Joyeux Noël!

We spent the day (and the past couple days) in Paris and did a whole lot of nothing. It was magnifique! Wesley had a wonderful first Christmas, got a new toy or two, and feasted on bottles. As for Ben and I, we got some fun stuff too, and had a lovely, quiet (baby napping!) dinner of duck and sauteed mushrooms and shallots and champagne, with mini bûches de noël from Lenôtre. Perfect.

Tomorrow morning we leave Paris for our trip back to the U.S. and we are very excited. Wes has conquered France and is moving on! So many people to charm, so little time.

We will eventually share pictures. We brought many cameras, but no usb cables, so photo updates will have to wait.

Merry Christmas!

Better than a dog!

Wes is constantly amazing us with his charm, his good looks, his intelligence, the new tricks that he learns...

It's been forever since our last update. Alright, maybe not forever. Maybe just about 2 weeks or so. Whatever. It seems like a long time.

So why have we been so absent from the internet? Busy? Traveling? Lost in the Netherlands somewhere? Nope. Just boring. We're really, really boring. We've been, uh, watching tv, surfing the internet, reading books. We've gone to Starbucks, but that's hardly news.

The only exciting person around here is Wes, and he's only exciting when he takes a break from his sleeping/eating/pooping routine and does something different... like rolling!

He's rolled over once or twice, here and there, but today? Today he was on a roll! (pun intended! har har har!)






And can I show you some pictures just because he's cute? Yes? If you said no, you should have quit reading 5 minutes ago. Or maybe sometime in August.

More pictures!




I think we'll keep him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving we decided instead of sharing something we're thankful for, like many people do at dinner, we would each make up a list. We knew that if we just said one thing, it would be something like, "Blah blah blah baby blah blah so happy etc etc". That's predictable, and predictable is boring.

So we each made a list, and we want to share them with you. And we hope that you, in turn, will share with us some of the things you are thankful for today.

Things Ellen is Thankful For:
My health and the good health of the people we care about
The opportunity to live in abroad and travel and explore more of the world than I had hoped to see in my life
My mixing bowls, mechanical pastry bag, food processor, and kitchen-aid mixer
Wesley’s laughter
Paris, and the fact that I’ve been able to go about a bajillion times
Our home
A family that I love and that I love being around
Great in-laws, something that most people don’t get
Having a small handful of people my life who just get me
Evenings spent on the couch drinking coffee and tea with Ben
Silly dancing in the kitchen with Ben and Wes
Having a husband who will just listen when I need to talk, and give me silent hugs when I don’t want to talk.
The beautiful world that God gave us
The way Wes smells after a bath
How it feels to curl up in a warm, safe bed with Ben at night
How it feels to wake up curled up with Ben
How it feels to wake up to a happy baby
Banana souffle
A husband who cooks and cleans and takes care of babies, and does all those things well and willingly
The way Wes holds onto my fingers
Starbucks chocolate cake


Things Ben is Thankful For:
My beautiful wife
A near perfect baby
Falling asleep with Ellen on my chest
That I found someone who understands my quirks
A home I am happy to come home to every night.
The sound of Wes laughing
All of the things Ellen does to make our home better.
My iPod
Almost ten full years of happiness
All the great places we have been able to go
One hot mama
All of the great treats Ellen makes
Mashed potatoes, yum.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Naptime

Sometimes the little things can just make your day. Like walking upstairs to ask your husband a question and finding this:

A man, a baby, and a hand puppet, all snuggling and napping together.

I hope it makes you smile, too.

What do you do when you work out too hard and end up with heels that hurt so much you can hardly walk?

A) Cry.
B) Ignore the pain. It'll go away, right?
C) Relinquish all dog walking duties and pout on the couch.
D) Eat candy.


Correct answer: All of the above. Especially the eating candy!


A few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch, pre-injury, and in one of my random outbursts, turned to Ben and said, "You know what I loved when I was a kid? Butter Rum Lifesavers!"

And with that I was on a search of the internets to see if Butter Rum Lifesavers still even exist and if I could get some. And in my search, I found the most wonderful website ever! They sell all sorts of candy you ate as a kid, AND you can get a lot of it by the piece. One piece of Dubble Bubble here, one Atomic Fireball there. They even have candy cigarettes! Big League Chew! Razzles!

