“I wanna be 1” ?

For months leading up to Graham’s 3rd birthday, he demanded that he wanted to be 1, not 3. We don’t know why so we just said OK and moved on. He’s since owned his “3” and is now asking to be 5 and 7 depending the day.

Milestones that have NOT been hit as of today, his 3rd birthday: potty trained, nuk free. (The pic below if from his nap today which he took in his new tent)

We are going nuk free starting tomorrow. The needy babies of the world are crying for his nuks so they will be sent away, as Greyson’s were 3.5 years ago. Perhaps 1 of them comes back ‘broken’ (top snipped off) so he can cling to it at night for a week or so. Here’s to hoping it’s as smooth a process as it was for Grey because after this milestone, we move to full-on stealth mode for potty training filled with cajoling and bribes.

I posted a status on FB today that said “3 years ago today I was ready to drink castor oil to get this boy out…”. I remember it clearly. My blood pressure had me on bed rest which was fine by me because I couldn’t stand on my feet for more than 5 minutes anyway without my hips caving in. Like every pregnant woman I’ve ever met, my bladder performed as if it were the size of a pea and because I was an “aged mother” with early contractions and a previous preemie, I was in the doctor’s office every day strapped to machines for hours at a time while I willed my body to go into labor on its own. He was measuring big and at that point, I still had 3 weeks to go to full term. I sent Mike a text- I from my bed upstairs to him in his office downstairs that read “if we aren’t in labor after today’s appointment, we’re going to Walgreens so I can buy castor oil”. I can’t remember how he responded but I was dead serious.

That text was sent at 1:55pm Pacific time. Our appointment was at 4pm, I was admitted to the hospital at 6, given an epidural sometime after 10pm and and at 11:25pm after only minutes of labor, he was in my arms. No castor oil needed*

Happy Birthday sweet boy. You have your mommy’s patience (very little) and your daddy’s strength (oodles of it). You add levity to every day and we couldn’t imagine the Guenther family without a Graham in it.

*Disclaimer:  author was out of her mind and does not endorse castor oil as a method of inducing labor

Perfect Fall Days

Like most of my blogging friends with the exception of Mrs. Mouthy who remains amazing and regular (blog poster, that is) and interesting, it’s been over a month since my last post and I’m struggling to put this one out as well. So many milestones in the last month or so and in between them all, I try not to let guilt consume me over the fact that I stink at keeping in touch with friends and family and I selfishly just want my every spare moment to be smothering the boys or sleeping. I do want you readers (all 6 of you) to know that even though I stink at keeping in touch, I do check in on you from time to time to see how you’re doing, if you got new haircuts, if your kids are walking/talking/driving yet. My friends are traveling and falling in love and getting married and having more babies. My dad is writing music and preparing for his first solo gig  while my mom, brother and sister do what I do- work hard and love their families and wish there was more time in the day to make a phone call. Mike is missing his family too and we’re starting to count the days ‘til Christmas.

In September Mike’s family spent 2 weeks in London and Paris with the boys. They had an amazing time and I know Mike enjoyed it despite the challenges of managing the boys, often cranky and sick, without my help as I was traveling most of the month. They saw loads of sites in England and Paris and I hope they can come back to see more. We’re blessed to have the opportunity to host and thankful when our friends and family are able to enjoy it too. From the bottom of our hearts- thank you Janet, Carmen and Bria for stealing away and choosing to spend some downtime with all of us.

And Sal- your visit meant the world to me and I’m missing you more than ever after being reminded of how great we are together.

We just had parent-teacher conferences and I’m happy to report that Greyson is flourishing as a student, friend and listener. He is a “principled student” according to Mrs. Honey who is one of those teachers that we’re going to remember forever. We’ll remember what she looks like, sounds like (the best British accent) and most importantly for the impact she’s having on Grey who adores her. He doesn’t look at her with puppy eyes like he did Mrs. Sharon 2 years ago- this is an adoration from respect and trust. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers as we worked through those first trying weeks. Every morning isn’t perfect but we’ve made significant progress. Doesn’t he look happy?

 Mrs. Kay Honey

Graham has officially taken over as the house entertainer. For those of you who saw his phone conversation with Phil Mickelson on Facebook, that’s just a taste of the daily laughs he provides. He has recently picked up on every parent’s mantra “because I said so” and it’s his answer to any question that begins with ‘why’.

Mom: “Why aren’t you eating your lunch?”

G: “Cause I said so”

…and more GRAHAM*isms*

Mom: (after prayers at bedtime) “What would you like for breakfast tomorrow?”

G: “Pizza. A really big slice of pizza”

 

G: “Can I have milk?”

Dad: “Yes”

G: “Yeah, I have sausage on my breath” (he hasn’t eaten sausage in a very long time!)

