vote for Brenda

Hey all! We're in Munich, and Brenda is getting ready to make her role debut as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte tomorrow night. Brenda had her first and last day of rehearsal today, which is a short rehearsal period even for her. If I remember correctly, she sang the title role in Lucia di Lammeroor for the first time with just five days of rehearsal, but that is a much longer role. The Queen only has two (very challenging) arias, a quintet, and several lines of dialogue. The performances are close together by opera standards (four in eight days), and after the last one we'll head back to Frankfurt for a brief stay before flying to the U.S.

You may recall that Brenda sang the title role in Berg's Lulu at English National Opera earlier this fall. The performances went very well, and the website What'sOnStage nominated Brenda for "Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera" in its 2017 opera poll.  It appears that anyone can vote for the winner, so even if you didn't see Lulu (or any of the other operas that received nominations), you can still make your voice heard. If you'd like to cast a vote for Brenda, you can do so here. Voting closes at 11:59 PM (UK time presumably) on December 31, 2016.

In other news, I'm sick. It's been years since I've felt under the weather, and I'm being a big baby about it. Some hot tea sounds nice, so I think I'll play the sick card (again) and see if Brenda will go make me some. I hope you all have fun ringing in the new year, and we'll talk to you next week!

Merry Christmas!

Hey folks! We're back in Frankfurt and enjoying a little time at home before hitting the road again. We took Rowan to the Christmas market for the second time today, and even though we only intended to have some raclette and a cup of glühwein, a couple other tasty treats grabbed our attention. The surprise hit of the evening was Baumstriezel, which is a fried, tube-shaped pastry coated in hazelnut deliciousness. It's good to know that after nine years of visiting German Christmas markets we can still find something new (and tasty).

Our flight from London to Frankfurt last Wednesday marked Rowan's tenth flight. All that flying with our little nine-month-old has taught us something: people are nicer to you when you are traveling with an adorable baby. Oh, you're carrying a baby? Go ahead and skip to the head of the line. You're traveling with six bags each and most of them are overweight? No problem. You have a baby after all, you can't be expected to both parent and follow the rules. You need to check into your hotel room three hours early? Well, your baby does look sleepy so we'll go ahead and check you in and give you a free upgrade. Huh. Who knew that babies came with such perks? We should have had a child years ago if for no other reason than the travel benefits. OK, maybe not, but all the kind treatment has certainly made our frequent traveling with Rowan over the past several months a lot easier.

Our time in Frankfurt is brief and packed with friends and Christmas celebrations. On Saturday we travelled to Biedenkopf and had a lovely day with our friends the Schuberts (minus Andi who we will see later this week). On Friday we will have our annual Feuerzangenbowle evening with the Plocks, and on Saturday we have Christmas Eve dinner with the McCowns for what, I believe, is the eighth year in a row. Believe it or not, we are also doing some things that don't involve hanging out with friends and/or eating Christmas treats. Last week we went to the foreigner's office and got Rowan his German residence permit. He is now able to stay in Germany (and, according to his permit, even work) for the next five years. We're going to have to find him a job that allows napping.

Next week at this time we'll be in Munich for Brenda's role debut as The Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute. I hope you all have a wonderful week and a very happy holiday season, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

on time arrival

Hey all! Brenda, Rowan, and I are settled in for the night in London after a very relaxing flight from Minneapolis. We fly to Frankfurt tomorrow and are looking forward to being back in our apartment for the first time since late September. Our stay in Frankfurt will be brief (less than two weeks), but we'll definitely have enough time to visit the Christmas market. Brenda will be very busy in the coming weeks as she prepares two new opera roles and a recital for Carnegie Hall. Meanwhile Rowan will no doubt be busy trying to figure out how to crawl, which means I'll be busy child proofing the apartment. So as you can see, we've all got our jobs to do once we get back to Frankfurt.

Our past few weeks in the U.S. were wonderful, especially because we were there during the holiday season. We celebrated Christmas with our families a little early this year (which has me wondering why there are still Christmas decorations everywhere), and Rowan definitely liked opening presents. In fact, he enjoyed every part of the present. He'll happily chew on the gift, the box it comes in, and even the wrapping paper. We have more Christmas celebrating to do in Frankfurt, including buying a small Christmas tree and our annual Christmas Eve dinner with our friends Barb and Michael. I quite enjoy spreading Christmas out over the whole month of December.

We hope you're enjoying the holiday season as much as we are. Until next time, have a great week!

very happy holidays

Whoops, another late blog entry! So late that we get to combine two entries into one! Sorry about that! We are literally on the road right now. Chad is driving, Rowan is sleeping, and I'm doing a bad job at entertaining the driver. We just finished up a week at my parents' home, where we enjoyed lots of delicious food, cozy fires, Christmas carols around the piano, fun outings to local libraries for baby story times, and even some beautiful snow! It was a truly wonderful family time. We're so looking forward to continuing the fun family times with Chad's family for our final days in the States before heading back to Germany!

When Chad last wrote, we were enjoying some time with my twin in Minneapolis. It's always a great time, and he really spoils us! Gives us his bed, cooks for us even though he's working full time, is a super fun uncle... You get the picture! We also usually get to see some good friends while we're there, as well as my aunt and uncle, so we pack a lot into those few days! It's lucky that our immediate families are in three neighboring states so we can just drive to see everyone! Rowan is a great little flyer but it's so much less stressful to drive! Although we'll be happy to be done with the car ride soon! Speaking of which, I think the drive is soon coming to an end, so I'll sign off here! Next week at this time we should be in London for one night, after flying across the Atlantic the night before, so we'll see if we can do an on time blog entry. Until then, have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey all! Now this is a really late blog entry. Sorry about that! This past week has been a blur of traveling, seeing family, and eating. We spent Thursday with my parents who have been hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for the last forty-six years or so. There were thirty-seven of us in all including four babies under a year old. Brenda and I don't get to go every year because of the nature of her career, so we were thrilled that it worked out this year. We certainly had a lot to be thankful for, not least of which was all the delicious food (including lefse - yum!).

By all accounts Brenda's last performance of Lulu was excellent. After putting in so much time and effort learning and rehearsing this difficult piece, it's too bad they didn't have more than five performances. Hopefully Brenda and her castmates will have the opportunity to sing it again someday. 

Our flight back to the midwest on Sunday was quite pleasant. Rowan was the only baby on the plane, and now that he's a little bit older he didn't sleep as much as on previous flights. He made friends with the people sitting around us, and most of them were surprised to learn that it was his eighth flight. He fussed a little bit during the flight, but he never cried, and he was very happy when I walked up and down the aisles with him. He'll have four more flights before his first birthday, three of which cross the Atlantic. We're hoping our little guy continues to be a happy traveller.

