Busy New Parents!

We have been extremely busy these past few weeks with Cade. He is growing so much and we are enjoying every minute of it! He is so much fun. We enjoy watching him smile and laugh. We thought we would post a few new pictures of him and us. I think we have the most handsome boy in the world! He loves exercising in his gym, meeting new people, smiling, talking, riding in his stroller, and looking at people. He is now 2 months old.

One of our German friends from church gave us this outfit.

Here's Cade playing on his gym. He's quite the athlete! He has great eye, hand, and foot coordination. He also focuses really well.

Here is a picture of some corn growing in the farm fields by our house.

Here I am on one of our walks with Cade with our European buggy.

The tires are awesome on this stroller!

It has been a year!

We just celebrated our 1-year anniversary being in Germany. We left the U.S. last year on August 3 and arrived August 4. So much has changed this past year. The best blessing we have received while in Germany is our son. Overall things are much better than they were a year ago. Here's my new perspective of Germany since we've now lived here a year.

- Germany is a very pretty country and there are a lot of wonderful things to see and do
- I have learned how to cope with the different culture. For example, I no longer smile at Germans as I pass them unless I know them.
- I don't ask anyone if they speak English because of all the no responses I've had, rather I speak my little German and what I don't know I ask in English. So far I've received a much better response to this approach.
- Once I actually was looking pregnant Germans were friendlier to me.
- The Germans in our area really like babies, several of my friends have had different experiences but since having Caden many people have stopped and talked to us and wanted to see him.
- I miss central air conditioning and heating, especially having air conditioning.
- It's tiring being parents but a lot of fun too!
- Germany is in a great central location in Europe and based on its geographical location we have been able to travel to many wonderful other countries. The friendliest countries we've been to are The Netherlands and Italy. We have also had a really good experience in France as well and several other countries but those stick out the most.
- The U.S. Dollar does not go very far in Europe
- You don't have to pay to change your baby at most gas stations, you also don't have to pay if you're handicapped
- We have had some interesting people stop by our house, one man from a circus collecting donations for the animals, another guy selling fruit, another selling a vacuum, and another guy from a handicap association selling random things
- It is possible to have a natural and drug free labor and delivery
- I miss having a Roomba
- We of course still miss our family and friends

There are other things too but that's all that has come to mind right now. Overall we have enjoyed our experiences. Collin really likes his job and I'm enjoying my new job. Thankfully my pregnancy weight has dropped fairly quickly and it makes getting around a lot easier. I still have about 10 lbs to go before I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight but was able to start wearing many of my pre-pregnancy pants after 4 weeks. I have not started any exercise program but we do try and walk everyday or every other day. We have wonderful farm fields just a 2 min walk from our front door. The air is fresh and there's plenty of bike trails.

Opa and Oma's visit

Today Caden is 6 weeks old. He is doing really well and is growing nicely. We have just been really busy and barely have time to do much else besides our regular home duties and taking care of Caden. I'll eventually respond to the emails and we'll try to post more blog entries.

The past few weeks my parents have been here and we have had a wonderful time with them here. They really helped us adjust to having Caden. While they were here we received Caden's passport, hooray! So we decided to take a day trip to France, it's only about an hour away. We also took a mini vacation to Brussels, Belgium and spent two nights and made a stop in Maastricht, The Netherlands for lunch. In Belgium we went to the Atomium, road the subway, and ate some really good food, including chocolate. Belgium has the BEST chocolate we have ever had. During Caden's first month of life he visited 4 countries, Germany, France, Belgium, and The Netherlands. Lucky guy!

Caden enjoyed his grandparents visiting and looks forward to meeting the rest of our family and friends. Here are a few pictures of Caden from my parents visit and a few of our travels.

Sleepy time!

Eating at a cool castle in Germany

Lunch in The Netherlands

The Atomium in Belgium

Inside the Atomium

Caden's first time on a subway

At a restaurant in France

Caden's first picture with Opa and Oma on Marisa's side