Looking up to her Big Sister

Macy:  Mom, I think Ivy's having a growth sprout.

Carly:  Mom, Ivy's more in fashion than you are.

First day of School

Robyn 7th grade
Notice the German scarf.  She still gets to ride her bike to school, has physics added to her schedule, and is looking forward to trying out tennis.

Carly 4th grade
This year, she's in the oldest class in elementary school and will get to be a recess monitor.  She's going to continue playing the recorder.

Macy 2nd grade
Notice the cute, little owl her friend made.  She's now one of the bigger kids, and will be trying out hand ball.

This year, starting school was a breeze.  After 2 years, we finally know what's going on!  Although, I had to laugh when somehow we missed the memo that school started one hour late for Macy and Carly on the first day.  At least we weren't the only ones.  Better early than late, right?

Trip to The States

We were blessed to have a healthy baby with her passport in hand in time for the girls' summer break to make our first trek back to The States as a family.  Of course, the best part about it was the people we could see again!  Family traveled from Washington DC to Oregon and in between to meet for reunions.  What could be better than that?

On our longest flight (about 10 hours), the "big" girls were in 7th heaven with their own TV/movie monitors, and Ivy did amazingly well.  Unfortunately, our connecting flight was canceled...and canceled..and then postponed.  It was so unbelievable, we had to laugh, and we did enjoy getting American food at the airport with our food vouchers.  We were discouraged and exhausted (days of traveling plus an 8-hr time difference), but decided to make the best of it and found a really cool aquarium where we saw a live mermaid show and got to feed sting rays.

Our first culture shock came when we had to stop at a grocery store to buy sunscreen and some band-aids.  There were just way too many choices.  Because we were without a car during our extended layover and were riding trains, we felt like we were still in Germany.  (One time while we were waiting at a stop and some people started walking toward us, I even thought, "We should start speaking German" because that's what we try to do when we're in public here).  Except that everywhere we went, we all kept saying, "I'm freezing.  I'm freezing."  We weren't used to having AC.  We did enjoy having drinking fountains again, though.

Once we finally arrived (at midnight) and saw our family, then we knew we were really back!

 

We were glad the timing worked out to meet my bro's fiance and spend time with her.  We also got to meet new cousins, and see all of my siblings and Myles'--quite amazing!


 

A few days before we came back, I dreamt that I couldn't speak German anymore.  I was afraid that I had forgotten a lot, but after coming back, I felt like it was actually better than before we left.  I thought maybe it was just me, but someone else said he noticed an improvement, too.  I thought this was surprising.  Maybe just having a break was good, or maybe I had more confidence after going home, not sure.

It was nice coming back to an established life--much easier than the first time we came!

Ivy's Blessing Day

I am a child of God
and He has sent me here
Has given me an earthly home
with parents kind and dear
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
help me find the way
Teach me all that I must do
to live with Him someday


Ivy was happy or sleeping the whole time.  She is such a joy and we are so blessed to have her in our family!

All the girls

The proud Daddy who blessed her, along with some other members of our German congregation who also hold the priesthood--the authority to act in God's name, the same power Christ used when He was on the earth to bless the little children one by one.

Proud sister #1

Proud sister #2

 

Proud sister #3

We are grateful for our friend who took pictures for us and for all of our friends who came and supported us, especially nice while we're so far away from family.

The day of her blessing, it was too hot to wear the hat, but here is the whole outfit, which a friend used for her baby here about 20 years ago.

Summer fun at the park

We had fun meeting some of Myles' colleagues at one of our fav. parks.  It's huge with playgrounds, trampolines, zip lines, animals, boats, a butterfly house..you name it!

 

 

 

 

We even caught a stork walking around.

German Garden Party

We enjoyed a lovely garden party in our friend's back yard. 

The fresh raspberries she let the girls pick were so pretty and delicious!  They reminded us of our last home where we had our own little patch.

She made a gooseberry custard for us that was fun to try.

She sent us home with the fresh ivy she'd picked for Ivy and had used as a decoration for us.

We had fun doing a little photo shoot with it.

 

 

 

 

 

This is Macy with Ivy right after she woke up in the morning--one of her happiest times.  She definitely already looks up to her!

 

This was a shirt for an 18 month old that I think is pretty cute as a dress!

Gram's Visit

My mom planned it pretty well to have her first year of retirement when 3 new grand babies arrived within 3 months!

I was blessed to have her travel all the way to Germany to spend time with us and help us out.  A lot of these pics. I hadn't even seen yet, so it was fun to go through them.  Ivy already looks so much bigger/different since then!

