Our Latest Adventures

Easter 2011

Bank Holiday #1: Easter and a New Play Ground

Our newest Easter tradition... Apple Pie! Yum! Since I can't eat dairy this was the best dessert I could think of for Easter dinner. Only we decided it might be even better for breakfast, it was a perfect way to fuel up for the egg hunt around the flat! I insisted that we let the kids enjoy lots of their treats. They were high on sugar for HOURS!

Holding all of HIS eggs

Lots of stickers

Dying eggs

Easter Baskets and an Egg hunt around the flat

The basket Aftermath!

Princess Diana Memorial Playground

Our new favorite park, it has security at the entrance and only families with children are allowed in. The park is complete with tree forts and secret trails in the bushes, a pirate ship, water and sand play area and there is even a cafe and carousel outside the gates. It was a perfect way to spend one of our bank holidays!

Our littlest Cowgirl

Bank Holiday Weekend #2: Royal Wedding Party, Josephine's First Sleepover, and Dover Castle!

We hosted our friends Dana and Brian and their three girls and Dana's mom and dad to watch the wedding on TV. It was a lot of fun and very exciting, even though we didn't brave the streets. Of course I have no pictures of the party. :( Bad mother!

Saturday we met Cecilia and her kids at the zoo and ended up back at our flat for dinner. Isabella decided that she would LOVE to stay the night, so Josephine finally had her first official sleep over! She was VERY excited. The girls enjoyed a late night movie complete with lemonade and popcorn, and were finally both asleep by 10pm!

Dover Castle

I have no pictures of the actual Castle, but you can see it online if you really want to. It was quite impressive! My snap shots consisted mostly of the kids antics, though they were all shockingly well behaved during the trip... maybe we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel! :)

Playing on the 'canons'

The White Cliffs of Dover, VERY pretty

"I want the sword!"

Superdad pushing all three up the hill

They wanted me to help them explore every nook and cranny. In the tunnels I kept making loud breathing sounds and trying to convince them it was a dragon. Both were genuinely concerned for at least a little while!

The final solution to all the bickering and hitting in the car. Chris pulled over and wedged a large piece of cardboard between Josephine and Chris Jr. It worked like a charm and soon we had peace and quiet!

Euro Disney

Well, it goes without saying that our family does love Disney vacations. Here are some details...

HighLights:

- Eurostar trip to Paris, with TWO iPhones, one for each of the older kids. It was actually a rather relaxing ride.

- Our New York themed hotel complete with pretend ice skating rink named Rockefeller Center and a great pool and workout area that Mickey and Minnie also visited while we were there!

- The BBQ themed character lunch in the park

- The Mickey Mouse Wild West Dinner Show was fantastic, complete with real horses and buffalo

- The half day tour of Paris for Cynthia, Danny, Chris Sr. and Josephine

- Miss Maddie's incredible ability to be happy, sleep and/or smile in her stroller no matter time of day

- Ordering Beers, chips, nuts and cake from room service! Yum!

- The view out of our rooms and Cyn enjoying watching the 'ice skaters' whipping out

- The weather, simply could not have been better... 65+ and sunny every day.

- Danny calling the front desk for anything he could possibly need more of... towels (he asked for 3 more), pillows (he asked for 4 more), a blanket. It was quite comical.

LowLights:

- the transfer to subway to complete our journey there. Because of the limited time of day for the direct train we transferred in Paris, and this was quite a journey with all of our luggage and children

- Overpriced food, even more expensive than London, which is hard to believe is even possible.

- Our room needed some TLC when we arrived, tub was clogged, phone was broken and AC didn't cool enough. All was remedied quickly.

- Wishing more of our extended family was there to enjoy the trip with us... next year Grammy and Grampa Boutwell are planning to make the trip :))

Enjoy the Pictures:

Exhausted after the long journey there we enjoyed lunch a Planet Hollywood.

Wild West Dinner Show

Half Day Trip to Paris

Thurmbs Up! from Chris Jr. as Danny Rode the bull

BBQ Character Lunch in the Park

Trying for a decent family pic with all three kids

Watching the Parade

Endlessly Asking for a Sword. We compromised and bought him two guns instead!

