Oh no!

Sorry everyone, but I have used up all my megabytes for pictures. I can't fit anymore on until I figure out a plan B. We are trying to hurry and get ready to leave for the holidays and just don't have time to worry about it right now. When we get back, we will be trying to figure something out or we may need to delete the oldest albums to create more room and go from there. It will probably be January or February before we have time to deal with this dilemma. So sorry for the inconveniance. We will fix it as soon as we have time.

The Latest

Some pictures and videos of the kids.....



This is the tantrum that took place after I took the camera away...





And this is Sophie not smiling for me.....

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Chris left today for two weeks in Singapore, I will be taking pictures every day so I will probably have more on the blog the next couple of weeks. This is a picture of the kids in shirts that Aunt Mandy got for them. Reed was pretty angry about the pictures.

Christmas Decorations

Some pictures of Reed and I decorating the Christmas tree. It was fun for us to do.

Time with the kids

A few pictures of Reed making my birthday card and of the kids and me on an outing.

Sophie's Giggle

Just watch the video....so cute!

The Kids....Again

Just a few cute pictures of the kids.

Grand Opening Festival

So there is this new "mall" that went in by the Heerbrugg Bahnof and it just opened up, so this weekend they were celebrating with a small festival and some sales. Reed had a blast and it was fun shopping.

"Talking"

Sophie WAS cooing and talking, but of course saw the camera and stopped. I still got a little bit though!

Baby Toys

Well, with Sophie getting bigger and bigger, we've been getting out more and more toys and well....Reed likes to test their durability.

Smart

Reed is so much smarter than I give him credit for!

Kids playing at fondue

This video is of when we first got to our friends house...they had to warm up a bit to each other....





And once they warmed up to each other...Reed literally dragged her around the room...

Fondue!

This was our big fondue afternoon with our Swiss friends. They have a little girl a little younger than Reed, but they get along great. It works out really well. The fondue was fantastic, the wine went perfect with it and the kids played well together....what else could we ask for?

The kids hanging around the flat

This is just some pictures of the kids hanging around the flat. We haven't done anything much exciting lately.

Recovery from Laundry Pins

And he redeems himself!!!

Reed Video

OK, so this video is really mean, but it was just so funny. We keep our clothes pins in an old container meant for baby wipes, but isntead of opening up the big part of it, Reed opened up the little opening to try and get the pins out.

Reed doing laundry

Grandma Lee showed Reed how to use the clothes pins. He loves it and pins them on the laundry basket all the time now.

Sophie's Smile

Just a little video of Sophie's smile...enjoy.

Miscellaneous

These are just some random pictures. Some of them are from when the Koleszar's were here and some afterwards. Just read the captions!

More of Koleszar Parents Vacation

These are more photos from Chris' parents camera. Chris and I still are not very good about taking pictures. You'll just have to read the captions to know what's going on.

Beginning of Koleszar Visit

These are some pictures of the first few days of Chris' parent's visit. Chris and I have been horrible about taking pictures so these are mostly his parent's pictures.

More Pictures

These are more pictures of the kids. Some of us at home, some of Reed at a play area with a friend and some of Reed and Sophie laying next to each other and I even caught Sophie's smile!

Ten Million Copies of the Same Picture

This is all basically the same picture, it just took me a LONG time to get a good one and I'm not even sure that I did get a good one. I swear, we will try and be better about taking pictures, but we're just not doing anything exciting right now.

Cute Kids

We have been trying to take some pictures of the kids, but have been slacking off. We are just so tired and always forget that we should be taking pictures. These are a few of the kids over the past few weeks.

The Kids.

A few pictures of the kids. Reed is helping Sophie with tummy time and I caught a moment of peace. It was so quiet for a few seconds and I caught it on camera!

The Kids

Last Few Pics of Parent's Vacation

These are some random pictures from my parent's vacation from our camera. These are the last of them.

Last Pic's of Parent's Vacation

A Bunch More Pic's

Here are a bunch more pictures. Again, read the captions to know what's going on. Sorry our blog has become so lame, but it's been more hectic with two kids than we thought it would be.

A bunch more pics

Bunch of Pic's

These are just a bunch of pictures that have been taken over the past few weeks. Sorry about not being more organized, but we are tired and don't have time. I wrote captions to kind of explain what and where the pictures were taken.

