Wildpark

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Wildpark in Pforzheim. We met up with Evan's grandparents Ilona and Thomas, and his cousins Milo and Silas and their parents. Milo is 2.5years old now. Evan had a good time, like always. Milo always gets so very excited about Evan. He calls him "Ebae..", or something that sounds like that. After he had lost sight of him on the playground once, he started yelling for him at the top of his lungs! It was so funny seeing him stand there in the middle of the playground, turning in circles trying to spot Evan, all the while yelling: "Ebae..", "Eeebaaeee..."! The two of them always play together so nicely. For example, Milo will wait all patiently for Evan to fill up the bucket with sand. Since Evan is one year younger than Milo, he needs much longer to accomplish such a thing. Milo also always tries to hug Evan, but Evan doesn't really know what to do with this yet.

The goats at the petting zone scared Evan at first, but after Charles showed him how to pet them, he tried to pet every single goat there. He was not at all interested in feeding them though. He kind of wanted to, but pulled his hand back way before they would even come close.

On the way back to the car he started being all silly, they way he sometimes is when he is enjoying himself a lot. He will run wildly all over the place, making the funiest of sounds, doing the silliest of things. It was during that phase that his grandparents picked him up and let him swing through the air (we call the game "Flieg, Engele, flieg" in German). He so loved it! He would giggle and giggle and insist on being flown some more! It was a fun trip! We love going out with him and letting him walk around all independantly! I think what makes this such a wonderful age is how much of a little boy you can already see in him, mixed with all the innocence of the babyhood still lingering...! It was a great day. We love the outdoors! Giving Evan the chance to play and grow up with his cousins is something I will definitely be missing when we live in America. As much fun as being able to live in two different countries is, it is also difficult. We are drawn to both countries, like them both a lot. Moving away from one place means to be leaving so much behind every time, plus it simply costs a lot! But we wouldn't be doing it if we didn't want to. After all, we do want Evan to grow up with both cultures. We just have to make sure that he'll feel at home at at least one of the two by the time he's all grown up. We love the change, and are welcoming it!





And here is one more layout I made the other day.
Silly Boy
Journaling reads:

You have always loved the cat beds. Even before you could walk you would find one and drag it around the house. You are such a silly boy!

Credits: Shabby Princess' Silly Boy: NutNut kit. Fonts used in this layout: Matisse ITC, La Bamba LET, FG Astrid. Frames are by my dh!

Black border is only for display purposes.












Have fun everyone!

Excerpt from Evan's diary: Thursday, May 25, 2006 - Kindorado

This afternoon we decided to try something new. Somebody we work with told us a while ago that there is an indoor playground in Karlsruhe. I wanted to look up more information online, and did so the other day. I found this webpage. The weather wasn't the best, so it seemed like the perfect day to give this a try. On a picture I had seen online it looked like they had an area specifically for toddlers. But the whole place was really toddler safe, as long as an adult was around to guide you through (which was necesarry anyways, even at the toddler area). Everything there was padded, litterally everything. That was something your dad liked a lot. The noise was insane though, after all it is indoors. Just imagine many children running and playing in a big hall. After your first shock you started being interested. We started off in the toddler area, where you, after some hesitation, started to climb around a bit. Then we went over to check out some of the cool children vehicles they offer, and found a double trike without pedals. You enjoyed sitting on it and driving around, and did really well with it. Then we went up onto the big play building. We had to climb through a dark crawling hole in order to get to the high bridge. You didn't have a problem with this, and also had a good time going over the bridge. In the middle of the big play building is a big pool of balls. We went back down before you had a chance to try it out though. There were a lot of big kids anyways, and they play wild. It'll be more fun for you to give this a try next time when it is not quite so busy.

Next we went over to the big area of trampolines. We thought you might like being there, and you did. But so did I. I didn't expect it, but it was so much fun jumping up and down, it made me giggle. It was just so cool how easy you were able to get up so high. You were such a daring little boy. You walked onto the middle of a trampolin all by yourself and even started bouncing up and down. Just imagine, such a little guy with such short legs trying to jump up and down! Your dad and I laughed so much, and encouraged you a whole bunch. You had a blast!

