Sorry there are no photos! I typed these all out, and now the internet is just too slow. I Will add photos as soon as possible!
Omelets for breakfast. I LOVE OMELETS.
Most of the day was rainy. Aktay was a little more comfortable today, and Daniel asked him to slow down a few times, but other than that, he did great. Everytime I felt he was too quiet up there, I’d nudge Daniel and he’d ask a random question about Turkey to make sure he was awake. He was every time!
Our trips—downtown Antalya, a new modern mall, I think the newest in Antalya. Not allowed to take photos there. BIG and very clean and nice.
Then we went to the “Old Town” where the van kissed brick walls at least twice. Aye yi yi. Aktay’s cousin owns a carpet shop there. This part of Antalya has Tiny streets and lots of big dogs. We heard a man with one arm playing the accordion and singing, sounding very sweet. We saw leftover Roman watchtowers from 2nd century AD. Statue of the founder of Antalya. Statue of the first “president” of Antalya—Constantine?
Marina
Outside of old town, Aktay took us to get the “best baklava” here. Found out the store owner died, and they relocated, but we got there and we bought a whole kilo of it because they said that was normal. Do you know how big a kilo is? We’ll be working on that for a few days!! It truly is DELICIOUS! We also got a small ice cream cone full of the creamiest ice cream we’ve ever had. You seriously had to chew it.
Waterfall. Beautiful. Flowing under the city from the Taurus mountains. It stopped raining as soon as we started walking to it. Talk about perfect timing! We were hoping to see a rainbow, but it was beautiful enough without it. {videos to come, it’s gorgeous}
Jewelry store. This is where I got my golden Whiskey. Actually I got lots of apple juice for free, and I picked out a gold “W” with 4 small diamonds in it. (Whiskey is “w” in the military Alpha Bravo Charlie alphabet) Daniel says now we have to have 4 kids so the necklace can be more sentimental. I don’t think our parents will oppose to that idea. He also got me a chain so I can wear my new treasure. I love it! It is dainty and beautiful and just perfect!
Leather store. I expected to see nothing more than slick black leather jackets with a gold zipper and maybe a few Harley Davidson tags. We walked into a big store with an electric “baby grand” and huge pictures of beautiful models in leathers and furs. There were probably 1000 jackets/coats and that was just on the first floor. We didn’t even go up to the second floor where they sell their fur-only coats. How many cows died to make this store so beautiful? We saw a coat that 50-cent bought recently up in Istanbul, but we forgot the camera, so look out for a commentary in People Magazine about a coat Fiddy is wearing from Punta Leather Store in Turkey. Imagine if Daniel and 50cent had the same leather coat with a fur collar.
Daniel found an AWESOME leather jacket moderately priced at 1200 euros. After saying it was a little too short, and a little too big in the waist, the seller brought the price down to 900 euro. It is brown leather with lots of secret compartments and zipper pockets, but also has patch-like designs in a checkered pattern. Since we forgot the camera, I’d like to describe it to you with a celebrity in mind. I could see Ashton Kutcher wearing this leather jacket. In other words, I really do like it, and I realllllly like it on Mister Wise (he’s buffer than AK anyday). The price was then lowered to 600, then I played the piano, and at the end of my first song the man said “420, no 400! That’s my final offer, I can’t go any cheaper”. I got an ovation from an already standing crowd (they are salespeople so they were not sitting), and then played a few more diddlies. Parker helped. We went back to see Daniel, still looking at the jacket with the salesman. I really liked it but its just too short. So, while I never said no but secretly hoped Daniel would find one that was NOT 1200 euro ( I didn’t know it was so drastically reduced—I was at the instrument, remember), he decided not to spend a large chunk of hard-earned money on the best looking hamburger we’ve ever seen.
