Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

Did I tell you about how good my sweet Lili was on that international flight?  Did you hear me bragging about what a little star she was throughout all of our journeys, flight connections and hotel stays?  She was an absolute charmer and made friends everywhere we went.  Even the macho Scotsman who sat on the other side of her on the long flight from Heathrow was playing peek-a-boo before the 81/2 hours was up.  I was ever so grateful for this, because I know that things could have gone very differently. In fact for the last five days, things have been very different.  Lilianna Gwyneth is having a hard time coping with these American germs and viruses.  I haven't heard so much screaming since Justin Bieber came to town.  Additionally I have become a walking human-Kleenex.  Have you ever tried unpacking several hundred boxes whilst holding a snot-dripping, hollering infant.  I'm sure you have, so you know what I'm on abo...

We have been back in the Land of Plenty for a week now.  I know it is the Land of Plenty because the backsides are much larger here on average than they are in the UK and because the grocery store here is about 400 acres in size.  Emma, Lili, and I went to our local supermarket on Thursday where we found ourselves feeling completely overwhelmed and over-stimulated.  I actually felt my brain lock up on the cereal aisle where there appeared to be thousands of varieties of flakes and puffs and o's.  Emma and I scanned the aisle back and forth and up and down.  "Where is the Raisin Bran, Emma?" "I don't know, Mom!!  There it is!  No, wait, that's raisin-something else."  We were struggling.  My fellow Americans, y'all are completely spoiled for choice!  I had forgotten there could be so many different kinds of cake mixes and cookies and crackers and juice drinks and, oh, the list goes on!  I have now been to the grocery st...

I began writing this before we left the UK, but never published.  Now we are all safely in Michigan, in our new house, surrounded by boxes and chaos, but that is another story... This is much worse than those tearful goodbyes at summer camp back when I was a kid. Although it is a bit similar… I have forged a somewhat new way of life immersed in a different culture far away from mom and familiarity. I have developed a few deep friendships and even adopted a “surrogate family.” What would I have done without the Collinses during my postpartum nightmare? I have picked up bits and pieces of a new language and am even taking home the best souvenir ever… a Welsh-born little girl. I will miss the vibrant green of Wales when I am driving through our different-green American countryside. I will not miss navigating down those narrow British lanes, but I will miss the charming places to which they led, and I will miss the friendly faces that were waiting there. Saying goodbye was just ...

You asked for it, Shay... First of all, let me begin by saying that I am, by no means an expert on sex or sexual education, but I think I am off to a pretty decent start with my lot.  So here are a few of my tips listed for you handily in bulleted form (as requested). Forget about "the talk."  Children should have innumerable talks with their parents about sex starting as soon as they are old enough to have questions.  If you wait until little Johnny is thirteen to have "the talk," you will be far too late and far too embarrassed to effectively communicate.  Talking about sex will feel completely normal and natural if it is commonplace in your house from day one.  I have told my daughter Emma, "If you have questions, don't worry about saying something rude.  You're not going to say anything I haven't heard before.  Also, if you hear something from other kids that confuses you, please come and ask me or Dad.  We can surely give you more accu...

Last night I had a lovely small "leaving party" at the Collins's house.  It was a perfect evening.  Friends gathered for a chilled out evening in the garden where the atmosphere was warm and pleasant.  We chatted, ate Joanna's organic homegrown strawberries, and passed Lili around like a parcel at a children's birthday party.  At the end of the evening, the ladies presented me with a beautiful floral Cath Kidston tablecloth to take back to the US.  Do they know me or what?  I was completely surprised and giddy. All that being said, my favourite part of the evening happened after the party was over and involved the little smiling cutie pie whose picture is situated at the top of this posting.  When we got home, it was past every little girl's bedtime.  Sophie and Lili went to bed quite easily, but as usual, Emma lingered longer than necessary, brushing her teeth painstakingly slowly in my bathroom.  In the end she ended up flopping down on ...

Lili had a big night out in Barry last night.  She helped us celebrate Leanne's 40th birthday.  Disco lights and sparkly mylar balloons are a baby's best friend...  Wow!  She was impressed, as Sophie would say. On a more somber note, there are only two weeks between me and a long flight to Kalamazoo.  (Ok, I'm not actually going to Kalamazoo, but it's in the same general region, and isn't it just fun to say Kalamazoo.  Go on... "Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo.")  I have only two weeks left to soak in all that is Wales.  Last night when George (and Lili) and I went to that birthday party, I was very aware that it would probably be last time I saw most of those lovely people.  If you know me, you know that I don't care for tearful goodbyes.  I really cannot even face tearful goodbyes.  I am always afraid that if I start, I won't be able to turn off the tap.  Please don't tell me goodbye.  Let me leave with my dig...

For years we hemmed and hawed about having another baby.  We knew it would be lots of work.  We feared it might negatively impact the dynamics of our family.  We never dreamed it would wreak such havok on my body, but that's another story.  Finally, two Christmases ago, we decided, YES, let's have another baby... someone little and sweet who coos and giggles.  What we got, although wonderful, was not what we were expecting.  Lili is a baby who does not fancy being a baby.  She has something to prove.  She crawled at seven months, stood up a week later, and appears downright annoyed that we expect her to be a "baby" for an entire year.  See the above photo??  This is a rarity.  Unless she is starving and being offered something exceptionally delicious, Lili will NOT take food off of a spoon offered by someone else.  She has also given up her high chair.  After wrestling her into it several times and receiving her telepath...