Easter

Another candy holiday is upon us, Easter.  Easter and Valentine's Day seem to be "sugar holidays" in my mind.  Mixed chocolates, jelly beans and (in England) HUGE CHOCOLATE EGGS.

In England, it is customary to give everyone a huge hollow chocolate egg that is filled with one kind of candy or another, like a huge chocolate egg filled with M&M's or a huge chocolate egg filled with smaller Cadbury eggs with the goo in the middle).  This is a far removed tradition for me, as because I am American, any hollow chocolate item means really bad tasting, cheap chocolate.  In England this is not the case, they take their chocolate seriously and therefore all these chocolate eggs are worth eating.

The thing is, when you are a little kid, you may end up with 3-4 eggs (or more!), because EVERYONE gives you one.  When I was little, my Easter Bunny gave me a basket full of plastic eggs filled with jelly beans and M&M's, some of the little solid chocolate eggs (yummy chocolate), and maybe a Cadbury Egg.  There was also a soft toy, a little bit of cash (the GREEN egg) and the hard boiled eggs we decorated.

This is the first year we have taken the Easter Bunny on board.  Knowing that the Sprout would get at least one chocolate egg, I had to steer away from the chocolate.  I went with some jelly beans and gummy candy in plastic eggs (it is hard to find plastic eggs here).  We also got a stuffed toy and a spade for the garden (the Easter Bunny wants the Sprout to plant him some lettuce).  Of course, within an hour all of the jelly beans and gummy candy was gone, and the chocolate hollow bunny his great nan gave him (Smatries) had been gutted.  Needless to say I have a pixi on crack running around the house.

What I would really love to do, is make my own hollow chocolate Easter Egg as our holiday tradition.  it would be a fun thing for all of us to do and to give them to each other.

A difficult choice I am glad I made

Here is today's prompt from Plinky

Share a story about a difficult choice you're glad you made.

Moving to the UK was incredibly hard, however I was able to do it in baby steps, to a point a guess.

I originally made the move to attend a Master's Course at the University of Bradford. About a month in, I met my future husband. As the year went on, many decisions had to be made revolving around our relationship in order to keep it going.

Unluckily (but a crucial cog in my decision making) my grandmother died. Before I left for Uni, I had been living with my grandmother, so not only would I be returning to no grandmother, but also to no real home. I suppose it made for the perfect excuse not to return. However, I was lucky that my future husband liked me enough to want to marry me. So we got married and we have remained in the UK. I have been here for 6 and a half years now.

I can't say that I love living here, but I guess I have gotten used to it. My preference is to return to the States, but most of that is because I miss my family and hate that they are missing seeing my son and missing seeing me be a parent. I also miss my brother and seeing his kids grow and being there for support. Something I miss allot though, is seeing my grandparents because, let's face it, we all don't appreciate grandparents until they are gone and that's a real shame.

So the choice to stay in the UK isn't exactly perfect, but it isn't necessarily set in stone and I got a loving husband, a kid, a cat, and a job out of it. Not too bad.

That's so funny!

Revisiting Britmom's prompts of the week

• One thing I do that makes my child laugh is…
• One thing that my child does that makes ME laugh is…

The Sprout is sooooo funny (as I am sure most little ones are, but mine is funnier...).  We are going through a rough patch, not only because we babied him whilst he was sick, but also because he is 2.  So we need to do things that make us laugh.

He loves tickles!  Richard and the Sprout can tickle each other till the cows come home.  He also enjoys jumping from the table to the couch and anything dangerous.  But his favourite thing is to be chased.  He will run in circles for ages and laughs and laughs and laughs.  A commercial that ALWAYS makes him laugh is the IAMS cat on the IAMS cat food commercial.

He also likes the Pedigree Dentastix Doggie Denture commercial

There are a million things he does that makes me laugh.  But what gets me every time (and he knows this) is when he gives me this little mischievous look.  I wish I could describe it.  He squints his eyes and gives a little mischievous smile...it is so cute.  He knows it makes me laugh because he does it when I am mad at him, or thinking about something seriously or when I look concerned in general I think.  He tilts his head into my view and gives a little "Puck Smile".

