Halloween

We are officially halloweened out. Three days straight of Halloween: a party, a carnival, trick-or-treating, and village bonfire night. We even opted out of two other things we had originally planned for Sunday! Anyway, Halloween was very fun this year. 

Isabella went as a garden gnome. I made her little skirt, the hat, and the beard. I threw in a black belt and her little boots and the look was complete. As for myself, one day I was Cyndi Lauper and the next I was a 50's teenager with a poodle skirt. Pedro was a swarthy viking.

For the first time in my five years living in England, I got trick-or-treaters at my house! I was unprepared and they ended up getting Isabella's candy from our special trick-or-treating on an American base the day before. But it was very exciting for me (and Isabella too).

Bonfire night was great too. November 5th is the official Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes holiday), but our village decided this year to combine it with Halloween. I had originally planned to enter Isabella in the costume contest, but was feeling particularly rotten with my cough and we only made it to the actual bonfire lighting and fireworks later on in the evening. Last year it was freezing outside so we were prepared this year with hats, mittens, down coats, blankets, hot water bottles, and hot toddies for the grown ups. And the weather ended up being....very pleasant! Of course, the day I'm over-prepared is the day I don't need to be.

Halloween plinko - her favorite from the carnival - she used almost all her tickets here!

All in all, it was all good, but I am ready to pack it up. And the next holiday will be spent with family! We're getting ready for another trip and mini-family reunion with both sides of the family in two more weeks. It's going to be a good Thanksgiving.

MORE Pumpkins? Yes, More Pumpkins.

We picked our own pumpkins at that same PYO farm we went to for berry picking this summer. They had a vast field full of lonely pumpkins, each of them begging to be taken home. The surrounding field also had more autumn vegetables like gourds and squash, so we picked a few of those as well.

It was cold! out on those fields, but the sky was clear and the early evening was beautiful. We went with some friends and all the kids were besides themselves with pumpkin joy. 

Once we chose our pumpkins, we dropped them into these holes for measurement. Isabella kept sticking her head into the holes saying, "Where's the ladybird?" (Ladybird is Britspeak for ladybug.) It was a random question, but one that demonstrates what is usually on her mind - she loves ladybugs.

Finally, on a rainy day, we decided to carve this pumpkin up into something "very scary," at Isabella's request. She helped me scoop out the seeds (which we toasted with salt and sage, of course), and carved it!

An awesome jack-o-lantern sure to scare the goblins away from our doorstep.

Father's Day

I have been talking hundreds of photos in the last few weeks but there has been little time to update the blog. I know, I have had complaints :).

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the good fathers in our lives. Our kids are lucky to have such a legacy.

Our family on this side of the pond spent Father's Day at the Haycock Hotel, where we had a traditional, full English Sunday lunch. The food was beautiful and delicious. Paloma especially loved dessert - some decadent chocolate tart.

And Isabella especially enjoyed the little fountain, conveniently located alongside our table!

Easter - A Very Late One

But better late than never, I say! Because we were gone for Easter, I stubbornly wanted to celebrate it anyway and made big plans for an Easter get-together three weeks late. Odd, I know, but that's my personality for you!

So today we had a few of our friends with families over for a potluck lunch and egg hunt. It turned out so well that we'll just have to do egg hunts for the kids more often (just kidding). But it was really great - we had tons and tons of empty plastic eggs that we filled with jelly beans, chocolates, and other tooth-rotters and we hid them all along a trail next to our house. We had eggs up in the trees, in the bushes, and under leaves. Isabella was confused at first, but once she caught on she kept saying "huevos! more huevos!". There were five little kids running around frantically seeking out those little colored eggs - it made me so happy. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy holidays with kids?

As for the food...my friends went all out - there was moussaka, coconut chicken korma, mini-cheesecakes, treacle spongecake with custard, lobster salad, and nettle and feta savory pastries - to name a few.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Snow!