After this we decided to stop by the toddler playground again and then slowly make our way out. After climbing through the tunnels one more time, you sighted a big tower that a boy had build with big LEGOs and headed straight for it. We let you, because we try and let you work out things by yourself. We read that at parenting sites and it seemed reasonable to us. And surprisingly, so far, it has always worked. You do wonderful working things out by yourself. Sometimes you give in, sometimes you stand your ground. We never had to interfere yet because things might have gotten out of hand. We are very proud of you for how well you are handling yourself. You seem like such a considerate little man. Anyways. You were heading for the tower set on knocking it down, when the little boy of maybe ten years got in your way to protect it. You looked at him, then tried to walk around it. The boy was very determined not to let you push over his tower and got in your way again. It was such a fun sight. We sat on the ground, maybe ten or fifteen feet away, and watched you. You kept trying to get around the boy, going in circles around the tower. The boy was doing the same, except he was trying to not let you get past. You didn't really understand that the boy was just trying to protect his accomplishment. You guys continued your efforts for about two or three rounds. We had such fun watching you, it looked so goofy. You, with your determined look on your face, and the boy, with a panicky look on his. Also, consider the age difference. Oh my gosh, just thinking of it makes me laugh! After about two rounds you got frustrated because all your efforts failed, and kind of started crying. You didn't really cry, more like as if you were gonna start, but then after a cry or two, changed your mind. In the second when you cried though the boy started looking at you even more panicky, and worried. He got closer to check if you were okay, but only as long as he needed to realize that you had stopped crying and that you were okay. Then he backed up towards his tower again, making sure you wouldn't change your mind. Oh gosh, you guys were so funny. I guess the boy got worried that he might get in trouble for making a little "baby" cry. We called you over to remind you that we were still there, ready to hug you if you wanted to be hugged. You saw us and came straight over for some hugs. Then you pointed at the tower, telling us everything that happened, you know, the way you do when you get hurt. In a way you really did get hurt, just not physically. You were disappointed and frustrated. We told you that the boy was proud of his tower and that he didn't want to you to knock it over, but that we'd be building one for you just for the purpose of being knocked down. Then we tried to get you to help us pick up LEGOs for the tower. Off course you knocked it over as soon as you could. Shortly after we made our way home, it was getting late. What a fun afternoon. We can't wait to go back there. This place is perfect if you want to give your kid the chance to run and move. Love you lots, Evan! Have a good night!

About hedgehogs and fish...

Lately Evan gets so excited about two things: hedgehogs and fish! My mom had found a hedgehog last fall. Because it was too small to survive she decided to care for it throughout the winter until it could survive outside come spring. The other day when she got ready to give it back its freedom, Evan and I were playing outside. She held it in her hands, so Evan got a perfect view of the cute little animal. He was so astonished! The hedgehog was wide awake sniffing and looking here and there, all the while making these funny, what I like to call "grummeling sounds". Even after my mom had taken the hedgehog back inside, Evan kept immitating the hedgehogs sounds, which wikipedia describes as a series of grunts and sniffles. He hasn't stopped since. You know the book we just got for him the other day, "Unterwegs auf dem Bauernhof"? It has a hedgehog in it, hiding under a green bush on a farm. As soon as we start looking at the book, he skips ahead to the page with the hedgehog. He cracks me up! I just love it when that little guys starts making the hedgehog sounds. He has only seen one once but it seems to have left a big impression on him. Oh yeah, every time he sees his grandma he will start "grummeling" and pointing her way - his way of telling us that grandma showed him a hedgehog! Those little people are just the cutest! It's great how they make you see the world and all its little wonders all over again through their eyes!

Now why he is excited about fish I am not entirely sure of. He always seemed to get most excited about the aquariums when we went to the pet store with him and he never failed to point out pictures of fish in magazines. Since we don't have an aquarium and won't go and buy one anytime soon due to the fact that we are moving back over to the States, we decided to download an aquarium screensaver instead. We guessed right, he loved it. The funny thing is that he will sit still forever to look at the fake fish on the screen. He is a very busy boy who barely ever sits still for more than two minutes (except for story time). But not so with the fish. He will even walk over to us, grab our hand and take us over to the computer where he indicates for us to show him the fish. We decided to definitely be getting an aquarium sometime after the move. It has such a calming effect on our little busy bee. I have always felt the same way about aquariums. They do have a calming thing about them. Plus it'll teach him to care for animals. That's always a good thing.

Yesteday we mowed the lawn we had planted three weeks ago. It had grown so much that it definitely needed some trimming. It still has some bald spots from being overwatered right after we planted the seed, but nothing that can't be fixed. It'll be good to have a nice lawn available for Evan for the summer. He also got a big sandbox from his grandparents that we have down there for him. And once the weather gets warm enough, he'll have his own little swimming pool too. Looks like we're ready for the summer!

