Ella's 1st Christmas

Ella had a wonderful first Christmas. She attended the 3 pm family church service with us instead of the evening candlelight service. The organ was a little loud, but she enjoyed looking around. The first present Ella opened was from Uncle Markus and future Aunt Kadi. It was a cute butterfly mobile for her crib. As you can see by the last picture she also got a wagon from grandma and grandpa. She is now all ready to hit the north sea or local zoo. However, first she needs to learn to sit up on her own. A special thanks to great Aunt Karla for the adorable red dress. She cried when I took it off!

Ella visits Hamburg

Ella took the train with grandma, grandpa, mom, and dad to Hamburg for a short city tour December 3-5th. She saw the miniature train museum, the museum were millions of Europeans left to go to the US, the harbor, and the Christmas market. She slept during most of these attractions, but she was there!

3 Months

Tuesday November 27th Ella turned 3 months old. She is wearing size 6 month US and size 62/68 EU clothing. She just switched to size 3 diapers and now loves to sit up and look around. She wears a bib to catch her additional drool and loves to blow bubbles with her lips.

Ella's Baptism

Sunday December 2nd on the first week of Advent Ella Marie was baptized. It was really a neat day. The church cantata sang and the service was beautiful. We even sang "Borning Cry."

Baptism Preparations and Nativity Scene

Saturday December 1st we prepared for Ella's baptism by decorating the local community center. Then Ella saw her first nativity scene. It was the night before her baptism when both her grandparents were together once again. This is not a situation that presents itself very often.

Ella meets Grandpa Keith

Ella finally got to meet Grandpa Keith on Thursday November 29th. He promised at our wedding in 2009 that he would be back for the baptism and he came through with his promise. Ella really enjoyed talking with Grandpa and listening to all the cool new noises he made. She was very comfortable sitting on his lap.

1st Thanksgiving

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! She enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving with mom and dad as they feasted on turkey breast, mashed potatoes, and corn. It was a simple meal as we officially celebrated on Saturday with another American/German family. A huge thanks to Amber and Brian for the adorable Thanksgiving clothing. Ella didn't want to look at the camera last Thursday on Thanksgiving and decided to spit up during the photo shoot so not the best pictures.

11 Weeks

Ella turned 11 weeks on November 20th. Mom is officially behind on her blogging! (Goal of the Week: Update Blog!) At 11 weeks she now makes a cute coo noise after she sneezes and she focuses very hard on objects for what seems like long periods of time. Ella is truly taking everything in as her head is constantly looking around. Deutsch: Ella war am 20.11 11 Wochen Alt. Die Mutter ist Offiziel spät mit blogging. Mit 11 Wochen Ella macht suße Krach nach das Niesen. Sie ist sehr konzentriert und schaute über alles.

1st Train Ride

Last week Ella took the train for the first time. She went 5 hours all the way to the big city of Frankfurt. Thanks to the comfortable kids cabin she loved it. She also stopped by to visit grandma and grandpa. You can see how proud grandpa is in the below picture. Ella war für die erstemal mit Zug Unterwegs. Sie war funf Stunde mit Zug nach Frankfurt gefahren. Sie hat das geliebt! Wir haben ein kurze Pause bei Oma und Opa auch gemacht. Opa war sehr stolz in anbei Bild.

10 Weeks

Yesterday Ella turned 10 weeks old. We were able to snap a few pictures right before bed as we forgot our normal afternoon photoshoot. Ella was busy playing most of the day with another little American/German girl. We picked up Ella's German passport and she is now free to leave the EU. Let the flight bookings begin! Gestern Ella war 10 Wochen Alt. Wir haben ein paar Bilder kurz vor das schlaf zeit gemacht. Ella hat Gestern mit ein anderen Amerikanisch/Deutsch Mädchen gespielt. Wir haben Ellas Reisepass abgeholt und jetzt Sie können aus der EU gehen. Wir können ein Flug buchen!

Our Little Helper

9 Weeks

At 9 weeks Ella can carry on a conversation and talked with grandma Linda and Paige on Skype. It just shows that she responds well to people on the computer screen or in person. She LOVES to be talked to and this week she started sleeping in 5 hour stretches. WOOHOO!!! She enjoyed her first family vacation to Bremerhaven and spent her first night in a hotel room. She also went to the zoo for the first time and visited the ocean/North Sea. Deutsch: Ella liebt sprechen. Sie hat mit Oma Linda und Freundin Paige telefoniert. Diese Woche hat sie für funf Stunden durch geschlafen. Das freut mama und papa! Sie war Unterwegs nach Bremerhaven mit mama und papa für die erste Familie Urlaub. Sie hat für das erste mal in ein Hotel Zimmer Übernachtet, das Zoo am Meer im Bremerhaven besucht, und an der Nord See angesehen.

