Can we say Rest?

I love sunny Sundays, when you just get out there and enjoy the warm weather. I finally didn’t have to wear a jacket! Andre, Ian, and I went out to Zürich yesterday to have a walk, sit outside to have lunch, and take Ian back to the park that we visited last weekend. I enjoyed myself a yummy sandwich while sitting on a bench but a group of punks, as I have been told that hang out in that area, were there and I couldn’t believe what I saw. One of their friends had a seizure while on the bench so they where holding him down till it was over then just left him on the bench and went about hanging out again like nothing had happened. It was so hard for me to ignore it but if I didn’t I would have been hurt. They are just killing themselves with the drugs, drinking, and smoking and I guess I will never understand it. It all is just so sad but I guess that is just part of a big city and you are always going to see people that have major problems and don’t care.

Anways, Ian is at Andy’s parents today and most of tomorrow so I can get a little break and get some school done. I miss him but it is nice to have some alone time. André and I are going to go out to Zürich tonight to eat dinner and walk around the lake. It shall be nice!! I miss the one on one time :) I will have a lot less mess around the house too..woot woot..I usually have to clean up after things like this..

Cleaning out the Sock Drawer:

He just loves to explore and drawers are one of his favorite things since he can dig. Less mess = more time for me. It is time for me to get back to school. That’s the one thing I can never give someone else to “look after” for me. :-P

Since I have no funny POTD here is Cute POTD: Ian going through a magazine

Ian the Heater

What a crazy after Hump Day week. I went off to make the sweet potato fries and they were pretty easy to make. The olive oil part is a little messy but once you add that cinnamon and dab of brown sugar the smell makes it all worth it.

"Is that fries?"

"Are you taking my picture again?"

THE Sweet Potato Fries

I loved the fries but guess who didn’t? That is right, Ian! Poor Mommy, he took one taste and made his, “Oh My, this taste is sooo…EWW!!” What happened to the little boy that used to devour sweet potatoes? How can someone of my blood not love them as much as Mommy? It just is so wrong!! I placed the rest of the batch in the freezer, so pop on over to our casa if you want to eat them up.

Now that I am over the Sweet Potato crisis another has arisen this week. Ian has come down with his first fever. His fever topped 103.6 last night. My poor baby was becoming a personal heater. The weird thing about it all is he isn’t showing any other symptoms. He was playing okay, and laughing. The only thing I noticed different was rejecting food. I have tried to get him all his favorite things but it is a no go. Every now and then I will get puffs or crackers down him :(The good thing is his fever goes down pretty good during the day but sadly it is back up at night. At least he isn’t miserable all day long. Lets keep our fingers crossed that his fever stays as low as it has been today because it is such beautiful weather outside and I would love for him to be able to enjoy it! Enjoy your weekend!

Funny POTD: Cracker eating and lounging at its Best

Eating the cracker

"It is too much work to sit up and eat."

"This is the life." (sorry for the blur)

Festivities

There is nothing much out of the ordinary happening around here lately. Ian is busy being busy. His busy consists of digging through anything (Mommy hoping it is toys), eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, playing, and getting into trouble. Now isn’t that the life? Oh how I wish I was still that young. Anyway, for his lunch today I am going to attempt to make sweet potato fries, a good finger food that was recommend on wholesomebabyfood.com. I hope this works because he needs to eat more things that are good for him because I have a very picky eater on my hands. He would live off chicken, rice, crackers, and puffs if I let him but I am trying to be a good mommy.

On to other things, Mike’s birthday dinner went well. We had a decorated table, decorating consisting of a few balloons and some streamers. I ate some awesome Roo..yum yum. The men at the table all ate as many wings as they could stuff in their stomachs. I think they could have stuffed more but wing refills were slow due to a lot of people and having only two deep fryers. André won at 15 wings. That’s my husband, the wing champ!! Anymore wings and he might have just become a chicken. After the festivities I was able to have a McFlurry. I can not remember the last time I had one of those but it was so delicious. Thank goodness for a night out away from being a Mom..I needed it for sanity..haha. Here are the photos from Monday night:

All of us

Surprise Birthday brownie

Am I the only sane one?

