Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Some pics from Edinburgh

Our recent visitor has been kind enough to share some pics of C in Edinburgh:

At Princes Street Gardens (you can see the Castle in the background), C has made much progress this summer...in May she wouldn't even touch the bouncy horse or dragon...now she likes it as long as it doesn't go crazy!

At the Botanical Gardens...don't the hedges look like the maze from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!  So flipping cool!
Walking and holding hands at the Botanical Gardens.  So flippin' sweet!

One of our fav. activities: Watching the inter-city trains and making them honk!  Castle in the background!
YEA! The trains honked!!!!  I have a ton of pics of her dancing with excitement! She loves it!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Toddler Trauma

Oh, we are hitting those fun toddler years, people.

We had a week long visitor from Austria with her child, who is 2 months older than Cdubs.  She is more advanced in many ways and is usually a good motivator for Cdubs to walk, talk, and do more.  However, this is biting us in the butt.  With 7 days of nothing but whining and pitching fits from this kid, C has learned that this can happen?!?!?!   While C was an almost perfect angel while the guests where here, now that they are gone, she has gone into meltdown mode.  That might be part of the getting used to not having visitors around, some emerging molars, a cold or whatever...but it all boils down to

NO FUN!

She is learning all about time outs
and I am learning a big lesson in patience.

Kdubs came home from a trip (while our visitors were here) and said, "What happened to our sweet baby?"  I said, "she's becoming a toddler, watch out!"

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Answered Prayers

So my last post, many moons ago, was me whining about being alone.  And anyone can scroll through my posts even when they are infrequent and see that our lifestyle can get a bit lonesome.

But the Monday after my last post, I decided that I would take Cdubs to the big kid park (which is usually too crazy for us) just to get some air.  And I prayed and hoped for maybe a half talk with a mom or two. 

Well, God was listening because I met two wonderful moms there that day with two great kids. And one of them has become a great source of entertainment for me and Cdubs.  She invites us to many different play groups and outings, which is great...but even better?  Her child and C get along like gangbusters.  To the point where C goes to the door and knocks on it saying, "I WALK WITH *insert kids name* WALK!"  The other bonus is that I love talking to this new friend and her friends because they actively work to talk about real things and not just mom war stories. 

I am sorry for the lack of posts and the lack of pictures (they kind of go hand in hand)...but we left our camera hookup cord in Vienna.  So no pictures of Edinburgh till then, I guess.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

All by myself

Don't want to be All BY MYSELF-ANY MORE!
(sing it!)

Okay, so Kdubs is off for another trip, and this is mine and Cdubs first time alone in a foreign country.  I really love Edinburgh, and I am not nearly as paranoid as I get in other places...but I don't love it.  For several reasons, #1 is the shower.  I have a weird thing about showering by myself.  It comes from too many friends/family having very bad, sometimes fatal accidents in the shower.  So, to me, it is a justified fear.

I never give Kdubs a lot of credit for entertaining me all the time.  He works from home and he works A LOT...by himself...secluded.  But, now that he is not here...IT IS TO QUIET...even with my husband who is often called "quiet K," it just doesn't feel right. 

We also have not met anyone here, really.  And with all our travels and visitors, making friends in 90 days seems moot.  But I do miss the social interaction.

So, for that and losing the baby weight.  I have signed up for yoga and pilates classes (not that I can do them when Kdubs is gone this week).  And I have to say, I am really enjoying yoga.  Much more than I thought.  I am such a spaz and so silly that I didn't think I could get into it.  But 2 things have come to mind about that...1.) don't do yoga with a friend--it just gives me someone to laugh with and 2.) I think I may have matured and appreciate the finer points of my body after giving birth.   That also said...I think that it will totally help me go complete med-free next time....that is if the next kid doesn't come out with her hand on her head like she is talking on the phone...cause that hurts mommy!

Cdubs is adorable and awesome...and tiring and ridiculous.  But she is funny, and I love how she is talking and signing like crazy.

oh, yeah, I am teaching her baby sign language...a.) cause it helps with communication and b.) cause I loved learning it throughout my life and want to keep up and teach her.

