Hello London and Welcome Elaine

Wow, a lot has happened since our last post. And because so much has happened, it explains why it’s been months before I’ve been able to post anything here. Let’s start with our move to London. We said goodbye to Paris and arrived in London at the very end of May, just in time to move into our new place on June 1. The move itself was a complete whirlwind and I think we got in over our heads. Without Nate or I really taking any time off of work, we moved in, bought all new furniture (as we were coming from a furnished place in Paris), found a nursery for Josephine and then went through a settling in process over a 3 week period.

And then of course the unexpected things popped up that you just don’t have time for. I was 7 months pregnant at the time and came down with a horrible sinus cold which knocked me out for a week and a half. This meant Nate had to do a lot of the furniture buying, unpacking and other household chores. Oh and we started getting these mysterious bug bites which turned out to be bird mites. A few visits from pest control and 2 months later, that finally got resolved. We didn’t have internet for 10 days which doesn’t sound awful but it’s crazy how much we really do depend on it. And through all of this I was making sure we were all set up with a GP and registered at a hospital for when Elaine arrived. It was a very busy, very stressful time indeed and I’m so glad that’s behind us.

Oh but Nate and I were able to get away for a day of London sightseeing and lunch to celebrate our anniversary. Happy 10th anniversary to us!

Sightseeing with Mom and Dad

And just as we were starting to finally feel remotely settled, well that’s when Elaine made her arrival. She came on her due date of August 22. Thankfully this was after my parents arrived so we had someone to watch Josephine while we were at the hospital. I had started my maternity leave in early August which gave me a week to rest before my parents arrived. Then I had a few days to do some fun stuff in London with them before Elaine came. Timing-wise it all worked out perfectly.

Hello Elaine!

Now we are adjusting to being a family of four. Josephine absolutely adores Elaine and loves being a big sister. She is our little helper for sure. She loves helping with diaper changes and always makes sure to tell us when Elaine is crying or has spit up. It’s really sweet although she does have her moments and we need to remind her to be gentle with her. But she always wants to know where Elaine is and what she’s doing and gives her kisses any opportunity she gets.

Sisters!

It’s been 5 months since we arrived and we haven’t had much time to really enjoy our new city. Life is finally settling down now though and I feel like we can start exploring and enjoying London.