Bitten by the travel bug

If you are my friend on Facebook, this probably isn't news to you. But even if you've already heard, let me remind you:

WE ARE GOING TO FRANCE!!!!!!

It feels really, really good to say that now that it is finally official. We perched on top of that fence for a long, long time before finally making the jump and booking flights a week ago Monday. We bellowed "Blow the wad!" a few times over (a common Crozier phrase) and then with one click of the mouse, our dream is turning into reality. Are we crazy? Some might argue "yes." But I'm pretty sure it's been done before--couples traveling to Europe with a 9 month old that is. We prefer to think of it all as adventurous. Okay, and maybe a bit wild too.

They say (they being primarily Rick Steves), that you can travel around France and feel like you've sampled most of Europe. The French Alps mirror those in Switzerland, the Riveria is much like the coast in Italy, and the Alsace region, a tasted of Germany. Oh and so, so much more. In two weeks time, I've booked 18 of the 19 nights that will be our Tour de France.

We will begin in Paris for two very brief nights (most of which we realize will probably be spent awake, tending to a very confused baby). I know you can spend weeks in Paris alone so we decided that it will not be our focus on this trip (we needed an excuse to go back!) So we have picked 3 major sights that we hope to see--the Eiffel Towel, The Louvre and Nortre Dame. If we can squeeze in more, great! If not, we will still consider our brief visit a success. We have chosen to stay in the heart of the city (right near the Eiffel Tower) so that we will be close to the sights.

Next, we head to the Loire Valley, a region peppered with thousands of castles and palaces from the Renaissance. We'll stay just outside of Amboise for two nights in a super cute 18th century chateau with ivy climbing up its stone walls.

Next we move on to the Dordogne region, a rather remote area with a lovely river that runs through it (sounds like a movie?) We plan to rent a canoe (with a baby!!? I'm not so sure...) and explore the riverside castles and villages by boat. This area is also one of many places in France that draws gourmets as it is the famed home of foie gras and wild mushrooms. And here's the kicker of the trip that makes my heart go pitter pat: we will spend two nights near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac on a real live French farm (with a pool!) and a nightly five course meal with wine served throughout!! I've been corresponding with "Mama" (the owner) and she doesn't speak a lick of English so we're in for an authentic French countryside experience!

Then we will continue our counter clockwise loop around France and make a pit stop in Carcassonne which is a walled, medieval, 13th century hilltop town. We'll see the sights in the city but we planned our one night stay here mostly to break up what would be a very long drive from the Dordogne to Provence. We will stay in a modern-o hotel which will hopefully satisfy our quota for ooober-crazily-decorated hotel rooms (apparently a must on all of our trips).

Next we will spend 3 nights in Provence, basking in the scenery once enjoy by Vincent van Gogh, going on artisan tours of local wine and cheesemakers and hopefully get a glimpse of the lavendar fields (most likely not quite in bloom yet). We're spending our first 2 nights at a restored farmhouse with a pool in Aubignon, WAY in the countryside, amongst many vineyards. From there we'll explore many of the hilltowns and also drive the Cotes du Rhone Wine road. Then we'll head back to Arles for our final night where we'll do a bit more of the "touristy" stuff like seeing the old Roman Arena and the Pont du Gard (Roman aqueduct).

The following two nights will be spent on the French Riviera, in a small town about a 20 minute walk from Antibes. We’ll pop around to the different Riviera towns, hopefully enjoying some beach time without too many crowds. Our little hotel room even has a seaview!

Then we’ll drive to the town of Chamonix in the French Alps for another 2 nights. We plan to take the monster gondola from France to Italy and maybe even try the luge. Our main goal is to enjoy a cute town, eat fondue and admire the gorgeous view of the mountains.

Next stop: 2 nights in the Alsace region, specifically in the town of Eguisheim. We’re staying in a cute German-looking town (think Hansel and Gretel or Leavenworth for you localites). We plan to drive the Route du Vin (Wine Road), try some German specialties and admire the half-timbered, flower-box-in-window cute buildings.

The location of our final night is yet to be determined (although it will most likely be in Paris since we fly home the following morning). We are trying to determine whether we should just crash for the night near the airport after returning our rental car, or stay in another part of the city to squeeze in a few more Parisian sights.

