Forecasting Seasons of Change

Life with our Fur Baby & New Baby

2013-10-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

A month and a half has gone by with life as a family with a newborn. We are all adjusting to the late night and early morning feedings and learning how to recognize what her cries are signaling. These new changes in our lives have impacted all of us, including our three year old dog, Wrigley.

Introducing a baby to Wrigley was an event I was very nervous about. We had read articles and gotten advice from friends about how to handle the first meeting. After Anderson arrived, JC brought home a receiving blanket she had been swaddled in. He let Wrigley sniff and play with the blanket for awhile to get used to the baby's smell.

Then came the moment of truth: the day we brought home Anderson. We brought her into the house and set her car seat down on the floor. Wrigley was very excited to see us as we had been gone for a few days; however the new little person grabbed his attention. He checked her out for a few seconds, then sniffed her -- and finally decided he was just happy to see JC and I. He went back to wiggling and wanting us to love on him. Since that day he has learned to co-exist with Anderson.

Wrigley checking out his brand new baby sister the first night home.

I know he has some feelings of jealousy toward Anderson. He has destroyed one pacifier, a rubber ducky and a first aid item. He will steal her burb rags and receiving blankets a couple times a day to get our attention. When JC and I are both paying attention to the baby he gets very jealous, barking and trying to butt his way into the circle to steal the limelight.

Wrigley also likes to steal the remote to grab our attention.

Wrigley also shows us that he does think Anderson is okay and doesn't mind having her in the family. Whenever she cries he usually checks her out to make sure she is okay. He will walk over to her and lick her on the head every once in awhile and he's pretty alert when someone new comes to visit and holds his sister.

Loving on his new baby sister.

To show Wrigley that he is still loved and important to us JC and I have tried to make sure we still spend quality time with Wrigley. We take him on our family walks, spoil him with some of his favorite treats from the Barkery and snuggle with him -- all things we used to do before Anderson arrived. Even though the snuggles and walks aren't as long or as frequent as they used to be, I think he still is a happy puppy.

Despite the house ringing with loud, frequent dog barks and baby cries, our fur baby and our new baby are learning to co-exist and love one another.

A Fall Tradition with our New Addition

2013-10-09T18:28:00.002-07:00

Eight years ago, JC and I began our journey together on our first date at the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, Illinois. Since then we've experienced moves, job changes, the addition of a puppy and now a baby. Even though we've experienced many changes, one thing we always make sure to experience every fall is the Great Pumpkin Patch.

Great Pumpkin Patch, 2011.

Each year the Great Pumpkin Patch creates interesting new fall decorations with pumpkins, gourdes, bales of hay and plants. Animals scurry around pens dotted throughout the grounds, and, of course, orange pumpkins cover acres of land. Thousands of people travel to Arthur to take part in the fall fun at the Great Pumpkin Patch.

This year, one new person took part in the fall fun -- our new little girl, Anderson. Since the Great Pumpkin Patch is so special to JC and I we wanted to make sure to take Anderson this year to celebrate our new, expanded family.

Our family's first trip to the Great Pumpkin Patch.

Even though she slept through the majority of our visit, we still enjoyed looking at all of the fall displays and picking out pumpkins for carving.

Our new little person has completely changed every aspect of our lives. Because of this, I have a new-found appreciation for "family friendly" things. Here are a few of those things at the Great Pumpkin Patch:

-Animals! Anderson will be a "city" girl, unlike her Mom and Dad. She won't have horses, or other animals, living across the street from her house. Pigs, llamas, and chickens are just some of the farm animals that children get to see.
-Children have their own designated play areas with mazes, small trails and other displays to stimulate their interests.
-Food and drink! Once Anderson starts eating adult food, she will be able to taste some fall treats that are especially good at the Great Pumpkin Patch. Pumpkin ice cream and apple cider slushies' are just a few that will fulfill the sweet tooth.
-Sitting areas to rest and visit with family.
-Already picked pumpkins.
-Plenty of cut-out displays and other great photo locations to capture family memories. Below is some pictures from a new display, "How Tall this Fall." Miss Anderson doesn't measure up to much this year -- but I know next year will be another story.

Sleeping through her measurements for "How Tall this Fall."

Happy Fall!

Welcome Miss Anderson Regen

2013-09-24T15:42:00.001-07:00

With less than a week to go before Baby Fultz arrived, JC and I were in full on baby prep mode. The nursery had been finished for a few weeks now. We were just waiting to add the final decorative touches once we found out if Baby Fultz was a boy or a girl. We had been advised by our Doctor to stay in town as he thought Baby Fultz would likely arrive in the next few days. With his advice fresh in our minds we went on our last baby-free dinner date.

That Sunday, my parents came to visit and help us clean our house in preparation for bringing home baby. We had just started cleaning when low and behold my water broke. Since this was my first baby I wasn't sure if it was actually my water breaking. I wanted to be sure. I did not want to be one of the frequent visitors on the OB floor.

I went upstairs and asked my mom "what does it feels like when your water breaks?" She, in turn, asked me if I thought my water broke. I said yes, and told her what was going on. She thought it was time for baby based on her experience. My Mom was surprisingly calm, and not overly excited or emotional like I expected her to be. She had told me earlier in the week that she thought the baby would be here that weekend.

Last picture of our family of three!

Since my Mom and I thought it was actually baby time I went downstairs to tell JC the news. He had a look of shock on his face, but was also very calm. My Dad overheard me telling JC, and was all smiles when I walked down the hallway to inform him as well.

After about an hour, our bags were packed, pictures were taken and makeup was on (I wanted to make sure I looked halfway decent for pictures).

When we arrived at the hospital, it was confirmed that I was in fact, in labor. About twelve hours later the Doctor on call (who wasn't our Doctor) arrived and told JC to tell me if our baby was a girl or boy once she finally entered the world.

The whole experience was so calm and pretty stress-free. We were extremely lucky that everything was great with Anderson and myself. I tried very hard to follow the words of advice of our child birth teacher by keeping calm through the experience.

Looking back over the last year during the process of bringing Anderson into the world, I've come to appreciate and love my family even more. When we found out that we would be becoming a family of three we were on vacation with my family -- and it was such a challenge to keep the news quiet from them for a few weeks until they somehow got the news out of me during a moment of weakness. For the grand finale, Anderson's arrival, my parents were here helping JC and I clean our house in preparation for baby when my water broke and also when we brought her home for the first time. All of these extremely important moments in our lives were made that much more special because we were able to share them with some of the most important people in our lives along with many other family members and friends.

Showers of Love for Baby Fultz

2013-08-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Baby day is almost here! We are down to about the two week mark before our bundle of joy enters our world. Looking back at the last, almost nine months, it’s hard to believe that it’s already time to welcome our new baby and take on the new job of being a mommy. Eight months ago, when I was battling nausea, extreme fatigue and adjusting to this new role I was taking on carrying our baby, it seemed like the nine month mark would never arrive. But here it is – and it did arrive pretty quickly too.

Finished nursery -- just waiting to put the Baby's name over the crib!

Each night I peek into the nursery, admiring all of the beautiful furniture, clothes and baby items that will help us take care of our little one. It makes me appreciate all of the love we’ve received from our family, friends and co-workers during our special time. A number of celebrations have taken place this summer to help us celebrate and prepare for baby.

My family threw us our first celebration for baby early this month. Since our theme for the nursery is whales the party was a whale themed event. My Mom created a few fun activities for the event. The first being a quiz people took about JC and I when we were children. Writing cute messages on diapers to help JC and me get through late night diaper changes was the second fun activity – and will provide for a little humor when changing a dirty diaper at three in the morning. It was such a nice event as I was surrounded by my family and friends who are all so happy to welcome our little one.

Soon-to-be four generations.

The second celebration was thrown by friends and a co-worker of JC’s. Since JC was also the guest of honor at the Baby BBQ the theme was Cubs. I really enjoyed this celebration because JC was also in the spotlight. I think it’s important for Dad’s to feel the baby love too! JC has some really amazing co-workers who have now become friends and even family for us.

"Congrats on your lil' Cub"

The third celebration was a huge surprise for me. My co-workers threw a surprise whale-themed shower for me at work. I had no idea they were planning anything, and really didn’t expect any type of party since I’ve been at the agency for a little less than a year. JC, Baby and I were all spoiled again. Special surprises and events like the baby shower make me so thankful for my work place and the great people I work with.

Now, after all the celebrations are over and presents are put up, we are in the waiting stage. I’m very anxious to meet our baby and also extremely nervous about how everything is going to go over the next few months. I’m well-aware I’m going to need lots of guidance as I learn to be a Mommy from patient nurses, friends and my parents, but I know our baby will thrive as he or she will be, and already is, extremely loved!

