So here are some update pics on the baby bump at 23 weeks. I´m still feeling pretty good, except I´ve got a killer cough this week. I went to the doctor and it seems like there is nothing I can take. I hope it goes away soon….

And of course a photo con Papá

And, no these pictures were not taken in Germany. This was last weekend in Plymouth, England.

Lately, we’ve been traveling A LOT on the weekends. It’s been nice and I know we are lucky to be able to travel as much as we have. We were in Mallorca visiting Rafa’s college buddies, then in Scotland since we’ve always wanted to go, and in England for my cousin’s 10 year anniversary party.

So here are some pics from our trip to Scotland a few weeks ago…

A view of Edinburgh at night

Rafa in front of the Edinburgh Castle

A portable canon. I thought this was an interesting idea.

Me and the guard who shot of the cannon behind us.

A bigpiper on the street

Rafa on the streets of Edinburgh

Some greasy, but yummy fish n’ chips in Glasgow

Our nice rental car….on the side of the road near Loch Lomand

It was a little chilly….

and rainy, but still beautiful! This is an old church we came across near Loch Lomand

Anyone recognize this castle?? It’s the castle from Downton Abbey in the Christmas episode.

Rafa in front of the beautiful bed and breakfast we stayed in just a little west of Glasgow.

The bed and breakfast formed part of an old estate which was gorgeous.

Pretty green!

There were walking paths around the estate. All signs had a monkey showing the way. The architect of the estate liked monkeys.

Here are some more monkeys on the rooftop of the house. And….what are they doing?

Lots of bunnies….

and pretty tulips…

the Queen’s gardens in Edinburgh

Part of an old church at the Queen’s palace in Edinburgh

It was a great weekend trip to Scotland, but I don’t think I could live there. It was a little to cold and rainy for me!

We had our 2nd trimester screening last week. Our baby boy thankfully looks healthy and seems to be growing along with myself as well! I can definitely feel him moving much more now. I have also been feeling great and have quite a bit of energy. I hope it continues like this….. at least for a little while longer.

A few pics from the last ultrasound

Arms crossed

Side profile

Sucking his thumb?

Baby tummy at 22 weeks!

I’m a little behind on my posting. Two weekends ago we went to Mallorca to meet with Rafa’s college buddies. We went just for the weekend but it was nice to see everyone and see some sunshine.

We had never been to Mallorca and were quite surprised with how nice it was. I would typically think it’s an island full of sun burned Germans and Brits. We did see the “German” beach which was quite funny. It really felt like you were in Germany….all the signs were in German. But once you got off the main touristy spots, it was really beautiful!

Neat picture Rafa took of the moon and this plane

Me in Palma

The Cathedral in Palma

We went to a few nice small towns. I like the flower pots on the walls.

Group shot

Rafa enjoying the sun!

Look at how clear the water is!

How nice it was to have some tapas. Eventhough I didn’t get to have the jamón or beer, I still loved the olives! Nothing like good green Spanish olives!

Wall around the town of Alcudia (if I remember correctly)

Rafa and the pucelanos

This is my last Australia post. We did so much that I wanted to make sure I remembered it all! The animals we saw were one of the best parts of the trip.

These little ants with the green butt are venomous. Our aborigine guide told us that when you are sick, the medicine man cracks one of these ant nests over you and they are supposed to cure you. He really insisted that it worked. Don’t think I’d want to try that!

This is a green ant nest that was up in the trees. Don’t want to know how many are in there.

We saw the Koalas in a small zoo in Kuranda. Here is one little guy sleeping.

You could pay to hold a Koala, but it was obvious they didn’t like it so we decided not to. Isn’t he soooo cute?

One night when we were walking around these birds swarmed the trees. Aren’t they so beautiful? I don’t know if it was some special parrot party in the trees OR if they were mating. It was pretty neat to see though.

There were thousands of these birds and they made the highest pitch sound I’ve ever heard a bird make.

This bird statue is called a Cassowary. They are endangered, but live in the wild in Northeast Australia. There are road signs all over warning you to drive slowly so you don’t hit them.

Here is the Cassowary road sign. We tried so hard to see one of these cassowaries and at one point we thought we did….

…but later we realized this guy was definitely a turkey and not a cassowary. Oh well!

This is a BABY spider!

Can you see the snake?

A neat shell we found on the beach while hiking. I don’t think anything was living inside.

These lizards were on the rocks along the coast. I don’t remember the name of them though.

One of the best parts was getting to feed the Kangaroos at a reserve. We had no idea they would be so friendly!

They ate so politely too!

Rafa and a roo.

A wallaby in the grass.

Look at this little Joey getting milk from his Mama.

These guys are called Flip and Flop. Are they ugly and cute at the same time? These little Tasmanian devils were so fun to watch.

Flip and Flop are waiting for their lunch. We learned that the Tasmanian Devils are endangered due to some type of mouth cancer. They are scavengers and are always fighting for food. The cancer is passed on from one devil to another when bitten. The reserve we were at helps breed cancer free devils.

Here’s a video of the devils eating lunch. Sorry, it’s a little long.

Disclosure: All these pictures are taken in the wild or at an animal reserve except the Koalas.

