Two months down...

Where has January gone? It seems like just yesterday I was hurriedly writing our "Year in Review" blog waiting on Matt to get home with our new (but very old) car. Much has happened in the past few weeks, though most of it mundane. I'm okay with mundane!

I'll fill you in as I'm sure you've been waiting impatiently for me to do just that! But first, one observation: We've been in Germany 2 months and 1 day. In many ways I feel like we just got here, but in others I feel like we have been here much longer. 2 months ago today was Thanksgiving and we celebrated it with the Keslings. We had only been in country 24 hours and were so jetlagged. We were glad to be out of the confines of the hotel but were still looking around dazed and confused. Fast forward to today and I sit here in my house, fully furnished with my things that arrived (mostly) unharmed. I not only have my house set up, I have a baby nursery completely finished just waiting on its new occupant. How in the world did we get from hotel to home in such a short time? My only answer is that many prayers have been prayed and all have been answered. We are so thankful for the many prayer warriors we have standing behind us, lifting us up in their homes, churches, and small groups. Without those prayers, we very well may still be in a hotel waiting for a house to come available.

Now that I have shared that observation, I will look back at the past few weeks in a bit more detail.

10 Dec. We got our unaccompanied baggage, a WONDERFUL day! I put our Christmas tree up and a few of our personal photos around the house.

11 Dec. I took my second 3-hour glucose test and failed miserably. (I had passed the first one in the states, so I developed Gestational Diabetes at around 26 weeks.)

17 Dec. MY STUFF ARRIVED! Oh, what fun I had putting things where they belonged. Okay, fun might not be the word, but I was glad to fill our empty house with our things!

22 Dec. I finally had my diabetes appointment which opened my eyes to a whole new world. I never had any idea what managing one's blood sugar levels entailed. (The day before, Stephanie drove 2 hours here to get me, drove me and all 5 of our kids an hour and a half away to a Pharmacy that had what I needed for my appointment, the drove us back home. Then, of course, she had another 2 hour drive back home. Army is just family waiting to be introduced. I am blessed!)

31 Dec. We get our new (but old) car and have the freedom to drive to Ramstein Air Base to see our friends who had taken the ultimate adventure and flown Space-A to Germany!! We welcomed the New Year in but only barely, as the boys fell asleep 20 minutes before midnight and we had to work hard to keep our eyes open. It was very strange not being able to see the ball drop this year. I was NOT about to wake up at 6 am to see that... sleep was more important!

1 Jan. We spent almost the entire day at the Ramstein BX/PX because we had told the boys that our treat for the afternoon would be to see the "Squeakquel." When we got there to buy our tickets they were sold out. We were VERY disappointed. I decided to head back to the cashier and ask if there were any tickets left for the later showing and she said there were. But only 4. She sold them to me and then told me that Bailey would just have to sit in Matt's lap. NO PROBLEM! Only thing was that movie was much later than I expected. We ended up at the Bailey's house after 7, if I remember correctly. But we still had time to chat and visit before bedtime.

2 Jan. We took our first trip to a touristy destination: Triberg, Germany, home of the "House of 1000 Clocks." We ate real Black Forest Cake in the real Black Forest. We about froze as the temps were much cooler there than we had expected. We didn't get to see the largest waterfall in Germany because we didn't realize we'd have to pay to see it. None of us has the energy to spend the time outside to see it, plus we didn't really want to pay for it. So, we headed back to the Bailey's house for our 2nd night and had the men go get Doners for dinner. YUM.

3 Jan. What fun we had that morning! We got the kids as bundled up as we could and let them sled for about an hour! I believe that was the highlight of the weekend for my boys, considering the trip to Triberg was mostly an adult-fun kind of day.

4 Jan. I take my DRIVER'S TEST! And I pass! I studied a lot because I had heard what a tough test it was going to be. It was worth it and I was SO thankful to have passed! (Small note, today, the 26th, I got my real license in the mail! I've had the temporary one in my wallet thus far!)

5 Jan. I get a call at 4 pm stating that my car is here. WHAT?!? I asked if we could come right then but he said there wasn't time. I had to wait until the next day.

6 Jan. Now, I don't mean to undermine any of the previously mentioned amazing things I had experienced thus far, but there was something truly blessed in having my van returned to me. After being squashed in a tiny BMW, which we are absolutely grateful for, having my van which perfectly fits my family was truly a God-send. I love having my independence and I love being able to fit my family into one car without having everyone touch each other. Being in a BMW with 3 kids is like trying to fit all 5 of us in a queen sized bed and trying to get a good night's sleep. Could we sleep? Maybe. Could we get a good night's sleep? Uh, no. SO, spreading out in my van was glorious! And, on top of that, I had freedom to come and go as I pleased while Matt was at work. I had a drs apt later that week and was able to take myself! (I've learned that my van will fit in the parking garage but on level 4 my antenna will scrape the ceiling, freaking me out every time!)