The Baby Name Game

2013-08-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Are you having a girl or boy? And what are you going to name your baby?

Those two questions are by far the most common questions I have gotten during my pregnancy. Both are also questions that we don’t know.

As I’ve written about in previous posts, JC and I decided to wait until birth to find out the sex of our baby. The anticipated surprise and not making our baby fit into a stereotypical gender specific box were two of the reasons why we decided to wait the nine months for this surprise.

Since we don’t know the gender of our baby deciding names, like finding cute gender neutral clothing, has been a bigger task than if we knew our baby was going to be a boy or a girl. We have to have at least one option ready for each sex.

JC and I have thrown around numerous names for each sex. At this point we have it narrowed down to about two options for each; however middle names are still undecided. At some points I like having a family name to serve as the middle name. Other times it’s hard for me to choose a family name without feeling like I’m leaving someone out or will be offending someone in the naming process.

Even though we have names narrowed down to a few for each sex we have decided to keep those names to ourselves for a few reasons.

One being the fact that the baby may not look like his or her name at all and that’s something we won’t know until we get that first glimpse at Baby Fultz. I think names fit people and certain names definitely don’t fit some individuals. For this reason we are waiting until we meet our little one before giving them their name to make sure it fits his or her personality and looks.

The second reason why we are waiting is to prevent any feedback, negative or positive, about our name choice. In the past few years most friends and family who have had babies find out the gender of the baby and then immediately reveal the name. That is perfectly fine; however I am even guilty of expressing my opinion on name choices. Some say it is good to get feedback on the name, because naming a baby is a big job and if people hate the name there may be other options that would fit better. A name is not something that can easily be changed; however it’s also a very special thing that parents get to do. I feel that new parents shouldn’t have to be stressed with pleasing friends or family about the name choice. What makes them happy and what seems right for the baby is what matters.

JC and I are fairly unusual in this whole baby process with not finding out the gender and also not naming the baby before birth. We’ve had many people express their opinions on both of these decisions, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It has made the process extremely special for the two of us and will make the big reveal even more exciting.

Visiting Munich and Dachau Concentration Camp

2013-08-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

Munich, the capital of Germany, opened our eyes to great food, liters of beer, the Rathaus-Glockenspiel and a trip to the country’s first concentration camp, Dachau.

We arrived in Germany later in the evening, quickly unpacked, then headed back out for an evening of entertainment and good food. We had dinner at the Ratskeller. The Ratskeller is the restaurant in the basement of the Rathaus, or town hall. The restaurant was a dimly lit place serving up all kinds of German foods. We had a roast type meal with potatoes and, of course, Apple fritter, for dessert. The food was very good; probably one of the best meals of the trip.

Dinner at the Ratskeller.

Yum!

After our bellies were full we headed over to the Hofbrauhaus. JC was extremely excited about going to the Hofbrauhaus because this is a main location during Octoberfest. Beer is served in liters and the atmosphere of the restaurant/pub is full of drunken fun, which on occasion turns to drunken brawls. The restaurant was very hot, with no air conditioning and a packed house, but I stuck out the wait for JC to drink his liter of beer. Rows upon rows of picnic type tables are set up for patrons to eat and drink. For those serious drinkers, a family stein is kept in a locked storage bank and brought out whenever a family member arrives at the Hofbrauhaus for a drink.

Hofbrauhaus

Stein locker.

The restaurant was packed!

The next morning was spent on a guided tour of Munich. We visited Nymphenburg Palace, built around an Italian villa in the 1600s. The large grounds have beautiful ponds and gardens. We passed many other statues and places of importance before we headed to the Town Hall area to watch the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.

Nymphenburg Palace

Every day at 11 in the morning the Glockenspiel chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century about the marriage of a local man and woman. Huge crowds gather around to watch the story play out through the figurines. During our time in Munich there was a big race taking place, so there was a massive crowd in the area. The whole show lasts about 15 minutes.

Glockenspiel at the town hall.

At lunch JC tried the traditional Munich sausage called the Weisswurst. It is a white colored sausage made from veal and bacon. Our tour guide told us to eat the sausage the correct way you must peel the skin back first, then add the special mustard sauce. I had no part in trying this sausage. The look and way you had to prepare it for eating was not something I was keen to. My salad served me nicely.

Munich white sausage

Our afternoon was spent on an optional tour to the country’s first concentration camp, Dachau. On the way out to the concentration camp our tour guide told us the German’s remember World War II and tell others in the country about it so a similar situation never happens again. When we arrived we first walked through the old train tracks where they would bring prisoners in to Dachau. They would then enter through the gates and go through the process of being stripped of all of their belongings, shaved, cleaned and identified by their reason for imprisonment. We walked through the the building where all of this took place and tried to read through as many of the information boards as we could get to. It was absolutely fascinating and also heart-wrenching at the same time.

Electric fence, wire, ditches and creek surrounded the concentration camp.

All of the barracks that were original to the camp had been destroyed because of disease that had spread through the people, but one barrack had been reconstructed to give us an idea of what one looked like. It was unimaginable to think 10,000 people were forced to sleep in one barrack.

Barrack

Our final stop in Dachau was to the gas chamber area. Because of the high number of people that were prisoners at the camp another building was added which was where the gas chamber was located. It was extremely eerie and almost brought tears to my eyes walking through the rooms where they would keep the dead bodies, the gas chambers and the rooms which house the ovens. It’s hard to believe that humans could be that cruel to one another.

Original room for ovens.

Even though this part of the trip was by far the most somber and eye-opening, I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to visit these sites as it was a huge part of our world’s history. I would say because of the historical importance of Dachau, it was probably one of my favorite stops along our German vacation.

Preparing our Fur Baby for our New Baby

2013-08-02T16:35:00.002-07:00

With just a little over a month until Baby Fultz makes his or her debut into the world JC and I have been busy getting the nursery together, meeting with pediatricians, attending childbirth classes and trying to find time to relax in our very short down time we have with our busy schedules. With all the time away from home preparing for baby and new items being brought into our home for baby, our first baby, Wrigley, is having a lot to adjust to right now.

Wrigley loving his child free yard and life!

Whenever we found out back in January that we would be bringing a new bundle of joy into this world one of my first thoughts was how our first fur child was going to handle this new transition. Wrigley has been with us for over three years now and to say he has been the center of attention during that time is putting it lightly. He is one spoiled puppy.

Shortly after I got pregnant, and maybe even before I even knew, Wrigley started acting a little different around me. He would smell my belly off and on, which is not something he did before I started cooking the baby. He also became very indecisive about his feelings toward me. At times he would want to cuddle with me and was extremely protective. Other times he wanted nothing to do with me and would actually go to another room to sleep.

I know Wrigley knows there is a major change coming to the Fultz house soon, but I don’t think that is going to make it any easier on the adjustment. We’ve heard tips that we should bring home a piece of clothing the baby wears at the hospital so Wrigley can start getting used to the smell. I’ve also read expecting parents should spend a little less time doting on their dogs so they can get used to not being the center of attention all the time once the baby arrives.

Proud Big Brother!

No matter how prepared we think Wrigley should be there is going to be some time of turmoil in his life. Here are a few of my concerns about introducing a new baby to our furry baby:

-Wrigley is a barker when things don’t go his way. When he wants peanut butter in his toy kong he barks. When he wants to go outside or on walks he barks. So with a newborn crying and a puppy barking for attention I’m afraid our house is going to be ringing with noise at all hours of the day and night.

-Wrigley is also very protective and never wants to be left out. He loves cuddling and being loved on by JC and I; however hates it when JC and I hug each other or show any sort of affection around him. When the baby comes we are going to be doing a lot of cuddling which may not bode well with our furry baby – ensuing in more barking and disruptive behavior.

-Even though he loves people and being around them, he has not had the opportunity to spend much time around infants or toddlers. The few times he’s been around little people he sniffs them, then wants nothing to do with them. He’s going to have to get used to being grabbed, pinched and slobbered on once the baby gets old enough to play with Wrigley.

-Lastly, and most importantly, I’m terrified that the baby is going to be allergic to dogs. That would be the worst possible scenario with baby and puppy. Wrigley has been our baby for over three years and I hope he will grow old with our family, and learn to love his new brother or sister.

Our family, Christmas 2011.

Christmas Ornaments, Teddy Bears and Snowballs: Rothenburg, Germany

2013-07-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Day six was one of my favorite days on our German tour. We stopped and visited beautiful Rothenburg, Germany.