In other news…Graham turns 3 on the 22nd (he can hold up 3 fingers and knows the exact date). Next week is the boys’ half-term break so they’re coming with me on a business trip to Dublin and from there we’re heading to the Cliffs of Moher for the weekend. It will be a fun way to celebrate his birthday and see a bit of Ireland. Mike is enjoying the days when the kids are at school- he’s relaxing in the kitchen (mussels in a white wine sauce, pretzel crusted chicken, his food is awesome) and training for a charity bike ride from London to Paris. I’m training for another long flight- heading back to the states (Seattle then Charleston) and then we’ll start planning for our Christmas break which includes a NYE trip to Sundara for anyone interested in meeting us there!

Missing you, thinking of you, wishing our miles were shorter…

~the guenthers

1st day of School…sure, but

I’m connected to about 200 people on Facebook and at least 40% of them posted 1st day of school pictures. They posted awesome pictures! Gorgeous smiles, haircuts, new clothes, backpacks, hugging siblings and friends.

I did not post a picture and I’ll tell you why.

#1- Greyson’s 1st day of school was actually a 2 hour orientation that consisted of a 20 minute speech by the Headmaster, Mr. Lewis (couldn’t hear him), a 20 minute speech by the President of the PTO (couldn’t hear her), sign ups for after-school activities and a quick meet and greet with the teachers. We were in and out of there in about an hour and a half.

#2- I forgot to take a picture in front of the house before school so I had to stage this one at the end of the day which included a bribe to get Grey to put on his backpack and smile (Graham wouldn’t take the bribe but still managed to photo bomb the picture)

#3- This fake smiling photo is the perfect facade for what has, thus far, been a very very VERY difficult week of school for our first-born. Posting a picture felt phony.

*GREYisms* (spoken with red swollen eyes, tear-stained cheeks, heartbreaking quivery lips)

• “I can’t handle it mom, I just can’t”
• “The day is too long and I’m too tired”
• “I just think about you all day…and when I think of you, I cry”
• “I don’t like school”
• “Drop-off is hard on me”
• “Pick-up is my favorite part”
• “School’s not fun”

There are probably more but you get the picture. Here’s the good news – these comments start around 7:30pm, just before bedtime and end just as the bell rings the next morning. Mrs. Honey, his teacher, said the days are great. I’d like to tell her that she should start her day at our house around 7am and feel free to get him ready and make sure he eats his breakfast which if you know Mike is always amazing- waffles and eggs or pancakes and bacon, fruit, toast with jam- you get the picture. And all the while we’re volleying between empathy and “I know honey” to anger and frustration. Mornings at our house have been an extremely unpleasant experience and I am literally praying that God gives me the words to soothe his anxiety and take away his fear. So tomorrow marks the 5th day of his first full week of school and Mike and I are in the kitchen laughing about it, which I suppose is a good thing.  We both believe that tomorrow is the day- and this is the first night we’ve been able to say that!

GRAHAM*isms*

• G: (Graham’s first day) “Are you going to stay with me Dad?”
• M: “Nope. I’ll pick you up later!”
• G: “OK!”

They are brothers, I swear.

Things we don’t miss

1. Election Season
2. Fast food (OK, we miss Chipotle)
3. Highways
4. Telemarketers
5. Yard work
6. The price tag on good cheese
7. Garbage disposal (surprisingly)
8. Long flights to anywhere
9. Childcare costs
10. Walmart

I asked Greyson today what his favourite thing was about living in England.  We had just come home from a picnic in Great Park so the Park was his answer (it really is amazing). We biked a long way today and Greyson kept up through the hills. It’s been summer hot for a few days now and without air conditioning we’re trying to keep busy.  The Park and Lego Land have done the trick.

Things we miss…

1. Friends and family
2. Bacon
3. Fresh fish
4. Target
5. Nordstrom
6. Starbucks artisan sandwiches
7. Rainier cherries
8. Corn on the cob
9. Half and Half
10. Air conditioning
11. Big comfy cars
12. Pre-season football
13. Eastlake Community Church
14. Lake Washington
15. Breakfast sausage
16. Women’s Health and People magazines
17. Lululemon
18. Mojo bars
19. Wavy Lays
20. Double ovens (in Fahrenheit)

La Dolce Vita

Rome wasn’t built in a day, right? I couldn’t decide how to chronicle our trip in a creative way so I apologize in advance for the play by play.  We will go back in the next couple of years so if you want to come along, let us know!

25 July: We arrived and I immediately noted the heat. It felt like Phoenix in the summer. It wasn’t humid, but it was HOT. We met the Bertottos at our hotel and immediately walked toward the Colosseum with the intent to have pizza and gelato first. We found both (each of them amazing) and then enjoyed Rome’s most famous landmark as the sun set.

