We moved to London!

I've definitely been MIA for the past two months. Sorry about that. We just had a minor change to the Frizzell family- we moved across the pond to London last week. No biggie. 

WHAT?!?!

I know. It's crazy. 

It's been crazy-times around here, but things are starting to slow down and I can actually take a breather and attempt a blog post while the girls are sleeping.

Frequently asked questions about our life right now:

1. Why did you move to London?

Mike's company won a proposal that moved our family to London for a year. We knew in early September that there was about a 10-20% possibility that this would actually happen, when they submitted the proposal. Well, that 10-20% turned into 100% on November 2, when we found out that his company won the proposal! 

We flew into high gear and ran around like chickens with our heads cut off to get everything in order to move. This included getting passports and visas for the girls (envision trying to get passport pictures and visa pictures taken for your squirmy 2.5 year old and 7 month old- not the most fun I've had), selling my car, figuring out what to do with our house, sorting through our stuff, getting stuff packed to be air-shipped to London, getting stuff packed to be moved into long-term storage, figuring out who would rent our house, finishing up repairs/improvements to our current house, etc.

2. What are you doing with your house in Richardson?

My lovely sister, Liz, and her two friends are renting our house for a year. Truly a win-win situation!

3. What about your job at Children's? Will you work as a nurse practitioner in London?

This was quite a bittersweet choice. There was no option to take a leave of absence, so I had to resign. Very sad as I'd been at Children's for almost 10 years and loved what I was doing in the out-patient endocrinology clinic. But, I know that God is bigger than our circumstances and am looking forward to spending a year a home with my girls, as I will not be working while we are in London. We shall see what I'll be doing when I get back home, though (I have to work 200 hours a year to maintain my NP license in the state of Texas). 

4. Where are you living now? 

We are living in a lovely 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, two-story mews house (meaning, has a garage) very close to Hyde Park in London. Once everything is set up, I'll post some pics. Our house is unfurnished, meaning that we've had to start from scratch in regards to furniture, dishes, etc. I spent a stressful 2 hours online the Wednesday before we left (with the movers there), furnishing our house from IKEA, so that it would be delivered by the 27th, right after we arrived, before Mike had to leave for a week-long business trip. Crazy-times, people. 

We are loving the close location to lots of fun things to do here- Mike is about a 20 minute walk to work, Paddington tube station is about 10 minutes away, Hyde Park is about a 10 minute walk from our house. It's been wonderful, so far. We won't have a car while in London, so everything will be by foot. Hence, having a house close to everything was important!

5. How long will you be living in London?

Mike's contract is for a year, so we anticipate returning back to Texas right before Christmas of 2014. 

6. When did you all leave? What about all your stuff?

Mike left for the UK on December 1st. The movers came on December 2nd to pack up all our stuff that was air-shipped to London. My last day at work was December 13th.  Another set of movers came on December 18 & 19th to pack up our stuff that was moving into permanent storage (not all our stuff is being stored, as Liz and her friends are using most of our furniture, kitchen stuff, etc- like I said, a win-win situation!). 

The girls and I and Liz (my sister) boarded a plane for London (with a 2.5 hour lay-over in Miami) on December 20th and arrived on the 21st. We had 10 checked bags, including a pack and play, double stroller and breast pump, plus we each had one or two carry-on's. It was insane. 

Another post to come about that lovely plane ride. Not for the faint of heart, my friends. Needless to say, I was VERY GLAD to see my sweet husband waiting for us at the Heathrow terminal. Imagine the opening scene of Love Actually- it was kind of like that.  

Like I said, more posts to come on our adventures here! I just got a UK phone and am trying to figure out how to sync it to iCloud to upload my pics. But until then, here's a pic that Liz took as we boarded the double-decker bus to go on the Harry Potter Tour at Warner Brothers Studio. It was AMAZING. 

Lucy at 2 1/2 years

It's time for a post about my oldest, my sweet Lucy. 

She's now 2.5 years old! I cannot believe we're only 6 months away from her being THREE. 

Lucy LOVES her sister. She truly has done so well adjusting to Annie. She loves to sit and play with her, says cute things like, "Hi, Sister!" in this really high-pitched voice. She gets so excited when I tell her that Annie is up from her nap- she will run into Annie's room to see her. Annie loves to see Lucy too- she smiles so big when Lucy comes in the room.

