Catch Up With Pictures

Life got pretty crazy over the summer. We were really busy with work and meetings and then we had a month left before heading back to America for our stateside assignment. We managed to cram in some fun while packing up and tying loose ends like going to the beach at the Black Sea a couple of times, going to the water play fountain a couple of times, and before we knew it, we were on the plane.

I'd been running during my first trimester before the hematoma developed and I was forced into
mandatory bed rest. It was lifted about 17 weeks and I went out for a long walk, glad to be moving again.

Ava was the size of Darcy when we first moved into this apartment and the top of her head
barely cleared the bottom of the glass in the door. It's crazy how much she changed in three years. 

Darcy absolutely loves her sweet nanny and we loved her, too.

21 weeks - baby boy

One of our beach trips to the Black Sea - this particular occasion was the 4th of July

We spent a couple of afternoons at the water fountain where Ava played her heart out

Darcy was a bit scared of all the noise and music so she quite didn't take to it like Ava did

Seasoned traveler. Her headphones, neck pillow, cat, and her movie. She knows what she's doing.

Traveler in training. She's had 3 international round-trips before this one, not even two years old.

We landed in America, all jet lagged -- saw my dad, Greg's parents, and friends in Atlanta before making our way down to Florida where we were to stay about 3 weeks. We went to the beach at Mashes Sands, visited people, tried to adjust to being in America, drove my mom and stepdad crazy with our chaos, showed Ava and Darcy some bits of where I grew up like the marshlands, the wildlife, the lighthouse, etc. We also celebrated Darcy's second birthday and a few days later, mine.

We arrived in America! Having fun at Grandma's in Florida

Celebrating Darcy's birthday with the famous Carraway cake

On her birthday - sweet, easygoing, calm, and loving

Opening birthday presents

Picnic at the St. Marks Lighthouse -- hot August day in Florida -- looking at all the wildlife

Then, we headed to Destin, Florida where we spent 5 days with my brother and his family, along with my mom and stepdad in a big beach house. We all really had fun and the girls especially loved playing with their cousins. We did some sunset swims and one of those evenings, the water was too rough for the kids and I left then playing in the surf so I could swim, dive, and do battle with the big waves for an hour like I did growing up. It was perfect for body surfing but my belly was too enormous by this point. It was the hightlight of the week -- feeling like I was in my natural habitat, so familiar and comfortable, so easy. I should've been a fish...

I barely saw her on this vacation - she was so busy playing with her cousins

Grandma and Darcy chilling out in the surf. No better way to relax

Sunset swim, the best kind - Ava, her cousins, and Aunt Heather

Darcy loved broiled crab claws swimming in melted butter and parmesan. She's more
adventurous than Ava in trying new food but I was surprised she liked seafood

The only picture I managed with my phone of the girls with
their cousins but we were missing Noah, the youngest

Our family (28 weeks along)

A few days after leaving Destin, we began our move to North Carolina by the way of my dad's in South Carolina. We arrived at my dad's with Darcy fighting a nasty cold, spent some of the visit in the ER where Darcy's dislocated elbow was popped back in, and we left for NC with me grumpy and exhausted from having caught Darcy's cold. It was a miserable trip to NC, getting settled into the house where we were to stay for 5 months, and having no energy to unpack. It was a nasty virus that wreaked havoc in my head and then moved into my chest and three weeks later, I'm still battling a wet cough. Anyway, Ava started kindergarten, started learning to ride a bike, and Darcy started preschool at the church directly across the street (no 1st day of preschool picture - I think I was too woozy from the virus to think of it). We've also visited Greg's parents in VA where Greg's grandmother got to meet Darcy for the first time.

Learning to ride a bike after we moved to NC

First day of kindergarten - her lunchbox looks ginormous in her hand

Ava's been in kindergarten now over 2 weeks and she's not a fan. She's so social, extroverted, and loves to learn that it's surprising. Again, it's NOT surprising considering how long the day is in kindergarten, how academic kindergarten is now, and she is expected to sit a lot. It's tough on a 5-year-old. The other day, she came home with a behavior report that said "very talkative." Greg and I had a big laugh over it - it just goes without saying. Generally, she gets a smiley face everyday so she must be on her good behavior.

After we finished all the traveling we think the girls will be doing, we finally transitioned Darcy to a twin bed. She really surprised us. She didn't get out of bed once. We had such a bad experience with Ava stubbornly getting out of bed when we transitioned her and we were really dreading the transition with Darcy. The girls share a room and Ava passes out immediately while Darcy takes about an hour to fall asleep (as per usual with two year olds). Even with her taking an hour to fall asleep, she still doesn't get out of bed. I continued to be amazed. I'd heard about kids like that but I thought they were rare but apparently, Darcy's one of them. I think it helps that Darcy is generally complaint and easygoing.

Well, I'm about 33 weeks along and now that we've settled down, I'm trying to prepare for the upcoming birth. I'll post another belly picture one of these days...