Trainer? Diet? Carbs? Ughhh...

Well, as you might be able to tell by the title, it's time to get serious about losing the baby weight. My friend Jen and I split 7 dual sessions with this crazy trainer, also named Chris, and we met with him on Tuesday. Funny, when he measured our body fat mine was 23% and Jen's was 20% and we were both pretty excited. I mean low twenties is usually thought to be pretty good for a woman, meanwhile the adonis that is our trainer had this look on his face that said "oh man, look at these fatties I have to work with!" Ha! It was really funny. He's given us a very strict diet in addition to a few other suggestions. Jen had poached chicken and leeks for breakfast this morning, I had a bagel with peanut butter and half a bowl of granola. Hmmm... I wonder which of us will be more successful!? lol

The kids are great, Josephine is preparing for her upcoming role in her K2 play, Goldilocks. She has "the lead in the play." And is VERY excited about all the preparations. Little does she know that her grandmother and cousin Danny will be surprising her that week for her birthday. We will all be going to Euro Disney in Paris for a long weekend. Should be a lot of fun.

Chris Jr. is back in school, but has moved to three days a week so that he can nap the other days. He's seeming a little more rested, though he's got another cold so it's hard to tell. Maddie is also a bit under the weather. She had her second set of shots on Tuesday and I think her legs are a little sore. Also, she's definitely working on some teeth and seems to be quite bothered by them. She was so upset last night she slept with me all night. I loved every second of it!! :) It's nice to be able to relish all of these small moments with our last baby.

Chris Sr. had a great trip to Asia for work, although he ate a lot of unusual items and drank so many Chinese toasts at one lunch that he was quite sick for the rest of the afternoon. His jet lag seems to be gone and he's back to running to work as usual. He still hasn't missed a day since we moved here! Very impressive!

More Weekly Pics:

Heading to the Zoo with Grammy and Grampa

Posing at the Zoo

Napping after Chris Sr's return from China

Black Tie Weekend

Well, our big night out was a success! ASL held it's semi-annual PCA auction fundraiser last weekend and Chris and I decided to attend, despite having a 12 week old at home. To ease my mind we had our sitter bring a friend for a few hours to get through bath and bedtime and everything went well. And you'll be impressed to hear that Chris and I didn't get home until after 1am! REALLY late for people who are typically in bed by 9! ha!

I also chaperoned my first school trip last week, to the Royal Academy of Art. Although it was a beautiful building and had a very good British Sculpture exhibit, I think the subject matter of many of the pieces of art was a little old for the kids, who were regularly overheard saying "hey, there's another weenie statue!" But I did enjoy spending the time with Josephine and her classmates and teachers.

This week we are preparing to have Josephine home from school for spring break and then working on plans for her birthday celebration. Should be a lot of fun, more details to follow. Chris Jr. is separating much better at school and his key teacher says he spent most of this week showing off his big muscles and even demonstrated how strong he is by hitting one of his classmates in the head with an empty milk bottle! Oops! Thankfully the kid hit him back with a frying pan so I didn't feel too bad! lol Little Madeline is still feeling better, although she's not sleeping as well as she has. She spends a lot of time in her car seat being dragged from one place to another, but she seems content and is really filling the role of third child well.

All in all it's been a fun couple of weeks and we're looking forward to a week off from school to relax and not rush in the mornings.

I can't stop eating peanut butter!

Well, being off dairy for the little girl's reflux has pushed me in a whole new direction of eating. I'm testing the limits of what tastes good with peanut butter. So far my favorite is my bagel in the morning and apples for a snack. Without cheese I just feel so hungry all the time! The other day Chris Jr. dipped is carrot in peanut butter, but I have to say it wasn't my favorite. haha

Chris and I are getting ready for our first big night out. ASL has is having it's black tie fundraiser this Saturday and we've decided to go. I'm actually wearing a dress that I had from before the baby and it fits!

