I meant to do a new post last week, but every time I thought about it our internet was out. So I will start with the most exciting news, Brian and I are going to have another baby! We are very excited! I am just about 16 weeks along, due May 25th. This pregnancy has been very different from Caleb's. The first trimester was much easier. With Caleb I was sick daily, this one is more temperamental. Some days I would be really sick others I would be fine. I am also very tired with this pregnancy, but I think that is more due to Caleb than this baby. So far I have only seen my OB once, I go again in 2 weeks. But I did have an in depth ultrasound at 12 weeks. So far I really like my OB and one nice thing about Aussie OB's they do not weigh you at every appointment. Only once in the beginning. Of course I don't want to gain too much and I will monitor it at home. But at least I won't feel pressured like I did with my OB in the States. I will keep you updated as the pregnancy progresses.

Thanksgiving went really well. I was really happy with how the turkey came out. The only thing that did not come out as well was the dressing. But I blame that on not have the same ingredients as the U.S. The kids all had a really good time and the adults did too! I am really glad I hosted!

This week Brian is in New Zealand. He left very early this morning. Caleb and I went to church with some friends. This church has a nursery and Caleb did really well in it, so that was a relief. But he has been cutting down his naps the last few days and that is worrying me a bit. He still really needs a nap and the last few nights he has been falling apart earlier than normal. So I think I am going to move his nap back 15-30 minutes and hopefully that will solve the problem. I need his naps just as much as he does, so I am hoping this is just a phase!

We have a normal schedule for the first part of the week. Tomorrow is playgroup. We are having our "Chrissy" party. I am bringing zucchini bread. Tuesday is swim lessons and Wednesday is library time. Hopefully those things will tire Caleb out and he will sleep well!

On Thursday Caleb and I are going down to meet up with Brian in New Zealand. We are going to Rotorua. Everyone always says how wonderful New Zealand is, so it will be nice to see it. I am nervous about flying with Caleb alone again. We are leaving very early in the morning, so I don't know how Caleb is going to deal with that. Luckily the flights are not as long this time.

Two days after we get back from NZ Marc and Betty will arrive. I am really excited about their visit! Caleb is starting to recognize his grandparents in pictures and saying their names. I think he will really enjoy their visit too! We are planning on going to the beach, Sydney, and showing them around Canberra. Brian and I are really missing family a lot, so being able to spend Christmas with them will be wonderful!

Please pray for our trip to New Zealand and for Caleb's naps. We love and miss you all!

It was a typical week again. We were able to pick up Brian's car, so I only had to drive Brian to work Monday-Wednesday. Which was nice because on Friday Caleb slept in until 8am. The rest was pretty normal. Thursday we went to Questacon. We had not been since before we went to Thailand, so Caleb enjoyed going back. On Friday we went to Paint and Play, a free event on Fridays for toddlers. It has 10 or so stations that the kids can do; shaving cream play, pasta necklaces, crafts, playing with rice, musical instruments. Caleb enjoyed playing with the rice the best. We we got home I still had rice in my hair and clothes.

Yesterday we went to the Telstra Tower. It is a radio tower that looks over the city. I uploaded some pictures we took of it. Telstra is a phone company here that we also get our internet through. We hate them probably as much as we hated Comcast. There are always random charges on the bill that when Brian calls they say they are a 1 time charge. Plus our internet is very unreliable. It is always going out at random times and when we call their first question is "Did it rain recently?". Of course there are clear skies. So we stopped calling and hope that the internet does not go out when we are skyping.

So since I don't have much to talk about that happened this week, I thought I would talk about how Aussies shorten a ton of words and almost always with a y. I know Americans probably do it a lot too, but I feel like we do it in order to cut out syllables in order to make a word easier to say. Anyway, here are some examples.

Breakfast - brekky

Sunglasses - sunnies

biscuit - bicky

mosquitos - mossies

Christmas - Chrissy

cup of tea/coffee - cuppa (I know this one does not fir with the others)

I know there are more but my mind is a bit fuzzy and it seems to get worse at night. I will update it when I think of more.

In all it was a good week. This week is Thanksgiving. Like I said last week we have 2 families coming over. I went out today and bought what I needed. Here is the menu:

Turkey

Betty's wild rice dressing - but they don't sell wild rice here, so I am pretending that white and brown rice is wild rice :)

Nanny's broccoli casserole

Dinner rolls - I am going to attempt to make them from scratch, we will see if I give up and just buy some.

Mom's apple pie

Pumpkin bars

The other families are bringing ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and another dessert.

I figure if I make enough family recipes it will feel more like they are here celebrating with us :)

Wish me luck!

Same old, same old

I realize that I did not post a new blog last week. I felt like I did not have anything to say. It was a typical week, nothing special. I guess that is a sign that I am completely settled in. This week was not anything special either.

Last weekend we went to Tidbinbilla. We walked around the nature reserve but did not see any animals. But it was nice to take a walk as a family. It is finally warmer here, in the mid-70s everyday now. This week it actually got in the 80s and we had to think about maybe turning on the air conditioner. That will be an interesting experience because I have never seen anything like this before. It is an evaporative cooling system, it has a tank on the roof that fills with rain water and somehow cools off the house through that water. Apparently you have to open a few windows in every room so mold does not collect. I don't really understand it and we will have to study the manual. Hopefully we will get the hang of it.

Monday was play group, Tuesday was swim lessons. Caleb did not do as well this week at swim lesson, he decided he was scared of one of the ladies. I have no idea why, he sees her every week in the pool. Hopefully he will fair better this week. Wednesday we went to storytime at the library. We see some of the kids and moms from the playgroup there. Caleb loves one of the girls. He gave her about 5 hugs, one where he knocked her over. And when she was leaving, she went up to Caleb and said "kiss", and they kissed on the lips. The other mom and I were joking that in 15 years later we will be in trouble!

Thursday was Veteran's Day, so Brian was off work. He let me sleep in and then we skyped with my parents, and in the afternoon we went to a park. Friday we met up with another embassy mom new to the area. She has 4 girls and Caleb absolutely loves them! It was so nice, he played with the girls the whole time and the mom and I got to talk.

Yesterday we finally bought a 2nd car. It is a french car at a pretty good price. I am so happy Brian has his own car now. I have been driving him to work for 4 months now, which is 20 minutes each way. We have to get ourselves and Caleb ready each morning to get out of the house to get Brian to work on time. Then every afternoon Brian is rushing out of work because Caleb and I are waiting in the car. It will be nice that Caleb can wake up when he wants, although he will probably still wake up at the same time, and Brian will not have to rush every afternoon. Plus, Caleb and I will spend 80 less minutes on the road everyday. We can pick up the car Wednesday, it needs a new windshield and an inspection.

Today we went to church and then I did some shopping with a friend. We have been going to a Presbyterian church the last few weeks. The Baptist church we were going to just did not seem like a good fit for our family. So far we have enjoyed the Presbyterian church. There are a lot of young kids and the families are all really friendly. I also got a lot of shopping done. It is amazing what you can get done when you are with an adult and not a toddler! I got 6 things I have not had time to buy (or kept forgetting to buy) and almost all of Caleb's Christmas presents. I have had to start a lot of shopping early this year since we will be mailing most of them out. I am not sure I will get them all to the States by Christmas.