This weekend we're visiting Drew in Minneapolis, and on Tuesday we're off to Wisconsin to see Brenda's parents. Rowan is loving seeing so many of his family and friends in the U.S. We thought he might get a little overwhelmed by all the people on Thanksgiving, but he was relaxed and smiley the whole day and still managed to take his usual naps in spite of all of the happy commotion. We will probably be late with the blog again this week, but I'll try to get it up before the weekend. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Until next time, have a great week!

mama drama

Hello all! Mama Brenda writing to you all tonight. Sorry we're a day late with the blog, but Chad's parents had their last night in London yesterday, so we thought we should spend it talking to them, instead of staring at our computer screens! Their time with us flew by, and we really enjoyed having them here. They were kind enough to babysit Rowan one night so that Chad could come to my second performance of Lulu, and they even got to see the third show themselves! Hard to believe that we've had three shows in the past week, and will have two more in the next few days, and then we go to the U.S. on Sunday! Such a massive amount of work (I think for both Chad and myself!) and then just like that, it's over! Chad and I thought I should write a blog entry before the memories fade about my experience of going back to work full time after having Rowan, so I hope this doesn't bore anyone too much!

We had just over five weeks of rehearsals, 6 days a week (a half day on Saturday) and with the commute, I was away from Chad and Rowan for about 9 hours most days. That first day I definitely got teary-eyed multiple times when I thought about my sweet little baby, and in general the first week was quite difficult. I'm still nursing, so I had to pump during my breaks, (sometimes in bathrooms, until a very kind stage manager set up a little private pumping area for me in the rehearsal room!) and since this is the biggest and most difficult role I've ever performed, I was studying every free moment I had. Add to this a teething baby who doesn't sleep through the night, and you get a quite exhausted Brenda! But gradually I adjusted to the schedule (and also gained a lot of comfort with the role!), and now instead of feeling exhausted, I feel quite energized! It's still crazy during performances: I'm onstage almost constantly, and when I'm not, I'm doing very quick costume changes, and during the first intermission I pump, and then during the second intermission I have to do a big costume and wig and makeup change, so I don't really get much of a break for 3.75 very intense hours! But I'm so grateful that it's all going well, that Rowan seems to be doing great, and Chad is being the most wonderful dad and supportive husband. I feel so lucky that the three of us get to travel together for at least the first year of Rowan's life, and neither of us have to miss out on spending time with this incredible child of ours. The feelings of love when I hold Rowan after being away for hours is quite overwhelming!

Well, I may end up editing this post from time to time to add other memories, but for now, I'm feeling the pull of sleep! We really can't wait to see our families in the coming weeks and celebrate some early holidays. Hopefully Rowan will continue to be a good little traveller! Oh, speaking of travel, yesterday we went to the U.S. Embassy here in London to get Rowan's Global Entry application finalized. He didn't get fingerprinted, contrary to what the border agent told us last July when we entered the States, but he did get his photo taken, which I must say is so much easier now that he can hold his head up (which he couldn't do when we had to get his passport photos taken)! He's certainly having a very different childhood than Chad or I had!

Have a great week!

(I didn't really want to talk about this, but since this blog serves as a sort of time-capsule for us, I just have to mention that Chad and I both lost some sleep last week over the election results. I'm rather horrified that Donald Trump will be our next president, and I'm sorry that so many people felt that the right choice for our country is a seemingly hate-filled, misogynistic bigot. We're aware that not everyone shares our beliefs and we don't want to use our blog as a platform for arguments, but I'm just so terribly sad about the results. Love to all.)

showtime

Happy voting day one and all. (Is happy the right word? Probably not. But I'll definitely be happy when it's over.) I'd like to stay up and watch the results roll in, but that's not going to happen since we're on London time. Although if Rowan wakes up particularly early tomorrow I may get my wish.

The final dress rehearsal (and first complete run-through) of Lulu was last night, and from what Brenda tells me it went well. At the very least they made it from the beginning to the end without stopping which is no small feat considering the difficulty of the music. Brenda's first performance is tomorrow night and she'll have four more over the next week and a half. I'm really looking forward to seeing the show and hearing all of the great singing Brenda's been telling me about.

On Saturday I worked up the courage to take Rowan to visit Brenda at work. It was a risky outing because it stretched Rowan's awake time beyond his usual two or three hours. Once you get beyond that he turns into a time bomb, and I would prefer he's at home in bed when he explodes instead of strapped to my chest in the middle of London. Even though he ended up being awake for well over three hours Rowan did great. We walked partway and took the Underground (Rowan's first time) the rest of the way. He didn't seem to mind the loud ride or the throngs of people in central London. Once we got to the theater we kept Brenda company during her dinner break and met several of her colleagues backstage. It was a fun trip.

It's time to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

tech week

Happy Belated Halloween to one and all! In case you're wondering, they do celebrate Halloween in London (there's a zombie outbreak just two doors down), but as far as we could tell they don't trick-or-treat.  We didn't get into the Halloween spirit much this year, although we did put cute pumpkin pajamas on Rowan and continue our tradition of watching a not-so-scary movie (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). The real highlight of our weekend was that we got to spend the whole thing together. Brenda was not called to rehearsal on Saturday so we enjoyed a relaxing weekend and slept as much as Rowan would allow us to.

Tech week began on Monday for Lulu which means that Brenda is rehearsing this week in costume and on the stage. Her rehearsals are keeping her at work longer and later so Rowan is getting more time just with me. Today we took a trip to the library to use the printer. The powers that be in Iowa were kind enough to send me a ballot via email, and I needed a place to print it. The public library to the rescue! Unfortunately, I have to mail the ballot back to Iowa the old fashioned way, but at least I'm one step closer to casting my vote. Brenda has already voted thanks to Wisconsin's handy online absentee ballot request form. Hey Iowa, why don't we have one of those? Wisconsin has professional sports teams, cheese hats, Door County, a couple of Great Lakes AND easier absentee voting. Let's step it up a notch, OK? I'll write in my suggestions for improvements on the ballot.

I'm going to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday! (Don't forget to vote!)

changing venues

Howdy folks! It's a cloudy morning here in Hackney, the London borough where we live, and the days are definitely getting shorter. My alarm clock (AKA Rowan who, by the way, doesn't have a snooze button) starts chatting each morning between seven and seven thirty. The past few mornings I've heard him talking and thought "No, it can't be after seven. It's still dark out." But, of course, it was indeed time to get up and do some parenting. The first order of business each day is Rowan's lesson on how to brew coffee.

Brenda's rehearsals are progressing and soon will be changing locations. Most of her rehearsals up until now have been at 3 Mills Studios, but this week they're moving over to their performance venue, the London Coliseum.

 I snapped this picture of 3 Mills Studios one day when we went to visit Brenda at work.

This weekend Brenda and I saw a couple of friends. Rowan experienced his first pub when we met up with our friend Tim, although Rowan ignored the beer and focused instead on playing with Tim's hat and beard. On Sunday we went for a stroll in the park with a friend of Brenda's who is also currently working at English National Opera. She's been here with her thirteen-month-old daughter since early August. It was fun seeing her daughter crawling all over the park and imagining that Rowan will be doing the same thing before too long.

