Announcing...

I promised myself that I would keep a more up-to-date blog as I got more and more pregnant, because as I do, I would like to have something to look back upon and think about.

My first observance is more of a short lived annoyance. From day 1 of being pregnant, I have found that nobody tells you anything of any use! Whilst this statement is not entirely true, it is pretty close. We turned up to the doctors on Thursday with the thought that we would find out if we were having a boy or a girl. When we finally got seen (an hour later) we were told our visit would be a short one and not an informative one at that.

The lovely nurse really helped us out, she is the first one who has actually listened to us as we shared our concerns about our doctor's office staff, nurses and generally being pregnant. Being a first time mum is hard enough as it is, it's even harder if you are not told anything.

I have unfortunately found this to be a trend amongst medical professionals in the US and UK. In the US you aren't told a needle is approaching, or what's about to happen. In the UK you maybe told everything, but it is at lightning pace with some quick fix solutions. Neither is right, at the moment I can tell you which one I prefer (yep UK wins this time).

Any how, my so kindly offered solution for first time mum is a written list of what to expect and when. Week-by-week. I don't need to know things that will scare me, but I do I like to know what to expect at each visit. I understand this may change/be added to if mine or my baby's health is at risk. But a basic list cannot help. Some mum's might throw it away, but I would have had that on my fridge just so the unexpected doesn't turn me into mum-zilla from hell when I don't get what I want/need.

On to the more exciting news! We are pleased to announce that we are having a girl!! So far so good on the growing front, she's kicking me at night mostly that I can feel. On Thursday she looked a little scrunched up, stretching her long legs and arms up towards my ribs rather than out towards my sides. She already has a name, Madelyn Josephine. After Nan's on both sides.

The original Madelyn was a great woman, I only knew her for a year, but every time we talked I knew how much she loved Robert and I. Sadly she won't get to meet this Madelyn, but I know that we'll be telling her all about her Great Nan.

The original Josephine is still alive and well, and living in the UK. We lived with her for a while before we moved back to the states. She gave her name to my Mum and I now have it as my middle name. So Madelyn Josephine is a 4th generation Josephine. And I'm already so proud of her.

People ask me if we had names picked out already. I remember the day we picked this one. It was the day we got married!! Some parents think over names for as long as they are pregnant and even longer in some cases. We knew right off (2 years before we were even thinking about getting pregnant!). One of the easiest decisions ever. Now if we have another girl, that's going to be harder!

Here's me at 18 weeks and 3 days, just after we told Andy, Jess and Leo. And before we celebrated Father's Day with the Coomler side of the family. I can tell you, I feel a bunch bigger than this in real life!

The Dream Grows a Little Every Day

This post has been a while coming, it's mostly here because I've found my energy again.

Here we are living life right now. We're both working, both happy and everyone around us is pretty good too. We are 10 months in to our lives in America it's been really good so far.

Culturally I'm almost integrated! People still ask me where I'm from and how I ended up here, but mostly people still gawk and I just carry on with life. People at work are adjusted enough to me that I can speak at normal pace and be understood. There's the occasional moment of mis-communication, however that's just human beings! What's funny is people in Alabama thinking they don't have an accent.

Anyway, I'm stalling. The big update announcement for this blog is that we're having a baby! A tiny little Litton is growing right now. Here is the latest picture of the baby, hands up. She danced around for us too. Now we don't know if she is a she or a he yet. We'll find out soon enough.

Baby is amazing. She's growing so good (she's a bit bigger now), so far hasn't caused any problems and now people can see she's coming too. It's a very exciting time. I'm very happy to be having a baby and adding one more to us. I promise to have more up dates as we go.

This is us a few weeks ago, at Robert's friends wedding. My first American wedding (apart from my own!) and it was short, very sweet, and followed by a tornado warning!! It was a beautiful thing to be attending, I'm glad we got to go. It seems that we are going to be reconnecting with people for a while yet.

Sorry if we haven't seen you yet, we're getting there.

This little boy will have an American cousin just a year younger than him. Super exciting! Also his parents will be getting married, so we'll be returning to the UK for the wedding. And we'll finally meet this boy and my cousins little children then. Cannot wait! So there we are, as up to date as we can be! (If you click the picture you'll go to Amanda's Website - she took the gorgeous photo)

Parents for Christmas

Five months into this whole thing and we have just said goodbye to our first visitors from overseas. Mum and Dad came to stay for two whole weeks, covering Christmas and New Years. I was very happy to see them and very happy to host them too. They arrived with some idea of what they wanted to do, but not really having any firm plans other than seeing The Hobbit at a Drive-in. 

So two weeks has been a long and short time it seems. I've walked with them around Auburn and was sad that we couldn't walk into Jordan Hare Stadium, it's so huge from the outside. We weren't the only family trying to visit the stadium that Saturday. They've had Cracker Barrel, Toomer's Lemonade, Chick-fil-a, and driven a whole bunch of miles without really realising. 

We've been to Huntsville, Gadsden and Atlanta, they visited Montgomery, FDR's Little White House and a local park. We've been to Callaway Gardens and had a country Christmas (courtesy of Leigh and Brent's families.). They've tried 3 types of bbq and various amounts of cornbread, biscuits and attempted to get hot tea in many places (Cracker barrel was the best).

