Iraq and back

Shortly before our glorious trip to Spain, I went to Iraq for a week. Like most of my travel to locations that rank high on the “most likely place to catch scabies” list, it was for work (duh). And, like most of those places, I wouldn’t recommend going there for any reason whatsoever … unless that reason, of course, is money. Or great work experience. Or, let’s see, free movies, free housing, great gyms within walking distance, eight hours of sleep every night, interesting work, foreign experience, and all the food you can imagine.

Oh man the food…the FOOD! We’re not talking “Army chow” (usually summed up by the onomatopoeia “glop.”) We’re talking lobster and steak dinners … maybe a pastrami on rye from the Panini bar. Or maybe quesadillas with a side of butter chicken. And all the cake, ice cream, cookies, and frozen yogurt to fill out those remaining belt notches. (No wonder the Army is as fat as it’s ever been!)

Seriously, though, the trip was great. I went “outside the wire” a few times to visit some project sites, but wasn’t as neurotic as I thought I was going to be about noticing peculiar objects on the side of the road that could contain explosives. In fact, I was so trusting of the civilian security team that I fell asleep in every excursion we went on. Maybe it was my way of dealing with anxiety. Or all the ice cream.

I went to create a few amazing recruiting videos and will perhaps show them here when they’re done. Perhaps.

I didn’t see anything THAT out of the ordinary when I was there. Other than this little girl in a wedding dress in the village of Serishka, which I was told was a village of Satan worshippers. Yes, Satan worshippers. The truth, it turns out, is that they believe god created the world and left its care to seven angels, one of these being “Shaytan,” the same name the Koran has for Satan.

Anyway, I ate well, slept well, worked hard, saw two dust storms, and was rained on. That’s about the extent of my trip. Good thing I’m not single, or I’d most definitely consider going back....mostly for the food.

Picos de Europa

In my next life I wanna be a goat. But not just any goat. Especially not the Naval Academy’s goat, “Bill.” Lord knows what those college kids would do to me.

I wanna be a wild mountain goat that lives off the kindness of hikers in the Picos de Europa mountains in Northern Spain. It is perhaps … nay … it IS the most beautiful spot that we’ve visited since we’ve been here in Europe. Period. And as you know we travel quite a lot. 

First off, it was Spain, where el Sol makes more appearances than he does here in Germany. Here’s a view of Frankfurt as we left.

And here’s Santander from the air. Doesn’t that just seem more pleasant?

Next there were mountains. Not only the neatly formed snowcapped kind you’d find in Switzerland that amateur hikers like Kate and I can only look at. But the rugged, scrubby kind that we could actually climb if we wanted.

Then there’s the interesting topography formed by different levels of rock solubility. Technically (according to google), this is “karstification.” I don’t care what it is, I just think it’s beautiful.

And for those seeking baby photos, yes, Elizabeth came along too.

We made sure she came, even if we had to smuggle her in the back of our rental car. (Attention crazy people: We didn’t really do this. This is a photo of me changing her while in the mountains. The options were the trunk or the ground. We’re not cruel parents. We swear.)

It was her first of hopefully many trips outside Germany and her first flight and she did exceedingly well. And although they no longer require passports for travel in most of Western Europe, Kate and I consider her passport “stamped.”

Also here’s a picture of Kate practicing one-upmanship after hearing about Selma Hayek breastfeeding a starving baby in Sierra Leone. After hearing about the dramatic population decline of the only native wild bear population north of the Alps, Kate decided it was best to donate her milk to a poor cub.

Hmmm… maybe I ought to rethink this whole goat thing. If my neighbors were starving bears than I would be ... lunch?

Oh, and to show you what I mean about living off the kindness of hikers, here's a video that should illustrate my point:

Need your opinions

Hi all,


Kate got VERY excited yesterday. Elizabeth was on the bed showing off some of her gymnastic skills like smiling and sticking out her tongue when she suddenly rolled over. Then she did it again. Quickly, Kate got the camera and started recording it. But we're not sure it's a roll over. In our opinion, she just simply pushed up with her pinned arm, causing her big ol' hips to roll into a depression on the bed where she was previously lying. At that point, a full flop was inevitable.


Here's the video:


Your thoughts?


Also, here's a cute video of Elizabeth smiling.



And here's me in battle rattle I just got for my upcoming one-week trip to Iraq.

Schwarzwald: The schwarziest!

For our first trip of the year we decided to go hiking through the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). For weeks we had our fingers crossed, beseeching the snow gods for a good solid two or three inches to fall in the forest before we got there. There’s nothing like seeing all those pine trees mummified in a beautiful white petticoat. In the winter, we thought, the Schwarzwald could be the most beautiful place in Germany.

And a few days before our trip, it snowed. Hurray! With our bags packed and our fingers uncramped, we headed down for what Pecos thought was the best trip ever. Seriously. Total bestness.