As Harry Potter fans I feel obligated to tell you that Brenda passed by the Palace Theatre yesterday, which is currently home to the new Harry Potter play. I definitely want to see it.

So that's what we've been up to. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

very absent(ee)

Hello once again from jolly old England. Brenda's parents headed back home on Saturday after spending a wonderful week and a half with us. We always have a great time with them, but this visit had the added benefit of making my stay-at-home dad duties much easier. Rowan had an absolute blast with his grandparents. They taught him a lot of songs, introduced him to some new toys, and spent a lot of time playing with him. I'm sure he's already looking forward to seeing them again when we're back in the U.S. next month.

On Sunday Brenda and I changed apartments. (We just can't stand being in one place for more than a couple of weeks.) Much like the old place, our new flat is in a residential area, close to a park, and very comfortable. When I imagined us being in London, for some reason I thought we'd be eating scones everyday while staring out the window at Big Ben. My semester in London during law school was actually kind of like that. Our classes were held smack dab in the middle of the city, just a block away from the British Museum, so I had a daily reminder of where I was. This time, however, we're living in a residential area that isn't very close to the city center so it feels like we could be anywhere. Today I even went grocery shopping at the nearby Lidl, which is a German grocery store chain. I could take Rowan to the heart of London one day so we could do some sightseeing, but he sleeps and eats quite often and gets rather cranky when either of those things doesn't happen. I'd better stick around this neighborhood and see if I can find a place that sells good scones.

I don't know if you've heard, but there's an election coming up in the U.S. and since Brenda and I are tax-paying, freedom-loving Americans (I just fired off a couple shots from my gun for effect. Wait, is that legal here?) we want to vote in it. We've voted absentee before, but that was from our apartment in Germany. This time we're attempting to get our ballots sent to an Airbnb apartment in London. Living a nomadic lifestyle is complicated.

Our new flat doesn't have a dishwasher so I've got work to do before bed. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Lulu by day, supermom by night

Hey all! I'm writing you again this week from beautiful London. Fall has definitely arrived (or are the temps always in the 50s here?), and I've been bundling Rowan up whenever we go on outings. Brenda's parents are in town, which has been wonderful, and they've been encouraging me to take Rowan out and about. We went to the public library last week and took part in story time. Most of the kids were a little older, but we met a couple of nice moms with kids around Rowan's age (I was the only dad there and Jim was the only grandpa). Today we visited Brenda at work (much to the delight of her castmates), and tomorrow we're going to a play group for 0-2 year olds. Rowan handles the outings very well. As long as he's fed and gets his naps, he's up for pretty much anything.

It was really nice meeting Brenda's castmates today. She's working with a friendly bunch of people, which I'm sure makes the difficult task of rehearsing Berg's Lulu more pleasant. (A smiling baby helps them forget about all the characters that get killed off during the show.) Since she began rehearsals last week, Brenda has been working all day and, with the exception of dinner, all evening so she can prepare for the next day. On top of that, she provides all of Rowan's food (except for the occasional pureed carrot that he likes to wipe all over everything he can reach), and she hasn't gotten an uninterrupted night's sleep in close to seven months. The point is that Brenda is amazing and so are all of you other working moms.

It is definitely bed time over here. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

London

Greetings from London! Brenda, Rowan, and I arrived in the UK on Friday after a rather stressful morning. The flight itself was quite pleasant but making it to the plane on time was the tense part. When it comes to packing (and most other things) we tend to procrastinate, so our trips to the airport are usually more rushed than we'd like. This time we were finishing our packing and preparing our apartment for a friend who will be staying there while we're gone. Add to that a six month old baby who, frankly, can't pack or clean very well yet, and you end up not getting to the airport on time. Luck was on our side, however, and we made our flight.

Once we arrived in London we made our way to the baggage claim only to discover that our stroller and car seat weren't there. The baggage bloke we spoke to was very friendly and said our stuff would be delivered to us once they found it. In the meantime he offered us a stroller and a car seat as permanent loaners (apparently they don't want them back after kids use them because kids are germy). So we took our new carseat and hopped in a black cab and headed to our temporary home for the next couple of weeks.

Here I am with all of our luggage (sans our missing stroller and carseat) in Paddington Station.

After much hemming and hawing I've finally decided to rejoin Facebook. I've been wanting to share pictures of Rowan with you, dear blog readers, but I haven't yet because there is no way for me to limit who can access the blog and I don't want the entire world to be able to see pictures of him. So the solution I've come up with is a Facebook account. I plan on posting pictures of Rowan regularly (and not much else). If you'd like to see them, feel free to send me a friend request. In case you need it, my email address is chadcgraham@gmail.com.

Brenda has already had two days of rehearsal at English National Opera and by the sounds of it things are going well. I've also been working this week. In fact, I started a full-time job yesterday, and it's been a lot of fun. My title is stay-at-home Dad, although the "home" part isn't totally accurate. It's more like stay-at-Airbnb Dad. Anyway, I've got a great boss who takes three naps a day, smiles a lot, and loves to sit on my head.

It's getting late so I should call it a night. My boss is definitely a morning person. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

packing

Hey all! Sorry for the short and late post. Brenda, Rowan and I have been busy preparing for our upcoming trip to London. We'll be away from our Frankfurt home for over two months and we're trying to leave our place in good shape because we have a friend staying here while we're gone. There should be enough time to get everything done tonight as long as we don't sleep. On second thought, maybe we'll just leave the place messy. I'll try to write another post tomorrow once we're in the U.K. Until then, have a great night!

pianos in the workplace

Hey all! Summer is over (well not technically) and that's fine by me. Our sunny days and hot temps last week (around 90 fahrenheit or 32 celsius) have been replaced by clouds and cooler weather. The heat wasn't really bothering me, but it seemed to be bugging Rowan. We went in search of air conditioning one day, but the best I could do for him was the refrigerated section in a grocery store. I had fun telling him about all the different meats we weren't going to let him eat since we're raising him vegetarian. As with most of our conversations he just listened contentedly and smiled from time to time. (He's always going to react like that when I talk to him, right?) We went to Starbucks afterward, which could have been cooler. Germany has imported our overpriced coffee, but why not our air conditioning?

Brenda has still been hard at work on Lulu. It sounds like she'll be in great shape for rehearsals when they begin in a couple weeks. I think she partly wishes she'd done a role she already knew as her first role after having Rowan (instead of the hardest role I can think of), but I have no doubt that Lulu will be a great role for her and that she'll be very happy with having performed it.

Brenda at the office. 

All offices should have pianos in them.

