Christmas Cuties

This post doesn't have a specific purpose other than to show you some of the cute photos of our kiddies enjoying these weeks leading up to Christmas. We have had a really great time enjoying the spirit of the season.



Ward has joined the bedtime routine so we are loving the family snuggle time. We read part of the Christmas story, a storybook or two and Emerson has become a fan of story-telling in addition to her nightly reading. This is really stretching Mommy & Daddy's creative skills!








We have been baking a lot, Emerson has helped build and decorate a gingerbread house, cut out gingerbread men, make sweet bread for some gifts and tomorrow we are making a birthday cake for Jesus. Some days she bakes up her own concoctions in her kitchen.





This year, we experienced the benefits of an artificial tree for the first time (radiator heat makes a real tree pretty impractical) so we bought one that was pre-lit...our Christmas present to Trey- who HATES wrestling with the lights. This also enabled Emerson to take a very active role in decorating the tree.





And finally Ward, enjoying a day of shopping with Mommy on Princes Street. We were very grateful that PopO and Mylu gave us a new stroller for Christmas so he could nap and enjoy the shopping in style!

Washing Machine

Christmas came early to the Oswald home in the form of a washing machine. For many of you a washing machine may not seem all that exciting, but around here it is pretty big news. Emerson was mesmerized by the fact that she could watch the clothes- this is quite a novelty. Of course this has led to a recently realization that I am going to have to cut back on my daily quotient of sweets now that I am not carrying our laundry (along with Ward) up and down 3 flights of stairs. I guess some sacrifices are worth it!

St Andrews Day at the Castle

Scotland recently celebrated St Andrews Day. While I am not totally sure what this holiday is for, I was quite pleased to learn it means free admission to the National Historic properties. (Trey says it has something to do with church history and the cathedral in St Andrews, but that's not as interesting for our purposes here.) So we headed out for a day at the Edinburgh Castle. For those of you who have never been to Scotland, eventually we will need to get some better Castle pictures up on the blog. As you can see it was a rainy, cold day so the view from the top was not as dazzling as it usually is.

Emerson had already made one trip to see the Castle, but that was before her 2nd birthday. Needless to say, she doesn't remember that visit. Before leaving Atlanta, however, Emerson was given a book called This is Edinburgh. It is a fantastic book that has been teaching her some of the great secrets of of this wonderful city that we live in...including some details about the Castle. While the rain prevented us from enjoying some aspects of our visit, Emerson was very pleased that she got to see the "jewry" translation: jewelry...by which she means the Crown Jewels. We also opted for the other indoor activity- the War Museum. While this would ordinarily be a disaster with a 3 year old...Emerson was shockingly interested. She wanted to know the details of each uniform and why they had different types of helmets (Trey says she is the real future scholar in the family). As I was trying to move her along through the displays she kept asking me to stop and read her the plaques- she never ceases to amaze me (again, Trey says Emerson is way smarter than he is - which, he adds, is not saying a whole lot)!

So despite the fog and rain, it was a great day. We love this city and look forward to exploring it with our children. (Trey says if you want a fairly good description of the view of Princes St from the castle, read the 1960s or 70s novel Marathon Man... And, hopes you are all doing well... whoever you are that reads this. He thinks he's funny.)

Thanksgiving on a smaller scale

Well our Thanksgiving this year was less of an ordeal than the major US celebrations loaded with family, friends, food, and football. We did most of those things- minus the football (which of course is not available here) but on a much smaller scale than we usually do in America. You may notice the absence of the fancy centerpiece complete with pumpkins and autumn leaves. Good thing the decorations and football aren't what Thanksgiving is really about...although some may beg to differ about the football part.

