Ye Olde Fighting Cocks

On Sunday Mark and I took Calum up to St. Alban's, a cute little suburb north of London where Mark's younger sister Tracey lives. Mark's whole family went up there for the day since Tracey has lived there for almost a year now and we hadn't even been to see her flat. We walked from Tracey's through the cute stereotypical English town to what is claimed to be the oldest pub in England (it's even in the Guiness Book of World Records) called the Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (seriously!) of which the actual structure dates back to the 8th century and the pub itself dates back to the 11th century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Fighting_Cocks)! We had a lovely lunch there and then walked through Verulamium Park which is 100 acres big to a place called the Waffle House where we had the best ever waffles with fresh strawberries (here in England waffles are only served as a dessert and never at breakfast, they think we're crazy for having sweets like waffles and pancakes for breakfast!). The weather was perfect and it was a great end to the weekend.

Since Friday night Calum has been sleeping in his crib in his own room and sleeping through the night every night (from 10.30-7.30 a.m.). This has been fantastic but we've traded a good night's sleep for some trying times during the day. For whatever reason Calum has really been out of sorts and not himself, spending most of the days since being unsettled and difficult to please. I try putting him on his playmat, putting him in his swing, putting him in his crib with his beloved mobile and while he will be happy for about 5 minutes he then starts crying and just can't seem to be happy. He's not smiling as much as he was and he's not talking as much either. Yesterday I felt as if our bond was gone, like I was looking at a stranger and Mark came home to me in tears feeling like I had failed as a Mom. As he's nearing 12 weeks this Friday I'm hoping it's his 3 mo growth spurt but am not entirely sure that's it. I've tried everything to cheer him up and even gave him Gripe Water (an old English medicine made up of dill oil which is meant to calm their little tummies) which didn't do much to help. Would love to hear if anyone has any similar experiences and if there is anything else I can do to get us out of this funk.

Hope the rest of the week gets better, we're off on Friday for my birthday dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Cafe and I can't wait!

Mark and Calum in the park-Calum loves to be carried like this now and Mark and his brother carried him for most of our walk like this

Family photo in the park (with my new b-day present-a Mulberry bag from Mark!)

Smiles

As Calum approaches 11 weeks this Friday he has become an even happier little boy then ever before. Every morning when he wakes up he graces us with lots of big smiles and is thisclose to letting out a little laugh. At first I was admittedly jealous as Mark was the only one able to get smiles out of him around week 8 but these days he's full of them not only for the two of us but for other people, too. I know I spent the first few weeks of Calum's life wishing he wouldn't get any bigger but Ashley was right in that there really is so much to look forward to as babies get older and more interactive. The little goos and ah-goos that he's been giving us are enough to make hearts melt, too.

Yesterday I had my third post natal group meeting and today a group of us are getting together for coffee which should be fun (not as good as getting together with my "real" friends at home, but still a big step!).

This morning Calum slept until 6.50 a.m., this marks a full week of him sleeping past 6 a.m. so fingers crossed, my days of middle of the night feeds might be coming to an end. Our healthcare visitor (Calum's nurse) said this can change when they go through their 3-mo growth spurt but let's hope it doesn't! Friday will mark another big milestone, we're officially going to retire the Moses basket and Calum is going to start sleeping the nights in his crib. It's a big step and I'm going to miss being able to get up and see him first thing but he's just too big for his basket and already loves taking naps in his crib so I'm sure he will be happier and we will hopefully get even more sleep!

Showing just how big he is in his basket!

Ick! Still hate pics of myself but here is one of Calum & I... 20 lbs to go (but maybe my boobs make up 10 lbs of those?!)!

Heat wave!

It's been a great week to be a housewife in London as we've had a mini heat wave and I've been able to enjoy every minute of it with Calum. The past few days have been in the 90s which is about as rare here as it would be in Seattle so we've taken every opportunity we can to enjoy the sunshine. Calum LOVES being outdoors and is such a good baby, all I do is spread a blanket out on the grass and he's happy for hours.

Calum has some cute little tank tops he's been wearing to help keep him cool in the heat. On Tuesday we had our second meeting of our post natal group and I had him in a pale green one; the guest speaker was a dentist and she thought Calum was a little girl! She covered it up by saying he was going to be a lady killer but I still thought it was pretty funny.

