36 weeks

Here you can see Zoe at 36 weeks... only 4 weeks to go and you won't believe it but next week she's already 'full term'...
Regarding the DVD if you start having 4 things out of 6 then you're only 2-4 weeks away from giving birth... I think we're pretty close :)... I bet she's gonna be a January baby...

Zoe's equipment

Alright, I couldn't wait any longer and assembled her stroller and removed her car seat from the box. I strolled around a little bit in the house with it... cool cruise :). That will make my walks with her a lot easier. Yesterday we also bought a bundle me bag for her stroller and car seat so she'll be all wrapped up when we go out with her. It's kind of cold here and we don't want her to get sick.
How exciting... we're getting close!!! Yesterday we started watching the 'Laugh and Learn about Child Birth DVD'... because we didn't make it to a Child Birth Class we watch that DVD and man is that good... so much that we've learned already and we just started. We take a few chapters at a time.

... somebody likes to shred receipts :)

... another funny action in our household :)... I think Frank is going to hide the paper shredder very soon from me ;). Well, when I come home from the shopping trips I shred the receipts pretty soon if I think we won't need them anymore. Just need to have a clean purse/ wallet, right? The womens' purses are way too crowded anyways. So we need to clean them up right away. So again I shredded a receipt that we needed... and I figured I can reestablish the receipt by going through the shredded paper and find the right pieces and glue them together! I succeeded :). With the barcode and the name of the item, some more numbers on it we were able to return the bedskirt and I really had a blast glueing it all together and cracking up during the whole thing ;).Typical me!!! *lol*...

Zoe's first Slipper's

Since you don't know the background about the 'Slipper's' in our household you probably just think these are just such cute Slipper's ;)... but here now our background: When Frank and I started dating we sometimes met in between Chicago and Detroit as you know from some of our posts. And you won't believe it but every time he forgot his 'slippers' at home so we went to Walmart and bought some slippers for the weekend. I would've just lived without them for a weekend but Frank needed to buy some for the hotel room we were in ;). Now he has a couple of Slippers 'extra' in case he needs them ;)... so I figured that Zoe should have some Slippers as well and bought some today for her... aren't they cute?
Her room is slowly coming together... the crib is setup and tomorrow we're going to buy a changing table and a dresser and then I'll go ahead and wash all her clothes. We bought a very nice bedroom set :)... it looks so cute. And a stroller we bought as well... we're almost there...

The first try

I did it :)... alright, after 'reading the instructions' (I normally don't do that!!!) I figured out how it all works and what needs to be done ;)...Oh, we're so lazy out here... and then when we start moving around it's very hard to get used to it *lol*. Frank put up the crib today and next week we're going to start shopping around for more stuff for Zoe's room, we still need some things before she comes... so exciting :). Here my first Latte result: a little to weak but I know what I've done wrong so next time it'll be much better.

Merry Christmas

We'd like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas... look what expected me when I came home yesterday :). We decided not to do any X-Mas decoration because of all the other stuff we're still working on and thought to just do the whole decoration and a real X-Mas tree next year when we celebrate with our little daughter :). This year we just take it easy and very relaxed. But Frank surprised me and did put up a little tree and decoration... that was so cute :). So now the little tree is bringing some X-Mas spirit into our living room :)We went out to dinner to a very nice restaurant and had a VERY delicious dinner and unwrapped gifts afterwards :). Then we watched 'It's a wonderful life'... somehow I couldn't keep my eyes open after a while so we have to watch the rest of the movie again today ;).

We enjoy our X-Mas at home a lot... very cozy and relaxing... Merry X-Mas again to everybody and will keep you guys posted about our progress next week in the house... the baby room will be worked on, the guest rooms will be completed and we try out our great X-Mas gifts :)... guys... we need some visitors ;) !!! I will post some pics later from the gifts when Frank has setup the speakers and I've tested out the best creations of how to make the best latte macchiato's and cappuccino's :)... can't wait... :)

35 weeks

Here we are at 35 weeks already... just 5 more weeks to go and little Zoe will be with us.

First snow

YEAH... today we woke up and we had our first snow that was actually staying :). The other night we went to bed and it was snowing... I was so excited about getting up and see how much snow we have gotten over the night and it was all gone in the morning due to rain :(... I was so sad. That's why I was so much more excited today... it wasn't snowing when we went to bed so it was a big surprise waking up and see all that snow :).

... another chapter of my life ends...

Well, maybe you can't say it ends... but it sure does end somehow. I still remember being all excited, leaving Germany to start a new life/ new job in Chicago, IL... the farewell party with all my friends and family was a blast and a great turnout. I came here and started fresh with a bunch of energy and success throughout my life. So many good memories with my German friends when we met and had BBQ or Margarita night... going to the movies... having good food, explore the area, made trips to friends/ family. Business trips to different cities, the little flying Rona... always here and there, enjoying the new life. And I really did. I'm very glad I had this opportunity and explored everything, started in another country all by myself and was successful... I grew a lot and learned a lot about myself and how to get out the hidden potential that was waiting to be free'd. When I was at a very high point of my self finding and success, my wonderful husband came into my life with a crazy firework of amazing feelings I've never felt before. And now we're getting ready for the little wonder we've created who will join our family in less than 6 weeks!!! Amazing!!!

