Longggg

Here it is again, my thinking out loud. I've been trying to make a mental note about what to write here--how to sum up what's been going on with our lives in one neat short post. Then I realized that nothing in my life has ever been conveniently neat and gave up. However, to the best of my ability, I give you the mess list:

-The holidays were wonderful. Christmas was fun and the Germans in our village spent most of the night and the following day setting off fireworks as the bells rung to welcome the New Year. Much to our surprise, our darling daughter slept, however fitfully, through having a small rocket shot directly at her bedroom window. We're still on for Festivus next year if you are interested.
-We managed to miss ALL of the Christmas markets because 1) I was not entirely convinced that my husband, who was still in a back brace at the time, could hack being bodychecked by a crowd fueled by mandatory gluhwein and 2) the weather was extra wet and crappy. I was looking to not put myself in a situation that would find me yelling for help while trying to hold up a grown man and an unruly toddler. We'll hopefully make it up later this year.
-Wil healed up so well that his surgeon gave him a pass on the second dreaded back brace. He's been back at work for a week now and is grumpily adjusting to waking up at 5:30 again after having been lounging with the boys, annoying me with random odd questions, and feeding Chase candy for the past few months. He's still taking a bit of medicine to dull the burning sensation in his leg, which he doesn't want me to bring up because he says everybody has worried enough about him, and to help him rest a bit better at night. We miss him. I don't know where we'll find ourselves in a year, as far as the Army career is concerned, but I'm hopeful that we'll stay out of the hospital for at least that long. Hip, hip, hooray!
-Speaking of his annoying me, the man has no memory of almost anything from October-early December. For example: during our conversation about our friend Becky, who had her baby Eli while Wil was hospitalized.
Wil: No, I have never seen the baby!
Me: Do you remember getting a clearance from your surgeon to walk down the hall to visit her at the next ward?
Wil (raising his voice and starting to look at me like I was crazy): Yes, I remember going down to Mother & Baby, but the baby wasn't born yet!
Me: It's called "Mother AND Baby" because, in order to get a bed there, you must have just given birth.
Wil: But...no! I remember!!!!
Repeat this format about everything that happened in nearly two months. We know it's the meds but it doesn't make "discussing" his version of what went on any less aggravating. I still love you and your non-existent short term memory, Baby!
-I know every mother thinks their child is the cutest/smartest/most likely to become the person to discover a cure for AIDS, cancer, etc., but I'm SURE that my kid is actually going to do it. I love that we get to hang out together and have fun all day. Now that she has decided to do away with morning naps for good, the world is our oyster! Ok, maybe not the world but definitely Kaiserslautern area. We're going to playgroups, story time at the library, and I just signed her up for weekly Moms & Tots Gymnastic class. She can specifically request which book about which bunny she would like me to read (why are bunnies such popular characters in children's literature, btw?). We've got "Jorgi Bunny" (Curious George and the Bunnies), "Noisy Bunny," "Peter Bunny," and a few others. She's very vocal and has an opinion about everything. She is learning her colors, shapes, numbers, and alphabets, and slowly coming out of her shell when meeting new people. Her vocabulary is reaching about a hundred and expanding rapidly everyday. My little charmer has also taken to call our landlord, George, "Jorgi," a name that I'm sure only his mother and his wife have used comfortably. She also decided that his wife should be called "Mimi," thus rendering them powerless against her cuteness and probably earning her name a spot on their will.
-We've been enjoying the snow more than I could have anticipated. This year is so incredibly different than the last. Last year, we just moved in and was so miserably cooped up in our cold house. This year she demands that we pile on our jackets, hats, mittens, boots (all of which she has to individually point out and identify before we could proceed outside), and romp in the snow for at least an hour every day. I'm still a little cold but the boys, especially Brutus, are ridiculously happy.
-Now that Wil is on the mend, we're making up for lost traveling time. Our days in Europe are numbered and we want to make the most of every 3 and 4-day weekends while we're here. The first trip in nearly four months will be a short one to Cologne and Cochem to test the water (read back). Next month we're going to see Prague and a bit more of Germany, which will then be followed by a visit to Bonn to see my brother compete. April is our trip back to the States and we'll go to Keukenhof when the flowers are in bloom. My Type-A planning habits are kicking into high gear right now, can't you tell? Expect pictures!
-I started "30 Days Shred" last week and have actually enjoyed it! I'm not trying to lose any weight but would like to tone up. My goal is to be in the best physical shape going into our next pregnancy, just in case I should be blessed with 9 months of all day all night sickness and crippling sciatica again. I hate being thin but fluffy.
-About the pregnancy, I will say that I don't feel quite ready for it. I love our life right now, although I also think that our family is not quite completed as yet. I'm not the kind of mom who can handle or want Irish twins and we made sure there was no possibility of that. Now that Chase is almost two and I'm turning 32 in the summer, I feel more of a pressure to go down that road. But I really have no desire to be hugely pregnant (or worse yet, with a newborn!!!) when we have to pcs early next year. Decisions, decisions.

I have had far too much chocolate before bedtime and am now very wired and rambling as you can plainly see. I'm sure I'm missing all kinds of stuff here, but, look MOM, I have updated the blog with a real post, videos, and pictures within a week! Good night, Friends!