"Anna's new skill" or "Pass the tylenol please"

Okay, Anna has developed a wonderful new skill.  Just in time for our plane ride.   You know how babies learn language and they practice different noises and then find a favorite one to practice more intensely for a while?  Well, her new favorite noise I can only describe as a high pitch screeching sound about as lovely to hear as nails on a chalk board!  Drew and I totally have a headache this morning and she has only been awake for 1.5 hours!  I need to remember to bring a pack of ear plugs on the plane, not just for me but to pass out.  Its kind of cute to watch her learn new skills, I really just wish I didn't have to listen to this one!  I know that "this too shall pass" I just hope it happens rather quickly, or, I will be buying an early Christmas gift for everyone at home and that will be ear plugs for everyone!

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Check out our new page.  You can see our most recent happenings first!  But don't forget to look back or you will miss a lot!

What time is it? Its tooth hurty!

That's right after several weeks of teething Anna finally pushed out her first tooth about 2 weeks ago.  The second one popped out a few days later.  Now, when she puts my finger in her mouth, she bites down and it hurts like the dickens!  She hasn't been that aggressive while nursing luckily!  But its soooo cute to see how quickly she is growing!

A House of Order

We at Team Mudgett have been learning a lot and have received many blessings from Heavenly Father.  Our house has been on the market for a little over a month now.  We had been praying to know what we need to do in order to receive the blessing of having the house sold and man did we get answers!  Our answer was that we haven't been good stewards of what we have right now, once we do what we need to do to get that in order.  Over the past few months, we got ourself in debt trying to get the house ready and with some other unexpected bills.  While there was nothing we could do to avoid it(we told ourselves) we haven't made any progress in getting out of it.  So, one morning I woke up and realized that we shouldn't be in debt at all.  If we had saved more we wouldn't be in the situation.  Anyhow, I did some math and realized that if we work hard and limit our spending we can pay off all of our debts (barring any unforseen financial bill) by June when the payment for our flooring is due.  Once we have that debt paid off, we need to the money we were using to save.  Just like in the Old Testament when Joseph interpreted the kings dream about years of plenty and years of famine.  We need to save and invest our money wisely.

Next, our physical house needed to be put in greater order.  So, I have been trying to make sure it remains that way.  I clean all the dishes at night.  On Saturday's I make sure that the house is straight and the food we need for the next day is easily accessible and easy to put together so that we can use our time doing family things, spiritual things, and relaxing.  I have started making menu's for the week, which I always found very difficult to do before, but, when I decided to do a pattern it made it much easier.  I just make sure we have 3 vegetables and a main dish at every dinner.  For dessert I can cook some berries with flax meal and oats (which is a very tasty dessert especially if you add a little ice cream) or we can just have ice cream.  We have found that with that pattern we eat well, healthfully, and inexpensively usually about $10-15/day for all meals for the family.  Eating this way has also helped us in our quest for health and lose weight!

With Drew working during the day and doing his masters program at night it doesn't leave much time for family things.  SOOOO, I have been working to make sure that the house is in order so that he doesn't need to do to many chores on top of all of his other responsabilities.  Also,  we need to cut back on the things we do outside of the family.  Last week, we had several evening things which really threw off Anna.  She gets stressed pretty easily and really needs routine and structure.  So, in the evenings now she normally takes a nap from 5-7, then before bed we take our Mudgett family walk (when its not icy out), she gets a bath (unless her skin is too dry), a few stories, and then nurses to sleep. We end up having great times as a family (the walks not only help us have time together but help us keep healthy).

What's been cookin'

Little Bunny FuFu...

So, when I was little (and still to this day) I have a security blanket.  I don't carry it around with me anymore but when I use it it sure is great!  In fact I wrapped Anna up in it in the Hospital.  It has held up quite nicely.  I am sure my mother didn't train me to get attached to the blanket, I know it just happened.  Well, for Anna, its a little bit of a different story.

Someone gave us an adorable pink bunny that has a small blanket attached.  They actually make these things to become Lovey's or security animal/blankets!  Anyway, Anna has grown quite accustomed to falling asleep while nursing, which I think is just fine by the way.  She knows how to fall asleep well in her pram, the carseat, and while nursing.  So this week I started to teach her how to go to sleep without nursing.  It started yesterday at nap time (2nd nap, nap time happens often at our house).  I stayed with her while she cried herself to sleep, just a sleepy cry nothing too distressing (we are not into the Ferber method, It just doesn't match our parenting style) plus, I was with her the whole time.  Our goal is to teach her that sleep is a peaceful and restful time, not a scary thing that separates her from her parents.   Anyway, it took her a half hour to fall asleep without nursing.  So then I wondered how long it would take her to learn this new skill.  Well that night, while I was nursing her to sleep, I had the idea of giving her this toy to hold while nursing.  Well, she loved it.  She took her evening nap holding it, and fell asleep for the night holding onto it.  I even caught her sucking her thumb and putting herself back to sleep with it at one point.  So, today (nap 1) I tried to channel this sleep association to putting herself to sleep without nursing and tada...she was asleep in 10 minutes, with minimal crying!  I am not going to let her use her Bunny (who BTW is not named FuFu, but it just reminded me of the song, so far her name is Bunny) outside of falling asleep.  She can have other daytime toys for outings etc.  This way, washing the little gal won't be too tough, I will just do it while she is awake!

Splish, Splash..

So, another exciting thing.  Anna and I just got back from ....her first trip to the pool!  It was great.  She seemed to enjoy it, or at least not to be scared.  She played with a ball.  Floated in a baby ring.  I even got her to lay flat (with her head resting on my shoulder).  I wasn' t sure how she would do because she often seems to get nervous in the bath, but she stayed in for like 30 minutes!  Who knows maybe one day she will follow the family legacy and become a lifeguard!

Its been a long time...

Well, sorry its been so long.   I have been supper busy!  But I figure with mom laid up I would write to give her something to read.  Well, and just to update everyone.

Here goes.  This week has been huge in our house!  Anna started sitting (propped on her arms, with occassionally sitting straight up) grabbing things, found her feet, and rolled over from her tummy to her back!  Who knew she would do everything at once.  She has been playing in her exersaucer, which I set up 2 weeks ago.  She took to it the first time she was in it and even though her feet don't reach the ground, she loves it!  We put something under them so she can stand on it while playing.  Who knows maybe that is what helped her gain some muscle strangth.  She also had her first bout of stranger anxiety.  And when I left her at grandma's house for my drawing class, she cried the whole time, she is really advanced, at least in her anxiety.  What can I say, I always got sick whenever my parents left!

We had our first dinner guest from the neighborhood.  Alice came over last night and we had our typical Mudgett suprise meal.  Which last night consisted of chicken, vegetables, coconut milk, and a little bit of spice.  It was great to have her over.  We ended up breaking out the wedding album to show her pictures of everyone we talked about.  She is great.  She really gets a kick out of Anna and Anna seems to really take to her.

Drew has been supper busy!  He is in a masters program at UMUC, he works fulltime on base, and is the ward clerk!  He still spends plenty of time with us though.  He is amazing!  He has been working on a midterm this week and still has made time for our dinner guest and tomorrow night we are going to someones house for dinner so he can fix their computer.  They called last night saying their internet was down.  Drew hates it when people are offline and said its a little late right now, how about tomorrow.  I don't think they meant for him to come right over, last time he fixed their computer they asked him and it had been broken for several weeks.  If he had known about it right away it would have been fixed in a jiffy!

