The Dreaded Lurgy....

I have gone very quiet on the blog lately. There are a variety of factors playing into that bit but it mainly stems from having a very active toddler (a full-fledged two year old!), a spouse who seems to spend most of his time on airplanes these days, no family support here, my desire to attempt to continue a career outside the house which requires a terrible commute, and general life obligations and house upkeep that seem to keep me busier than I could have ever imagined right now. 

Most days I feel flat out by the time I put Crosby to bed so unfortunately the blog (among quite a few other things) have fallen out of daily or weekly activities for the moment. I hope this lapse in posting, just like my toddler's constant need of "mummy, mommy, mama, mommy," and her ever-so-repeated-and-demanding-but-others-tell-me-is-endearing-whining is short lived and will some day be a forgotten lapse because in the grand scheme of life it is a rather small time frame. One can hope. 

Today, however, I received an email from a work acquaintance that made me chuckle at life abroad here that I just had to pull myself together tonight to post the happening! 

Last week, I thought I might die. Not literally, but I got sick and I can't remember being that poorly in a long time. I got very sick very quickly and it seemed to come out of nowhere. My parents were due to arrive for a long weekend visit so timing could not have been worse. Two days prior to their arrival, I woke up and showered for work and couldn't make it past my bedroom door, I felt so miserable. A sudden raging fever hit me along with a chesty cough and aches and pains I can't remember even during childbirth. I crawled back into bed and attempted to phone in for a conference call meeting because I couldn't fathom the idea of driving to work, let alone sitting in a meeting room with others. And then that night the sickness seemed to get worse, with my fever reaching 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) and the other symptoms multiplying. I was miserable. 

Thankfully Scott was in town and he tended to Crosby, proving to be Super Dad, getting her dressed and taking her to nursery or getting things ready for the nanny to arrive at the house, along with re-routing my parents on their flight when they missed their connection and driving to the airport to collect them. He even managed to take some direction from me to bake a batch of bar cookies for my parents' visit. It was all a bit of a blur but two days into the illness I managed my way to the GP (doctor's office) and she said I had a chest and respiratory infection so she put me on a course of antibiotics to try to knock it out of my system. 

So, my parents were here and I was feeling miserable, not even wanting to surf the web or stare at the TV, just wanted to rest in the hope of feeling better. Consequently, I have fallen behind at work. An email of some immediate attention came through to me today and when I responded I began by apologizing that I had not been in touch earlier and explained that I had been unwell.

The response was the part that really made me chuckle. Frankly at first I thought it was a joke.

The email began with: "Cassie, Thanks for the note, sorry to hear about the lurgy."

Lurgy? 

I thought that was a joke of a term that I sometimes heard Scott say but I have yet to hear it by anyone here. So, when Scott came home from work tonight I asked him if he really knew of the term or if he just used it as a joke. His response was that it was an actual term and he hears people use it here, and in fact since he has caught part of my dreaded cough, he said he has been telling people to stay out of his office because he has the dreaded lurgy. 

This lead me to the world wide web for research on the term. Guess this is a British term and it is an amusing one to me! When I hear this word, it makes me think of an illness when you have a lot of phlegm, which is strange, but it's just what comes to mind, but apparently it is more general than that. According to Urban Dictionary: 

Lurgy

125 up, 48 down

Approximate British equivalent of the American playground term cooties, meaning a fictitious, yet highly infectious disease. Unlike cooties, now used by adults to refer to an general undefined infectious malady. Normally used in the form "the dreaded lurgy". The term originates from an episode of the 1950s radio comedy "The Goon Show" in which an epidemic of "The Dreaded Lurgi" was said to be about to sweep across Britain. It turned out that the lurgi was in fact a ficitious disease created by brass instrument makers who had claimed that no brass band player had ever died of the lurgi (thereby increasing sales hugely). "The Goon Show" was an anarchic and surreal radio comedy series that starred Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. It was written by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes. I think I've got the dreaded lurgy. He's not coming into work today, apparently he's coming down with a lurgy. I'm not quite sure what's wrong. Just some form of lurgy. Urgh. You've got the LURGY!

