B's Third Birthday

This year, Bailey's birthday felt a little like Christmas.  It was the first year she really knew what was coming and in her typical fashion, she was so charmingly excited that she was actually going to get to celebrate her own birthday.  Perhaps the longest, most complete sentence she has ever said to me was last week when she announced: "Mama, I want cupcakes on my birthday."  What, now?  Who replaced my two-year-old with a big kid?  Needless to say, cupcakes became top priority...especially since there are really only two places in the entire city that specifically make cupcakes...and my muffin tins are in The States.  So, a few days before Bailey's birthday, we went on a pilgrimage to Cupcakes Wien to ensure their confections would be fit for our Bear's celebration. If I could've bottled the happiness oozing out of that kid when she realized she was about to eat a cupcake...well, we could probably create world peace is what I'm saying.  My red velvet cupcake could've tasted like saw dust (far from it!) and I still would've considered it the best cupcake I've ever had in my life.  

The next day our big project was making sure the house was turned out for our festivities.  This included a lot less cleaning than usual and a lot more pulling paper lanterns out of their storage space and hanging movie posters and twinkle lights on the walls.  Our place was rocking.  I'm sure anyone fortunate enough to pass on the street was jealous of whatever fantastic party was about to go down.

We were all giddy when we went to sleep, reminding Bailey that she'd be three when she woke up in the morning and that there would be lots of birthday treats.  The big day didn't disappoint.  We were up bright and early eating birthday cake pancakes (Complete with an entire bottle of sprinkles dumped in the batter--what kid doesn't want permission to do that?) lots of berries and bacon and free-flowing refills on the orange juice (the likes of which never are permitted by this stick-in-the-mud mama).  After getting ready and picking out birthday dresses (a must!) we were out the door to go visit Bailey's horses.  The good people at the Hofburg Palace are good enough to house the Lipizzaners in the royal stables for her.  We had tickets to view their morning exercises...and since no one under the age of three is permitted to do this, we figured it was a fitting right-of-passage for our horse-loving girl.  In the end, the morning exercises were really just that--horses being exercised.  But it was really cool to see how fancy their arena was (there was no picture-taking allowed) and to spend some time chatting about all the different horses, the charming noises they make and the giggle-inducing way they are trained to "tip toe".  

The day outside was snowy and really cold, so we decided to warm ourselves up at Cafe Mozart--a fancy old-school cafe just around the corner from the Sacher Hotel.  Bailey got some hot chocolate while sister sipped on hand-squeezed orange juice and we all lingered about our second breakfast like minor royalty.  Bailey only spilled a little hot chocolate on her dirndl (and even more on her papa), but it was a really nice break to sit and enjoy a little Viennese opulence.  After that, it was back to the cold on our quest for more cupcakes to celebrate with that evening...and a tour through the ice skating rink outside city hall, which had conveniently opened on Bailey's birthday.  

After schmoozing with the polar bears at the ice rink, we were pretty well frozen and decided it was time to defrost in front of a new movie Bailey had gotten for her birthday; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a big hit with the girls, but not so much with their father who I'm pretty sure fell asleep out of self-preservation half way through.

After our lazy afternoon, it was time to gear up for some more celebrating.  We invited Bailey's friend, Jack, over for pizza and he brought his mom and baby brother...who coincidentally are really awesome too.  I'm amazed we got any pizza into those kids.  They were so excited to see each other that they ran non-stop laps around the house for twenty minutes.  That did mean the adults got to sit and eat their own food without pausing every few seconds to answer questions or demands, so in the end it worked out for everyone but our downstairs neighbor.  

The cupcakes did not disappoint for the second time and the Bear was in absolute awe that it was her turn to blow out the birthday candles.  Everyone enjoyed what would be fantastic cupcakes by any country's standards and then we adjourned to the living room where the rest of the night was spent in a parade of kids through the ball pit tent we got Bailey for her birthday.    A top day in any book.  

And as an encore, Bailey spent the entirety of her first day being a three-year-old....in her pajamas.  Meaning, the first time she changed clothes that day was to get into different pajamas for the night.  

Something tells me she'll be spending this year living the dream.  

To the Bear on Her Third Birthday

Dear Bailey,

Dear Lord...where do I even start?  This has been such a big year for you.  I cannot comprehend how you've come so far, my little girl.  Not only have you moved from one continent to another,  but you've grown from a rough-and-tumble toddler to a boisterous little girl. You're learning patience and how to master those great big emotions that are a part of who you are. You've taken to demanding I braid your long hair like your big sister's and your fashion sense defies anything I've ever seen on a kid before.  You own it, though, sister.  You own everything you do.  You stand strong in your choices and only the stubborn will of your mama can make you back down.

You love your family so much, you sweet thing, but most of all, you love your sister; you emulate everything she does too.  The two of you carry on around the house in amazing games of make-believe, hollering spells (Wingardium Leviosa!!) hosting weddings and saving tigers in distress. 

You overwhelm me every day with depths of the love you possess; the passion that encompasses every aspect of your life--both the good and the bad. You somehow effortlessly embody the unprejudiced acceptance that Christ showed for others and I often find myself jealous of how you can get people from every walk of life to open up to you--to melt and fall in love with your smile and those happy eyes--to accept hand shakes, high-fives and hugs as tokens of your affection wherever you go.  It is an amazing and a humbling thing.   

You are so full of life, child.  When I look at you, I know what it is to see someone who is a bringer of light.  I am so thankful that God chose us as your family--that your Papa and sister and I get to be in the glow of His light shining through you every day.  I hold you close now, knowing you are meant to eventually go out into the world.  You might only be three years old, baby, but if you wanted to rock this world, I believe you could do it...and you'd do it with a skip in your step and a glint in your eye.

