Ein gutes neues Jahr

Ein gutes neues Jahr or should I say "A good new Year" to you all! As I sit here at 9:00 pm in my pajamas I can hear fireworks on either side of the house. I have become "that person" that wants the noise to stop because my baby is finally asleep. It sounds like a car has crashed into our building every 10 seconds. Funny how much your life can change in just 2 years. 

2 years ago I remember sitting outside enjoying a bonfire in Southern, CA, playing games with neighbors. We also had a 350 z parked in our driveway! Haha. Those carefree people are long gone now! It's worth it though. Miles is such a blessing and we thank God everyday for our sweet son.

We are also learning that Germans like to get drunk and be very loud in the streets as they are with any big occasion. I think they are crazy because it is like 10 degrees outside. Oh well, what can you do? Not like I can run outside and yell in German for them to cut it out.

This year has been insane for us, with a capital 'I'. For starters, Brad has been home for a whole year! That is like unheard of the Marine Corps. I am not complaining though! The beginning of the year we had just moved back to Southern, CA (for the 3rd time) and enjoyed 6 months there before our big overseas move. I can't believe we have spent the past 6 months living in Europe. We are 1/6 done with our tour here! (Maybe even shorter than that). We have learned SO much living here. Aside from being able to count to 10 in German and a few words here and there, we've learned so much about ourselves. I've learned there are some things I really took for granted about the States and like any country, there are somethings that America could definitely change. I'll spare you my opinion here. I guess I just want to say that now that the culture shock has worn off, we are really enjoying our time here. It will be interesting to see what we'll feel like next year. Perhaps ready to come home or perhaps wanting to buy a home here!

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years!

Rockstar

So a couple days before Miles got sick we caught him singing his heart out. I had mentioned that Brad and I play Rock band occasionally and I think he likes to imitate us sing. It's pretty cute. So here is a couple minutes of a typical Lowe evening.

Now back to nursing my baby back to health. We are supposed to fly to Spain on Sunday and the poor thing is so sick and hasn't slept in days, us either! Please pray for health before our big trip!

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So, what did you do for Christmas?

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I'm looking forward to reading everyones blogs the next couple days to see all the fun pictures and times had by all. This is quite a long post and I am already apologizing for the boring home videos. We have turned into "those" people.

As for us, thank goodness I can take that darn tree down now. Note to self: You are not allowed to put the tree up until AFTER Thanksgiving next year! It has been way too long and I think I got a little Christmas'd out. We went a little overboard in all things Christmas this year. It's because this really is the 1st Christmas Brad and I have had together as a married couple and when you are in the military, you never know if you get the next one together so we took advantage! It was fun though! 
This is Miles on Christmas Eve and he is very excited because he got to stay up a little later. That is his favorite toy, the microphone. Brad and I play a lot of RockBand and he likes to sing along like his Daddy. (That's right I'm on the Guitar! But I'm not sure if Brad wants people knowing this, so shh...) 

Here is a video of the ONE and ONLY gift Miles opened. Our child had no interest in opening any gifts. All he wanted to do is play in the mound of wrapping paper. I got a video of that as well.

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Here is our monkey playing in all the wrapping paper. Do you ever hear yourself on video and wonder why you even talk because you sound ridiculous? Yah, that is me right now.

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On another note, I got Brad this 'Planet Earth' DVD for Christmas and it is the most AMAZING thing I have ever seen. Apparently it was filmed over 5 years and with 400 photographers and is just breathtaking! I don't know how anyone could watch this and NOT believe there is a creator. So, if you ever want something amazing and very addicting to watch. Planet Earth is for you! I sound like a salesman.

Cookies!

So, I thought I would NEVER, EVER miss the smell, taste, or looks of these cookies. But when I got them in the mail today I was pleasantly surprised! It turns out I missed them after all! I took a big whiff and memories of ovens buzzing, phones ringing, and that silly doorbell ringing all came flooding back.

For those of you who are not familiar with my cookie history, my parents have been in the business forever! I have been decorating/baking/smelling/living cookies since I was 10 years old. If anything ever happened to my parents I could practically run this business in my sleep. 

My mom was so thoughtful and made us each our own personalized cookie to look just like us. How cute is this? 