The hotel staff here is fabulous. They are all so nice and friendly, even though only a few speak English. One non-english girl loves on Parker at each meal, calling him Sugar, making all the Germans laugh. They think its funny to call someone Sugar. One older gent in particular thinks I’m “beautiful, very nice” and tells me what food to get, so I end up getting Tons of food because he says all of it is “very nice”. It is. Tonight we needed something to store our baklava from downtown because the honey started leaking from the carton... The friendly German family beside us spoke English and the father tried to ask Parker’s love for a plastic box because she knows German. Well, here’s the series of events chaining from our need for a box.
1. She thought he wanted to box Daniel, like have a fist fight! I was pretty sleepy at this point and found her shocked reactions hilarious.
2. Later, I asked her for the plastic box and explained that our baklava is leaking. She called a guy over who Said he knew English (he said it in Turkish) and actually he had no clue what I was saying, and our audience of 6ish tables didn’t know either!
3. Finally Martin, a hotel worker who is very fluent in Anglais rushed over to save the day. After his translation, the girl brought me a bowl with a saucer to cover the top and led me to the dessert table, telling me to take whatever dessert I’d like to my room, and that there will be fresh baklava so we can eat it in the morning …. We were getting closer! A German lady yelled from her table to Martin “You are Perfect!” Why didn’t she translate for me?! I guess she enjoyed seeing this stupid American try to save her baklava.
4. Another explanation to Martin.
5. Martin brought us a big plate with forks.. And he said “ALL THIS WORK FOR A PLATE!”. And that was fine except we needed to store it, not eat the whole kilo of it tonight!
6. A more specific explanation of our need.
7. Finally he went to the kitchen and brought us some slightly used aluminum foil because they don’t have plastic…
Whew, that was exhausting. I think we are going to experience culture shock next week in the states, understanding everyone for the first time in over a year.
Until then, we are having a blast being sore thumbs in Turkey. And my W necklace is beautiful. Who cares if it was slightly overpriced, I can always say “this is the necklace your Daddy got me on our vacation to Turkey”. Tomorrow we head to Alanya for a week on the beach. I’m going to miss the staff here, they are so great! If you’re planning a trip to Turkey, I highly recommend Royal Atlantis beach hotel!!!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day 2. Music and History 10 April 2010
Parker didn’t sleep well last night. Must be the combination of a new place, and sour Mommymilk from all the stressing yesterday as a passenger in the van. But he woke up happy so I’m OK with being sleep deprived!
Today we had a delicious beautiful breakfast (and got the song “That’s Amore” stuck in our heads), and met Aktay in the lobby. He apologized and assured us that all the bad is over and he will be very careful today. We requested a baby seat but can’t get one until tomorrow. There are no seat belts anyway so I’m not sure it would be safer. Daniel demanded that he drive very slowly.
I’m pleased to say Aktay listened. And today was a blast. He really is a great tour guide, with lots of knowledge and patience. We first went to Aspendos, one of the only 4 ancient theatres left today.
A Roman Gladiator met us to say hello!
They had festivals for the “wine god” here. Can you imagine celebrating WINE on THOSE steps?! Was it an attempt to lower the population?
This is where I would stand if I sold cotton candy at Gladiator events:
This is paint from the 13th century.
This used to have lots of columns and statues or Roman gods.
Then the Stadion outside of Perge.
It was U-shaped and many athletic events were held here.
Then we visited the remains of Perge, which was built in the 1st and 2nd century AD, but destroyed by an earthquake in the 1200s. You can still see how beautiful it must have been. Paul preached here!
Then we ate a typical Turkish lunch, and they gave us Free Baklava! YUMMM. Another display of wonderful hospitality. They were playing racy music Turkish videos (no turbans on That channel) and a Domino’s commercial came on! Go American franchises!
At the restaurant, Daniel had his first experience with a Turkish toilet. What is that, you ask? Oh, it’s a hole in the floor with a water hose so you can wash away whatever may hit the sides. Maybe the point is for the people to have super strong hovering muscles in their legs? Anyway, the girl bathroom had a regular potty with pH balanced hand soap—whew. All of it was “normal’’ except the mothballs in the drain.