Another thing that makes me laugh is his little dance.  He seems to dance to everything, from my ringtone to a commercial jingle.  We have recently incorporated Nick Jr. into our TV watching (moving up from Baby TV).  They have allot of energetic songs on the shows they play.  Besides Dorra the Explorer, they also have a program called Bubble Guppies (link to one of the songs, Outside song) and Umizoomi.  They are full of annoying songs that kids love.

Although we seem to be playing allot of tug-o-war of wills, there is allot of laughter to help balance it all out.

I have had a little one for 2 years and we are still trying to figure out how we are supposed to balance husband/wife time with parent time.  Luckily, we both have the kind of jobs where there isn't much to bring home except all the stress that has formed through out the day, and the physical exhaustion that comes with it.  

The Sprout is a huge job.  At 2 he wants 100% of my attention 200% of the time, and when he goes to bed, I want to go to bed.  I think Richard and I spend about 2 hours alone together each day and then I go to bed.  Those 2 hours are usually filled with watching TV or browsing the internet or maybe I actually do some sewing.  The last time Richard and I spent REAL time together was in June when we drove to the Washington Coast for the day while my dad looked after the Sprout.

I am stuck in marathon mode.  As soon as the Sprout hits the pillow, I am off doing all the house work I can before he wakes up.  At night it is the same, only I feel that if I don't get to sleep then I won't be sleeping.  Not only am I not paying attention to Richard, but I give no time to myself.

However, yesterday we went into Bradford to go to the book store (Waterstone's) to get the Sprout some books with his birthday money.  The Sprout has little experience in stores because I get everything on-line.  He was everywhere, which I knew he would be.  It was such a good idea to have Richard and me go together.  Richard went after the Sprout whist I looked for books (we ended up with Fox's Socks, Rabbit's Nap, and The Odd Egg).  Then we went up to my old work (Kirkgate Costa).  We got to see Santa's reindeer!  Then we went back to Shipley to have Sunday Dinner.  The Sprout was really good (although all over the place).  No real tantrums.  It was so nice to do something as a family.

Woooh...just fell off the face of the Earth for a second.  When my jet lag settles maybe I will pick this up again.  I am tired of the computer running at least 1 hour of my life when I mean for it to just run 15 minutes.  For now I am concentrating on my quilting, yes, quilting.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BRO!!!

Random things

We had our first major frost this morning.  Boy am I glad I cleaned up the rotting pumpkin on our porch this weekend.  Everything was frozen, making walking down the hill pretty torturous.

I got my second request for a Christmas list.  I guess I had better get on it.  I am feeling a bit guilty about having a Christmas list seeing as I am pretty sure no one will get a present from me except the babies.  I will be making cookies for everyone else.

My Christmas Tree arrived!  Even better, I haven't put it up yet!  I am going to wait until next Friday.

I was searching the internet for rocking chairs, because I really want one, and I came across a Nanny rocker.

Isn't it cool?

We went on our first Family Christmas Outing on Saturday.  We went to watch the Bradford Christmas Lighting Ceremony.  It was pretty lame, but there were Disco Penguins, a snow machine and fireworks, so it wasn't all bad (video of the Disco Penguins will follow shortly).  Needless to say, the Sprout was awake for the boring part and asleep for the good stuff.

More about the Reindeer Dust.

Many people liked the idea of Reineer Dust and I found that it is actually a popular Christmas Eve tradition.  Ehow.com has a site on how to make the dust.  I found many people mentioning that glitter is bad for birds and so coloured sugar is a good alternative for the glitter, that was something I had not thought about.  There is a peom that goes with the dust:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night

The moon will make it sparkle bright

As Santa's reindeer fly and roam

This will guide them to your home

Christmas traditions

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This will be the first year that Richard and I don't have to travel for Christmas.  It is also the first year that the Sprout can help us celebrate (he is still small, but at least he will be awake and can take part in the eating).  It got me thinking about family traditions.  I haven't lived at home for almost 12 years, but it seems that the A-S-B traditions applied until I moved countries, and even then, I would travel over land and sea to take part in any little morsel I could.