This week is looking normal again. The only exciting things will be picking up Brian's car and starting to get things ready for Thanksgiving. This will be my first year cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We have 2 families coming over for a total of 14 people! So my first one will be a big one! But luckily both families are bringing 2 dishes each so I will have a lot of help.

I guess that is it for now. We love and miss you all!

HHE and Halloween

Since I had already posted this week, this blog post will be shorter.

We tried to get things back to normal this week. Caleb was feeling the effects of traveling and was much more clingy than normal. He also decided that he did not want to walk instead he wanted to be carried everywhere. Which led to a nice meltdown at swimming where I left him in the hallway because he would not stop clinging to my leg. But after I turned the corner he decided that he could walk and got up and followed me. Oh toddlers . . .

Monday we had playgroup. It did not start out too well. I locked my keys in the car which included the keys to the cottage and my cell phone. Luckily one other mother was there and called our road side insurance for me. The road side person came pretty quickly and was able to open the door to my car in no time. Besides that one hiccough, it went well. Caleb enjoyed playing with different toys. He is still not really playing with other kids yet. But he does get excited when he sees the other kids he recognizes.

Tuesday was swim lessons. Caleb was pretty fearful at first becuase he had been rolled over in the sea in Phuket. So it took him some time to warm up to the water. But after about 10 minutes he was jumping in to me and splashing like crazy.

Wednesday we ran some errands and went to the library.

On Thursday our household effects finally came!!! We were so excited to get our things. We had 110 boxes. We had the movers unpack and put things in piles in the different rooms and take the boxes they could. So our house Thursday afternoon was a complete wreck. Our front room was covered. But we managed to get the kitchen and master bedroom done. It was really exhausting and I have not had as much energy as normal. So I was really tired that evening. But Brian has been working like crazy to get it all cleaned up. I think I can deal with things laying around more than he can.

Friday was the Halloween party at the embassy. Caleb went as a teddy bear. We also invited our friends Heidi and Elana. Caleb loves Elana, or as he says "lana", she is just a few weeks younger than Caleb. She dressed as a cheerleader. We went trick or treating around the embassy, looked at the reptiles, pet a baby crocodile, and ate sausages. It was a pretty warm day, 75 degrees, so Caleb did not last the whole time in his costume. But he was super cute while he was in it! Here are some pics.

This weekend was spent at home continuing to unpack. We are just about done now! We still have 1 self that we need to work on in the front room, organize the office, and we have not hung any pictures yet. It it so nice to have family pictures up again and more clothes. Now I just have to start printing out the pictures we have taken since we have arrived and the summer in MD. Brian is excited because we bought a new t.v this weekend and it is much bigger than the one in the welcome kit. Hopefully he does not have too much trouble setting it up!

Tonight we actually had 2 trick or treaters. I was pretty surprised. But there were some Halloween things in the stores. So I guess Aussies are coming to accept Halloween.

This week is looking pretty normal. We have a playdate on Friday with a family new to the embassy. So hopefully that will go well.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! I miss giving out candy, eating candy corn, and carving a pumpkin! So enjoy it a little more for me!!

Bangkok and Phuket

I guess I will start at the beginning with the flight to Bangkok. I was super nervous about the flight and I think that Caleb picked up my nerves a bit. Before we left he was running around like crazy. But once the cab came we both calmed down. I cut out his nap since the cab came at 12:30. Caleb took a cat nap on the flight to Sydney and a little in the airport too. I tried to take as little as possible with me, so I had the diaper bag, stroller, and car seat. Luckily there were some chivalrous men who helped me carry the car seat. Then Caleb was really good on the flight to Bangkok. The lady across the aisle was really nice and switched places with us so we could have 3 seats to ourselves. He stayed awake for the first 3 hours and then slept for the rest of the 6 hours. So it went really well! We got in very late into Bangkok, Brian picked us up at the airport, and Caleb slept about 6 more hours.

The next 2 days we explored the city with Brian, we went to one of the malls, the grand palace, and the weekend market. Brian had to work Monday-Wednesday, so Caleb and I went to an aquarium, took a tour of one of the canals, and went to the pool. Bangkok is a nice city. Brian and I really enjoy city life, so we were happy to be in a big city. We felt safe there and it is really cheap to eat and get around there. The Thai people are also really nice there. Although a little too nice to Caleb. They seemed to be obsessed with him! The waiters would crowd around him and bring their friends over to see him. People on the canal tour changed their seats to be closer to him and stare at him. The cab drivers would turn around constantly to look at him. One cab driver I had to tell him 3 times to turn around because the light had changed. Plus in the Grand Palace people would crowd around him and take pictures of him. It was very odd to me, I actually posed with one woman with Caleb, so we are in some random woman's photo. Caleb was ok about it, he did not want to be picked up which I think is a really good defense mechanism, but he would give high 5's, wave, and blow kisses. I think by the time we left Bangkok he was happy to get away from all the attention.

Unfortunately we went during rainy season, so it rained every afternoon, and the city was pretty dirty because of it. Plus the sidewalks were awful so it was tough to push the stroller. But besides all the attention on Caleb and the rain, we really enjoyed being in Bangkok. We also got to meet up with my cousin Danny who is posted there. So it was really nice to see family! We also got to relax a bit, massages are very cheap there so I got a foot massage and Brian got a couple back massages. The massages were only $9 for an hour!

Late Wednesday night we went to Phuket. We stayed at a resort on the Andaman Sea. We were there for 2 days so we did not venture off the resort. We went to the beach and pool both days. The beach was not that great, it was filled with vendors, it was pretty narrow, and there was a pretty steep drop into the water. So we just let Caleb play in the sand for a bit. The resort also had a play area for kids, so Caleb really enjoyed playing in the ball pit and the playground. I also got a chance to take a Thai cooking class with the executive chef. It was really nice learn about Thai cooking and get away for a few hours. Brian was able to get another massage on the beach.

Unfortunately on Saturday afternoon we had to make our way back to Australia. Caleb did not fair as well this time around, but luckily Brian was there to help. Then we had a really hard time getting through the Sydney airport. For some reason they classified the umbrella stroller as oversized luggage, so we had to wait 30-45 mins for that to come through. Then we had claim the wood item at customs we bought at the weekend market. But there was no line, just a huge mass of people. By this point we were certain we were going to miss our Canberra flight so we went through express line and no one seemed to care. Luckily our Canberra flight was delayed so we made it. We arrived Sunday morning exhausted and happy to be home. Caleb and I both took long naps and I went to bed right after him that night too. Brian faired much better, I guess since he is more used to traveling.

In all, I am really happy we went. It was really fun exploring a new city and relaxing on a resort. Plus, I got to enjoy some of the things a big city imports that I don't get here, like Starbuck's, Auntie Annes, and a wider variety of food choices. Although we ate a lot of Thai food, I also had a good hamburger, pizza, steak, and risotto. Yum! We are thinking we might go to Wellington, New Zealand with Brian next. Hopefully he does not mind us tagging along!

our week and schools

So I really need to start taking notes on what I do in the beginning of the week because I cannot remember anything that happened on Monday. I just asked Brian and he cannot remember either. So I will start with Tuesday.

