Ok a couple more

Here are a couple more pics I found of December.

Our Christmas tree.




This would have been our Christmas card photo.

A quick look at December

And by quick, I mean really quick. December sort of flew by, just like it did for you all, I'm sure. I must say that I really do love Christmas in Vienna. The schedule is way less hectic, and the overall feeling in the air is more Christmas and less commercial. We only made it to two Christmas markets this year, but enjoyed them both. Here are a few pics. Jake is holding the rest for ransom, jk.

Kim and I spent a morning making cookies at Karen's. We all had such fun, and I got to use a Kitchenaid mixer again. sigh.


We spent Christmas Eve with the Greg and Karen also. It was a cozy evening.

Just a pic of Abby. Her new fav pose is with her tongue hanging out.

In other news

A brief photo essay of what has been going on around the Haskew household.

First, up Abby went and turned six on us. I was a bit sad when we asked her to show us how old she was and she had to use 2 hands.

Abby had her last Lichterfest at Kindergarten. This is one of her good friends.

I just really like this one. Two peas in a pod.

Katy had a little cold.

Headed Out for the Weekend

We're gearing up for our annual trek to Rothenburg, Germany this weekend. This will be the third year we've traveled to attend the Euro American Family Retreat. We absolutely love this new tradition of ours. It is a time to get our spiritual cups filled and get a little rest from the daily grind here in Vienna.
We hit our first Christmas market this afternoon, as well. There is a small one not far from where we live and we had never been before. It was sort of odd to me to be doing something Christmas before Thanksgiving, but by the time we left I could feel a bit of the Christmas Spirit stirring.
I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving Dinner next week, too. We'll be coming back from Germany on Wednesday and will celebrate with team and some friends on Sunday. It's always an adventure figuring out how to make a grand meal in a smurf size oven. I think everyone just about has in down by now.
Here are a few pictures from the market tonight. First off, it's just not Christams in Vienna without scary, devil like creatures called Krampus.

In one of the building there were these displays about Christmas in the countries of the Donaudelta. This one is of Bulgaria.

Abby got to help make some cookies. Love the little hat.

Furlough Pictures

Is this thing on?

Well, howdy out there in blog land!!! I see it has been quite some time since my last post and all I can say is.....Well, I don't know what to say. We had a whirlwind trip to the good ol' USA this summer and have been back home in Vienna for about 1 month now. That sounds like a long time, but it sure has taken that long to get back into the groove around here. We had a great time visiting friends and family while we were in the US and maybe I'll get some pictures up here soon.
The biggest news today is that Katy is 5 months old. She is such a sweetie and we all love her so much. I'm not sure how much she weighs, but a month ago she was tipping the scales at 15 pounds. The girl isn't missing any meals I'll tell ya. She can roll over from back to front, but not the other way yet. She can sit up with a bit of support, but I don't think it will be long before she'll be doing this on her own. This girls likes to be moving and in the thick of things. Jake says her theme song is, I Just Want to be Where You Are. She loves watching her big sister, who by the way, can always get her to do a real laugh. I'm loving watching her grow and learn so much everyday.
Abby is a vorschulkind this year. Which means this is her last year of kindergarten. She will start first grade next year. She is loving her new title and uses it to her advantage whenever possible. Like any time Jake or I tell her she can't do something, "But I'm a vorschulkind now." Gotta love it. She is totally cracking us up lately, too. She makes us laugh out loud everyday. She's a good big sister, though the newness of a baby has worn off. We sure are blessed to have such sweet girls.

Stateside

We have been back in the good ol' USA for a week now. We're in Colorado and will be here for 2 more weeks before we go on to Kansas, then to OKC for 3 weeks. In so many ways it feels good to be home. On the other hand, a strange thing has happened, I find I am missing certain aspects of our life in Vienna. I am pleasantly suprised by this. It means Vienna has become home to us also. When we landed 2 years ago "over there", I didn't think this would ever happened. It is nice to know going back will not be so heart wrenching.
We are having a great time here in God's country as Jake calls it. Some of Jake's cousins who we haven't seen since we got married are also here. It has been great seeing how much the girls have grown and talking to their parents. I'm not sure what we have planned for the rest of our time here, but I know I will be doing some sewing.
Jake and Abby had a wreck in the wagon last night and now Abby has a nice case of road rash on her face. I'll try to post a pic if she'll let me take one. Everyone escaped seroius injury and Abby was proposing a new method for riding the wagon down the drive way today. I guess she's over it.

