Christmas 2015

Our Christmas this year was really exciting.  I felt like this year I was on top of it.  I sent out all our family gifts early (to America), planned the Christmas markets we wanted to attend, sent out our annual Christmas cards, hosted a Christmas party for the little troopers, and completed most of the present shopping for our kids before December even came.  That way, we could enjoy reading Christmas books, watching Christmas movies, baking and decorating sugar cookies, playing in the snow, and eating way too much at all the parties.   

 

 Jane at the Little Troopers Christmas party.

 Kate at the Little Troopers Christmas party.

 Grinch cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  Jane is so happy to be held by her big sister. 

 Both girls slept in until 7:40am.  Jane mostly enjoyed the paper and ornaments.  She received books, clothes, balls, rocking giraffe, and a trampoline for Christmas.

This might be the first Christmas Kate will remember.  She got a lot of princess stuff, dress-up stuff, Frozen stuff, and of course, a trampoline. 

This was such a fun surprise from Santa!

Jane 5 months

Sweet little rollie pollie.  Jane has slept through the night two times.  She is getting up on her hands and knees and pushing herself backwards.  She has had licks of apple, banana, soft pretzel, and carrot.  I don't think she is ready for food yet, but she sure loves putting "food" in her mouth.  It is so fun to see her watch Kate play around her and include her in some of her play.  We are loving on our sweet little girl and can't believe she is growing and moving so fast!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Germany! Bryan and Rebekah are enjoying all our European adventures.  Kate loves singing, dancing, and dressing up.  Jane is fat and happy.  Both girls bring so much joy and excitement to our lives!  We hope this letter finds you well and wish you a Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving, Christmas Markets, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen

We are on the hunt for awesome Christmas Markets and collecting gluhwein cups.  And since Jane does not have her passport yet, we have been doing just that.  8 Christmas Markets thus far- 4 in Dresden, Guteneck, Parsberg, Lupberg, and Kuhstallcafe.  You can spend a lot of money on trinkets, food, and entertainment.  So worth it though.

While we were in Dresden, we drove an hour and a half north to the Rackotzbrucke or devil's bridge.  The reflection of the bridge on the water makes a complete circle.  We still are not sure if it was worth the extra 3 hour drive, but we checked it off our list of things to do and see.  Kate threw an awesome first tantrum there.  It was a culmination of tired and hungry and first time watching a movie in the car.

After Dresden, we drove down to an inactive volcano in Parkstein.  It was snowing and the view from on top was beautiful.  Poor Jane mostly gets pictures in the carrier while we are traveling, so this might be a first.  

 Saw camels in the parade at the Guteneck Christmas Market.

Bryan had an optometry conference at the military lodging Edelweiss in Garmisch-Partenkirchen the first week of December.  The girls and I tagged along and I am so glad we did!  The weather was fabulous and I was finally able to see the Zugspitz (tallest mountain in Germany that we hiked up last fall).  We visited the cute little town of Oberammergue and all the beautiful wood carving shops.  

We checked out the monastery in Ettal and the cheese factory.  I love cheese!!

We hugged Jane too tight in Santa's chair.

 We hiked the Partenkirchen Gorge and ate icicles. 

  

And we swam in the indoor and outdoor pool.  Jane was a trooper through it all.  

 

Kit Kate

Our little Kate is quite a handful.  She is up at 7am and running her mouth and/or body non-stop.  She can be a big helper or she can be a terrible two-and-a-half year old.  You just never know which one you are going to get minute to minute.  Kate is quite the little gymnast.  She can do flips holding on to bars or adults arms.  She tumbles all over the couches and jumps on the beds.  She loves to help change Jane's diaper, especially if it has poop or she needs diaper cream.  She doesn't eat, unless it is a "snack".  She knows all the words to every Disney princess song.  She says girl, Belle, and down super cute.  Reading is a necessary thing every day and she has been reading (memorized) some of her books.  Kate loves to swim and has gone down the waterslide by herself.  She wants to do everything "all by myself".  She had her first drop down to the ground and scream tantrum at a park in eastern Germany, near Dresden.  She talks about how mommy and daddy left her there and it made her so sad.  She gives kisses and hugs to Jane every night before bed.  She is a fireball and I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us!  We love our little Kit-Kate.

Jane 4 months

Jane is such a sweet, chubby bunny.  I love her little laughs and giggles.  She is ticklish under her neck and armpits.  The best, is her giggles while changing her clothes.  She is rolling from her back to belly, but prefers to lie on her back and watch Kate dance around.  Jane has started drooling and sucking on her fingers.  I have put gloves on her hands at night, so we don't have another thumb sucker!  No big adventures this month because we still don't have her USA citizenship or passport!

Love the thighs and dimples in her knees!

Halloween 2015

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.  Having kids really does make the holidays more exciting.  Kate has grown very fond of the movie Frozen since Grandma Koplin visited and bought her Frozen everything.  I thought it would be fun to dress up as the Frozen characters and then have the costumes for dress-up throughout the rest of the year.  

Bryan- Kristoff, Kate- Elsa, Jane- Anna, Rebekah- Sven

These hats were the best purchase.  They kept our little kids warm while we went out trick-or-treating and are super cute! 

