Cologne (Koln)

On Saturday we drove down to Cologne, which was about an hour fifteen minute drive. We went to the zoo there ard it was not a disappointment! They had just about every animal imaginable and it was pretty big too. The girls absolutely loved it. The entire time Adeline kept saying, "Thank you so much for taking us to the zoo!!"





After the zoo, we headed to the Cologne Cathedral. It was AMAZING and humongous. I feel like I have seen some pretty big churches/temples, but nothing compares to this monster. Apparently you can climb the steps to the very top of one of the towers, but we didn't end up doing that for obvious reasons. The one thing that I did not like about Cologne was how crazy busy it was. The Christmas market was being set up, but hadn't even started. Not only were people there to visit the cathedral, I am pretty sure everyone and there dog was Christmas shopping as well. There was a main street with a bunch of shopping on it that we tried walking down. It was so jammed pack that we couldn't move any further with the stroller and turned around.

A little bit about Cologne:
Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria, English: High Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Mary) is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day.
Cologne Cathedral was built between 1248 and 1880. It is 144.5 metres (474 ft) long, 86.5 m (284 ft) wide and its towers are approximately 157 m (515 ft) tall. The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spire and largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio of any medieval church.






{before we got to the jammed pack part of the shopping street}


One of the things that suck about this huge cities is that there are never bathrooms available. I am having to go about every half hour, so just had to hold it. As we were about to leave Norah says, "I gotta go potty!" Luckily we haven't braved to bring her around with only panties on because even though she is a champ at telling us when she has to pee in the potty.... she is not so good at the pooping part. Even though she is wearing a pull up when we go out, we are trying as hard as we can to keep it dry. SO, thanks to my sister Sierra's suggestion on a travel potty, we were able to set it up in the parking garage and Norah was able to go before we made our trip back home. It was hard to pull her off of it too. She loved it!

4D pictures of the baby at 30 weeks

Here are some 4D pictures the doctor took for me at my appointment this last week. Pretty cute :)

Hoensbroek Castle

On Wednesday we ventured out with a girl I met here to Hoensbroek Castle in Holland. It is only about 5 minutes away from Schinnen, which is an Army base where we go occasionally to do our grocery shopping at the commissary. The girls didn't sleep that much the night before, so I was worried they were going to be terrible. To my surprise, they were completely happy and loved the castle. We were able to tour the inside of it and they loved that too. There was a little hidden room in the top of the castle where a man had hid after the French Revolutionary war, because he was being sought after. They never did end up finding him. Adeline has been a little obsessed with this story and wants to keep telling it and asks about it frequently. Not quite sure if it scared her a little bit or not. She really wants to go back and show Abe though!


{Adeline had a little obsession with all the potty's}

Nemur, Belgium & Martinstag

On Saturday we decided to do a little day trip to Nemur, Belgium, which is about an 1.5 car ride. We went to the Citadelle de Nemur, which was one of the largest fortresses in Europe. Unfortunately we were not able to make one of the tours of the inside of the castle, but were able to walk around and take a train ride tour of the grounds. The girls loved riding on the train and didn't want to get off of it once the tour was over. The castle grounds were amazing and pretty views of the city below it.












After we spent time at the Citadelle, we went down into the town of Nemur. I was so mad that I forgot my camera for this part because it was so neat. We ended up in a busy shopping area with lots of stores, music playing and neat buildings. We walked around, got some deli sandwiches and ate them out in the town square by some water fountains.

Saturday night, we met up with the Guesthouse owners which consist of a husband and wife and their parents. We all walked to the main part of the town together and met up with the parade that was marching through the town. The parade was led by a man on a horse (St. Martin). The parade consisted of a bunch of kids walking with their store bought or handmade lanterns. Adeline's lantern broke in the wind right away, so we gave her Norah's and gave Norah the little light that was supposed to be in Adeline's lantern. They both loved holding their lights and walking in the parade. The parade finished at the fire station where all the adults got Hot Chocolate or hot wine and the kids stood in line to meet St. Martin and get a big goody bag. They each got a bag with a loaf of bread shaped as St. Martin, chocolates, fruit and nuts.











