The Adventures of Jon and Steph

Weekly Update

2012-01-26T06:50:00.019-06:00

Well, hello y'all!! How is everyone doing??

I've heard there has been some crazy weather in the states lately! I hope everyone is safe and sound and has survived the power outages and all of the snow.

Things have been super busy lately! I don't exactly know why or really don't have any reason for the business... but it has been nonetheless.

Tonight, Jon and I are gearing up for a DATE NIGHT!! Woooohooo! Our buds got us a "baby sitting coupon" for Christmas and we are cashing it in tonight! Grabbing steak at one of our favorite places called Scotch N Soda! Can't wait. It's not often we get a date night, seeing as how we are so far away from family! So we are so thankful for friends who are so thoughtful and helpful. It's so nice to know we have a "family" here as well.

Anyway... I had better get these daily pictures posted before Soph wakes up or I'll get sidetracked and not posted again for another 7 months.

January 19

Sophie girl at our favorite restaurant, Symposion.

We may have a slight addiction to this place...

and by we, I mean me!

But Sophie LOVES the bread there. It's pretty amazing.

She also had her first bite of tzaziki and now she is hooked!

That's my girl!!

January 20

Soph and I had breakfast together,

down the street from our house.

She loves looking at herself in the camera!

January 21

Jon went to a poker night with some friends and I got a little crafty!

Made a dry erase calendar, so Jon and I can be more organized!

and made homemade tzazki!

(As if I didn't get enough at the Greek restaurant the other night)

JUST Heavenly!

Jon doesn't like it, so I rarely make it.

Figured I could take down this whole bowl before he got home.

Just kidding!!... but not really.

January 22

Such a silly girl!

Dinner with our friends the "McEddys"

Sophie adores them!

January 23

Again, I've really tried to convince Sophie she isn't a dog...

but she still insists on chewing Jon shoes!

Even though she has 9000 toys!

January 24

My first attempt at a diaper cake,

for a friends baby shower!

(Thank you Pinterest)

January 25

This is Sophie's new favorite place to stand.

Right by us ;)

She just loves to get crumbs and food all over the couch!

Rainy night in Wiesbaden. Loved the sky.

That pretty much sums up our week!

Very exciting times, as I'm sure you can tell!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next week,

Tschuss!

I took a break from Pinterest...

2012-01-18T07:18:00.011-06:00

Thought I'd take a short break from Pinterest to give y'all an update as to how things are going on our end of the world. Right now it is so cold in Germany, but thankfully the sun is shining. This is a rare occurrence and I had the pleasure of walking downtown for a bit so I could get a little Vitamin D while I can! Sadly, tomorrow turns to gray skies again, but with any luck we might get a little snow! Keeping up with my picture a day is actually going well, other than the fact that I dropped my camera off at the store for a cleaning and it's still not ready for pickup... I guess it was REALLY dirty! So for now, I'll keep showing iPhone photos.

January 11

Trying to drink more tea,

instead of coffee with LOTS of cream and sugar!

January 12

Mom had a brilliant idea to walk to Dad's work and surprise him.

Little did she know it was going to rain!

I mean why wouldn't it... we are in Germany after all?!?

She didn't seem to put out by it though.

January 13

This may be gross, but I had to show my battle wound on my heal, from the one day in like 3 years that I actually put a dress and gorgeous shoes on... this is what happens when I dress up!

This was a week after I wore the shoes, so you can imagine how bad it was!

Battle wounds from my new black pumps.

Silly me, I should know better, and just stick with my Toms!

January 14

I don't know if she has enough pacifiers!

Jon with his kolsch

Sophie's new smile... such a ham for the cam.

I made a Happy Mug

Our new "fancy" coffee/espresso/cappuccino/latte maker

Far exceeds our old German 10-cup!

January 15

She'd rather play in the trash can than with the gagillion toys she has.

January 16

A little trip to Ikea

January 17

Snuggling with my girl

Relaxing

January 18

Tried making a fancy latte... I won't quit my day job any time soon.

Soooooo as you can tell there have been some very exciting times here at the Adventures of Jon and Steph. I mean... look at that latte!!!

But seriously... anyone want to redo my header?? I'll pay you in wine! No, but really, I'll pay!

We hope everyone is doing well!

We'll be back next week with hopefully a little more excitement!

Until then...

Tschuss!

Let's Try This Again!

2012-01-12T01:47:00.023-06:00

HELLO, is this thing on... is anyone there?! How is everyone? Whoa, it's been a long 7 months away from blog land. I have been meaning to start blogging again several times, but then I get easily sidetracked with Miss Sophie and well... the rest is history. I wanted to start blogging again for our families and friends back in Oklahoma. Several have requested more posts, so they know what we're up to here in Germany, and most importantly they just love seeing pictures of Sophie. So my goal is to try to blog a couple of times a week to keep everyone updated.

All is well here at the Adventures of Jon and Steph... although it might be time for a new blog header, since we are now a family of three! Not much has happened in the last several months, although the holidays were very busy! We had 5 visitors! FIVE. That's 7 people total in my house at once. AND a baby! Whew! While it was exhausting, it really was a blast to have so many people here. My mom, step-dad, brother, and his two friends came out. It was wonderful to have them here for Sophie's first Christmas and New Years, and at the end of the day, Jon and I really do love to entertain... as long as there is wine involved.

This wouldn't be a true Steph post without several pictures... so here ya go. One of my many New Years resolutions is to take a photo a day. I've always loved taking pictures, while it may not be my strong point, I still love to look back at all of the memories we are making here in Europe. Here are some pictures from the start of our new year.

January 1

My brother and his friends arrived.

Sophie loves her Uncle Sean.

January 2

Sophie in her new monster hat.

Heading out to dinner.

January 3

On the train to Fussen, Germany.

Poor thing tuckered out right as we arrived!

She was exhausted from the 6 hour train ride.

My brother, Jon, me, and Sophie at dinner in Fussen.

January 4

Taking a carriage ride up to the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Dad and Sophie walking up to the castle.

The Neuschwanstein Castle

Us!

My mom, brother, me, and step-dad.

Our bus ride from Fussen to Oberammergau.

Sophie loves Grandpa Mess!

Hiking through Oberammergau

The snow was awesome!

January 5

The view from our hotel at breakfast

Our long trek home.

Such a beautiful sunset.

January 6

Trying to find a dress for Jon's birthday night!

January 7

The view from our hotel room.

A surprise birthday present for Jon.

Ready for an amazing dinner and black jack with friends!

Jon won 80 euro! Way to go, babe!

Better than losing 80!!

January 8

My happy girl!

January 9

Finally has a teeeeeeeny bit of hair I can put a bow on!

January 10

Loves light!

January 10

My parents goodbye dinner at our favorite restaurant, Symposion!

Sophie and her Greek boyfriend from Symposion, Christos!

She's always flirting with him!

Was that enough pictures for you guys?!? I may have gone a little overboard but I wanted to get caught up on the new Year!

A little Sophie update: She is now almost 10 months old! Weighs 18.8 pounds! Growing every day. Eats like her mommy! Happy as a lark! Loves playing with her daddy and snuggling with her mom. Chewing on everything she can get her hands on, including her dad's shoes, cardboard, cords, boxes, you name it. I even caught her standing up, grabbing the Apple TV from our entertainment center and chewing on it. COME ON Sophie!! She's crawling all over the place and into everything! and I mean everything... she grabbed some fake berries off the table the other day and was chewing on them... next thing you know I catch her with red ink all over her face and hands. I left her for like 5 minutes! Thank GOD it wasn't poisonous! (At least I didn't think so, she's still alive.) She's growing out of all of her clothes, moving to 9-12 months and size 3 diapers. She's still a teeny thing for her age. Our friends had a baby about 3 months ago and he's bigger than Sophie!

Anyway, we're looking forward to the weekend ahead, as it's a 3 day weekend! Looking forward to doing absolutely nothing and getting caught up on tv shows and movies!

Hope y'all have a great weekend. See you next week!

Sophie's Photo Shoot #2

2011-06-06T07:16:00.005-05:00

Here are more photographs from Sophie's newborn photo shoot. Enjoy!

Tschuss!

Sophie's Photo Shoot

2011-06-01T09:01:00.007-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope y'all are doing great on this fantastic Tuesday. We are all wonderful here. I figured it was about time to share Sophie's newborn photo shoot. Our lovely friend and photographer Jessica Ceason took her photographs. We absolutely love each and every one of them, and hope you enjoy them as well!

First family photo
We're having this made into a canvas to put on Sophie's wall.

I have more to share, but will post them soon!

Happy Tuesday!

Until next time,

Tschuss

What Can I Say...

2011-05-26T09:38:00.024-05:00

other than it has been VERY busy around here at the Adventures of Jon and Steph! I cannot believe I haven't been by to blog in such a long time... it's been over a month now. Whew, where has time gone? My parents came to visit us and were able to stay with us for ONE WHOLE MONTH! It was so amazing to have them here. They were such a huge help, from taking care of Soph, cooking, cleaning, etc... I don't think I did a single dish the entire time they visited. They left on Sunday and I'm already ready for them to come back for another visit!

