A picnic at the park

We took a picnic to the park yesterday b/c it was another beautiful day! Today we're going to the beach!

My little man lounging on a blanket- he cooed and giggled the whole time!

You can see little guy on the left

The kids on the couch

Such a lump!

Thank you, Mamama, for the chapstick- gone in 1 week!

Pushing Lamby

How my boy sleeps, altho we have quit swaddling him.

Rebekah Antics

Rebekah keeps us in stitches! Over the past couple of days, she has said some funny things:

I'm running fast! Like the wind!

I'm going to get my hair colored...like Aunt Becky did! (what color?) Red and blue!

At night when she's going to bed, I'll say good-night, etc. Then, right as I walk away, she'll say, "Mom! Mom! Mom! I wanna say hi!" or "Mom, I'm saying hi!" So, I dutifully come back and she goes, "Hi! Nuh-night!" It's almost all one word. Then, we're done. Love it.

I let her use my toothpaste b/c we're in Scotland and kids' toothpaste is low down on my list of priorities or things I remember when we're out. So, she used it. It was okay. Then, she insisted on drinking milk. She made a horrible face and said, "It's spicy!" Then, she told me, "I need kids' toothpaste. It's better. I like it." Seriously? She's 2! Just 2!

She also sings along to most songs on her Veggie Tales, which is pretty impressive. She still goes by Moe and told someone at the park this morning that she was Moe.

When Luke was crying the other day, she said, "He's just talkin', Mom!" She will also sometimes say, "Babies just cry sometimes..."

She swings Lamby and gives him the same directions I give her, such as "Put your feet in! Good job, Lamby! Yea, Lamby! Hold on, Lamby." Yesterday she even told Puppy dog not to touch ANYthing, then she "put him down for a nap" in Luke's bed. She even quietly closed the door and sneaked out (which I don't do :)) and told us to be quiet. (sidenote: when Luke gets up, she often says, "I don't have to be quiet anymore!")

This morning, my heart overflowing with love for her, I told her "I love, you Bekah." I wasn't expecting anything back, but she smiled at me and said, "I love you, too." It was very simple, but precious to my heart.

Luke update:

Luke has been transitioning fairly well- he was extremely happy for the first week and we were encouraged that the formula change was not affecting him badly. We also had to change from corn syrup to golden syrup for constipation. Unfortunately, he went from being plugged up to having bloody, runny stools...a lot of them! That has caused the worst nappy rash (ie diaper rash) I have ever seen and he howls in pain over it. :( I took him to the dr and we got cream for his bottom (and a new cream for his face)- all for free with socialized medicine! ;) Anyway, they are not too concerned, but they are culturing a sample and will let us know if anything is awry. He has been fussy and in pain, so we are hoping for a quick and easy solution! They think it's not the formula or an allergy, but rather a fissure (cut) on the inside from all the straining and subsequent diarrhea. So sad!!!!!

Rebes just asked me "not to type" anymore, so that's all for now! ;)

Seaton Park with new friends

Rebekah and I made new friends yesterday! Tammy (Hannah almost 4 and Abigail 2 mos) emailed us and asked us for a play date! See below! They are adorable and we had a blast! It was fun to see R interact with a friend again, altho I maintain that she has lost some of her social graces! Sadly, this sweet family is moving back to Michigan in December. :( You Iowans will appreciate that she was born in Pella!

We met at Seaton Park, the park I didn't have my camera for last time! It was a GORGEOUS day yesterday, tho my pics seem to represent the 10 minutes of clouds we had. :(

This was quite fun- Hannah believes that peter Rabbit lives in this great old knotted tree. There are bunnies from time to time, but Rebekah was sure she needed to see them right then! here she is eagerly expecting a bunny greeting.

This is the large park area that is so beautiful! Those 2 pointy things in the background are St. Machar's Church, which I will feature later in this post. (I downloaded backwards!) The whole walk probably takes 15 minutes.

