Father's Day Interviews

On the Friday before Dad's Day, I asked the girls a few questions about their own fantastic father.  This year we celebrated Nicholas with cards, breakfast, a trip to the Food and Drink Festival, and dinner at his favorite pizzeria, but I think Nick's favorite part of this Father's Day was watching the interviews below. (Thanks, Julie, for the fantastic idea!)


 


What holiday is coming up this weekend?  Uhhhh...summer.
[some explanation required]
What's your father's name?  Nick.
And what do you usually call him?  Daddy.
How old is Dad?  32.
How many pounds does he weigh?  I don't know.  32?
How tall is your dad?  TALL!

What's Dad's favorite color?  Blue and green.

What's Dad's favorite cake flavor?  I don't know. 

If could make him a cake, what would you make?  Chocolate.

With what kind of frosting?  Chocolate chip.

At his job, when Dad goes to work every day, what does he do there?  Computer.

What does your dad like to do?  Snuggle his girls.

What does your dad like to say?  I love you girls.

Your dad is great at what things?  Computerizing.  Putting us to bed.  Taking a bath...giving us a bath.  

If your dad won a million dollars, what would he do?  He'd be lucky.

What would he do with the money?  Buy us surprises.

You know your dad loves you because of what?  Because we're good.

How does Daddy show you he loves you?  Gives us snuggles. 

What holiday is coming up?  Father's Day.
Who is your father?  Nicholas, but we call his Daddo.  Now we call him Dad though.
How old is your dad?  31.
How much does he weigh?  I think...  I don't know about this..45 pounds.  Maybe.  I don't know.  That's my guess.
How tall is your dad?  Three or four feet high.  I don't know.

What's his favorite color?  [with authority]  Green and blue.

What's his favorite flavor of cake?  I don't know about that.  Probably chocolate or vanilla.

If you were going to make him a cake, what would you make?  I'd probably make him a chocolate one with buttercream frosting.

At his job, what does your dad do?  Computerizing.

Your dad likes to do what?  Help me on the computer.  Mow the grass...

What's something that you dad likes to say?  Daddo's home!  First things first!

Your dad is great at...  Helping me on the bike.  And on the school I've gotten a tiny bit of a song I'm writing.  I only have like four verses...lines of it though.  [previously unreleased original Father's Day song - this one is new to you and me both]

Well he helps me when I fall.

He builds my playhouse wall.

He is kind of like God.

He fetches us lots of cod.

And that's my only four lines!

[pause for laughter...pardon the shaky camera]

If your dad won a million dollars, what would he do with it?  Probably give it to the bank.  Because he's very friendly I think he would.

How do you know that your dad loves you?  Well he hugs me a lot and kisses me a lot and says "I love you Ella!"

I also had Ella fill out the questionnaire below. Although there were some gems (my favorites are "lots and lots of things in a shaving bag" and "a new nose hair trimmer thing") nothing tops that song!

Happy Father's Day, Nicholas!  Your girls - all 3.5 of us - love you!

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Biker Chicks

Nick and I just realized that Ella is five years old and has never owned a bicycle. Parenting fail. 

Every kid in Ella's class can probably ride a bike. Many of the kids in the year below Ella ride bikes without training wheels. Yet Ella has never even gotten on a bicycle. Yikes.

While I just sat there feeling like a bad mom, Nick took the proactive approach and immediately took both girlies to a bike shop. They came home with new helmets and an order to pick up their newly assembled wheels the next day!

Ella's sweet new ride.

Ella's bike was ready the on time, but Kate had to wait an extra day.

She was disappointed at first, but she didn't seem to be too brokenhearted.

Kate's new wheels. It was worth the wait!

After a week of practicing, we let them bike to and from school on Friday.

Sometimes I feel sorry for first kids. They have no idea that their parents are just making it all up as they go along. Some developmental readiness things are crystal clear to me, but many are not at all apparent. 

I feel like the first year or so was pretty clear-cut. I knew when to expect rolling, sitting, crawling, cruising, etc. There were checklists. For clueless first-time parents just like me. 

But as my kids age and development begins to vary more from child to child, I miss a lot of these minor milestones. Ella was three years old and had only used cups with straws and lids. She was four and had never dressed herself from start to finish. She reached five-and-a-half before we bought the kid a bike. Sheesh.