Stockings
In the past, I have talked about the A family Christmas stockings.  This is the first part of the new tradition I have to address.  After much thought, I have decided that it is not necessary for the Sprout to wield an A family stocking.  In fact, I don't even need Richard to put out his A family stocking.  If I ever got around to making a stocking for the Sprout, I might try to combine Richard and my stocking styles.  It would sort of serve as a family tree.

The Tree
The next tradition I have to decide on is the tree.  When will we put up the tree?  How will it be displayed?  My family has always gone to find the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.  In England, we have a fake tree and therefore have no need for a hunting party to find the perfect Christmas Tree.  In the past I have put up the Christmas tree as early as the second week in November and as late as the last weekend in November.  I think I will continue to put the Tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving so I can have it up for my English Thanksgiving Dinner.  We still need to buy our tree for this year, last year's tree got moldy from being stored in the cellar.

Christmas Eve
How will we celebrate Christmas Eve?  My family had a regimented Christmas Eve tradition of eating crab, opening our presents, going to church and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" while we all fell asleep.  Somehow, 4 years ago I became allergic to crab, something I discovered on Christmas Eve.  I have always wanted to eat Salmon for Christmas, a kind of homage to the Pacific Northwest, but everyone else hates fish.  We may just have to have a thick steak for dinner.  I like opening presents on Christmas Eve, because it makes the Santa presents that much better and more pronounced.  Our Santa presents were always wrapped in sparkley paper and fancy boxes (Fredrick & Nelson boxes to be exact).  Because I have a baby, I get to think up how I would like to handle the Santa issue.  I think Santa is important, and therefore there will be a Santa, and he will have flying reindeer and he only gives presents to GOOD children.  I was reading up on some traditions that other families have regarding Santa and I like the idea of magic flying reindeer powder that Santa gives out in his letter to the children.  I guess you take glitter and spread it outside the front door so that the reindeer know where to go.  I just thought that was really cute.

Christmas Day
Christmas Day is tricky for me.  For more than half of my life, I spent Christmas Day whizzing from one house to another, the product of having divorced parents and grandparents who still had Christmas dinner at their houses.  There is no more whizzing.  I only have one family to visit.  It almost takes all the fun out of Christmas, to be allowed to settle and relax.  I like the idea of a nice breakfast and presents from Santa, then letting the rest of the day be up to the in-laws.

I am new to Boxing Day, but I am sure there are people with traditions for that day too.  I am sure I won't be one of the ones scrambling to the shoppes.

I am sure establishing traditions has allot of trial and error, but I am excited to start new ones and keep old ones going.

The past couple of weeks

Finally, I get to write something.  Feeling a little guilty for not finishing my Nathan's year update for his birthday, but I lost steam and now I can't remember where I was going with the post.

It has been so awesome having my mom here the past 2 weeks and as always I am extreemly sad to have her go.  Not only did she do my dishes for me (thanks by the way), but she had a huge impact on the Sprout that was really fun to see.  The Sprout now makes a "broom broom" noise when he is playing with his tractor and other cars, he says "uh oh" allot and he has an appreciation for "Patty Cake."

The Sprout goes "Broom"

He walks!

For the Sprout's first birthday we had a small family party with a couple of friends.  We had zucchini bread with a cream cheese frosting and the Sprout entertained us by taking his first steps with the aid of his push and ride car.  We also carved pumpkins.  With his birthday money we bought many new toys including a shape sorting box, a tractor, Mega Bloks, peg puzzle, and a light up drum.  He loves his push and ride cars (he got 2) and four wheel cow, as well as his ELC Sherwood Castle that has little guys resembling Robin Hood.  We finally got wall stickers for the Sprout's room and we have put most of them up; it is looking good.

We made our way down to London to go to the American Embassy to get the Sprout's American passport.  The trip went well, but the time at the Embassy was as efficient as the American government could be.  We spent 2 hours going between 4 different people who all told me the same thing, that I needed to get a notarized  consent form from Richard before they could issue the Sprout's passport.  It would have been nice if they could have told me that before I went down.  At least we don't have to go back into London.

I finally got my cortozone shot in my back.  It is feeling a bit better, but there are times of soreness.  I pick up the Sprout too much.  However, now I am dealing with a stupid sciatica which is a little worse than my back problem.

