Mimi and Grandpa Arive

Mimi and Grandpa got to London early this morning! Eleanor was so excited for them to get here. The buzzer to the door woke us all up and I was a little worried that Eleanor would be in a bad mood (remember, she is NOT a morning person!). Thank goodness she was in a good mood and was thrilled to see my parents!! She had the biggest smile on her face for the first 5 minutes they were here! Amelia was excited to see them as well. She could not stop smiling at both of them. It was really cute watching all of their reactions.

We let my parents sleep for a few hours and then sent Eleanor in to wake them up. The sun was shinning and we knew we had to take advantage of it! We ate lunch at Strada which is right across from St. Paul's. After lunch we visited St. Paul's. Dad, John, Eleanor and I hiked the stairs to the Whisper Gallery and the Observation Gallery while my mom stayed with Amelia.

The Whispering Gallery name comes from the fact that a person who whispers facing the wall on one side, can be clearly heard on the other. We tested it out and sure enough, my Dad could hear John talking to him. Being up there helped us get our barrings a little better and the view was amazing!!

John and my Dad decided to go up to the very top of the dome and they said the view was even more spectacular! Eleanor was a little freaked out on the way down and I had to carry her down every single stair. I thought my legs were going to collapse before we made it down!

From St. Paul's we walked along the river to the London Eye. The walk was a great and we got to see a lot of amazing buildings along the way. My poor Mom was in a lot of pain. Her leg has been hurting her the past few weeks and the cold weather didn't help it much! Eleanor slept most the way. I'm so grateful for double strollers. There is noway I could survive London without one!! It is kind of a pain carrying up and down stairs, but it's totally worth it!

The London Eye was spectacular! We lucked out and made it just in time for the sunset. Again, it was great seeing more of London and it made us more anxious to get out and see everything. A couple in the capsule below us got engaged, which was fun to watch.

We finally made it home around 7pm and then John and my Dad headed off to Waitrose to get a few things for dinner. We knew my Dad would love going to the grocery store and find all sorts of fun treats. He introduced Eleanor to fruit cake and I can't believe how much she loved it. Disgusting, I know!

I couldn't believe what troopers my parent's were! They were exhausted when they finally went to bed! I'm so happy they came to visit!


Eleanor with her suvior from the London Eye.


Amelia slept the entire ride. She was the most perfect baby all day! She didn't fuss once! She makes going out so much more enjoyable. I only wish Eleanor was as easy as her!!





Walking along the Thames.

John's work is the buliding with brown and green on it.

She Did It!

Amelia has learned to roll over!! She was really close last night and then this afternoon she did it! When she rolls over she makes the cutest little grunting noises. She's all over the place now. Whenever I lay her down she thinks she has to roll over. The only problem is we only have a small rug in the family room and I don't want her rolling off of it onto the wood floor.

Lunch and St. Paul's

While living in Chile, almost any given day you could hear my Dad say, "Girls, can you believe we are here?". Well, I keep saying the same thing about us being in London. I can't believe we are so lucky to get to live here! We are having a great time!

Today we got to meet up with John for lunch again and enjoy another day of sunshine. We went to a great place called Japanese Canteen. A few guys took John there the other day. Its so nice being able to walk to John's work in less then 10 minutes. I've gotten pretty good at maneuvering a double stroller on the crowded streets. The most confusing part of walking around is looking for cars when crossing the streets. My first reaction is to look to the left, but here the cars are on the opposite side of the street so you have to look to the right. I really don't think I could ever drive in this city. I'd be so confused!!

After lunch the girls and I hung out on the steps of St. Paul's. (John's work is right across the courtyard from St. Paul's). Eleanor had a blast chasing around the pigeons and running up and down the stairs. I tried getting her to wear her heavier coat, but she said it was "freaking" bugging her! So since she didn't have her warm coat, Eleanor started getting cold so we didn't stay out too long.

When we got back from lunch it was nice coming home to a clean flat! I really could get used to having a house keeper!

I just got off the phone with Amy and she dropped my parent's off at the airport a few minutes ago. I can't wait for them to get here!! Hopefully we'll have a few days of sunshine while they are here!

I just spoke with Amy and she dropped my parents off at the airport. I can't wait for them to get here! It's going to be so much fun going to all the sites with them!

Our Lazy Day

It's has been raining off and on today and I didn't feel like bundling up the little girls, so we are had a lazy day. Eleanor was up last night from 1:00-4:00 playing. I thought she had totally adjusted to the time change, but I guess I was wrong. I'm sure our neighbors loved hearing her singing and playing at such hours! It was actually really cute listening to her play. I was laying in our bed and could hear her in the family room playing with her window decals. She was pretending to be all three different characters and had a different voice for each. I love how she can entertain herself!

I hate to admit this, but I'm really glad we have such good t.v. here! They have at least 6 different kid channels. I have to be careful not to let Eleanor watch t.v. all day!! I'm glad I thought to bring watercolors and play dough and allowed Eleanor to bring a little suitcase full of toys!

