Sunday at Cousin Hanspeters weekend house...

This is the front of the three story weekend house with a view of Ulm, they have had it for two years and is a work in progress, but a nice escape..

This is a view of the back of the house...It was Gudrins birthday and we spent the afternoon with her and her family and sisters family...

Out for a little walk behind the house, until we came upon a shooting range..lol!

Ava and cousin Andrea...

Omi the World Class German Cook!!

Your right my friend Avery...Weight Schmeight....It's just impossible with the cooking that goes on in this house. Tonight some kinda dish I can't pronounce, but beef, horseradish sauce, veggies in some kinda sauce, potatoes with exta horseradish sauce on top for me...you get the picture. Bravo!!!
We had a lazy Saturday, Lunch at the Golf club with Matthias's buddies and their girlfriends, napping in the afternoon and dining with the family at night. My brother-in-law has become a golf junkie, close to my husband. So, we have'nt seen him much. But, he promises tomarrow he'll hang out with us all day. Gerd, returned from a week bicycle trip today so it was great to have him here for dinner too(does'nt even sound like fun, huh Eric). We miss you all and wish you we're here with us...Ava's having a blast having all eyes on her 24/7, and we're enjoying having Omi's help...More tomarrow!
Time for dinner!!

A watch Gerd got for me to wear when we're here....USA time and European time...Perfect!! So as you can see it's after midnight...Time for bed, Good night!!

Friday night with the guys!

Matthias#s best friend Loreno, and his ex soccer coach Burnd.
Thomas our favortie beergarten owner is in the black

We met up with some of Matthias's friends last night after his golf win. In Thalfingin(the village were Omi lives) there's a local beergarten. Thomas is the owner and it was great to see him and meet all the locals. He made me some great non-alcoholic drinks... Here are a couple pics...

Day 2 in Germany

Outside of Omi's house!

In the city, 70° and beautiful

Loves the chocolate ice cream

The Münster which has the tallest steeple in the world, use to be catholic now in protestant

A big help in the kitchen, helping Omi make salad...training starts early for this little cook, hopefully she'll be as good as her Omi some day!!

So, we slept till 11am and feeling a little bit better today. Matthias was off to a golf tournemnt(which he won) with his brother Stefan. So we decided to spend the day in the city with Omi. We shopped a little, ate some ice cream and made our way back home to nap and get ready to meet up with Matthias and the guys. Ava is adjusting well and Omi is having fun watching her. Here are some pictures from the day.

Off we go to Germany!

Boarding at DFW!!

Ava's a little long for this bassinet, but we make it work

Frankfurt Airpot

Happy to see Omi for sure!!

Done Done, time for a nap!
So we made it just fine, thank goodness for direct flights. For me this was a very short 10 hour flight, only b-c our 20 month old kept us very busy(Matthias thinks different). For the first 7 hours we read all our new books, colored with our new crayons, watched our dvd's and played with our neighbor'a little boy. Quickly the sun was gone and for the next 3 hours we enjoyed watching Ava sleep in her bassinet, she was done. The sun was up quickly and we landed safely in Frankfort, Germany at 8am(1am US). Blue skys and high 70's. After a 2.5 hour drive we arrived at our Omi's(grandmother)house. WE ate and played, took a short nap and found ourselves up with Ava for the rest of the night. Finally we broke and loaded her up in the car and drove around for 45 min. at 3:30am(8:30pm US)till she fell asleep. Can you say "Jet Lag"!!

My Cousin!!

Today my cousin left to Kuwait, say a little prayer for he and all the men a women fighting this war!!

This is in May of 2005, we went to Schweinfurt Germany to visit him. He was there for a year before being deployed to Kuwait, his wife Amanda will stay in Germany while he is gone...We get to visit her while we're there!!

Bambino Update!

All is good, we're 15 1/2 weeks and feeling great! Went to the Dr. this week and everything was just fine. Babies heart beat was in the 150's and my weight gain(well we'll just keep that to ourselves...heehee).
But we're in great shape for our trip next week to Germany...We're sooooo excited to see everyone there, and excited for them to see Ava Lou! Here's a picture of us all from the wedding!!



More later!!

Our weekend!!

