Sophie Belle!

Steph here! I just wanted to pop by really quick to give you all an update on Sophie Belle! First off, THANK YOU so much for all of the wonderful comments about our new arrival!!

She is doing really well. She has lost a little weight, which the doctors assure us is very normal. At the moment she still has a feeding tube in so that they can make sure she is getting the right amount of milk and she can gain the calories. Yesterday she weighed 1 kilo and 770 grams, which is around 4 pounds. They will check her weight again tomorrow to see how she is progressing. She is still in the incubator to regulate her body temperature. She is also turning a little yellow and they think she might have jaundice... so they will be doing a little blood work to check on that. If she does have jaundice they will put her in an incubator with UV lights. (Jon and I both had jaundice as babies)

She is the most amazing and precious blessing Jon and I could ever ask for and we are so very much in love with our new baby girl. We love getting to visit her throughout the day and when we get to hold her it is even more amazing! I just can't get enough of her! I cannot wait until she gets to be with us full time and we can finally take her home. We miss her so much when we are not with her. Please keeps us in your thoughts and prayers that she starts putting on weight so she can leave the NICU and come back to Germany with us. We will be here in Bruges until she is released from the hospital.

I am feeling better and better every day. I never thought I'd have an emergency c-section, so recovering from that is interesting to say the least. I'm getting great care here at this hospital in Bruges. I am hoping with my continued progress that they will let me out on Friday. Then Jon and I have plans to stay at a hotel near the hospital so that we can be as close to Sophie as possible.

Jon is working on writing a little bit of a birth story to share with you guys. He'll be posting that soon! It is definitely an adventure story for sure, so stay tuned.

Here are some pictures of the little Sophie Belle!


Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!
We will be back with an update soon.

Until then,
Tschuss!

She's Here!

So a funny thing happened in Bruges...



WE HAD A BABY!!!!

Jon reporting here:

Mom and Baby Sophie Belle are doing well. Sophie came about 6 weeks early and is tipping the scales at just under 4 and a half pounds. She will need to stay here for about 2 weeks, so our weekend trip will be getting extended a bit. More details of Sophie's Baby Story to come soon.

Jon

From Your Favorite Irish Girl...

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the
Adventures of Jon and Steph!

"May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand."

Jon and I are off tomorrow morning for an exciting "babymoon" adventure to Bruges! We are so excited to be able to get away for a weekend together and enjoy some QT together before little Sophie arrives. We have been wanting to visit Bruges ever since we've moved to Germany and this weekend we finally have the opportunity. I can't wait to eat my weight in Belgium chocolate and waffles! I'm also taking my new lens with me and plan on taking a lot of pictures... so be prepared for picture overload come Monday!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Wear your green with pride and enjoy your St. Patty's Day!!

Until Monday,
Tschuss!

34 Weeks!

Hello lovely family and friends! I hope y'all are doing great on this wonderful Wednesday! Things are great on our side of the world. Yesterday we had the most beautiful day in Germany! And today the weather is still pretty warm... but sadly the sun has gone away. At least it is getting warmer and warmer everyday. Spring is definitely around the corner and I could not be more thrilled. The winters here seem to last FOREVER and I am definitely over the cold!

I wanted to do a quick 34 Weeks pregnancy update! It is SO exciting to think that I only have 6 weeks left in my pregnancy! And in 41 days we will have a beautiful baby girl!!


How Far Along: 34 Weeks!

Size of Baby: 4.22 pounds (as of our doctors appointment yesterday.) About the size of a cantaloupe and 18 inches long.

Total Weight Gain: 21 pounds! Eeek

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle!

Movement: Yes. She is still moving all around and I LOVE every bit of it!

Sleep: Not great. This week has been rough, I've started getting leg aches/cramps that keep me up at night.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity jeans and pants, some maternity shirts but mostly my pre-pregnancy shirts.

Symptoms: I feel pretty great this week! Still struggling with high blood pressure.

Cravings: ANYTHING and everything!

