Around the House

Just thought I'd add a few cute pictures of Samantha hanging out around the house. She is quite familiar with her new home now and loves finding different things to play with.

Look how grown-up she looks in this one! She definitely looks more like a toddler now, not a baby anymore (except when she's sleeping). She carries her sippie cup around with one hand; Brian calls it her "grog." One of Sam's favorite things is to pull everything out of her dresser drawers. On one occasion, she climbed into the bottom drawer after emptying it. She got scolded, because that can be dangerous. But she also got to mug for a picture, first!

In the late afternoons, while Mom is cooking dinner, Sam has determined the best place to be is right in the kitchen next to Mom. (How nice for me, right?) After Mom repeatedly refuses to hold her, Samantha chills out, laying on the kitchen floor. I have several shots similar to this one (below), with Sam relaxing, playing with a small toy, right under my feet.
She also loves to put on clothes of any variety... pajama bottoms on the head, socks on the hands, and Mom's cardigans are some of her favorites. She doesn't really pose when she's trying on clothes, so I snapped this one as she ran by in my new cardy.

After my recent car washing expedition, I accidentally left the buckets out two minutes too long. Samantha immediately confiscated them as her own personal toys. She likes to walk around with the bucket over her head or draped over her shoulders. It makes a great helmet!

Sam is also becoming quite the good little helper girl. Here she is "helping" to unload the dishwasher. She pulled out this green bowl, walked off with it for a few seconds, and came back with Sox Bear in it... apparently he needed a good washing, as he ended up in the dishwasher a few seconds later.
Several of Sam's favorite things are captured in this one... 1. the glasses. she loves them and walks around with them around her neck most days. 2. the sippie cup, which I already mentioned. 3. The bottle of bath bubbles sitting in front of her. She always steels it from the bathroom and puts it in her toy box. 4. Macaroni and cheese (in the bowl on the right). 5. Being on the counter. She's almost adept enough to push a chair over and climb up herself, but we highly discourage it, of course. 6. Mom! :)

Walk Like an Egyptian!

Ahem... have I mentioned we're going to EGYPT??!?! yeayaayay! Brian has been talking about planning a trip to Cairo ever since we got married. It's finally happening and we're finally putting together all the details. As you can imagine, we're very excited about this, especially Brian! Talk about easy to plan, when Brian already knows everything we should see and do, and how to get around. (Remember, he lived there for a year before we ever met.) He's eager to share some of his past with me, and I'm very curious and excited to see it all.

So, the plan is to fly to Cairo for Easter week, meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law, who are fulfilling their own lifelong dreams by joining us for the trip (Lisa cried for joy -- literally-- when she heard they got their tickets). We'll see the pyramids and ruins in Cairo, then go to Luxor and possibly Aswan. We might throw in a trip to Alexandria, or possibly a hike up Mt. Sinai, or a trip to an owasis, if time permits. For those who don't know the geography behind the names I've just thrown out there, don't worry -- I didn't either until we started making plans!

We just wanted to share the exciting news, since it's a top priority for us right now and we're very excited about it! My only question is... will Samantha like Egypt?? We'll see!

Lovely day out

I wish I would have had my camera... but I forgot it! Last Thursday we had such a lovely day out, I have to tell the little details, and hopefully you can imagine how nice it was, even without pictures. My friend, Jenny, is from Ipswich, on the coast about two hours east of London. Since she was not working, she offered to take Samantha and me for a visit to her home town and surrounding area. It was so much fun!

First, we drove to the small town of Felixstowe to go swimming. The indoor pool is right on the beach, with big windows facing out to the sea. It was so fun to be swimming in a nice warm pool while we looked out at the ocean. Samantha especially loved the kiddie pool! We taught her to go down the slide, and to hold her breath going under the water. She didn't want to leave, even when it was past her naptime and we'd been there so long. And yes, we did use the cute little red suit -- she looked adorable.

Next, we got fish and chips at a little shop and ate them on the beach. Samantha ate more sand than fish, but she didn't seem to mind. Maybe there's some kind of protein in sand?? Sam finally fell asleep after that, as we drove back to Jenny's parents' house for a quick tour and visit. They live in a cute red brick house across the street from a charming old church, built in the 13th century. Very picturesque.

