London

Before we left Texas, one of the things on our to-do list was renew our passports. Mine expires first, but all three would expire before the end of our time here. But since we were also waiting on our visas to be approved and didn't want to send our passports out of our hands, we knew the timing might be hard. So we decided just to take a trip to London once we were here and do it at the U.S. embassy.

As Andy said, "If we have to spend a day in London, then I guess we'll spend a day in London."

Unfortunately we missed visiting the Jeff Goldblum statue. If we had looked at when it was being removed, we probably would have gone earlier. :(

Anyway, we took the bus out on Thursday morning, and caught a bus back Friday night, spending one night in a hotel. We had plans to have dinner with a childhood friend of mine, but she wasn't feeling well, and I told her not to force herself, since I am pregnant after all and don't want to be exposed to anything, either.

Other than the embassy, which went very smoothly, we visited: Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and the Diana Memorial Playground, the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. So have a bunch of pictures!

Buckingham Palace

 Popcorn in my teeth...

 No one told me, OK?

 Hyde Park, where we spent most of the afternoon. It was warm/hot, but not at Texas levels.

 We did lay under a tree for a good half-hour.

 Science museum

 Uncle Matt wanted to treat Jane to something fun in London for her birthday, so we chose this exhibit. It was full of kid-friendly stuff, which was nice because the rest of the place was more museum-y, don't-touch kind of stuff.

 Pulling herself up on a pulley chair

 Dinos

 Deep sea sediment! No really, this is cool! he assured us.

 Fossils in the floors

 Measuring snakeskin in the Natural History Museum

 Tortugas

Thursday also happened to be our 10th wedding anniversary. We found an Italian restaurant that had gluten-free garlic-cheese bread, so that was that. The adults had an amazing meal, and Jane got a special drink with a twirly straw.

 "Mom, you're taking me away from my gelato."

 Infinity mirrors

 Friction slides. One had fake grass, one laminate, and one was wooden.

 Charles Babbage's Difference Engine. Jane knew about this (and me too) from a book about Ada Byron Lovelace that my mom got her.

 A very big computer

 Being silly at the Thai restaurant

 This is the most reliable way we know of to get Jane to eat chicken.

 Andy loves(?) mass extinctions.

 I think I was taking a break so I don't know what this critter was.

 "Hey mate! Glad to see ya!"

 Forams!

 Five years old and not into Dad's shenanigans.

 And, she's back!

 Jane's face when her milkshake arrived.

As for me and baby Snorf, we're doing fine. I'm starting to get some energy back, which is nice. I felt a flutter yesterday which I'm going to say was movement. It's early (13 weeks), but feeling movement in the second pregnancy does happen earlier than the first time. According to the internet.

Also I may have made a variation on poutine last night. The potato fascination continues.

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.

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.

 Merengue and raspberries for dessert one night

 We're on the top floor (51 stairs, Jane will tell you) so we have a really great view.

 Jane found The Shredder glasses at a shop.

 She also found a bike.

 Flat-in-progress (it looks better now)

 Jane and Mom at the Downs, a nice open green area

 Visiting the harbour

Oh domino

A smattering

Oh hello.

In no particular order...

Jane playing with kitchen stuff at her friends' house

 We got one substantial snow this winter, last week.  So her snowpants and boots at least got one use.  Sledding with Andy after he submitted a huge grant proposal!

 Playing outside with baby Charlotte, who we watch once a week

 Action shot

 It's hard to see, but Jane is holding a HUGE stick.  Like, railroad-tie-size.

 Not a great shot, but Jane and her friends were definitely trying to wall me out.

 Rocking a Joides Resolution temporary tattoo.

 Today we were about to start cooking our kale pancakes when Jane asked if we could use the cookie-cutters to shape them.  Next time I will use cooking spray on the cutters, but it mostly worked well.  Clockwise from bottom: Christmas tree, chick, blob (leaked batter), candy cane/letter J.

Cookie cutters in use

 It took Jane a while before she actually wanted to sled. But the snow brought out all the neighborhood kids, as you can see.

Friends

It can be isolating being home all the time, but we've found a good family of friends. I'm glad to have captured this moment!

Merry Christmas!

Jane could change the color of the Christmas tree using only Christmas magic!