12 Jan. I attended the required New Parent Orientation class at WAAF giving me a prized possession: A tag to place in my car giving me access to the "Expectant Mom" parking places at the post office, commissary, and PX! YEAH! And it lasts until Parker's 6 weeks old! LOVE parking up close, especially when it's snowing!

I also had another diabetes appointment (haven't been listing them all as they're mostly boring) but at this one the dr threatened me with hospitalization if my numbers weren't better in 48 hours. I cried when I got home, got over it, mentioned it in FB and had many people praying for me very soon. My dad fasted from sweets and soft drinks which is a very difficult thing for him to do, as he's the one who unashamedly eats dessert before meals whenever possible. I appreciated this more than he'll know!

13 Jan. I attended my first Chaplains' Spouses Coffee. It's good to be around other people in similar situations! Starting to get back into a normal lifestyle!

19 Jan. My first PWOC in Germany! Oh, how sweet it is. I actually had tears streaming down my face during worship as we sang, "In Christ Alone." So great worshipping with other women and then getting to sit and learn in an intimate setting with them. So great I can't put it into words.

I meant to mention that at some point the boys started going to AWANA. The first week all three were hesitant, but Carson and Bailey dove right in. Hayden said several times that he didn't want to go. The next week all three went and again and Hayden was still hesitant. Matt asked him afterwards if he had a good time and his much-too-mature-for-his-own-good response was, "If you're asking if I want to go back next week, the answer is, "no." Well, tonight happens to be AWANA night and he has not complained since and goes with no trouble at all. He actually has fun! It just takes him a while to warm up to new situations. He gets that from Matt, not me, but I'm sure that's pretty obvious to anyone who knows us! :)

22 Jan. I take the boys to our first homeschool co-op thing since Hayden was in Kindergarten. Physical Ed at WAAF and they really enjoyed it!

23 Jan. Oh, was this a lovely day! Matt had scheduled a Pedicure for me and gave me several hours off in the middle of the day. I went to Babies R Us and looked like an idiot trying to get a buggy. You have to put a Euro in the slot to release the buggy from the buggy in front of it, but I misread the sign and was trying to put in the wrong coin. I asked help from a German lady who sifted through my change only to discover I didn't have the right coin. She, thankfully, had left her buggy unsnapped and walked over and got it for me. I'm sure she walked to her car thinking to herself all sorts of less-than-flattering thoughts about me. Oh well, I got a buggy and shopped by myself for over an hour. It was heavenly!

25 Jan. I had my 2nd opinion diabetologist review my numbers and insulin levels. She told me that all looked fine and I should continue on as I have been. What a relief to know that so far I'm doing a good job!

26 Jan. And here we are, to today! Another great day of PWOC and AWANA for my family. Chapel services are what we get as a formal time of worship with other believers. I consider these two ministries as what "Sunday School" might be in the civilian world. Our SS class in Forest City was a group of people in a similar age group in similar life settings doing life together. We welcomed each others babies into the world, worked hard at Upward basketball, and played hard at softball. Not to mention, we ate together every Sunday night after church at Bantam Chef!

We don't have that same luxury in the military setting, but PWOC offers part of that to me, AWANA offers that to the boys. I wish there was something like this for Matt.

27 Jan - TOMORROW we get to go tour the hospital where I'll have Parker! Can't wait to see what is in store for me! I've heard so many stories!

It's hard to believe that all of the above has happened in 2 months. And even harder to believe that our 4th son is due in 51 days... less than 2 months! I love adventure and having a life that is sometimes a whirlwind! But I'm glad that we're here for 3 years and can get settled in and get more of a routine! Speaking of that, when I left the homeschool co-op Friday, a friend I had met at PWOC 3 days earlier said, "I guess I'll see you on Tuesday." That small comment made me realize that I am finally getting into a routine, one in which I'll see friends on a regular basis. It made me start to feel at home here. While I already feel at home in my home, it is great to begin to feel that way when out and about with other people!

Some thoughts on Germany...

