Friday, February 13, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Life has been pretty routine here lately. I haven't blogged about it much because routine is not really very interesting. It's walking the dogs, Ben going to work, doing laundry, making dinner, watching tv. Do you really want to know about how I scrubbed the grout in the front hallway today or what we thought of the latest episode of Top Chef? No?
That's right. Our life is boring. But we're surprisingly happy about that. We are content walking the dogs together at night and coming home to a bowl of chili and an episode of Heroes. And on the weekend we're even happier, because while our weekends aren't very exciting, they're satisfying and happy.
Yesterday was a pretty typical Saturday for us. Wes wakes up around 6 or 7, Ben gets up with him and they head downstairs to feed the dogs, check up on the internet, maybe have a bottle. I laze around in bed for a bit, until 8 or so (hallelujah!) and then join them for cereal and coffee and tea.
After we're all awake, fed, dressed and happy, we leash up the dogs and take a long walk. Wes loves walking the dogs. He giggles and kicks his feet when he sees us getting his stroller ready. The dogs might like it a little too. As we start to get ready, Bella gets excited and starts giving quick licks to everyone and everything at snout level.
After walking, it's market time! I've mentioned before that we have a really great big market every Saturday in our little town. We're really lucky, and we take advantage of all the great produce, meats, cheeses, etc each week. This week we didn't need much, so Ben just picked up some oranges (delicious! nutritious!), rotisserie chicken for lunch (delicious! greasy and not nutritious!), flowers for me (pretty!), and scallops for dinner (yum!).
After lunch, we head to Starbucks. Some of you may know about this weekly tradition, but for the few who don't, every single weekend we go to Aachen, Germany for the sole purpose of going to Starbucks. Yes, I know, we're living in Europe, surrounded by rich cultural experiences we have yet to enjoy, and each week we instead go to a good old overpriced, overhyped coffee chain. Whatever. It makes us happy. We like to take books and drink our overpriced coffee and tea and have a treat and watch people. It's fun. This week was especially nice because Wes fell into a deep, deep sleep and napped for an hour or so while Ben and I read our books and shared a slice of chocolate cake. Mmm, our Starbucks has the best chocolate cake. Better if you have someone to share it with. Shared cake tastes better, and you don't end up feeling sick from the massive slab of chocolate deliciousness that you just could not say no too.
Coffee and snacks devoured, we take a walk around Aachen, shop a little, explore a little. We've pretty much become Aachen experts, but occasionally we still find new and exciting things. Yesterday, for example, I spotted a huge organic grocery store. I was very excited because I'm the kind of tree hugging hippie type who sees this kind of store, tells Ben that I'm going to explore while he buys printer ink in a nearby electronics store, and then skips merrily into the grocery store and swoons over the soba noodles, billions of kinds of tofu, fair trade coffee, and fancy organic chocolates. When Ben and Wes came to find me I told him I was in looooove and wanted to marry the store. He looked a little hurt. But he's very understanding and forgave me after I got us a couple little pieces of organic, free-range, grass-fed, fair trade chocolate.
Saturday nights are even less exciting than the days. No parties, clubs, restaurants, adventures. Not even a movie. Nope. Just me and Ben, our kitchen, and then the couch. Saturday's are a nice night to take advantage of the little bit of free time that we get to cook dinner together. Sometimes we make one of our usual things - a stir fry, risotto, sandwiches, whatever - and sometimes we make something fun and new. Last night was fun and new, playing around with the scallops that we bought from the market and a recipe for corn fritters that I really wanted to make. It was delicious and I only seriously injured myself once.
And to end our day of thrills and excitement? Coffee and strawberries in bed while watching Grey's Anatomy.
All of this might be boring for you, but for us it's nearly perfect.
That's right. Our life is boring. But we're surprisingly happy about that. We are content walking the dogs together at night and coming home to a bowl of chili and an episode of Heroes. And on the weekend we're even happier, because while our weekends aren't very exciting, they're satisfying and happy.
Yesterday was a pretty typical Saturday for us. Wes wakes up around 6 or 7, Ben gets up with him and they head downstairs to feed the dogs, check up on the internet, maybe have a bottle. I laze around in bed for a bit, until 8 or so (hallelujah!) and then join them for cereal and coffee and tea.
After we're all awake, fed, dressed and happy, we leash up the dogs and take a long walk. Wes loves walking the dogs. He giggles and kicks his feet when he sees us getting his stroller ready. The dogs might like it a little too. As we start to get ready, Bella gets excited and starts giving quick licks to everyone and everything at snout level.
