3 months old!

Luisa's 3 months old now! I couldn't decide which was my favorite picture of her, so here are a couple :)

Bavaria and back

This past week Luisa made her 1st trip to Bavaria to meet her family. She did great in the car on the 5-6 hr drive and was welcomed with a lot of hugs and cuddles from the Omas (grandmas).


Daddy's little girl!

Luisa has been checking out her hands like nobody's business. Additionally, she has been sucking on and drooling all over them, so here she is getting cleaned up a little with some baby wipes.

I love this picture of Luisa and her Oma:

"Ohhh how do you solve a problem like Luiiisaaa..."

Luisa meeting her Ur-Oma and Uncle Franz (Jason's Dad's family).

Luisa's first trip to a Biergarten. Actually she had visited one the night before, but this one was a little bigger and she was awake for it. Biergartens are actually not just for getting tanked. They are often attached to a restaurant that has amazing german fare. It was a hot day and the trees provided a much-needed break from the sun!

5 generations of Wagner women!

Opa (Jason's dad) and Luisa

This here is Luisa's 1/2-uncle, Philip, born 2 weeks after her! See any resemblence?

Bathtime baby!

Video clip: Hello, Mr.Bee

Video clip: See What I have?

Smiles galore

This past week Luisa's smiling has really increased. Before, she'd smile mostly just at me and Jason. This week she's begun smiling for just about everyone who smiles at her! It's so darn cute.

Caught it on film, too:

And I just like her funny face in this one..it's like she's teasing us, "Oh, you want me to smile??"

I hope this brightened your day!

2 months!

Luisa is now 2 months old- wow, how fast that happened. I don't feel like I have been a mom for that long, yet my pregnancy days are long gone and (almost) forgotten (thank goodness!). Our do-it-yourself stats weigh her in at 5kg/11 lbs and 58cm/23 inches in length. Her cheeks are really filling out and her skinny arms at least have a little fat roll at the wrists now :)Her eyes are also changing, getting lighter. Can you see in this picture?

These days she is making all sorts of cute sounds: "coo", "glaah" and the like. She's into sucking on her hands, though she hasn't quite figured out how to get the thumb in there, but that's OK by me. I'd prefer to not have to break that habit later on. She's also very smiley, mostly in the mornings. She is definitely NOT a night person at all; the evening hours are still a little nutty in our household.

Last week I heard her laugh for the first time. She was looking at me and broke out into a big smile, with a little throaty chuckle. It was so cute and I've been waiting for another one!

Here is a beautiful gift from Lena:

She makes amazing quilts (like the blue/brown/pink one featured in photos above and below) and created this herself. Notice the date of birth and initials- how special! We were lucky to get a few days with Lena and a friend of hers on their trip over here.

Luisa also went in for her first shots this past week. She did pretty well and only cried for a minute! I probably would have been crying longer if I had been watching; I stayed up by her top half, holding down her arms. Aside from some puffy thighs the following day she was side-effect free. Phew. I must say, the doc is very direct and efficient. We have been there 3x now and have never had to wait more than a few minutes --and we're out the door pretty swiftly as well. I like it.

"I hate tummy time!!!!!" "Phew, that was tough."

1st family vacation:Holland!

This week we went on our first overnight trip as a family (minus Kona, who held down the fort at home). We're about 3.5 hours from Holland, so it was a good distance, not too intimidating with the baby. We stayed in a seaside town called Noordwijk aan Zee. It was very walkable- the hotel was maybe 300m or so from the beach and there was a little pedestrian area with shops and restaurants, too. We arrived late afternoon after stopping at Delftse Pauw, one of the original makers of authentic Delft Blue pottery. Because of the weather, we just did the tour, picked up a piece for myself, and proceeded to Noordwijk. The weather cleared up not long after we arrived and we took a short walk through town. Unfortunately, we were pretty pooped after the drive (or rather, due to the great nights' sleep one gets with a newborn in the house) so we skipped sunset- I am sure it would have been gorgeous.
My Delftware :o) Pretty bridge on a canal in Delft.

Here is the top of the pedestrian zone in Noordwijk aan Zee:

Most of the homes that we walked or drove past had these big picture windows in the front. I personally wouldn't want people looking in my front window, but I must admit, I did. There were some great ideas for window dressings/decorations!! Plus, these places are so charming!



Windmills! I was so excited to see them randomly thoughout our drive.

And when on vacation to a foreign land, one must comment on the food. OMG it was amazing. This here is a cheese filled croissant-type pastry/bread. I don't remember the name of it, but let me tell you it was heavenly.

And in Keukenhof Gardens, there was a stand to get waffles. This one was sooo good- strawberries and whipped cream. The waffle had a doughy sort of texture and tasted amazing. Hands down, the best waffle I've ever eaten.

Here are some pic's from the beach in Noordwijk...

"My first trip to the beach!"

And here are some photos of the beautiful flowers at Keukenhof. Everywhere you looked, millions of flowers were in bloom. It was the perfect time to go.

Keukenhof has an American theme this year to commemorate the relationship between the 2 countries. Do you remember your american history- Henry Hudson landed in NYC (orignially called New Amsterdam) in 1609. Did you know that Wall Street is named after the (Dutch) Waal River? Seeeeee, you learned something today!

(Statue of Liberty)

(Nice cheeks, Luisa ;-) She's really growing! )

And, of course, wooden shoes!

One of the buildings had an orchid show going on..

These are from a nearby field we drove past.

And this is why I think everone should make this trip at least once. Simply gorgeous.