The family of Adam & Kaytee Nielson

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

We are having a great time with our family up here in Washington! No snow, just rain, but that was to be expected. There is a pile of gifts under the Christmas tree and only a few hours left for them until we can unwrap them! Everybody had a last minute shopping to do today (!), it was our 3rd time at the mall since Sunday and a lot of money was spent...but it was worth it!
Love you all and Merry Christmas!

I really need to do this more often...;)

2010-10-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hello family!
Time went by super fast...I haven't been writing or 'blogging' in FOREVER!

Karina is already 7 months old, she is crawling, pulling herself up, learning how to chew with her gums, she got 2 bottom teeth and two more on the top are creeping! She is such a busy girl and she smiles so often; I love when she smiles :D I swear, the moment she wakes up, she gets in crawling position and tries to stand up. Only seconds after waking up, like she is afraid to fall back to sleep and miss out on something cool that's going on! She cracks me up! Whenever we are somewhere new or busy she won't sleep or eat. I don't even try anymore...she is too busy looking around.

I am hanging out at home, trying to add some pictures to Karina's baby book, clean the house, be a good housewife ;) I recently started working out again at the gym (10 min or 40 min...as long as Karina lets me! hahaha) and it felt so good!

Adam is in the States this week for work. Nothing really new to post about his work or so...same old, same old ;)

Alyssa is a Cheerleader 5 days a week right after school. It's her second year in High School and I must admit, until now she's got very good grades and is a VERY ambitious Cheerleader. They recently had their first 'show' at a "Cancer run" (Running to support people with cancer) on base. On top of that, Alyssa practices with a German Cheerleading team twice a week. There will be German Championships in November.

In July we visited Disneyland Paris with Haley and Jason for a few days. It was pretty busy and Karina LOVED the lights at night and we even went on some rides :) Carousel and slow stuff for little kids. Karina wasn't even scared at the 'ghost house'! Unfortunately Alyssa couldn't be with us, as she was in WI for 4 weeks (2 weeks longer than planned cause she couldn't find her passport anymore...yeah, long story, don't ask! ;)) It was crazy expensive, but the kids had fun and we even went to Paris to see the Eiffel tower and the Mona Lisa at the Louvre! Back in Germany we visited the castle of Neuschwanstein (the Disney castle is build after this real one!), one of the most popular castles in Germany.

We're planning to visit Gregory and Catherine for Christmas this year! All of Adam's siblings will be there too and it is also planned to bring Haley and Jason from WI to WA too! The house will be super crowded! LOL
It will be Karina's first time flying! I must admit that I'm a bit nervous about that. She seems to be very sensitive about changes in her 'schedule'. No idea what a 12 hour flight (or 14?) does to her or us until she is over jet lag! Maybe it won't be too bad as she will be almost 10 months in December.

Well, that is my update for now. More to come in the next days!

Our little girl...

2010-03-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

She is finally here!
All the waiting was SOOO worth it :D
We are enjoying the time we can spend together. Adam took some time off after she was born and we just love to hang out with little Karina.

Already a month has gone by if you can believe it!! We've already had some great moments to share :D Babies are hilarious!!!

Karina loves to grunt and stretch endlessly after a nap, she pulls the funniest faces! Yesterday while nursing she took a pause and when I said 'oh, are you already done sweetie' (without letting go) she looked at me with one eye and started smiling the cutest and naughtiest smile we've seen so far! She is going to be a handful ;)

10 days left!

2010-02-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

Being pregnant for 9 months seem to be a long and a short time...yeah, both at the same time if you ask me. It took 'forever' to show my baby belly, to the point where people said weird stuff to me like 'you don't even look pregnant!' (when I was 6 months pregnant actually) to 'I think you are lying to us, there is no baby bump to see!'....Finally it is visible for everyone around me and although from my point of view (looking down on my belly) it seems like a nice little belly...looking in the mirror I feel HUGE! I said to Adam the other day, that I wished I would've been a little taller, so my belly would 'stretch out' a little ;)...he laughed at me.
Well, today (Feb 18th) was Adam's guess on when our baby girl would arrive. It is 3pm already and nothing happened so far, so I am kinda glad that Adam wasn't right...haha! It would've been a little creepy as he already was right with the gender-guessing in my early pregnancy (before the ultrasound showed us).
We got so many gifts for our little girl that I can't wait to use all of them...clothes (SO many clothes!), socks, blankets, arm rattles, the crib and stroller we bought...I wanna take so many pictures of her, she will have her own daily-picture-dairy...LOL!
I haven't been able to paint animals on the nursery walls yet...I'm running out of time if I want this to be done BEFORE she arrives ;) But I need to be in a creative mood and there was so much else going on lately that I couldn't get myself up from the couch and do it. Being sick now doesn't really help ;) Anyhow I think it is a nice change of my daily life with baby too, so I'm guessing she will be ok if I paint her room later :D
Btw. we don't have a name yet...it is SO HARD!! I am usually not as indecisive about things, but the name search is 'kicking my butt', so to speak. In Germany you have 2 weeks after the birth to decide for a name...not sure if I want to wait until she is born though. Usually I want to be 'prepared' for (anything possible) things that could happen.
Last but not least I hope I'll have an easy delivery without any medical problems for me or my little girl. As I wasn't working out for a long time a part of me can't wait to get back in shape! Although I know it will be definitely hard to work out with the baby around, I still want it to be a steady part in my weekly schedule :) Let's hope that she will be cooperative and get on a good sleeping schedule soon ;)