Here is Miles. Chubby cheeks and all!

Me! Although I think I look a little Barbra Streisand-ish. You think?

Ha! This makes me laugh because the face actually looks like Brad. And Mom, where is his left hand? Perhaps an itch where the sun don't shine? :)

Everyone is enjoying their cookies. Miles already ate half his. I opted to just look at mine and Brad is planning on having his for dessert. Thanks Mom!

Little this and that

Can you believe it's only 4 days til Christmas? I thought this day would never come! I don't even remember what gifts I bought because I wrapped them so long ago in excitement and anticipation. Our gifts actually have dust on them!

Speaking of Christmas, I learned a cool fact the other day! Did you know the Christmas tree orginated here in Germany and was first hung upside down? Kind of cool huh? Maybe you already knew that though. 

The past 2 weeks have been crazy for the Lowe's. For starters Brad hasn't had a day off since this whole mission kicked off (with the exception of 1 day where I had the flu). It feels like he is deployed again and it's really been bringing us both down. We communicate via messages written on the shower walls. Seriously! Some of the messages include:

"Don't forget lunch"

"Call if late"

"Pizza for dinner?"

Then there was a few days in there where we both had the stomach flu! It's been years since I've had that and I am so glad that bug only shows it's face twice a decade. I forgot how horrible the aches and fever felt like. Not to mention the "bleep" and the "bloop". (Someone may be eating while reading!) Thank goodness it was the 24 hour flu. Thank you and goodbye!

We're still not even sure if he is getting Christmas off. What a bummer! BUT the good news is that we are leaving for our cruise 2 weeks from today so if we can just hold on until then! 

So, being the single parent that I feel like. I have resorted to SpongeBob, my hero. He has saved the day so many times for Miles and I. This show is actually hilarious! There is so much adult humor packed into this cartoon for kids. Whenever the theme song comes on for it Miles starts wiggling his little shoulders and hangs on to the coffee table for the whole 30 minutes it's on. He is entranced with it. So, thank you Spongebob!

This is fun!

So I got this from my friend Kathlyn's page and thought it was fun! This must be the result of cold winters stuck inside with the flu! Here goes:

WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names)
Kay Walter

NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad )
Robert Stanley

STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name)
Lokath

DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color, fav animal)
Blue Kitty

SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live)
Rose Degerloch

SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Green Diet Coke

FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Kalo

GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie):
Chocolate Chocolate Chip

ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet's name, current street name)
Tom Felix-Dahn Strasse

Secrets and snow

Not alot has happened this past week in the Lowe household. Brad is on a "secret mission"at work which requires him to work long hours and weekends. It's times like this that make sharing a car so fun! Those BMW's are looking nicer by the minute!

I just wish I could know the secret. Nothing worse then when someone has a juicy one and can't let it spill. At least I'm not a wife to someone employed at area 51. That would really drive me bonkers. :)

 So here's what Miles and I have been up to.

More snow. I know. I am starting to wander if the next 4 months are all going to be about snow.

Snow man time! 
Miles helped me wrap some presents and put them under the tree.

He's doing this new thing where he pushes everything in the crib underneath him and sleeps. That brown thing is what's left of his teddy bear. Look at his little butt! He's my stinkbug! :)

We've been elfed!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Stuttgart Weihnachtsmarkt

So we were very excited to see what all the fuss was about with the Stuttgart Christmas market. It has been a German tradition here for 300 years and people from all over the world come to visit. We met people from Australia to Ireland to the States. It was a very neat experience to say the least. 

Weihnachtsmarkt is a direct translation for Christmas Market.

Here is one of the vendors up close.

So Brad and I wanted try to some local food and indulged in a crepe. We had no idea what we were ordering. Guess that's all part of the fun! I ended up getting a cinnamin and sugar crepe, while Brad's was a butter crepe. Very delicious! Can you tell Miles wanted a bite?

Looks like something you'd order from Taco Bell, huh?

This picture is to give you and idea of how crowded it was! It got worse by the minute. We had to leave by the end because there was just no room for our giant stroller to maneuver through the narrow walk ways.

