DVD-Land

Alexis couldn't decide which DVD she wanted to watch.

Momma intervened and chose a Baby Einstein video.

Only in Belgium....

From a customer satisfaction standpoint, Americans are used to getting what they want. Not so much here in Belgium. It took me a while to understand this. Two years ago I used to argue with them trying to get my way but now I just say, "ok" and go on, not even thinking twice about being told no. Now, Scott and I just laugh (sometimes hysterically) at what they are telling us they can't do. If it goes against the norm they won't do it. If it causes more work, they won't do it. Here are a few examples of what have happened to us in less than a month:

1) We were at a restaurant where they serve hamburgers (hard to find in Belgium, by the way) and Scott ordered some bacon hamburger. He asked for cheese on the burger and was told...no. Nope, they couldn't add cheese to a hamburger. We figured it was because they didn't know how to ring it up as an extra charge. We laughed. In America we would have turned them into the BBB.

2) Jacke and I were at a restaurant and she asked for ketchup and they said they didn't have any. Jacke was speechless...I laughed. Mayo is the thing to put on your fries in Belgium. Ketchup comes in dead last. No ketchup in American is a sin.

3) We went to McDonald's for lunch (don't judge...if you didn't have American food for 3 years you'd eat there too!) and I ordered a 6 piece chicken nugget as well as Scott. When they asked what sauce we wanted I said, "BBQ" and Scott said, "ketchup." The lady said, " not ketchup...only BBQ or Sweet & Sour." Poor Scott didn't get ketchup for his nuggets. You don't get it free here, it's an extra euro or something ridiculous. He refused to pay b/c he thought he was justified a sauce. We laughed.

4) We ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut take out. We usually know how to order it correctly but we forgot since we hadn't been there in so long. Scott ordered his pepperoni lovers and then ordered me a mushroom pizza. They guy said, "mushroom pizza?" Scott's like, "yeah, pizza fungi." They guys told him they didn't have a mushroom pizza. We quickly realized that we needed to say a pizza margarita (cheese pizza) and add mushrooms. The guy understood then.

They just don't think outside of the box here. Laugh.

Happy Easter

Alexis' 1st Easter!

We started our morning off with a quick photo shoot of Alexis in her "bunny bottom". Thanks Aunt Kelly for letting us borrow it. It made for some cute pictures.

Then we put on our Easter dress. Thank you Mommom and Grandpa for the dress.

After getting all pretty, we went down stairs to find her Easter basket. Belgium doesn't really have "Easter baskets" so we picked up a few cheap things back when we were in the U.S. last month. She enjoyed putting the eggs in and taking the eggs out of the basket as well as banging them together.

A day at the park

Alexis got to see a real bunny for Easter.

Just a cute picture from the other day!

9 month pics

Yes, I know...Alexis will be 11 months next week but I totally forgot to post her 9 month photos that we had taken when I was in Albany back in February. She changed so much since these photos but they are still cute! Enjoy!

Reims, Ribs & Rome

We enjoyed our weekend visit to Reims, France. Reims is the Champagne capital of the world and the Champagne was yumm-o. We took a tour of a few Champagne houses and now know more about Champagne than we care to know.

In front of the Moet & Chandon Champagne house.

In Hautville, France where Dom Perginon was a monk.

Dom Perignon's grave in the abbey where he was a monk.

The Cathedral in Reims, France.

My best photo from the trip.


Inside the Moet & Chandon cellars.

There are 94,955 bottles of Dom Perignon again in this one part of the cellar.


Scott's mom, Jacke, celebrated her 60th birthday while she was in town. I baked her a birthday cake to celebrate. Then later for dinner we took her to our favorite Rib place, The Hobbit and surprised her with another birthday cake there. We hope she had a memorable birthday.

The next day, Scott and Jacke headed off to Rome for 4 days. I decided not to go since I had already been back in 2007. Here are a few of their pics.

In front of the Colosseum.

Scott channeling his inner gladiator.

In front of St. Peter's Basilica.

Part of the Roman Forum.


What's new with Alexis? Well, she stood up alone briefly this week. She was sitting down, got on her knees and stood all the way up. She also signed the word for "cookie" after I asked her if she wanted one. She melts my heart everyday.