Traveling with an up-and-coming toddler

To say traveling with a small child is challenging could be an understatement. I can see why once babies start moving around (i.e. crawling quickly, walking, etc.) parents stay close to home. 

I think we are in the midst of the really difficult travel stage right now. I thought it was challenging before to fly with Crosby over her first year, but actually it seems fairly easy in hindsight. (always the way right??). For goodness sake, Crosby took 20 flights in her first year of life! Although by no means were we pros at traveling with an infant, but it was manageable.

We decided to travel to Barcelona at the beginning of May over the first Bank Holiday weekend for a short break. Barcelona been on our "list" of places we have wanted to see within Europe and so we decided we would go this year. My sister Carrie came over from the US for a visit to see us in early May so we decided it would be fun for all of us to go together to Barcelona for a long weekend. Perhaps after Carrie's time with us in Barcelona she is rethinking ever vacationing with us again for now though! 

The pros to the travel for this trip were: The flight was fairly short and it was direct. Plus we flew out of our local airport (20 minutes away) rather than having to drive to London first. The con of flying now is that Crosby has no desire to stay still or seated for that matter. She was 14 1/2 months old for this trip. She wanted to see everyone and everything that was going on. And she has a short attention span like most up-and-coming toddlers, so watching a DVD or ipad was not of much interest for more than about 5 minutes at a time. Additionally, she does not nap well outside of her crib so there was no nap on this travel day. This combination of such toddler-isms created one very crabby and slightly unhappy travel companion for our flight! I have known it is difficult to entertain a small child as I am with her every day, but this flight brought new challenges in hopes of occupying her. 

Standing on Dad's lap was fun for a while, but we were trying to be mindful of those passengers seated in front of us, so we didn't let Crosby stay there very long. 

Once up in the air, I pulled out the ipad and we tried to take self portraits with silly faces. As you can see, Crosby did not find this very amusing....

We tried x-ray vision photos for something different.

And the halo effect which didn't seem to phase her.

Double time! Two Moms and Crosby in a strange form too.

Meanwhile across the aisle, Aunt Carrie caught up on some zz's since Crosby wouldn't stay on her lap for very long. 

On the flight home, more self portraits, this time Crosby playing peek-a-boo with my iphone cover. Anything to keep her occupied....because of course the myriad of toys I had stuffed in my carry on bag were of no interest to her...

So, once we survived the flight and arrived in Barcelona we were looking forward to exploring the city. We made some changes on this trip from how we had been traveling pre-child. First, we rented an apartment. Finding multi-bedroom hotel rooms or suites with separate sleeping areas is really quite costly and since hotel rooms within Europe tend to be small to begin with, an apartment is a nice option. My only [small] complaint about an apartment or flat is that they tend to be self-catering and I end up having to fix breakfast. When on vacation, I do enjoy a break from cooking for everyone but at this point, having space to relax after Crosby goes to sleep or when she takes a nap is more important, especially for short breaks. We ended up renting a fantastic apartment in a very nice area of Barcelona so that worked out quite well. We all had space to spread out and most importantly Crosby had her space to sleep so the three of us didn't have to tip-toe around her crib for the evening after she went to bed. 

The other change we made was we rather quickly abandoned public transport to and from the airport. Although we may have initially tried to take public transport, hauling our suitcases, a stroller, a tired child, and three adults did not gel with the train as the best way of transport. So, we opted for a taxi and after a bit of traffic, the nice driver dropped us right around the corner from our apartment. 

Having not taken a holiday with Crosby since our trip back to the US at Christmas time, we have not traveled with her since she has been onto full solid meals three times a day. There are pros and cons to both sides of the milk only vs. food spectrum when traveling with a child but it is nice to be able to just hand her an apple slice or a cracker instead of having to stop and feed her along the way as we did before when she was not eating solid foods. 

Interestingly enough, we would always ask the restaurant if it were ok to bring a child in with us and they always happily welcomed Crosby into the restaurant but only a few restaurants actually had high chairs available! 

Luckily we packed our small collapsible high chair to bring along with us on this trip and we used it at almost every restaurant along the trip. Another item I had packed and gladly used along the way was a stash of Ella's Kitchen vegetable packets. Since we were unsure about how many vegetables and fruits we might be able to find at every meal, I packed a supply of the packets for Crosby to eat daily and they were perfect. 

