Four Happy Years

Last week Paul and I celebrated four crazy yet bliss filled years together. Everyday I'm grateful that I'm married to a man who overlooks my manic and insane moments, and helps me find the humor in life. I'm so grateful for marrying a goofball who brings happiness to the mundane times and last but not least of all-I'm so grateful for marrying a man who continues to be a wonderful and loving father.

Last week Paul surprised me by coming home for lunch, and bringing me a beautiful bouquet from my favorite local florist. Sometimes it's the simplest things that brings the biggest smiles. How nice it was to see my hubby for lunch and to have fresh flowers on the table!

For our Anniversary we took a little weekend trip to Cologne where we enjoyed a couple lazy days and beautiful weather.

Above is the view from our hotel window. We were on the eighth floor and had such a marvelous view of the whole city. What you don't see out the window(but would if you could look down) is a message written in painted white rocks, that says "Enjoy Your Stay" in both German and English)

Paul and the little guy at the historic entrance to the city.

My favorite men in front of a beautiful pair of German legs. I laugh when I look at this and think Tristan may be destined to have just such hobbit legs (after all just look at who his parents are).

As Paul and I enjoyed an evening stroll, the setting sun melted over the city and provided us with some beautiful memories.

Unlike most European cities Cologne is filled with new buildings, as it was almost completely demolished by the allied forces during WW2. Even some of the buildings that appear to be old have been rebuilt in hopes of recreating the look of old Cologne.

Paul and I stumbled across this little patisserie and were pleasantly surprised at what we found.

I was lured in by the sweet sign and a hope of french confections that put to shame almost all others.

Inside this cubby hole of a shop I found perfect creations worthy of the poshest Paris patisserie.

Paul and I indulged in the most delicious vanilla eclair, a chocolate raspberry mille foi, and a fabulous hot chocolate (with real bittersweet chocolate and steamed milk).

These sorts of breakfasts are the perfect start to perfect days. Do try to find this sweat little spot if your ever in Cologne.

This church -the largest Gothic cathedral in N. Europe was the only significant building left standing after the bombings in 1945. The allies were compassionate indeed as they spared this astounding building that took over 600 years to create.

Inside were some typical statues and icons along with some very non-traditional ones. This reclining pope struck me as one of the more odd pieces in the church.

The church was filled with beautiful stain glass windows that obviously had been cleaned and restored back to their original luster.

We climbed what seamed like thousands of steps until we finally reached the top. Once on top of the church we were rewarded with a stunning view of the city.

During all of the this Tristan was a real trooper. He took in as much as he possibly could, and then fit in a few cat naps when he couldn't.

Of course this posting wouldn't be complete without a few pictures of Tristan. I can't believe how he is quickly growing and developing. He is crawling everywhere-and all the time. He loves swimming and splashing in the bath and so I thought I'd share some of his fun filled moments with you.

PS- After taking these sweet shots I discovered something not so sweet floating in the water. You can only imagine how this photo session came to an abrupt end, as I evacuated Tristan and his toys. After disposing of the problem and sanitizing Tristan's toys, another bath was required but this time I took no pictures.

Full Time Mom

Its been a while since posting, and you might think that we were gone somewhere or something huge happened, but you'd be wrong. In between the last posting and today I have realized why being a full time mom is the hardest job in the world. Being a full time mom involves getting very little sleep-for long periods of time. It also involves getting very few breaks and dealing with monotonous daily schedules. Don't get me wrong I love being a mom and I know it's the most important thing I can do, but recently I have been so exhausted! Its been a rough week(or has it been two weeks since posting?-I've lost track of the time...). Tristan is such a beautiful, well mannered little guy, but one thing he is not is a good sleeper. This little one will get in a cycle of sleeping well (goes to bed same time everyday, in his crib without crying) and then out of the blue he will boycott sleep and act as if his crib were a pit of venomous snakes. I'm sure many of you out there have had those days where you spend chunks of your day just trying to get someone to take a nap. It's these days that I'm exhausted and just a little frustrated that I'm getting so little accomplished during the day. Maybe him not taking naps during the day wouldn't be so bad...if he were sleeping well at night, but he isn't. The little guy gets up every morning at 4:30 am and sometime earlier(this morning it was 3:30am). Sometimes I wonder how this crazy little guy is related to me-after all I love sleep! Well enough ranting (really I'm not ranting, I'm just tired).

Since last posting Tristan has gotten another tooth and we took a day trip up the Rhine to Burg Rhinefels. This castle sits on the Rhine overlooking the quaint little town of St. Goar.

Before putting any pictures of the castle in, I thought I'd put this picture in for April (she had wondered if I clean my house before taking pictures-which I don't of course). Here Tristan is making a mess of the shoe rack and you can see he's crawled out of his pants. I just can't seem to find a pair of pants that stay on him!

