Sick Day

Yesterday I took a full-on sick day like I haven't had in ... I don't even remember how long. I'm serious, this includes all the disgusting morning-sickness days and all the sniffles of the past while. Yesterday I was just SICK! I didn't leave my bed all day, (except for the too frequent bathroom trips) yuck. No reading, no phone talking (other than what was absolutely necessary), no TV, nothing. I woke up early with some terrible stomach bug that totally drained me. I couldn't keep anything down all day, not even gatorade or water. By the time Brian was ready to leave for work at 9ish, I was in a ball on our bedroom rug (safely near the bathroom), begging him "please don't leave me yet."

Sweet, dear husband that he is, Brian rearranged his schedule and started working from home. He encouraged me to lay in the bed instead of on the floor, then got Sammie up, fed and changed her, and took care of her until nap time. At 2ish, he left the two of us peacefully sleeping for the afternoon. He came home by 6 to help with Samantha for the evening/bedtime, then stayed up till some unholy hour finishing his work. What a wonderful, dear man he is! Sooo good to me! I hope I said thank you enough, but saying it doesn't always seem like enough.

Well, so I was finally able to keep some water down after about 2 a.m. last night, and today I've felt proud of the toast, juice, banana and rice I've had. Back on track! I'm sooooo glad that was just a one day thing, and I sooooo hope no one else gets it!

Highlights from Home

So, we're back from our whirlwind Thanksgiving trip home. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up, though not long enough -- as usual. We didn't get the camera out enough, so the picts we have aren't the greatest, but I'll share anyway. I thought a little list of highlights might be interesting, so, here are some of my favorite memories from our little holiday...

• Staying with Scott and Alicia for one little night, seeing Juan Dolor, and watching our girls play together -- sharing toys WITHOUT crying. Alicia said all day before we came, Brie would say something like "Sammie, share toys, cry" -- anticipating the worst, that never happened. They really had fun together, and we were sad to stay for such very short time.
  
• Watching Sam sit happily on Grandpa Bishop's lap in church, just an hour after they met us at the airport. It didn't take her long to warm up to Grandma and Grandpa Bishop (or anyone else she met on the whole trip, actually). She loved their house, and all their fun toys (especially the marble shoot!)
  
• Delicious food and great company with the Bishops. Brian's brothers and sisters-in-law came over every night with all the cute little cousins. They made it all feel like such a special occasion, just being together. We went to see the Christmas tree lighting in Nampa one night and met Santa on the way. Sam was distraught... She kept crying loudly, "bye bye, SANTA!!"
Here's our group, standing at the base of the HUGE tree after it was lit. We missed the lighting ceremony, but still got cookies and got to see Aunt Cindy's new place downtown.


• FLYING from Boise to Idaho Falls. I know that would not be a highlight for many people, but I LOVED how quickly we got from Brian's family's house to my family... One hour we were saying goodbye to Brian's parents, the next hour we said hello to mine. It was luxurious and I appreciated the extravagance (which was actually only $20 more than the bus tix, and nine hours faster!). Sammie was the friendly flyer -- she insisted on saying goodbye to EVERYONE who was still on the plane when we got off, and there were lots of people, considering the flight was continuing on to Montana. Here we are with Brian's parents as we said goodbye. We didn't get any picts of us saying hello to my parents, probably because Sam was throwing a fit on the escalator because I made her hold my hand, then eventually I picked her up, kicking and screaming. (Terrible twos begins.)



• Being at home, just relaxing and having a great time with my family. Thanksgiving was smaller than some years, but DELICIOUS (the gravy was perfect, and I bet they still have pie leftovers)!! Samantha took a preference to eating from her "tiny chair" that Grandma said she could have while she was there. It's made for some interesting "disagreements" about mealtimes in the two days since we've been home.

• Seeing all the nieces and nephews. This is where I get sad looking at all the cute pictures we DIDN'T take -- at Brian's parents, or at mine. We only got a few little picts, but they're cute kids and I want to share, even though the best shots did not get taken. sad. Here's Josh, teaching Samantha to put her silverware in her ears at the restaurant -- she was a fast learner. Here's Tristan, wearing Samantha's sunnies. I had to include this one because Lance, Tristan's dad, was so adamant that he should NOT wear pink sunglasses, but Tristan did it with my coaxing and even cutely posed. hee hee...
  Is anything more lovely than a little baby Anna asleep in my arms? I can hardly think of any more sweetness.
  Here's Superman-Tristan, guest star of our Thanksgiving night. He informed me that Superman does NOT say "cannonball" as he jumps off Grandma and Grandpa's stairs, because "Superman is too busy fighting bad guys."
  