Right now, she is getting down, "nice to meet you" and banana...even though no one but me would know what she is saying.

Also, she is going through a crazy shy phase right now.  Most babies, i've read, go through the stranger danger phase at 6months.  Not her.  She has never met someone she didn't love to talk to, or wave to, or look at.  It is still true, but if someone looks or talks to her...she gets all shy and hides behind me.  Plus side: she is easier to keep track of walking around and I'm less scared she won't run away from into some strangers arm for just a smile.

Lots of other things going on...but that is more in depth.  I should write more...and less extemporaneously...is that the word? sporadic?  crazy?  yeah...something like that.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Tips for Flying with infant

In the hopes that I will get to meet another blogger IRL overseas, I have been refining my traveling with baby in airplanes tips:

I first made this list for a friend traveling with a 4mo old for a short 2 hour trip.  But it holds for overseas as well.

1.) to help prevent airborne germs from getting all-up-on Cdubs, I do two things:  a.) spray saline solution in her nose before and after the flight (several times after).  You can get baby saline spray at babysrus or any drug store.  They also have regular ocean spray saline solution.  b.) coat the outside of his nostrils with vaseline before you take off.  I put a few q-tips in a baggie with a dab of vaseline in the corner (I haven't found travel size vaseline yet).  ***I have found travel size Aquaphor, which works great.

2.) Pack a diaper for every hour you are traveling. 

3.) receiving blankets are great for all sorts of things...spit up, cold, nursing cover. 

4.) For a longer flight, i'd say take a boppy. I liked it for my long flights because she would sleep on it from nursing and on. 

5.) a new toy is always good (he may be a little young to really know the difference but it does seem to hold the attention a little longer).

6.) if you like your a baby carrier, wear it through security.  It is super easy.  I always use my babyhawk or Action Baby Carrier.

7.) Are you bringing a stroller?  or getting him his own seat?  There are some guidelines on those.  If he is sharing a seat with you, ask for the baby seat belt when you board because 9 times out of 10 Cdubs was asleep when they handed me one, so I had to wake her to put it on. They may say, "in a minute." Just say, "oh I just wanted to get it before he falls asleep."  they usually hurry it up then. 

8.) I usually disinfect the whole seat with alcohol wipes...now that she is a toddler, I don't...cause she gets into everything anyways

9.) I find that the hanging make up bags are great to put all of the travel necessities things in because you can hang it up on the seat in front of you and you don't have to worry about diving under the seat or getting in the overhead if you need something fast.  (I usually fill the pockets with a receiving blanket, diapers and a small pack of wipes, pacifiers, pacifier wipes (great for anything that falls on the floor), an extra onesie, socks, etc).

10.) This is a big one: they need to suck on something when taking off and landing, but here is the trick to know when to start (because in my opinion if they suck, esp. bfing or a bottle, too early then they will be full by the time they need to pop their ears).  Once the flight attendents are told to buckle up, THEN give them something.  I was and always will be tempted to start earlier but then I am forcing her to swallow by the time we are at cruising altitude or landed.

11.) I carry on a TON of stuff and never need it. But it always feels good to have it.

12.) I never used the bathrooms on the plane to change her, but if you want to, you should ask the flight attendant when you board which ones have the changing station.  I just make Kdubs stand up and use his seat (and then he throws the diaper in the bathroom).

13.) Oh for international flights when you have/need to take a meal...it is almost impossible to get the tray down when you have the baby in your lap, so we had one of us hold Cdubs and the flight attendant put two dinners on top of each other on Kdub's tray: he ate and then we switched trays and I ate off of his tray table...we couldn't figure out the switch the baby and the trays.  We are not graceful like that.

****4 mo. is probably to small to fall for the iphone but if you are traveling with him when he is older...it is gold!

if you ever travel with an infant hope these tips help.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

To play catch up

Since there has been some time between blog posts, I probably should play catch up...so I do not forget what happened (seems hard to believe that I would).