This entry may be a bit scatterbrained, but at least I’m admitting it up front. The past several weeks have been a complete whirlwind and I’ve loved almost every bit of it. Six weeks ago today we entered the Colorado Inn at Fort Carson since much of our stuff was in boxes and it was next to impossible to be comfortable in our house. We loved that place very much and hated to leave it at all, but with me being pregnant and the boys being, well, boys, we needed to get away from the boxes and on to a place that would house us. Staying at that hotel afforded us the chance to still be on post, near our friends, and among our familiar surroundings. We had a great view of our mountain and the boys had plenty of room to run around. After six nights there we loaded up our van and drove across the country. We chose a southern route in order to see new sights! We stayed in Amarillo and Dallas TX, Lafayette, LA, Pensacola, FL, and finally made it to Orlando a day early. We stayed in a non-Disney hotel for 3 nights before the grandparents arrived for our real vacation and we got settled in Port Orleans, Riverside for six nights. Great hotel with wonderful food, on site with a convenient shuttle bus system to take us back and forth to the parks. That trip was a dream come true, one we had waited and waited for. I so appreciate Disney for offering the Military Discounts that made the magic possible! The only disappointing part was Animal Kingdom but Matt and I had suspected that and, as it was our last day, all of us were pretty much ready to be done and none were too sad to leave the park early. (Not much on animals in the first place.) After we completed our stay at Riverside we moved into a hotel I had selected along with the help of our fabulous Travel Agent, Melissa Sims. It was within walking distance to the POV Processing Center where we were to drop off the van for shipping and it had a free shuttle to the airport. We spent 3 nights in this hotel waiting for our flight to Germany. I’ve written about our experience getting to the airport, about the flight, and our first night in the German hotel in this blog.

So I want to write a bit about our time here in Germany with some pictures I’ve taken of random things I have found neat or interesting.

I’m going to start with some things I noticed at my doctor’s appointment.

* When they had me drink the sugar water, it was not an “orange soda” kind of drink at all! It was 75 g of water that they had mixed up probably the day before with some serious sugar or something. It was just in a mason jar and the nurse poured it into a Dixie cup. I had to drink it all right then…no 5 minute window.

* There is only one chair for giving blood in the offices that I saw, so when they needed to take my blood and the chair was occupied, the nurse just took it in the lobby.

* When they take a vial of blood, they take it to the lobby and put it on the receptionist’s desk. You’d never see that in America. (Not saying there’s anything wrong with this, but it just doesn’t happen in America. Blood doesn’t come to the lobby for any reason!)

* They do an ultrasound at every visit, and the dr. does it herself. She was very quick and I’d say she was better at it than any technician I’ve ever had in America. Got a beautiful picture of Parker in just seconds!

(I took a picture of myself at the request of a few friends wanting to see the baby bump. Here it is at 25 weeks 5 days.)

Here are some random things I’ve experienced:

* Drinks in restaurants – they don’t give you ice in your drinks and since I was prepared for this, I just accept it. I don’t try to order ice, I just drink my coke as it comes. There are no refills so we tell the boys to go easy on it. There is a neat concoction that I had been told about before we came that my boys really like – coke mix. It’s a mixture of sprite and coke! The boys love to go to fountain machines and get a little of everything (GAG) so this is like a toned down version of that!

* It stays dark until 8:30 am and is dark again at 5 pm. I have heard that the summer is the opposite, with it light at 5 am and still a bit bright out at 10 pm.

* It rains almost every day. This leaves everything, sidewalks, streets, playgrounds, benches, etc, soggy and moist all the time. I am using a LOT of stain remover on their clothes and washing their coats all the time due to moss and mud. But at least they’re playing outside. We are currently borrowing a car from some friends and it is SPOTLESS. They don’t have small children with muddy shoes so we’re putting walmart bags on the boys’ feet before they pull their feet in the car. Works pretty well! (And, of course, they don’t get in with muddy clothes. We only get muddy at the playground and if we’re going somewhere in the car, they change into clean clothes.)

* The dollar is very weak. We had to pay 50 Euros for something and we can just use our debit card. The receipt always shows the Euros and the dollar amount, which was something like $76.00. (This pic is of our first ATM withdrawal of Euros - I blurred out important info...)

* The windows are strange here. There’s a handle on the side that turns ¼ of a turn to open the window like a door or ½ a turn for the window to crack open from the top. Odd, but effective

* There are water shut off valves on wall above sink and toilets in my house and they were in the hotel as well… strange placement.

* The houses around here are beautiful and very old! Most were probably single family homes for very wealthy people years ago and have been converted into multi-family apartments. (Wiesbaden is an upscale town, very wealthy. We have seen stuffed animals in store windows downtown that cost 700 Euro, and that is $1025.19!!!!)

