The Cabes In France

Update

2011-09-21T16:27:00.000+02:00

It has been almost a month since I have blogged (well, here anyway. But more on that in a minute.). I just realized I never even finished blogging about our cruise. Reader's Digest version- last day was at sea, lots of fun. All in all: great vacation, lots of fun had by all, good food, good times, thumbs up for Carnival, and two thumbs up for vacationing with friends. Nuff' said.

Now, onto the blogging business. Technically we still "live" in France. But Jacob and I are hanging out at my mom's house in SC while Matthew is back and forth to Brazil for weeks at a time. Since I am not in France, it doesn't make sense to blog under 'Cabes in France'. I have also officially launched my photography business since being back stateside. At first I was trying to blog about the cruise here, then on my new business blog, blog about sessions. My thought was to start a new 'Cabes in OK' blog once we moved to Oklahoma in January. I quickly realized, keeping up two blogs is never going to happen! So, I just decided that my new KimberlyCabePhotography.wordpress.com blog will have to work for both. I will try to do a 'Mine on Monday' post with things going on with my child, my life, etc. And, I have also been trying to write a letter to Jacob for my 'Thoughtful Thursday' posts (can't seem to get it together enough to make that happen every week). The rest of the days will be devoted to posting sneak-peaks and session recaps for clients. If you are on facebook, come check out my business page (Kimberly Cabe Photography), and 'like' me, if you want. It may or may not make my day to see new fans...

For those of you who have followed all of the Cabe's adventures in France, but decide not to keep following over at the new blog, no hard feelings. I know a lot of you are here because you also live in France, and I can't promise that our adventures in Oklahoma will be as entertaining. Although they might... It has been great meeting so many new friends through this little ol' blog. It humbles/frightens me to see the reader count for each post. This blog has gotten me through a lot of tough times in France, because no matter how horrible a situation, I would think "well, at least this will make for a good blog entry!". I know I have probably shared waaayyyy too much (let's blame most of those posts on the pregnancy hormones), but it was therapeutic to me, and hopefully entertaining for you. I will be back in France for two weeks at the beginning of December to officially close the French chapter of our life. And I plan on doing one last 'good-bye' post after that trip. So, see you in December!

If you are interested, this will take you to my latest post:
http://kimberlycabephotography.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/silliness-on-a-dreary-wednesday/

The Cruisin Cabes: Part 5

2011-08-24T02:38:00.000+02:00

Day 6: Sicily

By this day, we were pretty tired, and would have loved to just stay on the boat. But, we didn't know when we would be back in Sicily, so we decided to take advantage of our last day in Italy! We let Jacob get a good morning nap in, and then set out. There were only a few things I had read about in Messina. Not much of a tourist destination, to say the least. I did want to see the Cathedral in Messina, home to one of the largest astronomical clocks in the world. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the name, and thought I had written it down, but hadn't. We had maps of the town, but were wandering around aimlessly. We decided to give up and head to the shopping district, because my other goal for Sicily was to find something in the famous Italian leather. A beautiful handbag perhaps...

We had just started down the street and saw a large crowd gathered. We decided to see what was going on and were happily surprised to witness the last 5 minutes of the astronomical clock's amazing noon 'performance'. It was pretty impressive to see all of the moving parts. And hearing Ave Maria booming from the bell tower to the hushed crowds below gave me goosebumps. What luck to have made it just in time!

Jacob was more impressed with the two, pretty, Italian girls standing off to the right.

Sorry for the shakey camera work, I was literally running up to the square because I wasn't sure how much longer it would last.

Did I mention how hot it was? Well, it was H.O.T. We pressed on, and Matthew, bless his heart, is such a trooper. He lovingly agreed to walk all the way to the other side of the city to basically go purse shopping. We were also on the look out for some place to eat, but couldn't find anything! It was crazy, there were only stores. We saw a few bars, but they didn't serve food. We finally gave up on the shopping idea, and turned around and started heading back towards the ship, still hoping to find some lunch! We finally found a pizza place, and all of the walking was worth it. It was probably the best pizza I have ever had. Matthew got this HUGE calzone. The cook made a big deal to point out to Matthew that the calzone was shaped like a buffalo's head (the restaurant's logo). Jacob even made friends with a little Italian boy at the next table who came and sat with us and played with Jacob. He didn't speak a word of English, and I tried to ask him his name, but nothing I did (or gestured) made sense to him.

We had to be back on the ship early, so it could start the long trek back to Barcelona. That night was the ship's one formal night. It was quite interesting with a very tired baby. Jacob had really had it by this point, and was not too keen on sitting through another dinner. Our sweet waitress kept stopping by and would feed him a few bites or play with him, giving us a chance to actually eat our meal. During dinner, the cruise director came over the intercom to announce that the captain was steering the ship past the volcanic island of Stromboli (I always thought stromboli was just another delicious Italian dish, who knew!). Matthew and I took turns going out onto the deck to see the smoke spewing from the top of this active volcano. Very cool.

Earlier in the week, Freddie and Matthew had a 'guy's night' and ate at the ship's steak house and went to the casino. Now it was girl's night! Jen and I met at the adult-only Serenity area after I put Jacob down for bed, and left Matthew reading on our balcony. Since it was only about 8pm, when most normal adults are eating dinner, we had the entire place to ourselves! It was so peaceful. Nothing better than sipping a cocktail, watching the sunset from a hot tub on a cruise ship, and hanging out with a great friend!

The Cruisin' Cabes: Part 4

2011-08-19T01:43:00.000+02:00

Day 5: Naples

I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to write this post, because this was my favorite day of the cruise! Remember I said at the beginning that we went on the cruise with the Page family? You probably forgot because I haven't mentioned them since! Between all of the busy sightseeing days, Camp Carnival for the Page kids, and lots of quality couple time for Freddie and Jen, we didn't see them very much during the cruise. That is one of the reasons, I was really looking forward to the Naples port day.

Jen found a company (owned and operated by an American woman) that offered private boats for tours around the island of Capri. We opted for the 3 hour cruise, and since this was the first time Jacob would be on a boat and in a life jacket, I was honestly a little nervous that he would be hot and miserable...thus making all of the adults trapped on the boat with him, miserable as well. Being the awesome parents of three that they are, Freddie and Jen assured us that they could handle anything Jacob threw at them.

We had to take a ferry from the Naples port to the island of Capri. The plan was to meet our boat captain at 2pm, so we had lots of time in the morning to get a good nap in for Jacob. Because of some miscommunication, we got on a different ferry than Freddie and Jen. Matthew had gotten off the boat that morning to go buy our ferry tickets, and only saw one company (the larger, slower, car ferry boats). After we were already on, Freddie called to say they had found the faster, people-only ferry boat, but unfortunately the one they were waiting in line for had just sold out. They had to wait for the next one, but because ours was slower, we should all arrive about the same time. The boat we were on was hot, and smelly, and the rocking was really getting to Matthew and me. We had planned to eat lunch in Capri, and our empty stomachs were doing somersaults with the boat. I have never wanted to get off a boat so much in my life! Thankfully, the ride wasn't too long, and soon we were off and breathing the fresh, beautiful, Capri air. We found out Freddie and Jen's boat was behind schedule and had time to grab some lunch. I had to order a margherita pizza, since it was invented in Naples!

Freddie and Jen's ferry was really late getting in, so we ended up meeting the boat captain and getting everything settled while we waited. Our captain was a young Italian- Pierre Paulo, who was born and raised on the island of Capri. Freddie and Jen finally arrived and all of the stress of the sea sickness, heat, and late ferries was forgotten as soon as we got on our beautiful, little, wooden, Italian boat, and cruised out of the Capri port.

I can't even begin to describe the color of the water. It looks pretty amazing in the pictures, but I don't even think the pictures does it justice. It is simply breathtaking. We cruised around the island and Pierre Paulo told us stories and legends of the different coves, bluffs, and villas dotting the rocky terrain. He also drove the boat into some of the coves and back into the grottoes. Each had its own name and story. They were beautiful. Pierre Paulo also found a great little cove where we could swim, with no one else around! Jacob wasn't quite sure about the water, so I stayed on board while Matthew, Freddie, and Jen swam. Pierre Paulo also gave them goggles so they could swim under this big rock that was in the middle of the cove. There was also a concrete landing at the bottom of some stairs that led up to a villa. They decided to climb onto it and jump off. (Of course Matthew just had to climb out over the rocks so he could jump off something higher.)

Jacob was warming up to the idea of swimming, so we tried again, and he happily splashed and kicked around in the waters of the Mediterranean. Too bad the poor kid won't remember all of these adventures he has been on.

All to soon, it was time to get going again so we would have time to make it all the way around the island in time to catch the ferry back to the cruise ship. I really love my son, but if he had been old enough to stay on the ship at Camp Carnival, this would have been the day for that. He was such a trooper and after his swim, slept in my lap the rest of the way. But, if the four of us could have been sans enfants, the cruise around Capri would have been pure heaven. I didn't even get a chance to lounge in the sun on the pillow covered bow of the boat. Maybe next time I find myself on the island of Capri...

For the ferry ride back, we all were able to get on the fast ferry, that did a lot less rocking, and by the time Carnival pulled up anchor, we were all hanging out poolside after another glorious day of cruisin'.

The Cruisin' Cabes: Part 3

2011-08-07T18:15:00.000+02:00

Day 4: Livorno (Pisa)

After a long, tiring day in Rome, we spent a lazy morning on the ship. We also wanted to make sure Jacob got a good morning nap. As soon as Jacob woke up, we ate a quick lunch on the Lido deck and headed out. That day, the ship was docked in Livorno. From there, the suggested excursions were Pisa (about 30 minutes away) or Florence (about an hour away). We headed to Pisa! To get there, we first had to take the port shuttle to the middle of town. From there, we had to get on the number 1 bus, to the train station. Then, take a train to Pisa. And finally, either walk 30 minutes, or take another bus to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

-Port Shuttle- no big deal
-Bus to train station- absolutely PACKED (thank goodness the Pages let us borrow their umbrella stroller for the day, because there is no way we could have gotten on the bus with our big stroller).
-Train to Pisa- we missed the first available train to Pisa by mere minutes, but only had to wait about 5 minutes for the next train.

Hanging out on the ac, drinking a bottle on a train in Italy. That is how Jacob rolls.

-Now, to get to the tower... It was really hot, and the idea of walking 30 minutes didn't really appeal to us. But, then again, after feeling like sardines on the last bus we took, the thought of getting on another bus didn't sound great either. As we were looking at a map trying to weigh our options, we heard some people behind us discussing the price of these 4 person bicycle things. Hmm, interesting. I asked one of the guys (thinking he was the owner), but it turned out that he and a friend had rented two to carry their families and all of their luggage from their hotel to the train station. Now, that they dropped off the wives, kids, and bags, they were looking for some people to help them pedal them back to the rental place (which just happened to be by the tower). We quickly jumped into the deal, and 5 minutes later, with Jacob strapped in between us on the back seat, we were off! (well, we were off at the speed of a slowly pedaling bike). In my mind, I was picturing this gentle ride on a bike path. I was wrong. We were pedaling down the middle of the road. Anyone who has ever driven (or ridden) on a road in Italy, knows how insane the Italians are when you put them behind a wheel. My stomach was in my throat as cars and mopeds wizzed passed us, and the pavement was rushing underneath. I couldn't believe that I was such a careless mother that I didn't even stop to consider the fact that we were completely unprotected in this contraption if we were to be hit, and the little lap belt would do nothing to keep Jacob from falling under... the thought of all that could happen was just too much! I know this was probably a little dramatic, but it honestly scared me. Luckily, there was nothing to fear, we all arrived safe and sound.

Our bicycles.

And there we were!

Standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. First impressions? It was a lot whiter than I thought from pictures I had seen. After reading some of the signs, we found out it has been recently cleaned. We walked around, took some pictures (including the mandatory 'leaning' pictures), browsed the market, and found a little gelateria for an afternoon snack. Jacob got his first taste of Italian gelato (yogurt flavored). He was a big fan.

By then, it was time to head back to the ship. This time, we opted for a bus back to the train station. Back on the train, back on the bus to the center of town, and then in line for the port shuttle. This is where things got a little dicey. The crowds of people waiting to get on the shuttle were insane. We were in the front of the line and as we were about to get on, the driver motioned for me to go put the stroller in the compartment under the bus. This meant I had to get out of line. Thank goodness Matthew had Jacob, and thank goodness another guy was beside him, and realizing how hard people were shoving, helped Matthew shield Jacob as they moved forward to get onto the bus. Now, I am not usually one to be very aggressive in a crowd, but I quickly realized that after putting the stroller away, I might not get on the bus. I had to push far above my comfort level, but there was no way I wasn't getting on that bus with my baby! Shew! Not a great moment for the human race, it was horrible to see the way people were acting.

Back on the ship, the livin' was easy again. We even had time to hang out at the pool for about an hour before dinner.

The pool was perfect for Jacob because the water was only a few inches deep around the whole edge. Jacob could crawl around and splash.

The Cruisin' Cabes: Part 2

2011-08-04T17:38:00.000+02:00

So apparently me blogging 'tomorrow' turned into 'next week'. Things have just been too hectic to sit down and blog. But, I have about 30 minutes, so let's see if I can recap a few more of our days at sea.

To review:
Day 1: Left from Barcelona
Day 2: (or is that officially Day 1?) Monaco
Day 3: Rome

Rome:
Rome in a day...hmmm... we knew this was impossible, but it was either hit it for one day on the cruise or not get to see it at all. From the minute we found out we were moving to France and started daydreaming trips and vacations in Europe, Rome was at the very top of Matthew's list. The Coliseum more specifically. I did a ton of research and planning to maximize our day in Rome. Matters weren't helped by the fact that the ship docks over an hour from Rome. That is a huge chunk of time taken out of the day. Add on the crowds, the July heat, and taking a 7 month with us... our day in Rome was going to be anything but relaxing. I pre-booked train tickets, and knew that we needed to be in line to get off the ship as soon as we docked at 8am to make sure we got on the port shuttle bus and to the train station in time.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and took advantage of the {free!} room service and had breakfast brought to the room, so we could eat and get ready at the same time. We were almost ready when Matthew pulled back the curtains to our balcony. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was pitch black outside and pouring down rain. I am talking- torrential downpours. My heart sank. What were we going to do? Walking around Rome in the rain all day with a baby would be miserable! Just as I am contemplating how we could keep Jacob dry, the sky lit up with lightning, followed by huge booms of thunder. That sealed the deal. There was no way I was taking my baby out into lightning. I was so disappointed. We started talking about Matthew going by himself, so at least the day wouldn't be a complete loss. But before we could even make a decision, the rain slowed, the sky began clearing, and we decided to go for it. At this point, we were already behind "schedule". By the time we got off the ship, the shuttle buses were packed and with our big all-terrain stroller there was no way we could get on one. So we started walking. It was about a three mile walk for us to the train station, and I was really worried that we would miss our train. Luckily, the train was delayed, and we got there with just minutes to spare. We found our little train "cabin" and as luck would have it, all the way in Civitavecchia, Italy, we get stuck in a train car with USC Gamecock fans! :) It was really nice to be with people from "home", and they were actually on the Carnival Magic too (after that day we saw them everywhere we went on the ship!). We arrived in Rome and the sightseeing marathon began!

Waiting for the train to Rome.

Rome was the day of stairs. Everywhere we went there were TONS of stairs.
Stairs + Big Stroller +Long Day of Sightseeing = Exhausted Parents!

Our first stop was Basilica Di San Pietro in Vincoli. This church was first built in 432-440 to house the chains that bound Saint Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. According to legend, when Pope Leo compared those chains to the chains of St. Peter's final imprisonment in the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused together. There is also a Michelangelo sculpture of Moses in the church.

From there, we walked to the Coliseum. We had already toured the inside of the Coliseum in Nimes, France, which is in much better condition (although it is smaller). We just took enough time to walk around a little and take some pictures. Oh, and by the way, by this time the sun was shining! Thank goodness we took the risk and didn't waste the whole day sitting on the ship!

Next, it was back to the metro, to grab a train over to the Vatican. We stopped for lunch at this place Matthew had been told about called Pizzarium. It is the tiniest place. You go in to order, pay for your pizza by weight, but there is no place to sit inside and eat. We got there just before the rush and were able to grab a park bench outside. This pizza is like nothing I have ever seen, and the dough is made using live yeast that the owner traveled all over Italy collecting from little villages. It was amazing!

Re-energized, we headed to the Vatican Museum. Again, I had pre-bought tickets online for the museum, and when we saw the line that wrapped around the building, I was so glad! We still had to wait in line to go through security, but we probably saved ourselves an hour of waiting in line by buying the tickets online. Rick Steves suggests allowing at least 2-3 hours for the museum. We did the speedy gonzales version, and were in and out in an hour and a half! Luckily, Jacob slept through most of it. It was definitely worth the trip to see in person the Sistine Chapel!

It was SO hot!

We have pictures of Jacob sleeping his way through Italy.

After the museum, we had a few other places we wanted to see, but Jacob was getting tired of being in the stroller, and we were pretty tired as well. We decided to go ahead and head back to the ship. We were already a little nervous that we wouldn't make it back to the ship in time. (and they will leave you!) We were really glad that we made that decision, because by the time we got back to the ship Jacob was really tired.

Ok, Rome was a big day, so I will blog more later. Hopefully this time it won't take me a full week to find time again!

The Cabes in France...and Spain..and Monaco...and Italy!

2011-07-24T18:15:00.000+02:00

The last few weeks have been crazy for the Cabe household. July started off great with a 7 day Mediterranean cruise. We drove back to Clermont from Barcelona, and two days later turned around and flew to the US. Since landing in Atlanta, we have been going non-stop. This is the first chance I have had to sit down and blog about our amazing week at sea. So here we go!