8 months pregnant...

2010-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well, well...it is January 2010 and although it took what felt like 'forever' it is almost already time for our baby to be born! :) Just a few more weeks and it could happen every day! I'm excited, but a little part of me wants the baby to wait until March to be born :D haha, I know, I don't have any saying in this, but I just find March to have more of a spring feeling :)
Our Christmas and New Years 2009 were pretty much relaxed with a few family visits. We also had a brunch with friends on the 26th. We had a tree at the house and some extra decoration in our hallway. The only thing missing on Christmas Eve/Day was SNOW! We have it now, but it is always cool to have it on Christmas...I'm sure the kids agree on this! We're supposed to have more snow coming our way this weekend!
Well, back to the baby stuff ;) We still have lots to do! The room didn't make any progress unfortunately. I bought paint to be artsy on the walls, bringing animals to life in the baby room :) My Mom gave me today a bag with my old (and washed) stuffed animals...she is all about being a grandma I suppose. She bought almost more things for our baby than we did! Hahaha!
Adam is cracking up every time we visit them ;)
I am still adjusting to being at home, not going back to work is what I wanted for quite a while, but now that I AM at home I need to organize my days new. I am positive that it will happen soon though. Probably sooner than I think and by the time I have it all organized I need to change it again when our baby is born...LOL! :D

Lots of changes

2009-09-13T01:10:00.000-07:00

So, I JUST saw the comments on my last post...here is one link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdBZhHYWEQ8&feature=channel
not my best day to sing "Son of a preacher man"...it was our first Gig and I know, I can do way better...the other videos on YouTube are from the other singers. Nothing newer...and now I left the band already. For various reasons, one of them being too tired and exhausted to go to rehearsal and Gigs in the middle of the night. Pregnancy is just kicking my butt there ;) Plus, I realized I want to sing in a smaller band, more Motown, Pop and just other songs than what I had to deal with the "Crazy Crocodile Band". Anyways, no band no more.
Adam is again NOT at home but in the States. We went for vacation in August, visiting the kids for a week and chill in the Baltimore area for a couple of days. Adam stayed there and I flew home alone on August 16th. Since then I am totally alone at home...It's boring. Last week I even got a cold and it was even MORE boring! At least when I'm healthy I can occupy myself with some cleaning or organizing at the house! Well, Adam will come home in about 2 weeks! Yeah! Finally...I hope he can stay at home a while, we have loads of stuff to do before the baby is born! Alyssa is not coming back to live with us. All kids are in WI. School already started...High School for Alyssa (9th grade), Middle School for Haley (7th grade) and Elementary School for Jason (5th grade). It's way quieter at the house...less drama, which I am pleased with. I don't think I could handle being overly stressed in my free time while pregnant. The way it worked out it seems to be ok for everybody.
OH! Hopefully on the 28th we'll find out the gender of our baby :) I'm excited! Adam thinks we're going to have a girl. I just wait for the result from my doc ;) I have just a little baby belly, I'm totally impatient for the belly to grow and to be done with the 9 months! Haha...don't know why. I probably want to hold our little one in my arms...Wish me luck so the baby cooperates! :)

Summer, sun, holidays and news...

2009-06-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is here! It is getting warmer and sunnier. It is so bright outside that it feels like 5pm although it is already 8pm!! We definitely need higher temperatures though...this is not gonna cut it! ;)
School is over since June 11th for Alyssa. She had '8th grade commencement'. We met for a luncheon near the school. She was hanging out with friends and beginning of July she is going to Wisconsin for the summer. Adam is in the States (east coast) for 2 weeks in July because of work...I so wished we could go on vacation rather sooner than later! I can't believe I have to wait until August! And on top of that Adam has to stay for another 5 (!) weeks in the States for a language course...not at all happy about that!!

