answered prayers

Sorry for those who already know this...I've taken a while to make it official:)

Brady and I are planners...more accurately, we are planners who often have to be reminded that we are not in charge of the plan.  I'm not going to lie, I always find comfort in the fact that God is in charge and that he knows what is best for us at what time in our lives...and that he is always, always right.

It is no secret that I have had babies on the brain for a long, long time.  Brady and I have been trying to figure out when to start 'trying' (sorry to my friends who hate that term:) since last April.  It seems like we have always had a reason to wait...trip, someone visiting, not wanting to be too pregnant to come home for Christmas, etc...the list could have seriously gone on forever...around the end of September we decided to just start trying in December and see how things went...that is also about the time that we really started praying for God to once again overrule our plans...my prayers went something like this, 'dear God, please just let us get pregnant when we are supposed to get pregnant because if it is up to Brady and I we might not find a 'perfect' time until Parker is 18.'

We got pregnant in October:)

It seems that God was just waiting for the right prayer to let him do his job...we are thrilled and so incredibly blessed.

Parker is going to be a big brother sometime around July 4th and he couldn't be more excited!

All I want for Christmas...

...is to get back home, but until then, we have been making the most of our time here.  I feel like it has been a crazy couple of weeks packed with trips to see Santa, parties with friends, school parties and lots of Christmas shopping.

Last Friday, we had Parker's school party.  It was kind of hilarious.  All of the parents got there to watch them sing and then the kids had a party while the parents had tea.  I was so excited to see Parker sing (I had already heard all of the songs in the car), but during the concert, P just sat there....literally...he was so tired (he had already been there two hours longer than a normal day), and he barely mouthed more than a couple of words per song.  He did, however, find enough energy to protest when the teacher handed him a star with 'too many sparkles'.  Silly kid.  I did video, but we were told we couldn't post any videos or pictures online...so...shoot.

We also celebrated our family Christmas this weekend.  Santa made a special trip to our house on Saturday night...Parker was so, so excited.  The worst part about celebrating Christmas early is that no one else is celebrating.  Brady was out of town until late Friday night, so we had to do Santa on Saturday night (plus we had to have soup and queso for dinner:)...but then we had church and a birthday party all day on Sunday (and brady had to work, ugh).  So, while it was a great morning...it was just a morning.

P is at such a fun age and he was so excited about all of his presents...such a great morning...

carrying treats for Santa

We tried to get him to leave Santa a 'traditional' mince pie, but P insisted that he like cookies better.

'Christmas' morning and seeing his new workbench from Santa.

He went straight to get his toolbox out:)

Such a good little builder

Cars...Santa actually could have just gotten him these two cars and P would have been ecstatic!

A book that folds into a pirate ship...he loved it!!

Trying out new crayons...the best part of doing Christmas before is that Santa was
able to bring some things that mommy needed to get for the plane ride anyway:)

So blessed to have these two...such a lucky, lucky mommy.

at least he's learning something...

Parker is loving school...thank goodness...but lately, he has been coming home and correcting me...for example...

P, "...and then we had lunch, and then you came, mommy!"
Me, "did you see a lot of the other kids' mommies?"
P, "yeah, but they have 'mummies.'"
Me, "oh, ok"

Randomly talking about Christmas and Santa in the car after school...
P, "mommy he's called 'father christmas'"
Me, "gotcha"

Me, "were you helping Annabelle push the stroller when I came?"
P, "it's called a 'buggy'"
Me, "right"

My favorite moment this week was when we were driving home and Parker sang me 'Tiny Tim' from school.  It is a song he had already learned at church, but this time he sang it to me with an accent...it was kind of awesome:).

first day of school

Our conversation on the way to school today pretty much sums up how the drop off went...

Parker, "mommy, are you going to cry?"

Me, "no, but I am going to miss you while you're at school."

Parker, "ok, but don't cry."

In other words, P did great and could not wait to go play with all of the kids and toys.  Actually, mommy did surprisingly well too...no tears...I think the 'practice day' is more for the parents than the kids, and definitely helped prepare me for today.

