Grandma Rose Came to Town

My mom got in on Friday morning to spend about a month with us. Blaise was happy to see his Grandma!

We spent the first morning at the park on the Rhine with her

PS: I uploaded more 4 month pictures to http://blaisekarl.shutterfly.com/

A Memorial Day Visit

Michelle Roark came to town! Just in time, too, because the Mainz soccer team needed her! The soccer team was founded in 1905 and finally moved up to the premier league in 2004 when Michelle was visiting for a few days in May.

Michelle and Jörg at the celebration May 2004

Unfortunately, Mainz only lasted two seasons in the premier league before moving down to the second league (roughly comparable to the minors). This year they fought hard and it came down to the final game again - they made it and will play in the premier league next year. Michelle was here to witness the crazy celebration once again!

2009 celebration

Michelle arrived on Thursday, which was a holiday in our part of Germany. Jan picked her up early at the airport and we hung out and took a walk to the park.

Michelle overcame her jetlag and Blaise was happy to flirt with her!

Reading Hour

Michelle even caught up on her reading

We relaxed and took a few day trips while she was here. We took a Rhine cruise and toured the small town of St. Goar. We also took a trip down to Oppenheim, a small wine village on the Rhine. We hung out at the market and drank good coffee. It was great to have you here, Michelle! Thank you for visiting us!

PS: I uploaded more pictures to "4 months" on my picture website: http://blaisekarl.shutterfly.com/

For Those Of You Who Cannot Get Enough

I set up another website dedicated only to pictures of Blaise. I will just dump all of our pictures in there from now on. Months 3 and 4 are up and current. I will go back and add months 2 and some from 1. I'll post here when I've added new ones.

http://blaisekarl.shutterfly.com/

Milestone

My baby is growing up. :) Yesterday he independently rolled from his back to his tummy. He has been making it to his sides and back for awhile, but now he has made it all the way over. He couldn't get back or keep rolling, but I am sure I will be blogging about those events soon. Of course we tried to capture it on film, but it was a one time only showing. So, here are our video attempts at trying to bribe Blaise to do it again :)









It was pretty warm here yesterday, hence the baby belly :)

Caféhaus Schröder

Anyone who knows Jan, knows what a coffee snob he is :) He has been lusting over this espresso machine for some time now, but buying it new is quite the investment. A colleague of his was hoping to sell it in their intranet marketplace, but apparently wasn't up for the negotiating and gave it to Jan for free. (except for the shipping cost, since the colleague works at a different location) The guy did say that it needed to be cleaned and fixed...

Jan was horrified at the condition the machine was in, but...

... was looking forward to the project of getting it running again.

The shining finished product

The first espresso attempt

It works!

yummm...

Two things:

1) Jan is worried my Dad is going to be mad at him once my Mom gets here in two weeks and tastes the espresso and then desires her own personal professional machine.

2) Jan is looking forward to a visit from his espresso buddy, Jeremy! :)

How Do I Buy Green Power (in the US)?

Here is some information I found regarding green energy for the consumer in the US. This was the most helpful link: http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml
It breaks down (as of May 2008) green energy providers by State.

"If retail electricity competition is allowed in your state, you may be able to purchase a green power product from an alternative electricity supplier. Some states have already implemented electricity competition. Check the Status of State Electric Industry Restructuring Activity (PDF 2.1 MB) map, prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, to see if your state has passed an electricity competition law.

Even if your state is not implementing electricity market competition, you may still be able to purchase green power through your regulated utility. More than 600 regulated utilities spanning more than 30 states offer "green pricing" programs (see our map of green pricing programs). The term green pricing refers to an optional utility service that allows customers to support a greater level of utility investment in renewable energy by paying a premium on their electric bill to cover any above-market costs of acquiring renewable energy resources.

Finally, whether or not you have access to green power through your utility or a competitive electricity marketer, you can purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs). RECs (also known as green tags, green energy certificates, or tradable renewable certificates) represent the environmental attributes of power generated from renewable electric plants. A variety of organizations offer RECs separate from electricity service, that is, you need not switch from your current electricity supplier in order to purchase these certificates."

source: http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/index.shtml

Renewable Energy

I recently started looking around to see if I could find a cheaper provider for electricity. Jen's husband, Martin, recommended a green energy provider and I checked them out online. I found a great website for price comparisions and quickly found that the green energy provider was actually cheaper than our current provider! I signed us up! Beginning in July, we will receive 100% of our electricity from water power. The company buys the electricity from a river in Austria. I am so excited! We will save about €200 the first year AND I have a warm and fuzzy feeling that we are using green energy!

My Precious Gift

Happy Mother's Day!

4 months old - May 7, 2009

Dear Blaise,

You have been in our lives for four months now and the time has flown! We have been very busy recently and you are keeping us guessing with things like sleep, feedings and schedules! We have had some visitors in the past few weeks which is great - we love showing you off! Abbi and Andre came to see you in March and cousin Kim even moved half way around the world to be closer to you :) You had a great time laughing with Kim! We are also having a great time spending some time every day with Jen since her maternity leave has already begun. You like to take naps in your buggy on the cobblestones...even if they aren't as long as Mommy would like.

We took our first trip with you to cousin Jana's 50th birthday celebration in Seifersbach. You were a very good baby and the trip went well. It was the test run for our big trip in the fall.

You have begun doing lots of cute baby things! You are very interested in your hands and we are starting to worry that you might swallow some fingers! In addition to your coos, you are ah-gee-ing and even laughing...you have the best laugh I have ever heard! You are just starting to learn about laughing and it changes often, today you squeeled in delight. We love watching you take in your surroundings and we wish we could know what is going through your sweet little head. You really seem to take in a lot and we are trying to challenge you as much as possible. You are so strong now that you can hold up your head by yourself and you seem to be enjoying this very much - the first real sense of independence.

I am in awe of you every day.

Thank you for sweeting our lives. We love you so much.

Love,
Mommy

Mmmmmmmmm

Cloth Diaper Collection 1.4

Goodmama Organic Bamboo Velour One-Size Fitted Diaper

Blaise is modeling "Kenya"

http://shop.thegoodmama.com/

One year ago today...

I found out I was pregnant! I had convinced myself I wasn't pregnant, but took a test anyway since I was up at 6am in the morning. I was 14 days past ovulation so I figured the test would be definitive either way. Much to my surprise, it was positive. After confirming with another test, I finally made my way back into the bedroom to tell Jan. He initially thought something was wrong since I was so hysterical - but hysterical in a good way :) May 1st is a holiday in Germany, as it is in much of the world, it is Labor Day. So, we had the day off, although neither of us can remember what we did! I called my doctor the next day (Friday) and saw him on Monday, then again the following Friday before we flew to the US on Saturday morning!

Can't believe we've had Blaise in our lives now for almost four months! What a great journey it has been!