Matthew and I always start planning our next vacation before the current vacation is even over. Last August, while sitting on the beach at Cap d'Agde, we started making plans for summer 2011- our last summer (meaning our last summer vacation) in France. We had so many places left on our 'to see' list! How on earth were we going to decide where to go?! I was about 6 months pregnant at this point, and the thought of spending Matthew's 3 week vacation on a whirlwind driving tour of Europe with a baby did NOT sound appealing! We started throwing around the idea of a cruise. I did a lot of research on cruising with a baby, and everyone had very positive things to say about it. I found a Carnival cruise that left from Barcelona (a 6 hour drive from us), docked at Monaco, Rome, Livorno (Pisa), Naples, and Sicily. Italy (specifically Rome) was high on our list of places to go, so this all sounded perfect. Our good friends, The Pages, decided to join us and were set to go! Jen and I have been talking, planning, and day dreaming about this cruise since we first introduced the idea last fall. I couldn't believe when it was finally time to get on the ship!

Matthew has a cousin that is living part of the year in Girona, Spain, which is about an hour north of Barcelona. We decided to drive down Saturday morning, spend the night with Jen and Steven, and then drive the last hour Sunday in time to board the ship. Due to lots of construction and horrible traffic, we arrived much later than we wanted, which meant a much-too-short of a visit. We still had a great evening grilling and hanging out on their HUGE terrace overlooking the city of Girona. We had a little bit of time Sunday morning to get a quick walking tour of Girona before getting back in the car.

We found the port in Barcelona really easily. Matthew dropped Jacob, me, and the bags off at our terminal and went to park the car. Jacob and I waited, and waited, and waited for Matthew to come back. He was supposed to be parking in a lot close by, and catching a shuttle bus back. I kept seeing these blue shuttle buses pull in, unload, and leave, with Matthew nowhere to be seen. I finally decided to forget about the crazy roaming charges in Spain and called Matthew on his cell. He hadn't been able to get a bus to stop for him, so he was in the process of running all the way back to the port. Needless to say, by the time we boarded the ship, Matthew was exhausted. No worries though! We were about an hour from setting sail on the Mediterranean! We met up with Freddie and Jen, and stood on the back of the ship as The Carnival Magic pulled away from the dock!

Waiting for Matthew at the port. We made lots of friends with the porters.

Unpacking in the room.

We had a great first dinner, and after rigging a privacy curtain around Jacob's crib (using a sheet and magnet clips I brought from home), Jacob was sacked out. Matthew and I splurged on a balcony stateroom so that whoever was on nap duty, or for when Jacob went to sleep at night, we wouldn't be stuck in the room trying to be quiet. The balcony was oh-so worth it! It was super relaxing to sit out on our balcony, sip on a cocktail, and glide along the water.

Fun animal towels for Jacob. Thanks Jose!

(This post is getting kind of long, so stay with me while I recap just the first day, and I promise I will give you a break...until tomorrow (I hope) when I will try to add another post).

The first stop was Monaco. We had visited Monaco when we were in Nice at Christmas with my family. After not being too impressed, we decided to stay on the ship (hoping everyone else got off the ship) and enjoy the pools. Freddie and Matthew did get off for a few hours in the afternoon to play a hand of Black Jack at Casino Royale. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly the suave James Bond experience they were hoping for. But, it is one more thing they can check off their bucket list. Matthew volunteered to cover Jacob's afternoon nap, and I spent a very relaxing 2 hours at the adult-only "Serenity" pool area, alternating reading and napping in a huge round cabana bed.

View of Monte Carlo from our balcony.

Exploring the ship.

My cabana bed. Love.

View from my cabana bed.

Ok, see, that wasn't too long. Right? Rome tomorrow!

Separation Anxiety

2011-06-20T21:41:00.000+02:00

There seems to be some separation anxiety in the Cabe household. But apparently I am the one who has it, not Jacob.

Some of you might know that I am in a cooking group here in Clermont. I don't think I have ever posted a blog about it, not sure why. Anyway, it is a small group of international women who all love to cook. Once a month we meet at someone's house and are introduced to recipes from that woman's country (or husband's country). We start in the morning and cook together a three course meal, and then eat the food for lunch. I am the resident American cook, and have shared recipes for pulled pork barbeque, homemade macaroni and cheese, biscuits, fresh corn salad, peach cobbler... We have another American who is from New Orleans, so she shares a lot of creole cooking. And her husband is of Cuban descent, so we get some good Cuban food thrown in as well. I have also learned to cook Indian, Singaporean, Thai, Bolivian, Russian, and French cuisine. I can honestly say that this cooking group, and the access to so many international women and cuisines, is something I am going to miss the most about living here.

Back to the separation anxiety. When I hosted l'Atelier Culinaire at my house, it wasn't too hard with Jacob. He wasn't mobile at that point and was content to either be passed from person to person, play on his Baby Einstein mat, and he also helped me out by taking a really long nap that morning. Today's group was meeting at a French woman's home. I had never been there before, so didn't know how newly-crawling-baby-safe it was, and honestly, I just wanted to fully enjoy and participate in the cooking. Not worry about Jacob.

I called my good friend Jen and asked her to babysit. She had tennis, but could start at 10:30. My next call was to a friend whose daughter is back for the summer after her first year of college. Daniele agreed to cover from 9-10:30. No problem. Right? Yep. Until this morning when I started getting all flustered about the whole situation. What if he starts pitching a fit? He is normally happy-go-lucky, but when he gets upset, he gets UPSET. Even Matthew and I have a hard time calming him down if he really gets going. Would he nap? He is such a creature of habit, would this change in routine throw him for a loop? If he didn't nap, would he really be a terror for these two sweet women who are doing me this huge favor? He is used to being with me everyday, all day. Would he flip out when I walked out the door and didn't come back? These and a million other questions/concerns were running through my mind. As I left my sweet baby in the very capable hands of Daniele, I had to force myself to continue walking to the bus, and not turn around and run back to the apartment.

About 100 texts later, I was feeling calmer, since apparently Jacob barely noticed I was gone... I got back home around 2:30pm, and Jacob and Jen were happily playing on the floor. I know I was super happy to see him, and I was rewarded with smiles and some snuggles. Based on his 2 hr+ nap this afternoon, I need to find out what Daniele and Jen did to wear him out so much!

Bottom line. Mom survived. And, Mom had an amazing French meal thrown into the deal (that included boeuf bourguignon and tarte tatin, mmmmm!).

Matthew's First Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:04:00.000+02:00

For Matthew's very first Father's Day, Jacob and I have been scheming for weeks to make sure it was a special one for him.

The festivities started Saturday morning when I told Matthew we had to leave the apartment by 9am. I told him to pack a bag with a swimsuit and hiking boots (not that he would need either, but I needed to make sure he really had no idea where we were headed!). I plugged the address in the GPS and told him to just start driving. We drove about 40 minutes to town called Thiers. Thiers is famous for their knife making. We went there last year and bought a set of steak knifes with our initial engraved in them. Matthew took our friends (and Jacob's godparents) back there when they visited us last summer. But Saturday we had something special planned for Matthew. First, let me say that Matthew has an addiction to two things: watches and pocket knives. He also seems to have a curse when it comes to these two things. I can't tell you how many watches he has lost or had stolen. He also seems to really enjoy giving away his pocket knives- like at airport security checkpoints, courthouses, or even an Atlanta Braves game.

Anyway, back to Saturday. Awhile ago, another American Michelin expat posted on facebook pictures of a day she spent in Thiers making her own knife. As soon as I heard about it, I just knew I had to take Matthew. The program has only been open since April, and basically you call and make a reservation, show up, and are given a guide who shows you how to make your own pocket knife (kids can make a butter knife). I made two reservations, but planned on Matthew making both knives- one for him and one he could give Jacob sometime in the (distant) future. There was a little bit of concern that the noise would bother Jacob, but since he fell asleep amidst the hammering and belt sanders, apparently it wasn't an issue for him!

It was a really cool experience. I highly recommend it to anyone living in or visiting the Auvergne.

We ate a great lunch at the same little restaurant we ate at last year, and then headed home.

I really hate this photo of me, but Matthew thinks it is just hilarious. He loves how my facial expression and Jacob's are just alike. Like mother, like son, apparently.

Saturday night, after putting Jacob to bed, I made Matthew a special dinner. Grilled côte de bœuf (steak), homard entier (whole lobster, that I made Matthew stick in the pot because I just couldn't bear to do it!), haricots verts (green beans), and, um, homemade bacon lover's macaroni and cheese (sorry, no french translation for that!). I also attempted for the first time to make Matthew's favorite- Key Lime Pie. Although graham crackers for the crust don't exist in France, and neither do key limes. All in all, it turned out pretty good though.

This morning, I offered to let Matthew sleep in, but he couldn't go back to sleep. So our little family was up early. After nursing Jacob, I handed him off to make Matthew the Father's Day breakfast (do you see a theme developing for the weekend?) that I had planned on serving him in bed. Caramelized onion, bacon, and Gruyere Frittata with homemade biscuits were on the menu. Oh, and some of the most beautiful strawberries that we picked up at the Saturday market in Thiers. Jacob and I also gave Matthew a framed picture and a picture/poem I made for him.

Today has been a wonderfully lazy Sunday. I love my little family, and I love Jacob's most awesome daddy. Happy Father's Day Matthew!

Watching TV with Daddy.

Wordless Wednesday: Talk to the Hand

2011-06-15T14:47:00.001+02:00

6 Years of Bliss

2011-06-11T10:03:00.000+02:00

Six years ago I married my Prince Charming. But the title of this blog is actually misleading, because the six years we dated were pretty great too! That's right, twelve years together. Matthew and I are high school sweethearts. I knew from the moment I met Matthew that I was ruined for all other guys.

We met because my grandparents owned a lake house on Lake Burton in Rabun County, Georgia- where Matthew lived. My sister, a friend, and I were hanging out on the dock one day when a small Boston Whaler zipped past our dock. We thought it was a guy we had met at the local marina the weekend before, so we waved him down. The boat made a u-turn and pulled up. We were a little surprised to find that the two guys were complete strangers. I became fast friends with the owner of the boat, David. Labor Day weekend 1998, David invited me to go to his church's 'Boat Church'. I was completely smitten with a certain friend of David's, whom they all called 'Cabe'. As the last official weekend of the summer, and the last weekend of Boat Church for the year, the tradition was to throw the youth choir, and eventually the preacher, off the pontoon boat at the end of the service. 'Cabe' successfully tossed several others off the boat before turning to me. He scooped me up in his arms (swoon...) and leaped off the boat.

(quick side note- Matthew actually had a girlfriend during that fateful Labor Day weekend, so it wasn't until the following summer that we started dating...)

(another not-so-quick side note- When I was little, my family lived in Rabun County too. My mom and Matthew's mom were both members of the Junior Women's Club. They swear we must have played together. We keep waiting/hoping for a picture to turn up of us together as babies...)

We actually got married on our 6 year 'dating anniversary'. We decided on June 11 as our official anniversary because we went on our very first date (with the now Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Funk) on June 10 (we played putt-putt in Helen, GA and then went to a restaurant where I ordered the grilled cheese and a water because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. $3, if I remember correctly. But I digress...) and on June 12 decided to officially be a couple. We split the difference and chose June 11 as our anniversary. When we got engaged in 2004, I knew I wanted a June wedding the following year. June 11 just happened to fall on a Saturday, and we knew it was meant to be!

I have truly been blessed with an amazing husband and an amazing marriage. Matthew gets all of the credit for keeping things running as smoothly as they do. I will fully admit that I have a {slight} tendency to pout. Matthew has a wonderful way of diffusing a situation, and is {normally} the first to concede/apologize/compromise after a disagreement. I love Matthew for his heart. I love him for his intelligence. I love him for his sense of adventure. I even love him for his stubbornness, and his need to be way above average at whatever he is doing. I love the way he loves his family. I love the way he loves me. I love the way he loves Jacob. I have always been amazed at the person that he is. But seeing Matthew as a father is simply beautiful.

Matthew is my favorite.

Happy Anniversary Matthew! I love you!

Normandy Weekend: Day 4

2011-06-08T21:28:00.000+02:00

(Don't worry, this is the last one!)

After such a busy schedule the last 3 days, we had a lazy Sunday morning in our hotel room. We ate breakfast in the restaurant at the hotel and then came back upstairs and put Jacob down for a nap. While Jacob napped, we packed up and then relaxed in the room.

We had to be back in Clermont for a Matthew to go to a work dinner, so our only stop on Sunday was to the Château du Clos Lucé. This is where Leondardo da Vinci spent the last 3 years of his life. The chateau itself is beautiful, but simple (actually one of my favorites that we have visited- beautiful brick walls and exposed wood beams is much more my style then some of the over-the-top fancy smancy chateaus). Matthew is completely intrigued by Leondardo da Vinci, and so this was perfect for him. The best thing about our visit started once we finished touring the house and headed out to the gardens. It was like Disneyland for geeks, er, I mean, engineers. In the basement of the house they had a ton of da Vinci's sketches, along with models that had been created based on his drawings. In the park, they really brought da Vinci's visions to life! There were life size replications of da Vinci's flying machine, a spinning tank, Archimedes screw, a bridge that swung on hinges, a multi-barreled cannon (that kids could crank and a recording of shots would ring out while smoke billowed out the ends!). There was also a double decker bridge that da Vinci designed after the plague. His idea was that better traffic circulation would improve the health of the cities. By offering two different levels, pedestrians could use the upper level, while carts driven by animals and often carrying waste would be below on the bottom level. The guy was just brilliant. Can you imagine what he would have been able to accomplish if he was alive today?

We really could have spent all day wandering around the park and playing with the models, but we still had a three hour drive ahead of us, so it was back in the car! If you are planning a trip to the Loire Valley, or like us, just passing through, I highly, highly, highly recommend making this one of your stops. There were a ton of kids running around, and they all had some sort of scavenger hunt/activity booklet thing given to them by the chateau. Or even without kids, if you or your husband is a geek, shoot!... I mean, engineer... it is well worth the stop. My brain doesn't work like Matthew's, but I still found it fascinating. Although, I didn't take time to analyze each drawing and the mechanics of each model (like Matthew did), or even take time to fully grasp the information on the signs. Such as this on the double-decker bridge sign: "In the rule of harmonious proportion...the height of the rectangle is equal to the diagonal of the square of the base..."

Ok, so that concludes our Normandy weekend! It was a really great road trip. I loved spending so much quality time as a family and soaking up some history while we were at it! Sadly, this was our last trip in France. We leave in July, and except for our cruise the first week of July, we have no more trips planned. There are so many more places we have left on our "to-do" list. (sigh) Maybe one day we will get to come back.

Normandy Weekend: Day 3

2011-06-08T08:00:00.001+02:00

Saturday morning we woke up to gray skies. We just prayed the rain would hold off long enough for us to visit Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. The plan was to head to the Loire Valley after those two stops, so after breakfast we packed up. Poor Jacob was so tired after two days of no naps, he fell asleep on the bed while we packed.

We arrived in the little village where the code-named 'Omaha Beach' is located. The place was packed! Being the anniversary weekend of the D-Day landings, WWII history enthusiasts were out in all of their costumed glory. There were TONS of US Army Jeeps (all owned and driven by French people), people in full combat gear, and a little bit of everything in between... Since we were expecting rain any minute, we bypassed the mock military camp that was set up in a field and the military paraphernalia flea market, and walked straight down to the beach. The wind was just insane! Jacob was snug inside the Moby wrap, and with the hood covering his face and the roar of the ocean (just like on his white noise 'Sleep Sheep'), he was asleep in no time. While he snoozed, we walked along the beach, and read on our Kindle the story of the Americans landing on the beach (Kindle + Rick Steves is a great combo when sightseeing!). About 100 pictures later, we were walking back up the hill to where all of the festivities were going on. We stopped in the flea market and found a guy that was custom stamping US dog tags. We decided it would be neat for Jacob to have one as a little souvenir from our trip. I have to admit though, with each stamp into the metal, I wanted to tell the guy to stop. I know this is probably horrible, but as a mom, I hope Jacob never has real dog tags. If he chooses a military life, of course I will be supportive, and definitely proud of him. But, the thought of my baby fighting in a war.... Especially after three days of reliving the sacrifices of so many Americans (most of them just boys), the thought of Jacob being in harms way makes my heart start pounding.

Once back in the car, we headed to the American Cemetery. The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. The land was given to the US by France and contains the remains of over 9,000 Americans, most of whom were killed during the Normandy invasions. There were some soldiers whose family wanted to bury them back in the US. It is quite emotional to stare out at the thousands of gleaming white crosses.

Raindrops started falling while we were walking around the cemetery, so we headed back to the car. This was the last stop in our tour of Normandy. We drove the 3 1/2 hours south, back to the Loire Valley. By the time we got to our hotel, the temperature had changed more than 20 degrees! I think the lady at the hotel thought we were crazy to be dressed in jeans and long sleeves. We quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed to the little hotel pool. The water was too cold for swimming, but we let Jacob stand on the first step and get get his toes wet. Except for some grunting noises, he didn't seem to mind the cold water.

The hotel was really tiny, only 6 rooms, but it was a perfect set-up for us. The room was huge, with a king size bed (well, two twins put together) and a sitting area complete with couch, table, and chairs. There was also a large entryway, and the room had a door that closed it off from the entryway. We were able to put Jacob's crib in the entryway, and after we put him to bed we could close the door to our room. We had stopped and bought some of Normandy's famous Camembert cheese and fresh bread before leaving Normandy. Matthew found a store close by and bought some wine and dessert. We put Jacob to bed and were able to open the balcony door which gave us a view of the village and a little of the countryside. As much as we love French restaurants, our little make-shift room picnic was just perfect.