Halloween was pretty laid back.  The Sprout dawned a "Spider" costume instead of the cow costume because it was too hot (but not nearly as cute).  We had quite a few trick-or-treaters, and our pumpkins didn't get smashed.

Overall, the Sprout, Richard and I were all spoiled during my mom's visit and we will miss her dearly.

Moving, 11 months and work

Putting up shelves

Moving


I will never move into a new house that needs work and has no carpet with a baby,and no help again!!!! It ends up only being one person doing the move. It was horrible, it doesn't help that Richard is an even worse procrastinator than I am (I didn't think that was possible). Richard's parents went to Turkey 3 days after we got the house, so it was up to Richard and I to paint the whole thing on our own. E had some time off so she served as a nanny a couple of times, that was a huge help. We had no carpets until 3 days before we moved in so we had no where to put the Sprout, he doesn't do well confined so he wouldn't stay in the playpen without screaming. I cannot think when he is screaming. Because he crawls, he was everywhere, putting everything in his mouth. I now know for sure that I am anything but an overprotective parent, he must have his own carpet floating around in his tummy, not to mention a whole wall of wallpaper and dry board.

The only time we were able to paint together was at night, and we had to have the Sprout asleep at the new house to do that, and I had to stay awake past 9, needless to say that didn't happen often. It is hard to paint at night because you can't see what you are doing.

The carpets came a day early and we weren't ready for them, so there are allot of second coats that still need doing. Luckily we got the Sprout's room mostly done and I love it, I want every room to be like his (will put up picture soon).


We were lucky enough to have Richard's parent's van, but I had a horrible time driving it because I can't park parallel whilst driving on the wrong side of someone else's car, especially in a residential area where people either park to close or just far enough away that you have to have a PhD in parallel parking to get into the space. The night before we were supposed to be out of number 12, there were no spaces out front and Richard ended up running boxes back and forth on foot. Luckily E came and drove the van for me for a day while Richard's brother helped Richard carry heavy items.

Once all the boxes were here we had to make sure they were out of little arms reach or the contents would be unpacked by the Sprout (who doesn't know where any of it goes), which is ok unless it contains items that are unsuitable for little one's mouth or is something you want to keep. We still don't have anywhere to put stuff as I can't decide where to put shelves that will be out of baby's reach.

Don't know where this raccoon came from

On the plus side, the Sprout is so excited about the carpet and the amount of space he has to crawl around in. I like knowing that he can explore alone and not get into anything, he pretty much has the whole upstairs to run around in and he has fun closing doors and chasing the cat, who has been very patient and I think even likes it because she comes back and hangs with us all day.


The Sprout at the end of a year!


The Sprout is developing new talents every day!  He is an experienced Raspberry (Zerbit) blower. If you are lying down, he will come over, lift your shirt and blow...funniest thing ever, I was not aware that his father had taught him this.


He is really good at the ball hitting game

the Zerbit

His 2 lower 1st incisors are coming in, they are poking their cute little crowns up.


He had his first ginger cookie yesterday and was very pleased.


He stopped crying at nursery.



Work


I have not been to work because they are assessing my availability and the ability for me to do my job because of my back, so they put me on my 13.5 day vacation that I racked up not working...weird. I am almost certian they are going to fire me...on the plus side, I had an interview with Yorkshire Building Society (like a credit union bank) Friday and I think it went well...I am excited about that. 

Lot’s ‘o noodles

Man this week has been full of interesting things.


Saturday I passed my driving theory test.



     Bright and early Sunday morning (about 1:30 am) we were broken into while Richard was asleep on the couch…asleep on the couch. OK our door was unlocked, but sometimes it doesn't get locked when you have fallen asleep on the couch. You think "no one will come in if they see me here on my couch that is right in front of the door". But I guess you would be wrong to think that.

     Luckily they just took some money that was on the table. They threw my laptop and cell phone at Richard as they exited the premises when Richard awoke.

     We called the police and met two of the most lax police officers ever. I had allot of fun with them, but someone else might not have found them acceptable. I am sure if one of us were really upset, they would have acted more official, but I actually preferred them to be relaxed and silly. Their favourite TV show is Reno 911 if that gives you any idea of the personality of these officers.



