Sleep

I know, I know. As a mom, especially as a mom of a young child, sleep is totally overrated. But it is that whole getting to sleep bit that I want to rant on.

Why the hell is it taking an act of God to get Amelia to sleep??? Seriously, the past few nights (with the exception of my night from hell) she has been absolutely fighting going to bed in her crib. I nurse her until she falls asleep and then I move her over to her crib and then she screams like she is on a freaking spit. I have now turned to the cry it out method. I know that she isn't in pain. I know that she has a brand new diaper on. I know that she isn't too hot or too cold. I know that nothing like that is wrong. So...what do I do? I have no more ideas other than cry it out. I forbid Markus to go in there...even when he really, really wants to...especially when I send him in there to calm her down, he ends up not really calming her down and bringing her out saying that she is so awake, just let her stay up an extra half hour. Grrrrrr....

If you mommies out there have any other ideas or ways to help me get Amelia to sleep in her crib, please, please, please let me know. I am at the end of my rope sitting here listening to Amelia cry while I'm on the brink of breaking down...

UGH!

I have been planning on doing some blogging today but alas, that didn't happen. I woke up at 1am this morning with some rocking brechdurchfall...needless to say, I spent half the night and most of the morning sitting on the toilet while puking in a bucket. Blah!

I feel much better now though...hopefully tomorrow will be a good day for blogging during Amelia's nap times...

Wieder in Deutschland

We got back today, June 9, to good ol' Deutschland. Amelia did amazingly well on the flights again. She was just a bit pissed on the first flight because she was so freaking tired. She fell asleep right before I went through security in Austin and I had to get her up because they wouldn't let me go through with her in the ergobaby...ok, fine. But after about 5 or so minutes of screaming...and I mean screaming...she fell asleep for about 2 hours. Awesome! Then we played for the next 2 hours of the flight.

When we got off that flight, I was feeling SUPER sick for some odd reason (no I am NOT pregnant again!) and so I quickly made my way to a newspaper store and got some advil, water and milk duds, because, well, milk duds make everything better right? We got to the gate and she was able to play for only about 5 minutes before they started boarding.

Now a side note about Continental airlines. A) Their call center and people at the airport have different information when it comes to the baggage policy. I paid for an overweight and an extra bag. I called them twice to be sure that Amelia is allowed a bag at 50 pounds and her car seat. Twice they said that it was no prob. Sweet. (And yes, I did need all that space...I went crazy at the scrapbooking store...) So when I get there and I begin my check in, I come to find out that I am only allowed 2 bags and the car seat. I argued with them almost in tears and my mom was there helping me out. After about 15 minutes of dealing with a really annoying lady we finally got to chat with her manager's manager. He looked over the call logs and low and behold, I was right. So, he waived what would have been a $150 fee for the other bag, so awesome! We were all checked in with my 170 pound of luggage + a car seat. We get to the gate and they are boarding and here comes my other complaint about Continental. They "pre-board" people with small children only after about 40 other "special" people are called. I go up since she was calling for pre-boarding and I was told, "We're not boarding babies yet". Huh...ok. It was a further 10 minutes before we could board and Amelia was pretty restless.

Luckily, on both legs of the trip we sat next to really nice people. It was great. This one guy tried to get me to take the middle seat. I asked him if he planned on getting up about 95 times during the trip and he backed off his attempt of getting the aisle.

So, we are home now. Markus took the morning off which was really nice. I was able to unpack and get most of this stuff put away. There are toys everywhere, so I think that is my next project. We did take an almost 3 hour nap...but it was MUCH needed by mommy and I am pretty sure Amelia didn't mind it either.

I still have some photos from the trip, but I will be getting those up later. I've got to get to straightening up.

Texas Thunderstorm

As well as enjoying pool time this afternoon, Amelia got to experience her first Texas thunderstorm. We were busy outside getting everything in that could fly away and whatnot, and Amelia was just so impressed with the wind...it was quite amazing too. So, here are some pics of her first thunderstorm...

