One A Week: July 2018

Monday, July 30, 2018

Jane's 5th

Jane turned five! Andy came home early from work that day so Jane could open her presents early.

A new game from Grandma Mary Lynn, King of Tokyo

A rock and a (purple) mineral. Look at that joy!

Blurry, but happy. Another game, Prehistoric Clades

This is Jane telling us that this is a football, but "really it's a soccer ball".

New Lego figures

Big new Lego set

A Princess towel

Her favorite friend that she's made here was at camp all week, so we scheduled a weekend playdate and took along some cake to share. Her friend is older, and it's nice to hear their little conversations. It's also nice to watch Jane watching her, and trying new things because of what her friend can do!

Earlier in the week, I had an ultrasound (I have a physical picture but not a digital one--imagine a blobby semi-baby-shaped black-and-white.... blob). The baby was 11 weeks, 2 days. Little enough to get the measurements that were needed. And there's just one in there--and that's good news for us.

Since we were out, we stopped for lunch at a place called Mission Burrito, which claims to be an offshoot of the one in San Francisco, which Andy and I visited years ago. I have been eating a lot lately, so the idea of a huge burrito was immediately appealing. And huge it was.

After that, we went back to We the Curious, a hands-on museum.

Bubble sheet with a pulley

Nobody puts Baby in a bubble.

Jane drinking chocolate milk with whipped cream, of course.

Andy putting together Jane's new play tent so it would be there when she woke up on her birthday. And it was one less thing to wrap.

Why so much Wallace and Gromit? The studio is here in Bristol, so there are Gromits all over town. A lot of the activities on the second floor of We the Curious are about animation.

Monday, July 23, 2018

And Bob's your uncle!

"So, do you *think* you're pregnant?"
"I don't know, man. I just bought three bags of chips and a couple bars of chocolate, so honestly, it could go either way."

It went this way.

Let me back up a bit.

On my last update, more than a while ago, I think we were living in Texas. It was hard on me for a lot of reasons--the weather, the politics, the fact that I wasn't working or "doing anything," the isolation. Andy was working a one-year (really, nine month) position in Huntsville, Texas at Sam Houston State University. So in the fall, as usual, he began applying for other positions too, both permanent and temporary. Mostly they were across the U.S, but a few were international.

He had a few in-person interviews in Iowa, New York state, Washington State, but the end of the year was getting closer and he did not have an offer in hand. He saw a posting for a three-year position in Bristol, England.

Should he apply, he asked?

Of course!

They wanted candidates to come in person, but he asked if he could Skype and they said yes. Within an hour, they contacted him as their top choice.

So, the Fraass family began preparations for our move to...

It was a lot to prepare. We had to fill out visa application for all three of us and go to Houston to get pictures and fingerprints taken. There was a lot of time spent waiting to see if they'd get approved, and we couldn't buy our plane tickets until then. I spent a lot of time being stood up by people from Facebook and/or Craigslist who said they wanted our various pieces of furniture. We discarded a LOT.

After a drive from Texas to Michigan and a flight from Michigan to California, we were on our way.
Travel photos:

Someone slept on flights. Not the adults.

Schipol airport (final leg!)

All set up and so spacious! For, you know, her.

So, we made it. And after almost two weeks where I still wasn't feeling completely recovered from what I thought was jet-lag, I took a test. I am pregnant!

Andy was in disbelief at how much I ordered at this Indian restaurant. I was in disbelief that he doubted I could overcome.