BEEN BUSY

We had an end of the year visit to beautiful Prague with our pals M&M and Gra Gra and Babou and then it was back to London to pack up and move house. We're settling in well to our new digs and one of us even turned 35.

Prague

First night in with Pizza

35.

Tidying up.

MO BETTA CUZ

This is the name of a shop in Ladbroke Grove. Have no idea what it is really. But it's a great segue to this....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BELOVED UNCLE MO MO! You only get better with age...and what a lot of age that is! (wink! wink!)

GO WEST - WE ARE NO LONGER NOTTING HILLBILLIES

You might notice something ever so slightly different about the blog and that is due to the fact that we've moved! We are barely a mile from our beloved Notting Hill but we've got loads more space.

Pictures to come shortly.

A CHRISTMAS WALK AND THREE SYLLABLES

Nothing like a brisk walk in Holland Park.

And Bess can say, in addition to lots of "NO," "PEEKABOO." Let the games begin!

CHANUKAH!

Candles, pajamas and a new horse to ride.

FUN WITH AH-POO!!

Newsflash: BESS HAS WORDS ! ! They include: Ball, Bubble, Uh-oh, Bess (of course!!), No (who taught her that??), DaDa, MaMa, Shoe, Hi, Bye-bye, Choo choo and Myxlplyx (okay - we made that one up). Then, there's Apple - or, Ah-Poo. Every fruit is an Ah-Poo. Above, you can see a typical dinner / dessert combo for Bess, including Yogurt and Ah-Poo. Mmmmmm!

IT WOULDN'T BE DECEMBER...

... without the Jacobson Family Holiday Party. This year's, our second annual fiesta, was action packed. Can you believe we fit 56 people in our hut? Okay - maybe that does include 18 munchkins, but still. Imagine the chaos. A good time was had by all (right??). Memories and craziness shown below.

LOT'S BEEN GOING ON

We're finally back from our Thanksgiving travels... it was a nutty two weeks in the States. But we're thrilled to be back in Jolly Old London. This time of year is particularly charming here... aside from the rain.

Bess is gearing up for a wet winter in the playgrounds. Hence the new wellies!

THE GUZZY MOVES ON... AS SAMMY TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS BECOMING LEGAL...

So... See below the Guzzy's replacement. It's been a great year and a half, but now it's time for the Rocket Part Deux. Instead of 1995 safety and features, we definitely needed 2002. A Guzzy retrospective will be published shortly. Long Live The Gold Guzzler!!
And in that regard, Sammy passed her written driver's license test today. Congratulations, Sam! YOU ROCK - WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU. Now, on to the road test...

IT'S OFFICIAL. WE HAVE A WALKER.

And to celebrate, we went shopping!!!!

RUN NYC

Brenda, Tom, Sara.....we're thinking of you today as well as the rest of the 37,000 or so folks running our favorite event, the New York City Marathon. Here's hoping it goes well.

Remember what Nike says at mile 21: "Run 5.2 like the wall is just a street and bring this baby home."

And just two last words....ICE BATH!!!!!!!!

YOU GUYS ROCK.

WILL WALK... FOR BEER!!!

Wow – Bess really started walking this weekend! She got her groove on during the KCWC Halloween Party. What gave her the motivation? I think it was her interest in a fine brew - she walked across the room just to get a Stella! Note: That's her in the homemade doggy outfit for Halloween (check out the tail).

IT'S NOT BEER GOGGLING, IT'S.....

I don't know what to call it. All I know is that Bess loves to wear Sammy's swim goggles around her neck. She also likes bikini bottoms but that's another story. Here she is with our beloved Salina, heading off to the Science Museum. And yes, she wore the goggles during the entire outing. Apparently she was the talk of the museum!

FOR FINBAR

Finbar is off to Scotland for some hunting and fishing and other manly pursuits. Oh, and some work. We'll miss him.

