a new day

Em: “Piper, what do you think of Germany so far?”

Piper: “Well, Germany is VERRRY different than Tigard.”

Amen, sister. Well said.

We’re now 24 + hours into our adventure in Germany! The past 1.5 days has been filled with many mood swings (mine), many breakdowns (me & Piper) and lots of tears (all of the girls – Wen hasn’t yet broken!).

I knew this would be an adjustment – but I think the intensity of it caught me by surprise. I’ve been plagued with doubt and uncertainty and (quite frankly) regret since we got here. BUT – I’m trying to keep everything in perspective, and know that much of my crazy mood is due to lack of sleep. I swear I’m more tired right now than I was after the girls were born! When we finally got to bed last night (Monday) at 8pm Germany time, we had been awake since 6am PST the previous day (Sunday). About 30 hours. Yowza. Sleep last night was intermittent, so we’re praying for a good night’s sleep for everyone tonight. As my wise dad said, “Sleep will be your friend.” So true.

My brain is too mushy for anything cute or clever – so here are just a few updates from the first 24 hours:

We’re staying in temporary housing until our things arrive (and we find an apartment). We’re in a little flat and it is not an understatement to say this place is TINY TINY TINY. It makes our NYC apartment look spacious! Thankfully it’s not too scary or gross (quite clean actually), just small.  My OCD tendencies are really being tested here, as there’s literally NO room to unpack everything we brought. Needless to say, once we move into our “real” apartment and have all of our stuff, we will REJOICE! I can’t wait.

Food has been the biggest challenge so far. I’ve not done a great job of planning ahead for meals, so a couple of times we’ve been caught at a point where we’re all STARVING, with no idea where to go / what to get. Last night we were in a market near our flat, and suddenly Stella started clawing at me to get to the grapes in our cart. She was literally like a mini little madwoman, and it struck me that we hadn’t eaten in a while and she was probably so hungry that it make her go a little crazy. SAD!

The bathroom in our flat is so small you can’t even imagine! The first thing I noticed was no bathtub – and since bath time is one of the girls’ favorite times of the day, that was a bit of a bummer. But they provided this teeny little tub that we placed into the teeny little shower, and Miss Stella thought it was so funny. She was so cute squeezed in there. Cute Bitty is a trooper.

This morning I finally let Piper get out of bed at 5:30am (she had been awake since 11:30 pm – literally. Longest. Night. Ever.). She went out onto the terrace and called out for me to join her – there was the most beautiful sunrise, and we just sat there together watching it in silence. It was our first perfect moment in Germany, and a good reminder of God’s blessing and presence and promise to watch over us. Each day is a new opportunity for fun & laughter & adjustment & growth.

Ok, Mr Maxey is curled up next to me on the mini sofa snoring, so I’m going to try and get us both to bed. If you have a moment, please pray for sweet sleep for the Maxeys. Boy, do we need it.

Much love from Nuremberg. xo.

** pix forthcoming! it’s not letting me load them right now, but will try again in the morning, so check back!