A bit of a windblown baby (and mommy)!
A couple pics of the storm coming in...I tried to get a pic of the lightning, and you can kind of see it...sort of (in the first pic)...

Porch Pool

Today, I decided to buy a kiddie pool for the porch for the kids (Amelia and her two cousins). It was an absolute hit. We did need to let the water warm up in the sun, but that took just a couple of hours and by the end of everyone's nap, it was ready to be played in. And played in it was. Amelia was a bit skeptical at first with the two wild and crazy guys, but then she warmed up to the idea and stayed in for more than 5 seconds. :)

The best group pic...

Amelia warming up to the idea of being in there with the boys...

Almost standing on her own!

Looking at the two crazy guys...

Onion Creek

Today we went over to my friend, Maria's house...well, ok, her parent's house, but whatever. They have LOADS of land, horses, goats, chickens, dogs, puppies...ok, so really it is ranch. We went mainly for the animals, but ended up taking a dip in Onion Creek that runs through the property.

We started off with the pups since they were running all around and were just happy as could be to see people. There was lots of happy peeing, licking, jumping, tackling...it was adorable. Gavin and Jaxon really liked the pups. Amelia did too...she was flailing her arms and legs in such excitement! Too cute!
Then we went over to the goat area. Gavin pretty much immediately broke out in hives...note to self, Gavin is allergic to goats so next time bring the benadryl. He went back to play with the puppies. The goats loved Jaxon's shorts and they kept coming and nibbling at the tie stings and at the bottom of the shorts. He kept telling them, "Stop eating my shorts, goats!!" It was adorable.
Amelia really liked the goats. She got to pet them and even ride one. We held her on there, no worries. It was cute, the goat she was on was really interested in her sun hat strings and kept turning around trying to nibble on them...then another came over to nibble on them too...it was funny.
After the goats, we were going to head over to see the chickens, but Gavin saw the river and made a bee line for it...well, also since the dogs were down there. :)

The boys walked along the dam there, which they both enjoyed since they were being quite adventurous.
Then Maria had the wonderful idea of just letting them jump in...she jumped in fully clothed and we got the boys down to their underwear and they had a blast swimming around with Maria.
Of course, we couldn't forget about Amelia...we got her naked and she had a blast going around with Maria...and drinking a bit of river water...yum!
All in all, today was a great day. It wore the kids out...it wore grandma out...it wore me out! Amelia was in bed at 8:30, which was quite nice I must say. We are headed over there again on Thursday to see those chickens we missed and, of course, to go swimming! :)

New things

Since being here in Texas, Amelia has been able to discover some new things. Here is a list of the new things that I can remember...

*Heat. She is able to go around on the porch in just her diaper...that is a total new experience for her.
*Cheese. She loves cheddar.
*Mandarin Oranges. These are her new favorite fruit...she can eat about 10 pieces in a single sitting.
*Cuddling with a dog. Charlie lets her touch him...sometimes. Cali on the other hand, lets her rest her head on her and really pet her...and let her suck on her ear...
*Bugs. She has discovered rollie polies..thank god she wasn't the one to discover that scorpion in the bathroom though. I look every time before we go in there.
*Standing. She stood the other night for about 5 seconds on her own. It was quite exciting.
*Waffles. I broke up some little pieces of the inside of the waffle I was having and let her try. She really liked it.

A new use..

I discovered a new use for a bidet...ok, not really. I did use it how it is intended to be used, but on Amelia. She had a massive blowout and I realized that the wet wipes were in the car that mom just hopped in to go to Austin. I was just going to wash her off in the sink, but then dad suggested the bidet...great idea. It was perfectly Amelia sized and she seemed to like it ok (though in the picture she looks a bit concerned). I think I will use it more often for her. :)

Ouch!