The post natal group has been great; I even made the initiative last week to see if anyone wanted to get together for coffee so this Wednesday a few of us are going out and I'm really looking forward to it. I also found out about a "power stroller" group that meets locally to me every Friday for walks and am going to start doing that so slowly but surely I'm making new friends and finding new things for Calum and I to do to keep busy during the week which is making the adjustment to stay at home Mom a lot easier.

As for a general Calum update, his latest love is his mobile, he could spend ages in his crib looking at it and gives us his biggest smiles then. He's found a new talent for puking on Daddy when he gets home from work which is pretty funny-I can be with him all day and not have any problems but at least once a night Mark gets showered on which is probably down to all the bouncing around and playing he does with Calum. This is definitely our last week with Calum in the Moses basket, he keeps me up in the morning stretching out and pushing out the sides of the basket. Calum is now also managing to sleep through from about 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. every night which means there is a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of him sleeping through the night. He is just such a good baby, all of the women in my post natal group have remarked on how contented he is and I feel very lucky. Yesterday he weighed in at 13 lbs 14 oz which means he gained only 3 oz from last week and might be slowing down since he was in the 98th percentile for weight!

Hope you all have a great 4th-I will be thinking of you and wishing I could celebrate. I'm going to have a barbecue but it just won't be the same without the fireworks. Enjoy x

Calum crashed out in the grass

Calum in one of his tanks


Calum & Daddy after dinner

Aloha Baby Makena!

Just wanted to wish my friend Keri and her husband Greg a belated congratulations on welcoming a beautiful baby girl into the world. Makena Catherine Devine was born last Tuesday, June 23rd at 4:47 p.m. I know Keri and Greg have been very excited about starting their family and from what I hear, Keri was an absolute trooper when it came down to the birth which is no surprise.

As I mentioned before, of the four bridesmaids at my wedding three of them are having babies or have had babies within months of Calum. Ashley had Westyn Marie on March 18th and Tara is due to give birth to Jackson in August. Auntie Dett (my fourth bridesmaid) is going to be busy helping us take care of all of these little ones! It's amazing to me that somehow we all managed to have babies who are going to be within 5 months of each other and quite a blessing for little Calum to have built in friends when we come back to Seattle & LA for visits.

Huge congrats, Keri & Greg and welcome to the world of being parents. I have to honestly say that I've never had a more fulfilling role in my life and that being a Mom (or Mum!) has made me feel so complete. Mark and I love each other in a whole new way and having a baby in your life will change how you view absolutely everything and who you are as a person. We love you!

Mark's birthday and Father's Day

Sunday the 21st was not only Mark's 34th birthday but also his first Father's Day.... The day started off great because the night before Calum *almost* managed to sleep through the night, not waking me until 5.30 for a feed which was fantastic (of course he hasn't repeated this since!)! Mark told me no one had ever made him a birthday cake before so I woke up early and made his favourite, carrot cake. Mark is notoriously difficult to buy for so I was pleased with the presents I got this year-a series of professional photos of Calum framed and an overnight stay in a nice hotel with his brother and a round of golf the next day.

We went to a lovely lunch in London with Mark's family at his favourite Indian restaurant which was almost perfect bar the fact that he got in a fender bender in the parking lot! The day capped off a lovely weekend (on Saturday Mark's brother and sister in law watched Calum so we could go see Transformers 2 which Mark was dying to see, a birthday present from me to him in itself as I've now had to see two geeky boy movies in a row!) and has left me thinking already about what I'm doing to do for him next year as he will be the big 3-5 and I will be 30! Maybe we might even be able to have an "adult" party and go out like we did last year!

Yesterday I had my 8-week follow up at the doctor and have been given the all clear to start exercise again-yay! Later in the afternoon I had to bring Calum to get his first shots (here they are strictly called immunisations, when I call them shots people look shocked!). He was a little trooper, I think compared to having an IV in hospital and having had his blood taken numerous times this was nothing. Today I'm off to my first post natal group meeting which I'm really looking forward to. I've been dying to meet other local Mums and this first two hour session of five should be a great way to meet new friends and learn about how to be a better Mom.

More soon, have a great week x

My favourite pic from the shoot

3 years.....

