Internet...Grrrr.....

So, do you want to know what I find interesting? The fact that internet is not internet. You would think that anywhere you log on to the internet, would be in English. It's not. I know this all makes sense, me living in Germany and all...but how do they know? Especially when you are logged into, say Hotmail, and it's registered that you live in the states!! Why would your home page be in German?? It so goes way over my head. It's so aggravating when you are trying to find something, you finally find the correct webpage, and there isn't any language button. The blog is quite simple. I just go to my dashboard, and there's a dropdown menu of languages. Google..I had to search for google in english, but I found it and have it bookmarked. The same goes for Yahoo, Target and Amazon. That's pretty easy. Other things are not. I also don't understand why, if you punch something into english google, does it still sometimes come up with german sites. This is just my vent for the day. Our internet is slow at best anyhow, so when you add language issues to the mix, it makes for a very interesting day. So, I feel better having just enlightened you all on my inadequacies in the computering world. I just don't understand, but that's okay. At least I have internet at all!

Evolution Vs. Creationism...

As I lay in bed tonight, my thoughts (surprise, surprise) are on the baby. We have had a bout of all-day sickness yesterday and today. I believe it's becuase we've just switched work shifts, and getting on track with the sleeping and the eating is difficult. So, back to my original thoughts. I'm just sitting here, reflecting on the day. We watched a program today that had a segment on evolution vs creationism in schools. Becuase evolution is not a religous practice, it can be legally tought in science class as how the human race came to be about. However, on the opposite side of things, creationism is "religioius" becuase it talks of a "higher being" (God) creating mankind. Creationism can be taught in religous theory classes, but not science classes. I find this confusing. I don't understand why both aren't taught as theory, instead of one being taught as fact, and the other isn't even brought up in science classes. It just confuses me. I know everyone is all about the separation of church and state, but where does it end? Now that we are going to have a child that will eventually be in the education system, it provokes thought. Not that I havn't thought about it before, but it hits a little closer to home now. I just want the best for this little person that God has entrusted to me. I believe as parents, its our responsibility to make sure our children are taught what's right and moral. Okay, so this ends my rant for the moment. I just have a lot of thoughts that float around my ever shrinking brain :) I want so much for this little person to grow up with faith and belief in God. I don't really know how military schools work, but it will be interesting to find out...down the road, of course:) I guess I have a little bit of time before any of this comes into play for us. I just wanted to share some thoughts.

152

152 happens to be my favorite number at the moment. This is the heart bpm of the littlest Henry. Doctor Holland didn't even have to search for the heartbeat. He found it right away! I was so pleased. He said everything is on track with being 14 weeks along. Our next appointment is in 6 weeks, and it's the big one. We get to find out what we are having!!! I am so psyched!! I just can't believe that everything is going okay! I am so relieved that he was able to find the heartbeat at all. It's such a squishy-swooshy, but precious, little noise. He answered all of our questions we've had so far. I had quite a few! We are going out this afternoon to buy our baby apointment gift. I like us to buy something for the baby every time we have a succesful appointment. I don't know what we are going to buy for this one. On the last apointment, we bought a pack of gender neutral onesies. I know for our next appointment, I want to buy the crib. Or at least order the crib on base. We have a limited selection over here. Anyway, I guess I just rambled. Back to the heartbeat...It was so amazing to actually hear the little persons heart. Blake and I both think it's a little like having an alien living in my tummy. It's kind of strange when you think about it. Very surreal. I now know exactly where my uterus is. This has been bugging me lately. It seems as if it's about an inch or two above the pelvic bone. Woo-hoo! Blake caught site of the button on my jeans today. He wondered what on earth I was doing with a rubberband around the button, instead of just buttoning it. I told him that the jeans just didn't want to button, and it gave me cramps to do it, so this is a very easy fix that a lot of pregnant women do. He told me to go buy maternity pants that fit...He says if they are too tight with them buttoned, then they are too small to be wearing. We had a good laugh over this. He'd just never heard of doing that before. So, even though it was a very early morning for us, it has been a very wonderful day. The baby is past the most critical and dangerous stage of the pregnancy and we can now relax and enjoy the rest of it. We are sooo looking foward to next month. Finding out the sex of the baby is just so exciting!!! I will be defenitly letting you all know!

Willow Tree

So, while I sit here and wait for the soup I just ate to hit bottom, I thought I would share with you all about the gift my mother-in-law, Teri, sent. She sent us two willow tree figurines. My sister wasn't familiar with what willow tree is, so I thought I'd post a picture of them. I'm sure she'll recognize them when she see's them. I don't have any willow tree people, so these will make a nice addition to the baby's room. Teri sent us the pregnant woman labeled "Cherish" and the daddy with the baby labeled "New Dad". She also sent a really cute maternity tanktop and another tanktop for Blake. It was very nice of her to think of us. She always sends the most interesting packages. We are very excited as tomorrow we get to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. We have to get up awfully early to be at the appointment on time, but it's sooo worth it! The hospital (and emergency room) is a half hour away, in good traffic and no rain. The good traffic and no rain has only ever happened once to me! We are hoping for good traffic and no rain or snow come February!

