Warm Adventures: December 2012

My two reasons for not blogging as often

I know I haven't blogged in forever. I think about it quite a bit and really miss blogging but honestly I am just totally brain dead most evenings. I feel like I am strictly in survival mode most days. As the evenings (my only "free" time) are full of fun stuff like paying bills, doing laundry, dishes, cleaning, you name it. As I sit here tonight, I have a massive head cold but vowed to myself to finish something on my to do list today. On top of all that our sweet little Alison who I use to brag about sleeping from 8pm to 8am has had a major upheaval in her sleep schedule. It all started when she learned to crawl out of her crib at the end of October. Ever since then it takes at least one hour to get her to go to sleep, then she wakes up screaming several times in the night and it doesn't matter what time you put her to bed she gets up at 6am and believes that everyone else should be up also (including her little brother). So needless to say we are all exhausted. That being said, here is my November recap (I know December is almost over). I vow next year to try harder to post at least once a week but I'm not making any promises.

So my mom came to visit us in November. It was so great having her around to help out. It is still very challenging having two little ones. I honestly don't know how people do it without help. I can't ever seem to catch up and my to do list just seems to get longer every day. So it was great having an extra set of hands around. The weather in November was pretty dreary. We had days upon days of cold rain, mixed in with some snow and very little sunshine. Needless to say we didn't get out too much. One of the greatest things about having her around besides all the helpful dishes and laundry she does, was just not having to drag both kids to all the different playgroups and doctor appointments. I could leave one at home with 'MeeMee'. Unfortunately I got a bit spoiled and since she left we have had a ton of snow so have had to drag two kids through the snow for the past few weeks. I must say that is something I never thought I would be doing. But it isn't too bad. I actually prefer the snow any day over the cold rain. The snow is quiet and peaceful.

In November we celebrated Alison's 2nd Birthday. It is hard to believe our little peanut is two. She still amazes us every day. She is so smart and can sing all the words to over a dozen songs, can count to 12 or 14 some days and has picked up a bit German already. She is also definitely entering the terrible twos and has meltdowns on a regular basis. We try and cut her some slack and remind ourselves that she is two and she is still a bit jealous of the attention her little brother gets. I am pretty sure our neighbors hate us as Alison can be pretty loud when she wants to be. But we love her and wouldn't trade her for anything.

Ali waiting patiently for her sweets on her birthday

We had a really great birthday party at a cabin in the woods on the Sunday before her birthday. It was our first time throwing a big party here with over twenty adults and a dozen children attending. If we were in the States we would of course just ordered a bunch of pizzas or subs and got the cake from Publix. That is not really an option here. So I was a bit nervous as to how it was going to turn out. Luckily the weather was really nice that day so the kids could run and play outside. I was again so thankful that my mom was here as she helped so much with the preparations. We served big pots of soup along with tons of appetizers made by my dear friend. In addition there were a ton of really yummy desserts. Everybody seemed to have a really good time and for that I was so grateful. It also made me realize how very fortunate we have been to have made lots of good friends in our short time here.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with another American couple on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Apparently ordering a whole turkey is not something that is done very often. So it was kind of funny when I went to pick it up as I received lots of comments, strange looks and confusion at the register. Considering what we paid for it, I can understand why they don't partake in our American tradition. Not sure why but the turkeys here are pretty special. It was very good and all worth, as the dinner was really nice.

The family enjoying Colmar

In November, we went on a few day trips last month to visit the Christmas Markets. One to Basel which is a really great town that I'd like to go back to and spend some more time. And the other to Colmar in France. We were originally going to spend two days in Colmar staying overnight but a not so pleasant stomach bug hit our house the night before and put us all down for a day or two. Yuck.

Sledding

We've had a ton of snow over the last few weeks. It was really fun to watch it fall and get out and play in it. We had a week of firsts, first snowman, first sledding, first snowball fights, first kid falls down in snowsuit and can't get up. We probably had a foot of snow over a couple of days time and then some really cold weather so it stuck around for over a week. Today (Sunday 16th) the temperatures warmed up and of course all the has snow melted. Oh well it was pretty while it lasted. It doesn't look like we will have a white Christmas though.

Such a cutie pie

Miles is doing really well. He continues to be just a fun loving easy going little guy who loves to smile. He is still pretty small as he just reached the 5kg mark a few weeks ago. But he is happy and healthy and rolling around everywhere now. We can't wait to take him home so everyone can get a dose of his super smiles.

We are heading back to the States on the 28th of December staying in Orlando for a few weeks. Erik can only stay for two weeks and will head back on January 11th, while the kids and I fly back on February 8th. We hope to see everyone while we are in town. We are going to try and make it down to Jupiter for a day or two around January 7th or 8th and then I would like to bring the kids back toward the end of the month to visit a little longer with friends. So let me know if you are going to be in town (Orlando or Jupiter area). Also there is a welcome back gathering at Erik's parents home in Oviedo on Sunday, December 30th in the afternoon. If you can swing by we would love to see you.

Our little munchkins

This will probably be my last post for this year. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We really miss being away from our family and friends this time of year so please know you are often in our thoughts. I get very homesick this time of year as all the stores play American Christmas music. And to make matters worse all our expat friends have already left for the holidays and won't be back for several months. Hopefully next year we will get home for Christmas.