Needless to say, we are SO excited (I also got a wee bit nervous for the first time the other night). I've been busy planning, making packing lists and scouring Craigslist for a lightweight, travel unbrella stroller with sunshade and reclining seat for Miss Isla (anyone have one they'd like to loan us?) One month to go and then Bon Voyage!

35 Weeks

Isla turned 8 months on Sunday and this week feels like it was especially full of milestones.

Isla rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time yesterday! She even did it twice, just to prove to me that she could do it. I was beginning to think she never would because she hates being on her tummy so much--she was going to need a real good motivator to make her flip. I laid her in her crib (on her back) for her afternoon nap yesterday and she put up quite the protest. I came back to check on her after a period of crying and lo and behold, she was on her tummy! I flipped her back over, gave her the binkie and left again. More crying. I returned to check and wah-lah, she was on her belly. I think what happened was that she was reaching for the crib rails to try and escape and apparently the potential of escaping was all the motivation she needed!

In other news, Isla learned to stick out her tongue and spit this week. Awesome.

She also has figured out how to grab your fingers and pull herself up to a standing position (which she loves doing) and she has figured out how to actually move her feet and "walk" with help once standing (she used to just stay in place and eventually almost end up doing the splits). She can scoot both forward and backwards while in the sitting position and wriggle backwards and spin in circles while on her tummy....crawling is not far off!

Isla got to try chicken (mixed with peas, carrots and onions), pureed fresh corn (formerly on the cob from a fruti/veg stand!) and small cubes of watermelon this week. She loved them all.

 

I noticed that Isla has become particularly obsessed with spinning round objects this week. Our CD player in the kitchen has a clear window so you can watch the CD spin as it plays. We've been listening to Isla's new Veggietales CD a lot and she just loves to sit there and watch it spin. Sometimes I'll just be holding her in the kitchen (music off) and she'll squirm and crane her neck until I finally realize she wants the CD player on. Such a turkey. Oh and yesterday we were on a walk and I held her for the last bit because she was tired of being in the stroller. Guess how she entertained herself? By watching the stroller wheels spin!

Isla continues to be an ever-busy, always-grabbing-everything baby. She has transitioned out of 6 mo size and into 6-9 mo and 9 mo so we spent some time sorting through her clothes yesterday. Of course she wanted to play with one of the cardboard boxes so I let her have at it. Next thing I knew, I looked up and she has disappeared! She has somehow managed to flip the box upsidedown and on top of her. She didn't seem to mind either and was enjoying her little fort.

On a more personal mommy note, it has been a really rough week. I'm not sure what is going on but Isla more or less refused to nurse for 12 hours last Wednesday (I got her to feed at 5:30 AM and 5:30 PM). Then I had to work both Thursday and Friday and so was dependant on the pump for 10 hr each day (which is typical for my work shifts, it's just that they aren't usually preceded by a day like Wednesday). Needless to say, my milk supply tanked and we headed into a whirlwind weekend of Isla wanting to nurse, getting frustrated because there wasn't enough, then refusing to eat, me getting stressed out because I couldn't keep her latched for long enough which only made things worse. Etc. Etc. Thankfully, I am well equipped with many tricks of the trade for increasing supply given my profession, but never expected these problems to happen to ME. So, my weekend was basically absorbed by all things breastfeeding. I started taking Fenugreek, called my Pediatrician, called my lactation consultant friend, cried a bit, spent lots of time nursing and pumping on a rigorous schedule, tried to relax, tracked Isla's wet diapers like a hawk and so on and so forth. Things are looking up today but we still aren't back to what I would call "normal." I think she is getting enough now and I haven't had to start any formula (which is what the nurse I talked to recommended--NO!!!! Thankfully I had some pumped milk to give her when she was still hungry instead). Anyway, sorry if this is TMI for any of you male or non-breastfeeding readers but for those of you nursing moms, maybe you can relate? Prayers would be appreciated as my goal is to continue nursing at least until a year!

