Somedays The Waves Are Bigger Than Others

And while they are stunning and almost captivating it would be foolish to stand there and just let a powerful wave knock you down....
Ahem,

I don't know if she entered the terrible two's full throttle or if she was suffering from some kind of "I'm on vacation and I'll act how I want" syndrome, but to say that there were moments when I felt knocked down by my 2 year old over the last couple of weeks, I would be putting it lightly.

...but, I am determined to "deal" with this stage of her life, our life, in the best way possible.  I have a new resolve this morning, I will not stand by and watch my sweet girl be stared down by strangers whose looks communicate to me either  that "they sure are glad they are not me," or that  "that mother needs to get control of her child." I will not be knocked down by this "wave."

I am going to love and nurture her the best way I can...which though it may slightly less comfortable for both of us, it may include a bit more gumption than just "dealing".  I don't think that parenting can be dealt with anyway...I think it must be lived and lived with intention.

So anyhow, I went to the book store last night and bought "Parenting: It's Not For Cowards" and "The Strong Willed Child," both by Dr. James Dobson. While I am not naive enough to think that a couple of books are going to change our lives, my hope is I will come out on the other side of having a two year old with out ripping out all my hair (or her ripping it all out) and perhaps even a smile...ready to face life with a three year old!
Enough metaphors.
Let me tell you about traveling abroad when you are 6 months pregnant. 

Ha!  Despite lots of Braxton Hicks and a constant sore back from carrying the Little who always wanted to "hold da Mama," thankfully, I was still able to take a lot of naps, due to plenty of extra hands to help with Little Miss I'm 2 Now...
For our birthdays, Kev and I got to go an overnight trip to our favorite restaurant and stay in a village where one of our favorite British shows is filmed. 

After a meal from Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Cornwall, my tummy was full, in the best and worst sense of the word and my husband realizing we were baby free, thought this would be a great time to do some exploring.  He literally drug me up and down a cliff and out onto a precarious edge in hopes to grab some great pics.  I am posting these pictures in hopes that someone will understand how up and down these cliffs are.  I did it, with the Mags in tow, and at times felt really good about it and others I felt a little irresponsible as a pregnant mother.

So, we're home now...sort of.  We stopped in London again before our nightmarish flight home (which is a whole other post in itself which I've vowed to never blog about), but before any of that, our last night in Bude we went out one more time to try and catch that sun again...
We marvelled at the waves, hid our faces from the wind, and wished we could stay just a bit longer in this place


We hiked up to the spot where Kev asked me to marry him and just like then, it was breath taking.
 


He asked me right around this spot a little over 6 years ago.  It might have been the perfect proposal...for me at least.  There was a picnic blanket, there was a warm breeze and sun, there was a chocolate Kinder Egg for dessert that had the best prize ever...there was us...

Warm fuzzy heart, now our us is growing...look at those two.  I love them.  I love this life, big waves and all.

Here's to coming home from vacations, if we never did we wouldn't appreciate them so much!

Grace and Peace
xxx

PS  I take no responsibility for grammatical errors in this post...I've been trying to type it all day.  It is now nearly 1 am and my ability to write anything that makes sense is failing...so no judgement please.

When The Words Don't Come Out Right

It's our last night in our favorite place tonight.
I have a lot on my heart, a lot on my mind.
No matter how many times I typed it, then back spaced over it,  then typed it again, only to delete it one more time, nothing seemed to be coming together the right way.
I took it as a sign that words were better left unsaid...and pictures just might be better.

Here's to holidays, may we always take too many pictures and eat too much food.

Grace and peace
xxx

Food Blogs

I think that all of my  posts since being in England have been about food...how can they not be when we do things like, eat the best fish 'n chips ever on the beach at sun set...
Does life get any better? 
Not for this pregnant mama...and while we're on that topic have a mentioned that I look like I'm about to pop?  And I still have three months to go...what in the world is going on?