And to finish up for today, here is a picture I took of Evan. He was on his way to the crib for naptime when I took it. I just love the catchlight in his eyes, and really everything else about it! Have a good day everyone!

That's it for me!

Well, I didn't make it to the next round at the Ultimate Digiscrapper Contest! I had a feeling about it, like I knew I wouldn't. Too bad, it was really a lot of fun! I wonder if they make this an annual thing, that'd be so cool! I am happy I made it to the last one hundred though. I am curious to see who will be the Ultimate Digiscrapper! Two more weeks to go!

Here are some layouts I made a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to post for everybody to see! Just gotta love white space! Evan is such a cutie! I don't know how I will ever manage to scrapbook all of these precious pics of my little guy. I'll probably still be busy twenty years from now. Anyways, here they are:

{i want}
Journaling reads:

Evan, you are such a cutie! We spent the afternoon downstairs building a fence to protect the new lawn from being dug up by Lady. When it was time for the afternoon snack I took out a fruit bar and called you over. The moment you saw it in my hands I had your full attention! I couldn't resist but take those pictures while you, poor hungry little guy, had to wait for me to finish up. You had been signing "i want" or "more" for a few months now but neither your dad nor I ever get bored of seeing you do it. You have the sweetest, cutest look on your little face when you want us to give you something or open something up for you. You are simply irresistable!

Fonts used in this layout: sloneczko (bees), TopSecret, undertypewriter, Times New Roman; dirt splotches are undertypewriter

sixteen months
Journaling reads:

You love to have us sing the song "Morgens hüpft der Riese..." and know all the appropriate moves to it. You can climb into your highchair by yourself, but you end up sitting backwards. You like playing with your baby doll. You can almost run (jog). You are starting to talk more - "mm" for moon and a cows moo-ing, "heiß" and "bye daddy" are the newest additions to your ever increasing vocabulary. You give the best hugs and kisses! You love playing in the car, especially with the blinkers. You can stack four blocks and you manage to connect the train tracks from your wooden train set all by yourself. Your favorite book is "Am Flughafen". When you hurt yourself, you tell us a big story about what happened using gestures and your best attempt at talking! You sleep for a solid three hours on your only nap during the day! You like push-toys (stroller, big dump trucks, hippo). You can steer the bobby car.

Fonts used in this layout: Verdana, Tempus Sans ITC. Date stamp by me (font used for date stamp: TopSecret)

Have fun!

No internet!

Our dsl router broke, so we have been without the internet for the last four days or so. We are working on fixing it, but it could take up to two weeks!! I can't believe how much the computer, including surfing the www, has taken over my life. I guess that's the way it is though if your hobby is digital photography AND digital scrapbooking. What a luck my dear husband also is a computer geek...! Now just to make sure we won't teach Evan the wrong values! Luckily we both love the outdoors too, and usually don't have a hard time deciding between going out to play with our little boy or staying at home so that the computers are available for either of us. Making memories just beats organizing memories that have already been made, even if it is in a fun way like it is with digital scrapbooking.

Anyways, I made it through round two at the Ultimate Digiscrapper Contest and have just posted my layout for the third challenge. The challenge was to use at least three pictures and have 40% of the layout be journaling. I thought it would be an easy one to do since I use many pictures most of the time. But it wasn't! This challenge proofed to be the toughest one yet. In the end I am very happy with the way the layout came out. If you're interested in seeing it, go here. I haven't even had a chance to check out any of the other layouts entering the contest. I am dying of curiosity! I will go and have a look as soon as this is posted.

As to how our little boy is doing? He woke crying the other night, and had some fever in the morning. It turned out to be a virus that also made him have a sniffy nose and a little cough. It seems he is already back to normal though. We were so amazed at how well he did at the doctors' office. He loves the waiting room and would be there for hours if we let him. He does not like being examined however, but who would if the guy examining him is poking him with needles half the time, right!?! He used to start crying the moment the doctor got ready to look at him, but not this time. You could see that he wanted to, and that it was so very hard for him not to, but he did NOT cry in the end. We're not sure what brought it on but we are most certainly very proud of him! Such a brave little man! We love that guy to pieces!

Have a great day!

