Book Club

I joined my first book club!  I have always wanted to be in a book club but never had the time.  One thing I love about Germany is most of my friends, at least all of my mommy friends, are stay-at-home moms or work-from-home moms.  So while we are all very busy raising our children, we do have a little flexibility around naps, school, and our regular everyday responsibilities.  With that being said, eight of us decided to start a book club.  Some of the members have been in a book club before but I think the majority of us have not.  The first meeting was two weeks ago but Caden was sick so I missed it.

Here are the details of what we do. We meet every other Monday morning from about 10am to noon.  Since we are all in MOPS together and our MOPS group only meets every other week, we meet on our MOPS off week.  We drink coffee, tea, juice, and eat baked goods while we talk about the book.  Who ever is hosting creates a list of questions to start our discussion.  Since all of us have children our kids play while we talk.  Three of the moms children are in school so their children do not attend.  The rest of us bring our children along. 

If you do not have children and want to join a book club, I encourage you to do so.  I'm really trying to encourage people with small children that it is possible to be part of a book club. I have been stuck in a rut of mainly reading parenting and relationship books, so this was a nice change.  Plus it is fun talking about a book you have read with your friends.

The first book we read was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  You can read my book review here if you are interested.  Amazingly enough we finished the book in a month.  Our next book is Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen. We decide on which book to read by voting.  The majority wins.

Caden is 19 months

Today Caden is 19 months old.  Poor little guy has been sick off and on for the past few months.  It seems like every child around us is sick too including our friends overseas.  Thankfully he is in pretty good spirits most of the time but I know he is tired. 

His illnesses have greatly interferred with his napping.  Right around a month ago he stopped wanting to take a nap.  This has been very frustrating to me because during those 1-2 hours was the time I used to get things done around the house, laundry, cleaning, etc.  As well as writing and editing pictures.  Occassionally he'll still take a nap, even though he really needs one everyday, so on days he doesn't nap he gets quiet time.  This time is for me to get things done and for him to relax.  He was somewhat resistant at first.  Now we do the nap routine, I read for about 15 minutes, lights out, I tell him it's nap time and I put him in his crib.  If he's really fussy I hand him a few books and leave.  If he doesn't nap he usually gets upset about 20-30 minutes and so I go back in there.  By that time he has thrown everything out of his crib, stuffed animals, pillow, and blanket.  I say, "Caden, aren't you sleepy?  Or are you ready to get up?"  He'll say either, "lights, play," or "sleepy."  Then I either let him down to play in his room by himself for another 30 minutes or I sit with him and read to him a little more and try and again.  It's during times like this that I envy my friends who let their babies cry it out and they don't have to deal with this.  Meanwhile, I try and treasure the time I have with my little man.  It will be sooner than I want that he'll be too big to sit in my lap or he won't want to spend the time with me.

The biggest changes this past month include putting more than one word together and talking about people when they are not around.  Caden is also getting better at communicating what he wants.  His vocabulary continues to grow rapidly.  Here are a few 2-3 word phrases I can think of now that he says:

"lights, play" (turns on the light and sits to play)

"shoes, out" (will get his shoes, try to put them on to go outside)

"read book" (to read a book)
"up, eat" (usually points as he says this to his high chair because he's hungry and wants to eat),
"down play" (wants to get down from the table to play)
"Mama play" (when he wants me to play with him)
"Opa, Caffey, NeNe, up" (when he wants to go upstairs to Skype with his grandparents)
"Mischa play" (when he wants our next door neighbor's daughter to play with him.  He does this when he sees her or when he is just thinking of her.  He also will say other people's names too but he sees her the most)
"Daddy go bye bye" (when Collin leaves for work, sometimes he grabs his shoes and jacket because he wants to go with him)
"Sleepy, night, night" (when he's tired)

People he "talks" about when they are not around the most.  Daddy, Mama, Opa, Granddad, Caffey (Cathy), NeeNee, Shell, Mescha, Nate, Autry, Shawn, and Drew.

He loves "talking on the phone" whether that is the real phone or a shoe or toy that he pretends is the phone.  I think he is well on his way to being social like his parents.

He has strong opinions about what he is interested in eating.  He will clearly say, "no" when he doesn't want something we offer him.  He also will tell us what he wants sometimes.  So far he's asked without us first offering him the following foods: Cheerios, banana, yogo (yogurt), turkey, peas, cracker, cheese, milk, water, muffin, blueberries, and kiwi. 

He can walk up and down our stairs holding onto the rail by himself.  We're always right behind him or in front of him just in case he did fall.  

His favorite game is stop and go.  I'll take him by both of his hands when we're out and I'll say, "go" and we run, then I say "stop" and we stop.  He loves this game and it's a great way to help him burn off energy when we're away from the house.

Caden's favorite toys are puzzles, blocks, balls, and cars.  He enjoys drawing and having us draw a letter or number while he tells us what it is.  He also enjoys us asking him what sounds different animals make and pointing to different animals when we're out and "talking" to them in their language.