I don't know but it could have something to do with this.
Do you know what that is...up there?
One might say that it is two large biscuits with butter and jelly...in which I would reply, "no you fool, that is a cream tea, and a Cornish specialty."
A cream tea...which I believe I posted about last year, and will continue to do so every time I come here, is a pot of tea, served with two beautiful scones and a side of clotted cream and in this case home made strawberry jam!  Be still my heart.

I didn't eat both scones all by myself, I did share with my husband...begrudgingly.  Honestly, even in eating for two, I don't think that could eat two of these scones all by myself...
I can dream about it though.
Dear Cream Tea....I love you, and despite little tea rooms advertising your existences in quaint American towns, nothing will compare with what you are here in Cornwall...you truly are one of my favorite things.

Lots of Love from your doting fan, Carly

xxx

Thank you for letting me have that moment...

Don't think we left the Little out for one moment, she foolishly opted out of the cream tea and got strawberry ice cream instead...followed by running and giggling through the garden and being chased by everyone but Mama...

I stayed planted on my bench enjoying every last bite of scone and every last sip of tea...

This last picture actually brings a tear to my eye...one of the saddest things I've ever seen.  Until next time Cornish Cream Tea...parting is such sweet, sweet, sorrow.

Don't worry about me too much though, we all left,  belly's brimming with happiness and decided a walk on the beach would do us all well.

For the record, I hate this sweater and plan to burn it asap...it stops me looking pregnant and makes me look like a just gained 50 lbs,  hmmmm which maybe I have.

 See..smiles all around, except for maybe Kev, who was forced to eat my Medusa like hair in the one on the left...



Here's to delicious meals followed by long walks, may we always be indigestion free...

Grace and peace
xxx

Coffee or Tea...Biscuit?

Have I ever mentioned that my husband is a great friend? 
He's made all sorts of friends from all different places, and not just from the UK from all over the world.   He really makes anb effort to let them know that even though he's far away from them now, they are still important to him.  When we're here he tries to see as many of them as he can, even if it's just for coffee.
Last night we did just that...left my Little with her biggest fan and drove 2 hours north to meet up with a couple of Kev's old friends.  It was amazing to me  how in just one room we had 5 countries represented.  So many differences, asking each other if we were using the correct term for things, which cheek to kiss in greeting and leaving; yet despite the differences the girls huddled around my belly to feel Maggie's little greeting to them just like any other girls I know and the men laughed and joked with ease. 
We lingered and talked over food and drinks for hours and made it home just in time for Libs to wake up and crawl in bed with us at 4:00 am!  I can't remember the last time I stayed out that late for social reasons...but it was good.
I'm not saying we're going to start this every Friday night, but I think that people here love to linger over food and drinks as long as it is done in the presence of friends.

No matter where we go here, or who we visit, we are are always offered tea, coffee, and biscuits (cookies to my fellow Americans)...We always accept, and it's always nice to linger over it...to enjoy the age old experience of just visiting with people.  I don't think we do that much in the States...at least I don't do that much in the States.  I offer my guests a drink when they come over, but it's rarely accepted, and never expected.  I don't think its expected here either, but I would say it is widely assumed that, "oh yes please, I would love a cup a tea, and I rarely turned down the offer a chocolate biscuit," is the general answer.  I rather like that about this place.
Here's to coffee and tea with friends...come to my house, we'll linger over a cup together.

Grace and peace
xxx
PS
Unfortunately, the pictures on this post  don't coincide with my story at all, but I hope you will enjoy both words and photos just the same...
We peaked on day two with pictures this trip and I'm afraid we've been slacking since.
I promise to make up for it tomorrow.

Running Just As Fast As We Can

Running to catch the sun before it set for the night .
Runnig to catch that little girl...
Running to catch time...
Sigh.
I don't care how many other times I here it from other mothers, or read it on someone elses facebook status, but how is it that my Little is 2 years old?
How is it that there was a time when we didn't have her?