We put our house on the market a few weeks ago.  Thanks to some very big help from the wheelers.  We have already had 13 people look at the place!  We had one with a second showing!  We are really praying it will sell quickly.  Please keep us in our prayers!

We went to the temple first time while since we have been here.  It is about 1.5 hours from here.  It is beautiful!  We did a child swap with a woman in our ward.  We went and she watched Anna, when we were done, we took her boys.  It worked out very well.  It was great to be there.

I have been really focused on getting the house clean and organized.  I realize I need to start baby proofing and it is making me a little nervous.  In a few months, Anna is going to moble and that is going to add some challenges to our life.  But, it should be pretty fun!

My sister is getting married!  We are very excited about it!  We are very happy for her and Cliff!  We hope that he likes us and that he doesn't get too overwhelmed meeting a lot of his new family on his wedding day, then spending Christmas with us.  I would feel a bit overwhelmed, in that situation, but we really arn't that scary, a bit neurotic, but I think we are pretty fun!

We went on our first official date, just the two of us, without Anna.  (we did have a mini date, without Anna when my folks were here, but really we were just taking Drew's brother to meet his friends).  This was a date when we went out to dinner, it was Drew's day off.  That was my gift to him.  I didn't have any chores that I needed help with, he finished his work early, and we spend the day as a family.  Then for dinner we went to a crepe restaurant, It was great!  Thanks Mudgetts, for watching Anna!

Speaking of the Mudgetts (Joan and Fred) they left yesturday on Holiday.  They went to the US.  The will going on a cruise!  A long time dream of Fred's.  They are going to be boarding on Sunday for a western carribean trip.  We hope they have a great time!

Thats all I have time for Anna just woke up and is calling me.  Hope everyone is doing well!  We are very glad the election is finally over, 2 years is way to long to have to listen to compaigning!

Tagged, I'm it...

Denise Tagged me on her blog for a list of my little quirks, so here we go...

1)  I HATE touching wet wood or if my hands are very lightly moist in any way, paper and sometime even paper towels or toilet paper.  Those little ice cream cups you get when you are kid that have those little wooden spoons are the WORST!!!

2)  Like my Aunt Sue I HATE mice.  We have had mice a few times since we were married and they totally freak me out!  I even have dreams about them in the middle of the day.  The are horrible!

3)  I agree with Denise on the light touch thing.  But I am not as bad, I just hate being tickled or touched too lightly sometimes.  It isn't all the times, I think it is a nervous system thing, sometimes it just feels weird and horrible.

4)  I used to really hate whenever someone held any thing sharp like  a pencil or a fork too close to my face. by too close to my face it could be across the table and if it was held at a certain angle it would freak me out.  When I had my wisdom teeth removed the dentist was explaining the process and I kept squirming in my chair.  When they said are you OK, I said yes, just put the pen down!  The surgery didn't bother m in the least.

5)  My husband has pointed out to me that I tend to eat everything with my hands.  The other day we were hving spaghetti with his parents and talking about it.  I said, I didn't eat my spaghetti with my hadns and he said the careful observer would note that while technically I didn't eat my spaghetti with my hands I put it on my garlc bread and ate that with my hands.  For a few weeks we were earing steel cut oatmeal for breakfast, they werevery thick and I would even eat that with my hands but to be fair they were so thick using the spoon would have been quite the challenge.

6) On the topic of food, while I am now on sabatical from this for Anna's sake, I put spicy peppers in everything.  In fact I have been known to carryy cayanne pepper in my purse and would use it the way some people use salt.

7)  Whenever I buy something new, or sometimes even when it is a gift, I tend to feel bad about the puchase, Buyers remorse to the extreme for a few days before I end up loving it.  I mean I spent 4 pounds on a shirt the other day and felt really bad because I knew I would hate it, but the I really liked it again.  Please note this tendency doesn't happen with food, I can spend a lot of money for expensive food and barely bat an eyelash, go figure.

Some good news and some bad news

So the good news first.  There are a few things like my sister is getting married!  I am so excited for her!  Being married is the best!  Not only is she getting married but the other good news is that we are going to be going to Maryland for the holidays and we get to be at her wedding in December!  Now for the bad news...

Drew lost his cell phone, we know where and when but, it was obviously taken from the spot, it is a very nice phone.  The worst part is that Anna's blessing recording was on the phone.  Its a real bummer.  But, what can you do right?  Anyway, in other news...

Drew's birthday is this week, Tomorrow actually.  One thing he mentioned that he wants to do when we go back home is eat at all of his favorite places like 5 guys and chipotle.  So for his birthday dinner tonight his mother and I are going to try and recreate a chipotle steak burrito.  Wish us luck!  Thats all I have now, I guess I need to work on my Tag...

Feist on Sesame Street

Check this out, its great!

Feist 1234 

Anna's picture page updated, again...

I know this happened last time too, updating it then updating it again right afterward, but I added even more pictures to her picture page...so if your interested, take a peak!

We are getting closer and closer...

So our house is pretty much finished and on its way to the market (I say pretty much being their might be a water issue, but we are going to probably just put it up as is.  It has been a long road!  I will be very excited whenever it sells, which I realize might take a long long time especially with the ecomomy.  But, we will pray extra hard.  It was on the market for a long time when we bought it and that was in the booming market.  So heres hoping!  I must say we are VERY greatful to our friends, the wheelers.  They really were an amazing blessing to us in this whole process.  Alyssa was especially helpful, she is great at getting things done, after a few months of slow going on the work, Alyssa was able to get things wrapped up in like 2 weeks!!!  She was sick and has a baby on top of all that!  We are very blessed to have such great friends!

Anna's Picture Page Updated

Hardcastle Crags

Hardcastle Crags is another property owned by the national trust.  We went there this weekend.  It was beautiful!!!  It has 18 miles of trails through the woods.  There are streams and it is just gorgeous.  The weather was fabulous too (last weekend it was a bit grey but nice) This trip it was all sun and warm!  It was fabulous!!!  We put Anna in the baby bjorn and were off.   We ended up walking on the trail for 5 miles 2.5 in and 2.5 out to an old mill. We took a tour of the mill.  It was a great day!  I have felt great after the last two weekends.  Going to these places involves a lot of walking and it feels great to get that kind of exercise.

Joining the National trust and Brimham rocks

A week ago Saturday we decided to spend some good family time together.  We went to a place not far outside of town.  Brimham rocks is a really neat place, it kind of reminds me of great falls back home, except without the water (strange comparrison I know).  Very large rock formations.  Very neat.  This is where we discovered that Anna seems to be afraid of either heights or open spaces.  Anna got scared 3 times on outlooks.  Anyway, We had a fabulous day.  Brimham rocks is owned by an organization called the national trust.  Drew and I bought a membership so we can go to any of there 300 properties for free!  We made a plan to go as a family to a national trust place every weekend.

After we got finished at Brimham rocks (it only took a couple hours, its not far from here) we ended up having a date.  We bought a pizza and then ate it in the park.

Day 6 Hanging out in Harrogate and saying goodbye

Day 6 was mainly spent hanging out in Harrogate.  We took a nap and relaxed.  We went out for lunch.  We just had a good time relaxing.  At the end of the day we had to say goodbye.  I was very sad to see them go.  But we will get to see them again in December.  Not being around my family is really the one thing I miss by being here.