Happy 4th of July

Today is the day more than any other of the year that I miss being able to drive up to my Mom's house. I always love going there on the 4th. Today I am missing homemade ice cream and fried okra, taking in all the excitement of small town America on a national holiday and just hanging out with my Mom. So, enjoy your holiday everyone, and eat some homemade ice cream for me. Love you, Mom.

Still Here

We are still here and doing good. Getting used to two kiddos is a challenge, but I think we are getting the hang of it. Katy is 5 weeks old today and this is unbelievable to me. It goes so fast!!! She is growing well, thanks to adding some supplemental formula in addition to her breast feeding. I'm workin' on trying to increase my milk production so maybe we can cut out the formula all together. I had a similar experience with Abby and quite frankly am still amazed I am able to nurse at all after my surgery. I'll try to post more regularly. Here are some pics, just because a post without pics is boring, right? Don't let these fool you, we are mostly all smiles around here these days. Katy has started giving me some pretty sweet little grins. The real kind, not the ones associated with you know what. Precious days. (sigh)

Katy Elizabeth has arrived

Katy Elizabeth joined our family at 12:04 CET May 23. She weighed in at 3640 grams (8.02 pounds) and was 51 centimeters (20 inches) long. We are all so thrilled she is finally here. We've been lovin' on her like crazy. Abby is so excited to be a big sister and has been such a good helper. So far no extreme signs of jealousy, hoping that lasts. We are settling into a semi routine and awaiting the arrival of Jake's parents on Monday. I have to say here how great my husband has been the last few days. He has taken such great care of all of us, including the dog (more on that to come). I know he has been so tired, but he continues to do such a great job!! I love you, Jakie!!!

So, for those of you interested in the entire sage, here goes. My due date was May 20, but nothing exciting happened on that day. However, Thursday morning I woke up with small contractions around 6am and these continued to grow in strength so I woke Jake up and told him that Katy might be coming that day. We got around and made a few last minute preps and Jake took Abby to Brian at the office. He came home and we timed contractions all morning long. Around noon everything slowed down, so we went for a long walk to try and rev things up again. It worked, but not for long. We timed contractions for a couple more hours, but they were lessening in intensity and growing further apart. I called the midwife and she thought the baby might come in the night, so we left Abby with the Hensals. I had a few more minor contractions in the evening, but we went to bed at normal time hoping I would wake in the night with more. No luck. I woke up Friday morning feeling "normal". So, Jake picked Abby up and brought her home and then went into the office to help get ready for our big Open House that the team had been planning for weeks.

Abby and I hang our at the house playing, watching TV and doing our own thing. Enter the dog saga....Daisy was acting very lethargic and not being her usual self. About mid afternoon she starts throwing up, lots of throwing up. We weren't too concerned at first because she has a history of eating foreign objects and this is one way she gets rid of them. Friday, though, she just kept getting sick even after she did get rid of part of rope toy we hadn't seen in weeks. Around 3:00 I call Jake and tell him I think we should try to get a vet appointment, because I'm afraid she is getting dehydrated. He makes the appointment for after the Open House, 6:15pm. He comes and gets her and takes her in with instructions to call when he knows something. Abby has gone over to our wonderful neighbor's apartment to play by this time. I go over to bring her home, and end up staying and talking for awhile. I am starting to have some minor contractions again by this time, but don't get excited about anything. Jake calls and says they are doing X-rays and giving Daisy an IV because she was dehydrated. He'll call when he knows more.
I go back to the neighbors to give them an update and bring Abby home. More contractions. Abby comes home I put her in the bath and get her ready for bed. Thankfully, she had eaten a little something at the neighbor's. I am putting Abby to bed and Jake calls and says they are going to do surgery on Daisy. He said it should take about 2 hours and then the vet would call with an update and Daisy could stay at the office over night. He's coming home and asks me to order a pizza for supper. I finish up with Abby and call in the pizza. It is close to 9:00pm by this time. Contractions growing in intensity and becoming closer together. Jake gets home and Abby is up waiting to have a piece of pizza, too. My contractions are quite strong and painful by this time. I tell Jake to start timing as soon as he walks in the door. 3.5 minutes apart. WHAT!!! Let's do that again. Same thing. I call the midwife and she says to head to the hospital. It is about 9:30pm at this point. Jake runs next door to tell the neighbors we are headed to the hospital. He calls Josh and meet us to drop off Abby, again. Pizza arrives and we rush to the car with pizza in hand. It is 9:55pm as we are pulling away from our apartment. We meet Josh, drop off Abby with a piece of pizza in her hand and head to the hospital. I should interject here that it takes us about 30 minutes to drive to the hospital when there is little traffic.

