Christmas in England!

So, I bet your wondering... What are Katie and Mike up to?!?  

When usually we would be preparing for some kind of vacation to a warm climate and a big old Holiday party. Now we are enjoying time with our little baby and soaking up all the Christmas cheer in England. For some reason Christmas in England is SO SO SOOOOO much better than in the US. I think it's because all those holiday traditions actually came from here.  Or maybe it's because they don't have Thanksgiving so they have extra time to get in the mood.

Whatever the reason they have things here that we don't have in the states. Like all those things that Christmas Carols talk about... Things like Roasted Chestnuts, Christmas pudding, Mulled Cider and Wine, Figgy pudding, Christmas Goose, Advent calendars a plenty, Partridge and Pears, Victorian dressed carolers, Trucks that drive around at night with Carolers (during the week at that!), and lights and trees only in the market areas.  Don't get me wrong, they are total consumers here. Buying presents and extra markets and the whole 9 yards. But only the American's have lights in the windows (probably because gas is so expensive here). There are parties every night for every group you belong too. And everyone is cheerful, except for the occasional Scrooge.  

So why does it feel different?!? Why does it feel more Christmassy?!? Well I don't know. But I do know that it's nice and that everyone should experience the old style Christmas charm once in their lives.  If you find yourself in a small village singing Christmas carols enjoy each moment of it. Whether that village is a real place or one that you collect and set out on your table for the season.

PS - They say... 

Happy Christmas! 

Merry Christmas to you and yours... May your days be Merry and Bright! 

Lots of love and light from us Rachanow's.

Traveling with a Baby! Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie visit!

Sophie, Me, Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie in York, UK

Us at some Ruins on the way to the North Sea

So Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie came to visit!  We decided to show them around as much as we could with the baby in tow. What a fun adventure!  Our song when the baby was sad was... "We are having a good time, we are having a good time..."

So where did we go and what did we do??? Well.. we hit up the North sea coast and York. York was Sophie's first hotel over night stay. And she really enjoyed it! We did pretty much everything (even breakfast in the morning)! Except when it came to feeding time. Me and Sophie would hit the car or a coffee shop or the York Minster to feed her. For some reason church is really accommodating to breast feeding moms. (see previous blog post for picture).

Charlie & Mandy on the York Minster  tour

Any way, travelling with a baby wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We ended up driving everywhere since I wanted to always have the van available for feeding time. But really we could have taken the train and been fine.  Of course, we packed the whole kitchen sink. Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie only had one bag to the babies 5 or 6. :)  In any case, we really didn't need that much. Sophie was fine as long as she had a clean diaper, a full belly and a warm place to hang out. (the sling works perfectly for a warm spot)

Charlie's Ruins! York

So travelling with a baby is harder on me than on the baby.  She doesn't care where she is as long as she is with us. And that's how we like it!

Thank you to Mandy and Charlie for coming to England and helping us out with the baby! We hope you had a great time and will come back soon!

Adventures in Babysitting.. Oh, wait! I can't give this baby back?

1 month has passed! And here are some things I have learned...

1. Babies are the best! Mike says that this might be the meaning of life. I'm still trying to work that out.
2. Birth is not hard for all people.

Breast feeding at the York Minster

3. Breast feeding is tricky! Ask yourself... Have I ever seen anyone breast feed?  Probably not. Therefore it's hard to get a hold of how it's done and when and where it's okay to do it. Luckily, in this country it is illegal for someone to ask you to stop breast feeding in public. When your baby is hungry go ahead and feed her! For us, breast feeding was tough at first. I thought that it would be natural and normal and that the baby would get it but really it's a learning process for mom and baby. And sometimes it can be really frustrating. But we haven't given up! Our goal is to exclusively breast feed for the first 6 months. After that we can reassess the situation. I personally really like it.  There is nothing like seeing my baby in a drunk milk coma after she has been completely satisfied. We are going to try to have Mike give her a bottle this weekend with breast milk so he can get in on the bonding action. - Also... Mike says... "boobies are for babies not motor boating!" Hilarious!
4. Babies cry.  Sometimes for no reason at all. Maybe it's over stimulation but whatever the cause babies cry and it's okay.

5. Which than leads me to... Lack of sleep.  Which I have to say I don't miss much. Half the time I'm staring at this little human thinking what the heck is she dreaming about?  As a mom, I have been missing quite a bit of sleep and sometimes that makes me irritable but it's almost like I couldn't sleep sometimes if I tried. I want to be awake to watch her. I want to be there for every move she makes. So I guess I will catch up on the sleep in 20 years or so...
6. It's my job to worry! I worry about everything. I know she is perfectly healthy but I find myself worrying about how to keep this little human alive. I think that this just comes with the job of being a Mom.  le sigh
7. I must trust my intuition.  My Dad was worried that we were reading too many books and taking too many classes on babies. He told us that we would just know what to do.  Well for me, that wasn't good enough. I needed to take all these classes. But really when it comes down to it intuition rains supreme. Even Mike's intuition rains supreme over everything we learned. I know it's hard to imagine if you don't have kids but it's almost like a transformation that occurs. And then you know exactly what your baby needs and when.
8. Advice is Priceless and Worthless!  If I met a pregnant person right now this is the advice I would give them!  It's so true! Everyone has an opinion on what you should or shouldn't be doing with your baby. But really it comes back to that number 7! Trust yourself and your intuition!

9. Baby awake.  Best moment so far is watching Sophie's eyes light up and a smile cross her face. It happened at exactly 1 month. It was like she was in a fog and then all of a sudden woke up. She knew exactly where she was and who we are. And she was happy! That was the best!
10. Being a Mom is the best job I've had so far! 

Done and Done!