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 2nd 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?!
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