Random video footage

Last night, Graham and I enjoyed a wonderful date night out, participating in Seattle Restaurant Week's 3 courses for $25 deal. We had a fabulous meal at our favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian place in Fremont--Brad's Swingside Cafe. All of their dishes are very complex with layers of flavor and numerous hard-to-put-finger (or tongue?)-on spices. We asked our waiter once and he said even the salad dressings have at least 25 ingredients! Anyway, we ate pretty brutally, as far as the animal kingdom goes. Graham had Bambi and poor Bo-Peep's sheep, and I devoured Babe (sort of--actually it was wild boar but I couldn't come up with any wild boar characters in any common children's stories...) But back to the point.

Over dinner, we decided that we need to capture a lot more of the random events of our life on video. We want to be able to look back and see how we parented, see how cute our kids were, laugh at life etc. So this morning it all began. I have a feeling we will be sneaking up on one another quite frequently to "capture the moment candidly" in the coming days. (I already caught Graham trying to shoot some footage this morning that would not have met PG criteria--thankfully our video camera makes a sound when it turns on so I had fair warning to run and hide!)

Anyway, I give this video what I think is the quite appropriate title of "Things He Probably Wishes that You Never Knew." Enjoy!

34 Weeks

I can't get over how cute this kid is (I think I'm allowed to say that as a mother)! It's so weird. You always wonder and imagine what your kids will look like but there is no way to know. I never expected to have a brilliantly blue eyed child. I feel pretty lucky that I do! Even the man at the gas station changing our oil couldn't get over how gorgeous her eyes are. He even called another lady out to see. "Stephanie! You gotta come over here and check out these eyes!" We also get comments about how perfectly round her head is. And everyone loves her cheeks. When I'm grocery shopping, it's kind of fun to watch all the people we pass casually try and peak and see the baby in the carseat without my noticing. But I totally see it. And then usually they can't be "subtle" any longer and have to come over and talk to her, ask what her name is etc. Stuff like makes me proud. I'm sure that people do that with every baby but still....keep it coming people! I love it. :o)

Anyway, on to the details of the week. Isla is our little bird. She eats like a baby bird (mouth open wide in anticipation) and she also has become our little song bird. I don't remember the last time I woke to an alarm. Now the first sound I hear in the morning is her singing as she lays in her crib. It actually is kind of pretty so here's to hoping it stays that way and we have a singer like her father!

Isla started shaking her head this week. I don't really think it means "no." I think she just thinks it's fun to watch the world in a blur and her head goes back and forth. She loves it when you shake your head back at her.

I'm not sure Isla is so keen on these weekly photo shoots anymore. She's too busy for them. I'm not sure how long I will keep them up. I LOVE having all the documentation since I haven't started a baby book so this is a good record keeper. I'll probably find some nice even number and move from weekly to monthly pics. But now that I've made it so far, I feel like I should at least continue out to a year....We'll see.

We introduced Isla to roasted red bell pepper and roasted cauliflower this week. She loved the bell pepper. She didn't seem incredibly thrilled by the cauliflower (she was making funny, complaining-type sounds) but she continued opening her mouth every time I put the spoon in front of her. (Part of me thinks she has no will power NOT to open her mouth when there is food in front of her....ahh, yes, the downside of being a foodie).

Isla is a little stomper. She lies in her crib and stomps her feet, so much so that sometimes the ceiling in the kitchen (below her room) shakes. Sometimes she does it because she's bored, other times, it is out of defiance over naptime (but most often the former).

Another nickname that someone (I think Graham?) came up with for Isla is Boo Bear. Not sure how that one came about but it stuck!

Isla LOVES technology--computers, cell phones, remotes, Graham's I-Touch--she's always trying to get her hands/mouth on them!

Just today, Isla figured out how to give kisses. She pretty much frenches your entire cheek but she has the idea! She also figured out how to roll her lips as she spits and blows outward. Hopefully I'll be able to catch it on video because it's pretty cute.

Lastly, Isla is becoming more mobile. She's not crawling yet but she somehow manages to scoot (mostly backwards) and spin, ending as far as 3 feet from where I initially set her. 

Isla's Dedication

Can you find anything in these first two pictures that is the SAME?  (The first shot is of my parents and I).

Last Sunday, April 11th, we dedicated Isla to the Lord at our church, Bethany Community in Seattle. It was a beautiful and very special day. If you couldn't figure it out, the answer to my introductory question was: the DRESS. Isla wore a very special heirloom, a 62-year-old white dress, a hand crocheted piece made by her great-great grandmother (my dad's mom's mom)--the same dress that I wore for my dedication when I was 2 1/2 months old.