26 July: Breakfast on the rooftop of the Marriott overlooking Rome. Plan for the day- Vatican and back to the Colosseum to tour the interior. The Vatican tour was sweltering hot! We learned that Vatican City is actually its own country, we overpaid for our walking tour but every cent was worth it once we saw Michaelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel. The Colosseum is unreal. We had dinner at a restaurant in the Piazza Navona followed by more gelato. The Piazza provided entertainment from artists and clowns (and an opera singer!) It was the highlight for the kids.

27 July: Enjoyed a 3 hour scenic drive to Anghiari in the Tuscan hills. As we pulled up to the gate of Borghetto Calcinaia, the 300 year old farmhouse where we stayed, we knew our vacation was just beginning. The owners, Dennis and Gilly, live on the property and made sure we had everything we needed including a welcome basket of cheese, bread, cereal, eggs and toys for the kids.  Dave and Mike hit the grocery store, the kids hit the pool and Tina and I opened up the first bottle of wine.

28 July: Sunday lunch at Vasco’s in Umbria. If you go to Tuscany, you must go to Vasco’s. We sat outside in a small courtyard with 3 other tables and were served 9 courses of Northern Italian food with their own house wine over the course of 3 hours. I can’t describe how good the food was and the kids had room to run and play between courses so it was relaxing; truly time to sit back, relax and enjoy the views. We ended the lunch with grappa, limoncello, espresso and of course more wine.

29 July: Hot day at the pool and a great homemade meal of mussels and eggplant parmegiana.

30 July: Train to Florence. Florence cannot be done in one day but we did our best. We will return. The Duomo is breathtaking and the view of the city and sunset from the top of the Westin was amazing.

1 August: Another hot day at the pool followed by dinner in Anghiari; a medieval town set in the mountains. I can’t imagine the fun (and danger) that children have on a snowy day in the streets. They make Queen Anne Hill in Seattle look like a baby’s toy. Back in early (very early) times, criminals used to be put in wine barrels filled with blades and rolled down the hills to spectator amusement. Times have changed thank goodness.

2 August: Local chefs came to Calcinaia to cook a meal for us. We got to watch them prepare and plate, taste things in the kitchen and enjoy the courses as they finished. Tiramisu means “Pick Me Up”- makes sense given the amount of liquor and espresso in it. This was by far the best tiramisu any of us had ever tasted.

3 August: My 38th birthday and the Bertottos were kind enough to watch our kids so that Mike and I could enjoy a quiet dinner for two.  Our hosts at Calcanaia recommended a restaurant that specializes in truffles. Every course we ordered, including the dessert, had truffles in it.

We owe Tina and Dave in a big way for organizing, researching and booking one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen. We’ve known each other since we were kids. Who would have thought, back in 1987, that 25 years later our kids would be holding hands in Rome?

Ciao!

		Italia 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My Guys

I was literally jumping out of my skin last Wednesday night. I couldn’t sleep. I jammed Thursday morning full of meetings and conference calls to keep my mind focused until the plane touched down. I love the iPhone Delta app- I knew the flight was running early and if my Fast Track pass did its work, the boys would hopefully clear customs quickly too. They did.

I knew the boys would be really blonde and tan. I was ready for haircuts and new clothes to make them look different. I expected them to be tired from the flight.  I did not expect them to look so much older! In just under 4 weeks, Graham is talking in full sentences and Greyson has this new ‘maturity’ for lack of a better word and an even bigger vocabulary which was already pretty great (though I’m not a huge fan of “come on!” in response to…well, just about everything). 

I was a little worried they’d forget what I looked like and very worried that they would be standoffish, treat me badly or worse, ignore me. Thank God none of this happened. They were all smiles, ready to tell me about their adventures and show me their wares. I’m absolutely ecstatic that they had that time with our families back home, that the weather was unbelievable and they were, for the most part, healthy, happy and well behaved.  I’m just sorry I didn’t get to enjoy any of it with them this time ‘round.  Next year is already being planned with even longer time for the boys and some time for me too.  Knock on wood, the plane rides to and from London were low on drama and high on quiet aside from a few squirmy Graham moments and Greyson’s motion sickness (happens at least once per trip). Graham got a high-five from a fellow passenger and Mike got complements from adoring women (also happens at least once per trip) and a few requisite “you are very brave” comments.

The sun has come out in London just in time for the Olympics so the barbecue is on every night, the baseball equipment is spread across the back garden and the the boys are back on their bikes. We leave for Italy on Thursday where it’s to be even sunnier and hotter so the bright blonde hair and tans will remain a bit longer.

• Greyson: “Are we best friends Graham?”
• Graham: “Yeah, best fwends!”

