With no words at all, so tiny and small...

Last weekend was a holiday in Germany (something to do with religion), so everyone had Sunday and Monday off of work. We decided on Sunday to barbeque with some of our neighbors, but had so much food left over that Maren suggested we should do it again the next day. We all agreed, opened up another bottle of Champagne, and made a menu for tomorrow's barbeque.
The next morning, I heard Michael and Maren in the kitchen at 5 in the morning, and then someone left the house. They weren't having an argument by the sounds of their voices, so I just assumed they were going out to get some fresh breakfast rolls from the bakery before it closed up again for the holiday, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. At 8 I woke up and went upstairs to find the kids watching TV in the living room and the breakfast table not set. That was kind of weird, because Maren had clearly been awake for hours and the first thing she does in the mornings is set the table, but I went ahead and set everything out for us and then went to go sit with the kids in the living room. After about half an hour, I hadn't seen either Michael or Maren, so I asked Merit where her parents were. Merit said that her mom was in the hospital, but her dad was upstairs sleeping. My goodness, did I feel like the biggest idiot, for not realizing that that was the reason Maren was awake at 5 am. Apparently her water broke around 4am, but she had enough time to shower and finish up packing her emergency bag before leaving for the hospital. Michael stripped her bed, carried her mattress out to the trash, and dropped her off, but came back so he could sleep a little bit longer. He came down for breakfast at 9, and I asked him if he should go alone or if we should all go in together, and he said we should all go together, but suggested driving separately so I could leave with the kids whenever they started getting bored.
So I got the kids and myself ready, we got to the hospital around 10:30 am, and had to wait for awhile before going in to see Maren. Merit and Marten were the first ones in the room, and you could immediately see the concern on the kids faces when they saw their mom. She was breathing heavily, the way you're supposed to, and hooked up to all these machines that measure not only her vitals, but that baby's as well. Marten asked if she was going to die, and Maren laughed and told him that everything was fine and she would be better than ever in a couple of days. The baby's heart rate increased drastically once we arrived, so Maren said we should only stay for a couple of minutes before heading out again. (The kids kept complaining and arguing, so it was only adding stress for her.) So I took the reluctant kids back home, promising them that their mom was going to be ok. Once we got home, I settled down with my book while the kids jumped off the trampoline, and not a half hour later I got a text message from Michael saying that the baby had just been born. Her name is Miriam, and she weighed 3,040 grams upon arrival and was 49 centimeters long. (aka- adorably tiny!!)
Later that day, Maren's parents came over to visit with their daughter and granddaughter, and to take Marten to stay with them for a couple of days. Maren stayed in the hospital until Thursday, but we kept our barbecue date that evening with the neighbors. Everyone joked about how rude it was of Maren to not attend.

Today is Sunday, so they've only been here for 3 days, but it already feels totally natural to have a baby in the house. She's very calm and quiet most of the time, and only starts to whine when she's hungry or has gas. She usually sleeps between 3 and 5 hours at a time, (Maren puts her to bed around 11:30 and usually has to wake her up between 4 and 5 for her next feeding!) and is given lots of love and attention by her big sister, Merit. Marten still hasn't come home yet, so I'm sure the dynamic will change once he is back. He demands a lot of attention himself, since until now he has always been the baby in the family and is used to having at least one adult give it to him. In fact, any time his mom is having a conversation with someone else, he starts saying "Mama!" louder and louder until she actually turns away from the other person and listens to him. So this should be interesting... But I think he'll learn pretty quickly that he can't yell anymore and can't always have attention. Hopefully, anyway :P

 (During a Skype session with Tess, Miriam started to cry a lot, so this is me attempting to calm her down. I've decided that Miriam doesn't like her Aunt Tessie very much, because now every time she sees Tess she starts crying...)

When its Springtime in Alaska, it is 40 below...

Winter is never ending. Seriously. We've had little shimmery moments of hope when the sun peaks through the clouds for an hour or so, but then the next Armageddon-style cloud attacks and we don't see sunlight again for 3 days. I would like some summertime weather, please.

My thoughts are super jumbled right now... Between thinking in a strange German/English combination and constantly writing status updates on Facebook in third person, my head is very confused. Hopefully this blog will be understandable the whole way through, haha!