We took Sophie on lots of adventures while my parents were here visiting. We went to Cologne, Trier, Konigstein so Sophie could see her very first castle (even though she slept through the entire trip), and Rudesheim.

Sophie is growing so very fast! I can't believe that she is already 2 months old. When my family and friends said time goes so quickly, they weren't kidding. She is such a wonderful baby. She's smiling more and more everyday. She loves her pacifier soooo much! She loves to eat as you can tell by those chubby cheeks (she get that's from her mom). She coos and squeals with joy every day and loves talking to her mom and dad. She just loves to be held and snuggled. She is still working on a night schedule, and enjoys waking her parents up in the middle of the night for a bottle ;) She loves her day naps and is so happy when she wakes up. She loves being pushed in her stroller on our daily walks. She is still wearing newborn clothes and has yet to be able to fit in 0-3 months... hopefully she'll be in that size soon as we have so many cute outfits for her to wear this summer! We love watching her grow and love learning more about her every day!

She is the best adventure we've ever experienced!

I'm SO VERY far behind on posting pictures, so I thought I'd give y'all a picture overload to try and get halfway caught up... Hope you enjoy!

One month old on April 19th

2 Months old on May 19th

It's amazing how much she has changed in
2 months!

March 21, 2011

May 19, 2011

I hope to be on a better schedule in the next couple of weeks and hope to have more time to blog so I can keep everyone updated! I guess it's time for a new blog header as it is not The Adventure of Jon and Steph anymore... we've got another little explorer along for lots of adventures! Anyone have any suggestions on who can make us a new header??

Until next time,

Tschuss!

Quick Update

2011-04-18T03:37:00.013-05:00

Hello everyone!! I hope you all are fantastic!

We are great! We have been home for a little over a week now. Sophie was released from the NICU in Bruges on Friday, April 8th and we made the 6 hour drive back to Germany. We are beyond thrilled to have her home with us. She is such a joy and we feel so very blessed to have this precious baby girl.

She is slowly gaining that much needed weight she needs. On Tuesday we went to the doctor and she had finally reached 5.5 pounds! Her appointment went well and the doctor said she looked completely healthy. We go back next week for her 2 week checkup which will be a little more thorough of an examination.

We are slowly getting her routine figured out and learning more and more about her everyday. It is the most amazing feeling having her home and finally getting the chance to be a family.

And now, I must go make a bottle!
But before I go, I'll attach A LOT of pictures for your enjoyment!

April 6, 2011

April 7, 2011

April 8, 2011
Ready to go home!

April 10, 2011

April 11, 2011

April 12, 2011

April 13, 2011

April 14, 2011

April 17, 2011

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Sophie Update

2011-04-05T03:41:00.015-05:00

Hello all!!

Just wanted to stop by for a quick update. Sophie is doing better and better every day! We are all still here in Belgium and Sophie is still in the NICU. She is now on her third week in the hospital. At this point, everything is looking great... she just needs to gain a few more grams before she can be released. We are hoping this Friday will be the day! Here are a couple pictures of her. She is now a little over 2 weeks old (-4 weeks to be exact.) She is technically 37 weeks old.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

3.24.2011

3.26.2011

3.28.2011

3.29.2011

3.31.2011

4.01.2011

4.02.2011

4.04.2011

Jon has been writing the birth story and we hope to share it soon!

Until then,
Tschuss!

Sophie Belle!

2011-03-23T05:55:00.015-05:00

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!

2011-03-19T10:06:00.002-05:00

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...

2011-03-17T02:28:00.007-05:00

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!

2011-03-16T06:24:00.009-05:00

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!

2011-03-14T03:51:00.021-05:00

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!

2011-03-11T01:02:00.016-06:00

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

2011-03-08T04:12:00.027-06:00

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

2011-03-04T05:29:00.011-06:00

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!

2011-03-03T04:03:00.011-06:00

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

2011-03-01T05:20:00.032-06:00

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!

31 Weeks!

2011-02-25T02:00:00.016-06:00

First I wanted to say THANK YOU for all of the wonderful comments about our nursery! I am so glad you all like the finished product. We had such a fun time putting it all together and are so happy with the end result. I find myself going into her room several times a day just to hang out and look at everything. I LOVE looking through her clothes and all of her things. Yesterday I did a little shopping and bought her a couple of things from Old Navy. I think their baby clothes are too cute and I wanted to get her a couple of summer outfits and of course I had to buy her a bathing suit. (Not to mention Old Navy is one of the few places that will ship to an APO.) Here are some of the things I bought.

I got the first outfit in gray and pink.

And bought a similar one in blue/white.
I just loved the yellow and gray dress!

I HAD to buy this bathing suit! I think she'll look fabulous in it when we are home for a visit in July!

Here is a quick update for my 31st week of pregnancy:

How Far Along: 31 Weeks!!

Size of Baby: The size of a squash, about 3.5 pounds.

Total Weight Gain: 15 as of yet, but I should have another 10 or so pounds to go.

Gender: Girl!! Sophie Belle!

Movement: Lots of movement, especially if I eat something sweet! And she moves a lot when I'm on my left side. She loves being active in the middle of the night!

Sleep: Okay... I get up a TON to pee. This week I'm still suffering with a cold, going on 7 days now.

Maternity Clothes: Still some of my shirts, but all maternity pants and some maternity shirts.

Cravings: SWEETS! I can't get enough sweets!

Symptoms: I'm feeling pretty good this week. I've had a couple issues with the vision this week, but thankfully it returns to normal after about 30 minutes.

What I Miss: WINE! and beer... And cold sandwiches and cheeses. And sushi!

Tomorrow my wonderful friend Sarah is throwing me a baby shower! I am SO excited about this because it will be so much fun to have all of my friends in Germany together for a girls day. I have been looking forward to this for months now, (as Sarah has had it planned forever!)

Oh and I received these in the mail!
Are they not precious.

They are monthly onesie stickers so
I can take a picture of her every month!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! TGIF!!

Until next week,
Tschuss!!

The Nursery!

2011-02-23T02:41:00.032-06:00

Well here it is guys! After all of the hard work, it has finally paid off, and we have completed the nursery. We are so happy with the way it turned out! We both enjoyed transforming this room and had a blast decorating it. (Or at least I did!) Jon was a huge trooper and was there helping every step of the way... what a guy! We still have a couple of things to purchase, like a glider and some things needed for Sophie when she arrives, but as far as decorating and painting are concerned, we are done! Yippie!! Lots of photos to share... so beware!

Here are the before pictures:

Transformation in progress!

And the finished product!

So what do y'all think??

Weekend Update

2011-02-22T04:04:00.008-06:00

Hello there! How are y'all? I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

We spent ours being UBER lazy! I don't think we got off of the couch the whole weekend. Well that is exaggerating a little... Saturday we got up and around, ran errands, and then worked on Sophie's room, finishing up the last few things we needed to do. I am happy to say we are finally DONE with the nursery. Well at least with applying the wall decals and the finishing touches. We still need to buy a glider and of course some little things here and there before she arrives, but we are finished with all of the decorating! I am thrilled with the way it has turned out and I can't wait to share pictures, which I'll be posting later this week.

Sunday was spent on the couch. I mean we didn't leave the house, not even once! Jon had a cold last week and guess who caught it, yup me! So we spent the rest of the weekend taking it easy. I hate not being able to take anything to make this cold go away and sadly it is still in full action 4 days later. Sheesh! Still feeling sluggish, achy, and the couch, headache, and sore throat are still driving me nuts. But hopefully it'll go away soon.

Monday we had a doctors appointment and I am happy to report the doctor said everything looks GREAT! Sophie is growing perfectly and she is doing wonderful! Doc still has me on the blood pressure meds, but we lowered them a tiny bit and I am still having to monitor my BP throughout the day. I'm still taking it easy, trying to keep my body under as little stress as possible so Sophie and I will remain healthy. Still struggling with the vision loss, but I'm hoping it will return to normal after she is born. Sadly, we didn't get any new photos of Sophie... I think the doctor must have forgotten, but maybe in two weeks we'll have some more to share.

I did want to share a couple of photos that our wonderful friend Jessica took for us. She has been so awesome taking these time lapse photos for us. I am so glad to have these special moments captured and will cherish these photographs forever!

I love this one of Jon holding my belly. So sweet!

Well, I'm off to get some things done around the house. Laundry is getting out of control!!
I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday! I'll be back soon to post pictures of the nursery.

Until then,

Tschuss!

30 Weeks!

2011-02-18T02:08:00.012-06:00

Well hello there! How are you all doing? We are doing pretty good!

I wanted to say THANK YOU for all of the sweet comments concerning my hospital stay! Sophie and I are doing okay. I'm still struggling with some headaches and the vision isn't quite back to normal, so I'm still trying my best to take it easy. I've been snuggled up on the couch (laying on my left side) for the last couple of days watching movies. I know it probably sounds glorious to most of you, but it's getting old, FAST! I am a person who likes to stay active and this whole "staying off my feet" thing is driving me insane. I know, I know... I need to enjoy it while I can because in 10 weeks, I won't have a lot of time to sit and relax. I'm definitely trying to see the good side of this and enjoy the quite time while I have it.