Big news from Adam this month...he is hired as a photographer on base!! :) He will work for MWR (they organize activities on base, have the craft shop and such) and will get paid for portrait and studio photography. It's as exciting as it is a little stressful to prepare everything until the actual 'fun' part begins with taking pictures.

On Saturday I had the first gig with my new band 'Crazy Crocodile Band' :) We played at a street festival in the town next to ours. We are a quite large band, saxophon, 2 guitars, drums, bass and 4 singers! I am one of the singers and we had a great time last weekend!! We played for 4 hours and the people were loving it! It makes it even better, that we had to replace our drummer not even 2 weeks ago. We had only 3 practices with the band as it exists right now. I think we can be proud of our first gig and I will soon post pics Adam took that day :)

Also, we are about to buy the apartment we live in :) It is a great deal and we are excited! Our own home! Woo hoo!!

VACATION!!

2009-03-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

So, because Adam comes home later than hoped...at the end of spring break (which is only a week) instead of the beginning our vacation to Greece had to be postponed. Unfortunately...we all have been excited for weeks to go to Greece for one week!
BUT the good news is, that Alyssa and I are going to Mallorca (spanish island) on April 4th for 4 days :)) We are going to enjoy the warm sun, the sandy beach and the pool in our hotel! We are both excited!! Although we are sad too, that Adam can't be with us...I think we deserve this short vacation as we spent half a year together without bigger problems. AND it will be just a piece of cake until Adam is back :) YEAH!!
Only 8 more days of work and up, up and away we are! man, i can't wait...we had the worst weather EVER today...rain, snow, sunshine, clouds, wind...whatever you can think of! Every glance out the window gave you a different view...I can't stand it anymore! I want spring!! NOW!! ;)

Hanging in there...

2009-03-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

Spring still doesn't seem around the corner. I heard yesterday that it snowed in WI...so I guess it could be worse. Unfortunately after one sunny day (still cold, but at least sunny) we have clouds coming up with lots of wind and probably rain/snow later.

Adam's arrival date moved back 3 days...now it seems to be the 9th of April instead of the 6th...not a huge difference, but still later. I can't stand not knowing exact dates or the changes every couple of days. It would be much easier with a planned schedule...I know, I know it is just not possible...but I can still mutter about it ;)

Here something funny from our family life that happened a few weeks ago and I just now remembered...(even 14 year old kids can put a smile on your face...besides all the teenage drama going on): Alyssa took a cashew and while putting it in her mouth she said with a smile on her face 'cashews are my favorite peanuts!'...(and she was serious btw.)
Yeah, I had a question mark on my face too...she honestly thought that nuts in general are called 'peanuts'!!! Oh my, I thought, what do they learn at school these days!! ;) I laughed for like 5 min...while she was kind of embarrassed I guess...I still can't believe it! Haha.

not so much new...

2009-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

Another month passed and I hope that spring doesn't take too much longer to come to us...we have 3 Celsius (37 F), it is raining, little bits of snow laying around, it's cloudy and ...just nasty :(
I haven't seen the sun in what feels like AT LEAST a week ago and I can't see sweaters and big coats anymore...the winter season just seems to last forever this time!!

The most important thing is, that Adam is coming home soon! :D Another month and we're together again! Yeah!!! I can hardly wait...

What's bothering me is all the Easter chocolate and gifts in the stores since BEFORE Valentine's Day...that's just ridiculous. I mean Easter is in April for crying out loud...I can't see the stuff anymore until Easter is actually here! That's too much I think...I don't even know what else to say to that cause it is so unbelievable. Always makes me think of that song of Shania Twain, "Ka-chin".

I have a lot of work right now at my office. I soooo need a break of all the daily responsibilities and to-do-lists. I can't wait to be at a beach, relax and enjoy the sun. :)

Fasching!!

2009-02-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

Since November 11th, 11:11 o'clock the Germans celebrate Fasching, also called the 5th season. It is a costume festival until February. It ends with Carnival Monday, Pan Cake Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Old women Thursday...this year it ends the end of February 2009. During this time there is costume parties in a lot of places. They play 'Guggenmusik', a super loud band is playing party songs...(I personally am not a fan of that music). It is the german version of Mardi Gras. I love costume parties, but it's not as fun without Adam...Here in South Germany Fasching is mainly celebrated the last week as mentioned above. In Cologne are the biggest festivities going on and people say you have to go there to really experience Fasching. I don't know if I will go somewhere this year. Alyssa would like to go with her friend, unfortunately at this age...I m not sure I will be able to find an appropriate party. Usually there is either a lot of kids dressed up or it is adult parties. I will post pictures should we go somewhere fun! :)

