Our four-legged family members

Don't be fooled, they'll only look at you like this if you have a tasty treat waiting for them...

No update on the blog would be truly complete without news on how our little puppers are doing. BK and I have had some guilt lately because the boys have become quite familiar with their holiday home in the past few months. Don't worry too much though, they are at a place that's a little ways outside of Basel and is essentially a farm. They spend their days outside with about 20 other dogs and also have the opportunity to go on an off-leash "walk" around the property for a couple of hours each day. It's their holiday home- i.e. they're not cooped up in an apartment where they have to be leashed to go outside. As I've mentioned before, the owner thinks they're "lovely" dogs, which I think is a win.

Tanner seems to be the one who brings the most drama into our lives. He seems to be going through a phase where he can't stay well. He usually comes back from the kennel with some sort of digestive issue, which BK and I can't decide if he's just letting us know he didn't appreciate that stay, or if he is just trying to adjust back. Sometimes he goes on a food strike with this as well, but usually gives up and is hungry by the second morning at home. I think he also decides that he'll need some energy for all that walking. This past stay, he came back with kennel cough, which according to our vet has nothing to do with the kennel, but is actually a dog respiratory infection. She mentioned that Tanner seems to have a weak immune system, so she gave us some shots (that BK and I administered throughout the week) along with cough and throat medicine. He's fine now, and back to his normal, slightly-neurotic self. I'm convinced this dog is trying to do his part to prepare me for having a child.

How I usually find Tanner- stuck in a hole he chewed in the blanket

BK has now also coined Tanner as "Mr. Barksalot." He has recently taken up barking at all kinds of random things that he has decided he doesn't like. For example, they are doing renovations in one of the apartments in our building, and every time we go out the door Tanner HAS to bark at the workers. It's extremely irritating. With all of the trips to their holiday home, I think he's forgotten that I am the pack leader in the house and this is not good behavior (I say this only partly joking). And in case you've forgotten, Swiss dogs don't bark, so Tanner and Toby getting started on something is just never a good situation. Other dogs (and owners) walk past and look at us like, what is wrong with you all? Oh well, other things, like dog coats, make us stick out as well.

Toby is the steady eddie of the two of them. All he wants is to be where BK and I are. He always adjusts back fine from a stay at the boarder, and I think is just happy to be home and back to the routine. Regardless of how cold or wet it is outside, he's always up for taking BK to work in the mornings and going anywhere we want him to. Toby's newest post during the day is sitting in the dining room chair next to me while I practice German, or do whatever it is that I have to do that day. I think it would be fun to take him on the train and go hiking somewhere, but I'm not quite sure how Tanner would do, or what we would do with him if he didn't go.

While we were in the US for this most recent trip, I had quite a few people tell me that this three hours of walking that I have been doing with the dogs will come to an end when the Lentil gets here. I'm just not sure that can happen. If the pups don't get any exercise they tend to reek havoc in the apartment, which won't be good either. BK and I will have to learn how to balance walking, feeding and napping schedules together or something. Only time will tell, and we'll make sure to let everyone know how these antics ensue.

What's happening these days

I'm ashamed to say it's been nearly a month since I last blogged, and after a couple of notes from people saying that they missed hearing the updates, I thought it was about time I get back on it. I'm not sure what happened to my whole "blog every day" thing, maybe I just need to find a balance between every day and letting a month go by between posts. It's a lengthy one, so make sure you have a minute.

The boys and I just got back from our morning walk, and I pretty much spent the entire time talking to myself (in my head) about what to post about, thinking...what is it that BK and I have been up to lately? Lots actually, which makes sense, considering that it's been nearly a month. Here's a brief recap, with more to come on some of the bigger things that have happened. On a related note, I find that when I'm in Texas, or with people visiting, I tend to not blog. It's like I think to myself, I'm with the people I actually started this thing for, so they know what I'm up to. I'll try to work on that one.