I cannot believe we are getting so close to Sophie's arrival. She will be here in 10 weeks!! WOW! That sounds so soon!

Here are a couple of belly shots and my 30 weeks update:

29 Weeks
In my "lazy days" clothes.

30 Weeks!

How far along: 30 weeks!

Size of Baby: She is almost 3 pounds now and the size of a head of cabbage.

Total Weight Gain: Bahaha! I'm not exactly sure, but I'll get an exact measurement come Monday when we go to our next doctors appointment.

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle!!

Movement: Yes! I feel her move all of the time and I just LOVE it!

Sleep: Okay

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants and shirts, and still some of my normal shirts.

Cravings: Sweet, sweets, sweets... and then salt!

Symptoms: Headaches and vision issues.

What I Miss: WINE! Boy do I miss wine... and cold turkey sandwiches.

This weekend Jon and I are going to do a couple more finishing touches on the nursery and we will be DONE! I can't believe we are practically finished. What a great feeling! I will be posting pictures of the completed nursery next week. I can't wait to share them. We've had so much fun transforming that room to be perfect for Sophie.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Jon is off for Presidents Day on Monday so we get to enjoy a nice three day weekend. I look forward to getting some things done around the house and spending some QT with my husband.

Until next week,

Tschuss!

My 48 Hours in a German Hospital

2011-02-14T02:38:00.004-06:00

Let me tell you guys... I never thought I'd add that to the list of things I'd do in my lifetime. It definitely was unexpected. Thursday I woke up feeling like I always do, with a slight headache. Throughout the morning it got worse and a couple of hours went by and all of the sudden my vision started losing focus and I had a hard time seeing. This had happened a couple of times before and I just brushed it off thinking it was some weird side affect of my headaches, but that morning I decided I just couldn't take it anymore and called my doctor. She told me I needed to go to the hospital immediately, that she believed my blood pressure was way too high and I needed to be admitted. WHAT?!?! So I called my husband and we headed over to the hospital. Sure enough, my blood pressure was higher than it should have been, and they immediately admitted me. They gave me a room, which was already occupied by another pregnant woman, so needless to say I shared a room with a complete stranger for 2 whole days and nights! Thank GOD she spoke good English and really was a very nice woman. (Even if she did snore like a freaking freight train!)

To make a super long story short, they checked my blood pressure 5 times a day and drew blood every day. They did a CTG three times a day and several ultrasounds to check on my little Sophie. Thank God Sophie is doing perfectly fine and growing just like she should... it's just my health that is a little coo coo right now. They believed I had preeclampsia, but thankfully after running all of these test for two days, everything came back okay. They just want me to take it easy, keep taking my blood pressure medicine, and try to be as stress free as possible, as preeclampsia can come back at any time. Taking it easy is just what I intend to do, because the VERY LAST THING in the world I ever want to do is spend any more time in that hospital!

Thanks to my sweet and wonderful friend Sarah for bringing me goodies and magazines while I was there so I had something to occupy my time. The day after I got released she also brought my husband and I homemade spaghetti sauce, noodles, and bread and my favorite thin mint Girl Scout cookies. I really don't know what I would do without her! She was a lifesaver, so thoughtful and generous! Also, one of Jon's co-workers brought us a homemade casserole and a lasagna! How incredibly nice. We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends that take such good care of us!

What a crazy weekend it was! But I am home now and slowly getting myself back to feeling normal. I have what Jon and I are calling "hospital hangover." I feel totally groggy and rundown, unlike myself and my vision is still off. I am still getting headaches every morning but am hoping by taking the bp medicine on time it will slowly control those. Now it's time to get my house back in order and then kick my feet up and take it easy.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Also, thank you to the girls who left me book recommendations! I'll be spending a lot of time reading these next couple of weeks so if anyone has any others, I'd LOVE to hear your suggestions!

Way Overdue Update!

2011-02-08T02:10:00.003-06:00

Well hello everyone! Wow, I can't seem to stay up to date on this ole blog! I really have no excuses, other than life hasn't been all too exciting lately. Not a lot of adventuring going on here at the Adventures of Jon and Steph. But I wanted to do a quick update for you guys and for our family and friends, (since I keep getting emails wondering why the blog hasn't been updated!)

The last couple weeks have been very chill. We went to see the doctor 3 weeks ago and at that appointment she was a little worried about Miss Sophie because she was under weight for her age. I was devastated because I automatically thought it was something I had been doing wrong... but the doctor reassured me that I had nothing to do with it, and that she believed it had something to do with my high blood pressure (after all, I had gained 7 pounds in one month, surely I was eating enough lol)... so she put me on bp medicine and told me I needed to stay off my feet and was not allowed to work for 4 weeks. She also scheduled me for a two week checkup appointment. So for two weeks straight, I took it very easy, tried my best not to stress about Sophie, and made sure to keep up with the new medication.

Two VERY LONG weeks went by and we had our checkup appointment which was last Thursday. THANK GOD, Sophie put on some weight and appears to be growing at a normal rate. Who knew blood pressure could cause such a problem! and it seems my blood pressure is a little more under control now. But, she is still a little worried about my BP and my cervix has shortened a lot in such a short period, so she wants me off work until March! UGH. Whatever it takes to keep me and Sophie healthy, I'll gladly do! So needless to say, I've been doing a lot of reading (If anyone has any good book suggestions, PLEASE send them my way) and cooking and trying to get out of the house as much as possible, without putting too much stress on my body. I'm hoping my next appointment in two weeks will have even better results and maybe my bp and cervix will be back to normal!

We've done so much work to the nursery in the past couple of weeks, it is looking FANTASTIC! We still have a couple more things to do and I need to add a couple of touches here and there and then I think we'll be almost done. It is such a great feeling to have so much accomplished so soon. Sophie definitely has the best room in the house! I will be posting pictures of her room soon.

Here are a couple of belly pictures for you guys:

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

As you can see the belly is definitely growing! I'll be back tomorrow with a 29 week pregnancy update! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that my blood pressure levels out and Sophie Belle continues to grow like she should. Any prayers would be so greatly appreciated!

Until tomorrow,

Tschuss!

I Have the Coolest Friend...

2011-01-14T03:42:00.017-06:00

My wonderful friend Jessica, who I am SOOO lucky to be acquainted with, has taken some more lovely photos of Jon, Sophie, and me! She completely rocks! Ya know why?!? Because she is ever so kindly taking transitional photos of my growing belly. Not only do I have these pictures to document such special moments in our lives, but she is a fantastic photographer, so they are QUALITY photos of special moments in our lives! Wow, how did I get so lucky?

I am so thankful for the time she takes to come out and take these precious shots for us! I can't wait for Sophie to arrive because Jessica is going to take her newborn photographs and I might just cry thinking about it... No, but seriously, they are going to be amazing! And most of you who have been following for a while know my love for photos, as it is well documented here on this blog. These pictures mean more to me than I could ever explain! If you haven't had a chance to check out her work you can see her amazing skills put to work here:

At her blog: http://www.jjceasonblog.com/ and website: http://www.jjceason.com/

Without further ado, here are the latest pictures taken by Jessica!

These are two taken from previous months,

November and December.

These are more time lapsed photographs.
I love how I am in one spot in all three pictures and
Jon is positioned differently every time!

November and December

Thank you so much, Jessica!

I hope you enjoyed the photographs!
And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
I'm off for a three day weekend, yippie!!
And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is nice enough to spend some time outdoors!

Until Monday,
Tschuss!

25 Weeks!

2011-01-13T02:01:00.004-06:00

Well hello everyone! I hope all is well out there in blogland on this lovely Thursday morning.

It is COLD and rainy here in Germany. Surprise, surprise! I keep checking the forecast hoping for a little sunshine, but I don't think we'll be seeing that anytime soon. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun... well come to think of it, the last time was when we were in Oklahoma during our Thanksgiving holiday. Seriously... this girl needs some Vitamin D like stat!

Anyway, I wanted to do a quick update on my pregnancy.
As of yesterday I am officially 25 weeks pregnant! HOLY MOLY!

How Far Along: 25 Weeks!!

Size of Baby: She is about 1-1/2 pounds to 2 pounds right now and the size of an eggplant! Wow!

Total Weight Gain: Not quite sure, but I'll find out next week at my monthly appointment. I'm sure it's a pretty hefty amount!

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle.

Sleep: It's been alright this week. I've been waking up in the middle of the night and feeling her moving around a bit, but I (thank God) can go back to sleep pretty easily.

Maternity Clothes: Yes! Maternity jeans and I'm still wearing my own shirts for the most part.

Cravings: Cereal. I just want cereal all of the time! Then something salty, then something sweet, then something salty, etc. You get the picture. It's a viscous cycle!

Symptoms: I feel pretty good as of now! Thank God!

Last week I had a pretty funny moment with Sophie. I was lying in bed watching TV when out of no where I get this HUGE kick to my side. It was such a big kick that it scared me and I literally jumped! That was one big kick from such a little girl! It's been fantastic feeling her move. I love it every time I feel her. But I am sure that'll change as her kicks get more and more powerful. Walking is definitely becoming a lot harder. While we were in Budapest, I became exhausted so much faster than I normally would! We'd walk a couple of miles, then I'd have to sit and regain some energy, and we'd trudge on. Not sure how much more hiking we'll be doing since I am getting bigger and bigger by the day!

