Goodbye Pacifier (kind of)

Earlier last week we thought we hit our breakingpoint of getting up with Francis during the night to get him back to sleep. He had been doing pretty well for about a month of sleeping in his own room only getting up once or maybe twice to nurse. But then an occasional two times became 3, or 4, or more! What was the culprit? It seemed to be waking up with the pacifier fallen out. Ellie was, excuse me - is, a thumb-sucker, which I know will be a hard habit to break later on but at least she never wakes up not knowing where her thumb is! So I talked to the moms here, sent a few desperate emails to friends, and googled (of course) how do you sleep-train a pacifier-baby at 6 months? The answers varied. I prayed about it, strategized with Brian, vented to my mom, and decided that after our upcoming trip I would take the pacifier away and sleep-train him. Well that night he woke up about every hour, so the next morning I decided sleep-training was beginning that very day! 

As suggested by one of the sleep strategies in the Baby 411 book (love it!!), I put him down without the pacifier, said goodnight, and let him cry-it-out - I mean "self-soothe". I did go in once the first couple of nights after about 5 minutes of crying to let him know I could in fact hear his "protests" but I was not giving in, no pacifier, no picking up, just love from a distance. I did the same at nap times for the first 4 days. After 4 days, he was doing great at night only crying a few minutes when I put him down and not needing me for 10 to 12 hours. Naptimes, especially the morning nap, just weren't working with our schedule and being outside with Ellie or going to the store or Mass. So I reached a compromise, one that I thought wouldn't work, but it has been - at least for 4 days! That is he can take his morning nap in the stroller, and he can have his pacifier during that time and during noon Mass. So far, so good!! Daytime crying is minimized and he's still sleeping through the night with no pacifier!! 

But don't think we're getting too much sleep. Because as he's been sleeping through the night, this little lady has been getting up to say hello - or more accurately: tuck me in one more time, I need apple juice, I need a diaper change, ahhhh!! So next up on my plan toward everyone sleeping through the night is potty training or at least eliminating juice before bed and 2am diaper changes. 

But first we need to survive 8 nights in the same hotel room as we travel to Rome and Assisi with the Universuty students tomorrow. Sleep or no sleep, were excited! The trip is intended to be a pilgrimage so if you'd like prayers, message us! 

Sleep tight ;)

All Hallows' Eve in Austria

Do they celebrate Halloween in Austria?  That's been the question of the week!  (In addition to - do we set our clocks back for Daylight Saving Time?  Answer: yes, but we did it last week - a week before everyone in the U.S.  So we've already survived our week of child up at 5:30am, instead of 6:30am :)

Our not-so-itsy-bitsy guy

Yes, Ellie is wearing a shirt with a Bunny hanging up a Christmas stocking

So back to the question of Halloween.  In terms of celebrating like the U.S., the answer is no. No one came "trick-or-treating," in the U.S. traditional sense anyway.  Much to Ellie's excitement and joy, our neighbors (actually from England) and a few of the students did come knocking on our door -- dressed as Saints and delivering homemade cookies!  It's hard to see in the picture - but there were Saints Isidore, Kateri, Mary, Moses, Maria Goretti, George and (Ellie's favorite) George's white horse.  Brian grabbed the blue cape - with USA stars on it - that was left by the family before us.  And Ellie quickly joined the group as a "Wise Man."  When our neighbor asked who Brian was supposed to be - he informed them he was the Guardian Angel.  They then asked why he was dressed in all black...somethings just can't be answered when you get dressed in 30 seconds :)

While none of the stores sell Halloween outfits, candy, or decorations -- they do sell candles, flowers, and decorations for the graves.  The graveyards in Austria are stunning year round - but especially right now they are all decorated beautifully and all have candles burning brightly.

Picture of a graveyard I took in Gmunden, Austria in August

So how did we spend October 31?  Our family and three of the TOR Sisters drove about 25 minutes to Hochbaerneck - a ski resort with a lookout tower that has a magnificent view of the Otscher (the largest mountain in this area) and way off in the distance, the Kartause!  Had we taken this outing in the States, I'm guessing people would have thought the Sisters were just dressing up as nuns for the day!

Awesome slide and playground

The hills are alive with Praise & Worship

Earlier in the week we carved pumpkins!

After our saintly neighbors came by - we read some of our children Saint books and drew pictures of St. Therese and St. Francis.  We also ate the candy that I had bought just in case trick-or-treaters did stop by (I guess in years past, a few have - knowing that the Americans live in these townhouses).  

So our Halloween was much more an "All Hallows' Eve" as we prepared for All Saints (Hallows) Day.  Today's Feast Day we celebrate all of the Saints - those known and unknown - who are helping to pave our paths to Heaven!  Tomorrow we will celebrate All Souls' Day - as we pray in a special way for all those who have died.  I hear they do procession from the parish church in town to the graveyard.