It's been great to have them over for two weeks. I'm looking forward to having more visitors. 

An Invitation To The Table.

My Anglican background is repeating on me right this second thinking about Thanksgiving and how our histories and experiences affect us.

The line that sticks out from the Holy Communion service is this

We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord...
We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.

There is something about being invited into a family, and a gathering for celebration that is very special to me. I think it's due to these lines, saying them every Sunday and knowing that I don't approach any table, other than my own, with any thought other than humility.

Its also a family thing, it doesn't take much to be invited in, but once you are respect is a must. My favourite memories and times with family are around a table, eating food, attempting to put the world right or make sure there is a running joke.

This is my first family thanksgiving. I'm not sure what to expect, but I know it'll be really good. I know that there will be a ton of people to see and lots of food. I'm excited for this day to arrive. I'm looking forward to creating memories and having happy things to think about.

I'm very thankful for my family worldwide. I'm thankful for my job and all the things we can have. It's been a busy year, and I think thanksgiving is a great time to look back and look forward to all the exciting things the next year brings!

Home; Sweet Home Alabama!

We are just 3.5 months into our lives in America and we are settled into a lovely apartment, easy jobs that fit us for now and great friends to be around.

I passed my driving test with ease and didn't have to sit around too long. So now I can drive in Alabama and all over America without having to take all my ID's with me. It also means that I get to drive a 15-seater minibus for an hour a day, collecting children from Opelika schools. That's definitely a good thing about each day.

It's really good to be working again and doing something that I really enjoy. I'm currently in a classroom with 9 under 12 month olds and 2 other teachers. We are rushed off our feet some times, but other times we just enjoy playing and hanging out with the babies. I love being a daycare teacher. My lovely Mother In Law was a daycare teacher and worked her way up to director, so we have a whole bunch to talk about now. It's amazing how similar and different a care profession can be in a couple of decades.

We are alive and well, happy and fed. It's good to be here.

Adapting

I've been thinking about what to call this for a while, unfortunately most of the titles I thought sounded too cheesy. But here I am and I'm writing, so that can't be a bad thing. I've got one really cheesy title saved up for later, any guesses?

We've been here for 2 months today, and so far everything is going pretty great. We're settled in Auburn, and have even been to a sporting fixture, which means we're here for a good while now. It was a ladies football match, like actual football, with a round ball. Auburn vs Missouri, not a particularly fast moving game and a few people shouting for the wrong type of thing, but good to be part of a crowd and at least know what I was watching.

This week I have to take my driving test to gain an Alabama State drivers license, in order to start work. It should be pretty easy, but then I've not had to drive at any standard for the last 9 years, so we'll see! Tomorrow is the day for that. Written and practical costing a total of $30, how much is a UK written and practical right now? Max 106GBP! Which is crazy! Then I'll be able to drive all over the country. Yeay!

So far, so good really. Nothing horrible to report, nothing untoward going on. It's just good to be in a place where we know we can unpack, relax and start to make friends properly.

...And We're Back (with pictures)

We've been in America 5 weeks today and we are pretty much settled.

We had a lovely two weeks at Piedmont with some of Robert's lovely young people and teachers. Then we returned and awaited the arrival of Abby (our first niece - Roberts brother Josh's baby). She arrived early on Monday morning before we drove down to Florida and had a week of working, sitting out storms and for me getting to know Roberts dad and youngest brother better.

We returned to Georgia and waved DJ off to College/Missions school in Nashville, TN. All the while seeing Abby, family and friends. So week 4 stated with a rest, and then travelling to Auburn, Alabama to find an apartment or house to rent. We moved in, papers signed and delivered on Friday (a week ago). It's so nice to be in our own space.

So here we are, fully internet'ed up and set up mostly apartment-wise. We are working our way through the local eateries as well as finally being able to cook and eat what we want when we want (late night chocolate and cheesy bread). We have made our bed and are delighted to lie in it and have lie-ins without worrying that we are missing someone who is visiting. Bed hopping for 4 weeks makes me tired and achy. But I have loved seeing all the different people and places.

For those of you who don't know, Auburn is a University town, and an American football one at that. Saturdays during football season and home games see an extra 100,000 added to a town of 50,000 or so. We are very close to everything, big shops like Wal-Mart, Sears and McDonalds and then little shops too. We have some good local restaurants, bbq, burgers, chinese, sandwich places. We'll be here for 2 years so I'm sure we'll discover our favourite soon.

I have plenty of things to say about America and my experience so far, the first is the people are great. I have only really dealt with nice people. Sometimes they don't understand me and think that I'm some sort of alien. I've had some very funny looks. Secondly the inability of others to drive is universal. Thirdly, though I am not at what I still regard to be home, I am 'home'. I've got myself confused a couple of times, referring to America as England. I guess I've just got used to being in England. I'm learning a different way to speak and attitude to have. It's all pretty good fun.

Robert and I at Panama City Beach, FL

Abby Kathleen Litton

View from our apartment

The truck Robert drove with our stuff in that was about a third full, for very cheap!