Christmas 2014

What a Christmas transatlantic trip looks like with a toddler and a newborn:

1 week to prepare;

1 week to recover, actually possibly 2;

2 weeks to get house straight and arrange all the new toys;

2 extra pieces of luggage for new toys;

2 full outfit changes for Ethan on two seperate vomiting episodes in car journeys (despite never ever having done this before); 

0 minutes of sleep achieved by me on either flight;

2 business class cabins drunk dry of milk by Ethan in attempts to get him to sleep

2 children tandemly carried off plane in slings (strollers are for wimps);

Endless 'jokes' about jetting off to a tropical beach for Christmas 2015.

But all totally worthwhile for two weeks with our family and close friends. It was great to allow everyone the chance to meet Joshua and even more exciting to meet our new nephew Leo.

Some photos below:

Who needs a stroller?

Ethan got his own business class seat for the first time (thankfully we weren't paying!)

Cousins, Leo and Joshua

Christmas Day at the Aspinalls

Lunch with the Newnes

Advent 2014

This year is the first year Ethan is starting to get Christmas. As a result, and as I'm excited to have someone to get excited with on Christmas Day, I'm trying to build momentum through advent.

This year the Elf has joined the family. Currently called 'Elf' as that's as inventive as two year olds get, he's here to help us get ready for Christmas. (Some people tell their kids the Elf is here to report back to Santa if they've been naughty or good but this is not a concept that we apply so our Elf is just here for some fun). Every morning Ethan has to find the Elf and then go and see what the Elf has put in his advent calendar overnight ( or the number box as he calls it, which is different to his chocolate box, a chocolate advent calendar given to him by a friend).

Here is our Elf waiting for Ethan on 1 December

And here are some of the things it has been up to:

Our Christmas tree also went up early and Ethan helped decorate it:

I took Ethan to see Father Christmas. However he refused to go anywhere near him so photographic evidence is lacking! Here is a photo of Ethan and Joshua after we got home:

We did go to the Mamaroneck village tree lighting to help us get in the Christmas mood:

 

Looking forward to flying back to the UK for Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2014

Last year we went to Boston for Thansgiving. This year we decided to host some friends; Caoihme, Dave, Lucy and Ben (our Irish friends) and Jo, Chris and Elsie (our Yorkshire friends). Impressively though we managed to have three Americans (Lucy, Ben and Joshua) and a South African (Elsie) by virtue of birth.

I'd intended on cooking a full meal until I finally listened to Caoihme who had pointed out many times this was crazy with a 5 week old baby. So I ordered a 'heat and serve' meal from a grocery delivery service. They made it very easy!

Which was particularly helpful given someone didn't want to sleep!

Matt had expressed serious concerns about the lack of food (in his perception). Thankfully the leftovers proved him wrong!

And just because it's cute, here's one of all the kids.

We had a lovely day, we are truly thankful to have made some good friends while here that make being far from home so much easier.

The birth of Joshua

I did a few posts through out my pregnancy on the prenatal care system in the US and wanted to reflect on the differences I found postnatally.

The birth went well. I laboured at home, consulting with my Doula via telephone. Mum, who was worried I was going to give birth on the living room floor, sent us off to hospital. We arrived at 730 where a nice security guard took one look at me outside the hospital doubled in pain (Matt was parking the car) grabbed a wheelchair and took me to the delivery ward without delay. Matt and my Douls Julie followed shortly. I was 8cm dilated on arrival and Joshua was born an hour later. I managed the natural, intervention free birth I had hoped for and most significantly got the skin to skin time I had missed with Ethan as he'd been rushed off to special care.

The post natal care was excellent. We managed to get a private room. Which is good because you spend a minimum of two nights in hospital as standard. Every time you pressed the buzzer you had attention immediately. The food was great. The security for the babies was impressive (electronically tagged, matching wrist bands with codes for parents and baby, each time Joshua was separated from us they checked all the codes marched etc).

Birth certificate documentation is completed in hospital (you need to have chosen name before you leave) which is very handy.

There was a lot of support if needed. A lactation consultant visited for example, checking breast feeding was going ok.

Overall it was very impressive and I was happy with the care I received at every stage. I am very glad I used the services of a Doula, not least because I also used their placenta encapsulation services (where your placenta is freeze dried and put in capsules for you to take) which meant I flew through the first few weeks with great energy levels and balanced hormones. For any cynics out there, just ask my mum who is now a massive advocate of this!!

Hello Joshua!

Our doula Julie

First family photo

The celebration dinner menu!

Our son the US citizen!

One year (and a bit) in

This post is late, it was due to be written on the 14 October but I was in a haze of pregnancy exhaustion and preparing myself for the arrival of Joshua.

We've been here a year now. And it seems like a good time to reflect on our experiences to date.

It's been a fun year. The USA is definitely a land of opportunity and there's been lots or fun things to do. I feel like we've a great selection of activities for Ethan within a short drive on a day to day basis. And good family days out with the zoo and children's museum all within a half hour drive.

We've made friends, good friends. Friends who when we come home will be painful to leave, especially for Ethan who is becoming inseparable to his friend Lucy. They're often mistaken for twins when we're out and they can bicker like siblings and boss each other round too.

Matt has enjoyed his job. Yes it's been busy and stressful but it's been a different experience to the London office.

We have a lot more time as a family. As we're living in a rental this doesn't consume time at the weekend. As we have left our family and friends behind we don't have the opportunities to do as much wih other people. Therefore we spend weekends together as a family which we are really enjoying. Ethan loves his time with Daddy at the weekends as he doesn't see him Monday through Friday. Currently they're doing swimming lessons together on a Sunday and Ethan likes helping him walk Bruno at the weekends.?

Culturally it is much more different than we expected. Speaking the same language does not make the transition as easy as we expected. The differences are subtle in places and significant in others. I am still uncomfortable with the divide that wealth creates here. It feels that if you have money the quality of life is better than the UK, but if you don't it is worse. I especially don't like the divide this creates in the health system!

Overall we are having a great time. We do miss our family and friends lots and have had to learn to detach ourselves from these emotions. We are very fortunate that we've had so many visitors this year and that modern technology allows us to stay in touch easily. 

Halloween

Our second Halloween! Our first doesn't seem that long ago so scary to think a year has passed.

Ethan went to two Halloween parties this year.

His first was at the Y and he went as an elephant, his second at My Gym and he went as Superman. Photos below. His friend Lucy is the lion and Elsie the ladybug.

Fall fair

October sees a big celebration of Fall and also is the run up to Halloween. It is a very traditional family activity to go apple picking and also to a pumpkin patch to pick your pumpkin. So we all decided to head to a local fall fair. It was a great afternoon out. They had a live band which Ethan loved, he got to go on a tractor ride, we ate donuts and picked a pumpkin. Here are some photos from the afternoon.