Seller’s remorse

So, for the last few weeks, we’ve been putting lots of our belongings up for sale via the local classifieds. While we have managed to sell most of what we’ve put up for sale, I’ve come to realize I am NOT one to drive a hard bargain. In fact, I’m a bona fide pushover.
I stated “firm” when I stated the price on most items, but found that I just get too eager to make a sale and always seem to drop the cost a few bucks, even when it’s a deal and a half to begin with.
Yesterday we sold my almost decade-old iMac G4, the “spacepod” looking one that was just SOOO cool when it came out. My computer savvy husband said I’d be lucky to get $75 for it. Considering I bought it for nearly $2,000 and it got me through a managing editor position, countless blog posts AND it was the venue for meeting my husband, I was really having a hard time letting go. I posted it for sale for $150. It took a while, but we finally got a buyer. I felt ripped off, lol, but my husband was so proud of my sales acumen
I could really get into this selling thing. I’m already looking around at other items to sell, things we hadn’t considered. But at this rate we’d have just a carpet and a pillow before we moved to the Big Apple.

Let’s see, where was I?

My last post was in February, just a month after our daughter Hannah was born. I was sure, sure, sure I’d find the time just a few weeks after the birth, as I recovered from my C-section lolling about in bed, playing with my baby. L.O.L.
So, let’s do my life in a nutshell since my last post. Wake. Feed. Play. Nappy change. Console. Feed. Nappy change…that’s the first two or three ( or six?) months.
Also in her third month, Hannah got her first plane ride to Houston, because we needed to visit the German Consulate in person to get her German passport and declare her dual citizenship. And just two months after that, she, Christian and I were zooming off to Bavaria to visit Hannah’s Oma and Opa.
Yep, she’s a well-traveled tot and what kind of parents would we be if we let her be raised in… El Paso????
Sooooooo, after much consideration (not on moving, mind you, but WHERE to move), we decided we’re going to “go for it” and move to New York City. This is something I would have never, ever done if I were alone. But with Christian’s eagerness and with the hope of providing so many opportunities for Hannah, I was easily won over.
We’ve got a place in FAR north Manhattan, and we’ve paid for two months. That will give us sixty days to find a job, find another permanent place, find childcare, and see if we too can take a bite of the Big Apple.
In the meantime, we have exactly three months left here in El Paso to sell pretty much all of our belongings (we’re flying to NYC. That’s two suitcases each. And that’s IT. Can I interest you in a gorgeous changing table or exercise bike?), get rid of our Jeep, say our goodbyes to my family (Hannah’s my parents’ only grandchild, so it’s not so easy), and study up on the ins and outs of cheap NYC living. I am already romantically envisioning living off of Doner Kebabs and salted bagels whilst treating Hannah to a day at FAO Schwartz.
I’ll be posting the details of our move and our transition from little desert border town to bright lights, big city!

Chez Waldmannstetter

Today’s weather would have made for a spectacular Sunday … IF it wasn’t blowing horrible, dusty winds and making it impossible to see more than two miles in front of you! Yep, El Paso introduces spring in SUCH a lovely way. Not. At least the birds are starting to migrate here, so we get our own version of Hitchcock’s famous movie every evening, with birds flying South in masses, practically blackening the sky.
I will never, ever lose my last few pounds of baby weight with Christian’s cooking. I might as well just forget about it and never think about it again. Christian made his homemade pasta sauce, served with his gorgeous salad (he makes a mean salad) and baguette. Yep, I will just reconcile myself with this last ten pounds and I’ll start packing my pre-preggers jeans for Goodwill.
Here’s Christian’s beautiful salad and him further tempting me with a piece of fresh Parmesan. I just can’t wait until Hannah can eat with us and see just how daddy was so instrumental in making her a healthy, happy baby. Mommy couldn’t stop eating his special dishes. If it weren’t for him, Hannah would live on pbj sandies, oatmeal and PowerBars.

Sorry, the cat got my tongue

Yep, it’s been way too long but I finally found a brief moment to catch up on my blog and not have to type the chopsticks method…one finger. Hannah’s in her bassinet, not sleeping (does she ever?), but giving me a chance.
The other night, Christian decided to get back into the gourmet cooking mode, after weeks of Domino’s, pasta and whatever else we could muster with the one last gasp of energy the two of us have at the end of the day.

