Let's Paint!

Cole painted his first picture today. It was great fun AND great mess! He did surprisingly well for a little guy.

20 Week Cake

Cole and I decided to bake a Cinnamon Bundt Cake today after his nap. He helped me dump the ingredients in the bowl, and he helped me mix them up. The cake was a very yummy snack! I am 20 weeks pregnant today, too, which is halfway! This can serve as the 20 week belly shot for those of you wondering! It seemed appropriate to celebrate with a cake :).

Sunday @ Home

The lake my parents live on has a very low water level at this point in the summer, and contains some unexpected toxic algae, so my dad decided to pull the boat out before it gets stranded. So today we went on one last boat ride for the summer. We also helped my dad clean the boat in the driveway, and Cole decided to jump right in! He scrubbed, and then he dumped the soapy water all over himself. Figures! He also enjoyed his very own apple on the garage steps while watching the rest of us clean.

We all went down to our new house in Bloomington again yesterday, too. We tackled the backyard, and luckily this time no one came home with poison ivy. My dad had it pretty badly last week. We had a few guys come to help us this week, too. The backyard is now clear of bushes, some trees, weeds, and trash, and I really think by doing that we doubled the size of our yard! I am busy working our details with our contractor for getting the electrical, plumbing, and drywall work done in the next week or two, and then we can think about cleaning, painting and moving in! I'm learning to be persistent and patient at the same time during this process. Trying to handle all of this while Chris is in Vienna still is a big job for me, but it's been fun. I am so excited for Chris to get home on Saturday, though, so we can do this together!

Cole's new words so far today...knee, bottle, apple, sky, and share. This kid is a fireball and a new word maniac!

Wagon Surfing Take 2 & New Words

So last weekend on a walk, Cole wagon surfed again. This time, he toppled over onto the street, and you can see how the street ate up his face! Fortunately, it's much better now!
In other Cole news, he's saying what seems like a million new words every day. Some new ones include stool, boom, school, cat, picture, all gone, cool, two, dance, jump, turn it, off, on, and Andy (Raggedy Andy from when I was little). Chris has been gone for just over a week, and I already can't remember what Cole knew before Chris left and what he's learned since.
It's been in the high 90's here in Indianapolis the last few days, and with the humidity, we've been trying to find things to do that are inside. Today we visited Great Grandma Jean, "JEAN!" according to Cole. He loved the fish (shish) tank in her building, and the rocks on her coffee table. Grandma even let him climb up on the table and dance! He also used her electric vaccum sweeper all by himself. Wow, such a little boy, and SO much fun to watch.

A little T.L, and C

Today we spent the day in Bloomington at our new house! We are officially homeowners! The only bummer part is that Chris is in Vienna. My mom, dad, Cole, and I went down, though, to start attacking the yard. It's extremely overgrown and untended, probably for at least a few years. It's the epitome of a fixer-upper house. We're going to have a lot of interior work done soon, so today was outside day. We pulled weeds, chopped trees, cleaned out the trash in the house and especially the basement, and raked, raked, raked. I ripped up carpet, hosed out the crawl space under the porch that was filled with mud, dog poop, and trash, and took down old window shades. My parents were so helpful, and even though we all came home with scrapes and bruises, we had a great time. My dad even used a chainsaw! The people living in the house up until last week had a litter of pitbull puppies that they really didn't care for well at all, so they left remnants of that, old beach towels, rocks, books, and more all over the property. Unfortunately, we didn't do too much to the backyard (otherwise known as the Pit of Despair). That's next week's job. I think there is a garden and a sand box buried in bushes and overgrown weeds. Really, it is a jungle out there! The process is going to be fun, though, and since we don't have too much time pressure to move in and get going, we're ready for the challenge. HGTV, here we come! (I've been watching a lot of shows lately to get ideas and inspiration!) Above you see the house the first time we saw it, overgrown. You also see it today after we cleared out a whole lot of junk. Big progress in one day! Stay tuned for more photos.

Fun with a Mac

So we had some fun with my parent's Mac tonight using the Photo Booth program! This picture is so distorted and funny that I had to share! My mom is trying to convince me to put a real picture of the 3 of us on the blog so you'll know that we're not really so different than when you saw us last. I think you can figure that out, right? Hehe!

Culture Shock Moment

I ran a few errands this afternoon with Cole. All was going fine until I just couldn't find the Vaseline at Target. Pharmacy section? Makeup section? Grocery section? It was all just too huge and overwhelming. Aah! I need to try again tomorrow.

