4/2 Säbel Förmich Festessen (Saber Formal Ball)

Last weekend we had the pleasure to attend our unit's formal ball. Since it was our first one we decided to go big instead of going home.
We got a portrait package (to be delivered at a later date), rented a hotel room and even had a babysitter to watch the kids in our hotel room. They enjoy hotels (who doesn't as a kid) so it was even a fun experience for them. I think we got the coolest babysitter in the world... or at least in all of Germany. Her name was Silvia and the kids loved her at first sight.

It was nice to get all dolled up, haven't worn a real pair of heels in... 6 years? haha. I felt pretty for the first time in awhile. It was a good night. A night we'll always remember!

Now about the pictures I'm about to share with you. I didn't want to take my Nikon as it's too bulky for such a event, especially because I didn't want to carry it around with me all over. So I was going to take our little canon point and shoot but alas it had a dead battery. So I was left with my newest little camera which was made for underwater. HAHA!
Knowing we were going to get a professional portrait package I wasn't upset knowing my UW camera wasn't going to take great pictures. So please ignore the quality. It does take great photos... underwater :-)

Sarah and I

 Josh took this one... we didn't know he was snapshoting us :-) 

By the way, that's an 11 Euro Midori Sour!!! We stuck to beer. 

Kate and I 

(seeing if the flash makes it any better) 

Maranda and I

I wish I hadn't accidently deleted the picture we took right after this. We were both appalled at the quality of the picture so we thought that maybe we could get a better one if the camera was under water  since it is an under water camera. So we found a large mouth glass, filled it with water, set the timer and dropped the camera in! Wish I could have recorded the screams that were let out when people saw me drop the camera in the water HAHAHA! Classic I tell you! The picture came out pretty good, although it was in ice water so the ice blurred it a little. It was pretty great. 

 Class A's are not fazed out until April of next year. Tabb was the best looking one there, rocking his greens :-) 

 Jenni and I. 

I'll be sad the day we get orders that aren't the same. We've been together since Korea I love this girl! 

Thankfully some friends brought their nice cameras and we were able to get some good non formal shots :-) 

It went by in a blur

I open my eyes to the sound of a sweet baby snoring next to me. I really enjoy our early morning naps together. She usually comes to our bed around 6am after a full nights sleep in her crib. Just as I'm thinking about how wonderful she is I remember that this morning was even better then I remembered.

He is home.

It's Friday morning and he is home from the field just in time for a 4 day weekend!! YIPPEEE!
I turn over and sure enough he's laying there next to me. Sweet morning bliss.

(BBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRR)

I'm sitting at the dining room table in quiet, just the low hum of the drying and the thump of the spin cycle. It's Late Monday evening. I can't help but ask "Where did it all go?!", "I just woke up to sweet snoring lovies!"

How come the times together, him and I, go by so fast.

We did a lot this weekend, like most weekends. Spent a day on Grafenwhoer, spending a bunch of money in the "stuffmart" PX and grocery shopping at the commissary that never has what we need in stock. The highlight being the new Manchu Wok for lunch. (Speaking of Manchu Wok, the only other place I've had it was at Yongsan in Korea. Maybe that spoiled me, having Koreans (Asians) behind the counter cooking asian food as opposed to having germans behind the counter cooking asian food. Needless to say it was much better in Yongsan.)
Spent another day watching movies, snuggling in blankets and spending intimate time as a family.
One day was spent back at the Commissary buying our "clean" foods (another blog on another day) and galavanting to stores on the economy.

And the most fun day of the weekend was the day we spent at Palm Beach (no not in Florida) It's Nürnberg's indoor water park. It was glorious!
Amazon had a killer deal on a waterproof camera a few weeks ago and it was the perfect time to test it out. The little camera did so well giving the challenge I put it up to...
Getting 4 Tabblets to slow down long enough for a picture OUT of the water is hard enough!! Getting a non blurred picture IN the water is on a whole other level of difficult. HAH!

Here's a few of the better ones!

 She's our water baby! 

 Fun slide

 Aidan's turn! 

 Killian was nervous but he wanted to try... 

 ... and he didn't go down it again. 

 Moving too fast makes too many bubbles! 

 Our Sweet little buddy, Emilie! 

 The camera doesn't have a stabilizer, but it's a cheap point and shoot, so no big. 

 "Hey Aidan look at me under the water!" .06 seconds later he was no longer in the water

 WHEEE!!

 Mama!!! Help! He's going crazy! 

 SEE!! It works! Really cool huh! It's nice when your subject stays in the water long enough 

 A'Hoy Matey!

