What a year it's been!

Well, it's that time of day…Baby K's fussy time. I've read that it's quite common for babies to be fussy in the evening, and she falls right in line with this. It's not constant crying, but every evening from around 6:30 until bath time at 8:00, she is not in the best of moods and fights hard against sleeping. I tell you this because ultimately this time of day is what made me realize I need to post about our last year.

Catching a little snooze

The past few days when Baby K has been fussy, I've tied her on to me, turned some music on, and tried to keep moving in one way or another. I play the playlist on Apple TV (typically singing along), which also shows a screensaver of many pictures we've taken over the past year, which is what leads me to this post. I actually started this post with her tied to me, bouncing on the exercise ball.

How we've been spending the evenings

I missed the anniversary of us being in Basel for one year. The actual day was March 24, but as we had a four-day-old baby, some other things took priority over blogging at the time. Over the past few weeks, BK and I have had many conversations about what an incredible year it's been. We often ponder how we will look back on this year as we get older, realizing that there are still many more things to come in life, but the past year has been pretty great, and I'm not sure that we'll have another like it.

Our first night in Basel- living in a hotel at the time

So what has dominated the past year? Travel, of course. I would also say learning to live abroad was a big one too, and I underestimated how intense this would be. BK and I both agree that we never thought we'd have the opportunity to travel to the extent we did this past year. We visited numerous countries, and even more cities within each of those countries. Most of our destinations were from a sort of travel wish list we came up with- Paris, Rome, Greece- but we also had some unexpected ones as well- Romania, Belgium.

Pinning places we've been on the map

People often ask what our favorite destination was, but that's a really hard one to answer. It's almost like they all have hold their own memories, and we liked them for things that were specific to that place. Each place has it's own different and unique characteristics that made it special for us. If I had to pick a few favorites, I would probably go with Rome, Amsterdam and the Grecian Isles.

The Pantheon- one of BK's favorite things we've seen

The sheer amount of history we have seen and experienced is a bit mind boggling as well. Just thinking about how long some of the monuments we have seen have been around and what has happened around them is crazy; especially in places like Paris, Athens and Rome. It's interesting to learn about how events throughout history have shaped the place you're visiting, and typically have impacted world history in one way or another.

Sunset in Greece

And then there's living abroad. It sounds so glamorous, right? I'll admit, it is pretty awesome, but it also takes a lot of work to even start to get integrated and learn all those cultural norms you have no clue about. In the beginning there were plenty of days when I thought my head would explode because I felt like I had no clue what I was doing. Was I going to break every rule the Swiss had? I don't think I broke every rule, but it's definitely a live and learn situation. And German…that's a whole other story.

They're cute, but they sure didn't adjust very well...

I can't talk about the last year without mentioning the thing we topped it all off with- Baby K! She snuck in just before the one year anniversary of us being in Basel, which is quite fitting and obviously an amazing way to end our first year abroad. I love her more and more every day and love the little family that she, BK and I have become.

After dinner on the patio

So after all that, what will the next year hold for us? We'll experience life as a family and all of the adventures it holds. We'll continue to travel, although I'm not sure that we'll go at quite the break-neck speed we did this past year. BK and I still have a number of places on that wish list that we'd like to see before we end our adventure of living abroad.

Who knows what else? I'm sure we'll continue to experience all kinds of new and different things as we live life here in Switzerland. I'll keep you updated as we make our way!

We did it!

We had a lot of firsts with Baby K last weekend, specifically we took our first overnight trip with her…and it was a success! I won't say that we didn't have any fussiness, but all the action was a lot to handle, so who can blame her? She did really well overall and we will definitely be doing it again!

On the train to Lausanne

BK and I set off to meet his parents in Lausanne on Saturday morning. They came to Basel first for a few days, then went to Italy for some sightseeing and at the end of their trip headed north back to Switzerland to meet us in Lausanne. Baby K did really well on the train. BK and I chose a train time that coincided with her morning nap, and she pretty much slept the whole time, which was great!

When we got to Lausanne (about 2.5 hours by train from Basel) BK and I headed straight to the hotel to feed Baby K lunch and get her settled. After we were done with business, the three of us headed out to explore the city. Lausanne is a really nice city- it is situated on the north side of Lake Geneva, with the lake at the bottom and the city stretching up the hills above it. You will absolutely get your workout walking up and down the hills here. There are lots of shops, cafes and restaurants in the city center, and the streets are very pedestrian friendly. BK and I enjoyed lunch outside at a cafe, then headed down to the train station to meet his parents.

Park by the lake

When they arrived, the four of us decided to head down by the lake. The Lausanne marathon also happened to be going on, but didn't make getting around impossible. Baby K hung out in her stroller, sleeping off and on until her next meal time. We stopped at a lakeside cafe for happy hour and Baby K's evening meal, then headed up to the Olympic Headquarters and Museum. The museum was closed for the day, but you can walk around the grounds, which has lots of sculptures and Olympic art.

