O'zapft is! Wir geht nacht Deutschland!

This year marks a very special anniversary....the 200th year of the marriage celebration of Konig (King) Ludwig I and his bride Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, also known as the Oktoberfest. So we decided about 2 years ago that we would return to Germany to join in this very special occasion. We were also able to bring Elias to see his extended family and the beautiful sits of his Oma's home country. Needless to say a very good time was had by all and we were able to soak in the local celebrations. 

Sipping Starbucks in the airport like Daddy

Discovering the inner workings of the airplane

Although Elias has been on many flights (4-5 hours), this was our first attempt internationally with a raging toddler. We were fortunate that going over Elias slept most of the trip, however this was not the case coming home. Keeping a very active 16 month old entertained was quite the challenge for 10 hours.

Elias was VERY excited about FC Bayern  München gear!

Opa's castle

Dressed to celebrate! 

Elias drinking from his stein (of lemonade...) 

Give a boy a rock and a stick and he's happy!

All the new grandparents and their boys!

Enjoying time with his 2nd cousins

 Mama and Daddy were able to enjoy a FC Bayern  München game against Mainz. The seats were amazing, the playing was not. We lost 2:1.

Our new summer home ;)

Auf Wiedersehen! Tschuss!

End of Summer Highlights

So sorry to our faithful readers for the lack of posting. Our barrel has been filled with much activity all summer and ending in a special vacation. (Stay tuned for a separate post featuring our trip.... ) After moving into the new barrel, we have been spending time enjoying the new space and getting further settled in.

Playing with friends

Loving the neighborhood slide

Reconnecting with the hemophilia community and getting to meet the writer of the Hemophilia Parent's "Bible"

Celebrating friends getting married

Trying new foods...sushi anyone?

Sitting in a firetruck at the neighborhood picnic

Overall this has been quite an enjoyable summer. We have gotten to see our little monkey blossom into a raging toddler--one who is quite curious about the world, loves to run, play soccer (called "futball" here),  giggle, blow and place kisses, read books, play with sticks and rocks, and generally is very easy going as long as he can get all his energy out. He's incredibly social and loves other children. We all feel pretty lucky to have such an amazing little boy.

Stay tuned for a recap of our Big European Adventure....

Phishing and getting soaked

Last weekend was a busy one! Mama and Daddy got to head up to the Deer Creek for a nice weekend listening to their favorite band Phish. They had a good time and were quite exhausted by the end of a long weekend of Phishing.

We also traveled to Wisconsin for some additional phishing and stayed with our friends Miss Sarah and Dr. T. Elias got to explore a fire trunk including playing in the spray of a hooked up hose. 

A Peak into our new Barrel

As promised, here is a peak into our new barrel. Please pardon boxes, bare walls, and evidence that we have just moved ;) A celebration will be held shortly.....Until then, please allow our little monkey to take you on a tour....

The Entrance

The Parlor Room

Monkey's playroom and library

Dinning Room

The kitchen

Breakfast nook

Bath and laundry room....here Elias is showing you how we wash our diapers.

Elias loves to climb the new stairs

Nice bit if stained glass in the stairway

Main bathroom...Elias loves to get into the drawers!

Our new and improved diaper station

Elias' new room

Mama and Daddy's new room

This room has been assigned to be Daddy's man lounge, however it is currently functioning as a guest bedroom for the summer guests

And a new backyard, complete with a sand box for playing!

Our good friend Monkey and his parents came over the other day to enjoy some backyard time....

Happy Summer Everyone!

New Digs

Since our last post from here in the barrel we have been up to BIG things, hence the slight absence from our blogging.

We have left the coziness of the schoolhouse last month and have moved to a new home! We are very excited about the new home with 2 1/2 times the space and a yard! We are now a bit more settled and have 90% of boxes unpacked. Pictures and art are still making their way to their new homes on walls and some "new" furniture is required to fill certain rooms. Elias LOVES his new space including his own little playroom and a sand box! The home is a restored 100 year old Victorian with tons of charm and a good history. We are the fourth family to live here and are excited to add it its good energy. Our neighbors are wonderful (but we knew that since we are only a block away from the schoolhouse.) A picture tour will come this week, as we have not had the chance to take pictures of each room. But until then, here's a sneak peak!

Elias' inhibitor has taken a turn for the BETTER! We are really nipping it in the bud and it has improved with the aggressive treatment. We have only had one trip to the CAT scan (for a playground accident) and one trip to the Children's Emergency Department (fever turning out to be croup and not an infected port.) Hopefully within the next couple of months we will get rid of it all together. Elias has been such a big, brave boy every morning with his infusions. He no longer fights being held down, however band-aids do not last more than 15 seconds....

A Bump in the Road...

We have been very busy here in the barrel. Summer has brought us many pool parties, play dates with new and old friends, uncles moving back in town, graduation from the baby room to the toddler room (at school), getting ready for a big move, and much more activity.

 

 

With that, we have noticed the return of the bum bleed over the holiday weekend and new nasty bruises on little Elias. We hoped that with regular infusions that we would avoid this:

We'll Elias has developed the dreaded inhibitor. Since Elias' body does not make any of the Factor VIII protein, his body is beginning to reject the medicine that is supposed to help him. This, we hear is very common however it must be aggressively treated. We now get to do daily infusions of twice his regular dose in hopes to override this little incident. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!