Christmas in Europe!

I really need to blog about our European Christmas vacation before we are into February!  Needless to say, we had a great time and it was wonderful to see our friends, the Knapps!  They were awesome tour guides and made all of our arrangements ahead of time, which made our trip stress-free.  We were able to relax and just take in the beautiful sights of Germany and France.

Our first adventure was to the Christmas markets in the adorable villages of Bernkastel-Kues and Trier.  We sampled gluhwein (hot, mulled wine) at both markets...I had kinder punch (hot grapejuice) but did have a taste of the real thing.  ;)  Blaine sampled enough gluhwein for the both of us.  ;)  The markets and the villages were so charming and the bratwursts were outstanding!  I could have eaten one for every meal.  We decided that collecting gluhwein mugs from each market would serve as a good souvenir from Germany.

Bernkastel-Kues Christmas market

Our first stop at every Christmas market!

It was COLD, so the hot gluhwein (and kinder punch) was perfect.

I fell in LOVE with the Christmas decorations in each village...and maybe all over again with this guy. ;)  Check out that huge mistletoe!

The buildings were exactly what I would expect from a German village...so cute!

Trier Christmas market

Enjoying more gluhwein...this is where I actually had the real thing.  :)

Our next stop was the amazing village of Rothenburg.  This is THE picturesque German village and Christmas market you might see in a fairytale storybook.  This was definitely my favorite village.  We stayed overnight in a cute hotel run by a sweet German man who was quite the character.  :)

Adorable streets of Rothenburg

Rothenburg at night

Rothenburg Christmas market

The lights were so pretty!

Rothenburg is surrounded by a wall, dating back to medieval times.  You can walk along the wall around the entire village.

After returning from Rothenburg, we enjoyed a nice and relaxing Christmas at Mike and Jewlee's home.  It was so much fun to watch the kids' excitement while opening gifts on Christmas morning!  Later that afternoon, we were invited to one of their German neighbors' homes for cake and coffee.  What a treat!  Claus and Gertie served us a spread of different desserts with coffe and we really enjoyed visiting with them.  The way they entertain reminded me so much of my German grandparents.  :)

Kaiserslautern Christmas market...I can't recall what day we went here, but it was near Christmas.  We also stopped for dinner and had amazing schnitzel!!

The day after Christmas, we headed to Paris on the ICE train (the fast one that gets you there in two hours)!  We spent two nights in Paris in an adorable hotel near the Arc de Triomphe..amazing!  In addition to the Arc de Triomphe, we saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and took in the sights of this romantic city.  The architecture is breath-taking!

Arc de Triomphe...just around the corner from our hotel!

The Eiffel Tower...impressive during the day but AWESOME at night!

Our best picture in front of the Eiffel Tower...taken with my iPhone.  Go figure.

Paris even had a Christmas market!

I think this was the Hotel de Paris from looking at the signs outside...stunning!!

Notre Dame 

We took a lunch break near Notre Dame and Blaine ordered a beer.  THIS is the obnoxious production that came to the table.  Times three!  All three of the guys ordered one.  ;)  

The Louvre Palace where the Louvre museum is located...once again, we were blown away by the amazing architecture and attention to detail!

Ah, the Mona Lisa.  We were not blown away by this...ask anyone who has seen it and they will probably concur.  While I'm sure the painting is fascinating in person, no one could get anywhere near it to enjoy it because of the ropes and annoying crowd of people trying to take self-portraits with the painting with their iPhones and iPads.  Not a great experience.  

On our last day in Paris, we were returning to the metro after finding a Starbucks for Jill's France mug :), and we stumbled upon this statue.  It is an exact replica of our Statue of Liberty's torch.  To our surprise, though, it also sits atop the tunnel where Princess Diana died.  I snapped this quick iPhone picture, only to realize later that I got a perfect shot of the Eiffel Tower in the background.  

We spent our last day in Heidelberg, another gorgeous German village.  We toured the Heidelberg Castle (beautiful!) and had a great meal of brats, potatoes, and sauerkraut.  Yummy!  Yes, I love sauerkraut...must be my German roots.  ;)

Looking over the village of Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle

We really maximized our days of sight-seeing, despite my poor, swollen feet.  I can't wait to get back to Europe again to tour some more!  Thank you, Knapp family, for a great visit and fun memories!

A Trip to Texas!

I traveled to Texas recently for a number of reasons, to include attending my first baby shower hosted by my mom and sisters!  Although it was a long 12 hour drive (don't worry, I stopped and stretched my legs often), it was worth it to see my family and friends.  They did a great job and it was awesome to see so many friends and family, including my sister-in-law, Jill, who flew all the way from California!

This is the photo my mom included in her Christmas cards this year...to break the news that BOTH my sister, Andie, and I are expecting!  She's due in June.  :)

Guests signed the inside cover of a Christmas classic, "The Night Before Christmas".  We plan to start a Baker family tradition and read this book to Samantha each Christmas Eve.  

The shower theme was "Baby It's Cold Outside!", but the Texas weather didn't cooperate and it was actually closer to 80 degrees that day.  Sigh...

Yummy cupcakes from Lone Star Bakery...so good!

Andie made this adorable burlap bunting!  And we had a baby photo guessing game (an idea we used at another shower that I LOVED!)

Hot chocolate bar goodies!

The food was great and made such a pretty display!

Guests playing the photo guessing game!

My friend, Tammy, had this cute caddy made and filled it with adorable gifts!

Opening gifts...one of many sweet outfits we received!

Baby Sam's first monogrammed outfit!  :)

The Sutton girls...Cassandra, me, Mom, and Andie.  Thank y'all for a beautiful and memorable shower!