 Lucy likes to try and pick Annie up sometimes and recently has taken to trying to squeeze her cheeks. I'm often having to tell her to be careful when she plays with her and be gentle. 

Lucy LOVES her footie PJ's these days, especially the elephant ones (thanks, Treadaways!)

She can put her shoes and socks on herself, as well as her undies and short/pants. Shirts are sometimes hard. 

She's 90% day-time potty trained. (We did the three-day potty training process over Labor Day weekend. It's not really a three-day process, it's more like a month-long process, just sayin). We're not night time or nap-time trained yet (although most days at school, she doesn't have accidents during nap time!).

Sleeping-wise, she takes one nap a day, from 1:00-3:30 pm or so, then goes to bed around 7:30 pm, wakes up for the day around 7:00 am. 

 Lucy seems to be really enjoying school- she still attends Breckenridge Montessori, where she's been going since she was 3 months old (Annie goes there as well). They have really fun activities, like gardening (here she is with her eggplant she picked!), cooking, Spanish class (she can count to 10 in Spanish and sing some other songs in Spanish), art, lots of coloring, etc. 

I went to my very first parent/teacher conference last Friday. They told me she is doing really well, her verbal skills are great and she's right on track for her age. 

But the best thing they told me was that she is kind towards other kiddos, gentle and sweet. That made my heart so glad to hear that. Above all else, I want my girls to love others, be respectful and kind, to show the love of Christ to others. I love that she is on the right track. 

 Lucy loves her Daddy! She loves to go on walks with him, to water the garden with him, play Legos with him, go on donut dates on Saturday mornings with him. Here they are playing with one of Mike's birthday presents (a big Nerf gun)- she thought it was so much fun!

She loves to rough-house with him, kick the soccer ball, throw the softball, etc.

 Oh, my sassy girl! She is independent, speaks her mind, knows what she wants and will let you know.

She loves to be read to, likes to sing all sorts of songs (and has pretty decent pitch!), likes to hold, feed, rock, pat and nurse her baby doll (she spends a lot of time around her Mommy!). She loves to be held ("hold me Mommy!"), especially when she is feeling sad, hurt or needing to poop (no kidding on that one). 

Other favorites: coloring, stickers, watching PBS Kids on the iPad (this we have to limit only to when I'm getting ready in the morning or other extreme circumstances), going to the library for story time, reading books, playing with Legos, going on errands. 

She's very much into the process of things, such as telling us which car we are going to take, who is dropping her off and picking her up from school, where we are going, where we are NOT going, etc. 

She's really good at memorization and you can often stop in the middle of a phrase in a book and she will finish the rest of the sentence. It's kind of weird, but neat.

Favorite foods: applesauce in the squeeze packs, shredded cheddar cheese, apples (she can eat the whole thing), tomatoes, grapes, canteloup, watermelon, cucumbers, green beans, quesadillas,  (made with refried beans and cheese), tortillas, spaghetti and meatballs, meat loaf, crab cakes, broccoli, carrots, yogurt, macaroni and cheese.

 Meat is sometimes hard to get in. 

Our current bedtime ritual is having books read by both Daddy and Mommy while drinking her milk, then brushing her teeth (she's learning how to spit out the toothpaste!), then getting in bed with her baby, her lovie, her water and a couple of books, then being tucked in, while I sing "Jesus Loves Me," "Amazing Grace, " and "Doxology," then praying. If you do this out of order, she will let you know. :)

Some favorite quotes as of late:

-"Mommy, hear me!" (when she wants my attention)

- "No, I not." "(this one gets her into trouble sometimes)

- "Don't worry, Mommy, I do it. Don't worry." 

Lots of fun!

We've been having lots of fun, lately!

We had a play date with some of my friends from my old floor at work (Deborah and her two girls who are identical in age with Lucy and Annie, and Christie, who's little boy is about 8 months younger than Lucy).

Mike and I attended the Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center's 30th Anniversary Banquet and listened to Mercy Me perform for about an hour. It was AMAZING and such a wonderful time of worship. 

We are so thankful to be able to have a very small part in this ministry. 

What a blessing DPRC has been to so many women and babies!

It was fun to get all dressed up for the banquet! 