The military base put on a little fall festival with professional pictures, games, and food.  Kate got to hang out with her bestie, Colton, one more time before they moved back to the states.  Sad, sad day. We went over to our friends, the Moore family, for soup and trick-or-treating.  Our kids lasted about 15 minutes in the cold.  On the plus side, that meant less candy!

October 2015

Bryan turned 33! He loves pumpkin pie.

 Jane just keeps getting fatter.  We love her chubbiness!

 Kate loves to play dress-up.  She is Ariel today.

 Someone found their tongue.  What cuteness!

 Family trip to Nabburg for an animal festival, that lost in translation didn't start until 1400.  We showed up at 1000.  Oh well. 

Jane babbling.

Having fun in the pool in Berching.

Breast Cancer Awareness 5K.

Kate could sing "Let it Go" all day long.

Grandma and Grandpa Ahlborn Visit

 We love visitors! Grandma and Grandpa Ahlborn came to visit us for 14 days.  It was great to have their undivided attention.  We had great fun showing them our regular activities along with the beautiful country of Germany.

The Glockenspiel in Munich

 Riding the gondola in Rudesheim during the ring tour. 

 Drinking rootbeer floats in our new Hofbrauhaus mugs.  

The beautiful Rhein River during the ring tour.

Kate and Jane dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  

Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival

 Kate fell asleep seconds after I strapped her on my back after the festival.   

 We got these two to play a game of Qwirkle.  Time went by quickly, but we enjoyed every second.  Thanks for the visit.  Hope to see you again!

Weiden Klinikum

After my parents left, Bryan went to an army course to get the coveted EFMB badge.  Its a two week course, but you can fail out anytime after the first week.  Its supposedly one of the toughest badges to get in the army.  So I had the girls all to myself for two weeks.  The last day of the course is a 12 mile ruck march/run.  That was the easy part for Bryan.  Or so I thought.  

Bryan told me the night before he wanted to set a personal best.  I should have told him to just walk across the finish line under 3 hours, but I didn't.  I woke up the girls early so we could see daddy cross the finish line.  Its about an hour and 15 minutes to the base he was competing.  I got the the finish line around 7:20 am and stood for about 2 minutes when his boss came over and told me Bryan was in the medical tent receiving treatment.  The first thing I thought was "seriously! you couldn't have just completed the stupid ruck march".  When I got the the tent, it was much worse than I anticipated.  I had to walk out because I didn't want Kate to remember her daddy like that.  The medics and PA did their job well- cooled him off with icy blankets, started fluids, monitored vitals. Bryan wasn't all there for sometime.  When the ambulance arrived, he was more alert and oriented. He wanted to see the girls and me before he took off.  

Bryan spent 19 days in the Weiden Klinikum.  His heat stroke and exercise exertion caused rhabdomyolysis, that caused acute kidney failure.  He was put on dialysis two days after getting admitted to the hospital.  I had no clue and just showed up to his room with him being dialyzes.  That was the toughest moment of my life.  I had to be strong for the girls, but my insides were screaming. 

It was a very hard time for me and him, of course.  I had just had a baby, Kate and I were an emotional wreck, and the hospital was and hour and a half away from home. Oh, and did I forget to mention the language barrier?  My church, my friends, and Bryan's co-workers were such a support to me during this time.  My family volunteered to come out and help, but I didn't want to inconvenience anyone, especially since its not really cheap to get to Europe.  

Bryan gained 40 pounds of water weight because his kidneys shut down.  This picture was taken two weeks after he was in the hospital and on the mend.  Both of us look pretty bad.

This picture was taken two days after the picture above.  Bryan's kidneys were really starting to pick up, as you can tell by his loss of water weight.  He was losing almost 10 pounds a day once his kidneys started to function.

Bryan was released from the hospital on my birthday, September 21.  He was (and still is) weak and needed to be cared for, but he was home.

 I am so grateful for everyone that helped, whether it was being a shoulder to cry on, bringing dinner, watching the girls, driving with me to the hospital, cutting my grass and hedges, or praying for our family.  And although it was hard for me to except the help, I needed it so badly.

Jane 3 months

Jane is getting fat! Lots of rolls on her legs, arms, and belly.  Dimples on her knees.  Mow hawk hair on top and a party in the back.  Sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night.  Loves to stand and put her fingers in her mouth.  Jane's newest tricks are babbling and laughing.

September 2015

 Kate scaling the rock climbing wall at the park in Hohenfels.

 Cutest picture of Jane.

 Kate is always asking to hold Jane, but after 5 seconds, she is done.

We are really in to dress up around this place.

I turned 31. Ice cream cake courtesy Kelli.  Thanks! 

Jane 2 months

Our baby is 13 pounds and 23 3/4 inches long.  She is having stretches of 3-6 hours of sleep during the night.  I tried to give her the bottle (while Bryan was in the hospital), but she wanted nothing to do with it.  Just like Kate.  She is starting to smile and coo.  Tummy time is not a favorite activity, but she was a perfect champ in the car seat during our drives up to Weiden.  We love you Jane!