Our first week

We made it to Germany, and survived our first week.  Our flights over went pretty smoothly, except for Eli throwing up and spiking a fever in the middle of our transatlantic red eye. Our hotel here in Nurnberg is close to the city center (Altstadt - Old City), so we've walked there pretty much every day.

We had some griefs trying to find an apartment, because we're at the end of the month and our options were limited. Then, once our consultant contacted the landlords and they found out we had two little boys, our options narrowed even further. After a fair bit of determination, persistence, and increasing our price range, we found one that we can move into on Thursday! That means less than one week where the boys and I are stuck in a hotel room while Jess is at work. It's not that bad- we are in Europe and there is plenty for us to see. However, it is cold and rainy and Eli takes a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day. So, it will be nice when we are not in a hotel anymore!


So far, the boys love the Bavarian pretzels that are on pretty much every street corner, shelf milk isn't so bad, we still don't like gas water (carbonated water), cobblestones make for a bumpy stroller ride, and instead of regressing with potty training, Caden has gotten even better!

Did I mention that our apartment will be next to a castle? 

In the Middle

To loosely quote President Uchtdorf, we are always in the middle. There will be beginnings and endings, but we are still always in the middle, and it's what we do with that time in the middle that counts.

Well, we are in the middle. We are almost done with our time in Atlanta. We are about to start our time in Germany (9 more days). We are starting packing (first load to the storage unit today- HOORAY!), and finishing all our preparations. But we are constantly in the middle of so much. We are in the middle of raising our boys. We are in the middle of strengthen our marriage and our family. We are in the middle of improving ourselves and trying to overcome all of our weaknesses. We are in the middle of "getting over ourselves" and focusing on what we can do for others, rather than what we can do for ourselves. I am in the middle of projects and to do lists and some things that I fear might never end.

I am looking forward to leaving most of our "stuff" behind and spending 8 months that I hope will be a little more centered around our boys and enjoying the opportunities around us. This is a big "beginning" of sorts for us, but I know that really it's just more "in the middle" and I hope to make the most of this time. 

5 weeks and counting

...until we move to Germany, that is. Aaahh!

I'm filled with excitement, joy and anticipation as well as anxiety, fear and stress when I think about our move. Mostly everything that goes along with the move. Luckily, my husband is incredible and actually (i'm not lying here) ENJOYS packing. Well, he enjoys the challenge of arranging all of our stuff so that it fits perfectly in the smallest space possible. He's always proud of himself whenever we have leftover boxes that we used on a previous move. So, I'm not allowed to pack because of my extreme lack of spatial coordinated-ness (you get what I mean). Instead, I take care of the things that don't require 3-D modeling skills. Such as drive downtown to pay money to the State of Georgia so that they can stamp our documents we had to have translated and notarized, saying that the notary is a recognized notary. Yep, that was my morning today. 

So, I should backlog and put up all sorts of pictures from the time since I last blogged. Not going to happen. I've enjoyed not blogging or even looking at blogs for a couple of months. I don't spend much time on it anyway, but I do like to put up photos for those that do peek in on us every once in a while. Here's the brief update:

• Eli is one! 28lbs, 32 inches, 19 inch head= huge. But you're not surprised, are you? He's just holding steady. 
• Caden is almost 100% potty trained. I say 'almost' mostly because I still have to assist in certain things. We put him in a diaper or pull-up at night, but he hasn't woken up wet literally in months. Not sure why we still do it- probably because we cherish our sleep too much to want to deal with night time hysterics and a wet bed in the middle of the night. 
• We are working on making the boys true roommates (i.e. putting them in the same room at night while still awake). Still very much a work in progress...
• Jess is counting down the days til we move. Let's just say, he won't miss certain things about our time here (and it has nothing to do with Georgia). 
• Like I said, I vacillate between anticipation and anxiety as I prepare for our next move. 

We spent a gorgeous day at the park yesterday- Sunny, 70's, faint breeze, fall colors starting to come out- I won't miss the hot muggy Summer, but Fall has been amazing so far.

Here are a couple of pictures from the last couple months.

Our Family in San Francisco in August for my brother Robby's wedding

Caden and Mommy in front of the LDS Temple in Oakland, CA where Uncle Robby was married.

Daddy and Eli on his birthday at our favorite park.

Mommy and Eli

He regularly climbs and gets stuff off the counters, out of drawers, etc. Everything that he shouldn't be able to reach yet.

In case you're wondering, yes the curls are still there and going strong.

Some friends took us to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and I played around with the camera a bit between running after the boys.

Want them to sit still? Feed them.

trip to Washington

We got to go to Spokane, Washington to visit all of our Rose family earlier this month. We hadn't been in Washington other than Christmas/Thanksgiving for 6 years, so we were thrilled to be there, as well as see our family. Jess's sister Kari and her kids Anna and Nolan were there the whole time, and our boys loved playing with their cousins all day long, every day. 

Eli playing outside

Daddy helping Caden with Anna's stomp rocket. Notice Eli in the background eating a bowling pin.

We can't get enough of that smiley face!

One day we made giant bubbles- the kiddos loved it.

Caden and Nolan ready to pop the bubbles.

Anna and Caden riding the planes at Riverfront Park. The first day we went to the park it was freezing and raining. We were wearing pants and coats. A couple days later we went back and it was almost 100 degrees. If you want changes in temp, go to Washington!