Day 5 Harewood house

Monday Drew took the day off and we went to an estate house "Harewood House"  It is this beautiful house with amazing gardens and several miles of trails.  They have a zoo like area for birds, including penguins.  It was here that my my got to enter the enclosure with the penguins and feed them.  They only allow one person per day to do that.  She had a great time!  We all did.  Afterward we went back to the Mudgett's house to enjoy a great Lasagna dinner (made by my mom).  She made Lasagna, spinach salad, and an English trifle for dessert.  It was great!

Day 4, church and dinner at the Mudgetts

We went to church and after sacrament meeting my dad took Anna for a walk while we went to the last 2 hours of church.  It was really nice to be able to pay attention to the meetings without having to focus on taking care of the baby.  After church we went to the Mudgetts' house and I made bacon, brie, and raspberry grilled sandwiches on ciabatta bread.  We stayed for dinner and had some delicious homemade pizza courtesy of Joan!

Day 3, Dan leaves, We head to York

So, Dan left early on this morning to fly back to Iraq.  We on the other hand headed to York, one of my favorite cities in all of England (at least of the cities I have been to).  Anyway, at first we had talked about taking a train but later decided to take our car, which was nice.  We got to York and walked around the town a bit.  We ate lunch at a place recommended by my neighbors which they refer to as "the baby restaurant" It has a play area and my oh my were there a lot of babies!  It was a cafeteria style place and if I had to do it over, it would not be a place I would take visitors, the food was ok, but not great.  That being said, it was in an old church that had been converted to sell food so the ambiance was kind of neat.

After lunch we walked a bit further and found the viking museam, after a quick stop at Starbucks so Anna could enjoy  her lunch, we headed to the museam.  She was ok at first but ended up not really liking the place.  I wasn't that impressed either, it seemed more like a ride at Disney than a Museam.  I would definitely say it wasn't worth the money, but my opinion might also be influenced by trying to calm an unhappy baby in a dark tunnel on a ride.  Not ideal.

After the Viking Museam we walked around town a bit more.  We found an open air market and I bought some strawberries and a few other things.  Then we walked a bit more.  My mom found a fudge shop and got some tasty fudge.  Then, we headed back home.

That night we got Thai food (take out) and ate at the house.  It gave Anna a breather.  She really was a trooper the whole trip, we certainly took her a lot of places for being so little!

Day 2 Anna's Blessing day

Lets see, most of the day was spent getting things ready for Anna's blessing.  She was blessed at Joan and Fred's house on Friday night instead of on Sunday because Dan was leaving Saturday and wanted to be there for the blessing.  Alyssa Wheeler made a beautiful blessing gown for Anna and a gorgeous headband.  Anna looked adorable.  My mom made a spinach Salad, and some English Triffle, and Joan made some chicken and rice.  Drew blessed Anna and it was very spiritual.  It was just the family and 2 members of the bishopric present.  It was a very intimate way of doing a blessing.  See how beautiful she looked!

Day 1, meeting Anna

We went to pick up my parents at the airport.  Anna wore her Dinosaur outfit but didn't roar at all when she met them.  They were all very happy to meet one another.  I was very excited to have them here!!!  The trip home is when my parents got their first taste of driving "on the wrong side of the road" :)  I don't think they will want to try it on their own anytime soon!

After they settled down for a long autumn nap, we went to base to pick up Drew from work and then went out to eat with Joan and Fred, and Dan.  We ate dinner at a local pub (the Claro Beagle).  It took 45 minutes just to get the food - longest it has ever taken!  It probably happened because the men folk were trying to catch the 8 pm showing of batman.  They made it there at 8:30, so we figured they had plenty of time.  That's right, they literally have 30-40 minutes of previews and comericals before movies.  In actuality they missed the first 4 minutes of the movie, but they still found a way to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, the Ladies went out to a place called Betty's tea room.  It is, in my opinion, very Jane Austin.  The waitresses wear very old fashion high neck uniforms and have ivory medallions on their necks.  There is a piano player, and they have all kinds of yummy treats.  It was a lot of fun.  Anna and I spend a lot of time hanging out outside as the noise was a little overwhelming for her.  But we enjoyed our time outside, and once she drifted off, I was able to go back in and enjoy my hot chocolate and lemon lime cake!

Its been Far too long...

So My parents came over to England and we had a very busy and exciting week.  Its been 2 weekish since my last post and so much has happened.  So, I am going to make an entry for Each of the noteworthy things we did while my parents were in town.  But here I want to mention a few things that won't make their own Entries.

1.  I, Kimberly Ann Knowles Mudgett, am now the official holder of a chip card.  I was added to Drew's British bank account while I was in town with my parents.

2.  We went to a great cheese store, they stock over 200 kinds of cheese, right in our very own town.  Talk about a fun way to waste money!

3.   Drew and I went out for the first time on a date by ourselves without Anna when all of her Grandparents watched her.  We had done things while Anna was being watched by Joan before but never together on a date kind of thing.  (OK really we were just taking Dan to hang out with his friends, but it counts)

4.  Anna had formula for the first time because I ate some VERY spicy food and realized it was really hurting her, so she had formula.  She liked it, and so did I (see #3)

5.  My parents luggage arrived safely (they just didn't leave on time, but they were still able to make their connection). Oh, and contrary to what some might say, like the customer service agent my dad talked with on the phone, their flight was not cancelled.

6.  We had to say goodbye to Uncle Dan as he went back to Iraq to finish his deployment.  We love you Dan!

As for the rest of the trip see the individual entries.

When the chips are down, use cash

So, one thing that has been pretty frustrating to me during our time here in the UK has been something commonly known as the chip card.  Whenever you make a purchase almost all British cards have computer chips in them.  Most places will still take "slider cards" like the one we have.  The chip cards are actually pretty cool, I think it would be great if the states started doing it.  But the problem here is even though most places take slider cards, they often time have no idea what to do with it.  You would think they never existed in this country at all, which they did.

A few weeks ago Drew and I were Joking as we walked out of an appliance store where we were in search of a toaster oven.  The 20 somethings who worked there said Oh you mean a foreman Grill (no we mean a toaster oven).  The older man who worked there knew what we were talking about but said they didn't carry them and suggested we try another appliance store (which also didn't carry them and thought even after a description that we must have meant a foreman grill).  Anyway we walked outside and drew joked to me that we would take our slider cards, get in our horse drawn carriage, and look elsewhere for a toaster oven.  That is how people react as though we are asking questions and using the technology from another century.