• Hearing Samantha learn all her cousins, aunts and uncles names! She came home saying "Seth, Becca, Ella, Josh, Tristee (Tristan), Anna, Sara, Eric, and Ashie Baby (and some others, with prompting.) How cute!

It was such a quick trip, and so hard to come home after such a short time visiting with everyone. We're exhausted now, but also very happy and grateful to have had such a nice time. Here's one last picture of Samantha on the car ride to Utah, the day before we left. I think this one captures our departure thoughts and plans for the plane ride...

Update from us

So, you may be wondering what we've been up to, as it's obvious we've not been blogging lately. Well, here are the quick bits of our latest...

Brian ...
has been taking advantage of a long lull in his work hours. He's had lots of "less busy" time lately, which means he's taking lunch breaks and walking around London. Here are some nice shots he took last week:

Samantha...

has been learning to dress and undress herself lately. She got a new pair of pants that she LOVES because they're easy to pull off and on. So, off and on they go, under dresses, over other pants, etc. She also is trying other fun combos. Just a few pictures of her latest outfits:

In this one below, I think she was trying to join the "Incredibles" family or something? Nice belt, bloomers and jammies, eh?!
Here she is "sleeping" on the stairs, or so she told me. She took off her pants, put on some pretend pajamas, and pretended that skinny little step was her new bed.
Sam got a new warm winter coat that she loves. I was unable to catch ANY good pictures of her in it, but I think you probably get the idea what it's like. She especially loves the hood (or "hat" as she calls it)...

Kamber ...

As for me, I've been up to a little of this-and-that, it seems. Had a cold for a few days last week and am still nursing the tail end of it. I've been running errands, doing laundry, cleaning house, and baking/cooking a lot lately (recent cooking: pumpkin bread and muffins, oatmeal cookies, peanutbutter bar cookies, and I just found a great recipe for cheesy potato soup that I love). Here are some banana muffins and bread from last week...
What else in my news? Well, the "bump" is getting bigger and a bit more cumbersome (sorry, no new photos). Nearing 6 months along now, and yes it's gone much more quickly than the first pregnancy!

We had our primary program last week, which I haven't yet reported. It went well and people seemed to enjoy it. I of course was stressed, but I think I was much calmer than last year. We had FIVE three-year-olds this year (as opposed to only one last year). That always spices things up a bit. Our three-year-olds had some severe stage fright, but they were so cute about it that people just chuckled and enjoyed the show. We had an "after party" in the primary room, watching "Joseph" with lots of snacks and treats.

I saved the best news for last... We're flying home Saturday morning to spend Thanksgiving with our family! Yay! It's been a week of packing and organizing for me. I'm REALLY looking forward to this little break. Yes, that means it may be a blogging break as well. But we'll be back with fun pictures from home soon enough. Bye for now!

Guy Fawkes Day

I better post these pictures before they are too old! Guy Fawkes Day is a British holiday, celebrated on the 5th of November (and for several nights before and after). It dates back to the 1600s, when a group of conspirators tried to blow up parliament with gunpowder. They were discovered, and a guy named Guy Fawkes was charged with treason and burned at the stake. Now, they celebrate the occasion with huge bon fires and fireworks. We finally got to go to a Guy Fawkes bon fire, and here are our pictures...

We went to a church in our area, where they were serving dinner and hot chocolate before the bonfire and fireworks. We turned up near 6:30pm to meet some friends (weird that it's so dark you can light fireworks at 6 pm -- I guess I'm used to the 4th of July). It turned out the fireworks were just starting, and Samantha was TERRIFIED!
She clung to me or Brian like her life was about to end. She kept saying "car. go. bye-bye." over and over again. We told her not to be scared, that they were just fireworks -- big pretty lights in the sky. Then she started saying "bye-bye fire. bye-bye lights." over and over. In her defense, I have to say these were very loud, very close fireworks... bottle-rocket types with loud pops and bangs.
This shot above is my favorite, our poor scared girl. Guy Fawkes day is NOT her holiday, it seems. We only stayed for 15 minutes, never even meeting up with our friends. Then we took our terrified girl home. In the car all the way home she kept saying "bye-bye lights. bye-bye fire." Happy Guy Fawkes day!

