Loire Valley, France

Starting in the middle of February, Abe had to go on a month long "trip" down to a French Military base in Avord to enhance his French skills. Adeline had a week off from school during this time frame and I contemplated if I should drive the girls down so we could visit Abe and do something fun together one weekend. Abe has never had a deployment (yet) and he rarely has to go on work trips, so the girls were a little out of sorts. Adeline in particular was super dramatic about it and would randomly cry that she missed daddy quite often. She had to speak with him every night and she wouldn't go to bed without a framed picture of her and Abe lying by her side. Like I said, a little dramatic!
When Abe was able to go find wifi somewhere, we were able to facetime him, which was nice!

Abe was able to meet up with his good friend Rob one weekend to see Mont St. Michel. He sent me this picture of him in front of it that he took from his iPad. Let's just say that that new little ipad that we got him (to imessage, facetime, etc) got stolen at the end of his trip :(


After I mustered up the courage to make the trip, it went quite well. I left right when the girls woke up in the morning and started driving. I had tons of snacks and had make them each a lunch I could pass to them in the car when the time came. They were happy and quiet the entire car ride. I was able to drive for 5.5 hours before stopping to fill up on gas again, get the girls a treat and take a bathroom break.



The French military guys that Abe was working with knew that we were going to come hang out with him for the weekend, so they let him have Friday off too. We decided to meet in a little town called Saint-Aignan where we rented a little apartment/house. While we waited for Abe to show up, we walked across a bridge and found a fun little park for the kids to play at with a neat view of the town with the Cathedral and a Castle up above it. After playing, we walked through the little town and finally found a little grocery store where we bought some fruit, a frozen pizza to cook and a couple little essentials.





After eating our "luxurious" pizza, the girls sat and looked out the window because they were so excited to see Abe. It was fun to see him after almost 3 weeks.

Our first day we spent at Chateau of Chenonceau. On the way, we were passing lots of random castles, so we stopped to take a picture in front of this one. So neat!


Anyway, Chenoceau was amazing! The grounds were ginormous and so pretty. The girls had fun running around through the little farms, seeing some donkeys, playing on a playground and of course seeing inside the castle. The girls love walking from room to room in the castles and seeing fancy furniture and guessing which princess lived there.
































That night we walked around the little town we were staying at and explored a little bit before getting Crepes for dinner.



















Our second day we went to Chateau d'Usse, which is the Castle that inspired the original Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. It appeared on a couple different websites that it was a must see, so we decided to go. I was a little disappointed. The grounds were tiny and the there wasn't that much to see of the castle. They did have a little part of the castle that was all set up like Sleeping Beauty's castles for the kids to see. This castle was twice as much as the one we had gone to the day before, so it was quite a disappointment. We were not there for very long and then left because there was nothing else to do. The girls thought it was fun though, so a little bit of a win.












Adeline was a little bit scared...














After that, we decided to drive over to another Castle, Chaumont Sur Loire. By the time we got there, Meika was sleeping and the kids were beat. We would have had to walk a lot with the kids and then we were not willing to pay another ginormous fee for a short visit to see the castle. We tried to see it from the road instead, but it was completely hidden.

On another note, I loved this cute little old boat in the river in front of where the castle was.


Then we headed back to the house to visit our local park and make dinner for the kids.







Our last day, we visited Chateau Chambord. Another ginormous, amazing castle!!





























After we were done with the Castle, we played out on the lawn for about an hour before we had to say goodbye to Abe.


Remember how I was bragging how EASY the drive was there? Well, the way back was NOT the same. It took me eight hours to get home and Norah had to go to the bathroom a total of 5 times in the first 4.5 hours. One time was when we were stuck in the middle of traffic in Paris. Nowhere to pull off and Norah had to put a diaper on. She had to go so badly while Adeline was helping her put it on, that she peed on Adeline, on the floor and a little bit in her diaper. She ran up to the front of the car so I could help her finish putting it on and she also peed on me. She spend the next 10 minutes changing clothes, and cleaning up the car. Let's just say that when dinner time came along and we had to eat in a very overpriced restaurant (because there is no such thing as convenience in Europe), and not one person spoke English... and my kids were swinging on the food tray bars.... and people were staring at me wondering who this pregnant crazy lady was traveling with THREE kids... I may have shed a few tears while trying to order our food. I was very, very happy to get home!