     Tuesday was the Sprout's first day of nursery. I was told he did well between the crying fits. He was able to eat his breakfast, snack and lunch and had a couple of naps. He played with toys and did allot of observing.

     While this was going on, I had my first driving lesson. Do you know how hard it is to break 15 years of "bad" habits? It is especially hard when you are trying to concentrate on driving on the other side of the road. The biggest habit I have is turning the steering wheel hand over hand. I remember learning to drive this way, isn't this how we learn to drive? Now I have to focus on feeding the wheel through my hands. It is the stupidest thing ever, and who cares anyway??? The second habit I have is downshifting to stop. Supposedly you aren't supposed to do this. It is impossible for me to drive and think of these things at once. I am finding that I will need more than 5 hours of instruction to break these habits and learn how to pass the driving test. I need to get on someone's car insurance so I can practice.



This week the contact was signed for our house and finally we have a completion date, August 27^th.



Today the Sprout had his second day at nursery. I guess today he was a bit more upset than on Tuesday, but he survived.



So we had a pretty big week mainly because of nursery and my driving lessons, but that is more than we have done in a while.

Favourite place

What's your favorite place in the whole world?

I tried to think of one place, but I couldn't think of just one.  

• My mom's house is one of my favourite places probably because I grew up there so there is a huge sense of security when I am there.  On top of that the property is so beautiful and peaceful.  

mom's house

• My Dad's house is another of my favourite places.  He also lives on a beautiful piece of property that is surrounded by national forest.  I love the seclusion and quietness.  The river is another part of the property that brings a peaceful, magical quality to it.  

A piece of the view at my dad's house

• The Sandpiper Beach Resort in Pacific Beach, Washington is another of my favourite places.  The hotel is run down, but the beach is really wonderful.  This is another place that holds many memories because my family always went here on vacation.

View from the room

As I go back and forth between my parent's houses and mine as an adult I realize how calming their houses make me and how safe I feel when I am there .  I can pretend that I don't have any worries back at home.  They provide a big warm blanket over me.

• At home, my favourite place is in bed with the Sprout and Richard.  Richard doesn't get to bed much any more primarily because he snores, but he also just seems to fall asleep in the living room.

• My favourite place that doesn't include family is to be is in my car driving around the West on my own.  California, Nevada and Arizona are my favourite places to drive and camp.  My favourite campground is the Lone Pine campground in...Lone Pine.  It is located by a small stream in the Alabama Hills on the way to Mount Whitney.

My view of the Sierra's outside my tent

In the not to distant future, Richard and I are going to have to start thinking about British family vacations for the Sprout.  We need to figure out a location that will be special for just the three of us.  Another reason why I need my UK driving license.

In five years

What do you want your life to be like in five years?

I am going to try to be realistic instead of going the route of  "in a perfect world".

• Realistically we will probably have another kid...everyone don't gasp at once, you may suck all the oxygen from the Earth.
• We will be living in the United States.  I would rather my kids get an education in the States than England.  I am not sure where I want to live in the States.  If Richard can transfer within the company he works for now, we would most likely end up in Florida, but they have a small satellite office in El Segundo, California.  I personally, want to be in California because I am able to get archaeology jobs and would be closer to home when I am on a job.  California is also closer to Gig Harbor (it would take around 18 hours up I-5  and 1,120 miles to get there but it is closer than Florida which would take 2days and 3,314 miles).
• I will be working full time for the Forest Service or for a private cultural resource management firm, but a government job is preferable. 

It is kind of weird how hard it  is to think about five years from now.  I have been in England for almost five years and it has gone by so quickly.  Although allot has happened, it still feels like I have been standing still.  To think that we will move to the States seems like a far cry from what actually will happen and  makes me realize how lazy and scared I really am.   Why haven't we already moved to the States when I miss it so much?  I seem to be able to come up with many reasons, or more like small excuses.  In reality it is because I am scared to make the move.  The amount of work that would go into it seems scary.  One of the biggest reasons I turn to is that Richard has a job here and for him to loose that job and start over in the States seems huge.  I don't quite know why I can't use one of my Summer jobs as a reason to move even though it would be a temp job?  Something I should think about.

