Pushing Boxes

Not too much to update on this time around, but there are always pictures! Here’s our new news and then some pictures.

We went to what we thought would be my first doctor’s appointment yesterday. I guess they didn’t realize I was a transfer – even though I told them on the phone – and handed me a file full of paperwork to fill out. I had already filled it all out in Georgia, and luckily the doctor there had made copies for me to bring with me. So I handed the copies over, which they accepted and just filled out a smaller stack of paperwork. Then I talked to the head nurse – who is really a neat lady – she set me up with another doctor’s appointment and we were on our way!
The drive to the Landstuhl hospital is about 45 minutes. The parking is set up horribly! I was glad we had actually left early (I know what you’re thinking – “Chris and Mindy left early for something!”) as it took us another 20 minutes to park and get into the building. Once into the building we joked that I would never make it to Labor and Delivery when I actually did go into labor because the hospital is endless! Maybe Chris should take a few courses in delivering a baby. =)

We received our unaccompanied baggage today. It consisted of a box of toys, some army things, some bedding, a small TV and Chris’s PlayStation 2 so we can watch movies. Now we’re just anxiously awaiting our household goods. I think we’ll feel much more settled and at home once we get our own things in here. I’m already envisioning room layouts! I went ahead and ordered a bedding set for Luke’s room. This will be the first room we get to decorate for him, so I’m really excited. I got a really cute little sports quilt with pillows and a rug. I’d like to get a toy box and some sports curtains for him, but I’m very excited with my first order of items.

I also bought a new bedding set for the guest room. I saw it and couldn’t resist! It’s very bright! It has pinks, oranges and reds in it. It’s a little different from what I normally get (neutrals) but I was in the mood for a change…and a bit of a risk. Let’s hope it looks as good in person as it did on the Internet. I should have most of my ordered items by October, so I’ll post pictures of them once I get it all set up.

Chris is working to get more settled in at work. There will be plenty for him to do in the next few months! We also have our first FRG meeting tonight. Hopefully they’ll fill us in on what’s coming up on the schedule over the next few months. It’ll also be a good time to meet some of the other wives in the unit.

Sunday we hope to try a chapel on post. There is a Nazarene church in Kaiserslautern, but it’s a bit of a drive to attend every week or multiple times a week. We hope to find a good service here on post. I also plan to start looking at the different ministries around here. I really miss being involved in a bible study and different ministries.

Luke is doing good! He has finally started to adjust to the time change. We try to keep a fairly consistent schedule during the day, so that helps a lot too. He is quite the active little man! He’s ALWAYS moving. If he’s ever still it means he’s asleep. =) He’s been trying really hard to repeat words…although they don’t really come out sounding like the actual word. He points all the time. It’s his favorite means of communication. He’s also been dancing a lot lately. It’s the funniest thing. He’ll bob his head and swing his arms around. Too cute! He’s a big fan of throwing things…anything! All his toys will be nice and neat in a box and 5 minutes later, they’re all over the floor…all over! His eating habits have started to improve. I don’t think I posted too much about it earlier, but we were having a really difficult time getting him to eat anything substantial. Things are starting to look up though! The other night, he ate everything I had prepared for supper. He had chicken, potatoes and, amazingly, green beans! I wanted to do a happy dance! Finally, a supper that didn’t involve me dragging out the peanut butter after many attempts of getting him to eat a normal meal! This is big! =) Still only two teeth! =) I can see more under the gums, but they’re taking their time to appear. Oh yeah, he LOVES to push boxes around. It’ll be really interesting to see how he reacts when our household goods get here and there are hundreds of boxes around! He’s so happy to just push a box or bin around the house – who needs toys when you have boxes?!

Alright, on to the pictures!

Luke carrying my purse around! How funny that he knows to put it on his shoulder!

Yummy juice!

Close up!

In the box of toys!

Throwing toys out of the box...

Pushing a box around the room...

Helping Daddy put a shower shelf together...

Getting ready for bed!

Run away from bed!

Ok, here is an example of what Luke pulls out in the middle of the floor. From the kitchen he brought the empty coke box, behind him is the white lid to our hamper in the bedroom...the rest are toys from his box. He has started sitting in a box to briefly watch his morning shows!

Here he is after nap time - notice mommy picked up =)- eating a cracker sitting in his box...

What a cutie!

Daddy clipping Luke's nails. This is one job I prefer daddy to do...that and change diapers. =)

More later!

Play Time!

Today we took Luke to the playground. He loves the swing! Just thought I’d post some pictures since he’s just so cute!




Swinging is fun!





"I can see the whole world on top of this slide!"



"Wheeeee!"



"This makes a unique sound..."



"let me try again..."



More swinging!



Just can't get enough!





Hope you are all having a very blessed Sunday!

Pictures!