Ella on Halloween

These pictures were taken of Ella on Halloween Day. She went as an adorable newborn baby this year. We will have to work on a more elaborate costume for next year. On Halloween she was 58 cm (22 inches) and 5400 g (11 lb). Our baby is growing up quickly!

Happy Halloween

Ella's First Halloween!

2 Months

Our baby is 2 months old today. She smiles and talks (coos) in addition to moving around her arms and legs. At this point she is still eating every 2 hours, however in the night her stretches of sleep are getting longer. Thank God! She took her first bottle from dad yesterday with flying colors. This gives mom a huge sense of relief. I can now leave the house for a few hours and not have to worry about her screaming of hunger. In the past week she saw herself in the mirror for the first time and smiled. I don't know if it registered that she was smiling at herself or another baby. Either way it was fun to see. She started opening her hands a lot more and now clasps her hands together over her chest. This morning I was trying to get her to interlock her fingers like she was praying, but it was too much for her at this point. She enjoys listening to mom and dad read or sing to her. During her fussy hours each evening she stops crying when mom sings, "Big Girls Don't Cry." The only problem is that mom only knows the chorus so it is like a record player on repeat. Ella had her first date this past week with a little guy named Adrian. They met up at the local lake and enjoyed having their moms push them around. At this point it doesn't look too serious. He is 3 days older than Ella.

7 Weeks!

At 7 weeks I was able to capture a smile. For those of you with small children you know this is no small task to have the camera in hand when that adorable toothless grin appears. Ella is making more noises these days. Some of the noises are cute and some are loud screams that would make you think she broke her leg. The phrase that I use to descibe it is from angel to animal in under one second. She will be smiling one minute and screaming the next. However, we understand this is typical for a newborn. It is just hard to understand how fast she can change her mind. Our little girl is still happy 90 % of the time, except for a few hours each evening. We continue to thank God for our healthy miracle. At 7 weeks she wore blue jeans for the first time and we also discovered these adorable socks this week.

Meeting the Grandparents

Ella is very fortunate to have four loving grandparents. She will get the luxury of being spoiled in two different countries and cultures. How many kids get that unique experience? We appreciate the powers of technology to be able to keep in contact with grandma and grandpa in the U.S. via Skype. We are very thankful that grandma Linda could make the long trip to visit Ella last week. Attached are a few pictures of Ella's first interactions with her grandparents. I think the facial expressions of the grandparents say it all. They LOVE her! She is looking forward to meeting grandpa Keith in November. The last picture is Ella all bundled up waiting to meet grandma Linda at the train station. It was too cute not to post!

6 Weeks

Yesterday Ella turned 6 weeks old. She is awake longer, smiles at random, and measures 56 cm (22.05 inches). That's almost 2 inches more since her birth! She still enjoys eating and sleeps in 2-3 hour increments throughout the night. It's enough for mom to function. Parenthood is still treating us well. We often reference You Tube videos, but atleast we are trying. Ella has started an evening fussy period, which usually lasts about an hour. Unfortunately it seems to be right when dad gets home from work. She's making me look bad! In general she is happy and appears to travel well. Last week we were in Osnabrück, Bremen, and Amsterdam with her and she was a trooper. Grandma Linda was here last week to spoil us, but this week we are flying solo. Thursday we will find out how much she weighs. I am guessing 5 Kg (11 lb.), but we will just have to wait. Thanks Mickey for the adorable "CUTE" polar fleece jumper. It is size 3 months, but it fits!

Voting Abroad-Obama/Biden or Romney/Ryan?

Today I cast my vote for the 2012 presidential election. Who did I vote for Obama or Romney? Well, that my friends is private. If I voted like a true European then I would have voted for Obama. Everyone in the EU loves Obama and think he should be reelected. If I voted like a true South Dakotan then I would have voted for Romney. How does one go about voting when living in Germany? I completed a request for absentee ballot and emailed it to the Spink County Auditor. In return they processed my request and sent me password information to a link where I can print my ballot. Today I printed my ballot, cast my vote, and will place my ballot with no postage due in the mail. In the past when I have voted absentee they have mailed me my ballot. This year everything is electronic. The ballot says that effective September 21st all military and overseas citizens can start voting for the November election. I would scan the ballot and post it for everyone to see, but I don't want to break any rules. Now I just have to sit back and wait for the election results on CNN.

5 Weeks!

It was a real joy to dress Ella in the same outfit that I wore for my 5 week baby pictures just 30 years ago. Thanks Grandma Linda for hand delivering the dress! This was the first time Ella wore a dress.