I'm missing my boy today...

and I'm not talking about Jon, although I am missing him too.

I'm missing Pearce

I'm sad that I don't get to rest my boy on my big belly like I do all the other kiddos in my life. 

I miss his little feet - the one on the left that looked like Jon's and the one on the right that looked like mine.

I'm sad that he never gave me a single sleepless night.

I miss his little lips - that he definitely got from his daddy.

I'm sad that I never had the opportunity to nurse him.

I miss his little jaw - that came from me.

I'm sad that I never got to change his diaper - although he did pee on me.

I miss his little muscular legs that looked so much like his daddy's it took me by surprise.

I'm sad that I never once had to tell him no.

So in a nutshell I'm missing him and it's making me sad which in turn is making me miss my other boy too.

Charmian

Baby Showers, Baby Showers & more Baby Showers



Have I ever told you that I'm one lucky lady? 

Well if I haven't let me tell you real quick. 

I am so blessed!!!

I have some of the best friends and family members a girl could ask for.  They are so supportive, loving, and a blast to be with.  Now don't get me wrong, there are of course the bumps and bruises that can occur whenever you put two people together but I still think that I am pretty darn lucky.

Anyway  back to the showers.  I didn't just get one baby shower, I got three. 
Now this may be a normal thing but it sure did make me feel special. 

I've already told you guys about our Bye Bye/Baby Shower which was our baby shower and going away party with friends.  I promise we will get the few pictures we took up soon.

Our second baby shower was with family and it occurred about two weeks ago so I figured it was time to do a post about it.

The whole crew!
(except some of my mom's good friends who just happened to go MIA for the photo)



 Everyone working on my baby book - Best present ever!

Thanks everyone for tapping into your creative juices to give me such a special gift!



Me with my loot - I told you I was one lucky lady!

  

   Oh by the way, I only allowed people to come if they brought the cutest kids in town!!

Maybe I'm biased because they're all family but I still think they're pretty darn adorable.



Me with my Mom and some of those MIA friends / The Eichelberger Girls

Last but not least was my work shower. 

I was so surprised when I walked into Mimi's Cafe last Friday to see nearly 20 chairs set up.  That's right I had 17 people at my work shower and they showed up at the restaurant at 7:30 a.m. to celebrate the newest addition to my family.

Wow, did I feel loved!!

Here are the only pictures I have from that get together - they aren't great but it's something.

That's it for my baby showers

Thank you all so much...

for coming,

for helping me get stocked up with all of my hippie baby gear
(more about this in another post)

but most of all thank you for joining me in this crazy adventure called life,

I couldn't imagine this journey without you!!

Love,       

Charmian  

  

He Says / She Says

Why Marriage is so much fun!
Real conversations between Jon and Charmian.

He Says...

I wouldn't mind living in a log cabin!

She Says...

Oh, me too!  Great idea Hunny!

 

Only Problem

He was thinking...

She was thinking...

I love you Sweetheart - and your great ideas ;o)

Charmian

I got to talk to my boy!!!!

I have to be honest; the last four days have been really rough. Jon hasn’t had internet; and no internet means no calls, skypes, or emails. To top off my not getting to talk to Jon I’ve had a pretty rough couple of days and it was really hard not being able to share what I was going through with my Lovenut.

Well luckily that all ended today when I was finally able to talk to Jon. He got a cell phone and he paid 50 euro to have unlimited international to a handful of numbers so even if his internet does go down I’ll still get to talk to him.

YEAH!

I was also able to hear about what he’s been up to (I’ll let him tell you when he has a minute) and get some of my yuck off my chest. It was awesome and although I knew I was missing him it wasn’t until after I got off the phone and the huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and a sense of peace washed over me that I realized just how much that was.

Best news of all, tomorrow morning we get to skype so I’ll actually get to see his face.

YEAH!! YEAH!!

Technology sure is making this long distance thing easier. But I do wish he was here to feel the baby dance in my belly and see the girls wrestle and play. UUUGGHHH – this is really hard but I only have 65 more days until I get to see him again.

YEAH!!! YEAH!!! YEAH!!!

I love my boy!

Charmian

Alive and in One Piece

Just so everyone is up to date. I am alive and all is well in Leipzig!

