Christmas!

When we decided to have Christmas in Gibraltar, just the three of us, I wasn't sure at first what it would be like or if I'd end up regretting the decision.  But even though it was (much) smaller than what I'm used to, it was actually really to be in our home with Ceci for her first Christmas.

8 Months!

Ceci is 8 months old today!  Where has the time gone?!

Ceci Takes On America!

I was beyond thrilled (and a little apprehensive) about taking Ceci to America for the first time.  I was both SO excited to introduce to Ceci to her family and a little worried about the long trip and time change.  I needn't have worried, though - Ceci was a star with travelling and we had an absolutely fantastic time!

7 Months!

On November 22 our little Ceci girl turned 7 months!  This post is long overdue, but with good reason - we're currently in America visiting family and having a super (and very busy) time!  More to come about our adventure, including a long-haul flight, meeting lots of family, Thanksgiving and Ceci's baptism, in another post!

The picture above was actually taken 5 days early (the day we left for the US!) so we could keep the continuity of location and bear comparison, but here's a picture on her actual 7 month birthday:

At 7 months Ceci is...

Halloween!

Ceci had a great first Halloween!

Not so sure what it's all about yet...

6 Months!

Our little Ceci is celebrating her first half birthday!  My how time flies!

6 months old!

Who me?  

No way!

I can't believe how much she's grown in such a short amount of time!

It's been such a crazy, surreal, wonderful, terrifying, challenging, absolutely amazing 26 weeks. We're so lucky to have such a special little girl in our lives!

At 6 months, Ceci is...

Starting Solid Foods!

I LOVE Food!

We're trying something called Baby Led Weaning ( at least that's what it's called here in the UK, sometimes it's called Baby Led Solids in the US, though I'm not sure it's very popular in America yet - I hadn't heard of it before moving out here). Basically, you have the baby feed themselves real food from the beginning - no baby cereal, and no baby food or homemade purees. It's grown very popular over here and is recommended as an option to be used instead of or alongside of baby food/cereal/purees by the NHS. They recommend you start at 6 months or when certain milestones are met. We started giving Ceci solid foods just after 5.5 months, as she was chomping at the bit (literally) to get her hands on our food, and she ticked all the developmental boxes.

An Adventure to the UK

Ceci had her first airplane adventure, and visited her third country - not too shabby for a five month old.      

5 Months!

Our little princess is 5 whole months old and seems to be learning new things nearly every day!

Ceci at 5 months...

Sleep Update

First off, I just want to thank everyone who reached out to offer encouragement and advice after my last post.  Being away from family with a new baby has definitely been challenging, but it is especially hard when we're feeling overwhelmed and lacking sleep. The support you all provided made me feel a lot less alone and I appreciate it more than I can say!

I am happy to report that the sleep in our house has greatly improved (cue fanfare, followed by much knocking on wood, throwing of salt and finger crossing).  For any of you who are wondering how we did it (and also as a note to myself if I'm ever looking back wondering how we survived), here's what happened.

Crisis of Confidence

We are not sleeping.  And it is not fun.  

4 Months

Our little Ceci is 4 months old! She's growing and learning so fast.

At 4 months, Ceci...

Super Dad

Jamie is such an amazing Dad.

3 Months!

I know I say it every month, but I really can't believe Ceci is 3 months old already!  I remember right after she was born thinking that 3 months was like some sort of finish line - that she'd no longer be a little newborn and instead be a baby.  And indeed - she has grown so much both in size and ability!

Ceci at 3 months...

2 Months!

Ceci at 2 Months

At two months Ceci...

1 Month

I can't believe it, but Cecilia is 1 month old! It feels like only yesterday that we were still in the hospital and yet I can't imagine my life without her.

Ceci at 1 month...

What's in a Name?

Some of you have heard the story of how we decided on the name Cecilia.  But since we were keeping it a complete secret from everyone (still can't believe we pulled that off!) we could never really tell the whole story.  So here it is...

Two Weeks Old

I've been meaning to write this post for ages - it was going to be a one week post, then a two week post, but here we are at 18 days and I'm only just getting around to it!  My apologies for the delay - it's been a combination of having visitors, nesting with my darling Cecilia, and recovering.  But better late than never, right?

