Look Who's Talking - in baby language

Wayne has his own language now and it is so cute to listen to the sounds he makes! In the mornings we wake up at 7am and after his breakfast I have mine with some coffee and we have our own "coffee talk". This is the one we had yesterday - he's so cute it makes me laugh and cry!

Winter Wonderland

Ok, so I know I have become the WORST blogger ever in keeping this updated. I am sure all the new moms in the world understand though (right Michelle???) So, here goes a new start to trying to keep this going. I promise to backdate with blogs and pictures too, but for now, it's going from now forward.

Wayne has experienced his first snow. I have to say, it is strange that we are getting this much snow given that last year we didn't see any until Easter. But, it's been fun looking at this area covered in snow. Here are some pictures of our midnight outing in the first snowfall.

A bit surprised:

Yes - all 3 of us in one picture - and all eyes open!


The Winter Wonderland the next morning:

Some find the Wonderland makes them cozy:

and sleepy:

and more sleepy

All Smiles and Giggles

Brilliant Baby!

Bionic Baby

We had to post this before the rest of the pictures...

Our baby is so strong and smart, he has already learned how to roll over on his own! Here is a video of his bionic strength:

Baby Video

Welcome Wayne David Katzenberger!

I can't write well enough to express what an amazing experience having this beautiful baby boy was for us. The surgery went very well and was amazing to have about 15 medical people all in one room just to work on me and the baby. Everyone was friendly and upbeat and seemed to be having a good time helping us bring Wayne into the world. Alex was there holding my hand and telling me stories from our years of dating - memories of trips and fun times we had - it all made the surgery more bearable. The moment when the held our new boy over the curtain was one I wish I could have had in my camera to show everyone, but it is in my memory so well I will never forget it. He was crying and covered in stuff, but he was so beautiful - if that's even a good enough word - that we just started crying. We had not chosen his name yet, we had our top 3 contenders, but when we saw him, we knew - it was Wayne, our Wayne. Our new baby boy that God gave us. He is beautiful, angelic and so peaceful that we fall in love with him more and more each moment. Here are some pictures from our first day.

One last picture with Peanut inside my tummy

Alex's first time holding Wayne

My first picture with my beautiful angel He's finally awake!
He loves his daddy!

Peanut's birthday is planned

So, after our attempts to get Peanut to flip over, he has decided he likes his position in my tummy and does not want to come out the old fashioned way. So, what Peanut wants, Peanut gets! We went to our doctor and he had not changed his position, so she sent us to the hospital for an appointment on Monday, August 18 so we could meet with the doctor there and schedule an appointment for our cesarean. We figured we would ask to have it on the 30th, which was the original due date. Needless to say, when we went to the hospital and the doctor gave us the date she wanted to do the surgery, we were taken by suprise. She said she wanted to do it as soon as possible and that Wednesday would be the best day. We thought she meant the 27th, but she meant the 20th - that was in 2 days! We had to agree because Peanut was finally done baking and needed to come out of the oven finally!

We went home and got everything ready and went out to eat at our favorite steakhouse to celebrate Peanut's upcoming delivery. One last picture of him in my tummy - he's already pushed my belly button out - so he's ready to come out. Yeah!!!

Oh - to all the dads in the world, you will appreciate this. Being pregnant means you are hot pretty much all the time - especially at night. Fortunately, Germany has had some odd winter-like weather and lots of really cold nights. Unfortunately for Alex, that means he has to bundle up to handle my keeping the windows open. :)

How to flip a baby...

Well, as anyone who has been pregnant knows, the baby is the ruler of the show and does things their own way...

We had a doctor's appointment and found out that Peanut's favorite position in my stomach is not the position he should be in for a natural delivery. So, our doctor has asked to see us in ten days to see if he's turned around. If he hasn't, we will have to deliver him via cesarean instead. This is not something I was ready to hear (not a huge fan of surgery) so I was ready to try everything I could to turn him back on his head. I read about excercises I could do - swimming, walking, and this yoga position called an Indian bridge - and our doctor even recommended accupuncture. (We were going to do accupuncture anyway because it is supposed to be good for your recovery after delivery). So, fingers crossed that he flips over again!

Getting ready for Peanut

So the countdown is on and we have been working hard to "pimp" our baby! He has 2 strollers and 2 beds and a carseat- apparently a small baby needs a lot of things! We have been enjoying the last month and trying to eat out and do things we won't be able to do for a while once he arrives - like sleeping through the night. I have already started having weekly contractions (had no idea - thought it was just a small pain in my hip) so we have packed our suitcases for the hospital and have our midwife on speed dial for when Peanut tells us he's ready to come into the world.

His basinette - kept warm by his furry friends!

His offroad stroller

His carseat

The view from a table at our favorite Italian restaurant - one of the last meals out for a while!

Peanut's Progress

So our little peanut has created quite a lot of room in my tummy and turned my stomach into quite a bowling ball. It's been fun seeing what he responds to - like music and sounds. He likes Schubert the composer (which is Alex's favorite too) . But nothing is as funny to us as his response to when we watch baseball. He gets wiggly when we watch the Red Sox play (Alex's favorite team) but he went nuts during the All Star Games. He really got jumpy when the Texas Rangers player Josh Hamilton played in the Home Run Derby and got 28 home runs in the first round (quite a show if you saw it). We also got a lot of movement when we were watching the tribute to Yankee Stadium on the sports channel - must be from his blood line to Hank Bauer (relative of mine who played for the Yankess in the 50's). We also like that we can now hear his hearbeat on our Baby Sounds monitor Mom gave us - it's a favorite new past time! So, here are some pictures and a video of Peanut's growth and strong heartbeat at one of our doctor visits:

Meet the Katzenbergers!

The day of our ceremony was great because it was almost 3 years in the making. It was a rather quick service, but the result was what we wanted - to be husband and wife. Even though I had a translator, I knew what was being said. All I had to do was look at my groom and know that this was what our hearts were created for - to love each other. We both got emotional at times and kept holding hands and looking at each other. It really was romantic and felt that it was our own little world that day. (by the way, check out the beautiful flowers I am holding - a gift from my new husband!)

On the day of our ceremony, we had lunch afterwards at home with Stefan and Alex's dad. While we were eating Alex told me I needed to pack a bag because he was taking me on a suprise honeymoon to the Baltic Sea's beach! It was a short but sweet trip for us to get away to a place that was very serene and quiet.

Our getaway car:

Exchanging of the rings:

A kiss to seal the deal:

We're a little veclempt:
The wedding party (our translator on the left and Alex's dad on the right)
Mr. & Mrs. Katzenberger!

This is our honeymoon place:

Enjoying the beach:

Ok, this water is seriously cold!
The rear view of our hotel:
My super strong husband!

The beach chairs for the outside restaurant where we had desert:

The view from our hotel room:
We're getting good at taking pictures of ourselves!
Let's see what we look like in 50 years!