So here is where my frustration begins in trying to get one of these new fangled chip cards.  We have 2 British bank accounts.  The bank account we have on base, even though it is a British account in pounds and everything doesn't offer chip cards.  The other bank account "we" have (its really Drew's account) won't add me on because I have no proof of address.  That's right, they will accept proof in the form of a bill in your name sent to your address but my name isn't on any of the bills (at least not so far) because I don't have an income.   Being married to someone who wants to add you to their account to which they have proof  of address doesn't count.  It will take a little time to get a  proof of address so I have to be patient use Cash if places don't take "slider cards" that is simple to poke out with my card on base, but I just need to make sure I don't run out of cash like I did this morning as I tried to buy some butter and cream at one of the only stores I have come across who doesn't accept Slider cards.  Luckily, I dragged Anna outside looked through the change in my car and found the 3 pounds I needed to make my purchase.  So for now I need to really pay attention and do like my mother always told me, make sure to carry cash just in case you can't use your card.

a Little bit of sleep, goes a long way

Yesterday, I spent the day dragging Little around which definitely made sleeping a bit difficult.  She kept waking up.  She wasn't too pleased about it either.  She had to spend the morning with me at the hospital (they have loads of dr. appts in the hospital) for my Glucose Tolerance test.  They do it for mothers who had Gestational Diabetes to check and make sure it is gone.  Anyway, Little had to sit there for 2.5 hours while I drank the sugary drink and then waited to take the blood test.  She did great though, in that as she tried to go to sleep for over an hour, very tired laying on me.  She just sat quietly trying and trying and being woken up every time there was a noise.  But she didn't even get fussy and eventually, she made it.  I think it is adorable because ever since she was born, she has gotten a little smile (typical of newborns) once she drifts off to sleep, as if she is saying "I did it!"  Anyway, due to the fact that sleep was so difficult to come by, she was very fussy at night as she was exhausted, and she takes after me (and I think a lot of people) in that when she is the most tired she has a harder time falling asleep.  So, after considerable trying, it took at least 1.5 hours to make it to sleep.  She finally made it at about 12:00ish last night.  She also slept in our bed because she was way way to tired to be able to stay asleep when we put her down.  Trust me, tried.  She in fact ended up falling asleep when I put her in her Boppy and laid right next to her touching her check with mine, breathing on her and cuddling her.  But, a beautiful thing happened because of it of the lack of daytime sleep.  I was awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of her making noises.  Drew looked at the clock and it was 5 am!!!  She never slept that long straight without feeding before.  It was Great!!!  Also, she wasn't fussing for food at the time.  When I woke up and looked at her she had her eyes wide open and was just laying there calmly studying her hands.  When I picked her up, she started fussing.  For only about a second, the time it took me to lift her up and put her on my breast which she then decided she was a bit peckish and calmed down.  I know she is not quite to the point where this will be an everyday occurrence but, I am working toward that by trying to keep her awake and very full today.  =)

MMTV Cribs

So, Anna (her nickname is Little) has quite the set up in her Crib.  She has Music, a Mobile, and we can watch her on a TV monitor.  Its pretty nice.  But what is even nicer is she has started to sleep in the crib!  Yes siree, she takes naps in there.  She also spends some time playing in there because she loves her Animal friends on her mobile - in fact, she even talks to them when I am not in the room.  I hear her cooing sometimes.  Its adorable!  She also can sleep pretty well in there.  Which is excellent.  We don't put her in there every night, and sometimes she does end up in the recliner with Drew or me if we are too tired to wait for her to fall back to sleep after she gets up at night but we are definitely on the road to having ourselves an independent sleeper!

8675309 Kim, I've got your number...

So I have stepped into the world of the ultra high tech! I got a new cell phone. Not just any phone, this phone would cost between 300-400 pounds, which is $600-$900! Well, I got it for free with our mobile plan. Get this, we pay with both having brand new phones for free, and data packages, about the same thing we paid for our old phones and no data packages! Anyway, I can surf the net, check my email, a day planner, can watch videos, play mp3's, have GPS maps (for walking and driving), I can Skype, I have a video phone and a camera, and I am sure several more things that I don't even know about! I am not sure if I can video Skype from the phone that option is probably blocked, but we are looking into if we can Vonage from the phone. That would be awesome! Also, it is totally cute and has a really pretty ring. I am pretty high tech, thats for sure!

eh, Neh, Ouwh

So, Drew and I finally got around to watching a few DVD's Denise passed along to us that Stephanie had given to her. They are about understanding baby language. The woman who does the videos has perfect pitch and was an accomplished musician. She has an amazing auditory memory and when she had her son, she was able to figure out what his cries meant. Then she listened to other babies and found out they make the same "words". They explain the words then show about 20 different babies expressing hunger, sleepiness, and the need to burp. Well, we recognized those words in Anna. We learned several things. One that she needs to burp WAY more than we do. I mean sometimes for 45 minutes straight! We also learned that when she isn't upset because she needs to burp she becomes very happy! We had way more Smiles yesterday after watching the video and being able to interpret what she had to say. Finally, we learned that sometimes she needs to do more than one thing at once.  We just listen for the word she expresses the loudest and do that.  Unless of course she needs to burp and is hungry, in that case the burp always comes first.  We think she used to be unset and unsettled because of her need to burp, then she would cry and cry because of the pain.  She would do that until she fell asleep.  So some days we ended up with a baby that was very sad.  Here's hoping this is something that keeps working.  We have one more lesson to watch next week.  We will let you know if it works out well!

Vacuuming the lawn Vs. Mowing the Lawn

So, since we have moved in we have only cut our lawn once.  Which sounds horrible and neighbors probably agree, but the grass is probably about as long as being 1 day mowed in the states.  Here they have little electric lawn mowers.  They look more like Vacuums.  They are that small.  They are also hard to push, definitely not self propelled.  Their bags fill up super quick and mowing our front lawn, which in all honestly is smaller than our front lawn in the states, took about an hour.  You see people out tending to their yards all the time here, which is probably why they all look like they are professionally landscaped.  It sure seems as though everyone in England must have a green thumb!  Anyway, this morning Drew assembled our Lawn mower from the states.  Yes, an actual mower, gas powered, huge by comparison, and best of all self propelled.  It took all of maybe 5 minutes to mow the very over grown back yard!  We would have had to go over the yard several times with the vacuum mower, it would have taken half the day.  Bringing that lawn mower over was the best idea!  Now we need to mow the front again.  Probably not today, but my guess is that it will take us a good 2-3 minutes (after starting the mower up) to get it done.  Mowing the lawn is definitely the better way to go!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Living in our neighborhood is a real treat.  We have never lived in such a nice place before.  Never does a worry cross my mind that I am not safe going for a walk.  There are foot paths, a park, and a beautiful field.  The houses are all new (at least by my standards - the area is about 20 years old).  We haven't really ventured out on walks much because we have been, busy, tired, or its raining.  Yesterday was our big walk.  Drew took the bus home from work, he doesn't do too often, I usually drop him off at work in the morning and pick him up sometimes too.  Drew is able to watch TV shows on his new phone and I think he really enjoys the down time of the bus ride.  The bus stop is about 3/4 of a mile from our house.  Yesterday the sun was out and the weather was a great temperature.  Anna and I set out to meet Drew at the bus stop.  The walk usually takes him about 15 minutes, we doubled that amount of time, because Anna and I tend to take life a little bit slower.  So I grabbed a stroller to push my stuff (Anna isn't a big fan of the stroller yet) and a baby bjorn to carry Anna and we headed out.  We saw all kinds of things on our trip and had a great conversation about all the flowers and beautiful yards (they call them gardens here and for good reason, all of them seem to be professionally landscaped).  We saw some children playing, one had a cardboard box that was decorated like a horse and she was wearing it around.  Another had an alien mask on.  We saw people coming home from work, other people were out for a walk themselves.  We had a great time.  We arrived at the bus stop about 5 minutes before Drew's bus was to arrive and sat down on the bench.  Anna had some time to start a nice meal.  When Drew arrived we waited for Anna to finish her dinner.  I had enjoyed the walk so much that I said we should walk to a restaurant and have dinner for date night.  So, we continued on our lovely journey into town (which apparently isn't that far of a walk at least not on a beautiful day).  We passed lot of shops and more people.  We talked about where to eat and ended up at Pizza Hut, not too exciting but good food and family friendly.  After dinner, we weren't sure if it was going to rain or not, so we thought it best to take the bus into our neighborhood.  It was a great idea because after we got off the bus, I realized that walking on a full tummy is a bit more tiring than walking on an empty tummy.  We got home as the clouds were getting darker but we certainly had a great opportunity to enjoy the beautiful day in our neighborhood.