So, I came home and looked at the pictures my dad had taken in Michigan and I found this one of Cole and I flying a kite. We had so much fun that day! He learned to say "kite!" and hold the string while it flew. His vocabulary is just exploding these days. Just in the last couple days he began saying uh oh, okay, pocket, choo choo, and airplane. It is such a privilege to watch and listen to.

Last bit of Frank news. We close on our new house on Thursday afternoon! The little red house will be ours! See post below if you don't know what our house looks like. We are so excited, and this is the only thing that seems to be consuming our conversations and thoughts. I even dream about it at night! There is a lot of work to be done before we move in, and Chris leaves for Vienna for 3 weeks on Tuesday. So, it will still be a while until we move. We can't wait!

Baby Plate

Have you ever been to the restaurant called Claim Jumper in Southern California? We went tonight to celebrate Chris's birthday coming up in August. The restaurant is known for huge portions of food and the Mother Lode Chocolate Cake dessert. Tonight, though, Claim Jumper became famous in my book because not only did they have a very friendly kid's menu and take home durable plastic kid's cups, but they gave us a FREE BABY PLATE. Folks, this baby plate was more than Cole could eat! Composed of mandarin oranges, cinnamon applesauce, two types of cheese, and some turkey, this plate was gourmet! If we lived here, Claim Jumper would quickly rise to the top of my Kid Friendly Restaurant List. Woah, I'm in shock!

California Fun

We've been in California this week visiting Chris's family. We came to be as helpful as we can to Chris's mom, Nancy, and her family due to the recent death of Chris's grandfather, Papa Coleman. We named Cole after him! We had a small service yesterday morning with just family, and then a celebration of his life in the afternoon with friends, too. The funniest part of the day was when Cole threw Aunt Misi's book into Papa's grave along with the urn and flowers already there. He noticed that throwing things into the hole was a good idea, so he siezed the moment!
Cole has also had fun with his cousin Emilee at the playground, riding in Bubba's wagon, watering flowers, and laughing at mealtime. He's thankfully sleeping much better now, which means we are, too!

Wagon Surfing

No longer is the little red wagon just a place to relax. Now it's a place to surf!

Well, we're almost at the end of our Michigan vacation. It's been so much fun...and tiring, too. We've experienced some transition issues with Cole, mainly in the middle of the night. He's normally a great sleeper, but up here, I think he's slept through the night maybe three times out of our whole ten days here. We think it's because we've slept in four different places over the last month for a week or two at a time, and he's just a little guy feeling fed up with these changes. He doesn't have his normal toys, bed, or schedule really, so even though he's only 16 months, we think this moving thing is affecting him on a few levels. The good news is that he's been so happy during the day and he's taken great naps. He rode on a waverunner today, and he played in the water at the sand bar. We're really thankful to have such a flexible little guy during this crazy storm of transitions.

In other transitional news, we signed the agreement on our little red house, so we're close to being official homeowners. We close on August 2, and then we hope to move the last weekend of August after Chris returns from Vienna.
And last but definitely not least, I've noticed some differences in baby food in the USA. I'm used to feeding Cole pureed spinach, broccoli, and zucchini. In Vienna, these were some staples for us. I've been trying my best to sneak some veggies in Cole's food lately, and sometimes the puree is the best way. In the USA, though, my green choices have been peas and green beans. I miss Vienna for that reason already!

There is a Well

There is a flowing well on the east side of the Schindler Cottage, where we've been for the past week. Cole has recently figured out that throwing rocks into this well is a great way to pass the time! The only thing, though, is that the water is very cold!
Cole has also been skinny dipping this week, learned to play Corn Hole, taken a few boat rides, and jumped in puddles after a huge downpour. We are having a great time seeing family, too, who we haven't seen for a year. We're really thankful for this annual family vacation!

New News!