When I picked up Parker, he seemed a little sad.  Apparently, Parker was repeatedly told to sit in his seat during mealtime and then started crying when the teacher had to put him back.  I'm not going to lie...I was not that surprised...we have been having meal-time battles for the last month or so...hopefully, between us and his teacher, he will start listening...hopefully...

Once we were back in the car, he told me that he had fun, but then he told me this, "Mrs. Rose asked me if I was happy or grumpy and I said grumpy."  Oh geez...later as we were having hot chocolate and a biscuit at Costa he told me all about not sitting at lunch and crying.  I was so glad to hear it from him.  Plus, he promised to sit next time...we shall see...

Don't judge, I was going to work out right after...

just practice

Don't worry, I will take many, many more pictures on his actual first day of school, but here is a preview.  We went for P's 'practice' morning yesterday and it went really well, however, we did have a few tears...  

I had left the room to speak to the teacher and a couple of minutes later, I heard P say, 'mommy, mommy?' Then I saw him come out of the room with his lip quavering...the minute he saw me, he put his little hands over his eyes and just started sobbing...my.heart.broke....it took everything I had not to just start sobbing with him...

Luckily, P is usually fine when I leave...as long as I tell him I'm leaving...for that reason, when they asked me to leave for around 45 minutes, he did awesome...he's going to be just fine...who am I kidding, we're going to be just fine...:)

Olympic Marathon

We had a spectacular day in London yesterday.  We left on one of the first trains out of Norwich so that we could stake out a place to watch the marathon.  Even better?  Our friends, Kat and Tom, who had just moved to London, came to watch with us.  We had so much fun.  We started with the marathon, went to the Natural History Museum and then finished with lunch and Covent Garden.  It was the perfect end to a great weekend!

We had to make sure there was a bathroom nearby...hence our spot near McDonalds...

In true Parker form, he talked about Tom and Kat the entire trip to
London and then acted shy when we finally saw them.

Thirty minutes!

The front runners...

U-S-A!

U-S-A!!

Parker got pretty excited every time they ran by.

We actually watched around mile 7, but we forgot to take a picture until I saw the 15 mile marker.

Natural History Museum. This was our first time and it was awesome!

DINOSAURS!!!  P was so excited!

I have no pictures of P with T-Rex because he was pretty scared.

Yeah...we're cool.

Parker loved imitating the elephant noises.

This looked as freaky in person as it does in the picture.

The best Mexican food we've had since we've moved here...to say we overate would be an understatement.

timeline

Almost eleven years ago I met the love of my life...at a keg race get together between our greek houses...on one of my first days in Manhattan...he was the first boy I met...I was a big fan:)

For a year and a half I was kind of a b knew he was the one, but was too scared to jump into a relationship...lets just say I changed my mind a lot... 

Fifteen months after we met I sent Brady an email...I was ready to give 'us' a try...

Fifteen months and THREE DAYS later Brady responded to my email...we finally had our first kiss that night...:)

Almost nine years ago we said 'I love you'....

A little over five years ago he proposed...

Exactly four years ago we said, 'I do'...:)

This year has been one of the hardest we have ever gone through...Brady has been my rock...loving me through emotional meltdowns and personal triumphs...I am so lucky and I can't wait to add more memories to our timeline.

365

At the end of today, we will have lived in England for 365 days.  It has been a long, hard and amazing year.  I have learned a lot about myself, my marriage, and British culture.  I still stick my foot in my mouth more than I would like to admit, but we are learning as we go.  Here is a brief summary...

Favorite thing of living in the UK...walking to do all of my errands...seriously, I dread moving back and having to get in and out of the car...

Least favorite thing (besides missing family and friends)....the customer service...

Pantry staple I miss most...Rotel, or Velveeta, ooh, or ranch...people here really don't know what they are missing...

Something I buy here that I didn't at home...cheese scones...just wow...

Favorite restaurant in Norwich...Zizzi's...we are there often enough that the waitress recognizes when we get hair cuts...

Restaurant I miss most in Wichita...Bella Luna...

Fashion look I really don't understand here...shorts with panty hose...no, not tights or winter shorts...jean shorts (usually with the pockets sticking out the bottom)...with panty hose...

