A wonderful trip to America

We have now managed to get through our jet lag and get settled into life again here in Switzerland after a great 3 week trip. Man we are exhausted after doing everything on our own again, it was such a blessing to have help and company for three weeks. The good food was nice too! In all seriousness it was a very nice trip. Of course I was stressed out about the two long plane rides, the drive from Iowa to Pennsylvania (15 hours), the jet-lag (interrupted nights of sleep), and sleeping in new places. To my surprise the kids did so well. The plane ride to Chicago was a lot of work to keep Elliott happy and also to try to get him to take some short naps on my lap. But we did it with minimal crying! The jet lag really only led to two early wake ups on the way there and none after our trip home. Amazing! The drive from Iowa to Pennsylvania also went well, but as soon as the car stopped the kids woke up. We were really hoping to pull off at some point and sleep a few hours. That wasn't possible so we stayed up the whole night and made the trip in excellent time.  Instead of writing about the whole trip I will just share some photos along with a little caption. Sorry they are in reverse order... My blog skills aren't that good.

Elliott loved swinging on the tree swing that is in John's parent's (Marmie and Papa) backyard.

It took Hannah a day to get brave enough to swing high, but she also loved it once she tried it. 

     

Hannah in her new Patagonia fleece, enjoying the mild sunny weather.

"Mom, Can this wagon go any faster?" Elliott loved going on stroller and wagon rides around the yard... and crawling all over the yard.

A quick pick-up ride to the park up the road from Marmie and Papa's house... without a seat belt!

Jumping on the trampoline at John's sister's house.

Enjoying a tractor ride around Marmie and Papa's yard... Hannah was helping with the driving.

Do I look tired? This was after our all night drive... at least the kids slept well!

 

Trying to get a picture of all the cousins from Pennsylvania...well at least they were all there. 

Swinging at the park with Grandma while mom was supposed to be getting a massage (sadly the therapist was sick... had to wait a day).

Peek a Boo

We had a bit family gathering in Iowa at my parents house. Most of the cousins and second cousins were there.

The Library in Grandma and Grandpa's town is so much fun. Elliott liked the tool bench the best and Hannah enjoyed the kitchen. It has so many things for children to do there plus regular children book reading times.

Enjoying the mild weather in Iowa. We got lucky, the week after we left they got a lot of snow and had very cold weather. 

But for our stay we had to resort to making snow... shaving cream and corn starch.

Santa came for a visit at Grandma and Grandpa's... Hannah was not so sure about him.

Iowa cousins... a bit easier to get a picture of just 4 little ones.

Lumberjack Elliott in his warm Patagonia winter coat and hat. We love Patagonia clothing!

Hannah loved time with Grandma and Grandpa... here she is helping Grandma cook.

John about to enjoy his long awaited Bluebird Diner breakfast... free coffee refills... yes please.

Downtown Iowa City, our old home. I think Iowa is too flat for us to ever live there after our time in Switzerland. If only there were mountains there.... 

"Mom, I see Hannah, Grandma, and Daddy!!" I want to go outside and play in the leaves too!

Coffee shops, real coffee... enough said.... 

"I love to play outside... how come we don't have a yard in Switzerland?"

Hannah trying on her Princess costume for Fasnacht this year.

Sadly it will be a long time until we will be able to visit America again, but we were so blessed by our time there and will have the memories forever.

Elliott 9 months

Drool man, Elliott has had a cold for several weeks now.

This past month hasn't been super eventful, but the two kiddos are busy, especially Mr. Elliott. He is so fast at getting around and he is always trying to get into things, that it is a full time job teaching him boundaries. Thankfully, he seems to be slowly catching on. He no longer tries to splash in Bears water dish daily, so that is good! And Elliott being more active leads to a more frustrated Hannah. Hannah builds a puzzle, Elliott takes it apart to chew on a puzzle piece. Hannah has her Playmobile hospital all set up or a Lego house build, Elliott comes over and destroys it.  Put that on repeat and it leads to Hannah getting frustrated and having meltdowns and to some tired parents. This is just a phase and hopefully in due time Elliott too will want to be building houses with her instead of just chewing on all the pieces.
 