It's been fun watching Eleanor play with Amelia. Amelia adores her! Eleanor loves to get her smiling and laughing. I feel so lucky to have such cute little girls!

We had quite the adventure tonight!! We tried going to the grocery store last night, but got there a few minutes after it closed. So, we decided to meet up when John got of work and go to the store. Well, when I got outside it started POURING!! It's a good thing I had brought the stroller weather cover. By the time I met up with John at the meat market (which is just down the end of our street) I was soaked!! We debated weather to just go home or go to the store. We decided we'd better just brave it and make the walk. It wasn't actually all that bad because a good portion of the walk is in an underground tunnel, but we were pretty wet by the time we got to the store.

So stocked up on a lot of food! I had no idea England had such good "puddings" ( I didn't know that's what they call desserts)! We've had delicious rice pudding, custard, tarts and pies. We've also have had great cheese and my favorite, Spanish chorizo. It's a good thing we have to walk every where we go!

I wish I would have gotten a photo of all of our good stuffed in the stroller. It's amazing how much you can pack in there! I'll have to remember on our next trip to Waitrose.

Eleanor's Surprise

These were well worth the £7. Eleanor has played and played with these little wall decals. It's fun for her because we are up on the third floor and she can look across at the people in the building or all the people walking on the streets. She got a little frustrated the other day because no one was waving to her.

She loves looking for John each night when he comes home from work.

On the Streets

On the way to meet John for lunch, Eleanor spotted a store with squishy things (window decals) and could not stop talking about them all afternoon. So, after we got home from lunch and Amelia woke up from her nap, I took the girls out again and we went to the little shop. Its a cute little store about 3 doors down from our flat.

After her big purchase we went out behind our building and played a little in the courtyard. Our flat is the third set of windows above Eleanor's head. I love looking down into this courtyard and watching all the people. I still can't believe we get to live in such a cool city!!

Our Flat

We made it!

Here it is, 1:20 am at I'm sitting in our family room with Amelia in our flat in London. I find it kind of funny that she's the only one having jet lag. John and Eleanor went to bed at 10 pm and I wish I could fall asleep as I type. It was quite the experience getting here and we are so thrilled to finally start this little adventure.

Our flight from Salt Lake to Minneapolis was delayed due to a man having a heart attack on the flight so we missed our connecting flight to London. They put us up in a hotel in Minneapolis and Eleanor thought she was living the high life!! John's was the lucky suitcase we choose to carry on with us, so he was the only one to get a fresh change of clothes! Luckily, I had packed a few extra diapers for Amelia and by the time we finally made it to London, I had one to spear!

We've discovered that Eleanor does not enjoy waiting in lines, especially hour long lines at airports, but she enjoys riding on John's carry on and always wants to go faster! We also discovered that the little stink must of had a enormous growth spurt the day before we came because her shoes no longer fit!! She got away with just wearing her socks all throughout 3 airports! Disgusting, I know, but I didn't want to deal with blisters! Both girls did AMAZING on the flights. Neither one cried ONCE! I've never gotten so many compliments on how cute and well behaved my children are (Good thing we didn't travel two weeks ago! Eleanor is just starting to come out of a really rotten stage!!)

Since we did not make our flight from Minneapolis they rerouted us to JFK the next morning. We had a 4 hour layover at JFK where we enjoyed a nice long lunch at Chilies and tried to keep the girls awake before taking off. Eleanor was tired but we managed to keep her awake and Amelia feel asleep about 30 minutes before we boarded the plane.

I was so amazed at how well Eleanor and Amelia travelled. Amelia seriously made not one cry!! I can't count how many people commented on what a cute and good baby is she. Eleanor got a little ornery when we first got on the plane but once the plane started moving she was out! She slept for about 3 hours and then spent the rest of the trip watching movies.

When we got to London we found out our luggage did not make our flight. They delivered 2 of 5 tonight. John was hoping it would be the bag with his work shoes so he wouldn't have to go out and buy new ones. He got his wish! So, instead of buying new shoes he had to go out and get some diapers. We all couldn't go with him because our stroller didn't arrive and I didn't think Eleanor would be up to walking around in the rain. Now, let's just hope the rest of our luggage arrives tomorrow.

Eleanor got to experience her first taxi ride and couldn't wait to stand on the street and yell, "Taxi". Don't ask me where she learned that one! Unfortunately, that's not how things are done at Paddington Station. While in the taxi she asked if I wanted to hear her hotel song and then she sang about our hotel and how we are never leaving it and how we get to climb up the stairs. She was so excited to finally get to the hotel, but the poor thing fell asleep just a few minutes before we got there and she was OUT!

It was such a relief to finally get to our flat and be done with airports, lines, delays, airplane seats and all the other enjoyments of traveling! Our flat is nicer then I had expected. It has two good size bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big family room and a nice kitchen.