She did everything from German bowling to window washing.  She had fun visiting each of the girls' schools and going on special dates with them.

We're grateful for all her help and fun memories!

Fun with Gram slideshow

Then and Now

The 4th of July marks our anniversary of moving to Germany.  This is our family in New York the day we flew out 2 years ago.

Here we are the day we took Ivy home from the hospital. 

Quotable Quotes

One of our neighbors:  I could hear some crying from your window.
I'm thinking:  Oh, no, she's going to complain.
Neighbor:  It's so nice to have new life on our street.

Carly about Ivy:  She's not as much work as I thought she'd be.
Me:  Well, all of you girls help out a lot.
Macy:  You did the work for nine months!

Macy while I was making a list of presents people have given us so that I could write thank yous:  You have to put Ivy.  She's probably the best present I've ever had.

Robyn:  How to wash a tie dye shirt for the first time.  Why didn't I think to google that?  You can Google anything!
Macy:  Can you ask it when you'll have your baby?

Macy about Ivy on a cold, rainy day:  She brought the sunshine into our lives.

All Smiles!

Not much compares to having your baby sleep through the night and then greet you like this!

 

 

Carly took this one.  I think it's pretty cute.

We are quite blessed to have such a happy, healthy baby and 3 big sisters to love her!

"It's the end of the world as we know it...

...and I feel fine."

I felt like we were in a sci-fi film or like Superman was going to fly in at any moment.  When a German told us that it was a camping fire, we were a bit confused.  It turns out that a warehouse (Lager in German) had caught fire. The newspaper reported it as looking like the end of the world.  All the while, Ivy slept blissfully during her first trip downtown until she woke up at our friend's violin concert...with a smile.  

6 Weeks

This post's for you, Melissa.  Ivy thought her new headband was so cute, she couldn't help but smile!
Carly and I thought it was pretty funny the other day when a nurse drawing my blood called Ivy a cute, little man (in German).  Luckily, Carly was polite enough to wait until we were outside of the doctor's office to say, "Was she blind, or what?  She was wearing a onesie with pink and white flowers on it!"  So, hopefully now with her stylin' headbands, there will be no more confusion.

Yesterday was my first day back to help with English time in Macy's class since Ivy was born.  (The grandmas were nice to cover for me while they were here).  Anyway, when it was time to leave, Ivy was sound asleep, the breakfast dishes were still in the sink, and I hadn't made it into the shower yet.  With a bit of a sigh, I grabbed Ivy and dashed out anyway. 
When I peeked into the door of Macy's classroom, I could see that her teacher was reading a chapter book to the kids.  The moment she saw that it was me with Ivy in the stroller, she put her book down and started talking to the kids in a soft voice.  A complete reverence came over the room as she let them come up a few at a time.  It was completely silent the whole time as they bent over her, smiled at her, admired her.  It would've been neat to have had a video of it, but even trying to do that would've ruined the moment.
So, alas, it was more than worth it.  And, many thanks to a husband who helped pick up the slack when he got home.

Ivy May--a growing influence

 

I can't complain.  Ivy normally sleeps really well at night.  But, somehow, her last feeding usually works out so that I get back to sleep about a half an hour or so before it's time to be up for the day.  So, this morning when I woke up to it raining buckets, let's just say I definitely had the thought, "Maybe we should just stay home."

While attempting to get things ready in the kitchen, Macy looked up at me with wonder and asked, "Are you and Ivy coming with us today?  For the whole time?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Oh, that's so wonderful!" she exclaimed.

Of course my decision was made.

The girls were super excited to help her get on her Sunday best.  They first put on a onesie she'd worn just a few days before only to discover it was now too short to snap.

We were ready to run just in time to catch our train...and just in time for the clouds to part.

Some people say they like to leave the hospital as soon as possible after having a baby.  I've always been glad to stay as long as they'll let me.  Besides not having to cook or clean, etc, I've recently thought about what it really is that makes me want to stay.

After baby number 4, I think I'm finally beginning to catch on.  When a baby is born, time has a way of standing still.  Babies bring a unique peace with them.  The moment I step foot outside the hospital, everything is already in motion, and I'm whirled right back into it again.  There's so much going on, so much to do, so much to remember.

I'm grateful for a seven-year-old's genuine joy, the first onesie thrown into the too-small-pile, and a dry dash in the middle of a storm as reminders of that peace and the one who sent it with her.

The German Baby Schlafsack

Isn't this baby sleeping bag a great idea?  The baby can't squirm out of their blankets at night, and they're just so cute.