(Ironically, I received this email from babycenter about bicycles and five-year-olds the very next day. My babycenter account is American. I bet the UK version, babycentre, sent out that email at least a year ago. Sometimes being foreign is hard.) 

I try to console myself by thinking that at least Kate is right on track. In keeping up with her big sister, she might actually be considered a NORMAL child! Way to go, Kate-mo! Way to go ME!

Ella, on the other hand, might be at a slight disadvantage for life. I'm truly sorry, Bitzy. I love you, honestly I do. But as my firstborn, you're my guinea pig, my lab rat, my test subject. I'm figuring this whole parenting thing out on the fly. Making it up as I go. Sometimes I totally nail it, but more often than not I mess it up completely.

From one firstborn to another, you'll probably turn out okay. 

But you know that weird feeling you get sometimes? The one where your skin kind of crawls and it suddenly dawns on you oh my gosh I'm the only person I know who is wearing/doing/singing/reading this? And that other feeling that just a tiny bit worse: how on earth does EVERYONE know about this and I don't? Well, sweetie, I hate break it to you...but you should probably just get used to that feeling. 

It's going to happen a LOT over the next 13 years.  :)

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Science Festival

Our adopted hometown is known for its festivals. I've blogged about the Literature Festival (my personal favorite), but Cheltenham also hosts an annual Design Festival, Jazz Festival, Science Festival, Music Festival, and Food and Drink Festival.  While I still miss the chilled-out, family-friendly, amazing food-filled fests in Germany (particularly Wiesbaden Wine Fest), the Cheltenham festivals go a long way to supply culture, entertainment, and fun.

Last week was the Science Festival.  I thoroughly enjoyed the two events I attended.  (More about those later.)  Overall, my general impression of the Science Festival is positive, but my one complaint one be that most of these talks were geared toward adults and children over 12.  My science lovin' 4- and 5-year-olds were politely requested to stay away from the talks at the Science Festival.  There were a few hands-on family-friendly events around the park, but nothing that was completely geared toward our budding scientists.  There is a huge opportunity to engage children of this age in organized events, and I feel that this year's fest failed to do so.

But anyway, on to the things I did like...

The first talk I attended was entitled "Bumpology: The Truth About Pregnancy."  The panel of experts consisted of the Bumpology author, a representative of the not-for-profit group Sense About Science, and a researcher and lecturer from the Fetal and Neonatal Research Group at Imperial College London.  I loved the variety of perspectives of the three women on the panel — from layperson to a self-proclaimed "interface between science and society" to an academic researcher, each woman's focus was slightly different and equally illuminating.  There was special emphasis placed on risk assessment, mental health, marketing targeting pregnant women, and actual research vs personal feeling.  It was thought provoking (and somewhat controversial) and thoroughly enjoyable.

I scored serious wife points with my husband when I surprised him with tickets for us to see "Stand-Up Maths," which is exactly what it sounds like: a stand up comedian doing a routine all about mathematics.  Nick and I loved it.  We were surrounded by fellow math geeks who knew when to cheer (for a domino array that can do binary addition) and when to boo (when we were urged to divide by zero).  Gift ideas for the nerd in your life, Rubik's Cubes, spreadsheets galore, and a reference to "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock."  What's not to like?!  It's the perfect date night for a couple whose early friendship was forged in calculus and physics classes.  It's also the perfect place for me to find my dear old dad a Father's Day gift.  :)

The Food and Drink Festival is coming up this weekend!  I know better than to get my hopes up for bratwurst and flammkuchen (not to mention sekt and dry riesling!) but I've got my fingers crossed that these Brits can impress me with their gastronomy!

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Kate's Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Kate's birthday at Pittville Park with 18 of our favorite people. There were sandwiches, there were cupcakes, and there was SUNSHINE. The kids played their hearts out, soaked up some vitamin D, and attempted to feed the ducks. 

A huge thank you to my awesome friend Brienne for helping me assemble sandwiches, frost cupcakes, and take some gorgeous pictures of my little (soon to be middle) lady.

Climbing at the park.

Sunshine calls for cool shades.

Weeeeee!

The jacket comes off and the American Girl pets come out!

Making a wish.

Enjoying her cupcake.

Swinging in the sunshine.

I love that face.

Blue skies and a birthday girl.

Elizabeth Kate, age 4.