We moved back to Vienna in early spring '11, we got hooked back up with our local babies group, and Cdubs kept on growing.  It was hard to be away from home and always changing, as usual, but we were all doing pretty well.  I did not blog because we were doing okay with each other but were at ends about what we are going to do next.  They are looking at relocating Kdubs again because Austria will not give me a visa, and we have decided that being apart for long periods is no longer acceptable.  So we were "discussing," more like fretting.  We finally came up with the idea of coming to Edinburgh for the summer so we can still be legally not in Austria (or in the Schengen region) for 90 days.  Not going home to the US meant not having to adjust time zones and not having to spend weeks apart. So now, we are officially living our lives in 90 day increments.

90 days-Vienna
90 days-Edinburgh
90 days-Vienna
90 days-States for Holidays +

Next 90 days cycle--still unknown but probably not Vienna

Funny enough, in all our travels, Cdubs never really got sick.  She would get snuffly from teething or have an ezcema flare up, but nothing worth a doctor's call.  Until May...She had a bad night and seemed warm, but I attributed it to her sleep sack and the weird changing weather of spring.  Woke up and she still seemed warm...so we took her temperature.  between 100.5 and 101.   All my books said, treat it and don't call the Dr. unless something else seems wrong.

So we gave her some Tylenol and she took an easy day.  Halfway through the day, Kdubs suggested putting her in a lukewarm bath, but I said, "oh it isn't that bad yet."  I wish I had listened.


Telling her peeps she is OK
It turns out our thermometer was not accurate.  She was probably running a fever closer to 102 and 103.  Around 4pm, she started having these little starts--she would fall and cry or convulse a little.  It was so quick, I almost didn't catch it and Kdubs never did.  But I knew something was wrong.  So we ran to our Dr.'s office in Vienna (literally ran, since we didn't have a car)....and it was closed.  I had called the wrong dr.  So we took a cab to another dr that we found somehow (I really don't remember how I found the number).  Again, Cdubs seemed okay but warm to Kdubs.  We got to the new dr. realizing it wasn't our first dr. and begged her to see us.  She examined her, said she had a bit of a fever but if she was having seizures, we should go to the hospital (which she wasn't sure of and Kdubs kept saying, "lets just go home").  Right then, she convulsed and bigger than ever.  I panicked and probably yelled more than I should have at the dr. who was on the phone.   They gave her an emergency seizure suppressant and called an ambulance.  It took all I had to not say to Kdubs, "SEE? TOLD YOU!" We had several days in the hospital for monitoring.  She would not break her fever and the worst of it was very scary...the best of it was endlessly watching Elmo (herefornow to be known as Red Devil) and Lady Gaga.

Her Favorite: Daddy Recliner

It was not a fun time, but it did teach us a few things:
a.) that we can survive in a foreign hospital (one of my biggest fears)
b.) that you should never take your family's health for granted (knew it but didn't KNOW it)
c.) that prayer is a power thing (at the worst times, I had a peace that I can only attribute to God and all of our friends praying for us--my mom called my godmother and her daughter who have the largest prayer phone trees in the state).
d.) To just appreciate being together and let God sort out the rest.

So that is what I am doing...and keep reminding myself to do.  Every day.

Oh and it taught me to have and use several thermometers!!!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Where in the World is TRS?

I'm in Edinburgh

It has been FOREVER!  But I have been coming and going and finally settled in Scotland for the summer.

It is a long story of how and why, but the good news is that we all get to be together as a family for the whole summer. And it is an English speaking country...bonus!

Cdubs is huge and wonderful and EXTREMELY talkative...


We have gone through some medical stuff the past couple of months, but she is still huge and wonderful and crazy:
Favorite Words: No-No, Good Girl, and everyone in the families names (Lolly, Poppop, etc.)...and every character on Sesame street (Oscar, Abby, Elmo being favorites). turtle, door, Num-Nums...are others.

She loves to say How big she is (raises her hands over head-SO BIG), how smart she is (pats her head-So Smart), how sweet she is (pats her cheeks-SO SWEET), how nice she is (hugs herself-SO NICE).  

She is the best and sweetest and most dynamic little girl. I am one lucky mom.