Another note about traveling with a small child in Spain. Timing was an issue. Many restaurants do not open until 8 or 9 pm for dinner and that is well past Crosby's bed time, let alone her dinner time! We could not wait that long each evening to feed her. So we went the tapas route most nights. We went to a tapas bar, had lots of small plates and then later on in the evening we had snacks if were still hungry, that we had purchased from the local grocery store and kept in our kitchen at the apartment. This type of dining was a noticeable change in how we used to do our vacations but it worked alright for this trip. 

And then there was the element of sightseeing within the city. First, getting around the city was a bit of a challenge. We had a small child in a stroller and Barcelona, although modern in some ways, is old. Europe is old for that matter. Public transport is not stroller friendly. Therefore, we climbed a lot of stairs where one adult would hold the baby, and the other adult would carry the stroller. Our arms were tired after doing this multiple times each day up and down stairwells. 

Scott was able to manage sometimes on his own...

 And then sometimes Aunt Carrie was there to help too...and I carried extra bags. 

 But then as any time wore on, Crosby would wiggle her way out of her stroller straps, basically proclaiming she no longer wanted to sit in the stroller. Scott would carry her around the streets of Barcelona over his shoulder! 

We wanted Crosby to stay in her stroller as we walked into the main area of Parc Guell and she wanted none of it! Actually, this type of outburst happened quite a few times over the weekend....she would start to get very upset and then in true tantrum style, would yank her hair bow out of her hair and throw it out of the pram. 

I would notice about 5 minutes too late that her hair bow was gone. Luckily while at Parc Guell I retraced my steps and found the bow along the dirt path! It felt like I was doing a lot of back tracking to ensure we had everything with us at all times.

So, the moral of this trip was quickly realized....city breaks with an up-and-coming toddler are not going to be our cup of tea for the moment. It's a tough lesson learned since Scott & I have enjoyed a LOT of traveling since moving abroad. We suspect a pool/beach/more relaxed type holiday will be our speed for a bit. The next trip on our books will be a week in France doing just as described - a week by the pool relaxing and perhaps some very small and quick market trips in nearby towns.  We want to be able to still take advantage of having Europe on our doorstep but we know our days of exploring as we used to are gone for the moment. Perhaps when Crosby is a bit older such city breaks will be more enjoyable for all involved, but for right now they are not fun for her and consequently they are not enjoyable for us either! Travel in general just seems tough with a young one at this age so we are hopeful that with a different speed of a holiday we will still be able to get away to someplace new, relax and enjoy time together as a family. 

Where the lamb goes....

Crosby goes too....


Crosby received her beloved stuffed lamb when she was born from her grandparents in the US. In fact she received quite a few stuffed plush toys from America from various friends and family members when she was brand new, but for whatever reason the little white stuffed lamb became her security toy. She sleeps with it, she snuggles with it, she nuzzles it when she is upset, and generally it goes everywhere she goes because she feels safe with it.

Crosby & her lamb on a walk into town.

Crosby snuggling the lamb at Waitrose grocery store. 

Crosby and the lamb at afternoon tea.

Swinging at the park with the lamb in hand...

Even running around the yard with the lamb right next to her face! 

We had a small parenting failure (or miscommunication) last year when Crosby and I were traveling back to the US and the other parent (who shall remain unnamed....) did not realise the lamb was meant to go with us to the airport when he put Crosby and her belongings in the car. Regardless, the situation was able to be remedied because the lamb was born and sold in the US, so dear Gram was able to go buy another lamb before Crosby & I landed in the US and Crosby never knew the difference.


After that trip when we returned to the UK, we then had two lambs and we thought Crosby might be bothered by having two of her favourite lambs instead of just the one prized security toy, but she actually has loved having two. They have little rattles inside if them so she will sit and bang them both together to make noise, or she will carry them around - one in each hand- with great joy.


Ever since acquiring the second lamb, we have been careful to travel with both in case one gets lost (keeping one with us in a carry-on bag and one in Crosby's hands) but recently we have noticed, we have been both lambs out on errands more regularly because Crosby is asserting her very strong will and opinion about always having both in hand - and this situation is on I considered to be a small battle not worth fighting, so I have gone along with it.