I’m now enjoying a few new pairs of shoes (thank you, Mike…and Nordstrom), Kashi cereal for at least a few weeks and Hershey’s syrup! There are just some things that cannot be substituted.  THANK YOU to our amazing families for making the boys’ summer vacation one they will remember!

Minocqua 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Bertottos and Van Zeelands…you’re next! 

White Coffee, please

We fell in love with coffee in Seattle.  I started drinking it for the first time in Milwaukee in 2006 after Greyson was born and what I loved about it then, and still do, is the ritual of it. I love a cup early in the morning before the day starts, the smell of it and the temperature, but I didn't truly start appreciating great coffee until we moved to Seattle. Seattle knows coffee. Not just because Starbucks was born there. If you've spent any time in and around the city you know that it's appreciated as much for Starbucks as it is for the eccentric mom and pop shops, the one-man espresso stands and the aficionados who can tell the difference in blends, origins and bitterness by sight.  I'm not one of those but I do love a great cup of coffee with cream just like my parents drank when I was growing up.

What's my point? This is a challenge in London. Most places serve weak, watered down versions and the beans available in stores are average. Even a cappuccino from a great breakfast cafe is bland. I have found a few good cups of coffee in the area though (there is a Starbucks if I'm craving it, though it's a only a treat due to location and prices) and in fact this once Keurig-hating girl now owns a UK version by Bosch called "Tassimo" and the single-serve coffee is actually really good.  The challenge now is finding cream!  You can't get "half and half" here.  I can buy "single cream" or "pouring cream" which are similar but they come in little sour-cream-like plastic tubs and expire 2 days after they're purchased.  I can buy mini plastic cartons of whole or part-skim milk but the flavour isn't right.  Powdered Coffeemate is available- eww.

So, I shared this dilemma with a German colleague and she kindly sent me 3 little glass bottles of this:

Jackpot. It's perfect. I don't know what it is but the flavour is perfect and they don't even have to be refrigerated until they're opened (I would have been geeked out by this concept a few months ago- all dairy should be refrigerated right- but I've gotten over that). Problem is, I'm about to run out and it’s not available here either so unless I take a trip to Germany once/month I either ask my colleague to be my dealer or I continue my search.  For kicks, I popped the text from the bottle into Google translate.  "Creamy Dream".  I'm glad I waited to do that until after I tried it.  Creamy dreams conjure images of a different sort and I wouldn't put it in my coffee.

So, if you've got any ideas, I'm listening. A great cup of coffee is a wonderful treat for me and having been on my own these past weeks, the most enjoyable part of the day before the silence sets in.  The boys will be home in 2 days.  If half and half could survive a 12 hour journey, I would add it to the list of groceries that are coming with them.  The good news is we'll be in Italy in 9 days and I know I can count on a great cup of coffee from there. It was, after all, the "true" birthplace of Starbucks.

Bonjour and Bonsoir

I had meetings in Paris earlier this week so I decided to leave a day early to take advantage of the city and sights on Sunday. I intended to spend my day in the museums but circumstances had other plans.  On the first Sunday of each month, every national museum in Paris is free of charge. This is probably a really great thing for a lot of people but for someone like me*, it means a change of plans. So, I took the Metro from my hotel to the Louvre and walked around the grand entrance (the very famous triangular structure in the centre of the grounds) and then hopped on an Open Tour bus which offers 3 different tour lines and the ability to get on an off at your leisure.

Paris is a beautiful city- no surprise there- but I have my favourite spots so I rode the bus to Notre Dame and along the Seine and then hopped off in Trocadero and had lunch outside and read a book then walked to the Eiffel Tower (the queues to go up the tower were outrageous!) and soaked up the sun for a bit.  I grabbed another bus and rode some more and then jumped off near Place de la Concorde and shopped the little stalls selling art and trinkets. I’m framing some of my favourite scenes for the kitchen. 5 Euro for 3 prints but I regret not buying a watercolour from a nice toothless man who I think may have painted it himself.

I probably walked 5 miles (in flip flops) so after 9 hours of walking and riding, I sat on a cafe sidewalk with a glass of Bordeaux and the Tour de France on TV. I finished the day with a colleague and his boyfriend and a traditional 4 hour French meal that began with charcuterie, Foie gras and escargot and ended with profiteroles and creme brulee.  We had canard (duck) as a main course, of course.

It was a beautiful day in Paris. I just wish Mike had been there to share it with me. 13 days and counting until the boys come back to London. Work is keeping my mind occupied or I would be going mad with missing them. The Olympic torch is coming through our little town in a few days so I might take a break for that. The sun is shining in Wisconsin (I know it’s flat-out hot). I’m thankful the sun was plentiful in Paris; in London it’s a bit elusive.

Happy 4th of July weekend!

*Someone like me = zero patience. Seriously. Zero.