It was made in 1948 for my Aunt Mary's baptism and was worn by all of my Dad's siblings (6 in total, him included). It was passed on to the next generation and 6 of us girl cousins wore it at our baptisms/dedications. As of last Sunday, Isla was the 4th great-great granddaughter to wear it--pretty special! 

For a while there I debated whether or not to buy my own special dress for Isla, one that I could give her someday as a keepsake. But when I unwrapped this family heirloom and a note from my grandma fell out, written shortly before she died (addressed to my cousin and his wife, stating how excited she was that they wanted to borrow the dress for their daughter's dedication), I burst into tears and wanted Isla to wear it too. Now I don't know how I could have possibly thought otherwise!

I added the pretty pink ribbon so that we would have something we could save aside for Isla as a keepsake when she's older. You should have heard the ladies in the fabric store when I was picking out the ribbon! Of course I had the dress along--I've never heard so much ooohing and ahhhhing that it was handmade!!

We chose Colossians 1:9-10 as our verse (and prayer!) for Isla:

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."

Isla, you are a beautiful girl with such an energetic spirit. Our prayer for you is that you will grow up to know and love Jesus, understanding that his love for you is unconditional. We pray that you will know that there is nothing that you can ever do or say that will make him love you less. You are a treasure and we are so blessed to be your parents! We pray for grace as we raise you, that we may be godly examples to you.

Love, Your Mommy and Daddy

Thanks to all of you friends and family who came to support us last week. It meant so much to have THREE FULL ROWS (and some!!) of people committing to pray for us as we raise this precious girl. For those of you who weren't able to be there, I'm posting a video, however, it might be better to just watch it on You Tube as my blog cuts off the right side for some reason (which is basically all the footage of Isla). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU3dZcoIa4M  Enjoy!

33 Weeks

I think Isla officially waved bye-bye for the first time on Saturday. My mom and sister and I had been shopping and we were getting ready to leave and so were all waving at her. She was watching our fingers SO intently and then, ever so slowly and gradually, she started moving her own fingers up and down. It was like she was urging her little neurons to SYNAPSE! SYNAPSE! because she wanted to copy us so badly but couldn't quite figure out how.

We dedicated Isla to the Lord this past Sunday at church (see coming post). It was a very special day and it meant a lot to us to have so many friends and family present.

Our sweet little girl has become a bit mischievous at times. I love this little photo story that occured during this morning's photo shoot. In the first pic, you can just tell she up to no good--look at that sly grin! Sure enought, she slammed poor Snowball facedown in her lap (middle pic). Then in the last pic, Snowball got her revenge (I sat her back up and apparently Isla was displeased by the feeling of fur on her face).

Isla is busy busy busy! She's starting to squirm in our laps and is constantly reaching and grabbing for anything and everything (and she's pretty quick at it). Last week, she figured how to undo her diaper....you have to be speedy at getting her pants back on when doing a change, otherwise she'll reverse all your work and take her diaper back off.

This week we added Cheerios, plums and strawberries to Isla's food list. The Cheerios were the most entertaining. EVERYTHING she holds (food or not) always goes into her mouth, except apparently for Cheerios. For whatever reason, she'd pick them up but it was like it never occured to her to eat them. Finally I started popping them in her mouth for her. She made a pretty weird face but now she gets it and seems to like them (it was like "Ohhhh, THAT'S what you want me to do with them...")

We pulled Isla's high chair out (so she could have a tray for her Cheerios) for the first time this week. In doing so, I lost some of my kitchen square footage :( but all for good reason. 

I haven't documented Isla's usual schedule in a while (not that anyone other than me is interested) but I want to have it written down for my records later. Isla wake up around 7:30 AM, eats breakfast (solids) and then nurses around 8:15 AM and goes back down for her morning nap around 8:30 AM. She usually sleeps for an hour or maybe a titch more if I'm lucky. Then she plays for a bit, nurses sometime after 11, has more solids a short time after, then goes down for another nap around noon. She sleeps for another hour or so then plays, nurses sometime between 2 and 3 and then plays some more. If we're at home, she'll often take a half hour snooze starting somewhere between 3:30 and 4:30 but if we're out and about or have company, she'll frequently sneakily skip this nap. She has solids again around 5:30 or 6, then nurses around 6:15 and goes down for bed at 6:30. She wakes up to eat pretty much at 4:30 AM on the dot and then sleeps again until 7:30 AM. Then the process repeats....