We make it to the hospital about 10:30 and go up to meet the midwife. She does a check and says I'm at a 5 and the baby will be coming that night. We walk down the hall where the delivery rooms are and since no one else was there I had my choice of rooms. We go on in and settle in for delivery. As we are entering the room the doctor who will administer the epidural is waiting and I say I think I can wait a bit longer before having it. The contractions continue to come, growing in strength. I just walk around and breath through them.
A little before midnight I had a very strong contractions and my water finally breaks. At this point I say I would like to have the epidural, if it's not too late. The midwife, who was awesome by the way, want to check and see where I'm at. She does and I was at an 8. She informs me with the next contraction I can start pushing. It was all happening so fast. The contractions keep coming and I start pushing. It doesn't take long before I see my sweet baby and am holding her!!! About mid point through the pushing Jake's phone starts buzzing in his pocket. I think he is trying to answer it and tell him to ignore it. He was only trying to turn it off though. So, once baby and I are a bit settled he checks his phone and it was the vet saying someone needed to come get Daisy because she would be too lonely to stay alone by herself. Jake calls our neighbors, after midnight, and they say they will go get the dog. What a crazy, wonderful day!!!! Now, we are all at home and doing well. Katy is nursing well and Daisy is on the mend.
Just after Katy was born.
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Up to the minute, well not really

So, it has been a long time since I posted. Let's see what has been going on around here. Of course, we have all been on baby watch, hoping Sister would make an early debut. No luck, no luck at all. In fact, she is now two days late. We really thought yesterday would be the day she arrived. I was having contractions for the entire morning, but then around noon everything came to a screeching halt. So, instead of sweet baby pics, here a few of the latest happenings.
The only thing we have been waiting for with more anticipation than the baby coming was our residence permits. These are the special little papers/cards that make it legal for us to stay in the country beyond a 3 month period without having to leave. We were denied last year and have been waiting since January this year to find out if we would get them this year. And praise the Lord, we did. A couple of weeks ago we all went down to the proper office to pick them up. We are elated to finally have these. It relieves such a burden mentally and even physically--think big, fat prego woman traveling in the car or train for six hours to get her passport stamped. For anyone interested in all the details, email me and I'll fill you in. For the normal people out there, here are a few pics of our celebrating afterwards. And a few bonus pics of what we have been doing.

We stopped off at Starbucks for a cup of coffee and Abby enjoyed a donut.



Then we had lunch at one of our fav places. If you visit us in Vienna, we will be happy to take you there.


Abby also began riding her bike without training wheels. These are the best pics I have so far.




For Mother's Day we went to one of my favorite Austrian food restaurants. I was so excited to get my Schweinmedallions mit Mozerella und Salami, I didn't take a picture before eating. I didn't get a picture of one of my favorite things in Vienna, an Eiscafe.



And finaly, here is the latest belly pic. It was taken just a few days ago. Yes, I'm huge and am not wearing any make up. You're just lucky I have pants on. Hopefully, in the next day or so, I'll have some really cute new baby pics to post.

Belly Pics

Here is a belly pic, finally. Can you tell which ones Abby took and which ones Jake did? I'm 32 weeks in these. I'm now in my 37th week. It is getting so close!!!

Life with Abby

Here are a few pics of life with Abby. She never fails to entertain, amaze and dazzle us.

First off, entertaining the crowd at Starbucks.






As I mentioned in a previous post, we made a trip to Croatia in early March. During that tirp we were walking around a park area (sorry, I don't remember the name) and there was a group of older school kids having some sort of recess. They were gathered in this gazebo and we could tell Abby really wanted to join them. After a day of touring Zagreb, I guess she had all the fun she could stand with just mom and dad. She seemed a little timid about just going up to them, but with a bit of encouragement she soon ran right into the group. I think the kids didn't know what to think of her at first. She was speaking a mix of German and English. Finally, one of the kids picked up on the English and recruited a fellow student as translator. Before long they were all gathered around her talking. We were so proud of her for jumping right in there.







