1st time at the Dentist

Last week I took Norah to the dentist for the first time. She sat completely still and followed all their instructions. Not really a surprise that she cooperated so well, but I was so proud of her. She is such a good little girl. She thought it was really need that she got a glove balloon and a sticker at the end!

Big girl on her two wheeler

I am so proud of Adeline! Living here in Germany, everyone rides their bikes. Seeing that gas costs about $9 per gallon, I can see why a lot of them resort to their bikes for transportation. All the little kids ride their bikes too. If they are under 3, they are riding a running bike (balance bike) and 3 year olds and up (including some 2 year olds) are riding 2 wheelers. Adeline really wanted to ride her two wheeler without training wheels like all her German friends. We took her out one day a couple weeks ago and tried to get her to ride her bike without training wheels. We really didn't try very long because Adeline was getting pretty frustrated. She can touch the ground, but not with her feet flat and really sturdy. She also was having a hard time with the balance part. I probably on spent 10 minutes total with her. That night I bought a used running bike (balance bike) from another German mom in our town. I meant for it to be for Norah because my intent was to start her on it so she would never be handicapped by training wheels. It ended up being to big for Norah, but we put the seat and handles all the way up and Adeline jumped right on. For the past 2 weeks Adeline has been riding that bike to school everyday. She has gotten quite good on it and cruises around with her legs up all the time. Whoever says or thinks that you can not go fast on these bikes is wrong. We also took her pedals off her big bike and I had her ride that yesterday for a couple minutes just to show her that even though it is a lot bigger than her running bike, it is the same except that she can start pedaling when the pedals are on. Today Adeline said, "I want to put my pedals on my big bike and ride like you!" So, we put her pedals back on and she practically took off without a problem. She can control it incredibly well and doesn't need any help. What a big girl! Last week I got another running bike that fits Norah right now. She only walks with it and isn't super fond of it now, but I'm sure that she will start picking it up this summer. I for sure am never handicapping my kids with training wheels again. The Germans have the concept down right!!





This is the very first time today that she got on her bike to try and ride it.... try and plug your ears so you don't hear my annoying voice


and back down the street....

8 Weeks

I cannot believe that my cute little Meika is already 8 weeks old today. Crazy how the time flies. She is all of a sudden looking more like a baby and not a newborn anymore. As much as I like when my babies get a little older and don't cry so much, it is also sad to see her getting so big!! I feel like Meika in the last several days is starting to turn a corner. She is not as colicky as before and is smiling so much. She is talking a lot and I love hearing her goo and make new sounds. She is such an alert little thing and is watching us a lot more. During the day she eats about every 3 hours and her first stretch at night sometimes is 5-6 hours... but then closer together the rest of the night. She is still a little bit fussy, but like I said is becoming more happy and is cute as can be!!

