24 weeks along

Everyone seems interested in what I look like these days so here are a few photos. Not the best, but sure to give everyone a good laugh. They were taken at the end of the day...hence the bad hair. Maybe this weekend we'll take a few more.
Cute story:
This morning I was lying in bed...awake (getting up to pee every two hours messes up the REM sleep) and the alarm went off at 6:15am. It must have startled the baby (yes, she can hear outside noises now) and she started kicking and going crazy for Scott to turn the loud thing off. As soon as he turned it off she calmed back down and was quiet. 10 minutes later....beep..beep...beep (apparently he pressed snooze) and she went crazy again. She quickly calmed back down and went back to sleep...just like mom. It's just amazing that she could hear the noise and react to it in that way. Our next doctor's appointment is Tuesday so maybe we'll have more photos of her.

All things baby!

I was looking back at some of the blogs from last year and last January was kind-of boring here. Well, it's the same this year. Not too much going on.....which means....not too much to write about. European winters are insanely depressing. Most days are cold and rainy. We probably won't see the sun again until May. You think I'm lying don't you. Ask around...it's true.

This past weekend we borrowed a mini-van, took out all of the back seats and headed to Germany to shop on the base. The dollar to the euro is horrible these days so we thought since we have to purchase baby things we should go to the military base where you can pay in dollars. Some people have called us cheap, but why spend more money than you have to. Not to mention we were able to get American things instead of European things. Yes, there's a huge difference from clothes to cribs. Here are a few price comparisons for you:

• One onesie in Belgium: 7.50 euro (add on 50% due to the exchange rate and your total is $11.25 for one)

5-pack of onesies in the U.S.: $8.00

• Pack and Play in Belgium: 169.00 euro (add on 50% due to the exchange rate and your total is : $253.50)

Pack and Play in the U.S.: $119.00 (upgraded version from what Belgium has)

Crazy, huh? We were just glad that we were able to get everything we needed this weekend and she's good to go for at least 6 months or so. A big thanks to my cousin Shanell for once again hosting us and getting us on the base!

Stay tuned for next week...we're putting together the crib. Geez, we're boring aren't we!

Aloha from Hawaii

Yes, we did travel half way around the world to ring in the New Year in Hawaii but you should expect that from us by now! Here's how we spent our holidays:

Our first stop was in Albany, GA to spend Christmas with my family this year. It's always nice to be home especially during the holidays. We didn't do much just visited with family, shopped for the baby, and ate way too much.

We spent about 4 days in Albany and then we headed on to Hawaii for vacation. Thanks again mom and dad for taking us to the airport bright and early!

We had this vacation planned for about 10 months so it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. It actually happened at a good time because from what we've been hearing once you have kids you can never really "vacation" for the next 10 years. So we thought we'd enjoy our childless days while we could.

Scott and I really enjoyed vacationing in the U.S. Sure we are always traveling in Europe, but it's always a rush of sightseeing adventures that we never really have time to relax. It's nice to sit down at a restaurant and know the food and the service are going to be exactly what you're looking for.

It's funny how living in Europe has changed our outlook on things. For instance, we didn't rent a car (because we don't have U.S. car insurance and to take it out would be more expensive than renting the car) but we didn't get upset about it we just said, "oh, we'll take the bus if we need to go somewhere". Scott and I both laughed because who would have thought we would ever say that in a million years.

It turned out perfect because we joined a shore excursion for a day trip to the North Shore, Pearl Harbor, and the Dole Pineapple Plantation and took a bus to the mall one time until we realized that it was only a mile and a half each way - we walked it the next time. (Again, walking a few miles to something is what we do all the time in Europe if we need something so we didn't think twice about it.) We hung out at the beach a few days....drank Pina Colada's (virgin for me!) and floated on our rafts. The weather was beautiful 85% of the time. It sprinkled a few times but that's Hawaii for you and we really didn't mind because we're used to the rain in Belgium. Below is a small recap of our trip. We had a great time and can't wait to go back...whenever that will be. ;)

Sunset on Waikiki Beach

Celebrating Christmas and the New Year with 80 degree weather!

Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

Dole Pineapple Plantation where we had yummy pineapple ice cream.

The famed North Shore where we saw 10-12 ft. waves.

A view of Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach.

Going out to dinner on New Year's Eve.

Welcome 2008!