Saving face

If you could change one thing about your appearance, what would it be? Or would you change anything at all?

I took this to mean my face, only because most people would want to be thinner or something along those lines.  I would like to have smaller breasts, nursing doesn't help that at all.

I honestly can say I wouldn't change anything about my face (except maybe to have the mole removed that is on my temple, it is pretty huge).  I seem to look under 25 eventhough I am 32, so why would I change that?  I like my nose, it has a cute little mole on it and though when I get to see a side view, it is a little larger that I expect, I still like it.  I like the shape of my eyes (I have really long lashes) and mouth (a perfect heart shape) and I think my forehead is just the right length.  So really, I would change nothing, not even my ears.  In fact I like the way I look so much that I hardly ever wear make-up.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank the "science of genes" (have you seen that oil of oly commercial?  I mean come on, the "science of genes"?), and my parents for creating such a face.

Father's day

Happy Father's Day

NaBloPoMo

So, Ms. S pointed me to the National Blog Posting Month web page.  It is a site that encourages people to blog everyday for a month by giving a topic.  And it happens every month, so really the name is a little misleading.  Now this is an incredibly hard thing for me to do, only because the Sprout never naps and at night, I am all out of creative juices.  I am not sure I can really do it, however, I can write in as few words as possible or do it in pictures...I am still working it out.

Of course, I am a little late in the game so I will answer the topics here:

Day 1: Favourite Poem
My favourite poem is "The Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carol.  I just think it is fun and creative.  I am a little upset by the new Alice in Wonderland's interpretation of the poem though.  This poem kind of inspired this blog, which is why I use it as my badge.  A place where I can write jibberish that is really of importance to no one but people who know me.

Day 2: Define "freedom"
As someone who has never known anything but freedom, I can say that freedom is driving.  The only confinement I have ever had, has been here in England where I don't have a car or a British license.  Evey time I get in the car, I get the urge to go.  I just want to drive and drive and drive and drive some more.  Driving is one of my favourite things.  My favourite place to drive is in the Great Basin.

Driving to Black Rock, NV

Day 3: What's the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of your father?
River.
That was the first thing.  Mostly because of the beautiful location of his house, I suppose.

Dad's River

So I have a feeling that is how this will go, mostly because as I was writing that last one, the Sprout woke up...very typical.

2 Months

Man, I can't believe it has been 2 months.  No wonder I am not tired anymore, I am used to doing everything in 3 hour intervals.  I get anxious when it has been more than 3 hours.

Let's see what has the Sprout achieved...

1. He smiles allot, but still not long enough or predictable enough for a picture.
2. He fixes his gaze on things and on Richard and me.
3. He can finally fully breast feed.
4. He is awake more during the day.
5. He can almost hold his head up.
6. He has stopped being so cranky when we change him or give him baths.
7. He gets his first round of shots on Monday.
8. He has the beginnings of a laugh going and makes little coo noises.
9. He fits into size 0-3 month clothes.

Last week Miki finally inducted the Sprout into the family by giving him a head rub on his head.  It was really sweet.  He is now a full fledge member of the family and is now allowed to worship her as she sees fit.

We are going down South to the Osborne's for Christmas next week.  We will be staying for a few days.  It will be the last Christmas at the house, because they finally sold it.

Richard and I attended the Pace Christmas Party on Friday.  It was the first time we had been away from the Sprout at the same time.  Richard's sister was kind enough to babysit.  She also took me to White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds.  It was actually fun and it was the first time I had taken the Sprout on a real outing.  It was a little intimidating, but he slept the majority of the time, except when the 3 hours was up and I had to feed him.  I opted to feed him with a bottle because it was our first time out and I am not quite ready to breast feed in public, or in a bathroom for that matter.

The Sprout will officially be an international traveler at the end of the month.  We will be flying to Seattle on the 31st for New Year's and to spend time with the parents.  I am so excited to go home, it has been a year!!! The longest I have ever gone...EVER.

Thankful Anyway Thursday

How cool to do a TAT on Thanksgiving!  Now I have extra pressure to turn up an excellent TAT, I don't know if I am up to the challenge this year.  Last year I turned out a good one, but I will have to try extra hard this year.

While I think of something...

