Spring Soccer '12

Hailey's Spring soccer season has come and long gone without me making a single post about it!  We didn't think that she was going to play soccer this season because our post is closing and we would have had to drive to Heidelberg and join a team there.  We already were driving the 30 min once a week for Awanas and I didn't think that adding two more trips every week with a newborn would be the best for our adjustment to a brand new baby!  I was also willing to let her skip this season because now that she is 6, she moves up to the next age bracket and she'd be one of the youngest of the mainly 1st and 2nd graders!  BUT, a mom here in Mannheim stepped up and volunteered to coach, yet our team consisted of preschoolers, kindergartners, and one 1st grader...we were the youngest team but held our own all season.  They didn't score a single goal (which Hailey reminded of me daily!) but they weren't blown out either.  She had fun, got some exercise, and got to see her friends a little extra each week!   I can't tell you how hard it was for me to be on the sidelines this season and you'd laugh at the mental reasoning I had to come to terms with in my little brain about debating whether I could coach again this season (the season started when I was 39 weeks pregnant!)  :)  

I love how happy she looks in these pics!

She got really aggressive this season!

This was the first season that they have used goalies!  She voluntarily played one quarter each game (I was so nervous!) and she LOVED to exaggerate a diving/rolling save (even when totally unnessasary!)  :)  She'd get quite the chuckle from the parents on the sidelines!    

Kai kept herself busy all season playing on the playground or with fellow soccer siblings!  Not sure if she will play yet in the Fall...I think she wants to do dance or gymnastics and I don't think I can handle them doing school, Awanas, and more than one sport. 

We had a very anti-climatic end to the season because of rain....her last week of practice was rained out (we were going to take a team picture) and her last game was called at halftime because of the rain!

So proud of her!

And a video snippet....PLEASE ignore my sideline coaching!  :) 

And another snippet of the beatings she took during ONE game...after I put this together, I thought, "good grief, this is horrible!" but at the same time it shows how tough she is!  She bounced right back after each hit until she couldn't keep it together anymore right before halftime.  And I put it in slow motion to make sure you don't miss the hits :) 

The Triplets

When I was putting this collage together, Hailey came over and asked me why I gave Luke a pink pacifier.  :)  When I told her that the picture was of her and Kai she replied, "Wow!  We look, like, totally the same!"

Totally :)   And in Luke's chubby cheek defense, he is about a month older in this picture than the girls!  :)

Austria and Sound of Music Tour

Still playing catch up!  When Luke was just two weeks old, we took advantage of Leevi still being off from work and headed down to Austria for the weekend.  We actually stayed the night in Garmisch, Germany near the Edelweiss Military Resort that we've been to in the past (Leevi found a cute bed and breakfast that allowed dogs) and it broke up our driving (almost 4 hrs to Garmisch and then 2 hrs down to Austria and then back the following day).  I was a little worried how the kids would do on the 4 hr Sound of Music bus tour (they had seen the movie for the first time a few months ago), but we were on and off the bus just often enough for them to stretch their legs.  And I was also impressed with how much I was able to pay attention to the tour guide!  I never knew that the Sound of Music was based on a real family.  The 1st vonTrapp wife died after giving birth to the last child.  The head nun at the Abbey felt bad for the Captain and would send a new nun every six months who wasn't quite sure she wanted to be a nun to be their nanny...until Maria came along!  The real vonTrapp family moved to America after they fled Austria and toured the North-East performing concerts!  They sold their mansion and donated the money to the Abbey.  Maria was 25 yrs younger than the Captain and he died shortly after the war ended (she died 40 yrs later).  They had 3 more children together and 4 of the 10 are still alive today.  The actor who played Captain vonTrapp couldn't sing, so he had a "voice over" for all of his singing parts and the directors wanted Audrey Hepburn for Maria but she turned the part down because she couldn't sing either.

At the beginning of our bus tour through Salzburg



The Fortress in Salzburg and our bus

The vonTrap house that was used in the movie (Leopold's Crown Palace)...this was also the lake that the children fell overboard in when their father came home. 

The other movie set house (Frohnburg Palace)....this part is seen when Maria first comes to work for them and these are the trees that the father saw his children climbing in

The gazebo used to film the songs "Something Good" and "16 going on 17"...Lisel broke her ankle filming this scene jumping from bench to bench in the rain.  They used to allow visitors to go inside the gazebo until a NINETY year old women tried to recreate the scene and fell off the bench and broke her hip!!!!!!! 

Gardens at the Hellbrunn Palace

The scenery was GORGEOUS!!! 

We had an hour break for lunch to wander around Mondesee where the church was used for the wedding

The church they were married in for the movie (In real-life they were married at Maria's Abbey

Mirabell Gardens...where Maria and the children sang "Do-Re-Mi"

Our hotel and the Alps!

The girls kept themselves busy in the hotel...I was surprised at the amount of junk that they crammed into their backpacks!  And the bottom two pics are from the Edelweiss military resort where we went for dinner one of the nights. 

Packed in the minivan for our First Family of Five (plus doggie) road trip!   

And lastly, a video snippet of what Leevi and I had to endure during the car ride!  :)  Hailey has in her earbuds with her iPod and Kai is just making up her own song!  Leevi and I were the ones saying, "Are we there yet?!?!"  :) 

Luke's Birth Announcement

And this would be Luke's "German" birth announcent....his birthdate "backwards",  24 hr clock for time of birth, weight in grams and length in cm.  You should have seen Leevi and I in the hospital with our iPhones trying to convert his weight and height! 

I've also added in here some photos from his first photoshoots....he was NOT cooperative!!!!!  Leevi took the girls to a park for the day and I had the nice, quiet house all to myself, but he wasn't having it!!!!  It took me forever to set up a tiny "studio" with all of the tips that I had researched online and I never had a chance to create it again.  A few days later, he zonked to the world while the girls were being louder than ever playing Barbies, and I was able to snap a few more....guess he just needed the noise he was used to! 

Luke's first bath

In attempt to get caught up, be prepared for a lot of old posts!  Since the German hospitals don't bathe the babies after they are born, this was Luke's first official washing.  And OF COURSE, the girls had to help!  Even though he looks pretty grumpy in the pictures, he didn't mind it.  Right after we got him dried off, he peed and pooped in his towel hence the change to the pink towel!  :)  At two months now he is getting bathed every other day in a baby tub and he loves it....so warm and relaxing!  It's one of the things that will calm him down when he's over-tired and worked up! 

And speaking of poop and pee, I resisted the urge to put this on Facebook, but it has to make the blog!  We knew little boys like to pee when their diaper is off, but I didn't get the memo about PROJECTILE POOP!!!!!  Part of Luke's fussiness his first few weeks we think had to do with a bad diaper rash from his constant and irregular pooping....basically wet farts.  I felt silly calling for a doctor appt for a diaper rash with my THIRD child, but our pediatrician is AMAZING and I knew she'd have some answers and meds for me (We all are really going to miss Dr. McDonald!)  She whipped up a concoction of bacitracin and hydrocortizone and it did the trick (along with his bowels gaining more control as he grew)  So, long story short, I was letting Luke air out a bit one day when I changed his diaper and apparently my timing was horrible!  He pooped and it shot (no lie!) over TWO FEET from the table to a cabinet behind me (my hip was also partially in the line of fire!!!)  Thankfully, newborn poop doesn't really stink and it's not at all like cleaning up regular poop!  I HAD to send a picture text to Leevi to show him how my Monday morning was starting out!!!  (And while I was cleaning up his poop, he PEED!!!!!!)  

And I'm going to try and throw in some random photos to speed up my catch up process....

Princess Press-On Nails from the Easter Bunny!

2 months old!!!!

I'm certain that I will continue say this as each month passes, but OH MY, where does the time go??!!!   Things have really been a blur around here and hopefully with school wrapping up at the end of this week and all of Hailey's extracurricular activities finishing, I'll have a little more free time to catch up on the blog!  We don't have official dates for our move, but it will be anytime between now and the end of July so we have been trying to sort through and purge things which is also taking up any extra free time.  

Luke continues to bring so much joy to our hearts!  And the love his sisters have for him just make my heart flip (even when they constantly fight over who gets to hold him first and who has the better view when he's in his bouncer!)  :) 

We are finally figuring out his fussiness.....he cries when he's tired!  Nothing new, all babies do that, but he'll get himself so worked up sometimes!  I'm really glad he's not my first baby because I'd probably be crying all of the time with him!  :)  Hailey was a little like that....easy baby, but needy and I had all of the time in the world to allow her to be needy....Luke just isn't that lucky!  :)  Kai prefered to be on her own....she didn't want to be snuggled to sleep and she was happy wherever I set her down.  Luke likes to catnap all day (UNLESS he's napping with Daddy in the recliner, sleeping on me in the carrier, or constantly moving in the stroller)  BUT he's still is doing great at night in the pack-n-play and even sleeps in late, so I can't complain when I wake up rested!  (He's in the carrier on me right now napping while I type!)  He's starting to be more content looking at toys hanging around him and it won't be long before he'll enjoy watching the girls play. 

He goes for his 2 month check up on the 11th and I'm curious to see how he compares with the girls....Hailey was 13lbs 3 oz and Kai was 13lbs 11 oz....I'm guessing 14 something! 

Luka (as Hailey calls him!) 

Man, do they change so fast!!!!

As much as I don't want him to grow up, these smiles sure are FUN!!!

 And just a bunch of random photos between my iphone and regular camera. 

The girls got to give him his first bottle!  He does great with a breast milk bottle, not so much with a formula bottle.  We'll keep trying because I hate pumping!!!