Brenda just got back from participating in an opera lecture about mad scenes. Netflix and left over Indian food are waiting for us so I'd better get going. I hope you all have a great week and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

baby teeth imminent

Hey all! It's definitely still summer here in Frankfurt, and we've got the sunshine and heat to prove it. To enjoy the weather Brenda and I have been taking Rowan for walks in his stroller. He's almost as long as his bassinet now, so we decided to switch to the bigger kid attachment. Besides growing, we've noticed some other new developments in Rowan lately. He loves sitting up now and will only tolerate lying down for so long, and he's much stronger. It's also a lot easier to keep him happy, which makes our trips to the store much more relaxing. He'll be six months old soon, so we're going to start giving him solid food. Let the food fights begin!

Brenda is hard at work preparing Lulu for her upcoming gig in London. She's been going to the opera house almost every day to practice while Rowan and I stay home and do guy stuff, like play with stuffed animals and drool. She seems to have mixed feelings about going back to work when she's got this adorable little baby at home, but I think she's going to really enjoy it once she's back at it.

I just remembered that I haven't told you about our reentry into Germany. As you may recall, the border control agent told us in July that Rowan might have some trouble getting back into the country because he didn't have a permanent residence permit (or, in German, Niederlassungserlaubnis). Before flying back to Germany, Brenda and I made a plan just in case we had trouble getting into the country. We were going to tell the border agent that we'd be leaving in less than a month (because we're flying to London), and so Rowan should be admitted to Germany as a tourist. When the time came to reenter Germany and talk to the border agent, what happened? Nothing. He didn't even look at Rowan's passport. He looked at Brenda's and my IDs and then waved us through. We're in the process of getting Rowan the correct ID now so we can avoid any possible future problems with more scrutinizing border agents.

It's getting late over here so I should call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

back in Germany

Hey all! I wanted to write a brief post to let you know that we made it back to Frankfurt earlier today. Rowan's sixth flight was very good (he slept most of the time), and now we're going to find out how quickly he gets over jet-lag after flying this way. Brenda and I always have a harder time adjusting after flying to Germany, but hopefully it won't bother Rowan too much.

Our time on the East Coast was very nice. We saw family in New Jersey and Connecticut, and we took Rowan into Manhattan one morning to meet Brenda's voice teacher. Rowan even had his first cab ride. I was surprised by how nice everyone was in New York City. Compared to the midwest, I haven't found people in the Big Apple to be quite as friendly. Walk around with a baby in your arms and it's a whole different story. 

We're going to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

out east

Greetings from New Jersey! We flew out east earlier today so Brenda could have a few voice lessons before we head back to Germany. My aunt and uncle are kindly allowing us to stay at their place which has an amazing view of Manhattan. In addition to her voice lessons, Brenda and I plan on visiting some family in the area and introducing Rowan to more of his relatives. He will also get to add more states to his growing list of places visited. He's currently at five states and three countries. Not bad for a five month old, although I'm not sure he's fully appreciating the new locales. I pointed out the Empire State Building to him earlier, but he didn't react and just kept on drooling.

The past several days we've been having a wonderful time with Uncle Drew in Minneapolis. We went to the Minneasota State Fair and the Rennaisance Festival. Both were very fun and calorie laden. Some might say a bucket full of chocolate chip cookies is excessive, especially when chased by deep fried nachos, but when in Rome... (Did they have deep fryers in Rome? Is that why the empire fell?)

As I alluded to earlier, the great introductory Rowan trip of 2016 (or "Chendowan does America") is coming to a close. This time next week we'll be back in Germany. I think Brenda's looking forward to getting back to singing, and I'm definitely looking forward to my stay-at-home dad work.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you once we're back on the other side of the pond!

up north

Hey all! This belated blog post is coming to you from the Twin Cities. We spent most of the day yesterday in Iowa packing up our surprisingly large amount of stuff (we didn't travel lightly before the baby and he certainly hasn't lessened the load) before hitting the road to Minneapolis to see Uncle Drew. Much like our time in Wisconsin, our stay in Iowa was wonderful and it was hard to leave. Rowan has met many of our friends and family now including his three new cousins who were born in the weeks and months after Rowan arrived. So many babies!

Little Rowan is getting bigger all the time. Even though he's only five months old, he fits perfectly into nine month clothes. He has a very sweet disposition and for the most part only cries when he's either tired or hungry. He's been handling all the traveling really well, which is good because he's going to be doing a lot more of it in the coming weeks.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and we"ll talk to you next week!

going for gold

Well, we're back where we started. We began our vacation in Iowa a month ago and now we're back for more. Even though the Iowa State Fair is going on we're going to skip it and watch the Olympics instead. (I hope I'm not offending anyone here, but my attitude is that if you've seen one butter cow you've seen them all.) We'd also like Rowan to spend some more time with his cousins. We got to hang out with his five-year-old cousin Beatrice yesterday, and the two of them got along great.

Brenda has been preparing for her next gig in which she sings the title role in Berg's Lulu. She made the comment recently that it's probably the hardest piece, both vocally and musically, that she's ever studied. I have no doubt that she's going to be great in the part, probably even worthy of a medal. Hey, where's the opera category in the Olympics?

It's been great to spend so much time with our families this summer. A big downside to living in a foreign country is that we don't get to see our families as much as we'd like, but a huge benefit to Brenda's career is the freedom in between gigs to travel home. (The German government's generous vacation and maternity leave policies are also helpful.) Brenda has quite a bit of work in the U.S. in coming seasons, which will allow us to see family (and for family to see Rowan) more often.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

still in cheese country

Hey all! We're still having a great time in Wisconsin with Brenda's parents. We've been seeing lots of friends, taking trips to the farmer's market and just enjoying watching Rowan interact with his grandparents. Earlier this week we took a short trip to Door County, a popular vacation spot in Wiscosin, and introduced Rowan to some of our favorite Door County activities. We went to a drive-in movie, walked along the beach, and had some delicious frozen custard. He probably won't remember the trip so I guess we'll have to go back again when he's older. Darn.

We're hitting the road again this weekend to spend some more time with my family in Iowa. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Family time

Hey all! Brenda, Rowan and I are having a wonderful time in Wisconsin with Brenda's parents. Rowan has been meeting a lot of new people, and he's definitely not shy. (Maybe that comes later? Or not, if he takes after his dad.) We've been taking it easy for the most part, although Brenda has been working on her next opera role. It's great to be spending time with family and friends.

We don't have a good internet connection yet, but once we do we'll definitely share some pictures with you. Until next time, have a great week!

Have baby, will travel

Hello all! Writing to you from the road! Sorry for the delay in posting an entry. We are currently driving to Wisconsin, after spending 5 fun days in Florida with our dear friends Dan and Whitney. Our little dude continues to be a great little traveler (his flight count is already up to 3!) and he's also getting used to car travel! We'll try to post some pictures once we're connected to the internet again. Have a great week!