Crosby looking upset because she thought Mom & Dad were leaving her at the house (but really we were just loading the car so we could all go run errands). Crosby had her two lambs in hand ready to go out on errands with us.

Well unfortunately now we are paying the price of having a favorite US-born security toy because somehow on the day when the photo above was taken, we lost a lamb along the way when running errands (at Sainsbury's grocery store I suspect). We left the house with two and somehow only had one by the evening when we had returned. Despite multiple phone calls to the store, no one has turned in Crosby's favorite little lamb. So, we are now watching her one prized lamb with all of our eyes to ensure we keep track of it before our next trip back to the US where we will purchasing another lamb from the store there! Perhaps we might even acquire a third lamb and keep one of them hidden for future good measure. It is really special that Crosby loves this little lamb so much but the trials of having a transatlantic security toy that cannot be purchased on this island where we reside makes us quite nervous at times, most especially when we have long stretches of travel ahead of us with her!

Mothering Sunday Weekend

Another small advantage about being an American Mom (or Mum as they say here) in England means that I can celebrate two Mother's Days because the UK's version, known as Mothering Sunday, is never on the same day as American Mother's Day. This year Mothering Sunday was March 18th and Mother's Day in the US will be Sunday May 13th. Personally I think that since I gave birth to Crosby in England, we will always want to celebrate both Mother's Days since the British one has reason to fit into our yearly celebration calendar! (we'll see if Scott reads this post and if he agrees with this sentiment once we move back to the US someday)

Although most of our weekends seem to be consumed with just playing catch-up on household tasks lately due to Scott's busy work travel schedule, this past weekend actually felt a bit like a nice break from the routine.

On Saturday, we all dressed in our green attire (Crosby wore lots of green) in honor of St. Patrick's Day so we wouldn't get pinched by anyone. Although it looks like she might be doing an Irish jig here, she's really just practicing her snapping (she started mimicking Scott when he snapped in front of her and now she does it all the time, most frequently on the weekends when he is around). We took a family trip to Bicester Village which is probably the nicest, most upscale outlet mall we've come across. Crosby enjoyed her time "shopping" from the comfort of her stroller. We met our friend BJ at Bicester who journey-ed up from London for the weekend to come visit us. He has been without his lovely wife for a few too many weeks due to her busy work travel schedule, so we offered him the promise of some home cooked goodies and a night outside the city. I think Crosby was quite confused when we walked into the suit shop and saw her Dad and BJ dressed identically!

Then on Sunday - the actual Mothering Sunday, I went to a chocolate workshop in the late afternoon with one of my friends. When I came home from the class, Crosby was nearly ready for bed, but first we had a small little Mothering Sunday card and gift exchange.

Daddy was very clever and helped Crosby shop for a card and gift for me! She gave me a new heart tea cup to add to my English china tea cup collection! And of course, as with all things right now at this stage, as soon as she saw Mom take a sip out of the cup, Crosby wanted to try it too...

Into Everything...

I am not sure when it exactly happened but it seems that from the moment we returned to the UK from our extended visit to the US over the holidays, Crosby had quickly become interested in everything and suddenly she was into everything in our house. In late January, she mastered the art of crawling up the stairs to the second story (or the first floor as they say here in England) and so stair gates were quickly purchased. Also, since she is able to pull herself up and stand quite well with one hand on anything to keep her steady, all cabinets, tables, other pieces of furniture, etc. are of great interest. Everything in the kitchen is especially interesting because there is food in there for snacks! These days I feel like I blink, and once I look up, I have found my child into another pocket of the house, exploring something I didn't even know was possible. It is keeping me on my toes but it is actually a lot of fun right now. I am enjoying this stage much more than I did parts of the previous stages for sure.