All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Community in Gaming

We've been living in Gaming, Austria for three months now and people often still ask how the transition is going. Honestly, it's been so easy and peaceful and I think it's due in large part to the University & LCI community here. There are four other families with children, single and married people, the four Friars/brother and four sisters, and the college students. It'll be hard seeing this group of students leave at the end of the semester - although I imagine the next group will be just as amazing. The families, professors, and staff who make up the "permanent" community are incredible. All have been extremely welcoming and generous, encouraging and inspiring, especially when it comes to living their faith. Love of God and your neighbor is truly lived out here. To give you a taste (no pun intended ;) of our community living - here is what our dinner plans were for the week.

Sunday

Our neighbors had us over for dinner. He is a professor, originally from Columbia.  His wife is from Hungary. They have two children, ages 4 & 7, who speak 4 languages.  They knew we were getting back from Greece that day and because the grocery stores aren't open on Sundays and we'd be tired - they wanted to cook for us.

Monday
Soup at home

Tuesday
Date night dinner at  "China Restaurant Wok Asia."  They have sushi and Chinese food - new owners started in July - and it's good!!  Brian made chicken for our awesome babysitter at home with the kids.

Wednesday
Dinner with the LCI professors and students at two of the professors' apartment at the Kartause.  The LCI students take turns cooking a meal once per week for their classmates and members of our community.  As we enjoyed soup, a potato and meat dish, and chocolate-covered fruit we got to really talk more to the LCI students who are here learning English - so they can better share the Catholic faith.  I sat next to a sweet girl from Ukraine and Brian sat next to a student from Kazakhstan - who is a lawyer and economist.  The kids enjoyed being passed all around per usual.

Thursday
Pasta and veggies at home.  Also, Brian Francis' half-birthday and first time tasting food!  Having a toddler to help with the feedings is amazing!!

Friday
We took three students to Chez Pierre's - a fantastic pizza restaurant in Lunz am See (a town a few km away) run by a master pizza chef from France.  We love this restaurant - the decor, food, and owners are the best!!   It was one of the student's birthdays - and she's extra special because she was in Brian's youth group before going to Franciscan!  The other two girls made her chocolate cake from scratch, which we all enjoyed back at our home.  Ellie especially loved the very sugary frosting...right before bed - thanks, ladies :)

The owner got this highchair for Ellie's baby doll

Saturday

Frozen chicken nuggets and french fries for dinner...yes, we're American and have a toddler...BUT lunch was AMAZING!!  We went on a 2+ hour hike with one of the other families (husband is a professor and the family is from England, they have 5 kids), one of the priests, and the two RDs.  The weather was perfect - 60 and sunny (after a week of cold and rain!) - and the changing leaves were gorgeous.  We stopped about halfway at this tiny town and enjoyed our picnic lunches while some of the guys ordered beers.  Perfect day.  Saturday night one of the priest came over to watch the Michigan State game streaming on our computer....not saying which priest ;)

We are not sure where she learned these dance moves

Sunday
Tomorrow night we've been invited over to another neighbor's townhouse (he is a professor from the U.S.) for a Mexican dinner made for all of us by several students!

So yeah, the community here is amazing -- as are all of the meals, except for maybe the frozen "Spar Budget" chicken nuggets - jk, those were good too :)

It's All Greek to Me

Hi!  While the students were on their 10 day break, Brian took a few days off from work and we went to Greece.  Here is our trip via photo-collages:

Day 1

Wednesday morning we drove to Vienna and then flew 2 hours to Athens.  We took the metro everywhere - which was really clean and efficient, and pretty cool to see the ruins preserved at some of the metro stops (pic lower left).  After checking into our hotel in Omonia Square, we went to The Plaka - one of the oldest neighborhoods in Athens.   

We saw a lot of beautiful ancient churches in The Plaka - and had dinner - and took the metro home from Syntagma Square.  Ellie loved the fountain that changed colors in front of the Hellenic Parliament building.

Day 2

Thankfully everyone slept great in our tight sleeping quarters and woke up smiling - especially this guy!

We metroed to Piraeus - the harbor and took a boat - the flying dolphin to Aegina Island about 40 minutes away on this high-speed boat.  

It was 80 and sunny all day - perfect beach day!  

Ellie went swimming while we ate at a restaurant on the water.

Aegina is on the Saronic Gulf, which almost always has perfect weather because it's sheltered from the wind.  Our day there was definitely perfect!

We visited Coloni, named for the column that remains from the ancient temple of Apollo.

