Our Lil Ones

Last Sunday I attempted to get a good pic of the kids but they didn't really turn out all that great. Cute but not great. They weren't all cooperating at the time.

This Sunday, I had more success and captured my favorite pic taken of the three lil loves of my life so far. We had just found out that church was called off due to the snow so we were just hanging out enjoying some time at home. So, I just lined them up on a blanket on the floor and they were full of silly happy smiles. Gotta love it!

More Schnee!

"Schnee" is the German word for snow.

And we have had our fair share of schnee this year here in Heidelberg. From what we understand, the amount of snow we have gotten this year is not typical of this area. After moving from northern Virginia, where snowy winters are not the norm either, this has been an exciting winter with lots of snowfalls for us!

The boys love to play in the snow, especially Samuel! He is our nature lover and seems to love anything and everything outside, including the snow. Some days it makes just getting Benjamin to and from school a challenge because Samuel often feels the need to run out into our snowy quad to romp in the snow. They both enjoy a good snowball fight or any snowball fight that involves attacking Mommy with snowballs. Lucky for them, this recent snowfall is perfect for snowball making... nice and wet. Just picking up the snow seems to create an instant snowball in their hands...hmmm.

Anyway, this particular photo I'm posting of Benjamin is in front of his kindergarten. The kids all created ornaments out of the snow. Benjamin's is directly behind him and is a blue circle. He was quite proud of his ornament. And as it started to warm up that day the snow ornaments left lovely colorful drippings in the snow below the tree.

We have some nearby mountains that have been doused in

the snow and they look incredible with the snow just clinging to their branches. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo that pays that beauty justice but I'll post a few photos of our area anyway.

One is a picture taken from the front door of our building. These snowy pics were taken several days ago... since then we have been delighted to receive several more inches of snow. In fact, there was so much snow predicted for this weekend that Benjamin's basketball league's games were all cancelled...

however, it didn't end up snowing until later in the day (reminded me of the premature cancellations they would often make with the prediction of inclement weather in both areas of northern virginia and tennessee where we have lived).

Today, after the decent amount of snowfall that occurred over night, we were notified that the church services were all cancelled. So, we were rather homebound this weekend with the exception of a few quick outings and trips to the PX and commissary. Now off to start another week... and the possibility of welcoming more "schnee".

Our Misty LOUD Night

Last night proved to be quite an adventure and NOT due to the little bit of snow accumulation we got... reminding us that winter is still here.

Last night I didn't get to bed until around midnight. At that time I looked out the window and noticed that after the snow fell all day yesterday and didn't accumulate (due to the 35ish degree weather) it had finally started to stick to the ground. I also noticed a small headlight passing by on the sidewalk outside near a rather busy street. Yes, a bicyclist. I don't think I've mentioned it yet on this blog but Germans bicycle everywhere... in every weather... at any time of day or night... at any age. And NOT for exercise but for transportation. It's crazy to see them out in the snow and even riding with their umbrellas open during the steady rains.

Anyway, that was a tangent... not the crazy part of our night which I will get to now. At 3 a.m. our fire alarm started going off LOUD and CLEAR! No lil beeping warning it was FULL BLAST! And to think it would wake up the neighbors would be an understatement. It DID in fact wake up the neighbors... at least the ones directly below us.

So, Don and I jumped out of bed and scurried around to figure out what was the cause of such a racket. And as we swung open the door to Grace's room we found ourselves amidst a cool steamy mist... Grace's cool mist humidifier was cranked up and pouring out high volumes of moisture turned into steam. Don went for the plug and I tried fanning the air to clear the air but it didn't seem to work. The smoke detector kept ON and ON at FULL BLAST. erg. Then he checked the cord again and realized in his weary state he had unplugged the wipes warmer that was in the same extension cord. At last, when he did unplug the correct cord and open Grace's window the alarm stopped. PHEW!

Amazing enough the boys slept through the entire incident. And Grace woke up like her normal smiley self... even amid all the chaos of what was going on in her room. So, she had a bottle at 3 a.m. and went right back to sleep. As did Don and I... with the humidifier unplugged... for now.

Samuel "Formally Known as Kramer" and his Siblings

Don took the boys for hair cuts on Saturday... it was much overdue for each of them. Samuel's curls were out of control and I often referred to him as our "Kramer" from "Seinfeld". If you ever watched that show, you would definitely remember the guy with the crazy hair named Cosmo Kramer! Anyway, their haircuts turned out great! No more Kramer Chapman here. Don reported that they both sat really well for their hair cuts which isn't always the case. So, mission accomplished! Phew.

I took some pics of the kids after church on Sunday. Grace is wearing a dress she received for Christmas from my cousin Kim in Massachusetts. She and her friend have a business called "Sew Hip" which specializes in hand-made creative bedding and trending clothing for children. As you can see, Grace IS so hip in her adorable lil dress! Although, taking a good picture of the three of

them together does prove to be a challenge.

Goooooo Lakers!