The 4th of July was a great day! Cole acquired some red, white, and blue beads, and for the past few days he's been wearing them saying "beee" and it's really cute. Cole got to play with Miles, too, his cousin who is only 3 days older. And last but definitely not least, we decided to make an offer on the cute red house you see above with the pink door. It's in a super location in Bloomington, and it needs some TLC before we move in. We love it, and are very excited to go forward in the process. We've never been down the house road before, so it's been quite an education for us in the last few weeks. We're headed up to Northern Michigan this afternoon for about 2 weeks, and then off to California for a week. Thus begins summer vacation!

busy bee

We're in Indy once again
But this time is permanent
Mostly

We're on our way
To Oden and the OC
Travel

And I guess that isn't enough
Vienna will be next
Again

Cole is cute as ever
Talking and getting opinionated
Gibberish

He does have a few words
Under his tongue - car, cracker, beads, cookie, keys, mommy, and
Dad

Looking forward to reading a little
Business books, Harry Potter, and don't forget
GMAT

We put an offer on
A red house with a pink
Door

There's a red house over yonder
That's where my baby stays
Jimi

Job interview at IU
Student financial aid services
Waiting

Hoping to educate the Luginbills
About real dark
Chocolate

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend! Cole loved the swimming pool so much, and we had a lot of fun visiting family and eating great American food. We shucked corn on the cob, ate hamburgers on the grill, and stayed up past bedtime. Cole even indulged himself in a Ritter's Ice Cream cake last night with Aunt Jane. Needless to say, we took a bath afterwards. He had fun, though, can't you tell?

We're Back!

So we're safely in the USA as of 24 hours ago. We left where we were staying in Vienna yesterday morning at 8 a.m. Vienna time, and landed in Indianapolis at 3 a.m. Saturday morning Vienna time. Whew! It was a great day, though. Our flights were great, including Cole! I was nervous about the 10 hour flight from Vienna to Chicago, but Cole proved my nervousness unnecessary. He ate the airplane food, played with all the toys and books we brought, and charmed the people sitting around us and flight attendants. They all were jealous of his eyelashes! They're really really long :). Really, he was a great little traveler. He didn't even notice take off or landing on either flight. We think it's because he was so used to being on public transportation in Vienna that the noises and movement didn't really phase him.
We are thankful to be back in the USA. We went swimming and played outside today. What a blessing to have a yard and a driveway to play in, and even a little red wagon to ride in. WOW! Cole has been playing with the same few toys for the past 3 weeks or so, so being at Omi and GrandBob's house is a breath of fresh air for all of us.
We will start looking for a house on Monday with a realtor in Bloomington, and Chris has a job interview at Indiana University on Tuesday, so we're starting off right away. Ever since we started packing our Vienna apartment months ago, I've been longing for a place with no boxes and that I can call home. I hope we find it soon!

Today's Highlights

#1: We had our move out inspection at our apartment this morning. We turned in our keys and climbed the million stairs for the last time. We received our entire security deposit back, too, which is great! In Austria, security deposits are typically 3 months rent, so it's pretty significant.

#2: Cole and I watched videos of tractors on You Tube this morning. Definitely today's winning activity! He's been saying tak ta, tak ta, tak ta all morning long.

Well, tomorrow is our last day in Vienna. We are hoping to go to a beach on the Danube River if it's nice, but the weather has been cooler lately, so it may be that we end up at the Prater park, a place we wanted to visit once more anyway. It feels good to be near the end, and we are glad we've had this last week without too much business to take care of.

We fly to Indianapolis on Friday, so if you think of it, please pray for a safe trip and a positive day with Cole! I've been dreading the 10 hour flight with Cole in such a small space. He does have his own seat, though, and I have a few new surprises along with some of his favorite toys and books, and snacks of course, for entertainment. We'll blog again when we're in the USA!

Swimming!

Since our apartment work is now finished, we decided to spend the morning swimming and relaxing at Bundesbad Alte Donau. Austrians LOVE swimming and relaxing, so there are public pools and beaches all over the city, especially along the Danube River. The place we went today has lots of clean green shady and sunny spaces just like a park, and right next to it is a really nice rocky beach. Cole loved the rocky beach and the water! He sat for literally an hour dropping rocks into the water and then going down to pick them up. We took lots of pictures, but we won't be able to upload them until we get to the USA. Stay tuned!

Staff Moms

I spent a lot of time with these ladies this year! These moms have kids from newborns ranging all the way up to college students. This is at our last gathering in Marci's backyard a couple weeks ago. It was so nice this year to have a group of moms for support and just to hang out with during the day since everyone else was at VCS. I'll miss that!

Container Day

Well, today is a BIG day in our moving life. As I type, Chris and some faithful helpers are loading a 40 foot shipping container that will be sent to Normal, IL. The shipping company allots you 2 hours to strategically pack your own things, so I'm sure the guys are working hard and fast. A bonus of being pregnant and chasing a toddler all day...no loading containers for me!

In the last few days, we have sealed and labeled about 90 boxes and items to be shipped. We combined forces with 2 other families so the whole container is not ours. It should take about a month to arrive, and then we will drive to pick it up when Chris returns from Austria in August. Hopefully we will then have a home by then so we have a place for our things to land.