Karneval

Karneval is a huge celebration/Holiday around here. The kids get a week off of school and the actual celebration for Karneval lasts for days. It is insane. There are numerous parades every day, in every village that last just about the entire week. It is a Catholic "pre-lent" celebration, that people go pretty crazy about. For weeks leading up to Karneval and the week of, you see people walking around everywhere in costumes, crazy wigs, face paint, etc. It seems like this is their biggest Holiday that they celebrate and in my opinion, almost every Catholic Holiday is an excuse to have big parties, get drunk and stay up throughout the entire night.

I feel a little bit bad because this was our last opportunity to go to a Karneval parade or participate in some of the activities. Our first year here, I did go to a celebration with my German friend Michaela in our little village, but have never been to a parade. I have heard that a good portion of the parades are rated "R" and are not too suitable for kids viewing. The one I really wanted to go to was the Children's parade in Sittard, but of course it was on a Sunday. Oh, well. AFNORTH (Adeline's school) does have a big celebration so I decided to go and watch. Norah was also able to dress up and be with her class for a bit. Although, she ended up being overwhelmed and just wanted to be with me.

Say What!!???

Right before my 16 (almost 17 week) Ultrasound, I was having major anxiety about my pregnancy. I worried that since I had gone a month longer than the last pregnancy, I was that more attached. The baby was that much more developed. I knew if something happened, it would be THAT much harder than the last time. It really consumed my thoughts. I was starting to feel like there wasn't much hope. Pretty sure I already mentioned that, but it consumes me and I can't help it; although I am trying to be better! Here in Germany, you get an ultrasound at every single doctors appointment. The doctor himself does the ultrasounds. I'm always very anxious right before because I am worried there won't be a heartbeat, but it is always so reassuring to see the baby every appointment. I wish I was as naive with this pregnancy as I was with my last. So much less stress! To make a long story short, the doc took a butt shot picture and it totally looked like a boy. I asked if it was a boy and he said, "Well, it could be a boy, but even at this stage girl parts can sometimes look like boy parts. Could be swollen girl parts and could be the cord". So with that said, we tried to take it with a grain of salt. After all, I know about 5 people here that were TOLD they were having boys (even farther along) and they ended up finding out they were having girls later on in their pregnancy. Of course I had it in the back of my head though, but surely a boy wouldn't be a possibility. We don't make boys, we make girls! I'm not even sure what I would do with a boy!

Well, my almost 20 week ultrasound came along and the first shot was again a butt shot. It for sure looked like a boy, but of course I am skeptical for many reasons. I asked the doctor what he thought it was and while laughing he said, "What do YOU think it looks like?!" After I replied "boy", he confirmed that it was a boy. I still questioned him and made him look from several angles, made him look at the blood flow of the umbilical cord to make sure that is not what he was looking at. I said, "Dr. Kaeshal, you KNOW I have 3 little girls, right? I need to know for sure this is a boy because I will be getting rid of ALL of my girl clothes!" Every time he got back to that "shot" he would laugh and say "that is NOT a girl!" or "That is not a cord!" So it's 100% sure. We are having a BOY! So crazy. It has been 2 weeks, and I am still in shock. It is hard for me to imagine having a little boy. Growing up with only sisters and having 3 girls of my own, I don't know what to do with a boy! Just to keep things clear, we would have been just as happy if it was a girl. We love girls and were not having a a 4th to try for a boy. Yes, it is a little more exciting right now because it is something new. I'm excited there will be a mini little Abe running around!





When we got home from the ultrasound, I sent out this little picture to our family members (of those that I have their phone number and can iMessage).



The next day, we told the girls we had a surprise for them. They got to open up a box filled with either pink balloons if they were getting a baby sister, or blue for a brother. Norah and Adeline kept saying, "I hope it's a baby brother!!" Originally I had pictured that I was going to take the girls all dressed cute, this box/balloons and bring them to a picturesque area. I had a vision of the girls opening up the box and the balloons floating into the sky as they were super excited. Well.... didn't really work out that way. This day was the worst day we had so far this winter. Cold, rainy, SUPER windy.... ugh. We MADE them go outside for the quick (and non picturesque) reveal in our backyard and then I took one more picture inside. At first I was sad I hadn't got super cute pictures, but I was over it fast. Who cares?!