So this week it was my last business trip to Chicago for a while... here you can see my CHI cubicle where I spent a lot of successful hours ;). My coworkers decorated it for my Happy Birthday cake party already because it was my last trip. Even though they know that we Germans don't celebrate PRIOR to our birthday's ;)... they just didn't listen and did it again anyways. After they sang happy birthday to me I cleaned up my cube, and took all my belongings with me, even my name tag I took off :( and said 'goodbye' to everybody.
Now I'm gonna tell you the plan for the work comeback after Zoe is here. I talked again to my boss to confirm it'll all work out. And here in the USA it's not that secure than in Germany, which bothers me a little but I just have to let it go now. I'll continue working in the DET office in my current job until the delivery date. After the delivery I'll be able to take off 6 weeks to recover. In case of a C-Section I'll probably be off for 8 weeks (the doc/ midwife has to release be back for work). And then I'll work from home 30 hrs a week for KNLogin Administration or something else in case they decide to just replace my whole position and give me another job. I'll give up the Quality part because I would have to be in Chicago every other week for that and I also give up the sales calls and all the trips to the other offices. That way I can take care of Zoe, we don't have to drop her off at a Day Care and I don't have to fly around and barely see my husband and baby. I'm very glad this will all work out this way but again... I have nothing in writing or so... I just have to trust that this is all working out... very hard for a German to trust on that though ;).

34 weeks

It just seems to me that the weeks are racing by!!! Unbelievable... I'm already sad :(... soon she'll be out of me and I won't feel her anymore inside poking me or moving/ kicking. But I have to say, she's already less active. Seems she has not so much room anymore to show herself off.

Ok Jela, here now another try :). Better? Next time I'm gonna make a shot in the afternoon and not in the morning... you can totally tell that I just fell out of bed *lol*. This is how I looked when we turned into the 34th week:
This week I was in Chicago (for the last time) and my coworkers told me that my belly dropped down already... oh oh... it's getting closer... I'm just sad because it all goes way too fast... I don't wanna know how fast she'll grow up :(... gosh... she's not even here and I think about her being a grown up already way to quick!!! RONA!!! Stop it... Really!!! ;)

Japanese Steak House

Mmmhhh, that was delicious. Yesterday we met with Jenny, Franzi and Oliver for a very delicious dinner at a japanese restaurant. They cook in front of you right at your table and do a few 'tricks' as well... and here is our chef in action:

Franzi and Oliver very concentrated watching the chef:
It tastes delicious:
ui, the salmon with vegetables is steaming in a 'dome'
It was a very great night. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the good food big times :).

Tomorrow Jenny will fly back home to Germany and I'll drive to Chicago for a last time for a while. Since it's only 6 weeks and 2 days to go I got the 'Ok' that this will be my last trip being pregnant. Then I can stay in DET and get ready for the big day...

33 weeks

Hello Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, we approached the 33 week mark today!!! WOW... only 7 weeks left. I think we should start getting the babies room ready!!! Don't wanna run out of time here... but we're planning on a week off between X-Mas and the new year, by then we should be good to go.Zoe is still moving around a lot... I mean stretching. It's so much fun watching her move around or shift her from one side to another *lol*. It's pretty amazing this whole pregnancy thing. I would've never thought that it can be so exciting... my friends were telling me that earlier in the pregnancy how exciting it is and that they wanna be pregnant again... I just didn't know where they get that idea from. But now I can see it... it's pretty cool being pregnant. Not that anybody should jump on it right now... of course you need a loving and supporting husband or boyfriend for that whole adventure. Yeah, sorry Ladies, Frank is already taken :).

I think I needed to recover a little bit from last week... it was a little too stressful with driving to CHI right after coming back from Baltimore, then the house being dusty... but since last weekend with the dust almost gone and one week working in DET I feel much better again. Actually I started feeling awesome again after the Midwife visit on Tuesday. This time we met Mary. A new Midwife to us but finally one that is located in that office. She is an older Lady and just awesome. Frank and I connected with her right away... and my weird 'flashes' I had lately during presentations again are just 'hot flashes' *lol*... also one thing which is kind of funny now. I'm always warm... at work now everybody is freezing while I'm comfortable or even too warm. Can you imagine? Even at home, Frank turns on the heat now while I'm still fine. I have my internal blanket right now :). Yeah... never plan on being totally pregnant in the summertime... I think that'll be totally uncomfortable.

Other than that we have a power outage at work... here in Michigan the construction is not very stable I guess, so a bunch of power lines said 'goodbye' yesterday afternoon after the wind came up with an amazingly high speed and various areas are out of power now. Pretty uncool because it's very cold right now as well. Luckily our house is not effected but many other homes :(. The energy company got half of the outages back on overnight... let's see if they're all back up by tomorrow.

