Christmas in Germany

This was our 5th Christmas to be married and we FINALLY had our first Christmas tree.  We have always gone home like a week before Christmas and just procrastinated and not gotten one.  This year I was determined to have one and it did not disappoint.  We went to cut our own tree, but it was so snowy and wet we settled for a tree they had already cut. 

We didn't have many ornaments since we had never had a tree, but we started adding to our collection this year as we visited a couple German Christmas markets.

Grey loved helping decorate the tree and surprisingly he left it alone for the most part.  We did have a couple of ornaments go flying across the room when they were mistaken for balls, but luckily they were unbreakable :)

 Okay, I know that is a lot of pictures of Grey decorating the tree, but it was just so precious how into it he was.

This is the finished product.  Not the biggest or brightest tree, but I wasn't about to buy more than 1 strand of Christmas lights that won't work in our American outlets next year.  (Many of you know how cheap I am:)

I loved being able to turn off the lights though and have the Christmas tree on at night. 

As I said, we went to some great Christmas markets here in Germany.  They are a really big deal here.  The first one we went to was in Nuremburg and it was soooo crowded and cold and not very stroller friendly with the crowd so we didn't enjoy it as much as the next one we went to.  I didn't get any pics except this one of how bundled up we had Grey.  It was COLD!!!

 

We went a couple weeks later to a smaller Christmas market and even though it was still REALLY

cold we enjoyed this market a lot more and got some great goodies for our tree and some gifts.

This is the only picture I got at a Christmas market.  It was just too cold to take the time to stop and get my camera out :)

 

We really enjoyed spending some time in Germany during the Christmas season before heading home to the states for Christmas with family.

 

Rome for Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving Davis and I decided to plan a trip to Rome since it was high on our list of places to see before leaving Germany.  If you can't spend Thanksgiving eating turkey and dressing with family why not spend it in a gorgeous old city eating pizza and pasta.....right? 
Rome did not disappoint and I really enjoyed the history of the city (which is not usually my thing). 

This is how we spent a lot of the time since everywhere wasn't stroller friendly.  Grey doesn't mind it too much, but he sure gets antsy after a little bit.

Grey was a good boy and slept in the stroller for us the last night so Davis and I could have a nice dinner together without him interupting.

Grey loved out earphones from the tour of the Vatican. 

One night we took the iPad down to the hotel lounge and Davis and I enjoyed some adult time and Bambi "babysat" Grey :)  Gotta do what you gotta do....

Spanish Steps

Fount di Trevi

Grey had fun crawling and climbing on the oldest street in Rome.  I think it was from around 400 B.C.  He had no clue what cool stuff was surrounding him.

The Coliseum was amazing and so cool to see in person.

St. Peter's Basilica

We had a great time and really enjoyed Rome.  It was one of of my favorite places we have traveled.  Just one maybe 2 more big trips before we move back in March!  I can't believe all the things we have been so blessed to experience over here and would not trade it for the world, but I cannot wait to be home either!

Playmobil

In October while Davis was gone training Grey and I went to Playmobil Land with a group of friends and their kids.  We had a great time and Grey was in heaven!  He loved all the figures and playing with all the other kids.  I can't wait to take him back.

Grey had fun playing with his German friends in the play center.

He took all the toys out of the toybox and climbed in :)

Jumping on the trampoline/

Ozier Fam Update

 

Disclaimer:  This is a pretty long (wordy) post, but there are tons of pics too so if you just want the pics scroll to the bottom :)   At least read the last paragraph though....
Wow, I have been totally MIA for a while, huh?  I have started a couple posts over the past month and then gotten sidetracked with life and a little wild man.  As for an Ozier update:
Grey is 15 months old  and walking EVERYWHERE!  He started being a true walker at about 14 months and has not stopped since.  He is so independent and I have to say I am still surprised by this sometimes because I thought the independence thing would happen closer to age 2.  He wants to do everything by himself and that includes using his spoon to feed himself everything (even if it doesn't really require a spoon). He loves to dip his food in any kind of sauce also and he does it so carefully. He looks more like a big boy everyday and walking has really caused him to look like a true toddler. 
He amazes me with what he understands daily.  He has been saying animal sounds for a while and is adding to his vocab slowly, but surely.  He knows what a dog says, a lion, a monkey, a duck, a cow, and a cat says.  I also taught him how to put his hand over his mouth and act like an indian...it is so darn cute!  He also says "tank tu" for thank you and something similar to "all done" when he is finished eating, "uh-oh", "da-da" (he still doesn't say mama and it is a very sore subject...I think he just does it to spite me), "bye-bye", and some other things that he will repeat after you say them.  He puts his hands up in a questioning pose when he is trying to ask a question and it is so precious.  The only signs we really do are "please", "more", and "all done".  They are really helpful though.  It is especially nice to have a way to help him convey when he needs help, instead of fussing and whining I make him stop and sign "please". It works like a charm.  He can also blow kisses and it melts my heart!
Grey is busy, busy, busy and into everything.  He has just recently started to throw some temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way and I am not liking that one bit.  He loves to explore outside and go to the playground and slide.  He still loves books and would read all day if he could.  He loves to watch TV, but we are on a TV lockdown right now.  I found myself using the TV as a tool for me to get things done and to keep him occupied, which is fine on occasion, but a little TV led to more TV than a 1 year old should be watching, so I decided to have a hiatus from TV.  He doesn't seem to notice.  We still watch some home videos on the computer though because he loves watching his cousins from Christmas past and I can't keep him from family :) 
We celebrated Davis' 30th birthday a few weekends ago by heading to Munich to Oktoberfest and left Grey with some friends.  It was nice to get away for the day, just the 2 of us, however Oktoberfest was so so so crowded and we didn't get to go in any of the beer tents because they were all full.  We still had fun walking around. We also went and walked around downtown Munich for a little bit before heading home.
Davis left for training on Oct. 9 and will be gone for 3 weeks so he will miss our anniversary again, unfortunately, but we will celebrate when he gets back. 

That is really all that is new here except for one more final update:

GREY IS GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER!  We are so excited about baby #2 due in April 2013.  God is so good and has blessed us with more than we deserve!

Grey helping Daddy put together his b-day present from Nana and Pop.

We took Grey to the Nuremburg Zoo a few weeks ago and he LOVED it!  He pointed at everything!

He wasn't so sure about the crazy monkeys.

There was a goat petting zoo and he loved chasing the goats.

When he can't get something out of his toy basket he just gets in it...

Look how long my baby is getting.  (yes, he still gets a bottle before bed and probably will for a while...don't judge :)

Spaghetti night

This was during our travels to and from the states.  He was one tired baby!

He loves "helping" me cook...

He got to go in his first jumpy house and he LOVED it.  He wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good picture.

The bouncy house was at a company cook-out where they auctioned off a pie in the commanders (Davis) face!  Haha!  It was so gross...tuna, relish, chocolate, baby food, etc.

Grey watched his Daddy get pied in the face.

Grey shares my cereal every morning.  He loves my frosted mini wheats.

This is our new favorite way to grocery shop....I can shop a lot longer when he gets to ride like this.

At the park

He loves the horse at the park

So proud of himself for making to the top of the slide.