Caleb is really improving in his swim lessons! He will kick his legs, paddle his arms, splash, jump (well step) in the pool to me, go under water, and this week he attempted to blow bubbles. He opened his mouth and then spit out the water. It is amazing how he is progressing in just 2 months! He is also opening up more in lessons and actually has surpassed one of the kids in the class. I am a proud mommy!

On Wednesday we ran errands. We got Caleb's hair cut, which was shorter than I wanted, but the hairdresser was so nervous that I did not want to say anything. I could tell she did not really want to cut his hair, but we were already there and Caleb was being so good, so we went ahead with it.

Thursday we went to the library and then to the parks. In the library he kept saying carp, carp! I forget that other people can't understand him and had to explain that he was excited about going to the park. On an unrelated note, Caleb started saying "home" this week :) Although it comes out more like "ome"! I guess he thinks this is his home now.

Friday we went to the zoo. It was pretty crowded since schools are out on holiday - more on that later. But Caleb was so excited about running around, he did not seem to notice.

Yesterday we went to a new park. It was on a lake and had a train. One of the things we really love about Canberra is all the parks. We received a book on all the parks when we arrived and have just been going to a different one each week or so. It is so wonderful that we can get outside and Caleb can enjoy himself. Then we got Turkish for dinner. It is easily our favorite restaurant. Friday night we had really crappy chinese. It is frustrating that it is hard to find good food to get take away.

Today we went to church and then did some spring cleaning. This is a really exciting week. Wednesday Brian leaves for bangkok for a conference and Caleb and I are flying out to meet him on Friday. We are going to stay in Bangkok until the following Wednesday and then we are going to Phuket. I am really excited about seeing Thailand! I am nervous about flying with Caleb all day alone, We leave around 2pm and don't arrive in Bangkok until 11pm (3am Canberra time). The bangkok flight is 9 hours. Hopefully Caleb will sleep some!

Before I mentioned about how schools are on holiday now. I have learned a little about the schools here. They are year round. The school year starts in February. They have 4 semesters that are 10 weeks each and then have 2 weeks off in between each semester except for Christmas when they have 6 weeks off. They do not start preschool until 4 years old, where you can go 2 days from 9-3 or 4- 1/2 days. We would like Caleb to start at 3 years old like in the States, just 2 1/2 days a week, so hopefully we can find some places that do that. You can drop out of school at 16, which is pretty accepted here. You can also apply for welfare when you drop out of school at 16, which seems strange to me. But I think most people that drop out at 16 either go to a trade school or find a job. I like the year round school idea. Especially for Spanish teaching, it is always frustrating when I am teaching Spanish 1B or 2 and I have to spend almost the entire 1st quarter re-teaching what the kids have learned the year before. I think that if there was less time between semesters the kids would remember more. It is interesting learning about the school systems in other countries!

We hope you have a great week! We love and miss you all!

I think I will go backwards this time. Mainly because I am having a hard time remembering the beginning of the week.

This weekend we went to Batemans Bay for a night. It was nice to get away. We got incredibly lost getting out of the city. I wrote before about how many roads are circuits or labeled differently, plus google maps sucks. So it took us an hour just to get out of the city. But once we found the main road, we were good. We stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast that just opened this weekend. It was really nice and they actually had a full crib, so Caleb was really comfortable too. There was a jazz festival in town, so it was pretty hard to find a place, but I am so glad we got the one we stayed in. The weather was pretty crappy this weekend, it was rainy and overcast. But it is about 2 1/2 hours away so I am sure we will go back. We went to Batemans Bay Saturday afternoon and Pebbly Beach Sunday morning.

Tomorrow is Australian Labour Day so Brian is off, we are excited about the long weekend!

The week went pretty well. Friday we had to run a bunch of errands, get 2 new back tires, and pick stuff up at the store. So we were out all morning and surprisingly Caleb was really good! He only threw 1 fit and it was pretty short. Thursday we went out to the farm of a family in our playgroup. We got to bottle feed the lambs, have morning tea, and play in the big backyard. It was really nice! I felt so relaxed when I got home, the country is so calming! Wednesday we went to the library to get new books. Tuesday was swim lessons. Monday was my morning off :) Brian let me sleep in and get out by myself as long as I got an oil change while I was out. So I got a pedicure and went shopping while the car was being serviced. It was nice to get out alone!

I have been feeling pretty lonely the last few weeks. I think I have settled in and a lot of the places I have tried to find other mothers to hang out with have not really panned out. We have been going to the same church for a few weeks now and we like it, but there are not a lot of young families. But none of the churches we found had young families. At swim lessons, everyone just focuses on the kids and then leaves right after the lesson. I see the mothers from the playgroup at the library sometimes, but for some reason Caleb seems to always throw fits there. It is tough when I really only interact with other adults (besides Brian) once a week. So I am looking for other outlets. Any ideas?

Brian and I thought of other Aussie-isms throughout this week, so here they are:

Give it a go- try it out

How people get on - how people get along

queue - line

tick - check mark

ute - pick up truck

bloke - man

EFTPOS - credit card

ground beef - minced meat

I added some pics from our night away. The first beach is batemans bay, the second is pebbly beach.

A blog for 2 weeks

We did write up a blog post for last week. But our internet went down as we tried to post it and then it only save half of the blog. I did not feel like re-writing it. It was pretty depressing. So I will try to sum it up.

Last week Brian went on his first work trip. He worked really long hours, so it was not too fun for him. Caleb missed his father terribly and took it out on me. He decided to go into the terrible two's and threw a ton of tantrums. I even called my mom in tears half way through the week trying to get some support. There were times I was not sure I would make it to Saturday when Brian returned.

This week was better. We went to the spring festival, floriade twice, once with our play group and once with Brian. It is nice that spring has finally come. Things are getting greener, our grass is growing again, and it is getting warmer and in the 60's everyday. The rest of the week was pretty normal. We had swim lessons, went to the library to get new books, and went to Questacon.

Caleb got sick again this week. I know I have written about this before, but it really seems to be every other week. It is extremely frustrating. He had/has a pretty bad cough and a runny nose. We were supposed to meet up with friends on Thursday but stayed at home because his cough was getting so bad. His nose is better, but he still coughs when he is running around too much. I really hope he can consistently be well since winter is finally gone.

Caleb's behavior was a lot better too. I knew the main reason he acted out last week was because he missed his dad, but every time we went out in public he threw at least 1 tantrum. And one day in the span of an hour he threw 5. It was ridiculous! This week he still through tantrums, but I could see the triggers and fix the problem. He was either tired or hungry, so I was able to give him a snack or make our way home. Last week they would be out of the blue. I feel like if I know why it is happening I can deal with them a lot better.

This week is looking good too. Tomorrow is family and community day, a public holiday so Brian is off. He also is giving me the morning off (with one string). So I am happy I will get most of the morning free to myself. I think I will do some shopping and get a pedicure. The rest of the week is looking normal.