Healthy Food

Yeah, we like our steamer. It's so easy to prepare healthy food and it tastes deliciousAnd the George Foreman Grill is making the meat ready in 8 minutes, takes out most of the fat and tastes delicious:
Delicious salad for the side:
Finally I'm able to post some good dishes as well :). I'm joining the cook world *lol*

Our Baby Girl

Today we had an ultrasound appointment. She's healthy and in good shape. Everything is growing and working the way it should. The heart looked amazing, she was looking at the heart in a lot of detail. It was amazing how it looked like a flying bird and shaking hands... Amazing how technology can give us this view and shows the blood flow as well. She didn't wanna show her face for a 3D picture though but here we have a very cute picture of her nose and lips. She looks like making a 'Smollmund':And here again she's laying on the side, the view of her face: her forehead on the left, then her eyebrows, the eyes, nose and mouth. She had her hands always somewhere around at her face. And during the time we were watching her she was grabbing her toes. Soooo CUTE :).
And yes, it's still a girl :). We're having a little Zoe :).

32 weeks

Uiuiui... here we are at 32 weeks already. 8 more weeks to go!!! And good news on my job as well... talked to my boss this week while I was in CHI and it seems to all turn out the way I was planning and hoping for :)... I'll let you know more news once I have the official 'OK' for it. But I'm VERY VERY excited and happy about it and you will be too once you hear it :)...

Uiiii, my husband is home *big fat smile*...

German Girls Night

Yeah, while I was in Chicago for a couple of days (work) we german girls were able to meet and had some awesome food :). Ravyn joined too and enjoyed hanging out with all the cool girls :). We met at Steph's new house she just bought in September and had baguette bread with different kinds of cheese, salami and other launch meat... and wine for the ladies. Oh man, that was sooo delicious.Unfortunately my camera was without juice again so my Iphone had to take the pictures, isn't that a delicious table:

PROST :)... to the German Girls:
Omg, that was such a great night. Hopefully we'll see each other one more time in 2 weeks, when I'll do my last business trip to Chicago for a while.

New wooden floors and a mess

While we were on vacation in Baltimore we had our wooden floors done in the kitchen. It looks very nice but I still have a lot of trouble enjoying the new floor. I'm still in the 'hate' status for what it has caused to the rest of the house. I might enjoy them sometime later... but not yet ;). Anyways... floor looks very good, here is a before picture (the previous owner tried to do a 'do it yourself' thing which messed up the whole floor):
Now it looks good in Maple:
Story of the hating part: We came home on Monday night after 8 hrs driving, looking forward to a cozy night in our cozy house, and the first thing I saw... DUST!!! All over the house!!! I freaked out. We just had everything cleaned by professionals before we moved in and I cleaned throughout the weeks already a lot... and everything... for nothing... I was soooo frustrated, went to bed at 830PM and was very happy to leave this mess asap the next morning to go to Chicago for a few days. I wasn't able at all to stay in this dust... and then it bugged me big times that I had to leave and wasn't able to clean it right away!!! So you can imagine what's on our 'to do' list this weekend... exactly... a major house clean this time done by us :(... what a mess... It still makes me very upset when I think about it. Oh well... life goes on, right?

Project Baby room has to wait for another one or two weeks...

Ellicott City, MD and Loch Raven Damm

Frank had to keep me busy yesterday for the Baby Shower surprise party and we went to Ellicott City, MD and took a look at it. We're planning on seeing this city already the last time but we haven't had much time then. They say it has a european touch to it and is also very old. We liked it but it was very small, just one main street that was historic and then of course the houses in the city itself were very gorgeous.




A new house that was built matching the rest of the city:


We were able to spot some very old store signs. That was cool


The Look Raven Damm we drove by on the way home...

Baby Shower - surprise

Uiuiui... that was quite a day. Since we came home very late yesterday we slept till 930AM (that was so good)... but then... it wasn't very relaxing anymore since Frank wanted to leave soon to 'get going' and start the day... gosh was I upset... being on vacation and he's rushing. I gave him a very hard time ;)... his crazy pregnant wife *lol*. Well... it turned out that he had to get me out of the house by 10AM (which totally wasn't the case)... Frank's Mom was already sitting in the neighborhood waiting for us to leave the house... well while Frank and I went on a nice sightseeing tour to Ellicot City the family was preparing a baby shower for us!!! When we came back home to Patty and Ray's... soooo many cars were in front of the house... so I kind of knew what was going on. It was a great time, meeting so many other family members I haven't met yet and also Jay and Nancy + Kids came as well. Here some pics:

Mmmmhhh, the home made food was DELICOUS:

The youngest and the oldest ;)... Jay and Frankie:


This little rabbit was hanging around in Jay and Nancy's kids room when they were little and they wanted Zoe to have the rabbit hanging around in her room now... that's so cute:
This bathing duck is glowing in different colors... we were cracking up:

An american tradition, all the ribbons and bows of the gifts put on a plate and the parents have to wear the hat:
isn't he a Cutie :)
And a family picture: