Of course!

Well, our crate arrived this afternoon. You know, the one we packed the first part of December with most of our belongings? I'll post more on that later. If you know Marc, then you know he eats Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches daily. Thus, the 2 pounds of smooth Peter Pan in our crate. We came across this bit of news a while back, read below!


CDC tracks peanut butter contamination

ATLANTA - Government scientists struggled Thursday to pinpoint the source of the first U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the kid favorite packed into millions of lunchboxes every day.

Nearly 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill since August, and federal health investigators said they strongly suspect Peter Pan peanut butter and certain batches of Wal-Mart's Great Value house brand — both manufactured by ConAgra Foods Inc.

Shoppers across the country were warned to throw out jars with a product codeon the lid beginning with "2111," which denotes the plant where it was made.

How the dangerous germ got into the peanut butter was a mystery. But because peanuts are usually heated to high, germ-killing temperatures during the manufacturing process, government and industry officials said the contamination may have been caused by dirty jars or equipment.

Wouldn't you know it! Our PB jars start with "2111," now don't that just beat all?!? So long Peter Pan, you will be missed.

A little piece of America

Maybe we are desperate or foolish...or maybe both! Yeah, probably both.

We just spent $5.75 (2.99GBP) on a bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, $5.75 on a box of family size Macaroni and Cheese, and $3.36 (1.75GBP) on a small can of Pumpkin. Yeah, $14.86 (7.73GBP) on these THREE items.

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There is a small section of American food in a local department store in town. Yes, we got the girls out in the pouring rain just to visit this store today.

I would not have been able to do this in TEXAS Y'all!

Our landlord came to replace our refrigerator yesterday. The only problem was that it was too big to fit under the cabinet, soooo...we had to wait for him to bring another one. The only problem was that he took the old one out and we were left with food sitting on the counter. He brought another one later in the afternoon but told us that it had to sit for a few hours before it could be turned on because something about allowing the oil in the compressor to settle or it will explode. Important detail to note. So, since it's cool here, I did some quick thinking and got out a footlocker from the loft (attic) and put our food in it and let it sit outside till the new refrigerator was ready to go! You can't do that in Texas.

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Oh, and nothing exploded. Guess we let it sit the appropriate amount of time. Phew!

Bailey

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Bailey on the swings at the park!

Bailey is our little bundle of happiness! She is funny, smiley and has the cutest chuckle. When she wakes up in the morning or at naptime, she "talks" till Mommy or Daddy come and get her. If you make eye contact with Bailey she will give you a huge grin, which was a "gummy" grin up until about 2 weeks ago, she now has 2 bottom teeth! Bailey loves playing in her big sisters room and with all her big sisters toys. She likes music and will immediately start bouncing up and down when she hears any kind of music.

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Always in fashion!

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Bailey and her chuckle!

Cerys

There are several blogs that I read quite often, and on one of them this week, the mom was focusing on each child for the day. She told a little about each child's personality and what he/she likes ,etc. So, I thought that was a great idea, and so I shall start with our first-born, Cerys.

Cerys is 2, and that says a lot right there, right mom's of 2 year olds?!? She is funny, sensitive, curious, very talkative, but also shy. She is sweet, stubborn, and has a really cute giggle. She is loving, caring, and very empathetic. She loves baby dolls, monkeygeorge (Curious George, all one word in 2 year old speak) and playing with her plastic kitchen food. She loves to do puzzles, read books and play games. Her favorite games to play right now are Sound BINGO, a game that her Cousin Jacob got her for Christmas, and her Princess Memory game, although we leave the cards facing up and she finds the match. :) She enjoys singing songs (Thanks Aunt Beverly, for entertaining her via webcam with your songs!) and dancing. She's a sweetheart!

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Cerys wearing her apron with her baby tucked inside!

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Singing her heart out!

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CHEESE for the camera!

A few hours out... ALONE!

