Normal Life.....?

After the stress and turmoil of relocating, this is how normal our life now is.  I took Tom to the out of hours doctors last night and the lady on reception was someone I knew from our church. "Hi Louise, How are you? Oh dear, what's wrong with little Tom?" And then a yell from the back office from Dr. Connie. "Hey Louise, you're Welsh aren't you? When are you going to join the choir??!" I had no idea either lady worked there, but it was a moment when I realised that after two months here, life is starting to feel ....well, normal.

And I should add that Tom is fine. It was our third trip to an out of hours paediatrician in two months so no big deal. Tom had an allergic reaction to egg. It wasn't me who took the photograph above for 'blog purposes' by the way. Dr Connie thought it would be a good idea to monitor the swelling progress. Poor little man with his swollen eye.  He is much better today.

And not the only poor little man to get a bad eye this month either. The day of the Six Nations Grand Slam decider dawned and as Dan, Mum and I crouched around the laptop over breakfast to monitor online updates of the Wales match, Dan announced that Tom had poked him in the eye and he had lost his sight. Anything to get out of having to face reality eh? It looked terrible so I ended up driving him to an out of hours doctor who told Dan his eye was infected and he had a throat infection. A pack of antibiotics and eye cream later and we came home to hear Dad cheering via Skype. Dan refused the eye patch they offered him, and didn't take too kindly to being called Captain Jack for the rest of the day.  I wont even go into my own eye incident after the car door swung back into my face. Suffice to say I am the only member of my family who hasn't yet seen an out of hours doctor and instead sat in Starbucks with an ice pack on my face looking for some sympathy from fellow mocha drinkers.

Incidentally, for those of you who dont know us that well, this really is normal life for us - honestly!

 

The new house is fantastic. It's around 3000 sq ft and up in the San Mateo hills, so a wonderful feeling of space inside and out. Our container arrived a few days after Mum got here, so Dan and I had a whole child-free day to monitor unpacking and put our things away.  We celebrated the safe arrival of our belongings with date night in the city, and a French restaurant. Two months here and we're still avoiding Californian wine and playing it safe with the French!

The friendly unpacking chaps cover all carpeted areas ready for unloading!

I unpack the boxes, smiling at anything that was given to us by a friend or family member, remembering good times. Wonderful to be reunited with our belongings

Mum arrived mid March. I cannot put into words how wonderful it was to see her emerge through the doors at the arrivals hall. Annie ran over to her and jumped into her arms, we all cried and hugged. Wonderful! Sadly Mum brought rain with her and it poured for most of her stay. It was the first time Id not had to wear sunglasses whilst driving, and the cloud was so thick that Mum couldn't see much of the Bay area ("Honestly Mum, the bridge is right there in front of us!!").  It wasnt much of a holiday for Mum but her trip couldnt have been timed better for us as she was there to help us unpack and followed a Week In the Life of the Griffins for a while which helps her enormously now that she is back to Skyping us again. 

Mum arrives - home made pizza!

We take Mum to our Friday playgroup. I am so lucky to have found this group! 

Tom sits at the table for snack time - The Mums take it in turns to bring a snack for the group.

View from the street we live on - the Bay in the distance, Foster  City (and Dan's office) at the coast.

A Teething Tom

Making Cheescake, Annie thinks it tastes disgusting so gives it the thumbs down (and then licks the bowl clean!)

And finally, some other stuff we have been doing below. Life is really busy, but enjoyable and the house is starting to feel more and more like home. Tom is starting to sleep at night (kind of) and we're enjoying our weekends together as a family without having to think about all the things that were on our 'to do' list. 

Life really is getting to be kind of....normal again!

A Sunday at Half Moon Bay.

Making Welshcakes as my contribution to snacktime at the playgroup.

Annie playing 'shops' with Dan's parents via Skype - Dan's father can  just be seen on the laptop screen.

Dinner with the Ferri family, Dana and Sean.

St Paddy's Day and a birthday celebration with Dan's colleague Steve and his family who couldnt have done more to make us feel welcome - we own them a few BBQs!