Normandy Weekend: Day 2

2011-06-07T08:00:00.001+02:00

Friday morning we woke up, and we were all pretty tired! Jacob woke up several times throughout the night, and since there wasn't any insulation between our rooms, we heard every grunt, every coo, every time he rolled over... Luckily, he put himself back to sleep each time, but it still left us all with dark circles under our eyes. We had to shake it off though, because we had a big day planned!

After a simple, but yummy breakfast downstairs (with some of THE BEST strawberry yogurt EVER), we got back in the car (much to Jacob's dismay) and headed to Caen. Our first stop of the day was the large Memorial Museum in Caen. The museum is really well done, and isn't just limited to WWII. It starts after WWI, and they even have a wing dedicated to the Cold War. Beware though, strollers are not allowed. They did have a daycare center for children under 11, but since we were there right in the middle of Jacob's first nap time, I was worried he would be a terror for the adults in charge. Instead, we decided to put him in the Baby Bjorn. Like everything in Normandy, there were a ton of people, and the museum got very crowded at places. It is a must-see though if you are in the area.

Our next stop was Arromanches-les-Bains. Here, you can see "Port Winston", a temporary harbor built by the English to unload cargo onto the beaches. We first stopped for some "feesh and cheeps" at a little restaurant recommended in the Rick Steve's guidebook. The restaurant was packed and while we waited for a table, I snuck off to the bathroom leaving Matthew by himself. Unfortunately, while I was waiting in line, Matthew was seated and left to deal with the stroller by himself (French restaurants are notorious for putting tables so close together that even the waiters can barely squeeze through). He got some dirty looks by the people who had to move out of the way for him to get to our table. After a quick lunch, it was time for some sightseeing. It was extremely windy, but we braved the weather to walk down to the waterfront.

Next stop on the itinerary was Pointe du Hoc. If you are a fan of the movie The Longest Day, then this would be a must see sight. It was at these 100 ft tall cliffs that 300 handpicked US Army Rangers attempted to scale the vertical cliffs (using grappling hooks shot by rockets, and ladders from the London fire departments). The Rangers only had 30 minutes to make it to the top (while being shot at!) before the tide would come in and wash them away. Only about a third of the Rangers survived the assault.

For dinner, we headed into a nearby fishing village and found a little crêpe restaurant. Then it was back to the b&b and bedtime for all of us!

Normandy Weekend: Day 1

2011-06-06T10:01:00.000+02:00

We just got back from a wonderful long weekend (gotta love those French holidays that fall on Thursdays, and the 'faire le pont' day on Friday!). We decided for the long weekend to make the trip back to Normandy. We spent a long weekend there last year with friends, but didn't get to visit any of the D-Day beaches or museums. We felt we would be unpatriotic if we let our time in France go by without taking time to visit the beaches.

It is about a 7 hour drive from Clermont to the area of Normandy where I found a b&b. We decided to break the trip up and stop at a chateau in the Loire Valley. We chose the Château de Chenonceau because, well, because I saw a really pretty picture of it in my Frommer's France book! It is said to be a lot of visitors' favorite chateau in all of France, so I figured if we were only going to visit one, then it would be a good one. We arrived in the little village right at lunch time and since most restaurants stop serving lunch at 2:00pm, we decided to go ahead and eat. Again, trusty Frommer's directed us to a little restaurant that was a short walk from the chateau's parking lot. This was the first time we had attempted to take Jacob with us to a French restaurant. The French love their food, and a meal is never something to be rushed. I was a little anxious about how Jacob would do- especially after just having spent 3 hours strapped in his car seat. He was awesome! Whew! He was completely fascinated by everything going on around him. It also helps that he is now eating a lunch meal, so I could feed him a bite, eat a little myself, feed him, etc. We had an amazing 4 course meal, and Jacob was completely content the entire time. After all of that food, thank goodness we didn't plan to get right back in the car. The day was beautiful, and walking through a chateau and its impressive gardens was just the ticket. The chateau was really pretty, but super crowded!

After about an hour, we decided to go ahead and hit the road again. The bed and breakfast I found in Normandy is part of a working dairy farm. It is in the middle of nowhere, which just happens to be very close to Omaha Beach. When we drove up the tree lined drive, our jaws dropped. The main house was enclosed by a stone wall that surrounded it and several other buildings. The Ferme Manoir de l'Hermerel cows provide milk that is used to make Normandy's famous Camembert cheese. Yum! We had to wait about 30 minutes when we arrived because we couldn't find the owner! Finally she arrived and showed us to our room(s). I booked a room with a small adjoining children's room for Jacob, thinking he (and we) would sleep better if he wasn't in the same room as us. It was almost 8:00 (an hour after his normal bedtime) by the time we got settled in the room. We did bath and fed him his bottle, but since the sun doesn't set until about 10:00pm, his room was really bright. He had a really hard time falling asleep. Matthew left to go find something to bring back for us to eat for dinner. Jacob finally fell asleep a little after 9, just as Matthew got back. We ate sitting on the bed, and went to bed early ourselves, ready for a big day in Normandy the next day!

(Blogger has told me that I have exceeded my uploaded picture space... boo! So, I put all of the pictures from Day 1 in a slideshow and uploaded it to YouTube.)

Wordless (well, almost...) Wednesday

2011-06-01T20:40:00.000+02:00

We leave tomorrow for Normandy, so I don't have time for a full post. I wanted to share this though. This afternoon, Jacob and I were walking home from downtown and he was cracking up! He was a total giggle box for no apparent reason. I tried to capture it with my camera phone, but of course as soon as the camera came out, the giggling calmed down. Still pretty cute though.

(oh, and it was cold, so I was walking really quickly. Sorry for the shaky camera.)

Jacob's Attempt to Crawl

2011-05-30T21:56:00.000+02:00

Learning to crawl is hard work!

Bébé Nageur

2011-05-28T11:31:00.001+02:00

Today was the day! I have been waiting for 6 whole months for today! The day that Jacob was old enough to go to the bébé nageur (baby swimmers) class! Technically the class I have been waiting for is a Wednesday morning class at Royatonic, the pool where my aquagym class is. However, for his first time, I wanted Matthew with me in case it turned out to be a complete failure. The main pool in Chamalieres has a bébé nageur class on Saturday mornings. Perfect! The first step was convincing Matthew to come with me. In France, guys aren't allowed to wear board short type swim suits. At Royatonic, there is a sign that shows what suits are acceptable: the tiny biker short looking ones, the short suit ones I call 'J Crew bathing suits', or the ever popular Speedo. Matthew agreed to wear the 'J Crew' shorts, which on anyone else wouldn't be that short, but have you seen my husband? In his 6'4" frame, most of that height is in his legs. More specifically in his thighs. So the shorts are really short on him. he he.

Teeny tiny shorts in hand, we headed to the pool this morning. I had Jacob already dressed in his swim diaper and swim shorts, and I had my suit under my clothes, so getting ready in the locker room was easy. Then we went to put our stuff in a locker and realized we needed a euro piece. Neither one of us had any money. We were all set to just take Matthew's wallet with us to the pool area and risk leaving the locker unlocked. As I headed to the women's showers (yeah, you have to take a shower before getting into the pool), I see Matthew head over to ask a janitor about the locker situation. Jacob and I shower, and walk through the wading pool (to get off any remaining dirt from your feet before you can get into the pools) and wait for Matthew to come out of the guy's shower side. We wait. And we wait. And we wait.

I was starting to think that Matthew went back out to the front desk to ask for a euro piece or the little member card to put in the locker. After several more minutes, Matthew finally emerges from the showers...
In a Speedo!!!! I am talking, full-on, banana hammock!!! Bwah haha! Apparently at this pool, guys can only wear the little biker shorts or a Speedo (even though all the lifeguards are definitely sporting their Baywatch red swim shorts). The look on Matthew's face was priceless! (Sorry babe!) I thought at first Matthew had to buy the Speedo, but no, the janitor guy gave him one to wear. Ewwww!

So at this point Matthew couldn't get into the water fast enough. But oops, we forgot to bring the little piece of paper saying we had paid for the baby swim class. So Matthew had to walk back across the pool area, back through the showers, back to the locker room, and then back to the pool.

I tried my very best to convince Matthew to let me take a picture, but he refused. The only pictures allowed were ones where he is completely submerged in water. Shoot!

I don't think Jacob knew what to think about the whole pool thing. He had his serious, deep thinking, furrowed brow face on most of the time. The few times he did crack a smile was when a cute little girl baby in a bikini would "swim" past. I think he definitely enjoyed himself though. He got really tired towards the end (at that point it was already 30 minutes past his normal nap time), and the final straw was when a ball Matthew was playing with under the water, popped up, splashing both Jacob and me right in the face. Other than that, I would consider the baby swim class a success! I have to get a 'certificate medicale' and proof of vaccinations, before I can go to the Royatonic class. We don't have that many weeks left here, but I definitely want to take him. I have only been able to find one class in Greenville that has a class for babies this small. I don't know why- it is great!

Jacob is 6 Months Old!

2011-05-24T11:13:00.000+02:00

Today Jacob is 6 months old! Wow. Where has the time gone?! There were times during the first 3, colicky months when I thought some nights would never end. But here we are! Jacob has always been a sweet baby, but when he was suffering from colic and reflux, there were times that he just seemed miserable. Now, he is a happy, giggling, fun baby. It is amazing to see his little personality emerge. I think Matthew and I are going to have quite the little clown on our hands. It is hard to describe with words, but there are times that he acts downright silly, and then will close his eyes, fall backwards, and giggle at himself! One of my favorite new 'skills' of his is when he reaches out his arms for me or Matthew. My goodness! It melts my heart every time.

Speaking of skills, Jacob is working hard on sitting on his own. Every day it seems he can sit just a little bit longer before toppling over. Jacob can now roll from his back to his stomach, and as of yesterday- can now consistently roll from his stomach to his back. This is an important milestone for us! He has been able to roll onto his stomach for a little over a month now. The problem is, once there, he gets very upset and fusses...cries...screams... until you go flip him back over (only to roll back onto his stomach 10 seconds later...). This is not my idea of a fun game. And the times where I decided to leave him fussing to see if he would figure it out for himself (or figure out that being on his stomach isn't fun, and would stop rolling over), I find him face down in a puddle of spit-up (no Mother-of-the-Year awards for me!). Fortunately, this hasn't affected his sleeping. We were really worried that if he rolled over in his crib, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep until we came in and rolled him back over. Most mornings we find him still on his back, but there have been mornings where we go to wake him up and he is sleeping peacefully on his stomach.

And speaking of sleeping. Praise the Lord, Jacob has become such a great sleeper! It took him about 3 days to re-adjust after flying back to France, but since then (knock on wood) he has been sleeping through the night. 7pm- 7am. Wow. I still can't believe it. AND, remember all of those blogs on the napping issues? Jacob now takes 2 naps of 1 1/2 hours (sometimes 2 hours, or longer!). This has been the greatest change to our days. I now can plan our days because I know what time he will go down for a nap. I know how long he will sleep, which means I know when he needs to go down for the next nap. Ironically, this type of scheduling has been the biggest source of freedom for me!

Let's talk a little bit more about scheduling. When Jacob was first born I made up some charts to keep track of when he ate, which side I started feeding him on, and how long he ate on each side. I also kept track of how many wet and poopie diapers he had (sounds silly, but everyone who has breastfed knows that diaper 'output' is the best way to gauge whether the baby is getting enough milk). After Day 13 and the 6 hours straight of crying, and the research I did on colic being diagnosed by a baby that cries for more than 3 hours/day, for more than 3 days/week, for more than 3 weeks, I decided I needed a more detailed chart to keep track of really how much he was crying. All moms know that 5 minutes of crying can feel like an hour sometimes! So my 24-hour chart was born. I have received a lot of flack about my charts, but they have also come in really handy when Jacob was finally diagnosed with reflux. More recently, they have helped me find the 'sweet spot' when it comes to Jacob's naps. I will never forget the look I got when I pulled out my charts after spending the night in the ER with Jacob. The ER doctor looked at the charts, looked at us, and asked (in French) "Um, where are you from? That must be an American thing, I have never seen that in France." Nope, not an American thing, just a Kim thing. I admit that I am a little addicted to my charts. Here are some examples. It really puts things into perspective when I look at what our days were like then and now. Just fyi- blue=sleeping, green=eating, red=crying, and the red stars are when he spit-up A LOT. There are a lot more colors/symbols, but I won't bore you (well, bore you any more than I already have). Can I just say how satisfying it is to color in all the blue after a full night of sleep? Or after a long nap. Kind of the like the feeling I get when I get to cross something off a to-do list. Sometimes when I make lists, I will even write things I have already finished, just so I can cross them off. I know I am a dork, but I also know I am not the only one that does this. ;)

So, anyway. My baby is 6 months old today. My sweet, funny, adorably chubby, cuddly (sometimes), light of my life. I love you Jacob! I love being your mommy. I love your sweet smiles and giggles. I love your chubby cheeks (that everyone comments on). I love your beautiful blue eyes. And I love how happy you are when you see me first thing in the morning, after each nap, or even when I have just left the room for a second and come back. It is amazing how you can make my heart melt one minute, and the next I feel like my heart might burst it is so full of love for you. Happy half birthday!

Adventures in Baby Food

2011-05-20T14:59:00.000+02:00

Jacob has started eating 'solids'. From the get-go, I knew I wanted to make homemade baby food for him. I am not working in France, so I have the time. And anything I make at home has to be better than the stuff in jars, right? My mom bought me the book Super Baby Food (kind of like every pregnant woman reads What to Expect When You Are Expecting, anyone who wants to make homemade baby food reads Super Baby Food). We started off with the traditional infant rice cereal. Jacob had his first cereal when we were in the US. Our pediatrician had given us the go ahead after his 4 month check-up, but we waited until we were in the US with Matthew's family. After missing Christmas, we thought it would be fun for them to witness at least one of Jacob's milestones. He did really well. I don't know how much he actually ate the first time because a lot of it ended up on his bib, but for his very first time- he did great. A few weeks later I added in Infant oatmeal to his diet, mostly just for some variety for his taste buds.

After his 5 month check-up, the pediatrician told us to start introducing vegetables during his lunch meal. This is where things got a little confusing because everything our pediatrician told us was completely opposite from what I had read in my book, and what I had seen online. Even on US websites, no one seems to agree on what foods to start with, what foods for what ages, etc. One thing everyone does seem to agree on is waiting 3-5 days before introducing a new food (to allow allergies to show themselves, and then you can easily eliminate the culprit from the diet). Our pediatrician told us to pick 5 vegetables (she gave us a list of recommended ones) and for 15 days rotate through the 5- giving a new one each day. Hmmm... should I follow the advice of our doctor? Or go with the 3-5 day wait rule that is the norm in the US (especially since Matthew had food allergies when he was young)? Better safe than sorry, so slowly but surely we are introducing new foods to him.

Food #1: Avocados. These are a super food. They are not only one of the most nutrient-dense foods, but are high in iron, folate. potassium, vitamin E, and magnesium. Shew! AND, there is no preparation. Scoop some out, mash it up, mix in a little breast milk to thin it just a tad, and voila! (oh, and if you don't feel like freezing the rest, you can mix up a little guacamole for Mom and Dad). :) Feeding Jacob avocado was pretty anti-climatic. From his facial expressions you couldn't even tell that he was eating something different. I thought after eating the bland rice cereal and oatmeal, the avocado would be a welcome change. He did eat it all up like a champ, and was opening his mouth and leaning forward for the spoon. So I guess that means he liked it!

Food #2: Sweet Potatoes. Another super food. Preparation is pretty simple too. Poke some holes in them, throw them in the oven until they are fork tender, scoop out the flesh and puree. The only extra step is to strain the puree because the fibers that don't puree could be a choking hazard. I cooked up a bunch of these, and froze them into cubes. Jacob is a big fan of these, and the orange color makes them a whole lot prettier than most baby food!

Food #3: Green Beans. Jacob gets green beans for the first time on Sunday. Since Matthew took the day off today, we headed out to enjoy one of our favorite things to do when living in France- faire les courses. Our first stop was the butcher, then the boulangerie, then the fruit/vegetable market. I stocked up on green beans and peaches (Jacob gets those in about 2 weeks, but I thought I could go ahead and make/freeze them). I also couldn't resist buying some artichokes that were bigger than Jacob's head! I can't wait to dig into those. Anyway, back to the green beans. A friend here let me borrow her baby cooker. It is so simple to use, and you can steam veggies and puree them in the same pot! Unfortunately, the amounts I was attempting to cook and puree was just too much for the baby cooker. I finally had to ditch the cooker and pull out my big pressure cooker and immersion blender. One piece of advice I did take from our pediatrician was to add a little potato when cooking the green beans. She told us it would help with flavor and help combine everything into a better texture. But does that mean if he doesn't react to the green beans, then we are good-to-go with potatoes as well???

Next up on the schedule are bananas, carrots, winter squash (I think I am going to do pumpkin because I already have some frozen pumpkin puree in the freezer that I need to use before we leave in July...), pears, peaches, and applesauce. One of my biggest goals is to "clear" foods that I might be able to find on the cruise we are going on in July. I really don't want to have to lug a ton of jarred foods onto the ship, so I am hoping I can find some of the foods he has already eaten on board (ie avocados at the sushi bar!). I love meal time with Jacob and I can't wait until I can really cook for him. For now, I will have to settle for cooking/pureeing/freezing for him!

