High Five...

Look everyone...I have 5 fingers!

Well, Matt and I went to our first visit on the German economy on Monday (it was our official Dr. visit #6). The base hospital is closing down on 01 June, so all OB patients due after that date (and all hospital/ER/surgery related issues) are now being referred off base to our choice of three local hospitals. I chose the St. Elisabeth Krankenhaus in Wittlich, as it is close to our house and I liked the facilities the best. Bitburg is a bit closer, but I didn't like the video they showed of the hospital at the orientation! Anyhow, since the contract for pregnant people to go off base for all prenatal care and delivery is so new, the Germans are really stepping it up to impress us (and to keep their contracts for the future). The government is paying mega bucks for our off-base care, so I like that the Krankenhaus has really new equipment (like flat screens that suspend from the air above your feet when you're laying on the table so that you can see the ultrasound--instead of having to twist around to try to see the machine's screen), they perform ultrasounds at EVERY visit, and the staff are all ultra-cautious about things (so we only see the Chief of Obstetrics at the hospital, not just your average OB doctor).

(Sorry...my nugget is shielded by the placenta)

As you can see, our little peanut is growing into a precious little monster. Dr. Locher, my new German OB, said that he's developing according to schedule and based off of the measurements he took during the ultrasound (head, femur, arms, etc), he looked about 15 weeks and 5 days on Monday's visit...which would make him about 16 weeks and 1 day today (which is about a week ahead of what the Dr's on base initially told us). If he keeps growing like he is, maybe he'll introduce himself to us a little early...but you never know! We were just amazed and thrilled to see that he has all 5 fingers on this hand...it's astonishing how developed babies are at only 4 months.

(Sorry...my nugget is still hidden behind the placenta)

The ultrasound was incredibly fascinating, as we were able to see so much with the better technology and the fact that he's bigger. In addition to his arms and hands, we were able to see his ribs, his spine, his legs, and most of his body...EXCEPT for the parts that would tell us if he was a boy or a girl (he wasn't showing us any of his lower parts) and Matt was able to see him move for the first time, so every aspect of the ultrasound was incredibly exciting.

At our next visit in June, we're hoping to be able to find out the sex (if he's cooperating), so we can't wait. I'm dying to start shopping, so right now all the tempting European baby stores just taunt me. Regardless of the sex, we're going to be thrilled. Neither of us really has a preference--we just want him to be healthy.

Yes, I'm really PREGGERS (British for Pregnant)!

On St. Patrick's Day, Matt and I found out that I was pregnant. We weren't really expecting the news (I was in tears thinking I had killed whatever was developing inside me since I had a few glasses of wine at Matt's surprise birthday party the night prior), as we didn't think it could have been possible timing wise, but were instantly thrilled with the realization that we were going to be parents. I can still remember the shock I felt when all 4 (yes, FOUR--I'll explain later) pregnancy tests read 'PREGNANT.' I can't speak for everyone else, but I know that I was neither ready nor prepared to see those words on the test, yet I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

So you're probably wondering why I had 4 different pregnancy tests on hand, as they're not something most normal people keep on hand. Here's why...in December, I had suffered through some 'girl issues' and the Dr. here put me on a high dosage medicine in January to try to get rid of the 'issues.' Well, before I was to take the medicine, the Dr. told me to take a pregnancy test to make sure I wasn't pregnant, as the medicine would cause all sorts of fetal developmental problems and most likely cause a miscarriage if I were pregnant. To make a long story short, Matt and I were planning on starting to try to get preggers sometime this summer, so I decided to stock up on the take home tests since the commissary/BX rarely has real brands (non-AAFES/generic brands) on the shelf--I guess they're a high selling item around here. I ended up buying 4 different types/brands since I didn't know which ones were the most accurate. So, as you can see, I had them on hand for good reason!

After taking the 4 different tests, I came downstairs where Matt was on his perch (a.k.a. his Lazy Boy recliner) with them wrapped in paper towels. I told him that I had something to tell him and he told me that he already knew what I was going to say (he said that I had been upstairs in the bathroom for about 30 minutes and finally came down with a bundle of paper towels, so he 'knew' what I had been up to). I asked him if he was excited but I think that we were both more in shock than in a state of elation. He got on to me for 'wasting over $50' on the 4 take-home tests, as he claimed that the Air Force offers the blood tests for free--but he got over it! We decided that we couldn't get too excited yet, as I needed to have a blood test taken to make sure.

