Here We Go Again

It's almost been a year since we moved to Munich and what better way to celebrate than to move again. Thanks to Facebook, we found a place we didn't think we'd be able to get. It's still city center and we didn't have to deal with the competitiveness of the Munich rental market besides just being quick on the draw seeing the FB posting.We were already accepting defeat of it not working out living in our current 2 bedroom apartment with 3 kids and moving to the Munich suburbs. We're super excited to have found a bigger place that is still wonderfully city center and saves about 15 minutes from Nate's commute to work via car or train (that annoying 15 minutes where you sit in traffic for a distance of only 3 km's). No more work meetings in the bathroom for Nate and the twins won't have to share a room with their big sister. We really lucked out so we'll suck it up with all the "fun" moving brings and get 'er done.  At the end of March, we'll be moving from Sendlinger Tor to Friedensengel in tourist attraction language.  Friedensengel translates to the Angel of Peace. It's not our view from our window but I'll see it every time I step outside our front door....hopefully sending some peace and quiet to our home from time to time. :)

The other thing that has been eating up a lot of time lately is Lily's preschool registration. Kids go to all day preschool (called Kindergarten here) starting already at 3 and it's crazy hard to find a spot because either there aren't enough schools or Munich ladies are incredibly fertile. When my in-laws were here, I spent any time I could racing around registering Lily at the preschools near our new home. To give you an idea how hard it is - one of the state schools had 40 vacant spots and 200 applicants. And only very few (usually the private or bilingual ones) let you register online; the preferred method is in person which I understand even if it is a pain right now. So, Lily is registered at 12 preschools to start in September so we'll see if any of them accept her. The large majority are German state preschools so we're pretty much throwing her into the deep end with German immersion at that point. If it works out, Lily will be going to school already at 3 years old every day from probably 830 to 1 or 2pm in the afternoon.

I'll end with a video Nate took today of Paul and Elise giving a few smiles.

3 Weeks with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa's first trip to Munich was filled with a lot more baby holding than sightseeing but even if they didn't venture out often or too far, they left with a lot of good memories. They probably left with a back ache and still feeling the darn cold Munich was serving up in full force during their whole stay but we can't say enough how helpful they were. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

Paul and Elise are 2 months old now. They are no longer in the co-sleeper and now sharing a crib in our room. It doesn't seem like they are into cuddling with each other anymore and prefer their space when it comes to sleeping. The pain from breastfeeding went away a few weeks ago and they are eating faster. I feed them at the same time and they are usually done in 10 minutes or less - awesome. I also comfortably have one hand free, sometimes even 2. We haven't been outside with the twins much but when we have, carrying them has been wonderfully easy compared to the crying we keep getting in the stroller.

Here are some pics from G'ma and G'pa's visit

Cracks me up - this is what our best family shot looks like these days, it's not easy.

Kids with Gma and Gpa. notice Paul's spit up

Lil' saying good morning to Paul who usually wakes up first.

Random Paul and Elise capturing some expressions

Grandma with Paul
Grandpa with Elise
Smiling Lily while Mommy half snoozes next to the playmat.

The New Un-normal

We're eight weeks in with our new family.  Paul and Elise are doing well, growing fast and giving us a bit more sleep and a lot more smiles.  Lily continues to be a good big sister, always curious about what's going on with her siblings, or as she says "my baby brovah sistah".  But we can also count on one hand the number of days it's just been the five of us.  Actually, there have been zero days where it's been the five of us for 24 straight hours.  Even the "alone" days are only alone for eight hours or so.  So we're surviving just fine swimming in this new sea of kids, but we're wearing a big life vest.

We'll dip our toes into solo life this weekend as Grandma and Grandpa are breaking away from Munich to spend a long weekend in Salzburg, Austria enjoying lots of Mozart and castles.  Three whole days as a family of five doing everything for ourselves.  Yes, we can handle it.  No, it won't be as easy or enjoyable as it is with Oma and Opa or Grandma and Grandpa here.  We won't eat as well and we may all be pulling our hair out by Sunday afternoon, but we'll make it.

Of course the next big leap from there will be Nicole on her own for a whole day while I work or have a day trip.  That still feels a ways off.  We've been interviewing lots of babysitters over the past few weeks to help make that transition easier, and have found a couple of good ones that will hopefully be a big help.  And beyond that there's what happens when I start having overnight work trips again, or a week trip to Portland for a team face to face meeting.

We're getting out a bit more with the twins, usually in the ergo and sling since they're not the best in the stroller.  It's nice to get out and walk a bit, but the Munich winter is in effect with temperatures in the teens (Fahrenheit), so it's not exactly inviting and takes a bit of baby bundling to prepare.  We do get a few smiles from folks on the street though and even a few people breaking through their German privateness to comment on them.  And that's enough to keep us wandering out into the cold.