I´m 20 weeks today! I can now feel our little boy moving some. We went to the doctor on Friday and he was laying vertically so we couldn´t see too much on the ultrasound. We did see that he has a beautiful spine though. I go back in two weeks for the 2nd trimester full screening so hopefully he will move to a new position by then. Here are a few pics of my growing tummy…

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

Our last stop in Australia was in Cairns where we visited the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. It was pretty hot compared to Tasmania and Sydney. I loved the weather!

Checking out Cairns

Do I look tan? HAHAH! Not so much. 

I don’t know the name of this tree, but it is a pretty neat one. The vines that grown down from the limbs form new trucks once they touch the ground.

Crocodile DunRafa

We drove from Cairns to the Daintree National forest. Some of the roads and bridges were a little old.

Me on our rainforest walk through the canopy. Unfortunately, we forgot mosquito spray and we were both eaten alive.

On our way back from the rainforest, there was a fruit farm that made their own ice cream. This one was raspberry, macadamia, maracuya (passion fruit), and wattle seed (it sort of tasted like coffee flavor to me).

At Mossman Gorge. A nice, but chilly river to have a swim in

Port Douglas. A very nice town on the coast, a little north of Cairns

Sunrise from our hotel in Cairns

We spent one day scuba diving and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. I couldn’t scuba dive since I’m pregnant, but the snorkeling was just as nice.  It was a little different from our first diving experience. In the Maldives we were only 8 people, but this time we were on a big boat with 80 people.  I think we were spoiled for our first experience. We did see some cool sea life though: gigantic clams, colorful coral, and some beautiful fish. Rafa saw a small turtle and shark too.

Me on the boat!

The delicious ribs I had for dinner one night. That was only half a rack and it was huge!

We took a train ride up through Kuranda State Park.

The train was orginally built for gold mining up in the mountains. Now it’s a tourist train that takes you up to the top.

Rafa and I on the train

Waterfall on the train ride

We we got to the top of the mountain, there was the town of Kuranda. We actually didn’t enjoy the town as much as the trainride up and the cable car down. It was pretty much all tourist shops in the town.

At the bottom of Kuranda was an indigenous culture park where you could learn more about the natives. This was probably our favorite part of the day. They showed us all about what the Tjapukai use to hunt, eat and survive.  This is Rafa and a Tjapukai.

Here we learned how to throw spears to kill a kangaroo.

And here how to throw a boomerang to kill birds. Rafa was pretty good!

The next day we boarded the plane for our long trek home to Frankfurt. We had a wonderful trip and saw so many amazing things! Let’s see when we go back!

Since my students have found out I’m pregnant I’ve had several interesting comments. Most of these have come from my younger students in 2nd grade or even younger ones that I just supervise during breaks. Some I think are pretty funny.

1. “Since it’s a boy will you promise me you’ll teach him how to play soccer if he is big, but only if he is big”

2. “Ms. McShane, are you becoming a baby?” This question I have gotten A LOT. It’s actually a false friend. In german you say “bekommen” for having. So instead of being asked if I’m having one….several times I’ve been asked if I’m becoming one. I’m not Benjamin Button.

3. Most likely the best so far….asked by two 6 year olds.

Student 1: Ms. McShane, are you having a baby?

Me: Yes, I am.

Student 2: Oh, I see. Are you having 3 babies? (At the same time he points to each of my breasts and then my stomach)

Me: No, there is definitely only one. And he is HERE.

Me thinking: This student’s mother MUST be completely flat chested. HA!

4. Student: How does the baby get water?

Me: Well, he drinks part of what I drink.

Student: So he is alive in there.

Me: Yes, he is.

We really enjoyed our time in Sydney. We did a lot in 4 days and had the best guide book ever: Geoff’s Guide to Sydney. I think we did almost everything that was recommended (and more)  and it was all great! I think I’ll add it to my list of favorite big cities.

Rafa in Hyde Park and in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral

Rafa on our walk in the Botanic Garden.

Sydney Opera House from the Harbour Bridge

We did a tour of the Sydney Opera House which was really cool! Above is a shot of the roof.

Inside one of the main rooms in the Opera House.

Atop the Observatory Hill. We watched a beautiful sunset here.

We had some yummy steaks on our trip, but this place was one of the best! Here you picked out your meat you want and then grilled it yourself.

Rafa on our hike from Bondi Beach to Coogee. It was a pretty hike along the coast.

Me in front of one of the “pools” in Bondi. I though these ocean pools were kind of neat.

There are the lifeguards with their cool hats. We thought they were funny.

Rafa in Manly.

And enjoying his Aussie Burger….with beetroot!

In front of the QVB (an indoor mall) and the Sydney Tower Eye

Resting in Kiribilli

On a ferry in front of the Harbour Bridge

A 180 shot from the bridge

You could actually climb the top of the bridge for 200 dollars. No thank you. I had trouble walking across the bottom part….not a fan of heights!

Last but not least, I found this Koala in a shop. They are quite rare so I brought him home with me.

We were very excitied to find out our baby will be a BOY!!!!! We actually found out at 16 weeks which I think is kind of early. The doctor said it was quite obvious. Rafa said it’s of course his son! haha. I am excited to start preparing more things now that we know it’s a boy. It’s also quite interesting to see the things that are different here in Germany compared to the states….I’m sure I’ll write about it more later as I learn more things. One thing in Germany that does sound great is having the first year off at home with your baby. Don’t think that would ever happen in the states.