So, I called our Flight Doc and he arranged for me to go in the following Monday to have a blood HCG test taken. He wanted the HCG test to try to date my pregnancy based off hormone levels because we had no idea when conception was and I had thought that I had had my period the week before. That, and because he wanted to make sure I hadn't already miscarried. Well, I went for the 'blood donation' and got a phone call that night with news that my HCG levels signified that YES, I was in fact very pregnant. Due to the period that I thought I had had, the Dr. wanted me to get seen in the OB clinic as soon as possible, as he was worried that the pregnancy was possibly ectopic. So, off Matt and I went a few days later to the OB clinic for our first visit. The Dr. did an ultrasound on me and everything looked 'normal.' He said that because the embryo was so small, he wasn't completely sure of the age (he guessed around 6 weeks), so he wanted us to come back in a week to get a better look.

A week passed and we were back at the OB clinic for visit #2. The Dr. did another ultrasound and based off of size, he gave us a due date of November 15th, putting the embryo at 7 weeks and 1 day. In looking at a calendar and going backwards 7 weeks and 1 day, we realized that we had a "Welcome Home from your TDY baby" on our hands. So, we were finally able to know when this baby was conceived...the day Matt returned from Turkey. Maybe there was a reason Matt didn't buy me any carpets or souvenirs this time around--I think a baby is much cooler than any TDY present! Here's what he looked like at Visit #2...

Visit #3 was when I was about 10 weeks along. The Dr. wanted me to come in to make sure that everything was still okay, as I had been experiencing some spotting during the previous 2 weeks. Everything looked good on the ultrasound and the baby's heart rate was still very strong. He wasn't sure why I was spotting and said that some people just have that happen during their pregnancy. He didn't seem very concerned, so Matt and I figured that all was good.

Well, visit #4 to the Dr. was not a traditional visit. Instead, it was a 10:30pm trip to the ER when I was about 10.5 weeks along. That day, I had run a 10 miler (it was our last long run before the marathon in Vienna) and everything felt fine. Other than my sciatic nerve being irritated, the run went well. Fast forward about 9 hours and out of the middle of nowhere, I started bleeding profusely. Matt called the ER and told them about me and they told him to bring me in right away. We both thought that the pregnancy was over and I was a hysterical mess. The ER doctor had to refer me to the OB on call, as 'things didn't look good' (those were his exact words). The OB doctor happened to be at the hospital, so he came in with an ultrasound machine to take a look at what was going on. I was expecting the worst, but we were both pleasantly surprised with the screen showing a little peanut still inside me with a strong heartbeat still pounding away. The Dr. couldn't explain what caused the bleeding or where it came from, but it was one of the WORST experiences of our lives. But, God is GOOD and He wasn't ready to meet this little peanut face to face yet. The Dr. diagnosed me with a 'threatened miscarriage' and put me on modified bed rest (no gym or running) just to play it safe.

Visit #5 happened a few weeks ago when I was 12 weeks along. Matt had to hot pit that day (fly twice in a row), so he didn't get to make it to the appointment. This appointment was really cool, as it was the first time I got to see the baby move. He was moving out of control--his arms were flailing, his little legs were kicking, and his head was bobbing up and down. I think I cried, as it wasn't until that moment that everything seemed REAL. The Dr. gave me this ultrasound picture (which is blurry because the baby was moving so much) and it just blows us away that you can already see so much of him this early on in life. For those of you (like me) who don't know what you're looking at, the head is on the left and the feet are on the right and he's laying on his back.

Other than all the drama, the first trimester went really well. No major sickness, no tired-spells, no real cravings--mostly just food aversions. During the first trimester, he's been to Kirn, Germany--Ghent, Belgium--The Netherlands--Vienna, Austria--Sardinia, and Luxembourg...and there will be many more places he'll go before he's born. He's already a world traveller!

SAVE THE DATE...

WHEN: November 7, 2007*

WHERE: Las Vegas, Nevada

WHY: for BABY GARRISON

(The German DR that I now see has changed my due date from November 15th to November 7th...we'll see which DR is right!)

