No Cargo, No Baby

A rare photo of a cat usually in hiding.

Thought you'd all like proof that we did actually bring a cat.

Friday
Our dogs are clearly not used to being in the house as often as they have been lately. Back home, they spend most of the day outside with plenty of room to run around and chase each other. Here, even though we've been walking them twice a day, they are cooped up in the house much more. Though we'd like to let them out more often, our yard is extremely small AND has an area of low fencing that we haven't quite figured out how to manage yet. We need to find a way to raise it, but it also needs to NOT BE an eye sore for our neighbors. I think the dogs would likely jump the fence if we left them outside while we were gone. Hence, whenever we leave they are inside. Niki is showing her displeasure and boredom by eating whatever she can reach. A few days ago she ate an entire box of chocolate kinder eggs that had been given to Gerrit as a birthday gift. They were still in the bag and sitting in Gerrit's stroller. This weekend she managed to reach the container of chocolate chip cookies I had baked. They were on the table, but she seemed to get to them with ease. I found the tupperware on the floor when we came home. It's amazing she hasn't gotten sick with all the chocolate she's eaten.

Jake had fallen asleep on Gerrit,
but awoke when I took this photo.

This evening Gerard informed me that he had tracked our cargo and the last entry stated the container had arrived in Rotterdam and then was returned from Rotterdam empty on the 12th. Hmm... I'm hoping this means they actually moved our cargo from one container to another to deliver it. Although that is what I dearly hope for, I am not optimistic considering every other person we've talked to who has done this said their container was delivered directly to their house. Perplexing indeed.

Of course you know this means that the baby will only arrive when our cargo does. I've decided that is exactly what he is waiting for. My new guess for both baby and cargo is the 19th. I've tried all of the things the midwife has suggested for Mission- Get the Baby Out, but none have worked. I won't go into detail. Tonight I even ate half a pineapple, but that only succeeded in giving me massive heartburn... no contractions.

Mmmmmmm.... Pineapple!!!

Doesn't my daddy have the cutest face?

Gerard has successfully trained Gerrit to
smile on command. Say "Cheese."

Saturday
With the help of the local IKEA, we have managed to increase the storage in our kitchen and downstairs, which makes me genuinely happy. When we remodeled our kitchen in the U.S. we tripled our storage... and we managed to use most of it. Here, I know there will be a ton of things that will not fit in our kitchen, but it is now so much better than it was before. My only beef with it is that we are spending all this money to do so. I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if we owned this house, but seeing as we're renting it... well, it does. I know it's the norm here to have a rental completely unfurnished (down to not having a kitchen or lighting), but I guess I'm still not used to it.

Gerrit is a big help in building IKEA kitchen additions.

I received a special treat today.... our first care package courtesy of Mandy. She sent Gerrit and the baby some birthday clothes, as well as some goodies off my junk food wish list. It was heavenly. It is EXTREMELY expensive to ship things overseas, and I am so grateful that she was willing to send it anyway. But as much as I would like care packages, I suggest that people planning to visit just throw a few things in their bag to bring them over with them, OR several people go in together when shipping here. Otherwise it is just too pricey and you'll spend just as much or more on the shipping as you did on the items inside.

Tonight I got another special treat. Gerard downloaded the rest of a summer show we enjoy, The Closer. We had left the U.S. before the season ended so it is nice to be able to catch up and see what we missed. He also downloaded Desperate Housewives, one of shows I am truly addicted to watching. Since Gerrit didn't nap he fell asleep super early, and we were able to watch some T.V. on the computer.

Our third treat tonight was receiving a call from Andy & Rosemary Kuhnert. It was really nice to hear their voices and catch up a bit. Andy and I talked about what he feels my biggest hurdle is over here- lack of knowing the language. I agree that is a HUGE obstacle against me, and one that I am trying to conquer. However, he suggested I try to be fluent by April and I think he's nuts. I'm really trying and I'm really working on it, but I'm also having a hard time remembering much of anything at this point, and I'm not sure how that will change when baby #2 shows up. Unfortunately, I do not think the language will come to me as quickly as I would like. Nevertheless, I will continue to work on it, but I don't want to feel bad about myself or my progress come April. Under other circumstances I might benefit from an intensive course, but right now it's all about baby steps and I need to be satisfied with the progress I have made and will continue to make, even if it's not as much as I would like.

Sunday
Today I visited another swap meet type thing looking for clothes and toys for Gerrit. I wasn't as successful as the last go around in getting clothes, but I did manage to get a few things. I'm really missing my second hand baby markets. Regina and I are supposed to go into Munich tomorrow afternoon and search for some winter clothes for me. While we are there, she said she may know of a second hand market we might visit. (Although, she did add that she thought these Flohmarts were much better and had better selection than any second hand shop.)

"Hey, I think I'll stop throwing sand on
this slide and chase the ducks instead."

This afternoon we went back to Neufun, the indoor pool in Neufahrn. Gerrit LOVES that place and we have a lot of fun when we go. Today it seemed like there were tons of pregnant women at the pool. Gerard made mention of one that he said was "even larger than [me], if that's actually possible." Ah, yes, I am quite large these days, but I certainly don't need such things pointed out.