Well, I'm off to get some work done! I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday woohoo! Then Jon and I are off for a three day weekend, Thank you Martin Luther King Jr.

See y'all tomorrow!
Tschuss!

Day 2 in Budapest

2011-01-12T04:28:00.015-06:00

Hello there everyone! Happy Wednesday to you all!!

On our second day in Budapest, Jon and I spent the entire day out and about seeing the sights. We woke up early, grabbed a great breakfast, and made our way to Castle Hill. On Castle Hill sits the palace, several museums, the cathedral, and several other beautiful structures. While on Castle Hill we visited the Budapest History Museum and also another museum called The Hospital in the Rocks. Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures at the Hospital, but we did learn a lot on a guided tour we took. Jon is a history buff and loved every minute! Of course, I took tons of pictures and soaked in the beautiful buildings and landscapes. Here are some of the pictures of our exploration of Castle Hill.

As you can see, it was extremely hazy and foggy.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures from our second day in Budapest. This pretty much concludes the pictures from our trip. Sadly, both Sunday and Monday were extremely foggy and I was not able to get any more pictures.

But, come back tomorrow for a 25 week update! For now, I'm off to do some hairdos!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!
Until tomorrow,

Tschuss!

Budapest

2011-01-11T09:13:00.011-06:00

Hello there everyone! I hope you all are doing great on this Tuesday morning!

Jon and I arrived back home last night from our trip to Budapest. We had a wonderful time, minus the cold temps and the very ridiculous amount of fog that swept over Budapest the last two days we were there! I really think Jon enjoyed his birthday getting to explore a new city. We took the time to check out some museums and learned a lot about Budapest during WWII. I of course took a gagillion pictures, but wanted to separate it a bit per day, so here are pictures from Day 1 in Budapest.

This is the view from our hotel! We really lucked out getting a view of the palace and the bridge.

The Chain Bridge and the view from the bridge.

The Parliament Building

The Danube River at sunset.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures!
I'll be back tomorrow to post pictures from our second day in Budapest!

A Celebration of Life!

2011-01-06T03:04:00.007-06:00

Jon, my favorite person in the world, best friend, and the most amazing husband, turns the BIG 3-0 tomorrow!

Happy Birthday sweetheart!

I love you more than words could ever explain!

Tomorrow we leave BRIGHT AND EARLY at 4:30 am to head to Budapest for a 4 day weekend. Since we've moved to Germany, Jon has always wanted to visit Budapest, and we thought this was a great opportunity to do so. We've got our bags packed, (well, I'm slowly packing them,) our cameras charging, and passports ready to take the short flight to explore a new city. (Thanks to our Rick Steve's book on Budapest, we'll be able to see all of the great sites.)

This will be our very first adventure of 2011 and we are both so very excited!

Stay tuned for some pictures of our adventure to Budapest coming Tuesday!

Until then, Tschuss! and have a wonderful weekend!

24 Weeks!

2011-01-05T06:54:00.006-06:00

Hello everyone! I hope you are all are fantastic on this Wednesday morning!

We are doing great! Happy that it is already Wednesday!

I am 24 weeks pregnant as of today!! 24 WEEKS! That's just crazy to me. In the beginning it seemed like each week just dragged on, but I guess with the busy schedule during the holidays, time seems to be passing a little faster!

Here is a quick update:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks!

Size of Baby: She is now the size of a papaya and as long as an ear of corn. Growing so fast!

Total Weight Gain: Not quite sure, but I have a doctor's apt in a couple of weeks, so I'll be able to get an accurate measurement then.

Maternity Clothes: Yup! I have some maternity jeans, black pants, and cargo's. Still wearing my own shirts with a couple of maternity shirts thrown in.

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle!

Sleep: Not good. I've been having some back pain and some pains in my side... It's just becoming more and more uncomfortable to sleep.

Cravings: Nothing strange. I just like to eat cereal, a lot!

Symptoms: I feel pretty good, minus the back and side pains. I really can't complain!

Thankfully, I am feeling good for the most part! Work has been hard, especially standing for a long period of time, but that's part of my job!

And now, I have to get back to it ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Until tomorrow,
Tschuss!

Progress!

2011-01-04T02:54:00.010-06:00

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much for the comments about the colors of our nursery! We are really happy with the way it's turning out.

Jon and I aren't huge into pinks and purples, so we opted for browns and greens with subtle hints of purples and pinks here and there. So far I really like the way it looks. We still have a lot of work to do... but it is coming along nicely. We ordered some really cute wall decals from Etsy.com and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival. We ordered white birch trees to go on the big brown wall, there are 5 of them, and they are all about 8 feet tall. We also ordered 6 light pink bird decals that will be placed throughout the trees to look like they are flying. Since Jon and I are LOVERS of the outdoors and all things adventure, we thought it would be perfect to make Sophie's room more adventurous. Since we have such a huge love for hiking, we wanted her room to grasp that idea and have a "woodsy" feel.

I have also been collecting owls here and there to add as little decorative pieces to her room. At my baby shower back home, we received a couple of owls from blabla.com. Here is a picture of one of them, from the blabla website.

Isn't that the cutest thing ever!!

My dad has always loved owls and because of that, I grew to love them. Especially the really cute stuffed animals like the one above...

Also, I thought I'd share our baby bedding too. It's from Pottery Barn and couldn't go any better with our room! Birds, trees, and owls... pinks, greens, and browns = perfect! We were lucky enough to receive the quilt and pillow sham as a gift at our baby shower. Now we are waiting to order the rest of the bedding, as it is on back order at the moment. Here is a picture of the bedding:

From the Pottery Barn website

Anyway... I'll get to the main point of this post, which is obviously stated in the title, our progress on the nursery so far! Here are some pictures.

The orange curtains will be taken down and replaced.

Not sure what color we want to use instead,
maybe green or light pink...

And we'll definitely be getting a new light fixture.

We are thinking a really pretty chandelier...

because you know that is really outdoorsy?!?

It is definitely coming along! It is such a great feeling to have so much accomplished already, and all of her furniture put together! We had a lot of fun this last weekend getting everything done. I still have some touch up painting to do today, which is why there is still blue tape on the wall and a drop cloth on the ground... but after that, we will be ALL done with the paint! Now we just need to buy a rocking chair/glider and we should have all of her furniture bought. Exciting!

Anyway, I'm off to work in the nursery! I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday! I'll be back tomorrow with a 24 week update...

Until tomorrow, Tschuss!

A New Year!

2011-01-03T07:37:00.015-06:00

Well hello everyone!!

Wow, I cannot believe it is already another brand new year! I can't believe how fast last year went, but I am definitely looking forward to this year and what all it has in store for Jon and me. Of course the most exciting thing this year will be the arrival of our precious little girl! But I can't get ahead of myself, we still have several months to go ;) I love a fresh new start and look forward to tweaking some of my daily life to make more time for a healthy lifestyle! Less stress, less work, and more time to concentrate on the important things in my life! GOOD PLAN!

I hope you all had a FANTASTIC Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe it has been since before Christmas that I've taken the time to blog. The holidays are always a busy time, and I didn't make enough to sit down and update y'all on our adventures. I'll give you a quick run-through...

Since we weren't able to be home for Christmas this year, we took the opportunity to get out of town and see one of Germany's famous little walled cities, Rothenburg. It was absolutely beautiful, quaint, and like a little fairytale town. (and did I mention 16 degrees and snowing!!!!) Minus the fact that it was unbelievably cold, we still had a wonderful time exploring the city. Instead of posting a gagillion pictures (like I always do), you can head over to our photo website to see the pictures of our Adventure to Rothenburg, if you'd like. Just click on the picture below.

Our New Year was VERY laid back! You know you're getting old (or you're pregnant) when you can't stay up until midnight! SO SAD!! But I did set an alarm... does that count?!? I wanted to at least give Jon a smooch to bring in the new year, even if I did turn back over and immediately fall back to sleep... Ya, It's an exciting life we lead!!

New Years Day we spent the ENTIRE day painting little Sophie's room! It was a lot of fun, but definitely a lot of work... (with our 12 foot ceilings!) We have one main large wall in her bedroom that we've decided to paint brown and green. We've ordered some really neat wall decals to put on the main brown wall and I think it is going to look fantastic! I just have to wait patiently for them to arrive................. I should have added patience to my list of resolutions!

Here are a few pictures of us bringing in the new year, hard at work!

The Before

I figured I'd stop with the picture overload and post more pictures later.

Sunday we spent the day putting more furniture together and doing more touch up painting. And of course I made us a huge pot of blackeye peas and cornbread for dinner. Gotta have that good luck rolling in for 2011! It's been a tradition in my family ever since I can remember, and I want to keep it going. Good luck is always welcome in this household!

Tomorrow, I will post pictures of what we've accomplished in Sophie's room so far!!