Crosby climbing the stairs (pre-stair gate). She is able to stand up and reach our "snack basket" in our kitchen island. It is a favorite activity to unpack all of the snacks in this basket while I am trying to cook dinner in the evenings. The stair gate went up and we now have one unhappy little girl who sits at the bottom of the stairs and tries with all of her might to move that gate out of her way!Into the baking cabinet she goes. Rooting around for some good ingredients!And it's not just the kitchen that's of interest - Crosby has discovered how much fun she has while playing in the curtains of the living room. Crosby finds the linen and ziploc bag cabinet in the kitchen. She "rearranges," aka pulls everything out on to the floor. Crosby crawled into the kitchen (very quickly I might add!) and she immediately tore into Scott's fruit and fibre cereal box. She spilled it all over the floor and then proceeded to eat it. If you saw her in action, you might think we never feed her with the way she ravages through the food! Even climbing into the tupperware toy storage bins is new and fun right now. After coming home from a joint birthday celebration the other weekend, Crosby somehow managed to pull apart the bag of the supplies in the dining room while we weren't looking!

I have to laugh while posting these pictures because if I saw these photos from someone else, I might think they never watch their child. Some of these incidents (mostly in the kitchen) have actually taken place under my direct supervision...I will be trying to cook dinner and toys I bring to her are of no interest, so as long as she is not causing any harm to herself, the food, or the kitchen items, I will let her sometimes "rearrange" the towels, etc. while I am there. Other times, she really is just that quick that she scurries out of one room and into another before I've realized what has happened. Fool me once, but now I know (some of) her tricks, so I can pretty easily guess where she is going and what she is going to get into before she does it. However, when Dad is on duty these days, it's pretty funny to see how Crosby knows that he is not aware of how quick she is and what tricks she has up her sleeve, so those make for even more interesting situations.....

ONE YEAR!

This week we celebrated our little ONE year old Crosby! I kept thinking about where I was during the week a year ago, what I was doing, etc. and really all I could think about was how incredibly happy I was to be on this side of the year rather than where I was a year ago. Specifically I was thinking about today a year ago, when I got to come home with Crosby after a long stay in that terrible hospital maternity ward in which I had no sleep and felt like a prisoner on a ward from the lack of sleep, food, and assistance I had received while there.

Crosby let us relieve part of the whole debacle leading up to her arrival as she did last year by not letting us sleep at all on the night of the 12th/morning of the 13th. This time around though, we were awake all night and morning due to Crosby having her first real illness all year. So terribly sad that it had to happen around her birthday, but we are extremely thankful that she was so well her first year as a baby.

The Birthday Girl comes downstairs in her pj's and checks out her loot!

In front of her 1st Happy Birthday Banner sign and unfortunately rubbing her nose (as she did nearly all day and night!).

Proclaiming it's her birthday at the soft play area with Daddy supporting her.

Unwrapping those birthday gifts! A Royal Wedding Happyland Play set from Mom & Dad!

Birthday cake time! We thought Crosby would be a happy camper to dig into her cake but all she was interested in was eating the fresh strawberries off the side of the cake, sadly in between sorry tears for herself for not feeling very well.

One little unhappy birthday girl by the end of the evening as we tried to take a family photo for her baby book.. Poor thing that she wasn't a happy birthday girl. :(

And the "after math" of the birthday day....toys and loot everywhere! (note this photo was taken at 10pm when she awoke with a fever after initially going to bed for the evening).

Despite the cold and crabiness of our little girl surrounding her birthday, we were still thrilled to celebrate Crosby's 1st Birthday. We are so lucky to have such a darling and sweet little girl as our daughter!

Snow!

This past weekend England got snow! It was probably the best kind of snow - it was beautiful and covered everything but by Monday morning it was fairly well melted. However over the weekend it did of course cause chaos in this country with cancelled flights, closed shops, delays, and lots of traffic problems. We did not venture out anywhere too far but we did take Crosby outside to see what she thought of her first proper snow fall.

Scott tried to put her feet down on the ground so she could (attempt to) walk on the snow (note the Tesco bags covering her Ugg boots!) but as soon as her feet touched the ground, cries began.The view was much better from up on Daddy's shoulders!Scott tried to rekindle his midwestern winter roots by building a full snowman. Crosby & her baby doll were much happier watching this activity from the comfort of our living room on the inside!Our first English snowman - the perfect place to play peek-a-boo!

How long is too long?