Most of the time he tells us when he has gone poopoo or peepee.  However, he has lost all interest and desire to sit on the potty.  I think we're going to wait until the weather gets warmer and then try potty training him then.  I have one friend that receommends letting him spend most of the day outside naked and he'll learn really quick that way.  Our neighbor's daughter was potty trained by the time she was 12 months old.  I know, can you imagine?!  The system works great if you don't go anywhere for several months.

Here are a few recent pictures of our cute 19 month old. 

7 Happy Years

Last week Collin and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Skyline, located in Mannheim.  We went there for my birthday last year.  It is similar to the Reunion Tower in Dallas except the food is consistently good.  The view of the city was breathtaking.  Snow was all over the ground, the lakes were iced over, it was beautiful.  It costs 4.50 Euros per person just to go up the tower plus your meal.  So it is not cheap.  However, for special occasions it is worth the money if it's in your budget.

We thought about trying to find a babysitter to watch Caden but decided to just take him along.  We really should try and find someone and go out occasionally by ourselves.  It just seems easier and is much cheaper to just take him with us.  Thankfully he's easy going and used to eating out and so he behaves very well. 

This month my dad and step-mother are celebrating 17 years of marriage and Collin's parents are celebrating 58 years.  Happy anniversary!  In honor of all of our anniversaries I wrote an article featuring my top 7 secrets to a happy marriage.  You can read it here if you like. 

A German Blessing

Last night we have a few visitors stop by our house. If you live in Germany or travel through Germany during the first part of January, you will sometimes see letters on the top of people's doors. Germans call the holiday, Dreikönigstag (Three Kings' Day). Typically in Germany, on January 6th, children in groups of three (symbolising the three kings) proceed in costume from house to house while singing songs. In our town 4 kids and one adult stopped by our house. They were dressed up, sang a few songs to us, and collected money for a local charity. After their songs they wrote a blessing on our door. One of the children wrote 20 * C + M + B + 11. My friend told me the letters have two meanings. They are the initials of the customary names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words “Christus Mansionem Benedicat”, “May Christ bless the house”. The year is divided before and after the these letters. The crosses (+) represent the protection of the Christ." She said that this is not just a Catholic blessing but is used by many faith traditions. We have never seen this done in the States and had wondered what the letters meant in previous years.

This was the first time the kids visited our house and this is our third year in Germany. When I mentioned this to one of my neighbors he said they come every year in our town. I'm not sure why we had not seen them until this year. Here are a few pictures from last night.

Willkommen 2011!

Caden and his friends, New Year's Day

This year we welcomed the New Year with our next door neighbors. It was a fun evening. Our neighbors, Steve and Jana, invited us to join them. They have a 9 year old daughter and Caden loves playing with her as she does him. We live in a duplex and thankfully our baby monitor works next door. We were able to put Caden to bed around 9pm and he slept until 9am!! Him sleeping so late is amazing because (1) he NEVER sleeps that late, and (2) at midnight our town sounded like a war zone. It's legal to shoot fireworks in Germany and people do. We set some off with our nieghbors around 11pm to help wake me up. We weren't the only ones shooting them off before midnight. I just don't have the energy to stay up so late anymore. But I made it and at midnight we went to our neighbor's top floor and saw the the beautiful firework show.

Our neighbors cooked duck which was really good. The only other time I have eaten duck was at a Thai food restaurant in Texas and it was slimy and gross. This duck was not slimy and had a nice flavor. Jana also cooked rice, dumplings, pasta, and several other things. Jana is from Slovakia and her family made some homemade Slovakian pickles and salami which were both very good. Steve is American. We have some wonderful German neighbors who live on the other side of us. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors. We actually know our neighbors in Germany better than we did our neighbors in the States. We knew our next door neighbor's names in the States but never ate a meal with them. We have had both neighbors over several times since living in Germany. In fact, Jana brought me delicious homemade soup last fall when I was sick. Once we move back we hope to continue this and really get to know our neighbors, especially those who live next door.

New Year's Day we had some friends over for dinner to celebrate the New Year. We had three families over for a total of 12 people. There were 8 adults and 4 kids. We had a great time. We cooked a spiral ham for the first time, which turned out great, black eyed peas, corn, peas, Greek Salad, rolls, and several appetizers of fruit, cheese, crackers, chips, and dip. For dessert I baked chocolate chip cookies, one friend brought homemade apple pie, our neighbors brought peanut butter balls, and our other friends brought muffins. The food was delicious and the conversations were enjoyable. All of the kids got along great. I even put up a kid's table and the kids sat there and ate very well. I started off having Caden in his high chair but once the other kids sat down he wanted to join them. He did wonderful!

We hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful new year. May God bless you in 2011. Many blessings from our house to yours. Happy New Year!!

2010 Christmas Letter

2010 Ginger Bread House

Greethings Family and Friends,

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year in 2011! 

We know that 2010 has been great for some of you and sad for others, with the loss of family and friends - both to death and to divorce.  =(  We have had a mix.  Overall, I'd like to believe it was a good year even though not everything was good.  My motto is, we are not perfect but our Savior is.  Through Christ we can find the strength to get through difficult times.