What the Sprout is thankful for:

Yesterday was the Sprout's real due date.  We had him weighed and he is now 6lbs 11oz (he gained a pound and 3oz in 2 weeks)! almost a real birth weight!  Very exciting, he is still very tiny though.  So we all know the Sprout is thankful for "Mommy Milk" (copyrighted by my mom).  He also seems to be thankful for Michael Buble and the shadows on the wall next to the kitchen, as well as his mommy singing "Skylark" when he is sleepy-awake and disposable didies (also copyrighted by my mom).

I am still thinking...

Random thoughts on mommy hood:

Mommy hood is really tiring, especially with Richard at work.  During the day it really does feel like I am single mommying it.  Every other thing that has stressed and overwhelmed me in life does't even come close to the stress of being the only one who can feed a tiny being.  And I must say that this week I finally hit the breaking point...there is no other exhaustion that can compare, not even the days where I would go for 4 days without sleep because of my horrible insomnia.  In fact, I thought that annoying condition would help me, but it doesn't because I have no trouble sleeping, but having to personally produce food is so physically exhausting, like having the stomach flu exhausting.

Coming up blank...

This year's Thanksgiving festivities:

This year's Thanksgiving festivities will be taking place on December 5th.  It seems to be really hard to get 8 people together at the same time in November.  Auntie Cathy made a really cool Turkey bib that the Sprout will be sporting for the occasion.   This year will be the 5th Thanksgiving I have hosted, meaning I have spent 5 Thanksgivings away from home, but also that I am becoming awesome at making Thanksgiving Dinner...So in 25 years, the Allen's will have their new Thanksgiving person.  All of us Allen cousins find our place eventually.

I am getting it...

What I am thankful for:

This year I have a special place in my heart for family.  Last year I considered this one of the generic "Thankful fors" but this year family is especially special.   Not only can I say that I have my own family to be thankful for, but I can say that I am insanely grateful for my preexisting family of about 40 strong.  This thankfulness comes from years of layers that have been glimpsed under only to be kept hidden and left to mold and stink.  This year however, there was finally a deep cleaning and the carpet was replaced and the dirty laundry taken out, and because of this, the family has gotten stronger.  Oh, there are still tiny holes in the fabric that are being decided whether or not they should be mended or if the garment should simply be thrown away, but finally we are all on the same page and can now start with a fresh coat of paint.  And this is what I am truly grateful for this year.

For all the other things I have learned to be thankful for visit Thankful Anyway Thursday.

The trip and 29/30 weeks

rscornwall

Click the link above to see my photo album


Mom is on the plane back to the States :(

We had a very busy 14 days.

She flew into Manchester Airport on Sept 2nd where I met her to make sure she got to Shipley.  That journey is pretty crazy after a 14+ hr journey.

We spent the next couple of days around my area of Yorkshire visiting Shipley, Saltaire, Bradford and Skipton.

On Sept 6th we made our way by train to Penzance, Cornwall which took about 9 hours.

The black line is the journey

We checked into the Hotel Penzance around 9 pm and had a yummy dinner at the fancy restaurant there.

The weather for the first 2 days was pretty iffy, sunny and misty, but we managed to wander around Penzance, going in and out of really cool galleries and shoppes.  My favourite gallery by far was the Penlee Gallery where they were showing the works of artists from the early days of the Newlyn Art Colony.

We made it to St. Ives on the last day of our stay, which turned out to be a warm and sunny day, but still not quite warm enough for a swim.  We visited more galleries and the Barbra Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Museum.  We ate Cornish ice cream, but were told to stay away from the pasties unless we wanted to be ravaged by seagulls.  We ate pasties in Penzance.

We came back to Shipley on Sept 10th in an un-airconditioned train on a very warm and sunny day.

The Saltaire festival began on the 12th and we wandered down to have a look, had Sunday lunch with Richard's parents on the 13th and visited Kirkstall Abbey on the 14th.

It was a really nice visit and I had a lot of fun, but last week when 29 weeks hit, I was instantly tired and sore and have yet to recover.  My tummy is so big and heavy, I finally had to get maternity clothes and I think I am going to live in the dress in the picture below for the next 10 weeks.

