A Chris update........

I wanted to give everyone a quick Chris update as well.

On Wednesday he had an MRI on his shoulder. The Radiologist didn’t see anything and the Doctor was shocked that he couldn’t see anything wrong either. This only added to Chris’s frustration as it seemed that not knowing a problem would only mean not knowing how to fix it. The Doctor recommended a physical therapy appointment and wanted to see Chris again on Friday morning.

He called me from the car after the Doctor’s appointment and sounded more frustrated than I have ever heard before. He felt horrible and need to just rest in the car for a minute before going anywhere. Of course after about an hour, I was growing restless and about to send star flight after him when he finally called to say he was headed back to work.

He continued to take the German pain medicine (which I will liken to roofies, only because it was a liquid that he would drip into a drink and within 5 minutes was totally loopy). On Friday he saw a Physical Therapist. She believed it was a pinched nerve. After some poking around and a significant heat pad, she sent him off. He hasn’t taken any of the loopy medicine since and is hoping to be on the mend. Saturday night was the first night he attempted to sleep in our bed. He woke up around 2AM to head back down to the recliner. Maybe tonight will be more successful. He has another appointment with PT Tuesday morning and one more follow up with the Doctor on Wednesday. Here’s hoping it will only get better. His lack of exercise is driving him nuts!! Its surely how he clears his head and I can totally understand.

Cuddle time in their striped suits.

We enjoyed some beautiful German weather Saturday morning on a walk in our town. We all needed a little Vitamin D!



Pauli upgraded her sleeping conditions

Cayman is asking Stacie if she notices her weight loss

Cayman LOVES curling up on ANYTHING baby!

Here is a little bath time game – it’s a re-enactment, so not nearly as funny as the first time he did it. But Nick was putting his trains on Shane’s bathtub. One by one, Shane kicked them off. Nick laughed, Shane laughed and Nick would replace them all. It was our first step in the boys actually playing together! I cannot wait until this lasts longer =) At least there is a light!

Nick, Shane, and Chris

Just a few quick photos and a note on my man Chris.

Nick enjoyed the Mercedes museamm. Who knows what he will think when we finally take him to the Porsche museam. This car sure goes FAST!Here's Shane bouncing along in a beautiful handmade sweater (with baseball buttons!) We are so fortunate to have such talented family members!

Just a fun video of Shane eating. Carrots stain - yikes!


I also wanted to put a little note about Chris. I know several of you have called and wondered what the heck is wrong with him but the bottom line is we still do not know. On Tuesday (February 16) he started to complain of a shoulder issue. Chris never complains of pain - so I thought it was odd. On Wednesday it was MUCH worse, so we were able to get a space avaiable appointment with the Military doctor. He saw a great lady who seems to specialize in shoulder injuries. She thought it was an inflamed rotator cuff and perscribed some medicine and told him to wait it out. Over the weekend it got MUCH worse. He has taken more hot showers than I ever thought possible (or that we have enough hot water for!)

Monday he went back on post hoping to visit with the same Doctor. She was unaviable but perscribed different medicine (nothing for the pain yet) and said it might take a week.

Today he came home from work at 10:30. He couldn't concerntrate due to the pain. I started to call some german ortho specialists and managed to get an appointment for today at 4:15. The doctor was great and acted with a sense of urgency. He believes Chris tore his rotator cuff (we have no idea how) and its like a sock with a hole - the sooner you take care of it, the better. He has an MRI schedule for tomorrow at 12:30 and will follow up with the Specialist immediately afterwards.

The specialist perscribed pain medicine - seemed to skip a step in telling us the dosage. needless to say, I would have swallowed the entire bottle - but Chris meassured out a small amount and proceeded to toss his cookies a few hours later. Here's hoping some of it soaked in!

We will keep you posted!

Starting the celebration early!

It was starting out as a lonely Saturday. Not much planned - Chris is still on injured reserve as his shoulder is in immense pain (he is sleeping in the recliner) We went to the Mercedes museam during the day just to get outta the house. Again, I hate museams, so as Chris and Nick toured the cars, I caught up on some emailing. I sent an email to Farrah suggesting we join them for Church Sunday morning. She wrote me back saying she would be hungover - so maybe another time. Needless to say I was crushed. Where was she headed that me and my 18 pack of miller lite couldn't join!!?! Well.......

Its never too early to start the celebration right?? I was totally shocked Saturday night when Tate McCullough rang my doorbell. He was holding this sign with two balloons.

Around the corner came Farrah, Brian and Macy. Farrah said, "get dressed, we're going out!"

Ready to tear up some drinks in Neuhausen!

After two drinks, we decided we needed a little substance in our bellies. So after checking out the menu we decided NACHOS! Well, check out the plate - yup that is a bag of Doritos (old bag and the end of it) with a small cup of salsa. Of course we devored it, but needed something else.
That night we sat at the bar and watched it snow! We also chatted so loud that our babysitter heard us =) (the bartender never did - we had to shout at him!) She was at the same cafe and popped by to say hello. We felt so cool and trendy to be approached by a teenager in public!

We walked home around 10 (late night right!) to see what the guys were up to. I couldn't believe the munchkins were all in bed by 8:30. They were trying to show us up!

We made them play Apples to Apples - which I am still convinced Brian was being favored.

Chris is actually smiling in this photo. Can you see the tube sock heating pad?!? This one's for you Chelcy. Gotta love the home remidies!
The partying couple!