We got to visit a local village, mosque, and a kind Turkish woman’s house, and she fixed us tea and store cookies. She talked to Parker but he didn’t quite understand. She had both a European and a Turkish toilet. Her Turkish potty was a hole in the ground, too, but it looked like there were “feet slots” on either side, and it was made of ceramic with a large-ish oval hole. I didn’t feel right taking pictures. Her floors were covered with Turkish carpets everywhere except the kitchen and bathrooms. Those rugs sure are beautiful.
So then we went to a Turkish carpet distributor, and we learned how the rugs are made. They were very pretty. Daniel, Mister We-are-not-even-going-to-Think-about-buying-something-there, decided to REALLY LIKE this one shaggy WHITE wool rug, then decided that Parker really liked it, and after seriously thinking about spending $2500 and selling our Lederland couches for a big impossible-to-comb-or-vacuum rug , we walked out of there still bearing our status as hardwood floor-ists. Whew. I don’t think I could handle cleaning that. But I will say, it was very comfy to lay on, and it WOULD be fun for family camp-ins. But we’re tough enough to stick with a blanket on the floor for camping and movies. And an air mattress is looking much more affordable now!
I must say, today was Very fun, and I’m so glad we did not cancel on Aktay. He is very nice, and I even got him to sing to us today. I sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”—he had never heard that! Can you imagine not knowing that song? Well I didn’t know what he sang to us…
We got back just in time for a beautifully-set dinner with American background music. I chewed on delicious crepe with “A Moment Like This” playing and we left the room to the sound of “Gangster’s Paradise”. Seriously. There’s nothing like an exotic vacation spot to remind you of middle school 5th quarter dances.
Now the boys are asleep as I write this, so I’m tempted to sneak down to the midnight snack bar. But since I’m sleepy too, I will wait ‘til breakfast. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day, and I’m very excited about it! Aktay will be here at 9am, and he’s taking us to try the Best Baklava in Antalya!
Day 1 The wheels on the bus go round and round… 9April2010
April 9, 2010
I've written this, with blank spaces for pictures, but can't add the photos til we are back in the states! Come back later to see the shots.
We got a solid 2 hours of sleep before waking up for departure from our house at 2:30 am. The trip to the airport was painless, and even though we woke Parker up for the adventure, he was a charm. Our friend rode along to take our car back home… And 3 hours later, he was still on the road. The airport is only about 1.5 hours from home, so he must’ve enjoyed the scenic route :) Boys don’t like to get told that they are lost. It’s nice to know our Lola Corolla is safe back in the driveway. We were Very early for our flight, so we set up camp.
At 6:30 hopped on a bus to get to the plane. Parker slept during takeoff. {}
There were lots of babies on the flight. In front of us was Paul—the dreamiest 2 year old I’ve ever met! He had brown eyes and curly blond hair. He kept kissing Parker and petting him, and playing peek-a-boo with us. We spoke baby together, saying “la la la” and “woof woof” and he even let me read a book to him. He shared his gummy bears with me, and played a card game with Daniel. I miss him already.
I think we flew over the Alps.
The Taurus mountains greeted us beside the Mediterranean Sea—this is the MOST BEAUTIFUL flight either of us has been on.
Parker slept during landing, too, so the ear-popping experience must not have been too bad.
The airport in Turkey was easy to navigate, I got to tell my friend Paul goodbye one last time, and we found our tour guide, Aktay (pronounced Oct-iiii) waiting for us outside. He keeps calling us Danielle and Jesseeca and Parcare. I love how all the Turkish people are saying his name. Anyway, guess how many people signed up for this guided tour. Did you guess? Two and a half. Yep, yours truly, the Wise family, is the only group here for this particular journey with this travel agency. At first it seemed a bit shady, but its actually like getting VIP treatment.
Now for the bad part of the day:
We were headed out to the shuttle bus and realized that we forgot to get the stroller from the baggage claim. Daniel headed back in and had to go through all sorts of gates (we do NOT speak Turkish, mind you) and about 15 minutes later he came out with the beloved baby cart. We headed to the lot expecting to see a bus. Aktay drove us to our hotel in a “shuttle” that is actually a silver minivan with no seat belts, and no baby seat, and we realized right away that stop signs don’t actually mean stop (they say DUR, which I find hilarious); and dotted lines in the road actually mean nothing.. And 2-lane streets often have 3 lanes of traffic in them; and speed limit signs are only there for reading material. I was freaking out from the first stop sign.
