One Day, She'll Hate Me for This....

14 Months

stunning, sunny day today!

independent woman

loving her Easter basket

and carrying it everywhere

Isabella turned 14 months old last week. Every day she becomes less and less babyish and more and more like a proper little girl. Each day is filled with such a growing list of accomplishments that it would be silly to list them all now. In the car this afternoon, just as we were about to pull out of the driveway, I turned around and looked at Isabella. She looked right back at me with such a sense of self that it awed me as much as took me aback - she's getting so big! Dare I say, growing up?

Our new backyard is perfect for her to run around freely in, and today we spent almost three hours playing outside in the beautiful weather. Inevitably, as we get back into the house, she turns to her next favorite thing: books. I'm at the point where I have them all memorized and can recite them to her when we're in the car and she starts fussing. I picked up a few new ones from the charity shop today and am looking forward to mixing things up. I welcome any title suggestions of books that might appeal to both toddler and adult!

Home Sweet Home

We're back online, and as I type this I'm sitting on the floor getting a backache while I hunch over my laptop. So it is with moving. But our new joint has tons more space and is almost palacial compared to our old cottage/townhouse/terracehouse/apartment. Our move was a mere seven miles but the perks are fabulous - we've lost the pig smell from the farm two doors down and I still get my organic vegbox delivered on the same day as before.

A quick update: We had a great Easter with Jessi and her family. Isabella has six teeth now! She also now says "thirsty" and "thank you" - though I think I'm the only one who can decipher the words. The dogs are happier than ever. And we've been working hard every day and night to make this house look like we live here. We've made astounding progress and are almost ready for a housewarming party.

As always, pics to follow soon.

New home

We moved into our new house last week! I didn't want to say too much leading up to the move because it seemed like every time talked about big plans, they didn't seem to happen (i.e. Italy!). We don't have our internet set up because there have been many problems with our old router - it may be another week before we are online. I'll post Easter pics as soon as we're back on!

Teeth

Here comes tooth #5! Each tooth has taken its time to come down, and up until about two weeks ago she looked like a little jack-o-lantern with only one chicklet-sized toother on top. Now, they suddenly seem to be coming faster and I see several more spots where teeth are probably soon to make an appearance.

With the teeth comes an aversion to spoon-feeding. She only wants finger food - little sandwiches, string cheese (a favorite!), and fruit, as you see above.

She almost ate that whole pear before it was squished into the plush carpet of that pub. We leave a trail and a big tip in our wake!

Cornwall Trip

We are back from my birthday trip down to Cornwall, in southern England. It's almost a six hour drive from where we live, but it was well worth it. We brought the dogs and packed our jalopy to the rails with our junk, but still could have brought more. We rented a small cottage in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, but managed to be close enough to everything we wanted to see.

We did hikes along the coast and in the countryside, but our favorite walk was from Talland Bay to the fishing village of Polperro. It's not tourist season yet so we got to experience gorgeous weather and beautiful beaches with hardly anyone around.

We made the essential pilgrimage to the Eden Project (click here to visit their website). It was amazing. We actually felt like we were back in Puerto Rico's El Yunque when we were in their huge rainforest biome. I think we were literally the last people to leave. I can't wait to go back some day.

Isabella loved exploring the new territory and as always, she loved being out and about with opportunities to flirt with every stranger who walks by. Her latest thing is throwing a fit when we don't let her walk. Once we put her down again, she resumes singing the song from where she left off and continues on her merry, wobbly way.

The daffodils are everywhere now, the photo you see above was actually taken near home. Their yellow is so bright that you can't even see the detail of the flowers themselves. Isabella enjoyed smelling the perfume-free blossoms.

Overall, we had a great time. England is such a beautiful country and we're very lucky to live here!

Isa Dogs 13 mo funny

13 Months

There isn't any real point to this video, but I love it because I captured one of the many daily moments in which Isabella just sits and examines something. It's a little thing but I'm glad I don't have to miss out on it while being at work.