Time for bed

The other night, I came in to get Sammie tucked into bed, and this is what I found... Left to right: Hop Hop (in a clean diaper for the night), Sammie, and Daddy -- everyone ready for bed! Brian said he was laying across the big guest bed (as pictured) while Sam pranced around with Hop Hop, then she laid herself and her bear beside him, like so. It sure is nice to have Brian around for bedtime!!

Here are some other cute bedtime shots we took recently...

The other night, she cried and cried when I put her yellow sleeper pajamas on -- because she didn't want to take her pants off. We compromised by putting the pants on again, over the top of the pj's. She was THRILLED, as you can see...

In this one below, she is "helping" put toys away before bed. This shot it a bit distressing, for those big scratch marks on our kitchen table (right). At first we weren't sure how they got there, then one day, I saw Sam sitting up to the table, BITING the finish right off!!! She got a good lecture, and now climbs up, looks at those scratches, and says "NO NO, Mama" -- as if it was ME that did that to our table! Crazy girl.

(Aside on the biting of the table: One of the joys of having children must be the loss of all "nice" furniture, I guess?? My dad used to tell us that when we were grown and had homes of our own, he would come over to our houses and jump on our beds and couches; write on our walls; lean back on our dining chairs; rub food into our carpets; etc. Our spouses were even warned that "the Father-in-Law may turn up someday to wreak havvock on our home." All I have to say is -- no need, Dad. I'm sure your grandkids are taking care of that for you!)

Out for a walk!

Samantha and I try to get out for a walk almost every day. Even if it's just a quick trip to the grocery store (6 mins), or to the High street (7 mins), or to visit friends (5-10 mins), we really enjoy and need the fresh air and exercise. Sammie especially gets SOOO excited to "go walk," and helps me get my shoes, her shoes, my coat, her coat, the back pack, etc. We always bring the stroller along, but Sam spends more time running beside it/me, or in front, unless I insist that she be strapped in (ours is a busy road, too bad). Here are some fun shots of one of our recent walks, which typifies most days...

Sam runs way ahead of me to "go fast!" until I tell her to "wait for Mama."

Doing a good deed, she tries her best to close the neighbor's gate (only after she tries to run up to the neighbor's front steps, of course.)

Here we go 'round the street sign post -- and every other post or pole we happen to see. Three times around ought to be enough.

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers...

While she's smelling, it seems only polite she ought to TASTE the flowers as well, of course.
Crunching the leaves -- a new favorite activity. We look for streets with piles of leaves, just so we can crunch, crunch, crunch!
And home again, usually with a stroller full of groceries and a happy, tired girl. She love pretending the big drain pipe in front of our stairs is a water spout. She often "washes her hands" while she waits for me to put the stroller away in the trunk of the car.

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun little Halloween party yesterday, with lots of the moms in the area along with their kids. Here are some pictures of our little group...

I found crepe paper for only one pound a roll! What a nice surprise. Amazing what you can do with three baloons, construction paper, crepe paper and some kleenex ghosts! Samantha and I had fun decorating... her favorite was the streamers by the front door that she kept walking through, making "ghost" noises as I taught her.

Here's our little group of kids... from left to right, we Ashley (a fairy), held by Ian (Thomas the Train), then Ricky (a pirate, who later became a bat), Sammie (pumpkin), Noah (Lofty from Bob the Builder), and James (Yoda). The costumes lasted slightly longer than the cupcakes they had as a bribe for sitting for this picture.
Here is Ricky the Pirate and Sammie the Pumpkin. She was quite fascinated with his necklace and patch!
Cutie little Ashley the fairy princess...
Here's Samantha, after gorging on lots of chocolate she found in our "hidden treasure" game. Yum!

After everyone left, I put Samantha down for a nap. When she woke up we had a quick photo shoot in her crib, showing off how proud she is of her cute costume. (Excuse the poor lighting, our house is not blessed for great photo ops, unfortunately. And our flash does no better, oh well.)



