Bean Sprout arrives

The much anticipated arrival is finally here! Here are the details:

Harper Noëlle

Born December 21, 2005
9:52 pm
Geneva, Switzerland
4.03 KG
54 cm long

Kathy had to have a C-section, but mom and baby are absolutely fine. Harper has a full head of dark hair and all of the required parts.

Bean Sprout takes her time

Sorry this isn’t giving you news of Bean Sprouts arrival, she apparently has her own schedule going. As of this morning’s doctor’s appointment, everything is just fine – Bean Sprout is just not ready to come out yet! So the plan now is to have the same type of monitoring and test on Saturday morning at the hospital, if nothing else has happened during the week. They won’t know the next step until the see the results of the test on Saturday.

Today we are trying to get the last of the paperwork together in order to get Bean Sprout’s birth certificate, when she decides to join us. We had hopped that my residency visa would have come in last week, but it did not, so I have to go to the Mayor’s office and try and get some sort of special affidavit of my residency here. The Swiss have perfected the bureaucratic system! Firmenich is sending someone to help me in this process, since it is not part of the usual procedures, I’m sure my 50 word French vocabulary won’t be able to get the job done.

So in an effort to keep ourselves busy while we were waiting this weekend, we did a bit of Christmas window shopping and saw some Geneva history celebrations. This weekend reenacted the events of a 1602 defeat of Savoyard troops, which were trying to invade the city of Geneva. The legend has it that La Mere Royaume (a stout-hearted housewife) reportedly poured hot soup, followed by the Marmite (caldron) onto the invaders heads. There were lots of folks dressed up in period costumes – and of course every street vendor was selling hot wine! Melissa started rating them! It is in what they call the “old city”, which has lots of secret passageways and such that are only opened up for this weekend’s events. It is also -2 C right now, with a strong Bris (the blustery winds that come down the Alps and across the lake!) – Basically it’s really cold! ;-)

We also went over to a friend’s house on Sunday evening to welcome her 10 day old baby girl. It was a nice time and I had hopped that holding the new born, would help motivate Bean Sprout to come out and play – no such luck.

We did confirm our new flat and our move date. We get the keys to the new place on 12/15! It is a different flat then we had been originally assigned, but it has the washer & dryer hook-ups - which we decided were essential with a new baby in the house. It is a bit smaller, but that also makes it a bit cheaper too! The movers will move in our things from storage on 12/20 and unpack everything the same day. We are not sure what day they will be moving the things from this flat. Melissa is also supposed to get the new leased car tomorrow. I was not on the rental contract, so I had not been doing any of the driving so far. I am on the lease contract, so I will be able to have the car now, when I need it.

I guess that is all for now. Best of luck to John on his interview this week – we’ll be thinking of you! Love ~ K

Bean Sprout's due date

Hi family!

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving in all their respective locations. We had a wonderful weekend with the Calder clan! The van arrived around 8pm on Thanksgiving evening, filled with two little kids who need to get out some energy and have some dinner! We had the non-traditional thanksgiving meal of tortellini soup, which seamed to go over well with everyone! Danielle also had brought many things for Bean Sprout to use when she arrives – baby seats, play toys, bath tubs, and such! We are very thankful for all the hand-me overs!

Friday morning we woke up to the first snow of the season. Kathy & Melissa went off to an OB appointment while the Calder gang enjoyed the luxury of our temporary pad. Then after Heather enjoyed her long awaited opportunity to walk Chance, we headed out for sight seeing in Geneva. We rode the tram to go into the old city to see the St. Piere cathedral – which is said to be an instrumental church in the reformation - John Calvin was a preacher there. We enjoyed a snack of Chocolate chaud (hot chocolate) and creeps at a little café nearby. Heather was the hit of the place, she just talks to anyone – it doesn’t really matter to her that they speak French! We did a bit of window shopping in the old city shopping area, and Heather enjoyed a ride on the round and round! Then we walked over to the lake the Geneva end of Lac Leman. We headed back home to once again leave the Calders in Carouge while Melissa and I headed off to pre-natal class.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early on our way to see Santa Clause. With a little over an hour ride to Montreaux, we caught a train that took us up the mountain to Santa’s village. While on the train Heather made a friend with a little French girl sitting next to us. At Santa’s village, there were live reindeer, snow, St. Bernard dogs, snow, and of course the trip would not have been complete without an opportunity to sit on Santa’s lap. Heather of course told Santa all about the baby in Aunt Kathy’s belly and that she lived in Frickenhausen! Hugh was fascinated by Santa. Santa gave them each a little present with Gingerbread treats. We all enjoyed a traditional Swiss lunch of Fondue before we headed out to give Heather a little time to play in the snow. Heather made snow angels and took a ride on the swing set as well as petted the St. Bernard dogs.