I thought I would go through some aussie-isms that I have learned so far. Enjoy!

How you going? (everyone says this here!) - How are you?

Arvo - afternoon

cheeky - silly

boofhead - butthead

pram - stroller

capsicum - pepper (vegetable)

pumpkin - this refers to all squash and pumpkins - it is odd to see butternut pumpkin in the store!

fortnight - every two weeks

footy - australian football

grid iron - american football

fringe - bangs

SMS - text

sleeps - naps

I reckon - I guess or think

biscuit - cookies, crackers

bub - baby

cot - crib

cheers - thanks/good-bye

no worries - your welcome

chips - french fries

whole milk - full cream

cart (like shopping cart) - trolley

petrol - gas

mate - friend

partner - spouse

This is all Brian and I could think of for now. I posted pictures at the top of floriade. I have more on my facebook page if you would like to see them. We miss and love you all!

What makes a house a home?

A pretty normal week; here it goes!

Monday was labor day so Brian was off. We went to the zoo and joined it so when it is warmer we can go as much as we want.

Tuesday was swim lessons. I thought it was going to go really well. Caleb ran to the pool and played so much before the lesson began. He was jumping in the water to me, splashing around, and walking deeper into the water. But once the lesson began he froze! He would not kick his legs, splash his hands, or do anything! It was like he had stage fright!

Wednesday we went to the library. Caleb also started another cold that day too! This is the 4th time he has gotten sick since we have moved. I am upset that he keeps getting sick. But the nurse at the embassy said that it is really common for kids to get sick a lot the first 6 months. The viruses and allergens are different here so they have to build up new immunities. I intellectually get it, but I am not happy about it!

Thursday our Aussie mum and bub came over. Caleb and the bub had a great time! He enjoyed showing them his books and toys!

Friday we had an embassy mom playdate. I got lost going there as normal since it was in the north (we live in the south, getting north of the city takes 40 or so minutes). Caleb and I had a nice time. But the other boy is 3 and did not understand why Caleb would not play his games with him or chase him. That evening we went to a dinner party with Brian's co workers. It was Mexican themed so we had good food! Caleb was also a hit, running around and dancing.

Today we are not doing much. We walked around a lake close to our house, about 5 minutes. The lake has a bunch of playgrounds around it, so we parked at one and walked to another. It is really pretty today and a lot of people were out!

Brian leaves for his first work trip since we have moved tomorrow. He will be gone for the week. So Caleb and I will be on our own. We have our usual things lined up. Plus our Aussie mum and bub friends have invited us over one night for a Turkish dinner. It is nice to have someone to call when we are feeling lonely!

We found out this week that our main shipment of household goods will not arrive to the country until mid October. Apparently it sat in Bmore for 2 months. It was extremely frustrating to hear! We got our air freight very quickly since we moved out of our house early. But that basically only had stuff for Caleb; his crib, toy box, toys, and a few clothes. I have been wearing the same 6 sweaters for 2 months and I am getting pretty sick of them!

So after our things arrive in the country they have to be quarantined and then sent down here. So it is looking like we will not have our stuff until the end of October.

After 2 months I am finally ready to make this our home. We have set up routines, made some friends, and are getting around pretty easily (despite getting lost every time we go to a new place:). It is hard because our house is so empty. All the walls are white and blank and almost nothing here is ours. Besides a bunch of toys there is nothing in the house that represents our family. I guess we will have to wait another 6 weeks (hopefully!) to give it some personality. Any suggestions to help make it feel more homey until we get our stuff?

Here are some pics of our walk today!

The initial list

This week seemed to fly by!

Monday was a great day. One of the mothers in the playgroup lives on a farm right next to a large nature reserve and she invited the group out. We had morning tea and then we watched sheep being sheared. It was 40 minutes away, but a gorgeous drive. It was through the mountains, over 1 lane bridges, and past cows, sheep, kangaroos, and emus.

Tuesday we had swim lessons and Caleb jumped into the water to me from off the side of the pool. It is so cool to see him progress!

Wednesday we went to the playgroup at the Baptist church. It was nice but I doubt I will go back. It was all grandmothers with the kids. So I was the youngest adult by like 40 years. But they were all very nice.

Thursday we went to our playdate's house. It was really good just to hang out and let the kids do their thing. We also got our house sprayed for spiders. It does not sound that exciting but there are 2 poisonous spiders that are very prevalent here and we do not want to take chances.

Friday we just stayed home. It was nice just to relax here.

Yesterday it rained alllll day, so we went to Questacon. Today we went back to the Baptist church. It was very welcoming, more so than in the last few weeks. But Caleb for some reason was being really clingy and would not let us leave him in the creche. Then I met up with a friend and went to the Old Bus Depot. It is a large market where vendors sell spices, nuts, clothing, pottery, and art. I got a really pretty pottery vase with Aussie animals carved into it. We also ate lunch there and I had the worst burrito I have ever had in my life. Note to self- do not eat Mexican food here, it is awful. I miss Chipotle! So this evening I made enchiladas for dinner, they were much better :)

This week is looking good for us tomorrow of course is Labor day so Brian is off :) The rest of the week is normal. Friday we have a playdate with an embassy mom and a party with some of Brian's co workers.

Since we have been here just about 2 months I thought I would make an initial list of things I like and dislike about Canberra.

Likes:

*The scenery - we are surrounded by mountains and trees. It is beautiful here!

*The wildlife - I love seeing kangaroos, cows, and the different birds - cockatoos, lorikeets, galas, magpies, and parrots.

*Being able to stay at home with Caleb - I went into this last week. We definitely could not afford to do this in the States.

*Playgroup associations - It is such a great system for moms and kids! I wish the States had this!

*Little to no traffic - It take 20 minutes everyday to get Brian to work, even in the rain.

*The people - almost everyone is really friendly and laid-back.

*Morning tea - Such a great way to break up the morning, chat, and of course drink coffee :)

*The house - It is much more than we need, a great backyard, and a nice neighborhood.

*The mild winter - A horrible winter for them (seriously the worst they have had in 12 years) is rain and highs in the 50s. Not quite 3 blizzards and freezing temps daily.

Dislikes:

*The restaurants - There is only Thai, Chinese, and Indian. Plus the pizza is gross and beets should never be on hamburgers!

*They cannot pronounce or spell my name here - It is pronounced meegan here and spelled meagan. When they want to pronounce is right they spell it megin. Ugh!

*The prices - Everything and I mean everything is at least twice as expensive as home. A 1/2 gallon of milk is $4.00, the gross burrito $10.00, turkey lunch meat $15.00 a pound, chicken breast $6.00 a pound, $100 a month gym membership, $150 for an oil change, etc.

*The lack of street signs, numbers, addresses - the address for places is at the corner of ___and___. But a lot of streets here are circuits, so you could be at the intersection that it says but not at the right address. I get lost every time I go to a new place. It is extremely frustrating.

*Health care - I went into that 2 weeks ago. A friend of ours went to the dr. 3 times last week and they turned her 2 year old daughter away each time claiming it was a cold. They went to a clinic and they discovered she had bronchitis. Insane!

