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*...