Say "Hello" to Heidelberg's lil Lakers basketball player: #14, Benjamin Chapman. He had his first basketball game today! He has been practicing on the Bambino Basketball League on post since the beginning of January so today was a very exciting day for their team. There are 3, 4 and 5 year olds in this league and they do a great job at teaching the kids the fundamentals of the game. But to watch the games with kids that young is just total chaos and hilarity! I enjoyed every minute.

Some kids appeared to be playing more of a football type game.

They would run with the ball across the court (no dribbling, of course) and zig zag in every direction with no apparent destination in mind, besides escaping the other kids - all chasing them.

The coaches and parents are allowed on the court (at least early in the season) to help encourage and reinforce the concepts of the game.

And there is a referee as well but I don't

think the kids understood his purpose for the first quarter of the game! They wear armbands on their wrists in different colors to match up with a wrist band on the opposing team to help them play a man to man defense. Benjamin wore a purple arm band today... however, the majority of the kids do not grasp the difference between offense and defense at this point.

They play with small basketballs and small hoops and the kids on both teams did a great job at racking up the baskets today! Score is not kept however, so we called it a tie.

It is going to be an exciting season as we watch all the kids grasp the concepts of the game and watch their abilities on the court blossom.

Grace at 6 Months

Wow! We have a 6 month old baby! She is still as perfect and as beautiful as she was the day she came into our lives. That's right... 6 months ago today, I cried tears of joy... or maybe it was disbelieve when the doctor announced "It's a girl!"

I truly thought I was going to have another son. Some days I still stare at her in disbelieve and amazement that I have a daughter. Maybe it was that I already had two boys or that my mom has three boys or that two friends of mine were having their third boys around the same time frame... I don't know... but for some reason I had convinced myself that I was having another son. I was content with that thought. Happy actually. I love our boys. They're amazing in their own right. But when that doctor declared it was a girl I just felt the tears run down my cheeks. Must have been all those hormones.

Anyway, she is such a happy girl these days. It has taken me a little while to be able to say that as she was a bit of a fuss budget for the past... um... let's say 4 months. I think she was just trying to break us into the idea of her being the princess in this house. She has suddenly, however, become a really good baby. She sleeps a lot. She eats well... she loves rice cereal and her sweet potatoes. And her reflux issues seem to really be under control. She isn't spitting up nearly as much as she used to and she hardly ever screams out in discomfort like she used to. (Thank goodness!)

She is rolling from front to back and from back to front... all over the place. And she just started to crawl. She gets up on all fours and pushes herself forward.

Of course she is still sliding backwards more often than she actually makes it forwards. But she does on occasion make a few crawling motions in the right direction. And she also wakes up so stinkin happy that her daddy and I can't help but melt and smile back at her when we see her in her crib. She's a great sleeper too. She started sleeping through the night at around 2 months old and has rarely had a night that she's awaken during the night. We are so blessed in that manner! She also is getting really good at putting herself to sleep... comforting herself... finding her pacifier and putting it back in her mouth all on her own.

I love this age. I always have (with each of our children). They're so cute and smiley but aren't going anywhere fast enough to get into a lot of trouble yet (although I think that stage is coming all too soon). Right now, I can't sing baby Grace enough praises.

She's our super baby! We all adore her. She even has the boys wrapped around her tiny fingers. They love to maker her laugh and smile. Samuel brings her toys and doesn't even mind sharing his own toys with her (I'm sure that will change so I'm enjoying that while it lasts).

Tonight we sang "Happy Half Birthday to Grace" at dinner time. She sat there with us just taking it all in. And I just can't help but think that in another 6 months our sweet baby will be celebrating her first birthday. Yikes! Until then we will just try to capture ever moment we can with her and enjoy every new discovery she makes.

We are so thankful for our sweet little blessing and look forward to every day ahead with her adorable smile.

The Boys First Time Bowling

We were excited for the four day Martin Luther King holiday weekend (but, of course being that it's not a German holiday, Benjamin still had school on Monday and Friday). So, we planned on heading to a nearby museum on Saturday. But Samuel and Grace ended up having a stomach bug of sorts on Friday. Their stomach woes ended up accumulating 6 loads of laundry with all the blankets and pillows taking up their fair share of washer space. ugh.

Luckily after Friday nights episodes, the kids were on the mend on Saturday but still not 100 percent so we had a low key around the house kind of day. I was just thankful that no one seemed to be ill.

Come Sunday we were all good here and we were off to church that morning. Phew! We made it! So, after some nap time on Sunday we headed to the nearby bowling alley at Patrick Henry Village.

Another 1st for us here in Heidelberg... bowling! We have been to the bowling alley several times for the Kids Zone (much like Chucky Cheese's with arcade games, pizza, indoor play area, etc). And every time we had been there Samuel was fascinated with the bowling alley and the bowlers. He was always asking to if we could bowl. This time the answer was "Yes!" He was thrilled, as was Benjamin. We bowled with the boys on a lane with a gutter

guard which allows us all to be a little bit better bowlers than we normally would be! Plus they had a metal ramp the boys could use to push their bowling balls off of which gave them another advantage. The kids really got into it... cheering and anxiously awaiting their next turn to bowl. And Grace was a complete angel just hanging out and enjoying the atmosphere.