So I mentioned that I traveled to Texas for a number of reasons...besides attending my shower, I drove there to celebrate an early Christmas with family and I took our dogs there so that my parents could watch them over the next two weeks.  Why, you may ask??  Blaine and I are leaving for Germany tomorrow!!  I can't believe we are actually going and I am beyond excited!  Our dear friends and old neighbors from Hawaii, the Knapps, moved there when we moved to Alabama.  Thankfully they were serious when they invited us for Christmas because we accepted the invitation!  We will spend nine glorious days touring the Christmas markets and castles in Germany, spending Christmas with our friends in their home, and enjoying Paris for a few days, too!  I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to post and adventures to blog about when we return.  :)

Since we will be leaving tomorrow, Blaine and I celebrated Christmas at home last night.  We went out for dinner, exchanged gifts, and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  We also reflected on the thought that this will be the last Christmas with just the two of us...and for that, we are thankful and feel so blessed!  

This card was in my stocking and was addressed "to the family".  Blaine found a card with characters that he could name all three of my babies.  It made me cry.  :)

I got Blaine a new scarf and gloves to keep him warm while we're in Europe.

Blaine got a pull up bar, something he's been wanting since joining the local Crossfit gym.  He is also getting new golf shoes, but they have yet to arrive.

I got a new toaster (ours has been acting up lately).  And then Blaine led me to believe that we were done with gifts, until he returned from the garage with this...

A new sewing machine!  This is what I asked for and I was thrilled to see him carrying it inside!  Of course, I don't even know how to turn the thing on, but I am planning to learn.  I figure I should learn so I can teach Samantha how to sew...and so that I can sew all those cute things I keep pinning on Pinterest.  ;)

Stay tuned for a post on our Christmas vacation in Germany!!  

2nd (I think) Annual Baker Beer Bash and Chili Cook-off!

Tonight was our annual Baker Beer Bash and Chili Cook-off!  2nd annual by my records...5th annual when Blaine welcomed everyone.  Hmmm...  Anyway, we had a great turn out with 11 beers and 13 chilis entered for the competition!  And this year was a bit different.  Besides being much colder outside, we made it kid-friendly with a bounce castle so that more friends could attend...that was a huge hit and worth every penny!  I think we had almost 40 adults and 20 kids!!

Back porch with two tasting stations

Chili tent

Gift basket of chili-related items for the winner of the best chili

Rogue Chipotle Ale with a gift card for the winners of the beer tasting

How well do you know your beers??

Partaking in the chili tasting

Best babysitter ever!  The other 18 kids were apparently in my house at this time eating cake shots!

Blaine takes his role as taster very seriously

Chocolate Stout Cake Shots...yum!

I know this shouldn't be funny to me (however, it is), but I had to grab my camera when the bounce castle blew a circuit and collapsed on the children inside.  Oh, the screams...of fear first, but then of excitement!  Everyone was okay.  :)

Blaine gives a prize to the winner of guessing the most types of beers...a tie between Matt and Edros!

Dan is proud to have submitted the winning beer...Shocktop Wheat!

Jeff and Marie take the prize for best chili!

It's almost 10 p.m. as I write this...at this time last year I was thoroughly enjoying the different beers with our friends in Hawaii.  Now, I'm ready for bed as a few guys sit with Blaine in the living room watching the UFC fight.  I imagine next year's party will be different, too, when we have a baby to put to bed.  :)  

Prayers Answered

For 20 weeks now, I have prayed for a healthy baby.  That's all that matters to us.  I'd have taken a boy or a girl, as long as our baby is healthy.  We were thrilled four weeks ago to find out we were having a girl...but we were even more thrilled yesterday when our ultrasound appointment assured us that she is, indeed, healthy and growing right on track!

I just love seeing her on ultrasound...it's so amazing to see all of the little parts of this little person inside of me.  She squirmed around a bit, but we got to see everything we needed to see.  My favorite was seeing her face, I think she is beautiful!  

Who do you think she looks like?!

Her little legs crossed!

Sweet baby foot...I can't wait to kiss those toes!

20 weeks!  I can't believe I'm already halfway through my pregnancy.  Only 20 more(ish) weeks until we meet our baby girl!!

Baby Sam weighs 12 ounces and is about the length of a banana now...and I can surely feel her moving around in there.  She particularly likes to punch and kick me right after I eat, so now I just sit back after meals and wait for her to say "hello".  I love it!!  

Happy Birthday, Blaine!

Today was a very special day.  First and foremost, we remember the fallen and honor the living veterans of war today.  But we also celebrated for another reason...today is Blaine's 35th birthday!  It is only fitting that someone as patriotic as my husband be born on this day.  :)  We had a nice breakfast with Blaine's brother, followed by gifts and yummy cupcakes.  I don't think Blaine was expecting any of it, so it was nice to see a look of surprise when he woke up to all of this.  I really love to make him feel special!

Perhaps the best gift of the day came later...when Blaine finally was able to see and feel our baby girl kicking and moving around in my belly!  I started to feel flutters and thumps a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't exactly sure it was her I was feeling.  But then I was reassured a few mornings ago when I decided to sit still and watch my belly.  Much to my surprise, I saw it move with one of those thumps!  I laughed and laughed until I cried.  So amazing!  Since that morning, I've been trying to get her to move for Blaine, but I guess she was waiting for today to give him a special "birthday kick"!  The look on his face was priceless.  :)  I think we are both so ready to meet her, we have so much fun talking and dreaming about who she will be and what our sweet little family will be like.

My growing belly...I haven't even taken the 19 week picture and I'll be 20 weeks on Thursday!  I think I'm even bigger now since this picture was taken.

Samantha's first pair of shoes...oh, to imagine those little kicking feet wearing these!  Melts my heart.  :)