Welcome Baby Beatrice!!

As most of you know by now, John, Henry, and I welcomed a beautiful baby girl to our family on Tuesday morning. After months of anticipation and excitement, Beatrice Farrey Archer arrived at 8:42 AM. Weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs. 4 oz. and measuring 21 inches long, she is certainly a beautiful little girl.

The German birth experience was certainly different from what I experienced when I had Henry - an interesting and somewhat amusing story to tell. I am very happy to home with my family and grateful my parents were here to help.

Henry has welcomed Beatrice with open arms. He was anxious to share his dinosaurs and other toys with her upon her arrival. Beatrice arrived bearing gifts for him as well. Somehow, between eating and sleeping she found time to shop for a few new toy animals for her big brother. We were thrilled that Henry has shown no signs of jealousy so far and is very loving with his new sister.

Nana bought Henry a new "Big Brother" tee shirt to wear to school the day Beatrice was born. Below are a few pictures from his day at school and pictures of Beatrice, of course. Enjoy.

Thanks for all of you emails, phone calls and well wishes. We are a very lucky family.

Papa and Nana are here!!!

Yesterday my Mom and Dad arrived safely in Frankfurt. We are so excited to have them here. After a day of rest yesterday, we are getting ready for a fun weekend. Here are a few pictures from the airport. Thanks for all of your well wishes.

School Days

Last week Henry's preschool celebrated their two year anniversary with a party! Parents were invited to join the celebration which consisted of cake, punch and plenty of singing and dancing. I think we sang "Happy Birthday" in six different languages to include every child's native language. Here are a few pictures from the party.

At home we had a very quite weekend. The weather was rainy and John was out of town working, so Henry and I stayed close to home. We would like to wish Uncle Luke a very Happy Birthday this week.

Rothenburg

The weather here is finally starting to warm up, so last Saturday we ventured out to Rothenburg, Germany with friends. It is a small, midevil town only about an hour and a half away from Heidelberg, so it made for a perfect day trip. The town of Rothenburg is featured in several movies, the most popular probably being Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Pinocchio. It is also home to Kathy Wolfhart, a very popular designer of traditional German Christmas decorations. Her flagship store is located in Rothenburg. Henry enjoyed all of the sites and displays the store had to offer and I think we will definitely need another Christmas tree to accommodate the beautiful ornaments we found.

Below are a few pictures from the day, this town is definitely on our "to do" list when my parents arrive.

Heidelberg's Fasching Parade

On Tuesday we attended Heidelberg's Fasching Parade with our friend Molly and her daughter Lucy. It was very crowded and very long. The parade participants were wild to say the least. We all left the parade covered in confetti, with a bag full of candy and treats, and I left with my nose painted red (long story). Here are a few pictures of the parade, enjoy!

Mardi Gras in Germany

We all have heard of Germany's Oktoberfest, but I had no idea what a big deal "Fasching" was here. Fasching, also known as "the foolish season", the time period before the Lenten season. The official celebration is typically on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, when many towns hold their parades and celebrations. On Tuesday, many schools will be closed for the day, or at least out early, some businesses will close, and typically very stoic Germans will get really crazy.

I started asking questions about a month ago when I noticed the stores beginning to stock really extravagant costumes, both for children and adults. I asked one of Henry's teachers if I should be getting ready for something (I would hate for Henry to show up unprepared for a party). Miss Beth informed me that Fasching was soon approaching and also assured me his Halloween costume would be appropriate. His Fasching will be tomorrow followed by an early dismissal for the big parade in Heidelberg. Right now we are planning to attend, but it might be a little much for us - let me tell you why.

Yesterday, we attended another Fasching parade in a nearby town. We have friends who live in Malsh, which holds a very large and well attended Fasching parade every year. Our friends live on the street where the floats and parade participants line up, so they had a Fasching party. It was a real treat to be able to see the floats and costumes from their front door and yard rather than having to go downtown to the actual parade route. It was a cold, damp, rainy day so Henry and I hung back at the house while the others headed downtown to join the party on the street. Henry and I were able to see all of the floats close up, listen to the music and most of the people who were dressed up were enthusiastic about posing for pictures with Henry. John joined the others downtown. When they returned from the parade, they had candy, booze, fresh flowers and lots of stories to tell. Evidently, the "treats" thrown out at German parades are a little more extravagant than what they throw out in the States. Floats carried kegs of beer which was served to parade watchers, shots of alcohol were also distributed and the children all left smiling with their bags overflowing with candy. We do not know what to expect tomorrow at Heidelberg parade, but I will keep you posted. Below are a few pictures of the parade yesterday.

Happy Birthday Nana!!

It hard to believe a couple of weeks have passed since my last update. We are staying very busy. John and I attended a dinner and auction last weekend and left with a couple of very nice items. The theme was "flea market finds", so there were many interesting items that were found at German flea markets throughout the year. The event was held at the military base which is only about 5 minutes from our house and proceeds from the event went toward scholarships for military children.

Henry's social calendar is also staying full. He has made many friends through school and church. One afternoon we went to a facility called "Happy Faces" with a group of children from church. It is a huge place full of jumping houses, mazes, and jungle gym type equipment that is perfect for a high energy little boy like Henry. We played there for a couple of hours and then both of us were ready for a nap when we got home - I think I ran around as much as he did trying to keep an eye on him.

Last night Henry attended his first "friend" birthday party. A little girl from his school was turning 5 and had a few friends over to celebrate. It may sound like Henry and Lucy (his friend) may not have much in common, she is a 5 year old girl and he is a 3 year old boy, but they both are from Iowa and their moms have become good friends. Lucy and her family are from Iowa City and are in Germany with her Dad's job as well (not JD). It was funny how we met Lucy's Mom, Molly - I was talking to someone about where I was from, I gave my usual response to the question, "the eastern part of Iowa", when Molly (my friend) yelled from across the room "Did someone say they were from Iowa?". We have been friends ever since, not only because she is from Iowa, but also because she and her family are wonderful people and friends. Henry and Lucy both attend the same school international school in Heidelberg. Anyway, back to the party. The theme of the party was "Hello Kitty", which Henry had never heard of, so he kept calling "Hello Kitty" the "Cat Creature" (an episode from Scooby Doo). Again, he was exhausted when it was time to leave and can't wait for the next party.

Today is Valentines Day. Valentines Day is not a popular here as it is in the States. I made cupcakes for John to take to work and for Henry to take to school yesterday and most people asked what the occasion was. Henry did receive a few Valentines, but most view the day as "no big deal". Another JD couple offered to watch Henry for us so John and I could enjoy a Valentines dinner out. Henry always loves spending an evening with Abby and Samantha so we accepted. John and I had not had Mexican food since we left the States, not because there are no Mexican restaurants in Germany, there are a few, but most people say they are not worth trying, so when we heard of a good Mexican restaurant, John and I were ready to go. The restaurant was about an hour south of Heidelberg near an U.S. airbase. The drive was nice and the restaurant ended up being okay - it was good for "German Mexican".

Sunday is Nana's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!! She and Papa are in Florida visiting Aunt Ruth for a couple of weeks right now, hopefully having a great time and enjoying some warmer weather. My sister said Dubuque got a ton of snow last night, so I am sure they appreciating looking at the sand instead of snow. They will only be home a couple of weeks and then they are coming over here to visit and help with the baby (and John and Henry). Between the baby coming and my parents coming to visit, we are defiantly looking forward to March. We have a tentative delivery date scheduled for March 24th, if everything goes according to plan, so mark your calendars!!