3 months old already???

We had a pretty uneventful week, so I thought I would take this opportunity to post a little update on our sweet Sarah Avery.    She is showing us more of her little personality everyday.   She smiles at us like she really recognizes us as her people, and she has started laughing a lot.  She loves to be tickled.   And she is especially animated during middle of the night feedings. (Which are not frequent....usually just one feeding around 3 am which I actually enjoy on Saturday nights because I can check the football scores.   Last weekend I even managed to watch a little bit of Georgia vs Auburn.......GO DAWGS!!)    She is also "talking" more and more.   And she is still growing like a weed and is officially wearing 6 month clothes.   This week we even stopped using the infant insert for the Ergo.   I know it is trite to keep saying so, but time is just flying by.   I can't believe that she is already out of the newborn stage.   We have really settled into a good rhythm though (with the exception of naps........a consistent nap schedule is still evading us.)  and it is hard to imagine our family before she was a part of it.    She has started to be a little bit calmer in the car too, which is SUCH an answered prayer.   Seriously, that has been Susannah's bedtime prayer for the past couple of weeks.   I can completely understand why too, as Susannah has to ride directly next to the piercing screams.    We actually ran errands yesterday with no tears.   It was SO WONDERFUL.  

Sarah Avery, your Daddy and sister and I love you so very much.    You have already added so much joy to our family and we can't wait to keep watching you grow.    Here are some pictures we took this morning:

Sarah Avery Mallory, just 2 days shy of 3 months:

She has started to be very interested in her feet, which is so adorable.

This raised eyebrow look is one of her favorite expressions and it cracks me up.

 Here are some other photos from the week:

Still loving our activity mat.

I don't have photographic evidence, but this one refuses to take a pacifier, opting for her fist instead.  

Our evenings often consist of this.......dancing to itunes disney's princess radio.

Twirling 

Susannah loves to play with Sarah Avery.    Peter and I are CONSTANTLY reminding her to be gentle, but overall, she has completely exceeded my expectations in the big sister department.   My prayer is that these two are best friends.  

I should clarify though, that Susannah definitely does her fair share of torturing her defenseless sister.   This picture is case and point.   

How lucky am I to have this crew as my own??

I know this is blurry, but I had to post it because Susannah looks so cool in those crooked aviators.

Pure sweetness.

In other news, we wrote our letter to Santa last week.     I think Susannah is the perfect age for Christmas fun.  I'm itching for  all the festivities to start.  

That's it for this week.   Hope everybody is doing well.   Love you all!

Stomach Virus and Lantern Night

The past week turned out to be a little yuckier than we had hoped.   Susannah had a 24 hour stomach virus that she generously shared with me.   (and of course, for this older and weaker mama, it has lasted longer than 24 hours.)  We had been so looking forward to our first Lantern Night with Susannah's kindergarten, but unfortunately, it was a little higher maintenance than we had anticipated.   The tradition itself is really neat though.  Lanternelaufen is the German terms which translates to "walking with lanterns."   And that is exactly what all the young children here do.   Usually it is organized by kindergartens, but neighborhoods and villages sometimes have their own special event as well.    The night is a celebration of Saint Martin, a soldier who gave his coat to a beggar on a cold night.   He then became a bishop and spent his life helping the poor.   So each year in early November, German children decorate paper lanterns and participate in a special walk, complete with songs.   While our first night wasn't as perfect as we had hoped, we were still grateful to participate and are looking forward to next year when we will hopefully have less tears and drama.    

The s-bahn (our metro system) was experiencing a labor strike on lantern night, so Peter and I opted to walk to the meeting point to avoid the crowds on the tram.   While the walk was under a mile, it was literally straight up.   And Susannah was still weak from her stomach virus, so she wanted to ride in the stroller the whole way.   Peter was such a good sport.   

Really.   A great sport.   The climb wasn't just full of hills, it also included 2 or 3 huge staircases.   

We made it right on time though.   We were, once again, the weird Americans as we were sweating from our walk while everyone else was bundled in their hats and mittens.   We headed into the forest right as the sun was setting. 