* Most of the cars are SUPER small! They look hilarious to me, considering I have 4 kids and these cars often don’t even have a back seat or any storage at all.

* There are few bathrooms in public, if any, and those you run across might require a fee to be able to use them. This picture was taken in a restaurant we ate in. The sign says that if you are a customer of the restaurant you don’t have to pay, but if not, place 50 Euro Cents in the box.

So, to wrap up the past few weeks since arriving in Germany:

We got here on the 25^th of NOV and had Thanksgiving with friends we had met in Columbia a few years ago. We spent 9 nights in the American Arms hotel, ready to be home. We had no trouble sleeping the first several nights after just being so exhausted. But then the time change caught up with us and we needed to “help” our systems adjust so Benedryl became our friend. (I even had to give the boys some two nights… wide awake at 11:00 pm is not my idea of okay, but their systems thought it was somewhere between 3-5 pm…not sure if their body’s were on Mountain time or East Coast time). I also started having my annoying issue with hives again, though until this past Sunday they were not severe. During the time in the hotel Hayden felt Parker kick, and was the first one other than me to feel him. Matt felt him a few hours later. Bailey asked the funniest question: (he's 5 years old) "When Parker comes out, are you gonna love him?" Me: "Oh yes, I will love him so much." Bailey: "If he's not our color, you'll still love him." Me: "I sure will." (But if he's not our color, I'll have some serious explaining to do to Matt!)

And we purchased iPhones after waiting years for them. Very pleased with our purchases and haven’t regretted it for one moment!

We moved into our house with just the things we flew here with on 4 DEC and have felt at home ever since. The Army had placed beds, couch and chairs, and a dining set in the house for us to use until our goods come. A friend in Matt's new unit loaned us enough bedding and linens as well as some curtains to tide us over, and CH Kesling loaned us a TV and DVD player. My what a blessing! Since I can’t purchase coffee yet (must have a ration card for that) Heather gave me some from her house. I think Matt and I would have been growing beans out back if we hadn’t had that gift given to us! He’s going to try to find out about getting our ration cards tomorrow, his first official day on the job.

Our Unaccompanied Baggage (that we had shipped 7 OCT) was delivered 10 DEC and I put our tree up right away. (Our Unaccompanied Baggage in front of our Colorado house being packed for shipping.) (Our baggage being unloaded here in Germany.) Found out that night as I was putting lights on that half of them were out. Matt bought more the next day and we’ve had a beautiful tree up since then! We are lamp people, using overhead lighting very seldom. Being in this house without our belongings, however, has caused us to have to use overhead lights. Now that we have the tree up we can turn off all the rest of the lights and watch TV by the light of the tree, which gives a much more homey feel. LOVE those moments! Oh, and I had asked my facebook friends to pray that my sentimental ornaments arrive unharmed… they did! Not a single one damaged! These are so special to me as Matt and I have been collecting them since we met.

We have had one crying spell with Hayden (8 years old) because he misses his friend, Jeremy. It breaks my heart but at the same time, I know this is part of the experience. He’s learning hard lessons and how to handle them well. He’s written several notes and now I just need to get them stamped and in the mail. We have a trip planned to visit our great friends, the Baileys, for New Years. Stephanie is one of my closest friends and our kids are close as well. I have missed her since she left Colorado ahead of us back in the summer. We’re only 2 hours apart and once I get my van (and driver’s license) it’ll be MUCH easier to visit. For now, we’re excited about getting to see them soon!

I failed my one hour, then my 3 hour glucose tests, so I have to go to a diabetologist. Never heard that word before, but I’m going to see one.

Love the milk… Army milk and its organic. Who knew?!?

Carson lost his 3^rd tooth and he says, “I have an “L” in my mouth!”

I got my internet and phone turned on yesterday and feel SO much better. Access to the outside world and the ability to type with both hands makes me happy! It’s the little things in life…

Well, I’ve been under the weather for the past 4 days and the boys have had to fend for themselves for the most part. I think I’m feeling better so we may attempt a walk around the neighborhood. Tomorrow I go to WAAF (the Army post where Matt works) to schedule my diabetologist appointment and to see if I can get my glucometer. Yuck. Glad to be feeling better!

Merry Christmas, my friends and family! If you celebrate a holiday other than Christmas, then Happy Holidays! (But I must say I'm a bit annoyed that so many TV stations are ignoring that this is actually a Christmas Season and refuse to say that word. I don't mind if they want to add the other Holidays to their well wishes to their viewers, but I wish they would recognize my holiday!) At least they're still showing movies that say Christmas, like 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' Off my soap box for now!

~Jennifer