C is for cookie.

The cookie monster has returned.

Let me explain.

Friday, I decided to take a challenge and make Toll House cookies from scratch. Turns out, I suck.

First off, I figured out to never try and substitute margarine for butter. It doesn't work quite like you'd think it would. I thought I was being a smooth operator by adding extra chocolate chips. Yum, right?

Not right.

I added the entire 'giant' bag of chocolate chips causing the first batch to be more chocolate than cookie. It sounds good, but it wasn't. It cooked weird too.

So, batch #2 -- I thought, hey, I need more dough. I added flour and an egg. I could possibly be slightly mental. This batch was super cakey, dough-y, not sweet -- and just too much like cake to be cookies.

3rd times the charm right? Not Right. DANG IT.

I added more sugar, margarine, and brown sugar. Humuna.

These cookies were the right taste almost, but not the right texture.

So, It needed more moisture -- I would typically add brown sugar? Guess so. It still didnt work.

Finally, after ruining 4 batches of cookies, I went ahead and decided the only thing that could fix anything would be peanut butter and oats. It didn't work. Needless to say, I was depressed after spending a few hours in the kitchen and making not ONE perfect batch of cookies. So, this Monday, my goal was to come up with the perfect batch of Toll House cookies. Boy did I bake it up. I made sure I had REAL butter and I followed the recipe to the 'T,' instead of just guessing what a Tsp measures or a cup measures.

THE COOKIES were perfect. No joke. They still are perfect. But, with perfection comes sin, and these cookies are strait up SIN. Oh my gosh. Tonight, Tuesday, I ate quite possibly 10 cookies. HOLY CRAP.

Whats sad is the last 3-4 weeks, Chad and I have been eating pretty healthy. Not really any breaks during the week until the weekend. Mostly fish, rice, veggies, fruit --lots of water...We both just feel completely gross. Overweight and tired. Now, it's actually funny because everytime we eat really terribly, our stomachs feel like crap for hours until it passes.

Nutso how that happens.

So, needless to say -- I will be taking the cookies to work to get rid of them tomorrow.

:-)

Ick.

We really would like to lose weight, but it just seems so hard.

What else, what else?

Kidney Stones.

I have to have surgery (non-evasive) and a stent put in. Ouch!

I have a stone in each side and it seems like I've been talking about it for a week already. At any rate I am so so ready to be done with it. I also had my hip/tailbone looked at. I should figure out what the problem is with it and why it keeps popping out of place when I lay flat or flip out my right leg.

We are moving in less than a month and we are SO excited. I fresh new start...and a house that will actually be good for Kieran.

(We'll talk more about that later!!)

Our family misses yours. ;-)

LOVE.

Chad, Ciara, & Kieran.

Somebodies gotta fill you in. ;-)

See. freaking. Fest.

So, last year -- we attended Seefest and had a wonderful time, so this year -- naturally, we'd have a wonderful time again, right?

Eh.

haha.

We spend a good 15 minutes loading up the stroller and making sure Kieran was dressed to his full capacity. (that means warmies with a had, gloves, blankey..).

We made the trek through our town, insisting that walking would be easier than driving. Truth is, it was, until we had to walk back up. hahahaha.

When we got there, we found a seating area under umbrellas and that wasn't in the direct sound blaring from the amps. Shortly after arriving, we were able to meet up with some friends. Once meeting up, we ordered this amazing invention called a 'Sangria bucket'. I think you can put two and two together and figure out what that one is. bwahaha. It was great. Probably a gallon and a half of Sangria, topped with fruity oranges and lemons. Delicious if you ask me. Plus, they made it even more crazy by giving you 6-10 long straws.

Chad, him in his full manliness, insisted on going just for the beer -- but, I'm gonna have to say, he missed out. ;-) We ended up not staying too late because, as a parent, there comes a time when you have to draw a line and although Kieran was sleeping peacefully, all bundled up in his stroller, it was getting late-ish (11?) and we figured it would be smart to start heading back up through the town.

We got home, woke Kieran up to feed him one last time before bed, and put him down. WAIT FOR IT, wait for it -- HE SLEPT THROUGH the entire night.

