Gigi, Macrodactyly, and Paul

Gigi, Elise's Macrodactyly, and Paul's Potty Training were the main things in my head that aren't usually so front and center day to day this last month.

O Gigi - my 4 pound elderly incontinent Gigi.  We have been sleeping under a waterproof picnic blanket and on top of towels while keeping Gigi quarantined to our room (connected to our laundry room with litter box and with Pepe here too - couldn't just quarantine her to laundry room easily) for several weeks now because she had started to do all her stinky business around the house.  So.Not.Cool. What's even more not cool is waking up to a wet spot like a halo above my head on my pillow and my hand resting on another wet spot on the sheet next to me on more than one occasion.  My breaking point arrived today and we have now moved her to the office which is now a closed bare room with a 2nd litter box.  We are both so over animals.  If that time ever comes again that we get a pet, please call me on it and make sure you get a very good explanation from me on why I'm doing it and if you are not satisfied, please talk me out of it with a good slap.

Elise's rare foot condition, Macrodactyly, has been a non-issue for us for the last 1.5 years thanks to her successful first surgery.  We do know she'll most likely need more surgeries so we have lined up appointments in Portland and Seattle within the next few months to find the right medical team.  The Seattle connection just warms my heart.  Because of the few entries we wrote on Elise's Macrodactyly on this blog, we have become connected to 6 other families around the world dealing with the same incredibly rare condition.  Thanks to one Australian family, a private Facebook page kicked off recently and there are almost 20 members.  It feels incredible to have this small community who get it and want to help.  It's because of the FB group that I now have an appointment with a highly recommended doctor in Seattle.

Our one really productive goal for Spring Break was to get Paul out of diapers.  We did it.  Wasn't pretty, wasn't easy, and not quite completely in the clear like we are with Elise but we did it.  The bliss I felt seeing a big fat turd in a small potty and a proud Paul is pretty ridiculous but it's the truth.  Lily then capped off the day by picking my favorite children's book to read for night time - Someday by Allison Mcghee - which I get teary eyed over every time I read it and she read it to me for the first time.  A turd and my daughter reading me a book and you can stick a fork in me - I'm done. 

Other fun moments from spring break were spending a few days in an ocean front house with friends in Seaside, spending a day up at friends' mountain farm, and Nate and Opa getting a sunny

round of golf in.

Here are some pics from the last month

Good friend Christy and Opa cradling their babies on a warm afternoon on our front porch.

Paul and Elise are continuing to ramp up how much they talk to each other and play with each other.  What's new is them trying to help each other out when Mom has reached her limit with some outlandish request for the umpteenth time.  Like they almost have a quiet "I've got your back" connection going these days.

Greeting Lolo at the airport for her quick visit.  LOVED having her here.

Flying kites with a picturesque backdrop at Seaside

Thanks to such a mild winter - we were able to have many picnics on the front porch.

Gardening season has begun

Big helpers getting our garden planted - going all out with the vegetable variety - hopefully they won't be picked before they are ripe like last year. Oma has made our front yard look so beautiful too - should've taken a picture.  Next time.

Paul all smiles with his poopin in the potty reward - matchbox race track

Love this smile from Lily - like she belongs on stage with that big smile.

Hanging out at Britta and Jim's mountain farm for the day and got this awesome shot.  The little hand is not my tiny undersized hand but Nico making sure he doesn't go unnoticed in the shot.

Opa taking Lily out for some Tennis.  Lily was sporting the mean face and a grunt this time.  Like Mommy like Daughter.

Even ballerinas in tutus know how to wrestle.  This is happening more and more these days between these two.  Luckily usually in giggles but gotta say - Elise usually wins.  Girl power.

Chugging Along

Life in Mather land continues to be full of whining, screaming, fighting, and sounding like a broken record when it comes to teaching my children rules and manners.  Yet the views continue to be beautiful and thank God for the good moments.  They help us deal with moments like Lily throwing a fit because we won't let her wear her swim goggles to Church......having to tell Elise to take her hand out of her pants for the 10th time that day.....Paul saying he can't walk and wants to be held when it's obviously not the case ....getting in and out of the car has to be a loud and long production.  They drive me absolutely bonkers and I love them to pieces. They are the only people I have ever looked at and thought that they are by far the most beautiful creatures to ever exist.  Even in the height of romance and budding love with Nate, it was never quite like that.  I just thought he was hot, funny, and fun and I was really lucky.  

