All 9 of us!

Michael took care of the boys in the morning and I slept in. Ahhhh! He got me up at around 10am because we met our friends, The Knipples, at San Francisco Coffee Shop near where they live. They are leaving this week to go to Wisconsin for 4 months so we won’t see them for awhile. We haven’t been able to see them much because between 5 boys and 4 adults, we’ve all been sick at some point throughout the last few months!

It was a really great visit with them, always is. They are so much fun to talk to and it was just non-stop chit chatting. The boys (all 5) did very well. Their neighborhood San Francisco’s has a play area for kids that you can kind of partition off and it is really nice. Even though Rowan and Elijah were tired, they didn’t hardly fuss at all until we had to leave. We were also joined by an Australian couple who were just up for the weekend (they’ve been in Switzerland for a few weeks) and was happy to speak to English speaking people. Steve told us funny stories about how Logan is getting really complex thoughts and knows so much stuff that they had no idea he knew. And he eats as much as his dad now too! I don’t know how we’ll be able to afford two vacuum cleaning eaters in the house!

One cool thing that happened today was that the boys figured out how to use a straw! They really like the mango smoothies that I get and I usually give them a little through the straw. I suck some up into the straw, and then release it in their mouths. This smoothie was particularly thick, so they had to suck it out. Once they understood this, they could suck stuff up the straw. How very exciting!!! Our friend Shari got us these tupperware cups that has a cover that accepts straws so maybe we’ll get to finally use these and quit washing the dreaded bottles!

It was time to say goodbye, we are sad to see them go, but they’ll be back in twon in September and will be here another 2 years.

Elijah was not happy at first

We went home and decided to let the boys (and us) nap. After that we got all packed up and went out to Garmish. Michael had some place in mind to go, but while we were on the way, we passed by this place that had a nice playground and all kinds of things for kids to play on. We turned around and went there. It was a little cold, but not too bad. We took the boys out to the play area and Elijah was not happy. He just woke up from his nap in the car and went from warm car to cold outside. Any time I tried to put him down, he would scream bloody murder. Rowan was fine though and happy to do whatever. We decided to try and eat something in the restaurant, but as soon as I sat down, Elijah started screaming again, so we left. We decided to stay outside and eat a little something since we came all this way. At least an apfelstrudel! Elijah cried but it didn’t matter since there was no one around. We got bottles out for him and then he was instantly happy. It was so weird. He wasn’t even that hungry, but for some reason I guess the bottle represents safety? I don’t know. Anyways, they both procured a bobby car each and rode around and around and were happy the rest of the time we were there.

There was one of those air blow up thingys that kids can jump in and it was really dirty, so when you saw the kids playing in there they had really dirty faces and hands. Some of the kids walking around look like they came from the coal mines. We laughed and laughed, it was so funny to see all these really dirty kids. I would’ve taken pictures but thought the parents might get mad.

Michael was watching the boys while I ordered the food (in German!) and when I came out, he was chatting with a woman. Apparently, when Michael passed by, he said “hello” and she was so taken aback by this friendly gesture and she thought “he cannot be German!” So they started a conversation in English. She is from Belgium and there people say hello when passing someone, but here they don’t do that and she thinks that’s really terrible. She was so happy to talk to us, we invited her and her son to our table and we spoke more. She is a midwife and her husband is an OB/GYN. It was really nice to meet someone and she was very friendly and was super surprised to meet other friendly people. She sometimes drives up to Munich to go to the English Gardens, so we told her to call us whenever she does. I do hope we see her again.

In the evening, Michael was planning what to do for his day off tomorrow and I was relaxing on the couch trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I fell asleep (since it was so comfortable) and didn’t get up until 4am! So, I had no dinner. michael cooked some meat or something.

Done with the hat!

This morning Michael took care of the the boys for me while I slept in. I so look forward to Saturday mornings! He promised to wash the bottles today, but didn’t. We both hate washing bottles. I really outta push the boys to not use bottles anymore. But I’m lazy.

