Survived

Well we all survived another week.  No major dramas with Pete going away thankfully.  He had a good trip but was very tired on Thursday after arriving back in the middle of the night and switching time zones again.  He stayed home on Thursday and did some work from here as well as caught up on a bit of sleep.  Naomi loved having her Daddy home again.  She leapt out of bed and threw herself into his arms when he got her up on Thursday morning.  Very cute. 

But first, let me backtrack a bit to whilst he was away.  Monday morning was great fun as the mums and toddlers from our South Anchorage Fun Mums group came over to play.  We did a Jack-in-the-box craft morning.  We used lots of the boxes that we've been unpacking and the kids put stickers and coloured on their own box and then got inside to become a human jack-in-the-box.  They seemed to have fun.  The trampoline got lots of use too.  Naomi loved having her friends over to play and the mums had a good natter.

I've spent a lot of this week looking at pre-schools for Naomi.  One that has come up quite a bit in conversations with others here, in Australia and in England, is Montessori.  So after spending ages trying to get in contact with one here I finally went to look at it on Friday morning.  It looks very promising.  Montessori is a child-led approach to teaching (that's a very quick summary and I'm sure if we end up taking her there I'll tell you more about the things she does there). I have another 2 schools I want to look at but at the moment Montessori is looking like a good option for us.

I went to the gym a couple of times this week which I enjoyed.  I'm still trying to work out if I want to get back into personal training or do something different.  I'm definitely not fit enough yet to be a personal trainer as I was aching again after doing the weights class (although thankfully not as much as last week).  Lydia was only ok in the crèche.  I don't think she was happy with the lady who was looking after her.  The usual lady will be back working in the mornings in a couple of weeks though so it should be ok then.

We've finally unpacked the boxes – hoorah!! The guest room is all made up, pictures are hung on the wall and I think we've located everything we owned now.  So we'll be scheduling a pick-up of all the boxes soon and we'll finally get our garage back (there is a whole wall of boxes – most are flattened but it still covers a whole wall!).

We've had another birthday party this weekend which was fun.  A joint 4 year old and 1 year old party.  They had a piñata which was hysterical watching a bunch of tiny girls with no muscles trying to break open this thing with a stick as tall as them.  Those sitting nearby were in more danger of getting hurt than the piñata itself! After a little help from the birthday girls' Dad, it finally opened and the kids all dropped to the floor to recover the candy (sweets, lollies – depending on your country!).  There was the inevitable sugar crash after the candy hearts, the cake with lashings of icing and the princess punch. But it was still fun to have gone.

Pete and I had a lovely date night on Friday.  We went to see the Kings Speech.  It's been out for awhile but if you haven't seen it, I recommend it.  Was great.  I think it's up for lots of Oscars this year.  We also went for ice-cream afterwards which was a nice chance for the two of us to chat.  We asked our next door neighbour to babysit for us and she seemed to do a good job.  Unfortunately Lydia woke up whilst we were out but she seemed to cope very well with it.  She gave her cuddles, let her crawl around for a bit and then sat in her room beside her cot whilst she went back off to sleep.  Hope she didn't find it too much like hard work – I think she was expecting to get some homework done.  We'll soon see as we're hoping to go to the ice-hockey this week and will ask her to come round again.  Pete got some free tickets from someone at work and we thought it would be an interesting thing to go to.

Lydia is making moves towards walking! Well sort of.  She's taken the next step (pardon the pun!) and has started to pull herself up to standing.  She not quite cruising yet but seems to be thinking about it.  I think she's first trying to figure out how to get herself back to the ground once she's pulled herself up.  She seems to get stuck sometimes and then just calls out for someone.  There is a slight worry though, as she seems to be standing on the outer edge of one foot rather than on the base of the foot.  Hope she corrects it herself, otherwise it may mean some sort of physiotherapy is necessary.

Church was good today and swimming was lots of fun.  We spent the afternoon at Borders, in the cafe and then choosing a book each for the kids. A lovely end to the weekend.

That's us for another week. See ya!

Mundane but good

A fairly mundane but good none-the-less kind of week.  We made ice-cream with the mother's group at the start of the week which was very yummy.  Was nice knowing exactly what went into the ice-cream and having none of the additives and chemicals.  And it was delicious! We may have to think about buying an ice-cream machine for ourselves in the future.

Pete had car problems Monday night which unfortunately meant he didn't make it home in time for our Skype session with Grandma and Grandpa and Nanna and Gramps.  The girls and I still enjoyed having a chat with them all.  Naomi had been playing phone calls all day and had been pretend calling Grandpa.  The cutest bit was she kept bursting out laughing.  Grandpa was obviously telling her something very funny in her imagination!