So Ben and I sat down one night and went candy shopping online. The result, you can see above. Don't worry, we're not eating all that at once. It's a very slow process. But it is awfully fun to have a big bowl of candy in the corner of the kitchen so I can have a Bit-O-Honey with my cereal in the morning (and yes, I know I'm the only person on earth who actually likes those) or so that Ben can grab a Cry Baby on his way out to walk the dogs.

And now if you'll excuse me, I think there's a box of Milk Duds calling my name.

Uncle Duck!

This past week was very exciting in Netherworld... Uncle Duck came to visit! Ben's best friend, Kevin, traveled from Chicago for a week to visit Wesley, Bella, and Spud.




He had to put up with me and Ben, too, but we tried to make up for that by doing all sorts of fun things.

We spent a day in Brussels

And Ben and Duck took Wes to a cafe where they all had beers.


And what's Belgium without Belgian waffles? Yum.


We also shared our love of Starbucks

And how cute is Wesley's little espresso mug?

First beer, now coffee... we're the worst parents ever! Before you know it we'll be letting him watch America's Next Top Model. Wait, what? Oh... yeah... we already do that. Oops.

We also spent a lot of time just hanging out. Ben and Duck had a bit of bonding time hanging out in Mandom (the garage), playing video games, smoking cigars, playing with computers, going to see the new James Bond movie, and go-karting.

There were all sorts of fun manly activities.

I didn't feel too left out with all this testosterone running through the house. I stayed in the kitchen, right where I belong! Kidding! Not really though. I loved having another person around to feed, and I cooked and baked and baked a little more. It was great! If you check out my food blog, you can see how busy I was. And that wasn't even everything I made; I might go into withdrawal this week.

Unfortunately Uncle Duck had to go back home. We tried to convince him to stay for Thanksgiving, but he had this idea that he needed to actually go back to his job, apartment, life, etc. Whatever. We miss him already and hopefully this:

will convince him to come back sometime.

Yes we can!

I always swore that I wouldn't let my kids watch too much tv. And I admit, Wes has seen an episode or two of America's Next Top Model. And I do feel slightly guilty and try to turn him away from the tv and distract with with toys and funny faces.

This morning, however, I couldn't say no. He was riveted.



That's my boy! Watching CNN! Listening to Obama's speech! Maybe he aspires to more than being the first male top model.

7 quirky things

I was tagged by Corinne to blog 7 quirky things about me? Only 7? I have so many quirks I had to go to Ben and ask him what they are because everything seems perfectly reasonable to me. These are just a few that he came up with:

1. Ben really like Cheez-Its and we will often have a box of them around the house. I don't mind them; I think they're okay, but I never go searching them out. However, when he brings the box out to snack, I want some. Not quirky yet, I know. The quirky part is that I need him to give my exactly 3 Cheez-Its. Not a small handful, not 2 plus a broken one, 3. And then if I want more, I need 3 more. I don't remember the last time I didn't eat them like that.

2. I have a gum habit. And it's serious. I can go through packs of gum like you wouldn't believe, because once I start chewing I go for a few minutes and then need a new piece beccause I don't like when they lose flavor. I like fresh, new pieces of gum. Oh, and I always eat them 2 pieces at a time. Because 1 at a time just isn't right.

3. Every night, Ben and I brush our teeth together. It evolved out of just getting ready for bed at the same time, but now it's a special thing between us that we do even on the very rare occasion when we don't go to bed at the same time. We get our brushes ready, click them together (I think of is like clinking wine glasses, Ben has referred to it as crossing swords. Take your pick.), and sit on the edge of the bathtub and brush our teeth. It's very comforting.

4. I have a thing for bowls. They're just pleasing to me. I have restrain myself when shopping because I always want to buy more. Ben's parents gave me a set of 10 mixing bowls for my birthday, and I cannot tell you how much joy I get from bringing out my bowls while cooking or baking and having all my ingredients out on the counter in their happy little glass bowls. I also like cereal bowls, ice cream bowls, and tiny little bowls that serve very little purpose.

5. If you know me at all, you know I love food, especially sweets. Mmm, like ice cream. I love ice cream. But if I ate it as much as I wanted to I would make myself very very very sick (and I'd be about 800 lbs), so instead I really enjoy just looking at it. When Ben and I go out and walk around in Aachen, we always see people eating ice cream and I've made a habit of walking by all the different ice cream place to just look at people's sundaes and say "Ooooooh, look at that one! Ben, look at the guy in the blue striped shirt! He has a banana split!". It's like going to an art museum, but with ice cream!

