Stuttgart Zoo

We've been here for almost 5 years now and just went to the Stuttgart Zoo for the first time. I guess we've just never had much of a reason to visit it before. Not that Sam and I wouldn't have enjoyed a day at the zoo, but it is much more fun with a little girl in tow :)

The day after New Year's Sam was off work with nothing planned so we headed downtown to spend the day at the zoo. We had such a nice time and Elly really enjoyed seeing all the animals.

Some parts of the zoo are enclosed which is really nice on a chilly day. This section had lots of cacti which was kind of interesting.





I could spend hours watching the apes and monkeys. Sam, on the other hand, could not. So, he spent his time trying to hurry me up and I tried my best to ignore him :) They really are fascinating creatures to watch. This one (below) was apparently the patriarch of this group. He was huge and every time he got up to move the other apes scrambled away. He was quite intimidating to me even through the glass. At one point he was looking out at us and looking from one person to the next and it kind of freaked me out. You could just see the intelligence in his eyes.

There were also some really young apes in this group. They were so cute! Somehow, I guess I didn't get any pictures of the young ones on this day.



I did, however, get a picture of this adorable little guy (or girl). This was in the nursery section of the zoo. I wish I knew the story behind why this one is not with the mother. I don't know how old he/she is either, but seems very young.


Leave it to Sam to point out that this one (below) is giving us the finger. It was actually quite chilly the day we were there and they were huddling for warmth.








Two weeks later was another holiday, so we got with some friends and went to the zoo again. They go to our church and have only been in Germany a few months. When they first got here we kept bumping into them everywhere we went. They live just down the street from us and our girls have become best of friends so it's been really nice doing things with them.




I didn't get a good picture of it, but this ape was really watching the girls. They were just a couple of feet from him and he was looking right at them. I felt bad for him because he seemed bored.


Here is a better picture of this little ape in the nursery. I looked online to see if I could find the story behind why he/she is in the nursery, but got nothing. Each time I've been there I was hoping to see them give this one a bottle. It's in a crib with toys laying around. I would love to see this one in action :)



These were so much fun to watch. There were probably 20-30 babies and they were playing all over the place. One had this pink child's hat that it carried everywhere and would put down on the rocks to sit on. Smart little guy since it was pretty chilly that day. Others kept trying to take it away. Another one was swinging from an adult's tail. They are just so cute.

While we were there, a caretaker came to give them some apples. He would throw one to each monkey. They were great at catching them. Some managed to get a couple of apples and hold on to them with their feet while they ate another one.










I stole this picture (below) from Kristal because it was better than any that I took with my own camera. They are so cute!

Tutu cute!

I love how Elly is getting opinionated about the clothes she wears. It's cute at this age, but I really don't want a little diva on my hands, so I try not to make a big deal out of it. She loves to pick out her own clothes though, so I'll let her when we're just going to be home. I still have final say about what she wears when we go somewhere.

And I know why little girls need a mama and not just a daddy (besides all the other obvious reasons)....because if Elly didn't have a mama I'm afraid she would never have her hair presentable or be in matching clothes. I tremble at the thought of Sam getting her ready :)

Not sure what any of that has to do with these pictures. Maybe just to say it's a good thing I still have the final say on what she wears when we go out in public :)










She was so tickled with herself :) I sure do love this little girl!! How boring my life must have been before she came into it. She is so precious!

Elly's in a big girl bed!

I originally wrote this a month ago when it happened, but then got busy and never posted it. Oh well...better late than never I say :)

12 January 2012
Last night was Elly's first night in a big girl bed...and part of me is really sad that my baby is growing up so fast :(

I'm not sure how we came around to doing it NOW because it wasn't too long ago Sam and I were talking and agreed that the crib was the best thing ever and she was going to be in it until she was 10 :) Or at least until she outgrew it. It just kind of ....happened. Elly's recently seen a couple of her little friend's beds so she's been talking about them. Yesterday we were in her room and I asked her if she would want a big girl bed. She seemed excited about it and said that yes, she did want a big girl bed.

So...that evening, when Sam got home, we got to work changing her crib into a toddler bed. She was so tickled about getting a big girl bed. I was not as excited about it because she tosses around in her bed alot at night and I could just see her falling out of bed through the night. She made it through the night just fine even though I was up quite a bit checking her on the monitor. She did great about not getting out of bed too. It's so strange to see her getting so big.