We finally have Internet at home! Whohoo!!! I feel much more connected to the states now. The time difference is insane. We’re awake while all of you are fast asleep and vice versa, but it’s still nice to have the Internet at our fingertips.


I finally have pictures to post…although, after going through them, I was disappointed I didn’t take more. I usually always have my camera close by (which I get legally from my mom.) Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling well and things have been so crazy busy that I’ve slacked on taking pictures. I’ll post what I have though. =)


Chris had his first day at work yesterday. He was able to meet some of the guys he’d be working with, so that’s good. Luke doesn’t like it that he leaves all day long though. Since I’ve had a lot of issues with my morning sickness lately, Chris has done a lot of taking care of Luke. The good news is that yesterday and today I’ve actually started feeling a bit better. I’m still really nauseous and have to choke back throwing up (sorry if that was TMI,) but yesterday I was able to play with Luke on the floor for awhile (huge improvement) and right now I’m feeling fairly decent. I give all the glory to God and thank those of you who have been praying for us. I am very hopeful that this may be the turning point in my pregnancy. I’m still on the meds of course, but yesterday and today have reminded me that God will bless me and I won’t have to spend this entire pregnancy sicker then sick.

I have my first appointment in Landstuhl next week. This will be only my second OB appointment for Baby Bee. Poor thing, he/she is already being treated like the “second child.” =) I’m really looking forward to hearing the heartbeat and being reassured that the pregnancy is going well. I’m also hoping they’ll schedule my ultrasound soon. With Luke we had already had like 3 ultrasounds by this time. It was reassuring to actually see that everything was ok. I look forward to seeing that with Baby Bee.

Because I have so many pictures, I’ll fill the rest of the blog with those!

I only have a few pictures from the actual trip...I was really slacking here...




Chris and Luke on the airplane...


Eating at German Restaurant (which was actually Italian.)

These next pictures are of our barracks-like apartment...you'll see...=)


This is what you see right when you walk in our door.


Immediately to your right is the bathroom...with a window in the door!


From the first day we moved in, I noticed that the bathroom and the kitchen have a certain smell to them. It's not necessarily a bad smell, but because of my extreme sensitivity to smell, it turns my stomach faster than anything. I think we narrowed it down to the piping in the sinks - at first we thought it was the water, but the shower doesn’t bother me. Needless to say, it makes using the restroom or cooking a meal VERY interesting. We've tried candles and air fresheners, but a sensitive sense of smell can't be fooled.






The tub cracks me up! It's so tall! I'll have to take a picture with one of us standing by it so you can get the feel of how tall it is. Pretty soon, when my belly gets bigger-than-big, I'll need a step ladder to get in!

Continuing down the hall, you will find our kitchen off to your right as well...







Through the kitchen AND the hall, you can get to our dining room and living room.


The dining room and living room are really just one big room. We'll put our table under the hanging light.

The living room side...


A shot of the dining room from the living room...

The two extra bedrooms are on the left side of the hall, and the master bedroom is at the end of the hall...

This will be Luke's room...it's pretty small, but so is he. =)

Here is room number 2. I know it all looks the same, but I'll post pictures once we get it set up with our furniture. This will be the guest room. There should be enough room in here for the queen-sized bed...and that's about it. =)

This is the built-in closet for the guest room...

Here is the master bedroom...



How many built-in closets do we need?! There are 5 in this room! How in the world will I decorate in here???


The hallway taken from the Master bedroom. There is a huge mirror in the hall - Luke loves it!

"Who is that other boy on the other side?!"


The view from the living room...(2 pics)





The view from the kitchen...all the buildings look the same here...all of them...


Enough of our barracks-like apartment. =) I'll post pictures once we get our stuff (which should be here in a month or so!)

Here is a picture of our rental car...



Here is a picture of our rental car and our new used car...our car is the brown one...



Here are some landscape pictures...it might help you see them better if you click on them to enlarge them.


Most of these are taken on our way to Idar-Oberstein...




This is a church built into the mountain...


On the autobahn...


A view of Baumholder...


Ok - on to pictures of Luke!


Luke sleeping in bed at our second hotel room...


The weather is definitely cooler here. We had to buy Luke something other than the sandals he's been wearing. These are such big boy shoes!

He loves his shoes. He'll bring them to us just so he can wear them around the house...

Always in motion...


Luke at the table. The cloth highchair Jenny made for us is great and getting a ton of use! He tries to climb up in the chair all by himself.


We went to Globus (basically a German Home Depot) in Idar-Oberstein a few days ago...Everything was in German and everyone spoke German. There were a few very confusing times when we were trying to communicate, but we managed!

Luke loved riding in the car cart...



Luke loved the curtains in the second hotel room we stayed in. He liked putting them on his head!


At the playground...



And finally, Baby Bee...growing everyday! I think I'm 18 weeks in this picture...

Alright, that was a ton of pictures! I'll post again soon!