With all the love in my bursting heart,
Mama Gigi

New Year's the Viennese Way

Much like the rest of the city, I feel like I'm just now pulling myself out of vacation mode.  It has been well over a week since New Year's and I'm just starting to pull my head out of the fog. A few weeks ago, our friends (also known as "Tiana's parent's") generously offered to take our girls so we could experience a Viennese New Year's Celebration.  They've been here for three years and were keen to spend the night in...so they bravely hosted a sleepover for four girls under the age of five.  I dropped the girls off around 4pm (although I stuck around for an hour "trying to leave"...I'm such a wuss) before heading home.

Cheers!

Obviously, there were no festivities starting yet...well, there were plenty of people around the city setting off fireworks...but compared to what happened at midnight, these piddly things did not denote an actual celebration.  John and I sat around in the apartment for a few minutes...mostly in shock that there were no children running around and that we could leave the house if we wanted to...so we did.  We wandered around the first district and basked in how wonderful it is to be able to walk at one's own pace.  For me, this is a big thing.  The main streets and walkways downtown were already starting to overflow.  There were booths selling glueckschwein (lucky pig) paraphernalia all over the city, waltzing lessons in the middle of Graben and more than a few bottles of champagne that had already been opened.  The two of us had entertained grabbing a coffee at one of my favorite hole-in-the-walls, but even they were filled to the brim. So, we wandered back to our home turf--to Chang's (a restaurant literally around the corner from our place) where we leisurely ate gyoza and drank prosecco with specks of confetti flitting along with the bubbles.  It was really lovely and it could've been enough...but the night was still young!  These were just the preliminaries.

Outside the Rathaus

We spent most of the evening with friends, eating great pizza and nasching on olives...making toasts to Winston Churchill (doesn't everyone?) before winding our way downtown.  Where, Holy-Dear-God-In-Heaven I've never seen such masses.  Never in my life have I seen that many people (and I'm not claiming innocence here) all drunk and celebrating the new year.  We were outside City Hall where a DJ serenaded us with that old-school pop that only the Germans and Austrians still seem able to appreciate.  (I'm just glad David Hasselhoff didn't make an appearance...)  John supplied us with Cuban cigars and we hollered and smooched with the booming crowds as the clock struck midnight.

Nothing but people...as far as the eye can see

Our subsequent 'walk' to the U-bahn was possibly the most enlightening experience, though. The great hoard of bodies between us and public transportation was overwhelming...not to mention the distraction of one last mug of punsch before the stands disappeared or the opportunity to stop and dance to one of the many cheesy songs being blasted from stages throughout the city...it was madness.  Eventually, John and I broke ranks with the rest of our group and booked it to the train.  Along the way, we encountered so much broken glass that a person with open shoes wouldn't have stood a chance of escaping unscathed.  there were mounds of discarded champagne bottles and beer cans.  I cannot possibly paint an accurate picture to do the scene justice.  Mostly, I was glad to have my six-foot-seven body guard with me to barrel through crowds...to hold hands on the train and to help me wake up our sweet sleeping babes to bring them home.

In our last days of vacation

New Year's Day was just another day of vacation for us.  We did a little more organizing and purging than usual, but it was mostly just a day to relax--to be thankful that even though I hadn't made it to the stores before they closed for the holiday, I at least know how to make bread and scrape together something out of nothing when my kitchen shelves are looking bare.

And that was it; eventually, it came: the routine.  We're finally back in it.  Work, preschool, playgrounds, grocery shopping, play dates...we're back into that old rhythm again.  It feels a little different, though.  I feel better rested...not spread too thin, as mama's so often tend to be.  Outside of that first day of the year, we're eating a lot better and most of us are already seeing the benefits of a diet focused on lots of  nourishing foods.

John just received confirmation that he has been approved for a second year in his position, so we're heading into 2013 knowing most of it will be spent in Vienna.  We're looking forward to the promise of home leave, but until John's other two coworkers are replaced (they're both leaving in the next few months), we won't have any input about possible travel dates.  I do feel confident, however, promising we'll be stateside sometime in the next 12 months.

Who says I don't have this bureaucracy thing figured out?

The Best Staycation Ever

I haven't posted anything until recently about our actual Christmas celebration, because I've been on vacation.  One would think, given our convenient geographic location, that John and I would've bustled the girls around to any one of a hundred fabulous destinations within Europe during our Christmas vacation...

nope.

Dude.  We live in Vienna.  We spent Christmas in Vienna and we spent the rest of our vacation here too.

Not that we were out sightseeing.

No, the days following Christmas were spent in glorious lazy succession.  Big breakfasts that take up half the morning, followed by lots of lazing around the house, attending tea parties and grand balls held in the girls' bedroom.  Eventually each day we'd realize we should probably unlock the front door and venture out into the fresh air...so we'd ask the girls what they wanted to do.  This usually landed us in a big park or walking around downtown to find horses.  We'd stay out until the girls started to get tired and then bring them home, where every toy was suddenly new all over again.

wash. rinse. repeat. 

It has been one of the better vacations we've ever taken. 

Meanwhile, I've been putting together a new blog that you are all welcome to follow.  I won't be promoting it or posting updates on Facebook, but I will hopefully be writing regularly.  In lieu of New Years resolutions (which I never make anyway), I'm starting a bit of an adventure that steers out of the realm of the narrative family focus I try (and often fail) to maintain here.  (The link for this new blog is: 12monthsofchrist.blogspot.com.)  The reason for the separate space and the furtive attitude is that I am uncomfortable drawing attention to the ways I'm trying to better myself.  Luckily, I can give most of the credit for anything good happening in my life to the Big Guy Upstairs, hence the birth of this new space. 


Now, I plan to go back to stealing as many glorious lazy family vacation moments I can.  "Blessed" does not even begin to describe it.