Christmas/Vacation

We had a wonderful time with Larry and Mary over the holidays. Some days we did a lot and some days we did very little. It was nice that Frank was off work for their entire visit.


Zach started slowly on Christmas morning, but he gained speed towards the end as he got excited about all the presents. Gabe was happy to watch everything from his comfy papasan chair. We got half an hour of video of it all.


Thanks for the cool ornament, Lisa :)


I set up the tripod to capture all of us (Gabe was sleeping) eating our Christmas meal. Basically the same as Thanksgiving, except ham instead of turkey.


We saw the sights of London during a three-day trip. I think we spent less time taking pictures and more time trying to stay warm, of course. Except for me, with Gabe, the mini space heater, strapped to my chest.

We booked at the same hotel where we stayed in April, but we got bumped to another of the chain's hotels down the street. It had just been renovated (in a very mod style), and our room was still small but nice. We had an interesting bathroom where there was just a curtain and a drain on the floor for the shower.

We experienced the London Eye at night (well, the sunset was at about 4pm), then had fish and chips for dinner.

A must-do on our list was Buckingham Palace. I'd like to go back in the late summer when they give tours.

We took Zach back to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. Hyde Park is even pretty in the winter.

We saw Westminster Abbey this time. I had no idea that so many people were entombed there.

A festive piece of art near Piccadilly Circus.

We really enjoyed the trip, even though it was a lot of work and was so cold!

Project 365: Week 1

Friday, January 1
I decided that I wanted to start a family tradition of taking a photo of us each New Year. I didn't have any expectations of the boys cooperating, but they were pretty good. If only I had focused the camera on the right spot...all 40 shots turned out blurry. Oh well, we still got some good pictures out of it.


Saturday, January 2
Family photos, take 2. Though they were all in crisp focus, I just didn't like any of them as much as the ones from the day before. The most adorable shot of all of them was this one of Gabe on his first day in the exersaucer.


Sunday, January 3
We moved Zach out of the crib and into his new room on Saturday. His crib mattress on the floor is still his bed until we are able to pick up a twin-size mattress for him. He went to bed with no trouble, and slept pretty much the way he always does, on top of his pillow with his butt up in the air (I have a cute picture of that too). But the next day was his first nap in his new room, and, well, he didn't actually nap. During the two hours he was up there we heard many minor crashes and much running around. We checked on him quite a few times. Then, during the rest of the afternoon and early evening he was even crankier (see the previous post), but fell asleep in this position while watching TV at around 6. Frank took him straight up to bed, and he slept the whole night. And I am happy to report that he did nap today, though he spent a good amount of time running around up there and getting all the suitcases out from under the guest bed. Crazy monkey!

The attention deficit, and a never-ending list of resolutions

This is the very first moment I've been able to sit and think since 2010 began. The boys have been bathed and are sleeping; the trash and recycling are ready to go out in the morning. The TV is off, and it's completely quiet, except for the hum of the baby monitor. Frank is at his computer, and I'm at mine.
{stopping to take a few deep breaths}

Our holidays were very happy because we spent them with family. But for the last few days Zach has been going through withdrawals from all the attention from Grandpa and Mary over the last week and a half. Big time. He is crankier and more dramatic than usual. This happened following the visits from his Grandmas earlier this year, but now he is officially two years old, and it is worse. And what I really wanted to do this weekend is have a little time to reflect on my plans and goals for the year. It's been hard to string two complete thoughts together, much less list all the to-dos swimming around in my head. Short-term goals and long-term ones, hopes for our family and hopes for myself. There is a lot I want to accomplish in 2010. Especially since I am relatively sure that most of 2011 will be spent orchestrating another intercontinental move, and all that that entails.

Here's one of the first goals I've come up with: For the last couple of years I've been hearing of people/scrapbookers/photographers/bloggers completing a Project 365. You take a photo each day and put them together in a scrapbook or post them on your blog. I intend to do this...not to post them each day or anything, but hopefully relatively often. And the minds of great friends must think alike, because Jen intends to do this as well (she writes about it in this post).

Well, since all my recent photos are still on my cameras, I'm planning on posting the first few from this year tomorrow. I think there were more things I wanted to write about, but again, it's all a jumble. I think I'll spend my quiet time right now making lots and lots of lists...

Hope your day was merry

Enjoy some smiles and giggles from Gabriel...

In the days before Christmas

A look at all our recent activities:

A very merry Christmas party at playgroup. Zach didn't want to have anything to do with Santa, he only wanted to get his present. He suddenly knows what presents are and he loves them! I can't wait to see how he reacts to all the gifts on Christmas morning.


We've had some snowfall over the last week. It's been cold enough that some of it should stick around til Christmas, though it isn't as pretty as it was a week ago.

I got the crazy notion to try another photo shoot with the boys. What I'd been aiming for, a picture of the two of them sitting together, just isn't going to happen. Mostly because Gabe can't sit up yet, but also because Zach will have nothing to do with holding him or sitting close to him. He resists just because he knows we want him to do it. I did manage to get some good photos, though I had to bribe Zach with an early gift to get him to sit for as long as he did. I know we'll take lots more photos on Christmas day of them and their toys...

Just hanging out later that day...

An outing yesterday to downtown Brussels. It was a little colder and windier than I had anticipated, so I'm glad we bundled up as much as we did.

And the highlight of this lazy Christmas Eve day: croissants with egg, cheese, and bacon made by Larry.