Why? Pecos explains:

(1) We go many snowy hikes. Mom and dad kick snow. I bite snow!!
(2) We balcony covered with snow. I bite anytime I want!!
(3) Baby not focus of weekend. Pecos and snow focus!
(4) I bite snow!!!!!
OK, yes, perhaps it did snow and we did go on hikes. Here’s Elizabeth and I standing in the whiteness by the border between Baden and Würtemburg, the two German states that combined to form the current state of Baden-Würtemburg. Pecos is off to the side catching falling snow flakes and biting them to bits.
Actually, although the snow was wonderful, for the most part it rained while we were there. It also sleeted and freezing rained. To be honest, it was a pretty rotten weekend, save for a few brief moments of snowy bliss. Pecos didn’t know that, of course, because he didn’t go out when it wasn’t snowing. We like to keep our children in the dark about certain things…which is why we’ll eventually teach Elizabeth that her mom and I have superpowers and that there’s no such thing as sugar.

On the last day, the sky hadn't yet decided if it wanted to snow or rain consistently that day, so we decided to go on a drive instead of a hike. That would give us great views and keep us out of the bad weather. What a brilliant idea, I thought. Well, although we did get a few beautiful views up in the highest parts of the Schwarzwald, where it was still snowing, for the most part it was just us driving on very little roads in the rain with a baby in the back that could wake up at any point. Thankfully, she didn't decide to wake up until we got to Baden-Baden, so we stopped there and walked around for the better part of an hour.
It was nice. I won't say beautiful or uber European. But nice. I wouldn't mind going back.

Did you see all those people gathered in DC to celebrate Elizabeth's three-month birthday?

Yesterday, I was so consumed with celebrating Elizabeth's quarter-year birthday that I kept forgetting it was the inauguration. At least I'm not deluded enough to think all those people gathered in DC were there to celebrate my darling baby's three-month birthday. She might be the center of my world, but I know she's not that impressive to everyone else . . . except for you, dear readers (aka grandparents) so here's an Elizabeth update.
Elizabeth now has really good head control. She spends time on her tummy every day, and doesn't mind it anywhere near as much as she used to. In the video below, she is enjoying her googly-eyed audience and will contentedly watch them (and sometimes talk to them) for up to 10 minutes at a time.

Due to Elizabeth's strong neck muscles, I decided to let her try out facing forward in our baby wrap. She certainly enjoyed riding around like a big girl, even if my hair did make me look (according to Justin) like George Washington.
Elizabeth has become an excellent night sleeper, and will sleep one six to eight hour stretch each night. She only wakes up once or twice in an eleven hour period, which makes mama very happy. She also goes down without a fuss, which gives Justin and me some time to hang out each night. We're still working on naps, but the past two days she has been napping well, so I have hope that trend will continue.
All in all, she's doing wonderfully, and so are the rest of us. I love having a little family of four.

Happy third month, Elizabeth

Happy, healthy, and balding

Elizabeth is now two months and four weeks old, and she is doing wonderfully. We took Elizabeth to the pediatrician this week, and she was deemed healthy. She now weighs about 11 pounds 8 ounces and measures at 23 inches long. This puts her at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Considering she was in the 10th percentile for weight at birth (at 6 pounds 6 ounces), I'm pretty proud of this growth. Elizabeth's been hitting all of her milestones and smiles, coos, and lifts her head very high. She even got a kick out of me playing peak-a-boo with her today. I can't wait for her first laugh.

I, happily, seem to have gotten her on a routine that results in longer naps and an easier time at bedtime. We're only a few days into this new routine, but I'm hopeful that her sleeping will keep getting better.

Also, Elizabeth is officially balding. I noticed a bald patch on the back of her head that made me feel like a bad momma whose baby spends too much time on her back and not enough in my arms, but then I noticed she was thinning up top and on the sides too, so I stopped feeling guilty. I'm curious to see what her hair looks like when it grows back, though I do mourn the loss of her sweet little fuzzy head.

I started working again this week, and it's really nice to be back at it. I spend naps, nights, and nursing times working. I managed to put in 18 hours this week, and it was relatively painless. Though I love staying home with Elizabeth, I've determined I'm not a good housewife (I don't much like cleaning), so it's nice to have a reason not to clean while Elizabeth is sleeping. For me, I think this work/mothering balance is pretty ideal. Overall, I'm happy, very happy.

Elizabear

Thanks for the great gift, Randy and Gillian!

Baby’s first Christmas – and New Year’s

A last-minute proclamation by still-president George W. Bush giving all federal employees the day off Dec. 26 allowed Kate, Elizabeth, Pecos, and I to make the Christmas visit to Jay and Linda’s an extra, extra long one, stretching from 23-28 December. It also allowed us to gain some extra, extra poundage as Linda – whose culinary conventions involve doubling the serving size and then cooking for twice as many people – made WAY too much food, playing host to us, her kids (Brandon and Breanna), a family friend (Paul), a coworker (Bill), and four dogs.

