Thursday - August 20, 2009
Last weekend we had Sam's sister, Stephanie, and her family here to visit us. They were in Germany visiting her husband's family and came down to spend a few days with us. It was really nice having family with us and for Ellyanna to meet the first of her cousins, as well as, her first aunt and uncle.

They arrived on Sunday afternoon and Sam decided to take them to downtown Stuttgart. It's been so hot here that I didn't want to have Ellyanna out in the heat for long so her and I stayed home while the rest took the train downtown. I knew I made the right decision when they all came home talking about how hot it was. I have even less tolerance for heat than most people so I'm sure it would have been miserable. Thankfully, our house stays nice and cool so Elly and I were very comfortable here.

Monday they all planned to do a couple of castle tours and go through a cave. Once again, it was supposed to be hot so I chose to stay home with Ellyanna. I had a nice day with my girl. We had an unexpected visit from Sam's aunt and cousin in Ulm, so I called Sam and they hurried back early from their tours and I made some lasagna and salad for dinner. It turned out alright, but was a little stressful at first.

Because our dining room table is too small for all of us to sit at, I stayed in the living room with Ellyanna in her jumperoo. At one point I spun the sun toy on it and she let out a laugh. It was so cute and took me by surprise because it was the first time she did a belly laugh. Every time I spun it she would laugh. I had Sam get me the camera and thankfully she kept laughing so I was able to get it on video. I've tried over and over again to attach it to this post, but haven't been able to. If you're interested you can go to You Tube and search "smthompson2004" and it'll be one of the videos posted there.

Ellyanna is drooling so much anymore that I'm wondering if she hasn't started teething already

Michelle, Patrick and Simon at Schloss Hohen Zollern

Hohen Zollern is a beautiful castle

Iris, Stephanie, Sam and Margarete

Patrick, Iris, Michelle, Stephanie, Simon and Margarete

As of today we still do not have Ellyanna's passport. It's been 12 weeks since we started the process. I'm so frustrated because most people that I've talked to received their child's passport in about 8 weeks. It just makes it very difficult to plan a trip when we don't know when it'll be here. Also, if it doesn't come in this week we probably won't make it to Alaska at all this year. I really wanted to for several reasons. One reason is I wanted to have her dedicated while she's still young. We could have her dedicated at our church here, but it means more to me to have my Dad do it in my home church. Also, I want them all to meet Ellyanna and I want to meet my newest nephew who is so close to Elly's age. But....there's not much I can do about her passport. If we get it in time we'll still go, but if not I'll have to resign myself to not going.

Tuesday morning we went took Patrick, Stephanie and the kids to Trampoline Land. I think the kids really enjoyed that. We couldn't stay too long because Ellyanna had a doctor's appointment that afternoon to get her second set of immunizations. I just HATE taking her in for shots. There's so much controversy surrounding immunizations and I still have a hard time trusting that they are completely safe for a baby. It just hurts my heart to have her injected, but I'm just trusting that it's safe for her. I know alot of the controversy was about mercury based preservatives in the immunizations, so I asked Dr. Becker about that. It made me feel better when he said there is no mercury in the immunizations. He said there used to be, but not anymore. She has to go back in 4 weeks for one more round of shots then that's it until she's a year old. There is now an immunization for chicken pox, which I'm not convinced that I'll have her get. We all got chicken pox when we were young and there were no bad side effects. I guess 1 in 1,000 will have problems if they get chicken pox, but it just seems to me that it would be better to get the sickness and have a good immunity to it when she's young versus having an immunization for it and then having to get more through the years. Anyhow, I know I'm not going to have her get it on their schedule. Dr. Becker said it's our choice, so if she gets it at all it will be when she's much older.

I know we're biased, but Ellyanna is such a great baby! We are so blessed! She's always so happy and has a ready smile for most people. I just love it when she smiles and coos at me. She was a little cranky yesterday at New Parent Support group, but that's because she's been having some fever from the shots. Even at that she just wanted to be cuddled.

Our girl is now up to 17 lbs, 3 ozs and 25.2 inches long! She's getting so big! I really notice how big she is when I'm around other babies her age. She looks much bigger and older, but Dr. Becker said her weight to length ratio is just fine. She's just at the top of the charts. He said since she's only on breast milk to not limit her. Babies will not overeat if they are breast fed. So...I'm not concerned about it. She is very sturdy for her age though. From very early on she's had good head control and loves standing up. The other day Sam was holding her and said his arm was getting tired. He said "I don't know how you hold her all day". I think that's why my shoulders have been hurting again. She's quite the load to carry around.

Me and Ellyanna at Trampoline Land

My sweet girl chillin' in her stroller

So sweet!

Simon shooting sponge balls at Michelle and Patrick

Too much excitement for this little girl

Saturday - 22 August 2009
Well, it's Saturday now and once didn't get this published on the day I started it. Sam is working today. Actually he had to get up at 2:30am to take the Camp Adventure staff to the airport. There are several runs to the airport for them so he won't get home until early afternoon then he'll probably just want to sleep.