CROSSING OVER TO THE DARKSIDE

It's finally happened. I bought "American" cheerio's here. I paid £8. Can't do the math? That's nearly $15. We always told ourselves we can't convert but it's inevitable. Alas, Bess needs her Cheerio's. And by the time Grandma drives to the store, buys the box, and ships it to us, well, I figured I could just shell out the £'s.

TEST DRIVE

Little Bess gets one step closer to having a real doggy! Checking it out at John Lewis...
... and at home. Think she likes her new buddy?

Daddy hopes that it is hypoallergenic and doesn't shed.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I found this today while cleaning up after Bess...she loves to pull everything off of the bookshelves. Finbar and I have been married for five years and together for 13.5. Kind of amazing. And he's just as cute as ever! Sorry, Babe, couldn't resist. Photo credit goes to the fabulous LouLou of Sweden.

DADDY-O COOKS!

Waiting for Daddy's challah french toast - a fabulous family tradition. Hurry Daddy, Hurry!

Chef getting supplies out of our tiny fridge in our messy kitchen.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Technical difficulties and lots of travel have kept us from blogging but we're back! Biggest news is Bess is one. We had a fabulous fiesta courtesy of Bo and Steph back home on the East coast.

The caption for this photo is "Crazy in love with Cupcakes." Needless to say, the day of Bess's birthday she required two additional baths. It was that fun!

Since then we've been to the Cotswolds. Ask Finbar about the baby contest if you are interested. Sammy's still too bent out of shape to discuss!

Scotland, our own little Gleneaglet.

And Paris, literally in the shadow of la tour Eiffel.

Now we're back in Notting Hill and very happy. If not a little tired!

MHS REUNION 2006

IT'S HOT

BATH

Had a lovely weekend away in Bath. Sammy, Bess and the Guzzler took the M4. Guzzy did really well. Bess, less so. But alas, we got in and hit a pub where Bess had dinner in the garden with all the other kids of Bath. Finbar finally arrived via train. It took a little going backwards after the train broke down but magically, he got there.

This is what Sammy's evening looked like pre-Finbar's arrival.

Bless whoever invented baby listening. We got to have a nice dinner while Bess was tucked up in bed.

Bath is a beautiful city and we had superb weather. Here's the infamous Royal Crescent. Reminds me a bit of the Long Walk at 'ol Camp Trin Trin.

Saturday was spent seeing the sites and drinking in the pubs. Did I mention Baby listening? Love it. Note to self though: make sure you hang up the phone when you return to your room!!!! Finbar and Sammy drank tea in the garden and read, gasp, books and newspapers. Uninterrupted by a paper-tearing fiend named Bess, it was bliss. Bess was sleeping. She capped off her Saturday in Bath with another dinner in a pub. Yum.

We made our way home on Sunday but no trip in England would be final without a visit to a beautiful village (Castle Combe) or an old landmark, in this case, Lacock Abbey. Beautiful. Oh, and lunch in a pub.

Finbar took the wheel on the way home. It was an eventful drive - a misplaced camper caused a good lot of traffic on the M4. Even the Ferrari had to wait! And of course, Bess started to fret so Sammy climbed in the back seat and we had fun with water bottle and burps!

WARMER WEATHER THAN THE CARIBBEAN, THE MED AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Move over to our beloved pals in Laos, we're having a heatwave! And we don't have any air-con. Good news is we're all sleeping in the buff (one of us is wearing a bit more, out of necessity!) and we're eating homemade ice pops for dinner - yippee!!!!

THE WEEKEND

The weekend started with a visit to Finbar's office, where Bess crunched some numbers and left behind something stinky (Finbar went to work today and reported back)!

On Saturday night, Sammy and Fin went on an Opera boondoggle in Kent. Got driven there in a phat Merc S (the Guzzy was jealous - but that's another story). Here are Sam and Bess waiting for the sitter - doesn't Sam look smashing? Look closely - Bess has her first fat lip. Crawling accident. Broke our hearts.

