Yes, I know it's been quite a while since I've posted. Worst blogger ever, I know, I know. We've had a busy summer that I'd love to tell you all about, but it would take forever. Just check out our new photo albums to see what we've been up to and how big Isaac is getting! Our most recent news is that Baby Girl Dillabaugh is almost here! We are all very excited to meet her sometime in the next few weeks. I can't believe how the time has flown by. The due date is November 12th and we'd love it if you would join us in the anticipation and we'll be sure to fill you in when she arrives.

Isaac's Birthday Party

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Well, we made it back from London and we had a great time! London is an awesome city that we would highly recommend to anyone who can get there. Four days was not quite enough to see everything though. We literally just walked past each attraction snapping pictures and headed off to the next. But we did make it to all the majors. We stopped by The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The London Eye, and Buckingham Palace. We also really wanted to see St. Paul's Cathedral but we only got a picture from afar and The Tower Bridge, which we saw but it was pouring down rain so we couldn't get a pic of it. Check out our pictures of the trip in the London Pics Album.

But I'm sure what you all really want to hear about is the marathon! Race day was unbelievable. The amount of people that came out to support the runners was like nothing we have ever seen before. The entire course was lined with huge crowds of people offering their support to the runners. It was truly amazing. Sorry I don't have many pictures of the race, me and Isaac spent most of the time on the underground trying to get from the start to the finish. The race was so crowded there was no way we would have seen Joe.

It was really nice to see all the people running for charities too. The London marathon raises more money for charities than any other event in the world! We were proud to be supporting Parkinson's Disease Society and so should YOU because so many of you contributed to that charity. Thank you!!!

And now for the results! Joe completed his 26.2 miles in 3hrs 8min!!! Out of 35,000 people he placed 1492! Out of all the men in his age group he placed 836! I'm not sure if it's considered rude for me to brag about my husband, but I don't care. I'm so proud of him! He has amazing God given talent and determination.

My Mom is Soooo Funny!

Ike had the giggles... Enjoy!

Here Comes Trouble...

Since we've last blogged, Ike has become mobile. He's in, out, up, down, over and under everything! My how your world changes yet again over night when little ones learn to move. Now there are gates, locks, padding and nothing breakable less than 3 feet off the ground. Also, after a mouthful of dog food using the water dish as a kiddie pool those too have been moved. :) We're loving it though. It's so much fun watching him explore.

Other than keeping up with Isaac, we've just been trying to enjoy the winter. It hasn't been nearly as cold or snowy as it has back in Indiana, but it has been much colder and snowy(er) than what is typical here. These pictures are from a castle just a few minutes from our house where the moat froze enough to ice skate on. We were just spectators, but it was still fun to watch. This was back in January though. Now it's back to gray skies and drizzly rain...everyday. We are very much looking forward to spring!

Right now the dutch, and I think most Europeans are gearing up for Carnival next week. It will be a whole week where there are parades and parties and all businesses shut down for the festivities. I'll be sure to post pictures of that craziness. :) Also, another upcoming event is Joe's marathon. We are getting super excited to go to London in just 2 months. If you would still like to donate to the charity that Joe is running for there's still time. Just go to http://justgiving.com/joedillabaugh or you can donate right on the main page of our blog. Thanks for all your support! Also check out the new album of Isaac pics we posted.

Happy 2009!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!  Ours was so much fun.  Make sure you check out our Christmas photo album!  Isaac's first Christmas was a blast.  He was super spoiled though.  We are grateful for all the presents and warm wishes that were sent our way.  We did wish that we could have been closer to the rest of the family, but we have a military family over here and had some of them over for a yummy Christmas dinner and then again on New Years Eve.

With the holidays behind us now, Joe and I are focusing on our trip to London in April.  He is running the Flora London Marathon!  He already has 3 marathons under his belt and he's always wanted to do London.  The thing about London Marathon is that it is extremely hard to get into.  Joe decided to raise money for a charity to get a spot.  It's a win-win situation!  The charity is the Parkinson's Disease Society.  We chose this organization because it gives support to people who suffer from Parkinsons as well as their caregivers and does a great deal of research on the disease.  My grandpa has Parkinsons so we have seen what it does.  What we need now is your help.  Joe needs to raise 1700 pounds.  We are so thankful for the donations we have gotten so far, but the amount we still need to raise is great.  There is a link to his website as well as our progress so far right here on our blog or you can go to  http://www.justgiving.com/joedillabaugh   We hope that you will consider giving to this great cause and helping Joe do what he is gifted at and loves to do...Run!  Thank you in advance for your support! 