What I Miss: Wine and beer! Sleeping on my belly and back.

What I Look Forward to: Meeting Sophie! And receiving all of the things we've ordered for her nursery and things we'll need for when she arrives! I


I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Until next time...
Tschuss!

Mom Mobile!

Hello lovely family and friends! How was your weekend? Ours was great! As always, it flew by... but we did have a really nice weekend. We even had a BEAUTIFUL day in Germany on Saturday. The sun was shining and it was around 50 degrees. It was amazing and reminded me that Spring is just around the corner. I LONG for those spring days of sitting out on our balcony, grilling, and enjoying a couple brews. Not too much longer now!

I have been meaning to share a quick post about the new car Jon and I bought. I am absolutely in love with it. It could just be the fact that it is practically brand new, but I have always been an SUV girl, so of course I am just thrilled to have this.

Our new "mom mobile!"

It is a Nissan Rogue. Jon is a HUGE Nissan guy, so when he ran across this car, he just knew it would be perfect for our little family. It is a 2010, and as I said before practically brand new. The woman who owned it before bought it and then shortly after ended up buying a brand new Mercedes and pretty much just left the Rogue in the dust. When we went to see it, I was amazed at how nice and clean it was, and how new it still smelled. I believe we got a really good deal out of the car and I think it'll be a good size for the three of us. We have a Golf right now and I just knew that wouldn't work for us once Sophie arrived. I know babies come with so much extra baggage, not to mention the stroller and car seat. It just wouldn't have been easy. I know this Rogue will be much better suited for our family and I can't wait to take it on it's first road trip.

One more quick thing I wanted to share... Jon and I have been looking for a mobile to put above or on Sophie's crib and just weren't having any luck, until this weekend! I got on Etsy.com (the best site ever) and came across this little beauty.

This mobile was designed to coordinate with
our bedding from Pottery Barn!
(Pictures are from SugarAndSpiceStudios on Etsy.com)

I LOVE it and can't wait to receive it!
It'll be perfect for her room.

Well, I'm off to get ready for a little work!
I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Until next time,
Tschuss!

33 Weeks!

Hello lovely family and friends! I hope you all are doing great!
I'm fantastic, as it is Friday, and that means it's time for another weekend! This week has been a busy one, and I am definitely looking forward to a couple of days to relax.

I'm a couple days behind on this post...

Tuesday we had another doctors appointment to check on Miss Sophie! She is growing like a weed now. The doctor says she looks great, which is always the best news! Here are the newest photos of baby Barrett.


I just love going to our doctors appointments so we can see this precious face! We got to see lots of video of her moving around and touching her face. It was the most amazing sight. Jon was even able to film a little bit of video for us to share with our families. I just can't wait for her to be here. I can't wait to see her, hold, and snuggle her. I cannot wait to love on her! I hope these next 7 weeks fly by so that we can finally meet our little girl!

Here is my 33 Week Update

How Far Along: 33 Weeks!

Size of Baby: A little over 4 pounds. She is now the size of a pineapple/honeydew. And over 17 inches in length.

Total Weight Gain: 18 pounds

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle

Movement: Lots! She is still moving all around and I LOVE it. (Even when she wakes me up doing gymnastics at 5:00 a.m.)

Sleep: So, so...

Maternity Clothes: Definitely maternity pants! Still a combination of my shirts and maternity shirts.

Cravings: Nothing too specific this week. I just eat anything and everything!

Symptoms: Still the weird vision loss! I thought I had conquered it, but it came back with a vengeance yesterday. Silly blood pressure!

What I Miss: Wine. And sleeping on my back and belly. Also, bending down to put my shoes on. Putting boots on has to be the hardest thing!

What I Look Forward to: I look forward to the rest of Sophie's things arriving. We put in a huge order yesterday of things we've been meaning to buy like her swing, a bouncer, etc etc. I can't wait to receive those packages.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to get this house cleaned up and get some much needed laundry done.

Until Monday,
Tschuss!