How long is too long to be an expat? I realize some people and families make a career out of it and are happy to do so for a very long time. I still unsure that we could be one of those families however we have already extended our tour of expatriate life longer than we ever thought we would.

This question of how long is too long is one we have discussed quite a bit lately because Scott has been offered and has accepted a new job (still with the same company) --- a promotion and a new position that will keep us in England a while longer. How much longer will we stay is the question? That answer is unknown.

We know it will not be forever. Neither one of us wants that situation, as we know we want to return to the US. However, we have quickly become one of those couples who we heard about when we were first moving abroad and both thought that would never be us.

It was the scenario we heard over and over again. "I was offered an expat assignment in X location for 2 years, and we loved it so much, it turned into 5 / 6 / 7....or whatever the greater number was." Countless tales of such assignments that extended well past their initial contract date. And now here we are ---- 3 1/2 years into an 18-24 month initial contract.

It is the right move for Scott's career for us to continue our time here, or so we hope at this point. The new job will be a great challenge for him and will hopefully allow his career to hopefully continue to flourish with his company.

But the more time we spend away, the more I grapple with the question of how long is too long to be away? Initially our answer was that when we were ready to start a family, we would probably return to the US. Clearly, I survived [the rather horrendous childbirth situation in the UK hospital] and we are still there. Dare I say, there is a part of me that has been glad to be in the UK with an infant because of the year-long maternity leave it has afforded me. (of course I am not sure that is outweighed by the lack of family within close proximity! or the really terrible hospital experience!)

Various discussions on this topic of length of time abroad now are focused on Crosby and our wants and desires for her life. Is this still the right decision for us to be abroad, now that we have a child? Is the end time for us abroad now when she is starting school? Is that primary school or secondary school? Or are we providing her with a great gift of life adaptability by being away and learning about another country/culture/lifestyle? Or will she feel unsettled because she will have not spent her entire life in one country and/or location? So many questions and concerns, and of course there is no "right" answer. People view such opportunities differently which is of course why some people accept such assignments and others do not.

We have also said we will continue to pursue the best career paths, provided that we are all healthy and well. God willing, this will continue to be the case.

Obviously with Scott accepting a this new job that will keep us abroad for a while longer, we have agreed that this decision is currently the best one for our family. However, with an end date unknown and time spent building a further life for ourselves in England, we really struggle with the debate of how long is too long and when is the right time to return home? We also realize that "home" will have a new meaning for us in the US because the variables will not be the same in our life / location / home / family etc from right before we moved abroad.

Change of Travel Plans

Well, Crosby & I were supposed to be back in the UK by now....and I am sure we would be having a fight with jet lag right about now but we're not! We changed our flights (of course with Scott's permission and agreement) so we could stay an extra few days with my parents. Plus, it hasn't hurt that the weather has been 65 degrees and sunny in the midwest this week!

We spent the morning on a walk and at the park in order to enjoy the super nice weather we are having right now.

This always happens when I am about to leave my parents after a visit. I really don't want to leave them because I don't get to see them as often as I would like. When I think about it, I know I am a "home body" and maybe I am stranger than most in that I really love being back at home and enjoy spending time with my parents. Perhaps it's a female thing but Scott is good about encouraging me to spend time when I can with my family because he knows how important it is to me. If I take a step back and look at it, I am often amazed that I do so well with being in a completely different country from my family, but I know that my parents were always good about encouraging my sister & me to flee the nest so we could take advantage of life opportunities.

When I was younger, I remember my father taking out a map and drawing a circle around our city, saying "Here's a 500 mile radius. You girls can go to college anywhere outside this circle." And he meant it! At a time when most parents we knew were trying to keep their children close to home, ours were telling us to go away. Their theory was that we could always come back home again, but we needed to leave first to see what else was out there.

I feel their lessons ring true more often than not these days. My sister & I have both moved away and are making our own ways out in the world. I am sure my parents never imagined that their encouragement in fleeing the nest might lead to our current life in England, but they have been nothing but supportive of it, despite the times when the distance really is far.