On Tuesday Pete had a meeting in Washington but instead of making the trip down there, he got up before 4am and telephoned into the meeting from our basement.  So with such an early start he was finished early too which meant he could pick Naomi up from childcare which she loved.  I went to the gym and did my first group exercise class in a long time.  It was a strength training class and I could barely walk for 3 days afterwards.  Going to attempt it again this week and I'm hoping the recovery will be a bit easier.  Lydia was less happy in the crèche though.  The afternoons are really quiet but the mornings (when the group classes are) are a bit more hectic and so she gets a bit more upset.  Hopefully this week it won't be as much of a shock to her.

I also went to a knitting session this week.  It was some of the Mums from my mother's group, most of who wanted to learn how to knit.  I already know but it was nice to be there with everyone and to spend some focussed time trying to finish off the blanket I started about a year or more ago.  I think we're going to meet up once a month to do this which will be fun.

We're also incredibly close to unpacking all our boxes finally.  I'm hoping by the end of next weekend they'll be done.  I did a few boxes during the week and a couple over the weekend.  But Pete spent an evening and a lot of Saturday unpacking and did an excellent job.  It's so nice to not have boxes to look at everywhere.  Making the house feel even more like home.  We just have the guest room to do (including building the guest bed) and then we're done.  Phew!

Naomi is doing really well with the potty training again.  Such a relief.  She has decided she wants her privacy and independence so insists on going by herself now.  She still needs some help with wiping (not that she necessarily wants the help) but we're so much closer to getting it now.  She hasn't had an accident for over a week (apart from at childcare where they insist on not putting a nappy on her at lunchtime and then she has an accident in her sleep).

Mum and Dad have booked flights out to see us in April/May which I'm so excited about.  I've basically got February and March to get through and then there are lots of good things happening.  We have our holiday to Mexico at the start of April, then my parents arrive and shortly after they leave Pete's parents arrive.  That takes us through to the middle of July.  And then we'll be in Alaskan summer which will be good to experience.  Hopefully we may get some more visitors at that time (fingers crossed).

It's been a tough time settling in here, particularly for Pete and myself as a couple.  Those of you who are married have probably fallen into the trap at some point of taking out your stresses on each other. So we've decided we need some focussed time for just us.  We're trying to make a date night once a week, although we won't necessarily go out every week.  This week we played some board games together which was good fun.  Pete won one game and I won the other so the battle is on!

This weekend we went to a 3 year old birthday party which was fun (Naomi had to dress as a princess so she looked great). We also all went swimming together after church which was fun.  Naomi is going down the water slide practically by herself now.  She goes to the top with Pete, pushes him down and then follows him, with Pete catching her at the bottom.  It's great to see her confidence in the water growing.  And if she has a hold of the side she can work her way along the  edge and get herself out too, so that helps us as parents feel better too.

We also took her ice-skating today.  I watched with Lydia as I would have been a hindrance not a help.  Pete can ice-skate so he went on the ice with her.  Was funny watching her try to get her balance.  She fell over a lot but didn't really complain.  She didn't want to stay on for very long but at least she didn't throw a tantrum and complain.  Hopefully we can take her some more and she can get the hang of it soon.  There were some other little kids zooming around the rink with no fear at all.  They can't have been older than 5.

So our weekends are turning out very nicely at the moment.  A good mix of achieving those things that need to get done in life and having some fun together as a family. Now to the next week.  Pete is heading to Houston tomorrow morning so it's just the girls at home for the next 3 days.  Pete gets back in the early hours of Thursday morning so we'll get to see him when we wake up Thursday. I hate this feeling when he is about to go and I know I have to cope on my own.  I know I can but I still don't like it.  My inspiration this week will be one of the ladies from the church Mum's group whose husband is in the air force.  He's just got back from 4 months away from home.  I have no idea how she did it but if she can cope for 4 months then I can do 3 days.  I'll let you know how it goes next week...

White Christmas

We're back!!! Unfortunately our wonderful holiday in England came to an end and we're now back in Alaska and settling back into work and life and the cold.  So what did we get up to while we were away?

Unfortunately, there were quite a few illnesses involved in our time in England.  Firstly Lydia picked up a virus (presumably on the plane) that led her to start throwing up on our 2^nd day.  She refused solid food for nearly a week and was throwing up for about 3 or 4 days.  By day three we were worried about her becoming dehydrated but thankfully a trip to the doctor relieved our concerns and she soon after started keeping her milk down and then eventually had some solids too.  Mum and Dad also got a stomach bug for a couple of days.  Mum, with a weakened immune system then caught a cold.  Debi also got a cold and so did Zac (Zac's led to him throwing up at the end of Christmas Day from all the excitement).  So it was quite dramatic with all the illnesses but thankfully no one was ill for the entire time.

