6 months pregnant!

I can hardly believe 6 months of pregnancy have passed. I went to my 7th prenatal appointment last night and the baby looks great and I am feeling really good. My doctor told us again that we have a really good looking baby boy. Our son is very flexible, his feet were up near his head and he is moving all around. My doctor contacted a midwife who speaks English and I hope to meet her this weekend and tour a few hospitals in the area.

The past two weeks I have gone to Paris and various parts of Germany with my good friend, Emily. She left this morning to go back to Texas. Thankfully my pregnancy so far has gone really well. I honestly thought I would be more tired than I am. I have gained almost 25 lbs and was fearful that I am gaining too much weight. The doctor said I have a very healthy weight gain and I don't need to worry about it. I just feel really heavy and am constantly hungry, so I eat. Plus the more weight I gain the more room for the baby, right? =) Food just seems to taste better than it did before I got pregnant.

Here are a few pictures of our precious son.

Here is a pretty good picture of his face. I am amazed with 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds. The technology is incredible. My doctor puts all of the 4-D ultrasound videos on DVD for us. This picture and the one below are actually from the video taken last night.

You can see both of his feet to the right of his face. He is very flexible and loves to kick.

Here is a funny picture taken last weekend. Although Collin may have gained a few sympathy pounds he thankfully is not even close to gaining as much weight as I have. He can still see his feet, I cannot. Collin is going to make a great dad.

A few day trips in Germany

This morning I took Emily to the airport. This was my first time driving to the airport. It was raining but thanks to my GPS I had no problems navigating there and back home. Emily and I had a great time these past two weeks, going to Paris and seeing various parts of Germany. Collin and I will miss having her here. We love having friends visit.

Last weekend Collin, Emily, and I took two day trips. On Saturday we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We ate lunch and then visited the Medieval Crime Museum. Collin and I have been wanting to visit the crime museum for some time. Reading and seeing how people were punished really made us appreciate living during this time period. The museum featured legal conditions governing the lives of our forefathers. We also went to a Christmas shop and bought some gifts. Rothenburg is home to many amazing year-round Christmas stores. Lastly, we walked around part of the wall surrounding the city. I love medieval towns with city walls.

Sunday after church we went to Bad Dürkheim. We ate lunch in the world's largest barrel. The food was absolutely wonderful. After lunch we visited a winery - there are vineyards everywhere in this part of Germany, then headed to one of the castles in town. We parked and hiked up the mountain to see the castle ruins and a restaurant inside the castle. We stood in aw of the view from the top of the mountain before storming the castle. Before heading back down the mountain we decided to have some ice cream and hot chocolate in the castle restaurant. The desserts were delicious! Next time we go there we will try the other food in the castle. The prices were really not too bad especially considering you are eating in a castle.

Here are a few pictures from last weekend:

Collin and me sitting by a window in the castle in Bad Dürkheim

The castle in Bad Dürkheim

Inside the castle ruins in Bad Dürkheim

Picture of our food in the barrel, it was so good!!

Marisa and Collin standing upstairs in the restaurant

The world's largest barrel restaurant in Bad Dürkheim, Germany

The three of us sitting at a table inside the barrel restaurant

City wall in Rothenburg

Outside the crime museum

Torture device outside the crime museum

Christmas shop in Rothenburg

This past week Emily and I explored old town Heidelberg and took the train up the mountain to the king's stool and went shopping in Mannheim. The weather was cold, thankfully the day we went to Heidelberg the sun was shining, I think that was the only day it was out all week. Yesterday it rained all day so we did not do too much.

Here are some pictures from our trips to Heidelberg and Mannheim:

Heidelberg Castle

One of three trains we took to get to the top of the mountain

Taken next to the Heidelberg castle

Street shot of the walking street in Mannheim


Mannheim's water tower

Paris in February

Over a week ago my good friend Emily came to visit us for two weeks. We have been having a lot of fun. I will try and blog about our trips over the next couple of days. Last week we spent five days in Paris. Unfortunately, Collin was unable to come. This was our first time to go to Paris. I plan on going back to Paris with Collin while we are living overseas, it was a beautiful city.

In Paris Emily and I visited a lot of wonderful sights and saw some amazing and not so amazing art. We went to Notre Dame where Emily climbed almost 400 stairs to the top, I went to a little cafe and waited with Edie. We both went to the top of the Arc de Triumph, the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, Musée d'Orsay, visited Chateau de Versailles, and did some shopping. The weather was great, a little cold but with a hat, scarf, and gloves we felt great. The lines were short and the air was crisp. We stayed with my friend Erin's parents who are living in Paris and they were two of the most generous hosts. I enjoyed getting to know them better.

Being 5 1/2 months pregnant I thought I would have more difficulty getting around. However, my energy level has been pretty good. I avoided climbing extra stairs apart from the ones I could not avoid such as the stairs in the Louvre, Metro station, and other necessary ones but rather looked for the elevator signs. That really helped a lot. Every night my legs and feet hurt but I think that is pretty normal when you spend all day walking and standing.

We had been warned of pickpockets and thankfully did not have any problems. Of course we did not carry a purse and used our money belts. Emily said she felt more safe in Paris than in New York. It has been too long since I have been to New York for me to have an opinion. The Metro (subway system) was great in Paris. We were able to navigate very easily even though it was in French. Also we met a lot of really nice French people. The three most important questions I found to ask in French were: Where is the restroom? Where is the Metro? Do you speak English?

Here are some pictures from our trip to Paris:

Here we are in front of Notre Dame

The Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triumph

Here I am, pregnant, in front of the Louvre.

Emily standing outside the Musée d'Orsay

Outside the Chateau de Versailles