Jacob's First Trip to the US!

2011-05-02T09:07:00.000+02:00

On April 1 Matthew, Jacob, and I boarded a plane to take Jacob to the US for the first time!!! I was giddy the whole cab ride to the airport, and it didn't even phase me that it was barely 5am! I was a little nervous about how Jacob would do on the 9 1/2 hour flight from Paris to Atlanta. After doing great on the short flight from Clermont-Ferrand to Paris, I relaxed a little.

The 'before' picture, sitting in the Paris Airport.

The timing of the flights worked out really well with Jacob's eating schedule, so that I could feed him during take-off in hopes of avoiding any pressure change/ear problems. We were lucky enough to be given bulk-head seats and a baby bassinet that hooked onto the wall in front of our seats. Not so luckily, there was another baby beside us. The poor baby and his mom had started in India with a 10-hour flight to Paris, then the 9 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta, and then they would finish with a 4 hour drive to their home in Charlotte. The 9 month old baby screamed pretty much the entire flight. Even with the screaming right beside him, Jacob still managed to sleep some. And when he wasn't sleeping, he still did great. Matthew and I took turns standing and walking with Jacob whenever possible to keep him content. Jacob was amazing, and had all of the French flight attendants on our Air France flight wrapped around his little finger. :) We couldn't have asked for the trip to go any smoother!

My mom, grandmother, and grandfather met us at the airport in Atlanta. It was so great to see their smiling faces waiting by the baggage carousel!

After a really rough night (9 1/2 hour flight + 6 hour time difference + first time not sleeping in his own crib = very confused/grumpy baby- all. night. long.), Matthew's brother, Mike met us in Atlanta to help drive us to Clayton (we had too many bags to fit in my mom's CRV!). Since Mike and Matthew's parents never made it to France for Christmas, this was the first time Jacob got to meet his Uncle Mike.

We drove up to Matthew's parents' house in Northeast Georgia to some very impatient grandparents who have been dying to love on this little boy since November 24!

And the family love didn't stop there! Matthew's grandmother, uncle, and his uncle's wife all drove down from Kentucky to meet Jacob. I would say they drove down to see us, but we all know who they really came to see! Sunday, Matthew's other grandmother, another uncle, his wife, and their 3 children came over for lunch. I have waited so long for Jacob to be surrounded by family! It was such a great feeling to see all of the love they have for him.

Jacob with his great-grandmother and second cousins.

Sunday afternoon we drove out to the lake to visit with some of our closest friends (in fact, David is the one responsible for introducing Matthew and I!). I only wish we had more time to visit with David and Betsy.

What a great first weekend back home. We spent almost 4 weeks in the US, so there is lots more to come!

Oh Happy Day!

2011-03-25T14:17:00.000+01:00

This is definitely a happy dance kind of day! First of all, it is a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky, and high near 70! ahhhh... One of those days that literally takes your breath away.

My day started off great with a baby that slept from 6:30pm last night until 5:00am this morning, ate, and then went back to sleep! Go Jacob!

Then, my amazing husband took the day off so that I could take a 'mommy mental health day'. After I fed Jacob this morning, I headed up the hill to the thermal spa in Royat. After enjoying an aquagym class, I went to the naturally heated outdoor pool and laid in sun in one of the massage jet pools. Ah-mazing!

I got back to the apartment just in time to feed Jacob his next meal, then Matthew and I packed up a picnic and headed to a nearby park. Jacob was even kind enough to fall asleep in his carseat so that Matthew and I could enjoy our picnic and even nap for a few minutes ourselves in the sunshine.

(oh, and did I mention that this time next week we will be on a plane headed to the US?!? Definitely a happy dance kind of day!)

Tummy Time in the great outdoors!

Nap Time in the great outdoors!

No French picnic would be complete without some treats from a patisserie (well, actually I don't know if the French take things like this on picnics, but these Americans sure do!)

Baby toes in the grass!

Jacob Rolling Over...Almost

2011-03-24T10:24:00.000+01:00

Before I lose half my readers, let me assure you, I understand this post will probably bore most of you to tears. A baby almost rolling over isn't exactly entertaining. I get that. The only reason that I am posting these videos is because we live in France. Our families live in the US. I already feel guilty enough that they are missing so much of Jacob's first months of life, but when he reaches (almost) milestones, I feel really bad that they (and by 'they' I am mostly talking about the grandmas) don't get to see it in person.

So, without further ado (for those of you who are still reading this), here is Jacob almost rolling over!

He is oh-so close!

Tummy Time!

2011-03-13T17:45:00.000+01:00

Jacob used to HATE to be on his stomach. Because he was colicky, the last thing I wanted to do was anything that made him cry more! We didn't do a lot of tummy time the first three months, and have been working hard the last month to make up for it. I have found the best place to do it is on our bed. I can lie down facing him and that seems to make it more tolerable.

Here is some video of our tummy time this morning. And PS- I don't know what I hate more- my normal voice, or my 'mommy' voice....

Ok, so after a quick clean-up, we were back in action (well after Jacbo rested for a little bit. Tummy time is hard work!).

Now to show off his new trick. He figured out that if he face plants into the bed and pushes his legs he can move forward! Crawling, here we come!

Jacob's First Giggles

2011-03-06T13:19:00.000+01:00

Within just the last few days, Jacob has started giggling. It might be one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. Matthew had him really going, but as soon as I ran to get the video camera, he was already calming down. We managed to capture a few giggles though.

100 Days!

2011-03-03T08:48:00.000+01:00

Today, Jacob is 100 days old. In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that he was born. But other days, November 24 feels like a million years ago. Either way, Matthew and I can't imagine our lives without him!

To start this post off, I want to say that Jacob is a sweet, smiling, cooing baby. But, it hasn't been all smiles the last 100 days. It is hard for me to admit that. As a new mom, I had this idea of what life would be like after Jacob would be born. I was prepared for the sleepless nights and the fatigue. I had even prepared myself for the hormonal roller coaster after giving birth. Even for the possibility of having postpartum depression. I had read all the books, and was prepared with a plan for getting Jacob on a feeding and sleeping schedule. I was not prepared for all of the crying.

Jacob cried. A lot. It all started on Day 13. I will remember that day forever. He cried for 6 hours. Thank goodness my mom was still here at that point so we could all take breaks. He was inconsolable. The only way to stop him from screaming hysterically was to walk/sway/bounce/etc with him. But even then, if you stopped moving for a second, he would start up again. I was frantically searching online, and everything came back 'colic'. The worst part was, there was absolutely nothing I could do to help him. The only advice was to take breaks and keep in mind that it is usually over by 3 months. When you are at Day 13 and the experts are saying you will be dealing with this until at least Day 60... Ahhh! At this point I started crying and cursing France. Not that it was France's fault, but the idea of my mom leaving and Matthew and I being here alone to deal with a baby that cried for hours on end, it was more than I could handle.

Luckily, Day 13 was the worst of it. He continued to cry everyday, but not for 6 hours. Unfortunately for Matthew, Jacob's worst time of day started about 6:00 pm every night. Just in time for Matthew to get home from work. I was usually pretty worn out by the time he got home, so as soon as he walked in the door, a screaming baby was thrust into his arms. Don't get me wrong, we had some good days, but those were the exception. And we did have good moments during the day where I would see glimpses of my smiling, happy baby. But a lot of the time Jacob just seemed miserable. He was fatigued, he had gas pains, and was just generally unhappy. What a horrible feeling as a mom to not be able to console your baby. Some days, I don't know who cried more, Jacob or me.

Around 8 weeks we finally went to see our pediatrician to see if there was anything she could do to help us. In addition, Jacob had started spitting up a lot. She sent us for an ultrasound of his stomach to rule out something called pyloric stenosis. That was ruled out, but the ultrasound did show all of the gas in his tummy. I had already changed my diet drastically weeks before to cut out the top foods known to cause gas for breastfed babies, but it hadn't helped. The pediatrician prescribed some medicine for reflux, but it definitely didn't made a huge difference.

As we neared the 3 month mark, we could see definite improvements with Jacob. He and I had finally started getting into a nap routine, and when he napped well, it made a huge difference in his disposition. Matthew and I prayed that we were finally turning the 'colic corner'. The reflux medicine also finally started making a difference, which helped with his night time sleeping. A well rested baby makes all the difference!

Now we are at Day 100. I can honestly say, we have a different baby than we had at Day 13! He smiles and coos all the time. He loves to 'talk' to us. He has so many cute facial expressions, and he seems to be a little shy. He will giggle at us, but then lower his head and just look up at you with his eyes, or he will hide his face behind his chubby little fists. My goodness, he is so cute! (I know all moms must think their babies are cute, but I'm just saying- my baby is positively adorable!) Matthew and I have always loved Jacob, but we are really enjoying him now. He is a joy to be around, and so much fun to play with. We sometimes just want to pinch ourselves when we are out and Jacob is sitting quietly playing in his stroller. A month ago, if he woke up while we were at the store, it was a race to get the pacifier back in, and whoever was pushing him would have to take off at a faster pace around the store to get that rolling motion back, in order to get him to sleep. It is no wonder that I dropped all but 5 of my pregnancy pounds within the first 8 weeks since I was constantly walking and bouncing with Jacob. Matthew and I started using it as a workout routine and would do dips and lunges around the living room. (That is fine at 4 in the afternoon. Having to bounce and sway for hours on end at 3 in the morning is a different story!)

To all those soon-to-be moms out there, I don't want to scare you, but I do want to warn you. I feel like no one really talks about how much babies cry. Everyone I knew seemed to have such 'easy' babies. Constantly posting smiling pictures of their babies on facebook and making comments about how happy and sweet their newborns were. It wasn't until I would post some comment on facebook or mention something to friends that everyone seemed to respond that their babies did in fact cry a lot too, and that the first three months are really, really hard. Knowing I wasn't the only one made me feel so much better. I can't tell you how much time I spent on my phone at 3:00am, googling 'why does my newborn cry so much?', only to find message board after message board with hundreds of moms describing the same situation. It was still hard trying to accept the mind set of just 'getting through' the first three months. I wanted to enjoy every moment. Everyone tells you how quickly the time goes by, and I didn't want to wish away the newborn stage. I just had to drastically change my expectations of what I could get done in a day. My only priority was keeping him calm and getting him to sleep as much as possible. Housework, sleep, and daily showers went out the window!

I think the most important thing is to have a good support system around you. Especially if you have a colicky baby. I had so many friends here offer to help, but I think pride got in my way. And, for me, it is harder to call on friends than family to help. I finally gave in and accepted an offer from my friend Jen to come help. Bless her sweet heart, she helped me clean my apartment while Jacob napped. When he woke up, she took care of him so I could keep cleaning. What a blessing a clean apartment is!

So, all of my friends that are pregnant right now (and there are a lot of you out there!), please, please, please don't hesitate to call me if you need a hand. There is no shame in asking for help (it took me awhile to figure that out). And I just told you how much my baby cried, so I have no problem holding a screaming newborn. I have an arsenal of baby-soothing techniques that I have accumulated over the last 100 days!

Right now, I am going to cuddle with my sweet, 100 day old, baby boy, and enjoy all the smiles and giggles he has for me.

Mardi Gras!

2011-02-28T11:56:00.000+01:00

Friday night I had my first night out since Jacob was born! My sweet husband not only agreed to stay home with Jacob, but also agreed to take over the night feedings so I could enjoy a Hurricane, or two...

New Orleans native, Robin, and her husband Oscar, hosted a Mardi Gras party. It was a costume party, but all I had the energy for was throwing on a hat.

Robin made jambalaya and crawfish etouffee, and pitcher after pitcher of Hurricanes. Yum! It was so nice to rejoin the human race for a night out/night off. Although, I think I spent the entire night talking about Jacob! :)

Clarrette searching for her prince.

Scott's halo is a little crooked...

Our gracious hosts!

Parlor Sofa

2011-02-20T20:28:00.000+01:00

You will be very happy to hear that this post will not contain one single sentence concerning Jacob or his sleeping schedule!

You might remember that back in December my family came to France for Christmas and to meet Jacob (Matthew's family didn't get to come because their flight was canceled -twice- because of the big snow storms).

Jacob's great-grandparents (my dad's parents, whom we call Nanna and Pappy) also came. They have been married for 58 years, and have one of the best marriages I know. They are still very much in love with each other and it is completely adorable to watch them interact. They love to sing together. This can be a little bit embarrassing when they break out in song in the middle of a crowded restaurant, but even then, it is fun to watch. I am not sure how this started, but the morning Nanna and Pappy flew home, we got them to sing a few songs for us. Nanna tells the story of the songs, but the video isn't the best quality, so I will go ahead and recap the story here:

Nanna's father- Curtis Mitchell, who we called Popo, was a great musician. While waiting on his wife, Zelpha (we called her Momo) to get ready, he would sit at the piano and write songs. The two songs Nanna and Pappy sing in the video are 'Parlor Sofa' and 'Little Bitty Fish'.

Enjoy!

Jacob Update

2011-02-18T15:02:00.000+01:00

I got so many sweet emails and messages after my sleep post with concern about my family's lack of sleep, I felt like I needed to give an update. (and share some new pictures)

Things are definitely improving in the Cabe household. Praise the Lord! We have extended our naptimes to about 45 minutes, sometimes even an hour! Our daily schedule hasn't changed much, with the exception of him sleeping more (ie me not having to bounce/sway/etc with him for as long because he is grumpy because he didn't nap long enough). He has stayed on a pretty consistent 3 hour eating schedule (7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, then a bedtime feeding at 6 pm, late night feeding whenever he wakes up around 10 pm, and middle of the night feeding around 3 am). During the day, he is awake for about an hour after he eats, and then he naps for (hopefully) an hour.

Matthew had been feeding Jacob a bottle of pumped milk at the 7 am feeding, letting me sleep in a little. We just recently changed to Matthew feeding him a bottle at the 10 pm feeding. I have been going to sleep really early- like 8:30 early! This is the only time I can follow the 'sleep when the baby sleeps' advice. I still get up at 10 to pump, but that only takes 15 minutes and I am back in bed until he wakes up around 3 am. The last few nights we have been giving Jacob about 3 oz of formula first, followed by a bottle of pumped milk at the 10 pm feeding. Before I get attacked by all of the breastfeeding advocates out there, let me assure you- I feed him exclusively breast milk the other 6 feedings during the day. Everything I have read (and what our pediatrician is telling us) is that a baby his age and size should be able to sleep 9-10 hours at a time during the night! His longest stretch of sleep is about 4 1/2 hours! Even though he seems really hungry for the 3 am feeding, a lot of time he doesn't eat that long, or he will keep stopping, pulling off and smiling at me. This is completely and utterly adorable, but I have to resist the urge to smile back. He needs to learn that the middle of the night is for sleeping and perhaps eating, but definitely not a time for a play date with Mommy. It is so hard to resist those baby smiles though... Anyway, we decided to try to fill his tummy up a little more with the longer-to-digest formula. We will see how it goes. He is getting over a cold, so between the coughing and it being hard to breath out of his nose, sleep has been extra challenging anyway.

As Jacob gets older, he is able to spend more and more time having 'independent play' in his swing or on his play mat. He loves his Baby Einstein play mat because it has this musical light show thing that hangs above him. There is also a mirror, and lots of rattles and hanging things for him to grab onto. He also kicks his legs a lot and I think he is getting really close to rolling over! As I am washing dishes, doing laundry, or straightening the house, it is so much fun to hear all of the little coos and sounds he makes.

We have been really lucky with the weather here this winter. Last year, we had snow off and on all the way into May, so I know we aren't out of the woods yet. But, after hearing about all of the snow storms the US has been hit with, I am counting my blessings. In the afternoons, if the weather is nice we go for a walk. Sometimes he falls asleep in the stroller, but sometimes he stays awake and enjoys listening to all the French kids playing in the park. We also go to the grocery store in the afternoon. All the little old French ladies love his blue eyes. They like to lean down into his stroller and tell him (in French) how beautiful his eyes are. He gives them this look like they are crazy (it is kind of the same look I give when I have no idea what someone is saying to me...).

I honestly don't get much done during the day, but I am hoping that by establishing a solid routine for him, it will pay off in the long run. We will be going home in April for my sister's wedding, and I hope that since everything will be different (including the 6 hour time difference!), if his routine is consistent, he will adjust more quickly.

He is growing and changing so quickly. It is a lot of fun to see. He 'talks' a lot and everyday is making new noises and sounds. He is also crying a lot less. Yay! I think he is finally learning to express himself in other ways. Last weekend, Matthew was holding him and rocking in the La-Z-Boy and Jacob discovered his hand. He has been sucking on his fist for a while, and has even started self-soothing at night by sucking his thumb, but this time he discovered his hand with his eyes. It was hilarious to watch him stare in amazement at it for about 10 minutes straight.

Thanks again for all of the messages, words of encouragement, and advice. And to all of those friends here and far away. I feel like I have fallen off the face of the earth, but I hope to rejoin the human race soon. Thanks for being so patient with the emails and phone calls that take me so long to respond to!

Recurring Nightmare

2011-02-04T08:11:00.000+01:00

Have you ever had the dream/nightmare where you are back in college and have somehow messed up your classes? I have this recurring dream where I am back at Clemson, walking to class, and realize that I have no idea where my next class is. The class starts in 5 minutes and I am scrambling trying to figure out what building on campus I need to go to, never mind what classroom! A friend here told us he has a dream where it is halfway through the semester and he realizes there is a class he is enrolled in, but has never gone to. Or maybe that was a true story he told us...