A few things, too, about moving in Europe. One, unless you are independently wealthy, you usually do the moving yourself. People in Austria rarely move due to the huge hassle of navigating one way city streets or public transportation, hauling boxes and furniture up and down narrow spiral staircases, and lack of parking or moving help. Two, families in Austria often buy or rent an apartment for a long time, so moving every couple years is often unheard of. The neighbors in our building have been shocked watching us the last few days. They have been asking questions, too, that we would never get in the USA. Three, due to this tendency for renters to stay a while, rental contracts are very detailed and full of requirements. So now that our apartment is empty and we are temporarily staying in another family's place, we still have to clean, paint the walls with a fresh coat of white paint, clean the windows, and polish the floors.

Our goal is by the end of this week to be completely finished with our apartment. Then we'll have one week left to enjoy Vienna, responsibility free!

We're in the Club!

Ever since I can remember I have heard about how little kids get free treats at the grocery store just because they are cute. People in Austria LOVE little kids, and often go out of their way (especially elderly folks) to say hello or ask a slew of questions about how old the baby is or if it's a boy or girl. Well, my friend Laura's 2 year old daughter, Rebecca, is so cute that she's often the recipient of a free piece of meat from the deli, and even recently she received a free krapfen, which is the Austrian version of a filled donut.
I have been so jealous of this, mainly because up until 2 days ago, no one even batted eyes at Cole. The cashiers are often frustrated with his perfect ability to snatch anything off the check out shelves or conveyer belt!
So 2 days ago, I was buying turkey at the deli, and low and behold, the lady held out a FREE PIECE OF MEAT for Cole! I was shocked...so shocked that I called my friend Laura just to tell her that we are officially in the free meat club for kids. And then today I was at Chris's favorite chocolate store in Vienna, Xocolat, looking for a Father's Day gift. By the way, Father's Day in Austria was LAST Sunday, so you can imagine how crazy I sounded when I told the lady in German that I was looking for a Father's Day gift. Anyway, I was paying for the item we found for Chris and the very nice chocolate saleslady offered Cole a FREE PIECE OF CHOCOLATE! Yes, we are also now in the free chocolate club for kids, too. Why did this start happening NOW, when we only have 2 weeks left in Vienna? :) Do they do this in the USA?

Goodbyes stink!

This is my good friend, Laura. We took this picture at the 5K race we did a couple weeks ago. She lives just 3 blocks away from us and has 2 girls, one older than Cole and one younger. We played with them at least once a week all year long, and Laura was always the one who received my phone calls about baby medicine, solid food, or questions about anything else having to do with raising kids. I even called her the other day when I saw some naked kids at a downtown park because I knew she'd get a kick out of it! It has been so much fun to live life with Laura this year, and I honestly feel like no one else really understands my life with a baby here as much as she does. She was also a teacher when she came to Vienna, and has made the transition to mom life. So we spent our last morning together with the kids at the park today, and then said goodbye. She and her family are leaving for the summer tomorrow, but are coming back for another year at VCS. I'm learning that the saddest part of leaving VCS is leaving the people that you experience life with here. Goodbyes just stink!

New Words!

Cole just said CHEESE for the first time. Yahoo! He also says tractor, car, and a few other mumbles that mean something. We are constantly amazed at how fast Cole learns. Wow!

What's Cole Been Up To?

Baby yoga?

Chris found a 50 inch plasma screen TV box in our building's trash room, and now it has become Cole's garage.

I decided that today would be a good day to try drinking from a real cup, versus a sippy cup. Cole and I made smoothies (yes, he dropped the strawberries and bananas in the blender for me) for a snack this afternoon, and I let Cole have his in a big boy cup...in a diaper in the bath tub! As you can see, not much hit the mouth, but it made for a funny and cool afternoon in this hot Vienna weather!

Prater & Happy Crispy

The picture above is of Prater, our favorite park that's really close by. As we pack and bubble wrap and say goodbyes, we have been thinking also of the places we love in Vienna. This is one of our favorites! I hope we can get there at least a few more times before June 29. We're up to our ears, though, in boxes, canceling utilities, end of the year school stuff. School ended just yesterday, and all the staff are finished tomorrow. All except the business manager and a few chosen folks. Chris is working a few days longer to wrap up some stuff in the office and get ready for Jeff, the new business manager coming in August. After that, we're going to spend more time at Prater!
This is happy Crispy at Matt's birthday party last week. Who wears mesh shirts still, you may ask? Crispy...just to get looks from passers-by. Chris has been a packing maniac recently, and I am so thankful. Being pregnant has made me more tired than I anticipated, and he has definitely picked up the slack. I think he secretly enjoys packing boxes, though, it's like a puzzle system. I'd rather just throw it all in and send it away! Chris makes sure, though, that we'll arrive in Indiana with all of the stuff we left Vienna with in one piece. Whew!