André and I

Mike sporting his new bag

Funny POTD:

Mike and his birthday balloons

All Smiles

What a beautiful weekend we had here. It wasn’t too cold and the sun was out! We went out to Zürich to enjoy it. First off, we popped into the local McD’s and had some deliciousness then had a long walk to search out the park I was told about. We found it pretty easily and I was surprised at how nice it was. It had a sand pit, a decent play gym, regular swings, infant swings, and ride on bouncy things. Ian really enjoyed his first real swing experience. I just love to see his face light up. Just look at it..

Even Daddy is all smiles when he is on the Swings.

To be nice, there is me..

We are going to try to visit that park often but it is a little out of the way but worth it for Ian to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Last night Ian and I had our movie night in. I think he loves popcorn just as much as his Mom. He would eat some then feed me, so it is good that he likes to share. I was just surprised at how well he eats the popcorn but I guess he should do just fine with having about 16 teeth now (I am almost losing count). Now only if he would eat his veggies like he throws in his popcorn. André popped in at about 1AM and he nicely took a shower before he hopped into bed so I wouldn’t have to breathe in the “glorious” scent of cigarettes and alcohol but it was too soaked into his body for one shower to wash off. I hope he smells better today, haha.

I am back at another grueling week of Visual Basic. I get to create games, woot woot…
At least I get to enjoy the evening out for a good meal since it is Mike’s birthday. We are going to the Aussie restaurant since it is all you can eat wings night. The Steiger men and their wings, you don’t want to get in the way of that. Seriously, you might get mistaken for a wing. I can’t wait to eat my Roo (sorry cute creatures, I don’t know why you had to be created to taste so delicious). Enjoy your Monday!

We Have Standing!

Friday, YES!!! This weekend is one that I have been waiting for since Monday. It is not because something super exciting is coming only because my hectic school week is over. I haven’t been this frustrated in awhile. Things are getting super tough in class and tears have been flowing in the masses! I need your prayers for the last few weeks in this class. I need to make it through!!

I do have some good news in the world of Ian. Wednesday he stood on his own for about 10 seconds. He was doing his usual, of grabbing for the baby monitor off the table and I look over and he is standing and holding it in both hands. Now all he needs to do is keep it up! I haven’t seen him trying anymore tricks lately (unless stealing mommy’s goldfish crackers counts).

This week one of my American mommy friends(Jenn) sent Ian and I a package of good ole’ U.S goodies. She sent Ian a super cute Winne the Pooh outfit, Winne cups, two books, and his favorite..Puffs!! I was sent Gushers and Goldfish Crackers. Those foods won’t last too long because of Ian the Hungry! I can almost see the bottom of the Goldfish bag already.

"Reading?"

"Yes, I am"

"How do I open these Puffs?"

"I love my cups."

This weekend we will hopefully get out to Zürich tomorrow for some fun in the sun, well lets hope there is sun! I will be searching out a park with some baby fun playthings. Wish me luck! Sunday evening Andy will be going out to a concert to celebrate Mike’s birthday so it will be a fun night in for Ian and I. Hmm.. movie and popcorn for us? Have a great weekend everyone.

Funny Picture(s) of the day:

"How do I do this."

"Oh Yah!"

Burning Snowman

April showers go away! Yup, Sunday was just a fluke because yesterday and today are chilly again. I am sitting inside and constantly feeling cold!! Could the hairs on my legs stick up any higher? Yesterday the Swiss had their groundhog type day. They call it Sechseläuten which is the burning of the Böögg. They burn a cotton snowman to determine how summer will be. So if it burns fast summer will come soon, also it will be long and hot. This year it took a long time so it is expected to have a cold summer. We’ll see how true that is!! Here are some pictures of it burning..

Ian is doing well today. He still is in his book loving phase. I had to take some pictures just incase you all did not believe me. He even is into my IT book. Too bad he can’t read yet, otherwise I would have a wiz kid on my hands.

He has some crazy hair going on today as you can see. I just love it though. I am not ready to cut it anytime soon!