Vienna, Austria...

...is not the home of the Vienna Sausages that come in a gelatinous jar of goo (contrary to popular belief).

However, it is home to the 3rd marathon that Matt and I have run in while in Europe. Like crazed animals, Matt and I decided that it would be a good idea to run another marathon before we left Europe this year and given that April has become our 'marathon month' (the previous two were both in April), we figured we'd look for a race that fell during that month. Well, Vienna fit our criteria and along with 14 other people, we signed up. I only signed up for the half (since the two full marathons wore me out) and Matt signed up for the full (the rest of the group was mixed between the half and the full).

The day of the marathon was incredibly HOT, so none of the group really had personal best runs...but everyone finished, which is a feat in and of itself. Matt got a bit of 'heat stress,' since it was so hot out, but he ended up recovering without any medical aid. The picture on the right is of Matt at the 10km point. Below is a cute picture of one of the other runner's daughter, Myka, playing nurse to poor Matt after the race.

Mom's Visit

On March 31st, my mom came to visit us in Germany for a week. While here, we drug her across Belgium to spend the night on a boat in Ghent, up into Holland to see the world famous Keukenhof Tulip Festival, and then back to Germany to partake in the many shopping opportunities and cafes. It seemed like a whirlwind of a visit, but we thoroughly enjoyed every minute we got to spend together. As always, we found numerous unforgettable restaurants along our journeys and managed to take lots of memorable photos as well.

For our night in Belgium, Matt surprised us with our hotel. When we pulled up top the hotel, both my mom and I laughed and said 'you're kidding, right?' Well, he wasn't. The 'hotel' was actually a large barge called the BOATel that was converted into a 9 room hotel that sat along the edge of one of the main canals that ran through Ghent. We laughed and laughed at the thought of sleeping on the boat, but it ended up being one of the best experiences--so great that Matt and I have actually decided to stay there again this summer with some friends. The rooms were nice and the view out of the port holes was really neat. Afterall, how many people can say that they've spent the night in a BOATel? And, as you an see to the right, Matt has come to find yet another public urinal. Apparently to men, the European public urinals are so fascinating!

After our night in Ghent, we loaded back into the old faithful 7-series BMW and headed north to Holland to experience the sights of the Keukenhof. On our way to the Keukenhof, we stopped at Den Haague for a few hours to see what the hype was all about, and then kept heading north. The Keukenhof is located a few miles south of Amsterdam and is supposedly one of the 'must see' attractions in Holland. It is only open for about 6 weeks each spring and boasts thousands of acres of tulips and other flowers. When we got there, all you could see for miles were tulips, so this year's weather did not disappoint (last year was horrible, as we had a long winter and none of the tulips bloomed). The gardens were really beautiful, although once you've seen a few yards of flowers, all the rest seem to look the same! The best part of the Keukenhof (or so I thought) was the petting zoo. They had all sorts of baby animals to pet and play with and I thought it was a great break from all the acres of flowers. We are glad that we were able to visit the Keukenhof before leaving Europe, as it was incredibly beautiful, but we wouldn't specifically fly to Europe like some of the people had to see the festival.

After the Keukenhof, we headed back to Germany, as Mom had to leave to go back to the States on Easter Sunday. We had a wonderful time (as always) with her here and hope that more family will get to come see us before our European Vacation comes to an end.

Mommy Kitty

Well, I finally got a picture of Mommy Kitty to post on the blog. Isn't she cute? The goopy eyes are hereditary, so it's not a sickness...all of her babies have it too.

Matt's SURPRISE 30th Birthday Party

Last Friday, March 16th, I hosted a surprise 30th Birthday party for Matt in Kirn, Germany. Along with 10 other friends, I was able to completely surprise Matt (which is rare) with a Whisky Tasting at the Kyrburg Whiskey Museum, one of the largest whiskey museums outside of Scotland.

The Kyrburg Castle was built in the 900's and destroyed by the French in the 1700's. The only things

that survived the French invasion were the remains of the castle and the first floor and cellar of the Whiskey Museum. Upon arrival in Kirn, Matt didn't seem very excited that I had 'kidnapped' him from work (I had everything planned with scheduling so that he would be finished with work around 3pm) to take him to this random town. So, to increase his excitement, I finally told him why we were there--for us to go to dinner in the castle and have a scotch tasting. That brightened him up a bit, but he was clueless about the events to come.

