Choo Choo...here comes solid food SJ!

We are nearing six months and we are looking at introducing solid foods.  Sophia Joyce (SJ) wakes up twice a night for feeding around 4AM and again close to 6 AM.  We were enjoying a full 7-8 hours of sleep prior to our trip back to the States in early Sept and we're hoping she takes to solid food and we encounter NO allergic reactions.  Maybe she will sleep longer ;-).  We purchased a food processor and I am looking forward to making food for her and sauces for us.  I have this feeling she will like sweet potatoes.

Sesame Street...not the same from when I was a kid

Sophia Joyce and I were up early today.  After a quick expresso shot for Daddy, we took in an episode of Sesame Street.  I haven't as yet checked with management (jenn) to see if deliberate TV watching is okay.  Hmmm...although the characters are the same the programming is different from when I was a kid.  Maybe it's just me.

This Curious Little Person

As soon as Jenn told me were expecting, I knew that to 'expect the unexpected' would be my modus operandi.  It has served me well throughout our experience with Sophia Joyce when changing gooey diapers,  calming her in the wee hours of the morning, or at times when I feel like I cannot fight back the sheer exhaustion that envelops me during the day...as a result from being up late and early.  What has really amazed me in this period of time that I can only describe as beautiful, chaotic, fleeting, and dream-like is the deep, emotional bond that I have with my daughter.  This curious little person whom I have only known for a little over 5 months has become my little girl that has easily, quietly, and completely captured my heart.  I really love seeing the explicit and implicit interactions between Jenn and Sophia.  It appears Jenn is quite smitten with our daughter as well.  The protoconversations between them are nothing short of amazing. 

Been way too long

Wow! I cannot believe that is has almost been an entire year since my last post. I am committed to posting at least a few times of week to document life here in Germany and life as a parent. Let's see how long it lasts ;-).

We are expecting!

We are expecting! Jennifer is about eleven weeks along and today, we saw the first glimpse of our new baby. It was such a thrilling sight to see. So much so, Jennifer was in tears and I must have said the word "wow" at least ten times. The nurse commented with Jenn crying and me saying wow repeatedly that she was "about to lose it." The doctor even commented this is what she lives for to see the joy that is present when a couple first see the child.

We were so overcome that this little thing only 3.75 centimeters in length (almost 1.5 inches) was our new little one. The doctor says the baby's size looks normal and the heartbeat is strong. How amazing it was to see the pixels on the sonogram screen flutter, representing our little one's heartbeat. In ten weeks we will know the sex of the baby.

We thank the Lord for this wonderful blessing and pray for a healthy, bouncing baby. I firmly believe the Lord sets challenges in front of us to facilitate our growth. That is why I am convinced that the baby will be a girl

;-).

Anyways, we wanted to share the glimpse of our new baby with you which gave us so much joy. Jenn is doing great despite some nauseau and headaches.

Fast Forward to Catch Up!

Hallo aus Deutschland! It has really been a long time since I have posted so a thousand pardons. Let me catch up folks up on current events. Hmmm, it seems Daddy Cap is doing well. He is no longer visiting the ER for infections and having to stay. He is feeling so much better that he is able to go blow balloons, perform magic tricks, and visit kids at Wallmart. What a turnaround. His general health improvement has definitely made moving to Germany much easier. I speak to them almost every other day via phone or Skype. Here is a pic of our house with the Beemer outside!

So, we attempted to sell our house in Atlanta from Feb through mid June. This was an exhausting process as we actually had plenty of traffic with only a few serious repeat visits. Even with a wonderful real estate agent no one stepped up for a formal offer. We were convinced that couple from Chicago were going to buy the house as they visited a total of four times, even with extended relatives. We were even thinking that they had a small party in the living room as neighbors swear they saw a pizza box come out of one of the trunks of the cars as all ten of them came through the house. Alas, no sell. It has worked out for us though. We became friends with a wonderful couple-Craig and Melissa Neubauer in the neighborhood who were looking to get out of their rental house. They are now living at our place...a wonderful blessing as I really like both of them and they are just great people.

So here I am now almost three months living in Kaiserslautern, Deutschland. Jenn and I are living in small town called Weilerbach. We are northwest of KMC. Jenn is detailed to CHPPM Europe at LRMC (Landstuhl Regional Medical Center). This is the major medical center in all of Europe where most of the serious wounded warriors seek medical attention. Jenn, as a LCD (Lieutenant Commander), supervises fifteen personnel who provide preventive medicine and environmental support to Europe and Africa.
Jenn was able to circulate my resume and it actually got a hit with an HP Enterprise Services-Europe group Director in Ramstein-our friend Rod. I was offered a job with HP and now work as a DoD contractor with TRICARE Eurasia Africa. I basically provide software development in the way of applications to facilitate oversight of medical care affiliated with US military, across all branches of services. Although, we have a small team, I really enjoy the folks I work with and for. I now know my ranks for each of the respective services. However, working for the government has been a big change for me coming from private sector. It is most certainly a different beast. I never thought of myself as military except when growing up when Dad was active duty but now I definitely do feel like a spouse of active duty military person. It has been quite a change but a new and interesting one. The military provides so much for families when they are deployed. So much so, I don't know how Jenn and I could have made it without that support. So if anything, I really appreciate our military even more. Jenn and I both feel that we are actively contributing to making things better for our military while being able to live in a beautiful place. More on this later... BTW, I have finally put my bike together and have been able to go on rides. Germany is very bike friendly.

Precious Time

It has been a really rough week for Daddy Cap as he was hospitalized last Monday with bad urinary pains. He didn't sleep very much Tuesday morning because he was in so much pain and it took a while to determine the right mix of pain medication to give him reprieve from the pain. It was thought that the source of the painful spasms was the urinary cancer. Initially it was thought it had compromised his bladder. The attending physician was frustrated by his failure to subside the spasms and pain for most of Monday night. He told us plainly that we should start considering a hospice as he felt the cancer had compromised the lining of the bladder and the muscles that cause the spasms. This really discouraged us as we all felt that we could not do anything more. It was an especially difficult day for me and I was fortunate that my father-in-law and Pastor (the spiritual rocks in my life) shared some wonderfully comforting words.

Also, early Wednesday my father's urologist decided to scope his bladder area to see if we could get some answers. It was confirmed that blockages with his catheter and occluded tubes from his kidneys to his bladder were to blame for the pain and infection. It was NOT the cancer. Also, it looks like the catheter has messed up his prostrate which left him susceptible to infections. They replaced his catheter, placed two stents to facilitate flow from the kidneys to the bladder, and well the prostate will heal with time. Dad is feeling only minor pain and we're hoping that we now understand the source of all the complicating infections and hope to have some weeks without going to the ER. He will hopefully go home on Monday.

Eventually we will all move on to something greater as our time here is finite. What we do with those seconds, minutes, hours, days...etc with those that surround us should be cherished and treated as a gift. That special time is not guaranteed nor promised to us. The time spent today with my Dad at his side in the hospital was priceless. Having him sit right next to me with his shoulder touching mine and we both reading together-him reading his newspaper and me my fitness magazine- not exchanging words just enjoying each other's company was a gift from God. I hope I never lose this perspective.