I've gotta let you in on a little secret, ehem -- I have such a good baby.

hahaha.

Chad and I were able to make it up and about the next day, Saturday, when we decided to go pickup our new glasses down town. We went to Kaiserslautern, and as we were leaving decided to stop and get some cocktail shrimp. Those screwy Germans...they left out the cocktail sauce, and gave us sweet and sour anyways. Truth is, it was pretty good, and I'd probably eat it again.

We then made it over to the commissary on Vogelweh (the construction at Ramstein is getting a little TOO crazy for me at this point.) so I could pick up some butter. REAL butter.

There is a whole story behind that -- but lets just say I have 7 dozen cookies sitting upstairs, each batch is different, and all are gross. DONT COOK with margarine. I feel like I should've known that? pshh.. oops?

Anyways, we went to Seefest again tonight, but it started raining, it was a bit louder than it was on Friday -- so we chose to leave with the little nugget. A friend from basic military training met us at our house and we watched 'Thirteen Ghosts' and 'Mean Girls', all while sharing a great bottle of wine. I had a wonderful time - -and it was really great to be in contact with other human beings.

Chad and I are continuously looking for jobs to make it possible for me to get out and us come back home (to the USA at least). It seems so hard, but we are keeping our eyes open, applying for anything and everything.

Oh, and quick mention-- I created my charity, and Chad is doing the paperwork to make it legal with the IRS. Sweet huh? Once it's completely finished, I will have a fully running and operating program that allows ANYONE to donate arts of some sort (crafts, paintings, talents..) or money and that will go towards a selected charity. Pretty wonderful. Right now, its called 'Imagine It.' but, I think I am going to change it to the 'Paint the Sky foundation.'

Whoooo knows.

Anyways, we love you all.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Chad,

Ciara,

Kieran,

&

Lucy.

"It's like riding a bike..."

This weekend is proving to be wonderful -- one day at a time.

Friday wasn't so eventful, but we can blame that on being tired from waking up so early.

We both woke up early to get the day started. Chad headed to work at about 0630 and I couldn't go back to sleep and decided not to since I had to make an appearance at my office around noon for a late 'birthday' celebration.

Getting ready in the early a.m. was so much easier to do while Kieran was still asleep. Once that little bugger is awake, it is nonstop with feedings and nourishment. HAH. So, I was able to get up -- brush my teeth, wash my face AND actually apply make up before he woke up. Such a relief to actually finish before the storm begins. LOL...

--

Saturday was the '4th of July Freedom Festival' or 'Rockin' 2nd as Chad would call it.

We went with one thing on our minds. Well, okay, two things. We were on a mission to demolish a hot dog and a few beers. Simply because you cannot attend a 4th of July fest and not give into the crappy chili dogs and Corona.

Well, we did -- and left feeling sick. After eating healthy for the past week, the crap we consumed started to make our stomachs feel like poooo.

We stayed for a few hours, but then when Kieran started to get fussy after being SUCH a good baby, we headed home.

The next day, we did some thinking and decided a few things.

#1) It's clear that our bodies felt like crap because we ate a funnel cake, 2 hot dogs and chili dogs and then each had 2 beers -- and there is a reason why.. WE NEED TO KEEP UP WITH EATING HEALTHY. We've listened to our bodies and have finally learned what to watch out for. We did so well during the week, and although the junk food was great momentarily, it was not worth it after the stomach aches.

#2) We are going to condense our stuff and get rid of the stuff that we don't want any more and we are going to start working for the things that we've been wanting for a while (like a nice bedroom set..and some more furniture). So, selling our older stuff and saving up for some good stuff. I'lll have to post some things that we are looking forward to investing in.

And we are also getting rid of the useless clutter. Nobody likes clutter..especially us. Every once in a while, Chad and I get frustrated with just 'crap' and we start to throw out things that no longer mean anything. Luckily, we have the resource of ramsteinyardsales.com to sell what we've got to the people coming in and out of the area.

Tomorrow is our day off (MONDAY) and the day before I have to go back to work for the first time. I am not excited AT ALL. :( I am sad to leave Kieran for the day, but I know it will be good for both of us for me to get some space and for him to spend the day with a German speaking person. That means we'll have to speak LOTS and LOTS of English when he gets home in the evenings so that way he isn't ONLY fluent in German. That would be scary.