After walking, it's market time! I've mentioned before that we have a really great big market every Saturday in our little town. We're really lucky, and we take advantage of all the great produce, meats, cheeses, etc each week. This week we didn't need much, so Ben just picked up some oranges (delicious! nutritious!), rotisserie chicken for lunch (delicious! greasy and not nutritious!), flowers for me (pretty!), and scallops for dinner (yum!).
After lunch, we head to Starbucks. Some of you may know about this weekly tradition, but for the few who don't, every single weekend we go to Aachen, Germany for the sole purpose of going to Starbucks. Yes, I know, we're living in Europe, surrounded by rich cultural experiences we have yet to enjoy, and each week we instead go to a good old overpriced, overhyped coffee chain. Whatever. It makes us happy. We like to take books and drink our overpriced coffee and tea and have a treat and watch people. It's fun. This week was especially nice because Wes fell into a deep, deep sleep and napped for an hour or so while Ben and I read our books and shared a slice of chocolate cake. Mmm, our Starbucks has the best chocolate cake. Better if you have someone to share it with. Shared cake tastes better, and you don't end up feeling sick from the massive slab of chocolate deliciousness that you just could not say no too.
Coffee and snacks devoured, we take a walk around Aachen, shop a little, explore a little. We've pretty much become Aachen experts, but occasionally we still find new and exciting things. Yesterday, for example, I spotted a huge organic grocery store. I was very excited because I'm the kind of tree hugging hippie type who sees this kind of store, tells Ben that I'm going to explore while he buys printer ink in a nearby electronics store, and then skips merrily into the grocery store and swoons over the soba noodles, billions of kinds of tofu, fair trade coffee, and fancy organic chocolates. When Ben and Wes came to find me I told him I was in looooove and wanted to marry the store. He looked a little hurt. But he's very understanding and forgave me after I got us a couple little pieces of organic, free-range, grass-fed, fair trade chocolate.
Saturday nights are even less exciting than the days. No parties, clubs, restaurants, adventures. Not even a movie. Nope. Just me and Ben, our kitchen, and then the couch. Saturday's are a nice night to take advantage of the little bit of free time that we get to cook dinner together. Sometimes we make one of our usual things - a stir fry, risotto, sandwiches, whatever - and sometimes we make something fun and new. Last night was fun and new, playing around with the scallops that we bought from the market and a recipe for corn fritters that I really wanted to make. It was delicious and I only seriously injured myself once.
And to end our day of thrills and excitement? Coffee and strawberries in bed while watching Grey's Anatomy.
All of this might be boring for you, but for us it's nearly perfect.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Okay, for those of you who read the last post and were all, "Blah blah blah... Good for you. You're happy, you eat in fancy restaurants and take pictures of your feet at the movie theater, la di da, what about the baby?!? Who cares about you, show us the baby! Baby! Baby! Baby!" Here's a Wes update for you.
Wesley has started eating solids. In addition to his good old formula, he is now a happy consumer of oatmeal and sweet potatoes. Next up, peas! But just to be clear, when I say he's eating these things, I mean he has been opening his mouth, allowing food in, and then dribbling a lot back out. He ends up with a lot on his face and bib, but he actually eats (swallows!) more and more each day. And he absolutely loves it. He gets excited and smacks his hands around and opens his mouth. When the whole endeavor gets a little less gross to look at, maybe we'll share pictures or a video.
He also has been making great strides in baby mobility. He's not crawling yet, but he's sooooo cloooooose. He can get up on all fours, but can't quite get the motion. Or he can get the arm motion or the leg motion, but not both at once. One of these days, though, he'll put it all together and, bam, it'll be time to lock up the guns and cookies. Just kidding, no guns, but we will have to put the treats high up somewhere.
He is also sitting up pretty well on his own. He can balance for a few minutes before toppling sideways or slumping forward, face to ground. When we put him in his seat, though, he can hang out for quite a while. With that, a bunch of photos. You know you love the photos.
Wesley has started eating solids. In addition to his good old formula, he is now a happy consumer of oatmeal and sweet potatoes. Next up, peas! But just to be clear, when I say he's eating these things, I mean he has been opening his mouth, allowing food in, and then dribbling a lot back out. He ends up with a lot on his face and bib, but he actually eats (swallows!) more and more each day. And he absolutely loves it. He gets excited and smacks his hands around and opens his mouth. When the whole endeavor gets a little less gross to look at, maybe we'll share pictures or a video.