Until tomorrow, Tchuss!
And, I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

21 Weeks!!

2010-12-15T04:12:00.010-06:00

Well hello there! How are you all on this Wednesday morning? We are great here at the Adventures of Jon and Steph. We are looking forward to the weekend and the Ugly Christmas Sweater party we are throwing on Saturday. It should be a festive occasion!

As my title states, I am now 21 weeks in my pregnancy! Yesterday we had our monthly checkup to see how Baby B is doing. We LOVE our doctor. We are so fortunate to have an American speaking doctor who practices German medicine. She's awesome!! Our doctor said our little girl is growing perfectly and everything looks fantastic! That's always wonderful news and definitely helps calm the nerves. We got some new pictures of baby B that I'd love to share. But first I'll do my pregnancy highlights.

How Far Along: 21 Weeks

Size of Baby: She is the length of a banana now!

Total Weight Gain: 4 pounds. I lost several pounds in the beginning and now I am definitely gaining it back quickly!

Maternity Clothes: Yup! I got some great maternity jeans while I was home in OK. I LOVE them. I am also wearing leggings/jeggings, with dresses and long T's. Super comfy!

Gender: GIRL!

Sleep: This week has been AWFUL. But I am still struggling with the time difference from being back in the states. Hopefully it'll even out soon so that I can get a good nights sleep.

Cravings: Sweets and then salts. I've been doing lots of yogurt, but then go straight to the pickles! I CANNOT get enough of the sweets. I can tell she is definitely going to love candy just like her mom.

Symptoms: I feel pretty great! Just sleepy all of the time. I am still waiting for the 2nd trimester energy boost that is supposed to be coming my way... it has yet to happen. I've also had a lot of headaches lately, which stems from high blood pressure! Boo for high blood pressure. Doc is making me test it every week and now I am on HBP meds. Ugh. Hopefully it'll even out.

I am not sure if we have talked much about Baby B's name. Jon and I both ADORE the name we picked out for our precious little girl. It is a French name, which is what we both wanted, since Jon's family is from France. His grandmother is straight from France, with the beautiful French accent and all... so without further ado, I give you the newest photos of...

Sophie Belle

I love this picture. She was giving us a big yawn,
but it looks more like she is saying "ROAR!"

Too cute!!

I wanted to break down the name for you guys because I think it is super cool to know the origin and meaning of a name.

Sophie: Wisdom. Stems from the name Sophia which is Greek. Sophie is the French form.

Belle: Beauty, from the French origin.

Not only smart, but beautiful! Perfect for our little girl!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Back in Deutschland!

2010-12-14T06:25:00.013-06:00

HELLO lovely friends and family! Is this thing still on?!?

We are finally back to Germany after spending three amazing weeks at home in the great state of Oklahoma! It was such a WONDERFUL trip. We had a fantastic time with our family and friends, which made it even harder to come back to Germany. We have some great pictures from our trip, but I'll be back to post those in a couple of days. Just wanted to give a quick shout out to let y'all know we are still alive! But we are now covered in snow!!! Germany has been having a lot of snow lately, but of course we missed it all being back in the states. Well, this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.

It is beautiful! But OH so cold.

Since it has been a WHILE, I wanted to say I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!! I hope you ate to your hearts content... I know I did.

Baby Barrett is doing great! She is growing like a weed.
Here are a couple of belly pics for you guys.

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

It's obvious I didn't hold back at Thanksgiving!

I'll be back tomorrow with our 21 week... YUP 21 WEEK update! I can't believe I am already half way through my pregnancy! I also have some new photos of Baby B from the doctors appointment we had this morning that I'd love to share.

Until tomorrow, have a WONDERFUL Tuesday!

Tschuss!!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahoma OK!!!

2010-11-17T05:07:00.006-06:00

We will be home on SUNDAY! and I cannot express how thrilled I am to be going home for a visit. Like I said previously, it has been almost ONE YEAR since I've seen my family and friends. These year long separations make me long to be home so badly, and we will finally be seeing them in a few shorts days. It will be so good to be in the presence of so many family members and friends. Just like Dorothy said "There's no place like home." and boy was she right.

There are so many things I can't wait to do, like for instance, EAT LOTS of good food. Mexican is the top on our list, specifically Teds Escondido! Eischens, Melting Pot, Iron Star, Oooooh yummy food. And I can't wait to shop, HELLO Target, Hello Hobby Lobby, Hello Penn Square Mall (with all of my favorite clothing stores), Hello Target, and Target. Did I mention I can't wait to shop at TARGET! Hello OU Football!! I can't wait to watch the OU/OSU football game in my own town! HELLO OKLAHOMA! The list of things that I can't wait to do is never ending... so I'll just leave it at this... I CAN'T WAIT FOR OKLAHOMA!

Photo Shoot

2010-11-16T03:22:00.020-06:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Monday! I have a feeling this week is going to move extra slow for me because we are going home on SUNDAY!!! I cannot wait to be back in Oklahoma for a visit. There are so many things I want to do and so many restaurants I can't wait to visit. Not to mention, I have not seen my family or friends for almost a year now... that is WAY too long. I have literally made a list of everything I want and need to do! (Including buy maternity clothes, because baby Barrett is growing fast!!) It is only Tuesday and I have already begun packing... can you tell someone is EXCITED!!!

As I posted yesterday, I'd love to share some of the photographs we had taken on Friday for our Fallish photo shoot. Again, I cannot express how much we love our photographer here. If you live in Germany, please take a moment to check out her blog. She does a FANTASTIC job and I HIGHLY recommend her for any occasion. She has become a super lovely friend and I have such a huge respect for the work she does. Check her out here at JESSICA CEASON PHOTOGRAPHY... and for you Germany folks... HIRE HER... you won't regret it! I promise!

I'll quit blabbing and just post the pictures already:

This picture cracks me up... I was doing a goofy run and Jon looks like he is about to take off in flight! This pretty much sums up Jon and me... GOOFY!

I adore these photographs.
I am so happy that I have these little moments captured forever!

I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday!

Weekend Update

2010-11-15T02:01:00.031-06:00

Well hello lovely friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. As always, like I say every Monday... the weekend went by WAY too fast! Happy Monday to you all, because if you're like me, you need a little happy oomph on Mondays.

First off, I wanted to say THANK YOU for the sweet comments about Jon and I having a precious baby girl. We are thrilled! and we are so glad to finally know the gender... of course I CANNOT wait to go shopping!!

Here's a quick weekend recap:

Friday we had pictures taken to announce the gender and she also took some of just Jon and me so we could make our yearly Christmas photo card. If you didn't see Friday's post, here is one of the pictures she took for us, which of course, is my favorite one.

I'll post more pictures from the photo shoot tomorrow. I can't wait to share them with you. She did such an amazing job! I wish I could just hire her to walk around and take pictures of our life here in Germany, so I can remember every special moment of living overseas.
Later Friday, we got to spend the evening with my most favorite little man, Evans! His parents got to have a lovely date night and we got to snuggle with this cutie all night.

Jon made Evans giggle and smile all night.
He is going to be such a wonderful father!

He was such a good baby and I LOVE him to pieces!

Saturday was our errand day, as EVERYTHING in Germany is closed on Sundays. We made a trip to Ikea and grabbed a couple of much needed things for the house. Then ran a couple more errands before we headed back to the house, where we didn't move from the couch for the rest of the day. It was definitely a perfect day to sit on the couch; the weather was so icky.

Sunday we woke up to the most BEAUTIFUL weather. I'm telling you guys, we don't get a lot of these days in Germany so when we do, you better believe we're outside trying to soak up every ounce of the loveliness that we can. We went hiking in one of our favorite areas. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

I LOVE all of the trees and leaves on the ground.

My Bear Grylls in the making.

Capturing the beautiful sun between the trees.

Hiking away!

Jon taking a break in a deer stand, or boar stand.

Trail marker.

I love these trees and the sky looked so beautiful blue.
Like I said friends, this is a rare occasion to see the sky like this.
I think Baby B loved the hike as well!

Here's to a lovely Monday and a lovelier week to you all!

Without Further Ado...

2010-11-12T08:28:00.004-06:00

Baby Barrett will be wearing... these!

Check out the wonderful announcement my friend Jessica wrote on her blog.
She took our pictures today.
Isn't this the best, most creative/adorable picture ever?!?
THANK YOU JESSICA!!

Whew!

2010-11-10T01:51:00.006-06:00

Holy cow, where has the time gone? It's been forever since I've last blogged. Work has been uber busy and by the time evening rolls around, the last thing I want to do is get on the computer. Everyone says once you enter your 2nd trimester, you get this rush of energy. I have yet to experience this... still waiting for it to come! I am exhausted ALL of the time. But it's worth it knowing the baby Barrett is in there just growing away.

I didn't have a chance to post baby updates, so I will definitely get to that tomorrow, with a couple of belly shots. I realized I am two weeks behind, as today I am 4 MONTHS pregnant! It blows my mind to think I am 16 weeks along already. Sometimes it seems like it's moving so slowly and sometimes it seems like it's moving right along. It's all so very exciting!