In the afternoon, I really wanted to go yarn shopping. So we went out to Marienplatz to Ludwig Beck. On our way there, we ran into Steve and De Knipple. It’s so cool that the city is small enough that you actually run into people you know. And it’s not like we know a lot either! Michael at this point decided to turn around and head home so that I could take my time shopping. I was a little disappointed. I expected a lot more. They pretty much had the cheapie yarns, no imports, just German and Italian yarns (or at least that’s what it seemed like). They only had a handful of stuff in a billion different colors. I bought some trial balls to see if they will work for the project that I’m starting.

After that store, I decided to check out Galleria Kaufhof and Hertie for their selections. Kaufhof sucked and really didn’t have much. Hertie I thought was the best selection, even though it still was the cheapie yarns. I bought even more trial stuff to play with.

I’m working on a pattern for my cousin, Lynn. I would tell you what is is but she reads this blog so I can’t until she gets it. It’s kind of funky and it might be a little bit too “out there” for her. We’ll see. She has to at least take a picture of herself with it and then she can throw it away. I’m sure she is dying to know what it is now. It’s not that big of a deal…

Anyhoo, I was exhausted when I came home, so much walking! Michael pretty much took care of the boys all day and then I sent him out to get dinner supplies (it is Saturday and stores are closed Sunday and Monday since it is a holiday). We always need milk. I made chicken katsu for dinner. Yummy! Used the microwave rice cooker again and it worked great. It still is spurting out water, but Michael suggested that we put a bowl underneath it to catch all the yuck. Why didn’t I think of that? The problem is that the bowl has to be bigger than the rice container but smaller than the microwave, which is a very small margin.

We also have gotten super messy over the last few days. I mean, if you knew how messy it would gross you out. So, we started the cleanup process. Around our bed is really bad because we read, knit, watch tv, study, whatever in bed so we have all kinds of clothes, books, yarn, coke cans and what not everywhere. I think Michael made like 5 trips up and down to clean everything off. We seriously considered hiring a maid today, I think we probably will as long as our rent is reduced!

Today’s daily video is of the boys playing around with a Nalgene bottle.

My German A2.1 class

Today was the last day of class! Yipee! We didn’t do much today except play some fun games, in German, of course. Several people didn’t show up, so it was a small class. Too bad for them because we had a lot of fun. It was sad to see some people go. You get to know them well over the course of a month or two! But most of the people will continue on. I found out that I did really well on my test, almost perfect (only 1 wrong) on the written exam, but I got -4 points for the speaking part, which was expected. I got a “sehr gut” (the highest) grade for the course. Yipee! Sadly, I don’t think it’s very hard to get that grade.

After class, Michael and I went to Sushi Sano (of course) and had lunch. I’m still not sick of that place!

I wanted to take the boys to the playground today, but the weather was bad, so we just stayed at home. I feel so bad sometimes that they’re cooped up so much.

We got some good news today though. Since all this construction has been going on right outside our apartment, our neighbors asked for a rent reduction (25%) and got it! They even got “back pay” from March and April too! Woo hoo! So she’s going to give me the letter that she sent so that we can get it too. I think what happens is that our building management gets the “lost” money from the construction company, so they don’t really lose out. It’s kind of good that our landlords are a company and not a person so that they don’t take it personally if something like this comes up. We should be able to also get the reduction no problem too. That would be awesome! But it also kind of sucks that it’s so loud from 7am - 8pm. I would rather have the quiet I think. We’ll see…

I stayed up super late finishing the hat for the boys. It took forever, but I think I did pretty good. I did a fairly good seam, better than I usually do and I learned how to crochet! It was a lot of fun! There are some things that I could’ve done better, so next time.

For some reason, the boys like turning these stacking boxes into chairs. I love the way Rowan just sits there!

Elijah completely passed out during his exam

(I just realized that Michael posted the exact same story, but it is stil kind of neat to read them both…)
Today I didn’t go to class because we had to take Elijah to the cardiologist for a checkup. Michael went into work as normal and then I went out to meet him. Rowan was really upset that he wasn’t going, it must’ve been weird to be home all morning without his other half. I think Elijah thought he was missing something as well, but he got more attention so he didn’t mind. I had a few minutes before having to “pick him up”, so I went to my class to introduce them to Elijah. I talk so much about the boys in class that I thought they should meet at least one of them. Everyone loved Elijah even though he wasn’t too happy to see them.