I only have a small window of time before Ceci wakes up again, so I'm going to share the past couple weeks in pictures!

She's here!!

Cecilia Kathleen Clarke has finally arrived in the world!

In this post I'm going to share the story of Cecilia's birth.  I'll spare you the entire play-by-play and try to keep it to just the highlights but as this is also serving as my own little journal so I don't forget the details there may be a few over-shares - you've been warned!

39 Weeks

We have (hopefully) reached the home stretch - my due date is in 4 days!  I'm still cautiously optimistic that I'll go into labor early or at least only a day or two late, but so far nothing's been happening.  I had an appointment with the midwife yesterday and everything still looks great - baby girl is still in a good position and seems happy.  She's also still moving a ton...sometimes I swear she's trying to find another way out! The midwife unfortunately couldn't shed any light on when our little girl is likely to make her appearance, though; it's apparently just as likely to be today as next week.  I'm scheduled to see the midwife again on Monday but she said hopefully it won't be necessary - fingers crossed!

38 Weeks

Today marks 10 days until my due date.  Time is flying by and yet seems like it's at a stand still...I'm getting so impatient!  Hopefully this little girl will come soon because if my due date comes and goes I may go crazy, haha.

Baby Update: Weeks 34-37

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last update! As promised, this post is packed full of baby updates and pictures!

I'm officially in my 37th week which means I'm technically "full term" - our little girl is welcome anytime!  With only 19 days until my due date I am happy to report that I am ready for her to get here - her room is complete and I'm more or less packed for the hospital!  Now I'm just getting impatient :)

Taking it Easy

Well yesterday marks one month until my due date.  Crazy, right?  I can't believe how fast time is flying by.  As I enter into my 8th month of pregnancy I've started to notice all the common pregnancy complaints I've always heard - exhaustion, sore back, heartburn, a hard time finding a comfortable position, constantly peeing (most annoyingly all through the night).  As such, the past couple of weeks I have been doing my best to take it easy.   (I honestly don't know how people work right up to the very end - there have been days when getting off the couch seems impossible!).

Belly Movement!

So this little girl moves a whole lot.  This morning while I was eating breakfast she decided to have herself a little dance party.  It was going on for so long I thought I'd try to catch some of it on video (she's usually awful at performing on demand and will stop as soon as I pull out my phone - I don't know how she knows!).  I wasn't able to catch any of the really big movements she does occasionally, but did capture a few decent size ones.  And yes, my belly button has nearly popped out - thankfully it turns out it's quite small so it hasn't grossed me out like I thought it would!

Update: A few of you have been having trouble with the videos below, so I also put them on YouTube to make it easier.  You can access them at http://youtu.be/vpUhRPh7h2o and http://youtu.be/Q7a5VmIDBRk.

Out and About in Gibraltar

We've taken a couple mini-excursions around Gibraltar.

On my first afternoon here Jay and I walked down to the little cafe at Europa Point for some lunch.  Jay made friends with one of the locals:

Picture Update: Christmas

I was finally reunited with the phone I use in America.  So as promised, here is a picture update from Christmas.

Our New Home!

Hello from Gibraltar!

It's been nearly a week since I arrived in Gibraltar and I'm just about settled into our new home.  I love it so far!  It's so nice to finally be able to start nesting and of course to have to Jay and all my stuff in one place again.  We've managed to unpack everything which is quite a feat, though we haven't been able to hang any pictures yet - almost all of the walls are solid exterior walls so putting nails in is going to be an adventure. We've ordered some of the sticky picture hangers we've used before so here's hoping they work well. (With limited shopping options here Amazon is my new best friend - they deliver to our BFPO address and refund the tax since Gibraltar is tax free; Jay brings home nearly a package a day...it's getting a little out of control, lol).

Here's a little tour of a new home...please pardon the mess!

Long overdue update...

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated!  I had planned an update after Christmas but between going back to work, getting ready for Jay to move to Gibraltar, finishing work and getting ready for my move, the time has just flown by!!  Not to mention how tired I've been feeling!