It's going awesome with Oma and Opa living downstairs.  They are super fun to be around and super helpful.  I have no complaints to report.  I didn't realize Oma had turned the apartment into a candy store and Opa opened a You Tube viewing gallery but the kids of course eat it all up and it cracks me up.

It's been about 6 weeks now of having 12 hours a week without kids in the mornings and it's been as you would guess, wonderful.  The sense of accomplishment I already feel at 8am after dropping 3 kids off is a great kick start to a quick 3 hours of Nicole time.  I'm still navigating the time figuring out how I'd most like to spend it but I'm loving the process of it.  So many ideas and new goals bring a new dynamic of excitement and hope to my life.

The biggest surprise lately (besides Elise getting potty trained easy-peasy and Paul not even wanting to look at the potty) has been Lily's growing interest when it comes to art and drawing.  She's always liked it since she could hold a crayon but as of late, it's developed into her first real passion.  She'll spend an hour drawing after we say good night on most nights and asks me and Nate to teach her more.  She even won the T-shirt design contest at her Saturday German school that only fuels her passion because she is one very competitive little girl.  I didn't see it coming because I was too busy imagining her on the Tennis court and the Soccer field at this age but I'm now in the world of making trips to Michaels to buy special kind of paper she would like instead of dropping her off at the Soccer field.  I have no idea if she's good but man does she love it.

Even though this was a sorry note Lily wrote after being a turd, i got a kick out of reading anything she tries to write in her sound it out style.  Dear Mommy, I'm sorry that I was bad.  Sincerely Lily.  I will be better next time.

Planting flowers in February

Playing Tennis at the Rose Garden.

Fireman Paul needs his lip gloss

Got a little something on your face buddy.

These next 2 videos are long but haven't been skyping as much lately and I know at least Lolo will love every second of it on repeat a few times.

Paul and Elise telling me about my upcoming bday party

A little show by Paul and Elise for Oma and Opa with its usual squabble involved

Christmas 2014

It's been a year since we said goodbye to Munich.  I didn't want to say goodbye and that truth still stings from time to time.  The surprise hello we got at the Portland airport a year ago from some of our favorite people definitely triggered not only a guttural knee bending emotional response in a public place that I will never live down by my friends but also made us feel like we're home with a simple hug.  And we are home.  We love the Beast even if it demands us to empty our wallets more than we'd like and I have to be fully clothed under the sheets on cold nights.  We love our neighborhood community even with the city nuisances like late night loud noises, homeless people going through our recycling, and having to lock our front porch patio furniture to a railing.  We love our friends.  Don't even get me started on our Portland friends.  I get sappy fast.  And the icing on the cake on all this?  My parents moved into our first floor apartment and we're not killing each other.  We're actually rocking it.  

There's this quote "The only time you should look back is to see how far you've come." I'm not at that point yet when it comes to Munich but I'll get there.  I look back a bit too much still thinking - what could've been.  Regardless, it was such a full 2014 with a crazy amount of firsts and also an eerie amount of like we never even left moments.  Life goes on - damn it and thank God.

Christmas 2014 will be remembered for old and new family traditions (Eric - thank Nate that I didn't post the Skype video of you playing Drummer boy), first Christmas in the Beast, Oma and Opa's strong and loving presence, and our dead 8 foot Christmas tree after only 3 days.  Guess you can't even skip a day of watering.  Whoops.  

Nate took the last two weeks off and we kept it pretty low key but did some new fun things like ice skating - Paul loves it, Elise eventually tolerated it, Lily managed to regain her old form after some tears - the science museum, and Lily skied for the first time.  We had a ton of dedicated play time upstairs. The playroom turned into Paul's construction site race class, Elise's ballet class and performance stage, Lily's drawing class, fire station, a race course, you name it.  Here's a video of the state of our playroom after a normal day at home.

Ballerinas coloring by the advent wreath

Putting up our Christmas tree.  Go big or go home.  Only shot of the tree healthy.

 Making Christmas cookies in Oma's kitchen.

 Christmas Eve dinner at Oma and Opa's, same menu as always.   The only tradition we forgot was lighting the candles on their tree.