*Customer service - When we first arrived I heard a study came out that ranked Australia last in customer service out of 20 countries (The US was ranked #1). I thought I will make my own decision and give it time. Well the study was right. It is really bad here, the basically ignore you in stores and take their time waiting on you; it just does not seem to be important here.

*Being away from family, friends, and work - I miss everyone sooooo much! It is hard being away from everyone. I also miss being Meghan. I am mom here 24 hours a day, I miss time to myself and being a teacher.

I am sure we will have more to add to the lists as time passes but so far the likes outnumber the dislikes so that is a good sign!

A tough start but good end!

The only way I can describe this week is disjointed. It did not start well at all. Caleb spiked a 101 fever Sunday night that continued through Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday I took Caleb to the dr to see if they could find a reason for the fever. He has had fevers like this in the past so it is not entirely new, but still scary that once the motrin wears off it spikes back up to 101+. There is universal health care here and to put it nicely it stinks! We were lucky to get an appointment. We got there on time and then waited 30+ minutes to see the dr. The dr did the usual things, checked his ears, throat, lungs, ect, asked about the fever. Then said if it was still around on Friday to bring him back and then rushed us out of the office. We were in there for 5 minutes! He also said there was no medical proof to treat a fever (hmm I think my baby feeling better, being able to play, ect. is reason enough!). The dr followed us out of the office and called another patient in. Everyone we have talked to here has had the same experience. There are not enough General Practitioners so they rush people in and out! Luckily the fever did break so we did not have to go back. And hopefully Caleb will stay healthy so we don't have to do that again!

So that sums up Sunday-Wednesday. We stayed at home.

Thursday Caleb was back to his normal self so we met our Aussie mum and bub at Questacon. They had a good time but it was a bit crowded and Caleb got a bit roughed up from the older kids. So we cut it short, had coffee, and let the kids run around in the lobby.

Friday we had a make-up swim lesson, since Caleb was sick on Tuesday. It went well, Caleb is getting more used to the water and I think opening up a bit more to the idea of swimming.

Yesterday was a beautiful day so we went into the city to Lake Burley Griffen and walked around and then went to the fresh food market. It is starting to warm up a bit, now in the low 60's a few days a week. So hopefully we will be spending more time outside.

Today we went back to a church we had previously visited. They have a nursery for part of the service so I was able to enjoy the sermon. The Pastor is good and they have a playgroup on Wednesdays at the church, so we might check it out this week.

This week is looking normal. Our Monday playgroup is at a mum's house. She lives out in the country about 40 minutes from here on a sheep farm. So we will be able to see sheep sheared. I am not looking forward to the drive, but I think it will be neat to see how they live!

I have already complained about one aspect of Aussie culture today, and I was going to write about driving to new places, but that is also awful. So I will write about that another day and will focus on the positive. Caleb!

I am starting to enjoy being a stay at home mom. Caleb still drives me crazy now and then, ok there is probably a moment daily that I get angry at him. But in all I love spending time with my little guy. He has really developed a lot since we have moved. He is saying a lot more words; hot, again (his favorite!), eat, read, open, down, out, koala, stuck, snack, and he has learned the signs for please and thank-you. John, Kim, and Madi gave him 2 stuffed koalas before we left that he has begun playing with. He will hug and kiss them, feed them his snack and give them them drinks of milk. It is nice to see a more nurturing side to my rough and tumble boy! But as with everything else, when he is done with them he throws them across the room. He is also playing more with other children and is learning to share (kind of). He is also learning how to be a good helper and will help me clean up his toys and put his books on the book shelf.

Some things have stayed the same. He still loves to read books. He brings a book to me to read constantly throughout the day saying "book, reeeeeeeeea!". He still loves to take naps, when I ask him if he is ready to take a nap, he runs to his crib and points to it. His favorite foods are still cheerios, goldfish, peas, and corn. He still calls everything Elmo. And his favorite person is still daddy. Whenever we go head toward the garage, he says "dada dada" and in the afternoon when he feels it is time to go pick up Brian from work, he will bring me his shoes and say "dada?". He gets very rambunctious at night and loves to wrestle with Brian, chase him through the house, and do silly dances with him. Caleb still has his temper and when he is angry with me will either hit me or throw whatever is in his hand at me. I am afraid this will get worse before it gets better. But that is life with a toddler right?! In all, I am so blessed to have Caleb and spend this time with him! I love my silly, goofy boy!

This week was much better than last, thank goodness!

Last Sunday we tried another baptist church. It was ok, people were friendly, but we don't think it is the right place for us. In the afternoon we went to a birthday party for a child of a coworker of Brian. It was actually a lot of fun! It was the first time I felt like this was going to work for us. All the families had small children and we got along well with the other parents. The only problem is that most of them live in the north, about 45 minutes from us.

Monday was the birthday party for the kids turning 2 in the Monday playgroup. It was at at petting farm. It was great! Caleb loved seeing all the animals. The picture of Caleb mounting the pig was taken there. Caleb got to pet sheep, bunnies, a pony, and pigs. He got to see chucks, alpacas, ferrets, birds, and goats.

Tuesday was swim lesson. We got there about 10 minutes early so Caleb could acclimate to the water and area. That seemed to help because he had a great lesson! Yay! He is still very behind in skills, but he will now sit on the edge of the pool and scoot in to me! It is nice to see growth is such a short period of time!

Wednesday we had Caleb's 18 month check up. It was very different from what happens in the States. The doctor came out to us in the waiting room to ask if everything was ok and then we saw the nurse for his measurements and immunization. It was very quick. Then we went to the library. Caleb was not happy with me for being out of the house all morning but at least it was productive.

Thursday was our Aussie playdate. It was nice :)

Friday we went to Questacon, the science museum. It is a nice place to go when we don't have any other plans, but was a bit crowded.

Today we finally made it to Tidbinbilla. It is a nature reserve about 40 minutes from us. We have bee trying to go for about 3 weeks, but for different reasons we could not get there. It is a huge nature reserve with tons of animals. It was not crowded at all, so Caleb got to run around (that is the picture of Caleb running) on the trails. We got to see a koala (picture above) and lovely scenery. There were a lot of wallabies and birds. We tried to see platypuses but we could not find them. We got an annual pass so we can go back as much as we want and I think we will take advantage of it especially when it warms up!

Tomorrow we are going to try out a Lutheran church and then go into the city to the Old Bus Depot to look for some Aussie art.

One thing we have had to get used to here is the eating out differences. Bri and I really enjoy eating out. I cook 5 days a week so we eat out Friday and Saturday nights. Well, we do carry out those nights, restaurants are not conducive to toddlers. There is not a lot of variety here, mainly asian. All the chinese, thai, and indian you want (I am considering this asian because India is a part of Asia - Brian does not like me calling it asian food!) We have found 1 Italian restaurant, that is ok and a take-away place that is ok. The pizza here is not good, we have tried 2 places and have been disappointed both times (they use shredded ham and I don't think they use enough cheese), they do have Domino's and Pizza hut, so maybe that will be better. They also put beets on their burgers and sandwiches. We were warned of this, but forgot and were completely grossed out by it! And like everything else, it is twice as expensive as the U.S. Krispy Kreme donuts are $3.00 each and Subway boasts of $7.00-11.00 footlongs (and they don't have the fun jingle!) There are a few places we have yet to try, a Turkish restaurant and an Irish pub. I definitely miss eating out in the U.S and nothing will compare to the amazing food we had in NYC! What we would give for a good burrito, a real hamburger, and yummy greek food :)

We love and miss you all!