Motherhood has brought a whole new level to this nightmare. Last night I dreamed that I ran into Matthew on campus in between classes. I asked him where Jacob was, and he told me he was asleep in 'our' dorm room. He told me he had to get to class, but don't worry, "he's asleep, he'll be fine." I started panicking, what am I supposed to do with this baby? We both have class, but I can't leave him alone!

Hopefully this won't continue with him popping up in my high school nightmare where I can't remember my locker combination. It would probably become something like he is in the locker and I can't remember the combination so I can get him out.

Does anyone else have these kind of dreams? Nothing like that ever happened to me in high school or college, so I am not sure where it comes from. Hmmmm....

(I guess I should just be glad that I am sleeping long enough to dream at all!)

Dear Sleep, I Miss You...

2011-01-28T19:51:00.000+01:00

Whoever coined the term "sleeping like a baby", never met Jacob.

Sure, we had a short honeymoon period at the beginning where he slept a lot. Anytime. Anywhere. We even had a few weeks at the beginning where he was only waking up once at night to eat. Then we hit the 3 week growth spurt... Jacob went from eating for 30 minutes every 3 hours, to eating for AN HOUR every 2 hours! That growth spurt completely messed up his night sleep too.

Beginning about a month ago, we started a nightly bedtime routine. The Four B's- Bath, Book, Boob, Bed. We played around with our start time to find that perfect time before Jacob became too tired (ie. really grumpy and fussy). Around 5:30 pm we start the bath, then read a book or two, then I feed him, and it is off to dreamland (hopefully). He wakes up again sometime between 10 and 11 for a feeding. Unfortunately, he has gotten into the bad habit of waking up again between 1:00 and 2:00 am, but will only eat for about 6 minutes. I have tried to just get him back to sleep without feeding him, but I think he smells me and can't get over the thought that he is hungry. This week, Matthew and I have devised a battle plan. Everything I have read says it takes 4 nights for something to become habit. So, from about 12-3 am, Matthew is on baby duty. If Jacob wakes up, he goes in to sooth him back to sleep. After 3, Matthew goes to bed, and it is my turn. I usually end up feeding him about 3:30, and then hopefully he goes back to sleep again until our 'wake-up time' of 7:00 am. We have done this the past two nights, and so far, Matthew ends up soothing Jacob on and off for almost the entire 3 hours! On the flip side, I am getting more uninterrupted sleep than I have in almost 10 weeks! Great for me, not so great for Matthew. Hopefully, getting him to learn to sleep from the 10:00 pm feeding until 3:30 am, will help us all in the long run.

Then, there is nap time. And I always hear the other little gem of advice "sleep when the baby sleeps." Ha!

Nap time used to be a huge struggle. And if you follow Babywise there should be a nap in every 'eat, wake, sleep' cycle. I felt like my entire day was spent fighting him at nap time. I did a ton of research on tips and tricks to get a baby to nap. And, I have tried everything under the sun to get him to sleep. Finally, I have found some things that work for us. For bedtime, we have the Four B's. At nap time, it is the Five S's: Swaddle, Square, Shush, Shield, and Sheep.

Swaddle- Most swaddles, Jacob will bust out of in mere seconds. However, a friend of my mom's made a special swaddle blanket for me as a baby gift. This one ties in the front, so there is no way for him to get out. He is getting a little big for it, but it works great because I can leave his legs free at the bottom. (Thanks Joan!)
Square- We use GumDrop pacifiers. They are made by the same people who make those big round blue ones (Soothies). Supposedly, they help with nipple confusion. They are all we have every used, so I don't know how big of a difference they actually make. Anyway, they also sell these things called 'cuddle squares'. It is this 4 1/2 inch square piece of soft material that attaches to the pacifier. It came in a pack I ordered, and I am so glad it did! When trying to calm him down or sooth him to sleep, all we have to do is put that square up against his cheek, and it is magical!
Shush- This one, I usually don't even have to do anymore. But at first, I would put my hand firmly on his chest and make the shush, shush, shush noise. If he was really worked up, I would pat his chest and shush.
Shield- This one I read about on some message board, and it works like a charm. I noticed that he would intently stare at either his plaid bumper or the lovely (insert sarcastic tone here) geometric wallpaper boarder that is in his room, when I was trying to get him to sleep. I just place my hand to shield his eyes so he can't see anything, and within seconds his eyes are closed. The first time I tried it, I thought he would pitch a hissy fit, but he didn't. I do feel like my son is part parrot every time I do it though.
Sleep Sheep- This is a great white noise maker that has 4 sounds- heartbeat, ocean waves, rain, and whale. My personal favorite is the ocean waves.

When I first started a consistent nap routine, it involved about 30 minutes of me trying to rock/sway/sooth him to sleep (15 of which usually involved him screaming his head off!). Now, I swaddle him, give him a kiss on the cheek, place him in the crib, and about 5 minutes later he is asleep. No crying! It still astounds me every time he falls asleep without fighting me. There is a popular book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Although it doesn't give a lot of helpful information for babies under 12 weeks, (except to basically tell you to do whatever it takes to get them to sleep so they don't become overtired) it had a helpful quote that I have come to believe is so true. It says that with a consistent nap routine, babies will come to "expect and accept" sleep. Definitely seems to be the case for Jacob.

Our biggest challenge now is to get him to stay asleep. 30 minutes seems to be his limit for naps. Although according to that book, this is normal. His sleep will begin to consolidate around 12 weeks into fewer, longer naps. I can't wait! By the time I make sure he is truly asleep, lie down myself, and am able to fall asleep- his 30 minutes are up. I hear tales about these hour and half - two hour naps babies and toddlers take, and it sounds like Heaven! I have tried getting him back to sleep after the first 30 minutes, but apparently that power nap is enough to give him energy to really fight sleep, and me! I also would really love to work on how he wakes up. He usually wakes up really mad (I think because he should be sleeping longer). If I am in the room and start to hear him stirring, I can be poised and ready above his crib for when he firsts opens his eyes. Then I can sometimes get him to wake up happy. But good grief, I am not going to hang out in his room every nap! (Although, that is exactly what I am doing right now, but hey, at least I am multitasking)

I know this post will probably be really boring to anyone who doesn't have an infant. But, this is my life right now, so there isn't much else to blog about! Plus, I am really proud about the progress we have made in his sleep routines. Although, I want to make it perfectly clear- I am NOT bragging about him being a good sleeper. Because last time I wrote in a post about him only waking up once at night to eat, I think I jinxed myself.

Christmas in the South of France- The Middle and The End

2011-01-23T15:45:00.000+01:00

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. The last few weeks have been exhausting, but I will leave all of that for another post. Right now, I want to finally finish up our Christmas trip! (but be warned- originally I was going to break this into two posts, but who knows when I will have a chance to blog again. So, get ready for a long post with LOTS of pictures!)

It rained a lot while we were in Opio (did I ever mention that was the name of village where our rental house was?). The rain gave us a great excuse to spend a good bit of time just being together, watching movies, drinking wine, eating a lot of cheese, and just being lazy! We bought a pallet of wood, and there was a constant fire blazing in the huge stone fireplace. Luckily, the rain did break long enough a few days for us to take some little day trips.

Bath Time!

Amy thought it would be fun to give Jacob a mohawk. His face tells you how he feels about it! :)

Wednesday, Amy suggested we find a traditional French restaurant so everyone could experience a real French meal- cheese course and all! After some research online, we found a restaurant that was not too far from the house. We had an amazing meal, and Jacob was an angel! I have to be honest, I wasn't sure how long he would last. French meals can take hours! There were plenty of willing arms, ready to sway and rock with him the minute he even thought of getting fussy.

Nanna and Jacob playing on one of Nanna's drums. Nanna also bought Jacob a little mini drum from the Monaco Christmas market.

Nanna and Pappy flew home on Thursday, so they could be back in the US in time for Christmas with my uncle and cousins. It was sad to see them go, but we were so happy they came!

We spent Christmas Eve day in Nice walking through the Christmas market, shopping, and strolling along the beach.

I think I have a nursing picture from half of the towns along the French and Italian Rivieras!

Jacob, all bundled up and ready to go. Can you tell how excited he is to be in Nice?

When Amy and Trey visited in 2009, Amy kept asking to try a crepe, but we never had the opportunity. She finally got her crepe!

Christmas Day:

Matthew's family has the tradition of having a big Christmas morning breakfast, complete with biscuits and "Papaw's gravy". To honor the Cabes, we decided a Christmas breakfast was a must!

Matthew showing off the watch Jacob bought him for Christmas.

After opening presents, it was time for Dad and Matthew to finish getting the turkey ready to be cooked. Let's just say, the process almost made me not want to eat turkey. Almost.

For our last day, we headed to Italy! There is a town just across the French/Italian border called San Remo. It is a really pretty seaside town with lots of shopping. A colleague of Matthew's is Italian, and his parents have a vacation house in San Remo. He gave us a restaurant suggestion that took us through these tiny, charming streets and up a ton of stairs. We definitely would never have found this restaurant on our own, but we are so glad Matteo told us about it! It was just what we wanted- a traditional Italian restaurant, and a favorite of the locals. Nothing was written in English, and the only way we could communicate was by Matthew speaking French to the owner. Perfect! The meal was delicious. Everyone ordered something different, and as the plates of steaming pasta were set on the table in front of us, it was a frenzy of forks as we all eagerly tried a bite of each others. We are lucky there were no fork-induced injuries, as fast as the forks were flying around the table! Then came the tiramasu. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more. Just writing about it makes me want to get in the car and drive back to San Remo right now!

Jacob's new teddy bear, his Christmas present from Matthew and me. Again, he can hardly control his excitement...

And that's it! We had a great 10 days together. The time went by way too quickly, and I can't wait until I go home in April for Amy and Trey's wedding!!!

Just a few more random pictures, because I am sure you were thinking there weren't enough in this post already! :)

Christmas in the South of France- The Beginning

2011-01-02T21:43:00.000+01:00

As soon as we found out I was pregnant back in March, my first response was "We are going back to the US for Christmas!". Matthew talked some sense into me, and we decided flying overseas with between a 2-4 week old (depending on when he was born) wasn't such a smart idea- especially with all of the H1N1 flu problems last winter. We asked our families if they would be willing to come to France instead, and we started making plans. I found a house to rent for 10 days near Nice, hoping the weather would be a little warmer so we could get out and see some sights while everyone was here. We also planned to take a day trip into Italy one day. Towards the end of my pregnancy when I couldn't do much else, I went into mega-planning mode. I planned meals, day trips, and researched where the best Christmas markets were. Everything was all set, and our biggest problem was not having enough room in our car for all of our gear, Matthew, Mom, Jacob, and me. To solve this problem we decided Mom could take a train to Lyon a few days early, visit with her brother, then continue by train to Nice.

As our departure date drew nearer, the weather turned worse and worse. We ended up driving Mom to Lyon the Wednesday before, since we needed to go to the US Consulate to request a US Passport and SS Number for Jacob. It started snowing on our drive home, and it was pretty scary. There were 18-wheelers that slowed down too much on hills and started spinning their tires. I was sitting in the backseat with Jacob and couldn't even look up because I was so nervous, and my gasps weren't helping Matthew! The normal 2 hour drive took us almost 4, and Matthew's arm and leg muscles were completely sore from driving completely tense for that long. He admitted to me when we had finally arrived safely that there were several times when he wasn't sure if we would make it.

Matthew closely monitored the weather forecasts for Friday (the day that we were supposed to drive the 6 hours south to Nice). There are two routes to take, and we gambled and chose one. As we started driving Friday morning, we began seeing signs that said the road was closed ahead. But then some of the signs made it seem like it was only closed to trucks. What do we do? Do we go ahead and turn around, drive all the way back to town and take the other route? Do we continue and hope that the road is ok? We decided to continue. As we got to the exit that all the trucks were supposed to get off on, we noticed everyone was getting off. There were police officers at the exit and Matthew asked if the road was open to cars. They said yes. So we got back on and crossed our fingers. It was pretty sketchy at times, but nothing compared to the drive home from Lyon. At the worst parts, only one lane was cleared. We still had to drive pretty slowly, and with the stops to feed Jacob, our trip took us about 2 hours longer than it should have.

The 4-lane highway, with only the two inside lanes cleared for traffic. That pile of snow to the right is really the right-hand lane!

We arrived at our rental house about 5pm and were greeted by my Dad, his fiance- Katy, and my grandparents. Nanna and Pappy had arrived in Nice the Monday before to do some sightseeing, and my dad had been on a two week business trip that took him to Switzerland, Holland, England, France, and Italy. Whew! Makes me tired just writing it!

After lots of hugs, a feeding for Jacob, and a tour of the house, Matthew and I left Jacob for the spoiling to commence, and we headed to the grocery store. About 8pm, Matthew picked Mom up at the train station. The rest of the family was flying in Saturday. Or so we thought...

Friday night, we got a call from Matthew's brother telling us their flight from Atlanta to London to Nice had been canceled. London was being hit with lots of snow, and the airports were a mess. My sister was flying from Columbia to Washington to Brussels to Nice, and luckily her flight was fine. Matthew's family booked a new flight (for more than twice the price!) for Monday and prayed for better weather.

With an incredibly positive attitude, Matthew drove into Nice Saturday morning to pick Amy up from the airport. Within seconds of her walking through the door we were in tears. Aunt Amy was finally here!

Sunday we headed into Cannes to visit the Christmas market and an Antique market that was in town for the day. We stayed and ate lunch at a great little restaurant by the harbor.

I forgot my nursing cover, so I had to nurse under a blanket. He was being a stinker and wouldn't latch on, so I had to go under to get him started. Very discreet, don't you think?

Monday, after a rough night with Jacob, I opted to stay at the house, while everyone else headed to Monaco for the day. While they were there, Matthew got the call that the Cabes' flight had been canceled again. At this point, the only flights they could find online were almost $4000/person- not an option! Matthew was devastated. I can't tell you how proud I was of him though. As incredibly sad as he was, he kept a very positive attitude and didn't let it ruin Christmas. I would like to think I would have been able to do the same if it was my family, but I am pretty sure I would have been crying in my room.

Since this post is getting long, I will stop here for now. Since there are literally (yes, I mean literally) thousands of pictures from our ten days (mostly of Jacob), I will leave you with some of my favorites from the first few days.

How cute are my grandparents? And yes, my (almost) 80 year old grandmother is weather denim leggings with her boots. Love her!

Oh how I wish I had this photo looking straight at Jacob. His facial expression was priceless!

Jacob's Newborn Pictures

2011-01-01T12:01:00.000+01:00

I feel like such a disappointment to newborn photographers everywhere. I had all of these grand plans and new ideas to try out with this 'doll' that I had my disposal 24/7. But when it came down to it, the mom in me won out over the photographer. I wanted so badly to try to figure out Jacob's natural sleep schedule during the day, I couldn't bear risking waking him by posing him and taking a bazillion photos. Add in the fact that almost all of my newborn photography gear is in the US, which meant creating make-shift backgrounds on our bed. I did get a few short sessions done. These are some of my favorites.

2 days old

3 days old
(I am proud to say that I crocheted the hat and booties. Maybe one day Jacob's son will wear them home from the hospital too.)

4 days old

One of my absolute favorites. And this wasn't posed, he started rubbing Matthew's face and smiling all by himself! (insert melting heart here)

6 days old

Jacob's great-grandmother, Ruby, knitted this cocoon for me.

I won this hat from a baby photographers' website. It makes me smile.

11 days old

And that is where the photo shoots stopped. I do have a TON of photos from our time with our family at Christmas. But those will have to wait for another post.

A month old? Already?

2010-12-31T22:18:00.000+01:00

Jacob is 38 days old today. That absolutely boggles my mind. I cannot believe how fast his first month flew by (although there were several nights that I thought would never end!). I also cannot believe how fast he has grown and changed in such a short amount of time. He now smiles and coos, responds to our voices, holds his head up, grabs onto things (besides just our fingers), and I have a laundry basket full of clothes that no longer fit him. As much as I treasure that brand-new newborn time, I am really enjoying the smiles, little noises, and funny faces that he now makes. He is becoming such a little man, and it is so much fun to interact with him.

We are working hard on establishing some sort of schedule for the day- both for Jacob's sake, and for our sanity. From the beginning he has been a very good eater, and very quickly established on his own a 2 1/2-3 hour eating schedule during the day. Luckily, he never seemed to confuse his days and nights, and only wakes up once between 10pm and 6:30am for a feeding. Our biggest struggle has been getting him to take naps during the day. He fights sleep like it is his worst enemy. Then, becomes so tired and irritable that falling to sleep becomes impossible. All I can say is, THANK goodness for my Moby wrap and hairdryer. They work like a charm every time! All of this to say, getting things done during the day has been a real challenge. Having my mom here has been fantastic, and it was very sad to see her leave yesterday. Matthew and I have been spoiled rotten by her, and when Matthew goes back to work on Monday, it is going to be a rude awakening to us all!

Jacob and his Maudy.

Here are just a few pictures from the first month to show how much my baby boy has grown!

About an hour old.

2 Days Old

Coming home from the hospital- 3 days old.

6 days old.

11 days old.

25 days old.

27 days old.

29 days old.

One month old!

Did I mention how much I love all of the funny facial expressions Jacob has? One he seems to have come out of the womb with, is straight from his daddy- that would be the worried/furrowed brow look. (although in this picture, it might be because his Aunt Amy had just given him a mohawk!)

Then he has a ton more that are just too cute- but then I might be biased. These are all with his Aunt Amy.

Many, many more pictures to come! But for now, I am headed to bed to get a few hours of sleep before Jacob decides he is hungry again.

Happy belated one-month birthday to my sweet boy.