But in amongst all the illnesses we still had a wonderful time.  I caught up with university friends, hearing all the latest on new jobs, future plans, and 3 gorgeous new babies.  You know you have special friends when you can meet up once every two years and still slip into easy conversation with them.  We also saw lots of my family which I really cherished.  After all, family is very important.  The snow in England had a bit of an impact on all these catch ups but thankfully there weren't too many people we missed out on seeing.  We had been assuming we would be escaping the snow with our trip to England but that wasn't to be.  In the end it was actually worse than being in Alaska, as the place isn't set up with road sweeping and studded tyres on the cars.  But none-the-less there's always something special about a White Christmas.

We had a few issues with Naomi whilst we were there.  She decided to have a potty training regression phase, where she stopped telling us she needed to go.  She wouldn't make a complete mess on the floor, just enough to warrant a change of clothes.  So between Lydia throwing up the first week, and Naomi having accidents the second week, Mum's washing machine was on overdrive! I think Naomi has just had a few too many changes for such a young toddler.  Going back to England and living in a different environment and sleeping in a different bed was just too much for her. Hence she chose potty training as her way of taking some control and getting attention.  The difficult thing is that the best strategy is to play down the accidents and make a big fuss of the successes.  But that is so hard to do when you're frustrated with her because you know she knows how to do it but is choosing not to.  The accidents have continued during our first week back but thankfully seem to be tapering off these last couple of days.  We've made a big effort to get the parenting strategy right and it seems to be paying off.  We're also realising that she's a bit like her Mum was at that age and wants her privacy.  So now when she goes she tells us she doesn't want us to come.  That's ok until we realise she's forgotten to wipe or the other extreme and she's unrolled nearly an entire toilet roll!  But I'll take that over the constant changes of clothes and washing.

I managed to do a few shopping trips whilst away.  It was fun going back to the English shops that I'm familiar with.  I bought a few things but the best day was going with Mum and Debi to M&S.  The trip included a coffee break and lunch and was highly successful and enjoyable. 

The girls did exceptionally well in Christmas presents.  Very blessed little girls.  Pete and I also did well.  For each other we bought our La-Z-boys that I've mentioned before.  We needed something to open on Christmas Day and so we decided to do a fun shopping trip.  We each had a strict hour and a budget of £20.  But not only that.  We had to buy 5 presents, each beginning with the letter S (letter chosen by Mum and Dad and the number from a roll of a die).  It was a great challenge.  I bought Pete a Scarf, Socks, a Sweater, a Superman Shirt and some Sensitive Skin Shaving gel.  Pete bought me a book entitled Swimsuit, Slumdog Millionaire DVD, a Snack (a bit on the edge of the rules but this snack was a chocolate bar so all was forgiven), Spa Stones (for heated massage) and a Santa mug.  Good fun.

Since we've been back in Alaska it's been tough.  Pete is still working very hard and there is a lot of pressure in his role.  I feel like there is a constant battle to have Naomi in a good mood with no accidents and keep Lydia happy.  And it's incredibly cold (today was -18 Celsius!).  The days are slowly getting longer which is helping.  But it's a constant effort to make the most out of life and to enjoy our time here.  We love our house and have nearly finished unpacking the boxes.  Just a couple more weekends should do it.  It helps having a home that we all really love.  So hopefully, things will slowly get easier.  I'm going to be applying for a right to work here so that sometime this year I can start some part time work and have some time where I'm something other than a Mummy.  Shell generously gives me as part of our expatriate package some money to "self-develop" i.e. complete some study or training or course of some sort.  I think this is a great opportunity but I can't think what to do.  Any suggestions on what I could use the money for and ultimately what sort of work I could think about doing?  It's interesting seeing what other people think I could be good at.

We've booked a holiday to Mexico at the start of April which we're so looking forward to.  We've missed the Australian summer and are in desperate need of some warmth and sunlight.

Below are a few photos and a video that I thought were worth sharing.  We went ice fishing last weekend.  Was ridiculously cold and we hadn't really dressed appropriately. Lydia didn't have her booties on or gloves hence why she is wearing adult gloves on her hands and feet in the picture. So we didn't last very long fishing and most definitely not long enough to catch anything.  But oh well, we did the Alaskan thing.  There are a couple of shots from a photo shoot we did at Mum and Dad's place over Christmas.  And some other random Christmas shots.  The video is of Naomi receiving her & Lydia's Christmas present from us (albeit a bit delayed due to its size not being possible to take to England with us!).

Enjoy.  I'm sure there's lots more I could be telling you as it's been so long since I wrote.  But you get the general gist of things.  Hope you are all enjoying 2011 so far – how are those New Year's Resolutions going?!