My nephew was running around his new house the other day when he fell on the corner of a chair. A quick rush to the ER and 4 stitches later, he has an awesome battle wound. These pics are from a couple days after the incident, so it looks a lot better. On Monday, it hurt me a bit to look at it. But Jaxon is a trooper! He still runs around and plays like crazy with his brother Gavin, so it can't hurt too bad...right? I know if I were to have something like that, I would have to down some pain killers roughly every hour...

Texas Sunset

While all the excitement with the flight for life was going on, I almost missed a beautiful Texas sunset. There is really nothing quite like these...of course I am taking it from the front yard where all the action is taking place, but you can still see the orangy loveliness. :)

Good to know...

If there is ever an emergency here, it is good to know that flight for life will land in my parent's cul-de-sac. "How do we know this?" you may ask. Well, they landed there this evening. Not for any of us, but for a lady up the street who had a heart attack. There was a fire fighter in our drive way telling us to stay back, which we did. But, of course, in my quest to start taking more pics, this was a perfect opportunity. I just hope that the lady is ok. We don't know really which one of our neighbors it is, but I am sure that we will know tomorrow. That is how small towns work. Actually, shortly after the flight for life took off, a neighbor called my dad to get the scoop...

Flight for life in our cul-de-sac.

Dad chatting up the fire fighter to get the latest scoop on what is going on.

Texas Trip...Part One

We are now in Texas...and have been for about a week. I have been a bit slacking on the whole taking pictures thing though...oops. I will work on it this next week.

Hmmmm...Where to start. Well, the flight. Amelia was absolutely WONDERFUL on the flight. She didn't cry at all...not even take off or landing. If she started getting cranky, I would offer to nurse her, and if she didn't want that, we would walk around the plane, play or I would put her in the Ergo Baby and go for a couple rounds around the plane. With the latter she would fall asleep which was awesome.

Amelia with the luggage...it was also stuff for Munich...we only had one big bag, a diaper bag and a carry on. Mommy packs very well!

There were only 2 bad parts of our trip. A) the stupid in seat video on demand thing wasn't working...only in our row. They tried to reset it about a bizzilion times. All they said was sorry. What? Sorry is all you got Continental? I picked this airline because of these in seat movie things! United gave me a $250 voucher for future travel and all you got is sorry. Humpf. Then, when the stewards saw that Amelia was asleep, they didn't even offer to put up the bassinet. I specifically asked to be seated at the bulkhead because of the bassinet. Lufthansa put it up right after take off. Continental, you guys are slackers, and some of your stewards are pretty much dicks (I asked one if I could borrow his pen real quick to fill out the customs form before take-off so that I could get that out of the way. He just looked at me and said, "This is my pen and no you can not borrow it." I mean really. Come on!).

Whatver...that was the first leg...the second leg was awesome. Amelia was out even before we took off and didn't wake up until I got up after we had landed in Austin. Sweet!

The first few days were filled with getting over jet-lag and of course, a quick trip to the outlet mall. We went with good intentions. I need new shorts. Did I get shorts? Nope, I got a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts and Amelia got a couple new things. There is still time to get those shorts though.

Amelia did surprisingly well the first few nights with jet-lag. I was a bit worried I must say. The first night she was up at 4 for about an hour and a half. Then I got tired, so I took her up to our room and laid down with her and she drifted off to lala land roughly 3.2 seconds later as did I. The second night she woke up, but I just nursed her back to sleep and that seemed to work...though she was up at 6 ready to go. The next few nights she woke up during the night, I nursed her back to sleep and she gradually slept longer. Now (about a week later), it is pretty much how it was in Germany...just in Germany she didn't wake up in the middle of the night. It is probably because I am in the same room as she is and I think she is awake so I plug her in, but who knows.

The Thursday after we got in town, we drove with my mom down to Alpine, Texas to watch my little cousin, Sydnee, graduate as valedictorian from her high school. Amelia was awesome in the car. She slept for 6 of the 7 hours. Such a good girl!