Now, in time, it will be my turn with Scott to teach Crosby such lessons in life. But for now --- for one more week -- Crosby & I just wanted to be home again to enjoy some more time after the busy holiday period. Jet lag can wait another week, because I am sure it will find us upon our return to England, regardless of when that is.

Sometimes it is just really nice to be home again.

"Home" for the Holidays

We have been "home" for the holidays. I say "home" loosely because of course we have not really been back in our actual home in Chicago, but we have been traveling between various locations including time spent with Scott's family and my family in an effort to see everyone during this time of year. It has been wonderful to see everyone and Crosby has been a trooper during her various moves between hotel rooms, houses, plane rides, train rides, car rides, etc. For the most part, our time back "home" has been spent fighting jet lag, unpacking, repacking, traveling, and visiting with family (oh and eating more meat than we ever thought possible!). I think we crammed a lot into our visit this time and yet it still doesn't feel like we've spent enough time in any one location, or seen everyone we had hope to see. I know this is just often the case when traveling in from out of town, and now with a baby, time seems even more compressed.

I am not sure if it is better to have both families in one city or if it's better to have them in different locations? I am aware that either situation has its own set of benefits and challenges. For us this year, it felt like neither side of our family got a fair bit and of course we felt like we were a bit sandwiched in the middle. We were rushed on Christmas Eve to pack up all of our belongings and get everything ready for our travel on Christmas Day, and then we didn't get to stay long on Christmas Day with my family because we had to fly twice, transfer planes, etc. and drive another hour to get to Scott's family once we landed at our final destination. So, we ended up eating Christmas dinner back at O'Hare airport where we had to transfer flights. Then once we got to Scott's family's house, it was late and so we did Christmas gifts, etc. the next day. So much pressure around one day and it just goes by in a blink of an eye! I am not sure what the answer to the splitting of the holiday is - it would be a challenge even if we were just in Chicago, still but of course the international aspect makes it even more complicated. Despite the headaches of travel, we did enjoy our visit as much as we could and were very glad we decided to spend the holidays back in the US. Crosby of course probably enjoyed it the most because she had everyone's attention!

Crosby at the train station in the suburbs of Chicago. Crosby & I took a train from the suburbs of Chicago while Scott stayed on to do some work for a few days at the start of our time back in the US.

Having dinner in the city with some extended family. Crosby loved being out in public and eating at the table in a proper high chair.

Bundled up in her snow suit for the cold Chicago weather. Thankfully no snow, but it was cold!

Enjoying a dinner out at one of Dad & Mom's favorite old restaurants.

On the plane again....leaving Chicago and off to see my family.

Crosby's ride through the airport (she will have seen the inside of O'Hare airport 5 separate times during this trip back to the US alone!!).

We spent some time with my family and then flew out to see Scott's family on Christmas Day.

The three of us on Christmas.

Crosby loved playing and being with her Aunt Carrie again!

Playing with her nativity set on Christmas morning.

A brand new baby doll for Miss Crosby! She was so happy and loves giving the baby doll kisses.

Hanging with Grandpa Craig at his house.

Crosby has really become attached to her little stuffed lamb. The lamb even had to join her at breakfast a few mornings while we were with Scott's family. She would not let it go!

A gift from Grandma Cris - a motorized hamster. At first Crosby was scared of this pretend pet but by the end of our week's visit, she had really warmed up to it and was chasing it around the house instead of letting the hamster chase her around.

Spending time with Uncle Todd & Gail was fun.

A third Christmas gift opening event for Crosby. Gifts with Great Grandma!

Visiting with Great Grandma and practicing her wave.

Watching football games with Uncle Matt.

Enjoying her visit with Grandpa Craig & Grandma Cris.

On the plane again....another flight, back to Gram & Pa's house on New Year's Eve.

Ringing in the new year with Pa, Gram, Uncle Ray & Aunt Claire. Although Crosby didn't know it, she was the greatest entertainment ever for the evening.

Crosby has been busy sifting through the local newspaper and clipping coupons and sale ads while we've been back. The newspapers in England don't include such sale flyers and coupons.

Spending time with Pa and winky the lamb too.

Learning new tricks - first how to use her new snack "catcher" with Gram.

And then how to drink from a straw!

It's been a great visit but now it's time to start packing to go back to England....