This is Life

Last night as I rocked Gwyneth before placing her in her crib, I watched her eyelids grow heavy and felt her body relax. Her little body no longer easily fits on my lap, but instead her growing legs overflow, dangling off of mine. She was so tired and needy of rest. I was praying a prayer of a thankful heart as I gazed at her. Who knew that a baby could fill the chest with such overwhelming warmth and gratitude? There is such a depth of connection between a parent and a child. Although a child brings a person to a new level of exhaustion, there is a love that is daily renewed to a point of overflowing if the time is taken to watch your child sleep.

On a note aside from the emotions of it all, Gwyneth is changing everyday. She seems so tiny (although percentage based, she’s not a small baby) to be making such strides. She doesn’t look like she should be saying “uh-oh” yet, or standing by a bookshelf pulling off all the books with gusto, or feeding herself chopped veggies (cooked of course) and bananas, tugging on our pant legs to ask for a hug, or veering away from something when we tell her “no” when she crawls toward something off limits. I look at her and think that she should still be sleeping endlessly in our arms, not yet in a constant state of motion. I hear that this state just gets more frenetic.

On Sunday, we got a walk behind toy for her that converts to a ride on toy. She’s shown that she’s not quite coordinated enough yet to walk behind it (not a surprise based on my lack of coordination). She instead keeps her feet planted and pushes it forward, which if not supervised with a supporting hand, she could potentially end up bashing her only two teeth right out of her mouth. That would definitely defeat the purpose of the new toy, as there would be no fun in that. So, we popped it into ride on toy mode and pushed her around on it. She was so proud of her new wheels and sat so tall with a gushing smile on her face. When we’re not available to push her around, she enjoys playing with the extra “spinnies” on her toy and tipping it over to spin the wheels. I think this new toy may provide just as much joy to her as it does to us. It’s fun.

Now, aside from Gwyneth, whom for the moment, our lives do at least partially revolve around hers, we have some other exciting news. My paperwork for British citizenship has gone through without a hitch. I am now ready to be sworn in as a British citizen (yes, I get to keep my US citizenship at the same time). On November 7th, at 10AM, I will be at the British Consulate in Chicago, pledging allegiance beyond just our Stars and Stripes, but to the Union Jack as well. This is a huge step forward in our plans to move to Northern Ireland. With my citizenship, Wes will be able to apply for a settlement visa, which will allow him to work in the UK and eventually apply for citizenship himself. I will also have a right to work in the UK without any problems, along with access to the socialized healthcare and even voting rights!

Our lives continue to move at “warp-speed.”

New Specs

Mom, you wanted to see a picture of me in my new specs, so here it is. I took it quickly using my mac. cam, so it looks a bit like a photo booth picture, but it serves the purpose and now you know what my new glasses look like. Hopefully wearing a pair of glasses that I actually like will keep my eyes healthy by avoidinge abusive and excessive contact lense use.

Just Swingin'

I've wanted to get this picture up for some time and was FINALLY able to get it formatted to upload onto the blog!

More Dells Pictures!

Here are a couple more pictures that for some reason I've been having a hard time uploading. I did finally get them up. I think that Gwyneth with her moose hat is one of the cutest pictures ever taken of her! She knows how to ham it up for the camera, and will often times even stop mid-cry if we take out the camera and change her tune to giggles and smiles.

Gwyneth now has two pearly whites and after our 3 hour mid-night session of wailing, I think another one is moving into position and getting ready to pop through. Needless to say, when the alarm went off at 5:40 AM, none of us were ready to get up. Knowing that Gwyneth was going to fall apart all day long if we didn't let her catch up on the lost sleep, I called in at work and daycare to say we'd be running and hour and a half late. Gwyneth woke up all smiles, but she's got it easy and gets two solid naps daily. Wes and I both woke up feeling exhausted and under the weather. It's all worth it though, and through the process, Wes and I are learning quite a bit of patience!

Wisconsin Dells Adventure

We recently got to meet up with my parents for a visit in the Wisconsin Dells. Although I grew up in Wisconsin, I had never been to The Dells when I was old enough to be filled with awe and wonder at the sites that would send just about any child into a frenzy. I had always wondered what I was missing and it turns out that I had missed out on the mecca of waterparks, tripperish pool sculptures and mini amusement parks. We were lucky enough to stay in a hotel with it's very own pool sculpture - a dragon that had water spouting out of its tail. Travelling with Gwyneth was exhausting, as always, but we enjoyed the company of family and Gwyneth got to spend some special time with Granny and Grandpa Williams.

No Dells trip is complete without a little tour on the Ducks!














Of course there was a bit of pool time!



A hike we took in a nearby glen. Guess who threw rocks at a hornet's next...don't worry Gwyneth and I watched from a very, very good distance.