Rub a dub dub, 3 girls in a tub

A couple months ago I took this picture of Meika watching the older girls take a bath. This girl LOVES water! She would always stand naked watching the girls get bathed and then I would do her last. I felt bad that she couldn't sit and play with the other kids, but it was always too slippery and she is just so darn active. So sweet.





I did finally buy a bath seat where she can sit in the water and play with the girls. This girl is going to have a blast in the pool next summer :)

Too close for comfort

I have had some things happen over the last couple of months that have been a little scary. First was Norah. I was in her room with her and Meika and was changing Meika's diaper. We don't have closets in Germany, so we have to use wardrobes instead. Norah was playing inside the wardrobe right next to me. While she was in the wardrobe, she had grabbed two strings from one of her dresses that was hanging and must have twirled around until it was wrapped around her neck. She then walked off the front of the wardrobe, which has about a 8 inch drop from the ground. I heard her making a weird sound and turned to look at her and she had hung herself. Luckily I was about a foot away from her and was able to pick her up to relieve her neck from being strangled and unwrap the strings. I don't even like to think about what would have happened if I was not in the room with her.

Then comes Adeline. Last Saturday, Abe was coaching a wrestling tournament and the girls and I were home. I had been an emotional wreck all morning from the Connecticut shootings, but was trying to get some sort of a grip. We were up in my office and Adeline was really excited because she found a quarter. We talked about her putting it in her piggy bank. I ran downstairs to prepare Meika a bottle and within a minute Adeline bursted into the dining room frantically looking like she was going to throw up. I asked her if she needed to throw up and she couldn't speak or breathe and was starting to panic even more. She started trying to reach her fingers down her throat and that's when I knew she was choking. I set Meika on the ground (however I don't remember... it must have been quick) and grabbed Adeline and started hitting her back. As I was doing this and it wasn't working, I was trying to figure out in my head who I was going to call to come and help. I didn't even know the emergency number here! ( I have memorized it now!) When I realized that hitting her back wasn't doing anything I reached my arms around her to do the Heimlich. On my first "pump", a quarter flew out of her mouth and hit the wall. Oh.my.gosh. Adeline and I sat on the floor and hugged and cried for who knows how long. I am so thankful that she came running to me for help. Adeline is 5. She KNOWS not to put things in her mouth. She does have an oral fixation though and sometimes she puts things in there when she is fidgeting and doesn't even realize it. I am so grateful that she is ok.

The other night, I was talking to my dad and Abe told me I had to get off the phone because something was wrong with Chloe. Chloe was a little delirious and wasn't "all there". She was trying to walk, but it looked like her body was giving up and that she was going to fall over. Abe held her while I called the emergency vet to get her in. Not too long after, Chloe started acting more normal and alert in Abe's arms. He put her down and asked her if she wanted a treat. She completely perked up and started running around. Hmmm.... I thought she was going to die for a second there. We still don't know what is wrong with Chloe. I am going to go get some blood work on her. My friend says that when she watched her, she thinks she may have had a seizure. I guess that would explain the way she had been acting the other night.

These 3 events scared me half to death. Abe said that he was worried before Chloe had her episode that something was going to happen to Meika since bad things come in 3's. I guess we don't have to worry about Meika now :) But on a more serious note, this all has me thinking about how precious life is. I want to savor every moment with my girls.

PART 2: Parent visit

Oh how I loved having my parents visit. I didn't want it to end. I love our experiences here, but I really don't like being so far away from family. That is one part of the military that I hate about the military!

The Sunday that my parents were here, we thought it would be fun to go on a little bike ride around our house. It ended up being fairly short because it was pretty cold and Adeline surprisingly burnt out really fast. It was fun to ride around a little bit though. Riding our bikes has become a big part of our life here. Now that it is colder we don't ride so much, but when it is nice, we are on our bikes every day.















My parents, Norah and I drove down to Koln, Germany to explore. Norah was such a trooper tagging along with us. She is such a good little girl. I had already been to Koln once last year with Abe and the girls, but we just went to the zoo and then saw the outside of the famous Dom. The kids were spent, so we didn't even go inside. I loved being able to actually go inside this time. It was amazing!

















We also walked up the 509 spiral steps to the top of the Dom, which looks over the city. Luckily I brought the ergo with me and was able to throw Norah on my back. It was a great workout for my legs!









We walked around and saw some other amazing churches surrounding the Dom.







Remains of an old roman wall


Norah's reward for being such a good girl


While they were here we visited Valkenberg, Netherlands. I love this town and it is nice that it is not too far away.













at least Meika and I are looking :)
























after Valkenberg, we headed to Maastricht to go shopping. Well, we didn't really get to shop since we were with the boys, but we did get to walk around and enjoy the scenery.

Think our kids like being thrown up in the air?




And a pretty rainbow over my house when my parents were here


We miss you guys!!! Come back again soon :)

Kindergarten Holiday Presentation and a heavy heart

I have such a heavy and broken heart today. I cannot stop crying! The events that went on at Sandy Hook Elementary school yesterday are so incredibly tragic. I cannot imagine what all the teachers and the little kids went through. All I can think about is my little Adeline in her kindergarten class. Like lots of other moms are thinking, this could have been HER kindergarten class. She is so little, young and innocent. She is my baby. I cannot imagine the fear and horror all the parents went through and are going through. To have to rush to your child's ELEMENTARY school in fear that your child may not be alive is so horrible. A friend that I knew in Ohio has a daughter that was good friends with one of the girls that was killed. Tragic. The only thing that has brought me some sort of peace has been this picture. Really, there are no words.



I've been hugging and kissing my kids a lot this morning. I think it is going to be harder for me to send Adeline off to school on Monday. I am not looking forward to it. I am grateful though that she is at a DOD school with high security.

On Wednesday, Adeline had a Holiday presentation. They did a really good job!! Adeline had been talking about it all month long and had been singing me all the songs. I can hardly even look at these pictures of all the kindergarteners without crying. How precious life is.



Adeline's awesome teacher Mrs. Berlin














Meika was enjoying the presentation


Norah being silly hiding from me



My little Meika with her "bear bear" that she is obsessed with. I told Abe that we should hurry and change her out of her jammies before we left the house and he said, "Why pretend that she is always dressed up when she is not?" At least she is comfortable :)




We love you Adeline! You are an amazing little girl with a lot of spirit.

I have been so bad at keeping my blog up to date. I have been busy with photography and life. I feel like everyday is jam packed and no time to finish anything. I only have three more sessions to catch up on with photography and then I will update my blog with everything that has been going on the last couple of months!!