Sleeping in the car...

Happy baby!

It was quite nice to see the family again. They are such fun and wonderful people. I wish we could have stayed longer if not for this stupid sickness I got...

So, while in Alpine...actually on the day of the graduation...I had to go the University health clinic. I was walking death. I had so much congestion in my lungs, my throat was raw, I was coughing, my entire body ached...basically, I felt like absolute hell. Luckily, my cousin, Paula, knows just about everyone in this 6,000 person town, and she called to see if they could fit me in...I had to be there by 11am...it was 10:40am...no prob. We got there, I filled out the paperwork. They called me back and asked me how I was. I basically had a mental breakdown in front of these nice people. I was sick. I was away from home. Amelia still had a cough. I felt I was ruining my little cousin's graduation. They brought me some water and tylenol and gave me a hug which is what I really needed and I felt better after that...I knew I wasn't ruining the graduation, but when you feel like crap, everything in the world is horrible.

I went in and saw the doctor...she tested me for all sorts of stuff. Then I stupidly made a joke about hopefully it isn't swine flu. Big mistake. She asked if I had gotten a shot...nope. "Well, then we've got to rule that one out. This might be a little uncomfortable." Let me tell you how uncomfortable it was. Holy crap. Never make a joke about possibly having swine flu unless you want a giant q-tip shoved up your nose to what feels like your brain. Yeah...not nice. Luckily it came back negative.

Gillian playing with Amelia

I kept reiterating to the lovely doctor and nurses that I didn't have insurance and they were so gracious and wonderful. They tossed out a few of the tests so that I wouldn't have to pay for them and gave me loads of free samples of albuterol (to put in a breathing treatment). Luckily, I ended up not needing them, but my brother, the asthmatic, will most definitely put them to good use. I was surprised that the bill was only $138. That was nice. Expensive, yes, but for not having insurance it was nice. Ok, I do have traveller's insurance and I will be reimbursed for it, but I had to pay it up front first.

Amelia playing with Wright. That ship in the background was her absolute favorite!

So, after a huge shot of antibiotics in my rear and a prescription for some more antibiotics in my pocket, I was sent on my way. The rest of the day was low key...that is until the graduation. By that evening, I was feeling a million times better. I could enjoy the lovely graduation and Amelia was wonderful enough to let me hear Syd's awesome speech. Let me just take a second here to tell you how awesome it is to be a valedictorian in the state of Texas. You are not only automatically accepted to any state university, but you are also given a full ride scholarship for 4 years! YAY! So proud Syd!

Amelia and I with Sydnee the valedictorian!!!

We left the Saturday afternoon after the graduation and the rest of the weekend was VERY low key. We went over to my brother's new house in Buda, Texas for a bar-b-que, and today, Memorial Day, we went to the outlet mall to look for those elusive shorts...didn't find them, but found some cute things for Amelia for when she is older. :)

Sea Life Munich

Before leaving for Texas for 2 and a half weeks, Markus and I decided to take Amelia to the aquarium in Munich...Sea Life. It was pretty nice. There were some huge fish from the Danube...so I made a mental note to myself to never ever go swimming in there! They could seriously eat my leg, or my child. Nope. Not going to do it! It was quite nice and Amelia really enjoyed it. Looking at the fish and other kids for about an hour and a half takes a lot out of a little girl and she slept for about an hour and a half after being there. Luckily, it is at Olympia Park in Munich, so there are lots of places to walk around there and it is really pretty. We even saw a mommy duck with 6 little ducklings. Too cute! The day was quite nice. We spent the night over at Markus' cousin's apartment. We watched the Champion's League final and shed a little tear for FC Bayern and their loss. Then we were up early the next day to get me to the airport!

Looking at some fish with mommy
The giant fish in the Danube...
"ohhh...kids"
Looking at fish with Daddy.