Trip to Pforzheim

Today we decided to finally go and buy some more picture books for Evan. He is such a book lover and looks through them all the time. He loves all books with tractors in them, and ever since the weather has gotten more sunny and there are lots of helicopters in the sky, he has also taken a liking towards everything flying. I had two books in mind that I wanted to get for him. One is called "Unterwegs auf dem Bauernhof" and it is about a momma cat trying to find three of her kittens on a farm. Needless to say Evan also loves also everything with cats, so this is like the perfect book for him. Plus it has flaps he can open and look behind, also one of his newest interests. The second book is called "Schau, mein Hubschrauber". It is just a little book but it has a helicopter on every page. He had so much fun in the city. He was so busy looking at everything around him. He is never actually interested in the books while we're at the store. Instead he loves walking around all over the place exploring everything there is to be explored.

After we had gotten the books we stopped by at a park that is on top of the new mall they built in the pedestrian area. It is really nice up there and we had wanted to take Evan there for a while now. He enjoyed it up on the rooftop and had a great time figuring out what the big silver things were for (we're not quite sure ourselves, but it looks like some kind of toy you might find on playground). I took this picture up there and while it is totally overexposted, I like it just the way it is. To bring the day to a nice end we stopped by a toy store on the way to the car. We had so much fun. Charles and I just love looking at all the fun toys that Evan might be interested in and showing him some of them. I don't think I need to say much about the little boy. A little boy in a big toy store speaks for itself, I think. Right before we left we found this really cool trike that he also liked a lot. He sat on it and we pushed him around the store. He was happy just sitting there steering the trike around the aisles. He amazed us again when it was time to put it back up. We expected a big battle, but he was so understanding about it. He is in his prime time for temper tantrums, and we sure have our share of them (like when it comes to hand washing) but at least just as often he just up and decides to be so good about it. Those little people are just the most amazing of all!

Before we went back home we stopped by at a bakery and got Evan something yummy to eat. It's not like we could get by the bakeries without him noticing anyways. He must have a sensor build in. Seriously. It was snacktime anyways though and he was so needing this after seeing all those exciting toys.

I am so excited about tomorrow night. They'll be announcing who made it to round three in the Ultimate Digiscrapper Contest and what the new challenge will be. I am so hoping that I will make it! It's so much fun to be challenged like this. And the prizes are amazing too. I wouldn't mind doing some digi shopping...! Not that I believe I would ever make it to the end. However, with so many prizes, I wonder what place you have to come in to win something? Anyways, I'm in for the challenge. I'll know more by tomorrow.

Have fun!

The Everyday Wonderful

Having Evan around is just the most wonderful thing that could have ever happened to us. He comes up with the cutest things when you think of it the least, always making us smile. Just the other day he crawled up on the couch (which he LOVES to do) with a book of ours that he had picked up off the shelf right before. Ever since he can get onto the couch, he does so constantly. The funny thing is that he totally tries to imitate us. As soon as he has his little heinie up there, he plops back into a comfortable position. Once he sits the way he feels is appropriate, he usually starts kicking his legs all leisurely. What a funny little boy! Now the other day when he took the book up onto the couch he found a cat bed there as well and decided to sit in it. He has always loved the kitty beds. He dragged them around the house even before he could even walk. If he finds a kitty bed that has a kitty sleeping in it, he will usually sneak in a cuddle or two and then tell the cat to leave her bed so that he can take it somewhere else. If they don't move he'll simply pull it out from under them, if we are not fast enough to stop him.

Also, whenever he gets tired he will walk to his crib and pick up his pacifier(s), usually as many as he can find and carry, and his little Winnie-the-Pooh blanket and keep it with him until he is peacefully sleeping in his crib. We really appreciate that he makes it so easy on us to know when he is ready for his nap. There's also increased crankyness and lots of yawning involved, but the clearst of all his tired signs is the "I want my lovey" sign! He's just so full of cuteness!

Oh my, I am not sure what I am doing!

This is the first time ever that I am trying to have a blog and I am not sure what I am doing. I've visited some blogs here and there and liked what I saw. It seems to be easier to update than our webpage, so I wanted to give it a try.

I am part of the Ultimate Digiscrapper Contest. It's a five week contest, with one challenge a week. Right now we're at round two and I am still in! This weeks challenge is to scrapbook about yourself. I am happy what I have come up with and am very curious to see if I'll make it to round three. It really is a lot of fun, so hopefully I won't be eliminated quite yet. Fifty percent will go on to the next round and there is unbelievable talent present. It'll be a tough one. If you want to take a look at what my layout looks like, check it out here.

Evan is the cutest. Yesterday his little truck broke, so he brought it to Charles for him to fix up. Whenever Charles does something that seems interesting to Evan, he crawls right into his lap and watches him. He did so yesterday as well. After seeing what Charles did with the screwdriver, he wanted to get involved too. I just love watching the two of them together.