Honestly, the day of the banquet had been "one of those days"- I got peed on, Lucy dropped a bottle of nail polish on the kitchen floor, I had taken Annie to the pedi for a possible ear infection earlier that day, etc....
I was really glad to be able to get dressed up and go out for a night with my honey.

Lucy has been wanting to wear my old Mexican dresses- they fit her perfectly!

Always fun when Daddy tickles you!

Last weekend, we went to the opening of the Curious George exhibit at the Ft. Worth Science and History Museum with our cousins, William, Kathryn and Nathan (and Aunt Amy!). Lucy had a great time! She LOVES Curious George, so this was really fun!

I could not get her to smile next to George- she loves to smile on her own time, but not on mine. :) 

Lucy and Kathryn liked to play in the grocery store at the museum.

We spent the rest of the day at The Cecil's house celebrating the Frizzell fall birthdays. Kathryn was so sweet with Annie and loved playing peek-a-boo with her. Annie thought it was hilarious!

Cousin Emma also wanted to get in on the fun. 

6 months = 1/2 a year old!

This little cutie-pie is 6 months old! 

Seriously, time please slow down. How can she be 1/2 a year old!?

Annie did a great job with her 6 month photo shoot. She's typically a sweet, happy, easy-going child!

Sometimes she sleeps like this:

 Sleeping habits right now:

She wakes up between 6:30-7:00 am, takes a nap about 8:30 am, then another around 11:30-12:00, then one more about 3:00 pm, then down for the night around 7:00-7:30 pm. She's been waking up once a night most nights, but we've had 3 nights in a row last weekend where she went anywhere from 7-10 hours without eating, so I know she can do it. 

Naps are lasting from 45 minutes to 2 hours. 

Love, love, love my blue-eyed girl! Her hair is also lighter than Lucy's was, and her complexion is more fair. 

She's started to "talk," saying "da da da," and "ba ba ba" very clearly. 

She can hold her own bottle and I've just introduced a sippy cup with small amounts of water. 

With the cooler weather, we've enjoyed several picnics in the park.

We started solids about 2 weeks ago.

We started with butternut squash, then tried green beans, then sweet potatoes, then carrots and finally applesauce earlier this week. So far, she has liked them all (the girl is putting down 3 to 6 ice cubes of food at a time- NOT at all like her big sister!). So far, I've been able to make all of her food, which I've enjoyed!

We are currently eating solids 3 times a day and nursing every 3 hours. 

Check out her downward-facing dog yoga pose!

She is SO close to crawling! She will get up on all-fours, rock back and forth and literally try to stand up. She can go from lying down to sitting up, as well as rolling both ways. 

She's a pro at sitting up on her own (started doing this consistently at 5.5 months old).

 See! I can sit up!

And I can scootch back-wards and get caught under furniture! 

Some of my favorite moments have been watching Lucy interact with Annie. She will take Annie's lovie and cover it over Annie's face and play peek-a-boo with her- Annie thinks it's hysterical and laughs with this big belly laugh at Lucy. It's precious! 

Annie loves to watch Lucy and interact with her. She loves to look at the books while we all read together. She is now grabbing everything (watch out for your dinner plate if she's sitting on your lap!)- she's also putting EVERYTHING into her mouth!

We go on Wednesday for her 6 month check up- my guess is that she's 15 pounds. 

We've had some sleepless nights around here due to a nagging cold that (I think!) might have turned into another ear infection (this would make ear infection #3!). I took her in a week and a half ago thinking she had another infection, but it was just fluid. 

I foresee an ENT consult and possible tubes in our future.....

Donate to DPRC TODAY!!

Do you want to be a part of Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center's Legacy of Life? 

Donate through DonorBridgeTX.org on September 19th and your gift will be multiplied  allowing us to continue to empower women to chose life and to share with Gospel with those who need of Jesus.

This year, Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center celebrates 30 Years of Life, looking back on a legacy of life that has only been possible through a legacy of giving--people just like you make our ministry possible. On Thursday, September 19th, maximize your donation by giving through DonorBridge. Any gift over $25 between 7:00 am and midnight that day will be multiplied.  Go to DonorBridgeTX.org, search for Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center, and click "Donate Now."

Come be a part of our legacy!

5 1/2 months old!

