Kurbis Festival

Today we drove down to Stuttgart - specifically Ludwigsburg for the Kurbis (pumpkin) festival. I'll post the photos a few at a time.



Anna as a doggie!








Our friends, John and Erica, and their two boys, Trevor and Ryan went too


A rare family photo

lucky I guess

So far I think we've been pretty lucky in the colds department around here. So far other than a runny nose when she first started teething in May (Yes MAY! oy!) Well it's all come crashing down on us this week. Brian got the flu mist late last week and was sick all weekend by Monday night I was feeling it and by Tuesday night Anna was in full blown sinus cold land. She is by far the hardest to treat since she can't tell me what hurts and she has a hard time sleeping since she can't breathe. BUT this little lady is not known for her cuddles. She's just not a cuddly baby has been attached to me all day - needless to say nothing is getting done around here, except for some blogging. She did nap in her crib long enough for me to take a shower today and Brian was home for the morning which allowed me to sleep in since I didn't sleep much last night.

She did manage to eat some spaghetti and cheerios for lunch and of course still nursing, so at least she's staying hydrated.

I broke out her bouncer thinking that would help her with the drainage but she wanted nothing to do with it.








Anna uses this step stool as a 'walker'


MOM GET ME OUT!


Back to playing

oh baby Leyton

Looks like baby Leyton couldn't wait for Daddy to get home! She's a go getter like her mommy!

babies babies and MORE babies!!!

We know so many people who are about to pop or recently welcomed little ones to the world and it seems like the girls are in the lead!

Brian's cousin, Sarah, and her husband Casey, welcomed baby boy, Wyatt (almost a month old now!). Sarah's sister, Jenny and her husband Ryan, welcomed baby girl, Paige (a week ago!).

I've known both Jackie and Shannon since I was 4 years old. Jackie and her husband Ben just welcomed baby, Charlotte and another one of my oldest friends, Shannon and her husband Ryan are getting ready to welcome baby C (I love secret names!!!) on Monday! We're sending lots of prayers to Shannon and Ryan that baby C hangs out until Daddy gets home from Africa on Monday - we know that feeling ALL TOO WELL!

We're so excited that we get to meet ALL of these babies when we come home in December!! Brian put in leave papers for Nov. 29-Dec. 17, so we'll be in Virginia from the Nov. 30 - Dec 7/8 then we'll be heading to Michigan until the 16th

Some photos from around the house the last couple of days - I love having Brian home cause that means our P&S camera is home too :) I carry that thing with me 24/7!








An acceptable size bow. I ordered these bows from Carters and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THEM!!! I'm not a big bow person and by big bows I mean I don't like BIG bows and I'm not big on putting bows in Anna's hair. These are easy to put in and stay in and they don't look silly.












Anyone who ever had to brush my hair has a child will tell you it was not a pleasant experience! I hope I didn't pass that on!

new table

So we did it. We finally bought a real piece of furniture. So we're told it was built in the late 1800s but honestly neither Brian or I could really care about that. We just really liked it. We'd like to thank Derrek for dragging us along on his antique shopping adventures.



Anna checking it out

sweet baby girl

Hey ma, guess what ...I gotta diaper rash!




Good Parenting 101 - Those Baby Einstein puppets are a moms best friend!


her favorite bath toy - one of her boon balls.


hey dad, will you put these barrettes in my hair?!


Kyla, I love you...








"Mom wins again, I'll get to that bathroom one way or another"

beautiful things

How do I say this...well I'm turning into my father and it's a great thing. My dad has a great appreciation for beautiful things. Maybe it was the subscription to Traditional Home he "got" me last year. I dunno, but I find myself wanting to declutter my life and fill it with beautiful things that I NEED and love. Buuuut that being said, I also have an almost walking nine month old. I'm lucky if I get the dishwasher loaded. AAHH!! On the same topic...kinda...the great thing about the Army moving us so much is that it really gives you a chance to evaluate the material things in your life and get rid of stuff you really don't use or need. BUT I will continue to PCS with my box of corks and my green Italian wine bottles aka wagon wheels. Sorry honey! I will also keep my weird collection of random furniture - that one day - I'll get around to refinishing.

wagon wheel (noun) 1. Junk 2. Anything my husband doesn't want me to own or he deems silly or doesn't like 3. Pointless objects Origin: Brian and Nicole's house - Germany 2009 Nicole: I think wagon wheels (the real kind, you know, wooden wheels... from a real wagon) are pointless Brian: I think those wine bottle are pointless, they ARE wagon wheels.

With all that being said today while we were in Munich, I stepped into a faaaaantastic home store. (Let's just say I'm slightly obsessed with fabrics. Like my Amy Butler obsession!!) I found a quilt and few other items by a company called Bungalow. OHHHH SOOOOO PREEEETTTY!!!! They make some amazing home items out of beautiful block print fabric from India.

The first quilt that caught my eye (hellloooo Oma ...paging Oma! Lookie Lookie!)












...while I'm blogging today, I just want to take a moment to vent about two things: TVs over a fireplace and fireplaces in the corner of a room. These days I don't find house hunting very much fun. Maybe I'm too picky. Or maybe just annoyed with the cookie cutter houses that happen to be everywhere in the states these days. Blah! Boooooooooooooooring.