Bunch of Pic's

Chaos

Sorry it's been so long, but things have been a little crazy here. The day I got home from the hospital, Reed broke out in chicken pox! He is getting better from that and now has a sore throat and a fever. He's so miserable. We haven't been great about taking pictures, but we'll try and do better!

Chaos

Home from hospital

Both Katie and Sophie were able to come home from the hospital today. Reed is very interested in his new sister. He likes to talk to her and wants to feed her with his little fake bottle.

First day home

Eager to get home

Katie is very eager to get out of the hospital and get home.  The nurses said it looks pretty good to leave tomorrow.  All that is needed is the signature of the doctors.

Sophie und Eltern

Sophie update

Not too much exciting today.  Just the normal routine for Sophie of weighing, feeding, and sleeping.  Dee and her daughter stopped by to visit.  It was nice to see them.  Unfortunately, Daddy was a slacker and forgot to get a picture.

Reed & Sophie

Day 3 update

Direct link to the hospital baby gallery.

http://www.frauenklinik.kssg.ch/baby-galerie.html


The blood test during the night showed that Sophie's Bilirubin count increased, so the nurses took her to the neonatal area for some time under the lights. This seemed to help, as she was back to the room by early afternoon.

Katie no longer gets her breakfast in the room. Instead, she must have her breakfast at the community table in the maternity floor. So, between trips up to the neonatal area, she was able to sit with a few other half-asleep moms and enjoy a buffet style breakfast with coffee, fresh bread, eggs, and some meats. Writing this makes me hungry.




and some pictures...

Sophie day3

Baby update

Day 2 was a busy but good one.  Mom is making great progress with her recovery.  Sophie is doing well also, but you can see in some of the later pictures that her skin is turning yellow.  Fortunately, it was noticed early and the nurses started work to keep it under control.  By the end of the day, her Bilirubin count had started to drop.  We hope this continues so that a trip to the tanning bed in neonatal isn't needed.

Reed and Sophie were able to meet for the first time.  They got along very well.  Reed even shared his prize Little Blanky without anyone even asking.  Maybe this is a good sign.

The pictures are a mix of day 1 and day 2.

Sophie day 1 & 2

Sophie Lynn

Its official. Sophie has arrived. While Katie is in the hospital, I have the blogging responsibility.

The nurse said she is 49cm and 3.33 kg. I'll leave the conversion to you all. Mom and Sophie are both doing well.

Here is the first wave of pictures. More will surely follow.

Sophie Lynn - Fist Pics

and her first video appearance...

Video at the Park

We'll see if I can figure out the whole video thing without Chris.....

Last few days before Nana arrives!

Over the past few days, Reed has been a busy little kid. We've been taking him all over the place and he's been loving it, that is, until he fell and skinned his knee. He seemed to recover just fine and still felt up to going to the pool even though he had a "boo boo". He has also been very busy testing out the baby toys and making sure they are durable.

Last few days before Nana arrives.

Video

Well, it took a while, but we figured out how to add video to the blog. Here is Reed helping to make his birthday cake....

Reed & Friends

Every Monday morning I meet with some ladies at the local grocery store restaurant to have coffee and chat. Their are women of all ages and just recently more and more woman have started coming that have young children, I think everyone has children, but the older ones are in school. Reed is one of the older ones and he loves playing with them every Monday. They all get along really well and have a lot of fun together. It's a fun time for kids and Moms!

Reed & Friends

Reed's 2nd Birthday

Today was a rough day. Reed was not well rested so the morning was extra hard. After nap he did better and we tried playing with his new bike, which he wouldn't get on. We don't get it because he wouldn't get off of it at the store, but we get it home and he refuses to have anything to do with it. Then we had pizza for dinner and had some friends over to celebrate with us with cake. He opened up his gifts from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Lee and then he partied it up until after 9. It was a pretty fun evening.

Reed's 2nd Birthday

Friday Activities

Today Reed celebrated his birthday at daycare so I decided to suck it up and try and make a cake. To my credit, it turned out pretty darn good. He helped me bake a little and he also was more than happy to lick the bowl. It was a fun morning and they said he had a lot of fun at daycare too! After daycare, we went to a friends house (our Swiss Grandparents) who invited us over for dinner, we will do anything for a free meal and Reed was happy to see them.