Daniel probably has bruises from me squeezing his leg each time I feared for our lives. We nearly sideswiped twice, and swerved a bit, and then we were speeding along, getting closer and closer to this obedient car in front of us in the right lane. I was trying to keep my mouth shut, but then we were just TOO CLOSE and I shouted “WOAH!” and then I guess Aktay woke up (seriously we were about 2 seconds from hitting the car) and he just :::SCREEEECH::: took a sharp left turn on the straight 3-lane highway, leaning us far right, then hitting my head on the left, and landing us in a median with two wheels in the grass on a curb about 9 inches high, and the rest of the van in the street. I held Parker tight and having Daniel beside me kept me from sliding anywhere, and somehow there were NO CARS In the other 2 lanes, and we were all OK. Parker didn’t even cry, but I sure thought about shedding some tears of my own. What if there had been cars in the left lanes? What if we had hit that car in front of us? What if I hadn’t been holding Parker? What if Daniel had been sitting on the other side of me? What if, what if, what if…. Breathe. We are all fine, and the only damage is my achy neck and a busted tire. God protected us and that’s all there is to it. Within seconds there were about 5 men around to help us. We were near an auto shop, so they had the tire changed and fixed within 30 minutes. We got to see the Turkish hospitality right away. We were given water, and chairs, and these 2 little kids were spying on us, and by this time there were probably 10 people coming to see what happened. I gave the kids cookies and they ran away with delight. Aktay said he was very sorry and didn’t know what happened. I was a bit ticked off, (because I know what happened but I’m not sure WhY it happened) but at the same time, So So happy that we were all OK. We couldn’t get another driver (this is what happens when you don’t know the language or the number to 911—seriously, its different in foreign countries—in Germany it’s 112). So away we sped, still too fast, with only One more minor incident with a large pothole causing a bit too much bounce and making me scared again, causing me to yell, “can you PLEASE slow down!!!”. We finally got to our hotel. We contemplated cancelling our guided tour and just staying on the semi-warm beach. But after much prayer and calming down and discussing it. We decided to have a good talk with Aktay tomorrow.
I think this whole incident has a purpose, but I’m not sure what it is yet. Maybe to remind me how fragile life is. Had there been another car beside us, we would not be alright. Had that happened, I would’ve spent my last full day with Daniel being cranky and snappy and stressed as we finished our packing. So we’ve realized it takes EFFORT to get along better than just OK but it is so worth it. He is my best friend, why do I take him for granted?
Back to the good parts:
After a short nap, we took ourselves on the short walk to the SEA!! IT was beautiful! Parker just STARED at the water, like he stares at men with goatees, but the ocean didn’t make him cry like facial hair does. He was studying it from the safety of Dada’s arms. The water felt cold in the afternoon sun. We sat out on chairs for a while, and I’m wondering if I’ll end up with a baby-shaped tan line.
Dinner was AMAZING. I loaded my plate(s) up. I suppose this all-inclusive deal is going to be an easy way for each of us pack on 10 pounds this week!
Everyone here speaks Turkish and Deutsch. Only a few know English. It’s weird feeling so foreign. But I am so glad to be here!
I've written this, with blank spaces for pictures, but can't add the photos til we are back in the states! Come back later to see the shots.
We got a solid 2 hours of sleep before waking up for departure from our house at 2:30 am. The trip to the airport was painless, and even though we woke Parker up for the adventure, he was a charm. Our friend rode along to take our car back home… And 3 hours later, he was still on the road. The airport is only about 1.5 hours from home, so he must’ve enjoyed the scenic route :) Boys don’t like to get told that they are lost. It’s nice to know our Lola Corolla is safe back in the driveway. We were Very early for our flight, so we set up camp.
