Daniel's Birthday

Daniel turned 24 yesterday!

Parker and I woke DaDa up with lots of kisses, then we had breakfast with cards waiting at the table.  I made blueberry muffins as the Birthday cake.  As soon as they were cooked, in all my excitement I put 2 candles on the top row and 4 on the middle row, to symbolize 24; lit those suckers and began to sing... and I learned a valuable lesson:

--> If you bake muffins or cupcakes, Wait until they are cool to use candles... Otherwise the candles melt inside the muffin and make your muffins have a blue waxy center, and then they fall over and catch the baking paper on fire, and then you don't have time to sing the Happy Birthday song because you have to yell "blow those candles out RIGHT NOW!!"

 They were delicious and we just ate around the waxy center, like eating an apple and throwing out the core... Actually, I think Daniel didn't even bother and he ate the wax...

Don't worry, he's still alive so it must not be too bad for you, maybe it will even smooth out his age lines as they start appearing... He is almost a quarter-century old, ya know!  Then he will be old enough to rent his own U-haul if he wants to!!

  So, after the incident,
he FINALLY got to open
his presents...
Parker made him a sweet
little picture with his handprint, 
(which probably
should have been a
FOOTPRINT, because that
boy recently discovered his
feet and stares at them
often)

 and I got him an AIRSOFT GUN.  I made Daniel wait until after breakfast, because I figured he would be too engrossed with his new toy that I wouldn't even be able to get him to the table for food.  Smart thinking.   Interestingly, one of the first things he did was take the whole gun apart....Boys and their toys.

  in less than 5 minutes flat

We spent most of the day just chillaxing at the house, snacking, playing with Parker, and enjoying his day off.  We went to the BX/PX together to get some vacation details, and then we went to a WONDERFUL restaurant in Kusel with Stu and Missy.  I forgot to take the camera, but the food was delicious.  If you're ever around the Kusel area, ask around until you find the Hube Haus (pronounced Hooba House).  It's affordable and absolutlely the best schnitzel in Germany!!!

 We got home and Parker was in such a funny (as in HILARIOUS) mood.  Daniel took 3 videos of him:

(Note: if they are not playing smoothly, hit PAUSE, let it load a while, and then watch it.. It should be better.) 

Pardon my hind-end in this one...

Notice how he is camera shy:

 We have so much fun with our baby boy!  I think Daniel had a wonderful birthday, and I sure am glad for all the years we've spent together.  Here's to another wonderful year.  

"Grow old with me, the best is yet to be"--Unknown

DaDa and Parker, Just pictures

two peas in a pod.

Ya gotta have *friends*.. and delicious food!

I'm so thankful for the friends we have made here.  Our church family is wonderful, and from the first Sunday we were in Germany, we felt welcomed and loved.  What a nice feeling when you are so far from "home".  Germany is our home for now, but our first homes will always be special to us.  I'm learning that its not the PLACE so much, it's the people.  Our new friends are the silver and our families back home are the gold.  Both are valuable and pretty and fun to have as accessories!  :)

Here is Parker all dressed up for church in his outfit from Mary Sweeney.

The past few weeks have been a great blessing, and we've been able to spend lots of time having dinner at our house or taking goodies to friends for dinner at their houses.  Jessi has started going to a Bible Study on Friday mornings with about 10 ladies, and Daniel goes to one on Monday nights.  That time in God's word and with friends is very enjoyable.  Three families near to our hearts have had babies recently, and what a great excuse to see the babies when you take them dinner!  The 2 we've seen so far are healthy, beautiful baby boys, and Parker's going to teach them how to sit up and crawl as they get older!  A guy Daniel works with had his wife move here recently with their 23 month old son, and they are wonderful!  They came to church with Jessi on Sunday and afterwards they enjoyed the potluck there.  His wife has such a wonderful attitude about life.  Last night, three couples (including us) got together for dinner, and the boys left for Bible Study while the girls stayed to chat.  It was such an uplifting and fun time.  We are so thankful to be meeting people with open hearts and generous smiles.

Sometimes the "dating game" of finding other couples to hang out with can be pretty stressful, but so far we have been absolutely tickled with the good peoples we are meeting!  Thanks for your prayers for us, we are blessed beyond measure!!