These pictures are just a brief summary of Isaac's first trip to America. We flew over on a military flight...not many people can say their first airplane ride was on a C-17. We got to show Isaac the great city of Chicago where he visited the Shed Aquarium. He LOVED watching the fish. Isaac got to meet his 7 cousins who he now realizes have much to teach him. :) He met great-grandmas and great-great grandmas, and visited with lots of other family and friends! Needless to say, we were pretty beat by the end of our trip. But it was well worth it to see everyone!

Isaac's First Halloween!

Ike the Dinosaur!



We went "Trunk or Treating." It's what the Americans do here since the Dutch do not do Halloween. And yes, it's what it sounds like. People decorate the trunks of their cars and hand out candy. We had a good time although some people were a little sceptical about giving candy to a toothless dinosaur. :)

Finally an Update!

I know, I know... I am officially the world's worst blogger! I wasn't very good at keeping up with it before I had a little one and now as you can see, I've just gotten worse. Anyways, I can't make any promises, but I will try to get better. :)

My last entry was May 30th! Haha...much has happened. We've had all of the grandparents here to meet Isaac plus one great-grandma and Uncle Al. We had great visits with all of them! Now we just need to bring Ike home to meet the rest of his family...I think he might be slightly overwhelmed when it comes time for that.

We took Isaac on his first vacation. He needed one you know...it's tough being a baby. ;) While Joe's parents were here we drove out to Garmisch which is a beautiful part of Germany in the Alps. The scenery was amazing! And the food was almost as good! So to sum up our trip, we took pictures and ate!

Isaac is four months old now. I can't believe it. Time is flying by! He is growing and learning so fast we can hardly keep up. He's at the stage where everything goes into his mouth and he drools like crazy! Joe has always played airplane with Isaac, but now he calls Ike a drool bomber and flies him overhead...usually I end up being the target. He's a really happy baby most of the time and we have so much fun playing with him and watching him grow.

Well, that's all for now and like I said, I'll try to be a better blogger. :) If you receive our blog by email be sure to check the full website (http://www.joejenineurope.blogspot.com/) so that you can see any other pictures or albums that we add to the page.

More Isaac!

Hey everyone, here are some new pictures of Isaac. We have been adding to the album on the blog as we take them so you can check that every once in awhile if you would like. Everything has been going really well. Many of you already have heard about his grand entry, but we wanted to make sure that everyone knows what a little miracle Isaac is. Wednesday May 14th I went in for my last Dr.'s appointment before the due date just for a check up. At that appointment, my doctor discovered that all of my amniotic fluid was gone and that Isaac's heart rate was fluctuating. My hospital was in Germany where they are not in favor of C-sections, but they were afraid that a natural birth would be too stressful for the baby. SO, my appointment was at 1:15 and by 4:30 they were prepping me for surgery. At 5:32 pm, Isaac Joseph was born. The doctors found that the problems he had been having were due to his umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck 5 times! They told Joe and I that if it had been any other time, or if we would have tried to deliver him naturally, he would not have made it. We still can't believe how close we were to having things go very differently. But instead, we have a perfectly healthy baby boy. We give ALL of the credit to God. From the very beginning of this pregnancy, we have trusted God with this new life. Whatever way it would have gone, we know that He is in control and He is good. Thank you everyone for all your congrats, prayers and warm wishes. We are so in love with this little guy and thankful for this precious gift.

Isaac Joseph Dillabaugh

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to let you know that On Wednesday at 5:32pm Jen had a C-Section and out came our son, Isaac Joseph Dillabaugh. There were some health concerns so Jen went in for a routine Dr. Appointment and came out with Isaac. Both are very healthy and doing great. Isaac was only 6lbs 4oz. and about 20 1/2 inches. Everything happened very quickly and was a bit overwhelming at first, but we are now doing great (even though there is no more sleep). They will both be in the hospital until about Monday, so if you call we will likely not be home. Please check out the pictures and we will keep updating them.