We had just returned from Greece when I last blogged. BK and I were home for a week, then headed to Texas for a short visit. Most people knew that we were coming, but the purpose of the trip was to surprise my dad for his 60th birthday. I felt kind of bad leading up to his birthday because he kept saying that it wasn't really going to be that big of a deal, and so on, which was a little depressing considering that it was his 60th. Little he know, we would be showing up unannounced at his house to surprise him on his birthday. But that's not all, my sisters and I somehow pulled off a surprise party for him that Friday as well.

The trip to Texas was a short one, but when I flew back to Basel, my mom and her best friend came to visit and flew back with me. It was a really good trip, but relatively short for them as well (about a week). We didn't travel throughout Europe or anything, but it was really fun for me to get to show them my daily life, sights around Basel, picking the boys up from the boarder, a couple of places in Switzerland and some other stuff. It was relaxing for me, and I hope for them too.

My mom is coming over for a couple of weeks when the Lentil gets here in March, and I'm glad I got to show her around some so she at least has an idea of where she's coming to. We did also go shopping for some baby stuff, which was a little weird, but it helped me finish my registry and get moving with some ideas for stuff. More on their trip a little later. Another thing, Tanner loves my mom, so BK and I pretty much got kicked to the curb the whole time she was here.

Oh yeah, the other big thing...the Lentil! We're still just rolling along, doing well. I'll be 19 weeks along tomorrow. We are still calling it the Lentil, but only because we don't know the gender of the baby yet. We had a doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago when we could have found out the gender, but the baby was curled in toward me, with it's spine toward my belly, so no luck on finding out. We go back to the doctor again right before we come back for Thanksgiving, including going to a different doctor for an organ scan, so we should be able to find out then.

Things are going well with the Lentil otherwise as well. I've found that I no longer have the overwhelming desire to take a nap around four in the afternoon anymore, and think it's been nearly two weeks since I took a nap. I haven't felt the baby move yet, but then again, I don't have any idea what I'm trying to feel. Maybe in the next couple of weeks? I've also found that my hunger is not so bad anymore...meaning that when I get hungry I can actually survive a little longer without wanting to rip someone's head off. In the past week or so I've also become unable to button my normal pants, so that was new too. I'm still wearing them, just with a Be Band to hold them up.

What's next on the horizon? I've returned to working on German a couple of hours a day, so hopefully I will see some improvement soon. BK and I have a couple of trips that we want to do before I can no longer travel long distances (after we return from our Christmas trip to the US), and are working on planning a trip to Rome in November and Lisbon in December. And yes, I know, this baby will have been to more countries prior to being born than most people have in a lifetime. Who would have thought?

I think that's all for now. After I finish German this morning I'll spend some time catching up on other posts, which I'm sure you're hanging on the edge of your seat for! I'll be back with more, sooner than later :)

As long as he keeps me fed

This is the story of my life right now. I often get the question about how I have been feeling, and honestly I have felt pretty good the entire time so far. The two exceptions have been a little bit of heartburn (something I have never experienced before now) and the feeling I get when I start to get hungry. I also have a couple of food aversions that just happen to be things BK loves to eat. Not sure how that happened.

For those of you who don't know, or may not have ever realized it, I like to eat. And more than that, I would say I'm a pretty scheduled eater too. I'm not alone in this, as you should steer clear of BK if he gets hungry, but I am probably the leader/reinforcer of it in our house. Even before the lentil came along I needed to eat breakfast really no more than about 30 minutes after I woke up. I give the credit to/blame my mom for this, who always made us eat breakfast and drink a glass of milk before we could leave for school. 

Now that I'm trying to nourish a second person in there, my eating/hunger thing is totally magnified. I eat probably six to seven meals a day and seem to front-load my food in the early part of the day. I'm not to the point where I'm "eating for two" but I do eat quite frequently. Don't worry- I had only gained half a pound at our 12 week appointment.

The trouble happens if I get to the point where I feel really hungry. Of course, being the one who is around all the time, BK has been the unfortunate bystander a number of times. If I actually get hungry, things go downhill really quickly. As in, I get to the point where I feel like I'm about to unravel. For example, we'll be at a restaurant and the wait may be a little longer than anticipated or something like that. BK used to think that we could just continue talking and having this great conversation about whatever, but not so much anymore. At some point I had to just tell him that I pretty much couldn't function and that we would need to continue our conversation after I got some bread or something.