I am super excited because... tomorrow we (should be) will be finding out the sex of our baby! Keep your fingers crossed that baby Barrett is not shy. I have my monthly appointment and we'll be able to see baby Barrett's precious self and see how B is growing and progressing. PRETTY PLEASE Keep us in your prayers that baby Barrett is healthy and happy inside of my belly and growing just like he/she is supposed to. We would greatly appreciate any prayers you send a long.

ALSO don't forget to vote on the poll at the top left corner, to tell us whether you think Baby Barrett will be a boy or a girl.

I'll be back tomorrow with belly and pregnancy updates.
And Friday we will reveal the GENDER!!

Have a LOVELY Wednesdays folks!

Comfort FOOD

2010-10-29T05:41:00.011-05:00

First off... I want to say THANK you guys so much for the sweet comments about my 14 weeks post! I love having so many sweet blogging friends. Y'all make me smile! And when you're getting chubbier by the day, a smile is much needed!! ;) SO THANKS!

Speaking of getting chubbier... I wanted to post a yummy recipe I tried for the first time yesterday. It is definitely a comfort food so if you are looking for something quick and easy... and sloppy, here a recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Joes: (similar to sloppy joes)

Grab your crockpot!

What you need:
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground turkey (I use ground buffalo)
1 1/2 cups (12oz) marinara sauce
18 slices of pepperoni quartered (I used a little extra pepp)
1/2 tsp oregano crushed
Whole wheat hamburger buns
Shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Coat large skillet with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cooking, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes or until soft.

2. Add turkey to skillet (or buffalo/hamburger). Cook 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

3. Transfer mixture to a slow cooker. Add marinara sauce, pepperoni, and oregano.

4. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 4 hours. Layer meat mixture on bottom halves of buns, then cheese and finish with top halves of buns.

And VOILA! Such a super easy and delicious recipe.

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Friday! Another weekend is upon us! Enjoy it ;)

I leave you with the cutest picture I took of our friends Shannon and Don's 1 year old baby. It was her birthday last weekend and Jon and I bought her this hat. I think she is the cutest baby and had to take her pic!

I can tell that she really LOVES her hat!! Isn't she precious!!!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

14 Weeks

2010-10-27T06:58:00.005-05:00

Well, I am officially in my second trimester as of today!

Here's a quick update of how things are looking.

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby Barrett is the size of a lemon.

Total weight gain: Not sure, but I'll find out in two weeks at my next appointment. I'm sure I've gained a pound of two with all of this Halloween candy I've been eating!!

Maternity Clothes: Not yet. I am still wearing my regular jeans, but I recently bought a couple pairs of jeggings, and I LOVE them. They are so comfortable. Hopefully I can wear them for a little while longer. And we are not in sweater weather because Germany has skipped Fall, and gone straight to winter.

Gender: Not sure yet... but we find out in two weeks! I CANNOT WAIT!!

Sleep: I am still sleepy all of the time, but of course standing for a good part of my day probably contributes to me being tired. I sleep pretty great at night, thank God!

What I Crave: This week it's Mexican food, Ted's to be specific. But a little less than a month and we'll be home for a visit! I can't wait to devour some Mexican food!!

Symptoms: Really my biggest complaint is being sleepy all of the time. And the pinched nerves are still flaring up.

And the belly is getting bigger by the day!

I hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday!! It's getting closer to another weekend, YIPPIE!

Fall Fests

2010-10-22T04:15:00.009-05:00

First off, thanks for the comments on my post yesterday!! It's always so nice to see sweet comments! And yes, the hair is getting out of control long, but I really am liking the length. I haven't had a haircut since June, so you can imagine the amount of split ends... but I will finally be getting one in November when we are at home visiting. Yippie!!

Here in Germany they love their festivals! It seems like every month there is another festival going on. A couple of weeks ago there was a Fall festival and Jon and I went downtown to check it out. Here are some Fallish pictures for you...

Of course we had to stop at this cute little hut to grab a bratwurst!

YUMMM!

We ended the festival with a waffle!!

I hope you all have a lovely Friday! I know I will, because tomorrow is the weekend!!! and even though I have to work, I am still going to try my best to enjoy it.

See y'all on Monday!!

13 Weeks

2010-10-21T05:19:00.004-05:00

Hello lovely friends! I hope you all are doing great on this beautiful Thursday! We are doing great. It has been an uber busy week for both Jon and I, but I wanted to write a quick post to update y'all on how things are going.

As of yesterday, I am officially 13 weeks along.

Belly is growing everyday!

Some days it feels bigger than others. (Today is one of those days.)

Here's a quick update:

How far along: 13 weeks

Size of baby: Medium shrimp

Weight Gain: Not quite sure, I'll be able to tell at my next doc's appointment.

Craving: Chips! All kinds, it doesn't matter.

Clothes: I am still wearing my own jeans, but they are definitely getting more snug!

Symptoms: I'm feeling pretty good. But I still have the pinched nerve in my lower back, which causes some difficulty when I walk or stand for a long period of time. (and since my job requires me to stand, it's not getting any better.)

What I Crave and Can't Have: Bologna! I DON'T even like Bologna... so I am not sure why I am craving it. I don't think I've eaten it since I was a kid, but for some reason I want a honkin bologna sandwich and have craved it for a while now. GROSS!!

And of course my favorite... wine!

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Thursday! Tomorrow is Friday and that always makes me happy!

Weekends FLY by!

2010-10-18T09:52:00.008-05:00

Hello lovely friends! I hope you are all doing well on this LOVELY Monday!

We are doing great! I'm gearing up for an uber busy week of work and wishing the weekend wouldn't have disappeared so quickly. We had a nice weekend! Saturday we watched football with our friends Sarah and Deaner and of course their precious new addition, Evans who I just wanted to cuddle and kiss all night long. He is the best baby in the world. He loves to snuggle with me and he fell asleep in my arms... ugh pure sweetness. Sunday Jon and I ran a few quick errands, then returned to the house and didn't move from the couch for the rest of the day. Talk about LAZY! We watched Christmas movies... I know it's a little early for that, but I am totally in the holiday mood! I even made a pumpkin cheese cake, YUM!! I'll post the recipe for that soon.

Anyway, I wanted to post a few MORE pictures from our trip to Slovenia. When we visited the castle at Lake Bled, there was actually a small winery inside of the castle. Jon got to pour and cork his own bottle of wine. He was so excited to get to do this, not to mention he got a certificate which he proudly accepted!

Pouring the wine.

Corking

Dipping in bee's wax

Adding the special stamp/seal.

Signing the certificate

And a happy, happy Jon!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!
And I hope you have a fantastic week.

Oh and BTW!! Go SOONERS for being ranked #1 in the BCS poll!!
So proud of Oklahoma!!!

Lake Bled

2010-10-15T03:24:00.011-05:00

Hello everyone in blogland! How are y'all today?

I am fantastic, as it is Friday, and that means another weekend is upon us! We have a busy little weekend planned for us, but it will be filled with time with friends and of course the normal house hold stuff that I put off doing until the weekend. So it is sure to be a great one!

After yesterdays post, I was so surprised to hear that the earthquake in Oklahoma was also felt in Texas! Insane... I am so glad to hear that everyone is okay. But still, the whole thing baffles me.

Anyway... To continue the pictures from our trip to Croatia/Slovenia, I wanted to post pictures from our most favorite spot on our adventure, Lake Bled in Slovenia. When we arrived at the lake, I felt like I was in a fairy tale. This place is so magical and unbelievable. It's a place I could see being in a Disney movie... just beautiful. Well, instead of expressing with words the beauty that is Lake Bled, I will just post the pictures. Prepare yourself for picture overload...

Jon rowed me across the lake to the little island where the church stands.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures from Lake Bled!

And I hope you all have a FANTASTIC WEEKEND!!
Be back Monday with a weekend update!

Earthquake in OK??

2010-10-14T02:35:00.012-05:00

Seriously... there was an earthquake in Oklahoma?!? I couldn't believe it when I got a phone call from my mom saying there had just been a 5.1 quake and she felt it. Her chandeliers were swaying back and forth and she thought someone crashed into their house! Never in a million years would I ever think there would be an earthquake there... Tornadoes YES, but not quakes! So strange. Thank God from what I hear everyone is okay. Some people lost electricity and some homes/buildings were damaged, but it was good to hear everyone is okay, including my family and friends. Craziness!

A big thanks to the comments about our ultrasound pictures!! I just love getting to see the baby and how he/she is progressing!

I'd love to share some pictures from our trip to Croatia. We left last Thursday morning and made it to Rovinj, Croatia at about 12:00. We spent quite some time walking around the town and then made our way to our apartment, where we continued walking around the beach. Here are some of the pictures.

The next day of our adventure we drove about 30 minutes away, to Pula, to visit a Roman Amphitheater. This is the 6th largest Roman arena in the world and is one of the most well preserved at that. Here are some pictures of our visit.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures from the first couple of days in Croatia. Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of our visit to Slovenia!

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone!!

Preciousness!

2010-10-13T02:40:00.008-05:00

Where has time gone? I am really slacking on this whole blogging thing! Actually, to be honest, Jon surprised me with a trip this last weekend to Croatia/Slovenia. We had a wonderful time seeing some incredible sites. I had no idea what to expect from Slovenia, but I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it was! Not to mention the fact that we got to see the most incredible cave system while we were on our adventure. I can't wait to post pictures from our trip... but first!!!!!