And what did he make? Tongue! Okay, we’ve been watching a lot of Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain to lull us to sleep (well, to lull Hannah to sleep) these days, so we’ve been curious. Sure, El Paso Mexican restaurants have lots of “lengua” on their menus, but neither of us had ever had the, er, guts to try it out. I’ve had my share of menudo, so tripe isn’t a stranger, but tongue has never been a “must try” item, until now.
The prep work made me think twice, but Christian’s tongue/carrot/leek/cream casserole was outstanding. I had to use the suspension of disbelieve method to try, but once I did, I thought to myself that I could get into this “extreme eating” every so often. Beef cheeks are next.
Hannah’s Uncle Rosser came by for a visit and a stroller walk this afternoon, and Hannah was on her best behavior. She has a knack for being soooo good in public and when she has visitors. She saves her energy for right when the door closes and we’re alone. She is very good that way
Now we’re off on a date. Yes, that’s right, a bona fide date. Dinner and then a coffee. We’ve played it safe with family restaurants like Applebee’s and State Line so far, but we’re going out on the edge tonight, to a quiet Vietnamese restaurant. I am making sure she’s well fed (maybe overly fed) right beforehand.
It’s great to be back on the blog and I pray I can manage to be coherent as my brain finally is coming back around.

Side note: We’ve got our tickets to Munich in May! Almost three weeks of introducing Hannah to her daddy’s family, as well as having a second honeymoon filled with long walks in the forest, visits to Bad Gögging, Abensberg, Regensburg and Passau, Schweinebraten, Oma’s Kartoffelsalat, Uli’s Gulasch, Pflaumenkuchen, Griessuppe…. God, this is going to be a LONG three months.

Kaiserschmarrn und Oma’s kisses

Mmmmmm, mmmm. Christian treated us to Kaiserschmarrn the other night, my favorite! So much for breastfeeding helping with losing those post-partum lbs. I am still eating for two!
Yesterday mom came over to visit, and to give me time to do laundry, shower, take a walk and to surf online (now considered a luxury!). She told stories about me as a baby/child, Amazing how much mom remembers, considering she gave birth to me exactly 40 years ago! Yep, the big 4-0 today…but caring for Hannah DE-ages me!

Marveling at mommyhood

So, it’s been about one month since Hannah’s been born, and we’re just beginning to get a little bit of a rhythm! I’ve felt like I have betrayed my blog, but when and IF I get a moment to do anything non-Hannah-related, it is usually to shower, walk, or sleep!!!
I am desperate to get this blog rolling again, but I want to ask for a little help in the meantime… any Germans living in the States want to guest-blog about their culture shock upon arriving here? And I am especially interested in German views on how Americans raise their kids!

Please email me at krautundcracker@gmail.com. Oh, and see my wall on FB under Amanda Kemp Waldmannstetter.

See you soon!!!
Amanda

I’ve got the Baby Pinks

For a day or two, I guess you could say I had the “Baby Blues,” that all-too-common postnatal symptom of constant weeping, exhaustion and frustration. But that lasted only a few days and in retrospect, the weeping was from pure love and amazement rather than anything negative. Now that the hormones have settled down, my weight has steadied and we’re getting into some semblance of a routine, I find I am suffering the “Baby Pinks,” where everything is rosy, I want to just squish my little butterbean, and I can’t get enough of her. I even forego allotted naps to just sit with her and look at her!
I am still exhausted and CAN get frustrated, but in general, I am swimming in pink!

A visit from Oma Linda

My mom came over to have lunch with me and to spend some time with Hannah yesterday, and there’s nothing like seeing a grandparent hold her grandchild for the first time. My mom, not one to sit still for more than a millisecond if she can’t help it, was transfixed, glued to the sofa for more than an hour, singing cheer songs from her childhood that she probably hadn’t even remembered since then. And Hannah, who ALSO won’t sit still for more than a millisecond if she can’t help it, was transfixed… and slept, well, like a baby for the duration of my mom’s visit.