It was glorious! Yesterday, Marc took care of the girls while I ventured out to City Centre ALONE! That's "Downtown Cardiff" for you Dallas folks. It's not big, but it's somewhere to go to get out, you know? Queen Street is a pedestrianized street full of shops, fast food places and of course, two Starbucks'. I really enjoyed being out without having to wipe noses, change nappies (diapers) or push a double stroller! The funny thing was, I am so use to doing things in a hurry, you know...get in , get out...that I was done with what I wanted to do in 35 minutes...ha! But don't you worry, I found plenty of shops to look in and even stopped at one of the Starbucks for a tall Cafe Mocha with soy, no whip. We are not big Starbucks people, so the occasional Cafe Mocha is a sure treat! I came home with an umbrella, a new bag and some mascara. A very practical trip, indeed.

The thing that has stayed in my mind since returning from City Centre, is the bus trip. There is a bus stop just right around the corner to our house, which is very convenient, so I chose to ride the bus. It does not take long, about 10-15 minutes to get to City Centre. I found it very interesting to sit towards the front of the bus and watch people get on and off. I enjoy "people watching" but in all honesty, my heart was broken for these people that I watched. Their faces so unemotional and hard. Elderly people, mums with babies, teenagers, refugees and immigrants all looked the same, sad, disgruntled and hopeless. I found myself feeling so sorry for them, and wanting to tell them of the HOPE they can have through Jesus Christ. I can introduce them to THE ONE who will give them hope and a future. I can introduce them to THE ONE who loves them unconditionally and wants to have a relationship with them. I can introduce them to THE ONE who died for them.

Then why did I sit there, silent, paralyzed by fear?

"Now Lord, ...enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness." Acts 4:29

The Surgery and FREE Medicine!

No, no one is having surgery here, it's just what the doctor's office is called...you don't go to the doctor's office here, you go to your local surgery. We are very pleased with our local surgery, we've met 5 of the 6 doctors that practice there. You are probably thinking, how we could possibly have met 5 doctors and we've only been here a little over a month right? Well, I'll tell you. Bailey got a chest infection not long after we got here, so we met Doc #1. He was very nice, gave us our antibiotics and we left. Seven days after finishing antibiotics, Bailey is still not well. We return to the surgery, meet Doc #2. Got more antibiotics. Went back the next week for a check up, and her chest was finally clear. In the meantime, Cerys came down with a fever and a cold and we got to see Doc #3, no meds were given, just let it 'run it's course." We were back a few days later with her, the "thing" did not run it's course very well, met Doc #4, got antibiotics. Then on Saturday, Bailey woke up with some not-so-nice drainage flowing, and I do mean flowing, from her ears. Not good. She got tubes right before we moved here, so I was a little panicked. The surgery is closed on weekends, so we had to suffer through the weekend and I got her in to see Doc #5 this morning. She has nasty ear infections, but thankfully the tubes are doing their job and draining it all out, otherwise all that not-so-nice drainage would be sitting in her ear right now. So, we got some more antibiotics. So I figured while I was in there, I might as well mention that I'm having sinus trouble myself and have not been able to smell or taste anything for a couple of weeks. Yep, you guessed it, I got antibiotic too. Not to mention that Bailey is teething right now, so needless to say, the last few nights have not been very pleasant for any of us!

All this talk of antibiotics, I feel I should tell you that the doctors we have seen have been very good and have not just written us a "script" (prescription) just because. I was very pleased that Doc #3 just told us some things to do at home and didn't immediately write Cerys a script.

Now, the reason for all the doctors, is that this is a GP surgery, not a pediatrician's office. Everyone in the fam sees a GP. So, when I would call for an appointment, we had to take the only available doctor. So, this morning I was really feeling embarrassed because I'm pretty sure we have been up at the surgery every week since we've been here. They either think I'm a paranoid American mom, or that I just really have nothing better to do than let my kids play with the toys in the waiting room?!? BUT...there is good news from all of this. Because of the NHS- National Health System the girls and I get FREE medicine! Because Bailey is under a year old, she gets free medicine and because I am her mommy, I get free medicine...seriously. It's some maternity code or something, you get free meds while you are pregnant and the first year of your baby's life. Cool huh? Not sure why Cerys' medicine was free, but I'll take it! They just handed it to me in the Chemist (oh, that's the pharmacy y'all) and smiled and walked away. So I'll have to investigate the reason for that one. There are lots of drawbacks from having a nationalized health system, like waiting for 7 years for a knee replacement or other major surgery but I won't go into that right now. I'll just take my free medicine.

Sit in da car, go IKEDA, eat donut?

We've been to IKEA (or IKEDA in 2 year old talk) so much lately buying furniture and other household items, that we often hear our 2 year old say this. It's sad when going to IKEA for a cinnamon donut is a fun outing. We definitely need to get out more.

We have purchased most of the major furniture here because we opted not to crate a whole lot. We are still waiting on our crate arrive, but there's no telling when it will be here. We will be very happy to see it, as we have packed a baby bed and our TV cabinet among other things. The girls will be happy to see the crate too because it has lots of toys in it! I guess it might be a little like Christmas all over again. I honestly can't remember what all is in the crate at this point, so I'm sure I will be excited to open it as well.

If you are interested in hearing the Welsh National Anthem, here it is...

The Welsh national anthem is 150 years old. The anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, (Land of My Fathers) was composed in 1856 by Pontypridd brothers Evan and James James.

This is from the Millennium Stadium prior to a rugby match between Wales and Ireland in the spring of 2005. With a win against Ireland in that match, Wales clinched the Six Nations Grand Slam title. People are passionate about rugby and there is nothing quite like hearing 72,000 people sing their national anthem with such pride. We were here at the time and Marc wishes it was his mobile phone that had recorded this video! Maybe one time it will be!

Sisters!

Thought I would post some pictures of the girls. They are really starting to interact with each other now that Bailey is getting older. They play together well, mainly because Bailey just plays with whatever Cerys allows her to have :)


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Getting ready for our first outing

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Getting our shoes on!

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"Be stwill Baibey"

The Kettle, Baby Food and Other things

Well, I'm glad to see that some people who hounded asked us about updating the blog have left us a comment. :) Thanks for the comments, it's fun to know people are still out there.

I would like to introduce you to my favorite small appliance ever! The electric kettle! This has so many uses, which is what makes it so wonderful! You just fill it up with water, turn it on and in seconds, you have boiling hot water. This comes in handy when you need to make a cup of tea or coffee, obviously, but I use it for everything! If you are cooking and want to boil water quickly, just let the kettle do it's thing, put the pan on the burner/hob and heat the pan up, then pour the kettle water into the pan and it will come to a boil SO much faster! It just makes everything faster- cooking, making Bailey's cereal, pretty much anything you need boiling water for. Along with the TV, this was one of our first purchases over here. I was sad to leave it behind last time, so I'm quite happy to be re-united with the electric kettle. (I did see these at Target, but they do not boil as fast)

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I mentioned making Bailey's baby cereal, but I need to tell you about the baby food you can get here. There are no "carrots" or "green beans" or "squash" jars of food or anything with just ONE ingredient! Here you can buy, "Spicy Bean Hot Pot" and "Green Beans, Parsnips and Potatoes" and "Cottage Pie", and don't forget the " Plum, Guava and Pomegranate" etc. You can not just buy one ingredient jars of food. This has been interesting. She loves the "Plum, Guava, and Pomegranate" actually, but that is the only one I've bought for her. I've gone back to making my own baby food for her, and she quite happy and no longer constipated. :) But every time I go to buy cereal or something, I have a look at the baby food jars to see what I can find and have a good laugh.

The snow lasted all day Friday, it was beautiful and COLD. But never fear, the rain was back again today. I went to a "Nearly New" sale this afternoon with a friend of mine- it was for baby gear, clothes, toys, etc. It started raining just as we were headed out the door and by the time we got back (we did walk into a furniture shop too) to her house, my boots and jeans were DRENCHED- from the knee down. She did let me use her umbrella, but I guess I should buy my own seeing as we've been here a month now and it rains most days. Sigh.

Have a great weekend! Rain or Shine...

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