Finally, yesterday we got Ellyanna's passport. I'm so frustrated with that office. I talked to them a couple of weeks ago and they said they couldn't check on the status until 12 weeks had gone by - which by the way is not true. They can call the consulate in Frankfurt anytime to check the status of a passport which is what they should have done. Yesterday I called them again. I was put on hold and 20 minutes later was still on hold so I hung up and tried calling again. When I finally got through to someone she asked if I minded being put on hold. I was nice, but said I would rather not since I had just spent 20 minutes on hold. Instead, I gave her my phone number and name so she could call us back.

When I got home later that afternoon there was an email from the passport office saying they had Ellyanna's passport and we could pick it up. I had about an hour until their office closed so I swooped up Ellyanna and got there as fast as I could. They said the passport had been filed under "E" instead of "T" for Thompson. I'm sure it's been there for some time since the issue date on the passport is July 6.

Now, since we got the passport late I'm trying to figure out if I should still go to Alaska this year. Condor only flies through September so I would have to leave on Thursday and Sam probably wouldn't go with us at this time. I really wanted him to so we could have Elly dedicated, but that will probably have to wait until next summer. I'm a little nervous flying by myself with the baby. Thankfully, there is only one stop in Whitehorse on the way over and none on the way back. There is still alot to consider when flying with a baby though.

After a week of very hot weather it's finally nice today. Cloudy and rainy, but not hot. My kind of weather :)

Monday- 24August 2009
Well....maybe I'll get this posted today. I have so much to do before Thursday. I finally decided to still go to Alaska. I wish Sam could go now too, but it'll just be me and Ellyanna. I wanted to take her "home" before she was over a year old. I don't think I've ever bought a ticket with this short of notice. I'm scrambling now to get things done and suitcases packed. Having never travelled with a baby I'm trying to think about what I might need on the plane.

Sam will take me to Frankfurt to fly out, so we'll only stop in Whitehorse, Canada then on to Fairbanks. It's a pretty good flight. Also, I'll be in the Mother/Child row with a baby bassinet to put Ellyanna in. I should have the entire row to myself. I was told they fill those seats last so it should be a pretty good trip. I hope so anyhow.

This morning I had to return to the passport office because they didn't put the SOFA stamp in Ellyanna's passport. We are required to have that in our passports which explains why we are in Germany for an extended stay. The system was down this morning so I'll have to go again before Thursday. I've not been having much luck at that office lately.

Dr. Becker said that Ellyanna's ears looked good last week, but I'm still a little concerned flying with her because she's rubbing at her one ear alot and she still has lots of wax in them. I just pray that they don't cause her pain with the change in air pressure.

Well, I better get busy. I have so much to do before leaving. It's so hard to leave Sam for a month, even though I'm glad we won't have to leave Gabby alone now. I don't like taking Ellyanna away from him for that long, but that's part of living overseas. I want her to know my family and I want them to meet her so we're going. Overall though, I'm so excited to be going home again! I love being with my family and back in the states and Alaska in particular. Can't wait to get home!

Here are a few more pictures from the last week -

She's doing better with tummy time. Not hating it quite so much.

Giving me a look when I was trying to see in her ears

Daddy and Ellyanna

Her smile is somewhat hidden by what she has in her mouth

This last Sunday our church had a picnic at Sonnenhof. It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed spending time with the church people as well as walking around the grounds. They had lots of animals that we enjoyed.

Silly girl!

Trying to get a family shot, but Ellyanna wouldn't look up at the camera

Our little family :)

These pigs sure did stink, but they were so cute nursing their mama

This horse was very friendly and seemed really interested in Ellyanna

Schloss Lichtenstein

A couple of weeks ago when we were driving to Bear Cave we saw this beautiful little castle perched on top of a rocky hill. We saw some signs and figured out that it was Schloss Lichtenstein. After looking it up online and seeing that it was open for visitors we decided to go there when Sam had a Monday off from work.

I was so impressed with this little castle. It isn't very big, but the grounds and buildings are very well maintained and beautiful. We arrived kind of late in the day, but just in time for the last tour. It just so happened that our young tour guide spoke excellent English, so after talking about a room in German he would come over to us and give a brief description in English. I thought that was very nice.

A view of the castle from the road

Walking up from the parking lot

On the bridge entering the castle

A view of the village at the bottom of the hill. I believe it's Honau

Our tour guide took our picture as we were entering the main castle for a tour. I love the Maya Wrap that Sam is wearing. I've found it to be the most comfortable for carrying Ellyanna. She slept the entire time we were there snuggled into Daddy's chest.

One of the stained glass windows in the castle chapel

The ornate ceiling in one of the rooms

Looking over at other buildings from the castle bridge. All of the buildings were very nice.