Here is where you stop to eat Bratwurst and drink Glühwein. Glühwein is a hot spiced wine that is only sold this time a year. It's supposed to keep you warm and make you merry! It comes in a cup a little bigger than a shot glass. We didn't try any though. I hear most Americans are not fond of it.

Another story. Miles and cat food! I can't keep this kid away from it. I hope cat food can't harm you because I'm sure he's eaten plenty. I think he sees the cats eating it a lot and wants some as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone got to eat lots of food and be with the ones you care about most.

I, for one, am relieved the holiday season has finally kicked off! Now when people come over they won't look at me funny for already having my tree up with all the gifts wrapped under it.

Some of the things I am thankful for:

5. Thankful God blessed me with a wonderful son. We had wanted to start a family of our own for such a long a long time and we hit the jackpot. We can't wait to watch our family grow these next few years.

4. A loving husband who is so patient with Miles and lets me sleep in on the weekends. 

3. That we are living in Europe! Our eyes have been opened to so many things here. Looking forward to being a "seasoned world traveler" when it's all done.

2. So grateful for my mom. She puts up with me calling her every single day just so I can hear home and the sounds of the cookie store (oddly comforting I know).

1. The great friends we've made that have become like family. That's the one great thing with military. You inherit a ton of new family!

Some of the food.

Friends!

Snow Day!

I know it seems I've been blogging about weather and snow a lot lately, but it's really been coming down! We had a snow day today and now I have a new "all-time favorite video." He was loving it! (You can pause music by scrolling down)

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Must.Get.Out

So, we've learned that if we want to stay in because it's cold we will NEVER leave this house until May! With the days turning into nights at 4pm and the weather getting colder and colder I can see how easy it would be to get depressed.

After 2 straight days of snow, we finally decided to get out and enjoy some park time. It was quite refreshing and chilly! Anything is worth coming home to a nice stew!

The car seat can barely contain our marshmallow boy.

Red handed

I leave the room for 1 minute today and I catch him red handed pulling all the DVD's and wires out of their place! He seemed to be proud of his work too! 

I can't tell you how much I love being a stay at home Mommy. I couldn't imagine having some other care taker raise him everyday from 9-5. I love watching him learn and experience new things even if it is pulling every thing off the shelf. 

Now... on to practicing our "No No No!"

Couldn't wait any longer!

I tried to wait until after Thanksgiving but couldn't resist any longer. I did better than last year though! I think I convinced my mom to put the tree up the first week of November then. The Germans are all about Christmas!  Perhaps it's because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so they just dive right in? It's already snowing so why not? 

Miles just woke up from his nap and is checking it all out. 

We ordered a fiber-optic tree this year. My poor parents are the meditator to all things that don't ship APO, including the tree. It was worth it though! Miles surprisingly hasn't shown much interest in it. It is the cats that are constantly destroying it. They like to get in there an bat the ornaments around. Glass at the top! Plastic at the bottom!

Growing up my family had the same monogrammed stockings so we decided to start that tradition in our family too. I fell in love with these the second I saw them. In case you want to snag one of your own they are at Potterybarn.com. Do you see how Miles stocking is a little elf one? So cute! 

Of all the pics we tried to take tonight this is the only one that turned decent. Like my giant pink leg? 

Happy Veterans Day!

I want to thank all service men and their families for everything you do! It really hits home this year not being in the States for the holidays. You guys sacrifice so much and we are so thankful! I especially want to thank my very own veteran and hero, Brad. Love ya babe!

Heidelberg Holiday Bazaar

Today was a great day! We got to eat a REAL American restaurant! You couldn't have seen 2 happier people. Our drinks came with ice and unlimited refills and the cokes didn't taste like liquorish! The best part was having an English menu with an American waiter! I think Brad ordered a chicken wrap with fries and I had fajitas! So yummy! It was so worth the drive. We are thinking of making this a bi-monthly tradition. 

Anyhoo, we were originally brought to Heidelberg to shop the annual Holiday Bazaar. The Germans bring in all kinds of crafts, cheeses and wines to sell. We were tempted to splurge but are holding out for the Stuttgart Christmas market which is supposedly one of the finest markets in Germany! Only 3 weeks til opening day. 

Somebody is excited to get out of the car after the long drive!

Poor Miles was cut out of the picture.