Volksfest

Since we live in the country, there is not much to do around here unless you drive 30 min away. This weekend we had something here! On post, we had an American/German Volksfest. They had both cultures here and mixed them together. It was a lot of fun since I had a burst of energy! Hint hint, baby coming soon maybe! Devin went on a field trip there, so I decided to meet him. We stayed from 12:30-3:30 and then went back with Dane 6:30-8:30 until I could not walk any more!

Most of these pictures are of Jarom not happy. He has the look of "how dare you put me on this." He was very unsure about everything, but he really did have a good time.

Here is a German toy you see everywhere at volksfests, but the first time I have actually bought one for the kids. Jarom loved it. It is full of candy, but more of it ended up spilled all over my car!

Another look, how dare you put me on this ride! "To fast" Jarom said.

Dane thought it was fun to scare Devin by rocking them, not very nice daddy!

I had to have a picture of us having a funnel cake. The kids loved it, first time for them. See Jarom eating fast. Never really care to much about festival food before now. I do not know if it is since I am pregnant or just missing America!

After a long time, we were all tired!

Offically Baked!

So one website told me that the baby is offically baked now! I thought that was interesting way of saying it. We sure are ready to have another boy in our family. I went to the doctor today. I am about 1 and a half cm dilated. I was dilated the same during this week when I had Jarom. The swelling has gone down a lot since the weather here went down to 65 degrees! I love it! The worst part now is my back pain which kept me up all night last night. You would think your back would not hurt while sleeping. It is very hard to turn over. Today, the doctor had some interest advice on how to help the labor process progress like drive on very bumpy roads and going up stairs. I think the baby will just come when he is ready which hopefully soon. Grandma will be here in 9 days!

Precious moments

Can you tell Jarom likes CD's? I am trying to teach him the correct way to hold a CD without getting it dirting. Dane saw this and thought it was cute, so he took a picture.

There is nothing like having family prayer and seeing your precious boys kneeling down for pray! What a spirit they can bring into the home. Of course, this is only a reenactment for mommy to take a picture. They are truly children of God and a blessing to our family.

This week

I saw the doctor this week and the baby has dropped and low, so it's okay to have him any time now! The head is good size, but the shoulders are big. Both the other boys were the same. Grandma will be here 2 weeks from today!

Today, I got 2 hours to myself and got a pedicure on my swollen feet! It was nice to just go shopping and look around without kids. It must have effected Jarom because when I saw him afterwards, all he would say was, "mommy bye bye, mommy bye bye, mommy bye bye."

Devin finished his half day summer enrichment program at school this week (last 4 weeks). Next week he starts a different full day summer program that will keep him busy with activities, field trips, and outside water days. I think he will really enjoy it. We also have had a highschooler come and tutor Devin on reading for the last month, 2 days a week for 30 min. On the other days, I have been doing 2-4 worksheets with him. Hopefully all this will help when he starts school again.

All ready for the baby to come now!

Today I had my appt at the Hospital (25 min drive away) to sign the paperwork to have an epidural. Here in Germany, you have to sign paperwork ahead (before labor) or else you are out of luck. Many people have told me that the midwives try to puch you along without an epidural until it is to late to get one. They better not do that to me or my red hair might have to come out, ha ha! I found Labor and delivery and gave them all my information. They wanted to know detail information about each of the boys and birth details. So I feel much better now knowing where everything is including the underground parking garage. It took me some time to find the little drive way going underground to park with no sign. Parking here is crazy with so many restrictions. After asking for help we found the lobby (which was labeled "E" in the elevator???). I also had a hard time getting back to the parking garage (which was labeled "98" in the elevator???). Do not know where they get 98 from! Since the elevator would not take us there, we got off and took the stairs. On a plus note, almost everyone I asked for help or talked to could speak English! That makes me feel good. Now to just get Grandma here we are good.

A Nice Sunday

We had a really good Sunday today. It rained last night, so I woke up to my house being about 65 degrees which was PERFECT! Much better than in the 80's. If that was not enough, I got this perfect picture of the boys before church. Normally I have to get grumpy for them to stand still and smile just for me to miss it. Today was different, the picture below of the boys was the first shot I took. Wow, the little things that make a mom happy!