My first Operation

Meika's delivery and recovery was so easy that I should have known I could not get off that easy. With Adeline and Norah, I bled 2 weeks at the most after they were born. After we 5 of bleeding with Meika, I was getting pretty annoyed and was thinking that something else must be wrong. I made a postpartum appointment and got checked out. The did an internal ultrasound and guess what..... there is something in my uterus. They were pretty stumped at what it could be, but assumed that part of the placenta got left in my uterus, which was also causing my bleeding. After that first appointment, I had a couple more appointments to see if it would go away on it's own or if it changed. To make a long story short, I ended up getting a D&C last Wednesday. I was so incredibly nervous for it. First of all that I have never had anesthesia, an operation and I was nervous what they would find. The entire thing that day was very traumatizing. When they were ready to take me to the operating room, they came in and started pushing my bed out of the room with me in it. I waved to Abe goodbye and before I knew it I was in a random, cold empty room. They had me get on this large hard belt table. They then took my gown off so I was naked and put a thin sheet over me. The belt table turned on and dropped me off onto another operating table I think. Now I am pretty sure all this stuff I am talking about is done in the US too, but I had to be awake for all of it and it was really emotional. Not only that, but everyone was speaking German around me. They then took me into another room and gave me an IV that hurt like crazy. By this point I had tears, but was in control. Once I got into the operating room, I was so cold and nervous that my body seemed like it was going to jump off the table and I could not control it! It probably didn't help that I had to fast on top of nursing. There were about 6 or 7 people in the room running around and getting things ready. They strapped my arms down so they were out in t T shape from my body and had me put my legs up in stirrups. At this point I was bawling. Seriously felt like I was in a horror movie or something. The German hospital is also very sterile looking and is different from what I am used to. Finally my wonderful doctor walking in the room and he came and sat by me and wiped my tears away until everything was ready for the operation. My doctor kept reminding me that the operation was only 5 minutes and I would only sleep for 10 minutes. That's it. No worries. The anesthesiologist FINALLY gave me the drugs to put me out. When I woke up I was in another room with about 5 people surrounding me. My body starting jumping and I was freezing cold once again. I was also extremely loopy and tired. While they were wheeling me back to the recovery room I saw the clock and it had been an hour and a half since they had taken me. As soon as they wheeled me into the room and I saw Abe, I continued to cry again. Why had it taken so long? Why was I in pain? What did they do to me? Apparently Abe was really worried too and kept trying to figure out what was going on since I was gone so long, but they didn't know. Later on, my doctor came and told me that the 5 minute operation was a lot more difficult then they thought and took over an hour. I lost a lot of blood and it was hard to get out whatever was in me. He thinks and hopes that they were fibroids. They were hard like a rock. He thinks they were able to get everything out, but is not sure. I have to get several follow up check ups to see if they see any more or if anything grows back If there is anything else, I am going to have to do this AGAIN! They wanted me to stay overnight because of all the blood I lost and my bleeding. I bugged them all day and the finally let me go at about 8:30pm. Luckily Meika took a bottle for Abe the first time that day and did pretty well. They sent whatever they took out to the pathologist and I am supposed to find out the results today. I called, but the nurse was not able to tell me. Hopefully the doctor will call me back later today.

Meika's Blessing

On Sunday we blessed Meika. I'm really glad that Dale and Margie were able to be here for it. It's really neat that they have been able to be with us for each of the girls blessings. Adeline in California, Norah in Ohio and now Meika in Germany. Meika looked absolutely adorable in her dress and Abe did a really good job with her blessing. We have been traveling and having fun with Abe's parents while they are here. I will hopefully be posting pictures later this week. They are leaving tomorrow and the time has gone very quickly!


{In front of our Dutch church}

Turkey

Abe had a TDY (work trip) last week to Konya Turkey. Luckily I survived by myself all week with 3 kids and surprisingly Adeline didn't miss one day of school! Here are some pictures of Abe's trip.

{on top of the 42nd floor of the shopping center in Konya}

{Mevlana- Islamic and cultural religious center in Konya. Also home of the Whirling Dervishes}

growing up too fast

It's probably because I just had a baby that I feel this way, but Norah is growing up way too fast all of a sudden! She is 100% going pee and poop on the potty and I am so proud. She is so easy going and fun to hang out with. When Adeline is at preschool she just hangs out with me. Ever since we have moved into this house, she has really wanted to start sleeping in her bunk bed with Adeline. We tried it when we first moved in, but she would continue to get out to walk around, jump in the bottom bunk, swing on the bars from the top bunk, etc. It was impossible. I felt bad because each night that we tried, she would be devastated when we stuck her back in the pack n play. So we decided that we would keep her in the pack n play in their room until we thought she was ready. I feel like she has asked almost every night if she could sleep in her bunk bed. We finally decided to let her do it tonight but told her that if she got out at all, she was going back in the pack in play. She was super tired tonight, so maybe that is why, but she went to bed easy in her bottom bunk. I am so proud!


{couple cute pics of Norah trying on daddy's classes when we were watching Adeline at gymnastics today}