Frandtastic!

I feel like my body is starting to really look pregnant, which has been fun and sometimes confusing? Somedays clothing options are tricky because I'm typically a slightly-loose shirt type of gal, which isn't always flattering for a medium sized belly. Some of my jeans still button fine, but I'm starting to appreciate more and more the maternity loans from nice friends and family.

Our little boy is kicking and rolling and jumping around all day. I love feeling him keep me company at work and during my commute. Sometimes I'll even see a kick make my stomach move a bit! I am excited to "check in" on him at my monthly Doctor's appointment this coming Tuesday.

I am feeling healthy, well, and have normal amounts of energy most days. Paul and I went on a nice jog around campus this morning which felt really great. The first few months I couldn't run without throwing up, so it's nice to have the ability again with just a little stiff and "stretched out" feeling instead of puking. The not so fun "symptoms" right now are headaches, acne, and one million bathroom breaks a day.

My favorite moments of the last four weeks:

• The Goates family visit and their excitement about our little dude. Reuben even "tickled" the baby (my belly) to try to make him kick. :) Valerie gave us the cutest pair of tiny little Minnetonka moccasins that are happily sitting on a shelf until they can be put on tiny tiny feet.

• Paul having his hand in the perfect spot to feel a giant movement (we never know quite what we are feeling happen but maybe a bum as it rolled around?). He has been feeling him move for 4 weeks now. One day I was realizing he wasn't moving around as much as usual for that time of day, so Paul put his hand on my belly and told him to wake up he started kicking up a storm.

• Finding solutions to my constant sugar craving (not uncommon pre-pregancy, but maybe amplified and more easily justified now?). One day all I wanted was a Coney's milkshake (unfortunately Coney's is in Provo, UT). Luckily, we gave the Friendly's milkshake a try and it was almost identical. Also, eating cheddar cheese again. I missed it so much in Germany!

• End of summer adventures: a beach trip, a Phillies game, firefly walks, and reading outside. 

• Having my first "Are you pregnant?" question based on the looks of my body. The poor lady who asked (at church) was so nervous and so relieved that her guess was right.

• Hitting the "5 month mark"! Everyone seems to calculate it differently, but I'm doing the most conservative method I can think of with 9 months being the due date and counting back from there. Less than 4 months to go now!

• The baby hitting two big milestones - over a foot long and weighing in at over a pound! Grow baby grow! The "food comparisons" variation across different sources is so funny. This week he is apparently the size of... an ear of corn, a cantelope, an eggplant, a grapefruit, a pineapple, and a sub sandwich! :) Pick your favorite I guess!

About 5 years ago Paul and I got really into the Tour de France. We were living in Provo before moving out to New Jersey, we were both working but had time in the morning to watch the Tour together. I started to love cycling as a sport, getting to know the tactics, the teams, the cyclists, the history. Jump to this summer, living in Western Germany and bordering France. We  decided we HAD to go to the Tour, so we found a weekend and stages that worked and made it happen.

My friend Megan flew in on Friday night and we left early Saturday morning for Stage 8 (Tomblaine / Gérardmer La Mauselaine). We got to Gérardmer a few hours before the race was to finish there. We ate a lunch in the car while it poured rain. Then the rain fizzled off and we took off to the finish line at the top of mountain. It was a fun hike up, through a really pretty French village and overlooking the beautiful lake. The weather added some nice foggy effects.

First the caravan came through - basically a parade of all the sponsors. It was a fun environment to be at the finish, even in the rain. They had a few big screen TVs where we could see the stage going on.

Then the racers came through! Mountain top finishes are awesome because they come in slow and steady instead of in a huge mass.

Blel Kadri of AG2R survived the breakaway and took the stage win (first French win of the tour) and also the polka dot jersey (mountain points leader). My favorite moment was when he was getting his polka dot jersey and some of his teammates rolled through the finish (the road was right in front of the stage) so they stopped and congratulated him. It was cool.

Sagan was in green (sprint leader) and my OPQS boy Kwiatkowski was in white (best young rider). Nibali was in yellow (General Classification leader). It was fun to see the jersey presentation, and we even got on TV during that (as tiny members of the rainy crowd)!

We headed back down the mountain to our car and then drove to our hotel in Orbey. We drove on the road the next days stage would travel on. It was so foggy we could barely see 10 feet ahead at some points. We came upon a mountain lake and stopped for a few chilly moments. When we arrived in Orbey it was dusk and beautiful and sunny! Such a difference from an hour before when we were in the clouds.

Our hotel was so cute and had a restaurant that we ate dinner at. The best news of the day was when what looked to be a gross cooked pear turned out to be delicious mashed potatoes! We went on a little nighttime stroll of the village then settled back into our huge hotel room (Megan even had her own room!)








Sunday morning Paul headed out early for a bike ride and was able to ride some of tour stage climbs for that day. He came back a very happy happy guy. Megan and I walked to the church in the village, and though it wasn't open, enjoyed exploring the hillside cemetery behind it.

After Paul returned from his ride we drove to Colmar. Megan wanted to visit this city and it worked out perfectly with Paul and I wanting to go to the Tour (it was right by the stages!) but when we got to Colmar we were all shocked. It looked like a dumb industrial town. Luckily we persevered and we found what we were looking for!

After our Colmar visit we picked a random city (Turckheim) on the Tour's route for the day (Stage 9, Gérardmer / Mulhouse) and drove to see the riders go through. Wow, we were lucky with Paul's random pick - it was a beautiful little French village with vineyards on the hills. Tony Martin (my OPQS man!) came through in the lead and ended up winning the stage basically solo time trialing all the way to the finish. And he took the polka dot jersey that day so it's a good thing I bought the polka dot tee shirt to support him.  :)

From Turckheim we headed back to Bonn passing so many neat castles and hilly villages on our way. It was such a nice drive! We got back to Germany just in time to watch Germany win the world cup and join our neighbors in the post-victory celebrations.