Today has been the most wonderful, Christmas-y day! We decorated sugar cookies with cool frosting and xmas sprinkles and had a blast with the snow. In all seriousness, today with Isasbella was magic.

More Holiday Stuff

first gingerbread house

homemade jammies

We have been so busy for this past week. I committed myself to making most of my Christmas gifts this year, and I have to say I don't think I can do this again. All of last week I had a neckache that almost drove me to the doctor - I could hardly hold Isabella. I've been painting, sewing, knitting, Christmas-carding, party-prepping, you name it! But I'm so excited for the holidays this year that I almost don't want them to get here just so this holiday stuff can keep going - it has been so fun to show Isabella the traditions of Christmas now that she can understand a lot of what's going on.

Isabella update: The day of our anniversary, she started saying "I LOVE YOU." She has a passion for chatting on the phone, and is a kid who will actually talk to you! Her legs are growing so fast I'm not sure what to do about her pants situation - skinny waist and long legs make sizing hard. She can kind-of sing the first verse of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I have some great videos to post one day in the not-so-distant future, I hope.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Halloween

This year was Isabella's second halloween and was more enjoyable than last year, when I was rushing around trying to get things done after work. We went to a Halloween party for kids and then did trick-or-treating afterwards. We finished the night with a few pints of Hobgoblin brew at a pink pub with friends and came home to watch the Halloween classic The Lost Boys (after the little one's bedtime, of course) . Having a kid grants you free license to live the best parts of childhood all over again.

Happy Fourth!

in the kiddie pool - hot weather here!

Isabella and "Abi" - enjoying blueberries, apple, and hummus

sharing her apple

I LOVE this photo

Here are some of this week's photos, taken with my new camera. I got it the same week that my old one had a final meltdown. Happy fourth of July everyone!

Happy Mother's Day

The day started at about 6:30a.m. when Isabella rose to holler at the morning. The sun was already bright in the sky and Pedro brought her to our bed where she stayed until she could no longer resist the call to play. I got to spend two more glorious hours sleeping in (it's hard to remember the day when sleeping in till 9a.m. wasn't a thing to be happy about). From there, Pedro cooked me breakfast (a Spanish bocadillo with great coffee), he mowed the lawn, and he cleaned the kitchen. We had lunch at the King's Arms pub in Polebrook, then we visited some of our friends who live near that village. It was a really nice, relaxing day. I love being a mom.



I hope all of the wonderful mom's in our life had as good a mother's day as me. Happy Mother's Day to you all. XOXO

(new photos have been added to the album on the left - just click on the image to get a slideshow)


.

Christmas and New Year's - Late Edition

late Christmas morning

Hello everyone! I finally found my camera so I thought I would upload some photos from the holidays and get everyone updated. We had a wonderful first Christmas with Isabella. We slept in on Christmas morning and opened presents during the afternoon following a delicious brunch. By then, Isabella was already on her way to nap time so she wasn't as excited about ripping the wrapping paper as I thought she would be. So I basically wrapped all of her presents, only to unwrap them myself just a few days later. She got tired out after only two presents. The dolls were a hit though - both the one that I made and the one from Pedro's parents. Later on Christmas Day we had a wonderful dinner at the Ebarb's house.

New Year's was spent with a quiet night at home - after Isabella went to bed, we opened up a bottle of champagne and watched the London firework display on tv. It's been a tumultuous year for a lot of our family and friends - God knows we had some real downers with the chaos that dragged on and on with our old home. But mostly, we were very blessed this year. This post has more of a Thankgiving feel to it, but there is no time like the present to really feel thankful. With that, I'd like to share my top ten bits of gratefuflness:

1. Our first child, Isabella, was born safely into this world and I managed to get out of a somewhat traumatic labor just fine.
2. Pedro's parents kept vigil while I went slightly over my due date and were an endless source of help to us in those first few weeks of having a newborn.
3. My mom was finally able to travel here when Isabella was 3 months old, this also being her first trip to Europe!
4. We ourselves were able to travel abroad to visit the rest of our family in both Minnesota and Puerto Rico, as well as detours to Italy, France, and Croatia - for business AND pleasure.
5. We had some sunshine in England this past summer!
6. We sold our house amid a virulent housing crisis and came out okay.
7. Jessi, the closest thing I've ever had to a sister, moved nearby, bringing many things full circle for me....and....
8. Her husband came home safely from yet another tour in Iraq...and...
9. She's pregnant!
10. AND............Obama won!