We will either be going to the lake with our friends tomorrow, and if not that we'll be going ona picnic of our own.

We love you all. Keep coming back for more..

(P.S. We are still brainstorming to find out what our plan is for the future..!! Aghh! SO exciting)

Love.

Chad.

Ciara.

&

Kieran.

(Lucy too!)

So so so much.

We have a ton going on right now, and I am sure you would just LOVE to hear about it :)

Well, first things first, Chad and I are on super extreme diets. It started a few days ago and it pretty much has just been us eating healthy. Until I start working on Tuesday next week, we wont be able to set up a work out schedule and follow it, because we want to have a set schedule first.

I had Chad take my before photos -- and it was a smack in the face. It was good to see, because looking down, it didn't look that bad. BUT, the camera shows it all.

Chad refused to let me take his photo, but I think it's because he is scared to see. At any rate, we both have realized that we need to get on the right track.

One thing that sucks to think about is how much my body is going to go through when I get pregnant again. It's gonna be a while, but just knowing that it is going to go through that again -- I am nervous for my body. LOL

--

Now, today, after getting another 'flaky' phone call from the lady we originally chose for childcare -- we decided to interview another lady that was recommended to us.

She seemed great, plus she was more affordable.

We will see. Hopefully something wonderful works out. :)

--

I start work on Tuesday. Not too excited -- I'm sad that I have to leave Kieran during the day and I am also nervous about having to start back up writing again. That sounds soooo NOT fun. hehehe.

We will take it one day at a time.

Love,

Chad.

Ciara.

&

Kieran.

(lucy too!)

Daily buzz

Today was absolutely crazy. Chad left early for work, as usual. Kieran slept till about 4:30, which was awesome for mommy.

Once awake, he stayed in bed with us until Chad left for work and slept till about 7:30ish. He was then awake for the day. Haha. Not so bad right? Rrrrrright.

I had to somehow get to vehicle registration on Kapaun Air Station to renew our vehicle registration for the Land Rover. Well, Kieran just didn't want to give me a chance to get ready. I would feed him 4 or 6 oz and then put him in his swing, or in his crib and he just couldn't bare to sit still. He would get fussy, which I can bare to sit through..but then he would start to cry. Thats when I would pick him up, and carry him while doing all of my chores. Brushing my teeth and washing my face seemed like the hardest tasks.

Finally, got the vehicle inspected, low and behold---to find that it failed :( There was an oil on the transmission that we were unable to find the source of and it had to be 'powerwashed' in order to pass inspection...SOOOO, 15 dollars later, the car was ready to pass inspection.

Whew, got that done and over with until we leave Germany. Thank GOD!!! That is such a pain in the arsssssh!!

Anyways-- Kieran is safe to sleep, and its time we hit the sack.

Good night moon!!

Love.

Ciara.

Chad.

&

Kieran. (and LUCY!!)

And now introducing, Kieran.

Kieran.

Born May 11, 2011.

Weighing in at 10lbs 9 oz.

22 and a half inches LONG.

Our baby boy was born a toddler. ;-) We are so excited to have him in our lives now. He is so precious. Right away he was holding his head up and he seemed more alert than we had imagined he would be.

This Wednesday, he will be 7 weeks, and already a world traveler. Before he was 2 weeks old, he strolled the streets of Cochem, Germany -- under the beautiful castle and vineyards.

At 4 weeks, he had his diaper changed while atop the great Heidelberg Castle, above the city that was nearly demolished during World War II.

Then, at about 5 weeks -- Kieran was able to visit the small town of Rothenberg ob der Tauber -- the quaint little village that still remains within the city walls that held it together during both World Wars.

He is making our lives so exciting, in so maaaany different ways.

We love the little nugget and we are so very excited to keep exploring the world for as long as we've got him.

Looked for a childrens bible today, and we found some good ones -- in the meantime, he can listen to his momma read hers. <3

Not excited to get back to work, but we are hoping we've found the right day care provider. Keep your fingers crossed.

Love always,

Chad.

Ciara.

&

Kieran.

<3