Where does the time go??

It seems like just yesterday that she was still in that wobbly-walking stage, and she loved to spin in circles until she fell down in the very middle of the kitchen floor. We would have the radio going full blast, and she would just laugh and bounce and spin until finally she would plop herself down from exhaustion.

Now, let's fast-forward, and I have a beautiful little girl starting her first day of dance class. Where did my little toddler go?? She has grown up so fast, and I have no clue where the time has gone.

The Scrunchy Face!

How can you not love this adorable munchkin with her cute scrunched up nose and "what the heck, mommy??" look on her face!

My Sweet Little Munky

This picture encompasses everything that I love and adore about my cuddly little Chunky Munky. I just love her sweet little face and thumb-sucking ways :o)

Hundredth Zoo Trip, First German Zoo

The weather was so wonderful last weekend that I just had to go explore something or somewhere, and we had promised the Little Diva that we would take her to the zoo soon. So, we made our first trip to a German zoo at the Tiergarten Heidelberg (translation: Heidelberg Zoo). We had a great time, including having a lion close enough that a very brave/stupid person could have practically touched him/gotten their hand bitten off. We went with some friends that were in town which was great, and the kids had a fantastic time. I have to say that they let you get MUCH closer to the animals here than they would ever consider in stateside zoos, which is amazing and scary at the same time. Heidelberg’s zoo is a rather small zoo, so I wonder how things will be at the next zoo we visit… and I’m sure there will be a next, and a next, and a next….

Gotta Love This!

Okay, so I fed my 6 month old her first real finger food (that wasn't a Cheerio) today. I started with tofu because it's nice and squishy and easy to chew. Big sister loved it when she was little, so I thought I would give it another try this time around too. And let me tell you! She thought that was the best thing outside of stealing and chewing on her sister's Barbies HAHA. Here are a few absolutely adorable pictures of her having a grand time squishing and shoving and smiling away!

Hmm... SQUISH!!!

OHHH!! I LOVE this stuff!!

I know I'm cute :o)

Getting settled, FINALLY!

So, we have arrived! We have been in Germany for a week now, but what a completely hectic week for all of us. First of all, a 12 hour day spent flying and running all over airports with 2 kids under the age of 3 = CRAZINESS. But, they handled it very well, and we made it through the day. Upon arrival, 7:00am Germany time (while it was really midnight, at least for us), we headed to Heidelberg from Frankfurt airport (about 45 minute drive). After settling in our apartment, we all took a nice long nap which then caused us all to be up at 2:00am HAHA.

After a couple of days of recovery from jet lag, the next whirlwind of h*ll began. The girls and I all were hanging our heads over the toilet with a just lovely stomach virus that thankfully only lasted about 48 hours except for the little one, who is still having trouble keeping "everything" inside her diaper and not all over mommy's leg, YUCK.

OKAY, now that the first week is over and we are all much healthier and happier, let's hope this week goes better! We took a walk around our local area this morning and took a few pictures. Plus, I took a few pictures of our temporary apartment (going to look at houses tomorrow, YAY!). There are really some beautiful areas here, and I will add pictures as we go out and do more but at the moment we have only been around the base to the commissary, px, etc... not exactly breathtaking views hehe.

Okay, I just had to show this because it made me giggle.

Focus on the background and see the fantastic landscape.


Thought this was quaint, but don't ask me what that says.


Again, try to focus on the background and the houses on the hillside.


Just a typical German street

The girls' room, and I soooo miss having their individual rooms right now.

Our kitchen

Living Room

Our first REAL hairdo!

After that haircut yesterday, I decided to try out a new hairstyle that I had been looking at for the past week. Thanks to http://shedoeshair.blogspot.com/ I was able to complete the first REAL hairdo that my 2 yr old has ever had (outside of ponies and pigtails). I absolutely loved this hairstyle. I thought it would be fantastic with her little bouncy curls (not to mention easy for my first attempt at something new). Her instructions were fabulous although my ponytails and knots weren't quite so fab (due to human error not teaching error). Also, I will definitely remember to use clear hairbands next time because my knots are just not quite good enough yet to not see the rubber bands. And my parts are lacking a little in the straightness category, but with a constantly moving head that can be slightly difficult. I still think it looked nice for my first attempt, and with her natural curls I didn't have to do anything past the ponytail steps. And YES, those are all natural curls, no curling iron required (thank goodness because I think I would be scared to try that as I am trying to chase my daughter across the room with the curling iron still attached to her head). I just had to show off my accomplishment and how cute it turned out! Maybe someday I will try to bravely attempt something even bigger and better...

