Oh goodness!

I feel like I have so much to post and so many pictures to upload. We have had a whirlwind last few weeks in the UK. Since April 9th, we have bounced around five different hotels in four different cities, eaten at our favorite restaurants, visited our favorite places and said goodbye to good friends. We are exhausted.

For the last three days we have been in London, soaking up as much as we can of our favorite city. As much as we love it here, we cannot wait to get HOME to our family and friends. We fly out first thing tomorrow morning and will land in Wichita around 5PM. From there, we will leave Monday morning to spend the week visiting Brady's family in KC and Mankato before he has to start work.

I can't even begin to tell you how much we have to do before the little wildcat gets here (don't worry I'm definitely going to try in a later post), but it will all be worth it to be home!

The little things

I think it is the little things I'm going to miss most...
...watching the swans on the river outside our house and listening to p get so excited when they finally come back in the spring...

...going to The Window coffee shop and chatting with the owner and her dog while Parker sips his hot chocolate...

...watching how much the women at the crèche in the gym adore p and hearing him say, 'did you work really hard today, mommy?' when I get back...

...walking around the city centre on a beautiful day like today and watching/listening to the different acts...

...the library...this is our favorite place...I love watching p pick out book after book for me to read and being able to make his day by letting him check out 'just one more' book...

...watching little man get so excited about the prospect of going to the park...even if it means we spend the entire time playing football instead of playing on the equipment...

...watching him discover something new at the castle every time we're there...

...being able to become a hero just by having milk and popcorn as a treat when I pick him up from school...

...hearing 'mom can you tell me a story about...' anytime we're walking anywhere...

...knowing that my best little friend is growing into such good little man...

We're here!!

We are now officially 10 days away from flying home!!! Yay!!!

We flew into Dublin this morning to check another spot off our bucket list. It is ridiculously windy...Brady has already risked his life to chase Parker's pillow across three lanes of traffic... We are also so lucky that Brady's mom is meeting us here, but her travel luck has continued on this trip and she was delayed for hours and hasn't quite made it...hopefully soon!

Anyway, can't wait to see more of the city tomorrow!

in the last 24 hours...

...I have locked myself out (and consequently Parker in) of the building where we are staying for the next two weeks...I ran out to let someone in and let the outside door lock behind me...luckily someone was there within 5 minutes to let us in (oh and yes, 5 minutes was plenty of time for mommy tears).

...I have been asked if a picture on facebook was actually me and then told that she wasn't sure because the picture was so nice, but it was probably just because I was wearing makeup (yes, I was wearing makeup when she told me this)...

...I have worried countless times about how all of this is affecting P...we take his flexibility for granted sometimes and I'm starting to wonder if all of this is having more of an effect than we realize...

...I have returned a dvd to the library without the dvd in it...

...I began dreaming of having a normal washer and dryer...don't get me wrong, I will still hang out most of my laundry once we move, but hanging up socks and underwear to dry is not fun...

...I have eaten four donuts...

...and a bag of cheese puffs...

...we have received a precious, hand-knitted Peter Rabbit that a wife of Brady's coworker made...it is perfect...

...I have booked hotels for Dublin...we leave on Thursday...it's fine...

...P fell out of his bed twice...adjusting from a queen-size bed to a twin is taking a little longer than we thought...

...I have forgotten my wallet at home (aka the furnished apartment we're now in) when I went home (aka the house we just moved out of) to let the cleaners in and was then late to get Parker's hair cut...

...I have let P wear shorts twice...he was pretty excited...I would probably let him wear shorts everyday to see this face...:)

...I have bought three new 'big' shirts...when your belly can give you an accurate temperature rating, it's time to get some bigger clothes:)

...I have realized that we have so little time left here...I am so excited to be home, but there are so many things I'm going to miss too...

Geneva

We had a great time in Geneva...I'm so glad we were able to tag along with Brady.  Geneva is really a beautiful city...it is surrounded by mountains with lots of stunning architecture and a beautiful lake in the middle.  This was the first place we've visited where I really struggled with the language barrier.  Within the first few hours, I was wishing I would have taken French rather than Spanish in college.  Despite this, there are residents from every country you can imagine...finding them just depends on what shops and restaurants you go into.

Parker and I managed and had fun exploring the city.  I'm glad we were only there for a little over one full day...Geneva is a very expensive city and I learned it is a city where you go if you can either spend lots of money on designer clothes or ski...I can't do either right now so our options became rather limited after a while.  Thank goodness for parks and carousels:).

P is constantly pretending that he is T-Rex right now...this is Parker turning into T-Rex. 

Don't mind the mess...

...it is just our junk...seriously, there is something about moving to make you realize how much crap you have. Each time I have tried to throw/give away as much as possible, yet we still end up with those few boxes full of things I know we don't need and will never use again.

Warning: you are about to see pictures of our move in progress...it is not pretty...oh and because I'm using the app on my phone and can't add captions, I will tell you that the picture with the cowboy hat, wagon and clothes is our air-shipment...it should arrive on my parents' doorstep in around 11 days (sorry mom and dad:)!

great friends, great weekend

We are so lucky to have made such great friends over here.  Kat and Tom were two of the first people we met and now that they live in London, we have a great excuse to make our way there more often.  I'm trying not to think about how this might be the last time I see them for a while...goodbyes are sad.  I prefer to think of the amazing weekend we spent with them in one of my favorite cities...here are the highlights.