On the castle bridge - I certainly wouldn't want to fall off of this!

A different view of the castle we toured

Another building on the castle grounds

So beautiful!

I love all that ivy on the building!

The entrance to the castle and grounds

I don't know what this is, but it looked like a doggie door to me.

The mote surrounding the castle

Back in the car getting ready to head home

Ellyanna is 3 months old!

Monday - 10 August 2009
It's so hard to believe that our baby girl is already 3 months old! (Yesterday actually) Where has the time gone?? I want time to slow down, so we can have her little longer :( She is getting to be so much fun though. Just yesterday I was telling Sam that I loved that newborn stage because of how tiny and helpless she was. She was just this perfect little bundle that was in such need of protection. As she gets older though we're starting to see her personality come out and it's so much fun.

Saturday night we went over to a friend's house for a cookout. There were others there as well and one of them was a speech therapist who works for DODDS (Department of Defense schools). Ellyanna was really communicating with her with coos and gurgles and this lady commented on how alert she was. She seemed very impressed with her use of language and how she would respond with a coo when talked too. Coming from a speech therapist it made us feel good to hear how well she's doing in the language area. (yes, I'm bragging just a little) For me personally it made me feel good because I always worry that I'm not doing enough with her. I do interact and talk with her alot, but then there are times I have to lay her down to get things done around the house. Anyhow, I was glad to get the positive feedback on her progress.

Along those same lines, yesterday in church was the first day I had to actually take her out of the service because she was "talking" so much. Don't get me wrong...I love it and I think it's the cutest thing, but a church service is not the place to let her gab on and on without trying to quiet her a bit. Something that made me happy too was that someone actually said she looked like me:) That's a first because she is the spittin' image of her Daddy. I still think she looks exactly like Sam, but it made me feel good to hear someone say they see me in her. After all...I did give birth to her :)

Tuesday - 11 August 2009
Ok, so I didn't get this posted yesterday. I'll try to get it finished up today. I stopped by the passport office yesterday to check on Ellyanna's passport. No luck. Time is getting short if we're going to make it to Alaska still this year. I want to take the Condor flight because it goes directly to Fairbanks from Frankfurt. It flies over the north pole instead of across the states. The problem is that Condor only flies to Alaska through September, so if we don't get her passport soon we won't be able to go that way and I just don't think I'm up to travelling with Ellyanna by myself the long way around.

Friday - 14 August 2009
Well, now it's Friday and I still haven't posted. I've gotten terrible at that because I'll be working on it and Ellyanna will wake up and pull me away, then I forget to get back to it. Anyhow, we just got back from the gym. It's been working really well to take her with us. She usually sleeps the entire time we're there. This morning she woke up toward the end, but that was because someone was in the family room talking loudly. Why don't people lower their voices a little bit when they know a baby is sleeping? Thankfully, she wasn't fussy and ended up falling back asleep on the way home. We usually just unbuckle her, but leave her in her seat to sleep until she wakes up around 8 or 9. This morning I had her stuffed bunny in the seat with her and when I checked on her this is what I found -

Somehow she had managed to get that bunny up around her head. She's so cute!

Sam's sister and family are coming on Sunday. They've been in Germany for a little while, but will be with us until Tuesday I think. They will be the first of our family to meet Ellyanna (other than Mom who was here at her birth). Sam's trying to think about what they would enjoy doing here. We will probably go to downtown Stuttgart and then maybe an amusement park on Monday. We'll see.

As far as I know today is Sam's last day as the Patch SAS director. The new director has been here for the last 2 weeks, but has been inprocessing. Sam has been cleaning out his office at SAS this week and will probably be setting up his new office next week. He'll still be involved at SAS for a while as he teaches the ropes to the new director, but hopefully he'll be able to slow down a little now.

A few days ago we received the jumperoo and walker that I ordered for Ellyanna. I've been wanting something that she could play in without having to lay down. She loves to stand up so I thought she would enjoy both of those and she has. The jumperoo has so many things to keep her attention and the walker is great because I can place it wherever I am and I don't feel so bad about doing things around the house because she's right by me where I can talk to her. The other evening we even took it outside so she could be in it while we picked some black raspberries. Speaking of black raspberries...our bush is out of control this year. It's huge and we've picked so many berries. They aren't the sweetest, but I think they'll make great jam.

Enthralled with her new jumperoo

In the kitchen with Mama

Well, that's about all that's going on here. I'm hoping to hear from the passport office today telling me Elly's passport has arrived. I think I might call there just in case they don't get around to calling me today.

So, here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks -

Snuggling Mr. Bunny in her car seat

Tummy time!

First time sitting in her Bumbo seat

She seemed pretty pleased :)

She has lots of hats, so I was trying them on her. This was one of my favorites.

Is that not cute??

Ready for church (So serious)

After church, having tummy time on the floor while Daddy reads beside her

Ready for a trip out on a hot, sunny day

My smiley girl