Weekend Update

Hello lovely friends and family! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a great weekend, but AS ALWAYS it flew by way too fast.

Friday night Jon took me out on a date! We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Symposium. It is a Greek restaurant and their food is to die for. I could literally swim in a vat of their tzaziki, it is Heavenly. After gorging ourselves (or maybe just me) we went back to our house and were in bed by 8:00! It's an exciting life we lead! But I couldn't help it, I was in a Greek food coma. And I think Sophie enjoyed it too.

Saturday morning we got up early and got ready for our fun day to Rudesheim to watch the Fasching parade. I took over 100 pictures from that day! It was so fun to see the Germans kick back, relax, and have a good time. We saw so many different costumes, from a dude dressed up as a Ghostbuster, to dudes dressed up like girls. We really had a great time. What is so fun about the parades is that not only do they throw candy from their floats, but they pour booze into your cups as they drive by. Everyone was in wine Heaven. (Except for me of course... I was just drooling over the wine.)

Sarah and me

My most favorite little man, Evans!!
(Sarah's son)

Evans and Jon sticking their tongues out!

Me and Evans

Silly Germans in their costumes!

After 6 straight hours of being on our feet, we were pooped! After the parade we hopped a train and headed home. I don't think I moved from the couch for the rest of the night. Being 32 weeks pregnant and standing for that long, WORE me out. And my poor hands and feet swelled up like crazy. My toes looked like "little smokie" sausages! We spent the evening watching my new FAVORITE show, Alias! I am completely hooked on this tv show and thank goodness we bought all 5 seasons on DVD because I literally can't wait to watch each episode.

Sunday, Jon and I went to look at a new "mommy" car for me! And I absolutely fell in love with it. It is a black Nissan Rogue, 2010... it's practically brand new, as the woman who owns it never drove it because she bought a brand new Mercedes. It is in pristine condition and even still smells brand new. I am so EXCITED because we go pick it up tomorrow and I will have a new mom mobile! Yippie! I think it'll be a perfect size vehicle for the three of us. I'll post pics of it soon!

Now, I'm off to get some much needed work done around this house.
I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!
I'll be back tomorrow with a 33 Weeks update.

Until then,

Tschuss!

The Bedding

Hello lovely bloggers and friends! How are you all today? I am stoked it's finally Friday! I LOVE the weekends and this weekend is sure to be a fun time. Right now in Germany there is a celebration called Fasching aka Carnival. It is a festival that begins right before lent where people dress up in all types of crazy costumes and masks, let loose and have a blast! It's so nice to see Germans taking it easy and having a huge celebration. We've had the opportunity to see Fasching in Koln and Mainz, and this year we are heading to the Fasching parade in Rudesheim to be a part of the festivities. I can't wait to take loads of pictures and see all of the craziness that is Fasching! Who knows, I might even pull out my old blue wig that I wore last year!

On another note, I realized when I posted about Sophie's nursery, I didn't add any pictures of her bedding. We actually just received all of her bedding in the mail yesterday which was so exciting! (I always love getting packages.) I absolutely adore her bedding and think it is going to match perfectly in her room. I received three fitted sheets, a bed skirt, and a bumper to add to what I already had, the quilt and matching pillow. I was surprised to find the bumper completely dirty... it is so unlike Pottery Barn. BUT, leave it to my amazing friend Sarah... she called them up for me immediately (knowing I would just deal with it) and explained to them the situation and that it's almost impossible to fit a huge bumper into our teeeeeny tiny German washers/dryers and they were kind enough to get another one in the mail to me! How AWESOME! Thanks to Sarah (my friend with brass balls), the problem of the dingy dirty YET brand new bumper is solved! I was totally impressed that she didn't think twice about calling them up, as I would have totally blown it off, washed my expensive bumper, and probably ruined it! Crisis averted! And it was very cool of Pottery Barn to send me another one.

Anyway... here are pictures of her bedding:

Pictures are from the Pottery Barn website.

The front of the bedding.
We have an espresso crib.