And Happy New Year to you all!

Cocktails and Cookies

2010-12-31T21:22:00.000+01:00

I have definitely neglected this blog since Jacob has been born. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get anything done, let alone sit down at my laptop and try to sound witty.

Since my last post with the story of Jacob's birth, our lives have been very busy. I don't even know where to begin, or what to write about (that might be because of the sleep deprivation). Since my time is short (Jacob seems to be going through his 6 week growth spurt and wants to feed nonstop), even though he is asleep in his crib at the moment, that moment probably won't last long...

An American friend, Jen, and I hosted our second Cookie Swap party with some friends that we do a 'Ladies' Night Out' dinner with once a month. It was probably crazy of me to offer to host the party at my apartment only 2 weeks after giving birth, but my mom was here and was a HUGE help.

Why is it that everyone always congregates in the kitchen? (even if it is a tiny French kitchen)

Bene and Sawyer (born Oct 3), and Jacob (born Nov. 24) and me.

Party games. I think Jen called this one "Cookies in the Closet", where we wrote something about ourselves on a card, and everyone had to guess which card went with which person. A very entertaining and enlightening game!

When you have no fireplace, you have to rely on a creative husband who downloads a fireplace video, complete with Christmas music, to play on the TV. :)

Time to swap cookies!

Jacob's Birth Story

2010-12-02T17:57:00.001+01:00

It has been just over a week since Matthew's and my life changed forever.

Our son, Jacob Matthew Cabe, was born on November 24, 2010 at 4:48 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz and was 19.7 inches long.

This is his birth story.

Last Tuesday, I started having very mild contractions about every 20 minutes. Around 11:00am, the intensity of the contractions increased, but they were still only every 20 minutes. By the time Matthew came home from work, the contractions were every 15 minutes, then every 10, then 8... Around 6:30 pm, they had been coming every 5 minutes for an hour, so we headed to the hospital.

My plan had been to see how long I could last before getting an epidural. Perhaps I could make it without... Nope! When Matthew dropped my mom and I off in front of the hospital, I was hit with another contraction and could barely walk to cross the street. The pain was like nothing I have ever experienced, and it is so hard to describe what it feels like. We checked in, and they hooked me up to the monitors. I was only 3 cm dilated, so the midwife suggested I walk around the hospital for about an hour, then I could come back and soak in the bathtub. That one hour of walking was a roller coaster. A contraction would hit and all I wanted to do was start crying and head back to the delivery room and beg for the epidural. Then the contraction would pass and I would think, "ok, the pain only lasts a short time...you can do this, Kim!". But, about 2 minutes later, another one would hit and all I could think about was the epidural. After an hour, we headed back, and just as we were passing through the waiting room, my water broke. There was a guy sitting in the waiting room and I just happened to look in his direction as my water broke. I can't even imagine the look on my face as we made eye contact. I felt like I had just peed in my pants, but because of my big belly, I couldn't see how wet my pants looked. I was so embarrassed, so I took off at the top waddling speed possible by a pregnant woman down the hall towards my delivery room.

Now, I have to admit- this whole pregnancy has been a little surreal to me. We weren't trying to get pregnant, and no matter how many times I have heard his heartbeat, or seen the ultrasounds, in the back of my mind I kept thinking that somehow this was a big mistake... the doctors were wrong... I wasn't really pregnant... I know it sounds crazy, but throughout the pregnancy, I had to remind myself I was pregnant. And even lying in the delivery room, contractions coming, water broken- I still thought to myself, "This is going to be really embarrassing when they realize there isn't a baby in there..."

After all of the walking and the water breaking, I was still only 4 cm. And I was definitely ready for the epidural. Unfortunately, they made Matthew go out into the hallway during the procedure. The anesthesiologist had a really hard time finding my epidural space. It is such a scary thing having someone poke around near your spinal cord, and for it to take so long, and hurt so bad (all while having very painful contractions, and being barked at- in French- by a very rude nurse), it was horrible! And poor Matthew was on the other side of the door, pacing the hallways, hearing me screaming, and not exactly sure what they were doing to me. Finally, the epidural was in place and within about 30 minutes, I was loving life! I had control over the amount of medicine, but was able to keep it pretty low. I could still feel all of my contractions, and they were still even a little uncomfortable, but the pain was definitely manageable.

From there, it was just a waiting game. My mom and Matthew switched places a few times (only one person was allowed in the delivery room at a time), and the hospital was nice enough to let my mom go ahead and move into my future room, so she was a little more comfortable than sitting in a waiting room chair. I dilated about a centimeter an hour, and around 4:00am, the midwife said it was almost time to push. By 4:15 am, our little team of a midwife, a midwife student, and a nurse were assembled and I started pushing. After about 20 minutes of pushing, the doctor came into check on our progress, and told us that Jacob's heart rate kept dropping more than she liked, so she decided to use the vacuum to help him come out. I felt like a failure, and tried pushing with all my might. At 4:48 am, a little miracle was plopped on my chest.

I can't begin to describe that moment. I don't even think I want to try. There is no way to express in words those feelings, and the tremendous amount of love I felt as Matthew and I cuddled our newborn. Simply amazing.

We stayed in the delivery room for about two hours. Jacob was dried off, checked out, weighed, and measured. I was able to breastfeed, and he ate like a champ! Then I was wheeled to my room where a very anxious 'Maudy' was waiting to hold her grandson.

The rest of the hospital stay was a blur. Normally in France, you stay 5 days, but because this is a brand new hospital, they have had a flood of births (a lot of which would have gone to a private hospital before this amazing, new public hospital opened). Because of the over-crowding, they offered to let me go home after 3 days and would send a midwife to my house and set-up an additional pediatrician appointment. I was more than happy to go home. The hospital was great, and I really liked all of the nurses, midwives, and students (it is a teaching hospital), but it was impossible to get any rest with the endless parade of hospital staff in and out of my room all day long.

Since coming home, we have just been trying to get on some sort of schedule. Incredibly, within the first week, Jacob has fallen into a fairly predictable eating pattern- right at every 3 hours. Except at night, where he has been going 5-6 hours between feedings. I only have had to get up once every night to feed him (usually around 3:30am)! I was really worried that he was sleeping too long, and wasn't getting enough. Both my midwife and pediatrician assured me that he is gaining weight steadily, and it isn't unusual for a baby his size to be able to go 6 hours between feedings during the night. Having my mom here has been a huge help! By the time I finish feeding him around 7am, she is ready to take over the burping and diaper changing and I get to go back to bed! What on earth am I going to do when she goes home???

There are lots more pictures to come, but I know this post has gotten really long as it is! Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful emails, comments on Matthew's 'guest blog post', and messages on Facebook. We just wish we were closer to all of our friends and family in the US so we could share this precious baby with everyone.

The New Cabe has Arrived in France

2010-11-24T14:03:00.001+01:00

So today I'm filling in for my favorite blogger. She is at the hospital taking care of our new addition. Yep, Jacob Matthew Cabe finally decided to make an appearance this morning at 4:48 AM. I am in no way as talented or skilled as Kim so I'm not even going to try. I will leave it up to her to fill in the details of the last 24 hrs, but I thought I would at least post a few pictures for everyone to see. With the promise that there will be many many more to follow.

The most important point is that Kim and Jacob are doing fantastic. Everyone is healthy and feeling well, with the exception of a little sleep deprivation. Jacob weighed in at a whopping 3.795 kg (8lbs 6 oz.) and 50cm (20 in) long. He has beautiful blue eyes and a head full of dark curly hair. I have truly been blessed with a wonderful wife and a beautiful son, what more can a man ask for on Thanksgiving.

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated.

Now for a few pictures.

Tic Toc, Tic Toc

2010-11-23T12:24:00.000+01:00

40 Weeks. 5 Days. 2 cm.

(or at least I was 2 cm dilated yesterday morning at my midwife appointment. But she also said it could be 4-5 more days!)

Dear Jacob,

You have been a model citizen of my uterus over the last 40 Weeks (well 38, since you didn't exist for the first 2) and 5 days. You didn't give me morning sickness, stretch marks, crazy food cravings, or (many) hormonal break downs. You listened to me when I asked that you not come while your daddy was in China. And, after he came home, you obeyed and waited a little while longer until your grandmother could get here from the US. You even did as you were told when your daddy asked that you not come on Saturday night during the Clemson game. You have been a very good boy. But now it is time to come out and meet everyone. Please.

Your dad and I have tried every trick in the book to coax you out, but you seem to be taking your sweet time.

So, desperate times call for desperate measures. I read on some new-age/touchy-feely website that perhaps you are receiving negative vibes from the outside world, or perhaps you are fearful of the birth process (and truthfully, I am too...). If this happens to be the case, let me assure you there is nothing to fear out here. There are only a bunch of people who already love you a lot and just want to meet you. And I promise, I forgive you for all the middle of the night bathroom trips, the way that you are able to simultaneously ram my bladder with your head and jab your feet into my ribs (you must be tall like your dad), and the seemingly endless hiccups that, without fail, always start around 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. All's forgiven. You can come out now. We love you. And your daddy really, really wants to meet you.

Love,
Mom

Jacob at 33 Weeks

Pregnancy Math Must Have Been Invented By a Man

2010-11-21T21:09:00.000+01:00

40 Weeks...
and
3 Days...

Where did this whole "pregnant for nine months" come from? Everyone always refers to nine months when talking about the length of a pregnancy. There is even a movie starring Hugh Grant called Nine Months. I don't know how math works in Hollywood, but if you take 40 weeks and divide by 4 weeks per month, I get 10 months. How about you? And even if you take the 2 weeks of pregnancy where you aren't really pregnant, that is still 38 weeks. My math still gives me 9 and a HALF months. Just ask any woman who has gone past 36 weeks, believe me, Weeks 37 and 38 definitely deserved to be mentioned! AND considering that a lot of women go all the way to 42 weeks, that is TEN AND A HALF MONTHS. Even if you take off the 2 weeks at the beginning, we are back to 40 weeks- still 10 months. Where did nine months come from???

And lets go back to the 2 weeks of pregnancy/but not pregnant. If the doctors aren't counting those 2 weeks, then why are we still counting them? Think of that poor high school girl who gets knocked-up the first time she has sex. For the first two weeks of her pregnancy, she was a virgin??? Does this make sense to you?

Like I said, it must have been a man who came up with all of this pregnancy math.

Now that I have ranted, let me say that I am so incredibly thankful for a full-term, healthy pregnancy. As long as Jacob is healthy and continuing to thrive, he is welcome to stay a few more days. But, it just seems like a cruel joke that for most of your life, you hear that a woman is pregnant for 9 months. And even when you realize that it really is 40 weeks, when you hit that nine month mark you feel like you should be finished. But you still have a month to go. And then when you go past 40 weeks you start to go a little crazy (see ranting above...). All of the over analyzing of every little stomach twitch and gas bubble that you feel, wondering if THIS is the start of labor. It is mentally exhausting! Add this to the lack of sleep and hormone overload....let's just say that is a volatile cocktail. Ooooh, a cocktail....

Yeah. Take all of the above, and subtract the ability to sip on a nice cocktail to calm your nerves, for the past nine (TEN!) months...

Today, Matthew, Mom, and I headed to a local park that is located on a hill overlooking the city. There are lots of hills and stairs winding in and out of the landscaping. That and eating spicy food has amounted to a whole lot of nothing- except for sore legs and heartburn. I have a midwife appointment tomorrow morning at 8:30, so we will shall see! I really want this to happen naturally and without having to be induced, so everyone think nice, cervix-thinning thoughts, please. I know, I know, TMI. Blame it on the crazy pregnancy hormones. It affects my censoring abilities.

D-Day

2010-11-18T18:40:00.000+01:00

Today is my official due date. And this due date did not pass without a trip to the hospital. Although, not exactly for the reason I was hoping for!

Last night, I was up all night, going from feeling extremely nauseous to becoming sick as a dog! I had read several places that some women experience this type of thing of a day or so before labor begins. Kind of like the body purging everything before, well, purging the baby! However, this is France and the number of gastro bugs that go around is insane. And, it really worried me when I could not even keep down a single cracker or sips of water. I was afraid I would become dehydrated, and didn't even want to think about the repercussions for Baby Jacob. AND, I felt so incredibly weak, the thought of going into labor already exhausted?!? I honestly didn't know if I would even have the energy to push!

My loving husband emailed our wonderful doctor, who told us to come in and he would see us. (Did I mention our doctor is the chef of the department? ie the head honcho. And he worked us into his busy schedule instead of sending us to a midwife). They monitored Jacob's heart rate and checked for contractions for about an hour. As well as checking my blood pressure and temperature. The doctor did an ultrasound to check and make sure everything was okay with Jacob. He looks great! The doctor estimates that he is 3.4 kg/7 1/2 lbs and 52 cm/20.5 in. Next, he took a blood and urine sample to rule out food poisoning or some other type of infection.

All the results have come back normal, so for now I am just trying to keep down some fluids and rebuild my strength. Now is the time that it is really nice to have my mommy here! :) She has already made me chicken broth and jello and is at my beckon call. Between that and the back rubs from Matthew, if I wasn't feeling so crappy, I would feel like a princess!

Based on the very low-registering contractions, it seems Jacob isn't going to make his entrance into the world anytime soon. Which is fine by me until I start to feel better/stronger. Thank you to everyone for the sweet messages on Facbook/texts/emails/etc. I promise to do my best to keep everyone updated on our progress.

For now I leave you with a picture my mom took. When she took it, we weren't sure if it would be my 40-week picture, or our 'leaving for the hospital to have a baby' picture. As it ends up, just the 40 week picture (please excuse the bags under my eyes!)

39 Weeks (and 6 Days) Update

2010-11-17T07:55:00.000+01:00

It is hard to believe that my due date is tomorrow! I feel like a yo-yo, going back and forth between being SO ready to meet, hold, kiss, cuddle, and simply stare at this baby... and then I have moments of total fear, "I don't think I am ready to be a parent" "I am not ready to give up my free time" "My life is never going to be the same, and I really love my life right now"...

BUT, ready or not, here he comes!

My mom flew in on Sunday night, and I am so excited that she will be here for the big day. We did find out that only Matthew is allowed in the delivery room, but knowing she is at the hospital will be such a relief. Another great thing about her coming is that she brought all of the nursery bedding from Pottery Barn. Finally! You might remember my earlier post about starting Jacob's nursery. His nursery also serves as our guest room (aka my mom's room for the next 7 weeks), our home office, and our general junk room. It is definitely not what I envisioned as the nursery for my first born. We will only be here for about a year more, so I shouldn't complain. It serves its purpose, and I guess it could always be worse.

I have been working on some little arts and crafts projects (mostly to keep me busy while Matthew was in China for those 5 weeks in September and October). It was nice to finally be able to put his bedding on the crib and see (almost) everything put together.
(And for those of you who are worrying about my mom's ability to sleep sharing a room with a newborn, have no fear. He will be sleeping in our room in a cradle while she is here.)

I also had a doctor's appointment Monday afternoon. Everything still looks great, but he thinks it could be next week before I deliver. He went ahead and scheduled an appointment for next Monday morning, so we will see if I make it to that appointment or not. I feel much better than I thought I would at the end of a pregnancy. I haven't gotten any stretch marks, my belly button hasn't popped out (yet?), and except for the ridiculous swelling in my ankles and feet that make it so that only my tennis shoes fit, I really don't have any complaints. I have actually really enjoyed being pregnant. I thought at this point that, if it was offered, I would jump at the chance to be induced. However, for now, I am quite content to stay pregnant and enjoy feeling his kicks, movements, and hiccups. But, ask me next week and you might get a different answer!

So, for now, Mom and I are just trying to stay busy and enjoy our time together.

39 Weeks (and 5 days)

I would like to thank the acadamy...

2010-11-16T10:18:00.000+01:00

I have been blogging for over 2 years now, and I love when complete strangers write comments on my blog entries. How they find my blog, boggles my mind, but I love it. I also find it completely astonishing when I see the map widget on my blog that shows where my readers are from. I have had visitors from all over the world. Amazing!

Now, I am extremely proud to announce that I have won my first blogging award. I know! So exciting!

Keith over at A Taste of Garlic bestowed upon my blog the very prestigious "It’s really hard to reach my feet Award" for my entry last week about my hormonal breakdown at the medical lab.

I would first like to thank baby Jacob for causing these insane hormones that reduced me to tears in the middle of French medical lab. But most importantly, I would like to thank my husband. After all, without him, none of this would be possible. ;)

I would also like to thank Piglet over at Piglet in France for visiting my blog and leaving a comment that told me I had won this award!

Total. Hormonal. Breakdown

2010-11-09T12:21:00.000+01:00

On a day-to-day basis, my horrible French isn't really a problem. It can be frustrating or embarrassing at times, but it isn't the end of the world. I will say that since I have been pregnant, my French has gotten worse. Mostly because not having French classes and 'pregnancy brain', is a very bad combination when trying to learn a language!

Yesterday afternoon I headed out to the medical lab by our house. Each month during this pregnancy, I have to go to this lab for urine and blood tests. Today I took with me an extra prescription from the anesthesiologist. During our appointment with her back in September, she told me I would have to get this test to see if I had an infection, because if so, I wouldn't be able to get an epidural. So, just like for the last 8 months, I went into the lab with my prescription and my little vial of urine (lovely, I know). I was prepared for all the of the normal questions I have struggled with for the last 8 visits. This time however, the girl starts trying to tell me/ask me something. And no matter how many times she repeated it, I could. not. understand. her.

Then the pregnancy hormones kicked in. I could feel myself start tearing up. By this point, she had completely given up trying to get me to understand, so she just told me to have a seat in the waiting room. I tried to calm myself down, hoping that whatever she tried to tell me wasn't that important.