Complete with a 3-course Scottish dinner, the night was nothing less than spectacular. The night started with a greeting of a bagpipe rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and 2 of our good friends waiting for us inside the castle with champagne. After another aperitif and bonfire reception, we pushed inside the restaurant for the start of the dinner. It was at our own reserved table that Matt was then surprised by 8 of our other close friends. He thought the night was just going to be the two of us, so having 10 other friends there was such a surprise.

After dinner, we were escorted down into the 400 year old cellar for the formal Classic Malts of Scotland tasting. The cellar held over 3,000 different scotches from around the world. It was unbelievable. None of the girls tried the single-malt scotches (we stuck with wine), but all the guys loved it.

The night wasn't complete without a Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse birthday cake adorned with candles and a Fresh Fruit Tart which I had made (I had a friend bring them so Matt wouldn't see them!) especially for the party. As a gift from the Whiskey Museum, Herr Kroll, the taste-master, gave Matt a sampling of a single-malt scotch from his birth year, 1977 (which is very old, since it had already sat in a barrel for many years). I thought about buying a bottle to give Matt, but it was 320 euro, so I decided against it!

At 0130 in the morning, we all made it back to our hotel in Kirn and woke up the following morning to lots of funny stories and re-caps from the night before. In all, everyone had a great time and my mission was accomplished--to truly surprise Matt.

The RIP...

On Friday, March 16th, Matt got news that his RIP (report information) was ready. So, he picked it up and called me with the news. Our Report No Later Than date to Las Vegas is 31 August 2007...which made us both VERY happy. We're happy because we will get to spend one last summer here in Europe before coming back to the States. We were told that our report NLT date could be anywhere between 01 June-31 August, so getting the news that we would be here until the end of that window was wonderful. We were kind of hoping that we would get to stay until later in the fall, but we're content with August!

So, any of you who want to come visit us over the summer while we're still here, you still have the chance!

Micah and Maura

MICAH...

Here are some recent pictures of our nephew, Micah, and our niece, Maura. Micah turns 2 in May and Maura turns 1 this month. They have both grown so much and are solid handfulls! Apparently, Micah loves everything and anything having to do with the outdoors and Maura is obsessed with ducks. Hopefully we'll get to see them both a little more once we're stateside this year.

MAURA...

Meow...

Aren't we photogenic?

Well, I've convinced Matt that stray cats are lovable. He still isn't a huge fan of cats, but he tolerates the handful of barn cats that call our house 'home' in the morning and evening. The first time I fed the kitties, he got mad at me..but slowly, over time, he has come to accept the fact that I am going to feed them regardless of what he says. He's actually re-named my barn cats (my original names were pretty boring--i.e. yellow kitty, tiger kitty, black kitty, etc.) and they seem to like their names.


Meet "Kitler"--he was born last spring and is very skittish. He will come inside and wander around, but the second he hears a loud noise or you approach him, he runs outside. He's named Kitler because of his famous mustache. He has a pink nose, which is my favorite color nose and he LOVES to eat.






Then there's "Marty Jr."--he was also born last spring and is Kitler's brother. Like Kitler, he is extremely skittish and gets freaked out easily. He's named Marty Jr. in honor of the late Martin Luther King Jr. because of his race and his loud voice. You can see him in the background and in the large picture above (on the day I took these pictures, he was being a little camera shy).


Next, there's "Rocket." Rocket was born 2 springs ago and is my favorite kitty. He looks just like my childhood cat, Frisky. Rocket is very outgoing and LOVES to be petted and rubbed. We call him Rocket because he is a) an un-neutered boy cat and b) because every time we open the front door he come flying inside under our feet. He is very loving and has the loudest purr I have ever heard. The best part about Rocket is that he'll sit in your lap or at your feet and meow at you. In this picture, he's sitting on his favorite rug.

Finally, there's "Mommy Kitty." Mommy gets her name due to the fact that every fall she gets pregnant and has a litter every spring. She is the mommy to Kitler, Marty Jr., and Rocket (not to mention several other kitties in the town). She is calico and also very sweet--she'll also let us pet her. She comes to eat breakfast every morning and prefers the wet food over the dry stuff. I don't have a good picture of her, so one will come soon.