Farrah made fast friends with Pauli. Pauli (and Farrah) apparently were loving the attention =)

Shane woke up around midnight and was super excited with all the attention.

having a few too many miller lites always makes you want to break out the camera

Yup, you can bring a girl to germany - but you can't take away the miller lites - Thanks brian - what a sport!

That is the birthday girl (soon to be)

One more shot - or beer I mean Cheers to finding the friends that make life not only worth enjoying - worth being hungover the next day!

And its bed time!

Fasching! - its a week long EVENT!

Fasching is a HUGE celebration in Germany. Especially in our Town of Neuhausen. Its rather similar to Mardi gra in New Orleans - but maybe a little more kid friendly - maybe....

To gear up for the celebration, Nick dressed up Thursday, Friday, Monday in Kindergarden. They will have their own kindergarden parade on Tuesday.

The mom's of the kids got together on a week night to make their scare crow costumes. That night as I sat in the room with a handful of German wives I got a taste of what daily life must feel like for Nick. I have a general idea of what they were talking about. I followed along the costume making steps. They practiced their english with me. I wish I could put into better workds what that feels like. Maybe someday Nick will.

This was the first day of dress up

Fireman Nick - in honor of Grandpa Roy!
Can you tell he is pretending to have a hose in his hand?

Fireman Nick! Onto Texas Ranger Nick - this was his Friday's costume - but we will be using it on Monday since he never made it to Kindergarden on Friday. He was too sick and we hit the Doctor's ofice instead. He chilled the rest of the day Friday and ended it by watching the Little Mermaid (one of mom's favorite movies)

This morning he woke up using all his stored up energy! Its snowing again today - but we are getting outta the house! Even it that means dragging the sled through the downtown. Now its time for the Annual Neuhausen Fasching Parade as well as the newly chrisened Stone Party! Shannon, Bernie, Erin and Kristen decorated their home and cooked lots of goodies to start the day out right. They also had a great location to the parade. You could see it from their window (so we could sneak in if it got too cold - or wander back for more beers and a potty!)

Shane got to fashion his SUPER SHANE costume that was passed along from Evan Carson - he surely fills it out =)Nick requested a scary face.... GrrrrrrrrrrrThis is a photo of what Chris's hair would look like if he opted not to cut his hair.... ever......Onto the parade.... As I was looking back at my photos, I started to think that parade photos can start to look like those dancing photos. Fun as you are taking them, but kind of lose their luster as you are looking at them the next day. So I will try to spare you and only point out the highlights.

First - the Cabage men!Yes, they tossed out REAL cabage - sauerkraut - Bernie literally begged them to target Shannon. She was a good sport - but hid during the next parade. Smart girl!They had a band full of only ladiesThey had a kick line full of only men (yes, they are dressed like ladies - but I am convinced their kick line was better than anything I ever did in Cheerleading!)A viking boat!Even Frosty made an appearance.Nick, Erin, Eve and Anna were targeted numerous times for candy drop offs. This was a goat of sorts filling their pockets. I was VERY proud of Nick. He stoof in the front the entire time and was never spooked! i guess as long as Anna was by his side....Even a pig needs a beer every so often! Just a little song and dance to get you in the German mood =)

Tuesday was the Kinder parade. It was JUST as crowded as the regular parade and super cute (they just marched along at a bit of a slower pace)

Here is Nick in his scarecrow custome. His teachers did the face paint. Super cute!Nope - we couldn't scare away the wild boars
This costume was titled 'Virus' Maybe the HINI?Yup, even dogs got into the festivites. Whether they wanted to or not!

Here comes our little man! Here's a cute video. Let me know if your stomach can hack it. its tough work hugging your muchkin and filming at the same time. Odviously he was thrilled to see us, but motored on to the finish line.

Happy Fasching!

Super Bowl Weekend and Castle Lichtenstein

Superbowl is many things for many Americans - but for those of us living in Germany - it really means a LATE night. The kick off is 12:30AM! Yikes. Well - embrace it right?? We were lucky to have super super friends who were able to spend the night with us. Shane and Macy were out by 10, Nick and Tate were down at 11, Farrah made it until 3 and Chris, Brian and I saw it til the bitter end at 4:30 - Great game. Our hearts go out to you Peyton Manning! You will be back, promise!Shane is showing off his new cuddle suit from Oma Sue - warm as a bug in a rug!As far as Shane developments. He is still waking up 2-3 times a night. You would think his bellie is full -but maybe its time to move to the next level. We started with Carrots - YUM YUM. He actually ate them pretty well. The second time the spoon came close to his mouth he opened up! I was thrilled and I guess he is ready.

He is sitting better in the bumbo and loves the walker and excersauser. Its almost impossible to capture a Shane photo without getting a few extra chin rolls.

Here's Shane's lady friend Macy - She is teaching him how to sit up - obviously, he is having non of the lesson.

On the Saturday before Superbowl Chris and I went exploring. We need a few awesome easy day trips for when our friends and family come!

This is the Litchenstien castle. Its beautiful. They say at one time it was use as the back drop for sleeping beauty. Its only 40 minutes from us. It has a huge beer garden and ropes course (random, I know)
The castle is just amazing. Draw bridge and everything! Here you go friends and family, one more reason to visit the Leadbetters!We had lunch at the castle (I am still in search of the Swabian pork pot - this one was close...) Nick and Shane held hands threw dinner.

Back to Shane - yes, we still have those baby blues. No rolling over yet, but we think his bellie is prohibiting it (not adding to momentum)

Remember I sad he loved the excersauser??
Did you see this one coming? Nick has the same photo in a Jumperoo. its amusing just watching him as he runs outta batteries and just falls asleep.

Good night all!