Halloween, 2011

This year, Ashley and I spent the Halloween weekend with Weilok and Arasin. They had volunteered to do a children's Halloween party on one of the American Air Force Bases. This was Ashley's first time doing many things (going onto an American Air Force Base, going to the American grocery store, and an American Halloween Party) since moving to the UK. I think she was a bit overwhelmed. She cried in the middle of the grocery store (which, in her defense, was exactly the same thing that I did the first time I went,) oogled everything, and commented over and over about how everyone sounded. It was rather sweet.

At the party, Ashley was in charge of the camera for all but the start of the evening. She was dressed in garb (instant costume!) I grabbed a quick picture...

I was dressed as a pregnant rabbit. Not that inspiring, but to be honest I wasn't really feeling the Halloween costume love. Nothing fits, nothing is comfortable. This was the best I was willing to do. You can, however, see the baby bump rather clearly.

Rayanne (dressed as Madame Dragonfly) and I were doing a booth at the party. We were happily sticking children's hands into gooey pumpkin guts and making them guess what they were feeling. For their bravery, they got candy. There was much silliness.

Baby squirmed all night. Lately, the tiny kicks and punches that we used to feel have become massive twisting, squirming, rolling monster movements. It looks very much like my belly is a curtain, and we are all standing on the outside watching someone behind the curtain rolling and kicking at it. I wonder who that person is and what they are like ALL the time.

I think we are coming to the point that all of us are ready to be done with this pregnancy and move on to the having a baby bit. I feel like a house. I am /so slow/ and bending over for anything is difficult. Sleeping... heh, who sleeps?

Realistically, though, things are going so much more smoothly than I expected they would. I am healthy and feeling good, all things considered. Baby is happy and growing. Stephen and Ashley are happy and not growing. And only 7 more weeks to go. Bring it on. :)

Holiday - (not so) Short and Sweet

I have been on holiday in the US for the past month, and I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Tristan, as well as Kelli's girls. Though you might want to see some pictures. Warning: this is not all we did or all I saw. The truth is, I'm terrible at taking pictures. So if you have some that I don't have, please pass them on.
Tristan and Papa being pals.

Tristan and Gramy. He says "She's the oldest person in the world, Mom." Gramy is 90, but she is just as sharp as a tack. I want to be old like her.

Gramy and the 18 week Baby bump. Oh, and me.

It was very difficult to get all three of these children in the same picture, and this was the best I could do. Katy, Tristan (in the red hat) and Angel (in the white hat) fishing and swimming in the river. The fishing lasted about 3 minutes, then into the water they went. Katy sat with me and watched.

Tristan loved all the dogs and cats that he saw on the trip. This is him with Dora. Angel is NOT happy that he is in the picture holding HER dog.

Tristan and Kiera after her surgery. She is still in the hospital, very groggy and out of it. She tolerated her picture with Boo...

...but didn't want to have anything more to do with pictures by the time I got to her. Luckily she tolerated this kiss on the cheek.

Kelli, Boo and I. I think we were all very tired by this point and faking smiles. Except for Tristan, whose expression pretty accurately sums up how we were all feeling at that point.

Having my family birthday dinner. This was Tristan's birthday red velvet cake. "This is too tiny to be a cake! Take a picture!" says Tristan.

Tristan, Katy and Angel were playing whilst at Dar's house. Angel was the mom, Katy was the daughter who had a tumour in her brain and had to go to the doctor (who was very far away) to have it out, the bear (beside Tristan) was the other daughter who stayed behind, and Tristan was the babysitter. This is Tristan teaching the bear he is babysitting how to play video games.

Tristan, Ms. Christi, Noah and Zach.

Tristan loves on Ms. Christi and Mr. Dan's dog, Cooper. Cooper loved to have his picture taken and sat there so still. He was the only animal I didn't come home with 20 blurry pictures of.

Boo and his favourite guy, Mr. Dan.

Tristan and Grandma Holen.

Tristan and Nicky's dog Kahlua.

Tristan and Grandma's one-eyed cat, Sidney. Sidney made Tristan feel a bit homesick, because he has a cat with one eye as well.

Tristan and his cousin Nicky. This is her 'normal' face. ;)

Tristan, Aunt Stephanie, and cousins Nicky, Kailey, Maddison and Emily.

Tristan and his cousin Kailey. They had so much fun making mud pies together. According to him, she is his favourite girl cousin.

Tristan and baby Kayden.

Boo and Grace.

Boo and Rachal.

Boo and Aunt Laura.

Laura and I. If the picture had gone down lower, you would find that the baby bump is a bit bigger than it was before.

Mamy and Katy. This was my last night in the US, and Tristan had gone home already.

Kiera and Mamy. Kiera was a lot happier to see me this time, called me Mamy for the first time ever and hugged and loved on me all evening. She was a chatterbox, too, which I was so pleased to see since the only way I could interact with her the month before was to read her a story. A totally different kiddo than the Kiera with a tumour.

Mamy and her girls.

It was nice, it was tiring, it was SO worth it. But I'm glad to be home.

Baby!

Say hello to the newest addition of our family - as-yet-to-be-named Baby! Due to arrive Christmas Eve, 2011 (though I suspect Baby will hang out longer - Ashley did by almost 2 weeks!) My mom is coming to stay with us early December, and will be here for the arrival as well. Baby didn't appreciate the very quick view we took just to make sure there was only 1 of him/her, and these were the best pics we got. The strong white line across Baby's face in the ultrasound is his or her teeth - so they are all there and healthy. Baby was shy too, so the only chance we are taking to find out if Baby is a boy or a girl is now passed without us knowing. But that's ok, because we are going to let you guess! We (and by that I actually mean Stephen because I am increasingly incompetent with computers and especially spreadsheets) are adding a place that you can join the team of your choice - Team 'boy' or Team 'girl'! It should all compile into a lovely graph and we will get to see who guessed right. I'll add pics of Baby's bump in coming weeks too... once there are some.

Long time... no pics. :(

In December 2010, we had professional family pictures done. They didn't arrive until February or so, but of course, I didn't add them here because I have been very very bad about updating the blog. (I'm trying to be better, but no promises.) I thought you might like to see a few of them. I wasn't yet pregnant, so don't get your hopes up about pregnant pictures, though I'll add pre-birth baby pics shortly.


Our family. Notice how Stephen is too cool to smile, and how appropriate his shirt is.


And my favourite photo. Ashley planned this one and the photographer went along for the ride. It is absolutely perfect for the loving dynamic in our household, even down to trying to hide the smiles as they try to beat each other up. (Though sometimes I'm not smiling, since there are times that I end up underneath them while they duke it out, and they are HEAVY!)

One Year Later

Firstly, wow, it has been a very long time since the last post and so much has happened. Well, I guess not anything too exciting 'cause we'd have blogged it, right ... right?

The last post was about chickens ... they're gone now. No, we didn't slaughter them, they just got bigger and we couldn't keep them where we are so they went to a good home with a friend of Amy's. We have visited them a few times since, and one of them did make it to dinner - but the others are still going strong. The girls are laying eggs, and very nice indeed they are too.

So, other news? I started a new job last Monday. I'm still doing similar things, just at another place. It does involve commuting to London but after commuting costs I am earning fractionally more each month.

Amy applied for and received Indefinite Leave to Remain a few weeks ago (fast tracked as she's visiting the US this summer). Ashley is in the process of applying for her ILR (slow-track due to no going-away-urgency and as it is cheaper) and we're fully expecting that to be granted.

Oh, and Amy is pregnant (yes, it's mine, not the milkman's) and is due late December.