Parker and I's favorite weekday spot...hands-down, the library...

Our favorite coffee shop...Costa...is it sad that I catch P trying to order a 'skimmy cappucino' everywhere we go?

Favorite fish and chips pub in Norwich...Wig 'N Pen

Number of small kitchen appliances I've ruined trying to use the converter...3...I know you're thinking how I got past one, but two of them worked for a while before burning out...

Number of frequent flyer miles in the last year...69,390

And now some changes for Parker...

Number of months he's been potty-trained (big-boy underwear only during the day)...almost 9 exactly

Number of months we haven't had to buy diapers at all (big boy underwear at bedtime too)...4

Number of words he was using in a sentence when we left...6 or 7

Number of words in a sentence now...I admit, I've lost count and now I get excited when he puts multiple sentences together...

Favorite song when we left...Baby, Oh!

Favorite song now...Firework or 'I'm sexy and I know it' (shoot)

Bed he sleeps in now...queen

Favorite item of clothing before...socks...usually as mittens

Favorite item of clothing now...K-State jersey

Here are a few now and then photos...oh how things change!!

and then...

Cricket Ball

A few months ago Brady bought us tickets to the Wyndmonham Cricket Ball.  It is a black tie event that is held every three years and we were invited to sit at Tom and Kat's table.  I think buying tickets was really Brady's way of forcing me to call the babysitter that Tom recommended.  Apparently, he thinks 3 to 5 years is too long to go without a date night (who am I kidding 1 year was too long)....smart guy.  

Fran came over for the first time two weeks ago to meet Parker...then again last Friday while Brady and I went to Tratoria Rustica (the first place that told me they didn't have high chairs)...then again on Wednesday just for an hour (I got to go on a run mid day:)...then on Saturday night for the Cricket Ball.  Parker loves Fran and usually can't wait for us to get out the door.  It is harder on me than it is him.  I can't lie, I was so nervous to have someone else put P to bed.  That sounds silly, but it has always been either us or a grandparent and I was worried about someone else going through our routine.  I had to laugh because I had put Parker in his jersey to sleep and Fran texted me to see where his trousers were for bed.  I told her that he didn't need any (don't worry, he was wearing his boxer briefs), but when we got home, he had on sweat pants.  Apparently, trousers are important bedtime apparel:).  

Anyway, we had a great time...getting to dress up was definitely a bonus...so glad we went!

Just so you know...we had P in his suit for about 10 seconds five minutes  before this picture was taken...he stripped and put the jersey on before we could have proof!

oh boy, big boy!

Last night I had a dream that P started pre-school...I think I was having an anxiety attack by the time I woke...worrying that I had missed time with him and that he was already old enough to go.  Unfortunately, my dream wasn't too far off from reality.  P is exactly 2 and a half today and in just a few short months, I will be taking him to preschool.  I know that I say this a lot, but I just can't believe how fast time goes.  Every day, he amazes me.  Whether he is learning to climb the rope ladder at the playground by himself, or using a word that I didn't even know I used, my baby is growing up.  This post is just for us to try to make time stand still, if only for a minute, so we will always remember what he is like right now.

Parker, you are the best part of me and your daddy and we love you more than you will ever know!

'Can you say'...For some reason, you like to tell us how to say things and what to call you.  For instance, if we say, 'Parker, can you come here?'  you will say, "Mommy, can you say, 'come here P-Diddy.'"  We hear variations of this using , 'big guy' 'big man' etc.  If you are hurt or tired and want to be held or carried, you always refer to yourself as a little guy..."can you carry me mommy, I'm just a little guy."  Even though I know you are just trying to get what you want, I am a sucker for a little snuggle time.

Alphabet...you know all of your uppercase letters and a good number of your lowercase (I kind of forgot to work on the lowercase ones until last week...oops).  I love walking around town and hearing you yell out  letters you see (literally).

Counting...you are finally starting to count actual objects.  Instead of just counting to count, you point and assign a number...finally.  When you are just counting, you are almost up to 30...almost:).

