10 weeks left!!!?

10 weeks!? Could that be right!??! Could be... I have a countdown going on a chalkboard we put up in the flat - and that's what it says. 10 weeks. On one hand that seems like plenty of time, on the other it feels like it will sneak right by us and we'll be parents before you know it! But I talk to Lemon frequently these days, and she knows to take her time.

These past couple weeks have been pretty uneventful. Which I must say is nice. I have a new found laziness with pregnancy. There are moments where I want to do things, little things... projects... cleaning... organizing.... but otherwise I'm not up for too much. Maybe nesting is settling in - maybe I'm really feeling the extra weight (this is the most I've ever weighed!!) - maybe it's the weather. I hope all you over in the states are enjoying your summer. I got about 2 or 3 weeks of summer here, and it's already started to turn... rainy.... colder... if the leaves start changing I can handle it... but right now it's a weird in between state that's not summer (hot and sunny) and not fall (beautiful foliage and cool nights).

(Pic - Sebas and I, timer shot, while biking through a nearby touristy town)

The flat is almost done. No really!! I feel I've said that before. But this week we should have a functioning kitchen! Then it will just be decorating etc. Then I'll post some picture on here. Promise. I think we might have to go to Ikea. Again. I can handle the home improvement store (most the time) but Ikea just takes it out of me. Last time we went we had the total typical experience... starting out joyful and playing... then taking an hour to decide on a cabinet door... laughing... crying... then just trying to get the hell out of there with only picking up two impulse buys I think. Not too bad. OK, yeah, it was kind of bad.

(Pic - me, in/putting together an IKEA cabinet)

I finally decided on a German class I can take that is very close by, will work with our schedules and isn't way too expensive!!!! I start this Wednesday!!!! I'm SO so excited about this. It might just be really basic.... and it might be full of Turkish women (no joke) but hopefully it will give me what I've been looking for... a stronger basis to grow off of combined with a bit of a weekly rhythm/schedule. I am so grateful to start this so soon... and it's only 5 weeks, everyday, Mon-Fri 9-12:30. Perfect!! I'll let you know how it goes...

Oh, and one last thing I finally did was a baby registry. I think it's linked to this blog somehow...What an adventure it was to do this. I found local, German retailers who are supplied with natural fabrics and natural materials. Picked out what we think we need, and I think that even though some of the websites aren't available in English it could still be somewhat easily navigated. With the help of good old yahoo babel fish or google translate, that is. Every now and then I copy a word (or whole paragraph!) into one of those language translators just to make sure I'm clicking on the right buttons. Most of the time the translations are spot on.

(Pic - Sebas fiddling with a tool on his make-shift work bench outside/our kitchen countertop)

Sebastian is busy between school work and building our kitchen. He's really loving the school program he's in - it's great to see him growing and developing areas of his life that he's really excited about. Other than that we work on things together, keep busy around the house and soon will start a birthing class together at the local Birth House our Midwife is from. I think it will be all in German. That will be interesting.....

For now that's all, much love from the Weiss-Wedding family!

S S & L

Travels, Wedding, Good News...

We have a midwife! I'm very excited about this, and we get to meet with her Friday. We've kind of been waiting and waiting for insurance to come through - which, frankly it's not. But we're letting that go for the moment (next week we try our kind of last resort... then we'll see!). I never thought of my wonderful beautiful baby to be as a 'pre-existing condition' but apparently insurance companies do.

Anyway - after hearing from a handful of offices and midwifes that we're way too late to find one, especially one that will do a home birth, we called one Birthing Center in Bonn and found one.... that speaks English! And we can still have a home birth. I am SO grateful!!!


Otherwise the past weeks have been quite busy - first with a trip to Leuven, Belgium to visit my friend Sarah I met last year on the farm (Vlierhof, while beginning my travels in Germany). We lived together there for 3 months or so and kept in close contact thereafter. It was so great, like we had just seen each other last week!
(PIC above, the four of us, Sebas, Me, Sarah and little Janis...below right Sebas playing with the laughing buddha baby of Sarah's!)

And she now has a beautiful baby boy - Janis (again, J pronounced like Y) who I got to meet and spend some time with. I also got a bit of advice about natural birthing, home birthing etc, it was great to hear about her experience. Catching up, exploring town, cooking, eating french fries...and getting to introduce Sebas and Sarah was very meaningful for me to...they had both heard about each other, but we all finally got to hang out together. so so nice.

Next, was a wedding! While we were in Leuven we got a call from David - Sebastians close friend who leaves for Namibia soon - asking Sebas to be his witness at his wedding! On Tuesday! So it was Leuven for Thurs - Sunday....Wedding Tuesday and driving them to the airport Wednesday....and with some small preparations and such Monday, time flew by! But it was really really great.

(PIC above: the Civil Ceremony with Sebas, David, Daniela, Anna-Lena and pic below after the ceremony gathering outside)


Obviously work on the flat took a small break - but now we're back and can focus on what we need to. Sebastian has some school things to work on here and there, baby things we can work on together....and piecing together the rest as it comes. Funny fact, Sebastian finishes his first school Module by going to Amsterdam for 3 days....November 1-3.... and my due date? November 6th! That will be a fun time. I'm sure it will all work out perfectly - after all, the first due date I was given was November 25th... and they were never really sure about either.

We just have to trust! We will meet Lemon whenever she (or he!) is ready.... let's all hope and pray we're ready for her!