We started by convincing Trey to take the day off from his studies so that we spent the whole day as a family. We invited our friends Ryan and Adrian Weimer and their adorable daughter Annabel (notice those amazing ringlets) to share in our feast. It can be challenging to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in a miniature oven....I honestly think the Pottery Barn kids pretend ovens are the same size as mine. That being said, Adrian and I divided up the cooking and she brought several delicious dishes. Don't think I felt a little bit guilty about this considering that she is 8 months pregnant, has a two year old, that her husband had been out of the country for a week, and oh yeah... just happens to be finishing her PhD dissertation from Harvard!!! Some of you know that Ryan was my sister Tina's Inner Varsity co-leader at Wake Forest so it has been fun to connect with them here.

I have also included a couple of pics of our preparation. Emerson made a very fancy Thanksgiving picture with her markers, glue, scissors and special Thanksgiving stickers that Nana sent her in the mail. She also had a great time making her first pumpkin pie. Ward just joined us for the photo op, and tried to sneak a taste real food whenever he could. We hope all of your celebrations were as fun and laid back as ours!

Growing Boy

In the last week Ward has gone from swaying like a little weeble-wobble to sitting well. He can now reach in about any direction to grab a toy and pull himself back up without toppling over. These milestones are so much fun. He is enjoying a different vantage point. Since his excersaucer has been stuck on a ship for the past few months, he has spent most of his time on a playmat and doing tummy time. He is definitely loving sitting up so he can look around the room.

I am not sure if you can tell from the picture or not, but most of the shelves behind Emerson and Ward are still empty. That is because we still don't have our boxes. We did finally talk to the UK moving company yesterday and they are scheduled to deliver them next Monday. Just in the nick of time since it will be much easier to prepare Thanksgiving dinner with a few mixing bowls and measuring spoons.

I am also including a pic of Emerson's beloved sparkly "high heels" which she calls "clonky shoes" because of the delightful sound that they make. She had been wearing my shoes pretty much on a daily basis until Trey and I decided for the good of our downstairs neighbors, she needed a smaller pair. Thus the very exciting purchase of Emerson's own high heels. So here they are in all of their sparkling glory, which Em thinks is very much like the glass slippers worn by Cinderella! While I am on the topic of our little lady- a quick update on our school situation. We have now interviewed at 3 schools (2 public, 1 private). We are expecting to hear back by the end of the week from St. Leonards, which is our 1st choice. Because it is not the start of a term and most students would have added their name to the waiting list on their 2nd birthdays for a 3 year old spot, we are not entirely hopeful. Nevertheless, we feel this would be a great place for Emerson so we are praying that she will get a place.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was incredibly fun this year. Emerson loves to play dress up so it was extra special for her to be able to wear her dress up clothes out and about. She chose to be Tinker Bell. Ward was a Georgia Bulldog football player. (Following family tradition since Emerson was a Bulldog cheerleader last year). As you can see from the pictures Emerson and I made her treat bag this year since we didn't exactly pack her plush pumpkin treat bag that she has used in previous years. She loves to cut and paste so it made a great craft project and helped to spread the celebration through the day. She also got to wear makeup which was just the ultimate for our girly-girl!

Trick or Treating is a little different when you are going door to door instead of house to house. A few of the costumes worn by older kids were a little scary for her so she was very glad to have Daddy along for "protection". I think that the candy made it all worthwhile for her. She is now happily brushing her teeth several times a day in an attempt to negotiate extra treats from her bag.

Time to Play

Well, as expected life is certainly a lot less hectic here in Edinburgh. I honestly think that just the absence of a car has given us more time on our hands. Needless to say, we do not miss the Atlanta traffic. When our internet went down a week ago, it really multiplied our time since I was completely unable to work. While this was a tremendous problem and now I am totally backlogged, it gave me some great family time. We have enjoyed playing in the garden outside of our flat. Emerson wants to go out at every waking minute. When she is not outside, she is perched on her stool at our kitchen window, watching the other children play.