My handsome boys!
I thought of you Melody with the white shirts!

Friday Fun!

Devin was invited to a birthday party at the swimming pool. We have not explored here yet I guess because I am pregnant. It was a lot of fun except for tons of people. I had a hard time keeping track of both kids, so I called Dane to hurry over after work.

They liked the zip line.

Even Jarom got on there with Dane's help.

I love his face.

Jarom really likes playing in the sand.

Devin was kind to help me with Jarom in the water since I did not go in.

Jarom woke up sick with a bad cough and fever sometimes. My poor baby!

I can do this....

I need to post all my pain and suffering I have been undertaking, so the next time I get a crazy idea of getting pregnant, I can come back to my posts and remember the pain:) I am 36 weeks now with about 27 days left. I can do this....... I am sitting here very sick and nausous and no energy to go to the store and get food. My back is better than last week, but I still walk like a duck and try to endure the back pain of walking. It got hot here again in Germany (90's with no air condition). My ankles and feet are swollen again which none of my shoes fit now. I never had swelling before. It can really hurt at times when I do to much. My poor husband I know is so tired of seeing me in this pain.

On a very cute note: Jarom just asked me for Devin (which does not sound anything like Devin). I told him he was at summer school. Jarom got really sad. I said do you want Devin home? He said YA in a very sad way. So cute! It is nice to have the boys love being with each other when they are not killing each other!

Doctor Visit

I went back to the doctor Wednesday morning, and the baby did move back head down, hey! His spine was facing my belly, so the doctor said the measurements were not good again. I would like to know how big he is. There is some communication problems with my German doctor. I guess I should have not taken my thyroid meds before my appt. I did that my last appt and told her. She never told me about this appt. I have to repeat everything she said, so I understand.

I normally have LOTS of back pain with every pregnancy, but I did something to it worst and now I have a hard time walking across the room. I hope it goes away because I have things to do and a 2 years old to take care of.

One month and my mom will be here to help with the baby! HEY!

Summer fun!

Our days seem to be uneventful lately since I really do not have much energy. For 4th of July, we got to see the fireworks right from our windows at home. We live about 2-3 blocks away from the big Holiday fun. Since it has been very hot here, my feet and ankles have swolen up and hurt. Monday the kids played outside for a long time and had a blast.

My car!

Here in Germany you have to get your car inspected and PASS in order to get a tag and drive. Well, my car needs to be renewed which means I had to get it inspected. I took it almost a month ago and DID NOT PASS! One head light had to be adjusted and I had an oil leak. This does not sound bad if we were in the US with US car parts. Any car parts I order takes takes 2-3 weeks to get here. Meanwhile you have only 30 days to pass inspections. We got the engine cleaned to see where the oil leak was located. They told us the main engine seal which is about a 9 hour job which would cost us $800 plus parts. I also had to order 2 new head lights. We just wanted this car to last us until we move back to the US and get my NEW MINI VAN! I got the new seal and they were about to do this big job when they called me today. They said now they do not see any leaks! They did install my new head lights. So what did I do? I picked up the car and went straight to the inspection place and PASSED!!!!!!!!!!! TODAY IS A GOOD DAY!

100 Year Celebration

Historical picture of the water tower here

Wednesday was the 100 years of training here in Grafenwoehr

Water tower with Jarom

Devin on a very dirty Army truck

So here is the story of the great celebration everyone was talking about (A must to go see)! Well, after waiting 3 hours waiting for the sun to go down, they finally started. Of course they had food, but it does not take 3 hours for us to eat. Germans like to socialize more while eating. The kids did have fun running everywhere while waiting. After a very long speech on the History of Grafenwoehr and many thank yous, they had a reenactment of the first shot done here 100 years ago followed by the Grand Tatto! I heard this was great and had to see! It turned out to be the German March Band that played for us, not what I was expecting. Sorry to say this was not worth waiting 3 hours and staying up till 11:30 at night!