We took Jenny's two younger sisters (8 and 7 yrs), and went to a different little coastal villiage near a small castle. We walked around the castle grounds, then past the charming cottages and stone houses, down to the sea for a bit of a rest. It was so refreshing to be out of the city, in the peace and quiet of a little country village.

As we were driving back to drop Jenny's sisters at their house, one of them, Anna, asked, "Jenny, is this your car?"
Jenny: No, it's Kamber's.
Anna: Then why are you driving it.
Jenny: Because Kamber doesn't have a driving license.
(thoughtful pause, and a small groan from Kamber)
Anna: Then why does Kamber have a car?

Ah yes, the proverbial question... which came first, the car or the license? I thought it was a funny little conversation, even though I cringed as Jenny had to explain that I DO have a US license, but I haven't passed the UK test yet. Arrggg.... I'm taking it (again) this week. Wish me luck!

Anyway, that's a quick description of our fun day out in the country last week. If I'd had the camera, you would see the following pictures:
Mom with Sammie in the pool in her cute new suit (Mom holding Sam strategically to hide Mom's swimming-suit body)
Sammie eating sand on the beach
Jenny's sisters sitting in the back seat with Sammie, sharing jaffa cakes and getting chocolate all over all three faces.
Jenny and Kamber on the beach, a little lopsided from being taken by one of Jenny's sisters.

Two Suits! -- Time to Vote

Is there anything more adorable than a baby swimsuit?? Well, how about TWO baby swimsuits?! (Aside: over here they call them swimming costumes, instead of suits)Well, so Samantha needs a new swimsuit (there's NO WAY she would fit in the one she wore last summer... maybe on her thighs or something?). We went shopping last week and found a very cute little red one. Then, yesterday we were at H&M (my personal favorite store most of the time) and found another very cute little pink one. I bought them both, because I couldn't decide which one was cuter.

So, now it's time to vote -- which one should we keep? Samantha modeled both of them to give you an idea what they'll look like on those sunny days this summer. (Oh, and we'll fix the front up a little higher on whichever one we keep). What fun!

Car Wash

I just washed our car, first time since last summer. I know some of you are cringing in disgust. Yes, it's true, you are within your rights to cringe. It was a sorry sight, to be sure. The car is green, but one might wonder, I suppose? Some neighborhood hoodlums wrote graffiti in the dust several months ago and no amount of daily rain had been able to erase their handiwork or my handprinted erasing over the top.

I would have taken it to a carwash ages ago, except the last time I did that I ended up with a crack across the front windscreen (aka windshield in the US) that cost us 150 pounds to fix. You might wonder why I didn't just get myself a bucket and wash it earlier. Well, we had to wait till we moved because it was too many stairs to be hauling water buckets up and down to our on-street parking spot.

So, anyway, today is the special day. Dark, threatening clouds hovered overhead, the sun went down half an hour ago, and passers-by sniggered at this crazy lady with two buckets (no hose, mind you) trying to wash her car in the dark. I don't care. The car is clean (I think?). And green (I think?). And I will once again take pride in it and hope that I soon pass my UK license test so I can legally drive it!

New-found toy box!

A few weeks ago we found a really good deal on a nice seagrass chest that's the PERFECT size for a toy box! We snatched it up and brought it home for Samantha's nice collection that sits in the far end of our dining room. The first couple of days, Sam seemed to wander around the house as if she was looking for the thousands of toys she used to have. Then she discovered she can open and close it on her own. After that, it didn't take her long to discover she can also climb in and out on her own (only hit her head on the floor once, getting out and only got stuck inside once, smart girl). She LOVES the toy box!

Here she is enjoying her toys on several different days. Thought you'd enjoy seeing how happy she is and how many innovative toys she has.
Notice Dad's basketball and the empty 7-up bottle in this one below. We also found a large plastic serving spoon from the kitchen, Mom's make-up bag, several cardigans and pajama pants (she loves clothes), and some bubble bath that she swiped from her own bath.

Fully immersed in toyhood!!

Toddler in the house

From the day Samantha was born people were telling us, "just wait till she's walking and into everything." Well, we have no need to wait anymore on that one! Sam is definitely into everything, and we are very aware that we have a toddler in the house!! Grandparents chuckle and get that "how sweet" tone of voice when we talk about Sam's many misdemeanors. Other mothers either sigh in sympathy or raise their eyebrows in a quick judgment of our situation. As for me and Brian, we're just fascinated to watch our girl grow, though we do sometimes wish the "into everything" stage wasn't quite so intense.

