going 'au naturel'

**If you are not interested in reading anything about childbirth, then close your browser NOW.**

Being 5 1/2 months pregnant, I have been thinking a lot lately about how I plan to have this baby. To review:

Charlotte was induced (a week late,) and I had an epidural (that 'clogged' before the real pain began,) and I had RIDICULOUS problems for 3 months afterwards. Seriously... it was finally taken care of with a follow-up surgery, which was also no fun, so in total my recovery lasted about 4 1/2 months (during which I cried every single day.)

Toby was born here in Germany where 'natural childbirth' is the preferred way to go. So that's the way I went, but I wasn't really committed to the process, I didn't prepare for it appropriately (which is at all,) and I didn't really know I could scream that loud for that long. (I was hoarse for days afterwards.) That said, Toby was an enormous 9 lbs. 1 oz. and yet 8 hours later I felt incredible.... well, good enough to get out of bed and shower on my own.

So, people have been asking me how I plan to have this next baby. And it is a good question that I have been considering for some time. I've decided to try to have a natural childbirth again. It hurts! There is no way around that truth, but I am hopeful that with preparation I will be more ready to cope with it this time around, and that my recovery will be faster. I have to admit, learning the baby is a girl (and will likely be a bit smaller) has influenced my choice. (And of course, if there are unforeseen complications or other things beyond my control, then we'll have to re-evaluate as needed.)

But I am committing myself this time around and I want to do what I can to be prepared... So if you mommies out there who have done this before have tips or reading materials you would recommend, PLEASE comment and let me know about them. I need all the help I can get! :)

latest baby news

Well folks, this day has been an up and down one! I was scheduled to see my ob/gyn this afternoon, but then had a very scary pregnancy incident this morning. (I won't get into the gory details.) I called Rob and he came home from work and took me to meet my doctor at the hospital. Thankfully, the exam showed that the baby is fine and everything should be fine. Whew! I have honestly never been so frightened. And I am very thankful that it turned out to not be a problem for our baby girl. Oh wait, did I just say that? ;) YES, in all of today's drama we have learned that we are having another little girl. Toby is non-plussed, but Charlotte is ecstatic! She suggested we name the baby Pinkie Pie. It's been an emotional day, and I am just glad that it has ended on a high note. :)

Keukenhof

After a good night's sleep, We drove to nearby Keukenhof to see the tulips and other flowers in bloom. It is still quite early in the Spring, so not all of the tulips were open yet, but there were PLENTY for us to admire and take photos of. We also ate some yummy Dutch food-- fresh stroopwaffles and Dutch apple pie with hot chocolate. I'm glad we went early in the Spring and early in the morning, because we were able to avoid the crowds, and the kids could run around pretty freely. It was a gorgeous day!

You can actually walk across the pond on these little platforms. However, Rob took the kids out on just the first one, since it was only 50 degrees out and we didn't have another change of clothes for anybody.

I love these bright yellow fringed tulips!

After our first loud chorus of "Don't pick the flowers!" The kids, thankfully, didn't try to do it again.

Just a little field of daffodils. ;)

Rob took the kids in the petting zoo.

(Me and my flip-flopped feet gladly waited outside the dangerous doo-doo zone.)

A rainbow of flowers. This place is kinda like Disneyland for botanists.

We climbed up this windmill and listened as a visiting band played below.

The view of some of the fields from the windmill.

Another way to tempt our children into the very cold water was with these crazy bridges.

Of course, Charlotte needed to try it as well. They ended up with some wet feet from this one, but nothing too major.

These blooms were as big as Rob's hand!

I've never seen such beautiful flowers.

Silly girl.

This place was much more fun for the kids than tromping around museums in the city.

We just kept saying, "Ooooh, look at THOSE!"

And "I like THESE the best!" Over and over again. :)

It was a great day and to top it all off, the kids were so exhausted they slept half of the way home. Yay!

Amsterdam

On Friday we went on a quick trip to the Netherlands. It's about a 5 hour drive from our house to Amsterdam. We decided this will probably be our last European trip while we live here, so we splurged on one night in the Marriott rather than our usual budget B&B accommodations. It was nice to be in a comfy room, but we had limited time to see the city, so I picked just a couple of things that I really wanted us to do there.

This says Amsterdam to me.

Bikes, canal, canal houses.

The number of bikes zooming around is really striking. And I barely avoided being struck by one more than once!

Our kiddos with a statue of Anne Frank.

We went to the Anne Frank House, which does not allow photos, but you can see the secret annex here and see some short video clips about the experience of being in hiding. (I highly recommend it.) I found this museum very moving. I am soooo glad we went. The concentration camps are horrific because of the scale of the atrocities that occurred there, but this place was more emotional for me because of the intimacy of the tragedy. I also found it difficult to answer Charlotte's questions, but she was much more interested in this place because girls lived there "just like her."

No trip to a European city would be complete for us without stopping to buy a hunk of cheese to take home. (PS. I don't want to hear anything about how enormous I look in this picture.)

Next we headed out for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant called Sama Sebo to celebrate Rob's birthday. We had (l to r) omelet, chicken, pork, rice, fried rice, and also (not pictured) sweet and sour fruits, and sweet potatoes. We had never had Indonesian food before and chose this because Indonesia was a Dutch colony for a long period of time, and it is a very popular cuisine in Amsterdam. It was alright. Not our favorite, but we did eat it all up. ;)

Finally, we spent the evening roaming around the Van Gogh Musuem (which also doesn't allow pictures.) I have seen pictures of his Sunflowers (above) for as long as I can remember. But I never knew that in real life the paint is so glossy that these flowers actually shine! Charlotte thought they were quite "sparklish." It was really a memorable and very full day for us. And our kids managed amazingly well considering how late we kept them up.

The Birthday Man

Newborn Man

The Original "Little Man" Rob- 6 mos. old "Little Man" Jr. Toby- 6 mos. old Big Brother Man

Big Hair Man

Missionary Man

(Madagascar or Ile de la Reunion)

Married Man

First Time Daddy Man with Charlotte

Second Time Daddy Man with Tobias (Same shirt? Must be good luck!) OutdoorsMan Traveling Man

Family Man

My Man :)

they grow up so fast!

Okay, I'm not quite ready to burst into a chorus of "Sunrise, sunset" just yet, but our kiddos have hit a couple of milestones this week.

Charlotte had her first school pictures.

Yeah, I goofed it with the dirty pink boots. If I'd known her feet were going to be in the picture, she'd be wearing her black patent leather Mary Janes. Oh well, I kinda like seeing the muddy boots since she wore them to school each day for months. The German Kindergarteners go out to play EVERY day- rain or shine, and these boots kept her feet dry and warm.

We recently had Charlotte's class over to play for a morning... 18 kids and 2 teachers! I was really impressed by how Charlotte behaved with her friends. I was most happy to see how kind and compassionate she is. There is one girl in her class with special needs, who doesn't speak, and Charlotte took extra care to make sure she had things to play with and had fun. Likewise there is one other non-German speaker in her class (from Poland,) that her teachers told me Charlotte has befriended. These two girls can't really talk to each other, but walked around holding hands, playing, and laughing together. I am extremely proud of my sweet girl. :)

And then there's Super-Tobs.

Toby has kept me very busy this week with potty training. He has given many indications that he was ready for this step, and I have been procrastinating because, oh I dunno... I'm pregnant and preparing to move back to the US?!? However, he would not be deterred and we have spent a lot of this week in the bathroom. He has done really, really well! He loves getting a happy face on his potty chart and earning rewards like stickers, chocolate, and balloons. He even got himself out of the tub one evening and peed in his potty independently. Looks like we'll be shopping for big boy underwear tomorrow! (And maybe I'll even get a break from diapers until the baby is born in August? I can't even describe my excitement at that thought.)

road trip- part 3

The last few days of our trip we really slowed the pace down and enjoyed Austria.

(Sorry if the spacing is weird, the computer was fighting with me.)

