BACK IN THE UK

I had a lovely trip to the USA recently and now I am back amongst my fellow British Subjects. I had a great time seeing my family, going to Education Week, a family reunion in Hawaii, etc. I have decided to set a goal to actually update my blog once a week, each Sunday. Hopefully this lasts longer than a week. we'll see.

We decided to take a lovely stroll on Saturday to reunite the family and just enjoy the "general splendor" that is England. Oh and I did get my hair cut. :) Will upload photos later as they aren't working at the mo.

Jude Swimming

After one week of swimming lessons, Jude is ready for Hawaii!! Hooray. See you in two weeks all tanned and smiling.

James is 30 today!!!

Happy Birthday my love! I hope your next ten years are as good as the last!

Doing a bit of service

Our friends needed a wall knocked down and a bit of gardening.

Jude and James picking at the rubble

James wielding the whellbarrow while Jude offers emotional support.

Jude's got a hammer!!! Watch your toes. (He is wearing his Wellies)

(That's british for rain boots)

Polly in a Bumbo on the oven.

(Where else would you put a baby in a bumbo?)

Photo Shoot

SHe looks like such a cheeky little chunker!!!

Jude is learning to smile on demand :)

He thinks this is smiling. I think he looks like he is about to attack...

She loves her tummy time.

Deep in the land of Nod

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I love my darling kids. These are just some shots we took while hanging out inside during the rainy days of winter. Which are quite common here in the good ol' UK.

Sooooo Hillarious

I love these commercials. They are so funny. They are for a british candy co. that makes gummy bear like candy but from real fruit juice. You have to watch this. Some of you may know people like this. :)

Click Here

My crazy kids

Jude loves to "play" with Polly. He is always in her face, roaring like a dinosaur, kissing her, hugging her, and calling her by name in very high pitched tones!

Jude in the foam pit at our local gymnastics center. We go each Wednesday to the open session where he can just run around and use everything! He loves it.

Sweet Polly all ready for church at 4 weeks old! I love this dress, so girly, yet not pink. :)

Jude, on the other hand, loves pink. jk He does love pushing around the baby strollers at play groups though. This is at the gymnastics center. They put out toys for the kids.

GLASSES AT 2!!!

So cute! My little Jude has glasses now! He is far-sighted and works so hard to see that he only uses one of his eyes. These are meant to help correct that.

2 pairs of glasses

Wearing them for 5 days now

Broken both pairs twice already

They know us by first names at SpecSavers

He's had loads of bribery chocolate to wear them

NOW he has the hang of them and wears them with no problem. He even asks for them when he wakes up! Horray!!!!

Did I mention they are "Mr. Bump" glasses?

What a cutie!

His Eyes are Huge! Like that chap from A CHRISTMAS STORY.

"You'll shoot your eye out" You know what I mean?

Pollys Baby Blessing

We had Polly's Baby Blessing at the Maidstone Ward in Kent, England. It was a beautiful day and the blessing was incredible.

This is James family and grandparents, My mom was visiting us at the time as well.

James' sister, Clare, made these sweaters for the boys. Jude is on the left and her 2 sons are on the right.

Baby Polly all ready for the blessing. She is wearing the same dress I wore when I was blessed.

I am such a photo pro! I love the lighting. Grandma Lynda, James' Mom, knit the white blanket. We used it at Jude's blessing and Polly's.

Let's make her American!!!

My mom has been here in England with us for about a month to help with little Polly. Thank you so much mom. Since Polly was born in the UK we had get her American Citizenship and such at the Embassy in London. When she was 3 weeks old, we took our trip to the Embassy and here are some pics of our day!

Jude loves the trains! Here we are at our local station waiting to catch the train to London. I am trying to keep him behind the yellow line.

I got this Maclaren double stroller at a boot fair for £10!!! I couldn't believe it. Jude and Polly taking a nap, he hasn't slept in a stroller in sooooooo long

Jude loves the Pigeons in London

Mind the Gap

Grandma Dorothy and Jude having a ride on the Underground. ( some call it the tube, americans call it the subway or Metro)

Jude still on the wrong side of the yellow line at the train station

Here is a video of Jude chasing the birds and then calling out to Polly. There was this sassy old lady, with a dog and dog purse, feeding the birds.

Baby Polly has Finally arrived!!!!

Happy Christmas Eve! Polly was born at 4:05 am. She was 7 pounds 9 oz.'s. A very healthy baby girl with an Apgar score of 10! Hip Hip Hooray. Here Jude is getting cozy with me and his new baby sis.

James made our Christmas meal! It was delicious. I came home Christmas morning at 10 am with Polly. James made this lovely late lunch. It had loads of vegies, roasted potatoes, meatballs, sausages, rolled bacon, roast chicken, and yorkshire puddings. We drank schleur and toasted to our new arrival. I love you James, you are the best husband ever. :)

Baby Polly arrived under the tree in a Christmas Stocking. (This is the stocking that the hospital gave us when Jude was born, since he was born in December as well)

On Christmas morning at the hospital I woke up to a stocking in Polly's bed!! Santa knew we were at the hospital and didn't forget us! (The nurses were so lovely and this stocking was so thoughtful, it made my Christmas morning in a hospital bearable)

Aww so sweet. My little men and baby Girl all together.

Beautiful Pre-baby stroll

It snowed here in England and the Canal froze over! It was so cold. THe path through the water was just made by a boat.

My sweet family. I AM STILL PREGNANT. I am 4 days late in this shot, but I feel like I am a month late.

We took this walk to help get Polly to want to come. I was so impatient. |It was worth it as she did come two days later. Oh the young man in the picture with Jude and I is Josh Greaves, James youngest brother.

Jude and I ready for a stroll. Jude loves his WELLY'S. Those are his blue boots. He is allowed to jump in all kinds of puddles when he wears them on walks.

Midstone Baby Shower

The Maidstone Girls

The lovely ladies and their well earned awards from winning games and such.

My darling sisters in law and friends, mainly Clare, put together a baby shower for me when I visited Maidstone. This was the same day as the car breaking down fiasco! Thank you so much for the shower. It was lovely to see the girls and have a great night out. Love you all.

Car broke down

This is what it looked like outside when we finally got to Grandma Lynda's house!

This is the porta-cabin we waited in for three hours!! They told us it would be 45 minutes.

This is the FIRST recovery tow truck we were loaded into to get to the porta-cabin.

Here's our poor car.

On our way down to Kent, a 2 hour drive from where we live, Our gear box stopped working and our car broke down. These shots document our fun adventure. We broke down at 2pm and finally got to a garage at 8pm. Just so you know the garage was 30 minutes away!!!! We waited and waited for our tow men. Jude was a good sport. the car was under warranty luckily so we didn't have to pay a thing.