Rowan's first summer vacation

Hey all! We're back in the U.S. enjoying some time with family. Our flight back was, thankfully, uneventful. Rowan slept most of the trip and stayed fairly quiet when awake. We're flying to Florida later this week to hang out with our friends Dan and Whitney (and to lay on a beach), and we're hoping that Rowan will do just as well on that flight as he did on the last one.

Brenda's concert in Austria on Wednesday went well. I didn't get to hear it in person because Rowan and I were back in the hotel room getting ready for bed, but the Schubertiade was kind enough to provide Brenda with a recording. Our friends the Schuberts were there for Brenda's performance, and we got to spend some time with them the next morning when we all had breakfast.

Rowan had a lot of fun with Monika and Michael.

I've been patting myself on the back recently because of how well Brenda and I managed to navigate the unavoidable paper storm that comes with having a baby in Germany. We got Rowan a German birth certificate, a German tax number, a U.S. consular report of birth abroad, a U.S. social security number, a U.S. passport, Kindergeld (child money), Elterngeld (parent money), and we registered him with the Standesamt (civil registry office). Bam! We discovered recently that we overlooked one little thing, however. As we were going through German border control on Saturday, the agent told us that Rowan should have a residence permit like we do otherwise he would only be able to return to Germany as a tourist. We protested and explained that he was registered with the city and that we were permanent residents, but apparently that is irrelevant. Brenda and I can stay in Germany as long as we want, but our four-month-old son (who was born in Germany and has spent almost his entire life there) is a tourist. This is, of course, entirely my fault, and I have no doubt that U.S. immigration laws are equally (if not more) unfriendly. The only thing we can do at this point is fly back to Germany in September and hope they let Rowan into the country. After that we'll head over to the oh-so-charming foreigner's office and get this kid a residence permit. Hopefully that works out.

I'm not going to worry about that now, however. Instead, I'm going to go hang out with my family and think about lying on a beach. I hope you all get a chance to relax this summer, too! Until next time, have a great week!

let the traveling begin

Hey all! Greetings from Austria! Brenda, Rowan, and I took a longer-than-expected train trip to Austria today for Brenda's upcoming concert at the Schubertiade. We were supposed to arrive in time for a rehearsal at 4:30, but our train was cancelled so we had to take a later one. Rowan did quite well on his first trip outside of Frankfurt. There were a few loud moments, but, you know, he's a baby. It'll be interesting to see how he likes his first transatlantic flight this weekend. I think I already know how the people sitting around us are going to feel about it.

Last week the three of us made our way up to the Frankfurt city forest to enjoy a little time in nature. Brenda and I used to jog up there fairly regularly when we lived in our previous apartment, but it's a little too far away from our new place to be convenient. Brenda carried Rowan in a baby carrier for most of the walk. (We're trying to get him used to it because we plan on using the carrier a lot during our upcoming travels.) Rowan seemed to like his first foray into nature. He must be a treehugger like his parents.

Our lunch spot in the woods.

On the train today.

It's time to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

back at it

Hey all! Rowan just went down for a nap which means I should have about half an hour to write to you. When he used to nap in the baby wrap a couple weeks ago, he could sleep for two hours or more. Since making the switch to crib napping, however, his naps are shorter and more frequent. Having him sleep on his own certainly makes it easier to get things done around the apartment, but now and then I miss having an adorable baby sleeping on me. 

As you may remember from our previous blog posts, Brenda and I spent a lot of time on the road over the past several years. The more she gigged around, the more traveling we did. The past seven months or so have been out of the ordinary because, with the exception of a few weeks in Berlin in January, we've been in one place. It's been really nice to be settled while navigating the first few months of parentdom, but it's time to get back on the road. As I mentioned last week, Brenda has her first post-pregnancy gig in Austria next week. Shortly thereafter we fly to the U.S. to show off introduce Rowan to friends and family, and then Brenda's 16/17 season begins. We're still figuring out how we're going to do all of this with a baby in tow (e.g. Do we take the stroller or just carry Rowan everywhere? How many outfits will Rowan need? Do I get to take clothes, too?), but I'm confident that we'll figure it out. If we forget something, there's always Target.

My wonderful wife gave me a very thoughtful present last Christmas, and I finally got the chance to use it last week. Much to my chagrin, I don't sing much these days because I don't want to annoy our neighbors with opera arias (it's not a quiet art form). Brenda had the great idea to rent some time at a music studio for me, and last Wednesday I made my way over there. I had a lot of fun even though my voice was worn out after only twenty minutes. That didn't stop me from practicing for a full hour and a half, however. I'm looking forward to going again later this week.

After my practice session, Brenda and I met up and enjoyed some time outside. A little singer tip: pretzels and Radler help the voice recover. Or at least they don't hurt.

Rowan is awake so I need to get going. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday (or very likely Wednesday)!

mozart, monkeys, and misdemeanors

Hey all! I'm a day late again this week. What is up with me lately? Oh yeah, we have a baby. Not that it's his fault of course. It's just that I usually write the blog at the end of the day, and these days that's when Brenda and I put Rowan to bed, make dinner, and watch the fourth season of Orange is the New Black. But enough excuses! I'll try to be back on schedule next week.

Brenda, Rowan, and I had a fantastic time with Uncle Drew last week. His trip was too short as always, though. (His stay would only be long enough if he actually moved to Germany.) We may have packed on a pound or two while he was here (it'd be rude not to help him eat all that German chocolate), but we don't mind. We've been trying to be more active since he left. Brenda even went out for her first jog since giving birth, and she said it felt great. We want to get as fit as possible before flying back to the U.S. because the scale tends to move the wrong direction when we're back home visiting friends and family. 

A few days before we begin our summer vacation, Brenda has a concert in Austria. She's been singing regularly to get ready for the performance, and she noticed during her last practice session that she unintentionally brought one of Rowan's friends with her...

After Brenda sent me this picture I told her to quit monkeying around and get back to work. (This blog definitely needs more puns.)

When Brenda and I started this blog almost eight years ago (wait what?!?), we thought it would be a good way for people to follow what we were up to and for us to share the occasional funny story about living in a different country. Since that time Brenda and I have become accustomed to much of German culture (or at least the parts of it that we're regularly exposed to), and what once struck us as odd behavior now seems normal. That said, we occasionally still experience something out of the ordinary like we did on one of Drew's last days in town. 

Drew and I were sitting on the couch early one evening when he noticed something outside of the window in Rowan's room. I turned to look and was surprised to see a woman staring back at me. It was a surprise because we live on the third floor of our building. The woman had climbed the pine tree behind our building and was now close enough to our apartment that she could touch the window. I waved at her (because it seemed like the polite thing to do), but she didn't wave back. Shortly thereafter she started making her way back down the tree, and Drew and I decided to get off the couch to take a closer look. That's when we discovered that the woman was not wearing any clothes.