The week from . . .

This has been our toughest week yet here. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did. So here it goes.

Monday was ok and to be honest I don't remember much about it since the rest of the week was so bad. All I remember is that we went to our normal playgroup. I also made roast pork for the first time and it turned out well.

Tuesday is when things started going south. I was very excited to start swim lessons. Caleb loved the pool at Marc and Betty's house and beach house so I thought he would love the pool here too. He proved me wrong. The swim lesson was very well done, the instructor did a lot of activities that were age appropriate with a lot of singing. But Caleb was not feeling it and cried the first 10 minutes (the lesson is 30 minutes). Then the instructor threw out balls that the kids were to swim too (with mom's help) and bring back, he liked that and seemed to cheer up some after that. Caleb is also the clear beginner, all the other kids could blow bubbles, kick, paddle, and jump from the side of the pool to mom in the water. So we have some work to do. I think that next week I will go early and play in the water with him to get him used to it before the lesson. When we got back to the house it was nap time, so after changing him, I put him down. He decided only to take 1 1/2 hour nap, which is a good bit shorter than normal. Then in the afternoon he was playing and yanked the t.v. cable out of the wall and broke it. Needless to say Brian got a not so nice phone call from me at work about his son. Brian of course was wonderful and when we got home he took over Caleb duties so I could have a break.

And Brian fixed the cable outlet! Imagine how tough it would be without t.v. We enjoy vegging when Caleb is in bed at night :) On Wednesday Caleb got sick all over himself, me, and the floor. I think he picked up the bug from the playgroup on Monday. So we stayed at home all day.

Wednesday night we got a text from our Thursday playdate saying that they were sick so they could not make it Thursday. So Thursday we checked out the mall in the next suburb over. That evening I picked up Caleb's bug and got sick.

On Friday, Brian woke up sick with the bug. So he called out of work and I tried my best to look after Caleb while still trying to recuperate. By the evening I was feeling much better so I went to Romeo and Juliet the ballet with our sponsor's wife. It was really good and I am really glad I went. I did not feel 100%, but it was nice to get out of the house and away from the baby.

Today we decided to take it easy since we have a rough few days. So Brian took Caleb for a walk to the park and I went shopping for the birthday parties we are going to tomorrow and Monday.

Tomorrow we are trying out another Baptist church in the suburb over from us. Last week we also tried out a Baptist church to the south of us. It was ok. It was in a gym of a school and the heat did not work well, so it was very cold. Also their version of childcare was toys in the back of the gym, Caleb liked running up and down the gym instead, and he does not run quietly (for some reasons he seems to hum as he runs!). They had morning tea after church like all the other churches, so that was nice, and again all the people were very friendly. We will see how the church is tomorrow. Then we are going to a birthday party for a child of a coworker of Brian's. I made chocolate chip cookies to bring for the first time here. They turned out ok.

Monday we have a birthday party for some of the kids from the Monday playgroup. It is at a petting farm, so that should be fun.

Some good things did come out of this week:

Like I said earlier I tried roasting pork for the first time and it was very tasty!

The mall we checked out has the body shop, so I got new body butter :)

We went to the DMV on Thursday and got driver's licenses, and it was a very painless process.

I finally figured out my coffee order! Coffee terminology is different here, so my order is flat white, 2. (coffee with steamed milk and 2 sugars) It took me a month to figure it out!

Ok, so on to the political elections I said I would talk about. The election is at the end of the month. It was only announced right after we arrived, like 3 weeks ago. I don't understand why it is not a normal set date. Maybe it was because the former prime minister resigned recently. So the big race of course is for prime minister. Right from the start the news starts showing pictures of the 2 main candidate holding and kissing babies. I guess that does not change country to country. It is the labor party (incumbent) running against the conservative party. There is also the green party and one other lesser party so coalitions get formed. The negative t.v. ads against the conservative party started last week and they are hilarious! My favorite is one that show families frowning, children losing computers, and patients dieing in hospitals. There are negative ads about the labor party too. There was a big debate about 2 weeks ago, but it had to be pushed up because the finale of Master Chef (like Top Chef in the U.S) was the same night and they knew no one would watch the debate! The Master Chef finale got 45 million viewers the most in t.v. history here (it was on basic t.v, not cable)! We of course watched the finale and not the debate. But can you imagine the U.S. changing the time of a presidential debate for a reality show? They would run the debate over it!

I cannot believe we have been here a month now! We are praying that this week is better than last. Besides the birthday parties it is looking like a normal week (hopefully!).

Our week and funny signs

In response to my boring blog update last week I really tried to be on the look out for interesting differences between American and Australian culture. There are definitely a good amount of differences. The most obvious is driving, of course we drive here on the left side of the road. The Aussies also love speed traps, Canberra is full of speed cameras, ones that are mobile and stationary. They are very clearly labeled and tell you about 3 time before you see the camera. They also have a campaign of signs against drinking and driving and talking on the phone and driving. Here are some of my favorites on the side of the road:

Drink Drive Die in a ditch

No Seatbelt No Brains

You're not that special, hang up the phone

Telstra Optus Vodafone (cell phone companies) Won't pay 4 your funeral

Shut Up and Drive, It's the Law

On the phone? You're an Idiot

There is one that changes daily close to our home that I always look forward to seeing!

The week was pretty "normal" or what normal has become for us. Monday was the embassy playgroup. Many were sick this week so it was smaller which was nice.

On Tuesday we went to Questacon, a science museum for children. Most of it is geared for older children but they have an area for 0-6 year old children. It has mini cars for them to sit in, a building area with huge blocks, a space ship, a space room, a large water table, a huge climbing area, and imaginative play area. Caleb loved it and threw a fit when we were leaving!

Wednesday we went to the library, got a library card and saw some of the kids from the Monday playgroup.

Thursday was our playdate with the Aussie mum and bub. That afternoon I went to a talk about early literacy skills for 12-24 month bubs. It was really good! The speaker had wonderful activities and gave me a lot of good ideas to do with Caleb. Here is his website. http://toddlericon.pbworks.com/

The Aussie mum from our playdate looked after Caleb for me. He and his little friend had a great time. It was really nice getting out of the house even if it was learning about Caleb!

On Friday Caleb and I went to a session that Mr. Jim (the early literacy guy) had. Caleb was not in the best mood, so it did not go as well as I would've liked, but I am glad we went. On Thursday Caleb woke up with a cold, it is not too bad, just a runny nose but his molars are still coming in also, so that is mainly why he was not in a good mood.