Yes, I'm late in posting the monthly blog on Miss Annie Grace. We've been a little busy with potty training, ear infections and not sleeping. Mommy is tired. 

However, who can't resist this sweetie's smile?! I mean, I can't get enough of her smiles, snuggles, all-around sweetness! I'm truly savoring all of the cuddles and cuteness she gives me, because I feel like this time around, I know how quickly time flies before they don't want to be snuggled and cuddled and they are "big girls!"

All right- so, here's the 5 month monkey picture!

Lucy is still as sweet as ever to Annie- she loves to hold "Amy Grace" in her lap on the chair, while Mommy attempts to take pictures. It's difficult to get both of them to smile at the same time these days.

Before she had a name, Elena named her "Babs Frizzell" (actually, she jokingly named whichever child we would have next before I was actually pregnant, "Babs," while we were on our girls' trip to Mexico last summer!). She gave us this cute onsie at Annie's baby shower last Christmas and she's now finally big enough to wear it. 

And Annie still has a mohawk. It's pretty awesome. 

Annie loves to roll from her back to her tummy and practices getting up on all-fours and rocking back and forth. I predict that she will be crawling right at 6 months old, just like her sister.

Unlike her sister, though, she has masted sitting up on her own, just this past week. She can sit up on her own for a good 2-4 minutes before sometimes toppling over. She tripod-sat for a couple of weeks prior.

I still can't get over the fact that I have a blue-eyed child. Crazy. 

 I started rice cereal this week because I want to be good at eating solids by 6 months (in the hopes that she will sleep through the night on her own instead of us having to do cry-it-out!). She did fairly well with the first bites (and she's only really eating 1-2 spoonfuls at each session). But, practice makes perfect!

There have been so many sweet moments with my two girls lately- Lucy will sit down and read to Annie. She will also pat her back while Annie is on her tummy. Lucy likes to play doctor with Annie and I'll often hear her saying, "I know,  I know, it's okay. I know this is hard. It's almost over." I silently laugh in my head because this is what Lucy hears when we go to the doctor and something that's not fun is happening (like shots, looking in ears, etc). It's amazing what they soak up!!

Lucy is still so sweet and gentle to Annie- she loves to run into Annie's room when she hears that she's awake from her nap or needs a pacifier. She still calls her "Amy" or "Amy Grace,"  but primarily calls her "sister." 

Eating: She's still exclusively nursing, usually every 3 hours during the day, then usually once at night. We did just start rice cereal this week, once a day.

Naps: She takes 3-4 naps a day, usually taking her first nap 1.5-2 hours after she wakes up from the morning, then the next nap is 1.5-2 hours from when she last woke up, and so forth.

Sleeping: she goes to sleep around 7:00- 7:30 pm and wakes up around 6:45-7:00 am- she likes her paci, but I can put her down awake/drowsy, and she typically falls asleep on her own. She's been waking up 1-2 times a night, usually around midnight, then around 5:00 am to eat. I'm really wondering if she needs the midnight feed. She didn't need it for a long time, but then, just in the past month has she been waking up to eat then. She seems like she's hungry and eats a good amount, so maybe she does, but Mommy's getting tired. Hence starting some solids, in the hopes of her eating more during the day to hopefully sleep better at night.

Other: she got her second ear infection right at 5 months old and this time we started Augmentin (which gave her some diarrhea and a really bad diaper rash). We just finished the antibiotic today and go back for an ear recheck on Thursday. When we went to the doctor, she was 14 pounds 7 ounces. (gained a pound in one month). 

We've still been taking Prevacid for reflux, however, I haven't given it to her for the past two nights now, just to see if I think she's ready to wean off of the med....so far, so good.

Personality- she is still the sweetest thing. She's so content and happy most of the time. Very easy-going and laid back. She usually only fusses when she is tired or hungry. She still does great with going to school when I work or childcare at church. 

Picture dump...

The past two weeks have been filled with lots of wonderful family in town!

Here's a quick photo-dump of all that we've been up to lately...

Sister-bonding time in the chair

Lucy and Jack playing with the iPad- Jack was showing her some new "buttons" (apps)

Lucy, Alyssa and Cameron playing in the fountains after dinner one evening

We told them they could only get their feet wet and not their clothes....that lasted about 5 minutes.
Needless to say, I stripped her down to her diaper for the car ride home.