A few minutes later, a young guy comes and leads me to a back room to draw my blood. He starts to tell me something, and I pick up on some of the same words that the receptionist was saying to me. And I still can't understand what he is saying! So, here come the tears again. I am trying so hard not to cry, and I am frustrated and embarrassed, so I start sweating. It was horrible, I know I looked like a mess. I am telling myself over and over again that it is just the hormones, "Pull it together, Kim. You are fine. This is not THAT big of a deal." etc, etc. Doesn't work. He finishes drawing blood and takes me next door to another room with a table that has stirrups. Up to this point, I have only had blood drawn, or the one visit where I did the glucose test for gestational diabetes. Nothing that involved a table and stirrups! Then he says something else (that, yet again, I didn't understand) and leaves.

At this point I am a complete wreck. So I call Matthew. Luckily, he answered the phone and when the guy came back I just handed him the phone. And, of course, as soon as he starts explaining the situation to Matthew on the phone, suddenly I can understand what he (and the receptionist) has been trying to tell me. Basically, part of the prescription was for a vaginal exam to test for Group B strep. He was the only one that was there at that moment to give the exam, but if I wanted to come back tomorrow, there would be a female nurse that could administer the exam. At that point, even though now I understood what was going on, I was so embarrassed by the not understanding, and the crying, and the sweating... I just wanted to be finished. And I definitely did not want to come back tomorrow and go through all this again! The guy was so nice to me, even though I am sure he didn't know what to do with this blubbering, sweating, almost 39 week pregnant woman! With the exam finished, I couldn't get out of there fast enough!

I wrote most of this blog yesterday, but waited to post it because I was having a total pity party for myself. I was feeling so alone and far away from family and friends. But, today is a new day. The experience yesterday does make me SO incredibly thankful that this baby didn't decide to come early while Matthew was in China. If I couldn't even get through a 30 minute ordeal at the lab, I don't think I would have survived a who-knows-how-long labor and delivery at the hospital by myself. Speaking of being thankful, I have been blessed with a normal, healthy pregnancy. And, although far from family and US friends, I am surrounded by a wonderful group of friends here, who are constantly offering to help with whatever I need. And, my mom arrives on Sunday! Hopefully, Jacob decides to hang out until his 'Maudy' gets here. I am also extremely thankful for a wonderful husband, who gives me back rubs every night, and who (even though he laughs at me) puts on my socks and shoes for me because it is really hard to reach my feet! Matthew and I are trying to enjoy every last minute we have that is just the two of us. We have had lunch dates and dinner dates, and lots of lazy, cuddle time on the couch. Although, I have to say, I am really looking forward to cuddle time with both my boys. Soon, very soon...

It's a Boy!

2010-10-16T11:11:00.000+02:00

***Don't get too excited. Jacob has not arrived early. And if he has listened at all to me, he knows that he is not allowed to make an appearance until his daddy gets home from China next Saturday!***
Okay, back to the precious baby boy this blog IS about! (and hang on to your hats, this is a long post...not a lot of reading, but A LOT of pictures!)

After having 3 beautiful daughters, Scott and Bene welcomed a handsome little boy to their family on October 3. Sawyer did not wait long once he decided what his birthday should be. At the point Bene told Scott she thought they should go to the hospital, it was a mere 45 minutes later and they were holding their newest bundle of joy! Thank goodness they live close to the hospital!!!

Thursday, Jen and I drove to Bene's house so Jen could visit with Bene, and I could take newborn photos of little Sawyer.

By the way, you might remember my post last February with newborn photos of Sawyer's big sister, Thais. Thais was my very first newborn to photograph. She is the reason I fell in love with newborn photography, and the reason I am going to give this whole photography business a go when we move home at the end of next year. (so Dad, you can blame Thais for me throwing away my 4-year college education in elementary education to become a photographer. Ok?) :)

It seems like forever ago that I took pictures of Thais. And I have learned SO much since then! I also have better equipment (thanks Dad!), which does help a lot when shooting with natural light. So, before showing you some of my favorites of Sawyer. Let's take a quick trip down memory lane....

Thais was about 3 weeks old when we did her session. Typically, newborn photography is best when done in the first two weeks. The sooner, the better, because the babies sleep a lot and are still all curled up and bendy. Sawyer was 12 days old when these pictures were taken, and he did NOT want to go to sleep! He fought it for as long as he could. And, just as I thought he was finally asleep and I could start positioning him, one eye would shoot open. He also told me exactly what he thought of the whole process as he peed on one of my blankets, and pooped on me! (forget photography, this was probably a great training exercise to get me ready for Jacob!) In the end, he finally succumbed to sleep and I was able to do a few different positions with him. He definitely did not like being naked either, so my cocoons and stork pouches came in handy (they were also handy in covering up the diaper because I didn't want to risk any more accidents!).

I think I was a little obsessed with his perfect little feet.

The cocoon in this photo was knitted for me by Matthew's grandmother last Christmas. This was the first time I have had an opportunity to use it. Sawyer seemed to like it!

Bene's house is so beautiful with tons of huge wooden windows and doors, so Sawyer and I took a little field trip around the house finding spots to take pictures. I could have stayed another few hours rearranging Bene's house to take pictures. She has all kinds of 'flea market finds' that she has re-painted and made really beautiful. But by the end, Sawyer was tired, and so was I!

I know this has been a long post, but here is a side-by-side of Thais and Sawyer.

Thanks again Bene and Scott, for trusting a complete rookie a year and a half ago with Thais. AND, letting me come back for round two with Sawyer. Congratulations on this newest, perfect addition to your family!

Baby Shower for Baby Jacob

2010-10-13T13:56:00.000+02:00

Two Saturdays ago, Jacob and I were showered with gifts by our wonderful friends in France. Jen, Clarrette, and Robin have been planning this shower for months! It seemed anytime I talked to any of them, they were headed to a planning meeting, meeting with the caterer, or going shopping for decorations, favors, etc. They were planning a very traditional American baby shower, which was especially great for the guests that had never been to one before. Baby showers do not exist in France, and Sabina, my friend from Poland, had never been to one either. AND, to make everything that much better, Matthew's cousin, Jen, decided to come for a visit, which meant that I would have friends and family at my baby shower!

The Amazing Baby Shower Planning Committee

I had such such a great time, and am so thankful for all of my friends here in France. Everyone here has been so great, continuously offering to help out with anything, anytime- day or night. Even with all this support, it has been hard, at times, being pregnant so far from my family. Saturday, I was absolutely overwhelmed with all of the love and support from people who haven't even known me that long.

Robin ordered this amazing chocolate torte cake from a local patisserie. She ordered it for vingt-cinq (25) people. This is what she got- a 5 layer cake! We still aren't sure if the lady misunderstood and heard quatre vingt-cinq (85), OR she heard Robin's American accent and, keeping with the stereotype, decided this is how much we would need for 25 American women. I am not complaining, because I got to take the top tier home!

Matthew's cousin, Jen.

All the pregnant ladies (plus Corinne). Pilar (in white) is due 5 days before me, and Bene (in black) had her handsome little Sawyer THAT night! So glad she was able to make it to the shower, and SO glad Sawyer didn't decide to come just a few hours earlier. That would have made for a very memorable baby shower!

Present Time!

A HUGE thank you again to Clarrette, Robin, and Jen for planning and hosting this shower. It was really special, and meant so much to Matthew and me! Love you all!

Bertrand and Claire's Wedding Party

2010-10-06T18:34:00.000+02:00

Bertrand and Claire got married in June, but planned to have their wedding reception/party in September. It was definitely a first for Freddie, Jen, Matthew, and I. Our first cross-dressing/costume wedding reception, that is.

Originally, the invitation instructed all the male guests to dress as women, and the women were to dress as men (complete with a mustache or beard). This summer, Claire sent out a mass text saying a lot of people were complaining that they didn't want to cross dress, so wearing any costume would be acceptable, BUT the really brave people would stick with the original 'dress code'. Let me just go ahead and say, we were not among the brave.

While both Matthew and Freddie were out of the country on business trips, Jen and I went to a costume store and picked out our outfits.

It was quite entertaining to see the brave souls.

The Blushing Bride

Claire and her brothers, I mean sisters??? (this is very confusing)

All the "Ladies"

Mark and Silke (Mark was chosen as best dressed woman!)

The party was a lot of fun, and all the guests also participated in a lip-sync video of The Black Eyed Peas song, "I Gotta Feeling". Originally, we were told the video would be put on YouTube. However, some of the more career minded guys in attendance seem to be a little reluctant to have themselves put on the internet dressed as women (which makes me feel a little guilty posting pictures, but all of these are also on Claire's Facebook page AND I am not tagging anyone).

Freddie even got a kiss from the 'bride'!

Claire and Bertrand rented a gite for the party weekend. This pregnant guest definitely appreciated being able to just walk upstairs and go to bed. I think Matthew also appreciated it, since he didn't have to take his tired pregnant wife home, and could keep enjoying the party!

Claire and Bertrand definitely win the prize for the most original/unique wedding reception! (oh, and for the best cake- since they had about 10 different kinds from a French Patisserie, and the chocolate mousse cake that I had was insanely delicious).

The Always-Painful Visit to a French Hair Salon

2010-09-24T17:29:00.000+02:00

(Warning, this is a long, babbling blog about nothing more than a trip to a hair salon. Feel free to scroll to the bottom to skip the story and just see an updated baby bump picture.)

Once, not so long ago, in a far away land called South Carolina, I enjoyed going to the hair salon. It was something I looked forward to. An hour or two of pampering, someone "playing" with my hair (which I love!), and walking out feeling lighter, with my professionally styled hair.

Then I moved to France.

I avoided getting my hair cut like the plague. I didn't get my hair cut the first 4 months we lived here, and would cringe every time I saw how long my highlight roots were getting. When I couldn't stand my hair any longer, I printed out a photo of what I wanted my hair to look like, so I could just point and say "comme ça". My appointment was made with the manager (possibly owner?) of the salon, Nicolas (pronounced Neee-co-la). The appointment went fairly well except for when the girl shampooing my hair asked me something and after about 5 minutes of gesturing and babbling, I figured out she was asking if I wanted conditioner after the shampoo. Then there was the moment when Nicolas asked me to stand up for him to make the initial cuts. I have never had to do this before in the US, so I was clueless about what he wanted. It took him practically pulling me up out of the chair to understand. Now that I have conquered that fear, I have my hair cut fairly regularly, but still can't work up the courage to have highlights done in France.

After my last appointment, Nicolas suggested for the next time some sort of treatment they put in, leave in for 10 minutes, and it is supposed to make your hair "more brilliant". One of the things I miss most about highlighting my hair is the lack of shine. I just feel like my hair is dull. So I was excited to hear about something I could do to bring back the shine. It was time to make my next appointment, so I went in (making appointments over the phone is impossible) and the conversation went a little like this:

(of course Nicolas wasn't there, which would have made this all a little less painful)
Me: Je voudrais un rendez-vous avec Nicolas.
Receptionist: D'accord, quand...something something something (no problem, I knew she was asking when I wanted my appointment to be...)
Me: La semaine prochain.
Et aussi, la dernière fois, Nicolas m'a dit qu'il y a quelque chose pour...um...faire le brilliance???
Receptionist: (confused look on face) Uh... something something something...

Then she turns around and goes to get someone else to try to help. Another girl comes and she seems to understand what I am asking for. Then I have to stumble through asking her if it is safe for me since I am pregnant (insert lots of gesturing and rubbing my belly here).

That brings us to my appointment day. I go in, tell them my name, they take me upstairs, and I am told someone will come soon. So far, so good! A young girl comes up and walks me to the shampoo chairs and asks, "Quel nom?" Oh, how nice (I think to myself), she wants to know my name, that is so friendly.

"Kim"
blank stare
(ok, I need to say it with a French accent)
"Keeem" (then I spell it for her) "Ka-e-emm"
blank stare

Then she walks over and picks up a book, opens it up, and starts pointing to all the hair color samples. Ohhh, she is asking me the name of the color.
"Non, pas de couleur. C'est, uh, um... je ne sais pas le nom..." ("No, not color. It is, I don't know the name")

So she starts opening cabinets and pulling out bottles and powders, showing me all the different products. This is the first time I have done this, I have no idea what it looks like! So this starts the torturous/awkward period of time where we are just staring at each other, neither one knowing what to do next. Thankfully, the girl that helped me make the appointment walked up at that moment and explained what I wanted. Phew!

Ten minutes later, with whatever-it's-called in my hair, I was under the dryer.

Ten minutes and another shampoo later, it was time for my haircut with Nicolas. He walks up, and I am already expecting him to ask some sort of question involving what I want done with my hair. I have several key vocabulary words in my mind that I am listening for. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any of these words. So, I just stared at him, and he said something else. Which, again, I didn't understand any of it. I just started laughing, because there was nothing else I could do. Matthew says it is a good thing that my pregnancy hormones didn't kick in right then and cause me to sit there crying instead of laughing. We finally worked it all out, and he started cutting. We were able to carry on somewhat of a conversation, mostly about my pregnancy, when the baby was due, boy or girl, etc.

As painful as it was, I survived. But I am definitely looking forward to when we move home to the US and I can truly enjoy the hair salon experience again!

So, without further ado, here is a picture of my haircut (really just the same, but shorter, but with more shine!), and more importantly- an updated baby bump picture (32 weeks).

Hike at Lac de Guery- Part Deux

2010-09-19T18:30:00.000+02:00

With both Freddie and Matthew out of town (correction- out of the country!) on business trips, Jen suggested taking the kids for a picnic and hike. This hike had to be "Emily friendly" (ie. easy enough for a 2 1/2 year old), and "Kim friendly" (ie. easy enough for this 8 months pregnant/28 year old). I suggested going back to Lac de Guery. Matthew and I have snow shoe-ed there, as well as doing one of the trails during the summer. I remembered seeing a path that was marked with a yellow butterfly, showing a trail appropriate for kids.

We started with a picnic by the lake. Fall is definitely here in the Auvergne! We sat in the sun, but when the wind blew, I was definitely chilly.

After putting our picnic gear back in the car, we set off following our 'butterfly trail'. It was a great trail for the kids, with lots of wooden bridges to cross, flowers and insects to inspect, we even found a dead mole.

There was quite a steep climb up to an overlook by the waterfall, which the kids climbed like champs!

The best thing about this trail is all of the different types of terrain you see. You start out by the lake, wander through the forest, hike up to the waterfall, meander through a field beside a stream (with amazing views of the puys in the distance and hills dotted with clusters of black and white cows), climb a ladder over a fence...

...back into a dense pine forest, alongside a pasture, and then head down back into the forest.

Believe it or not, we ARE on a trail here... (and ps- do you see the incredible views of the volcanoes in the distance???)

And because hiking wasn't enough to wear these kids out, some wrestling/tackling was needed....ahhh to be young again...

Playing 'Hide-and-go-Seek'

What a beautiful day and a beautiful setting for a hike!

For anyone living in or near Clermont, the hike we did today was 2.3km and the sign says it should take about 1 1/2 hours. It took us closer to 2, but I highly recommend it!

Ahhhh...August in France

2010-09-06T10:12:00.000+02:00

I would say that the vacation time in France is on the Top 10 list of things Matthew and I love about France (it quite possibly might be on our Top 3). The last two summers, Matthew has been required to take 3 weeks off, in a row, during the summer. This summer he took off the first 3 weeks in August- the month where all of France pretty much shuts down. The first week was spent in Holland for Mark and Silke's wedding, then we came back to Clermont for a week. That week was spent getting the nursery ready and rearranging furniture in the living room to accommodate our new couch. Then it was off to the beach for a week.

We spent the first 3 nights at Cap d'Agde. Our hotel was right on the beach, and we spent three wonderful days lounging at the beach club that was attached to our hotel. This was the same beach club we spent time at with my mom back in May. The weather was just perfect. It was hot, but not so hot that you had to get in the water (which was a good thing because the water was cold!).

Capao Beach Club

What the beach looked like around 10am...

What the beach looked like around noon...

and what the beach looked like by 4pm

After Cap d'Agde, we drove about an hour east to another beach- La Grande Motte. As much as we enjoyed our time at Cap d'Agde, we actually preferred the harbor area and restaurants in La Grande Motte. It wasn't as crowded and was a little less touristy.

view from our balcony

front of our hotel

Our hotel was really nice, and because I found an early-booking deal on booking.com, we had free access to the hotel's spa. I booked this hotel before I knew I was pregnant, and was kind of bummed because I figured that I wouldn't be able to use the spa. The first day we went to see what the spa offered, we were pleasantly surprised. First of all, there was no one else there. We had the whole place to ourselves (complete with different refreshing flavored waters and snacks- like mini pain au chocolates!). The hot tub was located in a courtyard inside a little enclosed gazebo.

The hot tub was like one someone would buy for their home. Each corner had a different kind of seat, with different jets. One corner was even a "lounge chair" set-up. And the best part was we had complete control over all the settings, including the temperature. We googled "safe bath temperatures for pregnant women" and were able to set the hot tub to a safe temperature for me. The massaging jets felt wonderful on my back and legs! Matthew also took advantage of the saunas and hamman. During the 4 days we spent at the hotel, we only ran into one other couple in the spa. And even then, we only had to wait about 10 minutes for them to finish in the hot tub and then they left the spa, so we had it all to ourselves again!
Our days in La Grande Motte went a little something like this: breakfast downstairs around 9:30, out to the beach by 10:30,

a walk down the beach around 1:00 to the area with all of the restaurants for lunch, back to the beach til around 4:30, spa for about an hour, then showers and getting ready for dinner, and around 7:30- a 10 minute walk down the "boardwalk" to the harbor for dinner.

