Busy day...

...That won't be posted on here, haha!

I had a nice little post going and the baby managed to hit just the right key and delete the whole thing.
So, I leave you with these parting shots and then I'm throwing in the towel for the evening.

Johnny enjoying some avocado. He now refuses to let me feed him anything solid, he MUST feed himself! And I use the word 'feed' lightly...


And spring-fresh diapers :)


Hope you are having a good week!

Xo!

Trip to the USA (part one)

Now that we've lived here in Germany for almost five years, taking a trip home is a whole new experience, especially when we haven't been back for a few years at a time. This time it was two years since we've gone and I wanted to go and surprise the family with a baby visit :)

Since we are military we have the option to fly for free on a cargo plane. I've done it several times alone without issue so that's what Johnny and I did for his first flight! We wound up on a C-17, which is a loud, cold cargo plane with little fold-down "jump seats" to sit on. So, earplugs in, we strapped the car seat into the jump seat and away we went!


I have to admit, I was terrified to travel with a five month old. But he did better than I'd have ever imagined. In all we took seven flights in a month and he hardly cried, mostly he just slept.
The advantage to a cargo flight is that when he gets restless I can spread a blanket out on the floor and we can play!


Nine hours later we landed at Charleston Air Force Base and spent the weekend exploring with my mom, Johnny's Oma.

What a pretty town! Right up my ally in the old-fashioned department :)



Our favorite part was the plantation we visited, called Magnolia Plantation. It had a little animal sanctuary and the family was good friends with John James Audubon, who the swamp gardens were named after.

Mom on the tram. It was chilly but the driver had a blanket for us :)


There were several large gators basking in the sun.


And this rooster was obviously the man.


One of my favorite animals :)


In the South, peacocks are sometimes wild and sometimes are raised as protective animals. They are very territorial and very vocal when there is an intruder. Someday we will have some!


Piggy. Ginormous piggy.


Tiny gator.


I'm a sucker for old farm carts.


And random copper swamp musicians.


I lived in Florida for 17 years and never really went to the swamp. It was so, so beautiful and I could have spent all day just watching the birds and the turtles. I'd love to go back when it is warmer and see the trees all green and the flowers blooming.





I really have the bug to travel the States now. I can't wait to move home and do some serious road-tripping! There is so much we haven't seen in our own country, that's in sharp perspective now that we've traveled Europe a bit. Oh, the irony.

Everyone in Charleston was so sweet, I finally understand true Southern hospitality. From there we headed down to Florida, but that's next!

Happy UN-birthday!

Our baby is going to be 6 months old this week!

What a goofball he is!




I made an outside fun place for us to hang out, so that he can roll around a bit in the sun (what? what's that?!). And soon I hope to get a swing set for this active little boy, he needs an outlet and he's not even walking yet!


Now the FOOD! I think he was born to eat. And eat, and eat... He has eaten everything we've offered him, tonight he even had Indian Naan dipped in my dinner's sauce and cucumbers!


At home I've steamed and chopped and baked for the past week and we are now fully stocked for a good two months as far as baby food goes!
Everything that was pureed was frozen in ice cube trays and then stored in Ziploc bags. Two cubes is about a serving, and they can be mixed and matched to my hearts content :) A lot of the time he will just eat what we are eating, all mashy and stuff, but this will make it easy on me for lunch and breakfast since I don't cook much for those meals.

Look at all those bright, natural colors! Weee!


And the other day a friend reminded me that I can start giving him biscuits and so on (derrr...) so I set on making those today.
They are pear flavored and he looooooves them. Unfortunately, so does Luckie!


There is a wonderful website full of recipes and advice on baby food if you're interested in making your own (and I highly recommend you DO!) here. It's fun and easy and a great way to 1. Cut down on waste (boxes, jars, ect..) 2. Save SO much money! and 3. Know exactly what's going into your child, and that it's in it's simplest and most nutritious form.
And you can add as much variety as you want. (Do they even sell avocado baby food?) Please never-mind the idea that your baby's food has to be bland. We, as Americans, have created generations of picky eaters while German babies are eating sauerkraut and Indian babies are eating curry! Mild curry, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg- and so on- are great additions to plain ol' baby food.

Happy baby feeding :)

And happy un-birthday Johnny!!

Take a look!

Johnny and Chris and I have some pictures here as part of a baby-wearing celebration! Yay!!

I love having Johnny so close. He is becoming more opinionated and actually wants down sometimes now, but for the most part he still doesn't mind me wrapping him up and taking him with me wherever, whenever. What a great way to spend an afternoon, wandering around with a happy baby interacting with everyone you come into contact with :)

Ah, baby love!

Excited for summer much?

I just ordered my first real vintage bathing suit! Hooray! I've looked every year for a good ten years and never found what I wanted in a size that would fit. Seems this year XL is a good size to be, hehe...


And I bought Johnny his very first swim diaper:


And Chris his first pair of board shorts since leaving Florida:


What an adorable beach-going family we'll be come June!! ;D

Dinosaur ROAR.

Johnny insisted we make his dad dino cupcakes for his 29th birthday! ;}


They were chocolate vanilla swirl with buttercream frosting, right out of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

~~~~~~

We've been traveling but are back now, I'll be posting more again soon. I have loads of photos to sift through first!!!