...........................................

(Okay, this is a little later in my day. I just had to post that the little girl that lives across the street from us is singing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, in german! It's so adorable! She's about Valerie's age. I kept wondering why I was hearing the Aladdin song, and here she is, singing quite loud and it's just cute!)

Our Crazed Feline

The shredded bag

(I just noticed, you can see his teeth marks on the cardboard sticking out the side)

The cat, in his "I'm stalking you as you walk into the livingroom" pose

(I'm not quite sure why his eyes ended up glowy)

So, our lovely cat, Gratch had an interesting night. It became interesting for all of us that live and sleep in the house. He decided to take his ribbon with a bell tied on the end of it, and play with it all night. He would drag it up the stairs, get it all the way up there, then drop it off the ledge, letting it drop down each individual step.He did this quite a few times before Blake woke up and took the toy away. He still found it. Eventually it went in a drawer. Between the cat and having to pee ALL the time, this caused very few actual hours of sleep. Then came the morning. Blake came down and found the plastic bag. We aren't really sure what the thought was behind the shredding of the bag. Gratch doesn't have front claws. Only back claws and teeth. The bag wasn't even closed. All that was in it was a few wrappings from a crayon tower I won at bingo the other night. It was crazy. Then, to top everything off, when Blake got down to the kitchen, Gratch was sitting there on the counter. Nothing was on the counter, he was just relaxing up there. I'm under strict orders to keep Gratch awake today so he will defenitly sleep tonight. The cat got wise to my game about two hours into the day. He would go and lay down in the kitchen where I couldn't see him. I would then have to bribe him to come back into the livingroom and be awake by giving him a treat. He loves this, of course. I think he was abusing this after awhile as well. He's a very smart cat...at times, anyway. We always think he's so adorable...then we remember. He's a bit on the evil side. He does keep life interesting, though. There isn't really ever a dull moment when he's around.

The end of the 1st trimester

I was taken off guard in the above picture...but, as you can see, still not showing :(

So we have finally made it to the end..the end of the beginning, that is. If you didn't already know, my ticker is off by 2 days. Tomorrow, we hit 13 weeks, the official beginning of the 2nd trimester. Next week we get to hear the heartbeat for the first time, and that's super exciting! I sometimes worry that they won't be able to find the heartbeat, but those are thoughts I just have to put out of my mind. Everything is okay and there's no reason to think otherwise. It's been a long first trimester. The worries that I had are finally beginning to dissapate. I'm still not showing at all, but I'm sure that will change in the next few weeks. I look chunkier, but it isn't the baby showing yet..it's just chunk. The love of deviled eggs had gone away for the time being also. This is great seeing as I can't stand the smell of eggs, but the taste was great. I won't have to smell them for awhile. The morning sickness seemed to really only last 2 weeks. My sister was a little disgusted at this. She was sick throughout her pregnancies. I still get the occasional yuckiness, but for the most part, headaches and stretching of the uterus are the only symtoms I have left. Oh, and the breakouts on my face. These just started a few days ago. Yuck! I am really happy that everything still seems to be going okay. I still think it's going to be a boy, but my sister-in-law thinks it will be a girl. So does my friend Kimberly, and so does Blake. Blake doesn't really count, though. He thought it was going to be twins. They pretty much ruled that out at 6 weeks, but they did say they have been wrong before. I don't think they were. I'm sooo good with just one. Valerie and Blake sure do like to tease about it! We get our next ultrasound in September, I think. From what I understand, we get referred off base to one of teh local german doctors, and we get a 4-D ultrasound done. This is pretty cool. I'm not sure if that's a defenite, but it seems that way. It will be so exciting to find out what it is! I will be posting a "belly shot" at the top of this, I just havn't taken it yet. Blake had to go to work for a few hours, but he will be back...and then I'm going and playing Bingo (woo hoo!!), but then once I get home, We will take the picture. Then I will post it at the top.

Spätzle mit Käse

Spätzle mit Käse

400 Grams Flour, sifted
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Greiß (Cream of Wheat)
125 Milliliters Water
4 Medium eggs
75 Grams Butter

1 1/2 bags of shredded cheese, preferrably Mozerella/Gouda mix
1 Cup hot water
1 tsp Vegtable granuales (like bullion)

Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F
Sift flour, Greiß and salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the four mixture. Pour eggs and water into the well, then beat with a wooden spoon until blended. Add a little bit more water if necessry so the dough is slightly sticky yet is still elastic and stiff. Let sit between 5 and 15 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, you can start making the Spätzle.

