Work

So I've been to work twice now, and other than being so exhausted I can barely hold my head up, it's feeling pretty good. I have been in training for most of the two days, and have another day like that tomorrow, but I also have some work which I am enjoying doing for the most part. I really like the people I work with in London.

Here are some funny things about working here:

* The kitchens are all called tea points.

* They have milk, tea, coffee (sort of, it's Nescafe), sugar and little tea spoons available for all in each tea point.

* They had a lunch for me that had a full bar and wine served with each course. (I did not drink, as then I would have surely slept for the rest of the afternoon.) And the lunch was in one of the conference rooms. And there was a button that one of the partners pushed to tell the waiter to come clear the dishes and bring the next course.

* People actually do say "blimey." People also say "bits and bobs" and "bloody hell."

* There are no vending machines in the office at all.

Lizzie has been very upset when I leave in the mornings but seems to have fine days once she gets over it. Tommy doesn't even seem sad when I leave. I'm sad to leave them, but perk up by the time I get to work. Eli seems unaffected.

And that's all for now.

Adjusting...

Our new nanny started on Monday, and I'm fairly certain I freaked her out a little bit when I burst into tears about halfway through the day. She was so nice: "I understand, I'm sure I would feel the same way" as I tried to explain that I was just sad to leave the kids, that my tears had nothing to do with her. The kids seem to adore her completely; Tommy even listened to her and scooted nearer to her than normal when she did the school run on her own.

And yet. (EVERY blogger transitions with "and yet." Or maybe it's just the bloggernacle?) I went to a garden party (accurate name: in the nicest communal garden I've been in, complete with sand pit and security guard) this afternoon and chatted with a few other mums while the kids played, and I felt proud (or some similar feeling) when I announced that I wouldn't see them on Monday; that I was going back to work. (I also ate two cupcakes as Tommy told me that his cupcake hurt his head and he couldn't eat it.)

I shall post again next Friday to let you all know how it goes. I hope you are all well!

(And for those of you who know her, Sarah Wedemeyer is having a boy! Isn't that exciting? I have come to believe that one of each is PERFECT.)

Lizzie's outfit

Grandma Sid gave Lizzie this outfit, and this is Lizzie's first time wearing it. The weather hasn't been great, and I've been saving it for a special day. But this morning it seemed silly to me that it was still hanging in her closet, and since it is supposed to be 71 degrees, I decided to put Lizzie in it. And it's a good thing. She received FIVE compliments this morning while dropping Tommy at school. So I took these (not very good) photos on the way home so all of you could see her.

A couple of cute, random pictures

Tommy and Aunt Sue at the carnival:

The Superman cape sewn by Grandma Nancy is very popular these days.

How to feed your small children any type of red sauce. Naked, obviously.

See the marinara on Tommy's upper arm?

On the way to football. He has swimming goggles and one of my elastic headbands around his mouth? He said he was Ben 10? No idea.

I scream, you scream...

At St. James's park on Sunday, I was overcome by something and suggested to Eli that we get Tommy an ice cream cone. Eli said fine, but that I'd better get one for Lizzie too, as she doesn't react well when she doesn't get exactly what anyone else gets (including cocktails, wine and coffee though we obviously don't give in on those things). They both ate the whole cone, with minimal help from me or Eli.

Again, my pictures are out of order, and this is Tommy running laps after finishing his ice cream:

Moorhens

My pictures are in the wrong order, sorry.

A few weeks ago, while walking through our secret park, Tommy, Lizzie and I discovered a bird with chicks. I thought it looked very exotic -- my pictures don't really show you why I thought that -- with a brightly colored beak and legs, and HUGE feet. The feet weren't webbed, so I didn't think it was a water bird, and when I came home and attempted to find the bird on the internet, I had no luck. BUT, then over the weekend we went to St. James's park, and in addition to seeing pelicans, herons and nests out in the middle of the pond, we found big posters of bird types. And discovered that the birds are indeed water birds and that they are called Moorhens.

We check in on our little family of birds twice a day, and sometimes feed them. They come VERY close so it's VERY exciting to feed them especially if you are Lizzie.

But then yesterday, while Tommy was out exploring in their little area, he got some nettles, so we have to be more careful. (He was great about it -- minimal complaining -- but I fear his sister would not have such a calm reaction.)

Nettles:

The mommy and a baby:
The family -- five babies!

Blah, blah, blah

Hi, everybody. Have I told you how our kids are waking up at 5am these days? We have tried EVERYTHING, including very ugly blankets hanging over Lulu's already heavy and dark drapes, waking Tommy up to go potty before we go to bed, white noise ... any suggestions? It's really starting to kill me, especially as my anxiety about going back to work (less than two weeks!!) has kicked in and keeps me up at night.

I know.

But, we are surprisingly cheerful around here, considering our lack of sleep. (Lizzie doesn't count as she has been napping three hours per day.)

We had a very nice visit from Aunt Sue and Uncle Ben last weekend. They swooped in, bearing Legos and other very fun toys, and then played with the kids for hours. Oh, and took us to lunch and to a carnival. Tommy is still talking about them. And Lulu would be if she could talk (lots of "WOW" from her these days, though, and she does use it appropriately). Here is Lulu with Aunt Sue:

Our other big news is that Tommy is signed up for two weeks of crash-course swimming lessons. As my dad said, this is good news given his absolute confidence in the fact that he can swim, when in reality, he cannot. (Did I tell the story about how I jumped into the pool in Palm Springs in my clothes because he let go of his floatie?) Let's cross our fingers that he at least can float on his back by the time the two weeks are up. (These are daily, private lessons, so my hope is he'll be able to actually swim. But no pressure, swim instructor.)

Tommy has been in time out for two days in a row when I picked him up at school, for running in the classroom. He also had three breakfasts, two lunches and an amazingly huge dinner tonight. Growth spurt? Or is he using a lot of energy running in the classroom?

Another cute thing about Tommy: he got some chapter books from Ovie and he LOVES them. She sent four, we read them in a week, and now we've read them multiple times. They are the Magic Tree House series, and I recommend them to all of you with kids Tommy's age (all three of you, or whatever). Super cute, and so impressive that he can imagine his own pictures.

I'll leave you with photos of our children in the shower (nothing explicit). It's their new favorite thing.