rain rain go away...come back as snow.

So far we've had a pretty mild winter here in Bavaria. 40s and 50s are the highs these days and we only had snow on the 15th of October. We have had LOTS of rain, not uncommon, just annoying. Especially when you have a dog who has panic attacks when it rains.

We had a nice visit with Dr. Neudeck today. Brya is still growing, but Dr. Neudeck did mention she has a small head - still in normal range - but a small head. I guess that's better than a big head, so I'm not complaining! Her weight is good, estimated at around 5lbs 3oz. I'm shooting for a 6lb 3oz baby. Something tells me we may hit 7lbs. We'll just have to see. I'm not getting much bigger, so things have become a little more uncomfortable, but no complaints for being almost 35 weeks. Brya didn't want her photo taken again this week, nor did she want to sit still for heart rate monitoring again this week. She is stubborn! You think I can convince her to hang out in there till the end of February? Having another Pisces around the house wouldn't be so bad :D

A Brian update and MORE!

I talked to Brian today after playing phone tag all day we finally got each other! woohoo! I love cell phones (even expensive as they may be)!! He landed at his new FOB today and will probably be there till after Christmas when he comes home for R&R in January. He's out there with some good people, but sadly none of his really close friends from the company. His crew chief is also into 4-wheeling, so at least he has someone to talk to about something. He's excited and happy about the move, there's a lot more room then there was at his old FOB and it looks like his internet and AFN situation is looking up. He also mentioned there is a nice American dining facility at his new home. I think he was getting a bit tired of the squid at the Italian DFAC. He's excited about tomorrow and Thanksgiving - to be able to watch football of course! He said there's plenty of wood - the Marines have been generous - but he's still waiting on his tools to arrive from Iraq. Hopefully they'll come soon. He did manage to build a table today. They are still in tents, but with lots more room. Even though Brian has moved, if anyone is sending packages, please continue to send them to the Shindand address! If you need that address email me at NicoleYatesSmit at Gmail . com

...And our hospital visit yesterday. One of the MANY wonderful things about the German healthcare system is you get to choose the hospital where you want to birth your baby. Choices are nice! Your OB doesn't deliver your baby (I'm OK with that) but a fantastic midwife does (and of course if need be a doctor can step in for C-sections etc). So yesterday Brya and I went to interview Neuendettelsau Krankenhaus. I had a feeling this is where I was going to deliver, but Frau Wagner sealed the deal and I go back to meet with her in a few weeks to do our paperwork then hopefully start my acupuncture there. There is also an acupuncturist at my normal doctors office, but I thought this would be a great way to start off at Neuendettelsau! They have awesome family rooms, so Brian, Brya and I all get to share a room (Brian even gets a bed and food!) They have wonderful birthing rooms - some of their options include a birthing stool, a table or a birthing tub. I'm shooting for the water birth, but at the same time keeping my options open.

We've started going every 2 weeks to see Dr. Schwartz and I head back to see him this Thursday. So far so good!

a few mama pics

I took some Christmas card photos for our friends the Smiths (Kyle, Erika and Cooper the super dog) and in return Erika (also a photographer) shot a few of me too. It was a somewhat sunny and 50* Sunday, so we went for it! I threw them in iPhoto and changed a few to grayscale, but a few could use a little more photoshopping with light, but I'm not too worried at this point.



The Smiths


Kyle and Cooper helping me walk a wall at the Lichtenau Castle. Kyle and Erika live in Lichtenau.



See I can JUMP!


Cooper wanted to be in all my photos, I think it was because I smelled like girl dog.

Happy Veterans Day Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines!!!!

I'm kinda partial to this one!

Oct 11-17th

Oct 11 - Kyla and the mole holes - our daily struggle.
"What are you talking about mom? I don't dig holes! I got dirty paws from... pulling up all those weeds...yeah pulling up weeds."



Oct 12 - A typical winter day in Bavaria
"Ohh the weather outside is frightful...but the rainbow kinda makes it delightful!"



Oct 13 -

Oh the joy! (Feel the sarcasm?)


Funny series of Oliver - he's a ham!!




Oct 14 - "ARRRGGGH MATIE"

Hey mom, I wanna be a pirate for Halloween, where's my patch?!
Kyla and her eye issues. More trips to our German vet than I like to count...and I thought all along Ginger was my "medically challenged" dog



Oct 15 - SNOW! Yes, Check the date, Oct. 15. SNOW!!


Oct 16 - Our awesome high chair from Auntie Blair and Uncle Jeff arrived today!
There are a lot of straps on this thing, I hope I put it together right!


Oct 17 - With love from Ireland. My friend Elena brought this back from Dublin over the weekend for little Brya.

Oct. 8-9-10 2009

I couldn't pick just ONE for Oct 9 - so there are 3. Oops! Since it's been icky and rainy here the past two days, lots of dog photos and one really funny cow photo. Sadly the 9th was the last day our cute and curious 'neighbors' were out to pasture. There is a road right behind our house, which is about 4 ft below our yard with a retaining wall. My landlord put the cows in the road for a day to 'eat down' the grass before it's back to the barn for the winter.

Today is cloudy and icky too, but the sun did pop out for about 8 minutes. It was beautiful! Looks like rain again, but we'll take advantage of it while we can and maybe I'll get some photos of the awesome fall leaves.

Oct 8 - Kyla and the tennis ball. After Oliver's obsession with the tennis ball Kyla had enough and destroyed it.



Oct 9 -

The 'bavarian beer' has seen better days.


Hello neighbor.


Sisters.


Oct 10 -

Piper, making his Smit blog debut

a photo a day.

I started taking a photo a day on October 1. Since we PCS next October I thought this would be a fun way to document our last year in Germany. Of course I was traveling home from Paris on the 5th and forgot to take a photo - so 5 days in, I seemed to have already failed at my mission, but I'll continue on for the fun of it.

I'll post Oct 1-4 in the Paris pics...until then

Oct 6 - my attempt at making homemade mac and cheese.



Oct 7 - My friend Pam's dog Oliver. He's the sweetest thing ever, in fact he was yawning in this photo, but he looks sooo mean and protective of his "bavarian beer" which I think it's hilarious he carries that beer everywhere!



Oliver and his brother Piper are hanging out with us for a few weeks while their mom Pam is in the states. I'll be meeting up with Pam in DC then we're traveling for a few days together before coming back to Germany.