Here are a few pictures from last night ~














UPDATE: It's now the 12th of February, so it's been one month since she switched to a toddler bed and she's done fantastic with it. Although, for about a week after we changed her bed she kept asking for her crib back. I was kind of conflicted about what to do. In a way, I wanted her back in her crib too because I was up a lot more through the night checking on her, but I also knew that she had to grow up at some point and thought it was better to not go backwards. It didn't take her too long to adjust to her new bed and stop asking for the crib.

She has fallen out of bed once. I heard a thump through the night and saw on the monitor that she had fallen out. I went to check on her, but she wasn't crying so I rocked her a couple of minutes and she went back to sleep.

She's great about not getting out of bed on her own. The only time she will get out of bed without us in there is if I've opened her door. I usually close her door during naps and in the morning when we wake up and she's still sleeping. It's so cute to see her gather her blankie and teddy bear and come running to find me.

Once again, I'm amazed at how things work out so well. So often, (in raising Elly) I've worried about how something was going to work out and then once we're past that event it seems like there was no need to worry. Or perhaps it's because I am worried and bring it to the Lord in prayer that things work out just fine. I really shouldn't worry about things as much as I do, but I think God loves to have us bring our concerns to Him. So...we've said goodbye to another baby stage and now we have a little girl in her big girl bed. Somedays I just can't believe how big Elly is getting. She is such a little girl anymore with lots of opinions of her own and lots of original thoughts that she loves to share with me. I never thought a person could talk as much as she does. She chatters from morning till night. She's so cute though and such a joy to have around. I'm so thankful that she's mine :)

Signs that a toddler lives in my house

Something I never really expected, when becoming a Mama, is that I have loved every stage of Elly's young life. At every age it seems like Sam and I look at each other and say "Isn't this the best stage yet!?" I always thought having a tiny baby would be my favorite and that I would somehow miss it as she grew up, but as Elly continues to get older I love each age better than the one before, if that's possible. She's so much fun and I'm just totally in love with our precious little girl.

Every night I try to keep a journal of things she's said or done throughout the day. At times I wish I had written something down when it happened because by the time we get to bed I've forgotten what it was. She's always coming up with something that just makes me laugh. I love seeing her personality emerge. And she's not lacking in the attitude department :)

For the last month or so she's been calling me "Misty". One morning I was on the phone with Mom and I heard her saying something from her crib. I went to the monitor and heard her calling "Misty! Misty!" as she woke up from her night's sleep. Usually, I'll call her "Grace" in return and she doesn't like it. She says "Don't say me Grace!" Lately, she's taken to calling me "Mama Cow". That's flattering...maybe I shouldn't argue with her calling me "Misty". :)

For the longest time if you asked her what a doll's name was (any of her dolls), she would say "Jew" (or joo, june...not sure which). Lately, she's learned that she is 2 1/2 years old so now she calls all of her dolls "2 1/2" as if it's their name. If someone asks what a doll's name is she'll say "2 1/2". We were on our way into town and she started naming all her stuffed animals saying "Lion's 2, Bear's 2 1/2, Lammy's 2 and Moose is Mony 2 1/2" Not sure where the "Mony" came from, but thought it was funny.

Some of the things she says are so sweet. Lately she'll say things like "Mama, does that make your heart happy?" or if she won't try a new food she'll say "Mama, does that hurt your heart?" It's so sweet.

One time, in the middle of the night, I had taken her to go potty. She was half asleep sitting on my lap as I got her jammies back on and in the sweetest little voice said "Mama, I sure do like you". THAT is what being a Mama is all about!! Those moments make it all worth while :)

We have a video monitor that we use in Elly's room. I've always used the speaker on it to tell her to lay down if she wasn't going to sleep. It's worked great. As soon as I said "Ellyanna, lay down", she would drop and not move again. I thought it was awesome...until a couple of nights ago.

We were getting ready for bed in our room and she saw the monitor and mentioned that she didn't like it when it said "lay down Elly", so I picked it up and spoke into it like I do during naptime. I was not prepared for the reaction I got from Elly. She was truely terrified. She was scrambling to get away from me, crying and screaming "No!". I reached for her, but she acted like I was a stranger and kept hitting me away. I finally got her and held her close and kept telling her it was ok. I had no idea it would scare her like that. In the last month or so I've noticed she's getting more scared of things and I think she didn't recognize the voice on the monitor as me and then when she saw me talking, but heard the gargled sound coming out of the speakers it just was too much for her. I felt so bad. She kept crying saying it scared her and I told her I would never do that again. After a few minutes she sat back and while trying to still catch her breath from crying she put her little hand on her tummy and said "That scared my heart!". Just made me want to cry :(

