5 years in the US of A

5 years ago I arrived in the US on April 1st 2005 at Dulles Airport. What a great and interesting journey it has been since then. I worked a lot of different and exciting jobs, won new great friends, lost a few friends along the way, got married to my wonderful and amazing wife who gave me the greatest gift ever: our son Liam! He is of course, as every parent would say, the cutest and most adorable child you have ever seen.

I wouldn't change a thing and I'm absolutely proud of my little family!

In all these years my wife always stand by my side through thick and thin. She was and still is my rock and I love her with all my heart! No matter what got thrown at us the last years, we went through it together and I wouldn't want it any other way. We are a great team and we don't really believe in fights and big arguments. Of course we have different opinions every once in a while, but it's all over after about 5 minutes and it's all good again.

Our son Liam is a little bit over 9 month old now and it's just a joy to see him grow up. He is crawling already and when he smiles with his big blue eyes and his 6 teeth, than you forget everything around you. It's just an amazing feeling!

He puts smiles on a lot of peoples faces when we are out. At Hunters Run Wine Barn http://www.huntersrunwinebarn.com/, where he is known as the mascot, or any place else where we go. Liam is just friendly to everybody and it's awesome to see the response he is getting from total strangers. I'm pretty sure he makes quite a few peoples day when they see him laughing and happy in his stroller.

I feel at home here with my little family and we will see what the next 5 years have in store for us.

http://www.nils-online.com/servlet/StoreFront

"Bouncies" just arrived from Germany

"Bouncies" just arrived from Germany. Liam is totally fascinated by them. "Bouncies" are known as "Schwingfiguren" in Europe, where they have been delighting the young and the young at heart for nearly a decade. These wooden characters are handmade in Germany and are hanging (bouncing) on a spring. So much fun and Liam can't take his eyes off them.

Please check it out:
http://www.nils-online.com/servlet/the-Bouncies/Categories

Life is good

Life is good! Enjoying the great outdoors with the family! Loving the sun and the warm spring weather with my son in the hammock! My beautiful 2 in the sunlight on a great afternoon in the backyard

It's just great to have the whole family home on such an awesome day. Doing some yard work, entertaining the little one and feeling good all day. If the weather would just stay like this all summer long. I'm not complaining, just wishing a little...
I like the snow too, but when this weather comes around, I just want to keep it.

Liam likes to explore everything ever since he turned 9 month last week and started crawling on that day. Nothing is safe anymore and he is getting faster and faster every day. That is so much fun and we love every minute of it...

Wishing everybody a great and healthy spring season, or in Liams words: Ga, ga, ga, ga, ga :-)

March for Babies

Click here to help me reach my goal!

Nice walk

We went on the W&OD trail http://www.wodfriends.org/for a nice long walk. It was really nice. There is still a little bit of snow left and right and I guess that kept most of the bikers away. It was so nice and quiet and the little one just loved it. He could look around out of his new stroller and took only one little nap in between, when he couldn't keep himself awake anymore. So cute.
We were walking for 2 hours and I was pretty beat afterwards. We are doing the South Beach Diet right now http://www.SouthBeachDiet.com - Dad's have to loose baby weight too ;-).
Just like with any other diet, you need to exercise. This is the perfect exercise to take your little one with you and you don't have to spend any money. We are done with the first week and I lost over 10 Pounds already. It's great. You cut out all the carbs and sugars (Sodas etc.) in phase 1 and make your own meals with a meal plan. There are 3 phases and you can find them online at http://www.southbeachcenturyclub.com/ for free and you don't have to sign up for it. There are support groups on Facebook as well with tips and tricks. Just check it out, it's very interesting. We bought the book and it helps to understand how your body and the whole diet works. You can get it at Amazon for around $10.00 for example. I can only recommend it if you want to take some weight off.

Bundled up and in an awesome mood. He just loved the whole ride. We walked by the Hunters Run Wine Barn http://www.huntersrunwinebarn.com/ at first and stopped by later for a great glass of wine. It's just a really family friendly and inviting place to go to. We love it there and can't wait until the weather gets better and we can enjoy the great outside setting. Bring on the warm weather!

Another day in the changing business

What is wrong with this picture? Babies R' Us in Sterling, VA has restrooms and a mothers room.
I have to go into the men's room to change a diaper. There is a changing table (not really clean) and I can't really fit the stroller in the stall with me. I blocked half the restroom. I checked out the mother's room and that room is really nice and comfortable. Roomy and clean with couches and real changing tables. I don't think mothers would appreciate it if I would go on here while they're breastfeeding... Why not make it a family room?

I don't know if I should feel offended. I like the store and the people here are really friendly and helpful, but this is something I don't get...

Went to Wal Mart in Leesburg, VA afterwards just to check out the Baby section. I was surprised how much cheaper the formula ishttp://www.gerber.com/AllStages/Products/GoodStart_Formulas.aspx?PLineId=cc27fb48-a094-4015-b29c-f8d861415f88&PCatId=06a3314b-3aea-47c4-b79e-089e5c09efc3
I payed $24.99 with a $2.00 off coupon. The same formula is $22.50 at Wal Mart without any sale, or coupon!

I went to the men's room and look at this:

They have a nice area to change a diaper. Very clean and enough room to move around. They even have an option to buy a changing kit for $1.00. Never seen that before + paper towels and a trash can right next to the changing table. I was impressed!

Make sure you have a clean diaper on your little one before you go to Babies R' Us if you are a Dad and are going alone with your child. And check out Wal Mart first if you need anything for your Baby. I will do that from now on...