Susannah was so tired, poor thing, and wanted us to carry her lantern for her most of the way.

She tried to be a trooper, but her energy stores were definitely zapped after her first day back to school post-stomach bug.

She tried to push through though.   And she enjoyed singing all the songs that they had been practicing all week at school.

But she was just so tired.

By the time we made it to the campfire, Sarah Avery was screaming and Susannah was super whiny.   So after the last song, we opted to skip the hot chocolate and cookies and headed back down the trail towards home.   The trail was dark and Susannah's lantern was our only light.   The leaves in the forest were all blazing orange and yellow and if I concentrated really hard to ignore Sarah Avery's screams, I  enjoyed how cool the whole thing was.     

 A few more pics from the week.......

Susannah is still an amazing big sister.   She loves playing with Sarah Avery. 

Saturday was beautiful so we tried to soak up the sunshine while it lasted.

Susannah loves wearing my shoes.   She definitely wears my high heels more than I do.

Lately this is the only way that Sarah Avery will nap.......in somebody's arms.   And it was starting to make me crazy because we had tried everything.  

Except a swing.   Which we changed yesterday when we saw a used one for sale and scooped it up.   And, praise the Lord, she is napping in it beautifully!

This notice was on the kindergarten door today.  When I translated it, I was dismayed to read that the stomach bug that is going around actually may require an antibiotic to be fully eradicated.   Which means we are off to the doctor tomorrow.  

Hope all is well with all of you.   We love you and miss you!

Halloween 2014

   Well, our first Halloween as a family of four was a great success.    The girls dressed up as pink crayons and were so adorable.   We went trick-or-treating on base after an early dinner of pizza and had lots of fun.   The Germans don't really celebrate Halloween, so we were thankful that the base housing complexes hosted trick-or-treating.   And the rest of the weekend was full of beautiful fall sunshine so we decided to head to the zoo on Saturday.   I was more than grateful for a good family weekend, as the week leading up to it was pretty challenging.   Peter was traveling, Susannah was sick and Sarah Avery had her two month immunizations so we were doctored out by the end of the week.   Single parenting is no joke.  I was so exhausted by the time Peter returned, I immediately fell asleep after he walked in the door from the airport.   Fell asleep hard, on the uncomfortable sofa in our entryway.   It was awesome.   Needless to say, we are very happy to have Daddy back home!   

Sarah Avery seemed to enjoy Halloween.   

I think she already wants to be like her big sis.  ;)

Peter and Susannah carved this great jack-o-lantern.  

Really wanted a pic of me and my pink crayon, but this was the best one we got.  

Ready to head to base for some trick-or-treating

This one chose to take a little snooze for most of the evening, for which Mommy was quite grateful.

The neighborhood on base was perfect for Halloween festivities.

Checking out her loot.

Happy Dance

Welcoming Daddy home

First stop at the zoo was the adorable sea lions.

Susannah loves the zoo more each time we go.

Checking out the giraffes.

And the gorillas.   (I'm aware that you can't actually see the animals in most of these pics, but I just love seeing these two together. )

In the middle of the zoo is a miniature forest with huge trees.   It is so beautiful and peaceful.

My girl and me.

Susannah looked forward to the penguins all day.

Sarah Avery was awake for only a little bit of the fun. 

My mornings consist of this sweetness.  

Hanging out on mommy and daddy's bed

This happy baby was in the 99th percentile for height and 97th for weight.

I'm aware that these are way out of order, but here is the pumpkin carving action.  Susannah opted to carve in a princess dress and sun hat.   Of course.   

Our favorite ice cream shop is officially closed for winter.   This was our last cone of 2014. 

Zonked after a friend's princess birthday party.   

laughing at Daddy

While they are SO VERY DIFFICULT sometimes, when I see a picture like this, my heart floods with gratitude for these two beautiful gifts. 

Growing way too fast

Post-ballet snack

Hope all of you had Happy Halloween celebrations.   We miss you all and send all our love from Germany.