Schönes Weihnachten.

Here`s to a very, merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year. Bring on 2011. Cin-cin!

xxx

Ps Our snowflakes hanging in the kitchen window, in all their white, paper snowflake glory:

Little Snails.

 

 

 

 

Oli blowing raspberries and Elke`s poorly eyes. House bound all weekend with two sick, yet surprisingly happy, kidlets. On top of her cold, Elke is also cutting six teeth. Six teeth. Hopefully that will be her `done` in the teeth department for awhile. Please...?

And our kindy-made xmas pressie from Oli - Field on one side, dotty snail on the other. It has to be one of his best handmade presents to date. It`s up there with his awesome owl and frog lanterns. So cute, they`re actually ridiculous.

The final countdown to Xmas has begun and to mark this festive occasion we`re going paper snowflake crazy. David is less than impressed but Oli has surprised me with some killer snowflake making skills of his own. Photos? I`m glad you asked. Watch this space...

xxx

Only 11 weeks until we`re Sydney bound and only 10 days left until Mama Martinelli arrives. x

The Simple Life.

Goings on about town:

Lynching Xmas decorations. The only sure way to keep them hanging from the tree. And by tree we mean twigs. We also have a mini potted fir tree sitting buried outside in the snow. It looks so sweet out there we probably won`t bother bringing it indoors. After all, we do have those twigs...

It hasn`t been above zero degrees all week and is forecast to remain that way for the forseeable future. Well for the next 3 days at least. Keep your thumbs pressed for a white Xmas. And not for the slushy, dirty snow kind.

We`re now thinking it wasn`t such a clever move opting for a new camera over a washing machine. Guess who had to reluctantly fork out for a new one today, 10 days out from Xmas. Just as well those clever Germans know a thing or two about making quality appliances.

Oli mentioned today that if we were to have another boy he would like to name him Rudolph. Dave admits he`s not averse to the idea. In fact he thinks it`s kinda cool.

Elke`s new word du jour ``uh-oh``. Mama, dada, Rara (Ola) and uh oh. As cute as it is, it kinda sounds more like 2 little burps.

We`ve been listening to this dude quite a bit at the moment. It`s as if we didn`t listen to enough Radiohead in this house already.

xxx

Ps Even though I think we`ve bought enough for Oli already, I really, really want to get him these Playshapes. Or for me, even.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Medieval Xmas markets - Making the most of a balmy 7C evening.

xxx

Laufen.

Elke - finally in the groove of walking, 6 weeks on from taking her first steps. Me - finally managing to take some snaps of her doing so. Even if the quality is just a tiny bit crappy. She has been so hesitant up until now. Choosing instead to take a couple of steps. Stop. Freak out. Then drop to her knees and crawl.

Let the bruising begin.

xxx 

We´re off to the Medieval Xmas Market tonight for dinner, glühwein and a spot of shopping. Though after the day I`ve had: waiting in line at the post office (twice) for half an hour with a screaming Elke, only to be served by the the rudest, rudest, guy ever and then spending €130 on postage to Australia (for 2 packages). I think I might just stick with the glühwein. I`m pretty used to the quality of customer service here so I really shouldn`t have let it bother me. But I did and if Dave had been there he would`ve lost it. After 18 months here, that boy takes no prisoners.

Who Likes to Rock the Party.

  

 



.

A few friends came over on Saturday to celebrate one very special occasion. An occasion that warranted the wearing of yet another summery dress in the midst of winter. Our cake was kinda embarassing though. Our grand plan was to cover the whole thing in multi-coloured, concentric circles. Alas, we ran out of time and Elke had to settle for our dismal attempt at a rainbow instead. And no, it`s not an igloo. Though that would be more appropriate considering all the snow we`ve been having lately. Luckily, Elke was oblivious to such things and gobbled up as much cake as she could get her dirty, little hands on. A cake is a cake is a cake. Or a rose, even.

Oh and Lucky Luke dropped in to wish the little lady a happy birthday. Did we ever have this show in Oz? I just can`t remember ever seeing it but thanks to Ola, I`m more than making up for lost time.

Happy St. Nikolaus Day. We had one very excited boy here this morning upon discovering a certain someone had filled up his snow boot with goodies during the night: ``See mummy. I told you I`ve been good.`` Don`t you just hate being contradicted by bearded men carrying staffs?

xxx

Ps Thank you for all little Elke`s birthday well wishes. Im sure if she any idea what was going on she would be very touched by your lovely comments. I was. 

From Little Things Big Things Grow.

This time last year we had just dropped Oli off at kindy and were on our way to the hospital. I'd been having painful braxton hicks on and off for the past week but this time they weren`t going away. Since I had a scheduled appointment with the midwives that morning, we thought we`d go to the hospital anyway to check it all out but most likely they would just send us home. I was pretty tired from last night`s lack of sleep so more snooze time would`ve been a bonus. However, that wasn`t to be. I was examined upon arrival, with the midwife expressing surprise that I was already 4cm dilated. Apprently I didn`t look like I was in enough pain to be this far along. Trust me, there was pain. But second time around, I felt more confident. I knew how to breathe with each contraction and I understood their purpose. We were sent to our room and told not to return until the contractions were closer and the pain more unbearable. Um, okay. So with those somewhat vague instructions in mind we waited it out for a couple of hours until I`d had enough and we headed back to the delivery room. ``Wow. 9cm``, said the midwife, ``You`re almost ready to push. I`ll go get the doctor``. We couldn`t believe it was almost time. We had only arrived at the hospital 3 hours earlier. The doc arrived and moments later announced that her head wasn`t in the right position for delivery and my contractions weren`t strong enough to get it there. Out came the syntocin and up went the level of pain. It was instant. I could feel her head moving down and it wasn`t long until I felt the urge to push. By this stage I had Dave, the midwife, the student midwife and the doctor all in the room with me urging me on. And me hating every single one of them. Ok no, but that syntocin was making me cranky. With each contraction I pushed down. Within a few pushes she was out, covered in vernix-y goodness. Nowhere near the almost 2 hour pushing marathon I experienced with Oli. It was over. Bliss. The doctor took one look at Elke, tilited his head to the side and said she was a cute one. He was right. She was gorgeous, smaller than her brother was but just as perfect. And boy, was she blonde!  David noted her nice head shape. It was over. Or so we thought. We hadn`t counted on there being a retained placenta and an emergency d & c. But it didn`t matter. All that mattered was Elke had arrived safely into our world. I felt it was an incredible and positive experience and despite the afterbirth drama, I would do it all again. And then some.

 

 

Happy birthday Elke Isabella Frankie. The littlest star in our universe.

I know it`s -4 degrees and snowing but being confined to the indoors has its positives. Most notably, being able to wear a summer dress during a German winter. And sit tight little girl. There will be cake.

xxx