Recent Favourites*

*Note the British spelling of 'favorites' :)

Lincoln is talking more and more - still not in more than 3-word sentences, but he has been adding a lot more adjectives to his nouns. My recent favorites are "cool!" and "fancy!". The other night I was away at Mutual and Ryan was putting Link to bed and I guess he wanted to wear his pajama shorts over another pair of pajama pants and when he put them on he said "Ooh, fancy!" I wish he got a picture of that!

He also calls things funny names, for example:

Ryan: What is this, Link?
Lincoln: Flower
Ryan: What kind of flower?
Lincoln: Sunshine flower!
Jamie: What do you think of the flower?
Lincoln: Cool!

Another funny one


Ryan: What do you want for breakfast?
Lincoln: Cereal bar
Ryan: What kind of cereal bar?
Lincoln: Kids one (as in "the one with kids on it" or on other days "Tiger one")

He also has a new thing of saying "Woo hoo, we made it!" at the end of Sacrament Meeting at church...or when he thinks it's the end of the meeting, which usually means on fast/testimony day he is saying it after every person. I have to admit, it is pretty funny - especially when Ryan and I feel like saying it after keeping him behaved for over an hour!

Another favorite thing of mine is our cute baby girl! It is too fun dressing her up Sunday mornings - I keep making us late because I am snapping pictures of this beautiful girl before church. At 8 weeks old tomorrow I almost feel like she is no longer a baby - she is smiley, bright-eyed, loves to wake up with coos and giggles, can hold her head up well, and slept through the night (8+ hours) 4 nights last week (YAY!!). What a good girl!

Beachy Head

Being very pregnant and then having a new baby hasn't allowed us much in the way of venturing out into the English countryside, but today we felt we were ready to take an outing as a family. We decided to visit Beachy Head - a beautiful spot known for its breathtaking white cliffs...and subsequently the world's most popular suicide-by-jumping location. Luckily, there were no jumpers today, but we did get some amazing views of the HUGE cliffs.


The edge of the cliff is directly behind them - notice no fences or anything!


Walking up to the biggest cliff - I kept a tight grip on Link, I was nervous he would bolt toward the edge!!


The white cliffs extend for miles and miles along the coast.


Link enjoying his "ice wowwy" (ice lolly - what they call popsicles here).

I am not one for heights, and the thought of standing on a potentially-crumbling cliff made me VERY nervous (even several feet away from the edge), but Ryan did persuade me to take one look from the edge. YIKES! Ellie slept the whole time - so I think that's a good sign that we'll be able to take more family adventures!

Sweet Rewards

I'm not really a baby person. I've never been one to ask to hold babies at church or coo over seeing a new baby in the grocery store. They just scare me a little - so small and fragile and the constant guessing game of trying to figure out what they need just makes me a little anxious. I don't think I'm very good with babies either; some people just have that "magic touch" and unfortunately I'm not one of them.

That said...I love my babies! Lincoln was the absolute perfect baby and I thought I would be in for it with the second one, but Ellie has been wonderful as well. She eats well, sleeps well, and I am getting to the point where I feel like I am "figuring her out" a lot better.

At first, she would get really frustrated sometimes when I would try and feed her, and I didn't know why. Now I know that if she isn't hungry, there is no way she is going to eat. Link would eat any time it was offered to him! When she is tired she likes to be held, binky in her mouth, blanket around her, and cuddled to sleep. I finally got my cuddler! Sometimes when she is fussy all she wants is a little space and just wants to be put on the floor or in her bouncy chair and she calms right down. I'm sure to jinx it, but last night Ellie slept through the night until 6am!! I thought I was dreaming!

I think the very sweetest reward is when babies start to smile. Finally some confirmation that they know you exist and love you!! :) Ellie's first *real* smile was last week and I was able to capture a couple grins. Of course, my pictures can in no way capture the real cuteness of it all.






Ellie must be eating enough, because she keeps growing! She had a home visit checkup last week and weighed 11.2 lbs (90th percentile) and is 23 inches long (95th percentile). I remember thinking that Lincoln wasn't a baby for very long, and already I am starting to see that with Ellie. Here is a 6 week picture:


And we can't leave Lincoln out! Here he is with his newest phase "No pants!" which he requests every morning. No, I don't oblige him every day and he ALWAYS wears pants out of the house, so don't worry!

"Well Done, Link!"

Yesterday Lincoln had his good friend Ashy over to play. The two play so well together - it's actually easier having a friend over because they occupy themselves without the need for me to be constantly entertaining them.

The boys were playing out back and I was feeding Ellie inside in the living room and I hear Ashy saying "Well done, Link! Well done!"
"Hmmm, I thought, what could Lincoln be doing that Ashy likes so much?? That can't be good."

This is what I found when I looked outside:

Link was climbing up the trellis on our back wall with Ashy close behind! They really were doing well - I was pretty impressed! Luckily, no one fell or was hurt and I could just sit back and laugh at these silly boys. I guess this is what happens when you don't have a jungle gym in your backyard and have a very inventive child.

Kayce Comes to Visit

My dearest friend from BYU came to visit us this past week! Kayce and I met freshman year when we lived 2 doors down from one another in David John Hall. We had no idea that 9 years later I would be living in England and she would come visit - what a great friend!!

On Thursday we drove to Stonehenge - it was VERY windy, but such an amazing sight to see. I've actually been before, and wouldn't you know it hasn't changed much in 10 years?! haha



We then headed to Salisbury Cathedral where they have the Magna Carta. It was a beautiful cathedral and interesting to see the document that has shaped much of what the US constitution is based on.

On Friday it was my birthday, so we celebrated by shopping here in Brighton and then ate dinner at this great "American" restaurant - Woodie's Diner. It was really cute with an American/surf theme, Jones Sodas, and burgers and shakes. Our favorite part was the little US flags they put in the burgers!





On Saturday Kayce, Ellie, and I took the train up to London. It was a whirlwind visit, but I think we got in most of what Kayce wanted to see. We took a bus tour, walked through Hyde Park, went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square. It was a beautiful day and fun to have a "girls day" in London! We saw this hotel and had to get a picture for Ellie - how fitting!!(her full name is Elizabeth Rose for those that don't know)


We had to show Kayce our beautiful Brighton seaside!


On Monday we did more shopping and finished off the trip with a visit to the Brighton Pier for fresh donuts, Brighton Rock, fun rides, and just plain silliness!


Thanks for coming, Kayce! We miss you already!!