Mom comes to visit!

Living in Switzerland is absolutely the experience of a lifetime. The downside though is that we are really far away from our families. And even though we go back to Texas twice a year, it is great having people come visit us too. Our latest visitor...my mom and her friend TP! Yay!

Baby K and I took the train and picked my mom and TP up in Geneva and were pretty much go, go, go the whole time they were here. BK and I have recently learned the importance of taking the train that has a family car, which is exactly what my mom, TP, Baby K and I did to get back home. My mom and Baby K were both very happy, as the playing could commence!

On the train back to Montreux

The first day I went to language class and they recovered from travel a bit, then we explored around Montreux. It takes a while to get acclimated to all the hills...especially the huge one you have to climb to get to our house!

View from Gruyere castle

Their second day here we wanted a day to really experience Switzerland, so we headed to the Callier chocolate factory, Gruyere, and Fribourg. Unfortunately the Callier factory was closed, so we got back in the car and went to Gruyere. There, we enjoyed seeing the castle and amazing views, ate some Gruyere fondue for lunch, and "toured" the cheese factory.

Mom and TP being "cheesy"

I like the village of Gruyere, but I'm not so sure about the cheese factory. There wasn't much to said tour; only 12 stops in two rooms as the entire tour. I feel certain there must be better tours out there about Gruyere cheese. We did get to see the cheese maker doing something to the Gruyere cheese, but I honestly am not even sure I know exactly what he was doing.

Cheese factory

The next day I went back to language class and they came with me to Lausanne. We spent the afternoon enjoying nice weather next to the lake and touring the Olympic Museum. I would highly recommend the Olympic Museum if you get a chance. It has lots of interactive exhibits and touches on a variety of areas all related to the Olympics (Greek Olympics, modern Olympics, history of various sports, highlights of games, marketing, testing your physical ability). You really need a few hours to do the whole thing, but it's well worth the time.

Cycling sculpture outside Olympic Museum

Baby K gets the Gold!

With Switzerland comes neutrality, and with that comes some significant world events. While we were in Lausanne the US-Iran nuclear talks were happening at the Beaux-Rivage Palace. There were tons of media and police in the area, as this hotel happens to be next to the Olympic Museum. When we asked what was going on, one of the camera men told us that Jim Carey was here. We really thought, "Wow, all this security for Jim Carey...since when does he need snipers on the roof." A bit later we realized it was actually John Kerry. Good thing that guy was behind the camera.

The next day was Baby K's birthday. It's still kind of weird to say that we have a one-year-old. I hope her birthday was good; I would assume so, as she got to open presents, go to playgroup and have them sing to her, have lunch with everyone, devour a cupcake, FaceTime with family, and then start her first weekend away from BK and me. Not too bad for a first birthday!

Sitting in her new TCU chair from Mawmaw (my mom)

BK and I enjoyed our weekend in Burgundy, and I think my mom, TP, and Baby K enjoyed their weekend in Montreux together. I think they did some strolling, survived the grocery store, did lots of playing, and practiced Baby K's walking quite a bit. I think I may have emphasized how I like a schedule a little too much, as my mom wrote down what and when Baby K did everything over the weekend. I appreciated it, but for the record, did not request it. I would post a picture, but I don't think they sent any. More on our trip to Burgundy later.

Us enjoying Baby K's birthday weekend

It's crazy how fast time passes when people come to visit. The next few days we spent some more time in Montreux, including seeing Chateau de Chillion. If you like castles and fortress-type things, you should go see Chateau de Chillion. Not only does it have amazing views of the lake, I think it's around 1000 years old, which is just crazy.

Outside of Chateau de Chillion

Climbing all over the castle

We finished up their trip with a day trip to Nyon and Yviore, France, which are just across the lake from one another. We left the house in the morning and got to Nyon a bit earlier than we had to catch the ferry. I made the mistake of telling my mom and TP that they could go look around in a store for a minute...then we missed the ferry over to Yviore. They came out of the store to find me pointing to the ferry that had just left.

Getting some energy out in Nyon

It all turned out great though, we had lunch by the lake (filet de perche- a local specialty) then caught the ferry over to Yviore. Yviore is a little medieval village also on the shore of Lake Geneva. Summer is the high season, so some of the shops were not open yet, but things were starting to come back to life as we approach spring and Easter. The time we had there ended up being perfect and just enough to walk around and enjoy the sites, but not have too much time to kill.

Chateau in Yviore Botanic Gardens

Cobblestone streets with tons of flowers in bloom

We headed back to Montreux and they got ready to leave the next morning. They caught the train to head back to Geneva, then back to Texas. I think they should be about recovered now, and their legs returning to normal after climbing a hill to get to anywhere we were going. I'm sure my mom and TP have other stories to tell about the trip as well. I can think of a few myself, but I'll let them divulge what they want to their friends!