{had to post this video of Norah's voice saying the prayer (repeating it)}


We have now been living out of our suitcases for 7 weeks, which just seems crazy to me. I am getting a little sick having to wear the same stuff over & over again, and miss not having random things around (like spices, or arts & crafts stuff, specific toys for the kids, etc.) but it hasn't been too bad. We get to move into our house in 13 days, but who's counting? I was SUPPOSED to get my car on Thursday, but just found out today that the vessel had to be repaired and is at least one week late. A big bummer to me as I have been holding off signing Adeline up for anything until I can provide transportation or just get out of the house when I want to. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will fly by and we will be in our house before we know it! I also saw my doctor again. He had me come in for fetal monitoring and another ultrasound because my baby was measuring small. The monitoring was normal and the baby is somehow measuring right on time now. They do ultrasounds at every single appointment and it is on the high tech 4D machine. It was so cute watching the baby yawn over and over again and he got some pretty good pictures for me. Crazy how fast the time is flying!

Happy Veteran's Day & Martinstag

Happy Veteran's Day! I feel very blessed to be a spouse in the military and am very proud of Abe and his military career. I am grateful for all those who serve and have served. Abe's dad is a Vietnam veteran and I am grateful for both his and Margie's sacrifice. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them! I also look at friends and aquaintances in the military that have sacrificed so much with their husbands having to deploy and be in harms way. So far, Abe has not had to deploy and I am so grateful for that.

In Germany today, they are celebrating Martinstag. The owners of our guesthouse have their parents living on the top floor of our guesthouse. The mom speaks very good English and she went and bought tickets for Norah and Adeline to participate in a little march to the town square with a bunch of other kids. All the kids will be holding their own lantern and walking to the town square together. She was sweet enough even to go and buy each of the girls their own lantern. Tomorrow night is when they do the actual celebration. Here is some background on Martinstag.

Martinstag - November 11
There is an old traditional German custom that has much in common with Halloween: Martinstag (St. Martin’s Day, Martinsmas). The Catholic Martinstag observance on November 11 includes costumes and a lantern procession for children. Also known as Martini in Austria and Bavaria, the feast day of Martin of Tours is celebrated in many parts of Europe, including even some Protestant regions. According to legend, Martin cut his red cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm. The traditional baked goose (Martinsgans) meal on Martinstag is based on another part of the legend. Feeling unworthy of becoming a bishop, Martin hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location, and the people of Tours had him consecrated as a bishop.

In parts of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland the Martinstag observance is a children’s affair. Carrying paper lanterns they have made in school, the young children take part in an evening procession, sometimes led by a rider on a white horse, emulating St. Martin and his red cloak. Sometimes the lantern procession ends with a Martinsfeuer (bonfire).

Making Progress...

We really have done nothing exciting. The good thing though is that we are making progress. Last week I took my German driver's license test and I passed. That was a big relief as I totally underestimated how hard the exam was going to be. IF there are active duty military guy/girls taking the test with you, apparently they go over all the hardest questions before the test so you won't get them wrong. When I took the test, I took it with two other spouses and they did not help us at all of course. 2 of us passed and one failed :( Another big thing is that Abe finally got his car that we bought and we are no longer relying on other people for transportation! He got a used Euro spec BMW that he can have fun with for the next handful of years while we are here. My car is supposed to be here in 8 more days and I am crossing my fingers that it will. Every time I check the status online it says that it is still on the ocean carrier. It better be here soon! Abe started work a week ago and it was really sad for me. He got to be with us all day every day for several weeks and we got a little spoiled. Now that he is gone all day, we are just hanging out at the house, jumping on the tramp if the weather permits and going to a park down the street just about every day. We are pretty limited as of what we can do since we are in the country and stuck without a car all day. Not that I am counting down or anything, but we have 19 more days until we can move into our house! Let's just hope our household goods arrive before then!!

A little about the German parks. They are SO MUCH BETTER than parks in America. It isn't just a plastic play structure with some slides and a couple swings. There are some slides, but there are also all sorts of cool teeter totters, rocking things, spinning things, zip lines, etc.









When we aren't outside on the trampoline or at the park, we are stuck inside and they have been screaming, fighting, hitting... you name it. I think I am going a little, or a lot, nuts. They have played really well together, and they have also been great enemies. They have never shared a room before, but they have been sharing the entire time we have been here which makes bedtime quite interesting. Most nights Adeline is screaming and yelling that she is just not sleepy and that it is NOT fun going to bed. She throws a fit and screams in her bed. Norah stays pretty quiet and then once we leave the room we can hear her stand up and start bugging Adeline. "Adeline, hey Adeline! Adeline, Adeline, Adeline....." Then Adeline will yell, "I can't go to bed! She is too annoying!" It's quite entertaining. I would like to say they are getting better and more used to yet, but they probably aren't.

