It all started when we were on our trip to Texas. Our kids seemed to do well gradually adjusting to jetlag. Then we made our way to Seth’s parents lake house and “it” happened. Seth and I put Owen down for a nap and headed out for a walk with Jackson. Seth’s mom was sticking around so she could hear Owen when he woke up. Halfway around the lake I heard Owen’s voice carry across the water. But looking across the lake I could see my mother-in-law out front. That could only mean one thing….Owen got out of his crib. by. him. self.  He was a free boy with this new skill and has made our lives extra interesting ever since. He did it one day after his 2nd birthday which was EXACTLY when Jackson did it. Only difference is that Jackson wasn’t so graceful and scared the living daylights out of himself so it took him months to try it again. Owen on the other hand had finesse and made it look easy.

By the time we got back to Bern there was no keeping him contained.  A stern scolding, taking his pacifier, you name it we tried it, and it didn’t matter, he still climbed out.  So, a few days after we arrived back after Christmas in early January we removed the front rail on his bed so that he now has a toddler bed.   Take away the novelty and the habit will diminish right?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

helping daddy unscrew the bed.

Well, the novelty did not wear off. After the first week home we were so over the jetlag excuse. Owen was waking up all throughout the night…sometimes 10-15 times a night walking out of his room. He wasn’t fussing or fighting or screaming he was just wide awake and out of his bed. We started out with getting after him, telling him to stay in his bed, one of us lying on his floor, etc. We would lock the door and stand outside of it hoping he would go back to sleep and give up on opening the door and coming out. We have the typical stack of sleep books so we went through the gammat of suggestions. One of which was terrifying to try but actually worked to break his cycle. We would go in just before his typical say 2 AM wake up and we would re-situate him, give him his blankie, etc. Basically we did just enough to not wake him fully but to have him restart his sleep cycle.  We had to and continue to have to unscrew his light bulb at night to remove that element of excitement for him. We have transitioned into not talking at all and just walking him back to his bed. Those have gradually been the things that we have seen changes come from.

When all else failed our friend lent us this Swiss baby sheet that is a bit like a straight suit sheet. You zip the baby in to a fitted sheet. By the following picture you can tell how Owen felt about it. He was jumping with so much resistance that he was pulling the sheet off of the bed. Needless to say we didn’t get beyond this  initial attempt with the sheet. (sidenote: see the blue fabric wrapped on the rail of his crib….that was from his gnawing on the wood while teething phase)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So between early January and nearly March we have made slow, slow progress. The nights have gradually gotten better but the mornings have remained very early. Owen typically wakes up for the day at 5:30 AM if not earlier. That is when he begins to come out of his room, over and over again. Seth and I tag team and put him back in his room. He now has “the bunny clock” from Jackson’s room that shows him a picture of bunny sleeping or playing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When asked the sleep rules at bedtime Owen will tell you “stay bed”, “no door”, “wait for bunny” and “no light”. The boy knows the rules….and ever so slowly we are moving towards obeying the rules. Slowly we are getting more rest.

The thought of another round of jetlag and the boys sharing a room starting in July is enough to make me cry after what we have been through. But we will just push through and do what we gotta do. Maybe being together will actually help?! Humor me. No need to reassure me that for years and years kids have shared rooms. I am aware. But I am also aware of our sleeplessness and my own kooky kids and they might not be stellar adapters with sleep. The transition to a shared room will only provide us a “Sleep Sage Part 2” in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you think of us, say a prayer for some great sleep. And pray for me this week as Seth heads back to the US. the thought of the early morning marches back to the toddler bed solo is a bit daunting knowing I will have the rest of the day sans assistance.

read more

Our Swiss friends have been telling us about their apartment in the mountains since we arrived. It is in Grindelwald where we went with my brother Graham and my sister-in-law Tina. This past weekend they lent us their place for a few days. I kept it a secret from Seth until his birthday so he only knew about it for a couple of days before we went. I was actually hesitant to go at all considering it would require all of the packing of snow gear and resettling of kids with sleep. But we decided to give it a go and thought it might be a the perfect break from the house hunt stresses. Turns out the kids slept relatively well but the house craziness continued with numerous interactions with the bank and our realtor, i.e. messages in the night and wee hours of the morning. We still haven’t heard the final word on our counter offer but we are hoping for news tomorrow when the bank is back to work.