Big smiles and great weeks!

Last week was a little hairy with dealing with a fever, a very bad reflux night, and little Anna just seemed to have a lot of the Sads.  But, thanks to Denise, and her great advice, Anna's reflux is now under control.  She doesn't have the sads too often and she (as well as Drew and myself) had great weeks!  Anna started really getting into Smiling on Sunday.  I would say she had her first official social smile.  Everyday she has been practicing a little more.  She has also started being more alert and cooing.  Its a lot of fun.  We can actually spend time playing together.  Another new development is that she has started to want her own space.  Whereas in weeks past I had to hold her during naps (she would wake up within 5 minutes of being put down, even when she was in a deep sleep)  She has started being more independent and sleeping in her play yard during her naps.  In fact yesterday, I put her down and she woke up a bit eyes wide open and everything.  I just rubbed my finger once across her forhead, she closed her eyes and put her self back to sleep (ussually we rub her forhead as she is tired and it really helps her fall asleep).  Then, Joan and I were able to get a lot of things done on the house.  Even though we have had our stuff for a month or so, we are not completely settled yet.  But my goodness, just her being down for 2 hours without needing to be held made a huge difference.  We got so much done!  We were able to assess her room and what we would need to put up her boarder etc.  We took her hand prints for a hanging on the wall (she even stayed as sleep when we washed them off).  We moved some book shelves and I organized our board games, dvd's, pc games, and game cube games.  Joan vacuumed and it really spruced up the place.  Things finally feel like they are coming together, so at weeks end both Mother and baby were having a lot of big smiles not to mention just overall great weeks!

Another car adventure...

So, our "new" car is a 2005 ford focus.  Well we have to take it into the shop because it is an automatic and it keeps wanting to shift gears at the wrong time.  We purchased a year warranty on it so it really isn't a problem.  We called the dealership to ask what we do and they said that we might first want to call a ford dealership to see if it is still under manufacturer warranty.  Before we bothered to call the warranty company themselves.  Well, lo and behold it is still under warranty until Monday!  We were able to get an appointment on Thursday so hopefully, it will be smooth sailing.  We had checked with a mechanic to look it over and they said there was a problem with the gear box.  It really just sounds like something needs to be tightened, but how lucky is it that we have 4 days left on the manufacturers warranty!

Fever in the morning, fever all through the night...

So , yesterday was my first experience with baby fevers.  I was out and grabbed some breakfast and Anna was acting a bit lethargic.  We went to the post office and I thought she felt hot.  Trying to avoid going to the doctors yet again, we have had appointments at least weekly since we moved here.  They really take care of you and want to make sure things are going well here!  Especially when you are a new mother with a new baby, that's for sure!  I have never actually had better medical care than we have while being here.  We are most certainly not lacking in medical attention, it has been really great actually, just sometimes a bit of an annoyance.  Anyway, the post office was filled with men but before I finished up the things I was doing a woman came in and I asked her if she had any children, she said one.  I then asked her if Anna felt warm to her.  She said a little.  So, I decided to take Anna to Grandma Joan's house.  Joan wasn't home but Grandpa Fred got out the thermometer and sure enough Anna had a fever of about 100 degrees.  So, I called the health center, really just wanting advice.  I said that my baby had a fever.  They made an appointment for a couple hours later.  The doctor did a check up and said she wasn't too concerned but if her fever went to 101 we should give her paracetamol (Tylenol) to cool her down.  We should also strip her, and make sure she still eats at least every 6 hours.  So, I felt kind of proud of myself for being able to tell Anna was acting a little unusual and that she had a fever.  It reminded me of the story my mother told me about when I was in the hospital and the doctor asked what my temperature was.  My mother felt my forehead and said 103, but the doctor took my temperature to see anyway.  Sure enough it was 103 and the nurse looked at the doctor and said, Never question a mother.  Anyway, I wasn't too proud of myself because I felt bad for my little one.  She was not too pleased with feeling sick.  It wasn't until later that night that I realized I felt sick too, Actually I threw up middle of the night and had a fever of 99.7 (she totally had me beat!) but, today her fever seems like it is back to normal and I feel better as well.  But I have to say this is one part of being a mother I do not look forward to.  You know how parents always say that they hope their children with have children just like them so they will know what it is like.  Well in my case I certainly hope that isn't true, at least medically, my mother always described me as her sick one.  But anyway, all is well for now.

An answer to Denises Tag...

I think this is considered a "tag"...
Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun! Copy this entire post and paste into a new post or email that you can send, change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then post it or send it to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you.

1. What is your occupation? currently full time mother, formerly recreation therapist.

2. What color are your socks right now? barefoot

3. What are you listening to right now? silence
4 . What was the last thing that you ate? whole grain eggo waffles

5. Can you drive a stick shift? yes - ish

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? burgundy

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Joan Mudgett

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? of course she is the bestest!

9. How old are you today? 29

10. Favorite drink? white cranbury peach juice or honest teas honest aide (pomegranate blue)

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Ay sport with someone I know playing  or any professional sport in person.  We got  to see David Beckhams first soccer game in the US.  He played for about 5 min.

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? um, once maybe twice.  Drew saw a thing of hair dye that said it was 100% intense and we had our doubts, after experimenting we came to the conclusion that at least on dark hair it is more like10% intense.  Maybe it would be more intense on a blond.

13. Pets? Only sometimes, Annasaurus rex
14. Favorite food? love food, tired of typical frozen meals, /i like tres leche cake, crispy tacos and hawiian heystacks

15. Last movie you watched? the man who knew too little, newer version it was hillarous!

16. What do you do to vent anger? take deep breaths, talk to drew, pray

17. Favorite Day of the year?  I LOVE thanksgiving and Christmas, also when the weather is just right, sunny and warm, not too hot!

19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring

20. Hugs or kisses? getting hugs, giving kisses

21. Cherry or Blueberry? blueberry pancakes Cherry everything else

22. Do you want your friends to email/reply back to you? if they would like to

23. Who is most likely to respond? Dad

24. Who is least likely to respond? Drew

25. Current living arrangements: In a house with my daughter and husband.

26. When was the last time you cried? A couple days after I brought anna home from the hospital, drew and I got nervous about SIDS and thinkung about it made me sad

27. What is on the floor of your closet? folded sweatshirts and sock basket

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? just posting, not sending, every member of my family since they were all around before I was

29. The friend you have had the shortest that you are sending this to? Ummm, not that I am sending it ti her but I am going to have to go with Anna.

31. What inspires you? people that strive to help other people and seeing examples of it like on extreme makeover home edition.  Also the scriptures and my family

32, What are you afraid of? my family or myself getting seriously sick and dying. ditto

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? cheese

34. Favorite car: ummm, I like new cars, any one I can afford!

35. Favorite cat breed? dog

36. Number of keys on your key ring? 3

37. How many years at your current job? 5 wks

38. Favorite day of the week? Saturday or Sunday

39. How many states have you lived in? 2

40. How many countries have you been to? 8-1ish

41. Today's date and time: August 5, 2008 1:37PM gmt

Little hidden parts...

