Christmas Break 2016

 ^^The best we could do for a family photo. 

 ^^Meeting Santa for the first time.

 

^^We made tons of cookies - peanut butter blossoms, rugelach & chocolate chip blondies.

^^More cookies & meeting Santa for the second time.

 ^^Auntie Tiff visited and we made a gingerbread house.

 ^^Followed by Elevenses inside a gingerbread house!

^^Gingerbread everything. 

^^Amelie looking guilty after decorating the giant gingerbread man.

 ^^A day trip to Oxford.

 ^^The dining hall which inspired the one in Harry Potter. 

 ^^The baking continues - these for Santa. 

 ^^Amelie loved decorating. 

 ^^Amelie wanted to know why Santa didn't eat all of his cookies. Plus Christmas dinner. 

^^Very happy to feed the ducks. 

After 2+ weeks of family time, it's back to the regular schedule with a blog post on Clara soon if the girls will stay napping a little longer. 

Amélie Turns 2!

I can't believe my baby girl is already two! She turned two on Monday and we celebrated last weekend at "Nonno Nina's" house. I opted not to have a big birthday party for her this year, but we had fun doing just something small with family.

 ^^My balloon color selection was a bit off, but Amelie still enjoyed them!

 ^^Nina as Amelie calls her Nonna made tagliatelle with ragu. She ate tons! 

 ^^Little kissy face, she was so excited when we were all singing happy birthday to her. Above is a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. 

 ^^Last year, she had baby cake, but this year she got the good stuff. 

 ^^Her toy car!

 ^^Amelie trying to break open the pinata. 

^^Andrea definitely had more fun with it. 

Here's a little update on the little miss:

EAT
Some favorites currently: 
picking out the carrots in her chicken soup
mango
brioche
sweet potato fries
oatmeal/overnight oats
ham & cheese

SLEEP 
So Amélie's been co-sleeping with us since the end of last year and we kind of love it though we know she'll need to go to her big girl bed soon. It ended up happening when she was sick one week and since we were both working and desperate for a full night's sleep, in to the bed she came. She hasn't left since and she sleeps through the night mainly from 8ish to 6ish. She wakes up in the most abrupt way, shouting, "UUUPPppp, UUUpppp" to me and is immediately ready to start her day. I wish she would wake up more pleasantly though she will occasionally wake me up with kisses.

As far as moving her back to room in her big bed, we don't really have a plan, though we probably should since the baby is coming very soon. We'll see how it goes, Andrea jokes that we'll just have to get a huge bed :)

PLAY & GROW
Amélie's number one obsession is Peppa Pig. She knows all the characters, has seen every episode a million times and is just in love. I bought her a Peppa bathing suit for her birthday and the smile and excitement on her face when she saw it will stay with me forever. Her other favorite activities are painting, playing with playdough or playfoam (amazing stuff by the way), picking flowers and making tea. We bought her a tea set in America and she is so cute when she asks if we want tea. She's careful to fill up the teapot with water from her play kitchen sink then ask if we'd like milk or sugar. It's the cutest.

Amélie has always been really sweet, but her girly personality is coming out even more now. She's always very particular about certain things now like deciding which shoes she'd like or which cup she wants to drink her water from. She's also very demanding at times and will whine when she doesn't get her way, but I hope she'll grow out of that phase soon.

Sometimes I just can't help but stare at her pretty little face and wonder how she's grown up so fast. She can count to 10, sing her ABCs, twinkle tinkle little star and get her point across to us most time. I'm so amazed at how much she understands and how many new words she has learned.

Our next challenge to tackle to potty training, which I'm sure will be tons of fun.

Happy birthday Amélie!

US Trip: Pumpkin Patch & Apple Picking

I love fall in New England. It's definitely my favorite season of the year so I am happy that we were able to visit just as the leaves were starting to change color and apple picking season was in full swing. The Friday before the end of our trip was a perfect sunny day with a visit to Lyman Orchards - my favorite place to go apple picking. My family has been going ever since I could remember and I'm sure we'll continue to bring Amélie as she grows up too.

^^Amélie was seriously not impressed with the pumpkins. We couldn't even get one smile out of her with all of the silly faces, singing and dancing we tried to entertain her with. She did just wake up from a nap in the car and found herself in a field full of pumpkins or maybe it was because I dressed her in white pants that were too small for her? 

^^"Sighhh - why is mommy making me do this?"

^^A on the hunt for some good looking apples. 

^^Amélie was kind of interested, maybe? 

^^I made us take a family pic, several actually. 

^^Such a beautiful and clear day in Connecticut

^^Tiff and A carried the apples, I carried the baby and then it was off to the Apple Barrel to buy some treats. 

^^Just chilling with some pumpkins. 

^^Our fall family photo, that exposed belly is too cute. 

^^So many pumpkins! I love the white ones. 