It has also given us time to start Ward's first foods. You can see in the photo that his first day eating rice he was looking a little unsure. By day two, he was full throttle and now he has successfully moved onto peas, carrots, and will start sweet potatoes tonight. Emerson has enjoyed helping me make his food and is always wanting to help hold the spoon. This makes me a little nervous. Ward is such an eager eater, he dives for the spoon each time he sees it. I am afraid she is going to jab him in the back of the throat and gag him- probably not the best. Now that Ward is getting a little bit older and more active, Emerson is all the more willing to jump in and play with him. He is totally enamoured with his big sister. He gives a huge grin whenever he sees her and watches her constantly.

Of course, now that we have regained access to the outside world after what felt like an eternity (8 whole days!!!!) it is back to work for me. Trey of course never stopped working since they didn't shut down the library in honor of my internet crisis. Even so, we are both workng joyfully as we are very grateful for our current tasks and our higher quality family time that life on Blacket Avenue has provided.

Across the Pond

Well, we are here and pretty settled in. Both of the children did well on the plane. Emerson was delighted with the "goodie" bag provided by Delta- particularly the face mask that enabled her to get some serious beauty sleep while in the air.

We have been greeted by amazing autumn weather. In fact, we are getting a little bit spoiled- blue skies, crisp sunny days, and falling leaves. We have very little of the gray, soggy days that we were expecting. It has been a blessing to have this transition as we learn our way around our new neighborhood.

In typical Rachael fashion, I didn't let any dust settle under my feet when we arrived. My mom was with me for a week so I decided to maximize every moment of her help. We dropped our suitcases by the flat, took a look around and headed off to Ikea for a marathon 5 hour shopping trip. Our purchases were delivered the next morning at 9am and Trey immediately got to work assembling our furniture. Mom was a huge help as we tried to fill up our flat, stock the pantry, help the kids adjust to the new time zone, etc. We were sad to see her go last week, but are so pleased to have our family unit back under the same roof.

We like our flat and particularly our building. It is a great community of international graduate students with families so there are loads of children and a great back garden for playing. Emerson has enjoyed watching other children play from our kitchen window each afternoon. After a few days she worked up the courage to go out and meet a few children and now she is eager to play outside at any free moment.

We were expecting a 3 bedroom flat, however, when we arrived quickly learned that that meant no family room. So we have modified our space and Emerson and Ward are sharing a room so that our 3rd bedroom is a family room. Because I am working for home this space is essential since it serves as an office for me, playroom for the children, and sitting room for all of us. We also found out a couple of days after we got here, that the University has been renovating the flats. Most of them have had a complete overhaul (new kitchens: floor to ceiling, new furniture, paint, drapes, etc). As you can probably see, though, we managed to be assigned an unrefurbished flat. So, we are enjoying the luxuries of the 70's and thirty years worth of short-stay tenants. All joking aside... because it's not funny to mommy:) we feel very privileged to have a great deal of space, lots of windows, trees, and green space so close to the city.

2 weeks in Kiawah

Our final two weeks in the States have been spent in Kiawah Island, SC with my family. Emerson, Ward and I are enjoying some R&R while Trey is already hard at work in our sparcely furnished student flat. Emerson and her cousin Lois have had a great time jumping waves, building sand castles and riding bikes. Ward pretty much sticks to his typical baby routine- eating, sleeping...you know the rest. I have enjoyed having lots of eager hands to snuggle, hold, and help out with the little ones.

Both of my sisters have been here with their families. We have had great benefits from having our babies in "pairs". Emerson and Lois are only a few weeks apart, as are Ward and Aubrey. This makes for great play partners. We have had some great girl time before we spread out all over the map. The boys (Daniel, Brett, and Dad) have missed having Trey here- not only for his excellent company but because he is the fourth player in all of their beach games. Emerson, Ward, and I have missed having our Daddy and feel a little guilty enjoying these lovely accomodations, sunshine, and beach time while he is in Scotland making preparations for our arrival. We have been blessed to have this time and are getting very excited about our travel to our new home in Edinburgh next week.