Thankful Anyway Thursday

Wow, it is Thursday all ready. Having a day where you know you have to post something is a little stressful, I don't know how Ms. Molly has managed for the past year or so.

What has annoyed me this week?...

There are a couple of things but only one that fits into the category of this post and that is the issue of being far away from my family and friends who I know can help me get through the rest of my pregnancy (I have reached 25 weeks!). I have reached the stage where I am beginning to have some questions. Books and websites can only give you a guide. I really don't want to attend a antenatal class...I just don't (and Richard isn't too keen on it either). My mid-wife made me feel a little bad for not being up for it, I just feel that it would be a waste of time. I already know things are going to be different when the baby comes. Maybe I am being silly, and one thing my midwife did mention is that maybe it will get me to meet and befriend some new mommies in my area. Good argument...but I have many other excuses in my head to work around this argument, such as transport to get to these sessions...anyway...

The good thing that comes out of this is another argument for Facebook. In February I wrote about how Facebook helped me to feel connected to my cousins and friends when I was lonely. I have been able to post my blogs on Facebook so my cousins and friends can read them, and I have easy email access to them individually. I have found that people are so excited to give advice, and I really do appreciate it.

My new experiences in the "blog-o-sphere" have been good too. I have enjoyed finding and reading some really good blogs by people who are new to the whole mommy thing as well (I have some of their links in the side bar if anyone is interested).

So to recap...

I have been a bit upset that I don't have full access to my support system physically, however, I am thankful anyway because I have been able to find another way to access my support system that doesn't involve outrageous phone bills and plane tickets.

Question...

Do you recommend that I do the classes? Did they help you?

Happy Father's Day

I was watching a programme called Would You Save a Stranger? Many of us like to think that we would, but would you really? I can honestly say "Absolutely." I stick up for people all the time, I speak up when people cut in line, when people give me dirty looks, I ask if people are ok when they are passed out on the street and have even asked a woman who was crying if she was ok...heck even when a prostitute was being beaten outside my house, I called the police. There are many situations I have been in where I probably shouldn't have said anything, but have. Bradford is one of those places where being mugged and stabbed is an occurrence that one might be faced with, and I have definitely had my share of chaves yelling things at me while I walked home (and let me tell you, they didn't get away with it...an instance I have been told I should have let go).

What I found so interesting about this programme was 2 instances that involved people on a crowded bus witnessing abusive behaviour. The people on the bus did nothing. For me, confronting bullies on a crowded bus is a no brainer. There is mob mentality being observed here. No one is doing anything because the people who want to do something, aren't...as soon as you get that one person to stand up and shout "stop," everyone else who wanted to do something will stand up. The most appalling thing about these bus instances was that they involved pre-teens being beaten and harassed by a large group of older teens. Now, if kids are involved, I definitely feel obligated to do something, I don't care how many there are (as long as there are people to back me up).

In another example on the show, a guy tried to wrestle a robber with a gun at a quicky-mart and was almost stabbed to death. In this particular scenario, I did not agree with the man's actions because the girls who were in charge would have opened the safe, or if they didn't have keys, would still give the men the money from the register...I just thought that the risk involved did not warrant a "hero's" response. This seemed to be more about a man feeling it was his duty to protect the women in the store...good for you man, but unnecessary.

I am not saying that if you are in trouble, call me, because when I really reflect on any given situation, there have to be other people present for me to get involved (I am a small girl after all) and if there is a visible weapon, then I am pretty sure I am not going to be a hero...however to call the police post-haste is a given and providing help after the threat has passed, you bet.

I was thinking, why am I like this? The stories where people did nothing made me so angry and tear up even (please don't blame the hormones). My epiphany about my decision came when I tried to picture what my dad would do. Can I see my dad turning a blind eye to someone who was in trouble? The answer is NO, not by a long shot. There is not one scenario I could run through my mind where I could picture my dad turning away and pretending he didn't see anything...and to me I think that is an interesting in site to how I portray my dad and what he means to me.

So thanks Dad...even though you didn't know it, I do look up to you and you have passed down admirable personality traits that I find heroic. There is something there that I know in my mind that you will always be there no matter the risk...Respect (sorry, it was getting too mushy).