Recent Happenings

This past month has been really crazy for us. Didier was gone for 10 days. Then he was home for a little less than a week. Then gone again for 6 days, home for 4 and gone again for 4. It's never all that fun (for me) with him traveling because I don't ever really get a break. But on top of that, the first week he was gone, the washing machine broke while I was washing the first if 5 loads of laundry. I looked in the Owner's Manuel and the code that was blinking was the only code listed without an easy fix. By the code, it stated to call customer service immediately. Needless to say, my washing machine was broken for a week.
The second week he was gone, both the car and the dishwasher broke. The car would not accelerate and was producing a HUGE cloud of black smoke. The one time I drove to the store (normally 4 minutes away), the car was shaking and stuttering and smelled like it was on fire. The drive home was even worse, and took nearly 3 times as long. Didier took it to get fixed when he got home, and 3000 CHF later, the car is completely fixed (including new brakes and a new speaker) and serviced .
When the dishwasher broke, it was even more spectacular. Generally we'll start the dishwasher before we go to bed (electricity is cheaper at night) and I started it at 10pm, so when I woke up to feed the babies at 2:30am and I could hear the dishwasher still running, I got worried. When I went into the kitchen, there was water all over the floor. In fact there was so much water on the floor that the floorboards had become waterlogged and warped. I then spent the next hour (after I fed the boys) trying to fix it, clean up the water, and eventually just trying to turn the blasted thing OFF. Nothing I tried worked. Opening the door didn't turn it off. Turning the power off worked, but it started up again once I turned the power back on. The Manuel was less than helpful because the code it was flashing wasn't even listed in there. I eventually just unplugged it. The next morning, after talking to Didier and my landlady, I called customer service (again) and someone came out 3 days later. The machine was so broken that it was cheaper to replace it. I went a total of 8 days with out a dishwasher before the new one came and was installed. Now I just have to wait for the people to come replace the floor.

Other than these annoyances, we had some good times. Here are some Pics.


You can't really tell from this picture, but when the boys look at each other, they both start LAUGHING!! It is so cute.


Liam after his nap



Dominic after his nap


Menja had her 4th birthday the day before the Swiss National Day, so (almost) the whole Schluchter family got together to celebrate at Michael and Martina's. The kids played in the swimming pool, there was lots of food and good conversation (in 3 languages). The best part was that the men took all the kids to the park between lunch and dinner so that we women could nap. Wonderful.

Liam with Grandmami


Dominic and Grandpapi


Menja, Emily, and Malena playing in the pool


Dominic and Uncle Mika


Playing with Chalk


Sitting on the patio at M&M's


Didier brought a ton of products home after his meetings and Emily decided that this box was her new favorite toy.


Here's all three kids chillin' in the living room.


I bought finger paints last week and, remembering all the fun times I had as kid with finger paints, thought that Emily would really enjoy painting. Well, she LOVED it. I on the other hand realized that it makes a HUGE mess that takes FOREVER to clean. Her she is just enjoying herself:


The finished product


Liam and Dominic love looking at each other.


The boys have gotten to the point where they will NOT sleep unless I am holding them. They don't sleep for Didier, they don't fall asleep in their bed. That Dominic fell asleep in the swing was a total fluke. He really doesn't do that often. Liam is trying to stay awake in the bouncy.



We had Kelsey over this week so that Emily could have someone to play with. I think the girls had a really great time. Plus my life is easier when Emily has someone to play with. I think she's just bored most of the time with me and the boys. Here's a small example of what they were doing.

Drawing/coloring is so much fun! Especially when there's someone to draw with you. Notice that the toys are all over the floor in the background.


The girls having lunch


Emily got food all over her, but she ate 2 full plates


Kesley totally clean, but she didn't take a single bite

4 Months

Today marks the 4th month since Dominic and Liam were born. I cannot BELIEVE how fast these 4 months have gone, nor can I believe how big these boys have gotten. Here's just a clue:

Dominic
Birth: 7 lbs, 2 oz (3250g) Now: 14 lbs, 10.2 oz (6640g)
Birth: 20 inches (51 cm) Now: 25.5 inches (65 cm)

Liam
Birth: 6 lbs, 14 oz (3150g) Now: 14 lbs, 11 oz (6660g)
Birth: 20 inches (51 cm) Now: 25.667 inches (65.2 cm)