{Here they are making a bunk bed made out of a shelf, to play house in}


Norah has seemed to grow up a lot since we have moved here. She is VERY good at nap time. We can reason with her more and she seems to get it. She is still talking like crazy and says anything and everything. She is also pretty clear at speaking and almost anyone can understand her. There aren't as many baby swings here, so she has been swinging in a big girl swing. It about made my heart stop when she first did it, but she is really good at it now. She has also been asking quite a bit to wear Adeline's panties. We let her several times just since she asked and it was not pretty. She would pee in them right away, or poop which wasn't fun. So I immediately would put her back in a diaper. The other day after a bath, she was getting out a demanded to go on the potty. I put her on and sure enough she went. She asked for "Adeline's panties" and I ended up letting her. She told me when she had to go potty the ENTIRE DAY and didn't have one accident. I was so proud of her. Yesterday was day 2 and she did have one pretty disgusting accident, but was solid the rest of the day. Today has gone pretty well.... one more disgusting accident, but other than that she tells me when she needs to go. I even took her outside for a long time with her panties on. I was not going to push potty training for at least another month and knew that realistically she may not be trained before the baby comes since she is so young. But she is doing so well and I am crossing my fingers she will continue to have the desire and progress.

German Doc & German Kindergarten

Yesterday we had a pretty busy, eventful day. I had my first appointment with my German OB doctor up in Heinsberg. I had Abe and the girls come with me since I was intimidated, plus I don't have my drivers license yet. Everyone was really nice and the nurses spoke enough english that we could communicate with each other. The doctor spoke English very well. It was a little different than appointments in the US. The building and rooms were very white, clean and "sterile" looking. When it was time for the doctor to see me, I walked into a huge office and sat at his huge desk while we went over things with me. After that he walked me in another room that was attached to the office where I actually had my visit. They did an ultrasound, which apparently they do at every single appointment. I had to remind him a couple times that I did not want to know what it is. Everything looks really good. Of course they were a little concerned because the baby is measuring at 26 weeks for some things and 27 weeks for others... when it should be measuring 28 weeks. No surprise to me though because that was the same thing that happened with my other girls. They were just smaller in the womb than normal. Overall I feel pretty good about the doctor and delivering at a German Hospital. The funniest part was that I had to go to the lab after my appointment to get blood drawn. That nurse didn't speak any english and it was funny trying to communicate everything to each other. They had me do a urine sample there and it was pretty hilarious watching her try to explain to me what to do. It is NOT the same in the states where you just pee in the cup and leave it!

{eating a pastry in Heinsburg}

After the doctor we walked around downtown Heinsberg and got some really good deli sandwiches. I really want to go back there because there are a lot of cute little shops and places to eat. That is one of the biggest towns (other than Sittard) that we have been to so far here. All the little towns around us are teeny tiny. We had an appointment at a local Kindergarten to where we will be living to see if we would want to send Adeline there. It is not walking distance, but about a 7 minute car ride. The people that were in charge and spoke to us & gave us a tour, were very nice. They, like most Germans, said that they barely spoke any English, but in my opinion spoke pretty well. While we spoke with them, Adeline decided to stay in one of the classrooms and play. This is where she amazes me. The felt VERY uncomfortable and really wanted us to stay with her. We told her she didn't have to stay, but she decided on her own to stay anyway. When we came back to get her, she was sitting at a table with the teacher and a couple other German kids. She had drawn a picture and was finishing writing her name in the middle. As soon as she was done she said to the teacher "A D E L I N E, Adeline!". The two teacher that were with us, and the one sitting at the table all looked at each other like they couldn't believe their eyes. One of the ladies we were with asked the teacher if she really drew the picture all by herself? It was pretty funny. They were acting like Adeline was a genius or something and they had never seen a little kid write their name before and draw a picture. She turned to us and said, "She really HAS to come to this Kindergarten!" We still don't really know where we want to send her. We found out there is a little Kindergarten in the same town that we will live in and is walking distance. I stopped by, but didn't feel as good about it as the other one. There is one other one I want to check out and then hopefully I will have a better idea. Kindergarten here is like preschool in the States and kids stay in until 1st grade. It really is more like daycare though where there are not a lot of academics (as you could probably tell by them thinking Adeline was a genius). We really will be paying for her to have some socialization and German classes :)

{Adeline's picture she drew at the Kindergarten}

Last but not least we met with our landlords and signed our "official" contract. I love our German landlords so much and am feeling really good about our decision. I just can't wait until the 28th when we can be in the house and start getting everything normalized. Adeline has been missing her bike desperately. EVERYONE rides their bikes here. I got the best care package from my sister last night and it made my week! Thanks Amanda :)

{can you tell Chloe is missing her bed? I keep finding her on the girls clothes in their wardrobe}

{random picture of Norah and her cheesy smile tonight}