Omi is Here!

My (Anne) mom arrived from the states yesterday to meet Cole and hang out with us for three weeks. So far, she's been a professonal baby holder, and this afternoon she and Cole read The Very Hungry Caterpillar together. My dad (Grandbob) arrives next Saturday. We're excited to have them!

for the COLE fans

So many friends have been bringing us dinners this week, and then staying a little to hang out. It's been great! The other night when Chad, Phil, & Megan were here, we attempted to give Cole his first bottle. Success!
We've also taken Cole on a few Vienna adventures in his Baby Bjorn lately. Yesterday we went to the hospital for Cole's circumcision. Ouch! We also stopped at the Coffeeshop Company on the way home and enjoyed our drinks as we walked along the Danube Canal home.
And lastly, just this morning Chris and Cole were reading The Treasure Principle together on the bed. Not sure how much Cole understood! We're trying to keep Cole awake for a little while after he eats each time, so today Cole & Chris hung out.

Theme: Sleep

Trip to Prater

This is Anne and Cole on their first walk together. We all went over to Prater today - it's a huge park that is a 5 minute walk from our apartment. There is a huge road down the middle only for pedestrians, bikers, etc. You can see all kinds of people jogging, biking, roller blading, strolling, sitting on benches, etc. Once spring really hits, it will be much more pretty with all of the greenery.
Anyhow, the walk was nice, but it tired Annie out. Cole was just fine - he didn't make a sound. I think he enjoyed the fresh air. You know, I was thinking we might get reprimanded by an old Austrian lady that we shouldn't have our baby's neck exposed to the draft. It's common to believe that it makes you sick - unless it's like 70 degrees or more. Strange but true. And people here (usually older Austrian women) feel free to let you know their opinions and what you ought to be doing about your driving, how you dress your child, how your windows are dirty, or whatever.
One cool thing about Austria is that babies are a big attraction. All kinds of people look and smile (normally its abnormal to smile) since you have a baby. They chat away to the baby and think it's great. You get a lot of positive attention that doesn't normally happen. I've seen old sophisticated men making crazy baby faces and chatting away to babies - something that would be absurd in any other circumstance.
By the way - isn't it a cool stroller? I like it a lot. The car seat pops out of the top and can be replaced by the seat for bigger kids.

first day home

so...it's anne here! it's been great to read all of your comments about our new life with cole byron frank. we are super thankful and feel very loved & encouraged.
it's nice to be home from the hospital now, even though the stay was restful and much needed. i got a massage daily and rested on the balcony in the sunny weather some.
so yesterday was our first full day at home as a family...woah.
cole is eating like a champ, and sleeping like a champ most of the time. he seems to be nocturnal, go figure. i've been amazed at the power he exerts in his diapers! yesterday he projectile peed all over himself, his hair, and his clothes. i thought i could dodge the bath thing for a few days, but plans changed, and our first bath happened. below you see a clean & snuggly cole after the pee was cleaned off!

yesterday's highlights

Mom on the balcony. 

Cole getting snuggly warm before the trip home. 

The new and improved Franks. 

Annie, enjoying the sun on the balcony at the hospital room. Notice the flip flops - a key part of the trip home. :) 

Home again

Annie and Cole just couldn't wait to get back home again. We're all here now - thanks so much for praying for a safe delivery for Anne and Cole, eventhough you didn't know his name yet. Cole is doing fine - sleeping right now in a bassinet that our neighbor let us borrow for a few months. He's been doing all the normal baby things (as far as we know) like sleeping, eating, filling up his diapers, and even using his manly power to pee on Anne. :) That was pretty funny - I'd heard boys do that sometimes, and Cole didn't waste any time.
Anne is feeling very well. She still needs more time to totally recover, though. I've been having thoughts about all of these changes - and thinking about how God views it all. There must be thousands and thousands of babies born every day. Somehow, God knows about and wants to be close to each and every person and situation (parents and child). That just doesn't make sense - how can he do that? He has set up an amazing system of how the human body works - both mother and baby. And the emotional things that go on also play into all of this. God really is a creative genius. But this makes me think of how we are all like children and some of the many comparisons the Bible makes between us and children; God and parents. I was an orphan and he adopted me. Crave God's words to me like a baby craves mom's milk. And then I think about how God loves me eventhough I'm not perfect, but he loves me because I'm his son. It's only better when I pay him attention back, like a parent and child.

Enough deep thoughts from Crispy.

Donnerstag

So, Thursday is the day we're all going to be back home - good news! It will be really nice to have Anne and Cole here. And I think Anne is looking forward to that much more than me - just be more free and have the comforts of home. Cole's room is all set and I guess we're as ready as we can be - but of course we have tons to learn. There's always tons of advice coming our way and we need to blanance that with what we feel is best.

Enough with all the boring typing, Chris! Put on more pictures, you might be saying. Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. I left the camera at the hospital. Although I could always put an "old" one on the blog and you'd never really know...

this one is for you, then:
hmmm, I guess that picture will be on top. oh well.

First Visitor From Afar

Where is afar, you might ask??
Orlando, Florida to be exact. My friend and old roomie (from the old Austria days in Guntramsdorf) John just flew in this morning. Well, he didn't come just to see Cole - he's here on a work trip. But we like to think of it as our first international visitor. He even beat Megaoma to the punch, plus Grandbob.

We're about to go over to the hospital to visit Anne and Cole. Don't worry, you picutre crazy folks - I'll put up more pictures soon. :)

Day Two

So, I just got home from being at the hospital all day with Anne and Cole. They're doing well - Cole looks better now that his head isn't so much of a conehead anymore. Anne is feeling great - even put on some of her own clothes.
We had a few visitors and phone calls, which we great.
Also, the weather today was amazing - probably 65 degrees, which is the warmest it's been in soooooo long. I'm sorta sad to say this as a SoCalifornian, but it felt HOT sitting in the sun and so nice. I used to think 65 was kinda cold.
I changed my first diaper and WOAH - it was a stinky nasty one. I think we let it go too long before checking. I realized today that his weight was actually 3.785 kg which means more like 8 pounds and 5 ounces I think.

Anyhow, I'm going to add a few pictures on top now. Enjoy.

He made it!!!

It's true, official, and frank: our baby was born this morning!!
His name is Cole Byron Frank.
He was born at 5:45am on Sunday, March 26th.
His weight is 3.875 kg ( 8 pounds 7 ounces).
His length is 54 cm (21 inches).

He's healthy and sleeping a lot. Anne is doing better than I imagined - and I have a pretty wild imagination.

Now for some pictures:

And here he is!!! 

The new and improved Frank family! 

Catching some Z's 

The Latest

Miles David Luginbill

Our new cousin: Miles David Luginbill

March 23, 2006

Isn't he cute?