At your request...

Some more photos of Koen, and his "superdad", Andy.

Sleeping Beauty

Care to compare.

Here's a link to some day 4 photos of Eliot if you'd care to compare.

Day 2 at home.

First night was.... tough, but I guess ok for the 1st night. Eliot continues to be very sweet. Koen sleeps and eats a lot and that's about it.

Homecoming


As expected, Koen and Renee came home from the hospital today. Both are doing fabulous. Eliot has also taken a keen interest in baby Koen. He has really been very sweet with him and has already shared his two most prized possessions; his blanky and tag book.

5 minutes of fame

If you happened to be watching the 5:00 news in Chicago yesterday, you might have caught a glimpse of Renee, Eliot, and Koen.

If not, here's a link to the clip.

Koen Pazdan Beaver

Today we welcomed our second son to the family.
Koen Pazdan Beaver was born at 6:15 AM on Dec 21st at the Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany.

7-1/2 lbs and 19.5 in long

Some things get worse before they get better...

So Eliot is well over the "going down the drain" fear, but his worry about the "bees" has grown. We have now added a layer of tape to the window barrier, as well as a "no bee" nightlight (a lion nightlight, chosen specifically by Eliot to keep bees out no doubt due to the ferocious roar), and the most recent addition to the arsenal is the fly/"bee" swatter, as you see pictured here. Mind you, we have not seen a fly, let alone a bee in months, but don't let that fool you! They could be just around the corner trying to get in...

Giddy-up, cowboy!

Virtual chillin' with the GP's

Bird's eye view

This is what I see when I look down. I never had the challenge of having to try to tie shoes last time, given that I was on bedrest at the end of my pregnancy, and it was the middle of summer so all I wore was flip flops. This time has been different, and much more difficult, until I found these:
That's right, "wooly" crocs. Comfy and warm, and NO SHOELACES! It's amazing how much such a little thing can improve ones quality of life. I may never wear real shoes again.

Milestones

Today, I hit 35 weeks of gestation, and had the LAST of my weekly progesterone injections. No more needles, YAY! But the bigger milestone of today was Eliot overcoming his bathtub drain fear... the tape started to come off during his bath, but he became brave and decided to pull it off altogether. Then he stood in the bathtub and watched the water go down, until it drained completely. He kept saying "water and bubbles go down the drain, not Eliot", and then would prove to himself that he was too big by trying to shove a toe down the drain (which of course did not fit). So, to all of you who were worried with Eliot that he might go down the drain, have no fear, we have now confirmed that he, indeed, is too big to go down with the water and bubbles. We have yet to see if tape is again needed for the next bath...

Party boy

Eliot trekking off to his friend's birthday party



Enjoying some pizza at the party...


Hey, where did everyone go? I'm still eating!!!




Having fun at the indoor playland after a hefty dose of sugar disguised as a cupcake.

33 & 5/7

Why is this number important? Because today I am 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant, which is exactly how old (in gestational age) Eliot was when he decided he had gestated enough and wanted out (well, he actually wanted out 4 weeks before that, and I got to be on bedrest for 4 weeks keeping my legs crossed trying to keep him in!) So Eliot's little brother has apparently decided he's staying in, and I'm hoping it's for the long haul (til Jan 2nd, or if you ask Andy, no later than Dec 31). A big thanks goes out to my MFM doc here in Germany, my MFM consulting doc in California (who gets to answer many questions and I never get a bill!), and to a weekly progesterone injection which prevents recurrent preterm labor.

The picture above was taken on Saturday night... we went out to this fabulous restaurant in Kaiserslautern, you know, the type with a 5 course menu and glasses and linen on the table... places we don't get out to very often and with baby #2 on the way this type of treat will be even fewer and more far between. We like to consider this our last supper :)
This is just proof that I actually wore boots with high heels at 7 1/2 months pregnant. Did I mention that pregnancy makes you lose your mind sometimes?


And these are US pictures of the little guy taken last Friday. Some more face shots, not quite as clear as the last ones, but I'll have you know that he appears to be rubbing his eyes as if sleepy. We continue to have high hopes he will be as good of a sleeper as Eliot (with the realization that this is probably an unrealistic expectation!)

The Solution

So bathtime had become rather challenging, as Eliot decided that there was a significant risk in the possibility of "going down the drain". He and Andy went through many scientific experiments of how only water and bubbles can fit down the drain, not toys or people, and certainly not Eliot, mommy, or daddy. He understood this and could say it, yet would REFUSE to get into the tub (or shower for that matter). But we came up with a solution... TAPE!!! He now tapes over the drain, making it safe to bathe, and he can enjoy bathtime once again. We recently discovered a similar solution to keeping "the bees" out of his room at night, by putting up a curtain... made bedtime much easier and much less scary. If only all of life's problems could have such simple solutions.

Oktoberfest in Munich

Here are some photos from our somewhat recent trip to Munich where we met Carey and Jon for the day after opening day at Oktoberfest...which is primarily in September. Even we questioned the wisdom of taking a 2 year old to the festival of all festivals. Eliot did fabulous and seemed to enjoy himself thouroughly.

Yes, it was alchoholfrei.

Eliot and Jon after 1 too many liters

2 too many liters

More of Eliot's "animal noises" repertoire

We had a little bit of time to kill today in the car, as we drove to Belgium to go furniture shopping. Eliot decided to entertain us all on our way out there by demonstrating some other animal sounds (in addition to the ferocious lion "roar" you have already heard). On the way home, he talked non-stop for almost 2 hours. We will not torture you with that video.

Eliot's Halloween


Eliot had been practicing his "ROAR" for weeks and had it perfected. So we went out trick or treating, and SILENCE! Eliot lost his "ROAR". Guess he had a bit of stage fright. Here's a video of him at his best (post trick or treating, back home, and a bit high on sugar).