Today Brian really wanted to get out of the house and do something. We were planning on going to a nature reserve with a lot of animals, but I did not think it would be good for Caleb's cold to be outside a lot. So we went back to Questacon, so Brian could see how much fun Caleb had there and so we could get a membership. Now we can go as much as we want. Caleb had a great time again!

Tomorrow we will try out another church. There are 2 more that we have seen online that we are thinking of visiting, a Lutheran church and another Baptist. We are really hoping we can find a church home soon.

Next week we start swim lessons! I am really excited about that, hopefully Caleb's cold will be better so we can go! Beyond that it looks like the norm :)

Next week I will talk about the elections going on, it is pretty entertaining too. But I did not want to use up all my funny stories in 1 blog :)

We love and miss you all!

Settling in - sorry not the most exciting blog update!

I was able to fill the week! It was a busy week but I feel good about it. Here it goes:

On Monday I tried the embassy playgroup. It is at the same cottage as the other playdate. I learned about it through the CLO at the embassy. When I arrived there was an Aussie mum and an American mom. Well it turned out to be almost all Aussies, it did not really matter to me, but I was hoping to meet moms from the embassy. So there are only 2 embassy moms and one is moving in October. The other is nice but when I asked her if she had gotten to know any of the other embassy moms, she said she had not met any. So, I guess I won't really have American friends here. No worries :) The playgroup was huge, I think 7 other moms so Caleb was a bit overwhelmed.

On Tuesday we went to the zoo. Caleb was most excited because he did not have to be in the stroller since it was not crowded. He loved running ahead of us and climbing on the rocks. He did not really care about the animals at all. Although he did laugh at the lemurs. We went with Pattie and Amanda, our sponsor's wife and daughter. She mentioned she wants to do something this week too. So hopefully that can become a weekly thing.

Wednesday we tried out the library story time. Basically it was a disaster. Caleb did not care about the story, he just played with the toys they had out. So, I don't think we will do that again.

On Thursday we had our playdate with the Aussie mum and bub from last week. Caleb and the bub actually play really well together and the mum and I get along well too. She is even going to look after Caleb for me while I go to a lecture at the library about communicating with 1 year olds. Maybe they will teach me how to understand Caleb better.

Friday was the most boring. I had to take the car into the shop to get road tested. When cars are over 7 years old here you have to have them tested yearly. So picture Caleb and I in a tire store for 1 1/2 hours. Not too fun. But our modem for the internet came and I got that set up. It worked really well Friday, but would not even turn on Saturday. So I am back on the broadband modem until they send a new modem.

This weekend was a bust weather wise. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and today we went to church. (I know you are all jealous of our fun weekend!) We tried the Presbyterian today. It was held in an elementary school. The people were really friendly and we were immediately pointed out as visitors. Last week we went to the Baptist church. Again people were friendly. The issue that we are having is that there is no real childcare during service. Most people here think that the children should be in the service. Caleb is not quiet nor still and therefore I spend the service outside with him. We are going to keep looking and hopefully we will be able to find a church home here.

Unfortunately I don't have any funny or interesting stories from the week. I am still trying to live day to day here. The homesickness really hit me hard last weekend. But no huge breakdowns like last week. One thing that helped is Caleb has finally gone back to his old napping habits. For the 1st week and a half he was only napping 1 1/2 hours, his bottom molars are coming in. But this week he went back to 3 hours. I really need that time to myself.

I did realize I have not updated you all on Brian. He is really busy at work, the person he replaced left in April. So there is quite a lot of work for him to do. Besides that, he has adjusted much better than I have and seems to be enjoying it here!

We love and miss you all!

Week 1

So we have completed and made it through our first week in Canberra. It was a busy week and I think it was pretty good.

We had a lot of meetings this week, so I was at the embassy a good bit. I like busy weeks, I don't do well with idle time and either drive myself crazy by doing too much or completely shut down and do nothing. Even in high school every summer I worked at least 2 jobs to keep myself busy.

Our air freight came Tuesday, which was great timing. Our plan of moving out of the house early to get our things here faster worked. The air freight had Caleb's crib, toy box, lots of toys, and clothes. So Caleb was very happy he had lots to play with. But, the movers were not allowed to put the crib (called cot here) together. Of course we have no tools yet, so we called our sponsor - who happens to be very handy, and he came over that night to "help" Brian put the cot together. (If you know Brian, you know he is not handy at all, so basically our sponsor told Brian what to do and Brian followed him.) Anyway, our house is littered with toys again so it feels a little more like home now.

On Thursday Caleb and I had our first Aussie playdate. They have a whole playgroup system here, where you sign up with the playgroup association and they they have tons of playgroups to choose from. So I emailed the group for Kambah, the suburb we live in and they said they had a vacancy on Thursday mornings. Well, it turned out that they playgroup only had one other mum and bub (baby). So we went to the cottage, a small 2 room house filled with toys for the kids and couches for the mums, and an outdoor space when it is warm. The other mom is right around my age and super nice and her daughter is couple of months younger than Caleb. We played for about 90 mins and made a date for the following Thursday. The other mom gave me lots of good tips for stuff to do and them emailed me later to give me websites to check out and her number in case I wanted to go to coffee sometime. So sweet! I don't think she knows my love for coffee! Anyway, it was really nice to get out and meet another mum and bub and maybe potential friends for me and Caleb!

I also found out about an embassy playgroup that is on Mondays and we signed up Caleb for swim lessons on Tuesday mornings (that will start in 2 weeks). So I have 3 days of things for us to do! I am excited about that!

On Friday Caleb and I went to Lake Tuggeranong, where they have a walking path around the lake and a few playgrounds. I am learning that Australians really enjoy being outside and active, so there are a lot of nature reserves and playgrounds. Caleb really enjoyed exploring the new playgrounds and watching all the new birds and ducks!

Today I got a cell phone. So far I cannot activate it, but things here tend to take a lot longer get started than in the States. For example, it takes 1-3 months to get internet service here. Right now I am using a broadband mobile card. Hopefully my phone will activate today so I can actually use it!

Tomorrow we are going to start looking for a church home. We are going to try a Baptist church. It will be interesting to see how Baptists are here compared to the church I grew up in. On Monday we are going to the zoo with our sponsors wife and 3 year old. I am excited to see new animals!

I got a cold this week, I think from the change in weather and stress of moving. So when Caleb was sleeping I would lay on the couch and watch t.v. They import a lot of U.S. shows. Some interesting choices were:

Bewitched

I dream of Genie

Murphy Brown

Judge Judy - really?! I am really embarrassed of this one!

some late version of I love Lucy - she has teenage kids?

Get Smart (not sure if this is a show or movie)

They have other shows too like Oprah, Ellen, The View, Bones, CSI, that 70's show, Seinfeld, How I Met your Mother, The Ghost Whisperer, and Modern family (yay! we love that show!). At least I can keep up with some of the shows I like.

Anyway, it has been a productive week. I think I only had 2 breakdowns where I wanted to look up planes to come home. I didn't want to go in to details about those - but I think they are pretty normal when you live in a new country and at home with a toddler all day, right?!

Let me know if you want our address or phone number. I can facebook message it to people or email. I love all of you and miss home a lot!

We're there!

