Consumer Reports

Chris recently signed up for a year subscription to Consumer Reports Magazine. His reasoning is that in the next year we are planning to make some major purchases, and hopefully with the help of the experts we can save some money and glean some useful advice.
Well, we purchased all of our appliances last week at a Sears Scratch n' Dent Warehouse in Indianapolis. We ended up saving over $500 thanks to Consumer Reports. Chris did a lot of research before we shopped, too, so we walked in knowing the exact models we wanted. He research repair history, baking performance (for me!), and lots of other categories. The applicances at these places often are perfect, too, except for a tiny scratch on the back or some leftover sticker glue that's easily removable. Ten points for Consumer Reports!
We just received the October issue in the mail yesterday. I've only read the first couple pages, and I've learned about the best stainless steel cleaners, how to make good choices about sweetners, and that the Easy Bake Oven is being recalled because kids are being easily burned. What will be next?
Now, is it just me, or is this magazine a disguise for a SHOPPING magazine? I mean, really, folks. Every article has to do with buying something from chocolate to vitamins to cleaners to cars and lawnmowers. For a new homeowner like me, it's loaded with great money and time saving tips. Don't you want a subscription?

Moving Right Along

We spent today down at our house in Bloomington. We painted our bedroom! In reality it's a khaki color even though in the picture it looks yellowish. It's finally starting to feel like we may live there in the near future. The ceilings are now drywall instead of tongue and groove, and the elecrical work is almost finished. We still need to get our front porch fixed, hardwood floors sanded and polyurethaned, and finish painting. Our new appliances come in a week, and this week our moving van from California arrives. It's all moving so fast, but it's exciting! Above you see the before and after pictures of our bedroom. Fun!

Indy Zoo

We took a break from house renovations and appliance shopping and went to the Indianapolis Zoo today. Chris made it back from Vienna safely a few days ago, and now we're enjoying some much missed family time!
We saw an elephant get a bath, sleeping lions, and some HUGE bears up close. We also saw some white rhinos sleeping and some sharks in the Oceans exhibit. We could have spent more time at the Indy Zoo, so we may need to plan another trip soon.

It's another Frank BOY!

Yes, that's right. The Franks are having another boy! The only glitch is that the doctor found a long-named (I'm not sure the exact name!) cyst in the baby's brain on the ultrasound today. She said not to worry because these most often go away through the rest of the pregnancy, but just in case I get to have another ultrasound to check on it in 2 months. It's always great to see pictures of our growing baby, so that's the good news.

The other noteworthy thing about today is that when I asked Cole what he'd like for breakfast this morning he immediately said, "COOKIES!" I had to laugh out loud! Yesterday I gave him a chocolate JoeJoe cookie from Trader Joe's. It's like an Oreo with chocolate filling. He loved it! He threw a huge tantrum on the floor when I didn't give him another one. He sat their crying and mumbling "cookies!" over and over. The kid is a cookie monster!

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!