Here is today’s funny picture..

Watching Bob the Builder

Has Spring Sprung?

I’m so excited; I think Spring has come out of hiding. Today it was warm enough that I was getting hot in my light jacket. André, Ian, and I were finally able to go out on a walk without frozen tooshes. Thank you Lord for this beautiful weather, now lets just keep it that way.:-D
I do not think I have much to say this time around so this post will probably be short. I did get a chance to go out to Zürich this weekend because I was in search of English books and a decent haircut. Ian has become a book flippin’ addict. He will point at some things on the pages but mostly will sit there forever (literally!) just flipping back and forth. So I picked up about 5 English books. Two for the plane trip to the USA that I will not show him until he is on the plane. Reason, because mommy is hoping it will keep him entertained for a long time!! I might grab him a few cheapy toys or look for something I can make that I will not show him until the trip.
I want it to be known that I cannot wait until teething time is over!! Ian can be sooo fussy lately and is biting almost every part of me and anything he can get his mouth around. I am trying to keep the meds away but it is really hard when I can see how much pain he is in. We need some sort of sanity here. Can you blame me?
My head is telling me time to stop looking at this glowing screen of headache givingness.

Wise Rich Industries

My Dad sent me a link on the growing market of children’s products and it becoming a great business for the industries. I couldn’t stop myself from giving my two cents on all this, so lets begin with you listening to the story yourself..

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89434940

Yes, this is a great business for the industries because we are swayed into all the little non necessary items. So the wipe warmer and the twenty different kinds of strollers were discussed. Are these needed? Wipe warmers not necessarily, I have heard so many stories of parents receiving these but finding out how silly they were. Do our kids really need warm wipes? No! On to the strollers, I am a mom that has bought two strollers for the first kid. A little much you say, yes if our reason wasn’t that my first stroller didn’t work for the off-roading we have to do on an almost daily basis. I think when parents look into getting their first stroller try to look ahead and get one to last through all your kids and all the terrains you think you will run through. You don’t need one for jogging and another for the city.

Electronic toys were also discussed. We have a few electronic toys because I find them a joy for Ian while giving him a little boost on language. I am not saying these toys teach him language but just give him an introduction. Could he live without these? Of course, but I think in our generation it is okay to have a couple of these to treat your child. You can always keep them for each child you have instead of trashing them for the next big new item when you have the next one. Are a lot of toys necessary? In my opinion, no. Give you child a pot and a spoon and let them have at it but don’t let this hold you back from buying a few store bought children’s toys. It just isn’t right to take it fully away from them

On to the baby sign language and classes; do they really need these? In my opinion, only unless they are impared. Healthy children, leave them be and do it the average way. You would save yourself a lot of money for a college education for your child. So many generations before us have turned out fantastic and they were not put into all these fancy classes when they were infants. Let you child play and explore their world before forcing unneeded stress on them. Let children be children!

It was also discussed that parents are now having to decide if they can afford children. If you have a middle class income I think reusing your child’s first items and keeping out most of the unneeded extras, then you can make it work. You have to remember that most of the items are put out there to make you think you need them so the industries can make an extra buck. Keep the bedding minimal. I just have Ian in a bottom sheet and a handmade blanket because all the extras, as mentioned in the story, can just be unsafe. I was given a pretty conforter and pillow for him but it just isn’t safe and he doesn’t really need it. He sleeps just fine without it. Remember, your child just doesn’t need it all and will be just as happy with playing outside and having you give them a lot of love. Look into keeping that free diaper bag from the hospital, it really does work just as well as its counterpart, the 50-200 dollar bag.

Opinions over, I have a cute story for you. Last night we went to a local Chinese restaurant that we hadn’t tried before. We took along Ian thinking it would be okay. Nope, he was a fussy man and learned how to slide out of his highchair so we had to ask for our food to go after our starter. The employees were so nice and took Ian to visit around the restaurant while I finished my starter. My little man got an exclusive tour..how lucky is he!! They all wanted us to bring him back again, saying how cute he was and that he looked like a little doll baby. Ian sure is the little man of the house every where he goes! I For sure will order their food again, so yum!