On a final note, this little missy is such a Daddy's girl. She walks in the room, sees her dad, and she is instantly smiling. She LOVES when he is around.

Authenticity

I am finally having what very well may be my first sliver of peace and quiet since last Wednesday. Quiet, that is, with the exception of the lawn mower and leaf blower thundering outside my window. (Really, I am grateful that we have landscapers who keep the common areas outside our townhome trim and proper. But come on, who does motorized yardwork at 8:30AM?!) Still, I am thankful for this moment of "quiet." To be honest though, I am squelching some pretty strong urges to go for a run, to make the bathrooms sparkle, to sweep all the food particles leftover from Easter off the kitchen floor, to right a will (yes, we're 7 months overdue on this), to make sure our finances are in check, to get outside and plant the dahlia bulbs and herb seeds that are beginning to sprout in my closet since I have not provided them with a better home....you get the picture. It's really hard for me to just sit here and not put this, probably very brief, naptime (and therefore my freetime) to good "use." But writing helps me process and I figured I would post a few of my recent thought processes in hopes of hearing YOUR thoughts. Maybe you have insight to offer?

I mentioned the devotional book I started a number of posts back. Allbeit slowly, I am learning about authenticity, about letting my guard down, slowing down, letting life get a little messy and most importantly, being honest about it when the going gets rough. I'm still chewing on this, trying to figure out what exactly it means to be authentic. I have always had a hard time reconciling how one can share honestly each hardship without coming across as a real downer or a Negative Nancy. This has always been my fear, being that person with the "Woe is me, life is rough attitude." So sometimes I paste on my smile and fake it (please tell me we all do it!)

Here's a little excerpt from my book: "Believer, I beg you, choose authenticity over appropriateness. Risk inviting others believers into your struggles. You'll find more compassion than you could have hoped for. An honest community breeds more honesty. One girl drops her mask, and five others follow suit."

I think it's making a bit more sense now. What God is teaching me is that through honesty comes healing. The struggles must be out in the open before the healing process can begin. And as we allow God to heal us, joy is a result and we lose the downer attitude.

Ha ha, I just reread what I've written and realized I almost got away with sharing my thoughts on this topic while only eluding to what I am struggling with. Tsk tsk how unauthentic of me! :) In brief, my transition into motherhood has been a wild roller coaster ride. My little disclaimer is that I wouldn't change it for the world, but I wouldn't say that it has been a walk in the park. Recently, I have been having a really hard time with sleep deprivation, not feeling like I get any time alone but then also feeling like I'm not fully present with Isla when I am with her (because I have a tendency to multitask...) I want everything in my life to be even and fair and, well, it's just not. I keep wondering when life is going to get back to "normal" rather than excepting this as my new normal. Then there's the whole exercise piece-being limited as far as what I can do with a baby in tow, not to mention finding time to do it! I think mostly I feel like I've had 7 months and should have "figured it out by now" but haven't. So, there ya have it. The honest truth. (Did that work as good birth control for you not-yet mothers?)

I feel like I need to say again that I LOVE being a mommy. I have a lot yet to learn. I'm thankful for these moments when God reminds me that He's waiting to take over, if I'll just give up control.   

32 Weeks

Isla has really started to HATE getting dressed. She whines about having to lay there on the changing table and will only stop when I sit her up. As soon as I do, she begins franctically grabbing anything she can from her basket of changing supplies before I inevitably ruin her fun and make her lie back down. I honestly think she knows she has to be sly and quick about it if she wants any chance at getting her hands on that diaper rash cream.

All of a sudden, this past Thursday, Isla started making syllable sounds!! Her new go-to sounds very much like Da-Da but I don't think she associates it with Graham just yet. I've also heard a few La-La-Las and Na-Nas. These new sounds have made my week!


Isla was introduced to acorn squash and broccoli (which I mixed with sweet potato to tame it down a bit) this week. Even I thought the broccoli/potato mix tasted unappetizing but she's eating it without complaint.