...Parker and I were able to spend Friday afternoon in one of our favorite places...the Natural History Museum...
...It was super busy and P had to potty in a plastic bottle while we waited in line outside...seriously...
...P is in a 'tell me about it' or 'tell me a story about it' phase...as in every animal/picture...as in...'this is a xxxx and I can weigh up to xxxx lbs and I live xxxx and I like to eat xxxx'....usually that is not enough and I have to make up a story about the animal to go along with the facts...this made for a very long day...in a good way:)
...we spent Friday night at Kat and Tom's enjoying Kat's fabulous cooking and great conversation...
...Saturday morning we did nothing...it was awesome...
...we introduced Kat to Chipotle for the first time (we'd already taken Tom:)...she loved it...more importantly, it took P's mind off of the giant boo boo on his nose...the kid loves Chipotle...
...we got to see a rugby match at Twickenham...apparently, this is a big deal and it was pretty awesome...plus, it was a great excuse to buy Parker a fezz hat:)
...I had a chocolate donut from Krispy Kreme on the way home...I have been craving a cake donut for like four months...it was awesome...
...P had to potty in a plastic bottle on the tube on the way home from the game...I guess this was just our luck this weekend...
...we bet on the big horse race (I seriously don't even know what it is called) and won our money back...it was our first Ladbrokes experience...and yes, betting here is legal (there are shops on about every corner)...
...Parker hit his head four times...he fell on his face on the sidewalk...got his face stuck in the tube ticket gates (I dare you to try not to laugh if your child does this)...then slipped on a flag while trying to show the people behind us the 'KSU' cheer during the rugby game (no, not kidding)...oh, and then when we got home, he was so mad that I was trying to make him go to the bathroom that he fell and hit his head on the bathtub...it was a rough day.

All in all, it was a spectacular weekend and we are so lucky we have such great friends to come back and visit!

Arriving at the Twickenham stadium!

Parker with his new fezz and scarf!

This was the face for about twenty minutes after falling on his face...poor guy...

The famous (or so I'm told) golden lion gate behind him.

The hat was for one team, the flag for another and the scarf had both...we were just trying to be fair, ha.

Apparently, I only take pictures of P and can no longer focus on anyone else in the picture.

I can't imagine how this face made friends with everyone sitting around us:)

loves, loves, loves looking at the animals

I couldn't resist the explorer's hat...

Thank goodness for other kids and green grass while waiting in the long, long line:)

Overwhelmed...just a little

Ok, so I'm a little stressed...I really can't complain because we are bringing on ourselves.

Right now I am on a train to London to spend the day at the Natural History and Science museums with my favorite companion. Brady is meeting us tonight so we can spend the weekend with Tom and Kat. We'll get home on Sunday, then leave for Geneva first thing Tuesday morning...get back Thursday evening and check into a hotel in Norwich...the movers come first thing Friday to start packing. So, yes, we are bringing this on ourselves.

So as I'm sitting here, I'm making more lists...to-do...what to pack in our suitcases to live on for two weeks...what to send in the air shipment that will arrive in the states within a week of our arrival (aka 'how much is too much to have land on my parents' doorstep while we're living there looking for a house')...and what to pack in the sea shipment (aka 'what can we live without for at least two months')...

All of this really is not that big of a deal if I were not such a control/organization freak. My house is a disaster right now, and it's driving me crazy!! I'm trying to organize things into piles but I also have a small tornado following me around:). Don't be alarmed, but there is a small chance that I might lose it...I just have to make it to the 15th and then all of our belongings will be on a journey back to the US...beyond my control...

Until then...at least I have this little guy to remind me to lighten up! Oh, and yes, that is a Santa hat he is wearing...some battles are not worth fighting:).

sweetest sound

I heard the sweetest sound today...the sound of the lil' wildcat's heartbeat...I am 27 weeks along and have waited to hear this sound for a very long time...it was as great as I remember with little P...we are so, so excited to meet you, lil' wildcat!

big rocks and hot water

This last weekend we drove a total of twelve hours to see some big rocks and hot water...it was totally worth it.   Lately, we've been trying to make any remaining trips on our 'Europe/England bucket list' if we can...this last weekend was Stonehenge and Bath.  Once again, we were absolutely freezing (which means outdoor pictures of P smiling are hard to come by), but if everyone here waited until it was warm to travel, no one would go anywhere...plus, the lines are shorter:).

Anyway...we drove to Avebury first, which also has a standing stone circle, then to Stonehenge, then to Bath.  Avebury is a bigger stone circle, but Stonehenge is much more impressive.  And Bath...what can I say...I wish we would have gone sooner...and more often...it is a beautiful town and the surrounding areas make for a scenic drive (albeit a nauseous one).  The Roman Baths were really interesting and we even made a point to have a tea in the Pump Room (ok, ok, so I had a smoothie and P had hot chocolate, but Brady had tea).

All in all, it was a great trip!

This is the face you get after you run and slip into a rock.

Don't make fun of how I'm dressed...big lady no longer has a warm coat that fits and because it's not supposed to be 30 degrees in March, I'm refusing to buy a new one...so yes, I'm wearing like 18 layers.

...and this is what happens when you've been walking around a museum for an hour and
your three year old needs food AND a nap...

This is right before Parker fell into me and we almost fell in the water...that would have been embarrassing...

Parker's fourth cup of 'bath water'...it was disgusting, but Parker loved it...

My serious boys checking out the local rugby pitch.

I almost dragged the boys inside but I was as tired as they were...lucky boys:)

and finally...Parker's picture...he is getting much better at using our camera!