Pool time with Popsicles!

I loved having all my siblings and their spouses over most nights of the week last week!
So good to see Alex and Lane!

While the grown-ups were chatting, Lucy and Alyssa were busy playing with their babies. I went into Lucy's room a little later to find diapers, wipes and diaper cream all over her bedspread, carpet and the babies. She told me, "Mommy, the baby needed cream!"

Annie was captivated with Uncle Alex's beard and kept grabbing it

Cam playing doctor- Lucy was the patient in the Bumbo

I took the girls to an indoor safari play place- we rode the indoor train- Annie was strapped to me and Lucy was sitting in my lap. We were a little close :) 

Lucy could have spent hours in this car- she said it was her favorite thing about the indoor safari place

Oh my- Lucy now has to wear a uniform to school. PRECIOUS!!
(but seriously, a uniform for 2.5 year olds??) 

Four months old!

Four months old! It's going by so fast- I cannot believe she's 1/3 of the way to a year old. I get a little sentimental when I think that the cuddly, sweet baby phase is pretty much over. She's still sweet, but just not as cuddly. She's moving, kicking her legs, trying to roll- not a still, tiny baby anymore. 

She's finally becoming more smiley and more expressive. This photo shoot was quite a bit easier trying to get her to smile! :) Yay!

We have some unfortunate hair going on- parts of the back and side of her hair are falling out and she's got this mullet of sorts on the top. What do we do? Put a bow around her head. :) 

This is not chocolate. 

This is poop that was left behind after sitting in the Bumbo chair and doing a little grunting.

 "I can neither confirm nor deny that I left that poop squirt"

 This month, she learned how to roll from her back to her tummy! She's only done it 2 times, but it counts, right? Around 2 months old, she rolled quite a bit from tummy to back, but hasn't done it much since. She does like to roll on her sides...I'm sure the next month will hold more rolling.

Lucy loves to sit next to and "hold" Annie. She automatically thinks that if she asks to hold Annie in the chair, Mommy will go and get her phone and take pictures. 

She's actually quite right. They are so sweet together!

 I love this one!!

 Be still, my heart! I love my girls!

More on the past month:

- she got a cold right around 3.5 months and was up 2-3 times a night for about a week. Not cool when you add in that Lucy was also going through some sort of mental growth spurt or something and was kind of crazy, not napping, also getting up 1-2 times a night. Needless to say, I was VERY tired for about two weeks.

- Her right eye tear duct is still blocked, so with the cold came lots of goopy eye drainage (and is still continuing to drain). I've already had to get a refill on our Tobramycin eye drops! 

- Sleeping: once she got over her cold, she went back to waking up once a night again. I'm ready for the sleeping-through-the-night to come back (she did this for about two weeks when she was two months old). She goes to bed between 7:30-8:00 pm and wakes up around 7:00 am for the day. 

Naps:- she takes about 3-4 naps a day, usually an hour in length. I'm able to put her down in her bassinet (still using the Fisher Price Rock and Play to sleep in) awake with her paci and blanket and she will usually fall asleep on her own.  Most days, I'm able to have them both down at the same time napping for about an hour or so. SANITY. 

- Eating: she's exclusively nursing, usually eating every 2-3 hours during the day. 

- Motor skills: she's recently started to reach for the toys hanging on her bouncy seat. She's also started to hold onto a single toy when laying on her back. Today, I had a little mirror for her to look into that propped up next to her while she was doing tummy time and she thought that was so much fun!

- Personality: I really think she's going to be a laid-back girl. She's rarely fussy or crying. She usually blows raspberries as her cry when she's upset. She pretty much goes with the flow. 

- Miscellaneous- she has started to kind of laugh/chuckle when you act silly/ play peek-a-boo with her. She's also become a lot more expressive and acts engaged. 

- Sizes: we are wearing size 1 diapers and size 3 month clothing, although I just got a box of size 2 diapers  to be used soon and I'm thinking we will need to switch out her 3 month clothes for 6 month clothes pretty quickly (especially her jammies). 

We go later this week for her check-up, so I'll edit the post once I get her height/weight. My guess is that she's about 13 pounds. She's not quite a chunky as she was a month ago- she's been more active this month, with kicking her legs, rolling, so I think she's burned more calories and slimmed up a tad.