After our eventful afternoon in with Santa, we headed back down the mountain to enjoy a Swiss Christmas market in Montreaux. Montreaux is at the other end of Lac Leman – needless to say it is a very big lake! I’m not sure we bought too much at the stalls, but we sure did eat our way through the market! Wonderful Italian hot chocolate – that was really, really thick and tasty. Belgian waffles, hot chestnuts, creeps, Belgian waffles again, and of course some hot wine for the drinkers in the gang. What do you know? There was another round and round for Heather to ride on as well. She enjoyed her ride and had a wonderful chat with another new friend on a neighboring horse.

Sunday was a bit sad as we had to pack up the Calders for their ride back to Frickenhausen. It took them about 7 hrs each way, but at least could enjoy looking at a bit of Switzerland during the daylight on their way back home.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend as well. We miss and love you all.

In the begining

Hi friends,

We are starting to blend into the neighborhood here – well, I wouldn’t go that far, I think we still stick out as “Americans,” but we are trying.

Since we have been here, we have done a lot of walking around and getting to know the area. It is very easy to walk places here and there are lots of small shops which are great for window shopping. Chance really likes walking by the boucherie (butcher shops), while Melissa enjoys the patisserie (cake shops) and the Chocolat shops, and I of course, love the boulangerie (bakery shop). Of course, we only indulge every once in a while ;-)

We do a weekly grocery shopping on Saturdays at the big market and bring that home by car; however we still have to carry the bags up to the 4th floor – so we try not to buy too much at one time. During the week, I run to the corner store to buy the little things we might need. Most stores, including the grocery stores are closed here on Sundays. And most stores close at 6:30 or 7pm at night. Shopping takes a long time because it is sometimes hard to figure out what exactly we are purchasing. I stood in the cheese isle looking for cheddar cheese – you would think in the land of cheese that would be easy to find. I think cheddar cheese is below the Swiss culture – there is plenty other cheese options out there, but no cheddar! Then once we get some of the items home, we have to work at figuring out the cooking instructions, which are usually posted in French, German and Italian on most of the items. Every once in a while you luck out with British instructions as well.

This weekend we drove out of Switzerland into France for the afternoon on Saturday. We drove up to le Saleve, which is on top of part of the Alps. When it is clear there is a great view into the valley to see the whole city of Geneva. We took Chance with us, so he has become truly an international dog! It was nice to get out and about and see some of the other towns and villages. It is only about a 15 minute trip from Geneva to the French border.

Saturday morning we walked around a small animal fair just a few blocks from our flat. They were demonstrating shearing sheep and also had cows, ponies, and llamas on display. There were a few vendors selling traditional Swiss cowbells and some Swiss outfits (like Heidi wore). Unfortunately, they didn’t have one small enough for Bean Sprout right now – maybe when she gets a bit older.

Sunday we went on a long walk with Chance and stumbled upon an antique market. It was interesting to look at everything. Chance enjoyed the opportunity to be a hit with the children in the area. Apparently, Dalmatians are just as popular with the young kids over here!

My French lessons start on Wednesday, which is fabulous as we desperately need them. Melissa’s high school French is coming back to her – and I often let her try to decipher signs and conversations with locals. My high school Spanish tends not to be very helpful in this situation – but I have caught myself trying to communicate in Spanish a few times – it really puts a kink in the communication gap.

We have set up our pre-natal classes to start November 11th. It is with a small group of other English speaking folks. We hope that the mid-wife will help us answer questions about our hospital options and length of stay – which we think is longer than provided in the US.

Melissa’s work is keeping her very busy; she usually leaves the flat around 7:30am and returns about 7pm. I guess this time schedule is forcing us to start eating closer to the European dinner hour! She is gearing up for the next stage of this work project which will launch in the next few weeks.

We have found a flat, that won’t be available until late December or early January. It is in a small village, very close to Melissa’s office. She can even ride her bike on nice days. So we will be in this temporary flat at least through the end of December. It is getting a little challenging to walk up all those stairs at 7 and ½ months pregnant – so I plan my trips carefully! Chance has gotten used to waiting for me at each landing … while I trudge up the stairs.

We hope everyone has a nice Halloween!

Love and miss everyone ~ Kathy, Melissa, Chance, and Bean Sprout