The Quilt
(Minus the monogramming)

The bumper and the fitted sheet.

There is also a super cute little quilted pillow that matches, but they don't have a picture of it on their website. I've already washed the fitted sheets and I can't wait to put them on her bed... I'm just waiting for her water proof mattress pads to arrive and we'll be in business.

What do y'all think of the bedding?

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!
I'll be back Monday with a weekend update and hopefully some fun pictures of Fasching!

Until Monday,

Tschuss!

32 Weeks!

I am officially 32 weeks pregnant! I can't believe it... although it now seems that time has stopped! It started slowing down around 26 weeks and now it feels I have dramatically frozen in time, in fact it feels like time is moving backward. I could have sworn I was further along in my pregnancy! I guess when you are ordered by your doctor to "take it easy and stay off of your feet" time does seem to stop. But thinking positively, I only have 8 more weeks until Sophie arrives. I am counting down the days and am filled with excitement! I just can't wait until she is here!!

Here is a super quick 32 week update:

How Far Along: 32 Weeks!

Size of Baby: About 3.75 pounds. The size of a Jicama??? (I don't even know what that is!)

Total Weight Gain: Not exactly sure, but it's definitely adding up. I'll find out next week at the doc's.

Gender: Girl. Sophie Belle!!

Movement: Lots! I feel her move so much more now and I love every movement. It's obvious she is getting stronger too, because some of those little kicks aren't so little anymore.

Sleep: So, so. I just get up several times in the middle of the night when mother nature calls.

Maternity Clothes: Yup! All maternity jeans and most maternity shirts. I can still fit into some of my pre-pregnancy shirts.

Cravings: CUPCAKES! My WONDERFUL friend Jessica stopped by this morning bearing these scrumptious gifts.

She brought me 4 cupcakes (which I do NOT plan on sharing with Jon.) She has no idea how happy she made me. It literally made my whole day and I can't wait until I get to bite into those. Not to mention they are HEALTHY cupcakes, all 100% Vegan. So I am actually doing my body a favor by eating them!

Symptoms: Weird vision issues and still headaches. But I'm trucking along!

What I Miss: Wine, WINE, and WINE!!!! Not too much longer now. I also miss sleeping on my stomach and back!


I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday! Tomorrow is Friday and I couldn't be more thrilled. I always look forward to another weekend.

Showered with Love and Gifts

This weekend my wonderful friend Sarah threw me a fantastic baby shower! I am so thankful for Sarah! Being so far away from home makes you long for friendship, and she has definitely become a very important friend in my life. We had a fun group of ladies join us on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Sophie's arrival in 8 weeks. I was so surprised at how many people were able to attend and the wonderful gifts that we received. I am so touched by the generosity of my friends! Sadly, I did not get a picture of the whole group, but I did get a couple of pictures of the cute setup. Once the party started I totally forgot all about the camera and was too focused on enjoying myself! My lovely friend Jessica (the amazing photographer) captured some really beautiful shots and posted them on her blog. Thanks for posting those Jess!

Here are some pictures:

I had such a blast on Saturday! Thank you again Sarah for such a fun time!!

While I'm at it, I realized I never did post about my showers back home while we were visiting in November. So here are a couple of shots from those. One was hosted by Jon's sister Jennii and one by my mother and step sisters.

This was a surprise baby shower hosted by Jennii!
One of the coolest things about this shower is Jennii and her husband own a photo booth and they set it up for our shower. Everyone took their picture during the shower and we later used the pictures to put into a scrapbook! It was such a thoughtful and creative gift, something I will always cherish!

This is the scrapbook that we have everyone's pictures in.

They also wrote us little notes next to their pictures.





This was the shower thrown by my mother and step sisters.
Jennii also brought the photo booth with her to this baby shower.
We now have pictures of everyone who came to both!

I am so thankful for all of our friends and family that were able to make it to our baby showers! I am also SO very thankful for all of the wonderful gifts Sophie has received. She is definitely one loved and blessed little baby and Jon and I are so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives!