What happened to our free time?!

I'll tell you what happened, Reed happened! Wow, I can't believe he will be 7 days old tomorrow! This week was a blur. We drove to the hospital, checked in, Makayla got prepped, I dressed up in scrubs, and then Reed was born! That was the "easy" part! The rest of the week was about Reed adjusting to life on the outside, Makayla recovering from a C-section, me hovering around trying to help, and two parents trying to get to know their new son. Add the arrival on Wednesday of the two new Grandparents, Pam & Gary, and that pretty much sums up the week!

The stats on our little guy:

Born at 1452
Weighing 3.54 kg or 7lbs 13oz
Stretching to 53cm or 21 in
Likes: being held, warm milk, & fleece
Dislikes: not being held, dirty diapers, waiting for his next meal

If the stats aren't enough, we've also uploaded a few choice pictures to capture his first week.

from Bonn..

Tick Tock, Tick Tock!

The new addition to our family is almost here! For anyone not in the know, Reed will be born on Monday via scheduled C-section!! I thought it would be a good idea to try and squeeze in one last trip before the baby comes, so I mentioned a weekend in Paris to Makayla on Thursday. This proposal was quickly shot down by an eye roll and a comment including words that shall not be repeated (just kidding, it wasn't that bad!). I think she appreciated my spontaneity.

So,we are spending our last "sans baby" weekend resting, finishing final preparations, cleaning (of course!), and playing with our new car! I can't deny it, the arrival of our new wheels yesterday was a little like another child being born..it's so shiny, and fun to play with. The leather is smooth like a baby's bum, and smells so good! Ok, ok, I know it's just a car, but it is nice to be rid of our loaner that smelled like smoke, and only had two doors. And, wouldn't this have been a great car to drive to take on a 4 hour drive to Paris?!

Last weekend we spent the day in Maastrich, a city in the Netherlands just a little over an hour from Bonn. I realized recently that an old friend from Amazon, Sylvia, has moved with her husband back home to Maastrich, so we used the opportunity to visit her, meet her 2 yr old daughter, and explore the city.

I'm not sure what was cuter, the city center, or her daughter Sadie! We had fun getting to know both. We also had one of the best waffles we've had in Europe so far. Fresh off the griddle with powdered sugar...mmmmm! Does it get any better than that?

Hamburg!

Wow, what an amazing city! Although the weather was not overly cooperative in Hamburg, we had a wonderful time touring the city. There are approximately 2 million people living in Hamburg and it's the 3rd largest sea port in Europe behind Antwerp and Rotterdam. The city is currently working on a 1 million square meter development project located right on the port which will be completed in 2020 and will accommodate approximately 1500 new houses/condos as well as new commercial and office space. The picture above is Hamburg's City Hall which is still in use today. I asked Rich to take a picture of this building two different times while we were there, not realizing it was the same building, so it was definitely my favorite!
Above is a picture of us standing down by the port and fish market. Every Sunday, between 5 am and 9 am you can head down to the market to buy fresh fish. Unfortunately, we were not up in time to enjoy the fish market, but still managed to have a good time walking around the area...about two hours later! Behind us (and through the layers of fog!) you can see some of the condo construction.


We found a new favorite coffee shop in Europe. Balzac coffee (get your mind out of the gutter people!). We went to this spot a couple of times for coffee and pastries. There are quite a few of them located in Hamburg, but we haven't seen them anywhere else in Germany so it may be a local spot. Next time any of you are in Hamburg, make sure you hit up a Balzac coffee! :-)

No trip is complete until Rich experiences some good food! He'd been eying up this Currywurst stand for three days so on the last day he enjoyed some Currywurst with the rest of the locals. 2.70 euro for a sausage covered in curry sauce and a roll on the side. Not tempting to those with a weak stomach (or 37 weeks pregnant), but a real treat for those "food enthusiasts."












These two pictures were taken as we walked around the inner city lake (meaning it was located within the old city walls that were used to protect the city). The lake is approximately 1.5 miles around and is connected to the outer city lake which is approximately 8 miles around with beautiful multimillion dollars homes surrounding it. It looked like the perfect running spot so we may need to make a trip back in a few months just to experience it!

In collarbone news, Rich is on his road back to recovery! He's feeling much better and has a doctor appointment this week to get his stitches removed and start some physical therapy. He should be 100% in a couple more weeks. In baby news, no big news...except me! November 15th is still a go! The doctor confirmed last week that baby Temer has gotten settled low in my stomach so no real chance of him turning around now. We're ready though and are counting the days down! Based on his high activity level and ninja-like moves, he is counting the days down as well. I think November 15th will be a great day for all those involved. :-)