We also got a bite to eat there and then headed for home. Since that outing Don has been stricken with the stomach bug and hasn't left our bedroom much. ick! This morning he reported to sick call and got a doctors note for today and tomorrow. Hopefully his rest will pay off and he'll be back to himself soon.

Now Joining Us at the Dinner Table

Here are some pics of Grace looking oh so cute... because she's so good at doing just that! These pics were taken a couple of weeks ago when I decided it was time to hook her chair up to the table so she can join us at meal time. She loves being at the table with us and the boys love having her there with us too. She is getting really good at training her brothers to pick up her toys that she loves to drop on the floor.

She has been sick lately with a stomach bug of some sorts which has kept us rather home bound as she has been taking lots of naps. And the idea of dragging her out in the cold and snow any more than necessary is not so appealing.

Besides her being sick, she is getting quite the personality. She is really moving these days... rolling every which way and scooting all over (mostly backwards). It won't be long and she's going to be crawling all over the place... not sure we're quite ready for that stage yet but ready or not it's gonna happen before we know it!

She is almost 6 months old now and is weighing in at over 18 pounds. She is in the 97-98 percentile for her weight and height (relative to other babies her age). Our first baby that is NOT off the charts at this age! woo hoo. Our peanut! tee hee

She is at such a fun age and is laughing and smiling at us all the time now. Her belly laugh is great and I will try to capture it on video soon so I can post it on the blog. Who doesn't love a good baby laugh?

Our Winter Wonderland

We have been getting pretty good snow falls here in Heidelberg this month. The kids have been loving it!

We have a nice big grassy field in front of our building where the kids all play. These photos of our kids along with a few of the neighbor kids were taken a couple of Saturdays ago. Since then most of that snow melted but over this past weekend we received several waves of fresh snow!

Temps have been holding steady in the upper 20s and low 30s. Anytime we head outside, it is a challenge keeping the boys out of the wet white stuff (especially Samuel who seems to be a

magnet to it). Today we walked to pick up Benjamin from school prepared for playing in the snow. So, the boys enjoyed romping in the snow with a couple of friends before we headed back in for Samuel's nap time.

Our Christmas in Heidelberg

Before this past Christmas becomes a bit of a blur, I better make a post about it!

We had a great Christmas in Heidelberg! My first Christmas away from our family and friends... as well as the kids first time not traveling to Illinois for the holiday.

We received package after package after package and had loads of loot under our tree. Christmas Eve we kind of stuck with tradition and enjoyed homemade lasagna (just like Mom's!) and opened gifts from the Duda side of the family (as we would have in Illinois). I got on the computer and video conferenced with my mom and Harry through skype.com so they were able to "join" us for our present opening. The kids had a blast opening gifts and playing with all their new gadgets. (Grace slept through most of the gift opening but Samuel enjoyed opening her gifts as well).

That evening after our boys were asleep, I was able to again get onto skype.com and video conference with my family while they opened gifts and visited. It was the next best thing to being there with them! Every time someone was about to open a gift from us

they would say "Here's a Chapman present" and they would turn the camera onto that person so I could watch them open the gifts we had sent. I ended up staying up late cooking as well as taking care of Grace that evening so I was able to "join" them for most of their Christmas Eve festivities. Illinois is 7 hours behind us and I think they started their gathering around 2 p.m. I stayed online with them until around 1 a.m. our time and I was thankful that my boys slept until around 8 a.m. on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was a great time in our home! The boys were thrilled to find presents restocked under the tree that morning. And they enjoyed opening gifts from Santa, as well as us and the Chapman/Ford side of the family. They loved opening gifts and wanted to play with everything they opened right away. So much excitement in their young lives! woo hoo.

Once we recovered from the morning festivities we had some neighbors over for dinner around 2 p.m. We have made friends with a family that moved here shortly before us this summer and have two boys very close in age with our boys and another baby boy on the way! So, it was perfect to have them over. The boys were thrilled to share Christmas day with them. And they brought over some great food to share as well. We all had a great Christmas Day.

We were also able to skype with Don's family later that day and

enjoyed spending some time with them online. Don's parents just got a new camera for their computer so it was our first time that we were able to skype with them since we've been here. (We have since been able to skype with them a couple of times which has been awesome!)

Overall, there were many things I missed about not being "at home" with our family and friends in Illinois but we truly enjoyed our first Christmas away from "home". But I have already been warned that we better not get too used to it because our families are looking forward to us joining them for future Christmases!

Baby's First Christmas

As I was getting ready to put Grace to bed on Christmas night I realized I hadn't really taken any photos to document her first Christmas... so, I promptly placed her under the tree and captured a few photos.

Here's our sweet girl on her first Christmas...