So, I have come to realize that babies have so many nooks and little hidden parts, its really hard to keep them all clean.  I (we) had given Anna a bath yesterday and today at church I was looking at her hands and in between her fingers were really dirty.  Don't even get me started on under her finger nails - even though I cut them there is still a place that dirt finds to cling onto.  I was trying to make sure I cleaned everything on her in the bath but I guess I looked past those clenched fists!  I was just happy to get everything cleaned out in her neck.  Anyway, she will be taking another bath today, she doesn't know it yet.  She doesn't actually like baths yet and Drew and I being such caring parents hate to see her upset.  So, it ends up that she takes a bath with me, while nursing.  It seems to calm her down a lot.  She is slowly learning to look around and feel the water and seems to start to be more accepting of the whole process, so maybe in a little while she will be back to baths in her baby bathtub.  I have found that no matter how we do it, it is complicated to get to all those little hidden parts.

Card reader found, picture page updated again!!!

So we found the card reader for my camera and I have put even more pictures up on Anna's page!  Check it out!!! Please make sure to look at the last picture a little closer.  You can do that by clicking on it.  She really was very dramatic.  Ok the truth is she was in the middle of a sneeze, but what great timing!  Now I will be able to post more pictures and you can see her as she grows.  She had an adorable outfit on today which I was going to put up but she ended up pooping on it (and Grandma Joan, by the way) as we were waiting for her weekly visit at the baby clinic.  But I can show you my outfit from yesterday, yes, that's right,She wore Jeans!

Check out the Picture Page...

Anna's picture page has been updated.  For those of you who haven't seen it, its the 3rd tab at the top of this page.  More pictures will be added soon!

Ruffley bum baby...Now with Pictures!

We went to church today and Anna was able to sport a dress our Friends Joe and Alyssa got for her. She had it on along with her ruffley bum tights. Very cute!!!!  Anyway, I wanted to update everyone on a few things. First, I have started using facebook a bit more, I never understood the purpose before but, now I think it is really cool. That really wasn't the update, I wanted to talk about Anna!!! At her last appointment she had gained another 11 ounces (that is in one week). She is now over 9 lbs. and only one month old. That is a gain of almost 2 lbs since birth!!! She has started sleeping in longer stretches at night, which suprised me (actually I got a bit nervous that she wasn't eating that much, maybe she is just deciding to slow down a bit with her weight gain). She sleeps from about 10-11 until around 3-3:30! Then she eats and sleeps again until somewhere between 6:30 and 8. I can hardly believe that we are getting so much sleep! Next, I am pretty sure she has started smiling socially ~ at least at me. She has only done it about once a day for a few days, I can't get her to do it by smiling at her but everyone once in a while she just pulls one out of no where while I am looking at her and playing with her. Its great! As further proof of this fact, I had 2 witnesses. Joan saw her do it once and Drew so her do it once too! I can't wait until she starts doing it more regularly and consistently. Being a mom is so fun! I was really worried before I had her that I would be bored all the time, or just hate it (you always hear horror stories about moms who just don't like it). Anyway, that hasn't happened to me at all. I just love being with my ruffley bum baby. She is great!

Annasaurus Rex...

Anna likes to dress up as our little Annasaurus.  You can't tell that from these pictures but normally she enjoys herself.  However, in these pictures she is showing her ROAR





and of course there is the one of her cute tail!

Sleepless ...or tummy troubles

So for the most part Anna has allowed us to get enough sleep, except for a few nights.  Two of which were the last two.  I have long suspected that Anna has reflux which gets reconfirmed by her actions daily.  She also gets a lot of gas, the hick-ups at each feeling, cried when she burps of vomits (sometimes) and seems hungry a lot.  All these thing by themselves aren't to bad but for the past few nights made for the perfect storm.  Anna definitely has the power to make two very tired parents.

Anna overwhelmed...mommy and daddy whelmed just about the right amount

Well I think the whole process of getting moved in was pretty overwhelming for Anna (exciting for us).  The movers unpacked what they could (I didn't want them to unpack everything because I didn't have places for things.  Then Joan, Fred, and Tim Mudgett came over and helped us organize a few things.  My priority was Anna's room.  Which Joan and I were able to put together (with the help of Drew's assembly skills).  The only thing we have left to put together is Anna's swing, which will have to wait a few days until the living-room is sorted out.  Anyway, after all the excitement Anna seemed so stressed.  I was going to get her ready for bed and wrap up her evening.  There was so much going on however every time I tried to put her down, she slept for a couple minutes and woke right back up.  So I got onto the glider Denise had given me and just rocked her and held her for a long time as she furiously sucked her pacifier (and this is a baby who doesn't usually hold onto her pacifier very well.  Drew and I were very excited to have all kinds of excited to have all of our toys to play with.  Our only real disappointment was that our beloved sofa does not fit into the house.  Otherwise it was pretty smooth sailing!

memories... a nicer form of chain mail

So, I saw this on my sisters blog who found it on Mandy's blog and I thought I would continue the chain:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!



2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Exciting News...

So, after a long time of waiting we are finally scheduled to get our things delivered tomorrow!  That means that Anna will have a crib and all kinds of great things.  We will have a couch, pans, cooking utensils and everything!  Also, the long awaited cord to my camera is coming so you can expect pictures!!  It is definitely something we are looking forward too.

In other news Anna was registered and now has a birth certificate, which we mailed away on Tuesday along with our passports and marriage certificate, in order for her to be an official American.  She should get her passport back in about 2-3 months!  Her picture looks really cute.  After she gets that back, we will just need to mail in our passports again and get her a visa, at which point we are free to travel!

Our big adventure

Today Drew took off work for the 4th of July holiday.  I really wanted to go someplace.  We went into town and went to a pharmacy/ CVS type store called boots.  I wanted to get a doughnut pillow my mother had recommended for the healing process.  I also wanted to pick up a few things for Anna - I wanted to get her an insert for her car-seat for additional head support, and a wipes warmer.  She HATES having her diaper changed and getting cold wipes on her is not a pleasant experience at all.  Anyway, we ended up picking up a few things and asking them where we could buy the pillow.  They recommended another pharmacy not to far away.  So we went over to that pharmacy, the pharmacy itself was closed for lunch but luckily someone who worked in that section of the store was their and willing to answer our question.  The answer was no, they didn't have that type of pillow either.  They could order one or we could head across town to another store that they were certain would have them in stock.  So, across town we headed (after a quick stop home to pick up some additional diapers).  We looked for the store but couldn't find it right away.  Drew parked and went into yet another pharmacy to ask them where the store was.  It was about 200 meters up the street, so Drew headed off to find the store and I fed and changed Anna.  She did such a great job!  When he came back he had a very nice pillow (apparently they don't do blow up pillows here or at least we couldn't find it).  This pillow of a sturdy yet soft foam material.  It only cost 25 gbp or $50!  But, Once I used it was definitely worth the money!  Drew was very happy to have me feel more comfortable sitting.  After we got the pillow we decided to go get some lunch and then look at one other store for the baby head insert.  We ate at the Damn Yankee, an American Restaurant whose staff seemed pretty excited about the holiday.  They were getting all decked out.  It was around 4 pm so we had the restaurant to ourselves.  No lunch crowd or dinner crowd.  Then we headed to the last store, Mothercare, and although they sell over 15 different car seat they did not have a head support.  I am just going to order one from babies r us I suppose.  But I have found a way I can just roll up a blanket and get the support for her head, so its not too bad.  By the time we got home we were all exhausted!  But, we had a package on our doorstep that was the hook up for Internet!  So much excitement in one day.  We are going to be taking a family nap soon.

