, cakes, cookies and pies like in Germany... search is still on :(

Lena Marie

YES, we have another girl in the family :). My friend Steph in Chicago just gave birth to their cute daughter: Lena Marie. She was born August, 9th 2011 at 11PM with 6lbs and 6oz and 19.5 inches long.

Congratulations to the proud parents: Stephanie and Marty. It was a long and adventures delivery... we (Sandra, Sani and I) went nuts following her updates on Facebook and dying to hear any kind of news... uiuiui... I was so exhausted I had to sleep in the next day (well... until 630AM!!! Others wouldn't consider that 'sleeping in' *lol*)... it was sooo exciting...

33 Weeks

33 Weeks and ready for my workout :)... Yesterday night my friend Steph in Chicago delivered her baby girl: Lena Marie. It was such an exciting adventure to follow her progress, I was totally exhausted this morning and couldn't get up any earlier! I'm glad it all went well, considering she was in the Hospital already MON afternoon and delivered TUE 11PM??? Long long time... we're all so happy that our family grew again and another baby girl joined us. Henry is gonna be the little rooster in the basket *lol*... poor little guy!

At the Playground

As soon as Zoe saw the playground and splash park from the car... she was super excited and couldn't wait to get out of the car and into the fun :)She loves the swing!!!

Go Blue - aeh... Pink ;)

Zoe in a 'Michigan' outfit ;) I got at the garage sale. It's so adorable... she's looking a little dreamy but I wanted to quickly take a picture:

Heritage Park - another Splash adventure

Today after our walk I quickly went to a garage sale of a member of our meetup group and made a great deal on some clothes for Zoe and Henry. That's the way to go :)... why spending all that money on new clothes that the kids just wear for a couple of months?

So now I FINALLY sorted out Henry's 'first' set of clothes (0-3 months), I'll wash them all today and put them into the closet so we'll be ready for him whenever he comes. His cradle I'll get done this WE as well... just in case. I think Zoe's 'stuff' we had all done 2 weeks prior to due date *lol*... and with Henry we still have 7.5 weeks to go... but it feels good to be prepared and don't have to worry about it anymore. It's anyways different with a second one since everything is 'in place' already. The only thing I try not to do is decorating the rooms! I'd love to start decorating Zoe's new room and Zoe's room she's in right now that'll be Henry's by the end of the year. Zoe loves her new bed already a lot... she sometimes just wants to go upstairs into her 'new' room and sit on the bed and read books! I have no worries that she'll be perfectly fine transferring in the new room by the end of the year.

Other than that Zoe and I both took a nap and then went to the splash park as you can see... she had LOTS of fun. It's so cool, I love these parks... you just go there for about 30 min let her run around, get wet and she had enough outside activity for the rest of the day :).
This 'bikini' I just bought today :)... Zoe didn't like it at all when I put it on... but I love the screaming colors... that way I can EASILY identify Zoe from all the other kids. Every time I go places with her people tell me how adorable my little one is :). Well... I know :). Today I actually didn't just say: 'Thank you' but said: 'I know, why do you think I enjoy watching her so much'? *lol*... overly proud mom *lol*... just couldn't help it today and went a little overboard with my comment back... but oh well... normally I just smile and say: 'Thank you' and keep the rest to myself of course...

Good Times

Well... of course I forgot again to take pics. Yesterday we were at Silke and Janos and the kiddos were playing so nicely together... I hope Zoe is as nice to her little brother as she is with Janos. She really likes him a lot :). It's always a joy to watch the two play... we just can't get enough of it :). The weather is just fantastic out here. It's in the 30ies (C) but in the shade you can totally stand it and just don't move around too much *lol*... Zoe loves being outside and since Silke has a fence it's so much easier to relax watching the kids while here we would have to watch them like a hawk. I wish sometimes we would have a fence.

Car wise we don't have an update yet but there is no hurry either... apparently a few of our wanted model came in or come into the USA in the next couple of days so we'll see if our dealer can trade one :).

Yesterday we had such a busy day... we also had our 1.5 yrs checkup at the doc with Zoe. Everything is very well... the only thing is that he wasn't as happy when I told him that she clearly 'speaks' only a few words! So now we have to encourage her to 'speak'... all the words that come to my head are so darn difficult! Like I wanted to tell her: remote = Fernbedienung... I said to Frank that it's not cool that I have all the difficult words and he has the easy language *lol*. We both picked a few words that we're going to try to teach her but we made sure they're not the same... not to confuse her too much. I'm gonna go for the easy one in the face: Nase, Mund, Augen, Ohren... 'mehr' she can say already... every time she wants something she says: MEHR! *lol*... We know for sure she understands both languages: English and German, but I guess that wasn't enough :(... Zoe is doing great though... she started throwing tantrums now... it's fun to watch but funny enough I'm as calm as can be with her and won't let her affect my mood or anything so she's not getting very far and very quickly she's back to normal... such an easy kid! Hope Henry will be as easy :).

Then this week I also got my 'immigration' exam done. For the 'permanent residency' / or I guess Greencard we made sure we know what kind of forms we have to fill out, which forms are needed etc. The exam we have crossed of the list now, I'm healthy enough to be able to apply! We'll see how that all goes... this month we're getting everything together and by the end of the month (after our 2yr anniversary) we're going to send in ALL the needed docs. Being married already for 2 yrs saves us two more forms and also a re-applying after 2-3 yrs. Mind as well save all that money!

So, my little monkey is starting to get up... time to get her breakfast ready and sip another coffee in silence *lol*... then we're off to take our walk (I'm so healthy... I think I haven't been healthier in my life!!! You should see my Blood Pressure this pregnancy! It's unbelievably good and I feel great!)... We'll stop by at a garage sale in the AM and in the PM I'll go to a baby sprinkle (2nd baby celebration - same as baby shower) of a friend of mine while Frank is spending some quality time with Zoe. I need to take advantage of the 'me-time' now since I bet it takes us a while to get all back and organized after our little peanut arrives and then I'm gonna be stuck with breastfeeding anyways again... but I'll pump of course as well so I can get out at least every now and then alone.