Catching up through November

This post will kind of be all over the place because I'm so far behind in blogging and just need to play catch up. We got back from Alaska and a few days later Sam's Mom was here and it's just been so busy from that time on. The last few posts I tried to cover all the bigger events, so now I'll just try to cover all the small, everyday things that have happened during the last couple of months.

One of my worst days (as a Mama) happened a couple of months ago when I left a hot curling iron down where Elly could reach it. I had told her over and over to not touch, but being 16 months old she just couldn't help but grab it as soon as I turned my back. I heard her scream and realized instantly what she had done and my heart just sank. She had huge blisters come up on her thumb, pointer finger and palm. It just hurt my heart that I had been so irresponsible about something that could hurt my baby. I ran upstairs and cut a big piece of aloe vera off and tried to keep that on her hand. She kept fighting me though so it wasn't helping like I thought it would. I called Sam and he came home to take us to Elly's pediatrician. Talk about feeling like a terrible Mama!!

Anyhow, they put a burn cream on her hand and wrapped it up good. She looked so pitiful :( It took a little while, but they eventually healed. To this day though if I tell her something is hot she'll say "Owy!" and point to her fingers where her burns were. It was a hard way for her to learn what 'hot' means.

Poor little thing...on the same day Gabby scratched her on the face :(



Isn't this pitiful??

By the next morning the bandage was off and she was playing like it had never happened. She did have blisters for awhile and a couple of times I put the bandages back on to keep it clean, but I was amazed that she didn't complain about it more. That day we headed up to Bad Kreutznach, where a lot of Sam's family lives and where they lived when he was little.

Dragging Oma's purse around the house

We walked through Bad Kreuznach and by this river. I believe it's the Nahe River.

Elly really loved looking down on the river





29 September 2010 ~ Just because it's cute... I bought Elly these boots while in Alaska and hadn't had them on her yet. I just thought they were so cute. We were just heading out to post.




When she was learning to crawl she never quite got it right and always did the one-legged scoot. When she started walking she never looked back and so it's been many months since she crawled, but when she got on her hands and knees one day I could see this look on her face like she remembered. So...she scooted around for a little while like she used to. It was cute to see her still do the one-legged scoot.


1 October 2010~ We participated in the Walk for Life out at Patch this year. We only ended up walking about 5 miles because it was pretty chilly and Elly was getting cold, but it was a nice evening while it lasted.
Sam pushing the stroller on the track

Elly... just chillin'



We walked in memory of Nina



Esslingen, Germany ~ 11 October 2010

Sam had the day off so we decided to check out Esslingen which is a town on the outskirts of Stuttgart. That's one thing that's great about Germany...pick any town and you can have a great day of exploring. They all seem to have lots of history. According to Wikipedia, there is evidence of human settlement in Esslingen back to 1000 B.C. That's pretty cool!! Anyhow, here are a few pictures from our day there.



Double tower on the church

Little chapel on the bridge

This is the back side of the bridge. These buildings are built on the bridge.

Meeting some swans

Old half-timbered houses in Esslingen

Chasing Elly down a back alley



We visited the castle up on the hill overlooking Esslingen. Sam is on the castle wall in this picture.

The castle wall

Overlooking Esslingen

Mama and Elly with Esslingen in the background

Running off some energy on the castle grounds

Elly loved running around the huge lawn

Elly loves "helping" me around the house. It's so sweet that she wants to help. Sam got her into helping unload the dishwasher and it just amazes me that she knows where everything goes. I'll hand her something and tell her to put it away and she goes directly to the drawer or cupboard it belongs in. Sometimes it would be easier to just do it myself, but I don't want to stifle her desire to be helpful.

Helping Mama put the silverware away





Such a big helper!!

Elly loves being up at the counter with me when I'm baking. So I put several chairs together and gave her a few things to play with so she could be up there with me.



Kristy and the family came to Germany in November for a couple of weeks. It was nice being with them again. Here are a few pictures~
Elly was having a snack while we waited to get the keys for a vehicle they were going to borrow during their stay.

Downtown Stuttgart ~ Connor and Hadassah beside a tiny truck

Hadassah and Elly on the train

Elly and Elijah playing

Connor and Hadassah at Lichtenstein Castle. It was very foggy so they couldn't see very far.

Dressed warm for our day at Rothenburg ob der Tauber

I was happy about getting a picture of this beautiful spot without having people in the shot.

David and Hadassah in a little cafe. We needed to warm up.

We've had lots of snow already this year. Elly doesn't remember it from last year so she was very interested in it the first time it snowed. She was a little unsure of touching it at first.

Well, I think that catches me up through November. I want to try and do better at posting more regular blogs, but that's it for now. Until next time...