Aunt Kari, Nolan, Anna and Caden with their American Flag jello. They couldn't wait to finish pictures before trying to eat the blueberries.

Melissa and the boys, waiting for fireworks on the 4th.

The boys in matching pajamas that Grandma made. The kids loved playing with this marble tower, but we had to reserve it for when Eli was sleeping. Marbles and babies are no bueno, especially Eli. He's like a heat-seeking missile for anything that could go in his mouth that shouldn't. He is teaching us the true meaning of "baby-proofing".

Melissa and the boys on the carousel at Riverfront Park. This was the 100 degree day.

Drinking slushies to cool down. My favorite is Caden's crossed leg.

The Riley's brought Anna's old bike for Caden to ride. He loved it. He "rode" around and around on that balance bike. He also loved the helmet and wouldn't take it off, even when we were done riding. (That's why he's wearing the helmet in the top photo)

We finally got the helmet off. That kid has some active sweat glands. The same thing happens when he naps.

This is a couple of days after we got home, but Eli is walking! 

We had so much fun being in Washington. All of Jess's siblings were there over the weekend and we got some family photos taken. Not so fun was the stomach flu that was slowly passed through the house. Jess and I were "lucky" enough to come down with it the morning that we flew home. Eli got it the night before, but Caden waited until after we got home. Thankfully, there was minimal vomiting/diarrhea on the plane.

Our June

We enjoyed our June in Georgia, continuing to explore the area. It was hot and muggy all month (no surprises there), so we took advantage of any cooler days. We live near the Chattahoochee River, and one Saturday we went hiking/walking along the water. Caden loved picking up sticks and trying to walk on the narrow, uneven path.

 We went to a Braves game one afternoon. We took the train into the city, then a bus to the stadium. Caden was pretty much in heaven on the public transit. He was so excited to be riding on "Spencer" (The silver train on Thomas and friends). The boys could have cared less about baseball, but it was fun to go anyway. Although, both Jess and I couldn't bring ourselves to do the tomahawk chop or whatever it's really called. We spent too many years rooting against the Braves for that. Caden, however, loved it and joined in every time everyone started chopping.

After our beach weekend, we came back to Atlanta and enjoyed another week of Grandma. I got to go to the mall (first time since Eli was born), we took the boys to an inflatable play place, had pizza night at the park, and just generally loved having Grandma (and she put up with us, even after the boys got her sick with a miserable cold. That's love). 

 We tried giving Eli corn on the cob after Caden decided he was finished with it. Big success. That boy was chowing down on that ear.

 Caden playing with his trains, kept safe by the barricade Gma set up so Eli couldn't "torment his trains" as Caden likes to put it. Eli looked on longingly, wishing he could rip up those tracks and chew away at them.

 Our budding Mozart. He does the same thing with our computer keyboard and mouse. How is he so big? That outfit is 24 months (and he's been wearing it for the past two months now). He eats like crazy, and we've gotten to the point that my milk is just not enough for him. So, nursing, 3+ meals a day, and a supplemental bottle, and he still wakes up to eat at night. He is BIG and HEAVY (haven't weighed him, but our educated guess is around 26 lbs at 8+ months). 

G&G W come visit!

In May, we were lucky enough to have G&G W come out to visit us in Georgia! Grandpa was here for a week, then we got to keep Grandma for an extra week. There were some set backs, such as both boys being sick and Caden had a yucky, croup-y night followed by our first visit to the pediatrician since moving here. Speaking of croup, Caden has twice woken up around 10pm with awful croup after going to bed with not a symptom of anything. Twice Jess and I have been out on a date and Grandma has been home watching him when said croup has occurred. We're just grateful it was Grandma watching and not some teenage babysitter, since the first time we had to take him to the ER to get the symptoms to calm down. Anyway, yay for Grandma!                           We spent one day down at the Atlanta Zoo. I must say, after having a pass to the Cincinnati Zoo and going there on a regular basis, Atlanta's zoo was a little, well, sad. It just doesn't compare. But, Caden loved seeing the animals and Eli sat happily in the stroller. The top two pictures are at the zoo. The second one Caden is standing in front of a sleeping giant Panda.

 

We spent the weekend down in Savannah, GA at a beach house on Tybee Island. Despite a car accident that apparently totaled our old camry, we made it down there safe and sound and enjoyed our time immensely. We had deep-fried sea food, and then we had some truly incredible sea food (okay, I had chicken, but mine was incredible as well). We played at the beach between downpours and went into Savannah to see the city. We ended up not spending much time there, because frankly, little ones don't care about historic sites or sight-seeing in general. We had a grand time at the beach, though. Jess drove down Friday night after work and spent the rest of the weekend with us, then we had to drive back Sunday and drop my dad off at the airport. 

 Eli started "real" crawling days before the trip, and figured out how to pull himself up at the beach house.

 Daddy, Caden and Grandpa playing in the waves

 Eli was not quite sure what to think about the water.

 Caden LOVED playing in the sand, building sand castles and burying daddy.

 Our family at the beach. Caden was absolutely miserable at this point (still sick) but still loved playing at the beach and didn't want to stop and take pictures.

 These faces just make me happy :)