Now having never been a peeping Tom I am certainly no expert, but common sense seems to suggest that there is no reason for the peeper to be naked, especially when she is climbing a pine tree. We don't really know why this woman decided to climb our tree, but we did find out that she is, or at least was, a friend of our neighbor downstairs. He has since told me that she will be leaving the country (I'm assuming for non-tree-related reasons), and that our building is safe. As far as I'm aware, naked tree climbing is not actually normal behavior in Germany, but I'll let you know if any of our German readers disagree.

Brenda went to the opera tonight and left me in charge of Rowan. He's fed, has a clean diaper, and is asleep. This parenting thing is a piece of cake...sometimes. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Say Uncle

Hey all! We've been having a great time with Uncle Drew this week. Rowan has changed a lot since Drew's last visit in April, and I think Drew is enjoying seeing what his three-month-old nephew can do. He also seems to enjoy holding Rowan, which he wasn't able to do much on his last trip because Drew was fighting a cold at the time. He's healthy this time around, though, and he's had lots of cuddle time with our little guy. In fact, Rowan has even taken a couple of naps on his uncle in the baby wrap.

I hope you'll forgive me for keeping this post shorter than usual. Drew is here for less than a week and we want to enjoy as much time with him as we can. Until next time, have a great week!

in case of emergency

Hey all! Brenda's parents flew back home on Saturday after spending a lot of quality time with Rowan. They took him for several walks, introduced him to some classical music, read to him, and made him smile a whole bunch. We were sad to see them go but are really looking forward to seeing them again next month when we're back in the U.S.

On Saturday Brenda and I went to a five and a half hour first aid class for new parents. The class covered a wide variety of topics, but it seemed to boil down to learning exactly when to call 911 (actually it's 112 in Germany). At the end of the class the teacher said something to the effect of "I hope your baby doesn't have any of the problems we discussed today." We're hoping that too.

Our little guy has been starting to sleep on his own a little more lately. The last few nights we've been able to put him to bed a few hours before we turn in, which has allowed us to enjoy a little alone time. He's also been making some sleeping progress during the day. Normally he naps in the baby wrap, on Brenda's lap, or in the stroller, but yesterday Brenda got him to sleep on his own. It was an exciting development because it meant that we could get other things done like take a shower or write a few emails. I don't want to get my hopes up too high, but I may even get to clean the bathroom one of these days.

It's time to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

sunshine and strollers

Hey all! 'Tis I, the loving wife and mother! Rowan unexpectedly fell asleep in my arms tonight, so I'm typing this one-handed. I view it as a good way to work on my patience, which I hear parents need a lot of. 

This past week has been full of more grandparent fun, as my own parents arrived in Frankfurt last Wednesday. I think they've been enjoying seeing the changes in Rowan since their last visit. He is much more alert and loves to smile at their silly antics! They've even taken him out for some solo stroller walks to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having. Of course, Rowan isn't the only one benefitting from the grandparents being in town. We've been enjoying some of their delicious cooking, and in true grandparent fashion, they agreed to babysit so that Chad and I could go on a date and prove to ourselves that we still like each other. Well, when I say they agreed to babysit, I actually mean they practically kicked us out of the apartment so they could have Rowan all to themselves. :-) He's got them wrapped around his little finger! I can't blame them - we're all smitten! 

Another fun part of this past week is that a family friend of ours came up from Bavaria to visit us with her boyfriend. We realized on this trip that we met her almost 17 years ago, when she stayed with us during a foreign exchange trip. It's been a joy to stay in touch all these years, and we were so happy to meet her boyfriend (especially since he brought an enormous bottle of beer from their local brewery!). Rowan seemed to like them a lot too, and was so well-behaved that we all got to enjoy lunch out at a restaurant! 

That's about it for now! My parents are here until Saturday, and then they'll have to wait to see Rowan again until this summer when we come to visit. We can't wait! Have a great week!

trial and error parenting

Hey all! It's been another quiet week here in Frankfurt filled with lots of dirty diapers and repeated attempts to make our little guy smile. (By the way, those two things aren't mutually exclusive - dirtying his diaper often makes him smile. And us too for that matter.) We realized the other day that we've established a routine for il bambino which, according to parenting experts, is important. We don't put too much stock into parenting advice, however. We figure our first child can be our guinea pig for this whole parenting thing, and then we'll really know how to do it in case we decide to have a second child.

We had our second appointment with our pediatrician yesterday (or fourth if you count the two that happened at the hospital in the days immediately following the birth), and our poor little guy got his first vaccinations. He got two shots - one in each leg at the same time - and he wasn't happy about it, but he got over it pretty quickly. The vaccinations were for eight or nine different things, some of which I'd never heard of and am pretty sure I never got. Our little man was also weighed and measured, and he's a good sized kid. Especially his head, which is pretty big for his age. (I wonder who he got that from.) We go back next month for round two of the vaccinations.

Last week Brenda and I were out and about one morning and she decided to take our little guy to the opera house. He got to meet a whole bunch of Brenda's colleagues and sit in on a musical rehearsal of Carmen. He seemed to like it, although he started to sing along at one point so Brenda had to take him out of the theater. We're still working on his opera etiquette.

We've been having quite a bit of rain lately, at least by Frankfurt standards, which has me thinking that it's April and not almost June. There has also been a lot of thunder and lightning, which we really haven't experienced much here. We like it, though. It reminds us of home.

We're really excited to spend the next week with Brenda's parents. I'm sure they'll be great at getting smiles out of our little guy. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

will work for smiles

Hey all! It's been quiet around here this past week, figuratively speaking of course. Full-throated crying has become a part of our daily routine since our little guy arrived. (He's usually the one crying.) We're getting to know his personality more every day and figuring out how best to keep him in a good mood. And when the mood is right, we are rewarded with a whole lot of adorable smiles.

I enjoyed a little one-on-one time with our Bub this past week while Brenda went to the opera house to practice. It was her first time singing in three months, which is a long time for her. In fact, she has never gone that long without singing before. Apparently her voice didn't feel exactly the same as when she last used it, but that's to be expected. I'm sure she'll feel like her normal virtuosic self in no time.

We're really looking forward to Brenda's parents coming to visit again next week. Our little dude has certainly grown since they saw him in April. It's surprising to look at pictures of him from that time. He's changed so much already, and it's not just his appearance. He's been sleeping a little longer at night, which we're certainly happy about (especially Brenda since she does all of the feedings in the middle of the night).

And speaking of sleep, it's time to hit the hay. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

back to work (sorta)

Hey all! Brenda's maternity leave (Babypause in German) is officially* coming to an end this week, which means it's time for her to head back to work. Luckily for us, Brenda has a very unusual career that allows her to go back to work without actually going back to work. By that I mean she can prepare for her upcoming performances here at home while holding a sleeping baby. We don't have a piano, however, so Brenda will head into the opera house from time to time to pound out some notes there. Her next part, the title role in Berg's Lulu, probably won't be the easiest music to learn and a piano would definitely come in handy.