She continues to be scared of the monitor in her room. She doesn't like to go in there by herself anymore. I think she must have dreamed about it one day during naptime because she woke up crying and when I went in to get her she acted scared of me again and started screaming when I reached to pick her up. That is a horrible feeling. Your own child being terrified of you. I pushed it though and picked her up anyhow. After hugging her a few minutes she settled down. It really bothered me that she was scared of me :(

Anyhow, on to a happier subject. I love it when I walk through the house and see signs that Elly's been at play. Sometimes I actually think to get the camera and capture it. It's so fun to see how her little mind thinks and what she does with her toys. Anyhow, here are a few pictures I've taken in the last month or two. Just glimpses of Elly's play.

New Year's Eve

This year our church had a New Year's Eve service with a time for fellowship afterwards. We've never gone to one, but thought it sounded like a great way to start off our evening. We really enjoyed it. It was a nice time of prayer and sharing what the Lord has done for us throughout this year. After church, we headed home to continue celebrating the New Year.

Our neighbors had just returned home from the states the night before so we weren't sure they were up for a party, but we're very happy they came over. We had a very fun and relaxed evening. They came over a few minutes after we got home from church, so we changed clothes and popped some pizzas in the oven. Then we played a couple of games before it was time to head up to the balcony to see the fireworks. It's great here because we don't have to buy any, but get a great show. We stand on our balcony and see fireworks in every direction all over our little town. Sam got a fire going in the firepit (Thanks, Heather!!) and the kids enjoyed roasting marshmallows. It was a little rainy, but we had a great time.









So...that (finally) sums up the end of our year. We're looking forward to great things in this coming year. We're so blessed. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be home with my sweet little girl. Some days are difficult, but I try to remind myself that there is really no place I would rather be. Time flies by so fast and I want to do my best to appreciate each day as a precious gift. I'm so thankful for my husband too. He's such a great provider and loving daddy and husband. Because of him, I'm able to be home with our girl. Until next time...

Elly's visit with Santa

It has become a bit of tradition for us to get annual pictures of Elly with Santa Claus. It was never something I thought about before having her, but having Santa at the PX every year has just made it really easy. It's becoming increasingly more difficult though because of her dislike of him. This year I didn't think it was going to happen at all. As we started to see the stage for Santa being set up at the PX and she realized that he was going to be there she kept telling us that she didn't want to see him.

He's at the PX for the last couple of weeks before Christmas so every time we went in (a couple of times a week) she saw him and saw other kids sitting with him. EVERY time, she made sure we knew she didn't want to go see him. I didn't want to scar her for life so I resigned myself to not having a picture of her with Santa this year.

So, actually getting her picture (sort of) with Santa was completely unplanned and just came about without me trying at all.

Something I didn't really take notice of until this year (because who really notices Santa - he's just a man in a white beard and red outfit) is that Elly has had the same Santa for each year. It's one man who volunteers his time each Christmas season. I only know this because I met him in the Commissary one day and we had a nice conversation. Since then I've seen him around town and had other conversations. He came to Germany years ago in the military and according to him met the most beautiful girl in the world. They married and stayed in her country and had their family. Just a few years ago she lost her battle with cancer. He talked about her with such love. It was really sweet. Anyhow, he said that he has been Santa for many years. He does it as a service to the community and just wants to provide parents with pictures of their kids with Santa Claus. Someone takes pictures and you get them on a disk free of charge. I love it!

ANYHOW...back to how I got pictures...Elly and I went to the PX one day just before Christmas (maybe the 23rd) and as were were going in she told me (yet again) that she did not want to see Santa Claus. I told her that was fine and we went on into the PX. On our way out we had to pass by that area again and the lady (who I found out later is "Santa's" granddaughter) started talking to Elly and asked her if she wanted to see Santa. Of course, Elly said she didn't.

This girl kept talking to Elly and asked if she liked chocolate. Well...she LOVES chocolate, but apparently not enough to sit with Santa to get it. They didn't have any other kids waiting in line so they really worked with her and finally got her to agree to just sit in Santa's chair with me and THAT is how I got pictures of my girl with Santa this year...















It was the cutest thing. When we got done and went over to the computer where they were putting the pictures on a disk, Elly saw the picture with Santa RIGHT behind her. Her little head whipped around so fast to see where he was. She was shocked to see him in the picture with us :) I was so pleased with the care they took to help me get a picture of her with Santa. They were just so great and took a lot of time working with her. I didn't plan (and really didn't want) to be in the pictures, but I'm glad we got them.