Rothenburg, Germany

Rothenburg is a medieval town with towers, cobblestone lanes and century-old houses. It was the picture-perfect image of what I expected a German town to look like. The city is surrounded by the Town Wall, which was used to keep enemies out of the city years ago. It was partially damaged in World War II, but was restored to its original structure.

People can walk out to the top of the Town Wall to get a glimpse of the entire city and surrounding Bavaria. We did not do this, but did step out onto a walk area to take in the views of vineyards and hills.

Valley surrounding Rothenburg.

Our tour group leader led us through the small, cobblestone streets to the Town Square. In the Town Square vendors had a farmers market set up selling fruits, vegetables, cheeses, wine and more. The Town Square is directly in front of the City Hall, known as the Rathaus in German. JC tried walking up the 241 stairs to the top of the Rathaus, but wasn’t able to because it was closed for lunch.

Our first stop after being set free from the group was to go shopping at one of the biggest Christmas stores, the Kathe Wolfharht Christmas Village. Rothenburg is known for Christmas ornaments, so we wanted to make sure to bring home a small Christmas souvenir. Outside of the store was an old-fashioned truck with presents loaded into the back. Life size nutcrackers also greeted us as we entered the store and Christmas trees were decorated in all colors and sizes.

After we had our Christmas ornament we walked through the streets to get a feel for the city. We stopped in at another shop selling Rothenburg Teddy’s and bought a couple small, stuffed animals for the baby.

When we felt like we had a good feel of the city, had seen a great deal of the beautiful fountains and checked out all the shops we wanted to, we stopped for lunch at an Italian pizzeria and had delicious bruschetta pizza. We sat at a table on the street to enjoy our lunch. I was surprised at how many Italian pizzerias there were in Germany. There seemed to be one at every stop we made and the food was always delicious.

Before we left we had to sample the dessert popular in Rothenburg, snowballs. Traditional snowballs are hard balls of dough with powdered sugar. Now bakeries have a variety of different flavors. We tried a chocolate flavoring with nuts. Snowballs are somewhat difficult to eat as they are very hard, making it difficult to know where and how to begin eating the treat. I would not say this was my favorite treat. But because it is a specialty of the town I enjoyed trying the dessert.

Rothenburg was the beginning of our time in the Bavarian region of Germany. This region is especially picturesque and what I imagined Germany would look like. Is this your idea of what Germany should look like?

The Crib Misadventure

2013-07-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

It’s a beautiful piece of furniture, that will cradle to sleep our precious baby for years to come … but it was a major fiasco getting this beautiful crib into our baby’s nursery.

The beautiful crib with whale-themed bedding.

Late this spring JC and I decided that we needed to start getting the baby’s nursery together. After a few hours of debating and browsing, we settled on a beautiful dark-colored crib. We put in our order and the salesman told us that it would be a couple weeks before the crib came in. This was fine with us, considering we were driving our small, compact Jetta that day and were unsure if the piece of furniture would fit into our trunk and backseat.

Fast forward about two weeks when we were notified our crib was in the store. Since we wanted to get the crib in the baby’s room and set up before we left for two weeks on vacation we called his Dad to see if he would help us pick up the crib in his SUV. Four people piled into an SUV for the pickup. JC and I were busy filling out the forms for registering for baby items, while JC’s Dad was working with the Babies ’r’ us workers to get the crib into the vehicle.

Come to find out an SUV was still on the small side for this beautiful crib. The workers had to take the pieces of furniture out of the box to fit into the vehicle, and push the back seat down. This didn’t work out well for the remaining two of us that would either have to sit on top of the baby’s new bed, walk home from Springfield or wait while the crib was driven back to Decatur and another trip made back to Springfield to pick up the remaining two of our party of four.

We decided to send the crib back while JC and I registered for things. Needless to say we had plenty of time to check out the entire Babies ‘r’ us store and decide what we wanted to get for Baby Fultz. It actually made the registering and browsing process fun and enjoyable because we didn’t feel rushed; however it required us to walk across Veteran’s Parkway to find a restaurant to hang out in until our ride came back to pick us up!

I like to think with all mistakes in life there are lessons to be learned. A few lessons came from this first major (and most likely not last) baby fiasco.

1.) Always check the size of furniture before driving an hour to pick up an item as large as a crib.

2.) Our family is amazing! Both his Dad and girlfriend for putting up with our crib misadventure and my parents for being willing to drive over two hours to pick up the dresser and prevent any other baby furniture misadventures.

3.) We need a bigger vehicle!

A Glimpse of Leipzig and Nuremberg, Germany

2013-07-23T19:33:00.002-07:00

On our fifth day of traveling we trekked through Leipzig and ended our day in Nuremberg.

The stop in Leipzig was extremely short, lasting maybe an hour. The St. Nicholas Church was our first stop in the city. Our tour guide encouraged us to take a quick peek at the old building. The Protestant church became the place of peaceful revolt during the Communist era of East Germany. The building was originally built in the 1100s and is beautifully decorated with gold trim around parts of the ceiling and other décor in the building.

We also stopped at the St. Thomas Church where J.S. Bach worked and where his remains are still today. Outside the Lutheran Church is a statue of Bach. While we were visiting, we got to hear some beautiful music as a symphony practiced.

Statue of Bach outside the St. Thomas Church.

St. Thomas Church

Inside St. Thomas Church

First Bratwurst of the trip!

Before leaving Leipzig I had my first taste of German sausage from a food cart. The sausage was very tasty, with German mustard (more like a Dijon mustard) on top, and also very cheap at only 1,60 Euro.

We continued our drive to Nuremberg after our short stop in Leipzig. To welcome us to Germany we had the opportunity to try the traditional Nurnberger Bratwurste. The bratwurst were similar in size, look and taste to a sausage link we would have in the U.S. for breakfast. Our tour guide insisted they were completely different than the sausage we are used to, but to me they seemed very similar. The Nurnberger Bratwurste was served a little differently, on a hard bun. The restaurant we went to cooks up to 600 sausages at one time.

Cooking the Nurnburger Bratwurste

View of Nuremburg.

After our small snack we explored the city. We walked up to a high point of the downtown area and were able to look out on the city and admire the spectacular views and medieval ramparts. The hike was all uphill for probably a half a mile, but it was worth the climb to get a glimpse at the city.

We also stopped at the 14-century fountain dedicated to the Holy Roman Empire, the Schoner Brunnen. It is said that it brings good luck to anyone who spins the brass rings in a circle twice. JC and I both took our turns at spinning the brass ring.

JC spinning the brass rings for good luck.

Street mirroring what Nuremburg looked like years ago.

Enjoying the sights in Nuremburg.

One street, close to the edge of the downtown area, gave us an idea of what the city looked like before World War II and a good portion of the city was destroyed. The street was very narrow, with interesting buildings serving as restaurants, shops and homes. It was a neat, quaint looking street, unlike most of the other areas that have had some touch of commercialism and modern architecture.

Before we left we also grabbed some gingerbread cookies. Nuremberg is known as the town for gingerbread. Our tour guide told us locals will not buy gingerbread unless it is Christmas season because it is thought to be a treat only indulged in during the holiday. Tourists, however, will buy the treat year-round to get a taste of the delicious treat.

Before dinner JC and I went on a furious search to find Christmas ornaments. We finally found a store, and a few ornaments to take home with us.

Nuremberg was another city that we wished we could have spent more time in. But as our tour guide said when we expressed our desires for longer times in certain places, it was a glimpse of Germany tour to give us a small taste of what the country is like.

Our 2 Day Berlin, Germany Experience

2013-07-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

As an American I sometimes forget how powerful and influential our country and President is all over the world. Our third full day of travel showed just how much of an impact President Obama has even in Europe. Obama held a speech at the Brandenburg Gates during our stay in Berlin, where President Kennedy once held a famous speech. Because of Obama’s visit our whole two days of travel in Berlin had to be changed up.

Before our Berlin exploring began we had to leave Dusseldorf on the High Speed Rail to travel to this next city. Our guide brought us to the train station early to allow us to get something to bring aboard the train for lunch as we would be traveling through the early afternoon hours. Since public transportation is a main source of transportation in Germany, and Europe, the station was packed with people already at 10 a.m. We browsed through some of the shops and eateries and finally settled on a pretzel and pizza croissant for lunch.

We sat first class in the train and had actually lots of room to move around inside the car. The highest speed the train got up to was about 200 kilometers. Even at that high speed you really couldn’t feel the train moving. Germany had been experiencing some major flooding in certain parts of the country, so we had to take a different, roundabout path to Berlin. The trip should have only taken a few hours, but because of the detours ended up taking about five hours. Despite the long train ride, I was still impressed with the rail transportation in Germany. It is leaps and bounds above what we have available to us in Central Illinois.