Each night, Matt and I crack the living room door open and let our 'kids' come inside for a few hours. They eat their dinner and then play in the living room (sometimes they will just sit and stare at us on the heated floors). When it's time to go back outside, we give all the kitties treats (either actual cat treats or left over meat/meat goobers that I cut off of our chicken breasts or beef before cooking it). They've gotten really spoiled, as I always cook the meat goobers so that they don't get sick from eating the raw meat. Matt says that they kill birds and mice and it that meat raw, but it grosses me out to feed them raw stuff. I made the mistake of feeding them the American cat food, 'Friskies,' at first, so now they turn their noses to the cheap German stuff on the economy. Since the American food is more expensive than the German stuff, I now mix the two together to get the Friskie's food to stretch a bit. The brown pillow that Kitler is sitting on is one of their favorite resting spots. Each night, Marty Jr., Kitler, and Rocket usually play 'king of the hill' and try to knock each other off.

It is going to be really hard to leave my kitties when we move, so I'm trying to get Matt to let me kidnap one of Mommy's new kittens from this spring's litter to take back to the States with me. He says NO, but I'm still working on him. Regardless, our kitties have become kind of like kids to us and they keep us in constant laughter. They aren't the smartest cats--but we still love them like they're brilliant. Doesn't Kitler have a great smile?

Vegas...Baby...Vegas...

At about 10:45 pm on Wednesday, February 21st, Matt called me from his TDY in Turkey to tell me that he had assignment news for me. Ends up, the news was FANTASTIC. Sometime in the coming year, Matt and I will be moving to LAS VEGAS, where he has earned an assignment with the 422nd F-16 Test and Evaluation Squadron. We are both so excited about the assignment (it was Matt's first choice) and can't wait to live within quick driving distance of my brother, Goat, again...not to mention so close to all of our other family and friends.

We don't have any word on a report date yet, so as soon as we find out, we'll post it to let all of y'all know. Until then, start saving your quarters, nickles, and dimes...

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Snowboarding in the Austrian Alps...Again

Over the Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, Matt and I went on our squadron's ski trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Since we've had a strange winter with not much snow, we weren't sure how much snow would be on the slopes. It turns out, there wasn't any at the place we had originally planned to snowboard, so our group ventured off a bit to a mountain with a glacier about 45 minutes away from our hotel. The snow at the Stubai Glacier was awesome and we had a great time snowboarding over the weekend. The weather was beautiful (we took our coats and hats off and ate lunch outside) and the slopes were fairly empty, so everyone had a fantastic time. The above picture is of Amy and Rylee, our squadron commander's daughter, out on the slopes.

For our apres ski (after ski fun) on Saturday, we found an Irish pub not too far from our hotel and managed to drink a few pints of Guiness and hang out with everyone in the group. This picture of Matt and Boose (Boose is obsessed with the 80's--which explains the Kiss shirt) was taken inside the pub.

On Sunday afternoon, a group of us went to watch a national league hockey game in the Olympic arena. The game was anti-climactic, but we were able to chuckle for a while about this advertisement painted on the side of the ice rink. We all agreed that you couldn't write something that funny!

On Sunday night, Matt and I went out for Indian food and afterwards found a great wine bar near our hotel. We tasted a few Austrian wines with some friends and of course, told lots of stories. This picture of us was taken inside the wine bar.

Lucy

Surprise!!!

Around Thanksgiving, my parents bought a new Scottish Terrier puppy to provide Maggie, our bulldog, with a friend. Well, Maggie doesn't like Lucy very much and my parents are exhausted trying to house break Lucy. She's a handful...so much so that at school, my mom puts her in the trashcan so she doesn't run around the room like a banshee.


Over Christmas I got to finally meet Lucy and she is precious. I love that dog...and she loves me. All I wanted to do was hold her when I was at the house. My mom says that she bought Lucy for me but now she can't give her up...so I will have to keep dog searching so that when/if we move back to the states, I can get a puppy. Lucy has doubled in size since I saw her at Christmas, so this is the most recent picture of her. When Matt gets home, I'll update the post with some of her 'puppy' pictures I took at Christmas.