So we finally made it to Australia after traveling for 30 hours we made it. I will recap the flights first. . .

The flight to San Fransisco was 5 hours and there was too much going on for Caleb and he did not sleep. He played, walked the aisles, and screeched for the sake of screeching. But in all was not too bad. Then we spent a few hours in the San Fransisco airport, mainly in the business lounge where I could send off an email to the family and Brian could eat some. Caleb still was running around like a maniac (it was 2am his time). The flight to Sydney had potential to be a lot better. The business class section was great, seats that lay completely flat and your personal t.v (it kinda reminded me of the pods on the plane in sex and the city 2) and Caleb fell asleep immediately. Buuuut, about 15 minutes later, we hear that the flight is going to be delayed, so our 14 hour flight turned into a 16 hour flight and Caleb was already asleep. He slept about 7 hours, woke up for about an hour and then slept another 2. He spent the last 6 hours walking the aisles, climbing the stairs (the business section was 2 levels) and playing. Since that flight was delayed, we only had about 1 + hours to get alllll of our luggage which was 6 large bags, stroller, a car seat, and 6 carry ons, go through customs, and get on the flight to Canberra. And of course the domestic flights are a 10 minute walk (for a normal person) across the airport. So here we are Brian is pushing a trolley with 7 bags with one hand and Caleb in the stroller with the other. I am pulling my enormous 70lb suitcase with one arm, and have 3 carry on bags, and the car seat with the other. So I am stopping every 2 minutes to adjust, brian is dropping f-bombs, and we are trying to go as fast as we can so we don't miss our connection. Luckily the Aussies are very efficient checking into flights and pulled people to the front of the line that had flights that were leaving shortly. So we made the flight. But by that time Caleb was done and had a meltdown on that plane (luckily it was only a 50 minute flight). I think I might have told Brian about 5 times I was never moving again so he better enjoy this one.

Our sponsor met us at the airport. He and his family have been great to us. They have cooked for us 3 nights, run to the grocery store for us before and after we arrived, taken Brian to work, and shown us around town really well. Only my large bag did not make it to Canberra, but it was delivered that night to the house.

Our house is wonderful! It has 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, it has a very large walk-in closet in the master bedroom, a spa tub in the master bath, a 2 car garage, and a really nice backyard for Caleb to play in.

It is a bit chilly here, it has been in the low 50's. The first 2 days we were here there were storms - just rain and strong winds, but apparently that has been the worst weather they have had in 12 years. So I guess that is good news for us.

Brian had to report to work immediately, so Caleb and I have been on our own. So we have been exploring our neighborhood. It is really nice. The scenery is beautiful, there are a good amount of trees and it is not overly built up the way that the DC/Baltimore area is. We face mountains on one side have a nature preserve right next to our community that we will explore soon. It has free ranging cows and kangaroos. We saw one of the kangaroos yesterday at the park across from the preserve. There are also a ton of birds here, cockatoos, parrots, magpies, and galas. They are all really pretty and very loud and apparently mean, during mating season the magpies will actually swoop at your head and bikers will wear spikes on their helmets to prevent attacks. Crazy!

Today we bought a car. I will be the main driver, taking Bri to work and back and driving around town. It was interesting driving on the left. But so far I have only hit the curb twice, and turned in the wrong lane once. Hopefully I will get used to it soon.

Wow, I just realized I have written a lot. So I will stop for now. I will try to start taking pictures soon. I really miss home, but it is exciting getting to know a new place!

One last story (at least for now :) In the Sydney airport we had to go through Aussie security as well. So we get to the x-ray and the security guards are helping us put all our luggage through the machine and the guard asks me if I have any bags on the pram. I look at him blankly and say "what is a pram?". He responds, "Are you from America?" I say "yes. . " and he goes "You are in Australia now, it is not a stooooooller, it is a pram, BLOODY YANKS!" I wonder how many more times I will be called a bloody yank?! haha

1 week

One week from this moment we will be on a plane headed to San Fransisco. We will have a short layover there and then head to Sydney, another short layover and we will finally head to Canberra. We will leave on the 11th and arrive on the 13th. It is amazing to me that it is only a week away now! We have known about this for so long and now it is almost here!

When we tell people we are moving to to Australia we almost aways get the same response - "I have always wanted to go there but it is so far!" and "that is a really long plane ride". And yes it is very far away and a very long plane ride. I am a bit worried about the plane, but Brian and I will work with Caleb together. We have a backpack full of toys and books and most of the flight is overnight, so we are planning on keeping him up during the layovers and running him around so hopefully he will sleep. We also upgraded to business class, so the seats will lay flat. Hopefully our plan of attack will work.

Since I last posted we have done quite a bit. We spent a few days in Glenwood with Brian's parents. Brian still had to go to work, so Betty and I spent the days taking Caleb to the pool, the park, and playing inside. Then we went to Chincoteague for a few days to spend some time with my family. Caleb loved playing in the sand and playing with his cousin Madi. It was really nice to have the family together and relax. Now we are in Bethany Beach with Brian's family. Kim came down from Buffalo and we are really enjoying our time here!

Caleb has adjusted really well to all 3 places and even adjusted to a new schedule, he is getting up around 7-7:30, taking a 2-3 hour nap at noon, and going to bed at 8. It makes me think maybe I can do this stay at home mom thing ok. I know I have a lot of help right now, but maybe I can do it on my own too. It really is the thing I am worried the most about. How will I adjust to being a stay at home mom? Will I get sick of Caleb? How will I do it without the help of Betty or my mom? I guess I will find out in a week!

I will add some pictures of our stays at the top.

So it begins. . .

I have been talking abut starting a blog for awhile to document our time in Australia. So let's start with background. Brian's work is taking our family to Australia for 2-3 years. We will be in Canberra (the capital - I did not know it was the capital until we found out we were moving there!). We have already received our housing assignment and today we officially moved out of our house. We leave for the land down under on 7/11.

I am very torn about the move. First, leaving our house was really hard! I loooooved our house. It the the first house Brian and I lived in together. It is where we brought Caleb home from the hospital and where he did all his firsts, rolled over, said mama and dada, took his first steps, and became his own little person. So leaving today was rough. And of course when I get in the car, the song on the radio is "The house that built me" by Miranda Lambert. It is a very fitting song, but it got me really sad and emotional. The next song that came on was "My front porch looking in" by Lonestar. I was like really, these are the songs on! I was so overwhelmed!

I am also really sad about leaving my job. I love the school I teach in and working a .6 (3 classes a day) has been a perfect combination of being a mom and teacher. Plus the people I work with are wonderful!

Finally I am sad about leaving my support system. We have amazing families, friends, and church. I don't if we will be able to find another support system like it!

But, we are moving to Australia! I mean how awesome is that! I will be able to stay at home full time with Caleb and we will be able to explore a new place. Plus Brian and I love to travel. So we will be able to see a different part of the world. So as you can see I am excited about leaving but also very nervous too.

For the next 19 days we will be in limbo, we are staying at my in-laws, then going to the beach with both families, and then staying with my parents. It will be crazy, but really good to spend so much time with family.

So, here we go - no turing back now!

Let the adventures begin!