After two pain staking weeks without the Internet my lovely husband has just reconnected me to the outside world (AKA what's going on in America!) and I've finally been able to log in and post on the blog. When I looked at the calendar here in our office I realised that my 3 year anniversary is tomorrow and I have to say I'm amazed. Three years ago I left behind my amazing group of girlfriends (and their fantastic husbands) and my family to take a big chance on love and personal growth to come to live in London. Three years ago tonight my best friends and I sat around at Ashley's house drinking champagne and toasting the changes that were to come and while I have to say I'm incredibly happy that I made the move, there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I don't think about the girls I left behind in Seattle (and CA!) and my Mom and Dad.

A lot has happened in 3 years-I had the opportunity to climb the career ladder and moved into management at work, I moved in with Mark, got engaged and had the wedding of a lifetime in Italy and of course our most recent development, I had a gorgeous little baby boy. How fortunate have I been? All of this and you think that being away from home would get easier but with the latest addition to our lives I have to say that lately things have seemed a lot harder. I'm so sad that I don't get to meet my friend's babies until our trip to Seattle in October (4th-17th!!!) and even more sad that Calum's grandparents haven't been able to meet him yet and won't get to be part of his early months of life. I suppose in life we all have to make tough decisions but more and more I've been getting homesick and wondering just how much longer I want to stay here in the U.K.

On a lighter note, Calum has been my saving grace and the sunshine in my life when I've been missing home. I swear every time I look at him he looks different, he really seems to be changing a lot in appearance and day by day becoming a little person that we can actually start to interact more with. Mark said tonight he seems to be looking more like me although it's still hard to say. Yesterday we went to the baby clinic and Calum is weighing in at a very healthy 13lbs 1oz and today marks week 8 which is amazing in itself. He's smiling lots now and even giving tiny little laughs which make my heart melt.

Anyway, to all of you reading this-I love you and miss you and think about each one of you every single day and am so pleased with the changes in your lives and that even after 3 years we still all manage to keep in touch whether it's a read of the blog or a phone call here and there. Have a great weekend and a very Happy Father's Day x

Freedom!

The past few days have been ones of new found freedom for me and when I say new found I mean as free as you can be when you have a 5 week old baby.......

On Saturday I got to have some me time and went to get my hair done since I hadn't had it done since pre-Calum. What a treat to have 3 hours to myself to read the gossip mags! I even told my hair girl I probably wouldn't be too chatty as I was going to cherish it all to myself! Saturday night Mark and I went on our first real date since Calum was born. Mark's Mum has been encouraging us to go out and agreed to watch Calum on Saturday night so Mark and I could go to dinner and a movie. Pre-Calum we had seen lots of my picks (like He's Just Not That Into You, Marley and Me and etc.) so I owed Mark this time and VERY reluctantly agreed to see the Star Trek movie. I hate Star Trek, all of my life I've made a point not to watch a single episode but I have to say, the movie wasn't so bad! Afterwards we went out to a Thai dinner and I treated myself to a Tiger beer, it was great.

Yesterday I had an even bigger taste of freedom when I broke the rules and drove for the first time in 5 and a half weeks so I could take Calum to go get registered (here in the UK you have to register your child as a UK citizen in order to get your birth certificate and we need that certificate ASAP so we can get Calum's passport for our upcoming trips to Portugal and America). I was a little nervous to drive again (when you have a C-section they say you shouldn't drive for 6 weeks as the movements you make whilst driving can damage the internal scarring), especially with Calum in the back and sure enough he screamed and cried the whole way to our appointment! Of course he turned into a little angel afterwards when we went out shopping and he was in his Baby Bjorn which automatically puts him to sleep.

Anyway, things are so much better now that I can drive-today when I woke up I had a tiny feeling of excitement realising that I could actually get out with Calum and enjoy the 81+ degree day we're supposed to have.

As for an update on our little munchkin, he's still growing like a weed... Last Thursday when I had him weighed he was 10 lbs 15 oz so we're certain to have broken the 11 lbs mark when we go to the clinic again this Thursday. Calum has become much more aware of the things around him and has been looking very intently at people's faces, especially Mom and Dad's. While he's still not sleeping through the night, he has settled nicely into a bedtime routine which sees me only having to feed him once in the night around 3 a.m. and where he wakes at around 7 so I'm still managing to get about 7 hours of sleep a night which is fantastic. Everyday I fall in love with him a little bit more but am still sad to see how quick he's growing. Having been out with him over the past few days it's amazing how much attention babies attract-I feel like I'm out with a little rock star! Hope you enjoy his latest pics x