On Sunday we had a lovely afternoon with our friends, the Schuberts. They came down to Frankfurt to meet our new little guy, and we had a really nice time visiting with them. Also, Susanne brought homemade muffins and a homemade cheesecake, which were really delicious!

 Brenda, our little dude, and the Schuberts.

My parents flew back home on Saturday, and they're already well on their way to getting over jet-lag. My dad is wearing Brenda's birthday present to me in this picture, which is a traditional German coat (called Tracht). I think it suits him well and am regretting not sending it home with him so he could start a new fashion trend in Iowa.

It's getting late over here, so I should probably wrap this up. It's funny how my definition of "late" has shifted a couple of hours earlier since our little guy showed up. Anyway, I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

(*In Germany mothers get six weeks of maternity leave before the baby is born and eight weeks afterwards.)

date night 2.0

Hey all! So remember how I said I'd write on Tuesday unless Brenda and I were out on a date again? I wrote that as a joke, but we did end up shirking our blog duties for a second week in a row so we could catch a flick (The Jungle Book) and get some grub. Now it may not seem like it from our recent posts, but Brenda and I have actually been doing quite a bit of parenting. We don't just go to movies everyday and let our newborn fend for himself at home (although he'd probably be fine - it turns out that babies sleep a lot). My parents kindly agreed to babysit again, so our little guy was in good hands yesterday while we went out on the town.

It's been great having my folks here (and not just because they're excellent babysitters), and we'll be sad to see them head back home this weekend. My attempts to talk them into moving to Germany have failed so far, but I may have more luck if Trump gets elected.

There's a screaming child in the next room, and my newly activated fathering instincts are telling me that I should probably go check it out. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

babysitters wanted

Hey all! I'm a day late this week. How did that happen? I'm going to blame our kid because time has taken on new meaning since he showed up. Everyday I wake up expecting to get a lot done, but then I change a few diapers and all of a sudden it's bed time. It's a strange thing. Last night, however, Brenda and I took the night off from childcare. My parents are in town visiting, and they kindly agreed to babysit our little man while we went out on a date. (I know we should have stayed home to write the blog entry instead, but we really wanted to eat some nachos in a movie theater. I'm sure you understand.) Our date taught us a few things. First, after over six weeks of child rearing Brenda and I still like each other. Second, our little guy was fine without us for several hours. And third, since we know he can manage well without us, we should go on more dates.

 Our little guy has been enjoying some tummy time everyday. In this picture he's laying on an adorable quilt my mom made.

Supermom Brenda taking care of our little dude while making pancakes at the same time.

Well, it's time to hit the hay. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!*

(*Unless we're on another date.)

daddy duty

Hi all! Mama bear coming at you today! Our little dude is fast asleep in daddy's arms now, and we're trying to keep it that way, so that frees me up to do the blog! This past week included some firsts, like going to a friend's house, and actually staying there for the afternoon! That meant a diaper change and eating in a different environment! I have to say, he did very well. The destination was Barb and Michael's apartment, and das Baby was kind enough to let Barb hold him! Until of course he decided he wanted the kind of comfort that only mommy can provide. Another first (also involving Michael) was that we all went to a cafe, and I got to eat a piece of cake and drink a cappuccino, all while the little dude slept in the baby wrap. Chad and I managed a solo trip to a cafe yesterday, again thanks to the magic sleepy power of the baby wrap. Unfortunately the weather has turned cold again in Frankfurt, but last week was quite beautiful, and we took advantage of it by going on a few walks along the river. One of those evenings, we joined the masses at an outdoor cafe and had a quick drink. Of course, everyone else was drinking big beers, and we stuck to the non-alcoholic variety, but it was still lovely!
So, as you can tell, our lives pretty much completely revolve around our new little human. We are so excited for the second set of grandparents to join us on Thursday and meet our love-bug! Now all we can hope for is the sunshine to return.

Displaying the magic of the baby wrap - he slept the whole time we were out enjoying the sunshine!

Hey all! Chad here. Our little guy woke up and realized that I wasn't mom, and he wasn't happy about it because it's dinner time. So mommy duty has begun and I should try to get some things done around the apartment while I've got the chance. We hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

learning to multitask

Hey all! Here's a first for the blog: I'm typing the entire post with one hand. My other hand is busy supporting an ever-growing baby as he sleeps on my chest. Brenda and I have been trying to develop techniques that allow us to look after our little one while also getting other things done. The baby sling has helped a lot with that. Brenda can put on the sling, pop the baby in, and (most of the time) he'll go right to sleep. Then she's free to move around the apartment and do whatever she wants. Unfortunately, I haven't had as much luck with the sling, but at least the one-handed typing thing seems to be working out.

Brenda's parents flew back home on Saturday after a short trip that was filled with lots of cooking, cleaning and baby holding. All of their hard work has allowed us to eat delicious home cooked meals everyday without a dust bunny in sight. They also babysat for us one afternoon so Brenda and I could venture outside to enjoy the spring weather. I don't recall the words "diaper" or "burp cloth" being mentioned at all during our outing. It was nice.

Brenda, the baby and I are on our own again until my parents come next week. We've got plans to visit our friends Barb and Michael tomorrow, which will be our first time going to someone else's place with the baby. We'll see how the little guy likes public transportation.

The baby woke up and he appears to be trying to communicate with me. It's hard to decipher what he wants, but what he lacks in clarity he makes up for in volume (where did I leave those ear plugs...). I'm guessing he wants a midnight snack, which means it's time for me to wrap this up. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Very Helpful Visitors

Hey all! How can it be blog day again already? The days are flying by as we continue to adjust to life with a baby. Fortunately for us, we've had a lot of help lately, which has made our lives easier. As you may remember from his blog post last week, Drew was here and he did a ton of cooking, cleaning, and baby holding for us. Brenda's parents are here now and they're doing more of the same. We're feeling very spoiled.

 We took advantage of the beautiful spring weather yesterday by going for a walk along the river.

We didn't make Drew work the whole time. He got to enjoy a few minutes with the baby before getting back to scrubbing the bathroom floor.

After we told our midwife that our little guy had some irritated skin, she recommended we go to a pharmacy and buy "healing wool." I was surprised when I saw it, but it seems to be doing the trick. I don't remember seeing wool in pharmacies in the U.S., but then again I've never shopped in the baby section before. 

We've been venturing out with our little guy every few days. Instead of taking the stroller, most of the time we wrap him in a baby sling and Brenda carries him. He seems to really like it.

It's getting pretty late over here so I'd better call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Uncle Drew's Super Blog Adventure Time!

Hello to all you loyal Chenda blog readers! It's time for another one of my guest appearances on the blog, but this time I've got a new title: Uncle Drew! I flew in to Frankfurt this past Friday evening to help welcome the new Chenda babe to the world. Let me tell you, that little guy is the sweetest thing ever. I am so happy to have the pleasure of spending this time with the new family!