Anna is born!

*Guest Blogger Drew reporting*

At 00:50 GMT Anna Kimberly Mudgett was born! She & Kim are healthy and happy! They are getting along very well & should be out of hospital by Saturday. Pictures and future posts will be along once Kim is a bit more mobile.

Drew

We finally bought a car and...

We finally bought a car!  We bought a used ford focus, a 2005 with 18,000 miles on it.  We have been in a rental focus and its pretty nice.  The safety rating was 4 stars for children and adults, which is better than the Yaris.  Its also a little bit bigger.  We bought it for 6,000 pounds, which is $12,000 cheaper than the Yaris.  Pretty good deal.

We also bought a fridge freezer today.  Out here most of the houses only use mini-fridges!!!  So our place has a hook up in the garage, right off of the kitchen for a regular size (by regular, its still smaller than American fridge freezer).

We also got a bottle sterilizer/warmer and a baby car mirror.

We are getting ready  for the big day which might be before her due date.  The doctor mentioned the possibility of inducing early because she is concerned the baby might be too big because of my gestational diabetes.  They are going to do a scan on wed to look at her size and decide then.  It would only be a week early if anything anyway.  A week and a half tops, if they decide to induce directly after the scan which, they wouldn't do (its usually something that needs some scheduling.

Our stuff should be arriving from the states into customs on June 25th, then hopefully it won't get held up and will be delivered shortly thereafter.  We are getting a bed delivered on Tuesday so we are going to move into the house that night anyway.  Drew is ordering a TV and some computer monitors as we speak.   So things are really getting squared away!

its official and the smell of pooh...

Its official.  We signed our lease yesterday.  We love our landlord, she is so sweet.  She is very excited about the baby and even said she has daughters if we ever need a babysitter.

Now for the second part of my title.  Harrogate is surrounded by farms and even though it is a fairly big city some days the whole place just smells like animal excrement.   Its the strangest thing.  You walk around and wonder if you stepped in something all day long.  I am not sure if it is a rain thing or why it happens but it is certainly something that isn't a thing they advertise as a tourist attraction.

Drew went to get the loan today for the car.  We are going to give it a few days before we make the final decision.  More on that later.

On a bit of a sad note.  My parents went a cruise leaving out of Italy.  The airline lost their bags so now they are on their trip without anything.  I hope that they get the bags back soon.  It will make for some interesting stories I am sure.   Hopefully they will keep in good spirits and enjoy themselves.  They are on the cruise for their anniversary and it is a bit ironic because they ended up grabbing the wrong suitcase for their honeymoon so they didn't have their stuff then anyway.  It is a fitting, yet frustrating reminiscence.

So many things...

Sorry, it has been a while since my last post.  It has been challenging because we have had to pay for our internet access while at the hotel and it wasn't cheap.  We could use it for free at Drew's parents  house but, it gets tricky to write when so many interesting conversations are happening! 

 Driving test - I passed a written driving test that the base requires you to take within 30 days.  I was really suprised because it is a hard test.  The hardest part is trying to understand what the british mean in their highway code.  English is pretty different out here.

 Car - we bought a car, a very cheap car $400.  It has passed its MOT which is an annual requirement for cars out here to make sure they are up to snuff.  standards are pretty high.  It has passed the MOT until March.  Cars which pass this are worth at least $1000.  It will be a good car for a while anyway, its a bit difficult to drive as Drew has told me.  I won't actually be driving it, its a stick and I have only driven once out here anyway.  He will be using it to get to and from work.  Also, our rental car will need to be turned in by the 20th, so even if it were only to last a few weeks its cheaper then renting a car!  It is a 1993 Vauxhall astra

 New car ~  we have decided to purchase a new car for our family car.  we are most  likely going to buy a toyota Yaris.  We are going to get everthing we want in the car, it will be nice to have a little bit of luxury in our car for once! 

Car seat ~  our car seat came in today.  I bought an american car seat and travel system because Drew had said we would be buy an American car.  Not 5 minutes later, he said that maybe we should get a british car.  I think we are going to keep it anyway, then Joan and Fred can use it in their car when they want to take Anna somewhere.  Also, it will still work as a travel system.  Now, I just need to find a british carseat for our new cars. 

Dining room table.  I found a free dinning room table for our new place.  I need to get chairs for it.  I am really glad I didn't bring our table because their isn't that much room available to keep it in.  It is also pretty cute!  Its a round table that has a hidden leaf inside!  The owners got it at an auction and only wanted the chairs.  On base their is a weekly newsletter where people sell/give away things.  I think we will really luck out with it!

I wish I had pictures I could show, but our camera cord isn't here yet.  Supposedly it should come into customs on June 25th ~ not sure how long it will take to clear customs but we hope to have our stuff before the baby comes.

Getting things set . . . We got a house!

This has been an exciting week.  Drew had his first day of work on Tuesday!  It was mainly a lot of paperwork and new employee stuff but on Tuesday he even got to see his desk!

Tuesday night we started our house search.  We found a very cute 3 bedroom home ~ and get this, it was build in 1990!  The appliances are all new within the last 2 years.  there are 2.5 bathrooms and the neighborhood is fabulous!  It is a town house with a nice yard.  We have a garage, which is too small for a car but perfect for a storage area.  It even comes with a washer and dryer which is rare for out here.  We won't have a dishwasher but, we haven't had one for a long time anyway so we are used to it.  In one of the bathrooms there is an awesome tub!  I am so excited, I want to move in today but, first I have to head up to the housing office for them to draw up our lease.  We should probably be in there within 2 weeks (granted we can get a bed by then).  We won't have our stuff yet but we will have everything we need that we have brought with us.   I don't think I will be able to post pictures until our stuff arrives because we packed our camera cord, but if we can find a new one before then I will definitely put them up!

Today I am off to get set up with a doctor.  Things are starting to get set up!

Now in England!

So after some fiasco on our flights etc. we are now here in England.  It has been great so far.  The city is really cool!  It is just plane beautiful.  Our hotel room is awesome!  You can take a virtual tour the Kimberley Hotel in Harrogate England.  We have a biday in the bathroom!  We will be there for 28 nights.

Our rental car was also at the hotel when we arrived, however, it had they key to a large van instead of the car, so the reception people took care of it and got us the right key.  Drew has been doing very well remembering all of his left side driving.

We also bought a cell phone today it can use skype and we get 4000 minutes of skype a month for free!  We still have several things to do to get settled but for right now it seems like we are on vacation!  Drew is even off on Monday because it is a British Holiday as well.

Very Special Friends...

Our friends Joe and Drew spent Thursday night working on our house without us.  We went to the temple for our last night as temple workers.  Even though Joe is on our shift he called in and said he wouldn't be able to make it so he could work on our place.  They were able to get a ton done in the four hours they were there.  They have been such a special blessing in our lives.

Moving Day...