At 6:30 hopped on a bus to get to the plane. Parker slept during takeoff. {}
There were lots of babies on the flight. In front of us was Paul—the dreamiest 2 year old I’ve ever met! He had brown eyes and curly blond hair. He kept kissing Parker and petting him, and playing peek-a-boo with us. We spoke baby together, saying “la la la” and “woof woof” and he even let me read a book to him. He shared his gummy bears with me, and played a card game with Daniel. I miss him already.
I think we flew over the Alps.
The Taurus mountains greeted us beside the Mediterranean Sea—this is the MOST BEAUTIFUL flight either of us has been on.
Parker slept during landing, too, so the ear-popping experience must not have been too bad.
The airport in Turkey was easy to navigate, I got to tell my friend Paul goodbye one last time, and we found our tour guide, Aktay (pronounced Oct-iiii) waiting for us outside. He keeps calling us Danielle and Jesseeca and Parcare. I love how all the Turkish people are saying his name. Anyway, guess how many people signed up for this guided tour. Did you guess? Two and a half. Yep, yours truly, the Wise family, is the only group here for this particular journey with this travel agency. At first it seemed a bit shady, but its actually like getting VIP treatment.
Now for the bad part of the day:
We were headed out to the shuttle bus and realized that we forgot to get the stroller from the baggage claim. Daniel headed back in and had to go through all sorts of gates (we do NOT speak Turkish, mind you) and about 15 minutes later he came out with the beloved baby cart. We headed to the lot expecting to see a bus. Aktay drove us to our hotel in a “shuttle” that is actually a silver minivan with no seat belts, and no baby seat, and we realized right away that stop signs don’t actually mean stop (they say DUR, which I find hilarious); and dotted lines in the road actually mean nothing.. And 2-lane streets often have 3 lanes of traffic in them; and speed limit signs are only there for reading material. I was freaking out from the first stop sign.
Daniel probably has bruises from me squeezing his leg each time I feared for our lives. We nearly sideswiped twice, and swerved a bit, and then we were speeding along, getting closer and closer to this obedient car in front of us in the right lane. I was trying to keep my mouth shut, but then we were just TOO CLOSE and I shouted “WOAH!” and then I guess Aktay woke up (seriously we were about 2 seconds from hitting the car) and he just :::SCREEEECH::: took a sharp left turn on the straight 3-lane highway, leaning us far right, then hitting my head on the left, and landing us in a median with two wheels in the grass on a curb about 9 inches high, and the rest of the van in the street. I held Parker tight and having Daniel beside me kept me from sliding anywhere, and somehow there were NO CARS In the other 2 lanes, and we were all OK. Parker didn’t even cry, but I sure thought about shedding some tears of my own. What if there had been cars in the left lanes? What if we had hit that car in front of us? What if I hadn’t been holding Parker? What if Daniel had been sitting on the other side of me? What if, what if, what if…. Breathe. We are all fine, and the only damage is my achy neck and a busted tire. God protected us and that’s all there is to it. Within seconds there were about 5 men around to help us. We were near an auto shop, so they had the tire changed and fixed within 30 minutes. We got to see the Turkish hospitality right away. We were given water, and chairs, and these 2 little kids were spying on us, and by this time there were probably 10 people coming to see what happened. I gave the kids cookies and they ran away with delight. Aktay said he was very sorry and didn’t know what happened. I was a bit ticked off, (because I know what happened but I’m not sure WhY it happened) but at the same time, So So happy that we were all OK. We couldn’t get another driver (this is what happens when you don’t know the language or the number to 911—seriously, its different in foreign countries—in Germany it’s 112). So away we sped, still too fast, with only One more minor incident with a large pothole causing a bit too much bounce and making me scared again, causing me to yell, “can you PLEASE slow down!!!”. We finally got to our hotel. We contemplated cancelling our guided tour and just staying on the semi-warm beach. But after much prayer and calming down and discussing it. We decided to have a good talk with Aktay tomorrow.