6. For Easter I gave Ben a little stuffed bunny, just for fun. Since then, the bunny has been hiding around our house. Ben started by hiding him in the fruit bowl one day, and since then the bunny has been found in my bathrobe, Ben's socks, my vitamins, Ben's cereal box, the detergent compartment of our washing machine, and Wes' diaper pail (poor bunny), just to name a few.

7. I love goats. They make me giggle. A lot. Can't explain. Just love them. That's all.

Those are just a few of mine. And now I tag Miranda and Duck. Share your quirkyness!

Happy Halloween!

Wes is a little young for trick-or-treating this year, but he helped out with pumpkin carving (he slept like a champ while we carved them).



And he was a good sport about dressing up just for fun.




Happy Halloween! We're off to celebrate by eating pizza and watching a scary movie, tiara and cowboy hat firmly in place.

People ask a lot how the dogs are doing with the baby. Here's the answer:




He's almost as good as a new puppy.

For all the Wesley lovers out there (especially the grandparents), a couple videos.

First, Wes having a serious conversation with his Da.



And then Wes and Mama playing at Starbucks.



Feel free to tell us how utterly adorable he is. Thanks.

Shiny happy babies

Wesley is generally a pretty easygoing baby. He usually only cries if he’s hungry, in need of a little attention, or needs to be changed. Once we satisfy his need, he’s all smiles again, especially when he needed to be changed.

This kid loves being changed. We’re not sure why, but whether we’re changing his diaper or changing his clothes, he’s always happy about it.

It’s not surprising then that he also like getting baths. There’s a moment in between coming out of the water and getting dressed where he yells because he’s cold, but it doesn’t take long before he’s happily cooing as we lotion, diaper, and dress him.

The last time we gave him a bath, he was so cute about it I told Ben to grab the camera so we could take naked baby pictures to embarrass him with when he’s older.







We ended up taking a lot of pictures. It’s not our fault the kid is so cute. I’m still pretty sure he wants to be America’s Next Top Model. Watch for him in Season 43.

Mon dieu!

Things that we’ve learned from French strangers:

You must not burp the baby so vigorously; you’ll cause brain damage. For life.

His bottle isn’t warm enough and we should stop feeding him with it.

His head is too cold. Always. We must keep it covered even if he is so warm he’s getting a heat rash on his forehead.

His neck is cold.

His head is not being supported enough.

You must pay attention so that his head doesn’t touch the wall next to you. This also may cause brain damage for life.

He is the cutest baby ever. He is si mignon, si chou, si beau, adorable, petit, oohlala! Despite all our attempts to kill him through hypothermia, beatings, and lack of head support, we must be doing something right, because all of Paris was completely taken with him.

Can you blame them?

This blog is way late, but apparently babies are tiring and take up every single second of free time. Add traveling to the mix, and all of the sudden weeks go by and I still haven’t found the time to write anything, catch up on America’s Next Top Model, or go to the bathroom.

So this is going to be picture heavy, but light on the witty story telling. Sorry. Having a baby hasn’t sucked my brain out completely; I’m still terribly witty and charming in person. You’ll have to just trust me on that though because I don’t have the time to charm you properly in writing.

This was Wes’ first voyage. He was a champ on the plane, a perfect little traveler.



The Bergerac airport was very very small.

The conveyor belt for the baggage was manually operated. As in, I had to keep pushing people bags down the rollers until the guys tossed our bags up there.


France was beautiful. We were in the Dordogne region, which is very quiet, rural, nice and relaxing.





We saw castles


There was a sign that said Do Not Touch. Apparently I’m not a very good listener.


We enjoyed drinks at cute cafés with Gamma.



We went to a goat farm to see how chèvre is made.


We ate lots and drank wine.


We went on hikes. It was very pretty until we got lost .


And at the end of a long day of hiking we hung out at the pool at the gîte.



Ahh, it went by so quickly and then we had to go back to the Netherlands. But not to worry, less than a week after we got back we left for Paris because Ben had another work trip.

Again, a great time. Paris never gets old. And this time Wesley accompanied me as I walked all over the place, to about 10 different grocery stores in three days(okay, I’m exaggerating. I only went to about 5, but some of them more than once).

We also did our usual breakfast on the step in front of Sacre Coeur.

Wes didn’t like it because we didn’t get any croissants for him.


And of course we had to take him to see the Tour Eiffel.

At two months old, he’s already an experienced traveler. We’re working on teaching him to buy his own metro tickets and order his own crêpes. No wine and baguettes until he can order for himself!