Madison's first week

Getting a little bit of mommy time.



Resting quietly in the stroller during our walk.



Hanging out with daddy.



Getting out of the hospital room for a couple of minutes for Madison's first walk.



Bundled up for our first car ride



Madison's first bath at home. We wanted to get the toys out so we used the tub, we've just been using the sink ever since.



A baby burrito, yummy. Madison has been cranky with what we think is gas; the wrap and jiggling on her side typically settle her down. No doners, or other upsetting foods for mommy.



The building of a genious.

Getting caught up

A few pictures from the baby shower put on by some of the folks at the dental clinic. Thanks Nadia for leading the organizational efforts.




Maybe we should have used Mercedes instead of Madison.


Finally, a gift for dad.


mmm, cake.

Time lapse - the expanding belly

Above are, in order, Shelly at 20, 25, 30 and 35 weeks. In the last shot Shelly doesn't look much bigger, but her belly has grown more sideways lately. If we had a forward facing view you'd see the difference. All in all Shelly is pretty small compared to most of the preggers we've seen. Don't worry though because Madison is still right on schedule as far was estimated length and weight.

--Ed

35 weeks - we're in the safe zone

Holy cow, it has been 5 weeks since my last post. I'd like to say that we've been really busy and I just haven't had time, but that's just not the case. Not much as been going on here, we're just taking care of Shelly to give Madison as much time as possible to finish cooking. Yesterday (cinco de mayo) Shelly hit 35 weeks; which puts us another week into the safe 34+ week zone should Madison be early. We are really hoping for 37 weeks since that is considered full term and we could deliver at a hospital of our choice. Two more weeks and we're home free.

--Ed


Shelly at 35 weeks; she claims that she's not much bigger, but I beg to differ.


Madison's crib. The nursery is pretty much ready for Madison, but we have some additional furniture items being shipped over with my sister's family.

30 weeks and counting

Hello from Germany. Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while but we really haven't been up to much lately. Today we may take a day-trip just to get out, but that depends a lot on the weather. We haven't seen freezing temps in several weeks however we have seen lots of rain.

For those that are counting, Shelly is at 30 weeks as of Friday, March 31. Below is the lastest "Shelly's belly" picture from 29 weeks last Friday.

--Ed

Soccer and Snow

Some of you are aware that the US Men's National Soccer Team played a tuneup game against Poland in Kaiserslautern, about 1.5 hours southwest of us. Shelly and I bought our tickets and jerseys and headed down to the game on Wednesday night. We had hoped to be able to make a few World Cup games, but tickets are VERY hard to come by - not to mention Madison will be making her initial appearance right around the time the World Cup kicks off.

Here are Shelly and I representing - sporting our jerseys and flag before the game.


The US won 1-0, and yes there was a near blizzard during the game. Here is the US team recognizing the US fans that came out.



The snow from the game Wednesday followed us to Hanau. We received only a dusting yesterday which didn't stick. However, this morning the snow was falling in earnest and by 5 PM we had at least 4 inches on the ground and another 3-5 expected overnight.

The dogs love the snow and it is a kick to watch them run around and wrestle. By the time I got them home their feet were incased in snow.

Winston gets pretty feisty and he usually ends up with a snowy fu-man-chu.

I guess we'll be spending the weekend watching DVD's and cleaning up after the snowy beasts after their walks

--Ed

Shelly's Belly 2

Here's Shelly, taken this morning at 25 weeks + a couple days. You can tell she's gotten a little bigger but we're still at a managable size. Shelly is starting to experience some back discomfort when sitting or lying down for a long period of time. We have an appointment in a couple weeks so we'll be getting a Madison update pretty soon.

--Ed

Barcelona

As usual, Shelly got the extra "training day" for the normal 3-day weekend making the President's Day holiday a 4-day. And as usual, off we went - this time to Barcelona in hopes of some warmer weather and this thing called sunshine that we've heard about.

We did get the good weather we were hoping for; it was a bit cool, but the skies were clear so we had ample sunshine. I think we both actually got some sun which was very nice. The city was great and there was a lot to see. The sites in Barcelona are pretty spread out so we made use of the open-top tourist buses to get from place to place, and also soak in the sun.

Our first day we arrived mid-morning and checked our bags at the hotel then explored the Gothic Quarter, La Rambla and the harbor. Our "room" was really an apartment so we had a full kitchen and did some shopping at one of the markets for some fruit and other snack items to keep in our room. Day two we got out to an early start on the tour bus and hit all the major sites including La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, both Gaudi works that are a major detour from typical European architecture. We also strolled around the Olympic facilities and stopped for some sangria on the beach at the end of the day. Day three we hit some of the museums and the aquarium.

We had some great food too. Like any tourist destination, the joints in the tourist areas are not the greatest. One of Shelly's coworkers went to Barcelona over the New Year and liked the city but complained about the food. We both love Spanish food so we were was disappointed (and a bit skeptical) to hear that the food was sub par. However, Lonely Planet did us right and pointed us off the beating path to some good places. One place we went for dinner was a GREAT Mexican joint. This place didn't open until 9 PM and by 9:20 was packed with a line outside. The restaurant was run by what we assume was a father and son. One of the coolest things was that when they made a margarita, they each took turns shaking the shaker until the drink was so frothy you couldn't hear the ice banging around inside. This was serious business; I would have taken a picture but I didn't want to break their concentration. I started out with a Negro Modelo but once we witnessed the making of a margarita I felt obligated to indulge. The food was prepared with the same care and ranks as some of the best Mexican food we've ever had. The city was great, but I think that meal was my highlight.

We thought the Spanish people were great, the laid back culture and vibrant atmosphere is just so much different than Germany. Basically Barcelona was a nice break from the day-to-day, Germany and our crappy weather.

--Ed

Shelly soaking up the sun on the Rambla del Mar.

La Rambla, the main pedestrian area in town.

Shelly shopping at Mercat de la Boqueria, a large market off La Rambla.

Ed at Park Guell

The view from Tibidabo, the highest point in the city.

Segrada Familia

Ed and Shelly at Segrada Familia

Finishing off the day with sangria at the beach

Ed polishing off dessert at El Rincon Maya

Shelly outside El Rincon Maya - the Mexcan restaurant we liked so much

Casa Batillo, an apartment renovated by Gaudi

Shark!!