Rotterdam Marathon

Hey everybody! Hope you are all doing well. We had a busy and exhausting weekend. Joe ran the Rotterdam marathon on Sunday! Yep, that's 26.2 miles. He did a great job too! Just finishing it is amazing enough, but he ran it in 3hrs 38min. And, he hadn't been training since February! God gave him an amazing gift and it is so fun to watch him use it.

We made quite the pair after the race was over. Joe was barely able to walk on his own and I, being almost 9 months pregnant and on my feet all day, wasn't much help. We were both hobbling and wobbling around Rotterdam. It had to have been a humorous sight.

Other than that, we have just been preparing for our little guy to arrive. Only about 4 more weeks! We will be sure to keep you posted!

I know...Finally a new blog!

Hey everyone! Thanks for being patient while it took me 2 months to update our blog. We are doing really great over here and are getting very excited for our little one to arrive...only about 6 more weeks! The time has flown by, but we are ready and excited to meet him. The last Dr.'s appointment showed that he and I are both healthy. I've said before that he already seems very active and he's always "acting up" for the doctors and nurses. This time he had what I think were hiccups the whole time the nurse was trying to hear his heartbeat. She couldn't get a good recording because of them. :)

Anyways, other than preparing for the baby to arrive, we have done a little more traveling. My mom was here in early March and we were able to visit a few different sites throughout The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. The photo album of our trip is posted to the right of the blog if you want to check it out. The picture above is from Joe's trip to the Alps. He had to attend a confrence at the Army's Eidelweiss Lodge in Germany, a very beautiful place to visit. Unfortunately, he had to spend all of his time indoors, but it is definately a place that we will be revisiting!

Well, that is mostly it. We hope that you are all doing well and I will try to be more diligent in my updates. :)

ROME

I never in a million years would have imagined we could spend our 4th anniversary in Rome! 40th maybe, but 4th? Don't worry though, we know how fortunate we have been and are grateful for the opportunities God has put in our path. This last adventure, 5 days in Rome, was pretty amazing. There is so much to say about the city and all of the things that we were able to see, but it would take way too long. So, we'll keep it to the basics.

We stayed in an "affordable" hotel (by affordable I mean we had a bed, toilet, and shower that didn't work) that was just 500 meters from the Colosseum. Literally when we looked down the alley across from our hotel the Colosseum filled the view. The first night there, we decided to explore the city. We of course got extremely lost and although we had a map we couldn't tell where we were on the map so that doesn't help. Probably 2 1/2 hours later we made it back to our hotel and then down the street to a really good pizzeria for dinner.

Our first full day there we decided to take on the Colosseum and Palatine Hill which is basically the ancient city remains. The Colosseum was built around 70AD...it's unbelievable that they were able to think so BIG! Check out all our pictures from this day it was incredible.

On Friday we got up early and walked to the Vatican. The map says it's only 4K but I'm 6 months pregnant, we had walked all day the two previous days, and that's 4K each way, not including all the walking in and around the Vatican...so I think I deserve a gold star. :) Anyways, it was completely worth it! We were able to see the Sistine Chapel, The Basilica (oh and by the way, we climbed about 7,000 steps to the top of the dome to get an awesome view of the city...gold star!), and dozens of amazing works of art that are held within the Vatican museum and the Basilica.

Our last full day in Rome we had to do some souvenir shopping and see some more monuments. We were able to make it to the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain before exhaustion set in. Both were very impressive...make sure you check out our pictures!

So the last thing I have to mention about Rome is the FOOD! Oh, Yum! We did our best to go to authentic family owned roman restaurants where they are so proud and eager for you to try their food. We had some of the best lasagna, spaghetti, gnocchi, calzones, and pizza we have ever tasted! Particularly at "Vito's" where Vito himself made Joe try his "Spaghetti con fish." That was his best translation...he was a funny guy.

Anyways, that was our trip. We had an amazing time and what a great place to spend our anniversary.

Zuid Holland

This past weekend we decided to take Grandma to see some of the Netherlands. We made plans to visit some of the oldest cities in the country (Dordtrecht, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, & Delft). It was a great trip even though we stayed in a crappy Rotterdam hotel. Delft and kinderdijk made the trip worthwhile. Delft is a small town that is known for their famous pottery (white pottery with blue painted designs), but the town itself was incredible. It had three huge churches, and a beautiful town center, along with small winding canals. There were great shops, and cafes. It was a great place to visit, and we discovered why there are so many windmills in this country, as we were nearly blown away on more than one occasion.