 She was so calm, floated very nicely! 

 Look at those legs!! FATTY!

 This time he stayed under for about 2 seconds, as you can see no bubbles... 

 He was happy as long as his face was water free! 

 Killian following Daddy 

 SPAZZ!

 This was another tough one, the water was rippling too much to get one of those cool above and below pictures, This is the best I could get! 

 haha. Self portrait.

 5.5 months of meaty cuteness

   As the day went on I got used to the no stabilization. This was during Imogen's nap, Killian got in some snuggles (extra special ones at that since he has his Noonie) when Daddy and the older two hit up the slides. 

The next few weeks are already booked, slam packed with work, special trainings, family visits, ect.  I know that just in what seems like "a few days" time it'll be time for us to say "See you in awhile, Daddy, return to us soon". So we're trying to get in all the time that we can now. 

As for Palm Beach? We will be back! 

Better late then never...

With a little encouragement from my wonderful MIL, I decided to make Imogen's solid foods. A endeavor I never expected to take. Some of the first things that came to my head when it was brought up... 

I have NO time. She would never have any food to eat. 

I'd just buy some at the store, due to excuse above, so it'd be a waste of money purchasing equipment needed. 

I have NO time. 

I have NO time! 

HAH! Like I'd have time to do that! 

But with our increasing desire to save more money these days I reconsidered and decided that I do have time I just need to make it available. 

So I did a little research online about what the best baby food maker was and I ended up with this one. 

 It's the Kidsline Baby Chef Ultimate Baby Food Maker. It steams on one side and processes on the other. Here you see I've already started the carrots. 

I ended up getting 2 baby food cook books (Yes, I need a cook book on how to puree, lol, I am that intimidated) The original book I got didn't have a great "beginner's" section but did have a great "older" section and had great ideas for my toddlers/preschoolers as well. So I decided to get a second book this time looking at the reviews better. It ended up being exactly what I needed as a beginner. (i.e steam 1/2 cup carrots and puree, makes 4 servings OR this much broccoli and this much cauliflower is a good mix)

Continuing on... 

Pureeing 

 To my surprise it wasn't hard to get it to the consistency and thickness I wanted. 

SN: Homemade carrots are WAY smoother and taste SOO much better then store bought! WHO KNEW? (obviously not this girl!)

 steaming the pears :-) 

 Remember that part about not having time? Yeah it's because of this guy (and 3 others) who absolutely  NEED my attention. They beg and pine and WHINE for it at every convenient and inconvenient moment (and I completely love that) So with a little help from a family iPod I got this attention greedy turtle satisfied for a little while. He still stayed close as you can see :-)

 Pears! They are one of the reasons I was SOO glad to have the 2nd book. It told me that I wouldn't need to use the excess water drained from steam since the pears would have enough by themselves. If I wouldn't have known that these pears would have been thinner then water! 

 My MIL had the great idea of freezing the food in ice cube trays for portion control and to manage less waste. She's a smart cookie! 

Here is the finished product! I am so happy with them... 

It was quick and easy. I look forward to making other foods once Imogen's palate grows

I also got 2oz glass containers to use when I defrost the food cubes. I'm not one that likes to microwave plastic so they were the perfect answer. They are also great for freezing food too. I'll use them for both! 

Pictures are sure to come of Imogen's first experience of solid food :-) It's a milestone I always look forward too. 

Sweet Innocence

The baby.

True to her name, Imogen, the last born.
She fills the territory with exemplary talent as if she was chosen specifically for the position. She has become the affection of everyone's heart. Aidan takes care of her tending to her every need. His favorite is holding her hand while in the traveling in the car. Teagan dances with her and loves to kiss her. Killian, the last Tabb she won over, calls her "sister" and is starting to pick up on her needs. Lastly she has all the attention she wants from MaMum and Daddy, but of course.

She only is up once during the night, around 3am, for a feeding only to return to her crib without a fuss.  She goes to bed the same time the others do. She's a quiet baby during the day too, observing her brothers and sister as they cause chaos around her.

She's 5 months tomorrow (05Mar) and it's already hard to imagine life without her. We have been very blessed. 

She has found her toes and plays with them at every chance.

 It would be nice for her to keep those blue eyes, but none of our Tabblets have yet to keep them

She loves to hear the sound of her own voice. 

She can get anywhere she'd like to... backwards.

She is very much her mama's baby and her sister's twin. However, we're thinking she favors my mothers side of me whereas Teagan favors my fathers side of me. 

 We are definitely looking forward to knowing what this sweet innocence becomes.