Once we got to Berlin and our hotel we were back on the bus to head out for some sightseeing. Our original plans were altered because of Obama’s speech, so we instead went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. Checkpoint Charlie was the point where people had to check in before entering East or West Germany after World War II. This museum had endless pictures and artifacts from the time period showing the extremes people would go to trying to escape West Germany, which was ruled by the Soviet Union, to enter the U.S. side of East Germany. Since we arrived in Berlin much later than expected we weren’t able to spend a great deal of time at the museum. Our local tour guide lived in East Germany during this time and told a few fascinating stories about her experiences during this time period and the awful living conditions people were forced to endure in West Germany.

Checkpoint Charlie

Posing in front of Checkpoint Charlie .... and McDonald's!

Sign near Checkpoint Charlie.

JC standing where the Berlin Wall once was.

As we were walking out of the museum and back to the bus we walked over where the Berlin wall was once standing. The streets and sidewalks now have a different colored brick to represent where the wall stood.

Our last stop during the first night at Berlin was at the Bendlerblock where Claus von Stauffenberg and other German soldiers who unsuccessfully tried to kill Hitler were executed. There was a plaque remembering Stauffenberg and others in the small courtyard area.

Memorial at Bendlerblock for Stauffenberg and the other soldiers executed.

The next day we picked up our sightseeing tour of Berlin by visiting the Holocaust Memorial. Rows upon rows of huge blocks take up one corner of a street. A person could definitely get lost walking through the Memorial as each small monument was the exact same as the next.

Holocaust Memorial.

More of the Holocaust Memorial.

Another stop was at the location of where the remaining parts of the Berlin wall stand. The wall is maybe a block long and crumbling in parts because when it first came down people were allowed to break off chunks of the wall as souvenirs. Right underneath the wall was the Gestapo Torture Chambers where they held and tortured people who did not support Hitler and his propaganda. We didn’t have much time to spend reading all of the history and looking at pictures during this stop either, which was also a little disappointing.

Berlin Wall.

Picture of Hitler in the Gestapo Torture Chambers.

We visited other sites such as the State Opera House, but the highlight of the guided morning tour was stopping at the Brandenburg Gate. Since Obama chose the monument for his speech, scaffolding and tents blocked the view from the road leading to the gate. We had to get out and walk directly in front of the gate to be able to take in all of its glory. It was a really beautiful, amazing structure which makes you reflect on history and all that’s taken place below its gates.

State Opera House

In front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Brandenburg Gate.

After a stop at lunch JC and I opted not to go on the optional tour to Potsdam due to the extreme heat and lack of sleep. We did, however, check out the Berlin Zoo, which our tour guide told us was an excellent zoo. We didn’t make it to the zoo until later in the day, so we were able to see a lot of the feeding taking place with a number of animals. The zoo’s in the U.S. definitely outweigh the Berlin Zoo, but I always enjoy visiting a zoo.

Our last stop for the night was at an authentic German Restaurant. I had a pork roast meal and JC had the Weinerschnitzel (sausage plate). Both meals were very good. For dessert we began our taste of Apple Strudel. This sample of the delicious dessert was one of the best.

Berlin in general was a highlight of the Germany trip. JC and I both said we want to go back to Berlin to explore the city on our own time. There is so much history and things to see in Berlin a day and a half doesn’t allow for you to see even half of the wonderful sights and sounds of this great city.

Discovering Cologne and Dusseldorf, Germany

2013-07-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Rhine River Cruise was just the start of exploring in Germany. The same day we traveled to Cologne, Germany to taste some beer at a local brewery and visit the gothic Cathedral.

The Colner Hofbrau Fruh is one of Cologne’s most famous breweries. Of course, I was not able to taste the beer, but I heard that it was a good, light beer. We also got a snack of a sauerkraut wrap, potato salad and crescent with the drink. The potato salad and crescent were good, but I wasn’t a fan of the wrap.

After our short snack JC I weren’t exactly full as our portions were very small and we knew we needed something else to tide us over until dinner time. We walked the streets until we found a small bakery. We both had a giant pretzel and sat at the little café street tables. Watching people in this town was so interesting. Some of the things we would see people wearing or doing were so different than what we see at home, yet some of it was very much similar.

After the short rest we headed over to the gothic Cathedral. The Cathedral has 515 foot towers, amazing stained glass windows and is the shrine of the Three Holy Kings. The Cathedral is Germany’s most-visited landmark, bringing in an average of 20,000 people a day to see the artistry of the Catholic church for free. The Cathedral suffered major damage after World War II, but has been reconstructed to its original state since the war. People had the option of climbing up the Cathedral towers to the very top. JC and I did not do this as I didn’t think I would be able to handle that much walking with such warm temperatures.

Gothic Cathedral.

Inside the gothic Cathedral.

My favorite part of Cologne was the Cathedral’s stain glass windows. The faces and images depicted in the stain glass were so life-like it was truly amazing. A large portion of the church was covered in stain glass, and even some of the floor was covered in murals made from tiles.

Another highlight of our Cologne stop was visiting a part of a road that dates back to the Roman Empire. The road was all brick, and you could even see where the carts would be pulled by horses along the streets. We were also able to see some old cellars and artifacts dating back to the Roman Empire that were salvaged.

After our short two hour stop in Cologne we were back on the bus to Dusseldorf for the night. I can’t say Dusseldorf had any significance to me during the trip. We were only there for a short time, and most of the time was spent sleeping. We did walk to a park that was supposedly very nice that was near our hotel. After walking at least a mile, we arrived at the park. We had to walk through a tunnel that was covered in graffiti and had beer bottles everywhere. The park was not what I would consider a “nice” park with mossy ponds and beer bottles and cigarette butts littered all over the pond and grounds. Visiting this park made me appreciate how nice and well-kept our parks are in the U.S.

This was also by far the hottest night we had to endure. With very little air conditioning being pumped into our room we had to open the windows and listen to sirens all night. Dusseldorf was my least favorite stop of the entire trip; however we had some amazing sights yet to see … as you will see soon.

Rhine River Valley, Germany

2013-07-10T16:42:00.003-07:00

Day 2 of being in Germany and Day 1 of guided tours began with a 6:15 wake up call. One thing I learned about group travel from this trip is that there is very little leisure time, or sleeping in.

Since we were now in Germany all of our traveling was done on bus. We hit the autobahn bright and early and also hit a major traffic jam. Before going to the country we had, of course, heard about the autobahn and how there was no speed limit in certain sections of the roadways. Our tour guide told us this reputation is one that shouldn’t stand up. In Germany the autobahn is referenced as the biggest parking lot because of all of the traffic jams that happen due to road construction or wrecks. Our traffic jam ended up making us late for our cruise department. We missed out on the first leg of the cruise.

Once we finally arrived on the boat we took in beautiful hills with castles, or remnants of old castles, on top of the hills. Our tour guide told us some of the old, destroyed castles are being sold for a really cheap price, but when the buyer agrees to the sale they are also agreeing to restore the castle to the way it looked when it was first built. Many of the castles that have been restored are now homes to bed and breakfasts or restaurants.

Terraced vineyards also rolled down the hills. This was really amazing to think how people would harvest the grapes on such steep hills. Pretty wine towns also spotted the countryside we passed. The Rhine River Valley is a huge producer of wine and those who tried out the regional wine said it was delicious. Finally, toward the very end of our picturesque cruise we passed the Lorelei rock, which is rooted to a deep legend.

The Lorelei rock legend claims that a beautiful woman would sing songs to the captains driving boats through the part of the river. Because of her beauty and singing the captains would become distracted looking up at the rock and crash, sinking the boat and killing the sailors.

The Lorelei is the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline are what have actually caused many accidents.

The Rhine River Cruise was only about 45 minutes long, but every minute seemed to be prettier than the last. After evaluating our trip, JC and I decided this was one of our favorite parts of the German vacation. We also decided the Rhine River Valley is a place we would like to return to and stay for a few days. It was absolutely beautiful!

Traveling Across the Pond to Frankfurt, Germany

2013-07-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

Four hours on a bus, two plus hours at O’Hare International Airport, eight hours on a plane and another two hours waiting in the Frankfurt, Germany airport was what it took to get to Germany. It was a long, full day of traveling. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t as bad as what I expected.

I’ve never loved flying. My husband, on the other hand, absolutely loves it. If he wasn’t a meteorologist, he says, he would have done something with air travel. He wasn’t stressed about the flight over seas; however I was dreading it. The long hours in a cramped seat, with small, gross bathrooms just does not appeal to me, especially when I was going to be seven months pregnant at the time.

Our plane waiting for us!

