Oh look! A box of Kleenex with 1 tissue in it. Thank goodness they packed this!

The past 5 days I have had all sorts of thoughts for blog fodder only to have all of it leave my head. I can't remember a single thing or anecdote about the last few days, except for the amazing backache I have from unpacking and carrying boxes all over the house. So you will have to settle for a generic update of the mundane. Enjoy. :)
Whew! The past 4 days have been hectic but our house is starting to look like a home. Right on schedule, our movers showed up bright and early at 8am on Thursday to deliver all our stuff. Surprisingly everything arrived in great condition (I say surprisingly because in our last mover our furniture - especially the bedroom furniture - has suffered some serious bumps and bruises). There were a few items that were beat up, courtesy of the movers in Hawaii, and that was pretty frustrating. They even packed up our small 1 year old 13 inch TV and labeled it on the paperwork as broken. We haven't unearthed that television yet but who knows what they did to it to label it as broken. All things considered, damage was pretty minor. I've been working night and day unpacking and organizing. I am thrilled with the way our house is coming together. It is so nice when your belongings actually fit and look like they belong, in a house. The homes in Hawaii are so small that our furniture drawfed the rooms even more and looked a little out of place at times so this is a welcome change.
Last week Luke started having trouble getting to (and staying in) bed at night. He couldn't settle down and it would take him up to 2 hours to fall asleep at night. The freedom of sleeping in a bed meant that Brian and I spent anywhere from 2 to 30 minuted getting Luke to bed and putting him back into bed until he fell asleep. For the past few nights, that crept up to an hour or 2. It was very difficult to deal with and I was contemplating putting the crib back up. I understand that the excitement of our house arriving and the discovery of all his long ago packed toys and books, along with the chaotic state of the house, added to his restlessness. I've been trying to put myself in Luke's shoes, so to speak, and I decided that I had to find a way to make him more comfortable in his room. Yesterday I found the safety first bed rail thing, you know, that contraption you attach to a bed to prevent a toddler from falling out, in the basement buried among boxes and I decided that this bed contraption (along with a soft pillow) would help him feel more secure, more snuggled in, more cozy. And as of last night, the first and so far only night that we have used it, it was a success! Luke went to bed at 8pm and stayed put, didn't get out 1 time, passed right out. And slept soundly until 7 this morning. Let's hope this sticks.
We've finally had a cold, rainy front pass through. Since Luke and I have been here the weather has been amazing and the sun has ben shining almost every day. On Friday it was a miserable rainy day and on Saturday the wing gusts were insane, rattling the shutters on the house and blowing all belongings (ours and the neighbors) all over the place. Hail was pouring down intermittently with the rain and it was just cold and wet. Yesterday we decided to take a break from the unpacking for awhile and braved the last of the rain and wind to head up to Grafenwohr to pick up some things at the PX and eat lunch. Now I add this little tidbit only because it made me so happy - Luke was wonderful. Perfect. Amazingly well behaved. He listened. He behaved. He smiled. He kept himself busy and entertained while in the cart. And he stayed close and listened while walking. I know, I know, it is obnoxious when people go on and on about how fabulous their children are but let me tell you, last week Luke was trying our patience every day (the arching of the back and shrieking when trying to put him in a shopping cart or a car seat was among my favorites). Yesterday was a welcome change and I was thrilled.
Okay, let's see...some pictures from the past week perhaps? Okay, we have Luke putting his teddy bear in the high chair so teddy can color, Luke playing with his new train from IKEA, Luke riding a little tractor he found in the backyard (the neighbor's), and Luke pushing around a lawn mower (his).

Next we have pictures from our drive yesterday - rainy streets, castle ruins on a hill, the rolling countryside, driving through the Bavarian forests, a street sign, a small town and the gas pump at our local Esso station.Finally, a couple pictures of our little man from last night, just because.

No, you are not going to see my house. It is still a mess, stuff everywhere, packing paper littering the floor, pictures and mirrors leaning on walls, waiting to be hung, etc, etc, etc...It will all get done soon. I leave you with one of my brother Dave's favorite gems "Haste makes paste."