So as 2009 gets off to a hopeful start, I hope that all of you out there experience many blessings in your lives during the coming months. We wish you all good health and happiness.

Jessi and Isabella - nothing says celebrate! like velvet

Christmas Eve Eve

We're really excited for Christmas this year. With kids around, especially our first baby, it's going to be much more lively than it was with just Pedro and me. We are planning on spending Christmas with the Ebarb family - some really good friends of ours from the US who moved here on Halloween. They have two little boys, aged 5 and 7 and their extreme excitement about everything can be contagious.

My Christmas shopping is pretty much all wrapped up. Isabella is getting a bunch of amazing wooden toys and the doll I made for her. I actually love the way it turned out - sort of The Nightmare Before Christmas meets Little House on the Prairie.



This week Isabella added her new ability to wave to her rapidly growing list of milestones. She also stands up alone, does semi-headstands, and has to point at just about everything. Did I mention that she finally learned to clap her hands when we were in Puerto Rico too? She is so good at mimicking sounds that I'm constantly in awe over what she seems to be understanding.

Baby's First Big Trip

feeling marble at Siena's Duomo

We spent a few days in Italy over the weekend to celebrate Pedro's upcoming 33rd birthday. We had a wonderful time in the sun and warmth, and the only real downside to traveling the hassle with transportation (Italians love their strikes almost as much as the French!). Here are a few photos - if you'd like to see all of them, let me know and I'll send you an email with the link to my album at Kodak Gallery. PS - The newspaper article was published yesterday - we'll put up a link or copy up here soon.

Pedro's beard is a new fascination

she loved the colors at our hotel room in Pisa

Pisa's Baptistery

one of those famous landmarks...

strolling in Siena

at the Duomo in Siena

Four Months Old - Happy Father's Day!

Isabella turned four months this week. She had her last round of shots for the next eight months. She did marvelously well and I was able to successfully distract her from all three shots with some toys that I brought along. She forgot the pain within seconds. I, on the other hand, seem to be suffering from the pain of food poisoning - which is strange because we think Pedro got it about three weeks ago. Last night I threw up every fifteen minutes for two hours straight. It was a vivid reminder of my labor with Isabella, in which I vomited every few contractions or so. Sickness in labor was something I had never heard of happening to women before - it seemed a very unfair addition to usual pain of labor. Obviously, it was all more than worth it. Now we have a beautiful and happy four-month-old daughter with whom to celebrate Pedro's first father's day. Enjoy the video!

April's Mom Arrives

enjoying some tapas in Cambridge

getting bigger every day

having pints at the Eagle pub - they were decked out for memorial day to honor the Americans who fought over here in WWII

Grandma Sue arrived in England this last Wednesday and we've been having a great time ever since. We planned a trip to Stonehenge this weekend, but Pedro got food poisoning from a restaurant in Cambridge and we got hit by a rain storm today so those two things foiled our immediate plans. If tomorrow's weather improves, we'll make a second attempt - Stonehenge is about three hours away, so the drive isn't horrible, but it would be if the weather was bad, combined with holiday traffic (even though they don't celebrate Memorial Day in the UK, it is a bank holiday here, so everyone still gets the time off).

In other news, April's cousin Danny is flying over to visit from Germany in a few days, so we'll have a mini-family reunion this week. We'll all spend next weekend in London before seeing both of them off again. We'll post more photos again soon!