Ava and I hung out with our good ole buddy Fancy this Saturday. It's always fun catching up with her and hearing all the juicy California gossip...Good times!! Ava got to play with Baby Catlin too...she's a cutie!! And we ended the weekend with a little chocolate ice cream cone...Ava ate the whole thing!!

Girls Trip-Santa Fe 2007

So, we all survived the big trip to Santa Fe this year! What a great time with a great group of girls. Jennifer, Courtney, Kerry, Stacy, Traci, Leigh Anne, and myself left Friday to Santa Fe to stay in Jennifer's families adobe home there. We shopped a little and of course had some of the best food everyday. Saturday, we we're at 10,000 Waves Spa for the afternoon. I got a prenatal massage, manicure, pedicure and enjoyed watching everyone else hang out at our own private hot tub. Can't wait till next year, even if it took me 24 hours to recover....
Plus it rained most of the time we we're there, which was like paradise for me...Okay, so I'm obsessed about rain right now, sorry!!!

So Far So Good!!!

Our testing we had done at 12 weeks has all come back negative. So the chance of Down's or any other chromasome disorder are highly unlikely. We will have a full anatomy sonagram at 18 weeks to triple check everything. Seems a little much for me, but that's what you get when your 35 and older. Really, I look at it as a bouns to get to see the baby a few times b-4 February. I'm feeling great and finally have a bit of the lost energy back from the 1st trimester. Yipeeeeeeeee!!!!
No, this is not a picture of our baby, but a picture of a baby at 14 weeks. Weight=1 ounce....Height=4 inches

Let it Rain Let it Rain Let it Rain

We havent had a rain here since March!! This morning I woke up to cloudy skies and rain drops on the roof. Yipeeeeeeeee!! We need it so bad here, but am afraid it wont really make a dent in the deficit but we are happy to see it. Now the bad news...back up to 100 by this afternoon!!

Happy Birthday to the youngest in the Class of 89!!

Happy Birthday to my good friend Eric!! Have a great day Eric!! Your the Bestestess!!!














From the girl who "Cheered her ass off for you!!!!!!!!!!"






To some of your biggest fans!!!

Our 12 week old! Only a mom and dad can appreciate this types of picture!!!

Here is another picture of our baby as he/she grows, now about the size of a lime or 2 inches. Since I'm 35 years(which is the cut off age), I had to do a first trimester screen, they do a test and a sonagram to measure and check for certain birth defects. The baby measured out fine and we'll know next week the results of the full test. If there is negative results we can do other screenings and test but we're keeping positive and not worrying ourselves about it. I'm healthy and feel great(again) so for us it was just a chance to see a 3D view of baby Gerlich... Which, by the way was really cool. Patting it's hands and its profile was just perfect (as you can see in the picture). The Dr said "Boy-question mark", but myself and the nurse we're almost sure what we saw was little boy. AGHHHHH!!!

Family Reunion!!

This weekend we were in Fredricksburg at the Rankin Reunion! It is always such a great time. Not everyone was able to attend this year, but don't you worry this bunch keeps the fun and laughter going. We started out the day with Lunch at the Brewery which is always great, a little shopping, a swim in the pool, and then on to dinner. We have it catered every year and rent out the meeting room at the Fredricksburg Inn where we all stay. The Bar-B-Q filled us up and prepared us for the bidding and laughter that the auction brings every year. We had such a great time, and watching all the babies run around was just the best. Jordan(Ava's second cousin) is now Ava's hero, whatever Jordan did Ava was for sure to follow!! Next year same place we've decided, which is just fine with me...We Love Fredricksburg!!!!

So, I went for my 3 month check up yesterday. I'm 11 weeks 3 days and every thing was going "Text Book, perfect" my doctor said. Which is great because I'm getting over that first trimester stuff and feeling more normal. Only a two pound gain during the first trimester, which I'm really trying to keep under control since I gaind 60lbs with Ava. I know its easy now and I may lose it the bigger the baby gets and eat up everything but its really a goal for me...25-35lbs...we'll see. I cant believe I'm talking weight out here, but Its and issue for me anyways so there!!! "It's my blog and I can do what I want to, do what I want to, do what I want to" ahahaha!! So this is what baby looks like at 11 weeks, crazy huh!!! Next week, we do the first trimester screen, since I'm 35. We get to see 3D and all....if the dr's good maybe they can determing sex...we'll see!!