It was four days of pure bliss!

Sunset in the harbor at La Grande Motte

Artist on the boardwalk.

Dinner at The Yacht Club

Matthew trying to pretend to take a picture of me, while really trying to take a picture of the huge seafood tower ordered by the table behind us.

Just a few more pictures from our trip:

This was back in Cap d'Agde. The black sand beach, La Grande Conque, marks the southern most part of the Auvergne volcanic chain.

Hello 3rd Trimester!

2010-08-25T11:24:00.000+02:00

Wow. 28 Weeks. I can't believe I am already in my third trimester. This pregnancy has gone by very quickly. I have been truly blessed with a very easy pregnancy so far, although I am hoping my luck doesn't run out just about the time labor begins...

I know I haven't been very good about blogging updates about this pregnancy, or posting updates on the 'belly bump', but honestly centering a blog around how much big my stomach is getting doesn't really appeal to me! Matthew and I have been taking pictures along the way, because we do want to document (privately) this wonderful, exciting time in our lives. Starting the third trimester, I decided it is finally time to share some pictures.

Matthew was promoted from assistant photographer, to head photographer for a little maternity photo shoot. I am still not at that perfect, full, round belly stage. So, while Matthew was taking pictures I was trying to push my stomach out a little more. When we got home and were looking at the pictures, Matthew says, "Wow! You look huge!" (just what every woman wants to hear!!!) He quickly followed that gem of a statement up by saying that he was just surprised because I looked bigger in the pictures than I do in person. That made me feel a little better, sort of...

As we were taking pictures on the hay bales, a farmer drove past on his tractor. Matthew kept shooting, and the look on the farmer's face cracks me up! (I added a closer cropped photo so you can see his face better)

I was working hard on setting up this shot with the sun flare...

But, by the time we switched places, the sun went behind the clouds. Oh well!

So there you go!

On other, pregnancy-related topics, Matthew and I have the nursery/guest room/office/storage room just about set up. Since I got our crib from Jen, and it is a US sized crib- which is different from a French sized crib, I ordered bedding from Pottery Barn. My mom is bringing it when she comes in November. We moved our futon from the living room, since we had to get rid of the queen bed that was in the room. This is where my mom will sleep for the 7 weeks she is here (sorry Mom!). While Matthew was off for the August vacation time, we received our order from Ikea that included our new couch and a dresser for the nursery. We were also loaned a second dresser from a co-worker of Matthew's. This has definitely not been the nursery decorating experience that I always imagined. I have had more than one meltdown (let's just blame those on the hormones) over how much stuff we have to fit into that one room. Then there is the issue of this being a rental apartment and not wanting to deal with trying to take off the existing wallpaper and trying to paint or re-wallpaper (and then possibly having to re-do it all again before we move to get it back to something the owner approves of). Matthew promised me that for our next child (when we are back in the US) I will get to finally design and decorate the nursery of my dreams (on a budget of course!). Here are some pictures of what we have so far.

Now that I have a dresser to put clean clothes into, I have been doing loads and loads of baby clothes that were given to me by a French friend. I have one big drawer filled with nothing but gigoteuses (the sleeping bag things the French put babies in while sleeping) and pajamas.

I have another drawer filled almost entirely with onesies!

This has been a really long post, sorry! Hopefully this satisfies all the 'baby bump' update requests I have gotten.

Our Visit to Holland

2010-08-24T10:54:00.000+02:00

The morning after the wedding, Matthew and I had breakfast at the hotel with the newlyweds and the other wedding guests staying at the hotel. After saying our good-byes, we hit the road. We decided to take a slight detour on our drive back to Amsterdam to see one of the things Holland is famous for- windmills! We were a little out of season to see Holland's famous tulips, and we had been sampling the famous Dutch cheeses since we arrived...so seeing windmills was next on our list.

Before leaving France, I found on the internet some towns that weren't too far out of our way. Our first stop was the town of Heusden.

The town was badly damaged during WWII, but was completely restored in 1968- including the restoration of the 3 windmills that originally adorned the town's walls.

Matthew and I completely fell in love with Heusden. It is utterly charming, from the harbor, to the windmills, to the cobblestone streets, to the walking paths that meander all around the perimeter of the town's walls (these walls are not walls in the traditional sense, but remind me more of a smaller version of the dike in Clemson). The weather could not have been more beautiful for our stroll through this beautiful town. The website where I read about Heusden called the town one of Holland's "best-kept secrets". I can't compare it to much else in Holland, but it was wonderful and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be taking a trip to The Netherlands!

Our next stop was the town of Kinderdijk. The 19 windmills (arranged in 2 lines on each side of the river) are the most well-known windmills in Holland. They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, and it is hard to find a book about Holland that doesn't include at least one photo of Kinderdijk.

We parked the car and walked through the main street in town and down to river. We hopped aboard a little boat that cruised down the river in between the two lines of windmills.

I was fascinated to see that people actually live in the windmills!

After grabbing a late lunch, we were back on the road and headed to Amsterdam. We had to drop off our rental car near the airport and then take the train into downtown Amsterdam. We chose a hotel that was walking distance from the train station.

It was about 9:00 by the time we set out to find a place to eat dinner (normal French time for dinner, very late for a Dutch dinner). The street we were on was packed with restaurants, bars, and college-aged students. After walking to the end of the street and back, we settled on an Irish pub promising good 'fish-n-chips', thinking as close as we were to the UK, they had to be good, right? And they were, although I was so hungry I think I could have eaten anything! Then it was back to the hotel (just as the streets were really getting lively with lots of red-eyed young people, hmmm, I wonder why...).

Unfortunately, we only had one day to see the sights in Amsterdam and we woke up Wednesday morning to a torrential downpour and freezing cold temperatures! Neither of us thought to bring a raincoat, but I do always carry an umbrella in my purse. Luckily the hotel desk had another one for Matthew to use. We darted down the street to a 'pancake' house and ordered breakfast.

The 'pancakes' are more the thickness/taste of a French crepe. Mine had apples, raisins, and honey. Matthew chose a ham and cheese pancake.

Originally I had planned for us to take a 'Canal-Hopper' boat that was a hop on/hop off type tour boat that would take us to all the major sights. With the rain, we decided the tram might be a smarter option. Our first stop was the Rijksmuseum, home to a large collection of Rembrandts, as well as other famous Dutch artists. Now, I hate to admit it, but I am not that crazy about museums in general. I know, I know, it's horrible, but except for seeing the one or two famous paintings that I remember from my art appreciation class at Clemson, I find it all pretty boring. Ironically, Matthew is just the opposite. He loves museums and spent 8 hours straight in the Louvre during a weekend layover in Paris for a business trip. However, when it is raining cats and dogs, staying dry and warm in a museum didn't sound half bad. Apparently, everyone else in Amsterdam had the same idea...
We waited in line outside for over an hour in the pouring rain. All we could do was look at each other and laugh from our huddled positions under the umbrellas. Finally, it was our turn to go in. We rented the headsets, which I highly recommend if you are like me and not crazy about museums. The information given on the headsets about background information of the painter or the time period made the paintings much more interesting to me.
After the Rijksmuseum, we took the tram over to the Anne Frank House. Luckily the skies had cleared (temporarily), so for our next hour wait in line, at least the sun was out.

Matthew and I were both really impressed with the Anne Frank House. Anne's father, Otto Frank, was the only one of the eight that hid in the house to survive the concentration camps. He played a big part in creating the museum. I thought it was really well done. Even though there was no furniture in any of the rooms (at the request of Otto Frank), the pictures and memorabilia on the walls were enough. They even had Anne's original diary and sheets and sheets of paper containing her short stories. There was also the beginning of the revised diary that Anne started because she planned on one day publishing her diary.

I personally got chills towards the end, in the room that showed which concentration camp each person went to, and how each died (with the exception of Otto). Anne Frank and her sister, Margot, were sent to Bergen-Belsen. Margot died from typhus in March 1945. Only a few days later, Anne also died from typhus. Sadly, just a few short weeks later, on April 15, 1945, the camp was liberated by British Troops. My great-grandfather was the Director of the Pictorial Branch of the US Army during WWII. He was traveling with the British Troops that liberated the camp, and was the first American there. I remember visiting Popo (that's what the Colonel Charles Curtis Mitchell was called by his great-grandchildren) and seeing the horrific, framed black and white photographs in his office from Bergen Belsen. My grandmother donated his photographs and journals to the Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum in Atlanta, and they are part of the permanent collection there. The pictures of the mass graves were unbelievable to look at, but Popo said it had to be documented for “…those not present as eyewitnesses, because such inhumanity would be beyond belief.” My grandmother once asked him why in the world he would keep such pictures above his desk, and he said, "So I will never forget".

"One picture showed me standing on the edge of an open grave. It was shot on purpose because I suddenly thought of all of the people I knew with short memories… They would be the ones who would say, “Nonsense Mitchell, Belsen couldn’t have been that bad…” -Colonel Charles Curtis Mitchell

My grandfather is working on finding the cds with scanned copies of all of Popo's photographs. If he is able to find them, he will email them to me and I will post some.

After a great, but wet, day in Amsterdam we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Don't judge me. I know we were in a different country and should be sampling local cuisine, but we had just spent an entire weekend with Dutch people, eating Dutch food (and fyi, we told Mark and Silke that the Dutch must be the ones really responsible for settling The South because every meal we sat down to included something fried, several types of mayonnaise-based salads, and lots and lots of different types of pies! Paula Deen would have been proud). Matthew had never been to a Hard Rock, and I was craving good ol' American food. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven when I got my side salad with ranch dressing! Kind of sad, I know.

We flew back to Clermont the next day.

Mark and Silke's Wedding Weekend in Holland: The Wedding Day!

2010-08-18T10:18:00.000+02:00

Mark and Silke are married!

Some pictures (and commentary) of their wedding day.

After a beautiful weekend, Monday morning we woke up to gray skies and rain. I have to admit I was panicking a little, since every place we planned to take pictures was outside. Oh well, not much you can do to control the weather! Matthew dropped me off at Silke's mom's house to start photographing Silke getting her hair and makeup done.

Petra arrived and it was time to get Silke into her dress!

Following Dutch tradition, Mark arrived to pick up Silke. Silke waited in her mom's backyard while we brought Mark, with his eye's closed, to the back door. It was such a sweet moment to watch Mark see Silke for the first time. This is one of the best things about being a photographer- not only do I get to capture special moments like this for people, but I also get to be there and share them (although I don't think they even realized I was there!). This is also one of the most stressful parts of being a photographer...there is no way to re-create moments like this. That is a lot of pressure!

Mark seeing his beautiful bride for the first time.

The theme for the wedding was inspired by the famous Dutch blue and white ceramics from Delft. And wooden shoes, of course! The florist added these adorable little porcelin blue and white shoes throughout the wedding- in the bouquets, on the boutonnieres, in the centerpieces. (I might have stolen a few from the centerpieces at the end of the night for my Christmas tree, only because they will go so well with the Delft blue and white Christmas tree ornament that were given away as favors...)

Oh, by the way, did I mention that by the time Mark arrived, the skies had cleared and the sun was out?!? I was so happy I could hardly stand it! Now that we had picture-perfect weather, it was time to take some pictures of the happy couple. Mark and Silke got into their amazing ride for the day- a beautiful silver vintage Mercedes.

I can't take credit for this next photo- Matthew took it.

We followed Mark and Silke to a nearby park to start our pictures. There had been a huge storm the week before, so there was a lot fallen trees and debris on the ground, but we were still able to find some beautiful places.

We actually finished pictures with a few minutes to spare, so we drove to a wheat field that is right beside the castle (yeah, that's right, castle) where the civil ceremony was to take place. By this time the clouds were rolling in, but I thought it just made the sky beautiful.

The photo from the top of the blog, one more time, because I just love it!

Just like in France, in Holland a wedding consists of a civil (legal) ceremony and a church (religious) ceremony. First up- the civil ceremony.

Mark and Silke's bulldog, Tango (also known as le chien cochon, "the dog pig" by Bertrand's daughter, Lisa), was the ringbearer (and Bertrand was the dogwalker!). Apparently the stress of carrying the rings tired Tango out. He started snoring during the ceremony!

Next- church wedding.

After the church ceremony, Mark and Silke served the guests champagne. We toasted the newlyweds, and then it was party time!

Congratulations Mark and Silke. It was a beautiful wedding, thank you for sharing it with us!

Mark and Silke's Wedding Weekend in Holland: Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties

2010-08-08T10:45:00.000+02:00

Last weekend Matthew and I flew to Holland for Mark and Silke's wedding. Since they have so many friends in both France and Holland, they decided to pack everything into one fun-filled long weekend.

Matthew and I flew into Amsterdam on Friday night. First impressions of Holland: everyone is blond-haired, blue-eyed, and smiling. It seemed everyone was wearing bright colors (mostly shades of aqua/turquoise), everyone was smiling, and everyone spoke English! Such a difference from France (don't get me wrong, the French are very friendly, but are not known to just smile at random strangers, and they love their black clothes). We picked up our rental car and drove 2 hours south to our hotel near a town called Sittard. Saturday morning Matthew and I drove around to some of the wedding locations. Since I was the photographer for the wedding, I wanted to check out possibilities for taking pictures.

At noon, I dropped Matthew off at Mark's parents' house to start the Bachelor Party festivities. Apparently "what happens in Holland, stays in Holland" so I'm not able to give you many details on what the boys did all day. But I do know that it involved dressing Mark in a very embarrassing outfit, putting him on what looked like a stripped down parade float (pulled behind a tractor) with a pole bolted to the middle. With music blaring, Mark's dad drove the tractor up and down every single street in Mark's small hometown with the rest of the guys making as much noise and drawing as much attention to Mark as possible. I wish I could share some pictures with you, but Matthew didn't have a camera with him.

At 3:00 (the boys being long-gone by this point), the girls all gathered at Mark's parents' house for a little shower for Silke. Petra, the maid of honor, asked each of us to bring a small gift for Silke that had something to do with our friendship with her. Several of the girls had met Silke when they all worked together at a grocery store, so they brought her various food items that held inside jokes for them. I gave her a picture frame to hold one of the wedding photos I would be taking.

Next, we headed to a town about 30 minutes away for dinner. After dinner we walked to a studio for a photo shoot. There were 2 of us that are pregnant (we are due one day apart!) and several of the girls are new moms, so Petra worked very hard to plan a Bachelorette party that didn't just involve bar-hopping. Silke had her makeup done and we started with some fun group shots. Next we each got to take a picture with just Silke. After they changed the lights, we did individual pictures. Petra is going to mail us a cd with all of the images soon, so I will post some later. After the photo shoot, I headed back to the hotel, but some of the other girls continued to celebrate with Silke at the local bars.

After a late night, Sunday was a very lazy day. We helped Silke set-up a few things at the reception site, and Sunday night went to Mark's parents' house for a cookout. We were in bed early, because Monday was the big day!

Hike at Lac de Guery

2010-07-26T16:47:00.000+02:00

The weather last Sunday was perfect. The forecast was calling for a high of only about 79 degrees, so Matthew and I decided to take advantage of the break in the heat and go hiking. Last winter we went snow shoeing with Bertrand and Claire on a trail that went around Lac de Guery, up past a waterfall, through a field, and along a ridge that had amazing views of the area. I had been waiting for a free weekend where Matthew and I could go back and do the same hike (minus the snow). After consulting all the different trails, we decided to follow the 'green' trail. We were in the mountains, and even though it was mid-July, I was actually cold when the trail was shaded.

Very quickly though, there was a steep incline that took us past a waterfall, and that was enough to warm me up!

After the waterfall, we continued to climb for just a short distance and then started walking on a path that ran parallel to a stream. In the distance you could see grazing cows in pastures, and further out were the outlines of the volcanic mountains.

Our Picnic Spot beside the stream:

After lunch, we continued our hike. This involved climbing over a fence (I have never been on a trail that included one of these!).

More breathtaking views!

We continued along a ridge. In the distance we could see Puy-de-Dome, as well as the rest of the chain of volcanoes that make up the backdrop of Clermont.

We started the hike down. Much too quickly our hike was over, so we decided to drive to the other end of the lake. There was a little hotel and restaurant overlooking the lake. We drank coffee and hot chocolate and continued to enjoy the beautiful day. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday in France.

Cheering on The Dutch Soccer (I mean, Football) Team

2010-07-19T09:59:00.000+02:00

Now that I finally finished blogging about our trip with Steve and Margo, I can catch up on other things that have happened since they left.

Last Sunday, we were invited by some Dutch friends to their house for a pool party/BBQ/World Cup Finals party. We were instructed to wear something orange to support The Netherlands- no problem for these Clemson grads! (we even packed our orange Clemson cooler and brought our orange Clemson tailgating chairs)

Erik and Sylvie have an amazing house in Aubiere, complete with a big backyard and a pool! We had a great afternoon swimming and hanging out with friends. After swimming, the boys fired up the grill and we had a BBQ feast!

Johan and Sabina

Mark showing off his bathing suit with built-in beer bottle opener.

With all these guys dressed in orange standing around a grill, I almost felt like I was at a Clemson game (except for all of the Dutch, German, and French being spoken!)

Then, it was time for the game. As everyone knows, unfortunately, the Netherlands lost. It was still a great night. Matthew and I are really looking forward to spending some more time with this group of people in a few weeks at Mark and Silke's wedding in the Netherlands!

I hate that this turned out blurry, but Erik's hat was just too funny not to share!

And, would it really be a pool party without grown men having a splash contest???