Olympic flame

Our next step may have been overdoing it just a bit. There is really nice hotel lakeside, Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace, and we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. After the museum we stopped at the hotel to enjoy their outdoor patio and gardens. Unfortunately this was during Baby K's fussy time of the day, so it didn't go so well after the stroller stopped moving. 

BK and I took turns walking her around, trying to console her, which wasn't working. The low point was when BK walked her around and decided that he should try to re-swaddle her. So there he is, with her laying in the grass beside the hotel trying to do this. He describes it as her, laying in the cold grass, with big crocodile tears running down her face, the roomba lawn mower-thing headed their direction, and she's mad because she likes to fight hard against sleep during this time. A funny picture to all of us, not so good for dad and daughter. Live and learn, right?

Roomba lawn mower on the loose

We regrouped back at the hotel, trying to make her bath time and bed time routine as close to normal as possible in our hotel room. I think it worked too! The three of us did our usual nighttime routine and Baby K drifted off into a deep sleep. We did so well that the five of us were able to go out to dinner at a little Italian place around the corner from our hotel, with Baby K sleeping the whole time!

Sunday was relatively short in Lausanne. We got a bit of a late start (Baby K slept from 9pm to 5:30am, then from 6am to 9am!) and headed to the cathedral first. The cathedral is one of Switzerland's oldest and largest Gothic buildings. 

Lausanne cathedral

We spent the rest of our time in Lausanne on a lake cruise around Lake Geneva. We started at Ouchy Port in Lausanne, making stops along the way to Vevey, where we got off for lunch. Very little was open due to it being a Sunday, but we found a great little restaurant inside a hotel that was traditional Swiss and had some of the local specialties.

Lake cruise together

We caught a train back to Lausanne from Vevey and got ready to head back to Basel. BK's mom and I stayed near the train station, while he and his dad hiked back up to the hotel for our luggage. We caught a train back to Basel in the afternoon and made it home in time for dinner. Upon arrival in Basel, BK's parents were so into their Sudoku they didn't realize we were in Basel. Luckily, BK got back on the train and let them know that we had arrived at our stop!

Baby K contently riding the train

Overall, I think the trip was a good one, and it was really nice to have help on our first trip away from home. Baby K's next trip will be a big one: Paris for three days when my sister comes to visit in a few weeks. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about that one!

Duty calls…it's almost bath time. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

I should be napping...

Although, I am eating lunch as I write this, so that's something that I need to do as well. Eating and sleeping rank pretty close together on the priority list when thinking about what to do with my "free" time. But I've missed blogging, so here I am!

Wow! So it's been over a month since I blogged last, but I think I get a pass. If you're reading this I'm assuming you're at least familiar with BK and me, so you know that the biggest thing yet in our lives happened…Baby K arrived! She graced us with her presence on Thursday, March 20 around 11 in the morning. She was a week early; thankfully she didn't come late like everyone kept guessing. All I could think when people said she would come late was, "Why do you want me to have to be pregnant longer than necessary." I guessed (and hoped) early.

Baby K's first picture

First family picture

Where to even start? I've often thought about various things to blog about, usually while washing what feels like the 20th bottle of the day. So here it goes, some highlights of our first month as a family of three:

• I've read that having a baby is like throwing a hand grenade into a marriage. It hasn't been that extreme for us, but I could see how it could happen. We're navigating our way through this parenthood thing and figuring out how it works for us.
• Baby K is a pretty easy baby, with the exception of when she's hungry. Let's just say the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
• The boys have adjusted surprisingly well, and Baby K to them as well. They don't bark when she cries and she doesn't cry when they bark. The boys pretty much just follow us around and stick close when she's awake. We haven't made it back to three walks a day, but can usually manage to get at least two in.
• Thankfully, all of the parents have been cycling through since Baby K has been born; my mom was here first, then my dad and stepmom, and now BK's parents. It's nice to have them here regardless, but also to have the people with us who have 35(ish) years of experience.
• I know people say to ignore what needs to be done around the house and rest when she rests, but sometimes I/we just can't. BK and I don't function very well in a chaotic house, so at some point stuff has to be cleaned up…we're much happier this way.
• I know we've had a bad day if I haven't had a shower. When the first one happened and BK asked how my day was, I said, "If it tells you anything, I haven't had a shower and I can't remember if I have brushed my teeth." Not good. And yes, I know these days will happen.
• I've figured out that while pushing the stroller or having Baby K tied on to me, in Switzerland I can do no wrong.
• We do have Baby K on a schedule. I tried to just go with the flow and do what she needed whenever, but I just can't. I need structure (surprise, surprise) and with the schedule I can anticipate eating, sleeping, etc. I've learned to schedule the other things that I need to do throughout the day during nap times.

Ok, now it's a couple of hours later, and I do need to get in a quick nap before she wakes up again. I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures from this month. I hope to be back soon on a regular basis!

Leaving the hospital…yes we walked there and home

Happy after eating

Fighting sleep in the evening 

Protector pups

Multitasking: baby, dog, FaceTime and champagne

Here comes Dad!

One month old!

P.S.- If you find typos or something doesn't make sense, I blame the baby brain.