Even though we traveled overnight, it never got completely dark.

We flew through Lufthansa, and were really catered to while traveling. We had two meals on the plane along with a snack and free beverage service (both soft drinks and alcoholic drinks). I guess that makes up for the fact that the seats were no bigger than the planes we use to fly to Atlanta, or other short distances.

We left O’Hare in mid-afternoon and flew overnight to Germany. When we arrived to the country it was about seven in the morning Germany time. We had basically gained almost a full day while traveling. Once we got through customs, retrieved our bags and met with our tour guide on the bus, she encouraged us to stay awake for the rest of the day to get used to the seven hour time difference.

Even though I was running on “E” I took the tour guides advice and only rested shortly before taking a dip in the schwimmbad (pool) then heading out for the rest of the afternoon.

Our tour guide told us when dropping us off at the hotel that using the train or trolley system was very easy. Both modes of transportation were just a short walk down the street. Since our hotel was not in a neighborhood with any entertainment or sights nearby, we decided to try to use the public transportation.

We walked the few blocks down to the trolley station and stared at the route map. To say it was confusing was an understatement! After a walk back to the hotel to retrieve our Germany travel book for guidance (which didn’t turn out to have much guidance), we ended up finding a kind passerby to help us get tickets for the train into downtown.

The train was fairly cheap and quick to arrive downtown. Frankfurt is the business and financial hub for Germany. The city was very similar to what I was used to seeing around the states with tall skyscrapers and glass buildings. Frankfurt is nicknamed Mainhattan because of the river Main, which runs through city and also because people believe it is similar to Manhattan with its business and financial reputation.

After we got off the train we were in search of food. Since we had just arrived to the city, and do not speak the language, it was a little intimidating trying to read menus and decide where to eat. I was starving by this point, so I saw a McDonald’s and out of defeat asked JC to just go get me a cheeseburger. Luckily the McDonald’s in Germany are not that different, so we found a cheeseburger and fries in the basement of a building without air conditioning.

It might be a different country, but everything still tastes the same.

Then we were off to find the historic old center of Frankfurt called the Romerberg. There are a number of 14th and 15th century buildings in this center along with the town hall. Many of the buildings were destroyed or badly damaged during World War II, but reconstructed afterwards. Many cafes, restaurants and shops are also part of the center as well as the Dom Saint Bartholomeus’ Cathedral.

We used our Germany travel book to try to find the way to the Romerberg, but were not successful. We finally asked a worker at a food cart for directions. He pointed us in the right direction, and a tour guide helped us for the last leg.

In Romerberg square.

The Dom

The Romerberg was a unique square with all of the buildings and architecture so different than the skyscrapers and glass buildings in the other parts of Frankfurt. The Dom dominates the center, but the other shops and café’s add to the charming quality of this small piece of the city. It really was like stepping back into a century from long ago.

Since we had dinner with the group we weren’t able to stay at Romerberg long. We snapped a few pictures, sat and took in the atmosphere then headed to the trolley station to try to get back to the hotel.

Due to the heat and exhaustion of traveling I was dragging by this point. I gave JC the duty of buying the tickets and finding out which trolley we needed to take back. We thought we had everything straightened out and were actually very close to our stop for the hotel when the trolley security started checking everyone’s tickets. Come to find out, JC had unknowingly bought two children’s tickets instead of adult tickets. The security guard asked to see our passports, questioned how long we had been in Germany and where we were going. Neither one of us could remember the name of the stop as it was a long German name we had only seen a couple times on a map. At the next stop he made us get off the trolley and show him where we were going. We were only two stops away from where we needed to be! Because the fine for not buying a ticket, or buying an incorrect ticket is usually 40 Euros per person, he told us he wasn’t going to make us do that; however he did make us buy two more adult tickets for the last two stops. That was much better than 80 Euros. It was a slightly scary experience, but the security workers ended up being very helpful and understanding considering we were tourists and had only arrived a few hours prior.

28 weeks pregnant in Frankfurt.

Our day of traveling and navigating the city of Frankfurt were by far the most stressful days of the trip. We had little knowledge of the train system in the country and were exhausted from traveling, making it even more frustrating to deal with the foreign ways. Thankfully navigating our way through Germany was much easier and more enjoyable after Frankfurt, as you will see in the next few posts!

A Taste of Germany

2013-07-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Before going on our German vacation I was a little nervous that I would starve. I knew little about the foods of the country, except for knowing that bratwurst and sauerkraut are a country favorite. I like a bratwurst every-so-often, but it isn’t one of my favorite foods. Sauerkraut, on the other hand, I really dislike. Needless to say I was anticipating I would be making a few stops at McDonald’s after dinner every night.

I won’t say that I loved all German food, or that I will be cooking up bratwurst and sauerkraut once a week now that we are home, but I definitely did not starve. We had some absolutely delicious meals during our trip, and also had some other meals (especially soups) that I didn’t favor.

Here’s the foodie highlights from our trip:

We couldn’t go to Germany without having a bratwurst from a food cart vendor. The brat was actually very good, and pretty similar in taste to what we make on the grill in the States. The size of the brat was a little longer than what we normally see, and the bun used for the meat was much smaller. It was a miniature size, harder hotdog bun. I chose mustard for my brat, which turned out to be more of a brown mustard, not your standard yellow mustard sold in the grocery stores. One of the biggest surprises for me with the brat food cart vendor was the price. For one brat it cost 1,60 Euro. Of course the Euro is worth more than the U.S. dollar, so we actually spent more than that, but compared to other meals it was the cheapest we had on our vacation.

Our first bratwurst of the vacation!

It seemed on almost every corner in the bigger cities we visited there was a bakery with rows of pretzels on display for sale. The pretzels were similar to what you might get at a baseball game. We split a pretzel one afternoon after exploring a beautiful Cathedral. The pretzels were also fairly cheap compared to other lunch items. Pretzels are also used as appetizers, similar to how rolls are used at different restaurants in the U.S. Restaurants will bring customers a basket of bread and rolls along with a few pretzels hanging off of a little wooden bar. Pretzels are also never eaten with melted cheese in Germany, but always mustard.

Enjoying a pretzel from a bakery in Cologne.

Asparagus was in season while we were in Germany which meant we got the pleasure of trying “Spargel,” or bleached asparagus. Apparently green asparagus is harder to find in Germany, so most Germans will eat Spargel over the type of asparagus we are used to. Spargel tasted the same as the asparagus I eat at home, but was a different color, white. The spargel we had was drowned in butter and was extremely thick. I liked spargel, but after 3 huge stalks of it I couldn’t force myself to eat the last few pieces on my plate.

Looks funky, but tastes pretty good!

Nuremburg sausage was one of our “local flavors” we had included in our vacation package. Once we stopped in Nuremburg we all traveled to a local restaurant to try the Nuremburg sausage. Our travel guide kept telling us that even though it looks like the breakfast sausages we were used to it was actually much different. I’m not sure how it was different. To me, it didn’t taste different, look different or smell different; however it was served differently. Instead of eating the sausage plain as I’m used to doing, three sausages were served on a hard bun. We ate the sausages like a sandwich, with, for those who could and wanted to partake, beer.

This restaurant cooks up 600 Nuremburg sausages at a time! They are extremely popular in Nuremburg.

Munich is also known for a certain bratwurst called Weisswuerste. This brat is made from veal and is white in color. Our tour guide told us to eat the bratwurst you need to pull off the skin or coating before eating the insides. Just the unnatural color of this sausage, and the manner in which you have to prepare it before consuming I knew I would not be trying this local treat. JC, however, did try the bratwurst and said with the special mustard that you were supposed to put on it, it was actually really good. I’ll take his word for it. Watching him eat it did nothing to boost my confidence in the taste factor.

JC's sausage plate with a sampling of Weisswuerste.

Every night when dinner was provided as part of the vacation package we were served a three course meal. Most meals started with some sort of soup (which I was rarely a fan of) and then ended with dessert which usually ended up being Apple strudel. Our Apple strudel adventure started at dinner on our own one night at an authentic German restaurant. We had been on the trip for about three days at that point and decided we wanted to try the Apple strudel for dessert for the first time. It was delicious! The next night for our group dinner we had Apple strudel, and it seemed every night after we ended up having Apple strudel. We had the dessert so many times that I can’t even remember which place had the best dessert. What I can remember is that all of the desserts, except for one were delicious!

Another local flavor that we got to try was Black Forest Cake while we were in the Black Forest. Black Forest Cake is made with several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries in between the layers. It is often made with a small portion of alcohol, normally Schnapps. I don’t especially love chocolate or desserts made with whipped cream, so this dessert wasn’t one of my favorites. I preferred the numerous samplings of Apple Strudel.

