Christmas 2010

After the great Christmas dinner Kirby made, after driving to London Heathrow and back to pick parents up in our brand new Saab, rented that is.

New toys!

Chillin after the long travels.

Presents!

A plate and bowl for Junie

A new baby doll from mamaw, picked out by daddy.

Her favourite was the package of tights.

Night night time. So happy to see her grandparents.

After a day spent in Cambridge and a day in the near by village of Grantchester to have tea and scones with clotted cream and jam, we made it to the Stonehenge.

Which does she like more Stonehenge or....the camera?

Love this photo!

This one too!

Salisbury Cathedral in the fog.

Sleeping baby, time for a drink by the real fire. I wonder how many people have had a drink here over the 500 years.

Getting ready for bed in our really old bedroom.

The naked girl.

Oh it was the best continental breakfast ever, well better than all the ones I had travelling for work.

Lovely English garden along the Avon.

Supposedly the oldest clock in the world. It was attached to the church bells.

In Salisbury Cathedral.

Hanging glass tear drops.

Gorgeous cloisters. 

Back side of St. Paul's Cathedral

Mom and Dad at the Tower Bridge

Grandpa and Grandma at the Tower of London

Tower of London at night

Trafalgar Square

This is huge!

DAD at Picadilly Circus. Great photo.

The Tower from the inside. It had closed early the day before so we had to come back to get in.

Wonder how many times he's been photographed

He was very nice

Junie and mummy at Big Ben

Junie and Daddy in front of Westminster Abby

Time to leave :(:(:(:(

Although we did try to leave Junie with them for a while the night before to get a drink alone and she gave some good screams.

Since we had too much gas in the car after dropping my parents off at the airport, we drove to the eastern shores of England in East Anglia to check out the ocean and say goodbye to 2010; a year that will not be forgotten. Spent our New Year's Eve here eating a good Indian meal and listening to fireworks in a town called Great Yarmouth, which for you Mainers- it was much more like Old Orchard Beach than Yarmouth and multiply that a few times. Luckily it was the winter; the miles of beaches were empty.

And home again.

Happy New Year 2011 says Juniper!

This says it all.
 Our great Christmas visit with my parents!

Our December

Juniper hanging out at the pub. Wasting no years. She likes sitting in her own chair.This one is for you Aunt JoAnn! So cute!

Juniper and her friend Yoram sharing their gifts (or wrapping paper) from Father Christmas.  I think they could almost pass as twins in this picture.

All the kids looking at their "red man": Papa Noel; St. Nicolas; Santa Claus; Father Christmas. 

We enjoyed some brass Christmas music at Newcomers and Visiting Scholars meeting,

She looked at me after looking at him. She wasn't too concerned, I bet she will be next year.

Juniper with our friends Mika and Hiro from Japan. Juniper smiles when she sees Hiro, she recognizes him, as she should, we hang out with them at least three times a week. I watch Mika chase Hiro all around and see what I have to look forward too :)

One morning all the fog froze and everything was covered in ice, very gorgeous.

Our friends Tina and Mia at our ornament making craft group.  Glad she is good at crocheting and organizing this group. Side note: doing anything with a baby brings out the ambidextrous in ya!

Our friend Kaori (Japanese, but married to a man from Chatanooga, TN), Erin (Canadian), and Judith ( German and Yoram's mum- bad pic though)- all great!

International Christmas/holiday food dinner with knitting group. Oh so very yummy and oh how I love "potlucks" (American term).

This just makes me laugh!

Didn't try it, but I bet I woulda liked it; love all the rest of the ingredinets. Wonder if you could taste the Juniper. New Year's resolution: learn the taste of Juniper or juniper should I say, the first doesn't sound quite right...

Chillin' between the studies.

2 inches of snow!

Great timing for the Christmas cheer.

I had fun making all our decorations and I got my annual living tree (hope this one lasts longer than the rest, least till we move, so my purpose isn't defeated and I don't have to feel bad).

Oh and a belated Happy Halloween from Juniper. I was gonna use these for Christmas photos while the suit still fit, but thought it may be too confusing- but cute!

In between smiles she was trying to eat the pumpkin.

:)

New Year Wish

I had one of those days in which I felt so satisfied with everything. It is nice to have those days. I hope the mood sticks around. I feel like I'm in the right place; I'm in control of my life. Back to routine (I do love travelling though, especially with family). The house is a mess, Juniper and I have some big things to work on, but life doesn't feel overwhelming at the moment. Really, I feel very lucky right now; I am very lucky. I hope the ending of the holidays, as great as they are, brings everyone some peace and satisfaction. Happy New Year!

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

A couple of days ago Juniper's first 1/2 birthday was celebrated with the emergence of her two front teeth coming in. Today, the poor thing is quite miserable.
I knew that there were going to be aspects of mothering that would be hard. I knew that one of them would be wanting to take away my child's pain and worrying for them. I expected this to be particularly hard for me because I already do those things for others I love. And mothering has been hard in a few ways, but this is a new difficulty. People said teething is a rough period, but I didn't predict this. I just feel so bad for her, she is so far from her usual self. She took her longest nap is such a long time. She's been trying to play, but just moans and cries while trying. I forced cold bananas into her mouth and she realized that that felt good, but she was so tired she couldn't keep her head up. Runny nose and now quite a cough. Actually I am worried that she is sick and it is not her teeth because this is worse than either of the colds she has had.
It also makes her seem older. It is funny how some of the little mild stones make her seem more and more "like a real little girl" as I like to put it. And I am already, saying "No, I don't want my baby to grow up."  Luckily, it is fun to see each new quality she gains. And for me too, I feel subtle changes and differences in myself. A real mom (mum) :). That makes me smile all over. I need to remember that tonight in the middle of the night when she struggling. :)
We tired to take a picture of her newly emerging teeth yesterday, but it didn't work. They are already more predominant today, but I am not even going to think about trying to take one today. Soon enough. I will have to add one to the blog later.
The song (blog title) is fitting though.