Total weight gain:   about 4 pounds

Maternity clothes?   I just bought some tees and maternity leggings from H&M and some stuff from a flea market

Stretch marks?  Not yet!  Hoping this doesn't change!

Best moment this week:   Having Greg at my appointment & us both getting to hear the heartbeat! Oh & getting to hear it again 2 days later unexpectedly! 

Miss Anything?   Starbucks & wine & margaritas & my energy still

Movement?  I know they're moving around in there since we heard it on the doppler & lil one moved from Monday to Wednesday to new spot but I'm not sure I've felt it, unless I didn't realize it! 

Food cravings:   Juice lots of the time, BBQ stuff and cheesy potatoes

Anything making you queasy or sick:   not really anymore! Pretty much able to be around anything nowadays

Starting to show yet? Check out the pics! I would say so! & So far everyone realizes its baby & not just me eating too much! ha

Gender:   Still don't know! We have to wait until 19-21 weeks because that's when the military does the scan

Labor Signs:   NO! And I hope I don't have any for a long time! 

Symptoms:   Exhausted a lot of the time & having to pee way too much! 

Belly Button in or out?   In

Wedding rings on or off?   On

Happy or Moody most of the time:   Mostly happy! I only get moody when I am really tired so I nap & I'm better! 

Looking forward to:   Starting to feel the movement &finding out the gender so we can start buying the stuff we like and decorating! 

Ah so it's been awhile! My appointment this last week went well! We are doing a group OB program the hospital here offers so there's about 10 couples who are all due in February 2013 that meet up every 4-5 weeks for monthly appointments. They're more hands on than normal appointments, as we take our own weight & blood pressure. We each take turns using the doppler so we get to hear the heartbeats still and then the midwife goes through a bunch of information for around the time in the pregnancy we're in! Plus, we get to meet other people here in Germany in the military that are expecting too! 

And I mentioned last post that I was going to an everything baby flea market. It wasn't as big as I imagined it would be, but I still walked away with some pretty good stuff! Got some gender neutral onesies, towels, changing pad covers, a baby carrier, some clothes for myself, a pack-n-play and a high chair! It looks like more than when I list it and I only spent $78 total while the pack-n-play & high chair retail EACH for about $150! 

The story of how our little peanut came to be!

A few weeks ago, as Greg was getting ready for work, I decided it'd been awhile since that evil Aunt Flo had made her appearance so I took a pregnancy test. I didn't sit & watch to see its result, I just went on with my early, early morning - I was making Greg some eggs & toast and did not let the test stop me from doing so. I just noted the time & continued on with breakfast. About 5 minutes later, after almost forgetting about the test, I strolled to the bathroom expecting to not see anything significant and low & behold, there was a second pink line. Surprise!

I had always thought about finding some cute way to tell Greg when this happened & it was kinda a spur of the moment thing that, well, that didn't happen. I walked upstairs, trying to be calm, & just said "hey, I need to show you something." Then proceeded to display the pregnancy test with the clear second line to him. He did not know what to make of it at first & even asked "does.. that mean you're pregnant?" Oh boys... haha. Yes! it does!

I went to the lab the following day & got my blood test which confirmed what I already knew, that I was pregnant! I was so excited & found it hard to contain my excitement, as I was out with a friend & wanted Greg to know before anyone else!

We decided to make the news public to everyone [family & a few close friends knew sooner] with an adorable picture I half way stole from Pinterest. Greg had the idea to use the shoes we wear all the time instead of the ones we have & never touch but happen to match the baby shoes I bought for it.

Hello world! I have been gone for away being busy getting everything situated here in Germany! Life is, like the title says, interesting! Germany is a good deal different than the US. Still trying to get used to the changes & the adjustments we are needing to make that we were not all completely prepared for!

Some things to note about Germany:

1. It looks kinda like the Appalachian Mountains everywhere! I say this because it's very hilly, covered with trees & just downright beautiful! We drive down the road to go, well, anywhere, and my ears are pretty much guaranteed to pop!

2. Technology isn't as prevalent. Cell phone companies in the states have tons of plans & options, but most here only have 1 or 2 to choose from & when you get it, service isn't always the best everywhere you go! Point 2 on this - its going to take 2-3 weeks for stuff to get to us for our home phone & internet! What?!

3. Exchange rates suck!! The dollar isn't doing to hot right about now, which wouldn't be a problem, but it costs us like $1.30 or so per euro! That adds up quickly & this is not being nice to our bank account!