I think this whole incident has a purpose, but I’m not sure what it is yet. Maybe to remind me how fragile life is. Had there been another car beside us, we would not be alright. Had that happened, I would’ve spent my last full day with Daniel being cranky and snappy and stressed as we finished our packing. So we’ve realized it takes EFFORT to get along better than just OK but it is so worth it. He is my best friend, why do I take him for granted?
Back to the good parts:
After a short nap, we took ourselves on the short walk to the SEA!! IT was beautiful! Parker just STARED at the water, like he stares at men with goatees, but the ocean didn’t make him cry like facial hair does. He was studying it from the safety of Dada’s arms. The water felt cold in the afternoon sun. We sat out on chairs for a while, and I’m wondering if I’ll end up with a baby-shaped tan line.
Dinner was AMAZING. I loaded my plate(s) up. I suppose this all-inclusive deal is going to be an easy way for each of us pack on 10 pounds this week!
Everyone here speaks Turkish and Deutsch. Only a few know English. It’s weird feeling so foreign. But I am so glad to be here!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Happy Easter!! and first pics of Spring!
Daniel was off work for Easter, so we had a great time together as a family at church. I made Duck with greenbeans and sweet potatoes for dinner. It was pretty good, but we kept saying "Aflac" during the meal :)
Our Family
Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL so I took Parker outside to play in his new tent from Daddy! But first, he wanted to explore the grass and little flowers. After many attempts to eat it, I let him play in the safety of his tent while I tried to absorb some Vitamin D. Living in Germany has made us very, very, pasty white.
I love his little hands and feet!Parker loves the baby in the reflection. Every time we pass a mirror or window, we make sure to wave at that cute little man that mommy is holding, and my oh my, we talk about how handsome he is!
He also LOVES his Daddy! Yesterday when Daniel came home from work, Parker was in his exersaucer and as soon as DaDa walked in, he started SQUEELING and smiling for about 2 whole minutes. It was so adorable. He is very interested in Daddy's uniform, especially the hat and basard (thing on the sleeve).
It's like he knows to soak up all the time with DaDa he can get.
We are SO excited about our vacation! We leave in just 2 days! We will be in Antalya and Alanya, Turkey until the 19th. Then we spend the night in Frankfurt and fly across the Atlantic Ocean and spend TEN DAYS in our hometown! We can't wait to see you all!
Here are a few things we have planned. Please see the note on my post from March 22 about making plans with everyone. We really want to see you, but we need you to stick to OUR schedule. We simply don't have time to please everyone. Family AND Friends should come to anything they want!
April 23-- My Daddy is having a get-together at his house. Times TBA. Anyone and everyone is welcome :) I definitely EXPECT to see my aunts and uncles on his side, along with Granny, and my cousins.
April 24-- Fincastle Baptist Church. We have the park, picnic area, and the gym inside in case there is bad weather. Again, everyone is welcome. It's my Mom and our niece Katie's birthday, so it will be a fun time.
April 25-- We will be attending Fincastle Baptist Church on Sunday morning. Our sweet nephew Jared is getting baptized! Then I'm certain we will be going to eat either at Wanda's or out somewhere with the Wise/Foutz families. Come join us! Pastor Kevin is a good preacherman.
We will be posting more plans on facebook as they come up. You can expect to see us at Walmart at least once! But for the most part, we will be at my Dad's, Mom's, and Daniel's parents'!
You can bring food to any of the events :) We like food. But the most important part is that you bring YOURSELF and a SMILE. Oh and we also like great big hugs :)
We are SO excited about our vacation! We leave in just 2 days! We will be in Antalya and Alanya, Turkey until the 19th. Then we spend the night in Frankfurt and fly across the Atlantic Ocean and spend TEN DAYS in our hometown! We can't wait to see you all!
Here are a few things we have planned. Please see the note on my post from March 22 about making plans with everyone. We really want to see you, but we need you to stick to OUR schedule. We simply don't have time to please everyone. Family AND Friends should come to anything they want!