Oesterreichischer Frauenlauf 2007

Today was the 20th Annual Austrian Women's Run in the Prater Park...just a few minute walk from our building. The scenery is beautiful and I think about 15,000 women participated this year. I think it's turning into a tradition for VCS women to run in this race, which makes it all the more fun to participate. It was a lot of fun! Chris and Cole had a lot of fun cheering from the side lines, too. Unfortunately, when I ran by, Cole was mesmerized by the crowds that he didn't see me at all! Bummer.

Coming at Christmas Time!

Blank Frank the Second! Yippee!

Sort These!

Cole found a box today as I was getting lunch ready. Lately he has been fascinated by things that open and close, and especially containers with goodies inside! So we used the box to hold his lunch today, and he had so much fun moving cheese, grapes, and raisins back and forth and back and forth between the box parts. Who knew?

Picnic at the Park

We had a nice picnic at the park for lunch on Saturday...trying to stay in the shade! It's been blazing hot here recently, and with no air conditioning, we're doing our best to keep a breeze going through our apartment.

As you can see, Cole would much rather walk next to dad than ride in the stroller. Much easier access to rocks and sticks!

Listen up!

Thanks to my friends Ken and Laura, I found this thing called finetune. Maybe this is old news, but it's pretty cool - create your own (free) playlist on their website. Then you follow the simple directions and you can have your own personal playlist available for everyone on your blog/website. You can also use other people's playlists, or even choose a few songs and let finetune do the rest. I'm sure there are tons of other options, but this is all I know for now.

And guess what? My playlist is just over there ------> on the right. I think it plays randomly. Bubba, you might be in for a shock. enjoy :)

Funny Guy @ Dinner

So this is my last post for today...I'm blogging crazy today. We went out for pizza on Katie's last night in Vienna tonight. Cole does not have a bib on...he refuses to keep one on. It's drool. When will the madness stop?

Schoenbrunn Palace

This morning Katie, Cole, and I visited the Schoenbrunn Palace. This palace was the summer residence for the Hapsburg family, specifically while Maria Theresa was empress. The grounds are very well preserved, and include a labyrinth, the oldest zoo in the world, a rose garden, Roman ruins, and lots of strolling paths. The building you see behind Cole and me is the Gloriette, which is now a cafe with a beautiful view of Vienna. It used to be Maria Theresa's private location for the most elite parties. Cole had a great time playing in the rocks, and I actually got him to keep his hat on for once! One more great thing about today is we showed up in time to hear the Vienna Philharmonic practicing live outdoors on a huge stage. They perform an annual free concert at the summer palace every year, and this year's concert is tomorrow. What a great surprise!

Katie's Visit

Our friend Katie is visiting us for a couple days on her way to spend 2 years in Mumbai, India. Today we visited the Hofburg Rose Garden...beautiful!


Cole fell asleep in the stroller...too many roses, I guess! It was a hot day here, too. Welcome, summer!
Katie & Cole playing in the kitchen!

Packin' It Up

We spent some time last weekend packing up our apartment. School is over in about 3 weeks, and then we load our shipping container with boxes and furniture on June 18. We have about 10 days after that to take in as much of Vienna as we can before we fly to Indiana on June 29. Time is surely flying!

Italia!

We just returned from a great trip to Italy with Tom, Karen, Scott, and Laura Luginbill. We spent some time in Venice and Florence before returning back to Vienna last night. Cole experienced his first overnight train, we ate gelato every day, and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather!

Build a RAFT

One strategy when you move away from a place is to build a RAFT. It's a way to think about leaving in a healthy way. The letters stand for...
1. Reconcile
2. Affirm
3. Farewell
4. Think Destination

The picture above is of all the departing staff from VCS this year. Chris, Cole, and I are on the left. We're all on our raft! Thanks to our school's graphic designer, we have a great reminder that we need to do our best to leave this place well. The sign says Auf Wiedersehen, meaning goodbye, and Gute Fahrt, meaning have a safe trip.