The boys were only about a week old when this picture was taken (yes, I've already posted this picture, but I wanted to show the size difference):



And here they are this morning:

Talking

Emily is talking more and more every day. Some of the things she says are hilarious. She also mixes up French and English, but that's to be expected. Here are some of my favorites (with translations for some):

Baby eat
Baby down (she says this whenever I'm holding a baby now)
What a doing?
Uh-oh.
Baby stink (or ka-ka)
shhh... go sheep (for go to sleep when the boys are screaming)
go way
I no wanoo (I don't want to)
Boing, boing (jumping on the bed)
brush, brush, brush
(Insert name here), come!
Emmy, no, no, no. (she says this when she knows she's in trouble)
ok
I's a moo! vache (it's a cow. then she says the french word for cow)
nigh-night
mok pees (milk please)
go, shoes, buh-bye!
chiao Chiao
danke schoene (no joke. she says it perfectly)
serie (cereal)


And her favorite word: MOVIE

PS. I just want to show everyone the most awesome shirt/onesies!

Fun on the 4th!

On the 4th of July, to commemorate the birth of the US of A, our friends -the Shontz family- threw a backyard BBQ party, with (limited) fireworks in the park. It was so much fun to see everyone, and Emily LOVED playing with all of her friends.


Grilling in the backyard


The non-meat spread


My patriotic boys


Didier and Liam outside, waiting for the food to be done.


(This is for you Jess) Emily's other family. She calls Jess "mommy" and Tally "daddy". It's probably since she and Kelsey spend so much time together and that's what Kels calls them.


Emily Eating chips


Our own little parade up to the "Flag Park"


Me pushing the kids up to the park in my new Phil & Teds stroller. You can't see Dominic (he's in the back) but Emily is sitting in the front seat with Kelsey on the foot rest.



The kids playing in the park


Didier carrying Liam


The only "flag" we had was a kite.


Sitting around the campfire in the park. You can't see it, but we were being ATTACKED by locusts.






Emily putting her marshmallow on a GLOW-STICK. Luckily we caught it before she tried to put it in the fire.


Kelsey Eating her marshmallow BEFORE roasting it.


Brooke with a sparkler. Emily was afraid of them, so she just watched the other kids play with sparklers.


Kids with sparklers


Its a little blurry, but Emily watched the other kids wave around sparklers from her Papa's shoulders/

Smilies

So the boys have started to smile REAL smiles -not just "I'm falling asleep" and "mom, I just pooped" smiles anymore. But I can't seem to get any good pictures of them smiling. so here are some half smiles and blue eyes.

Dominic's pretty blue eyes


Dominic smiling at me


Happy boys


Emily loves this hat


Liam has a funny smile in this one

Misc.

I finally emptied my camera. There's no real rhyme or reason to these pictures, so just pay attention to the captions.


Here's another Kelsey and Emily picture. Kelsey stopped by to play with Emily and they kept giving each other kisses

Liam fell asleep while I was changing him.

Spencer, Ester and Family came and visited us a couple weeks ago. Actually, they went camping with the Kovac's and stopped by on their way home.
Here's Ester and Corinne with Dominic and Liam

Here's Corinne with Dominic


Emily has recently decided that Liam's car seat was hers first and so still belongs to her. She sits in it when ever possible, as well as their swing and their bouncy chair.

Say Cheese!

Emily testing the new bouncy

The boys hanging out after eating


Happy Boys

Emily asleep on the couch. She didn't want to take a nap in her bed but she was tired, so I told her that she could watch a movie, but she had to lay on the couch and couldn't get off until the movie was done. Needless to say, within 5 minutes she was asleep.

Trip to the Tierpark

We went to the Wild Animal Park in Arth-Goldau last Saturday. Emily loved it until the deer and goats tried to come close to her! Every time they came close to her she ran and hid behind Didier. Didier showed her how to throw the food to the deer, but she couldn't throw very far and freaked out when they got close to her. Here are some pictures.





So sweet


There was a fountain near the exit of the Park and a bunch of kids were playing in it. Emily saw them and really wanted to go in too, so we took off all her clothes (well, just her pants at first, but her shirt came off later) and let her go in her diaper.


Getting ready to go in the water