A Good Day

I'd like to put up a really positive post. Isabella has been developing by leaps and bounds - she's walking now, she's somewhat talking, and she's using sign language. She's been able to say dog, bird, baby, and can make signs for bird, baby, all done, poopy, more, and hello. Dog comes out like "daaaaahhhhh", bird "biirrhh", and baby is "baybay." Bird was her first sign, even though it's a bit more complicated than others. I wasn't sure if she really knew the sign corresponded to the animal, but when a huge hawk flew over us she pointed to it and then made the sign - I was blown away! Like most babies, she's really interested in learning everything and pays close attention when I'm trying to teach her something. I have a lot of videos I have yet to upload and share and will try to put a few more up here as I can. For now, please enjoy this video of Isabella walking on this bright, sunny, English morning.

Hold Your Little One Tight

Last week we had a terrible tragedy in our village. My neighbor lost her little boy, Harry, who was only two months older than Isabella. They just played together at a birthday party a few weeks ago. He had an problem with his heart they didn't know about. I don't feel right saying much more than that. But for whatever it is worth, please send your prayers to our little corner of the globe.

Happy 1st Birthday, Isabella!

Today is Isabella's first birthday, and as I said before, a momentous occasion for me. I have been overwhelmed with nostalia about this last year and the labor that led up to it all. In honor of the day, I am posting a video. This video clearly demonstrates why Jess is my best friend. I hope you enjoy it as much a we did.

Isabella's Birthday Party

I made sock-it-to-me cake filled with vanilla pudding

Isabella's birthday party was yesterday, and we had a great time. Pedro arrived a little late with sleepy-eyed birthday girl

After all the planning and prep work we did, the party flew by in what felt like less than an hour! The birthday girl arrived almost an hour late because she refused to take a morning nap and we knew that she wouldn't be able to cope for the duration of the party if she didn't sleep for at least a couple of hours. We had a great turnout - about 25 people came, including kids.


We didn't get too many photos since we were so busy visiting everyone and playing with the kids, but I'm hoping to get more photos from our friends who had cameras there. I will be posting video soon, too.

singing her first 'happy birthday'

We rented out a local village hall so we would have lots of space for the kids to run around. I laid down foam playmats and dumped out bags of balls and blocks to supplement all the toys my friends brought to share. We had a buffet table with sherbet punch, beer, and pink champagne. There was also fingerfood like sandwiches with herbed goat cheese, hummus with pita, pasta salad, and crudites with other homemade dips.

Isabella loved the sandwiches, which are her new favorite food, because she can hold them in her hands and take bites - it's the cutest thing. Of course, I think the cake trumped the sandwich. On the tables I scattered blowouts (noisemakers?) and hershey's kisses between pink and yellow tulips from the farmer's market.

Tomorrow is Isabella's actual birthday. Pedro has to work, so I was thinking of taking her back to Fun Zone. She's teething again, with the second top inscisor breaking through, so the last couple of nights haven't been very fun for her (or us). I'll try to get more pics up soon!

Plans and Parties

It's been a busy couple of weeks. From last Thursday, we've been battling snow and ice. It got so bad that the country pretty much ran out of grit to cover even the main roads - forget about windy country roads like ours. It was pandemonium - people couldn't get to work, people got into accidents, Pedro got stranded. He even had to miss two days of work because he simply couldn't get there. It was crazy - and I come from northern Minnesota, the land of lots of snow, and lots of ice. Today, the ice began to melt and things started to feel a little normal. Now, as I type this, the snow is falling again in fast, wet gobs that threaten to derail everything again tomorrow. Some areas are predicted to get another 15cm. By Wednesday, at least, we are supposed to receive truckloads of grit brought in from Spain to replenish our stores.

Before all this went down, we managed to get a bit further with our house-hunting by narrowing our focus onto another house. We are waiting to hear back from the landlord when we can move in. After what happened with Italy, you won't catch me holding my breath for anything.

