Anniversary....

Today is our two year anniversary! In two years we've managed to move from London to the "burbs", travel to quite a few amazing places (Malaysia, Madeira, Portugal, Italy, Miami, and Seattle quite a few times) and have one amazing little boy. I look back on our wedding weekend in Ravello with our family and friends as literally the best of my life (I know I should be saying the weekend Calum came into the world was but honestly, I was struggling massively with c-section recuperation and stuck in an awful hospital worrying about Calum's jaundice), I just wish that it could have lasted longer as it really does seem like it went in the blink of an eye. Possibly even more depressing, I can't believe I ever looked as skinny as I did in these pics-I think these will serve as some serious motivation for dieting when we're back from Seattle!

I love Mark very much and am really looking forward to our dinner tonight minus Calum. We've gone through a lot to get to this place after our chance meeting 4 years ago in Dubai to include 9 months of long distance dating and a move across continents but I couldn't be more happy with anyone else in the world and feel so lucky to have met my one and only. Happy anniversary to us and thanks again to my amazing bridesmaids (and Justin!) for making the trip to London and Italy to celebrate with us, it just wouldn't have been what it was without you and I'm so grateful to have had a week abroad with you guys, what a dream come true! x

150 days....

Or roughly 150 days, anyway-that's how long Calum has blessed my life as today he is 5 months old. I don't usually do mushy posts but I have to say I'm a little nostalgic about him reaching this milestone as it just seems impossible that he's grown this fast. We have one of those digital picture frames in our living room and since I don't have much time these days it hasn't been updated with recent pics and features mostly pics of Calum from the first month or two. I actually find myself getting teary eyed (could be the glass or two of wine I have been consuming some nights recently!) when watching the pictures of the past few months flash by. Could he have ever been that small?! He doesn't even look like the same baby, Calum used to be brown with masses of dark hair and looked somewhat small, these days he's blonde with blue eyes, has skin my color and looks like he ate his former self!

Life has changed a lot since he came into my world. Every morning I wake up excited to go into his room to say hello, the smiles he gives are priceless and these days he even lets me have a little cuddle before getting him changed and ready to take Mark to the station. The highlight of my afternoons is now his bath and massage when we get quality time together before Dad the entertainer comes home (I so obviously come second place when Mark is around!). We don't go out to eat near as often as we used to after having far too many meals result in me standing and rocking Calum while Mark shovels down his meal so I have my turn to eat, but I really don't mind having take away and sitting together on the couch watching a movie just the three of us.

When we last had him weighed two weeks ago he was a whopping 18lbs 8 oz, so I'm sure he's well into the 19s now. He's only formula fed these days but thriving and seems to love the few tastes he's had of apples & pears, sweet potatoes (what a mess!), and banana porridge. Calum continues to crave attention and will smile at anyone who smiles at him. Yesterday at the movie he wouldn't stop flirting with the Mums around us, it's like our own little version of the Graduate! I guess this might help alleviate any fears Mark still has about him being gay!

Anyway, Calum told me today about how excited he is to see Mommy's home town and meet lots of new baby friends and aunties and Grandma and Grandpa (and his Great Grandparents in Montana!) and I am, too. We have lots to do to prepare for our trip but I can't wait. See you soon x

Sweet potato

Blondie!


How did we not know he had jaundice?!


Look how tiny :(

Occupation: Mum

Finally after many years of wearing glasses I made the jump and got contacts over the weekend. On Sunday I had my appointment at the optometrist and previous to the exam she asked a few standard questions. When she got to the occupation bit she automatically selected for me the "Mum" option as I had been telling her (and anyone who will listen these days) about Calum. Since I graduated college I've always fallen safely into the "sales" option and just hearing someone else say out loud that my job these days was as a Mum really hit me for some reason. Last night I had the chance to think about it a little more as Calum decided that sleep is for wimps and kept me up most of the night. Am I happy with being "just" a Mum?

Growing up I spent a lot of time at my grandparents and was very close to my Mom's mom, Grandma Britton. Grandma Britton was an amazing cook, always had her house in perfect order and did stacks of ironing at lighting bolt speed. Not only was she a Mom but she was a true (and great) housewife. As a child I always wondered about what she did before she had kids and I wonder someday if I don't go back to work if Calum will do the same. I want him to be proud of me, but is being a Mum (which as we all know is in fact the hardest job out there) something he can be proud of?

The hot topic of conversation amongst my Mummy friends these days is about work, are we going back, if so when and will it be part time, etc. I have to say that four and a half months in I can't imagine a job that would pay me enough to take me away from spending every possible minute with Calum. While I've felt a lot lately like time is wasting away a bit as I'm not being as productive with it as I would like, that's what the job requires at the moment and I just have to remind myself that being a Mum is a job whose description is every changing and I'm looking forward to each new day as it comes.

Have a great week x

Funny....

As Calum gets older he is turning into quite the comedian and lately has been an endless source of entertainment for Mark & I. Last week we tried giving Calum rice cereal for the first time which was absolutely hilarious, his facial expressions were priceless. He's turned into quite the entertainer with his new fake cough as well, he's now learned that if he fakes a coughing fit Mommy or Daddy will come running in a state of panic to make sure he's okay and he's then got an instant audience. Yesterday Mark and I went out to breakfast and then for a walk in Greenwich Park and along the way he seemed to think Mark was absolutely hilarious, rewarding us with laughs and giggles which still bring tears to my eyes every time I hear them, I swear there is no sweeter sound. Mark's Mum watched Calum on Saturday night so Mark and I could go on a much needed date and apparently he loved the audience he had for his bath, laughing away until it ended in tears from too much excitement.

I would love to think Calum is unique and that these are the first little signs of his personality but I hate to say that I think these experiences are pretty common for most other Moms out there and within the Mummy groups I'm part of who also have babies at this age. It does seem however that Calum is quite the socialable baby, when we go to baby yoga or when we had the girls and their babies over the past few weeks for our baby massage class he just loves smiling and talking to other babies and he definitely is more vocal then the other babies we know. Funnily enough he seems to have warmed more to baby boys which has got Mark worried that poor Calum might be gay ;)!!! Regardless of whether or not these little signs of personality are or are not "real", I've been loving every single day more then the next with my handsome little boy and am counting the days until we are home and he gets to meet my friends and family.

Hope you all have a great week x

Despite how it looks in this pic, his legs are actually of normal preportion!

First bite of cereal

The seafront....

This past weekend in the U.K. was a 3 day weekend and to mark the last non-official day of summer (since we don't celebrate Labor Day), Mark and I took Calum to Whitstable, Kent-a historic little seaside town about an hour's drive from where we live. The weather was gorgeous and we managed to get out of the house at a respectable 11 a.m. which is pretty good for us these days! For whatever reason in England rather then saying seaside like we would at home, they refer to it as the "seafront" (I will never cease to be curious as to how these little idiosyncrasies came about in the English language). Anyway, we had a lovely walk along the seafront and enjoyed one of the nicest days of the summer. We had an amazing lunch (chili tiger prawns, scallops wrapped in pancetta....) and homemade donuts (a typical seafront treat) afterwards. It was a perfect day with my little family and one that once again made me realise how lucky I am. Hope you all enjoyed your weekends. x

Sea in the background

Calum in his new hat and overalls from Grandma McEvers

Mark always jokes about houses here that are older than "my country"-this one actually was!