Chad and Brenda seem to be handling this parent thing quite well and are proving to be a great team. I'm majorly impressed by how easy they make this parent thing look! I am aware that being new parents isn't probably as easy as they make it look, though...So this trip offers new kinds of adventures! Those adventures have involved a few trips to the grocery store with Chad, a couple visits from friends meeting the babe for the first time, and one really big adventure: Brenda ventured outside without a baby for the first time since the birth!

A delicious cappuccino by the Main!

The days are flying by a little faster than they usually do when I'm visiting, so I'll keep this post short. Tomorrow morning, my parents (and Brenda's, of course), are arriving in Frankfurt to meet their grandson, which will be very exciting! I'll let the Chenda tell you all about it next week. 

Time to go coo over my nephew again! 

diaper duty

Hey all! So it's been an eventful week. Our little guy arrived over a week ago, and we've been home from the hospital since last Wednesday. We're definitely in an adjustment period (which is inevitable whenever you get a new roommate), but we've made some major strides over the past couple of days. The biggest accomplishment has been that Brenda is actually starting to get a decent amount of sleep, which she was lacking for several days after the birth. I was quite amazed by how well she functioned with almost no sleep, but I'm glad she doesn't have to keep doing it.

Of Brenda's recent achievements, the birth was by far the most awe inspiring. Now that I've witnessed the birthing process first hand, I have a whole new respect for moms everywhere. Not that I ever thought giving birth would be easy, but it's one thing to hear about it and another thing to see it up close. Brenda decided not to use pain medication, and it was clear that the pain was excruciating at times. Fortunately, once the contractions started happening regularly, the birth went very quickly. My big accomplishment was that I didn't pass out (although I did freak out quite a bit).

On the whole, our experience of having a baby in a German hospital was quite positive. Our room was private and had beds for both of us, and we stayed for three nights after the birth (we had the option of staying up to seven nights). Now that we're back home we have a midwife coming almost everyday to check on our little guy and to answer any questions we might have about parenting. For instance, today she showed us how to give him a bath.

Our plan for the next week is to keep enjoying time with our little dude and learning how best to care for him. As the weather improves we may even attempt a few more outings. We've ventured outside twice so far with il bambino, and he did great on both trips. One of these days we'll take him to the opera house to meet Brenda's coworkers.

So that's what we've been up to. I hope you have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

tune in tomorrow

Hey folks! I'm afraid this week's post is going to have to wait until tomorrow. There were too many diapers to change and hours of sleep to catch up on to get the post done today. I hope you'll check back tomorrow. Until then, have a nice evening!

the baby is here!

Hey all! This is just a quick update to let you know that our baby is here, and that he and Brenda are doing great. I'm keeping this short because we have a lot to do and we're both wiped out, but I'll tell you more in a subsequent post. Until then, have a great week!

playing the waiting game

Hey all! First things first, Brenda is still pregnant. Our doctor thought the baby would arrive a few weeks early, but the little guy seems to be comfortable right where he is. The due date is eight days away, and Brenda is now seeing the doctor every couple of days just to keep an eye on things. Other than those appointments, Brenda has been crocheting a baby blanket, baking cookies, and meeting up with friends for coffee. Meanwhile I've been working on taxes, finishing projects around the apartment, and meeting up with friends for coffee (we've got that in common). One such project was this shelf in the baby's room...

It's the picture that's crooked, not the shelf. I swear.

So that's what we've been up to. I hope you're all having a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

the calm before the (diaper) storm

Hey all! Well, the baby decided to stay inside for another week, which means that Brenda is just a day shy of being thirty-eight weeks pregnant. That is good news as far as the baby's development is concerned. We'll get to have another peek at the little guy tomorrow during our doctor's appointment and find out how much bigger he's gotten over the past couple of weeks.

While we wait for Herr Knödel to make his debut, we've been continuing to cross things off of our to-do list, enjoy time with friends, and stock up on sleep. Basically, we've been doing things we won't be able to do once he arrives. 

Brenda and our friends Paula and Barb met up for pedicures over the weekend.

The plan is to keep doing what we're doing until it's time to go to the hospital (which is literally around the corner). The baby's room is looking pretty darn cute, although I still need to put the curtain rod up. We'll have to take a picture to share with you once it's all done.

I hope you're all having a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday! Unless Brenda's in labor. :-)

our bags are packed, but not quite ready to go!

Hello all! It's the expectant mama writing at you today. I'm very happy to say I'm still expecting, because last Wednesday our doctor told us we should be ready any day for the baby to come! Even though I was supposed to have 4 weeks (3 weeks as of tomorrow) left of pregnancy, my body was/is giving signs that the baby will come early. So that meant as soon as we got home from the appointment last week we packed our hospital bag, and made some purchases online that we had been dragging our feet on. Nothing like the thought of an imminent infant to light a fire under our bums!! Of course, while getting all of that stuff done, I was supposed to take it easy as well, in order to try to postpone labor, since it'd be best if the little one reached 37 weeks, which I'm happy to say will be the case! We're much more prepared than we were a week ago, and still had a chance to relax with friends. On Friday we had a couple of good friends over for a bit of a movie day, and on Saturday we were actually invited by the inhabitant of our old apartment to come over for a delicious home cooked dinner. It was quite strange having to ring the doorbell to be let in to a place we lived in for over 5 years! To finish the weekend off, another friend came over on Sunday and cooked us a delectable brunch. We felt quite spoiled!
Hopefully we have a little more time before we become a family of three, but until then, we're trying to get things done that we'll probably be too tired to focus on after the little one comes. This includes some music learning, some tax prep, some filling out of German forms... But also just enjoying each other's company! Tonight we went to a movie (Hail, Caesar!) and had a grand ol' time. As excited as we are to meet our little guy, it's nice to enjoy these last moments of non-sleep-deprived coupledom! We'll see what next week has in store for us... Until then, have a great week!

picture recap

Hey all! Brenda and I are back online, which means I can once again share photos with you. Hooray! Below are some photos I wanted to share with you a couple weeks ago. We haven't been taking too many pictures lately because we've been spending most of our time getting ready for our Knödel to arrive. Last week we registered with the hospital we plan on having the baby in, and we also had our first birthing class. There are still a few things that need to get done around the apartment, but we're getting close to being finished with those. It's a good thing, too. The baby is due in just over four weeks!

 Brenda's parents and our friends, Barb and Michael, helped us decorate for the baby shower we had a couple weeks ago.

 We ordered some delicious cupcakes for the occasion.

 One of the activities during the shower was for our guests to paint designs (using fabric paints) on onesies and socks.

 Brenda during her curtain call after her most recent performance. Her maternity leave officially began a few days later.

 Brenda and her parents backstage after the show.

 The day after the baby shower was Brenda's birthday, which meant she got to open both birthday presents and baby shower presents.

Our plan is to keep nesting and resting over the next week. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!