It was Elizabeth's first Christmas, but she seemed like an old pro, playing with new toys, trying on new clothes, and posing for festive pictures.Elizabeth is still cute, Kate insists I add to this blog. As if the photos didn’t clearly illustrate that.

Oh, and Elizabeth is still definitely spoiled, as evidenced by this photo, with four of us (Dusty dog, included) all wanting to be close to her.
One NOT cute thing she did was institute a Boxing Day policy of throwing up on her daddy (aw…), peeing on her daddy (hey!), and then finally having explosive diarrhea on her daddy (WOH!) – all within the course of five minutes. It was the Trifecta of Unpleasantness. And afterward, daddy needed a drink.
During this holiday season, Elizabeth also discovered she had control over her hands and, thus, mastered the art of batting, gripping, and bashing things. Although adorable at first, I can see how this talent can quickly lead to troublesome things. We have a cute video on that that we'll post soon.
Our New Year’s Eve celebration was kind of tame this year. We were going to attend a “Parents with Young Children” soiree, but that ended up being canceled when the hosts (mom, baby, and dad) developed a contagious cough/cold. So, instead, our fête involved watching half of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (bad dvd), giggling uncontrollably at the unashamedly terrified Pecos – who kept creeping under furniture and trembling every time fireworks would explode – and having Elizabeth sleep for almost seven hours straight. Sorry, Pecos, but if the popping sound of fireworks is the white noise Elizabeth needs to coast into a deep sleep, then I just found a new hobby.
Oh, we also took some cute shots of her bathing!

I love this picture

We have a bunch of good pictures and videos from the past few days. Tomorrow, I'll work on getting them posted here and in Shutterfly. Check back soon.

Update: Elizabeth is cute

Justin, Elizabeth, Pecos, and I have spent the past few days relaxing and celebrating at Jay and Linda's house. Somehow, we haven't found time to write a blog in between all of the cooking, eating, game playing, and reading. The Christmas blog is forthcoming (and we hope you all had a very merry day) once we get the pictures off of the cameras. For now, here is a quick update on the amazing accomlishments of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is now two months and one week old and is doing wonderfully. Just in the past few days, she has become much more smiley, and will smile at just about anyone who will meet her eyes. Sometimes, she gets so overwhelmed with excitement that the smile is accompanied by a jerky head move -- and it just melts my heart. She has also figured out mirrors and will smile at herself and other folks in the mirror. On occasion, she's also had sponatenous smiles where she smiles just out of happiness, and not because someone smiled at her. These smiles have been induced by her favorite rattle and water being dumped on her chest in bath. Every smile, makes me feel so lucky to be her mom.

Elizabeth is doing okay with sleeping. Her daytime schedule is to eat, play, and then nap. She can only handle being awake for one and a half to two hours, and most of her naps are about 45 minutes, so this eat, play, sleep schedule is repeated about once every two and a half hours. I try to get her to take one longer nap during the day, but unless she's in her car seat or being worn/ held, it usually doesn't happen. Ideally, she heads to bed for the night around eight, but this doesn't always work out, and we haven't been enforcing it for the past few days (we'll probably pay for this next week). At night, Elizabeth sleeps one four- to five-hour stretch, and then a couple of two- to three-hour stretches. It's not great, but it's fine and I am surviving. I tend to stress out about her sleeping and am worried that she isn't sleeping frequently enough or long enough. But really, I know she's doing well and any sleep issues can be resolved later.

She's growing out of her clothes quickly and her head has managed to grow disproportionately larger than her body. She's so top heavy that we believe she now floats in the bath.

That's about all on our end. Christmas pictures coming soon!

A conversation with Elizabeth . . .

that dissolves into crying.

It's the best we've got, and trust me, we have shot many videos in an attempt to capture her insane cuteness.

I promise, one of us will write a full blog one of these days.

Getting a grip on things

A Very Special Christmas Nipple Song

By the sound of her voice, our daughter must be Cooish

Just another day with Elizabeth

Like father, like daughter

Justin posted some pics from Thanksgiving weekend, but I just have to add some more. The four pictures posted below are my new favorite pictures. I think I've looked at them everyday since we loaded them onto the computer. It took a real family effort to capture these shots, and I think they're priceless. Enjoy!

And, as an exciting Elizabeth update, she seems to have some mastery of the art of soothing herself to sleep. The past three days I have put her down for her big afternoon nap when she is still a little bit awake. She then lays awake for a bit and then falls asleep on her own. This might not seem like a big deal, but really, it's made my week. It puts us one step closer to her sleeping through the night.

The First Thanksgiving

Just a note to say we had a wonderful and very traditional Thanksgiving at my dad's place in Kindsbach this past Thursday. Turkey, stuffing, and our own stuffed Turkey all made appearances. More pics are here: elizabethward.shutterfly.com