Getting a little impatient...

Still trying to "smile" but it's getting tough!
Lashing out at the camera...
Condescending to one more shot with Mom...
And, it's a wrap! That's all folks!!

Boy or Girl??

Well, so... have a look at the profile of our little baby -- a head-and-shoulders shot, if you will...

Any guesses as to whether that looks like a boy profile or a girl profile??

Anyone feel inspired?? Another shot... from the waist up.

Well, I'm no good at keeping the suspense on things like this. It's a BOY! We're having a little boy baby in March! yay! It was fun to see him and get to finally call him HIM, without feeling like I'm just guessing. At first the baby wasn't cooperating -- was turned all the way in toward me so there was no "checking." The ultrasound technician lady called him a naughty baby and ordered him to be still. He settled after awhile and let her measure his head and heart and brain waves, etc. When she went to "check" again, Brian spotted it first, and announced that we're having a boy. It takes me much longer to recognize these things, surprise.

We took Samantha with us to the scan this morning. She was fascinated and a little alarmed to see the practioner rub jelly all over my belly and start probing around. We told her it was a baby on the screen, but I think she was skeptical throughout. We also told her she's going to have a little brother, which didn't seem to phase her. We're very excited, and looking forward to the new addition!

(Oh, by the way, they didn't give us any printed pictures of the "gendering" of this little guy, so you'll just have to take our word that we saw what we needed to see. Yep, he's a boy alright!)

Wistful Thinking

It's only 7:15 am (which feels more like 5 am, as it's still barely starting to get light here). I'm not typically up so early, but I've been laying in bed awake this morning, thinking of things I need to do today. Finally this baby started kicking for breakfast, so... we're up and moving now. I wanted to write yesterday anyway, but didn't make time.

I've been going through a phase that seems to hit me every fall. I guess I'll call it "wistful thinking." It's that time of year when I sit watching leaves fall from trees, fondly remembering autumns and winters past. (And yes, even with Samantha, I've found time to sit and ponder these deep things of life, shock!) Sometimes the things I think of are good memories, sometime they leave a few tears in my eyes. But I think I enjoy the wistfulness, the melancholy -- whatever it is. It sort of goes with the season, I suppose. These last few days I find myself pining a bit for places and times that I know aren't coming back. But maybe the pining is my way of appreciating what's brought me to where I am now?

Well, so here are a few of the autumny things I miss right now:

• The sound of my parents' old fan fireplace in their living room. They don't use it anymore, but it was the signal of warmth, home and comfort when I was growing up.
• Stephanie's pumpkin bread. Okay, so she did leave me the recipe, but I have no canned pumpkin here and my oven always dries things out, so it's hard to replicate.
• Randi's lovely PUMPKINFEST parties every fall. Everyone has to bring an item that has been made with pumpkin, and we all gorge for hours. It was PUMPKINFEST that actually helped me learn to appreciate that fine vegetable. (And yes, PUMPKINFEST is always, always capitalized.)
• The smell of woodsmoke in people's chimneys. This is mainly from childhood, and mainly the smoke from our own chimney. But again, it's a signal of comfort and warmth for me.
• Mt. Auburn Cemetary in Boston. I visited that place many times, with friends and solo. The crunchy leaves there this time of year are most heavenly. I have pictures of me, Alicia and Randi stomping around there one Sunday afternoon -- some of my favorite picts.
• Apple picking. I know, they do have apples in this country, and I could probably go find a lone country tree and pick me some goodies. But it's more the company and the occasion that I miss right now.
• High school dances. I miss the primping with girlfriends and the anticipation of who will be at the dance. We had some great autumn dances way back when, even barn dances sometimes! (I probably sound like my grandma on this one, huh?)
• Burdicks hot chocolate in Boston. It's like drinking liquid chocolate, an experience to be remembered with reverence.
• College classes. This feels like the time of year for starting a new project, learning something new, sharpening the brain a bit. I miss the new growth I experienced every fall when I was in school.
• Walden Pond. I never got really great pictures of it, but it is perhaps the most serene setting in my memory. I love that place.
• Camp fires. And our old camper we used when I was a girl. When our whole family went camping, I had to sleep on the floor, which wasn't great, but it was close to the little gas furnace which was toasty warm. And, it's fun to remember those family times together.
• Thanksgiving. This year won't be like Thanksgivings at home when I was little, but it will sure be nice just to be home enjoying the eats of the season with family!