4. Cars last a whole lot longer here! Case in point - our rental car when we first got here was a 1995 BMW & it ran like a car that is like a 2000 or so in the states would run! Tons of cars out here are from the 90s & no one thinks second about it & they work! Yes, loooots of people drive the German cars - BMW, Audi, VW & Volvo - they're everywhere! But it's almost as common to see any one of these car brands from the 90s or early 2000s as it is to see a brand new BMW rolling around!

5. Germans are crazy drivers! The autobahn is not exactly like we imagined! Yes parts of it don't have a speed limit but where we happen to live does. 130 km/hour. Sounds fast right? Not so much. That's only like 72 mph or something. German drivers are very aggressive! When they have the right of way, you watch out cause they will run you out of their way! & on the autobahn, if you are going too slow & they're behind you, they'll come up & tailgate you basically until you move out of their way!

Those are my observations at the moment that I've been mulling over! I have some more but I'll save those for next time! Working on getting my phone to work again & figuring out how to charge my camera since my charger is not 220v capable! [Amazon anyone?] As soon as I get it figured out, I will take some pics & post them, mostly of the house with the stuff in it!

Well we've been in Germany now for 10 days! Crazy!

We're still living in our pet-friendly hotel, out of our suitcases still I might add. We have a handful of things to eat & mostly rely on grabbing food on the go at the Base Exchange - the giant mall! We're both just ready to be on something that resembles a normal schedule!

We've been house hunting like maniacs recently. It's been stressful because we want a house - a small one - with some sort of yard for the dogs. We looked at a few houses over the last few days & German houses are so much different than American houses. They are huge, old, don't have carpet, no closets, sit so close to the neighbors' houses that I bet they can see inside & usually have no yard! I knew most of these things were different going into the hunt, but it's so much different once you actually see the houses & the differences in person!

We have to be out of this temporary lodging on the 20th or so & have desperately been searching! After a discouraging visit to the housing office - where they basically said our personal preferences don't matter at all - we found a house we reeeally like! It's a little house with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, some balconies & a little yard in a cute little village! The landlords were very nice to us! They took us back to their home, offered us drinks & went over the rental contract with us! Soo nice! We have to take the rental agreement to the housing office on Monday & hope everything goes smoothly! If so, we have a house! :)

I will post pictures after the house is complete - they're fixing some stuff up from after the previous tenants & bringing things, like the electricity, up to speed! So excited now!

Well tonight is a pretty slow Friday night! No plans but to just chill after an exhausting week of house hunting! Tomorrow we hope to have some plans to see Germany! :)

Welcome to Germany!

We've been here for a couple of days now & we're still getting used to everything!

There was a little more to our airport adventures - we got stuck at the cargo facility in Baltimore for about 2 1/2 hours! Fun, right? Not so much. We caught a cab there to pick up the dogs, but when we arrived, it was going to be about a 15 min. wait for them to transport them inside of the cargo holding & unload them. The cab driver did not want to wait that long for us, so we paid him so he could leave. That wouldn't have been a problem if there were any taxis that would pick people up in that damn city! After 45 min. of trying to find a company that could pick us up, Greg was told a driver would be there in 30-40 min. Well wrong... 40 min. later he called to check up on it & the lady never sent anyone! We called like every 10 min. after that to make sure the driver she said she was sending was actually coming! Once the guy finally came, he was super nice & think the cargo people were really happy for us to finally have someone pick us up!

The rest of the time in the airport went smoothly! We kept the dogs until 30 min. before we had to be at the terminal for boarding & they did soooo well in the airport!

The airplane was huge - I'm talking double decker, had to be like 60 rows on just the first level with 10 seats per row! Holy moly! There were some in-flight movies, but we basically slept the whole time or watched our own movies that we brought.

We had one hell of a greeting at the airport in Ramstein. Greg's sponsor/supervisor came & brought tons of guys from the squadron with him to help & greet us! The key spouse came as well to greet me, which was awesome! It was nice to have so many people there to help when we got off the plane in a foreign country.

Germany is a nice place! So clean & beautiful & so far everyone is friendly, granted those we've encountered have been US military! Ha The commissary was a little confusing, with some food being labeled in German but we found enough food that we are familiar with. The BX is huuuge! It's like a mall & has everything you can think of inside of it! There was clothes, sporting goods, furniture, electronics, little German shops, Cinnabon [yummm], car sales places & so much more! Greg even found the Vera Bradley section & was so happy to show me! He knows me too well! :)

We're staying in temporary lodging right now. It's basically a furnished apartment with almost everything we need to live here. We'll be here until we're able to find a house off base to live on! Greg got his housing brief today & has all kinds of info to help us find a place to live.

Here are some pics of where we're living at the moment & a little bit of the surrounding area. We don't have a car or anyway to get around, other than walking, so I haven't taken all too many pictures yet. But enjoy these for now!

Street in front of our temp. house