To cut or not to cut...

So, I decided to take a leap and cut my 2-yr old's hair today for only the 2nd time in her life. Let me tell you, that had to be one of the biggest decisions that I have made in awhile! Her curly hair is so adorable, and I kept having a huge debate in my head about what would look best and whether I really wanted to snip off any of those beautiful curls. BUT, it was starting to lose those cute little curlies because of the length and weight, which was also causing not-so-pretty pigtails and ponies. After a few days of thinking on it, I decided to cut off about 2 inches from the length. She was a perfect little angel and sat stone still (well, as still as can be expected for a 2-yr old, a few wiggles were squeezed in) while I cut off those precious locks. I was SOOOO happy that I followed through!! I now have those wonderful bouncy curls back along with the cute little piggies and ponies! No more having to make little loopy ponytails to keep it from looking thin and stringy! Sometimes the hardest decisions are the best choices.

"The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice." ~ George Eliot

Cookies & Traditions

Yesterday, my little girl made her first batch of Christmas cookies! She was so excited to help Grandma cut out each of the delicate little cookies. It was so cute watching her as she pushed down on the little cookie cutters and used all of her concentration to make sure she was very careful to be gentle when pulling them off to put on the pan. And the highlight of the event was the sprinkling of the sugar on the tops of each cookie. She got a little sugar happy with a few of the cookies, so they were extra sweet!

I think this is such a great tradition to start with the girls, and it should be very entertaining as the years go by. I hope that it will be something that they will continue to remember and enjoy, and maybe continue with their own kids.

"What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and in the human imagination, when love, worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage it." ~ Thomas Carlyle

My Little Diva

So, after that previous post all about one child, I figured that I should post a little something about my 1st born. She is my little princess with a little bit of tomboy as well. She is about as independent as they come and MUST do everything "by myself!!" but somehow still she cannot put that shoe on Barbie by herself (even though I have secretly seen her do it many times before). Typical two-year old, right? She is a beautiful little girl with a heart of gold though, and her latest new phrase is, "Mommy, I love you sooo much!" I know, I know, I'm being a sucker for falling for that, especially when she says it every single time that she gets into trouble. How can I resist those big brown eyes looking up at me with her arms wrapped around my legs and that cute little smile?? But truly, she does love everyone and everything, especially every known animal at the zoo. She is obsessed with zoo animals and pets, and with her very vivid imagination makes our entire house her own zoo of stuffed animals from the bears in the oven to the giraffe behind the couch. I will stop here because you will inevitably hear much more about her as time goes on, she is endlessly and always amusing us!

What kind of name is "Chunky Munky?"

So, I know you're probably wondering, "what was she thinking with that name??" Who names their blog The Chunky Munky, right? WELL, if you had seen my second child at birth, then you would understand where the name originated from...Weighing in at a lovely 9 lbs 10ozs, she made mommy decide that she would never say NO to pain meds during pregnancy EVER again. BUT that's beside the point considering there are absolutely NO plans for anymore little munchkins. I am very content with the two little divas that I have :o) Well, I digress... back to the name thing. I had been wracking my brain for months trying to decide on a suitable name for the boutique that I had high hopes for starting one day, but I could never seem to find anything that didn't sound completely stupid or frufru. From day one, we started calling my youngest(previous said chunky baby) our little chunky monkey. Then, after a week I had one of those enlightening moments where you think, "Wow, that's perfect, and why didn't I think of that before." And now it is pretty self-explanatory where this blog's name came from. I decided to continue on using it despite the lack of my boutique which may reoccur down the line after our little Germany trip, but until then it will be the name for my snazzy little piece of the blogging world.

My little Chunky Munky