Michael and I went to the Herzzentrum. We noted that they playground there was much better than our neighborhood one, but they still didn’t have the “safety swings”. We had to go through a series of waiting areas, and finally after an hour, we went in to get him measured and weighed and get an EKG. I wasn’t sure how much he weighed, but it was between 11 and 12 kilos (around 25 lbs), and measured 79 cms! He grew 8 cm’s since Christmas. We forgot to tell the EKG lady that Elijah has dextrocardia, I guess I just assumed that she knew??? I only realized after it was too late. I gave him his milk bottle then thinking that was going to be the part where he has to lie down the most.

After that, we had to wait around another half an hour (Elijah passed the time by looking at books and riding the wooden horse and walking all around), we went in to the doctor. He was a nice guy and spoke the best English of all the doctors we’ve seen. And that made me more comfortable. Turns out, he wanted to do an ultrasound and Elijah was NOT happy about that. He screamed and cried, he was really tired since it was past his nap time and he had a full morning. I remembered that we had some left over formula in the stroller so I ran out to get it. Everyone was staring at me since you could hear Elijah scream down the hall. After I got the bottle made, he quieted down and then he fell fast asleep. The doctor could take all the time that he needed (and it was LONG) to look at his heart. The ultra sound machine was the most detailed one I’ve seen, you can actually figure out what you’re seeing and it’s not just blobs. It was amazing to see his little heart working away. The doctor said that he is in fine shape and his heart looks really good. There are a bunch of things that children with dextrocardia and/or TGA have as well, but he showed no signs of any of them. The ventricle that is the “problem” has built up a nice layer of muscle to accomodate it’s extra workload. All in all, he was given a clean bill of health and the doctor agreed with our Seattle cardiologist that he looks like he doesn’t forsee any problems in the near future. What a sigh of relief! It was so funny to see Elijah so tired, completely comatose on the examining table!

After that, Michael went back to work and I came home. We got our couch delivered today - we ordered it like 2 months ago and it’s finally here. So, we have a nice couch/guest bed now! It’s pretty cool, we like it a lot.

In the afternoon I went to Basic and got a whole bunch of stuff, the stroller was really weighted down. Michael was going to go to Garmish for a “dawn patrol” but decided not to since the weather is pretty bad now. So he met me at Basic and walked back home with us. After I unloaded the stroller, I went back out to Tenglemann’s to get even more stuff - Did I mention that I found coke in cans there? It’s great! Besides the hefty pfand (deposit) of .25 on it, it’s the perfect size. I think it’s about the same amount as the 12 oz. can in the states, probably a little less. It’s a really thin and tall can. I also like it because we can bring the cans up to the cashier (to get our pfand back) and not have to fiddle with the stupid bottle machine. There have been a lot of 1/2 drunk cokes laying around, but not any more!

After I got back from that, I was super exhausted. Shopping always makes me so tired, I think it’s because of what I have called “checkout anxiety”. You have so much pressure on you when you’re at checkout that it mentally and physically wears you out. It’s not bad when you only have a few things, but when you have lots, it’s no fun. I think you can only understand checkout anxiety when you’ve been through it. Ask any American in Germany, they know.

So, I fell asleep watching Narnia, I’ll have to watch it again later. Of course I then woke up at 3 to do my blog and homework…

Today’s daily video is of the boys sitting on their boxes. They do this every once in awhile, they’ll just take one of those blocks and sit on it and be happy. It’s so bizarre and cute at the same time.

(This is Michael writing - Kris is sleepy!)

It’s a rainy day today, but we finally had Elijah’s appointment at the heart center. We had to wait quite a while, but finally they called us in to give Elijah an EKG. As it turns out, the nurse didn’t know he had Dextrocardia, so the chart came out very strange (as the doctor told us later) - the sensors weren’t in the right place!

