Growing T.

Here's a little month-by-month comparison of our baby boy:

MONTH O: 9lbs 6oz

MONTH 1:

MONTH 2: 15.66lbs

MONTH 3: 18lbs

Month 4: 20+lbs

Month 5: 23lbs (note: the max. weight on the car seat is 22lbs)

Month 6!

Month 7

 

Month 8

Month 9

Month 10

Month 11

One Year!

Champagne, France

Four years of marriage have seemed to have just flown by. To celebrate we took a long weekend trip to France. Along the way however, we had to make a stop at one of our favorite monasteries, Orval. Situated on the Belgium- French border, Orval is one of the 7 remaining trappist monasteries in the world. We have been here before, J., W., and I but we didn’t have time to tour the place. This trip we did; and we had a wonderful time exploring the ruins of the old monastery.
We were then off to stay the night in our chateau B&B in France. Situated in the tiniest of villages in the Champagne region, Harricourt the chateau La Montgonière was a rustic home built in the 1700’s. http://lamontgoniere.free.fr/indexeng.htm
J., T., and I took a trip from our chateau to the heart of the Champagne region, Reims and Épernay. In the town of Épernay, we were able to visit the champagne house Moët et Chandon and tour their cellars. What a great experience we had, and the sampling at the end of the tour was most welcome. We both learned a lot about champagne making and why Dom Perignon is considered to be the best champagne in the world.
After a fun-filled day of champagne tasting, our next day took us to the town of Sedan, 10k from the Belgium border, located in the historic Ardennes. Sedan is the home of the largest fortified castle in Europe, which now is home to a hotel as well as a museum. This area of France is well know for the important battles played there, not the least of which was the WWII battle which involved the Maginot Line.
Oh, and least I forget to mention, the food was fabulous! We have no idea what we ate, but we really enjoyed it.

Here’s a link to our photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141299&id=758239743&l=a417d2e3c9

First day of School!

First day of school, First day of school, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
W. started the kindergarten year on August 19th this year. She goes every morning for five days a week. We thought that be immersing her in the German kindergarten she would be able to learn the language faster. And guess what? She is!

Zeeland, NL

A little over two and a half hours is the Netherland coastline called Zeeland. It is a beautiful little beach spot, perfect to spend the afternoon with your family. The water was warm enough to wade and swim in, and the sand was perfect for basking; as long as you brought some shade! We enjoyed clear blue skies and a cool breeze. The ice cream man even made a little money off of us... yum, cold ice cream on a hot day! After our outing on the beach, we traversed over the dyke and filled our bellies with the biggest pot of mussels J. or I had ever had set before us. W. had her normal 'juice and nothing else' and T., well you all know what he eats!

Here's a little information about the place if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland

And more photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136524&id=758239743&l=47e7eb0d90

Welcome Baby Boy!

Wednesday July 8th, 2009 Taylor James Archer was born! He arrived at 1237am in a small little hospital in Germany. He weighed in at 4260g (9.2lbs) and 56cm (22in). He has sparse brown hair and blue eyes. Personally I think he looks like his sister did when she was born. We're still recovering at the hospital, so more to come soon!

Vienna, Austria

A couple of weeks ago J. was sent to Austria to do some survey work for an air show. Lucky for W. and I, daddy invited us along. We flew out of Dusseldorf and into Vienna on a Thursday and couldn’t have asked for a better flight. Short and sweet is nice- especially when traveling with a three year old and being 34 weeks pregnant. From the airport we took the metro to downtown which was cheap and efficient.

There’s so much to see in Vienna, it’s hard to find a place to start. J. scoped out the area by taking a tram around the city, and W. and I rested. We were then ready to check out the local scene. There are churches galore and being the home of the Hapsburg empire, there are no shortages of palaces and monuments to see. We strolled through the main shopping district and then headed over to the winter place to see what we could find. Horse drawn carriages dominate the streets here so it was precarious crossing the roads, but somehow we made it.

The Hofburg Imperial Palace is an impressive site in central Vienna and it is home to several institutions including the Vienna Boy’s Choir and the Spanish Riding School. This is the place where Marie Antoinette was born…

A number of museums are also located close by in the Museumsquartier- a few of which J. had time to investigate. W. and I decided the butterfly house was the place to see- beautiful and great for children, but with extremely high humidity and lots of heat for our winged friends I came out with a drenched shirt and frizzy hair- just how you want to look while touring a big city!

From the time I was a little girl, I have always wanted to see the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanische Hofreitschule (Spanish Riding School) J. and W. both agreed to accompany me, and it was one of the best performances of horsemanship I have ever seen. I was very impressed and excited to have been able to experience one of my life long dreams. For anyone traveling to Vienna, I recommend spending an evening here- or at the least viewing a morning exercise at the school.

The Danube River cuts though the city, however there is a long narrow island of park for city dwellers to enjoy nature upon. This is a perfect place for children being that cars are not allowed and there are playgrounds and ice cream shops aplenty. It is a good place to go to see the city from the river and to get away from the masses of tourists in the city center.

We were lucky enough to find a hotel in the downtown with in walking distance to most attractions we wanted to see. Very friendly staff and excellent breakfasts: www.schweizerhof.at/

J. was able to enjoy the city a bit more because of the fight schedules and had a wonderful time exploring the summer place of the Hapsburgs: Schönbrunn Palace. Here are a few photos from our trip- (remember I am huge pregnant here and the camera was the last thing I wanted to carry around… sorry for the sparcity…)

Just a few belly pics...

Little boy is growing.... here are a few pictures from week 31- we're at week 33.5 now! July 2nd is still the EDD... hope all is well with everyone, the Archers are doing great!