Paul and Tristan in front of Burg Rhinefels.

When we made the trip the fall colors were just starting to appear. It was such a beautiful fall day-just like the ones in NY!

Right across the river from Burg Rhinefels was Burg Katz.

Tristan loves flowers, but unfortunately he can't get too close without trying to eat them. In this picture I wanted Tristan to smell the roses, but he opened his mouth wide enough to devour it whole, then...(it would have been great if I got this on camera) he grabbed the rose and ripped it from the bush.

The catle had the nicest views. If you look left down the river you see another castle (I'm not sure which one),

If you looked across the river you saw beautiful vineyards,

and to the right of the castle is Burg Katz.

As we explored this castle I couldn't help but think of my brothers and how they would have loved it (I can't tell you how often we made castles and fortresses out of their waffle blocks). I also thought of our nieces and nephews and how they would have loved to explore the grounds.

Here we are at the top of the castle looking out over the river and valley below.

We had so much fun just tromping around and exploring all of the passage ways and little tunnels. It really was fun and not at all expensive (If you live over here and have kids, this would be a great day trip!)

I enjoy catching snap shots like these. It's always so nice to look down while carrying the little guy and see that he's just staring up at you, smiling. I know Paul really loves carrying him in the Bjorn and it was nice to be able to capture that.

So these last few pictures I had to put in because I really got a kick out of the bathroom. Actually Paul went in first and told me that I had to see the bathroom. If you can't see the pictures clearly, please blow them up. In this first shot, can you imagine how you flushed? And...can you see what's above the urinal?

Here's the sink,

the hand dryer (you hand to turn the wheel for hot air to come out of the pipe),

and finally the toilet flusher.

The Newest Developments

Things are pretty low key here in Germany, but I haven't posted for a little while because of some new developments with the little guy. After getting his first cold in conjunction with painful teething-there was a solid week that I got very little sleep. Things have gotten significantly better though, as he can breath much better now and most importantly his first little tooth has arrived. Besides this the little guy is eating like a champ, and moving around like a little monkey. He is always moving and has learned to stand up leaning on almost everything. We finally adjusted the crib and now Paul isn't worrying that he'll fall out of the crib.

When the little guy isn't occupying our time Paul and I have been working on our German, and looking forward til the day when we can proficiently communicate in Deutch! Paul has been playing on a flag football team and Tristan and I have enjoyed watching as these fall days are some of my favorite. Here's a few pictures of the little man, I hope you enjoy!



Tristan is almost getting too big for my photo futon as he's eager to lunge off the edge.


Meal time seams to be filled with drama as there are screams of excitement and often tears of anticipation. Here's our animated guy giving a peculiar face, as if to say "what is that, sweet potatoes?".

I really feel blessed to have such a good natured boy. These few shots (above) I was happy to get in before he obliterated his sweater with carrots (his bibs just aren't big enough!).

Once again the boy is soo happy to eat. These pictures below demonstrate my eagerness for Tristan to fit into his warm weather apparel. This was the same day that I had him try on his Halloween costume (thanks Grandma Baier), and his winter coat. After he tried on this hat I was smitten and didn't mind having him wear it for the rest of the day.

Who Knows?

I've heard somewhere that it was possible to have your blog printed and bound and made into a book. This is very appealing to me, but after a little hunting on the Internet have found nothing further on the subject. I'm concerned that this may only be possible if you have created a blog on your own(without a service to help you like "Blogger"). Does anyone know about this? If you do have information on printing a blog(preferably from this site) and creating a book, please let me know. I would really appreciate it!

On another note, things are calm and non-eventful here in Germany. Its been drizzly for the last few days and the cooler weather has even started to change the leaves in some areas. As a result I feel as if we have been hurled out of summer and into the beginning of fall. I do love the fall though, and look forward to the changing landscape, warm comfort foods and the excitement of the holiday season to come. Tristan has been progressing rapidly (of course I have no other children to compare him to, but a mother always knows when she's dealing with a child genius) as his movements look more like a crawl than a scoot. He is standing (with help) but unfortunately doesn't know how to get down once he's gotten to the standing position. Before I end this mundane little blurb on life, I must comment on one last thing. The sun just came out and it reminded me of the sunshine in my day yesterday. Yesterday was one of our RS quarterly enrichment activities and at the end of the day I felt so blessed. I felt blessed for such an organization and the wonderful women it continued to bring into my life. I have always been blessed with wonderful women around me to enrich my life and it continues here in Germany. I am so glad for friendships I have been able to forge here and look forward to the new ones that are to come. I hope that as you read this you are able to recognize the numerous blessings that have been provided in your own life.