 Oma and Lolo made sure Paul was dressed to match his Opa - bow tie and red sweater vest.  Sorry Buddy, this will be your outfit for every Christmas eve while you don't put up too much of a fuss.

 Christkind (baby Jesus) visited and brought the kids a train table during dinner on Christmas Eve.

 Girls are loving their Frozen night gowns.  Thanks Aunt Jill

 The ladies

 Cutting down the Christmas tree pretty much right after Santa left.All the needles on the ground are from Paul sneezing near it.  Only a slight exaggeration.

 Bye Tree.  We'll do better next year.

P and E are Three

(written by Nate)

Well, Paul and Elise have made it to the big time.  They are three year olds now.  They're doing big kid things like going to pre-school and figuring out potty training.  They're old pros on their balance bikes and their drawings are starting to resemble Real Things.  To celebrate, we had a few of their friends and  friends' families over for some fun and food.  They got exactly the cake they wanted - Elise ordered a pink monkey with orange eyes, a black tail, red bow on her head, and purple arms and legs, while Paul ordered a purple alligator with green teeth, brown claws, and pink legs with purple nail polish.  And Nicole found a cake maker at Fred Meyer willing to fulfill their wishes.  We all had fun, even if Paul cried when it was time for the birthday song. 

Paul and Elise are continuing to evolve and change.  Paul is constantly humming or singing, usually a song from the Wizard of Oz or his all-time favorite, O Tannenbaum.  He loves kicking and throwing balls around, and he's telling more and more stories.  At the moment, mean guys are a big thing on his mind and he can't figure out if he doesn't like them or wants to be one.  He's still prone to bad moods, aka crying at the drop of a hat about anything or nothing, sometimes first thing in the morning, sometimes going to bed.  But that's also gotten better through the year, and he is a load of fun a lot of the time.  He's definitely the most focused of the three kids, the only one who will gladly rake leaves and help with yard work for an hour (his new favorite pastime with Oma).  Even getting ready for bed tonight he was disappointed when he came upstairs and found that the girls had cleaned everything up and he didn't have anything to clean up.  I had to invent a job for him.  

Elise is the one most likely to be quietly playing with toys in some corner of the playroom, but she's also the one most likely to put the smack down when someone tries to take one of those toys.  Even Lily will sometimes come downstairs complaining that Elise pulled her hair or kicked her.  She has been working on her dancing skills more and more lately and just tonight was showing off her very nice plie after asking me to twirl her around a few times.  It's fun to sit and listen to her narrate her dolls or playmobil characters' adventures, lots of pretend family interaction.  She's been getting more defiant lately, and is happy to just scream when she's having trouble with something instead of just saying "I can't do X"… working on that one at preschool since I'm sure they're not huge fans of her ear-piercing shriek.  Special foot and all, she's quite a sprinter and jumper, not quite the daredevil as her brother but she holds her own.  She'd rather draw than kick a ball around, but she was playing soccer with Paul a couple of days ago and holding her own.  

They have been playing together more and more, but I wouldn't say they're inseparable.  The word from preschool is that they definitely aren't attached at the hip and both fit right in with the other kids.  This was a big year of change for them, moving to a new country, making new friends, becoming big-time chatterboxes, and getting awesome new housemates Oma and Opa.  Here's hoping the coming year brings no more diapers, seamless transition to big kid beds, and fewer tantrums!

Somehow the favorite boy activity at the birthday party was jumping off the couch onto pillows.

Tears for the birthday song, but digging in to cake a minute later.

I AM A HAPPY SUGAR ZOMBIE

Paul's favorite gift of all time, a sweet bulldozer

Animal partners in crime

Paul pondering the meaning of life

A typical moment in our house these days… they could have a future in pro wrestling

November - All about Family

As November draws to a close and the Christmas season stampedes through our door, I want to jot down just how special November was to us.  We were honored to be a part of a very special family wedding on Nate's side, 36 years in the making.  We also were honored with the presence of my whole family plus some extended family as we hosted our first Thanksgiving in our new home.  It's been several days since Thanksgiving and I can honestly still say I had a blast and would easily do it again.  I loved having family in our home.  I loved making mistakes and figuring it all out as a first timer.   I loved how much joy and comfort I saw through my kids interacting with everyone here.  I sound both cheesy and insane and I'll probably eat my words at some point in my future but this is my truth now.  I hope I get the chance to host everyone again sometime.   I'll let pictures do the rest of the talking.