April 23-- My Daddy is having a get-together at his house. Times TBA. Anyone and everyone is welcome :) I definitely EXPECT to see my aunts and uncles on his side, along with Granny, and my cousins.
April 24-- Fincastle Baptist Church. We have the park, picnic area, and the gym inside in case there is bad weather. Again, everyone is welcome. It's my Mom and our niece Katie's birthday, so it will be a fun time.
April 25-- We will be attending Fincastle Baptist Church on Sunday morning. Our sweet nephew Jared is getting baptized! Then I'm certain we will be going to eat either at Wanda's or out somewhere with the Wise/Foutz families. Come join us! Pastor Kevin is a good preacherman.
We will be posting more plans on facebook as they come up. You can expect to see us at Walmart at least once! But for the most part, we will be at my Dad's, Mom's, and Daniel's parents'!
You can bring food to any of the events :) We like food. But the most important part is that you bring YOURSELF and a SMILE. Oh and we also like great big hugs :)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
About My Job!
I am an independent distributor for a wonderful company called It Works! I get to help people tighten and tone their skin with the Ultimate Body Applicator (sweetly referred to as the Magic Fat Wrap) and then I get to set them up with some great all-natural supplements to help with health and weight goals. It's very fun and rewarding to see the changes people can make in their lives. We also have skin care and our facials leave your face feeling wonderful.
I want to go back to school. School is an expensive hobby. Enter my fabulous stay-at-home job! I LOVE these products, and the company's payment plan is very rewarding and the work is hardly work at all because it is fun! Join me in earning extra income! Go to www.itworks.net/training and log in with ID# 34115 password: itworks to see the online training, comp. plans, and all sorts of other business goodies, and find out if this is right for you. I'd love to see you improve your health AND wealth, like I am doing! Click on "Whittle Your Waist the Wise Way" at the top of this page to see how you can get a FREE Fat Wrap!
I want to go back to school. School is an expensive hobby. Enter my fabulous stay-at-home job! I LOVE these products, and the company's payment plan is very rewarding and the work is hardly work at all because it is fun! Join me in earning extra income! Go to www.itworks.net/training and log in with ID# 34115 password: itworks to see the online training, comp. plans, and all sorts of other business goodies, and find out if this is right for you. I'd love to see you improve your health AND wealth, like I am doing! Click on "Whittle Your Waist the Wise Way" at the top of this page to see how you can get a FREE Fat Wrap!
Parker's HALF BIRTHDAY (March 24)
March 24, 2010. The child is officially 6 months old. Half a year already... 31 more of those and he will be driving. Yikes! Dada bought him another cool present, a car that converts into a push toy, and after constructing it, Parker has really enjoyed it! He can get into things better when he's sitting on his car. His fave thing to do is lean forward and play with the "hood" of the car. The belly bar holds him up. Daniel didn't even Need the directions! He is good at this "assembling" thing!The day before his 1/2 birthday, I took Parker to the zoo with my friend Danielle and her babies. It was a lot of fun! The zoo in Kaiserslautern is impressive. I think we might get season passes because Parker is sure to enjoy it a lot more when he is older. They have camels and porcupines, a lion, a tiger, and chickens running wild. And monkeys! And a playground!
Parker had his 6-month check-up and is officially 17 pounds, 11 ounces. He is 27.5''.. He is tall and handsome, just like his Daddy! Daniel's mouth is healing from the wisdom teeth removal, and I must say I really enjoyed him on Percocet-- it makes him super focused and alert. I expected him to be drowsy and miserable, but he was great! We are all well and blessed beyond measure. And we are SUPER EXCITED to be visiting soon!
P.S. Click on "Whittle Your Waist the Wise Way" at the top of the page and learn about our new weight loss incentives with It Works!! Stellar prizes!
Monday, March 22, 2010
I'm baaaack
Hello all, So for the past few weeks, I couldn't figure out how to post photos on here... Then Daniel helped me realize I was doing one little thing wrong and it's all better now! Yay! He's the best!
