Home, Sweet Home

We arrived back home today after a week in England. Jack did incredibly well on this trip and adjusted remarkably to sleeping in four different beds, managing a five-hour time difference, and meeting loads of relatives.

After spending last night in London -- where we enjoyed fish & chips, visited the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, and bought a Postman Pat book in Hamley's -- we were up at 4:00 am today (London time) to take the train to Heathrow for our 7:40 am flight. (Pictured: Jack at the airport, eating his passport.)

Jack was very tired (as were we!) and slept about 2 1/2 hours on the 7 1/2 hour flight home. Because we were the first flight of the day (getting into Dulles around 10:30 am), we sped right through immigration & customs and were in a cab home within about 15 minutes.

Our little guy looked so tired on the taxi ride home -- but he just wouldn't let those eyes close. He doesn't want to miss any action! He's been napping since 2:00 this afternoon and, although I'm tempted to wake him so we are okay for tonight, Mick has appealed to my senses and told me to let Jack sleep. The poor kid has been shuffled around so much, been such a trooper, and been so cheerful during the last three days when we've woken him up early that we really owe him a break.

I will post photos later from our trip as well as a bit more about what we did, who we saw, etc. It really was great to spend Jack's first Christmas with his relatives in Heptonstall/Littleborough/Chipping.

Before signing off, I also just want to commemorate Landon's birthday. If he were still with us, he would be turning two years old today. I spoke with my dad this afternoon and he mentioned that the family had gone to the cemetery and left some balloons on Landon's grave. Jack and I visited the cemetery before we came back to VA a few weeks ago and I mentioned to Sarah that being there made me very reflective. I realized that, had it not been for Landon, Deagan might not be here. That's not to say that I'm glad Landon's not here or that I'd rather Landon be here than Deagan. It's just a different way of thinking about things. So, happy birthday, Landon!

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and safe travels if your holiday has you on the road/in the skies.

We are enjoying our time in England although, as usual, the time goes too quickly. Our little traveler did very well on his first trans-Atlantic flight with absolutely no meltdowns during the seven hour flight. The same cannot be said for his parents, who had a bit of a grumble at the United ticket counter at Dulles after waiting close to a half hour (and being shuttled to four different agents) to pay the fee for Jack to fly; so much for Mick's premier executive flier status...

Mick's dad was kind enough to drive the 3+ hours to Heathrow to pick us up Sunday night and we arrived in Heptonstall around 2:45 am. Jack did NOT appreciate the car ride home (I think he'd had enough travel) and we had to listen to him wail for about an hour and a half. It was pretty tough for me to take but once we got home, he was all smiles.

Jack has adjusted fairly well to the time change, going to bed each night around 1:00 or 2:00 am and sleeping until about noon. We've had the last few days at Mick's dad's house and are here through Christmas morning. Tonight, we'll take Jack to the village square for carols and to see Father Christmas. In the morning, Mick's mum will pick us up and we'll spend the next few days with her and her side of the family. On Saturday, we are headed to London where we'll spend the night before our early-morning flight back to the U.S. on Sunday.

We've had an opportunity to introduce Jack to a number of his relatives, including his Uncle Chris & Uncle James as well as all three great-grandparents. I think it's fairly safe to say that everyone seems smitten with him. The time he has spent with his great-grandparents has been especially meaningful (and emotional, for me) as it has been quite a while since either side of Mick's family has had a baby around.

We'll post pictures from our trip once we're back in the states. Again, Merry Christmas to everyone!

Our Little Helper

OK, not sure if this will work but I am trying to upload a video that I took on Tuesday when my mom was here. I've got LOTS of great videos of Jack (starting from the day he was born!) but have never taken the time to post one here. I hope this works!

Our Time in Michigan

It's been a long time since I've provided a long post with an update on our activities, travels, pictures, etc. so since Jack is still sleeping I decided to update the blog.

First though, Jack's health status: his 4 month well visit was Wednesday & he did quite well. He's the size of a 6 month old, weighing in at 16 lbs, 8 0z (80th percentile) and 25 7/8 inches long (95th percentile). He had 2 shots and I think he felt it yesterday as he was quite fussy and was apparently on a nap strike. That was fun. He's been teething for about a month now but none of the pearly whites have poked through yet. His next visit (barring any colds) is in mid-February.

Now, our trip to Michigan! We made the drive on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Jack and Shergar did very well in the car and we were able to complete the trip in exactly 12 hours. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday (so that on Thanksgiving Andy & Sarah and Trevor & Stephanie could be with their other sides of the family) and were most thankful for the turkey. Mick started preparing the fresh turkey on Friday afternoon and I noticed a pretty nasty smell. Turns out the turkey was spoiled! YUCK! Calls to area grocery stores found that no one had fresh turkeys left (after all, who stocks extra turkey the day after Thanksgiving?) and we were all pretty sure we'd have to celebrate with pizza. But thankfully, Craig at Snyder's Market pulled through for us and provided us with the fresh turkey he was saving for his friend to use at Christmas. Thanks, Craig!

Jack spent some quality time with his cousins (Deagan pictured above), the guys (Mick, Andy, and Trevor) helped out by chopping wood for my parents to use in the woodstove this winter, and my parents babysat Jack while Mick and I went out for a very nice dinner at the Blue Cow Cafe.