Charlotte proclaimed Hallstatt to be "better than all those other places" and Rob and I really had to agree. It was so nice to be in a small town after so much city touring. This is the MAIN road through Hallstatt. I know the photo is blurry, but I had to show you this road. We (and by that I mean Rob) drove our minivan down this road. Insanity.

The entire town is clinging to a mountain on the edge of a lake.

Gorgeous.


Just one more view of Hallstatt.
We only stayed here for lunch and some much needed fresh mountain air, but it was a highlight of our week.

Then it was time for the last stop on our road trip- Salzburg, Austria.

This is our one and only family photo from the trip.

Mirabelle Gardens with the Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background.

Doesn't it just make you want to sing, "Do, a deer?" (The Von Trapp family was from here, and they filmed parts of the Sound of Music movie here.)

Charlotte and Toby knock on the door to see if anyone is home at the Mozart Geburtshaus.

Rob and I found this museum interesting, but the kids only liked the little violin, and getting to watch bits of opera on TV screens.

The Salzburg Cathedral.

It's kinda like a Cadbury creme egg-- It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside was delicious! It would have been incredible to hear Mozart perform here as a young boy.

One teeny little part of the ceiling inside the Salzburg Cathedral.

I had every intention of us attending a marionette show while in Austria, but it didn't happen. (Combination of cost and length of performances, told us it was really not for kids.) Our kids posing in a cut-out will have to suffice.

Toby listening to the "children's tour" of Hohensalzburg Fortress. (I listened for a minute of it, and it was really boring, but he liked holding his own "phone.") Also, notice his Spongebob watch? He got that in a kid's meal like a year ago and wears it almost every day now because it is "just like daddy's." :)

"The hills are alive...."

So, here's a fabulous thing that happened. I really talked up the FUN-icular ride to the fortress to the kids. So of course, it was closed for repairs. So the four of us hiked up the extremely steep hill (with no stroller) to the fortress. (Allen, do you remember how steep this was back in 2004? ) After touring the fortress, we headed out (per Rick Steve's advice, and with a map) to walk around the top of the hill; planning to head down to the parking deck at the other end of the trail. This would have been great, if that route down the hill hadn't also been closed. So we made a big loop, stopped for an ice cream (which we totally had earned at this point,) and made the best of it by picking flowers and singing songs. It was not the plan, but it was a quiet and nice way to end our sightseeing. :)

One last photo shout-out from Rob to a special sister.

And that wraps up our road trip blogging!

Hope you have enjoyed seeing some of our photos. ;)

road trip- part 2

On to Budapest!

The Great Synagogue in Budapest.

Hungary's Parliament building.

The Great Market Hall.

This was one of our favorite spots in Budapest. We browsed crazy meat, gorgeous veggies, and incredible assortments of paprika.

Toby joining Hungary's top dogs in Heroes Square.

This is a reproduction of a Transylvanian castle in the city park. A lot of "original" historical buildings in these countries were damaged or destroyed by the Nazis or the Communists. I gotta tell ya, by the time we visited Budapest our enthusiasm was waning. We were pooped. Big dirty cities, tricky metro systems, and Hungarian was the most challenging language to decipher of all. It was a struggle.

Must be time to move on to Vienna!

Rob and the kiddos in front of Hofburg Palace.

This is one of the few appearances of our stroller on this trip. Mostly, we made the kids walk... part of that was because we backed over the stroller with the minivan on the first day of the trip and it was kinda broken for the rest of the trip. It has been laid to rest since we got home.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is just gorgeous. I love that colorful tiled roof!

Inside St. Stephens.

This is a photo shout out-- you know who you are. ;)

We toured the royal apartments of Hofburg Palace. This is part of the silver museum there. There are about 40 rooms full of dishes. It's insane. Charlotte and I were fascinated by the Empress Sissi. We both agreed with her love of ice cream, but her vanity and 3 hours a day spent on doing her hair were what convinced Charlotte that princess life was not for her.

The Opera House in Vienna.

We toured inside the opera house, but several of my photos did not turn out very well. I have never been to an opera house before, and thought it was very impressive. Rob was apparently feeling inspired by the surroundings as well, as he began singing the marriage of Figaro on our way out. :)