Reading...you can 'read' along with all of your favorite stories and I catch you sometimes 'reading' them to yourself from memory.  You just make my day.  You have so many favorite books and stories that I don't think I can list them all, but one of your absolute favorites is Casey at the Bat.  I just love when you 'lightly doff your hat' just like Casey.

'I can't wipe it off!'...recently, you have learned how to cross your eyes when you make your serious face...you think it is hilarious, but Daddy and I think it is a little scary.  When you are tired, you make the serious face over and over again and then wipe your eyes and say..."I can't wipe my serious face off!"

'What's the big idea?'...I think I have Donald Duck to thank for this one...you have recently started saying, "what's the big idea," "I've got some bad news," and 'I just have one more problem."  Usually, when I ask you what your bad news is, you'll say, 'Daddy has to go to work today.'  Silly boy.

'What does that mean?'...I think I answer this question about a thousand times a day.  Anything new (and sometimes when talking about things I know you understand) you will say, 'what does that mean?'  Tonight we read a book about sheep (no joke, it was more like a reference book) and it took us 40 minutes to explain everything you ever wanted to know about sheep.  I love that you are so curious.

Dancing...you absolutely LOVE to dance and sing.  It doesn't matter whether we are walking in city centre and hear a street performer or standing in line to buy something, if you hear something you like, you just can't help yourself.  You have pretty good rhythm too (better than me at least...thank goodness!).  You still say that Firework is 'your' song, but you call it "baby fire go to work."  You also regularly request Forget You and love Rolling in the Deep and Marry You.

Sports...you adore sports, all sports.  You even showed me a book about cricket the other day, and called it cricket...I didn't even know you knew what cricket was.  We are constantly, throwing, catching, kicking and shooting balls.  I love that you love sports...especially K-State sports (although I'm a little sad I will no longer get to hear you say, "Frank Martin looks mad mommy!").

Hugs and Kisses...you are such a lover.  Anytime either one of us is going somewhere (and sometimes even skyping), you say, "I need some hugs and kisses."  You just melt my heart.

Sometimes I just look at you and feel like my heart is so full it could burst.  You make absolutely every day worth waking up for and constantly remind us of how blessed we are.  I just want you to know that you are the very best thing to ever happen to us and Daddy and I love you so much...to the moon and back:).

YES!

I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but a couple of weeks ago, Brady passed his driving theory test...he didn't miss a single question, and if you have ever driven in the UK, you know what a feat that is.  Well, this week he had his driving practical test (for the record, Brady and I just argued a little about this, I say practicum, he says practical...if practical is wrong, blame him; if it is right...it was my idea, ha:).  Anyway, he passed!!  We decided to celebrate by enjoying the beautiful weather and pub-hopping.  To be fair, we didn't intentionally pub hop (with a toddler).  We had simply already ordered a Scottish egg (just say no) and a drink when we realized the first place didn't have any outdoor seating left so we went to another pub/restaurant nearby to enjoy the weather (and some chedder and mushroom french fries)...ummm, amazing (yep, both the weather and the fries).

Parker also had his 'first real owie' (I made the mistake of calling it that and now we haven't heard the end of it).  There was kind of a lot of blood for a skinned knee, but we solved it with a 'Cars' plaster (bandaid) and some weird pink cream (they don't sell Neosporin here...seriously).   

I am so proud of Brady and can only hope that I can pass as well...I'm preparing myself to retake it, ha:)

pluggies to the babies

Saturday was a big day...Parker gave his pluggies to the babies...

I should have taken a picture, but the lady at the donation store was already looking at me like I was an idiot...yes, I'm aware that they had to throw them away as soon as we left... luckily there was a man there who was empathetic.

P walked in, took them out of his pocket and handed them to the man...such a little man himself...

Then we went and got these...

We started a tradition when we moved here of going to a local toy store and buying a wooden animal for every milestone, birthday, etc...for this occasion, P picked the tiger.  He also was surprised to finally take home a Gruffalo of his own from the bookstore (he has been telling me it is his very best friend every time we go for at least a month).  

So proud of him for making his first donation...even if it is to 'babies who don't have pluggies.'  Yes, I realize this is ridiculous, but for him it was a big deal...such a big guy.