He also has been making great strides in baby mobility. He's not crawling yet, but he's sooooo cloooooose. He can get up on all fours, but can't quite get the motion. Or he can get the arm motion or the leg motion, but not both at once. One of these days, though, he'll put it all together and, bam, it'll be time to lock up the guns and cookies. Just kidding, no guns, but we will have to put the treats high up somewhere.
He is also sitting up pretty well on his own. He can balance for a few minutes before toppling sideways or slumping forward, face to ground. When we put him in his seat, though, he can hang out for quite a while. With that, a bunch of photos. You know you love the photos.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Decade
On January 25, 1999, Ben and I were 18. We were freshman at St Louis University. Ben was pre-med and I had was trying to decide between about 10 different majors. We were young, really young, and we were falling in love. Ben took a chance with me, and we've been together ever since.
Now, 10 years later... We're married, living in the Netherlands, have a baby, and are about a million miles from where we started. We're still lucky enough to be happy and in love, and fortunate enough to have this anniversary fall on our regular date night Woooo! We had big plans!
Okay, so our plans weren't so big. But for a couple of tired new parents, they were pretty special. We had our babysitter show up a few hours earlier than normal, kissed Wes on the forehead and giddily ran out the door and went to the movies!
We had some time to kill before the movie, so we played around a little...
My shoes match my water and my candy container!
Ben humors me...
We saw Revolutionary Road, which we enjoyed very much, but Ben thought it was maybe a little depressing for a romantic date night movie. Afterwards, we tried out a nice restaurant in Maastricht, Restaurant Mes Amis and ate lots of delicious food and had a nice bottle of wine. I had a carpaccio of salmon with a mustard dill dressing and then duck breast with a shallot sauce and Ben had a duck mousse wrapped in duck breast with a balsamic syrup as a starter and truffle stuffed chicken with a port wine sauce. And for dessert? We shared a small piece of mocha cake with white chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse. Oh my gosh. So good.
Like I said, we're about a million miles from where we started - from Saint Louis, from eating macaroni and cheese in our dorm rooms, from the carefree life of a couple of college students.
1999
2009
But we're still us and we're still happy. So I guess we're pretty lucky.
Now, 10 years later... We're married, living in the Netherlands, have a baby, and are about a million miles from where we started. We're still lucky enough to be happy and in love, and fortunate enough to have this anniversary fall on our regular date night Woooo! We had big plans!
Okay, so our plans weren't so big. But for a couple of tired new parents, they were pretty special. We had our babysitter show up a few hours earlier than normal, kissed Wes on the forehead and giddily ran out the door and went to the movies!
We had some time to kill before the movie, so we played around a little...
My shoes match my water and my candy container!
Ben humors me...
We saw Revolutionary Road, which we enjoyed very much, but Ben thought it was maybe a little depressing for a romantic date night movie. Afterwards, we tried out a nice restaurant in Maastricht, Restaurant Mes Amis and ate lots of delicious food and had a nice bottle of wine. I had a carpaccio of salmon with a mustard dill dressing and then duck breast with a shallot sauce and Ben had a duck mousse wrapped in duck breast with a balsamic syrup as a starter and truffle stuffed chicken with a port wine sauce. And for dessert? We shared a small piece of mocha cake with white chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse. Oh my gosh. So good.
Like I said, we're about a million miles from where we started - from Saint Louis, from eating macaroni and cheese in our dorm rooms, from the carefree life of a couple of college students.
1999
2009
But we're still us and we're still happy. So I guess we're pretty lucky.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Christmas, part 2
The day after Christmas, we loaded up the car early in the morning and drove to the airport for our loooooooooong trip home. I've always kind of liked international flights - they show movies, serve meals, give you a free glass of wine with dinner, and then I doze off for a few hours and wake up to breakfast or ice cream or something. This time, it just felt long and tiring. I guess that's what happens when you take a 4 month old on a 9 hour flight followed by a 3 hour layover (that turned into 5 hours when our flight was delayed) and then another 2 hour flight. Long.
Wes was actually pretty good, don't get me wrong. In fact, we had complete strangers come up to us in the airport and say that they had been on our flight and our baby was so great. So I guess that's good. But from where we were sitting, Wes was restless and wanted to stretch out on the floor as he usually every day. And then he barfed. I cannot begin to explain this instance of barfing, but let me just say that I had to take him to the bathroom to wash him off in the airplane sink and Ben had to run and get a huge stack of paper towels from the flight attendant. And also wash the carseat when we finally got to St Louis. It was no good. Poor kid. He was fine though, just celebrating his first international flight with overconsumption of formula. Too much food + immobile baby = gross.
