Turning 2 @ School!

This morning, in the five minutes that it took for me to get Vaiosina on the potty, get her clothes and her shoes on, I must have said "Happy Birthday!" to her about a million times.  At one point, Malu asked, "gosh, how many times do you have to say it?"  I simply replied, "I'm going to say it all day long!"  Not sure about anyone else, but my parents always made a big deal out of birthdays.  And it's not like I had a huge party every single birthday.  It's just that they always did something to make the day extra special.  And that's just something I want to pass down to Vaiosina because birthdays are just that--special.

As I said yesterday, there were no big plans for today.  Malu and I brought some cupcakes for Vaiosina to share with her little friends at school.  You would have thought that we brought those kids the world with how they reacted to a few plastic containers full of chocolate cupcakes.  It was so much fun.

I decided not to care how dirty she got today and put her in one of her cute skirts only because it matched her birthday shirt so nicely.  Before getting to the school, I had Vaiosina saying, "Today is my birthday!"  It's the first thing she said to each person she passed by on the way to her classroom.

Our precious little lady :)

One of the teachers made her a little bunny birthday sign.  So cute!



The teachers had the birthday song playing on repeat in the CD player.  Vaiosina loved it! It's one of her favorite songs.

We were so surprised that she was able to keep her t-shirt clean.  The tables and floors?  That's another story.  Happy as a clam!



Her little buddies.  There were more kids on the other side of the room!

"More, please?" she asked.  Chocolate...always a crowd-pleaser.



What a lovely afternoon it was.

We took her out to dinner and opened a few presents here at the house. We were able to Skype with my mom, which made the day even more special.

Thanks to all of her teachers at school and for everyone who has showered her with gifts the last few days.  Thanks in advance to those who will continue to shower her with gifts over the next few days (because we are being told there are packages coming in the mail!)  We are so fortunate to have loving, generous family and friends. 



2 Years Old!

Our baby turns 2 years old in a few hours!  I cannot believe how fast time has flown by.  Our baby's not a baby anymore and I can't stand it.  Look how much she's grown! 

It has been an amazing year, although I've been horrible lately about sharing with you guys.  We've experienced lots of 'firsts' and have had so much fun along the way.  Vaiosina has her 2-year doctor's appointment this week.  Once I get her stats and a clean bill of health, I plan on catching all of you up on how much she's developed over the last few months.

Nothing big planned for this year.  Like last year, we plan on keeping it low-key this year, although I do have a little get-together planned at mid-month; somewhat of a combination farewell for Malu (he's deploying)/Vaiosina's birthday cookout.  I am, however, going to bring some cupcakes to her school tomorrow and Malu and I plan on taking her out to one of her favorite places tomorrow evening.

Can't say enough how thankful we are that God blessed us with this special little girl.  Best two years of our lives.  Can we just keep you at this age forever? 

Happy Birthday our little darling.  We love you!

1st Birthday in Strasbourg

How many people will be able to say that they spent their first birthday (or any birthday really) in France?  I went to Strasbourg a few months ago and fell in love with it.  I knew that if my parents were ever to visit I would definitely take them there.  I figured it'd also make a perfect venue for Sina's special day.  That it was; not to mention, it was completely stress free for me.  I didn't have to worry about shopping, cooking, baking, decorating or preparing for a big party.  We just kept it simple...and from what we could tell, Sina had a marvelous time.  My mom and dad also enjoyed their first time in France, so it was a win-win all around!

In the morning, we let her open one of her gifts.  It came with a musical card that she just loved.  She danced to the music and had a grand ol' time playing with it. 

Then her daddy fixed her breakfast.  Banana pancakes....yummy!

I bought this outfit for her a year ago so that she could wear it for her first birthday.  Not too long after we put it on, she had it drenched with water.  She still looked so cute!

One of the first things we saw as soon as we arrived in Strasbourg was a carousel in the city square.  Sina got her very first carousel ride!  Both Malu and I were excited to get a ride as well.

We saw and visited the Dom Strasbourg (cathedral) and took some pictures of the interior as well as the astronomical clock.  Amazing!

We had a birthday lunch at a restaurant right outside the cathedral. 

Sina and her daddy danced on the cathedral square to a guy playing a saxophone.  I was lucky to catch a video of this as well.  Both this video and the one of her opening her musical card are posted to my Facebook page.

The stork is a main feature of the Alsace region of France (where Strasbourg is), so they had stuffed storks everywhere.  I couldn't help but get one for the birthday girl.