Okay, I think Amelia is finally falling to sleep, so I'm off!

Sweetness

I've been busy this morning getting things ready for Saturday and in the middle of all the wildness, I walked into the family room to find this. It melted my heart. There is so much about this that I just LOVE. I love that they are holding hands, I love Eleanor's hat, I love that Amelia is totally watching the movie with Eleanor, I love how Eleanor is leaning into Amelia and I even love the mess on the ground. I can't help but feel so much gratitude for my life and my sweet family. In the news this week there has been a story about a family in Layton who lost two sweet girls this week. I can't even fathom what that family is going through. It makes me remember to enjoy every minute with my precious little girls.

For the Record

Yesterday while leaving the house I asked Eleanor to turn off the television. She first told me she didn't know how but then said, "Oh wait. You just have to sit on the remote and it will turn off".

Last night John asked Eleanor if she wanted to go to Little Ceasars with him and her response was, "Oh YES! I've always wanted my very own pair of little scissors!".

Too Many Changes

I got a little depressed this morning after putting away Amelia's pack and play. I set up her crib a few weeks ago and have been putting her in it off and on, but this week she has made the official move! She is also wearing 3-6 month clothes and just graduated to size 2 diapers.

Not only is she growing, but she is developing the cutest personality. She loves to talk! The other day she gabbed the entire 45 minute ride home from John's parent's house. If she's crying, all you have to do is smile and talk to her and she'll stop crying and give you a HUGE smile!

She has also found her little hand and loves staring at it. It's like she's discovered the coolest thing in the world!! I love looking over and seeing her totally enthralled with her little hand.

I'm afraid she is taking after her big sister's sleep habits. For the past two days Amelia has not napped much. Yesterday she took a total of two 45 minute naps and today she has had two 25 minute naps. Aghr!!

I'd have to say the best thing about this little girl are her chubby little cheeks and legs! She gets plenty of kisses on those cheeks from all of us each day!!

PM Around Our Home

John and Eleanor have quite the relationship. They adore each other. Every morning Eleanor looks for John and asks when he'll be home from work. When ever she hears the garage door open she stops what she is doing and either hides from John or goes into the laundry room to scare him. Poor John gets mauled all night. Tonight they enjoyed squishing each others faces.

I am very happy to report that Eleanor has been to bed before 9 pm for three days in a row. I've decided she needs a bedtime like most kids her age. It's not uncommon for her to stay up past midnight. These past few days I have not allowed her to take a nap and it's made all the difference!

I am loving putting Eleanor to bed. Instead of wanting me to read her stories, she prefers my made up stories. She tells me who she wants in the story and what the story is about. The tricky part is when she wants a repeat of a story from a few nights prior. There is no way I can remember all the little stories we come up with. Sometimes they get pretty funny!

The Waiting Game

Here we are three days after our scheduled departure date for London, and we are still in Utah! John's visa didn't get here in time so we had to reschedule our flights for this Saturday. The brilliant people working on his visa sent part of his application to NYC and the other portion to LA. They say he should get it Wednesday or Thursday, but I'm not holding my breath!

This past month has been a little stressful! Plans for London have gone from a six month to three month stay and now its looking more like a five week stay. There is a new law in the UK that would tax John's bonus up to 50% and to avoid paying the tax, Goldman wants John to do up to three 30 day stays.

Poor Eleanor wakes up every morning asking if we are going to London today. Hopefully this Saturday will be the day!

On the positive side, we have had a great morning. Eleanor woke up in a great mood (this does not happen too often!) and wanted me to take some photos of her crazy faces. Amelia got to enjoy a lot of tummy time. Yesterday I realized that Eleanor was rolling over at this age and decided I should probably start putting Amelia down a few times a day. I seriously could hold this baby all day!

V-Day Cards

I'd have to say Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays. Growing up my Mom always had cute little gifts for us and my Dad always got us girls flowers. Now I get to be the one buying cute gifts for my little girls and I love it!!

I had great plans for the girl's cards this year, but I'm running out of time and couldn't get them done before we leave for London. I guess I'll get to it next year. I still wanted to do something, so here's what they will be mailing/handing out.

Fisher Price Stroller

Amelia's first stroller ride was given to her by Eleanor in a Fisher Price toy stroller. They both loved it! The best part was that Amelia was totally content just hanging out in there. She even played with the little hanging toys. I kind of wish I could just take tote this stroller around and let Eleanor do all the work!

Eleanor and Bear

I seriously wonder how these two are going to be apart for six weeks! This is how I found these two the other morning. I love their little friendship.

No Longer A Newborn!

I was playing with Amelia this afternoon and realized that she isn't a little newborn any longer. She has has been so fun these past few weeks. It doesn't take much to get her to smile and I can even get the cutest little giggles out of her by tickling or making kissing noises to her. She has got the best cheeks for kissing and I love cuddling her little body! I feel so lucky to be this little girls mom!!

Amelia is only a few days old in these first two photos and three months in the last two.