^^Waiting in line for some cider donuts, though I wanted one of everything. 

^^Just hanging out with daddy while mommy buys pies and cider (the American kind!) 

^^The apples on Tiff's table

The next day, it was already time to leave. Our bags were just at the weight limit mainly filled with baby clothes and toys for Amélie. We had a last little get together on Friday night with friends, way too much food and a fire to make s'mores. We wanted to go to the diner the next morning, but we too lazy and opted for a big breakfast at Tiff's instead - Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice bread made into French toast, yes, please with bacon, extra crispy and why not throw in some left over crab rangoons and potato skins too. 

^^Exhausted and taking a nap on daddy before leaving for the airport. 

^^Finally home with a huge pile of clothes and toys, though all washed and organized now! 

and that's it for our trip to America, I already can't wait to go back for our next visit. 

US Trip: The Plane & Travel Tips

We just got back from our first family trip to America last Sunday! The picture above was us about halfway through the flight. I was pretty nervous about our first flight with Amélie. Though I know she's usually a very chilled out baby, I just wasn't sure what to expect of being up in the air in a confined space for more than 7 hours. I have to report, she was the best little flier ever. In fact, A and I thought it was even easier flying with her because 1.) people are extra nice to you when you have a little baby 2.) we were able to sit in the economy plus seats = tons of extra legroom for us plus a bassinet for the baby to sleep 3.) keeping a baby entertained makes a long flight go by faster.

First off, we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the airport. I also like to round down the time of the flight, so even if it's at 10:45am, I'll tell A the flight is at 10:00, but I think he's now caught on to my little trick :) We used a valet service to park our car rather than hauling all of our luggage + stroller + baby on the long term parking shuttle, which was less expensive plus so convenient. I put Amélie in her Baby K'tan (best decision ever over checking the stroller at the gate) and had the Baby Bjorn on hand in case A needed to carry her. Amazingly we only brought my diaper bag plus a tote bag as our carry ons. I love the large tote we used as a carry on, it has a great zipper compartment on the bottom, which fit all of Amélie's stuff within easy reach.

After security, we found a restaurant where we could all eat comfortably before the flight. When I am travelling by myself, I usually rush to the gate to find a seat and stay there, but finding a comfortable place to relax and walking to the gate right before boarding was definitely the way to go this time around. We did a quick diaper change and before we knew it, we were already in line to board the plane. By the way, did you know they stopped boarding families with young children first? Not a big deal, but I do like getting on the plane first for overhead compartment space. 

For more than half of the trip, Amélie was awake. Keeping her entertained wasn't so bad because there were so many new things to look at plus a new toy to play with. As you can see from above, the bassinet was also used as extra storage space for our stuff. Bringing the nursing pillow was a great decision. I thought it would be too bulky to fit around me in the tiny airplane seat, but it was just right and made nursing Amélie more comfortable for both of us. 

Above is little Amélie's second nap on the flight. I was even able to watch a movie since she was napping in the bassinet. She was great throughout the whole flight to America and back to the UK. The flight back was a little bit easier since we left around her bedtime. She slept most of the way and only cried for literally a few seconds two times. Though I tried to nurse her during take off and landing, she only takes about 10 minutes to eat and the whole take off/landing process can be much more than that so for the remainder of the time, she was Mrs. Chattypants - like SO loud, but I'll take that over crying any day. 

We were so happy to finally land and arrive in America (top left) and have Amélie meet her grandparents (and Ginger the dog!) for the first time. The next part of travelling I was worried about was jetlag. Amélie adjusted as I thought she would (though it took a week and were ready to go back home). The first couple of nights she was up at 3:00/4:00 in the morning, but so were we so that was ok. Towards the end of the week she was sleeping about 7 to 7 instead. We are still adjusting now back at home, but are just about back on schedule. With that said, more posts to come about the rest of our trip in the following week, I've just been so busy to getting us all situated/preparing for our move later this month. 

Travel Tips

1. Reserve a bulkhead seat with a bassinet if you can 
2. Use a baby carrier in the airport, check your stroller with your bags
3. Do a quick diaper change right before you get on the plane 
4. Baby + PJs on the plane = comfy, warm and easy to change 
5. Try to time feeding with take off and landing to help with ear pressure
6. Bring a nursing pillow if you are breastfeeding (this doubled up also as a comfy place for Amélie to hang out), I used this travel roll bag so compress the pillow and save some space
7. Bring one new toy to surprise your baby during the flight, this Lamaze one is great
8. Pack an extra outfit for yourself and baby in an ziploc bag in case of any accidents 
9. Pack snacks for yourself (I brought chocolate covered pretzels & kale chips and bought a bottle of water after security because breastfeeding makes me so thirsty!) 
10. Prepare yourself for a total crying session and try not to worry about everyone around you. A and I talked about this before hand and were ready to take turns calming Amélie down if necessary.