She also spends a lot of time like this. We have tables, I promise.



We also go through assorted outfits and personality changes each day. I never know when I'll have a barking dog, hissing cat, princess, mommy or whatever else she can think up. Sometimes even combo of two or more.

Update

I can't find my camera which much be loaded with pics of all the cool stuff we get to do living her in Vienna. Or maybe is just has a few shots of what we have been up to lately. Either way, this is a post with out pictures. So here is a list of the things that may or may not be documented on my camera.

1. We made a trip to Croatia the first part of March to get our passports stamped as we are still waiting on our residence permits.
2. I finally took a belly pic.
3. We painted the baby room, pink of course.
4. Nesting is going on in full swing. Abby says, "I'm making my nest, too, Mommy."
5. We had a successful visit to the Visa office and are really close to getting our residence permits, I hope.
6. There are only about 6 weeks left until my due date. Unbelievable!!

I'll Confess

Okay, I'm gonna make a shocking (well, to some)confession right here. I like to listen to country music, especially classic country. There, I said it. I'm embracing this truth with open arms, please don't hate me. S o why the need to confess? Well, since we've arrived here in Vienna I haven't listened to it much. There are reasons for this, including but not limited to, lack of availability. Would you believe here in the land of opera and classical music, that the twang of Nashville isn't really that popular? I know, unbelievable. The other main reason for not listening too much is, quite honestly, it pulls pretty hard at my heart strings. This genre of music brings up so many memories for me of home, friends and family that, darn it all, sometimes I just can't take it. Well, today I decided to go out on a limb and que some music up. My selection today has been Don Williams. I downloaded an album of his and despite a few tugs, I'm feeling pretty good about it. In fact, I'm downright happy. Maybe tomorrow I'll really push myself with some Johnnie Cash or even John Denver. Ok, so John Denver may not be considered exactly "country", but listening to him has similar effects as other country music. John played a big role in Jake and my courtship. Have a good day and turn up the volume on whatever your favorite music is. Just tell the kids, "Its Mommy's turn for awhile." Just for fun and because I love to hear from people, leave a comment and tell me what you're listening to, or what you wish you were listening to.

The Winner

Lisa B. is the winner of the chef's hat and apron. Lisa, send me an email with your address and your choice of girl or boy fabric. Although, I think I already know. Thanks to everyone who left comments. I heart comments.

100th Post

I finally made it to my 100th post!!! Whew hoo!!! In order to celebrate, I'll have a little something for ya at the end of this post.

For Valentine's Day, Jake took his girls out to my favorite Austrian restaurant. They have the best food there. This has become our special occasion place to go. I always have the same thing, pork medallions with salami and mozzarella. Jake always has something different, but it is always good. I have been craving this place for months and finally got to feed the beast.



I made Abby a "cooker" hat and apron for her Valentine's Day gift. The poor kid had been wearing her Denver Broncos stocking cap when we cook. I think it turned out pretty cute. I would like to go on record and say that none of the following poses were coached. She's turning into such a drama girl, in the good way, most of the time. Valentine's Day isn't as big over here as in the US. There are no Valentine's parties at school or card sharing, no cute little shirts with goofy sayings on them. Flowers and chocolates are available, but I don't know how popular it is to give these to your sweetie. My sweetie did bring me some flowers, though.



One holiday that kids do celebrate at school is Faschings. To be honest, I still haven't completely figured out what this is all about. Possibly something to do with Lent and Easter, but am vague on the details. However, kids have a Fasching's party at school and dress up, sort of like Halloween. Abby dressed as Cinderella, since that's one of the costumes we had.


Part of her costume are these "glass" slippers. Abby loves them and one little girl in her class was enthralled with them as well. As we were getting ready to go the little girl was telling her mom how much she liked Abby's shoes. Abby took them off and handed them to the little girl and said she could borrow them. The mother tried to protest, but I assured her it was alright and she could just return them the next day. Abby looked at me and said, "I think that's what Jesus would want me to do, " with a big smile on her face. I was so proud of her.

Now, for the part you may have been waiting for. To celebrate the 100th post, I am giving away a chef's hat and apron set to one lucky reader. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. The winner will be chosen at random and will have a choice of either a girl or boy set. I will choose the winner Sunday evening, Vienna time and post the winner here.