The doctor was very nice. Unfortunately, our strategy had been to placate Elijah with milk, and we used it all during the EKG (this turned him from an upset and figety baby into a sweet docile creature). So he really started getting upset when we made him lay down for the ultrasound. Boy, there is nothing Elijah hates more than if you hold his arms down while he tries to twist away! Suddenly Kris realized that we had some ancient powdered milk in the stroller. While she got it the doctor and I endured a trail of tears! Poor fellow, he was so mad. Nothing is worse than a little guy with eyes swimming with tears looking up at you, just so frustrated he could spit! He got really sweaty from the exertion. Kris brought the milk and ahhh….he took it, and drank the whole bottle as if it were a life raft, or a pair of magic shoes that could transport him away from here.

Meanwhile the doctor started getting scenes of the heart. He was constantly surprised (in an understated way, of course) with how normal Elijah’s heart was. He’d say things like “these children normally have obstruction/regurgitation/etc. around the value,” and despite much looking he found little to no evidence of that. Later, “these kinds of children normally have…” etc, you get the pattern. So I felt really good about that.

Elijah finished the bottle and immediately fell asleep with the doctor and I hovering over him, wires attached to him. He was totally limp - full, exhausted and happy to be knocked out! So the doctor made it a long careful exam, collecting many movies and pictures so he could teach the other doctors about this kind of special heart. Elijah slept through it all, more than half an hour.

Oh yeah, I carried him a lot on the way there, and he did lots of walking around in the various waiting rooms. He’s a real little boy!

So that’s some stuff that happened. Later, Kris went to Basic with the boys and loaded the stroller with an additional 40 pounds of groceries. I met her there, riding my bike in the rain and getting soaked. We walked back together very awkwardly. Kris had the idea of pushing the stroller with her left hand, holding the umbrella over us both with her right hand, using my left hand to help push the stroller, and my right hand to push my bike. After many odd mishaps, we arranged our hands differently for much better effect.

“Chronicles of Narnia” was pretty good. I thought the witch was pretty scary. She seemed like an insane woman from “our world” who had somehow wandered into Narnia and picked up the mantel of “wicked queen” or whatever. Something not everyone knows, but I’m kind of proud of is that 14 years ago I wrote and performed the music for the Huntsville Junior High School theater production of the story. I really enjoyed it. Naturally I pointed out to Kris the various places my music would come in, and commented liberally on how, when and to what degree my music was better or worse than the current score. I lost by a few points, but hey!

Can you actually believe that I was in class on time today? Shocking! On the way there I was studying my notes and trying to memroize some last minute things. Then we got the test and it was super easy. There might have been a couple of things that I got wrong, but overall I was pleased. But I was also mad that I stressed myself out over nothing.

After class, Michael and I tried out a new Italian place that is always so crowded. It was pretty good. Michael got a ginormous pizza and ate it all.

I was planning on going to the playground today, but the weather was cold and crappy so decided against it. We just stayed at home and hung out. I’m still trying to teach the boys eyes and nose. Why is it so hard??? I think Rowan knows it, he just wont tell me.

It was nice to be at home and I didn’t do my homework. It seems like I have going 100 miles an hour studying for my test and now that it’s over I can take a breather! Of course, then I stayed up super late weaving in the ends of my newly knitted hat! I somehow lost my knitting needles too. At least I have them in this carrying case so it’s just a matter of finding the case.

Class was normal today, nothing special. I didn’t eat lunch with Michael because he had a meeting to go to. So I just went home early and made ramen noodles and took care of some bills before the babysitter had to go. It was kind of nice to sit at home and take care of things that have been sitting around for awhile.

I went to the TÜV (DMV) today to pick up my driver’s license. It took me almost a month to get it. That’s because the only day that they are open after 12pm is on Tuesdays. The boys didn’t nap all day, so they were good and sleepy for the whole trip. Riki told me that if I have kids, I’m allowed to cut in line and get served right away. I felt kind of bad doing that, but I knew at any moment the boys could wake up and not be happy. So I waited for someone to be done before I went in and asked if I had to wait. The lady responded to me in German, which I only caught about 10% of it. But all I knew is that she would help me next. So, everything went well, I got my licence, did the whole transaction in German and didn’t understand anything hardly at all. Oh well, I don’t think I needed to. I did get my US license back, which I thought I would have to give up. Michael didn’t get his back. Very weird. She probably explained it to me in German. I was so happy that I finally got it with no problems! Yay!