Okay people, here's my chance to vent. We are having sleep issues again. Isla's been consistantly needing one binkie plug/night for quite some time now. I kept saying that "I'll only plug her tonight. We'll teach her to soothe herself another night." Uh huh. So that hasn't happened. I got excited because there were 4 nights in a row where she didn't wake up until feeding time around 5 AM so I thought the problem was solved but now it's back in full force. Even worse actually. I'm getting up far too many times to "plug her" and feeling quite exhausted as a result. And I think we may have done just what we were trying to avoid: formed a habit. Ugggg. I think I'll go book a couple nights in a hotel until it's all over and we let her figure it out on her own. Okay, just kidding. But seriously, now I don't know what to do. I took a coworker's suggestion and put 7 or 8 binkies in the bed in hopes that she'll find one on her own without me having to get up. Hasn't happened. (But I will say that I spied on her yesterday and saw her grab one all by herself during one of her nap attempts so I think she CAN do it). Any tips?

Daytime sleep has been rough too, at least for the past couple days. Isla is a super light sleeper. I mean, I can't even open the cupboard door in the guest bath next to her room without her waking up. She's also a major party girl. We've found Sundays to be the worst because church falls right in the middle of her nap time. She won't sleep in the nursery because she knows she's missing something fun. After a horrible night on Sunday followed by another bad day on Monday (because Isla refused to sleep), I think I decided I'm just gonna have to quite volunteering in the nursery for now so that I can get her home to nap ASAP after church. It seems crazy that it can throw a kid off this much but it CAN.

NO TEETH YET....still suspicious that they are on the way though.

I keep forgetting to mention that Isla started holding toys while twisting her wrist. She pulls out this twisty wrist move all the time and seems to be really entertained by it. That's it for now!

Easter 2010

Before I get on with the details on the weekend, let me first get something off my chest. I thought I had overcome my love-hate relationship with my camera. When we got it 3 years ago, we noticed it was back-focusing (focusing on the background rather than the foreground) but thought that it was due to user error and maybe because it was on a funny setting. I started to like it a bit more over the past couple months when I was able to get a few good shots (but only when there was lots of natural lighting). Well, after much tweaking and numerous examinations by my professional photographer brothers-in-law, it is confirmed: IT IS NOT JUST ME! The camera is (and probably always has been) broken. Good thing it only cost us $700. Ha! No actually, that's not a good thing. Anyway, I was saddened to see that upon viewing our Easter pictures this morning, there are very few good ones. Booo. But I'll post them anyway because it was Isla's first Easter.

On Saturday night, we celebrated pre-Easter as well as my Dad's birthday, with a big dinner at our place. I made my very first roast leg of lamb (which turned out quite well if I do say so myself!), scalloped potatoes, homemade No-Knead Parmesan Thyme Rolls, Baked Brie with Apricot in Pastry. We also had salad, cake and ice cream. We Wilsons of course partook in the traditional Robin's Egg lipstick photos, which happens every Easter.

Isla got her first Easter gift from her grandparents: a stuffed rabbit and a windup chick toy. She was actually able to upwrap her gift for the most part and really enjoyed the ribbons.

Sunday was busy busy busy with Graham playing music at church and Isla and I spending time helping in the nursery. Our Easter service was moving and beautiful. They had tons of fresh tulips and even a flowering tree on stage so we decided to take our traditional Easter Peep photo with it as a backdrop. We let Isla hold her Peep for oh about 1.7 seconds until it went straight into her mouth (and we couldn't get her to look at the camera because she was so enamored by her sugary friend). This mama is NOT allowing sweets, particularly Peeps! (Does anyone even know what they put in those things!??) So we gave up on the Peeps and just tried smiling instead with very little success.

We spent Easter lunch with Graham's side of the family and had a lovely afternoon filled with much more eating. Of course the major highlight (and Crozier tradition) is the magnificent Peep Cake, made annually by my mother-in-law. This year's cake was a real beauty!

Then began another frivolous attempt of us trying to capture a nice picture of Miss Isla in her Easter garb. Look at the little ham we have on our hands! Such a poser for the camera:

After refusing to nap ALL day, Isla was one tired girl.