Hot Tubbing at Chicago Hotel Pool

 My men

 What to do on a snow day - school is closed - kinda day?  Face painting of course

 Choo Choo

Thanks to our friend Eric, this is one of my favorite all time shots of Elise.  

 Oma and her little helpers

 Thanksgiving crafting

 Table setting

 Thanksgiving Dinner is served

The Gimp

I have been living in our home for almost a year and I still can't remember which light switch is for the fan or for the light when I go into the bathroom.  I am starting to leave the radio on the classical station instead of the usual 94.7 more often.   I played 4 games of a doubles match over the weekend and instead of hitting a running down the line winner, I keeled over stop-drop-and roll style re-tearing my plantar fascia after doing the exact same thing just 4 months ago.  I am feeling old and I'm letting it get to me today.  I hear my Dad often say how he feels like he's still a young active man but his body just doesn't cooperate and he's in his 70's.  I'm starting to understand what he means.  Yes, roll your eyes all of you reading this that are older than me but I'm having a down and self-critical day.  It happens.  

Looking at all the pictures from October helps perk me up some.  I see my almost 3 year old Paul and Elise in what I call their prime of cuteness.  Gosh, I love this age.  When they are being fun and being so good - I try so hard to make time stop.  I don't remember that when I worked.  When I had work successes, I was quick to think about the next milestone or challenge.  Not so when I'm with my kids.  I did feel that when they were babies though to some extent.   I see pictures of Lily and how proud I am of how outgoing and independent she is.  I look at her class picture and I don't see cute as much as I see young pretty (yes, I said pretty even though it doesn't seem appropriate this day in age) girl busy learning and talking at such a rapid speed.  I see pictures of my parents in their apartment downstairs having a blast with the kids - my dream fulfilled on a daily basis - seeing my kids interact so happily and comfortably with Oma and Opa regularly.  

Ok, that 2nd paragraph helped. It's all good.  I may be a gimp and feeling old these days but it really is all good.  

Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island

Frozen Party

First dinner invite in my parent's apartment

Lolo surprise visit.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Theme

Lily's Kindergarten School Picture.

September to Remember

September was a momentous month for us….actually even more so for my parents.  They put up with living with us in September while they dealt with the delays of their container arriving and all the renovations getting done to their liking in the apartment on our first floor….that kind of stuff just doesn't go smoothly.  And all this after just dealing with their biggest emotional move ever from Germany to the States.  I can hug them and help them however I can, but until I'm in my 70's trying to find both the mental and physical strength to start the whole ordeal over again of making new friends and making a new place a home after so many years of happiness and comfort in Germany, I just won't really get it. I feel very honored, blessed, and crazy to get the chance to have my parents live downstairs from me for however long they can put up with us. It's only fitting that all their stuff arrived today to mark the new month.  They are stressed and overwhelmed once again being surrounded by such a mess of boxes but they are also seasoned enough to know that this too shall pass.  

Besides all the work on the apartment, the biggest change to our life has been Lily starting Kindergarten.  Lily spoiled us with being an excited and happy little girl ready to go to school.  We've been able to enjoy the ride with her making new friends and figuring out what Kindergarten is like….gosh and already seeing her speech and manner evolve being surrounded by so many more kids and influences.

The main reason my parents decided to move to Portland are because of Lily, Paul, and Elise.  So, we've made sure to have quite a bit of fun too as one big and loud family. My parents hearing declining really is a blessing in disguise with how loud it is here.  My personal goal is to have some more chances to hang out with my parents without the kids.  I'm missing that aspect of all this so far.  

Here are some of our September adventures.

Picnic lunch at the Rhododendron Garden.

Beach day

 Lily's first day of Kindergarten

 Paul is our big helper when it comes to cleaning.  Here he is showing Oma how to do it right.

 Opa arrived a couple weeks after Oma.  Airport welcome.

 Opa surprised Lily at school pick up.

 Kids are already well trained to know that Opa is silly and teases a lot. They already know they can get away with a lot, like playing beauty salon with him.  

 Spent a fun weekend up by Mt. Hood with friends.  Soccer with Elise.

 Earning their keep.

Story time with Opa and honorary Aunt Jeanne. 

 Family brunch at Timberline lodge.

Prince Paul