Chris Jr. is doing very well in preschool and he even has a little girl friend named Sophia. He is very attached to her and his teacher says he finds her everyday and greets her with a hug and a kiss. Adorable!

Pictures of the week:

Maddie's first English tea, in St. John's Wood with Cynthia and Ron

We are playing a lot more. I'm finding all the kids are better behaved if I just stop and take a few minutes to sit down and play with them. Here are the kids with the baby.

Josephine drew it and then we built it. This was a lot of fun.

Last weekend we happened upon a really cool event. We went up to Alexander's Palace to show the kids a skate park and playground and when we got there we realized there was also an international custom bike and trike show. Chris Sr. was in heaven! It was a lot of fun, complete with a trick motorcycle demonstration. I'm sure that Maddie was by FAR the youngest person there! haha

First Night Out

Maddie's first tube ride

Well, I'm just back from our first night out without the kids. Chris' parents Cynthia and Ron are here visiting and they suggested it, so we booked a hotel room and took off for the entire night! I was really nervous. Despite having three children I still seem to worry a lot about little Madeline. I would have guessed that after having two other children the anxiety would have subsided. And I'm sure it has a bit; I doubt we would have left Josephine for a night this early in her life. But despite our concerns we decided that a quiet, full night of sleep was worth it!

In the words of my mother-in-law Cynthia "you guys take this all a little too seriously." AMEN sister! She is SO right. Of course, everything went well in our absence. So as it turns out the kids CAN survive for short periods of time on TV and junk food! Ha! No, just kidding, everyone was great and the kids slept well and hardly noticed that we were gone.

Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed our night at Le Meridian Piccadilly, which was actually quite nice, and I came home refreshed and ready to tackle another day of babies, toddlers, exercise, shots for the littlest one, and dinner. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Josephine is off from school along with Chris Sr. so we're planning a fun morning out with Grammy and Grampa, perhaps to the National Gallery. Then we are scheduled for high tea at Grosvenor House. Should be a fun day.

"Illegal" Picture of Cyn inside Westminster Abbey

Ahh... Livin' the Dream.

Vacation Pictures:

Pottery on the wheel at Blue China in Totnes, Devon

On Knowle Farm, Devon

Chris eating his sundae at the Pizza Express in Plymouth

Chinese New Year Dinner with Cecilia and her kids, Isabella, Alex and Chloe

Well, here we are people. Smack dab in the middle of life. You'd think there would be a lot to report, and in the larger scheme of things we do have quite a bit going on. Three kids, including one that is just eight weeks old. A two and a half year old who's just starting pre-school and our oldest in Kindergarten. Chris Sr. is very busy at work and I'm... well, let's just say that at this point I AM.

But as I break down the bigger picture into smaller bite size pieces, these days I find myself consistently asking, "Really? Is this what I am meant to be doing right now?" And unfortunately I am at a loss. I mean these are the activities that make up my days:

- wake up, usually between 4 and 5 am

- don't shower

- change diapers

- change sheets

- struggle to dress the entire family

- rush through every meal, eating most standing up

- make lunches

- try to find clothes that fit

- try to exercise

- run errands

- try not to yell at the kids too much, especially Chris Jr.

- don't read anything

- sing endless Playhouse Disney songs in my head

- think of something even slightly healthy to feed the family for dinner

- try to sleep around a waking baby

- rock the baby

- watch TV with the kids

- rock the baby

- watch TV with the husband

- rock the baby

- nurse the baby every 3-4 hours all day long

- wake up, do it all over again...

So I've come to two conclusions. First, I am incredibly lucky to be living this life filled with love and opportunity, now I just have to figure out how to appreciate it more and take advantage of all that I have. And two, I'm going to try to rededicate my self to the blog, but in a slightly different, and somewhat more manageable way. I'm going to try and write shorter weekly entries that reflect on our struggles and achievements as a young family and I'm going to include weekly pictures. Less pressure to be perfect, more pressure to just document what we're doing, seeing, feeling, loving, laughing at, and fighting about. Ok, so now I just have to do it... Ready, Set, Go.