I try not to be high maintenance, and now I think I have gotten BK into the routine. He no longer gives me a hard time about having a snack (a piece of fruit, some crackers) right before going to dinner and also understands that anytime we travel anywhere our first stop is generally a convenience or grocery store to have some "just in case" food on hand. I have no problem packing food in my bag wherever we are going, as things are much more pleasant when I don't even have the chance to get hungry.

I titled this post what I did because BK's typical response to people when they ask him how I am feeling is, "As long as I keep her fed, she's good." He usually also goes further to say that I need around 32 meals a day, but he says that's for effect- he wants people to know just how serious this issue is. I'm glad he has a clear understanding.

Did anyone else see that line?

Apparently not...I guess it was just BK and I. One thing I've discovered since we've been in Switzerland, and Europe in general, is that Europeans cannot form a line to save their lives! They will not hesitate to cut right in front of you, for whatever it is that might be happening. Whereas, if we were in the US or UK, people who were already in line would happily tell the person who is cutting that the back of the line is over there. Not here. Cutters welcome.

BK often continues to stand in amazement, asking me, "What just happened here?" Which also usually occurs while his toes are being run over by other people's carryon luggage. I keep telling him that he has to get over being polite in this one situation and make a stand for himself and just push to the front like everyone else does. I would otherwise be opposed to this seemingly rude behavior, but he and I are going to be left behind in every situation if we're not willing to push to the front like everyone else.

The Swiss have come up with a good solution to this problem. Any office you go to that you might have to wait in a line (think post office, bank, travel agency) you press a button and take a number. That way everyone can just stand around as they wish and when you're number comes up, then you can go forward. It may seem like this would slow things down, but it actually makes them run much smoother than the whole getting in an (un)orderly line debacle that occurs over here.

So, don't say we didn't warn you. If you come to visit be prepared to push your way to the front and be a cutter...even though we know that it will go against everything you've been trained to do. You'll see- don't get left behind on this one.

So this is what Autumn feels like!

Fall has arrived in a big way in Switzerland, and it's not the fall that I'm familiar with.

In Texas fall just means that September, October and November are about to pass, which may or may not include cooler temperatures (notice: I did not say cold). In October, all the football fans are just praying that their team will have a night game, as opposed to one at 3pm where you'll still be sweating your behind off whilst tailgating in the parking lot. Fall in Texas means high temps around 80 and pretty nice evenings.

Switzerland on the other hand is a whole new ball game for us. When BK and I arrived back in Switzerland on the second of September, Basel all the sudden had what we would consider late October/November weather. We went from 110 when we left Texas, to all the sudden wearing long sleeved shirts and sweaters at the beginning and end of each day. When we left for Greece in mid-September it was 45 degrees the morning we left- pretty darn cold, compared to what we're used to around this time!

I love the weather and am excited that I actually live somewhere where I can put fall and winter clothes to good use, layers and all. The one thing I'm not so sure about is whether or not BK and I are really prepared for a winter here. We've tried to stock up on winter clothes and heavy coats, but I think until we experience it, we're not going to get it. For example, how is BK going to feel when he does his 15 minute walk to work in 5 degree weather, plus a wind chill? I've also been told that it can be quite gloomy in Basel throughout the winter, meaning that the sun generally doesn't come out to warm things up during the day.

I'm also wondering about how the pups will handle this change. Toby will be fine. Thanks to that long hair, he doesn't really seem to mind the cold, or rain, or snow or anything else. Tanner on the other hand is a different story. As soon as the air starts to have a chill in it he tends to go into hibernation mode, snuggling up under anything he can get to, including in between BK's shirt and sweater- the ultimate warm spot. Part of me is hoping that as he goes into this mode he won't need quite as much walking, but we'll have to test it out and see how that goes. 

We may all be in for a rude awakening when November arrives, but in the meantime we'll keep enjoying the fall weather for the first time in our lives.

On a somewhat unrelated note, as today is October 1, it is the time of the year where I feel it is acceptable to have Elf on standby to play at any given time. At least it feels like we're moving toward Christmas here!