While stopping in the quaint little town of Rothenburg our tour guide told us the must-try dessert of the town were Snowballs. Walking through the cobblestone streets we could see just about every bakery had row upon row of different kinds of Snowballs. The traditional snowball is dusted with powder sugar, but JC and I took the advice of one of the shop workers and tried a snowball filled with Nugget filling. I found the dessert to be okay, but not something that I will be trying to make at home or ordering online to be shipped over. Most people on the trip tried the Snowballs, and very few of them enjoyed the taste.

Germany is known for Christmas and many of the holiday’s traditions, so it may not be surprising to know that Gingerbread cookies are extremely popular in Nuremburg. Our tour guide told us locals only eat the cookies at Christmas time. The cookies were apparently very expensive and a treat to get once a year during the holiday. Now only tourists buy the cookies year-round. Being a tourist, we had to buy the cookies. They were very good and a definite must for anyone to try who is visiting Nuremburg.

In my opinion, the biggest difference between German and American beverages was the water. In Germany water is served with carbon or gas. When you go into a restaurant and ask for water the waiter is going to bring you carbonated water. I had this happen to me a couple times and each time produced in me making a terrible face. It just doesn’t taste good! To get the normal water that Americans are used to we would have to say “water with no gas” or “Sparkling/mineral water.” The water from the faucet was safe, so I kept a water bottle and filled it up each morning. The cost of buying beverages in a convenience store in Germany was much more expensive than what it is in the states. The country is trying to push recycling more, so they have added a deposit to all glass bottles. If you wanted the cheapest beverage on the shelf though, it wasn’t water or pop. It was beer! Beer was usually at least a dollar cheaper than other beverages in all places. This didn’t help my budget out any since I am not able to drink due to Baby Fultz happily growing in my belly.

Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the German cuisine, I definitely enjoyed a few of the German flavors. If I wasn’t in the mood for a sausage or pretzel at lunch I knew I would be able to find an Italian pizzeria. They were everywhere and had the best bruschetta I’ve ever tasted in my life!

Loved the Italian pizza and bruschetta in Germany! Makes me want to go to Italy.

Taking on a 12 Day German Vacation Pregnant

2013-06-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Our bags are unpacked and our dog is happy again. Our Germany vacation is over. This trip was a unique trip for a few reasons. One it was our first “group tour” experience, two it was the longest trip we’ve ever taken, and finally, I was 7 months pregnant.

Posing for the 28 week bump picture in Frankfurt, Germany after a full day of traveling.

Before leaving for the trip I was confident that I was still going to attend the trip and enjoy it as much as possible. I wasn’t going to let my pregnancy stop me from traveling, and experiencing this country. Luckily my body, and the baby, cooperated with my determination and I felt pretty good the entire trip despite the large amount of time spent traveling (on air and on bus) and walking through cobblestone streets and up 18th century castle stairways; however there were a few factors that helped me maintain my health and also contributed to the few physical stresses of traveling while pregnant.

1.) A 4 hour bus ride, 3 hour airport wait, 8 hour plane ride and another hour on a bus = my first experience of swollen feet and ankles. Throw in some 90 degree weather and it was the icing on the cake to turn my feet and ankles into cantaloupe size body parts. The extremely warm temperature apparently is very rare for Germany, and thankfully we only had to endure this heat for about four days of the trip. During that time though, I experienced the stiffness, and discomfort that comes along with having your feet swell up like a blowfish. The other people on the group were great and allowed me to occupy the very back of the bus for the majority of the trip so I could prop my feet up, preventing them from swelling due to the heat and constant walking.

Surviving the heat wave ... taking in the sights at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany.

2.) 6:15 wake-up call every day (remember we were 7 hours ahead of Central Time in Germany so it was really more like a 11:15 p.m. wake-up call) and traveling, exploring and eating dinner as a group until about eight o’clock every evening made for an exhausting vacation. Our tour group leader was a wealth of knowledge about the history of Germany and country in general, but with the schedule we were on and the baby sucking all my energy I usually spent the hours on the bus traveling to the different stops asleep. I think the other group members got used to my snores pretty quickly; however if we would not have had the travel time on the bus I would have been a walking zombie with a majorly bad attitude.

3.) German, and European for that matter, air conditioning is not what it is in the states! The first day we arrived in our extremely warm hotel room, turned on the “air conditioning” and waited for the wonderful invention to do its magic. That never happened. Although it did cool the room down a little bit, I spent the majority of the trip sleeping on top of the covers and took a few cold showers during the first portion of the trip when the heat was at its worst. I learned a new appreciation for American air conditioning standards on this trip!

4.) Another thing I learned to appreciate on this trip: soft, comfortable mattresses and fluffy pillows. During one of our stops we spent two nights in a family run hotel in a small village. The village and hotel were adorable and a great experience. What wasn’t a great experience? Sleeping (or trying to sleep) on the beds in our rooms and an extremely flat pillow. The beds were actually two twin beds pushed together. They were positioned extremely low to the ground, which made it difficult to pull myself off the bed to get up. The comfort on a scale of one to ten was probably a one. It was like sleeping on the ground. I woke up those two mornings with a major backache. My complaint wasn’t just from being pregnant either. JC thought the beds were extremely uncomfortable along with the majority of the people on the tour. Thankfully we only stayed two nights in this hotel.

5.) A few times I had to suck in my pride and determination to experience everything at all of our stops and let JC tackle certain sites on his own while I waited. I missed out on a few towers and picturesque views because I knew that I should stay behind for my physical wellbeing along with the baby's. I don’t feel I missed out on much though; JC was good about taking lots of pictures and filling me in on the few things that I opted out of.

29 weeks pregnant at Neuschwanstein Castle.

Even though I had a few factors that made traveling more difficult than it normally is for me, I still had a wonderful time and am glad I didn’t listen to those people who said was I “brave” for traveling, hinting that I shouldn’t go or were concerned about me going in “my condition.” I knew my limitations and made sure that I tried to stay within those limitations so that I could keep myself and the baby healthy and still enjoy the long 12 days of travel. I am extremely thankful that JC and I have been walking just about every evening throughout my pregnancy. If I hadn’t been doing this it would have made the trip even more difficult. The trip was by far the most intensive trip we’ve taken due to the amount of travel and sightseeing we took part in.

The group we went with was great about asking how I was feeling and doing anything they could to make me feel comfortable and taken care of. The tour group participants were so thoughtful and caring. I’m thankful they were always looking out for me – and my husband did an okay job at that as well!

I’ll be posting more about Germany and it’s food, historical sites, and the trip in general over the next few weeks!

Pregnant and Traveling Across the World

2013-06-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Our big European vacation is here! Our itinerary is packed with travel stops and our bags will be soon too.

This will be the longest, and most extensive trip JC and I have taken thus far in our traveling career, and what makes it even more interesting is that along with my luggage I will be carrying with me a two pound bundle of joy.

When telling people about our trip we’ve had numerous reactions. Most are intrigued at the European vacation. Then when they hear that I am still going despite being pregnant the opinions and comments fly. Some people have told me “I’m a brave lady” to travel to Germany at 28 weeks pregnant, others are shocked that I’m able to still go in “my condition,” and a few others have asked about all the shots and procedures I’ve had to go through to be able to go to Germany.

Most of the comments make me laugh a little at the naïve thinking of some people. Germany is not a third world country. There are no shots or special medicines and procedures I have to go through to visit this country. My Doctor is extremely supportive of me going and has enjoyed talking to us about our European travel plans as he’s been across the pond a few times himself.

The other comments about being “brave” and still being able to travel in “my condition” really hit a nerve with me. Of course I checked with my doctor to make sure it was safe to travel to another country at this stage during my pregnancy. The last thing I’m going to do is put my baby and I in any healthy dangers for a trip, no matter how wonderful or cheap it may be. I love traveling, and find it to be one of the most enjoyable things a person can take part it in their life. I’m not being “brave” by going to another country, I like to think I’m being “adventurous.” I do acknowledge the fact that this trip may come with fewer activities, more downtime and more physical discomfort and fatigue, but I am still healthy, feeling well and the same travel loving person I was before the baby.

“My condition” is a little two pound bundle of joy growing inside me. That doesn’t mean I’m sitting in bed all day and can’t be my normal, active self-right now. I’ve been extremely lucky to have felt pretty good during my pregnancy and maintain a mostly positive bill of health so far. Plus, if I can travel to work each morning, deal with work and life stress, be a dog Mommy and still do a little housework I can manage to squeeze myself into an airplane chair, relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of a new country.