The Courageous Lion

Eating his stash of Halloween candy...














This is what happens after too much candy!

My Busy Beavers

Eliot loves to help his dad!

The Big Move

There was a fungus among us... and it kept growing... and growing... and growing...
And finally it found it's way to the kitchen. So after our landlord not taking care of the problem for 6 months, we decided it was time to move. The fungus got the best of us! As Eliot puts it, our old house is "broken".

So, the main reason (besides an awesome trip to Munich/Salzburg for a week to see Carey and Jon - pictures to follow) that we have been completely out of the loop and not posting anything is that we suddenly had to move out of our house, find a new place to live, move, unpack, and set up new German utilities. For those new to our blog, please go back to our posts from 1 year ago to review how efficient the Germans are with their installation of telephone and DSL service. This time, we are happy to say, it only took 2 weeks instead of 2 months to get internet access!!!

So we had some great adventures. Fortunately, Mitch and Molly were here to help with the move. And all of us (Mitch and Molly) stayed with our very gracious neighbors (Ed, Toni, and their son (and Eliot's best friend) Michael). We found a place pretty quickly and are now finally starting to settle in... nice place, overall more space than our old place (especially storage space!), 5 min. closer to work, awesome landlords, well built house... not quite as much character and we wish we could have brought our neighbors with us, but this place is suiting us quite well. And for all of you who are planning to visit, no worries, there are more guest bedroom options here!

We will eventually take photos of the place with our stuff inside, but in the meantime here is a link to a page the landlord had set up; there are two indexes of photos with pictures, you can alternate at the top of the page, and view in slide show mode if you click on the photo directly:
Click here for photos

Also, Andy has at least quadrupled his office space, and now has the entire 3rd floor of the house planned as a "man room" with his multiple computers, foosball table, and a flat screen TV and comfy couch on the way. I'm just worried that once the couch and TV arrive, he may go into early retirement/hibernation mode! I think just the shock of having a TV after a year without one may put him into a beer coma (especially during football season, then it rolls right into college basketball season, etc).

So that's our saga. We promise to be much better from here on out about posting again, and there are more Eliot photos to come.

Back from Turkey

We had a very nice time in Turkey. Very different from our first trip to Istanbul, but also very relaxing. We spent a lot of time either around water or in the water.

More Ultrasound Photos

Another B-Day Present for Eliot

Thanks Dave and Kim!

B-day visit to Speyer's Technik Museum

Sorry Dad. We didn't get through it all and are looking forward to going back in October.

Happy 2 Eliot!
Toni and Ed made Eliot this awesome train cake. THANKS!

Eliot and Michael thoroughly enjoyed the Air Force's 60th birthday celebration at Ramstein Airforce Base this afternoon.

It's a ...................
(Clues in slideshow)

Happy Birthday Eliot !

ok. This box is empty of presents. Thanks everyone.

What do you mean my present is in there?

Here's a picture of Eliot saying goodbye to his new friend, Ernie, as he went back off to war in Afghanistan.



I'm not sure who's missing him more... Eliot or Andy! Let's just say the two of them really hit it off. Who said anything about "don't ask, don't tell"?

Playtime with Michael

More of Ireland

Ruedesheim, Germany

Ireland

We stayed at this wonderful thatched roof cottage about 20 miles North of Dublin. The cottage in the back is that of the owner. Ours was just a little ways up the path.
Beautiful day, but just the night before there was a constant 20-30 mph wind along the beach. It was amazing how fast the weather could change in Ireland.

Time for a beach walk.

This is the jellyfish that Eliot stepped on while coming back from his beach time with Mom. I watched him do it. It was intentional. I thought to myself, "Surely, he wouldn't step on that would he." I was wrong. Didn't seem to phase him though.

Yeah, we were just as amazed as you. (Usually, he spells it with two Ts)

If you look real closely, you can see a stringer from Eliot to the top of my head. Now, that's some quality father son bonding.

The StorehouseIt wouldn't have been a true trip to Dublin if we missed the tour of the Guinness Brewery (i.e. The Storehouse)

Enjoying our complimentary brew at the 7th story gravity bar. The 360 degree view of Dublin was very cool. We had a hard time convincing Eliot that they were now making orange Guinness, but he eventually believed us. If you can't trust your parents, who can you trust, right?

Digger

I wonder where Eliot ever got the idea that digging could be fun.?

Maybe it's even better to manage other diggers.

We'll see.

Happy Day

Today, Eliot made his first poo on the potty. We've had a couple of successful pee pee trips, but this was the first productive #2 on the potty. Such a proud day in a parent's life :) For all of you waiting on more pictures, we thought we'd omit this one. Some things are just not made to be Kodak moments.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

I must say, I am truly impressed with Dave's investigational skills. He even beat out our resident entomologist, "the golden child" by a few minutes. However, Scott did provide a link to a very nice website with a description of these interesting moths: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphingidae

First Beaver Blog Competition!









So we had this really cool bug in the backyard, and Andy decided to get all fancy with the camera. The little critter was fast though, so these are the best photos he got. I am offering up some good German chocolate to the first person who can correctly identify the genus and species (and common name for those of us not so scientific). There should be a certain member of the audience with a distinct advantage... no pressure :)

Aquarium Trip

Eliot likes to drive, whether it is cars, his tricycle, or this boat. Let's just say he likes to be in charge. Don't know where he gets that from...

Aquarium petting zoo - Eliot got to touch a starfish, sea anemone, and spiny urchin (OUCH!)

Dad and Eliot wowed by the shark and ray tank.

Fishbowl