Here are the latest pictures of Baby Barrett!
Today I am 3 months along in my pregnancy/12 weeks!
Baby Barrett is already the size of a lime.

The precious little legs!

All in all, I am feeling pretty well! I think I am finally over the little sickies that come and go during the first trimester. Of course I am still exhausted, but it doesn't help that we've been going non stop since we've found out we are expecting!

Here's a little update: (I got this idea from my lovely blog friend Megan at Tales of the Trees, who is also expecting. Such a great idea to help remember this exciting time.)

How Far Along: 12 weeks.

Size of Baby: A lime

Weight Gain: About 2 pounds

Craving: Everything candy and fatty! Fried food please...

Clothes: I am still wearing me clothes, but they are definitely fitting tighter! I can't wait to go back to Oklahoma in November for our visit, I will be loading up on some maternity clothes! (And Mexican food)

Symptoms: No more morning sickness, thank God! But I have this terrible pinched nerve feeling right at my tailbone. It is killing me! The doc says I need to start doing yoga, so I am looking for a good pregnancy yoga DVD. Anyone have any good suggestions??

Also, food texture is really making me gag lately. Certain textures make me cringe. So strange!

What I Crave and Can't Have: WINE WINE WINE! Ugh, do I miss wine! It doesn't make it any better that my husband can enjoy a nice big glass of wine or glass of beer right in front of me while I salivate and die a little inside. Oh well, it's worth the pain! ;)

But Baby Barrett and I are doing well! We just had a doctors appointment yesterday and the doc says everything looks great!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!
I'll be back tomorrow to post some pictures of our trip.

Don't forget to Vote on whether you think Baby Barrett will be a boy or a girl! I'd love to see what you all think!

We're Back!

2010-10-05T04:41:00.026-05:00

Whew! We are back from Cinque Terre, Italy! And EXHAUSTED from the trip... at least I am!

Who knew I'd be so incredibly sore and tired from hiking, but I guess it's to be expected seeing as how I am pregnant and all. (Well, pretty much just totally out of shape! But I'm going with the pregnant excuse.)

Really though, we had a fantastic trip. The weather was incredible for us, and the scenery just blew me away. I think baby Barrett had a good time too! The hiking was awesome. The first day we hiked about 3.5 miles to the town Monterrosso from Vernazza. I was able to shoot some great shots since the weather was so nice. The weather called for rain the entire time we were supposed to be visiting Cinque Terre, but luckily it was sunny!

Since I am still not fully functioning and my brain is moving slowly today, I'll just post some pictures from the first day of our trip.

Here is our adventure to Cinque Terre, Hiking Day 1:
The downtown area of Vernazza.

I love all of the buildings!

As we entered the trail there were some great views.

A view of Vernazza from the trail.

Jon and I cheering on our Sooners all of the way Italy!
Boomer Sooner!
We were so excited to hear that they beat Texas 28-20!!
More scenery from the trail.

Monterrosso.

Back in Vernazza.

After we rested for a couple of hours we headed back to the center of town and watched the sun set.

We made reservations at a restaurant overlooking the sea.

There I had mussels for the VERY first time!
I have to say they were very interesting.

Look at these crazy things!
I couldn't stop looking at the eyeballs!

All in all, the first day of our trip was wonderful! I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I'll be back tomorrow with more photographs from our second day in Cinque Terre.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

THANK YOU!

2010-09-30T00:50:00.003-05:00

I wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all of the sweet comments and kind words about our exciting news! Jon and I are so thrilled to be starting this new journey in our lives. I look forward to keeping you all posted as we continue through this journey. I posted a poll on the side of our blog that says "Is Baby Barrett a Boy or Girl." Take a second to vote for us, we would love to see what y'all think!

As of right now, I think the morning sickness has finally gone away! (THANK YOU LORD) But I am still utterly exhausted all of the time. I am sure standing on my feet for a good part of the day while I am doing hair, doesn't exactly help in that matter... but I am definitely looking forward to my energy level coming back as the weeks progress. Although I really can't complain... all of this tiredness is totally worth it at the end of the day!

I am craving all sorts of sweets and bad food! I never really eat a lot of sweets, so this is new to me. The other day I ate like 20+ Halloween candies in one sitting... which I paid for later with a sore stomach for the entire night! Lesson learned! But come on, can you blame me. Those little pieces of candy Heaven are so delightful after a long day of work.

Jon, me, and Baby Barrett are heading to Italy tomorrow with a couple of our friends. We are going to Cinque Terre to do a little hiking trip. Maybe all the hiking will help me not gain a gagillion pounds while I eat my weight in Italian food! Fingers crossed.

I'll be back next week with TONS of pictures and stories of our adventure!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

And THANKS again for the sweet comments and prayers for a happy healthy pregnancy! We truly appreciate it.

Exciting News in Adventureland!

2010-09-28T06:32:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are my Facebook friends, you already know our big exciting news!

But for those of you who aren't...

Here's is a picture of the most exciting adventure we'll ever experience!

Our new addition to the family,
Baby Barrett!

This tiny precious baby will arrive in April!

Now we'll begin preparing for more adventures at The Adventures of Jon and Steph!

MORE Normandy

2010-09-21T07:55:00.005-05:00

Okay, so really this is the last post about Normandy. I just had to share an awesome site with you guys that we saw on our last day in Normandy.

We visited a town in France called Sainte Mere Eglise. Sadly, this town was practically destroyed during WWII, but today they have a great D-Day museum and believe it or not the town church survived. An amazing story about this church involves one of our soldiers John Steele, who was a paratrooper. He was parachuting into Ste. Mere Eglise and happened to land on the spire of the church and got STUCK there. IN THE MIDDLE OF D-DAY while Germans and Americans were fighting below. He hung there for TWO WHOLE hours while pretending to be dead. Finally Germans soldiers took him prisoner, but shortly after he escaped and reconnected with his troop! Isn't that a crazy story! I couldn't believe that actually happened and that he survived to tell the story.

What is really neat about the church is they actually have a model or mannequin/dummy paratrooper trapped on the church spire to commemorate the story of John Steele. Here are a couple of photos.

The Town Church
At the left of the church you can see the mannequin.

I hope you all enjoyed the story and the photos from one of our last stops in Normandy!
I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Mont St. Michel

2010-09-20T02:22:00.011-05:00

Hello everyone!! How are y'all this Monday?

Monday arrived way too fast for my liking, but I should be used to it by now, as it always arrives way TOOOOOO fast!

This weekend was a nice relaxing weekend. Friday we had dinner with some friends. Saturday we celebrated a birthday with a group from Jon's office, and on Sunday we spent the morning hiking. Our hike was beautiful! The day was perfect, sun shining, cool outside... it couldn't have been better. After our hike we didn't move from the couch for the rest of the day, and watched Parks and Recreation. It's a show Jon came across, and now we are hooked. If you haven't seen the show you should check it out, it's pretty funny. It has Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari and some other funny people. It reminds us of The Office.

Anyway, I meant to post the pictures from the second day of our trip to Normandy last week, but I lost track of time! So instead of babbling, I'll post them for ya.

Here are our pictures from Mont St. Michel.

Inside the walls of Mont St. Michel

Jon bought me a tripod so I could take better quality night shots.
Here are some photos I captured of Mont St. Michel at sundown.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
And I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Happy Monday!

Normandy, France

2010-09-16T02:24:00.011-05:00

Hello everyone! How are y'all on this lovely Thursday? I'm great, seeing as how the weekend is just around the corner! Boy, my posts have become totally sporadic! But I'm going to try to be better about blogging. Not only about our adventures but our everyday life, so that in the future I can look back on this blog and remember the Adventures of Jon and Steph.

Jon, myself, and a coworker of Jon's took a road trip to Normandy a couple of weekends ago. We spent four nights there, Friday through Tuesday. During our trip we had the chance to visit some incredible sites from World War II and learn so much more about the war itself. It was such an awesome opportunity to see where our soldiers fought against the German soldiers, and learn the history behind such a devastating war.

The first day in Normandy we visited Longues sur Mer, Arromanches, The US Cemetery, D-Day beaches, and Pointe Du Hoc. Here are the pictures from the first day of our adventure to Normandy. I linked each site to Wikipedia if you'd like to learn more.

It wouldn't be a normal "Steph" post if it didn't involve a ridiculous amount of pictures...

Longues sur Mer was our first stop. This location houses several abandoned German artillery batteries used during WWII. As you can see from some of the pictures, there are several gun holes from where our troops attacked the batteries.

From there we visited Arromanches. This is where our troops built an artificial port for bringing all of the tanks and ground equipment ashore.

From Arromanches we drove to the U.S. Cemetery to see the museum and visit the 10,000+ graves of our fallen soldiers. Here are MORE pictures!
We saw several fallen soldiers from Oklahoma.

From the U.S. Cemetery we walked down to the beach and explored yet another German artillery battery.