She got to walk all around the city, shopping with mom and grandma.  She waved to people all over the place.  There was a group of ladies that saw her waving and loved her outfit.  We told them it was her birthday, so they sang happy birthday to her in the middle of the city.  Sina just ate it all up, smiling and clapping the whole way through.

When we got home, we had dinner and cake.  Obviously, we had to help her blow out the bazillion candles we placed atop her cake.  By then, she'd heard the birthday song for the millionth time, but clapped and smiled even bigger this time.  To say she enjoyed her first piece of cake was an understatement.  She got all nice and messy!

Finally, we ended the day with more presents.

What a day...and we had one happy but tired little angel when it was all said and done.

The best part of it all was that my parents were here to celebrate the day with us.  It was their main reason for coming to visit and I'm so glad they did.  Sadly, today is their last full day here in Germany.  We'll be taking them to the aiport tomorrow morning.  I am dreading it!  We've enjoyed having them here and they'll truly be missed.

Happy Sunday everyone and once again, happy birthday to our darling little girl.  You have brought so much joy into our lives and we love you so very much!

Loved!

Man, people really know how to make a girl feel loved.  Yesterday was my birthday--the big 32.  I'm still getting over how great it was and I hope this post doesn't make me seem like I'm boasting, but geez, it was just that wonderful.  I mean, first off, over 150 (not that I counted) of people wished me a happy birthday on Facebook--friends and family from all over the world.  Loved.

When I showed up to work yesterday morning, I found this...

You can barely see it, but there's confetti all over my desk.  I didn't take a picture of it, but on the floor behind my desk was a huge "M" in confetti.  Apparently, my boss (a retired Air Force Colonel) and his "accomplice" (a soon-to-be Air Force Colonel) got there early to decorate my desk.  I'm talking 0630 on a Monday morning.

As if that wasn't enough, we had a wine party (my boss has been dying to have one), complete with cheese, fruits and hickory farms sausages and mustards.  Most of our directorate attended...and watched me blow out candles from a birthday cake that was made for me by one of our divisions chiefs--chocolate cake!!!  Yummy!  My NCO made the lady bug cupcakes.  They were fab too!

My boss roasted me a little bit by reading off a list of events from and random facts about the day I was born.  We all had a good laugh and enjoyed the wine and food.  I've had many a birthday celebration at work over the last few years, but never anything like this.  I mean, wine in the middle of a work day?  Unheard of.  Apparently, it's somewhat of a regular occurrence for our Air Force brethren.  I knew I should have crossed into the blue!

I've only been working here for a few months, but everyone went out of their way to make it such a special day for me.

Loved.

And then there's Malu & Sina.

When I got home, there was a Happy Birthday sign up and confetti all over our kitchen counter. 

See that gift bag?  It was stuffed to the brim with these...yum!

Somewhere stuffed in all the chocolate mess was a pair of diamond stud earrings!

There was also a lovely bouquet of flowers...

And a gift certificate to the Mineraltherme spa in Boeblingen, not too far from here.  I'm talking mani/pedi, massage, sauna, facial...anything I want.  Awesome.

Especially loved.

Not sure that I did enough or anything at all to deserve all of this, but I am grateful beyond words and love all of you so much in return.

Well, here's to another year!  Hope everyone is having a great week so far.

Great news...my parents will be here in 19 days!!!

King for the Weekend: Hohenzollern Castle & Malu's B-Day

We celebrated Malu's birthday this weekend.  It was Sina's and my mission to make him feel like a king.  What better way than to take him to the Hohenzollern Castle?  What's great about Europe is that you can drive along the highway (or out in the countryside) and you'll see castles pop up out of nowhere in the distance.  Lucky for us, the Hohenzollern Castle is under an hour from here, about 30 or so miles south of Stuttgart.  It overlooks the towns of Hechingen and Besingen, both seated at the foothills of the Swabian Alps.  The castle is the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, a family of kings and emperors from Prussia, Germany and Romania.  The castle was first built in the 11th century and built upon three different times and then commissioned for restructuring/reconstruction throughout the years--the most recent reconstruction ending in the mid-1990s.  We didn't get to go into all parts of the castle on Saturday afternoon, as the only inside tour of the castle was in German.  However, we got a really good look outside of the castle as well as the St. Michael's church, which is the oldest part of Hohenzollern.  I took tons of pictures that day, but these are my favorites.

We pulled over to get a picture of the entire castle.  It was another overcast day, but warm and comfortable out.  We were surprised that it didn't rain.

Good thing we grabbed a bite to eat at the base of the castle (where there was a restaurant and souvenir shop) because we needed the energy to get up the mountain and to the castle.

Going through the entrance and into the castle.

The view from the top was breathtaking.

Looking down on one of the castle turrets.

Me and my Sina.  I was a little nervous holding her that close to the ledge.

I guess you could call this the castle courtyard.  I loved the ivy!

Looking up at one of the castle towers.

Isn't this door beautiful?

Another doorway with a beautiful little garden.

This was above the entrance to the castle.

If you want to see more pictures of our day at the castle, you're going to have to check out my Facebook page!  And I must say that I especially enjoyed the walk back down from the castle!  Easy peasy.

On Sunday morning, we made Malu chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries, whipped cream and more chocolate chips--a king-sized serving!

Because Malu had some schoolwork due that day and some reading that he wanted to do, Sina and I did our best to give him some peace and quiet.  We figured we'd continue on with his birthday celebration later on for dinner.  So, later that night, we headed into town to a Chinese restaurant (a different one than our usual place; we've been on this Asian food kick lately) and indulged in another king-sized meal for two...

It was so much food!  And delicious!  We had chicken with bamboo shoots, chicken with broccoli and some sweet and sour beef with vegetables.  Yummy!

Sina enjoyed herself immensely.  She helped herself to some rice and chicken and even entertained other customers nearby.  She's a riot!

I was amazed that I managed to get a picture of her sitting still!

The dinner came with ice cream for dessert--vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream with lychees and topped with whipped cream.

Look at how she's eyeing the ice cream.  Yes, we gave her a taste.  I think she's hooked.

Not sure why we got the ice cream anyway...I had a chocolate cake waiting for Malu at home.  We saved that for a late night snack.

So I'd say that was some birthday weekend, huh?  And he deserved all the royal treatment he got just for being the wonderful daddy and husband that he is.

I wish that I could say this is a short week because of the 4th of July weekend coming up, but it's not.  Our 4-day weekend will be Saturday-Tuesday of next week.  How will I manage until then?  Today was quite the Monday--as manic as ever.  Let's hope the rest of the week will fly by quickly!  Is it bad to be ready for the weekend already?

Well, have a great week everyone!  Until next time!

~Birthday Weekend~

I think this was the first time in two years that Malu was actually here to celebrate my birthday with me.  And it was wonderful.  We didn't actually get to do everything on the list of plans that Malu had for me...mainly because I'm just not in the condition to be out and about all day these days.  And let's face it...I need a nap about every two hours.  And here I was thinking that I'd get some energy back in the last couple weeks of this pregnancy!

But when I when we weren't at home taking naps or watching movies, we found some time to get out and have some fun. 

On Saturday afternoon, we went to see Despicable Me.  I've been on an animated, 3D movie kick and was bothering Malu to see it for weeks. 

It was such a funny movie.  And those little minions are adorable.  And Malu let me pig out on my popcorn and milk duds.  Yummy!  And...for the record, we were not the only adults that went without kids. 

Then, we went to the Japanese Kitchen for a hibachi dinner...at my request, of course.  I'd been aching for some steak and shrimp!  The place was great. 

Malu and I have been to many hibachi places, but our cook was fabulous.  One of the best I've had so far...he was very entertaining!

He made a heart out of our fried rice!

And the onion volcano never gets old to me.  I love it. 

I usually wait until all my food has been cooked.  Some people eat as the cook puts food on their plates.  Not me...I like to enjoy my feast all at once.  Look at my yummy steak and shrimp.  And he had given us so many vegetables.  It was soooo delicious!

And our official birthday photo.  I'm surprised we don't look more sweaty.  The air conditioning at the restaurant must have been out because it was sweltering hot in there. We sweat through dinner. That's probably why Malu looks like he's half asleep. But it was all well worth it.

Today, we went to church and were supposed to go swimming, but it was a rainy day (surprising for El Paso)--not to mention my feet are all nasty and swollen--so we stayed in and watched movies and of course, napped, all day long (at least I did; poor Malu--I must be bad company!). 

Probably doesn't sound like much fun to anyone else, but it was perfect for us and I'm so thankful that my honey bunny was here to share it with after all this time apart.

Oh...we were so close to buying the high-speed camera yesterday, but I opted to wait.  I think it's because I'm scared I won't know how to work it.  I know exactly which camera I want...why can't I just get myself to buy it?

Anyhoo...you guys have a great week!  And thanks to all my bloggy friends, other friends and my family for the birthday wishes!