We also visited several churches on the island.

We were back in Athens at 5pm and walked around Ancient Agora (Athens's commercial and civic center).  Here we had our first look at the monuments on the Acropolis.  Ellie particularly liked the park...and didn't really seem to notice the Parthenon behind her :)

We stumbled upon a fantastic restaurant that night near Monastiraki Square overlooking the Ancient Agora.  Enjoyed wine, a meat platter, Greek salad, and roaming cats.  Lots and lots of cats....Ellie's favorite - not so much Brian's.

Day 3

Friday was warm - mid-70s and a bit overcast, which was perfect for being outside visiting all the monuments.  First up was the Theatre of Dionysus.  Brian and I then took turns going up the Acropolis as the other stayed behind with the kids.  No way our stroller was going to make it up to top!

On the way up we saw the very impressive Odeum of Herodes Atticus.

Here's the Parthenon!  

Also at the top: Propylia (the monumental 5th-century-B.C. entryway); Temple of Athena Nike; Erechtheion; Pandroseion; and the Greek flag flying high.

After mom and dad had some individual site-seeing time, it was family train time!  We took "Athens Happy Train," a 60-minute train ride to see all the popular sites.  We got to see Panathenaic Olympic Stadium and Hadrian's Arch.  Ellie got to sing the Wheels on the Bus.  

For lunch we had gyros and souvlaki -- actually we had this for almost every meal -- so delicious and surprisingly cheap at most places!  Then we visited the New Acropolis Museum.  There were a lot of impressive exhibits and artifacts, and you could see the Parthenon out the window and part of the archaeological excavation under the glass floor, but our favorite part was the Acropolis and monuments completely built out of LEGOs!

We then walked to Areopagus Hill, where St. Paul preached to the Athenians (Acts 17: 22 - 34).  Brian and I took turns climbing up to the summit, while the other entertained the kids.  It's so amazing to know that Paul was here -- that we were in the same place talked about the Bible -- where people who had been worshiping so many other gods, yet knew of "an Unknown God" - and when they heard Paul talk about Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead they became Christian believers.

After some more park time outside of Ancient Agora, we walked around in the Agora.  I loved this moment of Ellie running to Brian in the Stoa of Attalos (an ancient civic building from the 2nd-century-B.C.)

We visited the museum in the Stoa's ground floor, which has finds from 5,000 years of Athenian history, including a child's potty seat that Ellie loved...know if only she would use the potty herself :)  We also saw the 11th-century church of Ayii Apostoli (Holy Apostles).  In the picture of Ellie above holding the flower, you can Areopagus Hill in the background.

Days 4 & 5 (flight home)

Here's a view of the front of our hotel.  By our last full day Ellie knew how to look at the map and tell "Buddy Francis" where we should go that day :)

We walked to the enormous National Archaeological Museum.  It is apparently one of the 10 most important museums in the world.  After Ellie got done pointing out all of the "naked people," she fell asleep in the double-stroller which gave Brian and me a chance to enjoy the museum.  My biggest surprise though, was how often we were stopped by the museum personnel admiring our stroller.  Apparently they do not sell double-strollers in Europe because people are constantly amazed by how we can have 2 kids in one stroller!

After lunch, of more delicious gyros, we went to the Byzantine and Christian Museum.

We then walked through the huge and beautiful National Garden back to Syntagma Square and metroed back to Monastiraki Square.

We walked down to the Cemetery of Kerameikos, where Pericles gave his famous funeral oration during the Peloponnesian War.  It is also the place where Ellie saw a turtle and built a "house" out of some of the ruins (not sure if she was supposed to have done that, but no one stopped her).

We then booked it back to the metro and went a few stops to find a Roman Catholic Church for Mass.  I didn't think we'd make it - but we did - and once I sat down in the pew during the homily (which was in Greek, of course) I looked up and saw my confirmation saint, St. Barbara staring down at me.  Thank you, St. Barbara!  After Mass, we met two English-speaking women.  One was originally from Washington DC and is married to a Greek man and now lives a few blocks from that church.  She was very nice and encouraged us to visit her our next trip back, she also gave us a recommendation for dinner.  It was our only meal where the restaurant wasn't catering to tourist, aka the menu wasn't in English!  But in the end we were able to successfully order meat and pita, so everything was perfect!  But that Greek language - defintiely not like English or German!  Ellie's favorite part of the evening was getting a Minnie Mouse balloon animal, which sadly could not come with us on the airplane ride the next morning.  But that's okay, the ride itself made up for it.  

We had a fabulous time in Greece!  I asked Ellie what her favorite part was and she said "the boat, the train, and the plane."  Someday maybe she'll look back and be glad she experienced a few other things!