Here are some stats for Elliott this month:
Weight: 20.735 pounds, much heavier than Hannah at this age. He is in the 50%
Height:28.7 inches, again taller than Hannah was. He is in the 50%

 

Motor skills: He has been pulling to stand since 8 months and now will cruise around a little while holding onto the sofa or a table. He can stand unsupported for a second or so, but he doesn't try this too much on his own. I think he will walk much sooner than Hannah did, but for now he can crawl quite fast and is content doing that. He can drink from a sippy cup by himself. He loves to splash in the bath tub, and hit the tray on his highchair using the same movement. He is still not so good at the pincer grip, but really tries so that he can feed himself finger foods.
Sleep: This is about the same as last month. 11.5-12 hours at night, and two nap: usually a shorter AM nap and then a longer afternoon nap.... although he does still occasionally have two short naps.
Teeth: He has 8 teeth and seems to be always teething... He isn't fussy really but chews on his fingers a lot.

Personality: His personality is starting to show a little bit, although I think we all go through some personality changes as we grow and mature. He is much more cuddly right before nap or bedtime than Hannah. He will actually give hugs! He loves to smile, laugh, and have fun! As of now we think he will love trying new things and Hannah will remain a bit of a party pooper when it comes to trying things. He loves to be moving... wonder where he gets that from! He is going through a mommy stage, but is usually fine with someone else taking care of him as long as I am not in sight.

 

Eating: Like Hannah he likes to eat and is not overly picky, and easy eater like his sister.

 

That is all that I can think of for now.  Next up in 2.5 weeks is our big trip to America, visiting both Iowa and Pennsylvania. I am excited and very anxious all at the same time. We are hoping to get some time with friends and family, some time without the kiddos, and some yummy American food. It has been almost 2 years since I have been back to the States!

Monthly update: Family trip, Elliott is 8 months, and a night away!

Two weeks ago we set off on a family trip to Croatia and Slovenia. We were also joined by some friends, Luke and Jane, from the States who spent 2 weeks travelling around different parts of Europe. We were excited to see these two countries despite the 9+ hour car drive and the realization that a week trip with two little ones in tow isn't really a vacation in the relaxation sense.  We usually use the websites vrbo.com or homeaway.com to find nice apartments or houses to rent as they are much more practical for families, than hotels.

An old church on our hike in Croatia

Hiking in Croatia

peeking through the kitchen to the pool

Yummy.. beef!

Luke and Jane getting ready to enjoy dinner

Doesn't that look relaxing!

Fishes in Croatia, such clear water!

The town of Krk, Croatia

Plitvice Lake Park

We loved our little house in Croatia, it was about 15 minutes to the coast, and a fairly central location for where we wanted to go. We spent 5 nights in Croatia and overall we liked it, but it was a bit too hot for us after a hot summer in Switzerland. Then we drove 3 hours to Slovenia and stayed there for another 3 nights. We really loved Slovenia and are hoping to go back with friends or family next year. It was beautiful, even in off and on rainy weather, cheap, clean, people were friendly, and most everyone we encountered spoke english or german. Our drive home from Slovenia was the only sunny day and it was just such a beautiful landscape through Slovenia and then Austria. Definitely recommend a visit, plus we heard lots of American english there!

Castle in Skofja Loka Slovenia

Medieval town of Skofa Loka

Mini representation of skofa loka

View from our hike above the castle.

Elliott loves "Hiking"

 

Hannah at Lake Bled Slovenia

Lake Bled

Ljubljana

Amazing lunch in Ljubjana, Slovenia's capitol

E and I enjoyed a hike in Slovenia while everyone else was at Lake Bled

Then the Friday after we got home from our trip we got 25 hours child free! After Elliott's birth John's co workers got us a gift certificate to a mountain hotel, more like a bed and breakfast. It included a candlelight dinner and breakfast. We were so thankful that we got to use it this year. A family from church watched the kids, at their house... they did good, but I think Hannah was a bit stressed at first. They kept them all day Saturday so we got to do a nice long 6 hour hike. It was all in all a great time.

Candle Light diner

Action shot

Then on Wednesday Mr. Elliott turned 8 months. Sadly he came down with a cold on Tuesday, but now two days later he seems to be slowly on the mend. It is just so sad when babies can't breath through their nose, thus can't fall asleep easily! His personality is starting to come through a bit more these days. He seems to be much more cuddly than Hannah, a bit more affected by teething (boys usually have lower pain tolerances I have decided... usually true of my therapy patients), and likes to giggle at his sister. He has started to stand up on anything he can pull up on, including his crib, and you can tell he really wants to walk... Slow down little man! Since he is on the move we have to teach him boundaries with things like Bear's water bowl... we don't want water everywhere. But, if we try to hold his hands and count to 10 and then explain why it is no touch, he smiles at us and goes for it again.... He is going to be a difficult one :)

Hannah's new toy

Can you tell which one I helped with?