That wraps it up for now, I suppose. It's finally getting lighter and the day is ready to start soon. Big morning for us -- we have a little ultrasound scan to go to today. Say hello, baby!

Kickin' it 'round the house

So, I guess we left the fabulous photos of Wales up long enough for anyone and everyone to make a comment. The truth is, I haven't been taking many pictures lately, rats. But here are some shots of our latest adventures and outings.

First, check out this most gorgeous bouquet I got a couple of weeks ago...
The short story is, Brian's supervising partner sent me flowers after Brian's excruciating stretch of all-night hours last month. The note said "thanks for all your patience and forebearance over the last few busy weeks." It was a really thoughtful gesture that meant a lot to me. Those little extras in the way of "good will" do help soften the rough times. (For those who want the long version of how the first bouquet of flowers accidentally got sent to our old address and our old downstairs neighbor who answered the door in the nude --- umm, maybe I can email you. :))

Next, here's the cute tent we got for Samantha at IKEA. I really wanted one of those Little Tykes plastic houses for her -- you know, the ones with the door and window shutters that open and close? so cute! But they cost 60 -80 pounds (over $100), even on the "used" web sites. The tent was only 5 pounds, and Sam LOVES it! It's small enough to sort of fit on our living room rug. And big enough to sort of fit Brian or me along with Sam. So, here's what's been occupying my time a lot lately.... I've been cooking up a storm! It's been a lot of fun, now that I actually have an appetite again. Here, Samantha and I are making homemade pizza for dinner. She's a great little "helper."
It turned out to be a VERY tasty, very easy process ... one I hope to repeat soon. mmm!
Other things I've been cooking/baking lately... butternut squash soup (it's sooo delicious, even if you don't like squash, believe me!), tortellini soup (a new-found favourite I've made twice in the past two weeks), halloween sugar cookies, cinnamon rolls, lemon sauce chicken, chocolate chip cookies, German apple pancakes, stuffed peppers, chick-pea and barley middle east casserole, and on and on. I just love to try something new, and spend a lot of time (possibly too much) looking at recipes these days. Anyone have a new one I should try??

Okay, so these next two pictures are of Samantha, playing with her reflection in the trash can! She started doing this earlier this week -- sitting in front of the bin, waving at herself, talking to the "baby" in the mirror. I thought it was hilarious and tried to get it on video, but all I got were some cute photos.
I am now convinced, we must get a full length mirror, so our baby girl doesn't contaminate herself with her new trashy friend.

These last couple pictures are from our little Saturday drive to St Albans yesterday afternoon. We packed a picnic and planned to visit Hatfield House -- but it was closed. So, we picnicked in the car and drove over to St Albans where they had a great outdoor market going. We stopped at this gorgeous old church for a walk-about.

We just love all the old churches and cathedrals! So much history and character. And, of course, Sam always loves to explore...
That wraps it up from here for now, in the way of pictures.

In the non-picture news, just a few bits to add. I've been busy organizing our primary presentation for church, which will happen in three weeks. It was really fun last year, and A LOT of work. It's keeping me busy. Today we did a mini run-through with the kids. I'm convinced candy is an excellent bribe. (Come to the pulpit, say your part, take a tiny piece of melt-in-your-mouth white chocolate candy.) Hopefully their mothers don't mind?

In addition to church stuff, we had a fun play group over here last week. We made cookies and had lunch together. After hosting, I further admire my friends Stephanie and Joyce for always being willing to have everyone over. (We miss you Steff!)

What else? Well, pregnancy is moving along, quite uneventful at this stage. Today is my "hump day," Brian informed me. At first I thought he was referencing how big my belly has started to look. Nope. It seems he's keeping better track of how far along I am -- 20 weeks today, that's half way! Little kicks and jabs when I'm resting, which doesn't seem very often right now. This week we have a scan and can find out if this is a girl or boy baby. Bets on pink or blue?? Brian says pink, I say blue. We'll see... Stay tuned!