Sunday was our pizza / pasta party chez nous. Yum. Then, Fin went to work while Sam and Bess played in the garden and watched Wimbledon. Finbar came home and attacked the ceonothus (aka the California Lilac on Most Wanted posters). Fin isn't much into horticulture, but since this job involved power tools, we let him at it. Good job Fin!

BABY

I have always promised the few faithful readers that I would not make this all about baby. But I just have to share. Bess started officially crawling today. I am gobsmacked! She's been taunting us for some time, rocking on all fours and moving backwards. I was sitting here a few minutes ago typing an email when all of a sudden she was heading for the door (why is it they always know where the door is??!!). I pulled her back to start position and she did it again! Result!

Earlier, she discovered our bookshelves. Ironically, she was in the pregnancy and child rearing section.

SUCCESS WITH HORTICULTURE

I was a bit nervous with my second summer of flower boxes. I did manage to successfully maintain some beautiful heather all winter but you'd really have to be an idiot to kill that stuff. So when it came time to plant some summer flowers, I was nervous. Last year, Mom helped. This year, it was all me. I'm proud to report that my petunias are blooming and below is the proof. I owe a shout out to my lovely neighbor Lester who watered them for me last week while I was Stateside!

Just kidding! That's actually a Gold Medal winner from the Chelsea Garden Show I attended last month! Pretty gorgeous eh? It's Downderry Nursery who specialize in lavender.

Seriously, here are my little petunias.

GB vs. USA

After a week in the States, we have to say that the Union Jack looks pretty good in comparison. However, here’s a list of the things we miss most about the good ole US of A.

10. Service with a smile: No, really, we are paying you for service too!
9. The cost of doing business: In the States, a dollar is a dollar - not a dollar eighty.
8. Mexican food: Don’t believe the hype about Taqueria. Time Out must be getting kickbacks. You just can’t find decent Mexican in London. Nothing beats Burritoville!
7. Soft water: Would it really kill you to soften things a bit? Soap is supposed to lather.
6. Wide streets: Broken side mirror = no fun.
5. Gatorade: There is no substitute! Lucozade is really just carbonated p*ss.
4. NY Post: Defines the tabloid newspaper. Rupert, please duplicate here - your UK publications don't match it.
3. Iced Coffee: Message to Starbucks UK – plastic cup plus ice cubes plus hot java makes a terrible iced coffee. Somehow your US stores got the memo.
2. Shoe shines: Come on folks – they already have cobblers here – would it be so tough to add a bit of polish?
1. OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

GRADUATION

Extra, extra, read all about it. OLDS had graduated. As loyal TJ bloggers will recall (and we appreciate your loyalty given our weak posting record this year!), OLDS was given her name to commemorate her drunken sailor look post feed. Well, we are pleased to note that she has indeed outgrown this nickname. I am also pleased to report that she now laughs when her parents burp. But anyhow, on the eve of her 10 month birthday, we’ve renamed her BESS.

PS: Here's a recent picture.

FROM HER TOES TO HER TIARA

Happy 80th Birthday to the Queen. An amazing woman.

ELECTRIC SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I did it. I went to an afternoon movie with OLDS. I had wanted to see Woody Allen's Match Point and missed it for a date night but it was playing at the Electric so off OLDS and I went. The entire theater was full of women and their babies - totally wild. Needless to say, OLDS was a champ until the near bitter end. I left with probably five minutes left in the film as OLDS had had it and rather than go through a meltdown along with 50 other babies, I figured someone could fill me in. Movie - I wasn't so impressed. Good cast, fab locale (London, of course) but rubbish plot. So if any of you have seen it and can fill me in, please drop me a line. Thanks in advance!

THE ELECTRIC.