Kinderdijk was great as well. There they have canals and 19 windmills that help maintain water levels throughout the area. In 1366 they began work to adjust the levels of the river, and canals in the area. The site is now on the UNESCO List which is basically the UN's historical Society being on the list means the UN will help to preserve and maintain the area.

Oh boy!

Our favorite Christmas present this year was finding out we are having a BOY! Of course we would have been just as excited if it were a girl, but Joe would have already started cringing over the thoughts of barbies, boyfriends and wedding expenses. However, after seeing how rambunctious this little guy is already, I think we are in for it no matter what. Every ultrasound we have been to the nurses have been laughing the whole time at how active he is and joking at how he is going to be a "handful" (much like his father so I have heard!). This particular time they were unable to do all of the proper measurements to make sure he was healthy because he wouldn't be still enough. We had to go back the next week. He was still moving quite a bit, but the nurse was able to tell that he is perfectly healthy.

Merry Christmas!

Hello Everyone! We hope you are all enjoying the Christmas Season. We just wanted to tell you all how truly blessed we feel to have such amazing family and friends. Although we can't be there, we can feel your love all the way in the Netherlands. Thank you so much for your love and support! We love and miss you all. Have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Take our word for it...

So we made our trip to Amsterdam. We live in The Netherlands, so of course we had to see Amsterdam. For the last two weeks I had been reading up on the museums, canals, architecture, stores and restaurants. There is a lot to see and we had our day planned. We took a train (about 2 hours) to Central Station in Amsterdam. My travel book said that pickpocketing runs rampant in the train station so we should make a beeline to the exit, which we did. Next came downtown Amsterdam. Joe and I have experienced many big cities including Chicago and Atlanta. Both pretty busy and crowded, but not in comparison to Amsterdam. We were trying to follow the map, fight the crowds, not get mugged and stay out of the red light district! Well, we failed. The red light ended up being our first stop. We of course got the heck out of there, but what we did see was pretty sad. And it was only noon! Outside of the red light it wasn't much better. Once we got out of the crowds in the downtown area we were able to see some areas that hadn't been contaminated too badly. The canals and architecture are beautiful and the museums are amazing. We were able to visit the Anne Frank House which was the best part of our trip. It gave an interesting perspective on the holocaust and the war that we don't often see. Overall, we had a really great day, but our suggestion...look at our pictures, read about the museums and call it good. Don't put Amsterdam on your list of cities to see in Europe.

We're Back

Ok, ok, ok... we are back in business. Sorry for being inattentive to our blog. We have actually had quite an eventful month. Kay is no longer in a deep depression. Her favorite owner is back home. Joe successfully completed his Warrior Leader Course and his souvenir was a black eye and a scabbed up nose. He took a combatives course which now allows him to train other soldiers in hand to hand combat. The final exam consisted of getting punched in the face several times. Hence the black eye and banged up nose. Joe of course thought that it was the coolest class he'd ever taken. The pictures are from WLC. Just an example of some of the things he was doing. Soon after Joe left as most of you know, I found out that I was pregnant. We are SO excited...Joe included. Don't let him fool you! He's been talking about "his son" non-stop. We have an appointment this week to take a look at the little bundle of joy that has been keeping my head in the toilet. : ) Joe has been saying if it is a boy he will name him Melchizedek and if it is a girl, Sabitha. So right now I am just praying that I am fully awake and conscious when it comes time to fill out the birth certificate! He's just joking....I think.

Starting the countdown...again

Well, this picture sets the mood for the Dillabaugh house today. Kay and I had to send Joe off to Warrior Leader Course (WLC). It is a school that every soldier is required to go to after they become sergeant. He will be off in Germany for a month doing soldier stuff. We have gone through separations much longer than this one, but it is still never an ideal situation. This time I'm not going crazy with school and work, so it will be a challenge to keep myself busy. At least I have the comforts of home... poor Joe is the one always getting sent off to sleep on the ground and eat questionable food! By now though, we know what to expect. Over the next month, I will start conversing with the dog, Kay will perk her ears up at every car door, and we will just be counting down the days till Joey comes home....27.