The due date is May 28th, but we're all hoping the baby will decide to come out sooner. My host mom had a doctor's appointment this morning, and was very disappointed to hear that the big day won't be any time soon. She mentions about three times a day how ready she is to hold her baby (aka- have it OUT!) and I think the hormones are starting to get on my host dad's nerves. Well, all of our nerves, really :P

Because of the upcoming birth and following newborn baby, I don't have anything planned for the next month. I'm hoping to get away for a weekend in June, maybe finally visit either Olli or Kris! But we'll see what happens... Plans don't seem to get carried through very easily here... Especially when Iceland keeps spewing ash all over the place. Yeah, I'm still bitter about that. Oh, it just occured to me that some of you might not know what "that" is reference to! Haha :) Kristina and I had a really wonderful 5 day weekend planned for me to go visit her and meet her family. We had picked the dates carefully, since it was just before the "danger zone" for the pregnancy, where we thought the baby might come at any moment, and it was one of the only convenient weeks for Kristina's family as well. But then the volcano in Iceland exploded all over Europe, grounding air traffic for 4 or 5 days. We thought about rescheduling for the next week, but it never ended up working. Between our nerves about a premature baby and previous plans that Kristina's family had made, it just wasn't going to be possible. So now I have to wait until September or October to go visit her :( And if I end up coming home after my contract, that means I'll only be able to go once! So, let's all take a moment and glare at Iceland together. *GLARES*

I know this topic doesn't interest many of you out there, but it is really the only thing on my mind right now. LOST. Yes, the television series. It is unfortunately coming to an end this season, and things are starting to get intense!! Only two episodes left, I believe, until there shall be no more! Sad day. I don't want to throw any spoilers out there for those who might be a little behind, but I will say this: Jack = Jacob. Confusing, right?! Ok, that's all my TV talk for now :P

I'm switiching back to the baby talk... There are three name options for this little bundle of joy: Miriam, Merle, or Maybrit. Yes, Maybrit is a legitimate German name. Michele looked it up. Haha! If they decide to name her Maybrit, I am going to be a very confused aupair. Not just because it is a hideous name, but also because I'll be thinking they are talking to be every time they say it. Seriously... I was voting for Mena or Mia... Neither of which made the final cut.

We are also looking into buying a bigger house... Moving with this very neurotic mother will be quite the experience. Stay tuned for more updates...

Deutscher Fußballmeister - FCB!!!

I had an ammmaaaazing trip to Berlin yesterday! My host dad invited me to go to the last game of the German Championship, which was Bayern vs. Berlin. Our tickets were in the Bayern fan section (the part of the stadium where all the loud, obnoxious, and drunk fans act as constant cheerleaders during the entire game). I've been in this section before, and it is a lot of fun because of all the energy that the fans give out. But last time, I dressed completely inappropriately in my ballet flats and a sweatshirt (my feet were soaked with beer by the end of the night, and I was sweating so much I thought I had definitely lost 10 pounds in water weight). So this time I put on my old and dirty tennis shoes and one of my thin and loose H&M t-shirts. Four of Micheal's friends were coming along with us, one of which had a birthday the day before so Micheal invited him to the VIP lounge with him. The two of them were dressed as though they were going to the Opera, and not a soccer game. Haha :)

So we started off leaving at 9 in the morning, with the hopes of doing some sight-seeing before the 3pm game. I got stuck driving, of course, so Micheal and his friends could drink some beers on the way there. Yes, that is legal. I could technically drink too, as the driver, as long as I didn't go over the limit. I didn't, though. Duh. That'd be weird.

So we got to Berlin right at 12, got our parking spot in the VIP section (thanks to Micheal), and went to one of the fan bars near the stadium. As we're sitting there, thousands of Bayern fans dressed in any red shred of clothing they could find (mostly fan scarves and flags wrapped around their bodies) march down the streets of Berlin and head towards the stadium. In an hour I saw more drunk people than I've seen in my entire life. Everyone was shouting and cheering and the top of their lungs, and there were still three hours to go before the game even started! It was awesome. An hour ahead of time, we started walking towards the stadium, and Micheal's friend told me that he wanted me to go to the VIP lounge in his place, since it would probably be my only opportunity to experience it. I was shocked, needless to say, and refused at first, mostly because of my soccer-mom appearance. But he insisted, and so did Micheal, so I took him up on his offer. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was in the VIP lounge in Berlin during the final for the German Championship. It might not sound that amazing to you guys, but it was AMAZING for me.