Parker Pie

Parker got weighed last week, and he was 14 pounds, 11 ounces.  He is 25.25 inches tall.  They said he's in the 75% for his weight and 95% for his height!  Just like his Daddy!! I'm glad he was "average" when he was born and THEN hit the growth spurt!  And I'm officially back down to pre-pregnancy weight HOORAY!!  Daniel and I are feeling great and looking forward to toning and trimming up for our VACATION coming up in April!  I'm using the Ultimate Body Applicators and my tummy is no longer soft so I'm stoked!  I can't wait to be TAN and be in our bathing suits, cause we're gonna buy Parker some cute swim diapers too!  Should I get Turtles or Fishies for his little bum?

My neighbor's 9-year old daughter made the hat he's wearing.  He wears it all the time.  Kate knitted it and gave it to him at the hospital when he was born. She is such a talented young girl!

Parker loves Bath Time!  He just kicks and kicks and splashes!  And then he tells me all about it!  I wish I knew how to get videos on this blog!!!




He discovered his feet this week, and he started "razzing" (buzzing and blowing bubbles everywhere!).  His eyes are still blue, so I wonder if they will stay that way.

He is such a fun addition to our lives!  He talks with me while I fold laundry and straighten up.  He's a good sidekick, especially when I have to go grocery shopping :)  I think he likes all the bright colors on the boxes.  I already give him lectures about the pretty boxes normally having bad-for-you-food in them.  He understands completely!  Poor little guy, getting health chats already!

Champagne, Extra Dry...

HAPPY 2-oh-TEN!

Love, Linko and Parker!

We went to Rheinland Baptist Church on New Year's Eve at 7 pm to enjoy "popcorn preaching".  Nope, we didn't eat popcorn.  Five different fellas preached, but they only had 7 minutes each.  It was really enjoyable and my favorite part was the special music where 3 beautiful girls sang "Jesus Loves Me" with a pat-pat-clap beat... So cute!

We were home by 10, Parker was asleep by 11, and we were in bed shortly after, drifting off and sort-of talking, sort-of snoring, with an alarm set for midnight just in case we fell asleep.  I was feeling sorry for myself because we are OFFICIALLY un-cool, staying at home--no toasts, no kazoos and party hats, no 3-2-1- KISS, no ball-drop, no traffic stops(not that I miss those)... Bleh, hormones are annoying, and the truth is, I take it all out on poor Daniel.  Thank God he is so patient!  But there were a million fireworks on the street at midnight, and boy was it loud and colorful!  Our room is in the basement of the house, so our windows are about street level... It felt like we were very close to all the explosions!  It was pretty though!  I fell asleep with bright colors outside our window.

 

Speaking of explosions, our landlord bought us 2 bottles of champagne so we could celebrate New Year's Eve.  So, Daniel decided to open one for a little taste of German specialty with our dinner.  He brought it to the table, and upon opening, the cork flew straight up, hit the chandelier, and then disappeared somewhere.  Immediately after the cork's flight, projectile bubbles and bubbles and more bubbly bubbles shot straight up, and with cat-like reactions, Daniel put his hand over the stream, causing the champagne to shoot out sideways in all directions, like when you put your finger over the waterhose.  I got to see it all in action, and it was all slow-motion for about 10 seconds.  And absolutely hilarious.  There was champagne droplets all over the place.

This is a BEFORE picture--->

We found the cork right under Daniel's seat.. Only a few feet below where it started its amusing flight.  There were bubbles on Parker's high chair, under the table, on every seat (yes, all 6 seats), and on the floor all the way to the piano.  We wiped the wet sticky mess up and then realized that the bottle was half empty (Optimistically, it was half full).  Needless to say, the label on the bottle lied.  This stuff is NOT "extra dry".  It is, in fact, very wet and very sticky.

You can tell how often we drink champagne!  It was very funny.  I guess we ARE kinda cool after all, because we can laugh together.

He helped clean up, which made me very happy.

Here are a few pictures of Parker from December, for your enjoyment.

  He is growing so quickly, and he is so much fun!