Friday Activities

Circus & BBQ

We had a big weekend this weekend! Saturday, we went to the Royal Circus. It is a really small one, but it was my first one and Reed's first one too! It was perfect for kids, not too long so it kept his attention and just a lot going on. He loved it! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures and I tried to take some afterwards, but our battery was dying so I only got one or two and they aren't great ones.
Then on Sunday, Chris took Reed and went with some buddies on a BBQ while I was lucky enough to stay home and relax. It had been raining all weekend so he wore his galoshes. It took him awhile to get used to them, but soon enough, he was jumping in mud puddles!! He liked the freedom the galoshes gave him!

Circus & BBQ

Our Anniversary

Our Anniversary was yesterday and Chris and I made the most of it. In the morning we went shopping and then in the afternoon, we went to the pool. That evening we just hung out at home and went to bed early. Nothing too exciting, but I did take a few pictures.

Our Anniversary

My Favorite Little Boy

Reed is getting more and more of a personality and it's fun and challenging to see it come out. His latest thing is that he insists on wearing a winter jacket around the flat even though it's the middle of the summer and super hot. Whenever I take his coat off, his back is all sweaty and gross. I have no idea what brought this on, but as a Mother, you must pick and choose your battles and this just isn't one of them. There are some other cute ones in there too!

My Favorite Little Boy

Sophie Lynn

We got more 3D pictures, but had more problems. If you read the captions, it will explain it. What a stinker! Chris said that she has my nose!

Sophie Lynn

Since They've Been Gone

This past week has been a pretty laid back week. Steve and Hannah are now gone and so we've just been getting back into our normal routine. A trip to the pool, a play date with some friends and some hanging out at the flat. He's just getting into everything these days!

Since they've been gone

Last Weekend in Switzerland

For Steve and Hannah's last weekend in Switzerland, we took turns cooking. The first gourmet meal is what Steve and Hannah made and the second is what we came up with. Outside of that, we went to a nice mall in Dornbirn, Austria. We found Reed's birthday present and he'll be excited to get it. On Steve and Hannah's last morning, we sat on the balcony and blew bubbles with Reed. It was so great having them here and being able to bond with them! We had a blast!

Last Weekend in Switzerland

Chris' Birthday at Habsburg

For Chris' Birthday we went to the Habsburg bar right on the Austrian border. It is one of our favorite places and they have the best sandwiches ever! We ate outdoors, hung out, chatted, played 20 questions and made fun of the poor bachelor having his party. When it got a little chilly, we went inside and played pool. It was a great night and we had tons of fun.

Chris' Birthday at Habsburg

Big Hike & St. Gallen

The Friday after Steve and Hannah got here, Chris took them on a big hike. I would have gone with them, but I'm just too pregnant and I don't think I would have made it. They did take some beautiful pictures for me though. That night, I took Steve and Hannah out and then the next day, we bummed around St. Gallen.

Big Hike & St. Gallen

Steve & Hannah arrive

Steve and Hannah finally made it, unfortunately, their luggage didn't. It wasn't that bad because the luggage came that night, but they were certainly nervous for awhile. The first night, we just hung out and caught up on sleep, On Wednesday we went for a little hike, and on Thursday we went to the pool. We've been having lots of fun!

Don't know what is going on with the pictures, sometimes the one on the blog shows up and sometimes it doesn't, but if you click on where the picture should be, you can view the album.

Steve & Hannah are here!

Car

This is our fancy new car. It seats 7 and is a manual. We love having it, but are trying not to go over-board using it. The interior will really crack you up!

Car

Prego!

Just some belly shots of me and then the latest ultrasound of Sophie. It is a 3 - D one, but it didn't turn out so well because the umbilical cord was in the way. She was still waving to me though!

Prego!

Reed's rash and black eye

The pictures start out ok. I took some pictures of this outfit that I love on him. Then I took some pictures of his horrible rash that covers his entire body, then I took some pictures of his black eye that he just got recently. He was running into my bedroom and did a nose-dive into my nightstand. Well, I guess I shouldn't say nose-dive because technically it was his eye. Poor kid always has something.

Reed's rash and black eye

Park & Pool

It's been so nice out lately that we've been outdoors a ton. We've been taking him to the park almost every day and he's so happy! On top of all that, the pool opened up on Saturday, so Reed and I went today. I didn't get a ton of pictures because I'm a little busier this year chasing him around. He absolutely loved it and I definitely think we'll be there pretty often this summer.