We saw Walk the Line this past weekend at The Electric Cinema down the road from us. I will never go back to a normal theater. What's better than watching a film on a rather massive and comfortable leather couch while holding a glass of Rioja? Not much. Funny thing is this same uber-theater hosts what they call the Electric Scream - on Monday afternoon you can bring your under 1's to sit on your lap and make as much (or hopefully as little) noise as they want without bothering the greater movie watching population. I plan on trying that soon! What I really want to know is, is the bar open in the afternoon?!!!

FREEDOM

We're back! Happy New Year! Sorry for going radio silent. We've been busy, busy, busy! But alas, we're back. OLDS is starting to move....very exciting.

We had a weekend of naps, eating, walks through Notting Hill and lots of laughs! Can't imagine a better weekend...although a little exercise would have benefitted Sammy and Finbar. (Carrying around our 16.5 lb-meatball doesn't quite cut it.) We recently upgraded from Sky to Sky+. What does that mean? Well, in addition to the 8 million televions channels, we now have TIVO! Having TIVO enabled us to record the last hour of Celebrity Big Brother and watch it at a respectable hour. Yes, we knew by then that Chantelle had won it but that's ok. And getting to fast forward through all the Carphone Warehouse advertisements is worth its weight in pence! We have also lined up many of the old Top Gear's we've missed over the years which makes Finbar particularly happy.

Hope this message finds those of you checking in well. We promise to write more soon. We're brewing up some more top 10 lists we think you'll find amusing.  

ANOTHER TOP FIVE LIST

Why Finbar loves living on the 'bello!

5. People, people and more people. Especially on Saturdays. It is impossible to be lonely.
4. The 'bello has a continuous block improvement program. Real Kaizen style. Once one bit of residential construction is finished, the scaffolding goes up next door! The block will sure look great when it is finished in 2025.
3. Drive-bys by the real BATMOBILE. Kickin' it Bruce Wayne style from the 1970s. I kid you not.
2. Morning serenades from the Queen's Brigade. 20 men on horseback with red helmets clomping down the street. Maybe they are chasing after the Batmobile?
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1. A Christmas Eve bagpiper cruising down the block, flying solo. Just lovely - reminds us of Bo & Stepanie's engagement party.

Happy Holidays everyone, from Finbar, Sammy and OLDS!

OUT OF THE CLOSET AND PROUD

Ok, it's true. I've long been a Mariah Carey fan. So I was excited to read the following. You go, girl!

Mariah ties Elvis with 17th No. 1 single

There. I've said it. I feel better already going into a new year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINBAR.

Here's looking at you, kid!

GETTING READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Hard to believe it's been nearly 9 months since we moved across the Atlantic and set up house here. Needless to say it's been a fantastic adventure with loads of good people along for the ride. Some of our favorites, The Wormsley's, recently shared a list, a top 10 of sorts. We laughed out loud and thought we'd share. Soon enough, we'll add to their list. For now, enjoy!

They say there’s a first time for everything . . . like the first time you drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car, or the first time you try “spotted dick” (a traditional English pudding, really), or the first time you include a form letter in your Christmas card. Well, the Wormsleys have experienced a lot of “firsts” in the nine months since we moved to London, so here’s a short recap of some of our favorites:

1) The first night on our “nice, quiet street” in our “charming” London townhouse (built in the mid-1800s, apparently before glazed windows, insulation and air conditioning were invented). Toto, we’re not in the suburbs anymore!
2) The first (and second, and third and fourth) time we “smoked” (quite literally) our US appliances when we optimistically plugged them into our UK sockets.
3) The first time we received fries when we asked for “chips” or Sprite when we ordered “lemonade." Thank God we know how to say wine in several languages!
4) The first trip to Harrod’s to be greeted by the unmistakable aroma of freshly baked Krispy Kreme donuts rolling off the conveyor belt (a small reminder of home)!!
5) The girls’ first passport stamps for France, Spain, Italy, and Sweden (which we learned stays light until 11:30 p.m. in May)!
6) The first time the girls accompanied Mom to the butcher and got an eyeful of whole hogs hanging from meat hooks, and calves tongues and haggis (if you don’t know what it is, I’m not telling) in the meat counter.
7) The first time we rode camels, followed by a colorful shopping expedition in the narrow back alleys of the “casbah” in Tangiers, Morocco,
8) The first time to celebrate Fourth of July at a Middle Eastern restaurant in London (oh, the irony of it all) and Thanksgiving feasting on pasta in Rome.
9) The first time we tried to buy soccer cleats and learned (after much confusion) that what we were looking for were called “football boots with nibs."
10) The first time I heard my husband use the words “lovely” and “cheers” in casual conversation.