Using a Spätzle maker, put the dough into the center and move the maker back and forth to form the noodles. Press the noodles into the pot of boiling water. Cook the noodles in the water for about 5 minutes, or until they rise to the surface. Lift noodles out using a slotted spoon.

Put noodles in a casserole dish. Mix the cheese into the noodles. Put the veggie granuals into the cup of hot water, pour into casserole dish with the noodles. Mix well.

Place dish into the oven for 10-15 minutes. Take out and enjoy a very yummy dish!!

Cooking Measures
1 ounce--28.3 grams
1 gram--.35 ounces
1/2 cup--120 milliliters
1 cup of all purpose flour--113 grams
1 cup butter--226 grams

I hope you are able to try this dish out. It's absolutly fabulous! My friend Kim and I went to a baking class today, and this was one of the dishes they taught us how to make. This is a traditional german dish. You are offered spätzle with all meals. It's one of most people's favorite things to eat. If you don't want to make cheesy spätzle, omit the shredded cheese and bullion with water. I prefer the cheese, but both are delicious! One of the main differences in the way the germans cook in comparison to the way we cook in the states, is that they weigh everything. You cannot cook over here without a scale. I put in the conversions the best I could at the bottom, so if you do try it, you can do it without really weighing it. Also, instead of the round spätzle pan that goes over the top of the boiling water, you can use some type of noodle press. The traditional spätzle is shorter and fatter noodles, but having longer noodles is totally okay too! I wasn't able to get the picutres yet of the stuff we actually ate today, but I'm hoping to get them soon. I really hope some of you are able to try this!!

The cat

The cat after the fall

The stairs he fell down

My cat just fell down the stairs. He loves to play with you through the railing as you are soming up the stairs. Well, I was walking past him, and he jumped up the railing, like he was jumping straight up a wall (yes, he does this a lot), and he went right through the railing and fell down the entire flight of stairs. He did not land on his feet. I don't think he's hurt terribly. I keep watching him, making sure he isn't limping or anything. I think he has a growing bruise on his nose, but he seems okay. It scared me. I thought I was going to have to take him into the vet. I'm hoping this will teach him to be a little more careful around the railing too. Probably not, though. He is, after all, only a cat.

Anne of Green Gables and Deviled Eggs

This afternoon is turning out to be a really wonderful one. I was having a bad day a couple of weeks ago and Blake, to make me feel better, ordered Anne of Green Gables on dvd from Best Buy. It just got here today, so I decided to watch it. It's just such a wonderful movie. I think a lot of the wonderfulness comes form the nostalgic (sp?) factor of it. This was a movie we were allowed to watch almost as many times as we wanted to growing up. I just love it so much. I think the hormones have defenitly helped out the loving of nostalgic things too! I made myself 3 deviled eggs to enjoy while I watch it. Really, can you think of a better way to spend an afternoon???

Hormones, Cravings and Gas

So these are the joys of pregnancy, huh? I cried over a poptart getting lodged in the toaster the other day. How wierd is that? I seem to be okay and normal on most days, but sometimes, just sometimes....oh boy does the inner crybaby/grumpypants come out! I think I've apologized more to Blake this last month than I have in the last 5 years! Onto the cravings...I havn't really had a lot of what you would call "cravings". I more can't stand the sight and smell of foods I used to love. The last week or so, I've been defenitly thinking deviled eggs are the best food on earth. I think I could eat them until they came out my ears! Meat has started to make me a little queasy at the site or smell of it. It's a good thing eggs sound good, I guess :). I keep thinking that the best thing in the world to eat, would be a deviled egg sandwich. Blake thinks that may be a little too much egg yolk. I have to agree, although the thought never really leaves my brain! Now, last, but not least, the gas. I've never really been a gassy person. Being my father's daughter, you would think I was, but I'm not. It's been great. Yup, not so much anymore. There seem to be very few things that don't make me gassy! It's quite a strange thing. Luckily, my hubby loves me even though I smell! All in all, the symptoms of pregnancy, no matter how uncomfortable they be, are really enjoyable (after the fact). I'm so glad I have any signs, just to show that maybe the baby is really growing in there and everything will be okay. I can't wait until our next apointment. It's in a few weeks, and I think we get to hear the heartbeat. That will be amazing. I think the month after that, we get our 2nd ultrasound, and we get to find out what we are having. I'm pretty excited about that. Our names we are thinking about are:
Cara or Evelyn -Sue and Chase Alexander. I'm sure the names will change again, but these are what we like for the moment. I think we will have a boy. I have nothing to base this on, other than the fact I can feel it in my bones. Either way, we will be happy. We are almost at the 12 week point, which is a huge step for us. We've never made it this far yet, and I'm just praying that everything continues to go well!