After a relatively snow free winter here in Bern it was fun to have some really snowy days! We left Bern Friday around lunch time and started with lunch at the Trucker Bar…sounds delightful huh. Seth had read they have the best burgers in Bern….after which I decided it’s just better to wait until the US for burgers. It looked good but was a bit scary. But then again it might have been the atmosphere that threw me. We hit the rode, arrived in the afternoon and geared up to sled and play in the snow. The next morning we went sledding at a place around the corner where they offer ski lessons and lots of winter sports. Seth and Jackson got sled passes and rode the automatic ramp up and the sled down. That afternoon we went to the indoor pool at the sports center. On Sunday we woke up to big beautiful snowflakes. We played in the snow with some oh so grumpy Kolb boys and had a big pot of fondue before packing up and heading back home. The boys slept like champs last night once they were back cuddled up in their own beds. The trip might have been just what Owen needed to jolt him back to being a sleeper.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grindelwald

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

view from balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(not sure if you can tell but it appeared a bird landed in the snow and left his wing markings)

 

 

 

 

 

 

a bit deep for snow angels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

happy boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rosy cheeks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heidi was our main read of the weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

read more

Disclaimer: Readers may want to secure a Starbucks Peppermint mocha before sitting down to look at this post…oh no, I forgot those are only a holiday special. I totally understand if you don’t make it to the end. The good news is if you make it through this new things are on the horizon!

After our busy first week in Friendswood and the farm we headed on to Ft. Worth. We arrived on the 23rd of December just in time for the Christmas festivities. We spent Christmas Eve at a candle light service and then went on to my sister-in-law Tina’s family celebration. Tina’s mom, Lisa, had a wonderful spread and when Santa lit firecrackers on the front door step the boys found gifts just like the rest of the family. They included us like family. The next morning we got up early and did Christmas morning with the boys, my parents, and my brother Graham and his wife, Tina.  It was a fun week and a half of time together….with way too much food!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owen was SO tired and kept raiding the goodie table at Craig and Lisa’s. Here he is playing it cool with his 4th sugar cookie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa brought Jackson his much asked for cowboy boots!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my dad had hand surgery so Tina was sweet enough to cut his prime rib for him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

dance lessons from the family’s best dancer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owen’s name has been added to my parents will…Bogie will go to Owen if necessary! They were besties!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

antipasto platter at Nona Tata….a fun little place in Ft. Worth. Graham and Tina took us out for a fun dinner while my mom and dad had a night with the kiddos! Thanks, mom and dad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

post hair cute curl horns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We missed having my brother Ryan and my sister-in-law Stephanie and their kiddos around! So we swung by DC on our way to Bern…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whew. And if we didn’t look busy enough we slipped in a meeting with a realtor in DC to begin the process of house hunting…more on that to come in the New Year!  Not even ready to talk about that yet!

read more

We headed to Texas on the 15th of December and arrived relatively unscathed despite running through both the Zurich and Dulles International Airports.  A complication with our luggage and then a delayed plane just added a little excitement to the journey.  The boys had some jetlag but nothing too major beyond the first couple of days. We hit the ground running with Kolb family Christmas, Owen’s second birthday, a trip to the farm and then made our way to Ft. Worth for part 2 of our “Texas Tour”.  Don’t worry this post will only be the first part. I will give you a breather before Part 2! After visiting my parents we went back to Houston for a few days, on to DC for 24 hours and then on to Bern. So, before the week is up you are likely to be sick of our pictures and journeys. But I promise the blog will get more interesting soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cousin teeth brushing time

 

 

 

 

 

 

closing eyes for stockings…clearly Owen missed the memo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seth’s mom has a reputation for needing a bib with spaghetti…just so happens that I found these one of a kind hand embroidered jumbo bibs at a thrift shop here in Switzerland!! And there was even a matching one for my father-in-law. Some gifts are just meant to be!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not sure if this is just something they do in Texas but Santa came around on a fire engine and threw candy to the kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seth and I snuck out one afternoon to celebrate our 6th Anniversary! We headed over to Taste Of Texas. It was so much fun but a bit sad being over in my old stomping ground and not having any time to catch up with so many dear friends!! Next time! As you can see above they must have known Seth was deprived of good red meat because this was his cowboy steak!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kolb’s have a tradition of having  sword fights after Christmas using the tubes from wrapping paper…it was the first time for the boys and I to participate. The boys loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

whataburger evidence

We headed to the farm to spend a few days of peace and quiet…or rather Owen learning to climb out of his crib, the addition of kids pepto to our traveling medicine cabinet and some fun things like s’mores by the fire and beautiful fall leaves in December!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(interject Part 2 in Ft. Worth coming soon)….oh wait…

On our way back to Houston we took a detour to meet this little lady, Annabelle, and to have a quick lunch and visit with her parents, Bo and Leigh, along with her big sis Katy Jo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owen and KatyJo catching up…Owen told her she’s “preeeti”

…back to Houston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our time in Houston with family was so much fun. It could have only been better with the addition of Seth’s sister Claire, her husband Donnie and our nephew Benjamin!  We missed you guys!

read more