Here are just a few pictures of Sam from this past week, so you can either add your chuckles, sighs, or eyebrow-raisings, as you wish. Sam is a book lover of the most peculiar kind. She fancies big, heavy books -- and only loves thumbing through them, mutilating the pages, and trying to tear the spine in half (she succeeded with one of those big touch-and-feel cardboard kid books last week, ripped it right in two!). In addition, she is most fascinated with whatever Brian or I happen to be reading. Here she is posing with my UK driving manual, hopefully it stays intact until I take the test.


Sam's new favorite place is the little shelf under the coat rack at the top of the stairs. Whenever she disappears and is "too" quiet, I can usually guess she's making mischief, pulling down coats or dragging toys/household items up the stairs for us to trip on later. The other night we had a book club, and she stood there on the little shelf greeting all our guests. Her dad felt most especially welcomed by her, as he happened to come home from work right then!


What can Sam do in the five minutes it takes mom to check her email? Well, today she surprised me completely with a nice toilet paper train, running the length of the hall from the guest bathroom clear through our bedroom to the master bathroom. She didn't just string out the whole roll, but also proceeded to shred it into tiny pieces once it was completely unwound.

Another three minutes when mom was preoccupied... You've got to believe Samantha KNOWS not to get into this cupboard. She gets a "No!" a hand slap, and an exile from the kitchen every time she ventures and is caught. Well, so she waited until I was in the shower (I left the door open to hopefully keep an eye on her). In the very few minutes it took me to wash my hair, she had opened the special vanilla hot chocolate (Stephen's brand) that I bought in the US for Brian for Christmas. She dumped it ALL on the floor, ran dirty underwear through it, then started putting boxes of macaroni in it as well! (That was all on Saturday. Today, it was the shortening she got into -- rubbed it all over her pants, very greasy.)

I've heard a lot of moms say "it's a good thing they're so cute!" It's true; when I creep into her room late at night and see this innocent little angel sleeping peacefully, all mischief is forgotten and she's the sweetest baby girl in the world.

Snow Day in London

Last week we had an official snow day here! London and SouthWest England received record amounts of snow, more than they've had in over 7 years! Brian and I chuckled to ourselves that 2 1/2 inches is a record snowfall. England just doesn't get that much snow in the South. So, it was fun to have some excitement, and fun to see everything all white.

Samantha and I went out to play in the back yard for a little while, and I got some cute pictures of her. She loved looking at it, and was quite puzzled by how hard it was to walk around in it.

I couldn't find her mittens, so she wore socks on her hands. They worked okay, until she fell down and got personal with the snow. Then she was not quite so happy about being out in it, and wanted me to carry her (and get myself all wet, of course).

We also went for a ride/walk in the stroller, to visit our friends. It turned out to be quite the work out for me to push the stroller on unshovelled sidewalks! Sammie was loving it, looking all around and talking about it all, in her gabby way.
When it was time to come in, she thought it was so funny that I took off her wet and snow-caked jeans and shook them out the back door. She was especially pleased to then run around the house pantsless for a few minutes. Cutie.

The Grand Tour

Well, here are some pictures of our new place, now that we're settled in. We've yet to hang many pictures on the walls, but the cupboards are full and most of the furniture is now in its final resting place, we think. So, here's the grand tour of our new home...

The dining room, with a view into the living room. I took this one at night, so you can't see the cute vines out the window, or the nice lighting that comes through the patio doors in the living room. The following is a daytime shot of the living room.



Here's a view of the dining room, looking across to the kitchen. It's a big open-plan layout that I love, since it's easy to keep conversations going whether I'm in the kitchen, dining room, or living room. (Not that I converse with myself, of course.)

Below is our master bedroom. It's got tons of storage space, which is WONDERFUL! Brian and I each have our own closet (his is cleaner), plus a spare coat closet, and a separate closet for towels and sheets. My favorite is the view from the patio doors out into the back garden.

Here's a shot of Samantha's room/guest room. It looks a bit tight from this angle, but it's actually roomy enough for all that's in there. Sam loves to play with her toys at the side of the crib and at the end of the bed. We still need to decorate, of course.