Park & Pool

Misleading Photos

Over the past few days I have caught Reed in unsuspecting poses. From these pictures, you would suspect that he was a well-behaved little boy that spends his days reading and playing quietly around the house. In actuality, he runs around like a mad man with little 30 second intervals where I just happen to catch him playing quietly. The reason I catch him in these rare moments is because suddenly, he'll be quiet and I think something is wrong so I go to check on him. He is actually a crazy kid that runs around all day long. Do NOT let these pictures fool you!

Misleading Photos

Hiking & BBQ

The weather here was beautiful this weekend so on Saturday, we went for a hike. We took some beautiful pictures. Of course Reed slept the whole way up and then hiked the whole way down....took the easy way out. For Sunday, we got an invitation to go for a BBQ in the woods. They found this great hut and we grilled out and had a great time. It was a lot of fun.

Hiking & BBQ

Toddler Bed

On Thursday, Reed and I went shopping for some new clothes for him and the baby and then on Friday, the new toddler bed was delivered. I put it together all by myself and Reed slept in it like a champ last night. We'll see how the next few weeks go.

Toddler Bed

Big Day

Today was the big day! I went to the doctor for the second try of my ultrasound and we found out that we're having a girl. We are really excited and I am going tomorrow to go shopping. Chris has already given me the lecture about not going crazy at the mall, just because "But that dress is just so cute!" I will try my hardest to contain myself. Outside of that, the baby is healthy and growing at a steady rate and right where she should be for as far along as I am! Everything is going well.

Beautiful Weekend

We had a beautiful weekend this past weekend and did a lot of outdoors activities. We went for our first hike of the season and went to a new park that opened up at the end of last year, but we hadn't had a chance to go to it yet. Reed loved our weekend and slept well!!

Beautiful Weekend

Getting Organized

Over the past few days we've gone to Ikea to get Reed a toddler bed and bedding, we rearranged the flat again, and we have just been getting organized in general. I will take pictures of the kid's room once Reed gets his toddler bed and we put it together and everything. It's nice that we've had this to keep us busy while it's raining and just cold out.

Getting organized

Last few days

Our last few days in Athens were beautiful and sunny. We went to the National Gardens and it was really nice. Everything was free and they had some beautiful flowers and a free zoo and the biggest park I had ever seen. This was Reed's day and he loved it. He played until he was ready to pass out. They also had these lovely ponds with turtles in them. It was just great.

The day after that we had a lot of shopping to do and went to the flea market. They had great shops for great prices. It was my kind of shopping.

The next day we were leaving and just got up, packed and made our way to the airport. Nothing too exciting.

Last few days

Acropolis

The next day was beautiful and sunny so we went to the Acropolis. It was stunning. Chris and I couldn't believe we were actually there. I think the pictures really say it all.

Acropolis

First two days in Greece

We are back from Greece and absolutely loved our time there. It was really amazing and has something for everyone. The first day we got there, we just walked around and became familiar with the area. We came across some cool buildings and great shopping. We grabbed a quick dinner and went to bed.

The second day it was raining so we went to a museum (where we couldn't take any pictures) and went out to a nice dinner. Our hotel was great because it had a little play room for Reed. They had tons of toys and he thought he was in heaven. It worked out well for our rainy day!

First two days in Greece

Stubborn Baby

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but we couldn't tell the gender. The baby's head was down and facing my back with it's legs crossed. She couldn't see the heart because the spine was in the way, couldn't see the face, couldn't see the umbilical cord (the baby was playing with it and it wouldn't hold still for her to see it), and most importantly, couldn't see the gender. She kept saying that the baby is not being very kind to her. From what she could see and measure (the head, femur, belly), it looked good. She could see the heart beating, but couldn't see through the spine to see the four chambers and everything. This must be the most uncooperative baby EVER! She also saw kidneys and bladder and stuff like that. Everything looked good that she could see. Next time she will have to look at the heart again and the gender and also the face.

Hopefully next time baby is more cooperative.

Easter Monday

Today was what the Swiss call "Easter Monday", so Chris had another day off. It was nicer today so we were able to get out, but quickly realized that the sun was deceiving and it was freezing out. We had a good day though. We had another hunt for Reed, but he quickly realized there was nothing in the eggs and gave up. It wasn't worth it if there was not candy in the eggs. He did end up finding them all, but was SO disappointed. Oh well. We can only do so much.