How is it that no matter how much I will her to be Little, time keeps going, even though in moments like this I will it to be still.
I have typed about it  in this space before, but the one thing that no one could have advised me on, in terms of becoming a mother, was the aching love that came with it.  The beautiful and terrible battle within that wants  so badly to cling to every moment, every milestone, every new word, yet so eagerly anticpates what will come next.

I suppose it will go on forever, and the ache part may even soften over time, but that love, I think, will only grow...just like she grows with every passing day.

Two years old ...so hard for me to write.
Sorry, I'm a little wet around the edges this evening, but no matter how hard I try to catch time and try to stop it...it just keeps on going and she keeps growing.

We never did catch the sun last night...
We chased it just as far as we could.
We ran and ran over the masive expansne of empty sand, but there was no stopping it.
It set in the end.
Despite wanting it  to stop it at that perfect light, watching it go was not bad a thing.
It was probably one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.
 

Here's to letting the sun set and time pass, it really is beautiful.
Grace and peace
xxx
PS...You realize that you'll have to read all these sappy words again, once the Littlest gets here.  I'm guessing my sentiments will be quite the same...just times 2:)
I love these pictures that Kev snapped of Mags, I could stare at them all day!  Makes me excited for her to be with us in this pretty place.

The Eagle Has Landed

I'm pretty sure that I forgot to mention that we would be taking the big trip to the mother land this year...you can read all about last year's trip if you click on September 09....
Let me sum things up, since this is the third time today that I have sat down to type.
We left Friday night at 9:00, that's one hour past the Little's bed time.
The lights on the plane stayed fully lit until every last passenger had finished their after- dinner- coffee, which meant that Libs didn't fall asleep until...maybe 2 hours over the Atlantic Ocean.  This was right after she started crying and said "all done pane Mama."
She and her Dad did finally fall asleep. I did not.  I kept having this feeling that she was going to fall out of her seat and start screaming again, and given the fact that you get dirty looks from other travelers just for bringing a toddler on the plane, I was terrified of giving them more fuel for their fiery looks.
7 hours later our plane skidded to a halt outside Heathrow's terminal 5, where we found a happy- teared Grandma waiting for us.
We spent a night with the Greats(short for Great Grandma and Great Grandad according to the Little) in London....  Look at her picture with  them, aren't they all delightfully English, even the one that is part me, and look how her hair matches her Daddy's beard when we come here!
Yesterday afternoon we stuffed our rental car full and headed down to our favorite place on Earth.
Ah... Bude...you make me feel peaceful and happy.

We slept until 10:30 today, tucked under thick covers, with our windows open, until we heard the sea gulls telling us it was time to get up.  Around mid day we walked down to the beach cafe, so that I could have one of the best mocha's on the planet.
After that we walked into town to meet Grandma when she got off work.  Before heading home we stopped for a Cornish Pasty.
Hallelujah!
Let me just pause here and explain what a pasty is (there were some people on facebook who were questioning my spelling b/c they thought I meant pastry).  A pasty (pa-stee)is like a giant turnover, but instead of being filled with some kind of fruit, it is traditionally filled with meat and veg, in a sort of rich gravy sauce..Are your mouths watering yet?  I'm really not a traditional girl, so today I had one filled with cheese, onions,  and potatoes.
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mm, mm, mmm.
There was more to today, but I just might leave that for a tomorrow post.  I don't want to down play my pasty experience.
These last two pics of the Little and her Dad make me happy...my two loves, in the place that he loves, with an obvious sea breeze, and fishing boats in the background.  I bet you're smiling now too!
And just so you know, look closely at the picture below...See the grassy hillside and rocky cliff in the background?  A girl I know was proposed to there, on a sunny day in June, after a picnic lunch, quite a few years ago now.  As you can imagine, given a scene like that, I'm sure that she said yes! :)

Until tomorrow then,  here's to lunch you can eat with your hands....it was really, really good!
Grace and peace friends
xxx