The New Year has come

2009-01-15T11:18:00.001-08:00

It is 2009...FINALLY! I was waiting for it, as it marks 'half time' of Adam being gone for 6 months! :) And now January is half way over! Wow! Time is flying sometimes. Do you know the feeling when time takes forever to go by and at the same time flies? I can't explain it, but it happens to me sometimes. It is a weird feeling, but I prefer it actually to the feeling of time going as slowly as a turtle walks...;) Our New Years was pretty laid back. Alyssa and I spend the evening at home and watched a movie. At midnight Adam called and we talked for an hour!! It was awesome!
There are no other news from us here...My cousin's wife is pregnant, that is the biggest news here! I called him for his birthday on the 13th and he told me the news. They had gotten married in September last year, so that is a pretty fast change in their lives.
Oh! Alyssa started Cheerleading a week ago and they got their uniforms today. I'm going to post pics as soon as I have the chance to take some ;) I would've loved to do Cheerleading in High School! I'm mad I never had the chance...it is not at all a sport in Germany. The last years they brought Football and Cheerleading to Germany, but there isn't a lot going on still...
Oh (again)! Ryan, Adam's brother got engaged!! He will get married in March in Utah! I wished I could come...It would be interesting to see a wedding in the States :)

Christmas and what comes afterwards...?

2008-12-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

(photo: My parents and me)
So, I spent Christmas Eve (24th) with my parents. We ate, talked, laughed and unwrapped gifts. It was relaxed and nice. I spent the night and stayed until after lunch the next day. When I got home, I called my stepkids in WI, my new family in WA and a friend in WI :) My stepkids were not very talkative on the phone, I guess they were tired from getting up too early ;) They liked all the gifts they got and wanted to spend a relaxed day at home. I 'spread' Christmas spirit over email and will do so on myspace probably. Today I will meet my aunt and her family for lunch and tomorrow will be the ultimate family reunion for dinner! Everybody is supposed to come that lives in Germany :) it's going to be loud!
For everybody who doesn't know, Greeks are mostly orthodox. They follow a different church calender for their fests and holidays. The Greeks usually give presents on January 6th. But the way it is, I guess a lot of them start doing it on December 24th now too. I am not too familiar with the orthodox church. My parents weren't really interested and when I visited German schools here I learned more about being catholic than orthodox. Oh yeah, in German schools you have to go to either catholic or protestant class. Once you are older you can switch to "ethics" which is basically studying also other religions like Buddhism or Islam.
Anyways, Christmas had a good timing this year. The 25th and 26th are German holidays and this year a weekend follows! Because my boss gives us the 24th off too, that meant a 5-day-weekend for me! Yeah! I have to go to work on the 29th and 30th, but then again have 2 days off :) I needed vacation time anyways ;)

Busy Christmas...

2008-12-22T12:21:00.001-08:00

I've been to the Kids Christmas Party Adam's office held for all the kids of the office on Sunday. It was fun, although I was there alone and not with my family. The kids had an awesome time and we had more than a lot to eat! Altogether the guys from the office have 14 kids! From little babies to a 16 year old. And I didn't include our 3 Alyssa, Haley and Jason here! It is quite a difference between German families and American (or should I say American Army families?) families. Germans don't have so many kids. Although the Nielson family has quite a large amount of kids too! :) It's awesome, I love kids.

Christmas time...

2008-12-21T01:16:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time and unfortunately due to Adam's work I am alone at home...Alyssa, who spends her 8th(!) school year with us in Germany, went to WI for 2 weeks to visit her brother, sister and Mom. The house is kind of empty... Christmas in Germany means Christmas markets everywhere! The scent of cookies and of the typical food there, all the little booths with useful and not so useful things to buy...most of all I like the fruit-chocolate-kebobs and the Kinderpunsch or Gluehwein...yummy! The Kinderpunsch is basically a hot juice mix and the Gluehwein is a hot mix of wine and Christmas seasoning...ideal for the cold days in winter! I only went once this year, usually a lot of people meet friends there before the family time begins. In Germany we celebrate Christmas Eve on the 24th of December. Kids get to open all gift that night and the family sits together for a nice dinner. Some people are only having a very 'poor' dinner to remember, that Jesus and his parents didn't have so much too eat either. Some families go to church that night and listen to the Christmas prayer (the churches are usually packed that night, like they are never again the rest of the year...). I am going to spend this Christmas at my parents house. We will have raclette. It is a suisse specialty and you need a raclette grill on the table and have little mini pans to put in all kinds of ingredients, the main ingredient is the cheese. You warm it up in the raclette grill until the cheese is melted...see the picture from last Christmas! The next days are already planned out by my family...going for lunch and dinner as the 25th and the 26th are holidays in Germany. And this year those days are right before a weekend! So even more going out for lunch and dinner...I won't eat for a week after all that...;)