After that, I had to go to the doctor’s for a check up so Michael came home early. After the appointment, I walked around Fünf Höfe (shopping area) a little while. I finally went to this store called Muji, which everyone was hyping up. It is almost just like IKEA, but super expensive. I didn’t think it was worth paying 7 euros for a stinking pen. I also went into other stores and it was so much fun to just walk around and window shop. I came home empty handed, but it was very satisfying to have been able to take my time going around. When I’m with Michael or the babies, I always feel rushed and can’t take my time looking around. I found these really cool blocks that you stack them onto each other and it becomes a maze for marbles and you can build all kinds of neat MC Escher like paths.

For dinner I had ramen noodles AGAIN, because I had to study for my test tomorrow. Couldn’t waste time fixing and eating dinner. I did watch the news in German and could amazingly understand quite a bit. Ugh, I am so sick of hearing about Tom Cruise and how he changes diapers. Yeah, he must change a lot when he is in Rome and his 1 week old baby is in LA.

I didn’t stay up too late because I figure, if I know it, I know it, if I don’t, I don’t. It’s much better to get a good night’s rest!

My sister sent me a package full of goodies - I forgot about “Smart Puffs” that we totally used to pig out on when we lived in WA. She also sent me some mini-milano and peanut butter snacks and some other japanese snacks. I’m sure it will be gone in no time!!!

Today after class, I went to obletter and bought some sand toys for the boys. I met one of my other neighbors (outside of my building), Sharon, at the playground. I decided this time that I’ll just have them play in the sand and not get them excited about the slide or other stuff. They actually did really well and played pretty quietly for about an hour. At one point, Elijah got up to wander around, so I had to run after him, but other than that, it was a really stress free time. The sand toys made a difference.

The only thing I hate about going to the park is that we get sand all over our house. I hate sand on my feet in the house!!! But they love playing and getting dirty, so how can I deny them that. I am still trying to keep to my goal of 2x per week, unless the weather is crappy. I had a nice time chatting with Sharon too. I’m kind of bummed that she is leaving Munich so soon (at the end of June). They are probably going to move to Miami for a year or so, and then move to their “permanent” home of Australia. They are the ones who lived in Japan before moving here. I guess Germany is not their cup of tea. Maybe too boring, perhaps?

After that, the boys took a nice nap and I was able to get in some internet time. Then in the evening it was ramen noodles for dinner and studying!

Rowan’s version of a kiss

Today we had a full day. We were going to have a picnic with our friends the Knipples, but the weather wasn’t looking so good and De’s kids were all sick. We are all healthy now, and we want to avoid getting hit with another sickness!!! Of course we decide this after Michael went out and found some bread and goodies to bring! So we had a lot of bread to eat today.

No day would be complete without a nice nap, so that’s what we had in the middle of the day. After that, we went to the Schrannenhalle for some pasta and they had Turkish entertainment. A bunch of teenage kids were doing some festive dances. Both of the boys were mesmerized. It was crowded though so we left after a couple of songs. It was hot enough that we got some gelato on our way out. We sat on the steps and ate it. It was the first time for them to have ice cream and of course they liked it. I got mango and pineapple and Michael got hazelnut and pistachio. After that, we went to the English Garden playground and played with the boys. They love the slide so much, that is their favorite thing. What we did was I was stationed at the top, Michael at the bottom. He would hand me a boy and I would put him stomach down on the slide (feet first) and then let him go. They would always have a huge smile on their face as they’re going down. Of course we could have only one at a time so while one is having fun, the other is screaming mad! But we had fun anyways. We also caught the surfers and the boys loved watching them for some reason. As we left, they cried and cried and didn’t want to leave. Michael talked to a woman who was 89 and very active for her age - she was riding her bike! She had twins herself so she of course had to comment on the boys. Can’t imagine what it would be like having twins so long ago!

Go Mariners!

In the evening, we were too pooped to make dinner, so we went out to eat at Sitar. It was de-lish! I am sadly now in my “mid-Thirties”. :(