Joyeux Noël!

Hazel and I had some fun with an empty cardboard box, wrapping paper and ribbon!

Eight and a Half Hours!!!!!!

Hazel slept through the night!  Round of applause please!!!

Pic for illustration purposes only! Obviously, she slept in her bed, and not on the cute pillow thing at Vicki's house.  

Daddy's had a long week, and it's only Tuesday...

They're not tired, honestly...

But it looks as though Hazel is dealing with fatigue better than her father....

The Christmas Bear??????

So we planned into town yesterday to see Santa, who was making time in his calendar for photos with the kids in Bourgoin from 2pm.  Except when we got there at 3.30pm, we were told that Santa wasn't coming, but that Hazel and Mia could have their photos taken with the "Christmas Bear".  

Bah Humbug to that!

We found Santa in the street handing out cookies - lucky us, Santa with cookies!  It was too cold to get the girls out of their prams for a snap, but Santa kindly posed next to them, prams and all!

Hazel, sleeping through the excitement.

Mia is in there, under the rain cover, and the fleece!

Best buddies

Hazel's BFF is Mia, who was born three days after her, and stayed in the room next door at the hospital.  Here they are together, just chilling on the couch.

Playing with my new camera

So just for something different, I fired off a few shots of Hazel...

...who was initially caught by surprise at the intrusion to her cuddle with Daddy by the paparazzi!

Ron on the other hand, was playing it cool for the camera. 

Hazel discovers her thumb

Hazel has now well and truly discovered the joy of thumb sucking...

...but sometimes, when very hungry, one thumb is just not enough...

...after all, playing and irish dancing is hard work!

Hazel and her toys

Hazel is really starting to enjoy her toys.  When I'm doing fun things like putting away the washing, Hazel plays!  She is starting to swat at her mobile, and really seems to enjoy the music it plays.

Got it!  Haaaazzzarrr! 

Tummy Time!

Hazel and Mummy both love the new play rug!  Hazel for all the colour and toys.  Mummy, because she can put Hazel down, and do things like update her blog whilst Hazel plays happily beside her!

Last wear of the bear jacket...

Hazel is growing out of cute clothes fast!  Which is a good thing, as there are cute outfits in her wardrobe in bigger sizes she's keen to wear!

Today was the last wear for the fluffy bear jacket (thanks Gargie!), so we got some final snaps.  *Sniff*, we'll miss you cute fluffy jacket.

As happy as a cat in a box!

Between receiving lovely parcels for Hazel, and ordering baby paraphernalia, there has been lots of parcels delivered to our household in the last few weeks.  In the excitement (Parcel! Parcel! Parcel!), the contents are removed and fondled, and the box is chucked on the floor.

Ron is in HEAVEN!  A box not so much as hits the floor, and he checks it out, jumps in it, hides, rips it up, sleeps in it - whatever the mood takes.

Amazon just sent an email asking me to evaluate their packaging.  Ron gives it 5 stars!

Today's photo shoot

Hazel showed off some of her range of emotions in today's 'happy snaps' - although 'smiley' wasn't one of the emotions she opted for, I think you'll agree - the girl's got talent!

Bored

Cranky 

Disgusted  

Hungry 

I'll do you Jimmy!

Mamie comes to visit

Antoine went away on business this weekend, so Mamie came to visit to help me out with cuddles for Hazel!

Chantal was really impressed with how much Hazel has grown, and developed.

Hazel is spending more and more time awake, interacting with us. She enjoys chating to us all, listening to stories (Each Peach, Pear, Plum is a particular favourite, thanks Gargie!) and  sitting in her bouncer, looking at the toys on the arch!

Strawberries!

Hazel looking dead cute in the strawberries outfit that Chris and Gemma gave her!

And Ron, checking out what all the fuss is about.  As it turns out, nothing - he jumped down and promptly fell asleep in the window right after this shot.

Visitors!

This weekend Chris, Gemma, Grant and Sam came to Bourgoin to meet Hazel, who was all smiles for the visitors.  It was a great weekend - lots of walks, cuddles for Hazel, and cheese (tourists have certain expectations of France after all!)

I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here are a few.

Cold morning in Bourgoin...

...so Hazel had to wear her fluffy jacket to keep warm!

Ron goes for a walk!

Antoine took Ron for a little walk today in the garden around our appartment.  This has been a semi-regular occurrence, in an attempt to give him a bit more exercise than lounging around the flat all day.  He seems to enjoy it out there - plenty of bugs, birds, and other things to chase.  At first it was a little scary, but he's getting braver and braver - he even ventured up a tree!

Shy Baby!

Second trimester scan this morning for baby.  Despite my encouraging pep talk about letting it all hang out, and thus letting us all know if he/she is a he or a she, baby decided to show off his/her butt instead, and kept his/her legs firmly shut.  So still no clue if we're having a boy or a girl.

On the other hand, we did see some lovely 3D photos of his/her face!  Very exciting!

Weekend in London



Had a very fun trip to London this weekend for Gemma's 30th birthday party.  We had a great night out, starting with a curry on Brick Lane, followed by a bar in Shoreditch.

Birthday Girl

Antoine struggled a bit with the hot chicken tikka masala, and I got a little silly on the OJ and sodas,  but otherwise a very fun night was had by all!

17 years in the making....

When I was about 15, I started a cross-stitch alphabet.  And then I put it down, and started something else (which I probably put down....). 

With a little help from Gran (who did the Y and the Z whilst staying with me in London), and from Mum (designing a replacement pattern for the U, which was originally a US flag), this afternoon, I can finally say:

TAAAAAAA-DDDDAAAAH!

Ready for framing for baby's room

 

Here is Mum's 'U' - much better than the original design!!

There is NO Easter Bunny!!!

Today I discovered the awful truth... There is no Easter Bunny in France.  Instead, all the bells in France fly to the Vatican on Good Friday, carrying away Catholic guilt over the death of Jesus.  Church bells are not rung from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.  When they come back, they are filled with  chocolate.  Sounds like a fair trade..., eh?

(There is also no Tooth Fairy - but that's another story.)

Hot Cross Buns are also unheard of in France, so I had a go at making my own.  Well, I say hot cross buns - mine are crossless due to a minor explosion of the plastic sandwich bag I used as a piping bag!  Cross or no cross, they were delish!