Linus

Here it finally comes: The whole story.
I am glad humans do not need to be pregnant as long as an elephant . 40 weeks is just right - enough time for the baby to grow, and enough time for the mommy to recover from being sick in the beginning, then pretty soon to forget all about it, considering to have even more children, to feel and to connect with the baby, to feel better then ever before in your whole life, to understand the true purpose of life and what is most important, to develop a love that cannot be deeper and stronger and which turns us into a better person.
After 38 weeks I was ready to hold my little baby in my arms. Linus was thinking about it, but he took his time. During my pregnancy, I could sense his personality already as being very calm and laid back. It felt like he slept a lot and when he kicked, it was always very soft. This was the same case during labor and even now. However, he still surprised us very much when he decided to be born. I had contractions on and off for over a week, some days I really was not feeling well at all. It got a little frustrating because I had all the signs that labor was not far away, but nothing happened. On April 2, we had a very busy morning. When we came home I talked to Amelia about this certain pizza that is supposed to induce labor…we were thinking about having a pizza dinner. In the afternoon, Amelia baked a whole bunch of very good ginger snaps for me. Later on, I had contractions again; but they were not very strong and I did not feel very well. When Ben came home, he sent me outside to take a walk and made dinner in the meantime. I walked four times around our neighborhood with one foot on the street and one on the curb (it helped a lot when I was pregnant with Jakob). After that, we had dinner, got the kids ready for bed, cleaned up, and had popsicles while watching “Pirates of the Caribbean.” I slept for two hours and woke up around 1am. At that point my contractions were pretty strong, about five minutes apart. I did not take them too serious and thought that if those were “real,” I would have enough time to wait till the morning to get to the hospital. A little later I had to get up because laying down did not feel that great anymore. I cleaned up a little and packed my bag. Ben woke up at 2:30am and called Amelia. I thought he was hurrying a little too much. Amelia came over and we chatted before we left for the hospital at 3:30am. It was quite a storm out there. The wind was very strong and the rain was coming down very hard, but we made it to the hospital safely. Trying to handle the contractions, we made our way up to labor and delivery. When we came in, the nurse asked which child we were expecting. When she heard that it is the third, she started to hurry - I guess I must have looked tense. After we got to the delivery room and I got changed and checked, around eight nurses started running and got things ready - I was dilated to 8cm. They expected me to have the baby within 30 minutes, but as laid back as Linus is he took a little longer than that. Luckily my doctor was on call that night and was already in the hospital. At 7:50am Linus was born, weighing 7 Ib and 14 oz and measuring 19 inches. Even though Linus is our third baby, his birth was very special and I am amazed how much love we are able to feel and experience with every child.

Still Pregnant...

Everything is ready - The crib and changing table are set up, the office furnitures had to move into our closet, we finally got extension cords so we can even use the computer in the closet, the baby clothes are washed, the car seat is clean as well, the newborn diapers are waiting to be used, and Jakob even got some baby toys ready. Jakob invented a song for the baby that is supposed to lure him out, and Emilie thinks we should just open up my belly button to get him out of there. We are waiting. I know it is silly - he will come out sooner or later, but seriously sooner would be nicer.

It is definitely spring!

We were already sitting in our lawn chairs enjoying the company of our neighbors and friends by the playground. We even got our share of sunburns for this year, left our coats and hats inside, and had picnics outside instead of on a blanket in the living room. Nothing seemed important enough that could have kept us inside. We did not care about the piles of laundry, the crumbs on the floor, and the soap scum in the sink. Last Monday the clouds came and spring cleaning caught up with us. On Thursday the weather turned worse. We were on our way to preschool when we got stuck on the icy and snowy road up to Traverse Mountain. It felt like a blizzard out there. For the first time, Jakob had to walk up to preschool and I was very happy that we don't live at Traverse Mountain. An hour later the sun was shining... Yesterday, we enjoyed the great and warm weather at Thanksgiving Point and this morning BBQs and lawn chairs went flying again and we found ourselves in a winter storm once more... I love spring - it gets warmer, the flowers, trees, and birds are waking up from their winter sleep, we cannot wait to get outside, the winter clothes can be washed and stored away for the next winter, and it is Easter time. Even though the occasional snow storms are confusing and not so much fun any more as they were a few months ago, they are part of spring and I am glad they gave me the chance to get my spring cleaning done :)

Yippieyeah!

It is very hard to believe, but I finally updated my blog after starting it 8 months ago! I don't know what hit me... I think it was the sun this morning. I woke up and there she was - bright, light, and warm. "Spring. Saturday. Clean house. Rest." I thought, and then it happened. We got dressed, had cereal, I turned on the computer, and finally had time to update our blog. Updating it after such a long time is not that easy... So many things have happened and it is so easy to forget, especially the little things and the comments Jakob and Emilie make every week that make us laugh and help us to take things less seriously and to take more time to look at life out of a child's eye view.
I am so excited that it feels like spring that we were able to be outside so much lately. I am also excited that we only have 5 more weeks until our little baby will arrive. I am totally caught in the whole nesting thing and did a little too much this last week, but it is fun and just part of it, don't you think? I wonder if the spring weather and the upcoming Easter holidays make it even worse. I wonder if we will have a little Easter bunny :)

Happy Valentines Day!

We wish everyone a happy Valentines Day!!! We think about you - our friends and families - so much and are very grateful to have you!
Jakob made a record number of Valentine cards this year and delivered every single one of them. At first he celebrated this special day with his preschool friends and then at home. We decorated the house with hearts and Valentine stickers (which was the last time - it took quite some time to scratch them off the fridge...), made a special brunch for Daddy, and delivered notes and treats to our friends and neighbors. We are very lucky to live so close to so many wonderful people!

Happy New Year!

This year Jakob and Emilie both took an extra long nap so they would be able to celebrate New Years with us and they did. They were so excited! We made a special dinner together, and played a ton of games. I was so tired - I could have gone to bed at 10pm, but not so the rest of the family... We played and played and counted down the seconds to the New Year. Then we ran upstairs and watched fireworks from the kid's bedroom windows. We all fell into bed pretty soon after that. Everyone had a good nights sleep except me. I welcomed the new year with really bad and painful Braxton Hicks.
This year I have not made any new years resolutions and I am very happy about that. There won't be any pressure to meet certain goals, no frustrations that I did not meet them, and for sure a much more relaxed outlook for the new year :)

Santa was here!

Jakob and Emilie could not believe it when it was FINALLY time for Santa to come. They have waited for so long, Jakob's Christmas party at school was over, all the doors on the calendars were opened, it was snowing, and they only needed to sleep ONE more time???
We really enjoyed our time together. Ben took several days off from work and we would just play, read, eat (good German food of course), and watch Christmas movies. Ben got the Lego chess game from Santa and Jakob put it all together - it took him six hours and after that he wanted to learn how to play it. I am amazed at how patient he is!