This is part of the greene expanse.

This is in between the church and the green park area.

This is the steep path down from the church to the flowers and then to the park.

The sign on the way from the church to the park.

St. Machar's Church

A house on the way to the church

The road from campus to the church

Just some cute ones of R & L

Just wanted y'all to see some cute pics of Bekah and Luke. Luke really is doing so well! He smiles so much now and lights up when you smile back at him! he is starting to be aware of when I leave the room...yikes- not that again!! I can tickle him and get a full chortle! It's great. Bless his heart, he has had to change constipation med's and formula and seems to be doing better digestion-wise! PTL! His acne seems to be clearing up in that we aren't seeing too many new pimples, which is exciting!

Thanks, Shari, for the awesome outfit below! Unfortunately he pooped his way out of it, so he didn't get to wear it long... :(

Just a random shot- they don't fridge their eggs here and they're always brown. That is the only size bag of chocolate chips and was about $3. That vanilla is about the size of a thimble and was $2! Once again, how do these people live???

Our flat- we are on the 2nd floor on the left.

Our flat from the view of Bekah's swings...

At the hub- an eating area on campus. R LOVED running around this morning!

Deja Vu

Josh bought us a '99 Honda Accord today! Why, yes, that is exactly what we had in the States, except this one was purchased for the exact same amount of money we got for his old one! Plus, this one is in better shape and has only 40,000 miles on it! It is automatic, not exactly a plus here in the UK, but I still have to drive it on the other side of the road. For those of you wondering, yes, I was supposed to do without a car and Diet Coke. Neither has happened. Moving is stressful- a girl needs what she needs...we get it next week after they replace a couple tires, etc...have I mentioned that everything is so different here?

This is Josh's love letter to me...I can go to the store with 2 kids, rain or shine (ha ha), and we can travel around the UK at our own pace!

Our flat

These are the swings in front of our flat. I didn't take any pics of the outside, but those gray buildings in the back are them.

Dad- notice the trees...

This is the kitchen. I have a constant companion and helper! Underneath her is the ginormous washer. Seriously, those of you who have lived with me know that I am not a great launderer. I stuff as many garments in as I possibly can regardless of color. Since about 3 of Rebekah's shirts and maybe 1 Luke sock fit inside, the number of loads I do has multiplied exponentially!

Every room has a nice window at least...excepting the curtains, I bought all the blue and cream stuff, like the canisters and bowls...everything is tiny-sized: washer, dryer, fridge, freezer, oven...no wonder they're in good shape- no space to store it and have to walk to the store daily to get it all! ;)

This was a pointless patio, but the owners closed it in which is why we have a freezer and dryer! yea! The fridge and freezer are dorm-sized, tho...

The living room...we camp out here most of the time. Luke's room is literally out of this room to the left of the couch...

side note- this is also the eating area since there isn;t any space in the kitchen...

The bench under the window is officially Rebekah's! She claimed it the first day and I LOVE that she has a special place...you can also see the free tv we got! We don't have programming, but we use R's portable DVD player my parents got her for her bday...we are currently watching Arrested Development.

We have one bathroom. You have to pull a string to start the water heating system and there isn't a tub, so R and L get bathed in a rubbermaid bin at the bottom...interestingly, you can have either hot or cold water from the sink- 2 different faucets...no warm...

This is the view upon entering...your back is to the front door. There are 2 doors on your right- the bathroom is first, then the kitchen. There are 2 doors on your left. The first is R's room and the 2nd is our room. The door straight ahead is to the living area and L's room is off that to the left (not pictured b/c he was sleeping). So, it's long and skinny basically. And, that's not a baby gate, but a heater- all rooms have that and black-out shades...

Our room...with a nice closet

R's room...there is a lot of purple wall paper in Scotland...go figure...

So, that's it! There are pros and cons and we miss our house terribly, but we are glad to have it!