Oberlandesgericht and a Leap Day Baby!

I’m back!

Sorry for the silence this week. I have really missed writing here on my blog and am glad to be back!  This week there was just too much going on to update. Things were busy with work and then traveling for the funeral. I’m so glad I was able to be with the family, and though the circumstances were not really happy ones, it was nice to see everyone again. And as Tobias said, sometimes the more solemn celebrations knit family and friends closer together in a way that happier celebrations don’t necessarily do.

Well, it’s finally the weekend and things are a little bit back to normal. And we got some happy news from good friends of ours, Matthias and Ariane – their baby Émile was born on Leap Day! I can’t wait to meet him this weekend! Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy!

Wedding paperwork update

We got a letter from the court that our documents had arrived and I had to go pay the 50€ fee so that they could send it back to the Standesamt. They should receive it in about a week and then we can finally go in and set a date for the courthouse part of our wedding.

I had to go to two very big, impressive courthouse buildings at Sievekingplatz.  This one to pay the fee:

And to this second one to show the receipt so they could go ahead and send the documents to the Standesamt:

Supergirl!

Can I just say how cute it is that my little niece Abigail seems to be a little superwoman in the making?I’ve seen her strike this pose twice now!

Here was the first time – she didn’t look too happy about something, but isn’t that bow headband just ADORABLE?

This little girl was in the hospital last week for a few days, poor thing, and they did several tests on her. That sure was a stressful time for everyone, especially for my brother and sister-in-law. Turns out she’s allergic to lactose and soy, so she’s on a special formula for now and will be able to breastfeed again once Jaimie’s eliminated the allergens from her own diet for two weeks. Still waiting on the results for some testing, but hoping everything is okay and that it’s just the allergies. I’m really glad she’s back home again and seems to be doing better now!

If I feel this way just being an aunt…gosh. I think being a mother one day (hopefully!) will be much harder on the heartstrings! And I hear it never goes away…immense joy and worry at the same time, and that it doesn’t change when your kids have grown old and had their own children. Yikes. But I also hear it’s all worth it. And looking at this little baby face, I sure do believe it.

Skype date with Abigail

I’m so happy I got to talk to Jon and Jaimie on Skype last night!

It’s so funny seeing them sitting there with such a tiny baby!  She kept making all of these adorable noises…  Aww.

I love that cute little baby face!  She has the funniest expressions…

And then she slept for most of the call, as newborns tend to do.  She looked very cozy and peaceful.

I LOVE being an aunt.  Life is good!