Because JC was asked to “host” this trip we were able to travel for a discounted price. Other people who know this and know he gets to take an extra person have asked about my pregnancy health status and then jokingly said “Well I guess that means I don’t get to go” when I report that my Doctor has given me the okay. I laugh at the comment, but it is a little hurtful.

Pregnant women should still be able to travel (as long as it’s safe) without people providing their advice and comments. Just because I have a little baby inside me doesn’t mean I should have to give up absolutely everything I have enjoyed in life before baby. I’m still the same person I was, just with some added responsibility. With all the added stress of carrying a baby a vacation is needed! I’m sure Baby Fultz will love hearing about his or her first trip across the pond!

Enjoying Summer Baseball Pregnant!

2013-06-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Attend a minor or major league baseball game. Check!

One of our “Fun Before Baby Bucket list” items was checked off this weekend when JC and I drove up to Normal to watch the Normal Cornbelters baseball game.

This was our first time to attend a game there. It is a small organization in the Frontier league, but the stadium was very nice and the tickets were very cheap! It is a really fun, family atmosphere with on-field games for kids and a free T-shirt promotion upon entering the ballpark. We didn’t arrive until right at game time, but still got great seats right behind home plate. I think the rainy, chilly weather helped with that added bonus for the night.

The baby is not only changing my body and our family dynamics, but also our “Fun” activities. The Cornbelters had a certain type of beer vendor which just happens to be JC’s favorite. Normally, we both would have indulged in a drink. This time, with me very pregnant, we chose water instead.

Another baseball favorite of mine that we opted not to purchase: hot dogs. There’s nothing like a hotdog and beer at a baseball game. Since research recommends pregnant women to stay away from hot dogs and other similar foods because they contain nitrates, we chose nachos.

I do have to admit, I did miss being able to have my favorite baseball treats; however JC is a good sport with all of these restrictions I have to deal with for our baby. He too has been mindful of what I cannot have now and chooses not to have those things in front of me. He will still eat hotdogs for lunch often, and have a beer at night every so often, but those are times when I am either at work, or already in bed. Having a husband who’s supportive and willing to join in the sacrifices in some way makes all of these changes a little easier to deal with.

But you can bet the first baseball game I get to once Baby Fultz is not residing in my belly I will be getting a jumbo hotdog and stadium beer!

Our "Fun" Baby Before Baby Bucket List

2013-05-28T15:58:00.001-07:00

Cribs, strollers, pediatricians, daycare and saving for college. The list of things that need to be done to prepare for a baby almost seems endless. Even though JC and I have been diligently checking off items on our "before baby to-do list," there are still so many things to do in such a short amount of time now. All of these tedious tasks somewhat take away from the fun things to do as a couple, and as new mothers and fathers-to-be.

Setting my "before baby to-do list" aside I found some fun, memorable things to create for Baby Fultz before he or she makes their entrance into the world in September.

1.) Write letters to Baby. I've heard of some people creating email accounts and emailing letters to their unborn child for them to read when they get older. I know "snail mail" is now a thing of the past, but as a child I loved receiving letters in the mail. By the time Baby Fultz gets old enough to read and understand the letters "snail mail" will be an almost forgotten form of communication. For this reason, I plan on handwriting a few letters to Baby Fultz for them to read when they are older.

2.) Create a flip book of my belly. I've been consistent with taking a picture beside a chalkboard each week, marking the week and fruit that represents the size of Baby Fultz. I plan on printing out each week's picture and creating this flip book. This will be fun for our child to look back on and see how they grew in my belly.

24 weeks and the baby is stealing my brain cells - misspelled cantaloupe!

3.) Create a time capsule as a couple. We plan on picking a day and putting a few items in a small box to create a time capsule. A picture of JC, Wrigley and I, the newspaper headlines, and some other significant things to us will go into the box. I don't plan on burying the box, but when our child is older it will be fun to open up the box and see all of the things that were special to JC and I the summer before he or she was born.

Because the list of "before baby to-do" items is fairly long, and much more important that the crafty, fun items, I've limited myself to just a few fun things to try to accomplish. I hope between working full time, housework, exercising, doctor's appointments and relaxation time I will get around to accomplishing these "fun" things. They will be great to look back on in a few years when Baby Fultz is old enough to value these momentos.

Our "Fun" Before Baby Bucket List

2013-05-24T16:05:00.002-07:00

JC and I have enjoyed an active, fun lifestyle for the past nearly four years of our marriage. We’ve taken six trips outside of the country and about that many trips inside the U.S., driven around the state on wine tasting trips, enjoyed many minor and major league baseball games and spent many low-key nights just enjoying each others company.

First Cubs game together, summer 2007

Puerto Vallarta vacation, summer 2012.

But come September, that lifestyle that we’ve gotten so used to will change drastically. Gone are the days when we decide to travel to Chicago for a baseball game on a whim or plan a Mexico vacation within a month. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much looking forward to experiencing Disney world with my new little family, showing Baby Fultz the ocean for the first time and checking out all the local zoo’s and Children’s Museums; however this is a major change from the adult-fun, spontaneous trips that have dominated JC and I’s life for the past four years.

In our last three months of child-free living we decided to come up with a “bucket list” of fun things we wanted to do before Baby Fultz arrives.

Before Baby Bucket List:

1.) Go to a concert. Luckily there are some really great musicians coming to Central Illinois this summer, so this will be easy to check off the list if I can manage to stand the hot weather when I’m 8 months pregnant!

2.) Go to a minor and/or major league baseball game. JC and I always make it a priority to go to a Cubs baseball game in the summer. I worked for the Cubs organization the summer after we started dating. We share many wonderful memories around Cubs baseball.

3.) Dinner at a nice restaurant. I love trying new restaurants and food, and have really been wanting to get to Bizou in Decatur. I’m hoping we can mark this item off of our list before too long.

4.) Go on a Babymoon! Luckily this item was already taken care of for us. JC is hosting a 12 day long trip to Germany in June. We will be heading across the pond with about 40 other people who are signed up for the trip. I’m hoping we can get some alone time, relaxing and swimming in on the trip.

5.) Go boating. My family purchased a boat about three years ago, so we always make it a priority to spend at least a few weekends on the lake. With my growing belly this may be harder for me, but I’m willing to figure out ways to get myself on the boat and out of the water!

6.) Pamper ourselves. For Mother’s Day JC, Wrigley and Baby Fultz got me a “spa day” with a pedicure and manicure. This will definitely come in handy soon as I de-stress before the chaos of living with a newborn is upon us.

7.) Sleep in/lay in bed all morning. When Baby takes over our lives sleep is going to be a treasure, so while I can sleep in and be lazy I plan on doing that!

Even though we will have a new baby to care for and dominate our days and nights, I think it is important to continue to have “date nights” and reconnect. I hope to set a good example for Baby Fultz on what a healthy adult relationship should be like. To do that I feel that having “couple” time and individual interests and alone time is very important. 18 years may seem like forever, but if our experience is like most parents I’ve spoken with, it will fly by. Before we know it we will be alone again, without children as our main, constant focus and we are going to have to figure out to be “us” again, which is why it's so important to keep "us" alive with a new baby.

A Last Great Mystery: Gender of Baby Fultz

2013-05-21T16:29:00.001-07:00

The gender of our baby is still a mystery to us and will be for another 16 weeks. JC and I have chosen not to find out the gender of Baby Fultz until he or she decides to arrive. This decision has brought along with it many opinions on the matter, some positive and some not-so-positive.

First, I’ll share why I chose not to find out our baby’s gender. Long before I was pregnant waiting until birth to find out the gender was something I thought I wanted to do. My parents did this with both myself (even though my Mom says it wasn’t an option to find out when I was born) and my brother. They shared how extra special the experience was because of this long-awaited surprise. Similar to what my parents recounted, a few friends have recently waited until birth for the gender reveal and said it was definitely worth the wait and most likely the best surprise they will ever get in their entire life.

With those words of wisdom in the back of my head I suggested waiting for the gender reveal to JC very early in the pregnancy. I could tell he was a little skeptical about the idea and wasn’t sure if he could wait that long. Nine months is a long time! We would revisit the topic off and on before it was time for the second trimester ultrasound when we would be able to know if Baby was a girl or boy. JC was still on the fence about the issue; however I was dead set on not finding out the gender.

Once our second trimester ultrasound arrived we both agreed that we wanted to wait. When we told the ultrasound technician of our wish she was extremely surprised and had to take extra measures to make sure we didn’t see any body parts to distinguish the sex. All of the pictures are profiles of the upper body. Right now, we haven’t seen any of the lower half of Baby Fultz’s body and won’t until his or her birthday. Once we were in the room with the Doctor the first thing he said when looking at my chart was, “It looks like you’re having a (short pause) .. oh! we don’t know!”