Needless to say, the girls are thrilled. Well, Meika is indifferent because she really has no idea what is going on! But the other girls are over the moon. So are Abe and I :)

Meika Turns 2

Where did the past two years go? They seriously have flown by. It feels like yesterday that she was born and I am a little sad to see her growing up into such a big girl!

She was really cute on her birthday. She didn't really "get it", but she loved that we kept singing Happy Birthday to her. At some point in the day, she was singing it to herself almost constantly with a big grin on her face. Once we blew up a couple balloons and I started to maker her (pathetic) birthday cake, she started getting excited. She was so cute when we sang her Happy Birthday and had her blow out the candles. She sang the entire time with us, while rocking back and forth. She even did a great job at blowing out the candles right away. As soon as she did, we realized that the video wasn't actually working and made her redo the birthday song and the blowing out of the candles. She happily did it and then yelled "again!" right after.







Meika also loved opening up her presents!











Meika's birthday had just a handful of presents and was totally low key, but perfect.



There are so many things I want to remember about Meika at this age. I feel like I have been saying this Meika's entire two years of life, but she is such a little sweetheart and such a good baby... or should I say little kid now? She has such a nice, sweet temperament and hardly ever fusses or cries. She has become more of a picky little eater lately, but we are trying to nip that in the bud. Some of her favorite foods are cucumbers, noodles, yogurt and fruit. She is talking now, but seems a little slower at talking than my others (a lot slower than Norah, but she was a freak of nature!!). I feel like in a month or so, she will be a lot better at speaking. She just seems to not be as mature as my other two were at this age. Maybe it's because she is so laid back or because I baby her! She sleeps from either 7:30 or 8 until between 9-10am and also takes a two hour nap. Oh how I love what a great sleeper she is! It will be hard for me to want to transition her to a big girl bed or take away her binky while she sleeps. I don't want to ruin her sleeping habits! She wants to keep up with her sisters and is always playing and mimicking them. I am starting to play with the idea of potty training her. She is not as ready as my other two were and doesn't seem extremely interested. My goal is just in the next couple of months so she can be solid before the baby gets here! She is a little too attached to me right now and always wants me. Abe told me yesterday that we need to wean her from me a little bit! I love my little Meika!!

34

At the beginning of January Abe turned 34. I was feeling a little bit guilty because both Norah and Abe's birthdays snuck up so quickly after Christmas. I promised Abe that next year I will plan ahead and have a plan for their birthdays. Abe had to work a shift on his birthday, so was gone until pretty late. Luckily, we were able to sing to him and celebrate with a birthday cake. Abe had found a Ribs Restaurant that he wanted to go to for his birthday, so that next weekend we headed out for a Rib dinner. Then a couple weeks later, we headed out to some "outlets" (which are NOTHING like the States... they are super expensive) and we found Abe a snazzy suit. He has been getting lots of compliments at church!



I am so lucky to be married to such a good guy. He is such a hard worker and provider for our family. He is such a good dad. Sometimes I whine about bedtime because that's when I lose my patience, but Abe loves putting the girls to bed. He is always willing to watch the kids so I can get stuff done, shop, or whatever is needed. He gets on the floor with them and has pillow fights, wrestling matches and there is always a fun factor. He is always taking such good care of me. Making sure that I am taking care of myself, getting to bed, helping out around the house (folding laundry, doing dishes...) and is such a good, loving husband. Happy Birthday Abe, we love you!!

Norah's 4 Year Old Pictures

Finally got time to do a handful of pictures of Norah now that she is FOUR!! This girl is something special. She is such a sweetheart. She has such a laid back personality and is definitely a peacemaker. If there is an argument or fight going on between her and her sister, she usually gives her sister what she wants and is happy about her decision. She's always happy when she gets woken up in the morning and rarely has any breakdowns. She gives just about the best hugs you will ever receive. She can be slow and take her time (because she's always in lala land, Norah's own little world), BUT she is pretty coordinated and catches on pretty fast. People are still amazed with how well she talks and the vocabulary that she uses. She has the silliest facial expressions. I could go on and on about this girl. Everyone that comes in contact with her falls in love. I love you my sweet sweet Norah!