Mick left on Sunday (Nov. 30) for a week back at the DC office before heading to Australia; the snow started falling a few hours after Mick flew out of Grand Rapids and didn't let up for the next few weeks! Seriously, in a 24 hour period, Big Rapids received a foot of snow. For me, this was one of the best parts of the trip. I love the snow and it's one of the things I miss the most about having lived here for the past nine years (Lake Michigan is the other thing I really miss). Almost every day, I took the dogs out and watched them romp through the increasingly-deep snow.

One day, I took Jack for a ride outside in the sled. He seemed to love the snow and giggled as Papa pulled him around the yard while snow toppled into the sled.


We did a lot of other great things while at home. Thanks to Sarah's good idea, we painted the boys' handprints & footprints on Christmas ornaments. Jack had a few swims in the pool and I am hopeful that he'll be a water baby as he gets older. I was able to spend my first night away from Jack (thanks for all the help, Papa, Grammy, and Aunt Sarah!) so I could take Trevor out to celebrate his graduation from Western. Congratulations on a major accomplishment, Trev!

We spent lots of quality time with Papa and Grammy while in BR and I think Jack burrowed himself further into their hearts. One of the nicest things about having quit my job post Jack's birth is that I can take extended trips to Michigan to see my family & friends. Grammy was especially helpful in working to find a way to keep Jack's pacifier in his mouth when he was fussy. The best idea she could come up with: using her CPAP machine (I said Jack looked a bit like Hannibal Lecter).
Jack and I made the trip back to Arlington this past Monday & my mom rode along with us so she could help with Jack (thanks, Mom!). I was so grateful for her help as Jack had a bit of a meltdown during the last hour of the trip and I was very close to pulling onto the shoulder of the road and just crying. Mick and Jack were reunited after 2 weeks of being apart and, despite Mick's concerns that Jack wouldn't remember him, Jack was all smiles when he saw his daddy. He especially is fond of the present his daddy brought him from Sydney:


We are now busy preparing for our trip to England this weekend. Mick and I are so excited to set Jack's little feet down on British soil and to introduce him to his three great-grandparents.

I'll post with updates on that trip in the coming weeks. In the meantime, all of the photos from our stay in MI are in our photo album. Since I didn't get my act together this year in getting out Christmas cards, please know that we wish all of you a happy holiday season and a safe and healthy new year!

One More Thing...

Mick failed to mention one very important piece of news from his trip to Australia: he was promoted to Vice President of Marketing. He's not one to toot his own horn so that's what a proud wife is for!

I have lots to report about Jack's and my stay in Michigan, which I hope to do in the near future. I've got loads of pictures to upload too... my goal is to get all of this done before we leave for England next Sunday. So, stay tuned!

Heading Home

Friday afternoon now and I’m sat in the Air New Zealand lounge in Sydney airport awaiting my flight back to San Francisco. It’s been a great week—have spent a lot of time with my colleagues creating plans for 2009 and solving some of the challenges we’ve faced in 2008. Some of the things that have stood out include:

1. With the time difference, I’ve woken up around 5am each morning. Given the usual post-work dinner and drinks, the days have run long.
2. It’s very warm here. I went for a morning run on Monday and it took me an hour to cool down. I didn’t make that mistake again.
3. I saw the biggest spider ever this morning. From end to end, it was probably 2-3 inches in length. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Then, it blinked and disappeared.
4. Oddest sight of the week; a metal statue of Ned Kelly (check your history books) dressed in a Santa outfit and holding a rifle, out front of a house down the road. Merry christmas, everybody.
5. Unfortunately, I left my book on the Titanic disaster at the house I was staying at. I may never know what happened to the unsinkable ocean liner.

Have a quiet weekend planned, followed by preparations to fly to England next Sunday. Am excited to see family and for Jack to meet his great-grandparents.

Once Upon a Time...In a Land Far, Far Away

As I write this, I have just arrived in Australia to spend some time with my marketing counterparts in the company’s Brisbane office. At some point in the future, it will be interesting for Jack (or perhaps Marcus and Deagan) to look for some of the places that I flew over on my way from Los Angeles to Sydney…the Channel Islands, Honolulu, Nadi, Papeete, Samoa, the South Pacific Ocean, Coral Sea, and Tasman Sea. Of course, there'll be a test at the end of it.

After the 14-hour flight (not helped by the fact that United’s aging jumbo jet didn’t have seat-back TVs), I had a couple of hours in Sydney waiting for my connection on Qantas to Brisbane. As usual, I picked up a newspaper to see what’s happening in Australia—I find it a good way to acquire some conversation-starters and show that you know something of day-to-day life here.

Of course, it’s summer at present, so Brisbane (which is in the tropics) is very warm—
temperatures are above 30C/85F. Staying at the house of work colleagues of mine, I spent Sunday afternoon alternating naps and work, before having a very good dinner (steak, couscous, red wine) with several members of the team.

Tomorrow is the first of 4 days in the Brisbane office before returning home on Friday. Jack and Kelly will be back from Michigan the following Tuesday and we’ll be preparing for our Christmas trip to England, which we are all very excited about.