On Wednesday the movers came.  It was a very interesting experience.  It took us several days to get things organized as to what we were going to ship and what we were going to store.  After all that work it certainly felt strange to sit around and watch the movers pack everything.  I stayed to answer any questions, we weren't allowed to pack things for liability sake so, I just sat their and waited.  After watching how much work they did, Drew and I were very grateful we don't have to do that part.  He is still working on the house morning noon and night trying to fix as much as possible before we move.  Time is ticking away but, I think things will really be ready or close to it when we leave next Thursday.

Last day of work...

Tuesday was my last day of work. It was pretty hectic. It was also hard to leave everyone. After being at Abilities Network for 5 1/2 years. Its strange to thing that I won't be there anymore. The Wednesday before I left, my coworkers surprised me with a baby shower! It was so sweet and it was just great being able to see everyone for a while. I will definitely miss it there.  I worked late and took Cassie (the great girl who is my replacement) to meet people at the Howard County Special Education Community Advisory Committee (SECAC).  I wasn't able to stay the whole time but I just wanted to introduce them to Cassie.  They surprised me with flowers , a card, and a wonderful gift card!  They are so great, it really was a wonderful way to end my last day with Abilities Network.

typing test...

90 words

Speed test

Busy days...

Things are coming down to the wire.  The moving company is coming Wednesday to pack us up!  We are very busy preparing.  Drew has been working extra hard.  He is working on the house as we speak.  The Wheeler clan is helping him paint and prep the bathrooms for getting new flooring on Monday.  We have also started the process of sorting through our stuff.  Once we get to England  (even though Drew will be starting his new job and we will need to find a house, car, etc.)  I think it is going to feel like a major vacation!

Changing table

My mother graciously told us she would purchase our changing table!  So, we had quite an ordeal with Babies R Us.  Apparently none of the stores close by have it in stock.  It takes up to 10 business days to ship.  The stores are also unwilling to part with their floor models (even though we are only going to need to take it 2 days before a new one would come in!).  So after trying my best I checked on ebay I prayed that something might be a good match and close enough for us to get.  I found a changing table that is new, costs 1/2 as much, is the right color and get this ~Its in Columbia, only a 15 minute drive, it was also a buy it now!  So we now have purchased the changing table and are going to pick it up tomorrow.  Sometimes blessings come in ways you don't expect!  We are very grateful that things have been going so smoothly for us ~I hope that things continue to go smoothly as we start this new chapter in our lives!

moving company

Friday the moving company got in touch with Drew.  We are going to try and schedule them to come move our stuff on May 13th.  We have been very busy but have been able to line up a lot of things.  Our cars should be taken care of.  We have a meeting with the realtor scheduled (we may even have a buyer).  We have scheduled when the flooring, painting etc. will be completed.  So now all we have to do is the work that goes along with it.  It is hard to believe it is coming so soon.  Hopefully we will be able to get everything done.

Ward Shower!

Yesterday the ladies of Catonsville Ward threw a shower for me.  It was great, I got a lot of wonderful advice.  There was a beautiful cake, and adorable gifts!  I am going to miss our ward!  I am so grateful for everyones generosity!

Diet confusion...

Drew and I went in to see the diabetes nurse and Dietician yesturday.  She developed a meal plan which although it takes some planning it isn't too complicated.  So I started the diet last night for dinner and today, so far my blood sugar has been higher following the diet than what I was doing before!  Go figure!

Anyway, I called back to the clinic and spoke with another diabetes nurse today and he saidif my numbers were better before to go back to what I was doing. He said we can't go off of what we think should happen but to go off of
what actually happens.  I told  him that I would try and continue the diet this weekend and see what happens.  What a strange experience!

April 17, 2008- Test results

So, I got my test results yesterday for my 3 hour glucose tolerance test.  It turns out I have Gestational Diabetes.  I picked up my glucometer today but I really don't won't know how to keep my sugar correct until I meet with the diabetes nurse and the nutritionist on Thursday.

Right now...Fence Builder

Drew Mudgett is building a fence in our backyard where we tore out an old one.  He has been doing it all himself.  Checkout his awesome handywork!

April 12, 2008 - Baby Shower!

Saturday my sisters and my mother threw a baby shower for me.  It was so great so see so many old friends!  Its hard to believe we will be leaving soon and not seeing them for a long time.  During the shower, everyone signed up to share a different story or piece of advice, etc.  Then, when I opened their gift they would share it with me and the group.  The food was wonderful!  We had Hawaiian Haystacks, a great fruit salad courtesy of Sister Reed, Veggies and dip, and homemade Tres Leche cake.  It was a lot of fun!  It is such an amazing blessing to know that Anna comes into this world with so many people who already support her!  Here are some pictures

! My good friends from growing up, the McGraws

 Starting from the left, Sister Reed, Kate Despain and Sharla Shelton(Back row), Denise and Margaret Keisling front.  (Back right corner) Laura Brewer-Heilig

 Now Drew and Anna will have matching shoes!

 From left to right, Erin holding Emiline Wheeler, Alyssa Wheeler, Mom, sister Kelley, Janet Howell.

April 12, 2008~GREATEST COMEDY SKETCHES OF ALL TIMES!

So we found this website yesturday that has really funny comedy sketches ~the top 50 of all times in their eyes.  We haven't watched them all yet but we would like to highly recommend #44 monkey torture and  #36 mind match. #12 the racial draft is also great !  There are many other funny ones too!!  Let me know what you think!

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/nerveeditors/50GreatestComedySketches/01/

April 8, 2008 - ALL CLEAR!

Well it looks like we will only be in Maryland another few weeks.  Drew's clearance came in and we have a tentative start date of May 26th which means we will be moving the week before that!  It is so nice to actually have an answer.  Its weird to think we are going but we are looking forward to the adventure.

April 4, 2008 - Dancing

Friday night we had a family dance instruction activity at our church.  Drew and I have probably only danced about 5 times (including our wedding dance and dancing in the car)  So, it was a bit of a new experience for us. We had a great time!  He had me laughing so hard I almost cried!

April 2, 2008~No Weight...

I had a appointment with my midwife today.  She said that she was little disappointed because I haven't really gained any weight in the past month ~ only 1 pound!  Its kind of scary because I wonder if I am getting the baby enough food but I haven't been as hungry.  She said that I really need to to gain more weight this month.  I have been feeling pretty well though, so I am not too concerned about it.  I think my stomache is getting smaller but I am going to try extra hard to make sure that she gets everything she needs!

March 28, 2008~Swimming

I got sick on Wed with something that has been going around our office.  I was off for most of the day because of that.  I did work on Thursday but I was dragging the whole day.  By Friday night I was pretty uncomfortable.  After work, I came home and Drew told me to pray about feeling better.  So, I did and then I thought, we should go to the pool.  Well I went to the pool and the water made me feel great.  It really helped me to breathe and I could even get some exercise by swimming!  I also think the chlorine cleared out my nose because I woke up feeling great!  We brought my new underwater camera that I got for my birthday.  It was a lot of fun to take pictures under the water!

March 22, 2008 ~ Welcome!

It is the beginning of Spring 2008 and the beginning of our blog.  We are only a few months away from welcoming our daughter into our family!  We hope that starting our blog will give us a new avenue to keep everyone up to date on our latests happenings.

Lat night we had a strange but tasty dinner.  It was root beer stew.  Allyssa Wheeler had made it earlier in the week - just kind of throwing things together.  Ours was a little different but still tasty.  You just use some crushed or pureed tomatoes and a glass bottle of root beer as your base.  Who would have thought!