We are on the road to ending our time in Germany and will be back in the States this coming year.  Our last full year in Germany has provided us some great opportunities to travel.  Last January we went to a marriage retreat in Heppenheim, Germany.  We took Caden on his first cruise with my parents in March and sailed the Eastern Mediterranean.  We visited Barcelona, and Malaga, Spain, Morocco (Casablanca and Agadir), Funchal, Portugal, and Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain.  We met up with our friends from the Ukraine in Prague for a short getaway.  We took a family vacation to Ireland.  We took Caden to Luxembourg.  Collin had some training and we took some leave to go to Texas for my sister's wedding.  For Thanksgiving we took a train to Paris.  A few weeks ago we went to a marriage retreat in Garmisch, Germany.  On the way we stopped in Reutte, Austria.  If you can't tell, we LOVE to travel.  We will certainly miss living in Germany and exploring Europe.  Thankfully we have been blessed with a lot of opportunities to travel.  I know our travel budget will decrease a lot once we return Stateside.

Some good news, we welcomed a new member to our family.  Kyle married my sister, Michelle, in October.  God answered my prayer and helped guide a family to choose our house to rent.  It's amazing how God answers prayers.  You know, I prayed that someone would sign a contract before January 1st and instead a family signed the papers and moved in before Christmas!  They literally looked at our house and wanted to move in less than a week.  (In case you didn't know, we had tenants who walked out on us).

Collin is still enjoying his job.  He also taught the youth group at church this past year and has preached, lead singing, helped serve communion, and has grown a lot spiritually.  Marisa's first and primary job is still taking care of Caden.  However, she has also started a part-time photography business, Heidelberg Photography, this past August and has had 11 photo shoots this year.  She has always wanted to do this and we are finally able to make it possible.  She is also still doing some freelance work.  Marisa has also grown spiritually and is a discussion group leader for her MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) group and is loving it. She is also active in her PWOC group (ladies' Bible study).  Caden is learning, growing, and is cute as ever. 

May the Lord bless each and everyone of you and yours!  We wish you and your family many blessings in 2011.  We hope and pray that your family is doing well.  Feel free to leave a comment, send us an email, message us on Facebook, or give us a call if we haven't heard from you in a while.  We love hearing from you.

Happy New Year!
Collin, Marisa, and Caden

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

Caden's 18 Months Update

Since Caden's 18-month well baby visit turned into a sick baby visit we are waiting until January for his actual well baby visit.  That being said we at least got his height and weight and I can look up his percentile online.  And I wanted to give an update from these past 18 months.

Weight: 25.46 lbs (42nd percentile)

Height: 32.5 in. (51st percentile)

These past 18 months have literally flown by.  I am constantly amazed how much Caden is learning and growing.  He is starting to look more like a little boy and less like a baby.  His communication skills have vastly grown during this past year.  He now knows all the letters in the English alphabet.  He gets them all right about 90% of the time.  He sometimes will get V mixed up with W, M with N, or Q mistaken for O.  However, overall he seems to really know his letters!  He also knows the numbers 0-9.  His vocabulary is exploding.  I lost track of all the words he knows.  He loves pointing to objects and naming them which is awesome.  He also points to pictures in books and tells me what they are and when he sees an animal or picture of an animal will say it or make the sound it makes. 

He is learning his colors.  For a while everything was blue.  Now he can distinguish between red, yellow, green, white, and blue.  He will repeat the names of the colors when you point them out but doesn't always say the correct color.  I know it is only a matter of time until he picks that up too. 

The newest thing he is doing is starting to sing.  He'll say something like, "row, row, row..." then we say, "your boat."  He'll repeat, "your boat."  Then he'll go back to "row, row, row."  It's so cute.  He also says, "patty cake, patty cake, row em..." and and will clap his hands or lay down and clap his feet together.

When it's bath time we tell him and he happily goes up the stairs, we undress him then he walks to the bathroom and gets in the tub himself and turns the water on.  This is both good and bad.  Good that he can do this, bad that we have to shut the bathroom door or he'll get in the tub during the day. 

We are also beginning to potty train.  Very gradually that is.  He is taking an interest in the toilet and is happy to sit on it.  He has also started telling us he went peepee or poopoo.  He doesn't always do this but sometimes and sometimes will also point to his diaper.  We are going to ease into the potty training but my goal is that by his 2nd birthday he is day trained.  We will see how things go over these next 6 months.  I also want him to get used to actually going on the toilet more before we potty train.  His newest thing is peeing in the bathtub before his bath.  Thankfully it's before and not during.  We were putting him on the potty before bath and will probably start doing that again.

Some of his favorite things are: playing with blocks, balls, driving his car, books, puzzles, eating, gymnastics, running, climbing, cutting up fruits and veggies (the plastic peel-apart kind), pretending to cook, and coloring.

He doesn't like having his diaper changed (thus the potty training) and would rather sit on the toilet than lay down for a new diaper.  He also doesn't like sitting still for very long.  So long car rides, sitting through church, and long dinners he sometimes struggles with.

Here are some pictures from the past 18 months.  My how he's grown!  We love you Caden!!

1 day old

6 months old

12 months old

18 months old