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 :).