Chloe, Kate, Lyla, and Max.
Most of our party guests scattered soon after lunch for naps.
These guys stayed to the bitter end.

Happy birthday to my precious four-year-old. We love you, Kate-mo!

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Cheers to Ten Years

On the last day in May, Nick and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary. We have experienced an entire decade of awesomeness, and Nick has promised to give me at least 13 more years. I was hoping for 50, but I'll take what I can get!

It's crazy that a huge anniversary like this one — TEN YEARS is no joke, friends — was somewhat overshadowed this year. We'd just returned home from a trip to Venice, Ella was on half term break, Kate's fourth birthday was the day before, and we had just found out the gender of Elena Anne a few hours earlier. That's how we roll in this house, ya'll. Never a dull moment.

I love the excitement, but sometimes you need to just leave it all behind. So we left Ella and Kate with our dear friends Susan and Richard and escaped to the Cotswolds for an amazing weekend at the Cotswold House Hotel. This gorgeous retreat is only 45 minutes from our house, but it felt like a different world. A world filled with spa treatments, seven-course meals, secluded English gardens, and a stunning cottage all to ourselves.

I did not take even one single photo of the anniversary weekend. Not a hold-out-the-camera-at-arm's-length selfie, and certainly not a photo-in-a-mirror portrait. But I think the experience will be almost as etched in my memory as this amazing day ten years ago.

A photo of a photo.
Because ten years ago digital photography was new.We still look exactly like that.
If you can ignore my huge belly, it's EXACTLY the same.

It is super fun to recap ten years. Especially if the last ten years involves one cat, two kids, and calling three countries home. (Not to mention a third child on the way and six years in Europe!) There have definitely been some difficult experiences along the way, but they have all helped us grow and brought us closer together as a couple. 

Cheers to ten years, Nicholas! Here's to at least 13 more. :)

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What's in a Name?

Our girl names have never required a phonetic pronunciation guide, but this one does.  First name "ee-LAY-nuh," middle name "AN." I bet you had that middle name under control, I just thought I would be thorough.

No matter how you play it, the baby name game is so much fun! Some prospective parents keep their name choices a secret to add to the element of surprise and/or to eliminate criticism. Some share their short list of names with a select few. Some discuss openly with their families and friends. Some people wait until the eleventh hour to name their babies, some narrow it down to two or three and decide once the baby arrives, while some have the exact name picked out years in advance. 

Nick and I are of the "discuss openly" and "select a name well in advance" variety. It probably sounds crazy, but I have had our third baby girl's name in mind for over a year now. Over the last few months, we have never strayed far from Elena Anne. It just feels so right.

But I'll tell you, naming a third baby is hard! With the first we had a blank slate, the world of names was our oyster! But with the third we had to consider how the name sounds when listed with the other siblings. We had to be aware of any repetitious patterns we had created. We had to make sure this name fit in with the family — we didn't want our third child's name to stick out like that Sesame Street sketch "one of these things is not like the other."  :)

So with those things in mind, we chose Elena Anne. 

We will have an Ella Mae, an Elizabeth Kate, and an Elena Anne. They will go by Ella, Kate, and Anne.

We love the simplicity of Ella, Kate, and Anne. We love that all three of our girls have traditional, unambiguously feminine names. We love that they each go by names with a different first initial, but we also love that all three girls have first names beginning with E. We love that each and every name we've chosen for our girls has at least one a family connection. 

These are the qualities that we value most when naming our children, which is not to say that we dislike unique, trendy, or gender-neutral names. We absolutely don't! Trust me when I say that I love all your babies' names. :) 

Nick and I discussed several other options, and some were wildly different. But I think from the very start our girl name was always Elena Anne. 

Our boy name was trickier to nail down. Our short list included some combination of (in no particular order) Matthew, Wynne, James, Andrew, Jude, and Trent. Nick settled on Andrew James about a week before our gender ultrasound. I absolutely loved his choice, and there is a part of me that is sad we will never have an Andrew James. If I'm being completely honest, there is a part of me that feels gutted that I will never have a little boy, a mini-Nicholas, a blonde athletic teenager, a handsome son. But I suppose we went into this whole growing-a-family thing knowing that we didn't really get to pick.

While naming babies is fun and exciting, adding their warm, snuggly, precious little bodies to your household is even better. Only 19 more weeks until we greet our sweet Elena Anne! I cannot wait to bring another little person into this family!

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