December Getaway

December is nearly over and I am ready for a nap...a big one. With the new baby, Afton's b-day, and the craziness associated with Christmas- this month was exhausting. There were parties, concerts, Clara's baby blessing, and a 3 day stretch where Andrew was away. I'd like to say that I handled everything like a pro, but that would be a lie. Things got a little stressful and mommy got a little crazy, but we survived!

One non-stress thing we did was take a 3 day trip to the Alps. It was extremely relaxing, and for a woman with a newborn baby who barely left the house during the last 6 six weeks, it was perfect.

We went to Hasliburg, Switzerland and stayed in a chalet owned by the Swiss National Bank. The place was awesome- there was an indoor pool, a restaurant, a playroom, TV room, and mounds and mounds of snow right outside our door. It was lovely, and now that we are the proud owners of some snow chains, we just might need to go back.

Below is the cute little market where we walked to get our groceries (we stayed in an apartment with a kitchen).

3 little thugs in the "taxi" to take us to another town. We likely would have died if we tried to drive ourselves- those mountain roads were crazy.

Clara was the warmest of us all. She wore 3 bunting outfits and just like Ralph from a Christmas Story, her arms wouldn't go down.

I'd say that Andrew was the least warm.

We stopped at a few little towns on the way home-

-and we were reminded once again of just how beautiful Switzerland is.

Baby Blessing

On December 18th Andrew gave Clara her baby blessing at our church. Without any immediate family present we were fortunate enough to have Andrew's good friend Bryan come and join us. Bryan and Andrew were best buds in high school, and Bryan moved to Heidelburg, Germany the same time we moved here. Andrew of course gave Clara a beautiful blessing and it was a lovely weekend- even with Andrew and Bryan sometimes reverting to their high school selves.

I'm submitting this gem below to awkwardfamilyphotos.com



Clara in her blessing dress- the same one Afton wore. Thank you Aunt Coco!

And a couple more pictures of Clarabelle. That's right, the inevitable nickname "Clarabelle" is already being used. That, as well as "Clarinet" (thanks Abby!) and "Clara Platz" (a place in Basel).

The Big 0-3

Afton, oh, Afton.

I love this child fiercely, but man, she is a force to be reckoned with. Her 2nd year of life was relatively easy, but the third year is proving to be a bit more difficult. The term "tiny tyrant" seems to sum her up nicely these days. Some things she does are laughable- like telling the boys to close their eyes during a prayer ("Close your eyes Sam!"). Other things...not so much.

But I digress. This is her birthday post, and a *positive* birthday post she shall get. She is still pretty awesome and these are some of the things I love about her-

• She sleeps with a dino. Need I say more?

• She is an amazing hiker. Homegirl can out-hike her brothers any day of the week. It cracks me up seeing her march up a hill without stopping once.

• She is tone deaf. Andrew insists that she is too young for me to make such statements, but there is no getting around this. It's pretty funny to hear Afton sing her little heart out off key.

• She has been playing with the same figurines-nonstop- since August. My mom gave Afton princess figurines over the summer, and they keep that child occupied for hours upon hours every single day.

• She will watch period pieces with me. Afton has no problem watching Downton Abby, or Pride and Prejudice. The picture below was taken while she was watching a dance scene from BBC's Emma. She was in raptures over it.

• She lives to be funny. Afton loves to make us laugh and after doing or saying something she frequently asks, "Was that funny?" She also loves to join in laughing with the boys... even when she has no idea what they are laughing about.

• She loves her family. She loves us, and we love her. Happy Birthday baby girl!

The original Janette

All of my children have middle names chosen after family members. Clara shares the same name as my mother- Janette.

My mother is one of a kind. She is an endless source of energy who loves everything that is good in life. She constantly gives 100% and is nearly impossible to stop once she gets an idea in her head. Her mind is always going, which makes it essential for her to always have a notepad and pen on hand. When it comes to service, she is one of the most generous people I know. She loves the simple things in life and is very easy to please. She is deeply devoted to her faith and after years of observation I can say that my mother is one of the people I admire most.

Now a HUGE thanks to my mom for staying with us for 3 weeks after Clara was born. Aside from taking care of all of the domestic responsibilities around here, she made those first 3 weeks post birth so much fun. She went on adventures with the boys, continuously read and danced with Afton, constantly held Clara, and even made it possible for me to get a haircut and go out on a date with Andrew. Spoiled doesn't even begin to describe what she did for us! THANK YOU MOM!

Clara Janette

Clara is 3 weeks old and she already has her first cold. I guess that is what happens when you are child #4 and your older siblings (with colds) can't stop kissing you. Fortunately, it's not too bad and she seems to be on the mend today.

It's time for me to provide the details of the last 3 weeks- starting with Clara's birth. Since I've been asked so often how giving birth in Switzerland differs from the US, I thought I would compare the two.

The Labor
US: In the US I was always admitted to the hospital at a very early stage in my labor. An epidural was given shortly after my arrival, so I never really experienced any strong contractions. Could it have been more perfect???