LET ME PAINT A PICTURE FOR YOU...

While Finbar is gallavanting about from one exciting boondoggle to another, from country to country, this is what I'm up to.

OLDS had a 5.30pm appointment for some further immunization shots and a general check in with her pediatrician. OLDS sees the head of pediatrics at one of the largest hospitals here in London, where I delivered her. Nice enough woman, no kids, a bit of a ditz.

Tonight I confirmed that she’s a ditz. And this is nothing against her intelligence –she’s fantastic to deal with. It’s just getting her to show up when you’ve agreed, that's the problem. She likes to book her own appointments. I should have known then! So I show up, early as usual, which by the way is not an easy feat with an 11.5 week old baby. Announce OLDS to the receptionist and as is becoming normal, we’re not on the list. And furthermore, Dr. Ditz has canceled her clinic for today. The receptionist calls her secretary. I call Finbar to vent.

Then, the unthinkable happens. OLDS poo’s!!!!!!! I start to panic. She’s in the baby bjorn. I’ve never had this happen before - public poo’ing that is. I ask one of the nurses if there’s an open room where I can change her. I’m totally prepared, or so I think. I open her diaper and GOOD LORD, OMIGOD, there is poo EVERYWHERE!!!!!

Or I should say, poo everywhere with hardly a drop in her diaper. I panic. I start to sweat. I do the best I can, wipe her up, wrap her in an extra burp cloth so no one sees that her entire right leg is stained with poo. I put her back in the baby bjorn and head to the receptionist. I announce if there’s no word from Dr Ditz, I’ve got to go and out I go. Luckily, I find a cab quickly and get home and OLDS meanwhile is totally smiling up at me from the comfort of her now stinky baby bjorn (which I will be washing tonight, along with everything else!!!). My mother of course pulls an “I TOLD YOU SO” - never leave home without an extra outfit. I normally don’t. But I did today.

(P.S. Dr. Ditz did a house call the next night.)

FINBAR’S EXCITING LIFE IN LONDON

Zipping around the track at Silverstone. That's my instructor (read: crash prevention chaperone) saying: "Stop drooling like OLDS, and get behind the wheel!" If you are ever in the neighborhood, try: http://www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk/

Paying homage to the SWOOSH in Hyde Park - 35,000 runners hit it that Sunday across London in 3 different parks, simultaneously. Check out www.runlondon.com

Having OLDS do my work for me - how else do you think I remain so productive? One simple concept: Outsource to someone smarter.

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A NEWBORN BABY WHEN:

1. Instead of the latest ditty on Virgin Radio, you find yourself constantly humming the tunes from your baby's electronic pals (Here Comes Peter Cottontail!)
2. You find yourself on Google, searching for: "Mother's milk, formula, life altering decision"
3. Bathroom humor - still funny! Scratch that. Funnier!
4. Streaks of white spit up on your clothing. Weeks 1 through 8, you change before leaving the house. By week 9, it is de riguer, landing next to the last streak, and who has time to change anyway? Gotta keep on moving…
5. Your kid goes through 6 outfits per day (as do you), which means 2 daily loads of laundry. Great business for Persil and Tide!

WE'RE BACK! AND RESULT!

Tomorrow we go to the US Embassy to get OLDS her passport. Here’s the picture she will carry with her over the next five years. And this was taken on the first try! The gang at Snappy Snaps was very impressed. What can we say, she’s a ham!