Our Wedding Scrapbook

Here is our wedding scrapbook I've been working on. It isn't my main wedding scrapbook, this was just for pictures I'm not using in my main scrapbook. I didn't want to just stick them in a photo album, so I quickly made this small scrapbook. The camera didn't do a very good job, the pictures don't look as clear as I would like them to be. You can mouse over each picture and see the captions of what is said on each page. Still, it was fun to make and I'm happy with it. Enjoy!

Tommy's First Love

Justin had a company BBQ today, all soldiers and their families come and it's usually a lot of fun. They have fun games for the kids, music and of course BBQ. It's a chance for everyone to get to know the people they work with and to meet the new families coming in from the states. Tommy fell in love with our friend's daughter. It was so cute, he followed her around like a lost puppy. He held hands with her and tried to get her to dance when they started the music. It was literally the cutest thing I've ever seen. Her name is Autumn. She was so sweet and took care of him the whole time we were there.

How cute is this?!?!

Justin demonstrating one of the kid's games. You throw the hands and feet into the sharks mouth. I didn't think it was very appropriate for kids but they seemed to like it.

After the BBQ we went to see Inception and bravely took both boys with us. Tommy ate his weight in popcorn and then promptly fell asleep. Tristan was up most of the time but he just wanted to be held, which was fine with me. It was freezing in the theater and he kept me warm. Now I know why I was so hot during my pregnancy, Tristan is a little human heater! This just goes to show that Tommy can literally fall asleep anywhere, and in every position.

We all had a lot of fun today.

Things I've learned this month...

That a messy home is sometimes the happiest home.

Getting your kids to sleep at the same time is an art.

It feels good to rid your life of bad friends.

It's possible to miss someone you've never met before.

(My sister's baby)

If you start watching a tv series, be prepared to get addicted.

Having a baby will undoubtably make you want another one, no matter how miserable your pregnancy was.

(The look on my face here says it all)

Keeping in touch on facebook very well could save my sanity.

Tommy will do what it takes to stay cool.

Appreciate time alone with your husband.

Hospitals really do serve mystery meat.

(Ew.)

Justin and Tommy are clones, but just a few years apart.

I think July has been a pretty good month.

Things I love about Germany

I've been meaning to document my most favorite things about Germany. Well, we've been here two years so I guess it's about time!

Favorite number one: The food. Surprised? I didn't think so. When we first got here, the first week or two the food tasted funny to me. Dare I say it tasted... foreign? Oh how I crack myself up.

Ahem.

Favorite number two: We recycle here! Ok ok, I admit, the first year here of having to sort our trash into paper, plastic, organic (food), and glass I was deeply annoyed. In the good US of A we have two bins. One is for everything recyclable, the other for everything else. But I've really come to love how important recycling is here. Everyone recycles even though it is a pain to own three to four trashcans taking up space in your kitchen. Not to mention the plastic is only picked up twice a month so you have to put your bags of plastic in storage until it's time to put it out on the street.

Favorite number three: soda isn't served to you by the bucketful. I've never been much of a soda drinker anyways, but soda refills here are NOT free and soda doesn't come cheap here. We pay about 2 euro for a glass the size of about 8 oz. Easy not to go overboard with something so bad for you.

Favorite number four: It's beautiful here. No explanation needed.

Favorite number five: CLOTHES. I love European fashion. Catch up, America!

Favorite number six: The autobahn. We can go as fast as we want and get anywhere REALLY fast so long as Justin is driving. I'm much slower and stay in the slow lane because I'm afraid.

Favorite number seven: We can visit an abundance of other countries without having to jump on a plane. They're all just a few hours away!

That's it for loves. Now lets go to the hates.

Hate number one: Smokers. They're EVERYWHERE. Kids even. They sell cigarettes in vending machines all over the place. I see jr. high kids smoking on their lunch break. Sad!

Hate number two: Sticky summers. I'm an Arizona girl all the way. Dry heat trumps sticky slightly cooler heat.

Hate number three: The language barrier. Ok, German sounds pretty cool, but after awhile it's really frustrating not understanding the radio, tv, cashiers, waiters, etc. With a little more motivation I would learn more German. Promise.