SWITZERLAND: Here in Switzerland midwives deliver the babies, and let me just say they prefer things natural. There were all sorts of devices meant to help along the labor in the delivery room- huge bouncy balls, ropes hung from the ceiling to hang onto, a big jet bathtub, a CD player and a stack of Enya CD's...it was my worst nightmare. Early on the midwife suggested that Andrew and I go for a walk, and so we did. After about 45 minutes the pain became unbearable and we headed back. I was sure that I would then be offered an epidural, but boy was I wrong. Instead I was offered tea and a hot sack filled with cherry pits for my back. HERBAL TEA! Are you kidding me??? I kept asking for an epidural, and the midwife kept putting it off by telling me to breath through my nose. After several hours my salvation finally came in the form of a shift change. A new midwife was on duty, and her first order of business was to get me an epidural and some pitocen. Words can't describe my gratitude for those miracle drugs. An hour later I was delivering the baby.

The Delivery
US: My deliveries in the US were all done by a Dr accompanied by several nurses. After each delivery the baby was whisked away by the pediatric nurses who gave the child a good cleaning and checkup. I would then feed the baby, hand him/her back to the nurses, and go to sleep for at least a couple of hours.

SWITZERLAND: Here there were only 3 people in the delivery room during most of the labor- me, Andrew and a midwife (who looked younger than me). At one point I started to panic wondering who would help the midwife if a problem arose- Andrew?? I'm sure whether there was nearby help, but it was a little disconcerting not physically seeing it. Towards the end a nurse did come, and that put me a little more at ease. The delivery went great, but immediately after pushing out the baby the midwife yanked down my gown and placed the baby on my chest- cord still attached and all. She was then confused as to why Andrew and I (who both get weak at the sight of blood) didn't want to look at the placenta or cut the cord. No thank you!!

The Recovery
US: My US hospital stays were 2 days filled with bad hospital food and constant interruptions from some nurse wanting to check me or the baby. It was also like a lock-down with all of the security measures taken to ensure that the baby did not leave the maternity wing of the hospital. The upside to those stays was the nursery- which is where I always kept my babies at night.

SWITZERLAND: Here you stay in the hospital for 5 days (I chose to only stay for 3). Compared to the US, no one comes to bother you and you and the baby can come and go as you please. The maternity wing of the hospital is open to anyone, and they even had a handful of strollers in case you wanted to take your baby for a walk outside in the park. A nurse also told me that most of the mothers keep the baby in their rooms rather than in the nursery. The care for the baby, like everything else, was also a lot more natural than the US. For example, at the end of day two I was a little concerned that my milk hadn't come in yet, so I suggested we supplement with a little formula. Holy cow, you would have thought that I suggested we give her soda in a bottle. The nurses were horrified and instead brought the baby a little bottle of watered down herbal tea. Again with the tea! The food for me, however, was spectacular! Each day I was given a menu to choose from with options like muscles, veal and steak. They even had a cart that would come around with snacks like brie topped with figs and walnuts. That was my favorite part of the deal.

Overall giving birth in Switzerland was a great experience. As I mentioned, the labor and delivery philosophies were a little more natural than my taste, but I can certainly understand and appreciate why many women prefer this approach. We're just all grateful to have a new healthy member of our family!

Andrew brought the kids to meet Clara for the first time right after church. I knew they would be excited, but I wasn't expecting them to be so ecstatic. Their reaction to their new sister was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

My mom also came out for 3 weeks (there will be a tribute post in her honor later). Can I just say that I could not have done the 3-to-4 kid transition without her? What a life saver!

These past few weeks have gone by so quickly, and yet it is hard to remember life pre-Clara. Words can't express how much we all adore this sweet baby.

Oktober in der Schweiz

Even though I've been desperately hoping this baby would come early, I'm mostly glad that I held out this long (as if I really have any say in the matter). We were able to complete all of the traditional fall activites, which leaves me with some sense of satisfaction.

We kicked off our festivites by frequenting our local pumpkin patch. There the kids were able to mingle with the livestock and pick out our family pumpkins.

We also were able to attend Herbstmesse, which is Basel's annual autumn fair. The kids rode plenty of rides, we ate plenty of junk, and Andrew even convinced me to ride the ferris wheel. Due to my crazy fear of heights I spent the whole time on the verge of tears, but we got some nice shots of Basel.

The icing on the cake, however, was that we were able to go trick or treating this year! It was a huge improvement over last year where Andrew and I passed out candy as the kids knocked on our bedroom doors. Lame. This year we found an ex-pat neighborhood which celebrated Halloween, and were shocked to see so many kids from the International School there. It was wonderful seeing our costumed children run house to house collecting their goods. Halloween is still catching on here, so we found doors with signs saying "Candy" (if they were passing out candy) and doors with signs saying "No Halloween" or "No Candy" for those not celebrating. My favorite was a door with pumpkin pictures crossed out. Very effective for the non-readers.

After trick or treating we ate at the Sports Club for Andrew's work which is conveniently located next to the neighborhood where we went trick or treating. It was the perfect ending to our October.