We got to go through our own little entrance on the side, where there was no half-hour long wait and security didn't even ask to search my purse. It was super cool. So we walk into the lounge, and it is at least 5 stories high. Its like this secret chamber between the regular entry way and the field. I never even knew it existed! Haha! The lighting was very cool... This purple, blue, orange combination at a candlelight setting. Very moody. We walked around for a bit, checking out the buffets of free food waiting for us to consume them, and then found Micheal's friends at an exclusive table near the Player's Lounge... That being the area where the soccer players hang out and eat. I was about 100 feet away from them. *dies*

After a couple glasses of beer (or wine, for me) we decided to move on out to the field. We had an amazing view. I was so close to the field, it was incredible! And of course the game was fabulous... Bayern won 3:1. The first goal took me by surprise, and I didn't even get a chance to take out my camera before Olic had scored. For the second goal, I had my camera already in place and got a shot just as the ball was passing the goalie. (see picture below) It was amazing. Their third goal happened just after Klose had taken the field, so I was anticipating it. I had my camera in my hands, aimed at the goal, but when it actually happened jumped out of my chair, threw my hands in the air, and screamed and cheered until I realized that my camera had been flung out of my hands and landed a couple of chairs to my right. (Daddy, ignore that last sentence. Of course I'm taking impeccable care of your very lovely camera!) The guy who handed it back to me was a very unhappy Berlin fan, but he managed to give me an ironic smile in return for my apologetic one.

After the game, we went back to our awesome little cool-persons table. We had another drink, and as I was finishing mine I noticed someone walking towards us. As he got closer, people kept stopping him and asking to take pictures with him... I was staring at him, trying to figure out who he was, but didn't recognize him at all. I'm pretty good at the celebrity game, but the fact that this guy was under my radar bugged me. I kind of shrugged it off, and continued on with my drink, until I realized that he had taken the seat next to me, and was talking to me. Whhhhaaaaat?! Apparently he was friends with one of the other guys at our table. As we're chatting, people keep interrupting us to ask for his picture... WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY?! Finally, I gave up and confessed that I had no idea who he was (thank you, wine, for making me an idiot). He kind of laughed, gave me a pat on the back, and told me that he wasn't anyone important. Micheal was sitting on the opposite side of the table, and took a picture of the two of us as this guy was getting up to leave. After he left, I asked Micheal who he was, and apparently he was Germany's champion boxer. I've been trying to google for his name, but I'll have to ask Micheal again. Hahaha!

(UPDATE! I remembered the name "Abraham" and googled that... And found him! Arthur Abraham... Ring a bell for any of you boxing fans out there? I still have no idea who he is... Hahaha! Here's his wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Abraham)

After that, we left and met up with the other people in our group (the guy who was supposed to be in the VIP lounge ended up in the fan pit, and looked like a total mess. *guilty*) and drove back to Northeim. It was an aaaaaammmmmaaaaaazing day!!! I kept a lot of things from the VIP lounge that I probably wasn't supposed to, and Micheal bought be a little flag with original signatures from all of the Berlin team.

Throughout the entire evening, I couldn't help but remember all the catering jobs I did working events just like that one. I'd watch the waitresses and busboys chatting politely with patrons, while holding heavy trays of dishs, and then turn and disappear through the kitchen doors. And I knew as soon as they passed through those doors, they'd start cussing and complaining about the idiot who was making them stand there while dying under the weight of the tray. I know, because I've been there. For five years I was on that side of the kitchen... And I almost prefer it. Sure, it was fun to be one of the elite, but it simply isn't where I belong. Not right now, anyway. And especially not while I was looking in a scrub in my tennis and t-shirt. It was an amazing evening, and it won't be one I forget soon. Such a memory!!! :) But for now, I'll stick with being the waitress and not the waited upon.