On Saturday, Isabella and I attended the 1st birthday party of little William. His mother, Anna, and I live just at opposite ends of the village. We were pregnant together and randomly were "set up" by our health visitor/midwife. We hit it off right away and spent the remainder of our pregnancies commiserating, going to baby groups, and walking up and down the village trying to move things along. She was due one week after me, so imagine my surprise when I walked past her house one evening as she was coming home from the hospital, post-partum. She held up her hands and shouted, "I've done it!" I was approaching my due date and was extremely envious that she had beaten me to the punch. But I guess babies come when they're ready, or your body is ready, and not a day sooner.

So now it's time for Isabella's first birthday. It's set for next Sunday and I have been excited about it for months now. To me, it's just such a big deal. A very first birthday for my very first child. And based on her reaction to Will's party, I think she'll have a blast.

Snow II

this little redhead needs her sunglasses

licking the snow

Snow!!!

It is snowing in England. It started yesterday and we expected it to stop, or at least melt right away as it usually does, but it just keeps going! The whole country is practically shut down (well, at least London) and there is a tangible feeling of joy in the air. Of course, this isn't good for recession times but it does a lot for morale when you're used to looking out into bleak mid-winter skies day after day.

Isabella and I spent the day playing games and even ventured out in the fluffy white stuff for the sake of adding another event to the baby book: first snow. She absolutely loved it, especially since we went out to the cricket field with both dogs. It was great! I'll work on getting some photos of it up shortly.

In England, We Stay

Just a quick post to let you all know that after a huge hassle and a lot of going back and forth we will not be moving to Naples after all. Pedro's company decided not to move forward with the transfer. Because it was a difficult decision for us (me) to come to terms with in the first place, his company's surprising change of heart was not received with much joy here. So after all that, we have decided to move into a new house here in England. Our landlord already has the TO LET (For rent) sign posted against our house following our first announcement. SO, barring any other unexpected turns of events, we're hoping to find a more spacious spread to spend our remaining time here. We've been house hunting since before the original job announcement and there are a few promising spots we're considering. We'll keep you all posted.

Our 11 Month Old

I read a few parenting blogs and I'm often touched and amazed to see what parents of children at different ages are going through. This evening, after reading a post from one of them on the perfect age, I was inspired to write a post myself. We've had a lot of difficult nights, and unfortunately, Isabella has never been one of those babies who consistently sleeps through the night for twelve hours or more (last night was another winner--read my sarcasm here). But even when I've had a rough night or a particularly hard day, I constantly find myself in love with Isabella's current age. At first I thought three months was the cutest age, then four, then five...you get the idea. But now, because she is able to roughly communicate back to us, there is an added richness to things we do together which leads me to think that this must be the perfect age.


Each day she gets a bit closer to walking - but her urge to be a part of everything at once inevitably leads to her dropping to her knees and crawling head-down (for speed) to the next most interesting thing. Of course, this usually tends to be mama, the incredible human jungle gym. She loves playing hide-n-seek and getting chased - she'll even bait me into tickling her. And when Pedro and I finally put her to bed for the night, we spend a good bit of our quiet time laughing and reliving the shenanigans she pulled during the day.

We Have Decided !

Family and friends, we have decided to take on this opportunity and accept the job in Naples. We are grateful for our time in the UK but we are ready for our next adventure. It was a tough decision--especially for April--so for those of you that gave us your input on the matter we say thank you. The reporting date is March 1, but we are not sure yet as to when we will be leaving, so we will keep you updated. A piu tardi!

Pedro, April, and Isabella

Moving to Italy?

This seems incredibly sudden, but it just is. We just found out that Pedro has a very serious job offer in Naples, Italy. The job begins on 1 March. My first instinct is 'no way!' - but it's a very good opportunity in many ways. Oddly enough, we found out about the job on the very day we were out house hunting here for a slightly bigger place. So far, all of my friends here think I should go - I'm not sure what that says about me and my friends! I love living here in England but maybe it is time...

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