We hiked back up the hill, where we then drove to Pointe du Hoc. Pointe du Hoc was such an incredible site to see. This was a point of attack for the US Army during WWII. This was another area the Germans had taken control of and built 6 artillery batteries. This point is in between both Omaha Beach and Utah Beach where our troops landed, and these batteries could defend both beaches. This area is covered with bomb craters from the attack by the US Army. It was completely unbelievable to be standing in these craters. The pictures DO NOT do Pointe du Hoc justice.

Jon standing in one of the bomb craters.
Look at the ground covered with bomb craters!
Me! Look at the size of this crater!!
The beautiful view from Pointe du Hoc.

The first day of our trip was an awesome adventure. I am so glad we had the opportunity to see such amazing sites from WWII and learn so much in one day! It was definitely an experience I will never forget.

Tomorrow I will post MORE pictures from our trip to Normandy.
The second day of our trip was spent at Mont St. Michel! I can't wait to share our pictures with you guys. Here's a little sneak peak...

I hope you all enjoy your Thursday!

White Trash Bash 2010

2010-08-19T06:12:00.016-05:00

Hey everyone! How are you guys? I hope this post finds you well.

Things here at The Adventures of Jon and Steph are going great! I can't believe it is almost Friday. This week really flew by, and I am so happy that it has, because I always look forward to the weekend!

Jon leaves this weekend for a business trip for two weeks... but luckily I will be joining him a week later! So off to the Middle East I'll be going next Thursday or Friday. I'm not so much looking forward to the heat there, but I do look forward to all of the American food we get to eat. There is a Chili's, Macaroni Grill, they even have COLDSTONE!! I can't wait to gorge on American food!

Back to the title of my post... (This post is LONG overdue!)

Jon and I had our first annual White Trash Bash a couple of weekends ago and it was a HIT! We had such a fantastic time and a big turnout. We had everyone bring a "fixin" and you wouldn't believe what we ended up with... anywhere from homemade beenie weenies, to corndogs, to twinkies, and spam! Not to mention the entire home redecorating we had to do to have a trashy atmosphere. It was awesome. Everyone dressed up in their best white trash garb and we had a grand ole' time drinking Boones Farm and Natural Light!

Here are pictures from our White Trash Bash:

Jon and Damon

Me and Sarah

Jon and me

Christiane and me

The swimming pool full of beer!

Jon, Deaner, and Sarah

Christiane and Damon

And the group got larger and larger...

All in all, it was a fantastic night! Everyone had a blast.
We look forward to next years White Trash Bash!
I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Canopy Tour

2010-07-29T05:03:00.017-05:00

Hey Everyone!!

Happy Thursday! I can't believe the weekend is almost here! So exciting. I have been looking forward to the weekends more and more lately. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the weather is finally cooling off here in Germany, and you can actually be outside for more than 3 minutes without profusely dripping in sweat... ya, I think that's it!

One fun thing I have been wanting to share with you guys was of a canopy tour we did while we were in Costa Rica. My brother, Jon, and I took an afternoon tour with a group called Canopy Safari. Jon and I did this exact same tour when we were in Costa Rica during our honeymoon and we really enjoyed it so we thought we'd try it again. Come to find out, they had actually put up a couple more canopies and one of the highest lines they had was over 300 feet above the ground. Thats 3 football fields y'all!! Thank goodness I am not utterly terrified of heights.

Here are some of the pictures I wanted to share. There are quite a few so bare with me...

Me getting ready for the first zip line.

Jon gearing up!

And away we go!

What a goof!

High up in the canopy

Can you see me?

Jon lovin' life!

Look how little we are!

This was one of the highest canopies.

We were really zooming!

High up in the tree tops!

My brother, Jon, and me.

If you look very closely you can see Jon.

And me.

What a wild ride that was! It is definitely something I will do again!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

One more day til Friday!!

Is This Thing On?!?

2010-07-28T07:53:00.010-05:00

Hello......

Is anyone out there?!?

WOW! Has it really been almost two months since my last post? I can't believe it! Time REALLY does fly by... even when you're not doing anything exciting! And we have NOT been doing anything too exciting in the last couple of months, which explains my lack of blogging.

How are you all?? I hope everyone in blogland is FANTASTIC!

Yesterday I went shopping with one of my buds. We stopped by the thrift store on base in search of some "not so classy" white trash wear.

You see... Jon and I are throwing our first annual WHITE TRASH BASH this Saturday and to attend you must come dressed for the part. Needless to say the thrift store did not disappoint! We made out like fat rats, with Power Rangers sheets (to cover the furniture of course) and jean vests in tow! Yup you read the right... Jean vests!!

But what was even more awesome, was that I met a blog follower of mine. It was so neat to meet someone in person who actually reads my blog and finds it interesting enough to continue reading. So on her behalf I decided to get back on the ole blog and update y'all on what is going on in our lives! Which sadly is a whole lotta nothin! (You see, I'm totally getting into this white trash talk, so that I can be ready for our bash on Saturday.)

Since it has been a while I'll fill you in on what we've been doing here at The Adventures of Jon and Steph.

May

Jon and I went to Munich with several people from his office. There we saw the Passion Play which only plays every 10 years. It's really an awesome thing to see because the entire town of Oberammergau, Germany is involved in the play. The town suffered many deaths during the 1630's black plague, and made a vow to God to perform the Passion Play every 10 years if God would spare them from the plague. This was their 41st production.

They did an absolutely fantastic job re-enacting the Passion of the Christ.

We also had the chance to visit the downtown area of Munich.

(Click on the picture to see photos of our adventure to Munich in May)

June

My parents took us on a family vacation to Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We have gone as a family for over 14 years now. Sadly last year was the only year I wasn't able to go, so it was a real treat to be able to be there with my family this year.

We had an amazing time sitting on the beach and hiking through the forest.

(Click on the picture to see our adventure to Costa Rica in June)

July:

Workin, workin, workin!!

And of course this weekend will be a-whole-nother adventure with our bash! Which of course we'll have pictures to share after the big event.

For now I am getting back to what I do best and that's cuttin' some hair!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.
Glad to be back to blogging and hopefully we'll have some exciting adventures to blog about soon!

In Memory of Cohen

2010-07-01T04:10:00.003-05:00

Click on the picture to read Cohen's story.

Scottish Highlands

2010-06-04T01:36:00.024-05:00

Hello friends!! Happy Friday to everyone! I hope y'all are doing great!

I'm just going to jump right in here and show you guys more of our trip to Scotland. After our race on Sunday, we decided to take a tour to the highlands... Definitely a mistake I will never make again. Not that the highlands weren't incredible... It was just the fact that we were on a tour bus for 12 hours and we didn't even get to sit together. I got stuck next to some mean lady from Poland who wouldn't switch seats with Jon so that I could sit next to him. She just kept saying, "NO... WINDOW." Meaning she wanted to sit by the window, so she would NOT move. I guess that's understandable being that the best way to see the sites is sitting right by the window. BUT The worst thing about it was that she SLEPT THROUGH MOST OF THE TOUR! She just haaaaaad to sit by the window to see all of the sites, but this lady fell asleeeeeeeeep! GRRRR.

Oh well, we still tried to have a good time and we actually saw some incredible landscapes and learned a lot about the history of Scotland and got to hear some stories of the actual William Wallace. (From the movie Braveheart.)

Here are the pictures from our tour.

After touring the highlands we stopped at a castle on Loch Ness. I'll leave you with this picture but will be sure to post more of Loch Ness and our boat ride in search for Nessie, tomorrow.

This weekend there is a big festival in our city called Wilhelmstrasse Festival. Pretty much, you just eat bratwurst along with other yummy German foods and drink loads of delicious beer... which is exactly what we're planning to do. We got our first taste of the fest last night and of course, it did not disappoint!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Get out in the sun and enjoy the weather!

HAVE A HAPPY WEEKEND!

Scotland in Pictures

2010-06-03T02:38:00.038-05:00

We're back!! Actually we've been back for a bit but I just haven't made the time to sit down and write a blog. Instead of writing a novel about our travels, I am just going to show you through pictures. If you are not a fan of pictures... might want to skip this post!

But FIRST! Wanted to say thank you to all of the good luck wishes for our race. Both Jon and I finished, but being that we were both injured, it took us a little longer than we had planned. Our time at the end was 2 hours 46 minutes. We had hoped for 2 hours and 30 but... what can you do. At least we finished!! Sadly, I didn't take any pictures at the race, but I am waiting to get our pictures that we ordered from the race website. I'll post them once I get them.

Without further ado... here are a plethora of pictures for your enjoyment.

Downtown Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle

The morning before the race getting our race numbers and packets!

After getting our numbers we toured the Edinburgh Castle.

The morning of the race! No Jon did not run in his jeans, he actually ran in super short shorts and tall socks... yup that's my husband! Oh and Not to mention, a sweatband and aviator glasses!! Can't wait to get the pictures so you can see the awesomeness.

I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures of our trip to the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ness!

Ready or Not...

2010-05-20T02:14:00.002-05:00

We're off to Scotland to run in the half marathon. Wish us loads of luck, because we're gonna need it. We'll be doing lots of sightseeing while we're there, and I'll be sure to take a ridiculous number of pictures, which I'll share as soon as we are back. Until then, cheers!!