Happily, when we got to St Louis, my parents and brother were there waiting for us, and we got to hang out a little with them that night and then we met up with them, plus my two nephews, for lunch at my grandma's house. It was wonderful.
My grandma got to meet Wes
Wes got to meet Ethan and Aidan
Gamma and Papa got to see the baby
And I got to be surrounded by the people I love most for a couple hours.
And then, we headed to the mall to meet up with with Ben's parents, who FINALLY got to love their sweet grandson in person.
Wes's Grandma had been waiting for this for a very long time.
Grandpa was pretty happy to meet him too.
The next day, Wes had a meet and greet with more relatives and family friends than his little baby brain ever imagined possible. A few of the highlights...
Wes with Uncle Greg
And Aunt Raegan
Great-Grandma Morrison
Great-Grandma Roseberry
Four generations of Morrison men
After that day, things calmed down quite a bit and we just hung out. Wes continued to meet people, went to a couple basketball games, and spent lots and lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa. He was one happy and spoiled baby, getting ton of "Granny kisses" and playing with tractors with Grandpa.
Ben and I were a little spoiled too, with good food and time with family, and even a baby-free night to go out to dinner and a movie (and Target!). As nice as it is to be sleeping in our own beds again now, we were very sad to leave the U.S. behind again. It's strange how living abroad can make up extra-critical of the U.S. and extra-appreciative as well. But no matter what, what we miss most is all our family and this trip reminded us of how eager we are to move back to Minnesota next fall.
Wes was actually pretty good, don't get me wrong. In fact, we had complete strangers come up to us in the airport and say that they had been on our flight and our baby was so great. So I guess that's good. But from where we were sitting, Wes was restless and wanted to stretch out on the floor as he usually every day. And then he barfed. I cannot begin to explain this instance of barfing, but let me just say that I had to take him to the bathroom to wash him off in the airplane sink and Ben had to run and get a huge stack of paper towels from the flight attendant. And also wash the carseat when we finally got to St Louis. It was no good. Poor kid. He was fine though, just celebrating his first international flight with overconsumption of formula. Too much food + immobile baby = gross.
Happily, when we got to St Louis, my parents and brother were there waiting for us, and we got to hang out a little with them that night and then we met up with them, plus my two nephews, for lunch at my grandma's house. It was wonderful.
My grandma got to meet Wes
Wes got to meet Ethan and Aidan
Gamma and Papa got to see the baby
And I got to be surrounded by the people I love most for a couple hours.
And then, we headed to the mall to meet up with with Ben's parents, who FINALLY got to love their sweet grandson in person.
Wes's Grandma had been waiting for this for a very long time.
Grandpa was pretty happy to meet him too.
The next day, Wes had a meet and greet with more relatives and family friends than his little baby brain ever imagined possible. A few of the highlights...
Wes with Uncle Greg
And Aunt Raegan
Great-Grandma Morrison
Great-Grandma Roseberry
Four generations of Morrison men
After that day, things calmed down quite a bit and we just hung out. Wes continued to meet people, went to a couple basketball games, and spent lots and lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa. He was one happy and spoiled baby, getting ton of "Granny kisses" and playing with tractors with Grandpa.
Ben and I were a little spoiled too, with good food and time with family, and even a baby-free night to go out to dinner and a movie (and Target!). As nice as it is to be sleeping in our own beds again now, we were very sad to leave the U.S. behind again. It's strange how living abroad can make up extra-critical of the U.S. and extra-appreciative as well. But no matter what, what we miss most is all our family and this trip reminded us of how eager we are to move back to Minnesota next fall.
Christmas, part 1
Sorry for the lack of updates. We had a busy holiday, as you will see in a minute, and I've been just plain tired. Also, I had about 5 hundred bajillion photos to upload and sort through and I've just been moving slowly.
So, Christmas. I mentioned in my last post that we were in Paris and about to head back to the U.S. The long version of the story is that several months ago we were planning on having Ben's family here for Christmas, but then their travel plans fell through. We were all sad, Ben and I moped around a bit, and then we said, "Hey, maybe we should go somewhere for Christmas, somewhere like Paris!" Fantastic idea! It cheered us right up! It wasn't as good as being with family, but who can complain about wine and fresh baguettes?
Then, after we booked our Paris apartment, Ben's family generously offered to buy us plane tickets back to the U.S. for the holidays. You know, because they really missed me and Ben. Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with their first grandbaby that they were DYING to meet. (I'm pretty sure it was 95% for the grandchild, and Mama and Da got to come along because Wes can't fly alone. Whatever, we'll take it.)