Hate number four: The US dollar to Euro exchange rate. The cost of living here is much higher because the Euro is worth more than the dollar. Justin is paid in US dollars so that gets a bit annoying.

Hate number five: No air conditioning. Germans are very eco-friendly. They don't believe in wasting energy on air conditioning. Unfortunately, I do. Gimme some air, stat!

Hate number six: the bugs. Lots of them. In a country that doesn't use air conditioning, you'd think they would put screens on their windows to let fresh air into their houses. Nope! You either sweat in your house and let mold grow from lack of air flow, or you open your windows and brave the spiders and abundance of flies and mosquitos.

Hate number seven: okay, there is no hate number seven, but since there were seven favorites I felt the need to even things out. Blame the perfectionist in me.

So there you have it. Would I want to live here forever? No. But right now we love it and I'm very fortunate enough to be able to live here and experience it.

Family of Four

Tristan is finally here!! We're all home and doing well. Justin has maternity leave for the next 10 days to help out, but it already feels like we're on a schedule. Tristan is a really good sleeper, we have to wake him up to feed him sometimes. Tommy loves him, I have to put Tristan in his crib every time he sleeps because if he's anywhere in Tommy's line of view then Tommy is going to want to play with him. We let Tristan finish his nap in his carseat when we got home, and I caught Tommy bent over him asking "you want out?" and then proceeding to tickle him.

Friday afternoon we went shopping for flowers that we're planting on our balcony. Later we were going to take a boat ride across the river going through our little town, but my water broke at the store. Kind of embarrassing, but it'll make for some good jokes later I'm sure. So we went home to pack my hospital bag really quick and then headed to the hospital. The labor was pretty quick, no complications. It was wonderful. Having Justin there meant so much to me. When I had Tommy Justin was in basic training. We spent three days in the hospital and got to come home yesterday morning. The hospital was awesome, I loved it.

Tristan Caleb Brooke was born June 12th at 1:16am, 8 lbs 21.5 inches. Big healthy boy. He looks so much like Tommy when he was a newborn, but their personalities are definitely different.

Add some cuteness to your day!

Decisions, decisions...

So much going on this summer! Not only are we adding another little person to our family, but Justin and I need to decide on where we want to be stationed next and if he's going to re-enlist for another 3-5 years.

This August marks Justin's 3 year anniversary in the military. So far it's been hard, but wonderful. We love Germany and all the benefits that come with being in the military. The health insurance is incredible. On the other hand, it would be nice to live near family and Justin will have a few career opportunities thanks to the training he's gotten in the military. He's up for a promotion this August and is doing really well in his field. There are a lot of pros and cons to both decisions and so we're working on figuring things out. We'll need to make a decision within the next couple of months. We'll let you know how it goes and what we decide.

Also to consider, where we want to be stationed next. We can stay in Germany for an extra year (then he will have finished his enlistment) or we can choose to move back to the states for the last 12 months of his enlistment. I think I would prefer to be stationed in Texas or California for that last year so we can be closer to family (much closer!) because I want Tristan and Tommy to have their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles nearby. We do have an opportunity to go to Hawaii, but he would have to re-enlist because you can't stay in Hawaii for less than 2 years, and he will only have a year left. Tempting!

Justin and I are still in awe how fast the last 3 years have went by. We still feel "new" to the military and it's hard to believe we're well over 1/2 of his 5 year enlistment. He will have 3 years inactive duty after his 5 year active duty is over, but we will be able to live wherever we want and it won't disrupt his new job. Most soldiers in Justin's field have a job lined up 6 months before their enlistment is over, so we're counting on a few options to choose from if we decide not to re-enlist. We're hoping to get interviews in Arizona, but most positions for Justin's field open up in Alabama where the main calibration team is located, which is what Justin does in the military, calibration. You'll have to ask Justin to explain what exactly that is because I will for sure just confuse you. :)

So we have a lot on our plate this summer. Stay in the military, get promoted and live closer to family (or in HAWAII!)? Or get out of the military, live where we want and have a regular career and get paid more?

Decisions, decisions!

I leave you with a cute picture of my new niece Kristabelle Victoria, isn't she cute!