It was sheer delight watching my mom hold her only grandchild and I couldn’t help but think I in a way was revisiting my own babyhood watching mom with Hannah. Really an amazing, amazing sight.
I absolutely HAD to run errands yesterday and with one car, it meant I had to drop Christian off at work, Hannah strapped in the back seat, and take care of business with Hannah. I stopped by the DMV for some paperwork. Check (meaning not a peep out of Hannah). I went to the grocery store (check). I went to WIC and waited outside in the drivethru line for almost 20 minutes (check). No problems at all! She really enjoys the car seat, and that’s despite all the potholes all over El Paso’s streets. Hallelujah!
But when she gets home? Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! All day. Inconsolable. Feed her? Gives me about 10 minutes of bliss. Put her down in the bassinet? Wrong! Pick her up to cradle her to sleep? Wrong! Feed her some more? Wrong! It was too cold outside to take her out in the stroller, so I was homebound and had to try to learn what Hannah is saying with her crying. I still haven’t quite learned, but it could have been just an explosion of overstimulation with the car ride, Tummy Time, and a onesie that wouldn’t cooperate when I tried to put it on Hannah (why do they make the arm holes sooooo small on those onesies??? Or does she have oversize hands??)
It’s her two week birthday today. Mommy got FIVE hours of sleep last night AND a bath!!!! First bath in two weeks…a LUXURY for a bath girl who’s had to shower for fourteen days straight.
And Daddy Christian kindly made dinner for us both last night, where I managed (don’t ask me how!) to actually FALL ASLEEP while EATING!!! NO joke. I was literally eating a bite and dozed off).
Now it’s almost 3 a.m., Mommy’s on call until 6 a.m., and she wouldn’t trade this for the world…

Splish splash

Hannah had her first bath yesterday. Well, her first sponge bath. It amazingly went much smoother than I’d anticipated, thanks to Christian, his patience, and his large hands that were able to hold her without excessive squirming.

At first she was curious about it all, until the time it was necessary to get a bit wet. Not a happy camper, but not wailing and bawling too much either. Me, nervous mom, chose to be the archivist and record the photos for posterity and future embarrassment.
We also assembled Hannah’s Fisher Price Swing and Seat, one with a jungle motif and the most horrible synthesized music available for children’s toys, lol. But we’ll leave off the music and just let her listen to Brahms, Debussy, Bach, Carly Simon, Elton John and Donovan, to name a few of our current “to sleep” favorites. That Swing and Seat is a godsend, I tell you. More than 10 minutes of uninterrupted adult time is a precious, precious commodity, and this seat provides that!
This morning, at the doctor, we were notified that Hannah has regained all of her birth weight she lost the two or so days right after the birth, and on top of that has gained three ounces. Whoo hooo! I was so afraid she wouldn’t have gained enough from what I can naturally provide and from the fact she likes to spit up fairly often. She also passed her hearing test with flying colors, after having failed it at the hospital (I found out later that C section babies tend to accumulate some fluid in the ear).
In the evening, we took a nice stroll around our neighborhood and were pleased to see that Hannah has absolutely no problem with bumps and potholes. Such a score! If she gets in a crying jag, I will immediately put her in the stroller and take her out for some exercise.
On exercise: I feel like a sloth, although I know I’m not. I am cleaning house like it’s the last day of earth, but I’ve yet to go on one of my beloved power walks. I’m aiming for it today, though. Although it’s odd not having the luxury of deciding when and where I will exercise anymore, the benefits are far, far greater!

Checkin’ out the ‘hood

Today we took Hannah on her first “walk.” And my first “walk” since the C section last week. We only went about 20 minutes, but definitely long enough for Hannah and, unfortunately, me. I hate taking “baby steps” (no pun intended) in recovery, and wish I could just hop into a jog right now. But my body tells me differently. And besides… I’m going to have a tough, tough time keeping up with my former exercise routine. Easy does it.

We took Hannah to the El Paso Country Club, starting off around the parking lot and later making our way to Vista del Monte, Linda and Woodland streets. It was a gorgeous day, and I was with my gorgeous husband and gorgeous baby girl, Hannah.
Life is so good to me.

Christian’s taking a MUCH needed nap, and it’s my turn for a nap in about 30 minutes. We have to laugh at the absurdity of the fact that just over one week ago, we’d be HURTING for something to do to pass the time (“Another nap?” “Let’s go to Starbucks (again) for a latte,” or “I’ll cook us up a three-course dinner..” Lol, the good old days. Or were they? These days look pretty good to me right now! I wouldn’t trade motherhood for anything, bad sleep, no eating, crying, exhausted… bring it on! I forget all about it when I look at Hannah.