England and Scotland: Dec 15, 2012- Jan 3, 2013

We were so excited to go to England for Christmas for the first time since having Ewan. We hoped for snow, but got only cold and rain. Despite that, we did some awesome things with Ewan and he had many great "firsts" that he loved. We spent New Year's (aka Hogmanay) in Scotland and Ewan loved spending time with his cousins there, Zak and Kai. We didn't see nearly enough of our friends, but it was great to have some pub trips, drinks at home, dinners, and days out with them even if it was only once or twice. We did enjoy a nice engagement party for Jesus and Sarah before getting the call that Ewan had woken up and was crying!
Admittedly, this was a tough trip for us. Ewan was great for the first few days. Jet lag had him in bed late one night and early the next, but he slept through the night from day 1, so it wasn't too bad. We went up to London after a few days and had a great time with Sarah and Uncle Stuart. But, by the end of that 2 day trip, Ewan was constantly throwing tantrums, hitting, kicking, yelling at us. He would be so excited to do something and we would have such a great time and then when it was over, he would throw himself on the ground and demand to do it again. I feel sad that so much of our trip was this way. Thankfully, now that we are back home, he is back to himself.
Luckily, I am already starting to look back at photos and listen to Ewan tell stories and realize we did do some great things that were very special to Ewan and all of us. Tonight at dinner, he smiled and out of nowhere loudly said "hiya Buttons" - a line from the pantomime. Over time, I am sure they will be all I remember. Okay, well, some of those tantrums were hard to forget, but the happy memories will be what I remember first perhaps :).

In chronological order, here are some trip highlights:

• Going for a Sunday Roast lunch at the pub and getting a gift from Santa

• Ewan's first trip to the chip shop and first chippy meal: sausage, chips, and mushy peas

• Going to museums in London with Sarah and watching the ice skaters wade in the puddles outside

• Ewan's first pork pie and first scotch egg. He loved the scotch eggs and ate a ton...the pork pie, not so much

•  Ewan's first Christmas panto, Cinderella. He LOVED it.

• Ewan's 3rd birthday: swimming followed by a meal. He liked swimming, but I think he liked running through the dirty puddle in the playground even more. He was soaked and he is lucky it was his birthday!

•  On Christmas Eve, we saw Santa...he went right down our street (only got blurry pictures)! On Christmas, he left Ewan lots of gifts. 

• On Boxing Day, We all went to Priestfield for a Gillingham FC game. It was Ewan's first Gills game. Unfortunately, he was pretty antsy and screamed blood curdling screams a few times and received some unhappy glares. Oh, and it was freezing and they lost. Hmmm, maybe it wasn't a highlight.  Well, I am sure for Jamie and Stuart, it was still pretty cool to see Ewan at his first game. 

• We headed to Scotland and had a wonderful time. Ewan loved running around with his cousins. We went to see "The Snowman" on stage. He went on his first fair rides and loved them (and we thought he'd be scared). He tried on his first kilt and sporran. Ewan and I went on a "walk" with the extended Osborne clan on New Year's day up a very steep, muddy hill. He did great and when we got to the top, there was a beautiful view of Edinburgh and a wind so strong it felt like we were gonna get knocked over (forgot the camera for that one, but will add some if Uncle D gets his to us).

Us on NYE

Those are just some highlights. There are many more pictures where those came from here (with captions to add detail).

**Bonus video! You know you love them! Here is a great video of Ewan and Zak boogeying down on NYE at the fair in the ferris wheel line:
And here is one more of Ewan dancing at Tasha's NYE. It is hard to hear the music, so he looks a little crazy. At the end, he decides to put his finger in his backside, so I guess even with the music he'd look a bit nutty :)

It has been an annus horribilis.

Happy New Year! We say it every year. We hope for a better year than before or maybe one just as fabulous. Either way, it is a new beginning. It never meant too much to me and, frankly, I am lucky for that. I have always had great years, some on the amazing level, others just very good. This is the first year I want to say “good riddance,” the first where I rejoice at the new beginning. I am aware that it is all psychological, but the taking down of the calendar, the raising of the glass, the midnight kiss for my love will have a new feeling this year. There were just so many things this year that were shitty for me and so many of my family and friends. Poetic, I know, but that is the best way I can describe it. I won’t go into the things, some are confidential and some I just want to forget as I’m sure many others do.
The thing is I think that all weepy, unhappy blogs are supposed to have a silver lining, an upbeat ending and I wouldn’t want to disappoint. I recently spoke to a friend I hadn’t talked to in over a year. I said to her that my year had been terrible and her immediate questions were “are you okay? Is Ewan okay? Is Jamie okay?” Well, that was an eye opener for sure. Yes, Jamie and I are great, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year and couldn’t be happier. Ewan is coming out of his terrible 2s and is adorable and healthy. Next question: “how are your parents?” Oh, yeah, they too are fine, tough year for them in some ways, but they are healthy, enjoyed a month long trip to Brazil recently. Well, if that conversation didn’t put things in perspective, I don’t know what would. I am truly a lucky lady. My life is great. I go to bed with a smile on my face every night after kissing Jamie goodnight and peeking in on my sleeping boy. I have brushed up on my Christmas movies.  I am aware that I do indeed have a wonderful life. Yes, love actually does exist and my life is chock full of it.
Here’s the other thing about such a terrible year, it makes you realize how much you love and care for those in your life. I am so lucky to have family and friends that I care about so much and who care for me. Going through tough times, not only makes me realize this, but makes me want to let them know that I love and care about them and that I am so lucky to have them in my life. Nobody ever wants to do the slow walk in the emergency room towards family like they do in TV dramas, but we did it this year, the waiting, the praying, the hugging, the crying. The thing is that when the dust clears, those people you embraced and wept with mean more to you than ever before and so does everyone else around you.
Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I will shut up now and let some pictures talk for me. I love you all very much and I hope you know that even if I don't remember to tell you...

So, good riddance 2012. I will not miss you. I mean, thank you for putting things in perspective and teaching me some good lessons and all, but f*ck you anyway and leave us alone now.
Happy New Year indeed!