A few days after they left we were on to our next adventure in Istanbul. It's a long weekend here, so hopefully I can find some time to delve into that one too!

I'm pumped!

Pun totally intended. And you should stop reading now if you do not want to hear about this particular journey to Baby K's first birthday.

I finally got to send this guy back a few weeks ago, after it being my constant companion for nearly a year. But I'm happy to say, Baby K got breast milk until she was a year old. I know some people go further than that, but as this is her only way of getting it, a year was long enough for me!

I decided to blog about it because it feels like a freaking miracle that I made it this long. When people ask me how long I had been pumping, and I responded, 6 months, 9 months, etc., their typical response was, wow, I can't believe you've lasted this long. My response to that: me either!

I do think it's an accomplishment, and honestly something that I didn't specifically plan to do. In the beginning I was just hoping to make it to 6 weeks, then that turned into 3 months, then 6 months, and by the time I got past that I figured I had come that far, I wasn't turning back then.

I also talked to numerous moms whose husband/partner didn't have much to do with feeding. I can't really fathom that, as BK had the morning shift every morning, and lots of other feedings on the weekends as well. That was their time together, and it's hard for me to imagine another way.

I had BK the math whiz calculate just how long I had to keep going so that Baby K could get to a year and I would know when I could stop. As the date drew nearer I was seriously dreaming about how much more time I would have to do stuff during the day (yeah, right), how I could actually sleep in if BK took the morning shift, and how we wouldn't have to save space in our luggage for this thing to go with us every where we ventured off to. And yes, this thing has probably been to more countries and destinations than the average American, as it's been everywhere we have over the past year.

Okay, so that's all I have on this one. We've been picking up on our traveling lately, so I need to fill you in on those as well. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

Bottom line: Woohoo! I did it!

Playing hooky today

Today I am totally playing hooky from French class and working on random stuff I just need to get done, and cannot seem to get done with Baby K around or in tow. So, she's with the babysitter and I am at Starbucks busily trying to tick things off my list.

Even though it doesn't sound like this said list is stuff I like to do, I have wanted to post for a while, and just haven't made the time. It always feels like there are a million other things I should be doing instead. Such is life. And for the record, the list also includes mundane things like pay bills, and fun things like travel planning for Istanbul, Spain and Portugal.

As usual, it feels like tons of stuff has been going on lately. I often have the conversation with BK that I'm not sure how we would function if I did have a job. When would things get done? I know circumstances would be different, but still, on days like today when I have to get away to do stuff, I seriously wonder.

So what's been going on lately? Well, Baby K turned ONE last Friday, my mom came for a visit and BK and I had our first Baby K- free weekend away. Fun stuff, right?

I kind of can't believe that Baby K is already one. People always say that the time really starts to fly and you'll wonder where it went. I don't necessarily do that, but a year went by really fast. It's crazy how much love I have for our little person. She is developing quite the personality, loves to be around other kids, and is working on wrapping Daddy tighter around that little finger of hers.

She had a fairly low key birthday, as we didn't have a party or anything, but we did celebrate together with her. We typically go to playgroup on Fridays, which means it will be a good day for Baby K, regardless, so I figured that was a good plan. We took some cupcakes and the other kids sang to her during snack time. We FaceTimed with cousins and grandparents, including Abbs and LJ, who got to have a cupcake "with" Baby K at 6:30 in the morning as she was having hers with lunch. After she went down for a nap BK and I left for our weekend getaway, which brings me to...

My mom and her friend TP have been visiting for the past 10 days. Baby K and I picked them up on the train and hit the ground running. We had a couple of slower paced days, but did quite a bit of sightseeing, including Gruyere, Fribourg, Lausanne, Montreux/Vevey, Nyon, and Yviore, France. I loved having my mom here, and I know she really enjoyed getting to spend time with us, but especially with Baby K.

She and TP kept Baby K over the weekend so BK and I could have a pre-10-year-anniversary getaway over the weekend. Our anniversary is not until June, but we'll have Baby K with us where ever we go, so we thought we would take my mom up on the getaway when she offered. We drove about three hours and went to the Burgundy wine region in France. As usual, good food and wine were a big part of the weekend, and we even slept until 9ish while we were gone!

Okay, that's about it for now. I have to run and get some other thing done; at the top of the list are pick up dry cleaning and buy some toy bins for Baby K's stuff. Exciting stuff, I know. Contrary to popular belief, it's not all jet-setting and gallivanting around over here. We do have to stop and get stuff done at some point!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and hope to catch up soon!