We live here--->
So, we've officially booked our travel plans! We will be in Turkey 9April- 19April; then an overnight in Frankfurt, then flying to VA to arrive on 20April around 8pm. We get to stay TEN DAYS-- that's right! We're leaving 30April and getting back home on 1May. It will be BUSY but I am SO SO SO excited.
PLEASE READ THIS--it's ultra-important: Many of you have been requesting "alone time" with Parker or "pencil-me-in-for-this-day-at-this-time" to spend time with us... And I am NOT trying to be the mean guy, (I REALLY do wish I could make everyone happy) but this is a short trip, and its Daniel's last time to see HIS family before he deploys, so here goes: Our main "zones" will be our parents' houses, and we WANT to see you, but we need you to adapt to OUR schedule instead of asking us to plan around Yours. Basically, you are more than welcome to come to any of the 3 parents' houses (They've all said that anyone is welcome to stop by when we are there) and we plan on posting our whereabouts on facebook. So, we probably won't be able to come to your house, because if we go to your house, then we have to go to her house and his house and everyone's house.. And we're going to be exhausted, jet-lagged, over-planned, and things like that tend to make us grouchy and kinda mean. So PLEASE don't get hurt feelings if we're not popping by your house-- just come by ours! (And by ours I mean, my Dad's, Mom's and Steve and Wanda's). Also, we don't plan on "lending Parker out" because as much as he is loved by you, he's not going to be familiar with anyone except us, even though I DO show him pictures of his relatives sometimes! And have you ever been around a 7month old who feels lost? No thanks. So dearest Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Cousins, and Close Friends-- PLEASE just come to where we are! We won't be annoyed! It's OK if you follow us around! We're also going to spend at least one day at a park so its "neutral ground" and you can come by whenever you want to! Lots of room to play and have fun!! That's definitely better than sitting around! Of course, we plan going to WALMART, and doing a few other things so we won't be in our "zones" ALL the time, but you get the picture. Thanks for being understanding. :) P.S. I will post schedules on here when they are more concrete.
Now for the fun part.
Parker is SO fun. He can roll around the world if he wants to (only in one direction).
We were given an exersaucer a few weeks ago and he loves it. He's into his toys big time now. I just love watching him 'figure things out' and everyday its like his coordination and mind work better and better.
See Parker waking up:
He babbles and talks, and often says Mamamamama. I think it means "milk". He gets superexcited when Dada comes around, and smiles and shakes. He's also good at fake crying already. And he's allergic to gravity. He had his first experience of rolling off the couch and "head-meets-floor" and well, the floor won. He cried but he was fine. Luckily these German couches are short. And at least we know now that he fake cries 80% of the time, because when he fell, that was the realest cry we've ever heard from that child. Sad, but true.
He's gotta like his veggies! Here he is trying peas for the first time! It was the first time we fed him big boy food! He has eaten Peas, Avacado, Sweet Potatoes, Rice, and Apple (sort of-- I let him chew on a piece of my apple while we were on a walk...Oh and I know Daniel's snuck some crumbs into his lil mouth)
He had a little bit of a cold for the first time a few weeks ago. Just a cough and runny nose. Nothing green. I wasn't worried, but I didn't like seeing him sick(ish). He had a great attitude the whole time, even though he didn't feel good and HATED the booger squooger bulb thing.. I was so proud of him for being a trooper!
Well, he's too big for some of the summer clothes you sent, so we dressed him up in these cute plaid shorts. Look at his modeling abilities. It looks like he's walking, doesn't it? He loves to stand and "dance". Oh yes, I dance and sing with him all the time. He has the voice of an angel
Dressing him up is fun. He likes hats, he likes to smile for the camera (finally), and he LOVES going to church and getting loved on. So I make sure he's extra-handsome on Sundays. :)
Lately, Parker wakes up right before Dada leaves for work (4:30 or so-- oye). He started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, but he quit a few weeks ago. Here he is telling DaDa to have a good day at work. I LOVE seeing them together. It warms my heart. And I do think my darling hubby is awfully handsome :)
This growing stuff is exhausting! Nap time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
