A week of firsts

Here are the firsts we experienced this week:

1. First day Mommy was home alone with both kids (not bad, really)

2. First outing for Mommy by herself with the kids (what a workout, I think it was 40 degrees, but I was sweating before we even left the house. Wearing one child and pushing another makes a coat almost unnecessary.)

3. First photo session for Mark for his passport photo. It only took 3 adults and about 20 photos to get a good one. And it is awesome, I love it so much I took a picture of it so I could put it on here.

4. First trip to the US Consulate. This actually went smoothly. We had all our paperwork and made Mark an official citizen. The only problems we had were 1) getting through security (two strollers with a bunch of crap in them = pain in the butt; can't wait to get to the airport next week) and 2) both kids pooped in the consulate (lucky for us, the US Consulate is probably the only women's restroom in all of Munich with a changing table.)

Despite the struggles of dealing with an additional child in our lives, it was a good week. And of course, besides all the "firsts" there was a lot of cuteness this week too! I can only hope that next week goes as well since it will be my first FULL week on my own with Mark and Gianna!

Thanksgiving weekend didn't feel quite the same without any days off for Doug and no Macy's parade and no football! But we tried to make the best of it. Gianna had a lazy morning with Mark, but later we had a delicious dinner: a cooked rotisserie chicken, homemade sweet potatoes (my favorite), instant mashed potatoes, Stove Top stuffing brought from the US by Grandma, and apple crisp. Not quite like home, but delicious anyway!
On Friday morning our friends (our only friends in Munich!) came over to meet Mark and play with Gianna. Lauren and Gianna played great together (they don't always do that) and they looked especially cute on the couch together. Lauren loves to touch Gianna's hair.

On Saturday we made our first visit to the Munich Christmas markets. They are very cool. Lots of things to buy and to eat and almost as much drinking involved as Oktoberfest (only this time it's spiced wine instead of beer). One of the markets we visited had some cool things for kids. Gianna really enjoyed seeing all the displays.

And of course, Mark was around for all the festivities, so here are a few cute pictures of him: yawning and chilling. He's huge, on his one week birthday he weighed 9 lbs already!