He seemed to be a little shocked that we weren’t finding out the sex since the majority of people do find out before birth. Among the six co-workers JC and I work with who have had a baby recently or are having babies soon, we are the only couple to wait until birth to find out the sex.

When co-workers or friends ask what we are having they too are always surprised we are choosing to wait. The most common comment I’ve heard from people when they ask the gender and we tell them we won’t know until birth is: “I can’t believe you aren’t finding out the gender! Planning for the baby is going to be so hard. I couldn’t stand to wait that long!”

My response to them is always: “We will be happy with a girl or a boy. All that matters is that he or she is healthy and happy!”

They are right are about the difficult planning comment in some sense. Most stores only sell items in gender specific clothing (pinks and purples for girls and blues and greens for boys). This has made buying baby items a little more difficult, but all good things come with a little challenge. Plus the thought of already putting a baby, who hasn’t even entered the world to show us their personality and likes/dislikes, into a stereotypical box bothers me a little. To be a good, prepared mother doesn’t mean I need to have all blue items in the closet for a little boy, or all bows and pink clothes for a little girl. I want my baby to feel free to express themselves in whatever color they want, not what society thinks they should be wearing.

One of the gender neutral onsies a friend sent us.

In life there are many surprises, some good and some bad. Good surprises are probably one of the best things in life. I know when we first lay eyes on Baby Fultz and see him or her for the first time and hear the Doctor say "It's a girl!" or "It's a boy!", that is going to be the best surprise of our entire lives -- well worth the 9 month wait!

Your Pregnant -- Now Open Up Your Wallet!

2013-05-15T16:25:00.001-07:00

I’m five months into my pregnancy now. The newness and disbelief that I have a little person residing in my belly is starting to wear off. With the belly bump inching larger every week its a sure sign that its time to start preparing for Baby Fultz.

Since this is our first child JC and I are both naive and unsure about everything we need to have to be prepared before baby arrives. We’ve browsed through the baby section of just about every store we’ve entered that has one in the past few months. We comment on how cute outfits, toys and other accessories are, but deep down I also have an extreme feeling of being overwhelmed. How will we ever learn what we really need to have and then afford to get those items? There are so many things out there to choose from.

After revealing the news to a former co-worker and friend a few months ago she offered up an excel sheet she had created before her first child was born which listed necessity items to get for baby. It has now circulated between a number of her friends. Great, I said! Send it my way because I’m clueless, plus I don’t have enough time in the day to research everything.

I got this little miracle list early this week. Upon seeing the arrival of the message in my inbox I was excited and happy to hopefully get advice and reassurance that this preparation process was doable. Lo and behold, my feelings changed a few seconds later after loading the excel sheets. The list of items, in my mind, were never ending! Everything from bath and diapering items to bottles, playpens and lots more.

A wave of panic creeped through me as I thought "how am I going to get everything ready in four months!" Not to mention the cost of everything! To say that I was a little overwhelmed was an understatement.

I replied to my friend, thanking her for the excel sheet. I also revealed my feelings and how I wasn’t sure how it would all get done in under four months. Her advice, don’t worry there’s always online, overnight shipping for last minutes items you don't get around to buying or get as a gift!

With my recent feelings I decided to find out a little more information about the cost of raising a child. I stumbled across this really cool calculator that Parenting.com has. You can put in your household income, geographical area and year your child is/was born, then the calculator gives you the total. It also breaks down where the money is being spent.

Baby Fultz is going to cost us an estimated $14,000 for the first year alone! More panic ensues …

Pregnant on Mother's Day: Should I Celebrate?

2013-05-12T19:17:00.003-07:00

Should pregnant soon-to-be mothers celebrate Mother’s Day?

It was a question I came across this week scanning the national news, and something that got me thinking since I fall into this category now.

Luckily, I have a good husband who takes note of these holidays and what they mean. He had already informed me when we were out shopping for our own mom’s that I would be getting a Mother’s Day gift as well. I kind of brushed off the idea, but did mention that I thought the gesture was very nice; however a lavish gift wasn’t necessary. A card or something small would work.

After reading the article my opinion on this matter became a little stronger. According to the article, most pregnant women think their partner should do something to make the holiday special. Even though their child is not born yet, many pregnant women, like myself, already feel bonded with their child and have implemented their “motherly” instincts. Not to mention the fact that they are the sole person in charge of feeding, helping the child develop and come into the world a healthy new person. In my opinion, that deserves a huge celebration!

Celebrating 22 weeks of pregnancy with Mother's Day!

The majority of the comments people posted about the article agreed that pregnant women should celebrate Mother’s Day. The few people who were against pregnant women celebrating Mother's Day said it was because they did not believe they were mothers until the baby entered the world.

To me, pregnancy and the sacrifices that pregnant women make to bring their children into the world deserves a celebration whether it be the first child or fifth child. I know I still have thousands of things to learn and experience as a mother; however I know what it feels like to rub my belly and feel my little bundle of joy kick back in greeting. Or to have a hard time falling asleep at night because my baby decided to have a dance party at 11 o’clock at night in my belly and it feels like he or she is going to dance right out of my belly. Or to question everything I consume, thinking that this may somehow negatively affect my baby. All of those motherly things, and more, I know and feel without holding a baby in my arms, but on the inside of my belly.

Mother's Day with my Mom and brother.

To all the Mothers, "Happy Mother's Day." You have the most important job in the world and I'm excited to be joining the "Motherhood Club!"

Homeowners, Take Two

2013-05-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

With the discovery of a new addition to the family, JC and I decided it was time to start the home-buying process again. We wanted to bring the baby home to a place that we had made our own and really felt like a “home” rather than a rental house.

So off we were, starting the home-searching process once again. To say we were a little apprehensive about buying another home was an understatement. Both our purchase and sale of our home in Mattoon were not easy processes. With those negative memories lingering over us, we started heading out every Sunday to open houses. Once the reality of our soon-to-be bundle of joy hit us we contacted a realtor and really hit the ground running with the search process.

We looked at three homes with our realtor and ended up liking one of the homes in a nicer area near Lake Decatur. We knew we had our work cut out for us with this house when it came to home renovation projects, but it felt like home when we were touring it. We decided to take the plunge.

Fast forward four months and we are now living in the house. So far we have done a lot of painting, installing new lighting/fans and ripping up old carpets to reveal beautiful hardwood floors.

Before Master Bedroom

After bedroom.

Stairway renovation in progress.

The latest project has been the most challenging by far: installing a privacy fence. Let’s just say installing fences is back breaking work. Definitely a project that was much harder, physically and mentally, than JC or I had anticipated. Wrigley better appreciate all of this hardwork!

We still have a long list of projects we are hoping to tackle, but already the house feels like our own and I look forward to making many memories with my growing family here.

If you have any home renovation advice or words of wisdom feel free to share them!

Word for 2013: Change

2013-05-06T18:16:00.002-07:00

Change. That’s the first word that comes to mind to describe my life the past four months.

In early January JC and I found out we were going to be expanding our family with the addition of our first child. Along with the excitement and joy of learning we were going to become parents also came the drastic physical changes I started experiencing. Even though people could not tell I was pregnant, I was dealing with my body rapidly changing to create our baby. I was feeling nausea and fatigue on an almost daily basis.

Once we learned of family dynamics changing we decided that we no longer wanted to be renters. It was time to become homeowners once again. After a few months of searching, we found the house that was right for us; thus bringing along with it another change: moving.

As I’ve written about in previous posts, moving is not a new activity for me. This move brought my total up to well over 10 moves in my entire life. No matter how experienced or practiced a person is with moving, it never gets easier or any more enjoyable. Because of my pregnancy, I wasn’t able to help as much with this move. Our family who helped us were even more important to making the process successful than in the past.

Our new house.

In the midst of the move and becoming new parents JC also took on another, more important job role as Chief Meteorologist. This is something he has been hoping for and working hard to achieve at some point in his career. To see his dream finally come true was a great moment for our family. Of course with this change comes new responsibility, meaning longer working hours at times.

Research on “major life events” suggests that people should not have more than two of these events in the course of a few years to prevent a person from dealing with an overload of anxiety and stress. Right now, our family tally is up to three. All of these stressors are good and exciting things that I am extremely thankful for; however all of these life events also cause stress. We’ve handled things well, but the mommy mood swings, home renovation projects and work frustrations can get a little overwhelming at times.

Consistent and calm would be the words I would hope would describe the next year of life in the Fultz household, but I know that is not likely to happen considering a newborn will be taking residence with us soon!