A long awaited update

So, since coming back from the US, we've been going non-stop. So, let's start from the beginning.

Amelia was a champ with jet-lag. Only awake the first night for a bit and then slept through since then...well, until she got sick recently, but that's another story.

When we came home, everything was white...EVERYTHING! We are having the coldest/snowiest winter in 40 years over here. It started snowing before we came home and when we were flying in, it was nice and clear so you could see everything. It was LOVELY! The drive wasn't too bad and Amelia slept most of the way...oh, and she slept like a champ on the plane, so I think that is why the jet-lag wasn't so bad.
When we got in, it was just a bit of relaxing after that and at the weekend, we headed to the in-laws so that we could get a bit of a rest and play in the snow. We took Amelia sledding...yeah, she wasn't so in to it at first. It was most likely because she was still a bit tired, but nonetheless, no fun was being had. We went down the hill maybe 3 times and then called it quits.
Charlie LOVES the snow (and so does Amelia). He is out there playing with his frisbee like a crazy dog. Him loving the snow is probably an understatement. If he could marry the snow, he probably would...that is how much he loves the snow.

Then came Nikolaus Day here. This is where St. Nikolaus comes to greet the children who have been good all year. Amelia, being a good little girl, got a HUGE Nikolaus...
And boy did she dig into it when we got home...

We put up our first Christmas tree this year. We had a small one in a pot one year, but I don't really count that one. We got a lovely one from OBI (like the Home Depot), and set it up one night after Amelia went to bed. She really liked it the next morning. I had ornaments all the way down, but after about a week, they all got moved up...out of reach of little hands who tended to pull them down and throw them around. I was smart and only got plastic ornaments and straw ornaments, so nothing broke.


After the setting up of the tree, nothing really exciting happened. Christmas shopping, wrapping, getting sick...the usual holiday stresses. Amelia had her first real fever (102F), which freaked me out and we had a quick trip to the doctor. After him telling me that she's going to be just fine, just to give her some fever meds (luckily, I got some infant advil in the US, so I had something on hand) and to be sure that she gets plenty of fluids. Luckily, she got over that one real quick, just in time for me to get the stomach flu, which also happened to be right in time for Christmas. Then Markus got the lovely funk a couple of days later.

Amelia being helpful handing out the presents... :)

Uncle Tom won with one of the best presents of the night, this toy that you hammer the balls through...she LOVES it! And the kugelbahn behind her...she can play with it for at least 15 minutes (which is awesome!) before she moves on and needs my attention again...
Santa brought her a Fly With Me Elmo. She LOVES this! She "flies" on it at least 10 times a day...and she loves putting random stuff into the seat compartment...good work Santa...
Christmas was lovely despite all the sickness. We had a lovely evening and Amelia was in a good mood (however, Christmas day and the following day I could have done without). It was nice being with family, but I am quite excited about next year being in Texas for Christmas...it will perhaps be a bit warmer...

We were thinking we were out of the woods with Amelia, but Wednesday-Thursday night, she threw up in her sleep (not knowing) and kept on sleeping. It was all matted in her hair in the morning and it was such a sad sight. Poor little munchkin. But she just had a few bad diapers and was kind of over it in time for New Year's...however, we didn't want to take the risk of infecting other people's children with this, so we had a lovely evening at home to ring in the New Year.

Oh, and before I forget, we had a lovely time sledding with Markus' cousin, his wife and son. At Markus' uncle's house, they have a little hill (and I mean little) that is absolutely PERFECT for sledding with the under 2 year olds. It isn't too steep, nor too long, it is really perfect. Julius and Amelia had a blast. :)

Oh, and that day was Charlie's 3rd birthday and his brother was in town, so they got together while we were sledding and had a blast running after eachother, the sleds, the snowballs....

Charlie and his bro Primus

So far, the New Year has started off wonderfully...all 21 hours of it so far. We went on a lovely walk with Charlie where he got to play in the snow...Amelia was carried around in her new lovely Deuter Kid Comfort III, the top of the line child carrying hiking back pack (thank you mom and dad!!!). The back pack is such a saver, especially in this weather, especially when I have Charlie here since where we go isn't quite stroller friendly at the moment because of the snow.

So, that is where we are at since coming back from the US. I'll try to keep this up better...in fact, I'll add that to my list of resolutions, which isn't too many, so it should be manageable.