Funny picture for today, Uncle Mike being silly:

Chocolate Stories

Yippe, I had a good weekend!! I got my chocolate orange slices made and they turned out so yummy or as the Swiss say, lecker!! I have just one complaint about them though, they are super sticky. The Sprüngli ones have a hard foggy coating of sugar so if anyone knows a way to get them like that hit me up! Here they are in all their glory

André also had to reenact the Chocolate Axe commercial so he coated his finger with the leftover chocolate. Sillyness at its best.

Commercial..
Axe: Chocolate Man - Celebrity bloopers here

I was going to use this chocolate bunny to coat the oranges…

200 Francs of Chocolate in all its glory

But I decided it was too pretty to open so I went ahead and used two of the “100s” of other chocolate bunnies we have. I think I am going to gain a little weight this month!!

So who is ready for it to warm up outside. ME ME ME!!! It is sad to say that this morning we have dabs of hail hanging about so that means it is Cold. I want to be able to run out side in my short sleeves and capris.. come on warm weather!! If you are living in the warm send some over my way.

I will end today with another funny. This is Ian stuck under his toy table. Yes, I am a bad mommy..but hey, it was too funny so I had to get the shot!

The butt shot!

Splashy Splosh

Wahoo, It is Friday and I have all my school work for this week done! That means two days “off” for me and I sure need it, all this thinking has me sleepy 24/7.

Ian is doing well. I picked him up two Baby Einstein DVDs from a fellow expat here in Switzerland and he loves ‘em! They show different images of toys, puppets, babies, shapes, and patterns on screen in conjunction with music for the Beethoven DVD and different languages for the Foreign Language one. I think I will purchase the whole Set when I am in the U.S since they teach him things and work perfect for when I need to get to learning. I do not like sitting him in front of the T.V, but if it is learning and not too long I think it is okay.

I put his bath toys to the test and he loves ‘em too! He was in need of some bath toys because all I had for him was a Ship, which he loves. He is just such a super easy boy to bathe because there is never any crying. Do I have myself the next Olympic Swimmer? Maybe I am getting too far ahead of myself there.

Pasta Face

Baby Butt

Mohawk Perfection

Since I do not get many pictures of Ian and I, Mommy put the camera to the test with the Self Timer. I think I came out with some pretty cute shots and I had a pretty cooperative Ian. What is better than that?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Growing Big and Tall

Who knew it could be so much fun playing with toddler toys..

one last peice

Ian: "My poor toys"

He may be a toy man but I still love him!!

It has been one head banging week for me and it is only Weds! I have to say my class is getting a lot harder then I originally thought it would be. I spend most of my mornings and afternoons trying to work out codes. I now know for sure I do NOT want to be a programmer because if you have one little thing wrong it messes the whole thing up. So unless you are super smart or love giving yourself a hard time DO NOT become a programmer.
On to much nicer things, Ian had his one year appointment today and I am happy to say I have a nice and healthy one year old! He now weighs just a little over 25 pounds, and my back can confirm that one! Ian also received two shots today which he didn’t even cry on the first one but did on the second one, but for only 10 seconds or so. He is a tough little man. I did find out that he has eczema so I was given a cream to rub on after each diaper change and some oil for the bath. I learned something new and semi disgusting today. Ian’s cream has urine in it. Urine you ask? Well, the doctor told me to take a look at Ian’s lower stomach where his diaper sits and said it is smooth. Reason: because urine has healing properties! CRAZY. I checked online about this and there is a whole thing out there called Urine Therapy for helping cure Eczema. A little Urine for your skin anyone?
In other Ian news, he now has 10 teeth…the more the less better for mommy and daddy! Haha, nah it is good that he is getting more. He has also learned to climb up and down the sofa. Not a good thing because we always hide things we don’t want him to have on the back of the sofa. Time to find a new spot!

As promised more party pictures:

*bathtime pictures next post!* Note:The next post will be private because of the pictures so you might want to sign up on blogger so I can allow you to view.