So in the end we got the best of both worlds. We got to spend Wes's first Christmas in Paris and it was wonderful! And then we got to visit the U.S. and see my family, Ben's family, and Target! I don't think our holiday could have been much better.
In my last post I filled you in briefly on our Christmas festivities, but now that we're home, I'll give you the full version with photos. And then, soon, I'll write about our trip home, but I don't think I'm ambitious enough to write all that today.
So, Paris. Ah, Paris. We did as we usually do, and rented an apartment for three nights (through Perfectly Paris, highly recommended, as always) and just planned to hang out and relax.
We did venture out a little to get groceries, go to one of our favorite restaurants, and grab a glass of wine at a cafe.
But then Christmas day we mostly just hung out at "home".
We opened presents
Had a lovely breakfast. Did you know that boulangeries are open on Christmas morning? We didn't. We bought our breakfast the day before. But now we know, croissants don't take the day off!
We went to church, an English speaking Catholic church! Just like home! We got to sing our favorite Christmas songs, in English! Joy to the World! And on the way back to the apartment we strolled through Parc Monceau and took some family portraits for Wesley's first Christmas.
He's a polar bear!!! I still can't get over the cuteness of this outfit. He's been wearing all the time lately because it's pretty chilly out, and every single time it makes me giggle a little.
Made peppermint bark to take to our families.
Wes learns about measuring spoons...
What?
It was so delicious. The recipe is here if you want it.
Then Wesley was so kind as to nap all through dinner, champagne drinking and dessert.
Speaking of dessert, the très fancy mini buches de noel that I mentioned in the last blog post.
And when in Paris, skip the mistletoe and kiss under macarons!
We ended the day with a walk up to Sacre Coeur with Wes to look at Paris at night and just enjoy being there, before we had to pack up and take off the next morning.
Next up, our big trip home!
So, Christmas. I mentioned in my last post that we were in Paris and about to head back to the U.S. The long version of the story is that several months ago we were planning on having Ben's family here for Christmas, but then their travel plans fell through. We were all sad, Ben and I moped around a bit, and then we said, "Hey, maybe we should go somewhere for Christmas, somewhere like Paris!" Fantastic idea! It cheered us right up! It wasn't as good as being with family, but who can complain about wine and fresh baguettes?
Then, after we booked our Paris apartment, Ben's family generously offered to buy us plane tickets back to the U.S. for the holidays. You know, because they really missed me and Ben. Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with their first grandbaby that they were DYING to meet. (I'm pretty sure it was 95% for the grandchild, and Mama and Da got to come along because Wes can't fly alone. Whatever, we'll take it.)
So in the end we got the best of both worlds. We got to spend Wes's first Christmas in Paris and it was wonderful! And then we got to visit the U.S. and see my family, Ben's family, and Target! I don't think our holiday could have been much better.
In my last post I filled you in briefly on our Christmas festivities, but now that we're home, I'll give you the full version with photos. And then, soon, I'll write about our trip home, but I don't think I'm ambitious enough to write all that today.
So, Paris. Ah, Paris. We did as we usually do, and rented an apartment for three nights (through Perfectly Paris, highly recommended, as always) and just planned to hang out and relax.
We did venture out a little to get groceries, go to one of our favorite restaurants, and grab a glass of wine at a cafe.
But then Christmas day we mostly just hung out at "home".
We opened presents
Had a lovely breakfast. Did you know that boulangeries are open on Christmas morning? We didn't. We bought our breakfast the day before. But now we know, croissants don't take the day off!
We went to church, an English speaking Catholic church! Just like home! We got to sing our favorite Christmas songs, in English! Joy to the World! And on the way back to the apartment we strolled through Parc Monceau and took some family portraits for Wesley's first Christmas.
He's a polar bear!!! I still can't get over the cuteness of this outfit. He's been wearing all the time lately because it's pretty chilly out, and every single time it makes me giggle a little.
Made peppermint bark to take to our families.
Wes learns about measuring spoons...
What?
It was so delicious. The recipe is here if you want it.
Then Wesley was so kind as to nap all through dinner, champagne drinking and dessert.
Speaking of dessert, the très fancy mini buches de noel that I mentioned in the last blog post.
And when in Paris, skip the mistletoe and kiss under macarons!
We ended the day with a walk up to Sacre Coeur with Wes to look at Paris at night and just enjoy being there, before we had to pack up and take off the next morning.
Next up, our big trip home!
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