The last two weeks have been hectic, getting an apartment, registering for school, registering with the city, opening up a bank account, and the myriad of other things that require setting up which are necessary for day to day life.

Outside of all of the required tasks, we (me, Dad and Joel) have had the opportunity to see some of the country. We have actually spent very little time looking at Leipzig. I suppose there is always time in the future for me to see all the sights that are close by to where now reside.

A real quick re-cap

1 day Berlin whirlwind - mostly waiting at the airport for Joel to arrive

2 days Leipzig - apartment, bank acct, register (both school and city)

4 days Munich - Beer, castles, churches, driving on the autobahn (only 165 kph), seeing friends from the US, a concentration camp, more beer, more castles!

2 days Leipzig - more school stuff and hooking up light fixtures in the bathroom

2 days Dresden - you can probably guess, beer, castles, churches, and ......well beer!

Here are some quick photo highlights...real quick because I haven't had time to even look through them all yet!

Dresden - Katholische Hofkirche

Dresden - Semperoper

Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau Concentration Camp

Schloss Linderhof

Munich - Wittelsbach Residenz

Leipzig - Thomaskirche (Bach is buried here!)

I'll try to fill in some detail when I have more time available....until then I hope you enjoy!

Too Pregnant to...

Camping Edition

This labor day weekend I was able to do what I love - camp.  This camping trip was VERY different than what I've become accustomed to since I married Jon.  You see, when we go camping, we go as far away as possible.  Sometimes we backpack other times we car camp but regardless our goal is to get far enough away that we can have a weekend with just the two of us and no one else. 
When I was a little girl growing up with a single mom camping was the only thing we could afford to do for our summer vacations but I loved every minute of it.  The difference was when we camped we did it in a campsite with a port-a-potty down the road.

With Jon off on his little pre-MBA adventure with his dad and brother, my mom twisted my arm and forced me to go camping with her (okay, so all she had to do was mention that she and Daleypoo were going and I practically tied myself to the front of their truck).  Now that my mom and Daleypoo are  - how should I say - more experienced, they like to do their camping in a camper.  They enjoy having all of the amenities of home with their beds, kitchen, and bathroom.  If you ask me its not camping its staying in a pretty nice hotel but regardless it got us out and away and I loved it.

Okay now back to my original purpose of this post,
I am way too pregnant to camp. 

Let me explain.

I was exhausted, it was a long day of getting packed, getting to the site, getting set up and add to all that I was feeling a little bit under the weather, so when bedtime rolled around I was ready to hit the sack.  I crawled into my bed and into my awesome mummy bag, I had my body pillow and my regular pillow so I could get all cozy and comfortable.  I stretched and groaned and reached and finally was able to grab on to the zipper to get myself all snug in my bag.  I pulled the zipper up and didn't think twice about it feeling like I was zipping up a loose dress rather than a sleeping bag.  I rolled over onto my side to go to sleep and that's when I realized I couldn't move.  My belly is so big that once I got myself into my mummy bag I was just that a mummy.  All I could do was roll back and forth with my legs straight down below me and my arms crossed over my chest.  Needless to say I had a horrible time sleeping that night. 

Charmian in her "mummy" bag

We were able to come up with a good solution for the rest of the trip (zipping two bags together - yep that's right I needed a double wide). 

But that first night, boy oh boy was I uncomfortable,
and that is why I am now officially

too pregnant to camp.

Charmian

28 weeks

And not late - YEAH!!!

Here I am while camping at the tail end of my 28th week.  As you can see I'm not looking so hot. 

That's because...

1. I'm camping and I don't doll myself up for camping
2. I'm sick - UUUGGGHHH - no fun
3. My amazingly talented husband wasn't around to take these photos to make sure I was in the perfect light with the perfect pose.

...but regardless here it is.

Enjoy!!!

Charmian

So Concerned

The girls are that is…

You see normally when Jon goes away they get a little agitated and protective well last night they were really concerned. It was making me tired just watching them go from my lap to the front door. After they were sure no one was coming they ran to the top of the stairs where they sat on look out for a few more minutes before coming back to my lap again. Now repeat this routine all night long, it was crazy!

Now I have to admit, it did make me feel good that the girls were so protective of me but at the same time I’m wondering are they going to be this way until November when Jon comes back?  Oh Boy!