Easter Monday

Easter Sunday

Today was Easter and Reed had lots of fun. He ate tons of candy, went on an Easter Egg Hunt and even went to the park, even though it's freezing outside. He caught on really quick to the Easter Egg Hunt so since Chris has tomorrow off also, we will be doing it again. We took some video of it so if anyone is interested in me sending it to them, please email me or leave a comment and I will send the video to you. Hope everyone had a great Easter even though it's cold and snowing!

Easter Sunday

Saturday of Easter Weekend

We were actually able to get out some today. We went to the grocery store and later in the afternoon, Chris took Reed to the park. Chris forgot the camera so we got no pictures of that, but it was a fun day anyway. We were just glad to get out and enjoy some nice weather. We are really excited for tomorrow and Reed's Easter Egg Hunt!

Saturday of Easter Weekend

Good Friday

Today was Good Friday and we had horrible weather. It was either snowing or raining all day and freezing cold. We ended up not leaving the flat once and by the end of the day, we were all pretty antsy. Luckily, we made it though the day and tomorrow is supposed to be nicer so we will be getting out and about.

Good Friday

Long Weekend Begins

Our long weekend has officially begun! Chris took a half day today so we could go to St. Gallen and get our Swiss driver's license, so we stayed and shopped. Afterwards, we took Reed to the park to blow off some steam. Some other pictures are of him opening up a gift from Grandma Lee and Grandpa Jim and some pictures of him after our spaghetti dinner. We've been relaxing and having lots of fun and we are looking forward to four days of relaxation.

Long Weekend Begins

Tribute to Reed

We've been taking lots of pictures of Reed. These are just some of him around the flat. It's been raining a lot so we've been pretty couped up. Hopefully, by the time we get back from Greece, it will be spring and sunny!

Tribute to Reed

Variety

This is just a variety of pictures from the last few weeks. Sorry, but February was just a really boring month for us so we didn't have much to take pictures of. April things will pick up again. End of March we are going to Greece and we find out if we're having a boy or girl, so things will pick up again soon.

Variety

Valentine's Day Gift

My Mom sent Reed a Valentine's Day care package. I think the captions and pictures say it all. He loved getting mail and thought he was so cool!

Valentine's Day Gift

Baby Koleszar

I had my first appointment with my new doctor and absolutely loved her! She is more in touch with my needs and she speaks perfect English. I am so excited to have found her and she really put my mind at ease about having a baby in Switzerland. I was not able to find out the gender, it's still pretty early, but she will be able to tell next time (March 26th), so that is something to look forward to.

Baby Koleszar

Bad Cold

I know it's been awhile, but we haven't been up to much. We went to Ikea last weekend and got a new closet for the new baby and Reed to share. We also got a new rug!! Hurray! Loki has claimed it as his own. We've all been busy trying to get healthy. Reed is sick as a dog and I woke up this morning not feeling well. You can see from the pictures that things go from good to bad rather quickly!

Bad Cold

Rearrangement of Flat

This weekend was jam packed full of fun, we rearranged our flat! We had some of our friends come over and help and we moved things around to get ready for the baby. I know it is super early to be thinking about that, but we wanted to make sure that A. we had enough room to get Reed a toddler bed and B. In case things don't work out, we can come up with a plan B before the baby comes. It actually worked out pretty well for us, although the kids will be sharing a room which I'm not crazy about, but we have the pack n play that we can set up in our room or the family room when the baby gets here.

Rearrangement of flat

My Cutie Pie

Just some pictures of my little boy. My Dad must have taken some the last night we were there. There are some pretty funny ones!

My Cutie Pie

First Ultrasound

On Friday I had my first check up and also an ultrasound. This is our little baby! I can't believe I'm already 11 weeks and almost out of my first trimester. It's really flying by. On the ultrasound you see two little + signs, that is where the baby is and that is how she measures it. I am right where I should be for 11 weeks and everything is looking good. I hope everything continues to go well.

First Ultrasound

The rest of our vacation

Our vacation is officially over and we hardly took any pictures at all. We are hoping to get some pictures from my Dad's camera, but we'll have to figure out how to get them on the blog if we do get them. We were super busy and had an absolute blast. It was hard coming back knowing that we probably won't see anyone (except probably our parents) for a year. We love and miss you all and hope we can have a lot of visitors again this year!

The rest of our vacation

PS. I realized I had forgotten to edit the pictures so I went back and did that (got rid of red eye etc.)