The office (below) is the least "put together" room, probably because it has all the paperwork, and Brian (bless him for taking on the chore) is still finding places to put things. I didn't take a full shot of the room, because the rest was not so very tidy. But, we're liking the thought of having an office so far. We have plans of adding an ellyptical trainer, if we can find one worth buying. (Yes, there's room, though the picture looks crammed.)

And here's our back patio and garden. It's kind of narrow, with both patio doors from the living room and the bedroom opening onto the deck. But it goes a long way back to a nice storage shed and a barbeque grill around the corner on the left.

Where is Sammie?

Sam loves to play her own version of peek-a-boo. Instead of pulling the blanket off to say "boo!" she prefers to walk around under the blanket while we try to coax her out of it. We usually end up laughing hysterically until she runs into a wall or door and gets a little bumped up.

Twinkle twinkle... our little Star.

Samantha loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle with me and Brian. Every time she lays down for a nap or night time, we sing together and I close the door and listen to her continue to hum the tune. I was excited to see that she recognized the tune when I played it on the piano.

Feeding herself!!

What a big girl Samantha is! She's learning to feed herself with a spoon, very exciting! She hasn't quite mastered it yet, but she is catching on and getting a little better every day. I usually have to help her get the spoon loaded properly, but she's great at getting it in her mouth. What a clever girl! Now if only we could expand her pallet a bit... she has her favorites (yogurt, eggs, mac and cheese, bananas, baby cereal) and has a hard time varying from them, but we're always hopeful.

Getting Settled

Well, we did it!! We moved! And we're happily settled in our new place, enjoying a new life without so many stairs. It's great. And we love the new, open space. I need to take more pictures, now that things are more situated. But here's a little start.

My favorite part of the house is the open plan kitchen with a wrap-around counter. I love being part of discussions in the living room and dining room while I'm fixing and cleaning for meals. This picture was taken before we moved any of our stuff in (that's why it looks so clean!)

I was really looking forward to our new kitchen that has more space -- especially, it has more drawers! Two rows of drawers along one section of the cupboard space. Unfortunately, I fast lost my claim on three of the drawers, as I realized that everything I put in them was immediately redistributed all over the kitchen floor by my little Helper Girl. So, now Sam has the three bottom drawers for whatever she things is "drawer worthy." (Luckily for me, there are still several she can't reach very well.) Here's one of her special drawers...


Yes, Sam sometimes has trouble judging exactly what she can fit in her new drawers. The chair didn't make it for long. Too bad.


One of our very first visitors came an awfully long way to see our place... Our friend, Marissa Turley Benson from Boston was over here for a work conference, so we arranged to get together while she was in town. What fun to catch up! Here we are in the kitchen, along with Sara Weyland, our mutual friend.
 

Goodbye, old house of fond memories

It was actually quite sad to see our flat completely empty, after it had been so cosy and lovely for us. We were happy to go, and yet sad to leave. We packed and moved everything on a Saturday, then I went back on Monday to do the final cleaning with the help of a couple friends. Here are the last shots...


Our dining area/ living room.
That lovely little kitchen with all the "hidden" appliances behind wooden doors.

Our bedroom, shot of the closets and the windows where our bet used to be.

The front porch with the cute flowers and 13 steps. Woops, it's sideways.
 

Packing and Moving

For those of you who noticed our long absence from blogging, you probably already knew we were moving to a new flat. What you probably didn't know (WE didn't) is that our new internet connection would take THREE WEEKS to get installed! Imagine what it must have been like for me to be cut off from the online world all that long time.

Well, so we have packed and moved and I have so much to catch up now! Here are some cute pictures of Sam helping with the packing. She was MORE helpful with UNpacking, actually... any boxes not properly taped up were happily emptied by Samantha. :) Here she is (below) helping to move a box of pans in the kitchen. She thought it was especially helpful to put a pen through a little hole on the side, but then was disappointed when she couldn't get it back out.
I think she was hoping to be packed in fragile styrofoam packing, or something? Handle with care.

Ah yes, she discovered the joy of packing peanuts! And Mom discovered the joy of picking up packing peanuts from all over the kitchen floor.

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard... but it wasn't entirely bare! Sam was THRILLED to find that Mom finally let her open the kitchen cupboards (this one used to house our glass bowls and was off-limits), and even more excited to climb up inside.